Whew! Almost didn't get this done for you guys this Saturday/Sunday, because my computer decided to short its own power button. Had to get a new one installed, which should be a simple job... then the parts delivery guy didn't arrive, forcing me and my awesome tech dude to go to the office and pick it up ourselves (should've demanded some compensation, but hey...). So here it is! Despite the rush, I was able to get some of it done on another computer because, fortunately, my muse was still going strong across those few days. Don't forget to tell me what you think!

A bit heavy on the exposition and dialogue here, foreshadowing and explaining plenty of what I surmise you guys, as fellow manga/anime lovers, already know from watching Date A Live and Oda Nobuna no Yabou. Hopefully it's not too much and you can still follow it... The Glossary Update content at the end of the chapter should be familiar as well.

Only one mailbag this time, courtesy of frequent reader HoJ Roxas:
HoJ Roxas: Indeed. I was inspired by the first on-screen 'ship death' in the Battleship movie a few years back. Just like this one, when faced with overwhelming technological disadvantage, the first guy always dies first.

Louíse had travelled much of the world, yet she truly felt she'd just learnt some very basic things in this final destination of hers. That phrase wasn't about her impending death – though she'd welcome it all the same – but her intention of staying here until the very end... in this land where the sun rose, grooming her students much like how her teacher did.

She was 16 when she went on her first missionary duty, circumnavigating the entire African western coastline before making a short break in Goa, then a colony of her home nation, Portugal. From there, she hopped on the spice merchant ships – much like her then-comrades, Cabral, and her current good penpal, the young boy Organtino – through Malacca and landing in Nihon. She considered it divine providence she was invited to tutor an unruly noble girl, even though she thought she wasn't that well-known at the time. She was no different than the other missionaries, man or woman, she encountered throughout her journey... or so she believed.

She also believed in people too much, and only now, after a few years of retrospeciton, she realized how much God had protected her from any harm and nurtured her so she could become a person worthy of her current position. Louíse was a comely woman, the signs visible even in her teenage years, but her younger self simply brushed off the leers and inappropriate gestures aimed at her with an innocent smile and patient heart, simply praying for their salvation.

Oh, how naive she was.

She didn't mind what would happen to her, confident from the Magecraft and Scripture training her teacher put her through just to earn a place in one of the Saintess's seminars... but she, in her belief, had turned her eyes from her fellow women and children and those unable to fight back against the injustice enacted against them, focusing solely to convert as many non-believers as she could, thinking that would bring salvation to them in and onto itself.

Until these years in Nihon, she never realized that was only limiting the blessings she could give onto others, by thinking those other sectors weren't her responsibility. After all, God never claimed to put His blessings onto a single hero, but spread it as much as possible after His Son returned to Heaven.

That teaching, unfortunately, didn't take into account the increasing evils in the world, and was twisted by His subsequent followers to include discrimination against others. What He commanded was pure, but what came out of His apostles' mouths were no longer so. Some were incidental, a result of upbringing and infusion of native culture, while others rationalized their embrace of tiny little evils as necessary. Exceptional ones like Cabral no longer cared to keep up appearances, directly using the Scriptures and miracles taught onto him for his own greed and worldly ambitions.

At that time, if not for her Nihon friends informing her, she would've remained blind to this side of the world which frightened her as a child and drove her into missionary work in the first place.

The Kingdom of Heaven she envisioned she could descend onto this world… would take much more effort than all she'd done. As well as the assistance of several like-minded, much more politically powerful people. However, the difference was she'd never accept those 'tiny little evils' associated with networking with people like these, but try to be a beacon of example and passively force others to follow her way.

…no, not 'try'. She had to succeed.

On that 16th birthday of hers, she squeezed her malnourished and calloused self among the packed spectators of Jeanne's sermon. It was a shocking spectacle because it wasn't scheduled – typically, her arrival would be announced up to one year in advance because of how busy the Saintess was – so every living soul in her village rushed into the plaza to see God's miracle taken human form. Yes, that included the animals, too.

