"And Kariya was there?" Tenma asked once Kirino was finished. It was the next day, and the friends had once again come to the clearing before Kirino's house. The sorcerer had just finished telling them about the four men he'd seen last night. Just like the previous day, they all sat around the fireplace as they talked. A small flame ate away at the pieces of dry wood that were stacked there. Even though there was still enough light, Kirino had lit the fire for some reason that Shindou couldn't yet see. But after deciding that it wasn't worth his attention, he had focused on the sorcerer's story instead.

Kirino shrugged his shoulders in a way that was supposed to be indifferent, but the brunette noticed a small glint in the other's eyes that showed that he did care about the matter at hand. "I'm not sure. I didn't have time to get a good look of the children and moreover, I don't even know what Kariya looks like exactly. But it seems like the obvious choice, since that Noburu guy you told me about was there too."

"I can't believe that Noburu-san would do such a thing," Shinsuke muttered to himself. "He was so nice. And his stories were really good!"

"People are often not as they appear," Kirino shrugged, failing to notice the inquiring look Shindou gave him. Then the brunette looked down at the sketch that Kirino had drawn in the dirt. It showed the structure of the encampment, like the location of the guard, the campfire and most importantly, the captivated children.

"There's gotta be a way to free them," he thought out loud.

"But we'll have to hurry and find it," Tsurugi continued. "We don't know how long they'll stay there."

"Kirino-san, isn't there a way to find that out?" Shinsuke asked the sorcerer, but Kirino shook his head.

"The best I can do is speculate." There was an unspoken question in the short boy's eyes that even Shindou could decipher: 'Can't you use magic to find out?', but Kirino either didn't notice it or he chose to ignore it. Well, if he doesn't see magic as an option, it probably isn't one... Shindou thought.

"Is there any way we can reach the children without getting noticed?" Tenma asked as he studied the sketch on the ground.

"I don't think so," Kirino replied and he bent forward. "They might not suspect trespassers, but they did take safety measures in case something happens. The guards are just one example of that. That clearing is enclosed by the sea and a high cliff on one side, which limits our possibilities."

"Can't we climb down from the cliff?" Tenma mooted.

"It looked very steep to me, and I'm sure the sea has made it really slippery in time. Besides, how do you want to get away, if we manage to get those children out?"

Tenma didn't answer and silence enveloped them once again.

"Also," Kirino continued after some time and he immediately gained all attention. "Those children were tied up and the hole was also pretty deep. It's impossible to get them out quickly. From what I saw, they could barely move on their own."

"So it's impossible to sneak in and get them out quickly without being seen. That's what you mean to say, isn't it?" Shindou asked and Kirino nodded silently. The brunette gritted his teeth in frustration. They absolutely had to save Kariya and those other children, but how could they ever do that? Their opponents had thought well about this. Suddenly a feeling of hopelessness overcame Shindou. Their opponents were grown-up men, and dangerous ones at that. Did he and his friends even stand a chance against an opponent like that?

"Maybe we could use a diversion," Tenma said.

"But what?" Tsurugi countered immediately. "It's not like we can just go there and make them chase us. I doubt that would draw all of them away and lets not even begin about the risk of being captured ourselves."

"That risk exists nonetheless," Kirino said. "If we're going there, the risk that we'll all be captured or killed exists. We just have to try to make that risk as small as possible. A diversion might work," Tenma stuck out his tongue at Tsurugi, "but it needs to be a big one. The opponent has some huge advantages, so we'll need a lot of time if we want to free those children."

"If we take a sharp knife with us, we can just cut those ties," Tsurugi thought out loud. "That would speed things up considerably. My father is a blacksmith, so I'm sure I can get my hands on one."

"That's not the only thing, you know," Kirino countered.

"What do you mean?" Shindou asked confusedly. Surely if they cut the ropes, they could free those children more quickly.

"Even if you can cut those ties, those people won't just go with you. Those ropes aren't our biggest disadvantage here."

"Huh? But then... what is our biggest disadvantage? Shinsuke asked.

"Tsurugi," Kirino started, seemingly ignoring the question. "You said you're the blacksmith's son, right? What do you think that the strongest weapon on earth is?"

The navy-haired boy seemed to be caught off-guard by the question, but he quickly regained his composure and thought about the question. "I'm not sure. Is it a sword?" he guessed after a while, but Kirino shook his head. Tsurugi listed various other weapons, but none of them were 'the strongest weapon', according to Kirino. Shindou thought he had a feeling where the sorcerer was going and it didn't take long before Tsurugi realized it too. "Magic?" he asked unsurely. But even to this option, Kirino shook his head. That confused Shindou greatly. Did Kirino mean that there was something even stronger than magic?

"It's fear," the sorcerer said. "The strongest weapon our enemy has, is the fear of the children they captured."

"I don't understand that," Tenma said and the others nodded to signal that they didn't either. "The captives are afraid of those people, right? So don't they want to get away from them?"

"Yes they are afraid, but that is exactly why they will stay there."

"I still don't get it," Shinsuke sighed, a deep frown visible on his forehead.

"Let me show you," Kirino said and he raised from the ground. "Can anyone make that fire a little bigger?" With that, he turned and walked towards the cabin. Shindou looked at his friends and when no one made a move, he got up himself and poked at the small fire with a stick until it became a little less small. He also added a few dry twigs and when Kirino came back, the fire crackled steadily in the fireplace. Shindou watched the sorcerer expectantly, curious as to what he would do.

