Prologue of Part 2
Kei's Office Blues
Another Hire
The first recorded use of what we call magic is during the assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan. The assassination was done through a clever use of a Japanese Kappa. Investigation revealed the contractor captured a Japanese Kappa, and made it sleep under a pond where the Japanese Prime Minister was making his speech.
Through a hypnotizing spell. The Japanese Assassin tricked the Kappa into thinking the Prime Minister was him. Upon seeing the face of the Assassin on the Prime Minister’s face. The Kappa, out of nowhere, thinking its the one who captured it; in blind rage locked its limb on the body of the Prime Minister, and threw itself deep on the pond where the Prime Minister drowned to his death.
Monsters are common already during that time. However, the appearance of monsters being used to assassinate a political figure caused a raging fire on the political landscape of Japan, leading to Sorcerers getting power as they became trusted confidants, leading to the resurrection of Imperial Japan. Contractors, who dominate their familiars, are under contract with these familiars who act as their conduits. You can call them warlocks, but there are cases now where certain lineages tracing back from the ancient era have the ability to manifest power.
Warlocks who made pacts with the otherworldly.
Sorcerers who use their bloodline to recover lost power.
Magelings who are learners of spells.
And why am I talking about this?
You see, Kei, my Boss, who I’ve been with for the past few months, has decided to hire another member of the office after the recent cases where we are always under threat.
Tall and fit. My new colleague carries himself with cautiousness and has the attitude of someone who is clearly still new to Changye’s grubby ways. Carrying a spellblade, a thin single-edged sword with a hilt containing a gem infused with his blood.
Marvin Shi, mageling, another migrant from the Imperial Japanese mainland who crossed the sea to live in Changye. He’s a welsh whose family migrated to Japan before and carries a Japanese surname, but carries himself with the behavior of a Japanese.
He’s a new recruit of the 7S’s and Sato recommended him. He is the youngest in the office now and his job is to help in matters regarding the supernatural and act as another pair of arms for us. Fighting anomalies and monsters, hells, encountering them has been a headache for everyone in the office. It doesn't hurt to have a spell-wielder around.
“Thank you for accepting. I hope you’ll take care of me.”
He shifts his eyes on Eta who is eyeing him. Eta’s a tall woman of Mediterranean heritage and you don’t have to be perceptive to understand how she can be dangerous if given the right chance. He'd want to earn her trust, so have to spend the next three months under observation to impress her.
Kei already explained it to him. Eta has no opinion of Marvin until he finishes his probation. After the introductions, I went out with Marvin for some food while they went to meet with another client.
A noodle shop in Asobe Street. Five minutes away from the office building. Full of customers who are sitting close enough you’d wonder why we even eat here. Marvin paid for two beef bowls. Prepared his beef bowl with condiments and took a slurp.
“Is it a work tradition?”
“What is?”
“The 3-month probation?”
“Yeah. Not bad actually. I wouldn’t trust you until then. Thanks for the food though.”
His eyes twitch for a moment. He relaxes and takes it in stride.
“Sato told me what the office did for the past few months. It’s crazy. Fighting a demon and then participating in an undead plague.”
“Not really that crazy. Undead uprising in Changye is a dime a dozen.”
“Yeah. But not like this.”
I think back. The news does make people think it’s some other thing when it’s not really special in any sort of standard. I do understand it’s being told as this super special event because of the Anomaly who got consumed by the Dreadlord. Most of the mentions also say the appearance of the Graded Agents alone is enough to make it a non-standard undead plague.
“Guess it isn’t.”
“Right? So how was it?”
“Bloody and grim. Don’t want to talk about it though.”
He takes a drink. Marvin’s eyes went on the menu. He raises a hand and orders a draft of beer. It’s afternoon. Most of the salarymen are back from their offices, meeting with the coworkers, and spending cash for today.
It’s rather easy to get to know Marvin. He’s five years younger, fresh from Bureau-affiliated mageling school, and only had jobs from OB and the TCU under his belt. Most of them are the usual eliminations. From a loose ghoul entering a house. Chasing a humanoid cryptid away. Defending lower-class folk from the usual mutant threat. There are many kinds of jobs. But in Marvin’s case, I wonder why he took this kind of job when it’s clear it’s not really someone who got out of an OB-affiliated training school to have.