It was the complete opposite of the warning 'never meet one's heroes' – Jeanne's very presence merely emphasized and solidified Louíse's belief in God. The Saintess wasn't preaching anything complicated, simply taking some random questions from various walk of lives and going from there. Come to think of it, it was a remarkably organized affair for something completely impromptu, but perhaps the respect the Saintess commanded completely suppressed any desire to cause a ruckus, and the whole thing went as calmly as a staged interview.

The next thing which caught Louíse's attention was Jeanne's lack of entourage. It's not unheard of, since the Saintess was personally powerful enough to defeat armies on her own, and protected by the strongest divine blessing anyone had ever seen or recorded, so she had little need of bodyguards. But she had a lot of personal disciples throughout the ages – none calling themselves 'apostles' for fear of the political backlash, though Louíse suspected their own teacher could care less – thus the then-teenage girl assumed there was a vacancy available.

When she braved herself to prostrate in front of everybody at the end of the event, immense pride – a sin! – filled her entire being when she heard the Saintess said, "Of course!" to her apprenticeship request. The collective groan from her neighbours distinctly sounded like, "Why didn't we think of that before?"

In fact, thousands and thousands actually did, and Louíse was summarily thrown into a pit of a training camp to prove she was worthy of Jeanne's attention beyond their first meeting. By the seventh day – ironically enough – that aforementioned pride had been thoroughly shattered and ground to dust, giving her the realization everything of her then-self was as fragile as glass, matching the analogy used before.

However, all which she discovered of herself during that time, along with her just rewards – graduating with honours, subsequent private teaching by Jeanne, receiving the highest rank of Guardian Spirit available to their Thaumaturgical Foundation, selected and sponsored by the state on a relatively comfortable missionary journey, junior members heeding her beck and call – was still not enough to create the perfect human being she concluded she needed to be just to stand by her master's side.

She assumed simply by acting what she thought her master did would be enough. These past few years had taught her Jeanne went far above and beyond what anyone expected of her, almost sacrificing her self, life, and future for the world's sake. These things were, of course, never publicized, explained to, or heard of by anyone, yet the Saintess had never asked for recognition. To her, it was simply natural to do so: be a hero, a saviour, God's hand in the world.

Some called her inhuman, but one could not stay human to place oneself abov eothers. Besides, these naysayers were of sects Jeanne's students had destroyed to their roots without their master's knowledge, to ensure no insurgency during her term.

...ah, yes, 'term'. The word which terrified Louíse and the others the most.

The Saintess had lived for centuries, yet she readily admitted this was nothing but [Time] loaned to her by God, in exchange for the insurmountable task of saving the world. This, in turn, would fal upon the shoulders of the disciples... when she's gone.

What a terrifying thought.

To them, she was God. To realize and be forcibly awakened to her mortality were equal to being delivered the news and date of the incoming apocalypse. Oh, of course the older students maintained a steady countenance, because doubting themselves would also mean putting into question the teachings and experience their beloved teacher had given them – there was no greater sin to them. But what of the 'regular' ones? Could they rely on their seniors as the cornerstones they look up to and hold onto amidst the storm constantly barraging the world?

To Louíse, the answer was 'no'. Definitely.

Jeanne had always insisted a sense of independence among them, not in a way which gave the freedom to fall onto the wrong path and choose poorly. It's actually a non-bloodline Sorcery Trait which urged them to constantly test and check their virtues in everything they did, viewed short-, medium-, and long-term. A singular focus among these would most often lead to ruin: impulsiveness, indecisiveness, and apathy. Only when mimickng the Deadly Sin of [Greed], aiming to be successful in all areas, could one produly call themselves her successor. But because of the open-ended nature of the Sorcery Trait, much like what the Minamoto Clan practiced now, it gave tremendous amount of freedom before their spirituality was reigned in check.

For example, the current 'head disciple', Mona, had a personality and speech mannerism which couldn't be more opposite of Jeanne, yet she was unceremoniously also the one who had successfully mastered her teachings to the highest level. Louíse had only met the brown- and wavy-haired cheerful girl once, but Mona's Conceptual Weight was not much less than Jeanne, who had been piling it on for several centuries already.

