Sated, Muroto and I went marching south toward the capital. We talked of various subjects on the way to the capital; thoughts, war memories, tastes in art, favourites foods and colours, and even thrown out the taboos to talk about sex, where he admitted to me that he liked both women and men, and made me swear to never reveal it. I was genuinely happy to talk with him, and I was happy, as more than an ally, I had gained a friend.
Out of the blue, I saw a purplish field around the outskirts of the capital. I understood the danger, explained the situation to Muroto, and we then lightened the keg. Entering the environs of the capital, we felt the spells trying to breach our minds, like a pressure on our head. We took one step after another shielding and, under the beer's, advanced inside what was once the heart of our empire.
I saw a bunch of fellow Chirihas doing labour, they were atomised, alienated. There was no sense of community as they were all focused on their task. If it happened for us to encounter them, they would fake a smile and skirt us. I was crestfallen and Muroto tried to cheer me up, but it was really sad and frustrating to see my people this way, acting like automatons. I wish I could help them, but that could compromise our mission.
We walked toward the place of rendezvous and I saw a purple beam going through Muroto's shoulder. I turned back and saw a shadow that looked like the one of an individual. I could perceive its sadistic smile from the distance. I looked at Muroto, who was indifferent, and the shadow spoke: "Hmm… Muigo…" – Muigo is a pejorative slur designing us Chirihas in the Hendeyu language) – "Good catch, it seems like I've found two cute ones…".
A filthy Hendeyu? This close to success? How could that even happen? My questions were soon answered as it pursued to throw noises: "I could smell the ores from across the street… You're new here, aren't you?" – I understood that it scented us because of the gold coins in our pockets.
As it approached with a lascivious gaze, a cold fear wandered to my body as I wondered how to react. It then placed its filthy hand on Muroto's chest and, smiling at me, said: "Don't worry, there's enough for both of you!".
When he said that, I felt my blood boiling, melting away both my fear and my decency, and I yelled at the creature: "Unhand him, fucking gold-thirsty piyu!" – piyu being an insult for the Hendeyus. My words resonated around us and the monster's smile instantly fell, as it emitted a noise that revealed a pain. Had I provoked it? I thought of that as I remembered what Rasukure told me about the power of words; maybe more than freeing the minds, they can be used to attack? Surviving seemed a worthy enough prize to test this hypothesis, and thus I made my cry be heard: "FUCKING GOLD LUSTFUL ASSHOLES! IF YOU AIN'T GETTING OUT OF OUR LAND WE'RE GONNA GET YOU THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH EACH LIMB SEPARATED! WE'RE GONNA MAKE OUR DAGGERS SHINE WITH YOUR GREASE!". I put my force in the rhythm of my every word like if it was a last cry of hope to save my friend from the claws of the evil Hendeyu. I closed my eyes, fearing the worse. Suddenly, I felt something around me. But it was rather soft. It was Muroto's arms; the Hendeyu was on the ground, knocked out. Victory is ours, but to avoid endangering the mission again, we threw all of our gold and silver in a well.
Later, we arrived to the point of rendezvous and meet an old man dressed up in dark grey clothes. He took us to a room underground, and spoke: "The spells doesn't affect us since we are such deep under the earth that the field is too feeble to affect us. We're safe here.". We talked a bit:
-"Why do you keep living in the capital?", I asked
-"You see, I'm very attached to this place. I consider that fleeing this place because it is controlled by the Hendeyus will just lead to us fleeing Tsuydo. If we keep acting like that, one day, the Hendeyus will rule over the whole world and we'll have nowhere to run. If I flee, I'll probably have some more years to live, but I'm ready to gamble all those years of future life for a small chance for my kind to live on free."
-"That is indeed a noble fight, and we'll win. But to win, we need the location of the old Letyu group's headquarters. Where was it?"
-"Of course. Take this paper, it'll guide you to the old building."
-"Thank you, may victory be upon us!"
We offered him beer, drank together and sneaked out of the capital.
We then went north and stopped by a small burg. There was a hostel, and we stopped by. Unfortunately, we forgot that we threw our coins away to avoid getting noticed, so we left.
While I was exhausted, Muroto was raring to go, so we agreed that he would go back to the club's tavern and that I would pass the night under the stars and come back tomorrow. I saluted him and he left. I kept the beer and the old man's paper.
I laid down under the trees of the old forest, thanked the gods for postponing the rain, listened to the birdsong, smiled at the moon and fell asleep.