I Will Show You Magic
"So in the end, you bought a whole pile of clothes."
We were on our way back from shopping, walking the darkening streets together, when Sinel spoke up at the sight of the bags hanging from my hands.
She wasn't wrong. I'd bought quite a few outfits today. Some were for everyday wear; others were disposable clothes prepared for the day of the operation. Most of them had come from the street stalls nearby.
"I barely had anything to wear."
"The clothes you have on now look good on you, too."
"That so."
Looked good on me, did they. Considering the fashion sense of a woman who wore goggles on her head, I wasn't sure how much stock to put in the compliment. Even accounting for her skewed aesthetic, though, there was something to work with. The raw material was on the cute side, after all. I figured she could pull off just about anything to a certain degree.
"But why did you buy a gun?"
Sinel's gaze shifted from the shopping bags to my coat. Before we'd gone clothes shopping, I'd stopped by James's junk shop and picked up another firearm — a handgun with a structure similar to the one I already used.
"Needed a spare."
"A spare."
"Yeah. A spare."
The gun I already had still worked fine. But every fired round left rifling marks. I had no idea how long I'd need to keep my identity hidden, and I couldn't just go around carelessly using the same weapon. Usher and Ney had moved with us more than once, and they weren't with the Security Force — if they ever started tracing our tracks, this kind of precaution was essential.
"Well, I bought a spare too."
Sinel said it while running her fingers along her dagger. Unlike the one she'd carried before, this one looked refined from the first glance. According to her, she'd poured most of her salary into it. It wouldn't be enough for top-of-the-line gear even on her pay, but for equipment meant for actual combat, it was solidly high-end.
"You like it?"
"It's a cool piece."
"Cool, huh. Well. Fair enough."
"Yes. I'll show you."
With a soft whick, the dagger came free in her hand, drawn from midair. The sharp blade gleamed right in front of my face. Feeling uneasy about it was only natural — but she looked like nothing more than someone showing off a new toy. I smiled and waved her off.
"That's dangerous. Cut the horseplay."
"Yes."
With a soft click, the drawn dagger slid back into its sheath. Sinel tucked the put-away blade into her coat. Even without using Haste, the motion was remarkably sharp. Whether it came from years of hunting criminals or something else, the draw itself felt honed. Every so often I was reminded of the ruthless hunter I'd almost managed to forget she was.
"Sinel."
"Yes, Boss."
"Still no thoughts on taking leave?"
I brought up the morning's question again as she finished stowing the dagger. I could have just given her orders and moved on without asking. But I didn't want to treat a colleague I trusted that way. The choice was hers, end of story.
"I'm fine."
And her answer was the same as before. No need to force a vacation on her. She'd stuck to my side all day and still showed no sign of wanting distance.
"Working all day has to be exhausting."
"It's fun. It doesn't matter yet."
"…"
"And without me, you'd be in danger, Boss."
She wasn't exactly wrong. I dropped the subject. If it really came down to it, telling her the truth was always an option.
A full moon was rising into the darkening red sky.
An empty, pitch-dark rooftop.
I leaned against the wall by the stairwell door and made a call. The person on the other end was a familiar face from past dealings — Brian Layle, the information broker who collected underworld intel. Same as before, I meant to put a simple request to him.
The dial tone rang in my ear for a moment, then the line connected.
"What is it? Another rush job for intel?"
Brian's voice came through the phone. Late evening — he sounded like he was drinking something, maybe a beer, the sound of a swallow mixed in with his words.
"Brian. I've got a favor to ask."
"A favor? What kind of favor?"
The word favor shifted his tone. Not long ago I'd asked him to find me someone who could write a program. He was clearly bracing for another trivial errand. Unfortunately for him, his guess was right on the money.
"I'd like you to quietly get me a gas mask. Just one."
"Look, client — how many times do I have to say it? I'm not an errand boy."
I'd asked him for a gas mask to cover my face. Brian didn't seem thrilled about the request, airing his complaints in something close to a joke. Even when he griped about petty work, though, there was always a way.
I spoke the thing Brian would want most right into the mic.
"A thousand credits."
"But you know what? Today I feel like running errands."
Click. I hung up the moment I had his confirmation.
Today's shopping with Sinel had covered the clothes. Through Brian, I'd secured a mask to hide my face. The outfit for the day of the operation was no longer a problem. All that remained was to lock down the plan itself.
"You're on the roof again tonight."
The rooftop door clanked open and Sinel stepped through. Whether she'd learned from catching a cold the night before, she'd zipped her jacket all the way up this time. She walked straight over and took her place at my side.
