The next morning found Paul standing, staring at a hole in the workshop wall. On the stone-top workbench what was left of the experimental set-up made little hissing, plinking sounds from underneath the bucket-full of sand he’d dumped over where the fire had melted the stone slab.

Yuri carefully poked her head around the door, then when nothing else exploded, came in and opened the windows to let the acrid smoke out.

“Hey, Paul-sama, what happened?”

“Something went a bit wrong. The crystals produced way more mana than I thought possible, and because it didn’t have anywhere else to go, it turned back into heat and light. Um. It went boom, basically.”

“Yeah. I got that part! What made it go boom?”

“Huh, oh… the mana decayed into lower order energy, vaporised the crystals, and turned the compression chamber into a rocket engine when it blew the piston out. I heard that ricochet off the forge stones somewhere over there, it’s probably embedded in one of the roof timbers now since I don’t see daylight anywhere else.”

Yuri looked at the hole in the wall and whistled.

“So, the glowing green thing trailing gold fire was the... ‘compression chamber’, you said?”

“Yeah… wait, glowing green? I was too busy ducking to see that.”

“Yes. It looked like a firework, blew up like one too, all green and yellow sparks, when it hit the boundary shield at the bottom of the mountain.”

“Oh well, at least the neighbours will only wonder why I’m letting off fireworks. Still... that’s very odd. It’s a steel chamber, it shouldn’t have picked up a magical charge. Steel and iron don’t interact well with magic. That’s why I was using it, to isolate the crystals inside the chamber. But the steel walls shouldn’t have become magically charged. Not… unlesss… Oh! Of course, that might be it! Yuri-san, we need to go find any bits that are left, right away!”

Yuri raised an eyebrow almost to her hairline.

“Uhh Paul-sama, you remember that priest and his daughter?”

“Niece, she’s his niece.”

“Alright, niece. You remember they’re supposed to be going back home today, and you’re driving?”

“Yes, yes. But there’s ages before they even get up I’m sure.”

“It’s nine o’clock, they’re already having breakfast. Yuko-chan’s keeping an eye on them.”

“Oh… ah… um. Do you think Lord Tatsuo would mind..?”

Yuri sighed.

“I’ll just go see if any of the children want to play out in the sunlight, shall I?”

“Yes please. Tell them to look for bits of glowing green metal, but don’t touch them. See if Shoko-san has any rags, and the kids can tie those to twigs as flags to mark the location. I’ll pick up the bits afterwards.”

Yuri glared at him, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the hilt of the axe hanging from her waist.

“Hoi, this stuff, it isn’t dangerous is it?”

Paul shook his head.

“No, but it is liable to be hot and it’ll have sharp edges, if it hasn’t melted completely. Tatsuo will get pissed at me if anyone gets so much as a paper-cut or a blister. He doesn’t like me as it is, I’m not giving him any more reasons.”

Yuri snorted with laughter.

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you. You’d know if that was true. But you confuse him and he doesn’t know what to do about that. You’re a human, and you’re helping us. In fact, you might be our best hope yet. He doesn’t understand why, and he prefers black and white answers with clear cut distinctions between friend and foe. Uncertainty makes him grumpy, but it’s not your fault.”

“Oh… so, what do I do?”

“Nothing. It’s his problem. Anything you do would make it worse. Just leave him alone to sort it out himself. He’ll either accept it, or try to fight you. Again.”

“That’s... not very reassuring.”

Yuri grinned, showing a mouthful of shark-like teeth.

“We’re Oni, we don’t do comforting. Although if he does try to kill you, it will be in a fair fight; he’ll tell you first. He’s full of stupid ideas like honour and fairness you know. Just keep beating him up until he gets the idea, it’ll be ok.”

“Uh-huh, and if I piss you off, will you warn me before you beat me up?”

“Oh, probably not. Usually the first hint I’m there is when my victims wake up in the afterlife. It’s much easier when they don’t get to fight back. Of course, I much prefer it now that I’m the one defending. Spend too much time killing, you forget how to live. I like being the one protecting, it gives me time to enjoy life.”

