Chapter Text
When setting out on this mission, Desscaras had known it would not be an easy nor quick ordeal.
As Kumugi had noted, the prophecy they received this time was unusually direct and simple.
"To prepare for the battle against the World-Hater
Travel to the joyous land of Bakugami
And acquire the majik which slumbers there
Do so and you shall receive
A stalwart companion who will fight beside you."
That was the whole gist of it.
Now, Desscaras is not stupid (no matter what Togeice likes to say). Sure, she might ham it up a bit at times to lighten the mood and keep the kids from worrying their silly little heads off, but when push comes to shove, she takes her job seriously. Somewhat. Point is, one doesn't become the super-ultra-baddest witch ever on talent alone (and even if it is, she has loads of that anyway). You have to be prepared for anything.
And Desscaras had done her share of preparing and looking into the Country of Bakugami thank you very much. Though there wasn't actually that much to research on anyway. Yet, the single piece of decade-old report she found in the dustiest corner of the archive was… not very reassuring. In fact, if her speculation is right then what they're about to do is most certainly going to land them into an international incident. She desperately hopes it's not what she's speculating (mostly because diplomacy beyond fan-meeting is not her kind of forte and she does not want it to be, ever).
So when Kumugi came to inform her that there's reportedly a human-hater majik located in the southern mines of Bakugami Country, Desscaras had gone in feeling a bit optimistic. Cautious, but optimistic. Maybe this really will be easy. Maybe Hoshigami has finally remembered she's supposed to be their favorite child or something and gave her a genuinely straightforward mission for once. The kids have had enough of grueling missions to last them the whole year and then some. It will be nice to be able to take it easy again.
The first sign that tells Desscaras this will not, in fact, be an easy mission is the giant hole made in the majik's web nest before they've even arrived. The second sign that tells Desscaras she really was not the beloved child of the stars as they had said is the absolute carnage that greets her team once properly inside.
Laying in the middle of the nest and surrounded by a large puddle of blood that's presumably its own is Origumo—a giant spider-like majik and their current target. Beside the blood it's already soaking in, more is splattered on the wall of the web enclosure and oozing out of the majik's half-reformed head as well as the 8 empty sockets on its side where limps are supposed to be. Limps that, upon boarder observation, are bundled up, tied together into neat little bows and placed leaning against the wall, out of sight of their owner. The cage that makes up the majik's body is busted open, the few hinges that aren't broken the only thing keeping the whole body from being split into two separated pieces. And amidst all of that, Origumo is still twitching, feebly trying to regenerate its mutilated body.
The one responsible for this brutality is nowhere to be found.
Desscaras feels like puking. Judging by the blueish tint on her face, so does Kumugi.
Ichi, however, does not seem to share their sentiment. The wild boy wastes no time to slide down the web slope of the nest and approach Origumo. Desscaras follows him, forcibly swallowing back her own bile.
Desscaras has met her fair share of human-hater majiks. Generally, they're the most unpleasant bunch of characters ever, going out of their way to make life a living hell for humans and leaving after the fact. As if all that suffering and pain and hatred and wrath they personally sowed are just trifling matters to them. But occasionally, there will be oddities. Like that mushroom majik that genuinely didn't seem to realize it was causing troubles for everyone and everything around it. Or the legendary time majik currently resides in the Pendulum Sea, never venturing from its territory. Majiks are unpredictable, especially the human-hater ones, and a witch should always be prepared for anything before facing one.
That said, nothing from her 20-odd years of experience would have prepared Desscaras to the blood-curling scream of sheer terror Origumo let out once they're in its range of vision.
"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!"
The majik is in hysteria. It thrashes its barely reformed limbs about, but instead of in offense to their advance, it drags itself away from them.
Hunching in a nonexistent corner of its spherical lair, the majik continues screaming. "I THOUGHT HE WAS DONE WITH ME! HE SAID HE HAD TO LEAVE!! IT WAS TO BRING BACKUP??!! WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIME YOU CUT MY HORN IT WON'T DO ANYTHING!!!!"
The screaming is starting to hurt Desscaras's ears, and the majik is not making any more sense with each scream. "Ugh this is getting nowhere. I can't think with all this screaming," she tsks. Pointing her rapier at Origumo, she chants, "[Nok-Nok]."
Immediately, the majik stops thrashing and goes quiet. It has passed out. Desscaras breathes a sigh of relief.
"Ahhh. Sweet sweet silence. I can hear my own thoughts again." (The thoughts tell her Wonderful job Master Desscaras! It sounds like Iskandar.)
"Ma- Master Desscaras!" Kumugi squeaks as she finally slides down to join them, now that the danger is temporarily taken care of. "If it's unconscious we can't learn its trial!"
"Oh. Right. Oopsie." Desscaras bonks herself in the head, not sounding sorry at all. "Guess we just have to wait for it to wake up. Hopefully it'll have calmed down—"
"[Inazuri]."
