Another day ticked over and I started to get that sinking feeling. I was sitting on my butt and doing nothing while Welt and his co-conspirators cooked up something awful. It was time to prepare myself for whatever crisis was soon to occur. The most important aspect of my skillset to brush up on was magic.
Magic was the key to this. A gun was all well and good, but those assassins Welt deployed could tank several gunshots without slowing down. A bolt of electricity could seize up their muscles and keep them from moving for a short time, but ideally, I would be able to kill them quickly and efficiently should the need arise.
Nihility magic was anything but efficient.
In fact, by its very nature the category of spell I was supposedly good at wasted an immense amount of energy. It was intended to break the bonds between atoms and molecules – destroying whatever it touched within milliseconds. That was not an efficient use of the human body’s magical reserve. I could cast it maybe three times around a medium-sized area before collapsing from exhaustion.
How could I rework this technique to be more effective? I scoured my brain for any good ideas for hours without progress. Nihility was not a school of magic that people chose to learn or write about in great detail. It was once considered taboo before the invention of guns and explosives made everyone reconsider how dangerous it actually was.
But even with that ban lifted and scholars exploring the topic tentatively, their papers and reports were shallow and without detail. They theorized about useful applications for a magic spell that could atomise harmful compounds or destroy large quantities of manmade garbage.
Adjusting the energy used on the fly was going to be impossible on command. There was no way for me to predict how much energy needed to be applied to any one area to break it apart. The only option then would be to carry a mana crystal with me to leech energy from – but they didn’t store much, and to bring them in any scale would weigh me down. Not to mention the fact that they were hard to come by even when you had the money to buy them.
The inputs and outputs didn’t line up. The compromises were too difficult for me to assess, and once I locked into one course of action, I couldn’t change my mind on the spot if the situation proved disadvantageous to me. If I wanted to make nihility magic work, I would have to think outside of the box and crack the secret behind it.
I wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box. I was only good at killing people and doing social engineering, so expecting me to come up with a new way to use magic that much smarter people hadn’t was a losing bet. But there was also the consideration that Durandia saw use in giving me and Samantha these contrasting powers. Why give me it if she didn’t expect me to use it?
Breaking guns by snapping my fingers was a neat party trick – but when I also had a gun that wasn’t nearly as helpful as just shooting my target. I was sitting on one of the stumps at the practice area when Miss Jennings showed up on the scene to make sure that everything was in place for the next term.
“Oh! Miss Walston-Carter! Working hard before the term even begins, I see.”
“Hello, Miss Jennings. It’s been a while.”
She laughed, “A while? We’ve been away for two weeks. It is a pure expression of youthful indiscretion to describe two weeks as a ‘while.’”
Over time I’d come to know Miss Jennings better than any of the other teachers, and with it, she also revealed her humorous side. She was normally putting on a stern act to scare the bad kids straight in her lessons – but the passion oozed out of her when she was allowed to talk openly about magic.
“Have you continued to walk the path of nihility since last we spoke?”
“I haven’t had much time to focus on developing my magical theory lately. It seems that every two seconds there’s a new urgent problem that derails whatever I intend to do.”
Jennings smiled, “I know the feeling. You’re already well aware of how chaotic things were when the previous Principal resigned from their position. I’ve never seen a first term like that before.”
“Besides – nihility spells seem like more of an inconvenience than the others. The nature of it fills people with dread, yet to use it as a weapon is highly dubious. They hear of unparalleled destruction and project their own expectations from there.”
“As I always like to say, there are very few useless spells out there, and history is littered with examples of people pursuing formerly ‘meaningless’ fields until they discover a revolutionary new way to utilise them.”
“Hmph. Yet I am in no position to feel that same sense of desperation,” I joked, “The only reward for this is to flatter my own pride.”
Jennings shrugged, “If any teenager is going to revolutionize magic - I imagine it would be you.”
“Please, I’m hardly a deft hand at magic and this type of lateral thinking is beyond me.”
Jennings was confused; “Really? You have fantastic grades. The other teachers lament how their lessons are sometimes lost on you. You’ve destroyed their most advanced material within months of starting.”