“You know Yuri-san, sometimes you’re just a little bit scary.”

“Good! I try hard not to be, must mean I’m getting better at it if I’m only a little bit. I’ve had to be scary for too long, I don’t want to scare people I like.”

Paul looked at the tall burly Oni, and sighed.

“You know, I hope there comes a day when the scariest thing you do is chasing your kids around the garden.”

Yuri snorted, but the smile that played around her lips was a bit wistful too.

Paul was still brushing the soot off his clothing when he found the Kobes. They were taking breakfast on the terrace over looking the valley, and Shoko was wearing her maid’s outfit again.. although there was no sign of Jiao today.

Isao Kobe, the Head Priest, looked up as Paul approached and his eyebrows rose dramatically.

“Are you alright Paul-sama?”

“Hmm, oh, fine. Just a bit singed. Slight snafu with an experiment.”

“Snaf-fu?”

“British word, from the army acronym for Situation Normal, All Fucked Up. Means something went a bit wrong and I accidentally invented the worlds first mana powered rocket engine. Which wasn’t what I was intending. Any tea left in the pot? I could do with a cup.”

The Kobes stared at Paul, who looked up from investigating the tea pot, glancing between them.

“What? Do I have soot on my nose or something?”

Miss Kiko Kobe giggled, as Isao shook his head. Shoko remarked as she took the nearly empty tea pot away from Paul.

“Paul-sama, you hair is smouldering still...”

“It is? Bother!”

Paul patted at his hair, seeking the conflagration. Kiko dampened a cloth from the water jug and helped him douse the smouldering ends of his curls, while doing her best to suppress a fit of giggles. By the time Shoko returned Paul was tucking into breakfast pancakes while attempting to explain to Isao what he’d been doing that had blown up.

“… and that’s when things went a bit pear-shaped. Er, wrong, that is. Although technically I suppose you could say it went rather excessively right really. I mean the objective was to produce a burst of mana, and it did that in buckets!”

“So that firework was your doing?”

“Um, yes. The compression chamber went off like a rocket once the pneumatic piston blew free… which I suppose is better than going off like a bomb.”

“It seemed to explode at the end of it’s flight though.”

“Oh, yes, it would. There’s a sort of shield around the whole mountain, right where the property line is. Nothing magical can cross it, save where the Torii gates are. So when the chamber hit it carrying a residual magical charge, it was a bit like hitting a brick-wall, or a force-field I suppose. It splatted.”

“Your neighbors are going to wonder what you’re up to...”

Paul shrugged.

“Found some old fireworks, let one off to see if they were still good. People will believe a convincing lie if it sounds just crazy enough to be true. Of course, it helps being English. Everyone knows the English are all just a little bit eccentric. More tea?”

Paul tilted his head, smiling as he lifted the pot a fraction, looking rather like a Mad Hatter from Wonderland. Only minus the hat.

Isao blinked, and then threw his head back and laughed, waving at Paul to refill his cup.

“Paul-sama, I can not work out if you are a genius, or slightly deranged. And I suspect the answer is a bit of both.”

Paul shrugged.

“Well, how bonkers do you think someone would have to be, to come up with the idea of using Science to generate magic? Personally, I prefer to call it free thinking...”

“Perhaps that is why no-one else has done this.”

Paul paused, a slice of toast and marmalade half way to his mouth.

“Didn’t I say? I thought I mentioned it last night ... it’s not a new thing I’m doing here. The mana convertor is actually based off of some designs by Nikola Tesla. I was trying to figure out the mathematical relationship between power input, and the size of the mana field output when I noticed a similarity to Tesla’s field equations. So I dug out my copy of his notes and realised that the design for the Waldencliff tower was pretty close to the base coils of the mana convertor I was building. After that, it was just a case of hunting through the designs, and finding pieces of the design scattered like jigsaw puzzle bits all through his other projects. He hid the whole thing, in among his other works. That’s why I was able to build it so quickly; the bulk of the design was already done, I just had to piece it together and build it.”