There's a flash of lighting out of the corner of her eyes, and by the time she turns around there's a distinct lack of giant bleeding spider and a whole lot of sparkling gem in Ichi's hand. Desscaras gapes.
"What the hell?! How did you—?!"
"It was screaming something about its horn. I took a wager and cut the horn on its head," the male witch explains simply, pocketing his newest acquisition.
"Damn mutt's got good observation skills I'll give you that," Desscaras grumbles under her breath. Oh well. What important is that it's done. The Great Desscaras can surely spare one measly majik to the newbie with a whole whopping of 2 spells. She pat Ichi on the head, tousling his hair a bit while she's at it. "Good job Ichi."
Ichi blinks under the sudden praise. Then he slowly grins up at her, toothily and with a shine in his eyes. Desscaras can't help but smile back briefly. It's at moments like this that the kid looks properly like a kid. It almost makes her want to praise him more, except she's still an emotionally constipated bundle of nerves and a blood pact made less than a week ago is not going to change that. Not immediately. She hopes to change it eventually, bit by bit. The kid would probably freak out if she suddenly starts being all mushy and sentimental toward him anyway (he did that night when she buttered him up to get him to basically sign his own adoption paper). For now, this is enough for them.
Meanwhile, Kumugi looks around them puzzlingly, then asks, "So... Does this mean we've done it? I don't see anyone around here."
She's talking about the prophecy of course. A "stalwart companion" if they acquire the majik.
Desscaras hums as she also does her share of scrutiny. "Yeah, no one is magically appearing out of thin air and declaring their undying wish to help us on our epic quest. Tch. I know this won't be that easy…"
"So then. Now what?" Ichi tilts his head at her. "Was the prophecy wrong then?"
"I wish." Really, it would be so much less distressing if those prophecies could be wrong. Desscaras wouldn't have to resort to that contract if there was even a chance of inaccuracy no, she probably would have still.
"Jikishirone's prophecies have never been wrong once in all her years working for Mantinel. I don't see why they'll start now. For now..." Sheathing her rapier, Desscaras turns to the web wall behind them and starts climbing. "Let's get out of here. This place is giving me nausea."
The three of them then start their exit out of Origumo's newly emptied nest, the giant blood puddle in the middle of it the only proof there was ever anything in there. Desscaras had long since learned that majik-conjured matters do not disappear with the majik's acquisition. Just yet more clean up for them.
"Alright, here's what we're going to do now," Desscaras addresses her attentive entourage once they're properly back on the dirt floor again. "Pass this mine and within the valley western of here is the capital of Bakugami Country. We will be going there to investigate potential human-hater majiks."
"Eh?" Kumugi looks confused. "But we acquired Origumo already?"
"Yeah well. You saw what happened, or rather the lack of any happening, after we acquired Origumo." Desscaras starts walking. Ichi and Kumugi hurry after her (they really are like lost little ducklings). "Beside, the prophecy specifically refers to a "slumbering majik" residing in the country. Origumo doesn't exactly fit the bill…"
With Origumo out of the equation, that leaves only one other possibility on what the prophecy could be about. Moneygold had already sent out a request for investigation to the royal family in advance in case it really is that majik. Desscaras has no idea what that woman had said or done for the request to be approved so quickly and easily, but in her mind that's still the easy part of the job. After all, Moneygold is not going to be the one to actually go to the capital and deal with everything the trip is going to entail.
Gosh, Desscaras is already dreading all the make-niceties she would have to take with the country's governors less she loses her head, literally and figuratively. And that's not even touching on the implication of the massacre in Origumo's nest! Ohhh noo that's a whole other can of worms!
I need a fucking drink and it's only what, 8 am?
"What do you think cause the scene in that nest?" Ichi, wholly oblivious to Desscaras's growing headache, asks Kumugi as casually as he would ask about the weather (or whether she would like some freshly butchered majik ice shark).
"I don't know…" answers Kumugi, clearly as uncomfortable with the question as the time she got offered majik sashimi. Still, there's curiosity in her eyes, the journalist inside her stopping her from completely shutting the experience out despite the fear. "It's awful… Tearing that majik up then leaving it to its misery… I know human-hater majiks are horrible themselves but do they really…?"
A figure clad in white.
A tidal of bones and rot that follows each and every footstep.
Cold listless blue eyes that see but perceive nothing.
"What, did your kin die there?"
Yes… There are definitely majik scums out there that deserve nothing but to be plunged into the deepest, darkest corner of the abyss hell. Had that bloody mess been someone else, Desscaras doubts she would have even bat an eye.
She would have. Because it would not be her hands that had bleed that blood and if it's not her own two hands then it doesn't—
"Desscaras?"
That single word—her name—spoken with uncharacteristic concern brute-forces some self-awareness back to Desscaras.
Red eyes stare at her, eyes that always shine with life and wonder and appreciation to all that they perceive. Eyes that currently look at her with that unnerving intensity whenever they're trying to lock onto and pinpoint something, someone. Eyes that seem to anchor her to the present.
Eyes that are the complete opposite of theirs.
