The Soutou Estate was truly magnificent to say the least, built into the nook of a large hill the estate stood at least four stories tall, perhaps higher and in a western Iborian like style. It was split into at least three distinct wings, one in the center and one to both the left and right, each with a separate sloped road leading to their own unique entrance.

  The center entrance was behind a large courtyard with many fountains and perfectly trimmed hedges in various extravagant shapes surly the work of multiple master class groundskeepers. Between each hedge was a large statue in the shape of a griffon standing tall and proud. This could also be said to be true for the two sloped roads which led to the right and left wings entrance. Though of course to a lesser extent.

  Honestly it felt much more akin to some kind of elite university rather than a residential property. Just by comparing it to the Hojo Estate you could properly assess the clans' similarity and differences. Mainly both are filthy rich but also have different styles and beliefs.

  “Yeah that’s it…” Kansashi muttered. Both he and Kenji made sure to stay clear from the estates border after taking into consideration their fiasco from only half an hour earlier. Instead they lurked on the hill side which the left wing was built into, of course high enough to be out of the estates barrier which was a clear light red dome.

  “You sure?” Kenji asked.

  “Yeah, that barrier is similar to the Hojos, except the “can’t see what’s inside.” thing isn’t a part of it.” Kanahsi answered, giving a nod.

  “So what do we do? Try to break in?”

  “Are you seriously even asking that? We got our asses handed to us by some 3rd rate clans elementals!”

  “...” Kenji looked at Kanashi with a scowl, his bottom lips curled downwards and his eyes narrowed with flames of anger within them.

  “Not because you’re weak or anything! But because it’s just a bad match up. If there were a bunch of guards blocking our way you could destroy them. But if they have something similar to the Elementals from before… then we would be shit out of luck.”

  “We won’t know unless we try.” Kenji shrugged

  “Yeah but finding out might just mean blowing everything. Even if we do survive and beat all the Elementals, that barrier still exists. I’m assuming based on the Hojo clans barrier that it will try to “obstruct” those univinted from entering.”

  “How would it do that?”

  “I don’t know honestly, maybe it’ll act like a tangible barrier keeping us out or it could interfere with our aura nodes and mana circuits. Then it’s like your body exploding from the inside. That’s something Jason warned me about.”

  “Jason?” Kenji asked with a raised brow.

  “Um… don’t worry about it, just know that he’s like in the top ten barrier people in the world so he knows his stuff. The Soutou are rich enough they’ve probably had someone on Jason's level create this barrier.”

  “So can we toss a stone like before? If it explodes or bounces off we’d know it’s a no go right?”

  “Hmmm, not a bad idea but that might alert them to our presence. Also a rock doesn’t have Mana Circuits or Aura Nodes so if it passes through that doesn’t mean we will.” Kanashi explained tracing his finger through the air. Also you’re adapting to knowing magic very well.

  “So what do we do then!?” Kenji growled, a vein popping on his forehead.

  “We’ll… we just wait.”

  “For what?”

  “Something… for something to happen.” Kanashi sighed, dropping his shoulders low. His plan which he’d pulled out of his ass hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped at first.

  “Wait a minute! Why are we trying to sneak in!? You’re trying to talk to this guy right? Why don’t you just knock on their door!?” Kenji asked.

  “...” Kanashis face turned pale and his lips dropped down. “I… I guess I didn’t think about that.” He admitted ruffling the hair on the back of his neck.

  “...”

  “...”

  There was an awkward moment of silence during which both men mentally agreed not to bring up such a baffling blunder on Kanashis part.

  “Why not give it a try? Worst they can say is no.”

  “Well… that’s not the worst but I get what you’re saying.” Sighed Kanashi.

  “If they try anything else, I’ll come rescue you.” Kenji said, flexing his arm, his white bandages turning red with blood.

