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"Godō" - Regular Speech

'My Everyday life…!' - Thoughts

"God Slayer!" - Heretic God/Powered Up Campione speech

"Fire!" - Magic/Authority Use

Chapter 11: A Castle for a King

A Week Later

Hotel Room, Royal Hotel, Oban, Argyll, Scotland

Rebecca smirked at her King as she grumbled her way through the paperwork necessary to take ownership of the S.S. Pucelle, the boat that had formerly belonged to the Paladin of the Order of Crossed Swords. It had been delivered a few days ago by a representative of the Order (thankfully not that bitchy niece of his) and now Jean had to formerly take ownership of it.

Which, quite naturally, meant paperwork.

"I swear that I will drown the idiot who came up with this bureaucratic nightmare!" the Scottish Campione muttered as she finally finished the paperwork, "Honestly!"

Rebecca hid a smile at her friend's displeasure. Something new to add to her little folder on Jean's likes and dislikes was that the redhead hated paperwork.

"I shudder to think how you coped with your Standard Grades and Highers if this is your reaction to writing." She observed.

Jean snorted. "With a great deal of difficulty. Especially my History exams. Bloody eight-mark essay questions! Felt like I was going to get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by the end of it!"

"Even if you had, it would have been healed by your ascension as a Campione, my King." Rebecca pointed out, "Oh, by the way, the Brotherhood has finally ousted Michelle Blanchefleur as Paladin and agreed to your demands. Here is the missive I received from the new Paladin."

She passed a sheet of vellum to Jean, who scanned it for a moment before nodding slowly. "I find that this new Paladin is very sensible. She has sworn to all of my conditions and even added a bit more to the amount of Euros I asked for. Oh, and Michelle has been placed under house arrest pending my judgement. What should I do here?"

"Depends on how vengeful you feel." The Hearth Witch replied, "Luo Hao would have her executed or something, for comparison's sake."

"Yeah…I don't believe in the death penalty…unless it's for really serious crimes, so let's just go with something that makes a point." The redhead replied dryly.

"For most Campione, acting against them like she did against you would be a serious crime." Rebecca pointed out, "But I can see your point. How about making her work as a Knight-Initiate at the main chapterhouse of her order for a period of time, say, five years?"

This made Jean grin. "Oh, she'll hate that. Write it up in a formal contract and bring it to me for signing. Hah! This'll teach that pretentious cow to try and tell me what to do!"

"By your command, my King." Rebecca inclined her head in a small bow, "Would tomorrow be appropriate?"

"Sure." Jean replied with a lazy flap of her hand, "Mother Pandora said that I don't have to worry about any more Heretic Gods for at least two more weeks, so there's nothing urgent about it. Hopefully, the ones that are appearing are bothering my other siblings."

"Likely." Rebecca agreed, "But you are very much disempowered at the moment, Jean. [Lord of Horses] and [Earthshaker] are locked up for a month each, and you still can't use the new Authority you got from Joan of Arc. That only leaves you with [Tríaina], [Stormbreaker], [Master of the Oceans], [Jonah's Jinx], [Blade of the Sea] and [Dead man's Chest]."

"It's called [Luminosité Eternelle, la Bannière de la Pucelle d'Orléans]." Jean told her.

"'Eternal Brightness, the Banner of the Maid of Orléans.'" Rebecca translated, "A worthy name, my King. The fact remains, however, is that you cannot use it."

"I need people who have sworn themselves to me, at least twelve of them." Jean restated the condition needed to activate her newest Authority, "Either that or I have at least twelve beings that I have summoned or created with another of my Authorities. In this case, I can successfully combine [Dead Man's Chest] and [Luminosité Eternelle] to use it. Fairly simple."

Rebecca's eyes widened. According to Jean, Joan of Arc had used her Banner to empower the army of ghosts that she had summoned, bringing their skill and power up dramatically. If Jean used it on her zombies, who were materialised anyway, what would happen?

'I think this will be interesting to watch.' Rebecca thought.

Aloud, she merely said, "I hadn't thought of that."

"I've been working on it for a while." Jean shrugged, "By the way, have you noticed more magic users around here than normal?"

"So you noticed them?" Rebecca said in amusement, "They are the spies of other mage Associations and Campione. They're waiting to report your movements."

"Considering I'm planning on living here, they're going to be waiting a long time." Jean replied dryly, "How much money will I have to buy a house once the deal with the Brotherhood of the Night Sky goes through?"

