Chapter XLVIII (48)

  In the last half a decade working for Emperor Sasaki, Mitsuko had exercised stealth countless times to follow a wide array of people across the world. She was far from the best spy deployed by the Empire, but she liked to think she had become adequate at the job after staying alive through so many similar missions. And Coleo was perhaps the least observant individual Mitsuko had ever tailed. Just a dogged march forward through the city streets. Never once did he even look over his shoulder. In fact, he mostly kept his head skyward. Perhaps it was the dome overhead distracting him? Mitsuko honestly believed that she could walk half a meter behind him and he’d not notice. Of course, she didn’t do that. She remained a safe distance away and watched him intently for any sign of deception. But he never once even shifted his body language as he walked. He even seemed to be speaking quietly to himself as he walked, his mandibles quivering slightly. He was a bard though, he likely was quietly experimenting with new lyrics or just enjoyed the sound of his own voice.

  The last time Mitsuko had followed someone as unobservant as this had been several loops earlier when she followed Theo through the forest of Ashen Island. Now that similarity could certainly just be a coincidence. It wasn’t as if she’d ever tailed a bitelas person before. But Mitsuko wasn’t dropping her suspicion of the bard.

  Sterling’s cat body also served exemplary at stealth as he padded along beside her. For once, he remained quiet, likely so as to not disrupt her concentration.

  Unfortunately for her, while Coleo didn’t seem intent on interrupting her, the same couldn’t be said for others in the town.

  “Mitsuko. It’s been a long time.”

  The soft voice froze Mitsuko mid-step. She looked towards where the words originated and felt a moment of relief as she saw no one matching the description of the woman she feared. Then she spotted the albino barn owl perched on a weathered shop’s sign. Watching her.

  Her mind quickly went back to what Sterling had said about mental magic. He’d be able to reset her back to how her mind had been at the start of the loop. But what if he didn’t notice? And was his mind immune to the influence of invaders? She should have pressed him for more information about the failsafe. She’d stupidly been putting this woman out of her mind, despite the known danger. She knew better than to just ignore a problem like this. And yet…here she was, caught completely off-guard. Not a shred of a plan had been formed to prevent this inevitable collision.

  Mitsuko needed to calm her nerves and rethink her situation from her current position. She was a fledgling mage now. Not just a normal person. Dancing around problems and carefully poking holes in them with a blade was not necessarily her only path forward anymore.

  So she set her shoulders and faced the witch head on.

  “Fuku,” she greeted the owl stiffly. Witches could use their familiars as conduits to cast spells, so even if the witch wasn’t physically nearby, she could still attack. And without the ability to shield her mind, Mitsuko had no means of defense.

  “Your father and fiance are looking for you,” Fuku said through her familiar. “If you want, I can have Rou guide you to them.”

  “I have no interest in ever seeing them again.” Mitsuko tensed, preparing for some sort of mental attack. But Rou, the albino barn owl, simply shrugged his wings.

  “No concern of mine. What do you know of this barrier cutting us off from the outside world? No divinations I’ve cast have left the archipelago.”

  “I don’t know. I just arrived on the island.”

  The owl cocked his head. “Curious. That was a lie.”

  Mitsuko’s heart skipped a beat. Of course a mental mage of her caliber could detect lies. She needed to approach this more tactfully. Otherwise she risked losing an entire loop of work if Fuku interfered with her mind.

  “Why are you here?” Mitsuko asked, desperately trying to distract the witch. “Surely you didn’t truly come all the way out here for me?”

  “No. I did not. Your father served as a means in which to locate you. And where you tread, often too does the Hon Emperor’s retinue. Far safer for me to approach here than invade his palace. We have much to talk about, him and I. And traveling here is convenient as I’d been intending to explore this region of the world for some time now. There are ancient magics buried here and a deep connection to a power that rivals that of The Great Labyrinth Sekai.”

  Good. The witch wasn’t after Mitsuko. Following her to the island was just a means to an end. That was a huge relief to her personally, though it did likely mean trouble for Sasaki and Wan. That would be a problem for after the timeloops though.

  Then, against her better judgement, Mitsuko asked the witch a question.

  “Are…children more susceptible to mind magic?” Mitsuko asked. “Can they be controlled easier than adults?”

  “A peculiar question. Not one I expected from the morsels of knowledge I left in my previous statement. I do not plan to seize control of any children, if that’s a concern of yours. If I ever take an apprentice, she will come to me willingly. And, unlike some in my old coven, I have no interest in the taste of human flesh.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “That’s not what I was asking,” Mitsuko replied.

  “Yes, they are. Those will underdeveloped minds and weak wills are the easiest to control directly. Children are naturally underdeveloped and serve as excellent practice for beginner mages. And it’s also easier to control someone if you appeal to their wants and needs. I could hypothetically make a hungry woman swipe something from a bakery far easier than the same person if she walked by with a satisfied stomach.”

  Mitsuko nodded slowly. If nothing else, that bit of information helped her understand the situation back on Verdant Island a bit better. And it explained why someone pathetic like Hideo succumbed to Rodrick’s control so easily.