Louíse wouldn't dare place herself among their stature, because by simple measurement alone, she was at least two classes below them (except for her bust, but that's in jest). Hence, she had to work had, instead of selectively choosing which pawn to lovingly move – the latter a luxury only people like the aforementioned pair could afford, however sincere they were in doing so.

She had established a strong foundation in Nihon, and was unofficially its cardinal already. This was a major achievement if it was someone else, but in her eyes, so long as there were still people needlessly suffering because of others' incompetence and malice, she could not wear that mantle and office with her head held high. No matter how influential she was with Masamune, no matter how many blessings she spread around in her journey across Nihon to convert new believers, no matter how empowering it was to let loose with Mīkāʼēl, her Guardian Spirit, and triumphing over evil...

...nothing was enough, nothing was finished yet.

As was the case lately, Mitsuhide was bored out of her mind.

Sure, on the negotiations table, it was exciting and stimulating to match wits with her competitors – merchants, public figures, religious authorities, common folks, city guards, and the rest – but away from that? She spent most of her time lounging around, having recently found a way to dump most of the boring work to her subordinates without the need to constantly worry about mistakes.

But that also entailed… having nothing to do herself, which she was finding difficult to cope. She couldn't even have sex! All her lovers were away in war, and randomly picking some prostitute, male or female, off the streets would be uncomely for a woman of her stature. Her already-sick mother might pass away instantly if she found out. It's already difficult to tell her she was the fourth wife in the harem already, then even more so when her esteemed mother settled down and became the embarrassing tease master most children dread when they were adults. Yes, Nihon's medical technology, a mix of Nanban scientific methods, traditional remedies, and magical healing was perhaps near the best in the world right now, but because of the Minamoto Clan's intense desire to control everything so as to avoid ironic backstabbing, the lines for the top healers and institutions were incredibly and lethally long. Centralization was good and all, but not to this extent!

This was one of the bills she's working on, but then Himiko had to go away and indulge in her own desire for bloodshed! 'It's not fair! Why can't I go…?!' She complained, yet there was no one to hear it. Not even the usually-stealthy hi-bye Shuten-dōji. The rest were either too respectful or too distant to keep her company and indulge her antics, unlike the appearances she had to keep in order to maintain the dignity of the houses she represented: Akechi, Oda, Sengo, and Minamoto.

…well, the last one wasn't really accurate, but with Yoshimoto working directly with her, Mitsuhide might as well be the one currently running most of Nihon. Which actually was true most of the time, anyway.

'Maybe Yoshimoto can sleep with me tonight…? Hm, where is that oddball?' Mitushide mused.

To be frank, the current shogun was a stunningly attractive woman, as was seemingly the case with every female in this era. The contrast between her dignified and royal appearance with her formal jūnihitoe and her voluptuous, sinful naked body underneath was truly stunning to behold… if her head was screwed on right most of the time. Mitsuhide actually unintentionally found herself in several intimate situations with Yoshimoto, close enough to make her blush and arouse her tremendously, but it never came to anything because the two simply weren't in love with one another.

In fact, she was doubting whether the shogun actually had any sex drive… like, at all. She had never seen Yoshimoto courting another person, always playing around maintaining her façade, before switching to an intensely cunning person when they were alone. For Mitsuhide, who was currently sexually frustrated, the only available outlet being a somewhat moronic, two-faced airhead was incredibly annoying.

Still, at least her workplace was nice…

Castles were built tall not for practical purposes, but a symbolic one – an image of its owner being above the rest. Hence the drive to build ever-higher and -wider, as if mortal eyes were the only acceptable measurement of glory and wealth. Gifu Castle was a prime example, with Mitsuhide using the topmost viewing area as her personal nap room lately. Not only it's easily defended by both Magecraft and normal means, very little annoyances actually had the stamina to climb the stairs all the way here. While the winter weather would've been unbearable up here despite the sun's current bright disposition, for a master of the [Water] Element like her, regulating and enduring extreme temperatures were child's play.