“I have a wife. We graduated from the same OB-school and well things went out of plan and I got her pregnant.”
"Quite a bombshell."
The ring on his left hand made sense now. His tone also is soft and makes it clear how he cherishes them. Having a kid in this era is hard. The world’s so troublesome that choosing to raise a kid is something many of us cowards don’t choose to do so.
“Is she still in labor?”
“Yeah.”
“I see. Huge respect then, brother. Guess that answers some of my questions why you’re dumb enough to enter our office. I’m going to be straight, the pay’s good, but who knows what anomaly we’ll have to investigate?”
Marvin’ face tightened for the first time. I didn’t stop and told him how awful our last cases were and yet as I talk I realize he seems more determined than ever.
I wonder if Sato picked him up before he got into trouble? If anything, Sato seems to have talent picking up folks like us who are in some kind of a mess.
***
A client visited us. Marvin asked me how they somewhat find the office in Asobe Street when we don’t have a sign is something I never did figure out for myself.
Client is a female around her 20s. She is working as a cashier on Soma boulevard and her boss told her to visit our office after seeing another space in their store.
“Another space? Explain this to me.”
The client explains it in her customer service voice. Her tone stammers once in a while, but I can tell she's trying to her her head around this new space appearing on their store.
“I mean that literally. We have a small warehouse, but one day another space opened up. The space is empty. There are no goods in there and yet if you continue to walk down the room. You’ll find a cashier.”
“A cashier?”
“Yes. A cashier selling… something.”
“Something?”
“Yes.”
She takes an orb from her pocket. It's a translucent orb with a tiny piece inside it. This piece is a miniature person floating counter-clockwise inside the orb.
“What is that?”
“My co-worker. He was the one who got into the store first. The security guard made his way to the cashier and asked for it. The boss paid for the marble.”
“That easy?”
“The space got bigger when we bought something. It calls them as marbles.”
Kei joins her finger while Eta is trying hard to figure out what’s causing the space to expand.
“Have you called any operatives? Agents? The church?”
“We did.”
“What happened?”
“They became marbles too.”
“We’ll take the case. Please leave your contact number to my Assistant. We’ll call you once we’re on the place. If possible, please don’t call anyone else.”
“Thank you.”
Eta and Kei wrote up the contract. The client then handed me her contact number. She got out of the office quickly and vanished within the crowd below as I followed her out of the office.
“Another area-type anomaly.”
“You accepted it, Boss. Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”
Kei shrugs at Eta and then leans back.
“Everything is dangerous. But anoms like this sell a lot. Limited spaces have become a problem and now many idiots want to find ways to make use of these anoms to create a room of holding they can store whatever they want.”
“I don’t want us turning into marbles.”
“We won’t. We just need to look around. If she got the marbles and showed it to us. It means we can get out. Need to see the rules, how things work, and maybe we can figure something out.”
Kei gets a jacket and then taps her teleforce cane on the floor.
“We’ll head there now. All of us. Marv here can join us. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Just call me, Kei.”
“Same. Just call me Eta. I don’t mind.”
“Just call him Akun.”
“Akun?”
I sighed at the nickname they’ve given me. I shrugged and followed my colleagues to the service train.
Soma Boulevard has a large space Corralled with glass buildings on both sides. Traffic here moves slowly and not many here wear poor choices of clothes since they consider this as a place where you do proper business in lower Changye most of the time.
Cafes, restaurants, and fancy bars full of suit-wearing businessmen and accountants trying to one-up another. The store’s located deep into the boulevard, next to this squarish white building.
I called the client and told her we’re in the store. The owner of the store got out and told us where the entrance was.
The door’s normal, but when we opened it, the space was larger than expected. The size of an indoor basketball court. There is no merchandise, only the cashier with a black square head. To put it bluntly, staring at it makes you feel dizzy.
Marvin snaps. He takes a step back and draws a sigil of resistance, empowering our minds. The cashier frowns. Kei stares down the cashier, her eyes never leaving on the cashier’s black-squared face.
“So what’s your merchandise?”
The cashier is talking. I can’t read minds, but Kei seems to be speaking to the cashier through some sort of method. Kei is vocalizing her words though.