Kirino took a deep breath as preparation and closed his eyes. He brought his right fist to his mouth and said one word that Shindou didn't understand. "Magu." Then he lowered his hand in an arc and said another unfamiliar word, a little louder than before. "Nes." The arc continued behind him and as he raised his hand again, he said more words, each one louder than the previous one. "Shi. A. Um!" During the last word he opened his palm and kept it above the fire, as if he tried to influence it with his mere will. Shindou didn't have much time to wonder about it, though, because suddenly there was a bright flash of light that blinded him.

Instinctively he covered his eyes and moved backwards. His heart sped up and when he didn't see colourless blobs anymore, he looked in shock at Kirino. The pink-haired boy sat down as if nothing had happened and waited for them to recover from the shock. "W-what was that?" Shindou asked. He repeated the words that Kirino had chanted in his head. 'Magu. Nes. Shi. A. Um.' He had not a clue what those words meant or what they would do.

"Worry not," Kirino said calmly. "That was just, ehm... a simple spell."

"Why did you do that?" Tenma asked.

"To illustrate my point. Imagine that I wanted you to stay away from this forest. If I told you that this spell was actually a curse that would make your family, friends and yourself fall terribly ill, resulting in a horrible death if you ever came back here. What would you do, Tenma?"

"I... I guess I wouldn't come here anymore," the younger brunette replied a little hesitantly.

"Indeed, you wouldn't," Kirino nodded. "On the other hand, Shindou. If I wanted you to stay here and I told you that if you ever leave this forest, this spell will make your parents suffer so much that they'll crave death more than anything. What would you do?"

Shindou began to see where the sorcerer was going. "I would stay here."

"Precisely. Because you are so afraid of the things I tell you, you don't even question the truth behind my words."

"So that's what they're doing to those children?" Shindou asked. "They make them believe that they have more power than they actually have?"

"Yes. Don't forget, those children think that they have been captured by Kiriyoshi. They believe that he might use them for terrible things and more than anything, they believe that he can find them wherever they are. If we want to free them, we will have to find a way to annilihate that fear."

"And anyway, trying to convince all those children will take time as well," Tsurugi muttered. "So it has to be a big diversion if we want to distract those men. That will take quite some time to prepare, and we're not even sure how long they'll stay in that same spot."

Shindou sighed when the tall boy summed up the depressing reality. This mission began to seem more and more like a hopeless case. "Didn't they say anything about that, Kirino-san?" Tenma asked.

"No, I'm sure of it. And it wasn't like they simply summed up their plan or anything. I guess I was lucky to catch even this much."

"Didn't you say that they talked about a trade?" Shindou asked after a while.

Kirino nodded. "Yes, but they didn't say when. Honestly, I think I might have misheard that. They had nothing with them that looked like goods they could sell."

"Hmm, you're probably right..." Shinsuke muttered. Shindou frowned as he thought about it.

The silence lasted until Kirino cleared his throat, catching their attention. "Not to ruin anything," he said, "but I think it's about time you get going. If you go now, the sun will set when you get out of the woods."

Shindou looked at his friends and then nodded. Indeed, he didn't feel like finding the exit of the Misty Woods in total darkness. They bid goodbye to Kirino and followed the trail through the mist that the sorcerer had made. They didn't speak much, as each of them was overthinking the things that were revealed that afternoon.

Kirino waited until the four boys from Raimon were far out of sight before he dusted his hands. Remainders of the powder that he had held in his right hand whirled downwards. A little of it fell into the fire, creating small white flashes of light. Luckily his visitors, especially Shindou, didn't see that he had thrown the powder into the fire, rather than creating the flashes with his own will.

Part of him felt bad for deceiving the boys, but it was shushed by another part of him. It was necessary to keep his distance from them. Besides, a little white lie wouldn't hurt.

He sighed. "I'm getting soft," he laughed to himself, but it was a fruitless laugh. He knew that at some point, he would part ways with those boys. It would be troublesome if he got too close with them.

But despite all his reasoning, he couldn't silence the voice that said that he looked forward to tomorrow afternoon.

Shindou laid in his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He stared at the little streak of light where the opening between the doors of his box bed was. He had replayed their findings countless times already, trying to find anything new. Wasn't there a way to find out more? If even Kirino's magic couldn't do it... He thought about the end of their conversation. Something bothered him about it, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Kirino thought he had misheard something, because it didn't make any sense that their opponents were going to trade. It was logical to assume that since those guys had no goods to trade, but something told Shindou that there was more to it than met the eye. At some point he groaned, forced all those thoughts out of his mind and burried his head underneath the pillow. He should really get some sleep now, and thinking about all that wouldn't solve anything now.

He was almost asleep when a realisation came running back to him. Immediately, he was wide awake and sat up straight in his bed. The idea was so simple, so obvious, that he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.

The men did have some goods to trade.

Kariya and the other captives were the goods!

Me: And that was the eleventh chapter of The sorcerer in the woods. I hoped you all enjoyed it. I personally think I made that ending a little too obvious, but oh well.

Haha, time to explain some magic. Some people who are familiar with chemestry might have deduced this already, but the powder that Kirino threw into the fire was magnesium (hence the incantation). Haha, some time ago I pestered my chemestry teacher for a good substance for this. First I was thinking of a salt (because that can change the colour of a flame), but I didn't find any salt that would give an extraordinary colour and was something that Kirino could get his hands on in this day and age... Aaaand that's why I went with magnesium ;)

As for the chapter as a whole, do you guys have any theories? I'd love, love, LOVE to hear them. Please leave a review while you're here.

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