We went back to the railside, still invisible to the eyes of the various guards and few people that come by the station, "There's one thing that vexes me about Cornelius' case though."
"And that is?"
She stopped and looked at the walls beside the tracks, "Traces of magical energy are kept within parts of the body. High speed impact spreads them around, like blood. They're hard to get rid of even with specialized tools. And most of the time no one really does it, it's everywhere in the air anyway. But…" She held out her hand towards the tracks and felt the air around it, "There's nothing there."
I squatted down, eyes fixed on the rails, "That would suggest a lot that he was killed there, no?" But still, there was something wrong about it. If what she said is true, that there's a seemingly void-like emptiness of mana in that field then they must have a reason for it. I reached my hand out and felt the mana structure.
She was right, there really was nothing there. Compared to the rest of the station that seemed packed with mana due to the influx of people around it day by day, the railway tracks just feel so empty, "Odd." I continued, "We should check out the other stations, just in case."
"Right. It's not as though trains need magical fields to operate. Nor is it particularly troubling to have them freely be around tracks. That there's such a huge void of it here is an anomaly." She started to walk away, and I followed after her, "Zegrus, my dear assistant."
"Yes?" Why did she refer to me so endearingly? "Is something the matter?"
"That self disciplined nature of yours, how far will you take it?" She walked ahead of me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking behind that fountain of hair.
"Only what's necessary, when it's necessary. I believe that's how it should be, right?" I argued, "And even if I were put in a position where I need to go all out, it wouldn't hurt at all. I guess that's a loophole you can use against me. If you were to put your wand to my head right now and threaten to kill me if I don't go all out, then I'd be forced to oblige to the best of my abilities."
"No. Even if I were to threaten you, you'd find a way around it. You'd HAVE to find a way around it. Run that by me again, if I were to threaten you. If I were to put my wand right at your forehead and threaten to blast a hole in your cranium, would you comply?"
I thought for a moment about my next answer, then it hit me, "I would summon a stick from my free hands and knock you out with it. That's what I would do." I wondered if I was fast enough to actually do that, if ever. I wasn't a particularly fast man, and I'm more reliant on my projections than I realized.
"Or perhaps a taser would work?" She countered, or perhaps, she was throwing the idea back around to me.
"A taser would work, yes. But that would be too much. That would be indulgence. If all it took was a stick to knock you down, then I would use a stick. If all it took was my fists, then I'd use my fists. But I don't even think you're that delicate."
"No, you're right. But would you be able to tell at a glance?"
She got me there.
In truth, I wouldn't. Even if my projection skills are almost omnipotent in nature at this point, I still had to take my time to study my opponents. The fact that I don't regard Yuki as an opponent despite the fact that I fought her before does speak some wonder about it. Should I, or should I not? Or perhaps I would know more about her moving forward, we're gonna stick by each other a lot, after all, "I wouldn't."
"Then that's the problem, isn't it? Excessive force at first contact is used not in indulgence but in care." That was her take, but would I be able to accept it? She spoke as if it was a situation where we were forced to do just that.
"I don't think we're always gonna be in that sort of situation anyway. I suppose the path to ascetic enlightenment is paved by the choices we make. And the choices we make shouldn't have to lead into violence that we cannot resolve without excessive violence."
She scoffed, "Obviously. But it's a what-if scenario. 'What if we were put into a scenario where we have no choice but to use excessive force'. That kind."
"Then, in a roundabout manner, aren't you just arguing the same thing as when you would put your wand to my head and blast a hole through my cranium?"
She stopped in her tracks, "You got me," then she breathed deeply, "Listen, I picked you up from the Ame-No-Ukihashi for a reason, and it's because only the best of the best ever come through there. You were sent here directly, were you not?"
"Woah woah, what are you talking about?" Sent here directly? Best of the best? All I knew is that I was sentenced to death, what is she talking about here now?
"Huh?" She turned around and looked me dead in the eyes, "Is that not what the Ame-no-Ukihashi is for? People that come through there are some of the best that the outside world has to offer. World shapers, changers. Those that can shift the tides of Takamagahara drastically."
"I… don't know what you're talking about. When I was thrown here I assumed it was because I was sentenced to death, not because I was going to shift the tides of this city. I, in all honesty, just want to relax now, that's all."
She narrowed her eyes, I almost felt as though she could read minds with how deeply she bored into my soul, "I see." She said, "That's certainly a surprise. But you did prove your mettle when we fought. Still, your asceticism troubles me."
I couldn't argue about that. The lifestyle I chose does not align at all with the way people are nowadays. Especially her, but now I was wondering about her, "Do you want to change something in this city?"
"No, it's not me that desires that change. But if you look around for one second, the faces of the people are full of discontentment. They want something here that they can't get anywhere else, because there is no anywhere else. It's brewing, isn't it?"
"What is?" I asked, eyes firmly rested on her beautiful hair, before snapping back and staring into her eyes.
"The return."
We stood there, her triumphant words hung in the air, waiting to be acknowledged, "Can you tell me what that is?" I was left blank.
"It is when a miracle happens, somewhere from the East of Takamagahara. My father spoke about it, Drina spoke about it, I believe even my mother waited for it before she passed. But I don't know what that miracle would be." Her eyes were downcast, before she turned back around and headed further towards Shiisaa station.
That miracle, whatever it would be, I wonder if that will happen in our lifetime. She said it was brewing, but I wasn't sure myself. I only spent one day in this city so far, and it seemed there's no source of discontent for the people here. It might be because it was christmas day, and all the worries in the hearts of people were washed away.
If only for a brief moment, I get to see the city in its most innocent.
I stared out the window of the station, the orange afternoon glow of the sun rested on us. However no shadows were cast by us, our invisibility made that trick work. Incorporeal to the world, only seekers, spectators to the greater terror that lurked within the city's heart. Still, I had no clue why it was called Takamagahara in the first place.
I tried to tap into my inner encyclopedic knowledge, but came out blank. Even for my love of terrible trivia, it never occurred to me to fully study the depths of mythology. Still, the names seemed familiar, but it didn't occur to me to ask. Or rather, it wasn't really the time to be asking such questions. The city, whatever it was, was going to change soon, and I feel like the case we were tackling was the beginning of it.
She stopped in front of Shiisaa station's tracks and held her hand out to feel the mana that dwell within it. She breathed for a moment, her hair and clothes seemed like being taken away by the wind, or rather the mana currents that flowed around her. Then she breathed out, and it all stopped, "Jiangshi Station is an anomaly." She finally declared.