HP: Spirit Talker

— I'll start with the most important thing... — The girl nodded at her words, frowning her thin eyebrows childishly and generally giving the impression of a teenage girl trying to appear serious. -...about the war.

— What do you mean, Tenno-sama? — asked my mother here in a hoarse voice.

— Your son knows what I mean, right? — When they looked at me, I nodded in agreement. — There, I told you so! — I clapped my hands again, childishly. — But I think I'll be a little more specific. — A sudden change, and ice froze in the eyes of the beauty, and her face turned into a stone mask. — An alliance of clans, inspired by Miyazaki, Sakurano, Umino, and Tachibana, has been preparing the people for several years now, aligning public opinion to wage war on the magical nations in one fell swoop. They are stockpiling rare goods, training their fighters, and recruiting free mages, while the media hysteria about the "evil ayakashi" grows by the day. It's all leading to war, real war.

There was silence for a while. In fact, I assumed that a conflict was brewing, but I didn't think it would be a real war.

— But why would they do that? — Mother asked in a husky voice. — For so many hundreds, thousands of years we have lived side by side, yes there have been conflicts, but now, now! Why? — The woman's already pale face turned white.

— Oh, it's simple. — The priestess waved her thin hand indifferently. — Redistribution of power — that's what they care about. The thing is, as you know, the Ayakashi possess unique resources: mystical springs, lands, forests. And all this is inaccessible to humans, not even to look at, hee hee hee. — The girl covered her lips with the palm of her hand. — But the eternal thirst of man, the thirst for profit, the thirst for power, the thirst to live one day, drives him to destroy what has been preserved from the creation of the world.

— Nothing changes, does it? — I grin crookedly, drawing parallels with known events from the human world. — Money and slaves, eh?

— That's right, young Sora. — The fiery red-haired girl smiles. — It will not be the first time we share blood. Nor will it be the last. — The girl looked into my eyes and apparently found something there. — We have always had human allies. Four times, human magicians have waged war against the Lords of the Wondrous Peoples. Four times the human magical community was divided between those who sought profit and those who saw the fallacy of such ideas. — The girl paused for a moment and smiled a wry smile of satisfaction. — We're still here. — and played with her thin fingers, I smiled back, my mother listening in silence with a strange expression on her face, sometimes squinting.

— What about the Emperor? — I suddenly remembered.

— What about him? — The beauty raised her eyebrows in astonishment, radiating complete confusion.

— What about him? — I was also somewhat confused. — He has to maintain order and laws in the country, and here he is...

— He does. — the priestess replies in the same surprised "mode". — The Imperial Chancellery keeps order among the mages as much as necessary. The guards guard the borders. The country works, trades, lives. What's the problem?

— And war?

— There will be one. — He answers calmly.

— And he does nothing! — I raise my voice involuntarily.

— Of course! — The girl answers eagerly, spiritedly, but I feel it's ironic. — The emperor fulfills his duties perfectly! Everything according to treaties and laws! Well, and the fact that there is a fight between competitors, that has always been the case, let them sort it out themselves! If the magicians win, good, new opportunities will open up. If they lose — great, — there will be fewer too cunning and naughty ones, and again his power and authority will be strengthened.

— Authority? — I feel like a fool, I don't understand.

— What do you mean? — The girl fluttered her arms. — The disobedient survivors of the war will be purged, which will bring satisfaction in the eyes of the non-humans — revenge will be accomplished. Then he would sign something, a law, a treaty, it didn't matter. And here he is already so active and good, and in the eyes of everyone! An authority! And in time, everything that has been accepted can be revoked and returned to the way it was, quietly, imperceptibly. And everything will go back to the way it was. A quiet, smooth life again... until the next troublemaker grows up.

I've always been fed up with politics! Why can't we just live by honor and conscience? There is always some shady, cunning bastard with no standards or morals, and by his example, everyone around him begins to rot.

 I didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, lost in my own thoughts, dreams and even a little bit of plans. I probably would have, if Vakana hadn't entered the room after a while and made a long speech about "the chosen one", "the great plan" and "great honor". The words made me listen to her and even chuckle, because there were plenty of such templates everywhere.

Like it ? +100 Chapters on Patreon!
www.patreon.com/molakar