  “I told you to stop flexing!” Kanashi barked, smacking Kenji on the back. “But alright I’ll give your plan a try…”

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  “How do I get their attention?” Kanashi whispered to himself as he stood before the Soutous' large front gate, it was made from what looked like a bundle of steel spears, the end of the tips being sharp enough to skewer anyone who tried to scale it.

  But if Kanashi wanted to he could easily use enhancement and hop over the fence without coming near the spikes. No, the issue here was the barrier which laid exactly at the gates end, the moment he jumped the gate he’d enter the barrier, something he was terribly afraid of.

  If Jason's warning was the case here then even testing its effects could be dangerous. Twice, Kanashi had seen people's aura nodes and mana circuits go haywire. First was Satoshi and second was Guro. Both clearly being subject to agonizingly painful experiences which he had no desire to replicate.

  “Maybe there’s an intercom or something?” Kanashi began to look over the red brick wall which acted as the barrier for the half of the property that the spear-like fences didn’t cover.

  How nostalgic… He thought seeing the red brick which he traced his hand across gently looking for any kind of hidden button. The clear Iborian style of the property was no doubt inspired by the roots of the Soutou clan being that of the Soto family in Iboria. However this style was also readily apparent in Saharis. Azhar especially, most houses were made either out of this red brick style with white stone or modeled adobe. At least that’s the more traditional appearance. As of late the style had changed to glass, concrete and steel. A lazy cookie cutter design which they could shit out in any way they wanted without stretching their mind too much.

  Hopefully when they rebuild Azhar they won't make everything like that… Kanashi frowned. He was now on the ground feeling under the lip of the brick trying to find a button but he found nothing. “Tch, is there some kind of pressure plate for a car to weigh down on then? If that’s the case then I’m shit out of luck…” He sighed. Well I could technically conjure a bunch of ice or stone but that wouldn’t be a good look exactly either.

  “State your purpose.” A voice boomed from above, Kanashi nearly letting his bladder loose at the sudden impact of sound.

  “Huh? Who is that!?” He asked looking around for any signs of a person.

  “State your purpose.” The voice repeated, in the same tone as before.

  “...” Trying to follow the sound's origin he tracked his eyes along the wall until he saw what appeared to be a microphones end peeking out from over the fence. Is this their security system? Did I do something to make it notice me or did someone activate it from inside after having seen me out here…

  “State your purpose.” The voice repeated.

  “Well at least it’s in Shinkai…” Kanashi sighed, pushing his bangs from his crystal clear blue eyes.

  “State your purpose.” The voice said one again.

  “I’d like to speak to a representative of the house.”

  “...” The voice didn’t repeat instead staying silent and Kanasi tapped his foot waiting for a response.

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.” The voice said suddenly, it’s tone the exact same as before.

  “Wait what? I didn’t even get to tell them my reason! What the hell!?”

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.”

  “Hey! Please talk to me! I have something urgent to discuss!” Kanashi yelled out waving in all directions hoping a camera would pick up his motion.

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.” The voice said for a 3rd time.

  Kanashis eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkled as he debated what to do next.

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.”

  “Maybe I need to do something to get their attention?”

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.”

  “Will you shut the hell up!?” Kanashi barked, flipping his middle finger at the microphone.

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immediately.”

  “Ugh! Someone come and talk to me!” Kanashi yelled, pulling at his own hair.

  “Request Denied, evacuate the property immed-!”

  There was an electronic click like that of a phone switching connections followed by a new voice.

  “Tch, what the hell are you doing here kid, ya stupid bastard!” An angry gruff voice yelled over the microphone loud enough that Kanashi felt his ears hurting.

  “Are you a representative of this house?” Kanashi asked as politely as he could.

  “Tch, I’m the one asking the question here not you get that through your thick head! Ya stupid bastard!”

  “Oh sorry, well I would like to talk to a representative of the house.”

  “Oi, are you messing with me Ya stupid bastard!? I told you to tell me what you’re doing here ya stupid bastard!”

  “I want to talk, that's all!”