"…Yeah?" Desscaras feigns an annoyed huff. "What is it squirt?"
"Kumugi said she might have found something," Ichi says, eyes still not leaving Desscaras nor dismissing in its intensity, and points at the team's scribe and her book-of-all-answers.
"Well then, let's hear it Mugi," Desscaras urges, moving closer and peering at the book herself.
"Yes! Well, so," Kumugi starts, clearing her throat shakily as she usually does before a long exposition. "I tried to look to see if there's anything about someone who would attack majiks in a particularly gruesome manner. And here," her finger tap-taps on the page as she recites, "The 『 Brutalizer 』. A mysterious individual who would challenge majiks, beat them up and then leave without acquiring them. Sightings of them are rare and unclear as they leave the moment someone enters range of vision. Observation majiks have reported back that they wear clothes that cover themselves at all times. So we don't really have a description of them, only that they have a rather tall built. They uniquely only go after majiks in or near the areas surrounding Bakugami Country. So I guess... that's who we've almost encountered."
"Only majiks around Bakugami huh?" Desscaras muses. "Then that's all the more reason for us to go the capital. They're bounded to have some information there."
The group resumes walking, now with a bit of tension in their steps.
"So." Ichi trots alongside Desscaras, eyes starting to show that wild glimmer again. "You're saying there might be another majik or something of the sort to hunt here?" He had taken his blade out and is raising it excitingly (and threateningly).
Desscaras scoffs. Of course that's all this feral brat could gather from this situation. "Do not point that thing at me, boy. And that's my theory, yeah."
"Alright then! Let's hurry to that capital place!" And with that, the male witch charges ahead, leaving the two girls behind.
"Get back here! You don't even know which way to go!"
Desscaras takes off after him, ignoring his shout of "You said somewhere western!" while Kumugi does her best to catch up to them while writing furiously in her notebook ("I'll also start the report on Origumo now!") at the same time.
And just like that, the three of them are on their way to Bakugami, their tension melted away somewhat.
At some point somewhere on the rocky mountain range leading down to Bakugami Country, Ichi suddenly stops. Desscaras pauses to look at him. "Don't tell me you're tired already?" she teases. "Even Mugi is—"
A tug on her sleeve cut her off. Kumugi is not looking well, sweating and panting and generally looking like her soul will leave her body any second now. Her giant puppy eyes are pleading for release. Desscaras backtracks.
"Well. I suppose we have been walking for a bit long." (Kumugi nods frantically.) "Let's take a break then. Shouldn't over-extended ourselves in case we really need it later."
The moment Desscaras is done talking, Kumugi's legs give out on her and she plops right down on the ground in relief. Desscaras pats the girl's green head in reassurance. However, Ichi is still just standing there, staring at something above the stone cliffs surrounding them.
“What's up now? You don't want a break?” The girls have already gotten themselves comfortable with a glass of water in their hands.
Still staring at something only he can see, Ichi announces with absolute certainty, "Someone is watching us."
Of fucking course.
Letting out a long put-upon groan of dismay, Desscaras places her glass of water down and stands up. Despite the annoyance she's feeling over this news, she still instinctively falls into a defensive stance, hand on her rapier.
"Are they human?" She lowers her voice.
"Yes." Ichi does the same.
"Where?"
"Above. Behind the rocks." That explains the staring. Also, the area they're in doesn't exactly give much else for covering.
"How long?"
"A while now. I didn't sense any killing intent from them so I ignored it. But they won't leave."
This hunt-obsessed mutt... Desscaras groans.
"Next time, speak up sooner," she hisses at him, still in a quiet voice.
"Okay."
Normally Desscaras would have to reinforce herself to make sure things actually go through this brat's head and stay there. But there's no time for that now. They have a tail to cut.
Turning to the direction Ichi had directed, Desscaras makes a show of flashing her sword and raising her chin confidently. Ichi also straightens up and places his hand on the hilt of his knife, though it doesn’t seem like he’s trying that much to be threatening. And Kumugi… She’s not shaking too badly nor cowering away and is also putting on her best glare. Desscaras could honestly applaud her. Now whoever it is that’s watching them better think twice before trying anything if they know what's good for them.
"Come out already! We know you're there!" she demands.
Above them and from behind the rocks just as Ichi had pinpointed, a figure emerges. The glare of the sun makes it hard to make out anything about them, but the stranger graciously jumps down to their level and steps into clearer focus.
"Guess I've been found out." The newcomer laughs and scratches their head in faux-embarrassment.
Standing before them is a man, tall but with a face that has not yet lost its roundness, which ranges him anywhere from being a teenager to a young adult. He's wearing a light blue flowy robe-like clothes (a hanfu, Desscaras recalls vaguely) that miraculously didn't seem to be torn up or soiled by the dusty and rocky mountain terrain. His shoes are flat sole slippers and also do not look like they're appropriate for the rocky environment they're in. His long hair—dual colors??: the top of his head orange and the bang and bottom blue—is braided neatly and adorned with little flower pins. A sparkling smile blooms on his freckled face as he claps his hands together on his chest and gives them a respectful bow. All in all, the guy looks and behaves more like your average upstanding citizen than a roadside bandit. Except for the part where everything about him says he should not be here.