"Including your savings…£ 135,101.38." the Hearth Witch replied immediately, "The house you have in mind to purchase, Rubh'a Chruidh, will cost at least £500,000."

"Damn it." Jean said with a frown. The Rubh'a Chruidh was not only a house; it was a small four-acre island off the northeast tip of the isle of Kerrera, with a stunning view of Oban Bay. It was perfect for her, other than the name, which meant 'Headland of Cattle' in Gaelic.

She intended to change the name once she bought the place. Rebecca suggested Rubha de na h churaidh (Headland of the Champion), but she had vetoed it.

"Any ideas to raise capital that don't involve breaking the law?" Jean asked.

"You could always delve the bottom of the sea for artefacts and other things." The Hearth Witch offered, "It would be easy with your [Master of the Oceans] Authority."

"That's an excellent idea." Jean nodded approvingly, "With the Pucelle, it will be even easier with the small knickknacks. Anything big would take some finagling, but it would be manageable. I heard some guy found an old WWII plane engine and got half a million for it from collectors or something."

"We can only hope to be that fortunate." Rebecca replied, before she coughed, looking uncomfortable, "Uh…Jean? We need to talk."

The redheaded Campione looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "OK, that sounds ominous. What's up?"

Rebecca took a moment to organise her thoughts. "Right. So…you know how King Kusanagi has six mistresses?"

"Vaguely, but not who." Jean replied.

"First off, he has Erica Blandelli, Great-Knight of the Copper-Black Cross mage Association." Rebecca said, "She's also known as the Diavolo Rossi, the Red Devil. She specialises in Hermetic magic and wields the magic sword Cuore de Leone.

"Next, he has Lilliana Kranjcar, the Great Knight of the Bronze-Black Cross, the rival Mage Association of the Copper-Black Cross. Also known as the Fairy Knight, she uses Witch magic and wields the sister sword to Cuore de Leone, Il Maestro.

"Third is Yuri Mariya, a Hime-Miko from Japan. She is one of the two greatest Hime-Miko in that land and is able to use [Spirit Vision]. Her combat abilities are almost non-existent though.

"On the other side of the coin is Ena Seishūin, the other Top Hime-Miko, although she is differentiated from Yuri by the title 'Hime-Miko of the Sword.' She wielded the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, the sword of Susano'o no Mikoto himself, until King Kusanagi defeated her and claimed it and her for himself. She is capable of [Divine Possession], a rare art.

"Next is Lucretia Zola, the greatest user of Earth-based Witchcraft under the sun. She aided him in defeating Verethragna and has been said to be his foreign mistress.

"Finally, we have young Hikari Mariya, Yuri Mariya's younger sister and an Apprentice Hime-Miko. She has the power of [Disaster Purification] and is his most recently claimed conquest. She's about ten or eleven."

"What?!" Jean gaped at this last piece of information.

"He hasn't DONE anything to her, just claimed her so no one else can." Rebecca hastily added, seeing how her last words could be misconstrued, "I have heard through the grapevine that the girl is infatuated with him though."

"Preteen crushes…urgh." The Campione shook her head, "I really feel sorry for my brother. Why bring him and his mistresses up?"

"Each was sent to him in order to seduce him by their respective Magic Associations; the Copper Black Cross, the Bronze-Black Cross, the History Compilation Committee...all of them tried to use King Kusanagi's teenage hormones to leverage some advantage with him…and some Magic Associations might try the same thing with you."

Jean Campbell stared at her friend for a moment before dropping her head into her hands. "And let me guess, they want to know what my sexuality is to find out whether to send males or females to bamboozle my hormones, right?"

"Yup. Pretty much." The Witenagemot Witch confirmed, "As you've taken me as your first subordinate, the pool is currently leaning towards you being a lesbian."

"Half right." Jean snorted, "I'm bisexual. Male or female doesn't matter to me, only what kind of person they are. I tend to avoid guys though, because they are so egotistical and controlling. They don't like it that a girl like me likes the ladies as much as they do."

"How well known is that fact?" Rebecca asked intently.

"Not very." Jean replied with a frown, "I concentrated on my studies for the most part and tried to keep aloof of the whole teen angst thing as much as I could. I did date a guy and two girls, but the guy moved away somewhere in my Fourth Year and the girls are at job training in Glasgow or something. I kept it fairly on the down low, so about ten people know, maybe more?"

