Eighth Spell: Under Suspicion

While Haru tried to speak, Higa stepped back into the room causing Maki to look back.

"He's the reason I'm here," Higa explained to Maki. Then Higa said, "Haru Ryuki, this man is Ryosei Maki."

"But you can call me Maki-Sensei, for I am a teacher at Mahoutokoro," Maki stated.

"Oh, a teacher," Haru said excitedly. "What do you teach?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Maki replied. "It's one of the core classes taught at Mahoutokoro, which I assume you're planning to attend."

"Uh, yes, actually," Haru admitted. "Higa helped me buy school supplies."

"That's very generous of you," Maki said to Higa. "I always knew you had a heart underneath that cold facade you put on at school."

Embarrassed, Higa said, "Well, Haru's a special case."

"Indeed he is," remarked Maki. "'The Boy Who Vanished' never truly disappeared it seems. Does that mean he's an Osozaki, given the items you purchased for him are for First-Year Primary Students?"

Noticing Maki was looking at the supplies piled in one corner of the room, Higa nodded. "Yes, he's an Osozaki."

"How interesting!" Maki looked back at Haru. "You might want to get acquainted with my son, who will be boarding at Mahoutokoro as a First-Year Secondary Student this semester. His name is Daizō, and he's a very smart boy."

"Sure," Haru accepted. "I wouldn't mind meeting him."

"Excellent! I'll tell him about you."

As Maki left the room, Higa bowed to him once again and closed the sliding door.

"I'm sorry that happened," Higa apologized to Haru. "Maki-Sensei can be a little…overbearing at times."

"But he seems nice," Haru noted.

"Most of the teachers at Mahoutokoro are nice. There's two you might have problems with."

"Such as?"

"Well, there's the Flying teacher, Gōgu-Dono, and Sayuri Shō, who teaches Necromancy."

"Necromancy? As in…resurrecting the dead?"

Higa waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing like that. Plus, you won't be taking Necromancy until you've caught up on your remedial classes."

"Does that mean I'll be in a room full of seven year-olds?"

"Pretty much."

Feeling self-conscious, Haru picked up his bathing robe and went to the inn's public bathhouse.


The following morning, the inn was abuzz as newspapers with moving images were being passed around frantically. Haru managed to glance at one such newspaper during breakfast, realizing it was the Maichi Yosoku, and read the headline:

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN AT GAIKIN BANK

"Good thing we got out on time," Higa remarked as he sipped his herbal tea. "Otherwise we might have been robbed."

"I guess," Haru shrugged. "Any idea what the thieves were after?"

"So far, it's unclear."

Just then, two distinct figures entered the dining area of the inn which made everyone quiet down. One was a woman in a petunia-purple quarter-sleeve robe with trailing brunette hair and black cloth over her eyes that had a purple eye-shaped symbol painted on. The other was a balding man with a segmented ponytail in the back wearing a yellow tang vest and blue pants. Both had katanas similar to Higa's tied to their waists, only their scabbards were white instead of black, and the woman carried a wooden staff that had a metal ring on top inlaid with an eye made of silver.

"Who are they?" Haru asked Higa quietly.

"Kōsen," Higa whispered. "They're the Japanese Ministry of Magic's equivalent to Aurors, which are basically like the police of the Wizarding World."

"And those swords they carry?"

"Hikagi, swords that have the wizard's wand placed into the hilt allowing them to channel magic through the blade."

"Rakurai Higa," said the woman with the staff as she approached the table Haru and Higa were sitting at. "It's been a while since I've heard your voice."

"Your hearing is as sharp as ever, Ayane Maiya," Higa remarked. "Or should I call you 'Evil Eye' Maiya? And who's your friend?"

"Tao-yi," said the bald man. "Were you and the kid at Gaikin the other day?"

"Yes, we were," Higa answered.

"For what purpose?"

"I had to withdraw money from my mother's inheritance," Haru said truthfully.

"But according to the goblin we spoke to earlier, you took something out of another vault," Maiya said to Higa. "It was that vault which got broken into. So what was inside?"

Clearing his throat, Higa responded, "As much as I would like to tell you, I can't."

"Why not?" Maiya gripped the hilt of her katana.

"Because the only person who knows is Anzu Dōmeki."

This answer surprised Maiya. "She told you to go to the vault?"

"Yes."

"And she didn't tell you what the item in the vault was?"

"Nope."

"I smell a lie." Tao-yi grabbed Higa by the collar of his robe and forced him to stand up. "You're coming with us."

"Easy, Tao," Maiya insisted. "We don't know for sure if he was involved with the break-in."

"Got anything to say in your defense?" Tao-yi's eyes wandered to the purple satchet around Higa's neck. "Where did you get this?"

"At a shop, in Tateroji," Higa lied.

"Can you tell us which one?" Tao-yi demanded.

"Kiyokusuri, the shop that sells kampo herbs and spices."

"So it's a scent bag?"

"Exactly."

Unconvinced, Tao-yi removed the sachet from Higa's neck and opened it. After looking inside and smelling the sachet, he gave it to Maiya. She gripped the sachet in her hand and took a long deep breath.

"Looks like you're telling the truth," Maiya said after a pause. "It really is a scent bag. Smells like lavender and mint."

"Right on the money," Higa confirmed.

"But we're still going to the shop to confirm your purchase," Maiya said, tossing the sachet back to Higa. "If we find any holes in your story, we'll take you with us for real. Let's go, Tao!"

Reluctantly, Tao-yi let Higa go and followed Maiya out of the inn.

"Whew!" Higa sighed. "That was a close one."

After Higa put the sachet back on, Haru realized something. "You tricked them."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The sachet you're wearing right now isn't the same one you took out of the vault. Otherwise, you would've been a lot more worried when that guy searched you."

"Can we discuss this later? I want to finish my breakfast in peace."

"Fine," Haru grumbled.

To be continued…