Thus, her current slovenly state, one which her usual self would've berated harshly long before anyone else had the chance to open their mouths. The one good thing of having a combination of newfound wealth, influence, and scientific breakthrough was a fluffy hanten tight enough not to act like a kite amidst the strong winds, but loose enough to properly regulate her body heat and insulate it to create a barrier of warm air. Besides, it's thick and squishy, so she didn't even have to bring out her futon!

'Four minutes and 14 seconds…' she noted in her mind, counting down on how long it would take for today's guests to reach this place.

If it's someone else, even a lowly retainer, then she either would've permitted them to use the hidden teleportation shrines scattered throughout the castle, manned by borrowed Kodama from the Imperial Family. But this one she particularly liked to tease, so she'd let the guest come up by their own power.

It's a bad habit she picked up from the changed Chiyome, much to her own humour. A comedic self-image surfaced in her mind, basically a miniaturized Mitsuhide weeping at what she had become. She liked to term it 'character development', though – screw what Nobunaga remembered her as in her lord's previous life. So what if the two Mitsuhides were different? She's her own person! Of course they wouldn't be the same!

- Step. Step. Step.
- Step. Step. Step.

Two sets of footsteps soon reached her ears. She only picked them up until they're quite close because of the howling wind – no matter how good her pseudo-Bounded Field for climate control was, it's inefficient to completely block out an area much larger than herself – but she felt no danger, both physically and intellectually. The latter usually reared its ugly, nervous head when she was tasked with negotiating against particularly powerful politicians, but not today.

One was steady, heavily creaking the ladders on the way here, indicating a particularly stocky build. They were also much closer, since the second set of footstep lagged behind considerably. Sounding irregular and off-rhythm, it's also much lighter, though the constant 'thud' and 'clang', followed by occasional loud curse words, betrayed how clumsy their owner was when fatigued and frustrated by a seemingly-endless number of stairs.

Shaking her head and trying to hold back her laughter, Mitsuhide soon straightened herself up to properly welcome her two guests. Lazing around did get boring after some time, especially for someone as usually busy as her. Recently, her life had been so full of irony: Unsatisfied, despite living the life most women in the world would kill for. Tired, but mildly detested the boringness which came with idle rest. Obsessively controlling, yet hypocritically allowing herself a lot of slack when no one's working.

A few days back, she came to a disturbing realization: She's becoming exactly the kind of bureaucrat she hated! Oh, no!

"Pardon me," a feminine voice excused herself, the typical rustling of Nihon room-entering mannerism being smoothly executed. "I shall make myself comfortable as we wait for Bontenmaru, Jūbei-san."

Louíse's motherly face was a refreshing blast of warmth amidst the chilly air. Mitsuhide had been around people with conceptual connection to heat, and for comparison, Louíse was eerily similar to a sun's soothing warmth, unlike Nobunaga's intense [Hellfire] or Muramasa's delectable scent of perfectly-combusted charcoal. It's more palpable for Mitsuhide whose alignment went the other way. "Of course. Make yourself at home, Miss Louíse."

She used Portuguese for the 'Miss', so the nun shook her head while smiling. "Using -san is fine, Jūbei-san. I'm used to it."

"Hmm… Come to think of it, your local tongue has certainly improved. Besides, my Portuguese is, surprisingly, inferior to Danzō-san, you know? That cheat of a woman…" she grumbled insincerely.

Louíse nodded. "I heard about her confrontation with members of the Brotherhood. I haven't had the chance to meet her, so allow me to first convey my apologies to you, so you can pass it on later." The nun bowed, her voluptuous chest scratching the floor with its tips, such was her size. "I was only able to offer information…"

"…and you should've confronted them alone? Neglecting your duties? Please, your time is even more precious than mine!" Mitsuhide exclaimed, noisily flapping her sleeves with how hard she's waving her hand around to get Louíse to rise. "It's more than enough, and we certainly don't hold their race against you."