"It'll still get around and be found out." The chestnut-haired Witch sighed, "There tend to be more females who practice magic than males, so you'll have some pretty looking girls, maybe the odd boy, floating around you soon."

"I don't really like being honey trapped." Jean replied with a scowl.

"Jean, you need to get a Mage Association up here." Rebecca said to her King, "The last one in Scotland, the Brethren of Saint Andrew, disbanded when Lord Alec ascended and split themselves between the Royal Arsenal and the Greenwich Witenagemot. If you let these people come to you, you'll be receiving the crème of the crop, the perfect nucleus for a Mage Association."

Jean could feel a headache coming. "So you want me to go out on display like a filly to attract mares and stallions. Is that right?"

"Crudely put, but the other option is to let those Mage Associations go to Alec and back him." Rebecca said plainly, "You saw what happened in Rouen when it was just the two of us. You cannot guard me when fighting Heretic Gods."

Surrendering to the idea for the moment, Jean looked at Rebecca carefully. "Very well, but I will not take someone who is not attracted to females. When you deliberately leak this to the spies around here, ensure that little titbit is very obvious."

The Witch bowed to her King solemnly. "As expected of my king, you are very quick on the uptake."

"That means you do not have to worry about me making a pass at you." Jean stated, looking Rebecca in her eyes as her friend's head snapped up to look at Jean in shock, "You think it hasn't occurred to me that you might be nervous about me asking something of you that you are not prepared to give? Please. You are straight, so you don't have to worry about me doing anything untoward to you."

"Thank you." Rebecca whispered and Jean smiled at her, glad to have that little problem cleared up.

"So then, let's go to the War and Peace Museum at some point. If there are any areas in the local sea that can be salvaged, that place will give us a place to start, if nothing else." Jean said with a nod, "Once that avenue proves either fruitless or is exhausted, we can turn to other avenues. Perhaps there is something in the Greenwich archives that might be of use?"

"Possibly. I'll put in a request." Rebecca had a distracted look as she contemplated what little she knew of Scotland's coastal regions. The now-defunct Brethren of Saint Andrew had sealed their vaults before disbanding, which had cut out a lot of the texts to do with famous Druids, wizards and magical battles that had taken place in the land since it had been Pictland. Alec had never bothered with it as the records had never piqued his interests.

"Good. I'll lay on supplies for the Pucelle and we'll start the day after tomorrow." Jean said with determination.

Rebecca nodded absently as she picked up the forgotten missive from the Brotherhood of the Night Sky and walked off in a trance to consider everything that she had taken in during the last few minutes.

'If nothing else, my life is going to be interesting from here on out.' The Hearth Witch thought with a small smile, 'I can't wait.'

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Three Days Later

Mariya Shrine

"What bad luck." Kusanagi Godō mumbled as he sat at a table, with Erica, Lilliana, Yuri, Hikari and Ena giving him a look, while Amakasu sat on the opposite side smiling apologetically.

"My apologies, Kusanagi-sama." The ninja said with a small bow, "Evidently, Ena-sama found out about my mission and informed Erica-sama and the rest of your companions of it."

"Godō…why keep a fact-finding mission about the newest Campione a secret?" Erica purred dangerously, "Unless…you're aiming for her?"

"No!" Godō denied instantly, "It's because she seems to be gearing up to fight ME!"

This wiped the playful air from the Red Devil instantly. "How so?"

"Let's hear Amakasu-san's report." The Japanese Campione said, "That'll explain everything…I hope."

"Very well." Erica said, "Amakasu, start."

The bespectacled man opened his briefcase and pulled a photo from it. Placing it on the table and spinning it around so that those on the other side of the table could view it. "This is Her Majesty Jean Campbell-sama, the Eighth Devil King."

The photo showed a redheaded girl walking down a street in a European city, talking to a chestnut-haired woman walking next to her. The redhead was very beautiful. Her long red hair was silky and well looked after, she was tall and well proportioned, with a bust size more than Yuri and Lilianna but less than that of Erica and Ena. Her blue eyes were sparkling with humour as she laughed with her companion.

"Quite the looker." Erica commented.

"Who is the woman next to her?" Lilianna asked.