“That’s it? No merchandise, no anything? Do you even sell anything at all?”
She takes the stance of an annoying customer. The kind of customer who makes you want to cover your ears. Eta, who seems to get what she is trying to do, stands silently while Kei makes her play.
“I have to walk to get to the cashier. The space is too big and you only have the counter? And look at this? What’s with the marbles? It doesn’t make sense at all. And before you get any ideas, Mister. We aren’t for sale or are you implying something? Oh, you really are thinking about it!? Is it! You are in trouble!”
If the black-squared anomaly working as a cashier for this place has a face, then it’s probably a face of frustration. The unreasonable words Kei is spouting is quite typical for the kind of customers nobody likes.
“And what’s with the face? Are you trying to scare us? Huh, is this a scam? Are you trying to scam us? Not only does the reception sucks, but you don’t have the courtesy to answer me with a mouth! You’re trying to probe my thoughts? You are violating my privacy! That’s it! I want to see your manager, right now!”
The anomaly’s confused. It didn't know what to do and merely tried to copy what it saw during the day and night transactions of the store. It tried to create a manager, but Kei simply made more unreasonable demands and before we knew it. The anomaly’s black-squared head shattered and the marbles being sold by the anomaly returned.
After solving the problem, Kei told me on the way back to Asobe Street that space-type anomalies usually have a core and just like the anomaly warehouse, they rely on the idea the anomaly got drilled into its head and usually only through being unreasonable do you shatter their ideas.
Anomalies are pretenders. They are so unnatural that being unreasonable itself is usually the bane of their existence.
“And if it didn’t work and we got turned into marble?”
“Then we’re dead. Space-type anoms are either easily thwarted like this or even more warped than we could think. I just simply gambled it’s the easier type of anomaly instead of the kind where a demon throws us into the sky kind of one.”
Kei makes a devilish smile as she said. Marvin’s face looks terrible, knowing his new Boss might have just gambled with our lives so easily.
And I have to admit it to myself.
I still don’t know how these anomalies function beyond what Kei and Eta already encountered.
Will she continue to gamble away?
Prologue of Part 2
Kei's Office Blues
Another Hire
The first recorded use of what we call magic is during the assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan. The assassination was done through a clever use of a Japanese Kappa. Investigation revealed the contractor captured a Japanese Kappa, and made it sleep under a pond where the Japanese Prime Minister was making his speech.
Through a hypnotizing spell. The Japanese Assassin tricked the Kappa into thinking the Prime Minister was him. Upon seeing the face of the Assassin on the Prime Minister’s face. The Kappa, out of nowhere, thinking its the one who captured it; in blind rage locked its limb on the body of the Prime Minister, and threw itself deep on the pond where the Prime Minister drowned to his death.
Monsters are common already during that time. However, the appearance of monsters being used to assassinate a political figure caused a raging fire on the political landscape of Japan, leading to Sorcerers getting power as they became trusted confidants, leading to the resurrection of Imperial Japan. Contractors, who dominate their familiars, are under contract with these familiars who act as their conduits. You can call them warlocks, but there are cases now where certain lineages tracing back from the ancient era have the ability to manifest power.
Warlocks who made pacts with the otherworldly.
Sorcerers who use their bloodline to recover lost power.
Magelings who are learners of spells.
And why am I talking about this?
You see, Kei, my Boss, who I’ve been with for the past few months, has decided to hire another member of the office after the recent cases where we are always under threat.
Tall and fit. My new colleague carries himself with cautiousness and has the attitude of someone who is clearly still new to Changye’s grubby ways. Carrying a spellblade, a thin single-edged sword with a hilt containing a gem infused with his blood.
Marvin Shi, mageling, another migrant from the Imperial Japanese mainland who crossed the sea to live in Changye. He’s a welsh whose family migrated to Japan before and carries a Japanese surname, but carries himself with the behavior of a Japanese.
He’s a new recruit of the 7S’s and Sato recommended him. He is the youngest in the office now and his job is to help in matters regarding the supernatural and act as another pair of arms for us. Fighting anomalies and monsters, hells, encountering them has been a headache for everyone in the office. It doesn't hurt to have a spell-wielder around.
