One never gets used to staring down the barrel of a gun. Once I was back in the main hall of Tower’s ground floor, I was jumped by a pair of men in Japanese Self Defense Force fatigues. I hoped these were Brother Ratte’s “mundanes,” as Maggie had called them, or else we were in real trouble.

“Halt! Hands where I can see them!”

“Of course,” I replied. The soldier on the other end of the rifle didn’t seem much older than me. There wasn’t much that stood out about him; he was the sort of ordinary man we’d slain by the thousands in England. The difference was this time, I didn’t have orcs to take the shots. “I’m no expert on guns, but is it necessary to press the barrel against my head?”

“It is when there’s wizards around,” he said.

“Far enough,” I replied. “If it’s the same to you, though, I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

The gunman’s partner piped up. “And we’re under orders to stop anybody who comes in or out of that office.”

“You don’t need to worry about me, though. I’m Holy Brother Mockingbird. Brothers Ratte or Maus can vouch for me.”

“We’ll see about that,” the second man replied, tapping a plastic device in his ear. Without magic to power a fabricata set, he resorted to more ordinary tools. “Lieutenant, this is Ikuta. Caught a wanderer.” He squinted at me. “I can’t rightly say what he looks like. No, really. He’s a… he? I think?”

I rolled my eyes. Blast Maggie’s magic! “Let me get out my comm. I have a direct line to Brother Ratte. I’m just going to lower my hands and-”

“The heck you are!” shouted the gunman. “If you do, we’ll have a mess to report instead of an intruder!”

I sighed. Still, it was best not to test the jumpy young man. “Then have him call me on my fabricata radio. If you hear his voice coming out of my pocket, that will prove who I am, now won’t it?”

The two men exchanged a tense look before the man with the headset relayed my message.

“Brother Mockingbird, check in.” Brother Ratte’s voice was muffled through the white fabric, recognition dawning in both men’s faces.

“There,” I said. “Now put that bloody gun down!”

“Yes sir,” he stammered, complying and saluting.

I didn’t return the gesture. They had already eaten up enough of my time. I brushed past them, intentionally jostling the gunman as I fished out my commlink. “Brother Mockingbird reporting in. I-”

“Halt,” shouted another soldier. Another pair were covering the elevators. “Keep your hands where I can see them!”

“Oh, bloody Hell! Ratte, call off your dogs!” I didn’t follow the blond man’s orders, instead fixing him with an annoyed glare. Thankfully, he didn’t make good on his threat.

Brothers Ratte, Maus, and a third wizard I didn’t recognize filed into view from a side chamber, runes circling their hands. “Who are-”

With an annoyed snarl, I ripped off the enchanted mask. “There, that’s who I bloody am! Brother Mockingbird! Now let me on those elevators!”

“Not so fast, Mockingbird,” replied Ratte. “You didn’t give your report.”

“Everything’s going swimmingly,” I said, forcing myself to sound cordial. “It seems you’ve got things covered here.”

“Yes, thankfully,” said Maus. “That was a good move with the evacuation order.”

“Did anybody else pass through?” I remembered the extra “ding” from before. My imagination went wild with paranoid theories, even though I rationally knew anybody who counted would be at the arena.

“Besides that janitor we KO’d?” asked Maus. “Nope, it’s just you.”

“That’s why I was concerned,” said Ratte. “Why are you by yourself? Where is the rest of Sister Shrike’s team?”

I jerked a thumb back towards the offices. “They should be hauling the Headmaster through any moment. You may need to help them out; he isn’t exactly a light load.”

“And where are you off to?” asked the new Holy Brother. The muscular Japanese man was a study in contrasts. His hard bitten, suntanned exterior reminded me of Fera’s man Dante, but he spoke with an inviting tone worthy of a Kindergarten teacher. Judging by the blue highlights of his black Wizard Corps uniform, he was a support wizard.

“I’m going to spring the trap,” I said, pointing upwards. “It’s time to activate the gimmicked Peace Bond and capture the whole student body in one go. And since I don’t much care to run that many stairs, I need to get on the elevator.”

Maus had walked behind me. What a rude bugger; he didn’t even ask before raising the uniform’s half-cape. “Is that the bomb?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied, stepping aside so I could keep him in front of me. “Why?”