"That would be Rebecca Piper-san, a Witch of the Greenwich Witenagemot." Amakasu replied, "She was the witch who aided King Campbell in the Rite of Epimetheus against the god that she slew. She is, it must be noted, only a Hearth Witch."

"A Hearth Witch fought a Heretic God?!" Erica looked thunderstruck.

"Err…what is a Hearth Witch?" Godō asked.

"Do you know of the tale of Hansel and Gretel, Kusanagi Godō?" Liliana asked.

At his nod, she continued, "The abilities of the witch from that tale are very basically what Hearth Witches can accomplish. They are regarded as the weaker type of Witches, as opposed to myself and Lucretia Zola. They work their magic into tangible items such as clothes, food, garden plants and the like. Additionally, they are almost powerless outside of their home, often referred to as their Hearth, thus the name. It is a foolish mage who challenges them on their home ground, as on it they are the equal of any Great Knight. Victory wouldn't be impossible, but it would not be easy. Off it, however, they are far weaker than any run of the mill magic user, unable to fly or access most of their power."

"So you can see why Erica-sama is so shocked, Kusanagi-sama." Amakasu said with a nod at the Italian blond, "The fact that she survived the encounter speaks well of her abilities away from most of her power."

"What god did Jean-san defeat?" Yuri asked.

"That…we do not know." The ninja replied apologetically, "It is the main reason that Kusanagi-sama and myself believe that the new Campione plans to assail him. She has gone to great pains to avoid having the identity of the god she slew. The only two people that we think know it are out of our reach…Rebecca Piper and Princess Alice herself."

"Sounds like Kusanagi-sama is right." Ena said with a frown.

"The events are sketchy, as the Witenagemot isn't a high-priority surveillance target, but Princess Alice specifically dispatched Piper-san to the isle of Iona in Scotland." Amakasu said as he took out some papers and leafed through them, "Her arrival on the island coincided with Jean Campbell's own."

"What do we know about her?" Erica asked.

"Jean Campbell. Age eighteen, just recently graduated from Oban High School in the top ten of her year. Orphaned over a decade ago when her parents were in a road accident that was deemed to have been an accident, with no one at fault." Amakasu replied, "She was then taken in by her great aunt, Isabella 'Ella' Campbell, who passed away over a month ago shortly after Jean graduated from High School. She has no other living relatives. Bisexual, with one dalliance with a boy and two with other girls, although these took place at earliest a year ago. She recently put a house up for sale on Iona, the same one she was raised in with her parents before the accident.

"Additionally, someone tried to have her inheritance from her aunt and parents confiscated using a couple of legal loopholes, but she stubbornly refused to allow it to happen and called in some favours from people who were old friends of her parents in order to have the case quashed. It is unknown who the person was that attempted to seize her assets."

"Sounds like she has had a hard life." Yuri said sadly.

"The exact events that occurred on the island are unknown, but it is speculated that it was a sea god of some sort that descended. In the end, he or she fell and Jean Campbell was crowned the Eighth Devil King by Lady Pandora." The ninja said, shuffling his papers, "Rumours around the Witenagemot say that Lord Alec, the Black Prince visited her and came away shaken. More to the point, it is rumoured that she refuses to leave Britain permanently, as Alec-dono wishes, and is gearing up to contest his claim over Scotland, if nothing else."

"I can see why she'd say no to that." Godō said, "She's lived there her whole life; in the same position…I might do the same as her."

The fact that Godō, the determined pacifist, said that made several eyebrows rise around the table.

"Yes, well…after visiting Princess Alice in her London residence, the Eighth King ventured to Nice, where she slew another Heretic God at the direction of her Divine Mother, Lady Pandora." Amakasu continued, "That is something unique about her; she seems to be able to recall with perfect clarity everything that occurs in the Netherworld. Because of this, she refers to herself as 'Pandora's most loyal child.'"

"This is a troubling advantage that she has." Ena frowned, "Kusanagi-sama, do you not remember the Netherworld yourself?"

"Just small flashes." The Campione admitted, "I remember the time you dragged Erica and I there perfectly, but not very much about Pandora. Just…flashes of a small girl with elf-like ears and purple hair. I guess that's her."

"That matches descriptions given by the other Campione." Amakasu said with a nod, "Fortunately, we do know the second Heretic God defeated by Jean Campbell; the Seaman's Devil, Davy Jones."

"That…is not good." Erica frowned.

"How so?" Yuri asked.

