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In the office in one of the buildings of the Japanese navy, Ichiro Ogami was busy as he read the reports of the movement of the Russian Klabautermanns. They completely made the tactics of navy warfare obsolete as well as land battles. He seen them in action and tried to fight them, he remembers how he emptied his gun into one and she just slap him away and toss him overboard. He survived thanks to the lifeboats they drop into the sea and allowed the remaining Japanese warships to pick up the survivors, after they were chased out of Korea. (1)

He clearly remembers the men strip naked and impaled along the shoreline. The men who were captured who had taken advantage of the people of Korea. Even chaining hundreds of them to a warship’s anchor and chain and dropping the anchor into the sea, dragging the screaming men with it into the sea. The ones who didn’t were allowed to return to the ships but with many of them missing a hand, telling how the Klabautermanns used magic to make them tell the truth no matter what. And the ones missing hands never trying to stop any of the executed men.

Done in full view of the warships to show what fate is in store for all of the sailors onboard the ships of what will happen to them. They had no choice but to retreat and return to the home islands.

Ichiro is now working with the new department of magic, in the hopes of summoning their own Klabautermanns. The entire nation has gone into searching for magic objects and people who can use magic. Thanks to how the nation was isolated the nation didn’t lose their magic like other nations due to the church, however they did lose most of it by other means.

It seems that to retain their power, some shines kept the secrets of magic to themselves and failed to pass the knowledge on to new magic users. Many had been very selective in who would be allowed to learn magic and the results were that because there were so few or only one, who suddenly died for one reason or another, the secrets of magic died with them. Following traditions that only one person can be taught the secrets of magic, and other very selective practices cause as much lost to the knowledge of magic as in the western countries. (2)

The results are monks, shrine maidens and others who while claiming to process magic, have none. The chants and ritual dances they do from the few hidden books and scrolls recovered from clans and temples, are apart of the magic ritual, but without actually understanding how to use magic, it’s just like using a bow without any arrows. Even the emperor has offering the position of court priest or priestess to anyone who can use magic, and all have shown no magic that can’t be explained away but being magic.

There are some who can use magic but they’re all little things like creating a ball of light, lifting small objects, and other small things. The traditional ways of magic they used was to hide and not show off their powers but to a select few from their orders or clans. So while they can use magic, from lack of use they’re very weak and take much effort for them to even do that much.

The emperor had ordered for a school to be open where the students are expected to learn and show off their magic in the open. They copied the singing and dancing of the Russian empress in hopes of awaking something but still nothing. They did learn that the magic that the Russian empress uses is mathematically, so the new magic school is also teaching math.

Then there are the non humans who are all but been hunted down. Mostly thanks to peoples belief that consuming a part of a non human will cure them or give them powers. And the frame that one gets for killing a youkai or the money to kill one. Resulting in them either died or been driven to hiding in remote places, with hatred of humans.

He thought he had something when a report of a kitsune is of a woman who had married a human husband and had two children. A bad harvest had the villagers blaming the kitsune and they lynch her, her husband and her children. He sent in his report and the villagers were rounded up and the ones who took part of the lynching were beaten to death one by one, to send a message to all over Japan, the youkais are worth more to the government alive and unharmed.

There can’t be any mercy shown, not with that’s happening to the new lands claimed by Japan being taken from them. Ichiro heard that the Russian empress wants all operations of Japan on the mainland and islands to halt. If not she will unleash her Klabautermanns upon the home islands.

The Roman Klabautermanns are the most dangerous, even if they’re weaker than the Russian ships. They’re use to mass killing and slaughter, showing the way things were done back in their time. According to a newspaper, many of them come from a time where slaughtering all the people, enslaving them, taking the women to be wives, and either killing or selling the children, was just how things were done. Entire nations and kingdoms disappeared because of being slaughtered to the point where there isn’t anyone left or the survivors are too few to rebuild. They have no problems at all in doing the same in this time, the only thing holding them back is the will of their empress.

For Japan to survive, magic must be learned and summon their own army of magical beings. It needs to be advance to be able to stand a chance against the Russians. The Russian Empress made it clear that the main reason why Japan won against her father, is that the Russian military was a complete mess, lacking weapons, equipment, supplies, and training, which allowed them to win. She’s not going to make the same kind of mistake. Her military is now mostly Klabautermanns who are always well armed, supplied, and well trained.

Japan just needs to be able to find people and objects of magic. Find non humans who can help in the search and teach. Or the empire will fall to the might of the Russian empress.

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Author's Note

1 - From Sakura Wars.

2 - The renowned selective mentor plot device would result in losing the knowledge they hold if they can’t pass it on.