"Greetings,” the stranger beams at them. “You must be from the Mantinel Witch Association. I've been expecting you."
As if he has been waiting here all this time. As if he has not been stalking them for who-knows-how-long and this is an entirely normal first meeting.
Desscaras spares a glance at Ichi to gauge his reaction. Ichi looks... pretty chill actually. There's a slight tilt to his head that hints at curiosity for this newcomer, but he's not raising his hackles like a dog ready to attack. Desscaras hates to admit it, but she can feel her guard lowered a bit at this. Since when did she start trusting this wild boy's judgment so much?
"Yes..." she still answers cautiously, not fully done with the suspicion yet. "And who are you?"
The man(boy?) does yet another bow at them. Okay overly polite behavior. Probably not a creep then. Probably.
"My name is Gokuraku Kagami, first prince of Kagami Country. It is an honor to meet you all," he introduces himself, still giving them that smile that seems to generate sparkles on its own.
A beat of silence meets his declaration as Desscaras stares at the guy in bewilderment, her mind basically short-circuits the moment he said that insane word. Did this guy really just called himself a prince?? As in actual royalty??? What the fuck.
Unfortunately for Desscaras, the guy does not seem to recognize how egregious his statement is and does not elaborate, waiting patiently for their response instead. His eyes stray and meet with Ichi's curious gaze behind her, one he returns in kind. Neither of them move nor say anything, but Desscaras is not liking the attention this stranger is directing at the world's only male witch (and as of recently, her personal ward). She interjects before their gauging could lead to actual interaction, stepping slightly aside to further blocking Ichi from view.
"Gokuraku was it?" Desscaras makes sure to keep her voice completely void of intonation when she speaks, not welcoming nor threatening. "Can you please elaborate on that thing you just said? Did you really just call yourself a prince?" Okay maybe except for that last part. She really can't help the mockery there.
Gokuraku finally seems to realize how outlandish his claim was. Straightening his posture, he addresses them again in a much less airy tone: "Yes Miss Witch. I am Gokuraku Kagami, younger brother to crown princess Richia Kagami. I am here to welcome you and your team to our country and to offer myself as your guide."
Desscaras has never heard of him in her (extremely) brief research into Bakugami Country. The news of them coming to Bakugami on a human-hater majik investigation was specifically sent under a classified label to avoid causing potential unrest in the common people. The only ones that should know of their arrival are the royal family and a selective number of higher ups. Still, information can be leaked, and she can think of several reasons why someone would want to disrupt their investigation.
"Pardon me for finding this a bit unconvincing your highness," the clear mocking in her tone now would definitely send her to jail or worse if this turns out to be a real royalty she's talking to. Whatever. Desscaras has basis for suspicion and she will stand by them in court. "Why would they send the prince himself to greet us personally even before we make it to the capital?"
"No one sent me. I came on my own account."
Desscaras sends Gokuraku a look that says 'yeah right' and 'do you think I'm stupid'. It doesn't deter him at all it seems, as he continues still with steadfast conviction. "I am quite interested in witchcraft you see, as it was a huge part of our country's economy. When I heard you were coming on a majik investigation, I couldn't wait to meet you all so I had to go ahead to catch you. Also… I want to know what sort of people you witches are, and whether you can really help my country or not."
"And you decide to do by that by stalking us," Desscaras deadpans. It is both a question and an accusation.
Honestly, she shouldn't be entertaining this conversation any longer. This guy sounds sketchy as hell with the whole 'interested in witchcraft' thing and his flowery words. Still, Desscaras would rather not hurt him, just in case he's really someone important. She should find an opening to grab the kids and sneak away.
Gokuraku at least has the decency to look sheepish and bow down in the face of her rightfully irritation. "I'll admit that was very unbecoming of me. I was already in the area when I remembered your arrival, so I just followed along. It was in poor choice and you have my deepest apologies as well as the right to remain angry at me."
"Uh huh." Desscaras is quite over this excusing. She doesn't care for it. She has heard all this before from the many different people she unfortunately has to deal with in her line of work and that's the sole reason she's still holding it together. Though, amidst all that yapping, she did notice something.
"You said you were "already in the area". Now, what was a prince like yourself doing in the mountains?" She recalls his own words back to him casually, as if she's really just passively curious about it.
Gokuraku seems momentarily taken back, but recover quickly enough. "I was… hunting."
"Without chaperones?" Desscaras sizes up her opponent. He does not look like he'll need protection from potential threats. In fact, the opposite might be more apt.
"I came here to be away from them. It can be stifling with them around sometimes."
"And what were you hunting? You don't seem to have any game with you right now."
"I had to leave it behind when I remembered you're coming. It doesn't seem very polite to bring that sort of thing to greet someone."
Okay. Okay.
