Author note: okay, here we go, gods above i hate politics, why do I do this to myself? no matter, this chapter sets up the next few major events and the next chapters should be more fast paced, so i hope ya like it !
The visitors Parlour lounge was nothing more than a glorified sitting or waiting room. Albeit a very nice sitting room, but a sitting room nonetheless. It was along rectangular room with a bed in the back corner with curtains around it, with the rest of the room being taken up by a large oak table and eight cushioned chairs surrounding it. A few cushioned benches ran along the sides of the room, and the only window was one in the ceiling that was cleverly covered by metal bars that were painted white just like the rooms walls.
"You can wait here. Some food will be brought to you later and the restroom is the door at the back," Agnes said simply before closing the door to the lounge, the telling sound of the door locking echoing a second later.
". . . well, at least this jail cell is comfortable it looks like," Uni said as she walked further in first and sat down at the table.
"Well, it is the room used for visiting regents, but it is basically a cell still," Louise commented as she walked straight for the bed, threw the curtains off of it, and flopped face first onto it.
"But, we are doing good, right?" Nepgear asked hopefully as she and Brave took seats at the table as well, while 5Pb went and sat on the bench closest to the bed.
"We're getting there, but it's not going to be simple," Louise muttered, face still half against the bed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, this is progress, but it's not going to be simple," Louise reiterated before rolling over and then sitting up on the bed. "You proved that we are not a danger to the nobility, but there is still the fact that they have not made a decision about us being heretics or not. And the fact that you mentioned that Tarbes was probably going to leave with us. If they wanted to, they could use that alone to declare a danger by saying we intended to kidnap and corrupt their faithful."
"But the people of Tarbes don't believe in the local faith, right?" Uni asked.
"That won't matter to the nobility, especially the very devout members of the nobility. They would only care about losing commoners to serve them. Though the noble most against that would be the one whose land Tarbes is on."
"Right, didn't the villagers say that their local lord was a pretty bad person?" 5PB asked, getting a nod from Brave.
"They did, yes. Though I believe they said it was the Nobles children who were the worst."
"That's a pretty common problem I think. A lot of noble children are brought up as such, so they don't realize what goes into a lot of things," Louise said with a sigh. "The real problem is what the queen and the high families decide I think though. She is . . . she seems a lot harder than when I knew her."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Nepgear asked.
"It could be either honestly," Louise said with another heavy sigh.
"Well, what should our plan of attack be then?" Brave asked calmly. "We've started speaking to this lands leadership, so could we not just tell them where we will go and be done with it?"
"It's not that simple. The nations here, they don't trust each other that much. And with them hearing that we intend to take a village away, if we tell them we are going elsewhere they may claim we are spies," Louise explained.
"But we're not spies. Can't we just tell them that?" 5PB asked.
"They won't believe us at their word. When a noble decides to believe something, little will make them budge, and if they decide we are dangerous, most will keep thinking that and make up reasons to believe it," Louise stated before smirking. "On the upside, the only ones we really have to convince are the queen, the cardinal, and the four high families. If they all agree we are not spies, and not their enemies, we should probably be fine for the most part."
"These high families, what are they exactly?" Uni asked curiously
"They are the Four Duchy's in Triatain, the four highest ranking landholding families underneath the ruling regent who are supposed to be the most loyal and powerful. In Tristain two of them are military families, the Valliere and Gramont, and the other two are merchant families, the Coste and the Roumeal."
"And the Valliere, is the one you used to belong to, before, correct?" Uni asked.
Louise nodded. "Yes, and considering my-"
Louise stopped as the door to the parlour opened and Agnes appeared in the doorway, looking stoic and a little bit annoyed. "Good, you have not tried to escape. The Queen shall be coming to speak with you momentarily. Make sure you are presentable," She said before leaving and closing the door behind her as quickly as she had appeared.
"Well, that was rude," Uni huffed.
"I don't think she considers us worthy of respect. She probably considers us a danger more than anyone else does," Louise sighed.
"So, what do we do? I mean, the queen is coming to see us, right?" Nepgear asked nervously.