"Depending on the Authority she received, she could be…troublesome." Erica replied, "Davy Jones' legend has echoed that of the Flying Dutchman, so she could have received the power to summon it. He is also associated with sea creatures, such as the Kraken, so she could also summon that. Finally, he was also associated with controlling the drowned dead. The last one would be similar to fighting Voban's [Undead Servant] Authority."

Yuri and Lilianna both shuddered at that, having no good experiences with the oldest of the current generation of Campione.

"The day after she faced Davy Jones, she was confronted by the King of Swords as she attempted to leave." Amakasu continued, "There was a brief clash, but evidently her ability to persuade is great, as Salvatore Doni left of his own accord. He has refused to speak of any Authorities she may have used against him, merely saying that he's looking forward to their next clash."

"She…she actually managed to stop Lord Salvatore from rampaging out of control?" Lilianna asked weakly. That was a task she had failed at horribly during the Herarion incident, although she wasn't complaining as it had allowed her to dedicate herself to her current King by the end of it.

"Evidently. It was as big a shock to every mage who saw the report as it is to you, Lilianna-san." Amakasu said wryly, "She met with the Paladin and Great Knight of the Order of Crossed Swords, the local Mage Association, and confiscated the retirement boat belonging to the Paladin for…ah, yes… 'A disrespectful attitude to a Campione.'

"Sadly, we now come to…a rather alarming incident. The Eighth King entered the city of Rouen and encountered her third Heretic God the day after the incident with the King of Swords. This Heretic God…or rather, Heretic Goddess was Joan of Arc."

"The Maid of Orléans?!" Erica sat up straight at that.

"Indeed, the same." The ninja nodded, "Jean lured Joan out of Rouen and did battle with her, emerging victorious. While she was engaged with the Heretic Goddess, the local Mage Association captured Rebecca Piper with the intent to use her as leverage against King Campbell."

"Those fools!" Lilianna cursed.

"Were they trying to get themselves killed?" Ena wondered.

"Oh my…" Yuri said faintly.

"Please tell me that you're joking." Erica sounded exasperated.

"I wish I could." Amakasu replied, "But it happened and the Eighth King unleashed her wrath upon the entirety of the Brotherhood of the Night Sky. She used some sort of area effect Authority to curse them all with bad luck. It sought them out no matter where they were in France. King Campbell then stormed the Rouen Chapterhouse and retrieved Piper-san, before leaving a list of demands that the Brotherhood would have to fulfil in order for the curse to be lifted. She returned to Scotland the next day."

The four 'mistresses' exchanged looks at that.

"She was very restrained." Erica stated, "Very…very restrained considering the insult that she had been given by those French fools."

"I believe she is a benevolent tyrant, much the same as Kusanagi-sama is." Amakasu noted, everyone ignoring Godō's pro-forma protest about not being a tyrant.

"Well…is that everything?" Lilianna asked shakily.

"No. The Brotherhood has overthrown their current Paladin and has elected another in her place. The new Paladin, Frédérique Bossis, has given in to King Campbell's demands, including an oath on non-interference and a substantial payout of euros. The Eighth King has also demanded that the former Paladin be reduced to a Knight-Initiate for the next five years and be rotated through the main chapterhouses of the Brotherhood during that time."

Erica and Lilianna winced. That was a humiliating punishment for a high-ranking Knight. The new Campione had a keen sense of what would be degrading for a person with a lot of pride.

"As for the King herself, she has returned to her hometown of Oban, Scotland with Rebecca Piper." Amakasu finished, "She has been taking trips out in the boat she acquired from the Paladin of the Order of Crossed Swords and bringing objects up from the sea. What her purpose is has baffled us and the other Mage Associations. Some of them are thinking of sending people to ask her what her plans are…and possibly act as Kusanagi-sama's own ladies do."

Godō scowled. "Yeah, I really don't like that. Hearing about the possibility made me doubt Erica for a while. I know better now, but if someone tells Campbell-san about this, she might think that that's why Piper-san is with her."

This earned him a glomp from Erica and a chorus of consternation from the other four.

Hikari, who had been silent until now, asked, "Is the new Campione-sama going to attack Onii-chan?"

"We hope not, Hikari." Yuri told her sister, "But all signs point to it being a possibility."

"But she seems nice…like Onii-chan." Hikari pointed out, "She could have done bad things to everyone who crossed her, like the others would have, but she was just. It doesn't feel right for her to be attacking Onii-chan."

