My Ninja Girl 4 by Gideon Caldwell (latest novels to read .TXT) 📕

like to speak to tonight. Your arrival here tells me that you are reaching the current endgame, at least as far as I have seen. Perhaps there is more to come after, but that is not for me to say.”

“Endgame?” Yuri asked. She sat next to Micah, her legs crossed beneath her. They had had a moment together earlier when they were preparing their room, Micah glad to have her by his side again. There had been so much happening over the past few days that it had been hard to process the absence she’d left in his life, something he continued to feel guilty about. He had been so distracted at the time that he felt that he didn’t really appreciate it until she returned, until the void had been filled. She was necessary, she was an integral part of what was happening, and he knew she would play a big part in what was to come.

“One of you is missing, which is something I didn’t foresee,” Youseg said, perhaps referring to Kami. “But hopefully there will be a point in which she joins you shortly.”

Micah caught Milsung nod out of the corner of his eye.

“If she doesn’t, there’s always you,” he told Liza.

“Yeah, she’s basically one of us now,” Bunni said, Yuri and Soraya nodding in agreement. Milsung didn’t seem to have an opinion on this, likely because she hadn’t been part of the group for very long.

“Very well. Based on what you have told me, and the visions I’ve had, we have reached a crucible. Your next move dictates where this war goes, and it truly is a war, in case anyone has their doubts about this. There’s always a chance that it can fizzle out, but as I’ve said, that part is murky to me. It really depends on what you choose to do next. From what I understand based on our earlier discussion, there are three entities at play: the Society of Monks, the Monks of Repose, and the Hermetics, a rebel group. And even though it warrants a deeper discussion, let me be clear when I say that I agree with you. The rebel group doesn’t have the power to truly run your society, and if they are able to defeat the monks, it could lead to a number of things, from economic to the potential for outside interference, invasion from a foreign entity—that sort of thing. A number of scenarios come to mind.”

Micah nodded. “That’s why we think it needs to be someone within the monks who is taking charge. My vote is on Ahmey, a nun who was part of the Monks of Repose and directly related to Neojuku’s bloodline.”

“Bloodline, huh?” Youseg asked, considering this. “You did mention her earlier. Do you think she is ready?”

“I don’t think anybody is ready for the task of changing a society,” Micah said, “but that is the task that will be thrust upon her if we seek to help her take power, and I think she could handle it.”

“And how old is she?”

“A teenager.”

If this answer phased Youseg, Micah couldn’t tell by his expression. “So a coup in the upper echelons of the Society of Monks, perhaps a shadow one, installing a teenager, and a hopeful agreement with the Hermetics to no longer pursue their actions. Am I understanding where this could potentially go? That, or, if I may, bring the Hermetics to the table, and give them a seat on whatever council is then formed, perhaps bringing in district mayors, new ones that haven’t been corrupted.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Micah said. “It’s still up for debate, but, along those lines. Right?” he looked to the others, and all aside from Milsung seemed to agree.

“Now, for the record, I am not against your country, but Neo-Hokkaido wields great power, and the threat of chemical warfare is something that would change the course of our collective history. To be even clearer: I want no part in forming whatever council you are able to pull together if your plan succeeds, nor do I want to be part of it, nor do I want credit for it. It would cause disruption to have any foreign interference, at least on a visible level. But I am here to bounce ideas off, and if you feel like you have someone, this Ahmey, then that is the first of many steps.”

“So we hit the upper echelon,” Bunni said, skipping ahead. “We install Ahmey, use the mind control mantra if we need to, loop the Hermetics in, and all retire rich and happy.”

“Rich and happy? It couldn’t possibly be that simple,” Soraya said. “And any type of coup will be met with resistance, even if it appears that the upper echelon is going along with it.”

“But that’s where the Hermetics come into play,” Micah said, the pieces lining up in his head now. “Maybe we wrote them off too quickly. What if we make an agreement with them that gives them the power to cool things on the street level if they are given a seat at the table?”

“How?” the kitsune asked. “Last we dealt with them, they were trying to take us into custody.”

“Through Choro.”

“Me?”

Micah nodded to his old friend. “It’s not really that far-fetched. I bet you right now if you offered Julia a seat at the upper echelon, she would take it, even if the Hermetics thought she was betraying them. It would be a move that would give their cause a fighting chance. I like the idea of district mayors, and the Outer Provinces need to be looped in as well in some way, to have some form of representation. It’s… it’s a tragedy what’s going on out there.” Micah recalled how bad the region looked in his brief visit to the black site prison, where Yuri and Bunni were being held. “The sooner we act—especially while