Nanban excursion into Nihon was often considered one massive invasion from a single race, even though they all know every single person was different. It's too difficult and time-consuming for the early settlers to insist upon individualism, as it's safer to band together under one banner of the word 'Nanban' instead of striking out on their own. Hence, any and all conflict involving non-Asian people would quickly impact the whole Nanban population on Nihon, even the innocent ones. It's an unfortunately common event in world history, where genocides occurred because the assailant decided because one particular person of this one particular culture – not even strictly the same race, even! – wronged them, then all must suffer as a result.

Louíse was a major force in attempting to negate much of this unilateral aggression. Her reputation had always been stellar since the first day she arrived, so that helped tremendously, but it's her diligent work and tireless sermons, much of which was extremely neutral and appealing to one's basic instincts, which removed any risk of the Imperial Family backing her through Nobunaga. The Minamoto Clan couldn't voice out its support publicly, so doing it through a Nanban-loving popular Princess General was the easy choice, though many merchants and nobles already realized this open secret.

Blindly repelling Nanbans from Nihon would just hurt its economy irreparably, and while most of them disagreed with how the Minamoto Clan did things, they did share the ambition to one day conquer the world beyond the islands the gods created for them. Inviting foreign wrath would run counter to that, not when they're not ready… yet.

"G-Gueh! I-I've finally a-arrived…"

A half-dead groan interrupted their interaction, before a small blonde body crawled into the room after stumbling onto the floor in exhaustion.

"Why is there so many stairs…"

Louíse chastised, "Bontenmaru, however welcoming Jūbei-san is, don't be rude and sit properly."

"…can't do it."

"Yes, you can. And you will."

A simple Single-Action spell wrenched Masamune's lifeless body into the air, before plopping her down beside the nun in what the latter perceived as the 'correct way' to sit. At the very least, she allowed the young girl to cross her legs instead of forcing them into a seiza – a remnant of the nun's past too-soft nature. Mitsuhide was decently pleased and surprised how quickly actual responsibilities changed Louíse's extrapersonal behaviour in so few years. Oh, she was still soft-spoken, merciful, patient, and gentle to most, but she had become incredibly decisive for people who went against her, instead of passively defaulting into prayers and blessings all the time.

Masamune's brattiness and previous spoiled nature was doubtfully attributed to Louíse's presumably 'failed' education, though Mitsuhide doubted this. People thought it to be all too easy to change someone's nature, and simply because the Minamoto Clan accomplished it over a few short years – conveniently forgetting about their centuries' worth of foundational deeds – didn't meant every parental figure must be held to the same standard. 'I mean, it'd be nice to, but…'

Mitsuhide shook her head, dismissing the possibility of changing everyone's parents to an idealized version of an educator, mentor, and role model. Yes, it'd be grand if everything's a utopia, but generations later, it's a guarantee the drive and will to chase and achieve such a result would be lost upon the children, resulting in mindless clones who're slaves to their already-flawless surrounding, stunting any hope of progress. Ironically, perfection could only be born through imperfect things, much as the former was glorified, to the point no philosopher had ever managed to describe what 'perfect' looked and felt like satisfactorily.

The small girl looked absolutely exhausted, her legs still trembling even after being seated. She'd long cast aside her usual hoodie, which Mitsuhide suspected would be soaked in sweat and discarded somewhere along the way for the servants to pick up. Even her beloved eyepatch was starting to slide, such was the amount of sweat moistening her forehead. "Here, cool off," Mitsuhide offered, casting a drying and cooling spell consecutively and wordlessly. "Can't have my lord's fiancé dying right in front of me, right?"

"Aaahhh… t-that's the stu- WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Masamune first leant back, clearly enjoying the comforting breeze, before her entire body obviously heated up to as red as a cooked Ise-ebi, jumping up to a stiff self-defense posture, her Od running wild instantly.

"Oh, isn't that why you're here? To arrange a marriage?"