"Well, hopefully she's just coming to thank you personally," Louise said with a grimace. "It didn't feel like she recognized me, and she felt a bit different, so . . . ."
"Would it be that bad for her to recognize you though? I mean, she was your friend, right?" 5PB asked.
"She was, my only friend back then," Louise admitted with a huff. "But, I don't think she needs me. I mean, she's was the princess, and I was a noble who could not do magic. The less she thinks about me, the better she'll be off in all likelihood."
"What if she does indeed recognize you, and does not wish to forget her friend?" Brave asked seriously.
"Then I'd-," Louise started to say, only for the door to the parlour to click.
A second later it opened, revealing Agnes as she walked in and then partly turned to hold the door open, blocking the initial view as Queen Henrietta walked into the room, looking perfectly proper and regal as she stood in front of the door, Agnes closing it behind her. "Agnes, please make sure that none of the nobility are attempting to listen in please." Agnes nodded before opening the door and slipping out, closing it behind her again and leaving the queen in the room with the girls. After a few seconds of silence the Queen smiled and stepped forward, curtseying her dress as a greeting. "Again, I would like to thank you all for your actions in protecting our land," she began before looking at Nepgear. "And again, I would like to thank you for handling the Baron. The situation was not supposed to spiral out of control like that. I did not think him so selfish as to invoke the rite as he did."
"No, that's fine, we just want to make it known we don't want to cause trouble, that's all," Nepgear replied with a smile.
"I believe you, though making the rest of the nobilities trust in that matter will be difficult due to your statements regarding the village of Tarbes."
"Why?" Uni asked suddenly. "They are descendants of people from Gameindustri who suddenly found themselves here. If they want to return to where their families came from that should be their right."
"I realize that, and I understand, truly I do, however many of the nobility will not see it that way. They will see it only as people from another land, who do not believe in the founder, attempting to steal our lands people away," Henrietta explained before closing her eyes and sighing. "It is something that will need to be dealt with, both your intention and the nobility's view of you and your statements of godhood."
"They are not just statements, it's the truth," Louise spoke up from the bed where she was still sitting.
"To the nobility that remains to be seen, but that is not important right now," Henrietta declared as she walked toward Louise with purpose, stopping barely a meter in front of her. "It is you, isn't it?"
"Um, you will need to be more specific about what you mean," Louise said nervously, watching Henrietta's expression begin turning from that of a stoic leader, back to that of a little girl who cared for those around her.
"You know what I mean!" Henrietta stated, her voice cracking as hints of sadness seeped into her voice. "It is you, right? I mean, your name is the same, you look almost the same though your hair looks dyed but, it is you, right?"
Louise faltered for a moment as she saw the hope and longing in Henrietta's eyes. And when she looked around the room she could see Nepgear silently cheering for her to go for it, while 5Pb was watching calmly, prepared to help in any way she could. Uni and Brave seemed to be simply watching with no intent to intrude either. She had to make a choice, and despite everything that she hated from Halkeginia, this was one she couldn't let go of. "Yes," Louise said quietly. "It is me. Technically."
"Oh thank the founder I knew it!" Henrietta exclaimed as she nearly lunged at Louise and hugged her close, her eyes tearing up. "When I heard that you disappeared from the school without a trace I was so worried! And when they couldn't find you weeks after I just, I couldn't just give up on you!"
"I'm, I'm sorry i-," Louise stopped as her eyes widened a bit, something 5PB noticed immediately. "Wait, did you say I disappeared with no trace?"
"Yes, I was told that when you didn't appear to classes for a whole day one of the teachers went to your room to find you not there, so the teachers looked all over the school for you or any signs of a struggle," Henrietta explained, looking pained as she spoke. "Your sister even went to the school to look as well, and after a week your family decided to look into darker avenues for the option that perhaps another nation had kidnapped you with the intent to ransom, but they never found anything so some started assuming that you had ran away."
