Chapter 37
To Barter in Aspiration
"Your Eminence," Sancia spoke with fluid grace, "may I introduce Father Kevin Graham and Sister Ries Argent of the Social Welfare Agency's Section 1."
The former had a cheerful, almost flippant smile across the face, while the latter carried herself with a more dignified demeanor. That contrast was actually rather reflective of Lelouch and his attendants' own postures. The cardinal was leaning heavily back in his chair, with one leg crossed, while Alice stood attentively at the ready, never mind Sancia's diligent poise. Grace and dignity were clearly not the purview of the men in the room.
"First a fratello, and now a Gralsritter," Lelouch said. "Should I be honored that the Holy See thinks me to warrant such attention?"
"Your reputation has taken on quite a life of its own since the Lake Kawaguchi conference, Your Eminence," Kevin said. "Surely it should come as no surprise that you were deemed to be a person of especial interest by the Curia."
"The Curia, or the Congregation?" Lelouch said, eyebrow raised.
Kevin did not answer, but the smile still plastered over his face said it all.
Officially, the Social Welfare Agency was part of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, since its official cover was that of a missionary agency providing humanitarian aid to those in need. That sometimes providing said aid required passage through dangerous locales was the excuse given for SWA missions being, if not officially armed themselves, then in accompaniment of those that were equipped to protect them. In a way, that was a similar justification to what Eden Vital used for the existence of its own Orders Militant, though it put much less effort in trying to obfuscate the fact that it did possess outright church militants than the Catholic Church itself.
Interestingly however, the majority of the SWA's top enforcers were people that rose through the ranks from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. This discrepancy however made perfect sense once one recalled one of the historical names for that Congregation, the Holy Office of the Inquisition, with all the connotations that accompanied it. While the Catholic Church did not go around burning alive those they accused of heresy these days, some concession to modern sensibilities needed to be made to remain relevant after all, that particular Congregation still considered itself responsible for ensuring no ethical or moral standards were broken when utilizing the thought elevators. By using enforcers that were augmented using cybernetics that were first prototyped by installing them into orphaned, or otherwise abandoned, prepubescent girls, that were legally incapable of actually consenting to such experiments being conducted on them. Moral authority was a fickle thing and hinged greatly on the credibility of those asserting it. Not that the Holy See had much of that to begin with from the grandmaster's perspective, but they really had not helped their case even in the relatively short timeframe since the Treaty of London was signed. Still, because that treaty retained some utility, Eden Vital adhered to its letter, and even spirit, in those instances where doing so did not unduly inconvenience the Order. Besides, it was not as if they couldn't send the observers packing, through entirely legal means at that, if they did start to become an irritant.
"Ms. Sumeragi is currently spending time with her relatives back in Kyoto for the New Year's Holiday," Lelouch said. "As such she will be unavailable to meet with you until sometime after her return early next week."
"That's fine," Kevin said. "That gives us plenty of time sort things out with you and your grandmaster."
His grandmaster, not the grandmaster. Then again, C.C. was hardly the only person in the world to bear that title. And considering her irreverent apathy for the Catholic Church, it was hardly a surprise if certain of its members responded in kind with respect to C.C.'s own authority.
"The grandmaster is interviewing the contractor candidate now," Lelouch said. "I expect she will arrive at her decision shortly."
"That's good to hear, I never was one for being left in suspense," Kevin said, then his smile disappeared. "Though even if the grandmaster grants us the contract, I somehow doubt the Holy See's critics are going to be assuaged."
"Why would they be, when the motive behind their criticism was entirely self-serving to begin with?" Lelouch responded.
Kevin ran a hand through his hair. "Man, you really don't pull any punches, Your Eminence. But I suppose that means I can skip the pleasantries as well. You're right, a lot of the pressure being piled upon the Holy See are by our rivals, none of whom actually care if the Church is able to overcome its present difficulties. In fact, most would be enthused if the Church were to suffer further losses of prestige and authority, since they think they'd stand to benefit."
"By perhaps assuming custody of one or both of the thought elevators the Catholic Church currently manages?" Lelouch postulated.
"Exactly," Kevin said. "As you can see, our rivals aren't wanting in ambition."
"But they are certainly lacking in intelligence," Lelouch said, leaning back in his chair. "I take it the Russians are whining again?"
"In a manner of speaking," Kevin said. "Though they of course do not see it that way."
"Of course," Lelouch drawled.
Officially speaking, the Russian Federation was a restoration of the representative government that the Communists overthrew to establish the USSR in the wake of the European War of 1914. In practice, it was hard to deny that the Soviet Union amounted to little more than a predominantly Russian hegemony, whatever the political ideology its leaders might have used to justify their rule. It was therefore not terribly surprising that there were those Russians that genuinely mourned the defeat of the Soviet Union, and many more who succumbed to an overly romanticized view of that time period. Some even took a sort of twisted pride in how it took the combined effort of the rest of the world to defeat the Soviet Union.