  “Oh yeah? And why should we let a stupid bastard like ya talk to us ya stupid bastard!?”

  Kanashi felt his temper growing short at the man's attitude, his verbal tic of “Ya stupid bastard.” Not helping the situation at all. However the man raised a good question, why should they take time out of their day to listen to what Kanashi had to say? Who was he to have that right.

  “Eh? Can’t come up with a reason can ya, ya stupid bastard!?”

  “Alright I’m starting to get angry.” Kanashi huffed, blowing smoke out of his nose.

  “Oh yeah? And what’re you gonna do about it ya stupid bastard!?” The voice mocked.

  “...” Kanashi once again was stumped as to what to say here, the man was asking valid questions but they were the kind Kanashi didn’t want to be asked.

  “Tch, hurry up and get outta here ya stupid bastard! We’ve got no time for Stupid Bastards like ya, ya stupid bastard.”

  “...”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Not wanting to admit defeat but having no idea how to respond to the man, Kanashi was truly at a loss for what to say. That is until he had a sudden idea, a nasty yet good idea.

  “I’m a missionary of the Kusig Manufacturing Company. I need to talk to a representative of the house as I have a business proposal.” He said, trying to hide his nasty grin.

  “Oi what the hell did you just say ya stupid bastard? Who the hell do ya think you’re fooling with that obvious lie ya stupid bastard. Do we think we’re a bunch of stupid bastards? Huh ya stupid bastard?”

  “It’s not a lie, I was simply stunned by the rudeness of your statement and attitude, to be honest I’m already thinking that my business proposal won’t work in the least if I can’t even speak to a representative of the house.”

  “Tch, ya stupid bastard, who do ya think you’ve been talking to this whole time ya stupid bastard? I’m a representative of the house ya stupid bastard. So now what ya stupid bastard?”

  “O-oh well then I’m sorry for my rudeness!” Kanshi said, bowing his head meekly with grit teeth. “As I said before I’m a missionary from the Kusig Manufacturing company in Azhar… Or well was from Azhar. I’m here to discuss business relating to a potential partnership between the Soutou import and export company and our Kusig Manufacturing. We have a generous offer.”

  “Huh? Are you kidding me ya bastard? I don’t even know who that is ya stupid bastard. Ya know what ya stupid bastard before I even entertain a stupid bastard like ya’s lies why don’t ya at least try to prove it, ya stupid bastard.”

  “Prove it?” Kanashi repeated, tilting his head to the side.

  “Do ya got lead in your ears ya stupid bastard!? I said prove it ya stupid bastard! Don’t play games with me Ya stupid bastard. I’m already in a bad mood ya stupid bastard! If ya can’t prove it then I’m gonna go out there and kick ya ass out myself ya stupid bastard!”

  “...” Prove it huh? Kanashi wondered with a frown. How would I do that? I guess… I can try that…

  “Al-Fu'ngat? Untalek'ga shi-estage?” Kanashi said with a nervous grin.

  “Huh? What the hell did ya just say ya stupid bastard!? Did ya just try to cast a curse on me or something ya bastard!? Are ya’ trying to make me angry ya bastard!?”

  “I was speaking [Ciencia], as proof of my Saharis origin.”

  “Saharis? A stupid bastard like ya is too pasty to be from Saharis ya stupid bastard. Do ya think I’m a stupid bastard, ya stupid bastard!?”

  At a loss for words Kanashi contemplated just walking away and giving up, this man was not only rude, repetitive and annoying, but had absolutely no actual intention in playing Kanashis game. He might be good at arguing but only against someone willing to argue. This man was just a brick wall who was doing this for fun.

  “!”

  Suddenly there was a banging sound which both Kanashi and the person on the intercom seemed to react to.

  “The hell is that stupid bastard doin’? The voice said now with a hinge of anxiety rather than pure anger.

  Kanashi looked over to the origin of the noise and saw that it was the front door to the state being opened and closed. The one who walked through said entrance now moving towards him.

  Click.