Yuri paused at that before stiffening. A green aura surrounded her and her voice became distant as she spoke.

"The ruler of the sea, creator of horses, creator of the shaking earth and sovereign of the stormy seas." She whispered, "Joined on the isle of storms, the flame-haired one rends her chains asunder and stands alone. Alone she stands and alone she shall fall."

Yuri's eyes fluttered and she almost collapsed, but Ena caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Onee-chan!" Hikari yelped and rushed over to her sister's side.

Erica and Lilianna shared a look. "It's one of those two, isn't it, Lily?" the blond said.

"It is." The silver-haired Great Knight replied.

"Care to tell the rest of the class?" Godō asked dryly.

"Mariya Yuri's unintended use of [Spirit Vision] just told us two probable identities of Jean Campbell's first defeated Heretic God." Lilianna replied, "Either the Roman God of the Seas Neptune…"

"…or the Grecian God of the Sea, Poseidon." Erica finished, "Well, it could also be Cymopoleia, one of Poseidon's daughters and the goddess of violent storms, but she would only cover the sea and storms portion."

"Both of the male gods have all four domains mentioned in Mariya Yuri's vision, so it would make sense for it to be one of them." Lilianna added, "The question is, which? And, slightly more urgently, what Authorities did she receive from defeating them?"

"Poseidon and Neptune are basically the same god with different names, but there are subtle differences between them." The Red Devil continued, "For example, Neptune was specifically the god of hurricanes, while Poseidon was the god of storms in general. Another would be that Neptune was the god of both freshwater and the sea, while Poseidon was the god of rivers and the sea, although the difference is mere semantics."

"The Romans, from what I recall, were not as fond of their sea god as the Greeks were." Lilianna mused, "Before he rose to prominence, another god, Portunes or Fortuna usually, were thanked for navel victories rather than Neptune. We can only hope that Neptune is the one she defeated, as Poseidon is far wilder than Neptune."

"At least we have an idea of what her Authority might be now." Ena said as she eased Yuri back to a sitting position, "And with two sea god Authorities, Kusanagi-sama can use [The Warrior] to seal them up, leaving her with only the one she received from Joan of Arc."

"This is if we are forced to fight her." Erica said, "But if Godō empowers us with divine protection from [The Youth], we would also be able to fight alongside him. She would have a hard time dealing with a Campione, three experienced magic users with divine protection and a [Spirit Sensing] divine empowered Hime-Miko. The only fly in the ointment is that Witenagemot witch, Rebecca Piper."

"Agreed." Lilianna said, "I know of her from a couple of times my Grandfather took me to the Witenagemot to consult with Princess Alice. Rebecca Piper is the Assistant Librarian of the Witenagemot Library and Archive. She was slated to take over the Head Librarian position before this incident, or so I have heard. She has studied every Campione and their Authorities, likely including yours Kusanagi Godō. King Jean Campbell now likely knows everything the Witenagemot knows about Verethragna's Authorities, plus your possession of the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi."

"Why is it that everyone knows about my Authorities, yet this new Campione has managed to hide hers somewhat?" Godō groused.

"To be fair Godō, most of the Campione have been around for well over a decade and have displayed their Authorities flashily on many occasions." Erica told her master, "You caught the attention of everyone when you defeated Verethragna, Melqart and Doni in succession, especially since you had me by your side through most of those events. Then you fought Athena, Voban, Perseus, the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, and just recently Luo Hao and Sun Wukong. It's of no surprise that you and your Authorities are well known to the Magical Community.

"Jean Campbell was lucky enough to have defeated her first Heretic God on an isolated island with only one magic user that she seems to have claimed as a follower. She has also deliberately fought her battles away from crowded locations, away from prying eyes so as to keep her Authorities a secret. That isn't something she can keep up for very long; the manner of Heretic Gods means that she'll eventually have to fight in front of a great number of people, which will expose her Authorities to all and sundry."

"Well, that's something at least." The Japanese Campione said with a sigh, "Can I count on you and Erica to look into what possible Authorities Jean Campbell might have, Lilianna?"

"Of course!" the Fairy Knight declared proudly.

"Mariya, if it isn't too much trouble, can you have a look in your spare time with your [Spirit Vision] and try to narrow down what Authorities jean has?" he continued.

"Hai, I shall do my best." The Hime-Miko replied.