"Could you please excuse us for a sec?" Desscaras asks in her most sugary sweet I'm-totally-innocent voice. She is too sober for this. "Me and my team would like to discuss your escort offer for a bit. Would you mind turning around in the mean time?"
If Gokuraku has anything to say about her sudden switch-up, he does not say it. "Certainly, Miss Witch."
And then he turns around. Just as she asked. Desscaras did not think it would be that easy. If this was 10 minutes ago, she would have use this opportunity to hightail out of here alongside with the kids. As it currently stands though, Desscaras only casts a soundproofing spell around her little team before turning to address them.
"Okay so," she's speaking in normal volume now, “I think this guy might be our Brutalizer pal."
This sudden bombshell of an information is evidently too much for Kumugi to process as she let out a startled yelp. "A-Are you absolutely sure about that Master Desscaras?"
"Nope," she admits nonchalantly, much to Kumugi's dismay. "But it would make sense right? Dude popped outta nowhere after stalking us who he knows are witches for who-knows-how-long, provided the flimsiest excuse for why he's here and was just generally acting weird. Plus he's huge. I'm pretty sure that's the one thing we know for sure about the majik-torturer." So maybe Desscaras is jumping to conclusion. It doesn't negate her point that this Gokuraku guy is sus as hell.
"That… does sound somewhat fitting." Kumugi fidgets. She's clutching onto her information book, which is opened at a specific page already. She seems to have something else to add.
"Something on your mind, Mugi?" Desscaras gently prompts her. "Something you've found out?"
Kumugi jumps slightly. "Oh uh… I don't know how accurate it still is but… I have been browsing while you talked and…"
Wordlessly, she flips her book around for Desscaras to see.
The book is opened on a page with a group photo. "Bakugami Country's Royal Family" is written under. There are four people in the photo, two adults which Desscaras assumes are the king and queen of the country, and two children around the age of 6 to 8 years old maybe. This must have been taken long ago, but there is no mistaking it: The little boy in the photo with the duel colors hair (the orange part of his hair matches that of his mother and sister) is definitely a younger Gokuraku.
"So he wasn't lying…" Desscaras mutters to herself.
This still doesn't entirely discredit her theory though. If anything, it makes things more complicated, because now a listed dangerous person by the Association might also be of royalty. She's getting a headache just thinking about another potential national scandal that's now in her hands.
Why me? she wants to scream. Why does God give his most ridiculous problems to his most gorgeous soldier?
There is still a chance she's wrong. But Desscaras isn't betting on it, solely because her luck today is already rotten and it'll fit right in for her optimism to be squandered again. She can't tell the kids that though.
"Thank you for your information, Mugi," is what Desscaras settles on instead of dumping her internal anguish onto the perpetually anxious scribe. Which is not a lie anyway; she does appreciate Kumugi's input. She even gives her head a pat to go with the praise.
That's done, she then turns to their last member. "You got anything to say about this, mutt?"
Ichi's response is immediate and direct: "I say we follow him."
"Why? Did you notice something?" She is a bit curious about his reasoning here.
Ichi pauses, seemingly to gather his thoughts, before he answers, "I'm not sure. I don't think he's going to do anything to us. But he could. But he probably wouldn't? But. I need more time to observe him."
Is this feral brat talking about a human or a wild animal? Desscaras laments. "Sounds like a lot is going through that head of yours. I'm surprise you manage to pack that train of thoughts into something cohesive."
Ichi's blank stare at her says he does not understand her fancy expression. Desscaras sighs and pats his head once as a 'never mind'. It looks like they've reached an unanimous decision anyway. Desscaras dispells the soundproofing.
“Alright Gokuraku," she calls out to the one who's still respectfully keeping his back at them just as told. "We accept your offer. However, don't even try to pull anything. If I catch you doing anything to endanger us, then royal or not, you will regret it."
If Gokuraku is really who she thinks he is, then she's definitely going to get scolded if she just let him go and do whatever out of her sight. However, she can't just apprehend him either since he's almost certainly not lying about the prince thing. So the best (and only) course of action is to accompany him. Which is easy enough, since he's already offering. Desscaras wasn't kidding with her threat though. One misstep and she's blowing this joint up, potential treason be damned. Though if Ichi's intuition is to be believed, maybe it wouldn't have to come to that. She can only hope.
"Thank you Miss Witch!" Gokuraku beams at them, and while it still looks like he's generating sparkles out of nowhere, at least there's genuine elation in his smile this time. "And please be at ease. I promise that I harbor no ill will at you or your team."
And yes, Desscaras does indeed notice the unvoiced unpromise in that sentence. Why do you ask?
This is going to be a long walk.
About an hour into their resumed journey, Gokuraku finally speaks up again. "May I ask you something Miss Witch?"
"You just did, brat." Desscaras is curt in her reply. She has meant to call him that mockingly, but upon the word leaving her lips, she realizes it really does fit him, strangely enough.
Nevertheless, Gokuraku pusses on through her less-than-polite answer. "What's the general protocol on dealing with a human-hater majik?"