Since the conclusion of the Great War, the recovery Russia enjoyed had catapulted her back to being one of the premier economic powers in Europe. But much to Russian frustration, that wealth did not translate into as much of a say in Europe's affairs as they felt entitled to. Indeed, many Russians felt as if the European Union's governance structure had been intentionally designed to constrain their nation's influence. And in fairness to the Russians, that accusation was entirely, completely, true. When the European Coal and Steel Community, the organization that would eventually transform into the European Union, was being formed, limiting any single nation from obtaining outsized influence within the Union's bureaucracy and political hierarchy had been an overriding goal of the founding members, of which Russia technically counted as one of, but which had not afforded that country much of a say when the bylaws were being drafted and negotiated. One could hardly blame the other European nations for this, seeing as most had so recently been victims of Soviet brutality. That they were willing to include Russia in the economic cooperative at all was the largest concession any of them were prepared to make.
Of course, resentment was often bred by the perception of unfairness, regardless of whether that perception was warranted or not. Combined with people's natural tendency to prefer their own biases, it was arguably inevitable that the growing imbalance between economic and political prestige would cause Russia to bristle. As a consequence, it was not just the Holy See coming under immense pressure, it was the European project as a whole. The EU remained a viable political institution only so long as its constituent parts remained willing participants. Dissatisfied members choosing to withdraw were however not the only threat to the EU's integrity, arguably even more dangerous were those that remained but then tried to outright undermine the EU's institutions and bend them to their own ends. Those institutions were only able to properly do their jobs so long as their credibility was intact, but more importantly, a lot of people were dependent on them doing their jobs right. If that stopped happening, quite a large number of people could end up hurt as a consequence.
"I presume the Russians are trying to promote the Orthodox Church as an alternative steward for at least one of the thought elevators?" Lelouch asked somewhat rhetorically.
"Yep," Kevin answered nonetheless to continue the conversation. "They're of course framing the issue as one of equality and whatnot between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, but anyone that doesn't have their head buried in the sand recognize that it's because the Russian Orthodox Church has the most pull within the overall Orthodox hierarchy, and the Russians expect to parlay that into a greater say in how the thought elevator gets used."
While the Eastern Orthodox Church did not possess the same sort of ecclesiastical unity as the Roman Catholic Church, there were a few specific centers of authority that served as de facto leaders within the Orthodox community. Case in point, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople served as a sort of first amongst equals for the various Orthodox Church leaders. In practice however, the largest, and most powerful, of the Orthodox Churches was the one based in Russia, on account of both its claim of jurisdiction over all Orthodox branches in the states that formerly composed the USSR, as well as the heavy sponsorship it received from the Russian government. A sponsorship that the Russian government clearly expected to be repaid in kind in the church helping promote Russian diplomatic and political interests.
"And how many people do have their heads buried in the sand?" a somewhat less rhetorical question.
"Enough," Kevin responded with a sigh. "Of course the number of people opposed to such a change is also substantial, but if the Russians begin thinking that they won't ever get their way via diplomatic means, well, they've got slightly less institutional hesitancy to resorting to force than quite a few of the other European countries."
Not because those other nations were paragons of virtue and morality, but because quite a few of them were on the smaller side when it came to national power and recognized just how vulnerable they themselves might be if martial force once again became the de facto means by which nation-states settled disputes. In addition, any effort to confront Britannia would require a unified front by the Europeans, a unity that could only be achieved by greater subordination of national sovereignty to the overarching continental collective. Governments were always jealous of their prerogatives and loathe to surrender it under any circumstances, up to and including being under existential threats. Even more so when the more powerful polities, or in this case polity, amongst them would come to dominate any collective body that emerged. Fiddles and fires were quite apt in describing the sheer bloody mindedness of those involved, even as such disunity helped as much as hindered Britannia's own interests. After all, an indecisive enemy today could be tomorrow's indecisive ally.
"Are we at the point where the Russians might pursue unilateral action?" Lelouch asked.
"That's hard to say," Kevin admitted frankly. "Or maybe that's not the right way to think about it. The Russians have always been willing to pursue unilateral action, the only real question is how openly they're prepared to act."
"A point," Lelouch agreed. "Very well, the forewarning is appreciated, and I will make sure the appropriate authorities are brought up to speed. Now, what is it that the Holy See wants in exchange for keeping Eden Vital appraised of the Orthodox Church's movements? Aside from the contract, of course."
"Glad you're so quick on the uptake," Kevin said, grinning again, then more seriously. "We want help with our neuro-link interface. You're right about the Holy See taking certain shortcuts in the development of our cybernetic program, but there are still limits as to what sort of redlines we're prepared to cross. But Eden Vital doesn't have the same technical limitations as us, especially with the number of contractors you have, and we know you've reached the point of putting the interface into production use. We don't expect Eden Vital to just hand us working schematics or something, but we want help dealing with a few specific problems we've run into."
Lelouch had to give the Holy See credit. Even when faced with adversity, the moment an opportunity arose, they reached for it wholeheartedly. Not recklessly, not blindly, but resolutely. And they also knew when to dispense with the tedium of circuitous euphemisms and diplomatic doubletalk and just get straight to the point.