"Seishūin, Amakasu-san, I need you two to get the History Compilation Committee to keep a lookout for Jean Campbell entering Japan."

"Will do, Ō-sama." Ena replied with a thumbs-up.

"I shall bend my efforts to doing what I can." The ninja replied modestly.

"What about me, Onii-chan?" Hikari asked eagerly.

"Err…can you make sure that your Onee-chan doesn't overdo it?" Godō answered uncertainly, "[Spirit Vision] is very hard on her body, after all."

"I can do that!" the girl beamed at Godō enthusiastically, not seeing Yuri mouth 'thank you' to Godō over her shoulder.

"Good. Now, I had better head home, otherwise Shizuka will be angry." The Campione looked sour at the thought. Kusanagi Shizuka was entirely unaware of her brother's position as a Campione and that was how he intended things to remain. I was still galling that she followed her grandmother's lead and shouted at him whenever he came within a foot of a girl. She had gotten worse since Erica, Lilianna, Yuri and Ena had started hanging around (and off) him.

'What evils did I commit in a past life to warrant this kind of trouble in this life?!" he wondered for the umpteenth time as he headed back home…with Erica hanging on his arm.

Shizuka wasn't impressed.

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Six Days Later

Rubh'a Chruidh, Isle of Kerrera

"It was a stroke of luck to find that half of a U-Boat there, eh Jean?" Rebecca grinned at her friend as the two women stared up at the house Jean had just bought.

"Yeah. Lucky we found it." Jean said absently, "This…is the first time I've owned a home, you know."

"What about your old house on Iona?" the Hearth Witch asked.

"That was something I inherited from my parents, not something I owned myself." Jean denied, "This place though…yes. This place is mine. Have you come up with a new name yet?"

"How about Rìgh Rubh'a (King's Headland)?" Rebecca suggested.

The redhead looked at her friend with a sigh. "You really are determined to have 'king' or 'champion' somewhere in the name of this place, aren't you?"

"Your main residence, if not shrouded in mystery, must have a name suitable for one of your standing." The Hearth Witch replied, "Not to change the subject, but…I received a missive from my family. Here."

She passed the letter to Jean who took it with a mystified expression. Unfolding it, the Campione read it with steadily raising eyebrows.

"'To Rebecca.'" She read aloud, "'It is high time you came home to Do Your Family Duty. A man has been selected to be your husband and you are to present yourself at the family home for the formal engagement on the Thirtieth of this month. No prevaricating or refusal will be allowed. This is for your own good young lady, so be biddable for once. It is time you attended your Hearth full-time and stopped this nonsense with the Witenagemot. Signed, Your Great Aunt Eleanor.'"

Looking at the miserable expression Rebecca had on her face, Jean asked, "Is this old battle-axe actually serious? An arranged marriage, in this day and age?"

"It's only common in the conservative mage families these days…which the House of Piper is." Rebecca replied, "Especially my Great Aunt Eleanor. She rules her descendants with a fist of iron. Every word of that letter is her honest opinion and she will come to drag me back to London if I do not go."

"So what are you asking me to do here?" Jean asked her slowly.

"I, Rebecca Piper, do hereby ask a boon of the Eighth Devil King, Jean Campbell." The Hearth Witch said formally, "Prevent my family from controlling my life and I offer you my undying loyalty in exchange. What say you?"

Jean smiled. It was not a pleasant one. "I accept your deal and hereby grant your boon. Fetch me some paper…I have a letter to compose."

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Next Chapter: Black Prince and Raging Tides

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Authority Expose!

[Beast of the Deep]

Allows the user to summon the Divine Beast Kraken as a subordinate.

Incantation: Ancient Beast, Sinker of Ship o'er time immemorial, arise to do battle in my name!

Conditions for Use:

- Can only be invoked at sea.

- Requires the target of this Authority be either atop the water

- Once summoned, not even the owner of this Authority can stop the Kraken from attacking its target.

- Can only be summoned against someone who the user feels hatred for.

Effects:

- The Kraken is Fifty feet long and is immensely strong, able to pull a modern frigate beneath the waves. Can take on a multitude of forms, but is commonly either a giant whale or an enormous octopus.

- Once the initial target is dealt with by the Kraken, the user may designate one additional target for it to attack before it retreats.

- The Kraken will dispel if it suffers critical damage and be unavailable for summoning until those wounds are healed.