Steel Trim
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Engineering, Magic, and Kitsune Ch. 62
🕑 Added 2026-01-07 05:34:34 +0000 UTCThey were only left alone for a few minutes.
Yuki perked first, ears swivelling to some unknown noise before turning to face a seemingly empty road a second later. "We are all agreed that I will handle this, yes?" she asked, and both John and Rin gave her quick nods.
It was a half minute later when Aiki and Haru returned, a small squad of armoured, tense men following behind them. At their head was Sergeant Yashiro, and shortly behind him was his second in command.
What was that man's name again? He wanted to say something that started with an ‘Ik’ noise, but he felt he could be excused, given his lack of time to sharpen his social skills. Besides, John was supposed to be an Unbound anyhow; his forgetting the name of some random person was probably expected and quickly forgiven.
"Sergeant Yashiro!" John greeted, stepping forward. Of course, this caused everyone in the group to freeze, like dogs about to be struck by a cruel owner. Right. He had almost forgotten how scared to shit everyone was of them, especially after Yuki's little war crime.
John stared at the men and, after that moment of hesitation, they hurried over with a spring in their steps?
"Lady Yuki, Lord John!" Yashiro greeted them and bowed deeply, but something was off. It wasn't the stiff, almost automatic bow John’s group had previously received. No, the man and his troop bowed deeply and freely, without a hint of hesitation. "We had gotten worried after you left so suddenly. These two," the sergeant rose, gesturing to Aiki and Haru, "told us you would like help with something. Is it time to start giving back what Shirai's pack of—" he glanced at Yuki, clearly deciding to avoid whatever swear he was about to say. "Tax collectors took?"
Now that John thought of it, these poor folk had dealt with that lot for how long? It should have been no surprise that they'd have no issue with the sheer amount of violence Yuki inflicted after seeing the effects the "tax collectors" had on the rest of their town. Hell, they'd probably seen the consequences already. How many had faded, unable to feed themselves? Community goodwill surely helped, but it could only go so far when people are afraid of the same happening to them.
"Yes, the local priests…" Yuki trailed off, faux hesitation colouring her voice and letting the militiamen draw their own conclusions. "They have been lax in their duties, and perpetrated a vile attack against us yesterday, barring us from continuing our work to help Broadstream Town using an array of potent ofuda. We would have you escort these two to their home." Without warning, her voice dropped to a low, echoing growl that John could feel in his chest as she bared her teeth, eyes narrowing to slits. "Then round up anyone who looks a bit like Head Priest Iwao or any of his cronies. I would have words with him and any of his ilk." The air chilled under the weight of her wrathful Presence, as if autumn came early for a brief moment.
"O-of course!" The man hurriedly bowed, tension instantly filling his form once more as he shivered.
John glanced over at the kitsune, trying his best to convey "Really?" without changing his posture too much.
She ignored him.
"The pilfered goods will be distributed soon," Yuki stated, a smile plain on her face as all that vitriol vanished into thin air like it was never there. "We have an announcement to make in the near future, and it would help to ensure everyone attends. You may, however, distribute any food that they had hoarded this evening to those who can't feed themselves already. I will be rather displeased if any of it ends up in a storefront or with those who already have full larders."
Ah. Now it made sense; her snarl was an implied threat of violence to ensure the militia did their jobs. Sure, they seemed grateful, but could Yuki guarantee no corruption amongst them? Perhaps not, but she could make sure they feared the wrath of an angry kitsune.
"It will be done, my lady!" Yashiro quickly answered, gesturing towards the cart while looking at his companions. Without delay, one of his men marched over as if carried by the wind itself, hoisting the arms of the cart with a grunt, but no complaint, although he carefully kept their little group of Unbound, "Unbound", and yokai in view the whole time. Compared to Rin, the man had to strain to get the cart through the mud, his face reddening like a beet. For a second, John worried that he was going to throw his back out before a second man jogged over to help him, both taking one arm and getting the load of goods moving with much less of a struggle.
With that, the group turned to leave, but Aiki and Haru remained, the young couple's gaze lingering on the group, and something all too familiar burned in John's chest at the sight. They weren't sad, exactly, but there was a kind of complicated uncertainty in their gaze that made him pause. What could he say? He was just a mysterious man who housed them for a few days. Sure, he aided them, but he was still some sort of mercurial Unbound overlord who did what he pleased in their eyes.
"We'll be by to check on you," Yuki warmly reassured, that gentle smile never leaving her face.
John choked for a moment.
Where was all this emotion coming from? He hardly knew these people.
"Stay safe, you two," he ordered. "And if you need anything, you know where to find me. Don't be a stranger, and feel free to stop by once this… everything is resolved." His tone was at odds with his words, and he tried his damnedest to smile despite it, projecting close enough to an aura of confidence.
The words settled awkwardly, like a worker on their second strike balancing on the top "not a step" of a ladder when the health and safety coordinator walked in.
Smooth, John.
"My thanks for everything, Lady Yuki, Lord John," Haru said with a smile, bowing deeply at the waist. Aiki was not far behind, dipping his head and muttering his thanks.
