“I don’t suppose you took the time to finally learn Japanese during your mysterious absence?” she asked.
“I might have picked up a few things.”
“Is that so?”
“I wanted to read manga in the original language. Are you a proper One-Punch Man fan, Grandmother, or do you only watch the anime like a prole?”
“You make me wish I’d taken worse care of myself,” she said. “Then I’d have a walking stick to hit you with.”
Jason chuckled as he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
“Don’t be too hard on Hiro while I’m away,” he told her.
“I’ll deal with my reprobate son by whatever means I deem appropriate.”
“Okay, but just remember that he’s doing better,” Jason said. “Don’t be so eager to punish him for his old ways that you push him back into them.”
“And how did you become so wise all of a sudden?”
“The usual way,” he said. “I made a lot of mistakes.”
Over the course of the afternoon and into the evening, Jason endured a cavalcade of awkward conversations with distant relatives and old acquaintances. Asya was a late arrival and took him aside for some magic-related chat.
“I’ve been working some bureaucratic wheels,” she said. “It took me longer than I liked, but I finally got approval.”
“Oh?” Jason prompted.
“I know it’s hard to maintain a friendship when you have to keep almost all of what you do secret,” she said. “I had Greg vetted and approved for essences.”
“Seriously? How did you get them to swallow that?”
“You going on walkabout has them worried,” she said. “They haven’t liked not having your looting services during your month of seclusion. If it wasn’t for the strike teams Farrah set up doing so well, the Sydney Steering Committee would be getting downright obstreperous. You’re lucky you have Anna on the committee now. She may not love the way you do things, but she understands how valuable you are and trusts that you’ll be loyal.”
“Where does that trust come from?”
“Me,” Asya said.
Jason chuckled.
“I’m guessing the fact that I never really asked much from them is a factor.”
“Yes. One they’ve come to regret, in fact. If you’d gotten more out of them, there’d be more of an obligation to not wander off.”
“Funny, that,” Jason said. “It’s almost like I didn’t want to be pinned down.”
“I'd appreciate it if you threw the International Committee the occasional bone while you're out and about,” Asya said. “There are branches all around the world that would love for you to drop in on their incursions.”
“You mean they’d like my looting power to drop in.”
“It’s a good way to spread some goodwill,” Asya said. “If we’re extra lucky, having a branch-agnostic running around like Santa Claus might even foster some inter-branch unity.”
“No pressure, then. I think I can manage something like that.”
He glanced over at Greg, who spotted him and nodded a greeting.
“You’ll need to run Greg through your Network program,” he said. “I doubt your bosses want me teaching anyone from scratch.”
“That’s the idea,” Asya said. “He’s approved for essences, but he won’t be cleared to actually get them until he’s been through our welcome-to-magic induction. We’ll have him ready by the time you get back. You’ll need to supply the essences yourself, by the way.”
He gave her a warm smile.
“Thanks, Asya. You keep going to bat for me, time and again. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. How about you and I do something fun together after I get back?”
“I’d really like that,” she said.
“I still need to do a few hellos and goodbyes,” he said. “I’m going to break the news to Greg, by the way.”
“We’d prefer to do that,” she said.
“I reckon you would,” Jason said.
She snorted a laugh.
“You can be incredibly obnoxious, you know that?”
He responded only with a flashing grin as he wandered off. Greg meandered over and took his place.
“Asked him out yet?” Greg asked her.
“How is that your business?”
“I started watching you moon over that guy ten years ago,” he said. “He was missing, presumed dead, but then he mysteriously reappears. Now he’s going to vanish again for who knows how long. What does it take for you to make a move, lady?”
“It's a lot more complicated than you realise. And I don’t exactly see you with a full dance card, Greg.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but I'm the stand-by-himself-in-the-corner guy. You’re not meant to be here with me.”
“You shouldn’t put yourself down like that,” she said.
“Didn’t you just put me down?”
“That’s why you shouldn’t pile it on yourself.”
“Just give it a few more years of standing in the corner,” Greg said. “Piling onto yourself will be what passes for date night.”
“Ew.”
After making sure he spoke to everyone, Jason made a discreet exit. Most of the people there were less interested in Jason than they were a booze-up anyway, so he was able to grab Greg and slip away unnoticed.
“What’s going on?” Greg asked.
“We’re going for a ride,” Jason said.
“Oh, you need a designated driver.”
“Actually, we don’t need any driver.”
“Oh, do I finally get to see the famous self-driving car? Where do you store that thing? It's never parked at the marina.”
Jason let out a chuckle.
“Are you ready for your life to be changed forever?”
“Only since I was fourteen,” Greg said. “What’s going on?”
“Greg, I know you’ve picked up on a strange vibe around me and the people I know.”
“You faked your death and came back under circumstances I’m still not exactly clear on,” Greg said. “I could be in a coma and pick up vibes that strange.”
“Well, tonight’s the night you learn what’s going on.”
“Yeah? Alright, then. What’ve you got?”
“Well,” Jason said. “Let’s start with the fact that magic is real and Asya is part of a secret society that hides it from the world, but she got permission to let me tell you all about it.”
“Okay,” Greg said. “That’s a bit odd. Did someone slip you a baked good of dubious provenance?”
“It wouldn’t do anything,” Jason said. “I’m immune to ordinary drugs.”
“What does that mean?”
“I have vast magic powers,” Jason said. “I’m kind of a warlock ninja. I’ll explain everything, but we start by getting in my car.”
“What car? Seriously, are you on some kind of hallucin…”
Greg trailed off as a cloud of darkness erupted from Jason’s shadow and took the form of a large supercar.
“What the…?”
“This is your yacht?” Greg asked.
“Yep. I was flying to France with Asya because Farrah was being held by some bad guys—”
“What?”
“Don’t sweat the details; you can ask Asya later. Anyway, someone put a bomb on the plane, and it blew up in the air, so—”
“WHAT?”
“If you keep interrupting, I’ll never get through this,” Jason said happily, relishing his friend’s flabbergasted state.
“You were in a plane that blew up?”