Louise looked at 5PB and Nepgear and Uni to see that their expressions were the perfect image of how she felt from hearing the information. It felt both ridiculous and utterly infuriating. "Anne, you know I could never run away," Louise said darkly even as she used the old name for Henrietta they used in their very early childhood. "My mother," She nearly spat the word, "Would never allow such a thing and would drag me back by force. If I had run away, she would have found me one way or another."
"Oh, well I, oh, do that mean you were kidnapped!? That's horrible! Oh but we need to, Agnes!"
"Yes, your highness?" Agnes replied as she came into the parlour from the door, likely having been guarding it herself.
"Please fetch Duchess Valliere!"
"Oh course your highness," Agnes replied as she swiftly left, even as Louise cried out.
"Wait What? No! Why are you calling her?" Louise asked in horror and dread.
"Why wouldn't I? You have come back, so your family should be made aware. I'm sure she will be overjoyed!" Henrietta said happily.
Louise looked at her for a second before it dawned on her, making her scowl. "FUCK!"
"Louise!" Henrietta exclaimed in both surprise and horror at the swear Louise just spoke, never having ever heard a member of nobility use such a word in public, let alone her own friend.
"It's my fault as I never mentioned it to you, I didn't want you to worry, but the only person in my family I had actually cared to say hello to was Cattleya."
"What, how could you say that?"
"Because neither my mother, my father nor Eleonore ever gave me what you could call love or positive attention, that's why!" Louise snapped a bit, making Henrietta lean away a bit as she continued. "Nothing was ever good enough for them. I was never good enough in swordplay for my father, and with my failings in magic I was never good enough for Eleonore or my mother either. It was always them ordering me to study harder, to leave my emotions behind, and to ignore what other people say or how they ridicule me. You know the name the other students in the academy gave me don't you? They called me the zero, and not a single person gave a damn about me or how much I was made fun of, ridicules and even insulted to my face!"
"What, but that's, why didn't you ever say anything?"
"Don't you think I tried? I tried telling my parents, and their responses were always the same!" Louise stated angrily. "Do you know of my old mother's rule of steel?"
"Y-yes, of course. She makes her troops follow it. It is to always follows the rules and never let emotion cloud ones judgment, right?"
"Oh, how nice that her soldiers get the easy version. What she made me follow was the same, but I was never supposed to react or allow emotions control me, regardless of how they made me felt. If I told her of the insults and mockery her response was always to just ignore it and keep studying, keep doing better than I was so I could prove people wrong. How hard do you think that is when literally every student in the school, and even some teachers, are calling me a Zero both to my face and when they think I'm not around?!"
"What, but then, oh no, I need to-" Henrietta began to speak as she stood up off the ground, only for the door to open at that same moment.
"Your majesty, I have brought duchess Valliere, as requested," Agnes said as she walked in and stepped to the side, allowing the duchess to enter. "I shall continue to wait outside," Agnes then added as she again left the room, the door clicking closed behind her.
"Your majesty, may I inquire to the reason for my presence?" Karin De la Valliere asked professionally, not a hint of her emotions showing upon her face.
"Yes, I did, and I apologize," Henrietta said as she gracefully brushed the front of her dress, making herself look as professional as Karin did. As queen it was a requirement that she presentable at all times before another member of the nobility, especially amongst the four high families. "I was speaking with these five to perhaps learn more of their intentions, and believed that perhaps you would have questions."
Karin let out a sigh. "Your majesty, if you were simply speaking with them, you would be sitting at the table with them at it as well, not standing nearest to the one that bears a startling resemblance to my missing daughter. Nor would your dress have creases in it that would suggest you were either on your knees, or hugging someone without regards to status or station.
"Oh, she's sharp," Uni whispered to Brave, who simply nodded as Karin and Henrietta stared at each other for a few more seconds.
"I assume the rumour has been confirmed by the fact you called me here, your majesty?" Karin then asked after a few more seconds of silence.
"Well, that is," Henrietta stopped and hung her head a bit. Looking at Louise apologetically out the corner of her eye. "Yes, it has."