  Then Fuku continued. “There is something rather off about you. You’ve changed somehow. More than just the years between our last meeting. I don’t suppose you could be convinced to meet me in person? I promise no harm will befall you. We can discuss more of the nuances of mental spells if you’d like.”

  “I’m not interested,” Mitsuko said bluntly.

  “Rather short sighted,” Sterling commented, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. “Surely you see the benefit of a mental mage’s assistance at this time? While certainly high risk, there also is great risk in slamming your head into the Verdant Island problem. Imagine if you convinced her to join you at the island. Such an ally could offer you invaluable protections if your theory on mental magic proves true.”

  Mitsuko glared at the cat. Of all the times for him to speak up with advice, of course he chose now. He advised on one of the few things he knew nothing about. Fuku’s soft voice hid the danger she presented.

  “More and more fascinating," Fuku commented. “That cat you’ve fixed your gaze upon. I cannot see into its mind. It’s as if it doesn’t exist.”

  Mitsuko remained silent. The witch could detect lies. Better to not say anything.

  “Very well,” the owl finally said. “I will depart and let you return to your peculiar activity of following strange bards home.”

  With those parting words, Rou spread his white wings and launched himself off the sign, taking flight.

  “Can you reset a loop if I tell you to?” Mitsuko immediately asked Sterling once they were alone in the alley.

  “No. I technically lack that ability.”

  “But if I die, everything resets?” Mitsuko needed a means of killing herself. As macabre as it was, death was preferable to being under Fuku’s influence for an entire loop. The witch gaining knowledge of the loops only meant danger.

  “I hardly feel the need to answer that question,” Sterling replied. “You yourself have experienced death first hand.”

  “I meant it rhetorically,” Mitsuko muttered. Her mind now flitted through different means in which she might bring about an early death without bringing harm to her heart. Falling on her sword would have to work for now. Though she didn’t love the method. Someone could stop the bleeding or patch her together before she died.

  Without any idea of where Coleo went, Mitsuko wandered the streets. She avoided the side of the city where her father and ex-fiance were staying, but otherwise just let her feet carry her.

  An old lady accidentally dropped a flower pot. Mitsuko reassembled the shards of pottery with a cast of Mend. A man’s dog ran off when the dome dropped. Mitsuko helped him track it through the park and bring the scared pooch home. A young man was passed out on the side of the street, drunk. Mitsuko dragged him out of the traffic and positioned him so he slept safely, casting Mend to remove the hardened bits of puke from his clothes.

  “You stated before that you had a plan?” Sterling said after she bought a pastry for a scrawny beggar. “Not that your actions aren’t admirable, but I remind you this will all be undone at the end of the week.”

  “Originally, I wanted to investigate Coleo,” Mitsuko said to the cat as she continued to wander. “But since that didn’t pan out, I think getting a lay of the land will help me locate the sage. If there’s a temple in the city, I thought I might feel some sort of pull if I walked close. I remember you beckoning me forward on Ashen Island.”

  “Isolating your soul was easy,” Sterling said. “There were less than two hundred people on the entire island. You shouldn’t expect a repeat of that. Which is good, since that means the guardian also can’t detect your soul while camouflaged by the throngs.” Mitsuko thought he was done speaking on the topic. But then heard him mutter an additional statement after a few seconds. “Well…so long as there wasn’t a soul mage chosen as a guardian.”

  “Wait, you don’t know who the guardians are either?” she asked

  “They were not part of the original design.” Sterling sniffed.

  “Then I can’t even use a question to uncover their identities?”

  “No. Obviously I cannot give you information I, myself, am not privy to. Though should you ask, I can reveal the location of the sages. That would undoubtedly lead you to encounter the guardian as well.”

  “You knew Rodrick,” Mitsuko pointed out. “The juggernaut who was guarding you.”

  “Of course I knew that guardian. I recognized him on sight. He’s a historical figure of great renown famously known as the Mage Breaker. More than one battle was decided simply by virtue of his presence on the field. Once, I even met the man in person. As stiff of a conversationalist as you might assume, might I add.”

  Not for the first time, Mitsuko dearly missed Wan. The scholar contained a vast pool of historical knowledge that would be invaluable in picking apart the identities of these guardians based on small clues. Assuming they were all historical figures like Rodrick.

  “Can Mend fix my friend, Wan?” Mitsuko asked Sterling.

  “No. If he was a normal golem, you would be able to restore broken functions; however, artifacts recovered from within the depths of the World Dungeon interact with my magic differently. I am afraid I know of no way to restore him until the end of the Prismatic Spiral.”

  Unfortunate. But also unsurprising.

  Then Mitsuko spotted a short man with white makeup pass by the alley exit. He wore oversized floppy shoes, a polka dot outfit, and a bright red ball on his nose.

  “Where are you going?” Sterling quickly padded after her. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to go track another lost puppy? I still have yet to remove all the slobber from my fur from the last one.”

  “Another lead I want to follow up on,” Mitsuko said.

  15 more chapters on my !!