  With a soft click the voice over the intercom seemed to retreat and hang up the phone, which made Kanashi more nervous about the situation.

  “...” Biting his lip he focused on the blurry figure which approached him, slowly his eyes adjusted and he could make out some vague features of the man. Tall, slender with long black hair and sharp eyes, his mouth opened slightly revealing his prominent canines. He was probably around the same age as Julius, meaning his mid to late 20’s based on his blend of mature yet youthful skin. His upper body was covered by a red t-shirt made of an expensive material while his lower half had a high quality pair of lemon yellow jogging pants, likely made of silk based on the way it shined. For shoes he had open toe sandals with Black socks hiding his feet from view.

  Is that Sosuke? Kanashi wondered, if this man was Sosuke then that made things so much easier for him that he might as well have leapt out of his skin and danced as a skeleton.

  However he didn’t want to provoke Sosuke so he decided to wait for him to meet at the gate.

  With his agile speed thankfully the wait wasn’t long, only lasting less than a minute before the man who Kanashi would from now on presume to be “Sosuke.” met his eyes.

  “K-konichiwa!” Kanashi said, bowing his head.

  “I speak Shinkai.” Sosuke said, looking at Kanashi and motioning for him to lift his head.

  “O-oh sorry, I didn’t meant to offend you or-”

  “I’ll stop you right there. This talk is pointless, let’s get onto the main reason.” Sosuke said, snapping his finger.

  “O-oh alright then, I'm from the Kusig manufacturing company and was sent as a missionary to speak to a representative of the Soutou clan estate because-”

  “Kusig?” Sosuke hummed looking to the sky as he tried to recall who that name belonged to.

  “We’re, or were, the largest manufacturing business in Saharis until the fall of Azhar. The consequences of which have proven disastrous for our company. So I was sent to speak with you in terms of a potential partnership.” Kanashi explained trying to speak as politely as he could.

  “Is that so?” Sosuke muttered rubbing his chin in through for a moment. “Well then, if you wish to discuss business then we must do a little ritual custom of the Soutou clans business etiquette.”

  “Sure…” Kanashi said with a wry smile. Ritual? I don’t have to kiss him or anything right?

  Without a word Sosuke simply took his hand from his pants pocket and put it out as if wanting to shake Kanashis hand.

  “?” Kanashi tilted his head at the gesture and Sosuke frowned like he wasn’t the strange one here.

  “Do you not use hand shakes in Saharis?” Sosuke sighed.

  “O-oh sorry! I’m just, when you said ritual I didn’t expect something so mundane.” Kanashi laughed wryly.

  “I only prefenced that because it would be strange to not only reach my hand out with no prior warning but also because in Edoland hand shakes are rarely performed. Think of it as a curse of habit on my part.”

  “No it’s fine I get-”

  “Will you shake my hand or not?” Sosuke asked, blowing air from his nose.

  “Yeah…” Kanashi muttered, lifting his own hand up and reaching for Sosuke, however he stopped mid-motion upon seeing the red barrier which stood between the two hands.

  “...”

  “...”

  “What’s wrong, why won’t you shake my hand?” Sosuke asked.

  “Because there's…” Kanashi muttered, unable to come up with a reason.

  “Where's what?” Sosuke asked.

  “...”

  “Because there’s a barrier?”

  “!”

  In a moment Kanashi felt the overwhelming aura nearly slice into him, like the fangs of a wild dog were just inches from his throat he fell backwards with a shudder, sweat dripping down his face and neck.

  “Soutou Inurashi.” The man who Kanashi had assumed was Sosuke said.

  “W-who?”

  “That’s my name, Inurashi.”

  “Inurashi…” Kanashi repeated.

  “Yes, remember my name, because if you ever come near my home or family again that name will belong to the one who kills you.”

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  Needless to say, Kanashi escaped Inurashis gaze in a mad, wild dash. With an excuse of jumbled words he quickly returned to Kenji who looked at him with a frown.