"I see," Karin said as she took a number of steps forward so that she was barely two meter away from Louise, Henrietta having stepped to the side. "I do not know what you are playing at Louise, but I will find out soon enough. Get up, we are returning to the manor where you will explain yourself at length!"
Louise took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before looking up at Karen Valliere and smiling. "No, I am not."
Karin's eyes narrowed at her, but otherwise her expression did not change. "Did you not hear me girl, I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it."
"I have no reason to follow your orders," Louise said simply.
"You are my daughter and you will do as I say, Louise!" Karin stated, a twinge appearing in her eyes as she raised her voice.
"No, I am not your daughter. Not anymore," Louise stated as she concentrated for half a second, just enough to make her eyes flash green.
"What? What madness are you speaking? "Karin demanded coolly.
"Um, I'm curious too," Henrietta spoke up quietly. "Especially since you talked about your mother in the past sense earlier."
"Just what I said. I am not your daughter anymore. I was, but no longer am," Louise said simply.
"Ridiculous!" Karin scoffed as she turned and looked at Nepgear with a scowl. "It seems these heathens have somehow altered your perceptions. We are leaving now to-"
Karin stopped as she tuned back to Louise just in time to see her summon a long green spear, the tip bare inches away from her nose. "I told you, I'm not your daughter anymore. You have no right to order me around, especially as I am CPU Candidate of Leanbox."
"Listen to yourself child, you sound mad, clearly you are not sane and-"
"Where did you look?" Louise asked, interrupting Karin as she dissolved her spear out of her hands, much to Karin and Henrietta's astonishment. "For me I mean."
"The academy was scoured, as well as nearby towns and villages. When you were not in those places, it was decided you most likely had been kidnapped or had run away, so port towns were scoured and rumours investigated," Karin responded, noticeably unsure where Louise was going with the questions.
Louise shook her head. "It never occurred for anyone to look in the forest by the school, huh?"
"Well, it was considered a possibility, but Headmaster Osmond assured me that the teachers all agreed that no one would go that deep, and that no clues were found near the edges of the forest," Henrietta spoke up this time.
Louise shook her head again. "Then you may want to write them up or something. I hadn't planned to say this to you Anne, but it seems I have no choice. I did not run away or get kidnapped. I died."
"What?!" Henrietta exclaimed in shock.
Karin however simply scowled. "Foolish. You are right now before us, you could not have died."
"Now who is the one being foolish? Or did you not notice that my hair and eyes are a different color?" Louise asked before she shook her head. "Don't answer that, I don't want to hear your argument, I'll just explain it. That day at the school, it had been the last straw. I had summoned a familiar in the summoning ceremony, but it was dead when I summoned it and could not be contracted. I was sent to my room, while the other students jeered and mocked me aloud and as the day went on I felt worse and worse so until I just ran into the forest to get away from it all and calm down. Only I was gone so long that night fell and in the darkness I got lost, and was found by a pack of, a pack of," Louise stopped and took a moment to swallow, then held down her hands that had begun starting to shake. "By a pack of Wolves."
"So you killed them and then what?" Karin asked.
"Killed them?" Louise asked, her eyes now filled with the horrible memory to such an extent that is made 5PB get up, walk briskly past Karin and sit down beside Louise, talking one of her hands. "Thank you," Louise said before looking at Karin again, anger filling her expression." How would I kill a pack of wolves when, no matter what I tried, no matter how hard I trained, and no matter how much I studied, all of my spells simply exploded with little to no effect aside from knocking things around? I tried to fight back of course; I think I recall knocking one wolf out. But wolves hunt in packs, and as soon as one of them wrapped it's jaw around my ankle and made me fall over it, it was. . . . Over."
5PB pulled Louise into her side and put an arm over her shoulder as tears started sliding down Louise's cheeks despite her emotions. "She still gets nightmares occasionally about that time. And she has a hard time even being near anything that looks like those wolves," 5PB explained without looking up.
"So you are claiming you were, what, killed by wolves?" Karin asked. "Then if so, how are you here?"