The ask from the Catholic Church was substantial, seeing as possession of a neuro-link interface promised to increase by several orders of magnitude the efficiency of both setting up computational runs in a thought elevator and extracting the resulting data once it was done. The advantage this offered was also a long-term one, wherein the Catholic Church would continue to benefit from it well after the current diplomatic unpleasantness was settled one way or another. Granted the Catholic Church would probably figure it out on their own, even if it took them another decade or two to reach parity with what Eden Vital currently had, during which time the Order would push even further ahead. But helping the Catholic Church with their neuro-link program still represented a slight shortening of the advantage Eden Vital held over their fellow ecclesiastical order, and in exchange for a decidedly more short-term matter. As far as exchanges went, it was hard to argue the Holy See was not coming out ahead, at least with the current set of conditions. Fortunately, Lelouch had a ready list of concessions Eden Vital wanted from the Catholic Church to employ for just these occasions.
"How will the Holy See vote the next time Eden Vital moves to strip the Jokhang of their stewardship of the Taklamakan thought elevator?" the cardinal asked.
The sigh from Kevin was a resigned one, indicating the man had expected the question.
"In light of the new evidence presented by Eden Vital, the Holy See would agree with the revocation of the Jokhang's stewardship," he answered, "and accept, within reason, a nomination by Eden Vital as to who the new steward should be."
Lelouch tilted his head. "I suppose that's good enough for now."
"For now?" Kevin said, eyebrow arched upward.
The cardinal shrugged. "There is still time to work on that second bit."
"You give an inch," Kevin muttered, then sighed again. "Well, that's not my problem. I'm just here to make sure Ise is actually getting back on its feet."
"Then you should have no further reason to complain," Lelouch declared with a certain finality.
While Lelouch was trading words, and concessions, with the Gralsritter, in another room in the palace C.C. was having her own exchange. The young woman before the grandmaster was clearly nervous, but there was also a determined glint in those gray eyes of hers as she remained standing at attention.
"So, the prodigal daughter returns," C.C. said. "I trust the House of Malcal has prospered since its emigration to Europe?"
"Yes, Grandmaster," Leila answered, her blond hair bobbing up and down as she nodded. "My family has carried out the charge you originally set us, and the Holy See has seen to it that we in turn are cared for."
When the Treaty of London was first signed, one of its stipulations was that Eden Vital help provide technical staff to bootstrap the thought elevator efforts of the other ecclesiastical orders. Because interfacing with the thought elevators required a human mind, that assistance also meant dispatching individuals trained and conditioned to endure the rigors involved. Those individuals were expected to settle down in their new home, and the families they raised the seeds of new cadres of thought elevator operators for each ecclesiastical order. When the candidate families were dispatched, C.C. had made absolutely clear that she would rain hellfire upon any order that mistreated the men and women she was sending out. Up until the heresy broke out, none of those other orders had dared test that threat, and considering the effort Eden Vital was putting into bringing the heretics to heel, no one was foolish enough to think the grandmaster was bluffing. Delayed though her vengeance might be, it promised to be extremely thorough and thoroughly merciless.
"Good, I would hate to be given further reason to be disappointed in the Holy See," C.C. said, then pursed her lips. "Though, it feels as if they're trying to be a bit too clever by sending you as their proposed contractor."
"Does the grandmaster think I am unfit?" Leila asked.
C.C. gave a snort. "You are as fit as the Holy See's motives are transparent." She leaned back in her chair. "Tell me, daughter of Malcal. To whom do you owe your fealty?"
The other ecclesiastical orders had accepted these individuals in full awareness that their first, immediate loyalty lay with Eden Vital. Even so, there was no expectation on anyone's part that that loyalty would carry on in perpetuity over the generations, especially if the candidate ended up marrying someone native to the land they had been dispatched to. And that was fine with C.C., she had long grown used to sending her children out into the world to become their own persons. Of course, Leila was only the third generation out from the original candidates, so she likely had been regaled with plenty of tales by her grandmother about the Order.
Leila's own lips tightened as she mustered a response. "My family's charge was to aid the Holy See in their stewardship of the London thought elevator. It was in obedience of your decree that they carried out that charge. For myself, I continue with that charge out of obligation and duty to my family, and out of consideration for the only home I have ever known, Britain."
That was certainly fair enough, and the fact that Leila's grandfather was actually a noble supporter of the Prince Ulysses that went into functional exile after His Highness' murder likely also colored the manner of the Malcal family's integration into their new home.
"Well, at least you are honest," C.C. said. "Say I did grant you a contract. What would you do with it?"
"I would relieve the burden my father endures," Leila said. "As my contract would allow me to interact with the thought elevator for longer periods of time safely, I could take over some of the tasks he oversees."
"Are you sure the Holy See would allow your father to be so idled?" C.C. responded. "Would they not insist that more be done, instead of doing the same with less?"
Leila's expression tightened once more. "My condition for accepting the candidacy was that, if successful, my family's burden be lifted."