  “What happened?” Kenji asked, seeing Kanashi pouring sweat.

  “That guy… he was gonna kill me! Damnit what’s up with these people! Inurashi!? No one mentioned him to me yet his aura was that suffocating!? These clans and their eugenics, it's not fair!” Kanashi slammed his hand against his thigh before letting out a tired sigh and dropping his shoulders. “As soon as I think I’ve made some progress I’m reminded that I’m out of my element… I’m a medium fish in a small pond, and then I’m plankton in the ocean.”

  “I don’t get what you’re saying…” Kenji said.

  “If I try to break in or go near that place again that guy I talked to will kill me, or at least try to.” Kanashi sighed, pointing towards the Soutou estate.

  Kenji carelessly waved the threat off. His expression showed that he believed he could easily defend Kanashi and kill Inurashi in turn, a belief which Kanashi too shared. But one hoped would not come to fruition.

  “What about the barrier thing? Did it make your hand explode?” Kenji asked which Kanashi responded by waving both his hands about with a frown.

  “It’s for sure there, and it seems to be a legit barrier… but I can’t help but wonder what Inurashis plan was. If the barrier really was something that could harm me would he risk that on someone who wasn’t a magic user?”

  “What D'ya mean?” Kenji asked.

  “He found out I knew what magic was by asking me to stick my hand through the barrier, something I obviously was afraid to do because I could see that the barrier was there. But let’s say his hunch was wrong and I didn’t know magic and stuck my hand through the barrier and got hurt, is that a chance he would be willing to take?”

  “So you don’t think the barrier is dangerous or something?” Kenji asked, smoke blowing from his ears and his forehead scrunched with wrinkles.

  “Yeah! That’s it!” Kanashi laughed with a snap of his fingers. “You’re getting good at this! But yeah the barrier might not be the kind I’m worrying about. Maybe it’s just a sensor type? Like when someone penetrates it a signal is sent to everyone in the estate? Maybe it also activates some kind of trap inside like summoning elementals or golems? While that would still be dangerous it means we are not at a total loss of options here.”

  “But you still don’t want to raid it right?”

  “Not yet, not until we’ve gone through all of our options… even if the barrier isn’t as worrying as I thought charging into their estate is a suicidal charge.”

  “What’s our other option?” Kenji asked, raising his right brow.

  “We wait and watch.” Kanashi answered.

  “...” Kenjis face turned blank, his expression non-existent.

  “Look alright! I know it’s not the most exciting thing but it’s the safest option, we can also gather more information.”

  “How long do you want to wait for? We can’t just stand around here all day hoping for something to happen right?”

  “... two hours. We’ll wait for two hours. If nothing happens then we’ll try a more direct approach.” Kanashi said, holding up two fingers.

  “Like a raid?” Kenji asked with a wide excited grin.

  “No, not like a raid, but maybe something to a lesser extent of one.”

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “Has it been two hours yet?” Kenji asked, looking at Kanashi through the foliage.

  “No! Stop asking me that already! It’s only been an hour and twenty minutes!” Kanashi barked back with an annoyed scowl. “You ask me the same damn thing at least once a minute!”

  “Cuz I don’t have a watch.” Kenji shrugged, turning back to watching at the estate.

  “Then count the seconds or something…” Kanashi muttered under his breath and rubbed the space between his eyes.

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “Who’s that?” Kenji asked, shaking Kanashis arm.

  “Who’s who?” Kanashi hummed looking back up at the estate and straining his eyes to watch the event which had begun to unfold.

  The center wings front doors had been opened and emerging from within the mansion was a small group of people, one being Inurarashi, another a crude and barbaric looking man with scruffy facial hair, a scarf and long hair pulled back into a ponytail. Upon seeing him Kanashi immediately knew that he was the “Ya stupid bastard.” Guy, he looked part of the course of such a role. Other than those two the rest of them were seemingly servants except for one man who stood in the center. His presence was like that of a comet as he appeared stealing Kanashis breath.