She pauses. Takes a good look at their temporary companion. He's looking firmly ahead of them still with that ever-pleasant smile. "And why are you asking?"
"Simply curious about how witches operate," Gokuraku says airily, like it really is just an innocuous question. Yeah right.
But sure, Desscaras can relent just once. It's not as if the witches' method of acquisition is guarded secret or anything. "Generally speaking, they go the same way as any majik acquisition. We find out its trial, complete it, then acquire it. With human-hater majiks, it tends to be more annoying. Their trials tend to have insane requirements, which mean they cannot be dealt with quickly. It usually take months, years even with tons of planning to even approach them."
She does not tell him how that record can be broken by truly exceptional witches such as herself—the great and all powerful Abyssal Witch Desscaras—right here (and the anomalous feral kid walking behind them but this isn't about him). He asked for the "general protocol" after all, so that's what he gets.
"Has there been any…" Gokuraku pauses here, carefully choosing his word before continuing "…outward influences, besides the majik itself, that tampered with your acquisitions?"
Well for one, there are those like you, Desscaras thinks mockingly. She still has no concrete proof for that theory, but she’s not about to drop her guard any time soon. Which is why she doesn't really want to answer this particular question of his, in case he plans to use the knowledge against them later somehow. But he's probably going to be suspicious if she doesn't give him something.
"That depends on the environment and circumstances surrounding the majik," she settles, and tackles a "I'm not really familiar with that logistics thing" on too for extra measure.
"…I see."
Gokuraku speaks nothing more on the topic for the rest of the way.
The remaining of their travel is spent mostly in silence, with the occasional pipe ins such as "watch your steps here" and "this area used to be an active mines". But overall, Gokuraku doesn't try to engage them in conversation. He had probably noticed their wariness of him.
Well, Desscaras snorts, glancing behind her, most of us are wary.
Ever since they had resumed walking with their new "escort", Ichi has been engaging Gokuraku in an unspoken one-sided staring contest where the premise seems to be 'stare at him until he break down crying' or something. So far, it's kinda working? There's this one, and only, time when Gokuraku looked back and Ichi didn't look away, which resulted in their tag-along catching the full effect of that thousand-yards stare that had admittedly freaked even the strongest witch out on multiple occasions. To say the look on his face as he whips right back front is hilarious would be an understatement.
While it's incredibly amusing to see Gokuraku squirms under the dissecting gaze of Ichi, Desscaras knows Gokuraku is probably dissecting Ichi right back in the privacy of his brain. It's not too hard to connect the dots, just a straight line between point A: Gokuraku's apparent interest in magic as a male, and point B: Ichi doesn't really act like a random errand boy Desscaras brought along on the trip. Men working for witches is not unheard of, but not very common and especially never out on the field itself. So she gets the question that's undoubtedly rummaging through Gokuraku's head right now. But seeing as it's a question she still doesn't know how to bluff her way through, she'll just feign ignorance for now and hope the weird staring contest is enough to entertain their guest and keep him quiet for awhile more.
The not-quite-awkward-but-still-taut silence that drapes over them is only broken once they exit the thicket of the mountain and onto the main road proper.
In contrast to their prior rocky trek that left them drained of feet and sore of mental magnitude, the main road to Bakugami's capital is paved and well-traveled, no doubt due to the parade of travelers and visitors also on the road with them. These visitors look to be from all sort of different countries and ethnics, foreigners just like them. Their little group blend in seamlessly with the procession.
"Lots of people on the road today," Desscaras remarks. Some of them even greet them happily as they pass by.
"It is always like this," Gokuraku says, smiling and waving back at the friendly passersby. Desscaras notices her other two kids are also waving, one enthusiastically and one timidly so. "Our country's main profit comes from tourism and we welcome no less than 500 visitors per week. Though I guess it is a bit more crowded than usually at this time of year."
"Why is that?"
Instead of giving her an answer, the oversized brat dares to look away from her and back to the path. "You might want to go get him, before he gets carry away."
Desscaras is fully aware that this is a deflection tactic. Yet, dread still fills her up at the implication of his words, and so against her better judgment, she turns her gaze ahead.
In front of them—already a while away and still steadily gaining distance—Ichi is happily lounging and chatting in a merchant's carriage that seems to sell various tools and spears and swords and is that a battle axe he's holding?!
The Great Desscaras does not scream at the sight. She certainly does not run over in a panic to pull migraine-inducing feral brat by the ear away from the merchant before anymore shenanigans can be conducted, Ichi's complaints ("They were willing to trade with me!") fall to deaf ears. She keeps a tight grip on the mutt (who has given up resistance by now and resorted to sulking) and forcibly drags him along the rest of the way, leaving the other remaining two of their group to trail after.
'The rest of the way' is thankfully not very far. The road they're on slowly slope up then downward, and right underneath this, the entrances to the valley capital city can be seen, framed by towering gateways.
"Greetings," a guard stationed beside one of the gates welcomes them when it's their turn for admittance. "Are you here as visitors?"