"Because after I died I woke up having been reborn. I died as Louise Valliere, and was reborn simply as Louise, CPU candidate and younger sister of Vert, CPU of Leanbox," Louise said as she sniffed and then wiped her eyes with her wrist before looking to 5PB. "Thanks, I, think I'm good now."
"You expect me to believe that you were killed by wolves and reborn to another country whose clothing is based off of those of harlots?" Karin asked rudely with a scowl. "When it is clear that it is far more likely that you simply abandoned your duties as a noble and dyed your hair?"
Louise twitched, then silently stood up and stared at Karin. In an instant she engaged her HDD, and its taller, armoured glory stood before Karin and glowered at her. "This is all the truth you need. I am not your daughter to order around or make misery of my life with your demands. Not anymore!"
"Why you insolent-"
"Duchess!" Henrietta spoke up suddenly, making Karin turn to her. "I apologize, but it appears I made a mistake in not learning all the information before calling for you. There are other things I must discuss with our guests from another land, so I will have to ask you to perhaps continue this conversation at a later time."
"Your highness, my daughter is not from another land, she-"
"If what she claims is true, then yes, she has the soul of my friend and your daughter, however her eyes and hair, and even facets of her body are different, and little could change ones eye color. I will request headmaster Osmond's presence, or another of his suggestion, to come and find if they can ascertain the truth of Louise's statements. However until it is proven one way or another, she will be considered a guest from the land she claims to hail from. I'm sorry, but politically, this is how it must be for now," Henrietta explained calmly.
Karin looked like she was about to get angry for a moment before nodding to Henrietta. "Very well your majesty, I understand what you are trying to say. I shall depart for now," she said, but not before looking at Louise. "Once the truth of your shenanigans is brought to light, you will be punished for your reckless and ignoble actions,"
Louise said nothing as she watched Karin turn and walk out of the parlour in an elegant, and very arrogant, fashion. ". . . . . . . . . You know, I figured that I would be annoyed, maybe sad or angry when meeting her," green sister stated.
"And now?" Uni asked nervously.
"Now I just want to see if impaling her would wipe that arrogant self-assured expression off her face," Green sister stated grimly as she crossed her arms.
"Louise, you can't mean that!" Henrietta exclaimed.
"No she can. She gets really vicious in her HDD, and she doesn't lie at all either," Uni deadpanned.
"Yes, um, Louise, you might want to turn back," 5PB added.
"What? Oh, right," Green sister said before her HDD disengaged and she look a bit embarrassed. "Okay, maybe I don't want to impale her per see, but she deserves whatever is coming to her. She never cared for me, and never showed me anything but contempt for being unable to do magic."
"I'm sorry, I never even considered what you might not have told me in the past," Henrietta said solemnly. "I made things more difficult.
"It's not your fault, most of that got worse as we got older, and it was at its worst just before, and during going to the academy when we couldn't meet."
"Be that as it may, I have made things more difficult without realizing it," Henrietta said with a sigh. "I figured that your mother would be overjoyed to see you alive, yet instead she seemed focused only on chastising you. Duchess Valliere has always been a strong person and she was always nice to me when we were younger. Ah, I'm such a fool."
"Not foolish, just maybe that you didn't think about it from another view maybe?" Nepgear suggested hopefully.
"Perhaps, but it does not change the fact that I have made things difficult for the future, and that future must be talked about," Henrietta said as she walked over to the table and took a seat at its head. It being clear what Henrietta was expecting the girls all took seats at the table, and once they were all comfortable Henrietta spoke up again. "Your help with the baron, as well as with routing the Albionese army is good, but your intentions may cause a problem for the rest of Tristain, and potentially Halkeginia. Hearing that you claim to be goddesses irks many of our more devout, and your admittance of planning to take the Villagers of Tarbes is looked down upon by many nobility as to them it feels like kidnapping the faithful citizens of our country."
"But the people of Tares are descendent of people who were whisked away from Gameindustri. They should be allowed to choose where they wish to live," Uni said seriously.
"I know," Henrietta said with a nod. "I recently discovered that their history was known by my grandfather, who in his reign apparently allowed them to settle with the knowledge they would one day return to their lands."