Then, they turned on their heels and marched out of John's life, back to their own.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself, before turning back to the rest of his posse. "There's that dealt with, at least. Where should we start with the Ofuda?" he asked Yuki, hand gripping his own leg tightly.
She paused for a beat, considering him carefully before speaking. "Here is as good a place as any. I'll go first and feel out the edge of the barricade, then you can follow behind me far enough that your technique isn't affected. Rin? You take up a spot fifteen Jō behind John. He needs space to work."
Rin nodded, her large, bright eyes fixed on the kitsune. "You can count on me, Lady Yuki!" she beamed.
That was… what, maybe a hundred fifty feet? That should be plenty of room. He'd usually be worried about everyone being too spread out and unable to support each other. Fortunately, the unnatural speed both his companions possessed dealt with that concern handily, especially given Yuki's senses.
"Sounds good to me, then," John replied, watching with his arms crossed as the kitsune turned to walk away. Yuki held her hand out, trailing the invisible field as she walked. With narrowed eyes, John pointed his magic detector toward where the field should be, but it picked up nothing.
Curious. How did it function? Was the effect some precise 'frequency' of magic, and only a slight sliver was needed to repel yokai? Did it work on some more esoteric means? Yuki mentioned that yokai were not mere flesh. Could it work by reaching into the 'spirit realm' in some fashion and causing issues downstream?
He could only hope that the charms themselves were magical enough to pick up at a reasonable distance. Of course, the one back at the fort did, but this was an entirely different design—John didn't have the time to worry about that now, and he had to stop himself before he got trapped in his own head again. It either worked or it wouldn't, and he'd go from there.
Quietly, he trailed along behind the kitsune at a distance after pulling out his Wizard Compass. The device flickered, the opposing mechanisms making the lights flick on and off at breakneck pace as it didn't detect any particular source of magic. It seemed that Yuki and Rin were both well enough out of range for them to fade into the background static, at least.
It was a small load off his mind that he didn’t have to worry about getting false positives from his companions the whole trip through. For a short moment, he considered whether he should have figured out a sensitivity dial before now, but they were far too short on time as it was.
As the split group trekked along the town’s perimeter, he kept his eyes glued to the compass dial, only occasionally looking up at Yuki or back at Rin to make sure everyone was still at the appropriate distance and not in danger.
Still no change.
Still no signal.
Minutes stretched on as they circled the village. Occasionally, Yuki pulled out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled something on it, but how she did so with a brush without resting the sheet on anything was beyond him. It was too far to see, but his first guess was that she was drawing a map of the magic field; something that he should have probably thought of beforehand. It was rapidly becoming clear that the barrier wasn't a perfect circle, and more of an amorphous blob that oozed around the edges of the town, as if it were an ink splotch dripped from some massive brush hanging in the sky.
Occasionally, a curious face would emerge from a building to watch them, or a couple would walk down the road to their home on the absolute edge of civilization amongst the farmhouses and scattered fields. Some smiled brightly. Others hurried away, darting to their destination as if being seen for too long would invoke divine judgment. None approached, the residents more than willing to leave his group to their work.
Once, John saw a squad of the militia pass by, and, upon seeing the procession of fortdwellers, the militiamen all puffed themselves up and made a show of how closely they were searching every nook and cranny. They even checked under piles of cut branches for Iwao, and inside a well of all things. This attempt to curry favour lasted perhaps five minutes before Yuki glared at them, which sent the men onto a more normal search pattern rather than something so blatantly performative.
They pressed on.
Suddenly, the compass activated, and the arrows pointed to a strong signal inside the field. "Hold!" John called, and both Rin and Yuki ceased their march. Moving about to get a proper reading, he narrowed his eyes and wordlessly pointed to a nearby farmhouse. It was in the field, but not very far. Given both their abilities, Rin and Yuki should be able to intervene if needed without stepping into it.
John gestured to the building, and, seeing no objections from his kitsune companion, cautiously crept forth through the invisible field, silently cutting him off from his friends. As always, he felt no different. Did it seem to Rin that he was just powering through it like Yuki could?
Discarding that line of thought, John followed the signal. Curiously, it didn't emanate from the building itself; no, the shed next to it was the source. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone around, so John didn't scare anyone half to death by casually sauntering up to their house after the recent mass-slaughter.
The shed was old and a bit decrepit, but thankfully unlocked, with only a knot of cord holding the door shut. Breaking and entering felt uncomfortably like he was a thief skulking around, but he had no other option, unless he wanted to spend who knows how long tracking down the owners. John sighed as he examined the interior. Various half-rusted iron tools hung from the walls and on racks, maybe two-thirds of which he recognized. He wasn't the most familiar with historical farming practices. The compass led him to a corner, where he saw a small slip of paper attached to the wall above a closed set of shutter windows.
"Mighty Ō-Inari, your humble servants pray for you to protect this place from hardships and destruction," it read. A quick brush of his scanner revealed that it was the source of the magic, too. A false alarm, then?
No. Something felt wrong. John knew it, deep in his bones.
He examined the ofuda again. There was still something that didn't track. The characters still curved strangely, but that wasn't a surprise.