"So you have motives of your own," C.C. said, nodding. "Good. Then I shall see how firm they are."
Leila braced herself, as if expecting some herculean task be set before her to obtain the contract.
"No need to look so worried," C.C. said with a smirk. "I just want you to accompany me on a little road trip."
"Road trip, Grandmaster?" Leila said uncertainly.
"You have a driver's license in Great Britain, correct?"
Leila nodded, still unsure where this was going.
"Good. I may be in need of a driver familiar with the reversed lane configuration Japan uses," C.C. said. "While the traffic laws are supposed to have been adapted to Britannian conventions, there are likely a few places where the appropriate signaling updates have not been done, or the locals themselves persist with old habits and the viceroyalty's reach has yet to extend."
"Your trip is somewhere in Japan, Grandmaster?" Leila asked.
"Indeed," C.C. flashed a wide grin. "I intend to visit some old friends."
It had been several months since she was in Kyoto, before her enrollment at Ashford in fact. When Kaguya set foot in her family estate once more, the girl felt a genuine sense of relief at being back amongst so many familiar faces. Not that her time at the academy was terribly lonely, what with all the new friends, and even family, that she was able to make the acquaintance of. But Kyoto was still her home, and this house that of her parents before her. Somehow, simply being under this roof once more brought her a pleasant sense of reassuring nostalgia.
Despite the brevity of the time she had to herself, Kaguya was well-rested and recharged when the rest of the Six Houses came to pay their respects on the third day of the new year. Or at least that was the official reason for their gathering this day. And it was even one the other house heads were entirely earnest about, seeing as all of the dotted on Kaguya as if she were their own granddaughter. At the very least, she was certainly a great niece, what with the way all the families were related to one another.
"Kirihara-dono," Kaguya greeted with a wide smile. "It is good to see you looking well."
"And you as well, Kaguya-sama," Taizo said, responding in kind. "Even in the brief time we were apart, I can see that you have grown immeasurably. It does my old heart good to see the hints of the fine young woman you are becoming."
"You flatter me ever so much," Kaguya said.
Similar exchanges were had with the others, and soon everyone was comfortably seated with cups of tea poured before them. Once that was done, the servants withdrew, leaving the Six Houses of Kyoto in relative privacy. In an instant, the demeanor of the room's occupants changed from that of a jovial family reunion to one where the future of Japan might be charted.
"We received your missive, Kaguya-sama," Taizo began on behalf of his fellows, "and I must admit some confusion. While the restoration of the Ise Grand Shrine is indeed a concrete gesture regarding the preservation of our people's cultural heritage, your words spoke of it as if it were much more."
While Taizo Kirihara had had the ear of the Japanese government before the Britannian invasion, he was ultimately not included amongst the innermost circle that was aware of the thought elevator's secrets, or of the duties that several of his own family upheld as members of Ise. It had also been made very clear that he was to remain oblivious to those duties, so Kaguya could not answer his questions in their entirety.
"You may not have been aware of this, Kirihara-dono," Kaguya began her own, veiled explanation, "but as ecclesiastical orders, Eden Vital and Ise actually had a longstanding relationship. Indeed, Grandmother was even personal friends with the Eden Vital grandmaster. Her murder, along with that of so many members of Ise's clergy, before the Britannian invasion of Japan, greatly angered the grandmaster."
The elderly men shifted uncomfortably. That many prominent members of high society had mysteriously perished in the immediate run-up to the Britannian invasion had always been assumed by the survivors to be some prefatory strike by the Empire. Britannia however adamantly denied being involved, and after having met the Cardinal Lamperouge personally, Taizo himself was increasingly inclined to believe the Empire to be innocent. That however left the unsettling question of just who exactly was behind the murders, both directly and indirectly. While it was certainly tempting to believe a Chinese hand lay behind the curtain, even then, they still needed agents within Japan to perform the deed itself. In all likelihood, at least some of those agents were their fellow Japanese. To those men that took such pride in their heritage, even now, such a possibility was painful indeed.
"It was always Eden Vital's hope that enough of Ise's priesthood might have survived to reconstitute the shrine," Kaguya continued. "What they did not realize until fairly recently was that I was inducted in Ise's practices as an apprentice by my mother."
From the blinking and widened eyes, the other house heads had not been aware either.
"While I am certainly not sufficiently trained to formally assume the position of high priestess, I can at least make a start," Kaguya said. "And in so doing, establish a strong, ecclesiastical bond with Eden Vital, one that may be just as enduring as a familial one."
No one here had any trouble picking up the subtext to that last bit. Taizo again spoke up on everyone's behalf as he cleared his throat.
"Are we to take it then that there is genuinely no prospect for the latter?" he asked.
Kaguya gave a thin smile. "There is a, very specific, conflict of interest, that would make it better for all involved if it were not pursued. Still, His Eminence has promised to lend his personal assistance should I ever have need of it. His word, I believe, can be taken."
Decidedly mixed emotions could be seen on the others' faces. Some looked disappointed, while others seemed relieved. Taizo's own expression was more measured, and after a moment the old man gave a nod of ascent.