"Hey." Desscaras drawls back at him before procuring and presenting a scroll. "We are here on official business from the Mantinel Witch Association. Here's the approval letter from the king. I believe it should suffice for entry fee."
"I see... Yes, there's the royal seal. This seems official," the guard comments after a brief inspection of the scroll before handing it back to her. "Welcome to Bakugami Country! Is your team only the three of you?"
Three? Desscaras's first instinct is to look for Ichi. He's still right there by her side though, still as disgruntled by her grip on his scruff as he was 15 minutes ago. It is then that she remembers she's got two whole other kids to keep track of and yeahhhhhh that's Kumugi standing alone and panicking behind her alright.
So much for 'keeping an eye on potentially dangerous person'.
"Yup," she ends up telling the guard, because she has to say something. "Just the three of us. Definitely no tag-along or missing person nope no sir-ree."
"But Desscaras what about Go—"
It take no time nor effort at all for Desscaras to slap a silencing spell on Ichi's mouth again, the black cross a familiar restrain to him but no less annoying, based on the stink eye he gives her. Desscaras ignores him.
"If that will be all we would like to be granted entrance now please. Time is of the essence in witchy business."
"Of course ma'am. Come right in please. Enjoy the festivities!"
Festivities huh? That would explain the increase in visitors. But then why would that prince be so cagey about it?
Speaking of, the moment they're out of earshot of the guards, Kumugi starts to panic big time.
"I'm so sorry!" she cries. "Initially I was walking next to him but it was awkward and I got nervous so I started walking ahead of him and then we got to the gates and he's just gone and it's all my fault and, and—!!"
And she keeps going, seemingly without pausing for breath. Desscaras tries to calm her down from her spiraling meltdown to little avail. The scribe only stops when she finally runs herself out of breath, bending over and wheezing. Ichi pats her back in maybe sympathy, maybe to get her lungs working again.
"Okay look," Desscaras tries again. "As I said, what's done is done, and it is not your fault. I would never let you to look after that weirdo by yourself, that's suppose to be my job. Let's just focus on finding him again maybe."
"He's behind you."
"Har har. Now's not the time for you to develop a humour—"
"I'm behind you."
No one can really describe what the noises coming out from Desscaras means then. Desscaras is not sure herself. She hopes it means something nasty though. Kumugi has to hold her back from skewering the brat of a prince right then and there with reminders of public image and good impression.
She doesn't even ask where he was. She simply does not care anymore.
Gokuraku offers up the "reason" anyway.
"I don't really like the main gates," he says. "They're so uptight and I'll rather come and go on my own term."
Desscaras doesn't bother with the suspicion anymore. Dude has clearly not been trying to hide the shadiness all this time. Either he's got nothing hide or he really is insane and this is his normal.
"Just—" she pinches her browns. "Just takes us to someone who can actually help our investigation."
And so he (presumably) does.
Unlike the time on the mountain trek though, Gokuraku is not quiet during their walk through the city. He talks to them about his culture. He talks about the artisan history of the country. He talks about the food and amulets and little trinkets in the stalls around them. Everything seems to remind him of something to talk about. The words are brief, soft, and fill with genuine love as he says them. It's the most honest he has ever been.
The kids seem fascinated by his info-dumping, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at his dramatized description and explanation on why the capital city looks the way it does.
Desscaras, cooling down from her outburst, must admit that this really is a beautiful place. Up until now all that they have seen of Bakugami Country are the abandoned mines and rural mountains free of humans' intervention. It feels like only now that they've arrived in a place where people actually dwell do they get a true grasp on what this country is like. It's a country that really embraces its uniqueness as a valley settlement, with houses being built on even ground and also on the highlands and cliff sides. Stairs connect each levels of the city together and rope bridges stretch across the gap between hilltop houses. Couples that with the mainly wooden structure of the houses here, it feels like the city is a part of the nature around it, and not the other way around.
A city barricaded from the outside world by the mountains.
Maybe it's not that strange that something like the incident 10 years ago would occur in this place.
Their tour is interrupted when someone unexpectedly call out at them.
"Huángzǐ Gokuraku!"
The man approaching them is dressed in simple white clothes and a calm smile on his face. He starts talking to Gokuraku in an unfamiliar language, and Desscaras suddenly feels very stupid for not noticing this sooner. Everyone they've met in Bakugami talked to them in a language they understand, but it surely could not have been their native tongue. They were purposefully talking in the common international language. They were doing that to accommodate the foreign visitors.
She feels a bit bad for antagonizing Gokuraku now. Just a bit. He's still a little shit.
The conversation seems… tense. The man says something. Gokuraku gestures back at them. The man asks something. Gokuraku sounds irritated as he shake his head. The man says something again. Gokuraku goes quiet.
On and on it goes, Desscaras and her team look upon them with unease. She looks at Kumugi, who shrug in uncertainty. She looks at Ichi, who's not even looking back at her, eyes still glue to the disputation before them. (Desscaras really ought to teach this mutt a thing or two about tact one of these days. Or let Togeice have a go at it. She'll be thrilled.)