“Thank you for accepting. I hope you’ll take care of me.”
He shifts his eyes on Eta who is eyeing him. Eta’s a tall woman of Mediterranean heritage and you don’t have to be perceptive to understand how she can be dangerous if given the right chance. He'd want to earn her trust, so have to spend the next three months under observation to impress her.
Kei already explained it to him. Eta has no opinion of Marvin until he finishes his probation. After the introductions, I went out with Marvin for some food while they went to meet with another client.
A noodle shop in Asobe Street. Five minutes away from the office building. Full of customers who are sitting close enough you’d wonder why we even eat here. Marvin paid for two beef bowls. Prepared his beef bowl with condiments and took a slurp.
“Is it a work tradition?”
“What is?”
“The 3-month probation?”
“Yeah. Not bad actually. I wouldn’t trust you until then. Thanks for the food though.”
His eyes twitch for a moment. He relaxes and takes it in stride.
“Sato told me what the office did for the past few months. It’s crazy. Fighting a demon and then participating in an undead plague.”
“Not really that crazy. Undead uprising in Changye is a dime a dozen.”
“Yeah. But not like this.”
I think back. The news does make people think it’s some other thing when it’s not really special in any sort of standard. I do understand it’s being told as this super special event because of the Anomaly who got consumed by the Dreadlord. Most of the mentions also say the appearance of the Graded Agents alone is enough to make it a non-standard undead plague.
“Guess it isn’t.”
“Right? So how was it?”
“Bloody and grim. Don’t want to talk about it though.”
He takes a drink. Marvin’s eyes went on the menu. He raises a hand and orders a draft of beer. It’s afternoon. Most of the salarymen are back from their offices, meeting with the coworkers, and spending cash for today.
It’s rather easy to get to know Marvin. He’s five years younger, fresh from Bureau-affiliated mageling school, and only had jobs from OB and the TCU under his belt. Most of them are the usual eliminations. From a loose ghoul entering a house. Chasing a humanoid cryptid away. Defending lower-class folk from the usual mutant threat. There are many kinds of jobs. But in Marvin’s case, I wonder why he took this kind of job when it’s clear it’s not really someone who got out of an OB-affiliated training school to have.
“I have a wife. We graduated from the same OB-school and well things went out of plan and I got her pregnant.”
"Quite a bombshell."
The ring on his left hand made sense now. His tone also is soft and makes it clear how he cherishes them. Having a kid in this era is hard. The world’s so troublesome that choosing to raise a kid is something many of us cowards don’t choose to do so.
“Is she still in labor?”
“Yeah.”
“I see. Huge respect then, brother. Guess that answers some of my questions why you’re dumb enough to enter our office. I’m going to be straight, the pay’s good, but who knows what anomaly we’ll have to investigate?”
Marvin’ face tightened for the first time. I didn’t stop and told him how awful our last cases were and yet as I talk I realize he seems more determined than ever.
I wonder if Sato picked him up before he got into trouble? If anything, Sato seems to have talent picking up folks like us who are in some kind of a mess.
***
A client visited us. Marvin asked me how they somewhat find the office in Asobe Street when we don’t have a sign is something I never did figure out for myself.
Client is a female around her 20s. She is working as a cashier on Soma boulevard and her boss told her to visit our office after seeing another space in their store.
“Another space? Explain this to me.”
The client explains it in her customer service voice. Her tone stammers once in a while, but I can tell she's trying to her her head around this new space appearing on their store.
“I mean that literally. We have a small warehouse, but one day another space opened up. The space is empty. There are no goods in there and yet if you continue to walk down the room. You’ll find a cashier.”
“A cashier?”
“Yes. A cashier selling… something.”
“Something?”
“Yes.”
She takes an orb from her pocket. It's a translucent orb with a tiny piece inside it. This piece is a miniature person floating counter-clockwise inside the orb.
“What is that?”
“My co-worker. He was the one who got into the store first. The security guard made his way to the cashier and asked for it. The boss paid for the marble.”
“That easy?”
“The space got bigger when we bought something. It calls them as marbles.”
Kei joins her finger while Eta is trying hard to figure out what’s causing the space to expand.
“Have you called any operatives? Agents? The church?”
“We did.”