"Your path is your own, Kaguya-sama. I will respect it."
"Thank you," Kaguya responded, smiling brightly.
Letting out a deep sigh, Taizo nodded. "So, what next in Japan's relationship with Britannia?"
"I have a suggestion, of my elders would be so kind as to hear me out," Kaguya said.
"But of course," Taizo invited. "Please, pray tell what you have in mind."
The others all looked at Kaguya with rapt attention.
"Japan is currently within Britannia's domain, but the Empire is not the only that covets our home's wealth," Kaguya said. "Indeed, it has become increasingly evident that had the Empire not invaded, that would have simply left the way open for another to do so."
Which other, everyone in this room knew full well.
"It would be folly to presume that those ambitions have gone away merely because Britannia was able to strike first," Kaguya continued. "For that matter, there are signs that those others may be marshaling their forces for an attempt of their own."
Gasps and sharp breaths sounded all around.
"You are suggesting the Chinese Federation might wage war to wrest Japan away from Britannia," Taizo stated frankly.
"And not to restore Japan to the Japanese," Kaguya emphasized. "Oh, they will certainly veil their effort in such a vein, with grand proclamations of liberation. But make no mistake, honored elders. Whatever government is left in place afterward would be so deeply indebted to the Chinese Federation that it would be little more than their puppet."
That the others had no trouble believing. Indeed, the long history between China and Japan held plenty of examples wherein the two tussled for influence and power. If China saw an opportunity to finally subordinate Japan as a tributary, the Middle Kingdom would not hesitate to take it.
"You have a suggestion to averting that end, Kaguya-sama?" one of the other house heads asked.
Kaguya nodded. "The Britannians will undoubtedly fight ferociously to prevent China from claiming its prize, and in all likelihood the Empire would prevail. The cost to our people however would likely be high, for no other reason than the fighting taking place upon our soil. Furthermore, to allow the Britannians solely to be the ones shedding blood in defense of Japan would be, in my view at least, somewhat churlish. After all, is not Japan our home?"
Nods of agreement all around there.
"If we Japanese were to stake our own claim to the defense of our home though," Kaguya said. "If we were to emphatically demonstrate to Britannia how fierce friends we could be, and how dangerous an enemy, how much greater a role could we carve for our people? We have spoken of the need for Japanese to be seated as provincial lords of Japan." A thin smile crossed the girl's expression. "Does that not open the way for potentially a person of Japanese descent to rise to the premiership of the Britannian government?"
This time it was less gasps and more the general absence of air flowing amongst the men seated around her. But Kaguya was not done yet.
"And in time, perhaps the one seated upon the Britannian throne will share our blood."
Abstractly, the leaders of Kyoto House had always been aware that winning equal standing with the Britannians in their Empire opened up all sorts of avenues to rise within Britannia's political hierarchy. Obtaining power within the House of Lords was a given, especially if they were able to win the provincial peerages they sought. And due to how marriage intermingled with politics, there might even be an emperor or empress that had Japanese blood flowing in their veins. Mixed marriages between Britannians and Japanese had after all been, if not exactly commonplace, still quite numerous before the Empire's invasion. Even so, considering their age, none of the other house heads were expecting to live to see such an occurrence. But Kaguya was different, as her youth not only offered her the possibility of seeing such an elevation within her lifetime, but gave her reason to believe that the actions she took to help precipitate it might also bear fruit before her own eyes. That by itself was enough to give her further drive in advancing such outcomes, as she now showed.
"How exactly would we stake this claim you speak of?" another house head asked.
"If China were to invade, as the Empire suspects it intends to, they would almost certainly have to make a landing upon Japan's western regions," Kaguya said. "Either the western regions of Honshu, or even Kyushu. The Britannians have some forces stationed there, but on account of concentrating on insurgency pacification over the past few years, the bulk of their forces are stationed in eastern Japan. The time it would take for them to respond to a landing might be the difference between decisively defeating it in its infancy and being forced to fight a more entrenched enemy."
"One must wonder then why the Cardinal Lamperouge has not remedied so obvious a weakness in the Britannian line then," Taizo remarked.
"If the Britannians were to reinforce their western garrisons, that would arguably make it harder for the JLF to reposition themselves in the region, no?" Kaguya stated simply.
Looks were exchanged amongst the various house heads.
"Are you suggesting His Eminence is granting the JLF an opportunity to distinguish itself in battle, to help cement the political gains our people stand to make?" Taizo asked.
"I think His Eminence does indeed have a plan for dealing with any Chinese invasion," Kaguya said, "and that it does not presently require the repositioning of Britannian forces to the west. That may still come, but before that happens, we have a window wherein the JLF could be transferred and then hidden in a manner that the Britannians would not need to officially note. And when the time comes, they are sure to play a decisive role in protecting our home, something that the Britannians will have no choice but to note."
Taizo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A most bold venture. It will require discussion with General Katase, but I think there is merit within it, yes."
Kaguya gave a proud smile at the elderly man's tacit approval.
