My struggle against the "Liberated Tsuydo Republick" – the Hendeyu underlying group – starts today! How so? For I have been hit with good fortune after the end of the war!
To understand what happened, we must understand what happened to all who fought for Tsuydo after the "Liberation": The war heroes and the top of the high command were murdered in secret (what is meant by "in secret" is "very obviously and well known before being forbidden to talk about or forcefully forgotten by brainwashing"). But for the lesser ranked members, it was a different story. The most honourable ones fiercely refused surrender and were brutally executed, but most soldiers were reintegrated into a simulacrum of a force defending Tsuydo, and lightly brainwashed into believing it. That was my case. I have been reintegrated into the "intelligence unit against counter-liberationary elements within the republick", which is officialese for "stab in the back any Chiriha brother that wishes to free itself from the Hendeyus".
But now, one may ask: If they brainwashed you, how come you have such thoughts? How did you free yourself from their mind control? The answer is simple: they forgot we fought. While it is easy to brainwash a civilian into thinking the Hendeyus act for the well being of all, targetting a veteran may not work, for it might have happened – and that is my case – that the soldier had to go out of its role of transferring mana to the mages for having to directly fight Hendeyus, resulting in his death or his return with a light resistance to their spells. Therefore, I could resist the mind control and I just acted as if it worked.
Why is today special? For that I have been assigned to infiltrate and destroy the "Club for Chiriha Continuance" ("CXC", as the "ch" sound is represented with a diagonal cross in old Chiriha script). As the name indicated, it was a club; the "Liberated Tsuydo Republick" gave an illusion of power to the people by letting anyone create a "club", that is to say founding a group that can achieve power during the elections if most of the people vote for that to happen. But while it seems good in theory, the simple fact that the Hendeyus have assigned me the goal to destroy it, and are probably doing the same on all clubs that oppose their domination, makes it obvious that in practice they just found a way to make the people think that they chose to be ruled over by the Hendeyus without using mind control.
Enough digression, let's see what's the "CXC" is about.
I knock on the door of the club's headquarters… No answer. Well, I guess it ends here.
As I turned back aiming to go back home, I notice a tavern. Eh, this disappointing day of work deserves a beer, doesn't it? I enter the tavern and ask for a beer… Then a second one… Then a third one, and the alcohol took over.
I got drunk, completely forgot my role of gathering intel, and started recklessly criticising the Hendeyus.
"Down with 'em mind flayers!" I shouted, raising my pint. If I had shouted this in the street or in any other public space, I would be chatting with the old army's high command, but somehow, this tavern seemed unaffected by the Hendeyus' spells and people around laughed and shouted "Xиκαρ!", an archaic Chiriha cheering word that I hadn't heard for ages. In the meantime, a guy, wearing glasses, approached me and ordered me another beer. Drinking another beer definitely did not seem like a good decision, but with hindsight, it was.
I stood up before a crowd of around a thousand people, uninhibited by the drinks. I drank the beer bottoms up, and all aimed their eyes at me, surprised.
I let the air flow through my lungs, and gave the silence a sound:
"Have we lost?", I asked. A part of the crowd saddened and started looking down while the other was gazing at me in incomprehension. I repeated my question:
"Have we, truly, lost? Look at this!", I say while showing off my medal, "I earned this medal for saving the main mage of our corps from the Chiriha, when I was struggling in Kunrafu. Look at that now!", I then reveal my still healing thigh, "This wound, we all have it. If it isn't on your skin, it's on your heart, on your soul. Every Chiriha has been wounded from the defeat."
After saying that, the bespectacled who had offered me a beer shouted: "Are you saying that it is over? Are we all wounded; are we all doomed?"
I look at him then look again at the crowd and say:
"This wound will heal; it is almost healed. And as every wounded soldier, once healed, we will pursue the fight…", I paused then yelled: "Because we have not lost!"
My words resonated through all the beverages and the crowd shouted "Xиκαρ!" again and again. The man with glasses smiled at me and presented himself. His name was Rasukure Dontona, and it seems like chance works in mysterious ways, since he asked if I wanted to join his Club… for Chiriha Continuance!
He told me I was very good with words and that I would be a perfect element for the club. Before I could even reply, he handed me a paper with the club's goals and way of thinking, and told me that I was welcome to come back to the tavern.
The day after, I was convened by the intelligence unit of the republick. I had to explain that all was part of the infiltration and since they didn't had much details of what happened in the tavern, they believed it and encouraged me to join the club, aiming to destroy the club. However, my plans are different, and I will do my best to make public support for the CXC rise and free all Chirihas' minds. Xиκαρ!