That ‘advanced material’ was less complex than the type of content that they taught in middle school back home. None of the noble children attending this academy were expected to have prior formal education beyond knowing the basics. Very few of them were given private tutors. Once the rust was rubbed away I found it extremely easy to keep up.
It was going to be the same all the way until our final years here. Many scientific and theoretical concepts were recent discoveries and discussions, and even those may not have been integrated into our curriculum.
“I have no reason to give up, but also no reason to be optimistic.”
Jennings wasn’t sure what to say in response to that. She was trying to encourage me to be more ambitious, but I was a bitter and world-weary middle-aged man in a teenager’s body. I could not pretend to be excited at the prospect of another futile pursuit.
“Has Samantha been making progress with her own studies?”
I nodded, “She already saved a life with it, and now she wants to become a Doctor.”
“That’s wonderful! Have you given any thought about your own future?”
No.
“Yes, though it’s likely that I will inherit the family fortune and have the ‘freedom’ to do as I please. My Father has been persistent in preparing me for a life in the world of business, given that I’m an only child.”
“I see. You certainly aren’t unique in that regard. There are many children who come to the academy with similar ideas in mind.”
“I find it rather tiresome. Part of me wants to sell it all on once I inherit the empire. I would not be left wanting for money.”
Jennings had an unexpectedly different outlook on the matter from what I anticipated.
“Don’t you feel that it’d be a shame to give up on it so easily? I don’t believe that you’ll find your true calling in the absence of your family’s business ventures, and perhaps you could even do a lot of good using them.”
“Hm. Like charity?”
She smiled, “Not simply charity, although it is an unvarnished good to support such causes. I read an interesting book by Professor Dalton Waters recently. It was all about how businesses could enhance the public good by advocating for mutually beneficial developments. He used an example of a tramline that runs through Eichental. It used to be owned by one of the local factories, and now it serves the general public in a city that’s often paralyzed by horse and cart traffic.”
“Ethical business, I suppose.”
We were a few decades away from motor vehicles appearing on every road in Walser too. That land in the city was going to rapidly depreciate in value as everyone rushed to use the new thing, only to then rise again once they discovered how constricting cars could be in an urban area.
“The point I’m making is that should you sell them, you cannot confirm that the new owners will run them correctly or ethically. Sometimes the only person you can rely on is yourself. You have to believe in your own ability to do good.”
“And what if I believe that I’m not that type of leader?”
“I think you are.”
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Appearances could be misleading. The mistake that Jennings was making was boldly declaring that I would walk off into the sunset after my usefulness came to an end. It was doubtful that Durandia had any plans of letting a murderer like me enjoy a second bite of the apple.
Sorry, Dad – you’ll have to track Veronica down or get a new wife to sort all of that mess out. Maybe she could just rip my soul clean from Maria’s body and slot in a new personality like some kind of hellish flesh robot. She tried to reassure me during our discussion using the catalyser, but I had no reason to accept that she was telling the truth.
Faith was a dangerous tool in the wrong hands. Samantha was always going to agree with whatever she said. She was raised in a god-fearing rural family who instilled positive values in all of their children. I could see the friction forming between us when I questioned Durandia’s motives with her present before.
That was my own fault for not telling her the truth. Samantha would not understand my perspective without knowing all of the facts. I was sure that if she knew my past, she’d also question Durandia’s honesty in saying that this was not a divine punishment for my actions.
I wasn’t going to grovel. I was going to fight like hell and see if I could eke out a win.
If not, then there was nothing to be angry about. There was no realization for me to reach. Killing people for money was bad. The Saturday morning cartoon morality lessons were totally lost on me. That was all a mark in her favour, in terms of describing me as a tool to use to see her will played out. This wasn’t about the ‘lesson,’ nor was my situation intended to be ironic or poetic.
“Samantha mentioned that you often speak of yourself in pessimistic terms around her. Is this a side that you only reveal to the people you’re closest with?”
“I’m confident in my abilities, that’s all. When you begin asking questions about morality, ethics and leadership? That is when I express doubts.”
Jennings was not sure what I meant – but she was old enough to know that I wasn’t going to explain why that was if she asked.
“I still think that you could find a good use for nihility. You have a good way of looking at things from a new perspective, thinking outside of the box.”