"Then there is no problem, right?" Nepgear asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately there is," Henrietta said with a sigh. "That agreement was entirely verbal it seems, so there is no way to make it known without problems arising. The nobility, especially those whose lands Tarbes inhabits, or those nearby, will see it as the crown bending its knee to a foreign power that they know nothing about. And that is made worse by the fact that officially the church see's you as heathens."
"What exactly is the churches stance though?" Louise asked. "The cardinal seemed very compliant to everything that was going on."
"Yes, Cardinal Mazarin has been Tristains cardinal since my parent's time, and while he is the churches highest ranking member in Tristain, his opinion only goes so far. He does not believe that you having differing beliefs should be a problem as you, most of you, have never been to our lands as you claim. Unfortunately he also has to inform the church itself of what is going on here, and if the church itself makes a declaration it would be, difficult to supersede it."
"Wait, I was under the impression that the church did not run the countries in this land?" 5Pb asked, earning a surprised look from Henrietta.
"It does not technically, but how do you know that may I ask?"
"I explained my past life to them," Louise stated. "In even more detail when I realized where we were. The problem is that while the Brimiric church does not control most counties, it does attend to official events, such as coronations, and can make declaration according to the church itself. Monarch and their countries that follow the Brimiric faith, all of them except for Germania, are expected to follow the tenants and rules of the church."
"Yes. If, for example, the church declared you heathens that were impossible to show the true path too and declared a crusade against your lands, we would be obligated to amass our armies and march against you, "Henrietta admitted with a heavy sigh.
"Wait, isn't that a bit odd? I mean, if the church declares something, shouldn't they be the ones to do it?" Uni asked.
"Some of the church would go on the crusade," Louise spoke up. "But most would not, so they could continue teaching the faithful. That would probably be their reasoning at least. If I recall history right that was what occurred when they had declared crusades against the Elves in the past."
"I take it your church does not a history of mutual understanding then?" Brave asked.
"Not with the elves, no. they have been enemies since the founders time," Henrietta confirmed.
"Um, couldn't this be solved by just saying that the people of Tarbes were never part of the local faith?" 5PB suggested.
"Unfortunately it would not," Louise said with a sigh. "It would probably make it worse."
"Yes. If we revealed that, not only would their local lord's ire be aimed upon them, but other nobles would insist they change their beliefs, while some would demand more extreme measures. The church would also lose face, so they would be more against everything as well," Henrietta explained.
"Ugh, the more I hear the less easy this sounds," Uni groaned. "Not to insult you, but why is the church here so difficult?"
"It is not difficult, it just simply holds much power as the founder decreed," Henrietta said, sounding like she was forcing herself a bit to do so.
"No, it really I just difficult, especially when it has no rules to protect the commoners,"' Louise deadpanned before sighing. "The nobility's way of dealing with things isn't our problem though. All we need is some way to keep them and the church off of us while we find the Legacies."
"Legacies?" Henrietta asked.
"Sorry, that's, our term I guess for those whose parents came from Gameindustri," Louise provided.
"Oh, I see. I take it that once you have them all, you would be leaving?" Henrietta asked, sounding sad at the prospect.
"Yes, though we would only take those who wanted to go with us of course," Nepgear said.
"That is good to hear," Henrietta commented before sighing and placing her hands on the table. " For context, I would like to know where this land of Gamen, Gimen. . .the lands you hail from is located."
"Gameindustri," Louise provided with a heavy sigh. "And I know we said this, or I think we did, but it doesn't exist here, it's in a different dimension that only has one moon. No one from Halkeginia would ever be able to willingly go there I would think. At least not without help from someone in Gameindustri."
"Even then I imagine it would be difficult as Lady Histoire is the one working to bring us back," Brave added, making the girls nod.
"I take it the one you speak of is highly regarded?" Henrietta asked.
"Well yes. Each of our lands is led by a CPU, our sisters, who have us Candidates, as well as their Oracles to help them," Uni began to explain.
