Sumire Akashi leads me to a training ground in the estate’s basement. It’s where the Akai Clan practiced magic, where the Coral Terminators and their cadets ran their daily drills.
Now it’s a temporary morgue.
Gurneys fill the space, lined up in neat, silent rows. Most of the bodies are burned black.
The sight is a punch to the gut.
I spot nobles in the crowd. Ruling class, from the look of them.
Their clothes are dark, somber, but it’s their bearing that gives them away. Locals, mostly, but some foreign aristocrats too. The bereaved.
They sent their loved ones to the party and got this in return.
Anger and helplessness fight for space on their faces.
Every face is grim. No one speaks. The silence is a physical weight, pressing down on noble and commoner alike.
“Identifying this many burn victims... must be a massive job.”
“A Code is slowing the decomposition. It helps.”
“An Akachi Code?”
“Yes. Lady Kimiyo cast it herself.”
“I see. Hope she’s not overdoing it.”
“She’s fine. Got plenty of energy. A Code like this is a warmup for her. Besides, we’re over the hump. Ten days in, and we’ve ID’d about six hundred.”
“Incredible. Your skills must be sharp, Miss Akashi.”
“You can praise me more, you know, Ikaku.”
Sumire stops me in front of a gurney. “Lady Kimiyo said you should be the one to identify the Akai Clan. I know it’s hard, but… please.”
“It’s fine. It’s my duty.”
With Lady Ayano still in my arms, I look them over, one by one, trying to see the faces I knew under the char.
Futility coils in my chest. A faint, tear-choked meow comes from the bundle in my arms.
“…It’s them,” I say, my voice flat. “Masataka Akai. And Kaichiro and Miyo Akai. There’s no mistake.”
Kaichiro. Jinichiro’s old man. A martial arts fanatic, and a good friend to my Master.
Always treated me right. He’s the reason so many master-class fighters flocked to the Akai Clan. I owe him.
Miyo Akai was his wife. Jinichiro’s mother.
That makes five dead from the Akai family.
Only the Coral Sisters are left. I have to get them back.
“Meow… meow…”
A small sob follows the sound.
In my arms, Lady Ayano is devastated. She reaches out a small paw, her soft pads touching limply against a scorched body.
There’s nothing I can do for her.
“Hm. I’m being summoned,” Sumire says. “They need another pair of hands. I should go. Take your time… not that it feels right to say that here.”
“Thank you, Miss Akashi. See you around.”
She leaves.
I walk the rows of gurneys. My work here isn’t done.
Plenty of others connected to the Akai Clan died that night. Mages. Coral Terminators and their cadets.
Maids, trainees, instructors. Kids from the orphanage. The Sisters.
For most of them, I’m the only one left who can put a name to what remains.
“…Sorry I’m late. I wish I could’ve gotten to you sooner, but they said you were buried under the rubble.”
“…I sent the bastards who set this place on fire straight to hell. Hope that brings you some peace.”
“…May you find eternal rest. May you suffer no more. Amen.”
I speak to friends. I report to benefactors. I pray for comrades.
I move from one gurney to the next in a slow, heavy rhythm.
Mourning the dead. Remembering them as they were.