"Still, to think you would be the one to come up with it, Kaguya-sama," Taizo said with a slight smile of his own. "While I never doubted your cleverness, it has clearly been greatly tempered this past year. I can only imagine how you will employ it in the future."
"I will endeavor to not disappoint, Kirihara-dono," Kaguya said, her smile wider than ever.
When Kallen called home to request a meeting with her father, she had expected to be given the runaround and needing to lean on the authority of the viceroy's office to get Albrecht's cooperation. To the girl's considerable surprise however, her father promptly accepted and told her to drop by the current evening, hence why Kallen found herself pulling into the estate driveway in the red Lamborghini once more. These days she was so used to taking that car out for a spin that she barely even registered the fact that she was riding around in a very expensive supercar. Kallen's sense of financial values might be getting a bit skewed.
Despite her lengthy absence, when Kallen approached the door it was immediately opened and the butler standing behind bowed respectfully.
"Welcome home, milady."
"Thank you, Sebastian," Kallen responded. "Where might Father be?"
"His lordship is in his study and awaiting you."
With a nod, Kallen headed down the hall. Once she stood before the study door however, she paused to take a deep breath before knocking.
"Enter."
Pushing through, Kallen stepped forth before the seated viscount. At the sight of his daughter, Albrecht set aside whatever he was working on and leaned pensively back in his chair.
"Kallen."
"Father."
The brief interlude of silence was broken by the squeaking of Albrecht's chair as he adjusted his posture once more.
"You were the one that asked for this meeting. So, out with it."
Kallen grimaced slightly but pressed forth nonetheless.
"I need your help, to find Mother."
Albrecht frowned slightly. "Explain."
It was not an immediate dismissal, Kallen could take heart in that much at least.
"It's been several months since Mother disappeared, and neither Eden Vital nor the viceroyalty has had any luck finding her. We're running out of conventional ways of looking for her, but Eden Vital has a, technique, that might let us track her. It relies on having as much physiological data on her as possible, which is a bit difficult to put together without having her around in the first place. One option they have is to try and do a reconstruction, using me, but they'd need samples from you to, well, filter out the bits that came from you."
The frown remained on Albrecht's face, though if anything the viscount seemed more confused than anything else.
"And you believe this, technique, isn't just some balderdash?"
"Yes," Kallen answered emphatically.
At the sight of his daughter's confidence, Albrecht gave a weary sigh.
"Very well, I will forward my schedule to you and you can find an appropriate time to schedule an appointment to collect whatever samples are warranted."
Kallen could not quite believe what she was wearing. "You'll help?"
If anything, Albrecht looked mildly offended at Kallen's doubt.
"And what exactly have I done to make you think I would not?"
Kallen's lips thinned, a mixture of anger, curiosity, and fear swirling within her. It seemed absurd that her father could ask such a thing after he abandoned them on the very eve of Britannia's invasion of Japan, though he clearly thought differently. A part of Kallen was genuinely curious as to why that was the case, but another also feared that if she pressed the point, her father might withdraw his current cooperation. But after all this time, could she really turn away the opportunity to understand just why her family had been rent asunder?
"You divorced Mother right before the Empire invaded," Kallen thus finally gave voice to the root of her resentment. "You left us, just as we needed you the most."
"Do you really think that was done by choice?" Albrecht said, his face twisting into one of both anger and sorrow, a most unusual sight for the man, as far as Kallen herself was concerned. "And did I not return, to try and provide for all of you?"
Kallen's fists tightened, but the girl fought back her anger.
"What possible choice would force you to leave us in the first place?"
Alright, maybe she was not entirely successful.
"The choice between my duty and my family," Albrecht stated. "I could not stand as the Stadtfeld heir while married to your mother, and without that inheritance, I would not have been able to do a thing for any of you even had I stayed."
Another spike of anger peaked. "Why would you marry Mother in the first place then!?"
"Because I was never supposed to inherit," Albrecht answered, firmly but levelly. "I am Viscount Stadtfeld not because of my own volition, but because I was called upon to perform my duty as the spare."
The anger faded into befuddlement and all Kallen managed was a single word.
"What?"
"You only ever met him the one time, and that was when you were a mere baby," Albrecht said. "Your uncle, my older brother, was arguably the only one in my family that did not disapprove of my marriage to Kohaku or shun the children I had with her. My parents could never see past her race, never mind her commoner status, and I became something of a black sheep by marrying her. But since I was not going to inherit the title anyway, I could live with it, so long as I could be with Kohaku." A bitter grimace crossed Albrecht's expression. "And then Heinrich got caught in the crossfire of the Empress Marianne's murder and perished."
Kallen's eyes widened, eliciting a snort from her father.
"You know, I can't quite decide whether it is irony or karma that keeps seeing our family cross paths with the Lamperouges," he said. "Heinrich was good friends with Marianne, and even did some consulting work for her. And then you come home one day announcing that you'd signed on with Marianne's son." Albrecht gave a rueful shake of his head. "Fate must have quite the sense of humor, for good or ill."