"Oracles are kind of like a secretary or subordinate, but most are considered like family," Louise added, making Uni nod.
"That's true. In addition to being Planeptune's Oracle, Histoire was created by the very first goddess of Gameindustri as a sort of, living archive is it?" Uni asked, turning to Nepgear.
"I, think that's right. I've never really thought about it honestly," Nepgear admitted with a smile. "Histoire does basically know anything and can figure out anything. It just takes a while sometimes."
"Wait, truly?" Henrietta asked.
"Yeah, think of her like the library at the magic academy, only it's a person who can tell you what you need after a period of time."
"My, that sounds useful," Henrietta declared, before her expression tuned cold again. "I do not wish to ask this, but it is expected that I do, so please do not answer truthfully if you do not wish to, but what is your nation's military strengths like?"
The CPU candidates looked at each other for a moment with worry on their faces.
"Uh, I mean. With what we've seen here so far. . . .no contest," Uni said.
"You mean you would lose to our armies?" Henrietta asked in surprise.
"No, the opposite, your armies would have no chance," Uni said bluntly.
"I see. I do not myself wish to know, but I must ask as regent. Why?"
"It's a case of differing culture and technology," Louise spoke up suddenly as she summoned a spear and laid it on the table so that Henrietta could look at it. "The only ones in Halkeginia that can be truly dangerous are skilled mages, and some knights or trained mercenaries. If anything akin to war came to Gameindustri, the CPU's would work with the Guilds and each nations own defence forces to protect everyone."
"What are these guilds and defence forces?"
"The Guild is a neutral organization in Gameindusti that allows people to take on quests or jobs to help people, usually by acquiring parts of monsters of exterminating them, and in return granting those who take the quests money or items in return," Brave spoke up. "From what I have seen so far in these lands, I would assume it could be comparable to something akin to a guild of mercenaries, though far more skilled," Uni spoke up.
"So a mercenary guild then. How strong are these mercenaries?"
"5PB and Brave here are both part of it, and we technically do work with them as well," Uni provided before smirking. "Some of the strongest People with the guild are actually stronger than we are and can approach our sisters in strength. Unless our sisters use their HDD of course."
"You mean, your sisters are more powerful than you are, and some of your lands mercenaries are almost that strong as well?" Henrietta asked in noticeable disbelief.
"Anne, you have to understand that that is not even the most important part," Louise spoke up as snhe looked at Henrietta seriously. "The defence forces in Gameindustri are like militia, but many of them work with the guild as well. Some people wield a type of magic that is there, while others wield skills. Some prefer the use of blades, while other people had weapons like Uni's that project pure energy at speeds not even a cannon could reach. Uni, could you?"
"Well fine, I guess," Uni replied as she summoned her rifle and placed it on the table so that Henrietta could see it."
"A rifle? But it looks so strange?" Henrietta commented as she looked at it.
"That is an energy rifle. You cold liken it to a rifle that fires fireball spells that do not explode, but burn through their targets up to a kilometer away," Louise said, instantly making Henrietta look at her in surprise. Surprise that turned to horror as she continued speaking. "Most have magazines that can hold hundreds of shots, and can fire dozens of them in short periods, hundreds for larger models, Louise explained, getting a couple parts not quite right, but still getting the meaning across.
"This one is only capable of Semi-automatic fire though," Uni said as she picked it up and held it as she would in combat for a moment before letting it dissipate. "Helps me control my accuracy."
"Yes, and they are perfectly accurate too, there no drop to the shots like a flintlock or canon has. And speaking of cannons, each nation has their versions of those as well. Though they are rarely if ever looked upon because there is little need for their use," Louise said seriously.
"That is, how powerful are these cannons?" Henrietta asked, sounding terrified by what the answer could be.
"An XMB artillery piece can hit targets up to twenty seven kilometers away and could destroy one of those airship things in one hit. An older model that we found in Tarbes was what helped us destroy the Albion fleet from Tarbes."
"Ah, you mean that burnt circle in the grass that was found outside Tarbes?" Henrietta asked, eyes lit with realization.