  He was of average height with a stocky build, going off his general shape you’d assume he was obese but that would be an incorrect observation. For that mass upon his bones was dense muscle sculpted perfectly for strength. His hair was spiky and black and he appeared to have a square mustache on his upper lip. His wrinkled face showed his age and his aura withered with honed power like someone who’d been bathed in conflict.

  “That has to be him.” Kanashi thought aloud.

  “Who?”

  “Soutou Raizen! It has to be him!” Kanashi said, his lips curled into an anxious smile.

  “...” Kenji's brow dropped at that revelation as if he was disappointed by that person being who they were looking for. “I could kill him from here if you give me your katana… wanna do that?”

  “What!? No, I already told you not to kill people anymore! Wait how would you even do it from here!? Would you throw my katana like a spear!? Why mine and not yours!?”

  “Alright alright I get it…” Kenji grunted, pushing Kanashi away from his ear. “But he’s here now, and heading towards that car which just pulled in through the gate. This is our chance to do something, if we lose him then we’ve lost everything.” He said, his sharp eyes looking at Kanashi who gulped down the realization of the moment.

  Looking towards the estate once more Kanashi saw the man he assumed to be Soutou Raizen being escorted into a black car which had a strange vibe around it most likely enchanted to some extent.

  I assumed Inurarashi was Sosuke so maybe I’m assuming wrong here again? If we do something now and he’s not then we’ll mess everything up… but if this is Raizen then we’ll also be messing things up. All the signs I’d imagine are pointing to him being Raizen, his age, his appearance, his aura, the respect he seems to command. But Kenji thinks he’s no big deal so could that really be the leader of their clan? Kenji is in his own league but I’d assume the big three clan heads would be there as well going off Satoshi. But Asara seemed to be rather weak and while Inurashi has a fair chance at killing me if he wanted to, I don’t think he was anything special in the grand scheme of things. So am I overestimating the big three clans? Is it not their physical force that matters but the power they hold politically?

  “Kenji you pick! What do we do!?” Kanashi asked.

  “Kill him now!” Kenji answered immediately.

  “No! Dammit, do we follow him or wait here for longer!?”

  Kenji too seemed to consider this greatly though only for a second maybe two as his mind had little power within it. “Let’s go after him!” He nodded.

  To which Kanashi responded with a thumbs up and a twisted grin.

  “Al-Fu'ngat? Untalek'ga shi-estage?” - I’d say this probably means something like “How are you? What’s your name?” Just two generic phrases Kanashi remembered since he doesn’t speak Ciencia pretty much at all outside knowing a few words and greetings.

  Ciencia is probably similar to how latin is in the real world but also still used commonly in rural areas of Saharis.

  Speaking of which I’ve talked about the languages of Eden before but I don’t think I’ve gone into too much depth. There are about 9 main languages across the entire planet with Shinkai being the most common. A majority of people speak Shinkai as at least their 2nd or 3rd language much like English in the real world.

  This is because Shinkai was created 2500 years ago for the purpose of uniting the world together under a single common tongue, however some countries either because they were too remote to be involved or out of personal pride chose not to adopt Shinkai as their main language.

  Another notable fact is that there is a universal currency which I refer to as “Dollars” or “$” in the writing itself but it’s a unique currency used by about 80% of the world. Also created 2500 years ago by the creator or Shinkai, someone who will be mentioned soon in the main story.

  [戌羅士] Inurashi -First Kanji is the zodiac for dog, 2nd is for “latin” and the third is for “swordsman”

  While I’m at it here’s the animal for each large families crest

  Aragon - Dragon

  Salamance > Sarumalder - Salamander

  Lutece - Pegasus

  Soutou - Griffon

  Hojo - Ezo Wolf

  Kageki - Old World Wolverine

  Freyr - Raven

  Phoenicia - Phoenix

  Sosaki - Monkey (Macaque)

  Susanori - Jellyfish