“What happened?”
“They became marbles too.”
“We’ll take the case. Please leave your contact number to my Assistant. We’ll call you once we’re on the place. If possible, please don’t call anyone else.”
“Thank you.”
Eta and Kei wrote up the contract. The client then handed me her contact number. She got out of the office quickly and vanished within the crowd below as I followed her out of the office.
“Another area-type anomaly.”
“You accepted it, Boss. Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”
Kei shrugs at Eta and then leans back.
“Everything is dangerous. But anoms like this sell a lot. Limited spaces have become a problem and now many idiots want to find ways to make use of these anoms to create a room of holding they can store whatever they want.”
“I don’t want us turning into marbles.”
“We won’t. We just need to look around. If she got the marbles and showed it to us. It means we can get out. Need to see the rules, how things work, and maybe we can figure something out.”
Kei gets a jacket and then taps her teleforce cane on the floor.
“We’ll head there now. All of us. Marv here can join us. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Just call me, Kei.”
“Same. Just call me Eta. I don’t mind.”
“Just call him Akun.”
“Akun?”
I sighed at the nickname they’ve given me. I shrugged and followed my colleagues to the service train.
Soma Boulevard has a large space Corralled with glass buildings on both sides. Traffic here moves slowly and not many here wear poor choices of clothes since they consider this as a place where you do proper business in lower Changye most of the time.
Cafes, restaurants, and fancy bars full of suit-wearing businessmen and accountants trying to one-up another. The store’s located deep into the boulevard, next to this squarish white building.
I called the client and told her we’re in the store. The owner of the store got out and told us where the entrance was.
The door’s normal, but when we opened it, the space was larger than expected. The size of an indoor basketball court. There is no merchandise, only the cashier with a black square head. To put it bluntly, staring at it makes you feel dizzy.
Marvin snaps. He takes a step back and draws a sigil of resistance, empowering our minds. The cashier frowns. Kei stares down the cashier, her eyes never leaving on the cashier’s black-squared face.
“So what’s your merchandise?”
The cashier is talking. I can’t read minds, but Kei seems to be speaking to the cashier through some sort of method. Kei is vocalizing her words though.
“That’s it? No merchandise, no anything? Do you even sell anything at all?”
She takes the stance of an annoying customer. The kind of customer who makes you want to cover your ears. Eta, who seems to get what she is trying to do, stands silently while Kei makes her play.
“I have to walk to get to the cashier. The space is too big and you only have the counter? And look at this? What’s with the marbles? It doesn’t make sense at all. And before you get any ideas, Mister. We aren’t for sale or are you implying something? Oh, you really are thinking about it!? Is it! You are in trouble!”
If the black-squared anomaly working as a cashier for this place has a face, then it’s probably a face of frustration. The unreasonable words Kei is spouting is quite typical for the kind of customers nobody likes.
“And what’s with the face? Are you trying to scare us? Huh, is this a scam? Are you trying to scam us? Not only does the reception sucks, but you don’t have the courtesy to answer me with a mouth! You’re trying to probe my thoughts? You are violating my privacy! That’s it! I want to see your manager, right now!”
The anomaly’s confused. It didn't know what to do and merely tried to copy what it saw during the day and night transactions of the store. It tried to create a manager, but Kei simply made more unreasonable demands and before we knew it. The anomaly’s black-squared head shattered and the marbles being sold by the anomaly returned.
After solving the problem, Kei told me on the way back to Asobe Street that space-type anomalies usually have a core and just like the anomaly warehouse, they rely on the idea the anomaly got drilled into its head and usually only through being unreasonable do you shatter their ideas.
Anomalies are pretenders. They are so unnatural that being unreasonable itself is usually the bane of their existence.
“And if it didn’t work and we got turned into marble?”
“Then we’re dead. Space-type anoms are either easily thwarted like this or even more warped than we could think. I just simply gambled it’s the easier type of anomaly instead of the kind where a demon throws us into the sky kind of one.”
Kei makes a devilish smile as she said. Marvin’s face looks terrible, knowing his new Boss might have just gambled with our lives so easily.
And I have to admit it to myself.
I still don’t know how these anomalies function beyond what Kei and Eta already encountered.
Will she continue to gamble away?
