Chapter 004: Apparent Peace

"Shooting stars are said to be majestic, often cited as favorable portends of the *Kami*—blessings!—and they say the elders of the great tribes, and sometimes even the politicians, will *use* telescopes to catch these *falling stars*. In fact! A Mayakashi guest of ours hailing from *Void Avenue* had once said, 'The great Malak's decision to distance himself from the *Fae Crown* was thanks to a sign of the stars…'"

From a holographic panel unfolded over a device on a corner of the counter, a Russian man listened to a show broadcast across the globe idly. He was going through his inventory of items in his store this Sunday. Days like these were holidays to many but for a business like his, all days held potential for profit.

Still, maintaining his stock wasn't mindful of the days and seasons, with how his sales fluctuated here. Given the state of the megaplex, one day an incident would spur some to make purchases and the other, a lull of peace would have interests dry a tad.

"It just so happens that yesterday, the Temple of All Origins had made a *staggering* statement… about a 'shooting star' that 'fell.' Yes, you heard it right, dear viewers, it *fell through* the clouds, and many had seen it descend! This was but one of the few pieces of footage taken."

The image of a beaming man in a pale green yukata was shifted to one featuring a white brilliance tracing a thread over a body of murky blue, which was somewhat obscured by a blanket of fog. By the end of this video, it'd presumably landed somewhere beyond this grayish area, or perhaps just in the periphery of the lake?

"It was taken serendipitously, and though its light is mesmerizing, some think it's the prank of a Neuro, and others consider it a magical phenomena! Whatever the case, the Robes are after it! We've yet to hear other parties react. Is it a *sign* or is it something else? We'll keep covering updates here at the *Info STAR*, so stay tuned!"

From there, it had shifted to a commercial featuring a magical brand of perfumery, but in the mind's eye of the store owner, the same news kept replaying. The stars were just one of the means of divination, but a sight like this was no ordinary deal, even in this city.

'Whatever it is, if the Robes don't already know, it probably means something's up.' Faced with a matter of this magnitude, he had to put the noteboxes, checklists, clipboards, etc. down; box ticking and quantity checking could wait.

The man had a slow and deliberate walk to the way behind his counter. A quiet air hung about him, and not one of his customers had ever regarded him as an "ordinary shopkeeper." They'd feel a depth of experience from his relatively youthful countenance, especially when paired with every piece of conceivable self-defense—and some clearly offensive—tools and equipment his store was decked with. This could only inspire confidence in his visitors, knowing the person selling had seemingly tried them all.

Reaching under the counter, he pulled out a small box. It was ornate and rectangular, not the kind of thing anyone would store any type of weapon in. Indeed, as he opened it up, what laid there instead was a deck of cards, clearly larger than any playing cards.

The pale-skinned blond man pulled the deck out of its box with extreme care, perhaps more than he showed to any of the deadly weapons he had on sale here. He shuffled it quickly, but in a calculated fashion until he was satisfied. Drawing three cards from the top he placed them one by one, left to right. He found his breath caught in his throat; there was a solemnity to this skill he didn't feel he'd ever be comfortable with.

Slowly, he revealed the first card: *The Tower*. He frowned. 'Sure, the falling star *meant* something big, but this confirms it.' The second was: *The Lovers*, but reversed. His lips were pursed and he scratched his cheek, peering away from the cards curtly. 'Clearly, someone or something will come out ahead in all of this…' Finally, he released the last card to find: the *Eight of Wands*. One-tenth of a smile phased in and out of his features.

'Feels like the cards are always desperate to get me involved.'

He sighed, leaning back into the chair behind the counter. He relaxed only for momentarily before hurriedly shuffling the three cards back into the deck, carefully placing them in their box and out of sight.

A customer or two came into the store, simply appreciating the crafts featured across the place. They were young, high schoolers in fact, dawdling on their way back from the local school in the periphery of the *Seventh Avenue* of this *Shopping Street Lane*. The Russian found them making eye contact and breaking off just about immediately, sharing quiet words with one another. He figured they were too intimidated to make a query, but perhaps it was just his conscience? They were heard chattering about some action scene from a show after all, where a similar-looking gun they were ogling up was used on-screen.

The quiet, muffled din of everyday life seemed to go on like this until a beep cut through.

He turned to the same hologram where yet another advert continued to play, this time featuring an idol donning a stylized lolita fashioned kimono outfit, singing earnestly with a demure smile. At the lower corner, there were a few messages popping off via notification.

Tapping on this, he was led into his website, which of course featured some of his prized firearm models on its banner. The site was sleek, metallic shades contrasted with black. On the front page, one could navigate easily to each kind of weapon he sold, with very little extraneous details.

He focused his attention on the chat box in the lower right corner.

Mister Phillips: hello, I've heard much about this store, and was wondering how precise the location inputting is for delivery services

Mister Phillips: we're interested in bulk purchasing, which doesn't look good to conduct in person, I hope you understand

Bulk purchases were a bit on the rarer side here, even if it was a big opportunity. Was it some gang looking to arm themselves? Or an organization short on funds?

He chose his words carefully for his response. The man wasn't opposed to illegal sales in particular, but there wasn't any reason to commit such acts either, especially when he knew nothing of the other party.

Lev Drozdov: If you give me the details of the purchase, I'm sure I can arrange something personally. I apologize if the website is giving you any issues.

Mister Phillips: it's no issue, we would just like uninterrupted deliveries

Mister Phillips: we'd like it at precise coordinates here. please take a look

A link of a publicly-available map was sent and as Lev tapped on it, he found it pinning a specific spot in Susukino, around what appeared to be a calmer corner of the area? This was an entertainment district from what he knew, but rumors down the grapevine were numerous regarding its occupants. Not to mention his private experiences—

After all, it was a *Red Area*.

'—That's Triad territory.' The Russian known frowned. 'Usually they deal with me directly. What's this guy playing at?'

Lev Drozdov: I think that wouldn't be too much trouble. Obviously I'm going to need to know what you're purchasing and for whom to make a delivery that specific. I have to check licenses after all.

Mister Phillips: of course. this is our company

A new link was sent.

Mister Phillips: you may check this account's cart to know the items we're interested in as well. if possible, we would like to make payment upon delivery

The man who kept Yakovich out of his username was led to a different site, which had a very fortune teller vibe to it? Even if it was specialized in selling organic fruits and experimental flowers. To an average man of this area, this wouldn't make a *lick* of sense, and neither would his younger self understand—to whom it'd scream of random voodoo nonsense—but Lev in his current state had a *hunch*.

Businesses acting as fronts were nothing new, especially in Susukino. It was very possibly tied to the magicians? Though he had no clue why they'd buy conventional self-defense weaponry like he was seeing here—guns, swords, knives and the likes—when they could ward dangers off with mere flicks of their wands, staves, cards or whatever.

Lev raised an eyebrow. 'Another group of magic users in Susukino?'

He did a quick online check with a database he had access to for weapons sales—and this company, the *Platonic Crafts*, had what they called the *Universal License*. The world was far too dangerous, and the scope of law enforcement was limited, often thought to be wielded by those with considerable wealth at sheer convenience to their interests. As such, it was made easier for organizations to get this license to secure themselves if private security companies were too much for them. However, nothing too crazy was allowed under this document.

'The Triads are not going to be happy when they find out.'

That said, this was a pretty standard transaction. He wasn't going to be giving these people anything they couldn't get elsewhere.

Lev Drozdov: Okay, I'll arrange for the delivery as soon as I can then. I will have it set up to bill you on delivery when you sign for the products.

Mister Phillips: thank you, we look forward to doing more business with you, Lev-san