The collection array at the top looked wrong. While John couldn't expect that they'd design everything the same way he did, there should be some commonalities. Sure, it was a bunch of dots and wavy patterns much like the first example he had seen, but there were random spots where things didn't connect, creating isolated islands where the energy couldn't flow through, let alone reach the characters to produce their effect.
It was then that it hit him: that was the intent. The ofuda in front of him was not working.
Why was his compass pointing to it, then? Could it be detecting residual effects from the filter taking some in, then having nowhere to put it and leaking back out? No, that would leave the ambient levels effectively the same and not trigger. Then…
John brushed his hands along the edge of the paper and felt a tiny crease. The paper was thick. Durable enough, given the conditions.
And it wouldn't allow ink to bleed through to the other side.
Taking it off the hanger that held it to the wall, John held it up to the light, but nothing shone through. With a slight flex, he could feel the second side ever so slightly come apart. It wasn't a sheet. It was an envelope.
Tracing the edge, he felt a small seam along the bottom, glued shut, but John had a solution for that. It was a simple matter to hit it with a brief blast of entropy from one of his favourite tools to re-liquify it and pop the edge open. Reaching inside, he pulled out a little slip of high-quality paper.
Written in deep, black ink speckled with little specs that looked like stars, the text read… nothing he could understand.
At first, he thought it was circuitry, but that didn't fit. No, it was clearly a language, just one that he didn't understand. It was probably logographic, and when he looked more carefully, he could see vague resemblances to the native script, but the characters themselves were entirely unfamiliar.
Strange.
John pocketed the charm and headed out, creeping back over to his group. In his absence, Yuki and Rin had bunched together, carrying out a silent conversation heedless of his approach. Of course, the kitsune knew of his presence; she always did. Yuki just didn't see fit to inform the dragon-blooded girl yet.
"You've returned. You have good news, I hope?" the kitsune asked, finally looking up the second John started to catch a word of the pair's conversation.
"Sensei!" Rin jolted, but quickly bowed in return.
"Are you able to read this, Yuki?" he asked, holding out the ofuda to her.
The kitsune quickly snagged it, furrowing her brow at the slim paper sheet. "No."'
Shit.
She held it up to the sky, narrowing her eyes as light spilled through it. "Not entirely, at least. This is a language that predates me, back when the world was young and well before the gods created mortals."
"The nogitsune has access to such ancient knowledge?" Rin breathlessly asked, her eyes wide. "If she's that ancient, we'd need an army—no, many armies to have a chance against her!"
"She's not that old. Trust me," Yuki commented. "Even if I can't read this, I can tell you that this is nowhere near enough text to produce such a complex effect. No, this is auxiliary to the greater array and serves to propagate the effect."
Furrowing her brow, she held her hand out, holding it against where the barrier previously was.
"It's weakened, but still there," she sighed. "Which wall did you find this on?"
John pointed. "There. It's kinda towards the edge? It was on the wall closest to us, back toward the city limits."
The kitsune clicked her tongue, frowning. "Then the core of this ofuda array is deeper into the city; the ofuda was likely pointed towards it. Given this didn't create a blind spot but a slightly weaker field, we can safely conclude we have two options. We could circle the town, slowly picking relays and moving inward."
"Or I can push in directly and find the core, now that I can filter for it," John groaned, finishing her thought and pulling out his magic detector. Of course, perhaps Yuki could follow him, even if it made her vulnerable. Rin, on the other hand… He could not risk Kiku getting her hands on the Unbound. Even putting aside the way his heart pulled at the thought of her mind breaking under the pink kitsune's touch, she knew far too much.
There would be significant danger, of course. Kiku could already be in there, waiting for him. She might have people guarding the site, even if she wasn't somewhere within the town herself.
But the pink mind-twister should still be reeling from their first attack, and the longer they waited, the more they were certain to face resistance. They had free rein now, but how long would it take for Kiku to mount a response? Dozens of people, maybe hundreds, could get caught in the crossfire if the wards were weak enough when she arrived with her Nameless army.
"I'll do it," John hissed, determination flooding through him as he peered toward the town.
"John," Yuki whispered, leaning in. "Are you sure?"
"We need to move," John replied, his lips pulling tight as he held out his hand.
Perhaps a hair too slowly, Yuki placed the ofuda in his hand, and he affixed it to the magic detector, quickly creating an ad hoc filter.
"Be safe," she gently ordered.
He turned away, casting one last glance towards his friends as he walked toward Broadstream Town.
Comments
SaviorHound
Taking bets its our rogue high priest guarding it. Would be a good showing of how much John has progressed with his trauma now he has demystified the priests and is more willing to fight. That and I doubt the priest with a love for the finer things in life would be willing to slum it in the forest or in a tunnel
Unwillingmainer
No way she doesn't have someone or something guarding the main node. Time to see how much John has improved and if he can deal with whatever it is somehow.
Lilim Lilim
Hall John, detective extraordinaire. The good news is it's got exactly one lynchpin, at least. It's fortunate less-powerful Unbound are crippled, or there would be a nest or two of them waiting for the Ofuda to go down. Sidenote, I can't help but imagine the Celestial Alphabet here: makes too much sense. I wonder if this world regularly bleeds into ours?