Where the hell was she getting that impression from? I may have been good at following instructions during our lessons, but it was a big leap to declare that I was going to find a special use for this power that nobody else had figured out before me.
Jennings set about doing what she came to the training range for, making sure that it was all in order before our first lessons back. We were already closing in on the end of our first year at the academy, and what an eventful nine months we’d endured thus far. The weather was taking a turn for the cold again.
Without being able to carefully adjust the power used, or the ability to carry large quantities of energy with me, the only option left would be...
A catalyst.
Assuming it worked like a chemical reaction, where bonds were broken by inputting a certain amount of energy, the only option would be to find a catalyst that could lower the energy required to decouple those bonds. It would not be a traditional catalyst. It had to be usable in hand too.
The lightbulb above my head flickered to life. A magical catalyst like the one used in Henry Snow’s magical amplification chamber. The very same amplification chamber where we spoke to Durandia before. It was right there in front of my nose the entire time. Henry Snow was the man with the answers I was looking for.
When Jennings turned back, she found that I was already heading to the main building with unusual haste.
“Was it something I said?” she wondered.
----------------------------------------
“All we can say is that this is a politically motivated attack on one of the largest parties in parliament. Gerard Verner Welt has long fought for the restorative cause using all legal means – the suggestion that he is a participant in criminal activity is a gross abuse of judicial power!”
Veronica could be seen at the back of the mid-sized crowd gathered by the parliament square. At the head of the pack was a blustery man wearing a bright blue rosette on his coat. His voice was projected through a conical speaker designed to attract as much attention as possible. In this case, only those sympathetic to Welt stopped to listen.
Veronica had an inkling that he was one of the Restoration Party’s MPs. She had no idea which one. They all blended into an amorphous blob, and they rarely stuck around for more than a handful of terms before disappearing into the ether. She was not here outside the Theatre to listen to a rousing political speech from a junior MP.
One of her reliable outside contacts asked to meet her here. Elke had some good information – but he was also a shameless gossip who loved keeping up with all of the news coming from the parliamentary bubble.
“I see you’re engrossed in his speech, Veronica.”
“Why the hell did you invite me to see the clowns?” she complained.
Her contact, Elke, laughed under his breath.
“It’s not possible for me to ignore politics like you do. This is where all of the big stuff happens. The circus is in town! Every one of them wants to have their moment in the spotlight.”
“I’m not disputing that. I can’t stand listening to them talk. They don’t believe a word they say.”
“Is it better to be intentionally dishonest, or simply stupid?”
“Being mistaken is more forgivable.”
The speech rolled on; “We’re being beset on all sides by our historic enemies. Avatria is already preparing to launch an assault from the south! They intend to sweep through our heartlands and take our fertile land, and the mines that power our industrial growth! Yet our government wastes time persecuting their opposition!”
Elke couldn’t keep the smirk off his face, “Isn’t that interesting.”
Veronica grumbled, “Avatria isn’t on war footing at the moment. They’re just rattling sabres again.”
“If anybody is going to pick a fight with us – it’s them.”
“They’re not on a war footing,” she repeated, “There are so many spies in Avatria at the moment that they can’t organize a piss-up without us knowing about it.”
Not to mention that there was little appetite for war from the public across the border. Stereotypes, somewhat truthful, were that Walser was filled with a bunch of violence-loving lunatics, armed to the teeth and ready to shoot any invading soldiers at the drop of a hat. An invading army would inevitably have to deal with armed resistance and organized militias on top of the military response.
The other issue was Walser’s sheer size. It would be difficult for an invading army to match across the craggy south and control large swathes of territory without leaving troops behind to control the captured settlements. The army would therefore grow weaker in time.
“Alright. I’ll stop teasing you and get to the point. I’ve got what you asked for here.”
He handed over a beige folder stuffed to bursting with different notes and papers.
“I thought that Welt was going to divest his stake in the company when you found out about the ferdinol shipments - but they’re importing even more than before. I guess he feels that there’s no point hiding it or trying to distance himself now.”
Elke had ears in a lot of... legally dubious fields. When Veronica wanted to know the high-level picture of where things like narcotics or weapons were coming from, he was the man who she turned to for answers.