Kobe-sensei stared at Paul, and then shook his head.

“To think, all this time ago. I wonder why he hid it?”

Paul shrugged.

“Tesla was famously paranoid after Edison stole his early work. Then there’s the Tunguska event.”

Kiko interjected

“The Tunguska event?”

Paul nodded, and swallowed his mouthful.

“Yes.. as I recall the story goes that Tesla was having financial problems again, and needed investors. So, he calls the papers, saying he’ll arrange a demonstration, tells one of the Arctic explorers, Perry I think, to watch the skies over the north pole for something strange on a particular time and date. Well, the appointed time passes, and nothing happens… Tesla appears to have made a fool of himself, and goes into a depressive funk. Then word arrives, weeks later, of a massive explosion in the wilds of Siberia and quickly buries Tesla’s non-event in the news.”

Paul paused to take a sip of tea and the continued.

“Decades later, long after Tesla had died, someone, I forget who, was researching the event, which they thought was a meteor or mini-comet hitting the upper atmosphere and exploding before it reached the ground. They calculated exactly when it happened and published the results, pretty much nailing it to the hour, and it turned out that that it was so close as to be exactly when Tesla was supposed to be producing some sort of display over the North pole, which rather caught people’s interest. Then they realised that if you draw a line from where Tesla’s lab was, through the most probable location for Perry’s camp at the time, and then extended it, it passes smack through the epicenter of the Tunguska event, which happens to be directly opposite the lab on the globe.”

Paul shrugged at the stunned expressions of the Kobes.

“Of course, it could all be coincidence. No one has got any concrete evidence, or even a theory as to what Tesla was playing with exactly, but Tesla had been working on something he called a Death Ray; however that is demonstratively bunk. It doesn’t work, can’t work as it violates several laws of physics. But large parts of it are also parts of the mana convertor, so.. maybe it wasn’t a Death Ray, but something magical instead. Personally, I think that’s why he freaked out and buried his research the way he did. He realised he’d created something far more powerful than intended.”

Isao shook his head.

“I think that indicates one should be rather careful with this mana convertor.”

Paul shrugged.

“It’s actually no more dangerous than electricity, which is to say if you’re not careful it can kill you. But it’s safe enough with precautions. Problem is, I’m working with rather sub-standard equipment.”

“Ah. I see. I think perhaps as a matter of urgency we should look into some form of interim financing perhaps? If anything were to happen to you...”

Paul shook his head.

“Well, personally I’d prefer it if nothing dire happened to me. But I am documenting everything, so if necessary my work can be continued by someone else. Bomb disposal protocols you know. Help the next guy learn from your last mistake. The work itself is more important than the life of any one person.”

Isao blinked at Paul, surprised.

“That’s very selfless of you. You wouldn’t be around to reap the rewards of your hard work then.”

“Not doing it for any reward. It’s necessary. I mean, to the Others, mana is life. So the mana convertor is life support! I was planing on patenting the design so no-one can claim it as their own, another idea borrowed from Tesla, but then release it for free so anyone can build one.”

“Is that wise? It could be dangerous.”

Paul shook his head.

“Ever hear of Nils Bohlin? He was an engineer, working for Volvo and he invented the modern seatbelt system. Which he then gave away, for free. Volvo made exactly the same argument you did, that if anyone could build them, then sub-standard versions could be dangerous. His reply was that it was better to take that risk, and save lives, than not. He also said that if anyone could make them, then competition would drive people to keep making better ones. I happen to think he’s right, and it will work that way for the mana convertor too.”

“So, you are going to publish your work and let anyone build them?”

“I am.. once I’ve got a design that anyone can build safely! It’s not there yet. This morning rather showed that. Also, I need to work though some of the implications… I really don’t want this to end up being another incident like radium paint was.”

Isao blinked, then nodded slowly.

