The day begins with me waking up from a sweet voice: "Rutohi-senpai!", says Muroto, "It's time to wake up, it's the big day!".
I giggled from this cute nickname, then remembered what happened last night: I went to the club's headquarter – it's a small room, but it gets the job done – and met the rest of the CXC.
Among the members of the CXC, I saw for the first time Muroto Sunruhe, a member of the club who, contrary to what his petite physique shows, is a boy.
The meeting started with Rasukure bringing us drinks. While it seemed odd to get drunk at a club meeting, I'm not turning down free alcohol! After emptying half of my glass, I asked why the meeting started with beer, and Rasukure's answer surprised me:
-"Well, Rutohi, do you remember what happened yesterday in the tavern?"
-"I got drunk and started speaking the truth?"
-"Yes. But why didn't you get jumped on by the republick's henchmen?"
-"Hmm… Well I guess I got lucky and found the tavern of the CXC where minds aren't controlled by the Hendeyus?"
-"That isn't false, but the thing you need to understand is the following: we have found the cure to mind control! Well, at least the light one they use on the people. It is something so random we didn't think about it, but something so easy to reach it seems to have been planned by the gods!"
-"What is it?"
-"The answer's just under your nose, and will get inside of it as it becomes red."
I then looked under my eyes, and I saw my half-empty glass of beer on the table…
-"Alcohol!?"
-"Yes, you got it Rutohi! For reasons we don't really grasp, beer makes your mind uninhibited; what we always designated by 'being drunk' is actually the end of a force of self-control applying to our thoughts. Beer removes all forces applying to our thoughts, including the external influence from Hendeyus' spells."
-"Do the Hendeyus know about any of this?"
-"Yes, that's why they tried to ban alcohol in the land of Kalimea, but then they realised that if it is easy to take out freedoms from the people, taking their liquors from them is impossible. The thirst for booze is visceral in any Chiriha, mind and will have little effect on it the same way they have little power on an addiction."
-"So… Did we win?"
-"Nothing's easy in life. The Hendeyus are fighting back, take a look at those bottles."
He slides me two bottles. The first one was a pristine glass bottle, it is obvious that it had been cast carefully. There was a white packaging on it, marked with a calligraphic black X. The second one was a classic green bottle. He then said: "Before you is the strategy of the Hendeyu to get rid of beer's benefits. The white bottle contains a good old Tsuydo beer of which the technique was transmitted and perfected over the generations. It is a genuinely good beer, and if you drink it, the Hendeyu's yoke on your mind should vanish. The green bottle is nothing but a poorly made ersatz of beer that the Hendeyu made. Whatever shit is inside it, I'd rather drink piss. Alas, the green bottle is cheaper than the white one, and thus the average Chiriha will rather buy and drink the Hendeyu's poison."
Disgusted in the acknowledgement of the enemy's horrid strategy, I asked: "How is that so that the tavern here has good beer then?", and he replied: "Here in the old north, what was once our unfortunate non-industrialisation became a fortunate opportunity for survival, as thus we don't have our markets flooded with the 'new products'.". He then pursued: "But we don't have the time nor the funds required to make our brethren drunk. We need a method both faster and more efficient.", he paused, stood up, stared at me, and said: "And that is where you intervene."
-"Me?"
-"Yes, you, Rutohi. Didn't you notice when you were speaking up in the tavern? It is vehemence. It is a speech act, you do not only convey your thoughts and feeling, you make others feel them. Hendeyus enter our minds through obscure wizardry that we are neither able to comprehend nor replicate. But, language? Language enable us to share thoughts and feelings, without being some esoterical knowledge. Language is a tool, and you master it enough to make it a weapon."
-"So what you're saying is that my orations could free people's minds?"
-"In a nutshell, yes. You have this power within you. You put your power in your words like a wizard puts it in chants. You fire your oratory as arrows to rip the straightjacket that ravages the minds of our brethren."
-"But if I go here and there giving out speeches to the public, won't I just get killed by the republick?"
-"They can't kill you in plain sight, as it would break the illusion of freedom they gave to the people. However, you will have to be extra careful outside the public scene."
-"Anything else?"