"ASBOLUTELY NOT! S-SHUT YOUR-"

Louíse sighed, before instantly interrupting, "Jūbei-san, you're taking your teasing to an inappropriate place, seeing my charge is not in a good state of mind."

"YOU TELL HER, LOUÍSE!"

"Yes, yes, you can be quiet now, Bontenmaru," the nun obliged much too calmly, forcing the girl's temperature down. "Because what Jūbei-san said is also partially true, do you expect me to admonish her the same way I do to you? Hmm… Don't forget we're still guests here, no matter how much Kippōshi-sama loves you."

The look of betrayal splayed across Masamune's face was so intense even Mitsuhide felt a bit sorry for her, knowing it's an expression her future adult self undoubtedly would have to deal with, as with all grown-ups. "No, no, I understand the need for time. It's not good to rush these things, you know?"

"…you two are unbelievable…!" Masamune grumbled, finally crumpling back down into her seat, defeated. "Just to let you know, what you all have said is untrue! You won't get an engineered confession out of me!"

The two older women silently exchanged knowing smiles, before Louíse changed the topic. "We are here to advise you on the changes in our Thaumaturgical Foundations, recently discovered by my teacher."

"Oh?" Now this was something interesting. "But once again, your timing is far too late. We're already engaging whatever Nanban force the Mōri has roped into our conflict, you know?"

"But do you not have an instant communication method? I assure you it won't be too late like last time," Louíse casually pointed out Owari's great technological secret. If it was someone else, Mitsuhide would immediately yell out, "Traitor!", but the nun said it so sincerely it's hard to hold any negative feeling over her words. "Besides, if need be, I shall teleport over there straight away to assist!"

- Boing!

Louíse clapped her chest in confidence, though all she elicited was jealous looks from the other two occupants in the room, since the jiggle of her breasts was practically audible.

- Ahem!

Mitsuhide coughed to regain her composure in front of the oblivious nun. Seriously, with how much Louíse understood the human nature, how could she still be so innocent over what her body induced in others? Or was she doing it on purpose? Some sort of pseudo-holy succubus? "Speak away," she hurriedly urged before she could get further distracted. Yes, this castle had an instant communication method, but only to Himiko instead of Nobunaga, since the prototype earpiece only succeeded over relatively short distances. Mitsuhide was confident they'd win with or without the intel, but something extra never hurt.

"As you know, our highest level of Thaumaturgical Foundations and Scriptures, ironically, wasn't even technically practiced among my peers. It's a different branch and interpretation of Christianity, which was so close to the truth it managed to draw power from Akasha and earned it many believers," Louíse began. "Thus, it's not surprising to see it quickly inversed to empower our opponents' darkest desires, because-"

"-flipping things around is the best cheat to a great power," Mitsuhide concluded.

While Nihon was relatively unfamiliar with Nanban customs, it's not as if the Abrahamic religions weren't completely unknown. One century was enough time for an idea to be understood well enough to draw relatively accurate judgements on it, and the world's largest still-active religion was certainly an unmissable point of interest. With the recent wave of foreigners, Nihon's information grew more up-to-date, up to and including the latest development in Kabbalah, papal reforms and rules, as well as how the aforementioned things impacted global Magecraft as a whole.

An alarming foretelling was invoked when in complete opposite to Nihon, Europe's depth of Mystery dipped after spending centuries at the top of the world, first led by the Pendragon Clan and later pushed onwards by the Abrahamic branches. An increase in believers strangely didn't correlate to an increase in Mystery, though at the time the Minamoto Clan merely concluded Europe's in its declining part of the cycle, with its lack of in-depth information.

Only recently did Himiko and Muramasa realized what their predecessors detected was due to those very same believers… or, to be more precise, their superiors who, upon seeing their numbers and the potential influence they could've had, cultivated evil in their hearts and siphoned away what should've been the most powerful [Holy]-specialized Thaumaturgical Foundation in the world. The availability of Scriptures and Sacraments to use by whom most considered 'villains' was proof enough its roots had been corrupted nearly beyond repair. Jeanne d'Arc was the first to have the power to publicly reveal and attack this descent into depravity, and using the common people's desire for the best in humanity, took charge of the 'revolution' and established her own school, which was actually simply a return to an older, purer Magecraft which directly linked practitioners with Christianity's Texture in the Reverse Side of the World.