“It seems unlikely, but I understand your concern. There are lots of examples of technological developments that seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“True enough, Well… I guess if everyone has finished breakfast? Then perhaps we should be moving..”

“Ah, Paul-sama? I have a favour to ask.”

“Oh? Ask away then.”

“Kiko-chan has asked if she might remain here to continue studying the shrine records.”

“Oh? That so?”

Kiko nodded.

“They are incredibly ancient and I don’t feel comfortable removing them from where they are preserved. I’m worried that, once returned to the Mortal world, time will start to catch up with them and they will deteriorate in front of my eyes!”

“Oh! That’s… not impossible. Inari-sama said there was a preservation spell on them, but magic is far easier on the other side, so it might indeed just go ‘pfft!’ and vanish like a soap bubble if they’re brought across… and who knows what several centuries worth of time catching up will do.”

Kiko shuddered and nodded energetically.

“My thinking exactly! I brought enough equipment with me to continue my work here.”

“I had wondered what was in that suitcase. Now I know. Ok, I’ll go ask Inari-sama, after all, it’s her place. But I would think she’ll say yes. While I’m doing that, Sensei, any thoughts as to the best time for Inari-sama to put in her appearance at your shrine?”

“I think the most auspicious time would be Niinamesai, the day of the Rice Tasting ceremony. But that ceremony is held at the Three Palaces Shrine, in the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The Emperor will be attending then, along with key members of the Government, and it is especially sacred to Inari-sama.”

“Oh.. that makes sense, yes. Forgive the ignorant Gaijin, but what date is that?”

“Ah, of course. So sorry! That would be November 23^rd. Labour Thanksgiving day. Is that not soon enough?”

Paul glanced over his shoulder in the direction the workshop lay hidden by the trees.

“Yeahhh.. a couple of months might be just enough time to get everything done. We shouldn’t leave it any longer than that though.”

Paul sighed, hanging his head.

“Hey, Sensei, ever feel like you’re building sandcastles in the face of a rising tide? If you know of any good luck charms for inspiration and success, I’ll take them!”

Isao smiled, and placed hand on the top of Paul’s head.

“You have the best good luck charm there is, right here. Just do you best Paul-san, that’s all. Although, once I am home in Kyoto, I shall definitely be making some large donations to your shrine!”

Paul lifted his head, chuckling.

“Yup, never underestimate the positive power of throwing large amounts of money at a problem!”

Isao pulled a wry face.

“I feel as a priest I should disagree… but you may have a point.”

After dropping off Isao at the train station, Paul decided to go and get a coffee to try to clear his head. He walked around until he found a small cafe down a paved side street. The place looked as if it had probably been serving tea back when the shogunate was a new idea.

He found a corner booth, ordered a simple coffee and some biscotti, and sat doodling in his note-book. He’d long ago adopted the habit of carrying a moleskin notebook with him, to jot down ideas, observations or just plain mindlessly doodle stuff.

While he sat staring out the window, eyes unfocused, he began to notice something. Some of the people passing seemed to have a sort of heat-haze around them. Paul frowned… and wondered if perhaps it was something magical. Maybe some of those people were Others in disguise. Or it could indicate they had some sort of innate ability, and were causing ripples in the residual mana field.

Paul shelved the observation as something to investigate later, probably much later.

He bent his head and applied himself to jotting down ideas for his latest novel, which would be something of a departure from his usual genre of mystery novels. He scribbled away at a list of possible pseudonyms to publish it under, jotting down some, crossing out others. Choosing a new name to publish under was always a risk, but it wasn’t the first time he’d done it. His publishers had received death threats for his semi-autobiographical accounts of his travels in Yugoslavia. That pen-name had been a matter of necessity, and at the advice of a rather impressively scared and scarily competent security consultant… whose likeness Paul had used for inspiration for the wrongly accused protagonist in a later mystery novel, with the fellow’s amused approval.

Paul was about half way through his coffee, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Surprised he took it out, wondering who it could be, as he could count the number of people who knew his number on the fingers of one hand, and have some left over.