“I also tried getting info about where they were renting space or buying land, but that was a lot harder. Some authorities don’t have open records about land transfers, and they would only give it up to me if I had a good reason or permission from the company.”
Veronica flipped through the dossier and took in what she could. She would need to find somewhere private for a deep dive into the gritty details. A map of Walser was marked with several red X’s – spread evenly across the landscape and in every major town and city.
“Those are the places I could confirm by annoying the clerks, but they have a lot more.”
Launching areas from where they could deploy their new ‘secret police.’ They wanted to have a firm hold on those major centres of power when the time came to launch their ultimate plan. Veronica was confident in guessing that they wanted to take over and depose the government, restoring some fifth-rung Van Walser to the throne and using them as a puppet. The current King was not outwardly supportive of changing the status quo.
She flipped to the next page. A breakdown of all the drugs being bought and smuggled according to his sources.
“Ferdinol is coming from legal and illegal channels. They’re moving heavily into illegal methods at the moment.”
“Because I found out that they were using the clinics and medical facilities as a front to purchase it without arousing the police’s attention. There’ll be a hard limit on how much they can import. The gangs don’t like running medical drugs anymore.”
“Yeah. That’s what I was thinking too. They’ll have to keep using this hybrid approach and hope that they don’t crack down hard on the practice.”
“Pft. It’ll take the police at least a month to even consider stepping in. They have to do a feasibility study first...”
Veronica snapped the folder shut and tucked it into her pocket.
“Anything else to share?”
Elke chuckled, “You’re so eager to get away from this speech. Not an engaged voter, I take it?”
“Doesn’t matter what colour rosette they wear – nothing much changes when it comes to parliament. They only instituted the Compromise because we killed each other enough to make them worry about Walser’s security.”
Veronica was not jaded enough to declare that nothing ever changed. She was on the frontline of a lot of those changes. They often happened behind closed doors or away from the ballot box. WISA becoming a public agency was a switch she never believed would come given its checkered past.
Elke scratched his chin, “It’s been a while since you relied on me for info. Is something up at the office?”
“Nothing important. I’m trying to get ahead of what Verner Welt is doing.”
“Not like you’re going to tell a civilian what’s going on in there.”
“I mean it. I’m showing some initiative like my handler wants me to.”
“I hope you find him, I really do, but running through every one of those marks and trying to stumble across the bloke isn’t going to work. Why the hell is WISA being so hesitant with this?”
“Frankfort used up every bit of political wiggle-room she had to get that warrant, and now we can see the results for ourselves. They’ve whipped themselves up into a frenzy over it instead of trying to make some distance. They’ll regret it when he has his day in court and all of the sordid details come out.”
Elke stared through the crowd at the politician on stage. He was enjoying the limelight, inflaming tensions and speaking in defiance of reality. Those who listened to him were already on his side. Those who were not simply passed by the spectacle and shut their ears to his rhetoric.
“Makes me feel a little sick, seeing them talking about how he isn’t being treated fairly. If he wasn’t who he is, there’d be none of this. I guess being a violent maniac is all well and fine when you pass it through the lens of politics.”
“That isn’t new,” Veronica replied, “When all of the Goddess’ churches fell out of favour with the people – they started to deify these public performers instead. We can’t judge them when they make a choice that hurts people, because it’s all a matter of opinion. A game. It’s just politics.”
“Still, there’s been a lot of good progress lately.”
“Oh, spare me your trade unionist talk. I’ve heard it a thousand times before.”
“Unions are great!”
“I never said they weren’t!”
Aware that their argument was bound to attract attention from the nearby monarchists, she pulled Elke away from the show and pushed him back the way she came.
“I almost forgot, but Gertrude told me that she got an interesting customer a while ago.”
“You shouldn’t share that with me. You’re breaking her trust.”
“You won’t spill it to anyone else. Maria Walston-Carter showed up and started asking for info on Cedric Roderro. Pretty strange, right?”
“I already knew that.”
“How the chuff did you already know?” Elke scoffed, “You’re pulling my leg.”
No. Maria loved getting into trouble. How she wished that was the case...