"Where's Blackie?"
"Blackie's asleep."
"Be careful not to catch another cold."
"I will. I won't be a burden anymore."
So the illness still weighed on her. She might have thought of it as a weakness, but I'd never once considered Sinel herself a burden. If anyone was the burden, it was more likely me. Our combat power alone was a considerable gap.
"Sinel."
"Yes."
"You're not a burden."
"…"
"And I don't abandon my people."
Her expression shifted into something hard to read. Ripples began to spread across the still-water surface of her usual blank face. How long had it been since I'd seen her look emotional? Surprising as it was, I couldn't help focusing on whatever she was about to say next.
"Boss."
"Yeah."
"Did you meet Spinel yesterday?"
The question that came out of her mouth was unexpected. She must have overheard the conversation Spinel and I had shared the night before with her own ears. I had no intention of telling a lie that would only get me caught, so I simply admitted it.
"…I did. We talked for a fair while, too."
"Then — have you decided to work with Spinel?"
Only then did I understand why she'd brought up the word burden. Why she'd insisted she didn't need leave, too. Sinel was afraid right now.
"For this operation, yes. Everything after that depends entirely on Spinel."
She was afraid I'd choose Spinel over her and cast her aside. That was the conclusion she'd drawn from the conversation she'd overheard last night. The worry was pointed in completely the wrong direction from the start. I was about to push back against her thinking when she added more to it herself.
"Boss… you're fighting something right now, aren't you?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I've been watching from the side this whole time. It looked like you were chasing something."
I looked back over the time since I'd arrived here. Sinel and I had fought through quite a few battles together. Some of them had even been in cooperation with the Security Force. From everything she'd seen, she'd pieced it together — that I was watching something that lived in the underbelly of this city.
"Sinel."
"Yes."
I couldn't lay everything out from the beginning. What was I supposed to tell her? I started trimming the flood of words in my head one by one. Excuses and comfort weren't what she needed.
"A massive war is about to start in this city."
"…A massive war."
"Countless heroes will die, and just as many villains will fall."
"Is that so."
War City. True to the name of the work, this city would be swept up in conflict between factions. Heroes who'd made their names would die off one after another. Against the unprecedented disaster that was the Cabal, the city hadn't lasted long. That was what the Cabal was — something closer to a natural disaster than an organization. And through that long war, the protagonist Usher Hayes would end up with nothing but a scarred conclusion.
"I want to survive to the end of that brutal war."
Together with all of you.
At the words that followed, Sinel's eyes trembled faintly. There was no need to spell out who you meant. Sinel never doubted the information I held. I'd worn the name of information broker this whole time and kept delivering her results.
"Is the enemy the Cabal?"
"You know it well."
"Then Spinel is going to be in danger from now on."
Which was why I'd told Spinel a few lies — to save her. How she'd react later, I didn't know, but that was a problem for further down the line. Right now, handling what was in front of me came first.
"Probably."
"Is it for Spinel?"
"No. It's for you."
I leaned against the railing, gone cold under the winter wind. Beneath the breeze sliding past my back, Sinel's gaze looking up at me caught my eye. A glittering sky. Ash-gray hair stirring under it. The more I looked, the more these sisters seemed like something out of a spell.
"For me…"
"Because you want it. So I decided to save her."
"It'll be dangerous."
"It will. That's what the Cabal is."
I was certain any number of dangers were coming. How many people had died in that short story alone? This was a fate anyone living in the city would have to face. We might even brush against death more than once in the operation just ahead.
"I'm not joking. Spinel is genuinely strong. And… her comrades will be strong too."
A 6th-Circle mage. And a 7th-Circle mage. Numbers that made the mind go blank just imagining them. I could understand why Sinel thought it was dangerous. And yet the reason I didn't run from that danger was, paradoxically, because magic existed in this world. Magic here wasn't some legend from old stories. Miracle-working magic was real, and it was wrought by a mage's hands. And I was one of those mages.
"Sinel. Sinel Cloverbloom."
"Yes, Boss."
"I am a mage."
"…"
I lifted my head and looked up at the night sky. Under the bright moonlight, countless stars glittered. Watching them, I reached a hand toward that sky full of light. The vast expanse that had once held nothing for me to grasp now felt like something I might, just a little, be able to catch hold of.
"So I'll show you magic."
We looked at the same sky, and yet the futures we dreamed of were different. Even so, we kept walking toward those futures — to finally catch, with our own hands, the glitter shining thousands of light-years ahead.