"I had no idea," Kallen whispered softly, then more clearly. "And then, what happened?"
"My parents were determined to keep the title within the family," Albrecht answered, "which meant making me the heir. But they were also adamant that I marry someone that was, in their words, a pureblooded Britannian."
Kallen grimace, something that did not escape her father's notice.
"Yes, your grandparents on my side were Purists," Albrecht said. "Though seeing as I am viscount now, the matter is rather moot."
As Britannian peerages only passed down the line of inheritance when the current titleholder passed away, that Albrecht held his title already could only mean that, not only had he lost his brother, but also his parents well before age would have normally claimed them, what with the availability of modern medical care.
"How did they pass away?" Kallen asked softly.
"Car accident," Albrecht answered with a slight shrug. "The other driver was drunk, and my parents were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."
There was probably nothing too untoward about it. Probably.
"It was also around the time of Heinrich's passing when relations between Britannia and Japan began to deteriorate, which resulted in a hit to my own business interests," Albrecht continued. "Previously, those interests had allowed me to remain functionally independent of my family. With how things were going, I was at serious risk of not being able to provide for all of you without help. Had Henrich still been around, he would have certainly lent a hand. But my parents, their help was conditional on me officially separating from Kohaku."
Kallen closed her eyes, trying to get a handle on the emotions boiling within her. While a good deal of anger remained, there was also a growing sense of shame at her prior dismissal of her father. No, Albrecht had not done things perfectly, but it was obvious he had been facing a great many difficulties himself. With a long sigh, she opened her eyes once more to meet Albrecht's gaze.
"Did your grandparents also force you to marry Yvette?"
"They strenuously pushed the engagement at least," Albrecht stated. "Yvette was actually supposed to be betrothed to Heinrich, and honestly speaking, the two actually got on quite well. Heinrich at least had plenty of good things to say about her in his letters."
Considering her own experiences with the woman, Kallen found it hard to believe anyone could find Yvette to be genial companion. Then again, enough bitterness could change anyone, and there had been plenty of that within their family.
"For that reason, I went along with the arrangement, after extracting a concession from my parents that I could at least financially provide for Kohaku and my children with her, even if I could not acknowledge any of you. But then the Empire invaded, and the damnable viceroyalty that was installed afterward turned out to be as venial as it was incompetent, to the point where I was not even sure if I could get money to Kohaku even if I wanted to. And then in the midst of all that, it was discovered that Yvette was barren."
While Kallen had been aware of her stepmother's condition, that awareness was purely intellectual. The circumstances surrounding it, when it was discovered, all of this had eluded her attention, until now at least.
"My parents were furious of course, they accused Yvette and her family of intentionally deceiving us. I stood by her though, since I had been there when her doctor broke the news, and held her when she burst into tears. But that was around when the accident happened, and with my parents' passing, their anger became moot as I inherited the title and I no longer needed to accommodate their demands. And that's when I reached out to Kohaku, to obtain custody of you."
Kallen's own recollection of that time period was not a happy one either, seeing as her own mother spent a fair amount of timing crying while trying to maintain a strong front for her children. The immediate aftermath of the Britannian invasion had been devastating for the common Japanese citizenry, and the ensuing chaos had resulted in periods of genuine deprivation. Somehow, Kohaku had managed to still put food on the table at least, but the general atmosphere of fear and anger had taken a toll on everyone. Kallen could even recall a few instances where she was harassed about her Britannian lineage, but her brother, and his friends like Ohgi, Tamaki, and Inoue, had closed ranks to keep Kallen and her mother safe.
"Of course, adopting you the way I did burned a lot of the goodwill I had earned from Yvette," Albrecht continued. "She started to suspect that I only supported her over my parents because I saw her sterility as an excuse that would let me take you in. And when I let Kohaku remain in the household as well, well, I never could convince Yvette that I was not cheating on her with Kohaku."
It seemed that her father had a far greater awareness of his household's dysfunctional than Kallen had given him credit for.
"Did you?" Kallen found herself asking.
Albrecht frowned. "Of course not. While I dearly love Kohaku, I still was the one that divorced her and married another woman. Whatever else has happened, I owe it to both to remain faithful to the oath that I am currently sworn to."
Whether out of pride or a stubborn sense of responsibility, it seemed her father did possess a certain measure of integrity. One that Kallen could even respect a little. The girl took another deep breath.
"I now have a better understanding of everything that our family went through," she said. "There are still things you did that I'm not happy with, but I also recognize I haven't been entirely fair with you. I apologize, for the part I played in not making things any easier for you. And, in all honesty, I don't want to be bereft of a father when I don't need to be."
At those words, Albrecht's expression softened. Rising, he stepped around the desk to stand before Kallen. Gingerly, with clear hesitation, he reached out, then placed a hand upon Kallen's head. This time, unlike when they first reunited after the war, Kallen did not draw away. A faint smile appeared on Albrecht's expression.
"I lost a son without even realizing I needed to mourn for him. I do not wish to lose a daughter too."
Kallen smiled back at her father.
