The Hidden World

Yuki sat in her cushioned seat, her eyes moving back and forth as she read the document displayed before her. Every now and then, she would use the pen in her hand to highlight sections in a dull yellow. Akira poked her head inside the room, intending to call Yuki for dinner, but Yuki raised a finger, telling her to give her a minute. 

‘This might just be what I need,’ she thought when she at last closed the holographic screen. ‘Just maybe.’

She left the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind her before joining the others for dinner. They were eating already as they chatted with each other around the table while the television played the news in the background. Yuki saw a plate of food set out for her already. Chicken with stir fried vegetables.

“Done for the day?” Akira asked as Yuki sat beside her.

“Yes,” she replied with a nod. She took a bite of her food as she watched the television for a moment. There was a fire at a factory that was caused by an overloaded mana circuit. “There were some interesting things. Worrying things.”

“Like what?” Akira said. Her question drew the attention of Erica and Yuna. 

“In around five days, the king is set to give a speech to the public,” she said. “Someone inside the council, I think a worker for one of the council members, obtained a copy of the draft and gave it to us. It’s the contents inside that are worrying. Though, to a certain extent, it’s good news as well.”

“Good news?” Erica frowned. “How?”

“Remember what I said about convincing the dragon council?” Erica nodded. “This just might push them to action faster.”

“What was in the speech?” Akira asked, her tone serious.

“The king is addressing public safety in his annual address. He’ll be going over various points about the neighboring countries and the state of the Libra military,” Yuki explained. “Then it shifts. He begins to speak about demons and calls them a threat to national security.”

“What is the wording exactly?” 

Yuki tapped her watch and summoned the file she had put away. She pointed at one of the highlighted passages she made. 

“Right there,” she said. “‘One of our greatest threats to our national security’ it says when talking about demons. It makes it out like an attack from the demons are inevitable and that the neighboring countries can’t be trusted to hold them off.”

“That’s certainly not good,” Akira said.

“Yup. The speech goes further than that as well. If you look at the other passages, he begins to address the fact that there are some demons living within Libra right now.”

“And it sounds like they’re being made out to be sleeper agents of sorts,” she said.

“Yes,” Yuki nodded. 

“Am I reading this right?” Erica interrupted with a frown on her face. “The evidence the speech uses for that claim.”

“You are reading it correctly. They’re going to use the demon prisoners,” Yuki said with a sigh. 

“How is that going to help them? They just dragged them out from homes and threw them in glass cells. They didn’t do anything.”

“That doesn’t matter. They can spin however they want. You know that, Erica. There’s also the fact that I can almost guarantee that there is at least one demon they captured that gave them death threats while they were being locked up. They could probably show that as well if it was recorded.”

Erica pressed her lips together and sighed.

“I know. It gets worse later on in the speech,” Yuki said. “I’ll give you guys time to go over it all.”

She went back to her food and ate quietly as the others read the speech that she projected from her watch. They seemed to have forgotten their own meals as they read the holographic pages, their expressions ranging from worried to tired.

When she got half way through her plate, Akira leaned away from the screen and began poking her food with her fork with a look of deep thought. Yuki watched her, knowing that she was about to speak at any moment.

“What should we do?” she asked. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Not particularly,” Yuki replied. “I need to convince the council. If they don’t act soon, then our window for stopping this will close and we’ll need to prepare for the worst.”

“I didn’t think they would outright announce a purge. At least, not yet.”

“That just means they’ve grown to the point where they are confident in their influence. We might have underestimated their size and reach.”

“They’re calling the military in for this,” Yuna said. She sighed and gave Yuki an apologetic look. “If I was here for the last few days, I might have learned about this sooner. They would be doing drills and going over briefings before the speech if this goes through.”

“Chances that the military would go through with this?” Yuki asked.

“Very likely,” she replied. “I would be surprised if the military petitions against it. The Libra Taskforce might not get involved depending on the approach the leaders take, but it’ll happen if the council orders it.”

“Do you know why?”

“It’s domestic. The reason they would resist doing an invasion of the Gaeto would be because of the risk involved. It wouldn’t be worth it,” she explained. “There’s no reason to either as the demons haven’t done anything to them, so they don’t see it as lawful or worthwhile. This is different though. Demons are explicitly banned from the country. By living here, they are violating laws, so the military will see purging them as enforcing laws.”

“But would they be fine with killing them?” Yuki asked.

“Definitely,” Yuna sighed. “I don’t understand it, but there is a sense of dislike for demons in the military. Especially among the older members. Demons haven’t done anything to them. Many weren’t alive when the Demon War happened. So I don’t get it at all.”

“Influence from their upbringing,” Erica answered. “I’ve spoken to a lot of people. The young ones don’t hate demons for any personal reasons. The old ones just passed it on.”

“Yuna,” Yuki said slowly. Yuna sat up straighter, waiting for what she had to say. “Do you think it’s safe for you to go back to the L-Taf? Or do you want to stay here with us?”

“Why do you ask?” she frowned.

“You said that there is an anti-demon sentiment among them. You’re an angel, remember? What if you are found out?”

“Oh,” Yuna said softly. “I didn’t think about that.”

“I’m just worried, you know? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Oh.” A soft pink tint crept up her throat as she averted Yuki’s gaze. “I think I’ll be fine. You need someone in there, right?”

Yuki thought to herself for a moment.

“Maybe,” she said. “If we topple the Shikaku, we might need someone inside to monitor the situation with the military. But it doesn’t need to be you. An elf can do it. You can’t quite control your powers, right?”

“No, not yet,” Yuna said with an apologetic smile.

“That’s fine, but I don’t want it to potentially leak out and draw attention to you.”

“I don't think that will be a problem. I struggle with bringing out my magic and using it. Keeping it from coming out should be easy.”

“I see.” Yuki glanced over at Erica and Akira. “What do you two think?”

“If she’s confident, then I say let her,” Erica shrugged. “We need eyes, right?”

“I think the same thing,” Akira nodded. “But we need to give her better equipment. So she can protect herself. Some sort of emergency flare or button would be good as well so she can warn us if something is wrong.”

“Mmm. I guess. Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Yuki asked, directing her question to Yuna who nodded.

“I’ll be alright. Don’t worry about me,” she smiled.

“Then that’s that. In a day, we’ll be returning to meet the dragon council,” Yuki said. “Whether or not I convince them or not, you’ll need to return to the L-Taf. Do you have a reason for your absence?”

“I came up with one with Akira and Erica.”

“Good. If I do manage to convince the council, I’ll give you instructions on what you need to do when you get back. If not, then do what you’ve been doing. At any sign you’ve been found, tell me. Immediately. Got it?”

“Got it,” she nodded.

“Alright. Now then. We’ve got some planning to do tonight.”