"Are you saying the Nanbans Nobunaga-sama is facing currently employ that kind of Magecraft?" Mitsuhide asked patiently. Nothing she'd heard was of any particular concern to her, knowing how powerful Muramasa by himself was. "According to our sources, at least one of them was an orthodox magus, no?"

"That would be Lady Maria… though I know little of her because I left Europe when she was very young and yet to be indoctrinated in the darker arts, unlike Sir Dee and Kelley," Louíse explained. "The Spanish school was, to my knowledge, more distant to the central papal control, and used more ancient and esoteric techniques… which, ironically, was 'orthodox' in the rest of the world. As you know, modern Sacraments and holy spells were conceived more as [Anti-Magic] weapons than actual Magecraft itself."

"Hmph, power born from hypocrisy – can they be more original?" Masamune grumbled. "You can take one look at me and see the results of their warped thinking!"

"I agree," Mitsuhide darkly concurred. "How far are they going to deny King Solomon's teachings and Sorcery Traits? Very amusing, indeed."

"They simply don't understand, blinded by their ego, we are no more special than the believers of other religions and cultures." Sighing, Louíse added, "We have to make ourselves more special than others if one wishes to be arrogant – that's the basic of sin. How those debauched people fail to understand the thing they want the most… and themselves, of all people, was very frustrating for my teacher."

"Not you?" Mitsuhide raised an eyebrow. "…ah, here's our refreshments."

A tall ponytailed Nihon man with a touch of Nanban features bowed and carried several trays, assisted by several low-level pages. He repeated his bow when Mitsuhide wordlessly dismissed him and his team with a wave of the hand, though his eyes betrayed his curiosity.

Despite being a great chef, Ken was always stupidly sincere and straightforward with his emotions. How could Mitsuhide fail to pick this up? "Unfortunately, Ken, this really doesn't concern you, nor can you do anything even if it does. You're dismissed for today – take your fiancé to a date or something," the Akechi Princess General softly ordered. The man mildly blushed and scurried away, grumbling how his current love would probably too engrossed in her apprenticeship in the Sengo Workshop to drop everything just because he asked.

"…is that the mutt Kippōshi picked up? How unique," Masamune muttered.

That led to an instant facepalm from her mentor. "You're referring to Kippōshi-sama so intimately again, despite your protests and denials."

"W-W-W-Wha… W-What are you saying, you i-idiot…!"

"And I don't remember teaching you to talk so crassly. Calm down," Louíse coldly chastised, her 'sermon face' having completely hidden itself for now. "Like Jūbei-san has admitted, that can be delayed until you've solidified your feelings… if you want. We can have the marriage happen right after Kippōshi-sama returns."

To avoid implicating herself even further, Masamune quickly stilled with a beet-red face. A mix of her earlier sweat and the cold ones forming on her forehead due to Louíse's pressure led to her removing her eyepatch, since it's slipping anyway. "C-Continue!"

"Yes, let's," Mitsuhide declared while clapping her hand, though there's still a viciously devilish smirk to her face. "What trouble can they potentially bring to us? Oh, first, please list the possible inverses you know."

"Sir Dee's Guardian Spirit is well-known, being the British Queen's official tutor and whatnot: the Ophanim, the highest class of angels in your run-of-the-mill Bible," Louíse started. "Now, what I'll take as an example of what an 'inverse' meant was my own Guardian Spirit, Lady Mīkāʼēl, whose counterpart is Thagirion, should I choose to embrace that side. It's not necessarily the same across all class of angels, though, because while I belong to the Sefirot Order with my nine other brethren, Ophanim is ranked several classes higher than us."

