Operation Open Sky

Chapter XIV: A New Era

17 Degrees, Jing Dynasty, Evening.

Yin Xue, 1894, 24th June, Baifong;

Things haven't changed. The road if you could call it that, housed tall apartment complexes that looked hastily built. Stalls left abandoned grew from them. Taking up what little space there was left to walk. It had been a week since the eruption. The beginning of a new era they called it. Nothing that I was looking forward to or anyone else for that matter. I'd lost my job and barely had the money to take the ride back to the mainland. Which in itself, wasn't doing great. Almost the whole of the Manvu region was covered in ash clouds. Droves of people evacuated further inland, some desperate enough to even cross the border to the Troubon Union. My old home is probably nothing but ruins. I checked my trouser pocket, shuffling around the little money in there. With the cash I have left, I've got a couple of days to keep going. I take a turn to a familiar alley. The scent of rubbish hit my nose. The walls had cracked further the last time I was here. And well, everything else looked worse off.

I take the set of stairs up the side of the apartment building until finally reaching for a door. The corridor was dusty as usual. The red carpet it was lined with was worn and torn by its edges. Home, finally... I rattle the keys in my pocket, staring down at the door to my apartment room. With a few attempts and a strong nudge, I head in.

"Ahhhhhhh, welcome back." I guess he still managed to survive after all this time.

"Hello, Shade." His green eyes were visible in the darkness of the apartment.

"Your back early. I thought your contract didn't end until the end of the year."

With a flip of the switch, the light turns on, barely. There he was. Shade made himself comfortable on my bed. The cute furl ball as I'd call him.

"Shouldn't you be thrilled at my early arrival? You are my familiar and all..."

"Of course of course. But living off the mice here hasn't made my stomach happy at all. With that paycheck of yours, we might've been able to eat something that wasn't at the very least suspicious-looking." He sighed. Expressing his disappointment at me whilst licking his jet-black fur.

"Well, I don't know if you've heard, but we're in the middle of the seven-sins period now. Mount Paektu just erupted a week ago. Even with the specialists and helpers they've sent to reduce the clouds and damage. It's bad, really bad." He froze, lifting his head to stare at me.

"Mount Paektu erupted? No wonder there's been a sudden increase of mana around here. It has been more chaotic this past week..."

"No one knows what's going on or how much it'll affect everyone. I heard the skies here were almost pitch black. We're lucky enough that we were able to clear them out of the city. But as for the Central Imperium..." From my ship journey, the radios blasted on about how the winds pushed it to their mainland. We were lucky we only dealt with the extras. As for them, it will be a long road to recovery.

"It's a lot worse."

"For now, we have to worry about ourselves. What are you going to do?" That was a good question. To which I didn't have a solid answer.

"I-I don't know."

"Well, you better think of something. The one thing I have been paying attention to is that some of the people here were spouting about some new jobs in the city. They're looking for some experienced engineers and workers for a massive project. I think it's the Iron Wood Company. Apparently, they're being shipped off somewhere in Europa."

That might be a good opportunity. But, leaving the country? Haiwan already was a big move as it was especially leaving Shade. But going there meant I wasn't coming back, for a long time.