“You should entrust it to us,” said Ratte. “Just in case anything happens.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t,” I replied. “This is Sister Shrike’s mission, and she’d have my head if I gave it up. Besides, you don’t know where to plant it.” I left out that Maggie had given me a clearly labelled schematic of the school’s basement; I wasn’t about to hand that over.

Brother Ratte frowned. “And you’ll understand that I don’t like leaving things up to her, all things considered.”

“Then we’ll just have to agree that we don’t always get what we want,” I said, stepping back towards the elevator and tapping the up arrow. “I wanted a hassle-free trip up, yet you’re treating me more like an enemy than an ally.”

The newcomer stepped forward wearing a reassuring grin. “Brother Mockingbird, I think Brother Ratte got off on the wrong foot. We’re just concerned is all.”

“And I don’t know you from Adam,” I said. “Should I shove a gun in your face, too?”

“Oh, where are my manners?” He extended his hand. “I’m Holy Brother Frettchen. It’s lovely to meet you.”

I reluctantly shook his hand. “Yes, charmed, I’m sure.” The elevator dinged behind me, sliding open. “Gentlemen, I assure you the payload is in good hands.” Without another word, I slipped in and hammered the topmost floor.

Once I was on my way, I slumped against the elevator’s wall. “Bloody Hell! These Brothers trust each other less than devils do! Maybe Maggie has a point about everybody dismissing her.” I even took a moment to check my pockets. Everything was accounted for, including the car key I had slipped out of Maggie’s desk when she wasn’t looking. What a relief; I was worried that Brother Frettchen’s friendly demeanor had been a cover so he could pick my pocket.

Just as I had finished recounting the contents of my pockets, my phone came to life. Another call from Kiyo? I didn’t blame her, but I muted the phone without a second glance. The extra buzz told me she had left a voice mail. Poor girl.

The elevator’s doors parted, giving me a much-needed distraction. I slipped through the newly grown windbreak. Did the leaves look a bit less vibrant than they had before? Not a surprise, since they were growing out of gravel and asphalt.

I raised Maggie on her comm. “I’m in position. Are you ready for me?”

“Give it a minute,” she said. “We only just got on the elevator. Did you have a row with Brother Ratte?”

“Just a mild disagreement,” I replied.

“How minor? He told me to get you under control.”

“He called you an incompetent and insisted I hand over the bomb,” I replied. “I told him that this was your operation and he wasn’t going to steal your glory.”

“Why do I feel like you’re editorializing?” she asked.

“Because I clearly am,” I said. “But that’s effectively what happened. Like I told you, I’m on your team, my dear.” For now, at least.

“Well, isn’t that just heartwarming,” she replied.

I could hear Mrs. Perera’s faint voice in the background. “If you two are done flirting, the others could use a hand with Yosuke! He’s flopping like a dang salmon!”

“I’ll be right there,” said Maggie. “I don’t suppose you can activate the Peace Bond remotely?”

“Nope, the Headmaster probably intended to turn it on before he went down to the field.”

I heard a distant string of curses from Paul. I could just make out, “my damn balls, the hell, man?”

“Then stay in your position and count yourself lucky. He fights hard for a one-legged tub of lard.”

With nothing better to do, I checked and rechecked the rows of fabricata batteries. If I focused my Mimic Sight, the charged batteries looked like a solar eclipse: blindingly bright at the edges, but completely blacked out in the center. It was almost pretty, though hard to look at for long.

If I cast my vision down further, I could see the captured Mariko in the clubroom, and the still, prone form of the Headmaster being dragged along the ground by three more brilliant magical signatures. I couldn’t see as far as I normally could, likely due to the interference from so many fully charged fabricata in one space.

I stopped my search, though, realizing that I was draining my own magical energy. The Peace Bond was in perfect shape, as was my own addition from before. I was actually grateful for the lesson that Tachibana had given me on magical transmitters and receivers. I would have been worried about being out of range for the technology jamming fabricata if I had not been assured that like devices could work at any distance.

That weak little voice in my head piped up, pointing out that I was repaying his kindness with death.

“And that’s why I don’t listen to you,” I muttered. “You’re nothing but trouble.”