-"Beware 'em Teros."
Of course. The Tero movement. Probably the pinnacle of idiocy merged with sincere gullibility. The Teros are so naive they think they can negotiate our survival as a free people with the Hendeyus. They believe blocking labour will force the Hendeyus to surrender and compromise with the people. They refuse to see the obvious truth that all of the individuals who control the republick are Hendeyus; they buy into the theory that Hendeyus are no different from the Chirihas and they just point at the evilness of the Hendeyus as "the regnants". The only good side of their fight is that they manage to rally the people and financially damage "the regnants" by going on strike. But we don't want to be affiliated with them, as to achieve power, they are ready to put the whole land to fire and blood once again. We put our people before everything and we will triumph together. The ones who want to triumph alone are not really much different from the Hendeyus themselves.
Anyway, the evening was only starting, as the boy who would later reveal himself as Muroto Sunruhe asked to see me in private. It seemed a bit odd but I accepted.
I could see he was a little drunk, he revealed that he was also a member of the intelligence unit of the republick, tasked with the mission of overseeing my suspicious entry in the CXC. Fortunately, the alcohol had freed his mind, and he was once again the proud Tsuydo soldier as before the "liberation".
Since he seemed really sorry for his wrongdoings, I reassured him.
-"How can I be forgiven for having betrayed our people?", he asked, desperately,
-"Never let them manipulate your thoughts again. To free your brethren is grace, but to stay free is true victory.", I replied, smiling.
He blushed and asked if he could sleep at my place, which I accepted as he seemed really genuine. We then came back to the main room.
The meeting pursued with Rasukure presenting the Letyu group to us: "Another thing I wanted to entrust to you the secret of the Letyu group. Letyu was the codename of a group of scholars aiming to trace back the history of the Chiriha people, as well as its culture and magick. Unfortunately, the defeat led to the disbanding of Letyu and the repression of its members, who either died mysteriously or disappeared in anonymity. But the fruit of their labours has not been thrown away, since the location of their headquarters stayed secret even under torture. And, today, I have the pride to announce that we found an old member of Letyu who is willing to reveal us the location of their old headquarters. However, there is an issue; he lives in the capital."
A fellow member of the club hit his fist on the table after hearing the last sentence, and shouted: "This is madness! Going to the capital? That's just suicide!".
It was a known fact that the capital, since the "liberation", was a dangerous place. It was home to the Hendeyu underlying group, and let's just say they protect their home well. Naively approaching the capital sober would mean surrendering one's mind; they have implemented some kind of magick field around the capital that keeps the people here in spiritual captivity.
Rasukure pursued, as to answer back: "It is, indeed, a very dangerous mission. But we have taken necessary measures to turn impossible into tough. We have with us a keg full of the purest beer from the old north, that is balanced between the least of the effects of drunkenness but the best of the effects to protect the mind from the Hendeyu's spells. We also have a rare artefact that you may be able to use to defend themselves."
Rasukure took out a monocle with a hole inside it as to add a lens. He then took out a blueish round piece of glass of a small box and put it inside of the monocle.
"Who volunteers for a demonstration?", he said.
"I do", I replied, "I volunteer as well for the mission as I am ready to border on death for victory.".
Surprised, he handed me the eyeglass and I put it before my right eye. He then handed me two books, the first one was a known book, the story of Lulinfe, an old Chiriha story. The second book was a text from a Hendeyu author rewriting how the "liberation" happened and why we are the bad guys and we must feel bad forever. Rasukure told me "Say the name of the authors.", and so I did.
When I said the name of the author of the story of Lulinfe, nothing happened, but when I said the name of the author of the canard, it resonated in my head. I asked "Did you hear that? When I said it it repeated like three times!" and Rasukure explained that only I was affected as I wore the monocle. He added that the eyewear should permit me to visualise some of the Hendeyu magick.
I thought this quest awaited me and me only, but the Muroto insisted to accompany me, probably because he felt remorse for his unwilling betrayal of the cause. The rest of the club was very happy and encouraged us. We then went to sleep at my place and we're back here, waiting for breakfast.
Let's fill our guts and make 'em feel our guts!