"Yes, that is where it had been sitting, before we destroyed it to stop others from getting their hands on it," Brave explained.
"Anne, Gamindustri is far beyond Halkeginia in technology. We have flying vehicles that could outpace horses while carrying hundreds of pounds of explosives, vehicles that can do the same, and so many people who could handily defeat most mages without trying. If somehow any nation on Halkeginia found a way to actually try to wage war on Gameindustri, it would not be a fight, it would be a one sided massacre and nothing more."
"I, I see. That does certainly, paint a picture that I do not wish will ever come to pass," Henrietta said with a rough tone, her throat sounding dry. "I will make sure the high families understand that peace is the best, no, the only option."
"The problem is even if you convince the nobility that we are not a danger, the church may still react otherwise," Louise said grimly. "All we need to do is figure out how to hold the nobility in check for us to do what we need to, and then we leave Halkeginia."
"Um, I know it may be pushy of me, but if I can convince the nobility, and perhaps the church that your lands are not dangerous, wouldn't it be an idea to maybe look into some form of trade between our nations?" Henrietta asked hopefully. "Gallia and Romalia trade with the lands of Rub al Khali to some extent after all."
"Um, as much as the idea seems nice, it, um-"
"It wouldn't work," Uni said simply, finishing Nepgears sentence for her.
"Why not?"
"Because there is nothing here in Halkeginia that would be of worth to anyone in Gameindustri," Louise stated. "Our culture and technology are so far ahead of Halkeginia, there is nothing of value that we cannot already acquire ourselves. Besides, if some kind of permanent gateway was erected, monsters from Gameindustri would come over to Halkeginia. And the last thing you want is a bunch of Viral Monsters running around."
"Why, if they are sick does that not make them easier to put down?" Henrietta asked.
"Um, that's not what it means," 5Pb spoke up. "Monsters in Gameindustri are not the same as they might be here, and when a monster becomes viral, they get stronger in all ways and can be really hard to fight."
"I see, that is curious," Henrietta said as she took out a watch and sighed. "I must return and share what I have officially learned with the high families, but I will do my best to make sure they realize the situation as it is and-"
"My Queen!" Agnes yelled as she opened the door to the parlour, interrupting Henrietta from finishing her words.
"Agnes, what is wrong?"
"We've received a report of some kind of monster running rampant outside the Ardennes forest," Agnes stated, making Henrietta scowl a bit.
"Agnes, I know that is bad, but why not have some of our forces look into it and slay the beast?"
"That is the problem your highness, it has slaughtered all of the forces local to the area and that is not even the worst thing. Apparently the creature is being commanded by some kind of blue demon, and there are reports of the nearby towns being held hostage by elves!"
"What!? But, the elves have not been seen in over a thousand years! Are you sure the report is correct?"
"One of my own was the one who came with the report, missing a hand," Agnes said grimly.
"I see. Who else has been informed?"
"General Gramont and Captain Valliere have discussed it and decided to send the Manticore knights along with a detachment of my musketeers and a number of mages to combat the unknown monster before going after the elves. I will be joining them."
"What does this creature look like?" Henrietta asked worryingly.
"It was described as some kind of floating creature a long bonelike tail made of brass, two arms that floated disconnected from it, and a head that was like a rams. Its body is supposedly covered in metal plating, so the general believes it to be some form of Golem, likely made by the elves for some reason."
"Then please do, it must be defeated and the Ardennes-"
"What weapons was it holding?" Louise suddenly spoke up.
"I was not talking to you, this is a local problem and-"
"Was it carrying an Axe and a mace?" Uni asked next, looking worried.
"What, how did you-?"
"Is this it?" Nepgear then spoke as she took out her datapad and projected a hologram out of it, surprising Agnes and Henrietta.
"What is this sorcery you,-" Agnes stopped as she looked at the hologram. "That, does match the description it was given. . . .So you know of that monster?" Agnes asked as her gaze narrowed at Nepgear.
Louise nodded grimly. "We do. It's a monster from Gameindustri. A supremely powerful monster, known as a Killachine."