The conversation (the argument really) eventually comes to an end. Whatever the result is, Gokuraku does not look happy about it. He returns to them once again, the harsh lines of unsolved frustration still etch on his face. They soften somewhat when he addresses them.
"I'm sorry everyone," and he genuinely sounds apologetic when he says this, "but we'll have to part ways here. An Bao will accompany you the rest of the way." The new guy—An Bao presumably—bows politely at them. "I'm sure we will meet again soon. I'm always around here. Until then."
After one final deep bow, the prince of Bakugami departs from their group in a surprisingly normal and formal manner, considering his track record to just poof in and out of their sight whenever.
As he walks pass their group in the opposite direction, Gokuraku whispers one last incredulous message to them:
Beware the pig.
Desscaras has half a mind to pull him back, to snap a question on what the fuck is he talking about, to demand him to stop joking around. She almost succeed, the first words to that sentence already escape her lips, when she finally notices the tense look on his face and the minute shake of his head. So she says nothing more, huffing in annoyance and allowing Gokuraku to leave without trouble.
Only after Gokuraku has gone off to a distance that would make suddenly chasing him down looks stupid that Desscaras remembers that she's not suppose to let him roam willy-nilly. Shit. Damn brat's 'kicked puppy' stance got her guard lowered again! And they've just gotten him back after the ruckus at the gate too! And what was that last message he gave them?! Why would the peerless talent Desscaras need to "beware" a pig?! A PIG?!
"To begin with, I would like to offer you all a formal apology for all that has happened."
The new guy Gokuraku left them with has started talking again, and they can understand him this time, so Desscaras shoves all that baggage down into a box in her mind, to be examined later (they won't, they're placed beside other dust-gathering boxes with labels like "paperwork I'm not doing", "consequences to my actions", and "Toge situationship" she's got a whole room for that Other Thing she doesn't want to think about).
"—to welcome you. The prince wasn't suppose to do it," the guy—An Bao is his name—is still talking when she tunes back in. "He was not suppose to leave the city altogether, though it is good to hear that he was with you capable witches. The guards have been worrying all day on where he could have gone."
So that answers several of her questions. One, Gokuraku is the real-deal prince. There was little doubt from her on that particular front but good to be confirmed. Two, he was supposed to be guarded and not out there causing mischief. Whether that's to protect him or to protect others from him is still up to take though. Hmp. Maybe it's fine to leave him alone for now; he's the guards' problem now, as he's supposed to be.
"It's cool, he wasn't too much trouble," Desscaras lies coolly, tapping seamlessly into her 'untouchable and unbothered badass witch' persona now that her audience is not an infuriating tricky prince. "So if you're the one that was supposed to greet us, I assume you know our business here then?"
An Bao nods. "Yes I do. An investigation into a potential human-hater majik, correct?"
"Yup. You know anything like that around here?"
"I can't say I do, Lady Witch. Why, when I first hear of the request, it terrified me for what it implies!" An Bao shakes his head as if shaking off the 'scary' thoughts. "To think such a thing would exist in our country… If only they could all be like Lord Bakugami—a peaceful majik who does nothing but grant humans blessings and joy."
And there it is. The one topic she has been dreading ever since they discovered the hole in Origumo's nest.
"Um, Master Desscaras…?" Kumugi taps her on the shoulder. Desscaras is not sure how much the scribe knows about this specific detail, but it's understandable that she has questions. Those questions can wait a bit though.
"So who is this… Lord Bakugami?" she presses lightly and casually. Though maybe that caution was unnecessary, since An Bao seems to light up at the opportunity to talk about "Lord Bakugami".
"Lord Bakugami is our country's most honored, revered deity and our savior! Visitors from all over the world come to our country just for a chance to see him and be relieved of their troubles!" He then gestures for them to direct their attention to the giant tent erected on a hill high above them. Desscaras has been wondering what it is, seeing as it's easily the most eye-catching structure in the city besides the royal palace itself.
"Please, come come. If you're in Bakugami Country, you simply must stop by Lord Bakugami himself at least once!" Their new guide beckons for them to follow him as he makes for the winding stairs around the hill that lead straight up to this "Lord Bakugami".
Well that sure was easy. Was convinced I'll have to knock out some people to even get in, Desscaras thinks. But it's also convenient. Now I can freely get to the bottom of "Lord Bakugami" and the incident 10 years ago and whether it got anything to do with us.
And all the while she's musing this, Kumugi is still tapping her shoulder, more urgently now. "Master Desscaras, please! This is urgent! If you're free now please turn around!"
Deciding to stop stressing their scribe out anymore than she already is, Desscaras turns around, "What is it, Mugi? Do you have any—" only for those words of inquiry to shrivel up and die on her tongue when she finally sees that there's only Kumugi behind her. Only Kumugi.
Not a-fucking-gain!
"That idiotic mutt!!!" she hisses at the empty space where a certain male witch was standing mere minutes ago.
Desscaras should really consider investing in a leash or two from now on.