"We'll find Kohaku," Albrecht continued. "Whatever help you need, Kallen, we will find your mother."
"Thank you, Father," Kallen said, this time calling Albrecht that out of earnest desire instead of obligatory duty.
A loud crash sounded as the door to the study was slammed open. Spinning about, Kallen was greeted with the sight of an irate Yvette storming in.
"Yvette?" Albrecht said with a frown. "What are you doing?"
"So you finally decided to dispense with the pretense," the woman said, a crazed look in her eye. "You're finally admitting that you only ever cared for that Eleven bitch."
Kallen's temper flared, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from responding reflexively.
"I am aware you have plenty of genuine grievances of your own," Albrecht said, calmly but with a touch of frostiness in his voice, "but I will not brook such disrespect for Kohaku. She and I may have separated, but she is still the mother of my children."
"And because I can't bear you any, you treat me with scorn and go behind my back philandering with her," Yvette cried out.
"I have never-"
"Enough! If all you ever cared about was your legacy, then I'll send both of you to hell!"
In retrospect it should have been obvious what Yvette was hiding with one hand behind her. The knife that came out was presumably taken from the kitchen, but it was certainly large enough to gut anyone that was on the business end of it. When Yvette lunged forward, Kallen was actually standing in front of Albrecht and so was in the direct line of the woman's charge. The motion was sudden enough, and the distance short enough, that even Kallen would have been hard pressed to dodge or otherwise deflect the blow, at least if she was not in possession of her geass. Albrecht had no way of knowing this however, and his own reflexive reaction was to push Kallen aside. While this did achieve his goal of getting Kallen out of the line of danger, it simply made exposed him to Yvette's charge in turn. A charge that ended with a sickening, wet sound.
"Father!"
Kallen spun about, landing a solid roundhouse into Yvette's side and throwing the woman against a bookshelf. The loud thud probably did not indicate anything was broken, but the way Yvette crumpled indicated the woman was down for the count. That was enough assurance for Kallen to rush over to Albrecht, who was clutching a rapidly darkening patch of clothes on his side.
"This is Siris," Kallen shouted into her Eden Vital cellphone. "My father was attacked at our familial estate, I need medical assistance dispatched now!"
"What is the number of hostiles on site?" a mercifully prompt response came.
"One, and she's been neutralized," Kallen said, and almost as an afterthought. "She probably also needs medical assistance."
"Acknowledged, response team is en route, ETA twelve minutes."
"Just hurry," Kallen said before hanging up. "Stay with me Father, help is on the way."
Albrecht grimaced in pain but managed to keep his breathing steady.
"Is Yvette alright?" he managed.
"She's the one that stabbed you," Kallen hissed. "Worry about yourself!"
Apparently conceding that point, Albrecht settled back down as Kallen began to administer what first-aid she could. As the girl so clearly declared before, she was not about to lose a father by her choice or deed.
End of Chapter 37
Longtime readers may recognize the name I'm using for Albrecht's brother. They might even recognize bits and pieces of the backstory here. I'm being arguably lazy, reusing narrative I originally developed for Calculus, but I think I've shown how I can recast old ideas into new spins that feel fresh or otherwise appropriate for their new placement. Case in point, much of the conversation that Kallen and Albrecht had was based on a prior iteration used in this very story, when I had the rapprochement between the two happen much, much earlier. As I previously noted however, I decided to remove that instance to allow the reconciliation to build up in what I felt was a more organic manner. Getting to this point ended up taking longer than I anticipated, what with how dense some of the prior arcs ended up being. Indeed the Refrain arc was actually supposed to take place a bit later, but I ended up shuffling the sequencing a bit to push it forward.
You know, I just said last chapter that Europe could mobilize a large force in the one-month timeframe that it took Britannia to conquer Japan, it was just a matter of them not being able to get them to Japan itself. And then I read an article wherein it's noted it would take the UK six months to mobilize its reserves. Granted the modern-day UK may not be the best example, considering how much it's underfunded its military for the past few decades, but if that represents the average capacity of the modern-day EU, I might be seriously overstating the capabilities of my version of the EU.
As for whether the EU will play a larger part, well, their representatives are showing up in the story, and we're getting peeks into their internal political dynamic. So I suppose that is an answer?
With respect to Lelouch being given opportunities to use his power, at this point all I'll say is, be careful what you wish for. So far Lelouch hasn't really run into any threats that warrant him using his power, him stopping that knightmare was more him being so pissed at the time. If Lelouch ever needs to use his power…
The majority of the ballistic sub tracking costs comes down to needing to identify the crewmembers, the cost of the real time tracking is a much smaller portion of the total bill. The difference in the cost between constant real time tracking versus a more spot-check approach was small enough, relatively speaking, that the Britannian military opted to go with the former. It's kind of like the situation where, UAVs were supposed to help decrease the cost of flying battlefield recon. Except the decreased cost for individual flights did not translate into an overall decrease in expenditure for such recon, the generals simply flew more flights using the same budget. Similar situation here.
Also, work has ramped up rather drastically, so, yeah.