Glancing at the caller display he frowned. It was an unknown number. He hesitated, and then hit accept.

“Hello, hello, what do I do now? Is it working? Are you there Paul-sama?”

Paul blinked, that was Shoko-san’s voice.

“Shoko?”

“Paul-sama! It’s you!”

“Ok, calm down Shoko, what’s happened, where are you calling from?”

“I’m outside! Down by the torii gate! Kiko-san gave me her phone to call you because the one here doesn’t work.”

Well, that explained the unknown number Paul thought, and he had given his mobile number to the Kobes just in case…

“Alright Shoko, what’s happened?”

Paul could hear her taking a deep breath, and mentally braced himself as she launched herself headlong in a spate of words.

“It’s terrible Paul-sama! Ok so some of the Oni children were out looking for bits of metal like you asked, only I don’t know why you didn’t ask me too because I can run so much faster. Anyway, they fanned out and were looking around the boundary where the thingammie hit, which is right by the new road that was built only ten or twelve years ago after the old one got washed out by the floods the year before, only they didn’t do as good a job of it I think because it’s got these sharp bends that people keep having accidents on. But that’s where they found it, and it scared them dreadfully, because they’d never seen anything like it before but they all came running back wailing and Tatsuo is dreadfully cross like we’d left it there for them to find. Anyway, you gotta come back right now Paul-sama because no-one knows what to do and we can’t get the police involved but Inari says she’s never seen anything like it and Kiko’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out, although she slid the phone under the door and told me to call you...”

“Shoko!”

“Um, yes?”

“What. Did. You. Find?!”

“Oh! Er. A body… a woman’s body. Without a head. That might be dead, or it might not. We don’t know.”

“You found a…!”

Paul bit off his exclamation. He’d almost blurted that out-loud to the entire cafe. In a hushed voice he continued.

“Generally people missing their heads are very definitely dead.”

“Mmhm, but... well we brought the body to the shrine because it wouldn’t be right just to leave her lying there. It looked like she’d skidded her bike off the road, and hit the boundary stone. I looked and looked for her head, but Yuri said it must have been thrown quite some distance and it’s all thick weeds there. So we put her in the main hall, because she wouldn’t fit in the freezer, while we looked some more for the rest of her, and while Inari and Kiko were arguing because Kiko-san wanted to call in the police and Inari said that would be hard to explain, but then she got up and started walking around.”

“Wait! What? Back up! Who did what?”

“The body, the mystery lady… she, er... got up and walked away. Well stumbled, banging into things, because how could she see if she’s got no head, right?”

Paul felt a bit dizzy and leaned on the table his phone pressed to his ear.

“Ok… so the headless body got up?”

“Mmhm.”

“… and she walked away, banging into stuff.”

“That’s right, she walked right into Kiko-san, who had opened the door to the main hall to see what the noise was. Kiko-san screamed and ran away, and now she’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out!”

“Ok. Well, I suppose I can’t say I blame her. So... and I can’t believe I’m saying this, where is the headless may-be-a-corpse now?”

“Oh! Well, I couldn’t let her run around blind, she might hurt herself. So I made a snare and she put her foot right in it, but then that’s not surprising because how could she see it? And now she’s walking in circles on the terrace because the other end of the rope is tied to a stone lantern.”

“I... see. On a completely different but not unrelated note, who let you have coffee?”

“Howdidyouknow?! Umm. Kiko-san… I asked her.”

“Right. We’ll talk about that when I get back. Ok, firstly tell Yuri and Yuko to keep an eye on the… whatever she is, which I suspect they’re doing anyway but it’s polite to ask. I’ll see what the hell is going on with that when I get back there. Secondly, please ask Inari to talk to Kiko for me and try to get her calmed down. Oh, and thirdly, you keep looking for that head, but stay inside the boundary. I don’t need you getting sick on top of everything else.”

“Ok Paul-sama. Um, now how did she say to..”

The call ended, and Paul numbly put his phone down on the table and rested his head in his hands, wondering just how had this become his life now?