"So far, so basic. I've read a lot of your Scriptures, you know," Mitsuhide remarked rather impatiently, though she was careful in controlling her tone. Many information could be lost due to the personalities of the speaker and receiver, and in this critical juncture in history, however confident she was, she couldn't be careless. "Though I'm sure things will play out differently in the field."

"Hopefully for the better, because of… your opponents' disownment from our Thaumaturgical Foundation. My teacher was especially strict once she heard what's happened here." Louíse maintained her calm face. "Regardless of how powerful one's Guardian Spirit is, everything depends on their relationship. The Ophanim… nay, the higher one goes up in class and power, the harsher the requirements, because they become much more objective."

"You mean 'inhuman'? You can say that, you know," Mitsuhide guessed. "The greater the power, the greater the detachment as they encroach upon Akasha." She couldn't help the smirk forming on her face. "Sometimes, justice does get served."

"Indeed, indeed," the buxom nun nodded heartily. "I have little doubt Sir Dee and Kelley's strengths have been greatly diminished, most likely forcing them to rely on their innate strengths than hoping for miracles."

"But these 'inversions' are a workaround that limitation."

Louíse's expression tightened up. "If they have truly fallen, and manages to corrupt the Guardian Spirits along with them, then their strengths can be essentially undiminished. This is most dangerous… if Kippōshi-sama and the rest aren't specialized evil-slayers already." A smile bloomed across her cheeks. "Hence, my belief our presence here is not too late, if necessary at all."

"…what's Ophanim's inverse form? Just in case."

Surprisingly, Louíse shrugged. "It's unknown, because anyone who misused its power across history were either killed or abandoned on the spot. There has even been no successful inversion heard of, much less recorded in our ledgers. I suspect, because of Nihon's prohibitive Texture, he may have done transposing instead, though undoubtedly there's going to be a change in alignment."

This time, it's Masamune who contributed to the conversation. "The yōkai Hundred-Eyes is the most likely candidate. We're not sure whether it's going to take the form of a hyakume, dodomeki, or something similar – maybe even a hybrid."

"As expected from a magan expert. You sure know your history," Mitsuhide complimented, though coming from her, it carried a distinct undertone of sarcasm. "Oh, by the way, have you contracted a Guardian Spirit yet?" Her question was emphasized by a pointed look at Masamune's involuntarily glowing crimson eye, its three tomoe rotating lazily.

"If you're implying I make one with Hitotsume-kozō, then I'll pass," the girl sighed. These few years had at least done good to her sensitivity regarding her… unique attributes. Seriously, how come she could get a complex in an empire filled with numerous yōkai and their hybrids? Having one inhuman trait or two was already considered 'normal', much less just – basically – heterochromia. Ditto Mitsuhide's opinion of the Date Clan's elders and nobles who kicked up a fuss when Masamune was born. "I'm thinking of doing a Divine Apotheosis with a foreign Guardian Spirit… maybe become a freelance priestess later."

"Hoo… an interesting choice. But why on earth are you giving me so much ammunition to tease you about your romantic pursuits? You're too easy, Bontenmaru-chan…"

Masamune stuttered. "W-W-What did I s-say?! L- Louíse, explain!"

"Did you factor Kippōshi-sama's favoured trait in your decision? She, the person famous for disdaining one's reliance on Divine Apotheosis whenever possible, and one whose entire skill revolves around Anti-Divine abilities?" The nun patiently explained. "Your exclamation sounded like you wished to complete what she lacked… in such a very innocent way it's intimate. Are you sure you want to delay things? Maybe we can put a price on your virginity as well…"

"S-S-S-SSSSHHHHHUUUUUTTTTTTT UUUUUUUPPPPPPP!"

What 'Cardinal' Frois explained might sound anachronistic, but that's what Jeanne had brought into the world. Calling the Saintess and her followers 'Christian' was both overly-accurate and not entirely correct. The former indicated they were now the purest of all believers, permitted to use the most potent, complicated, and powerful miracles, blessings, Scriptures, Sacraments, Guardian Spirits… along with all of the Kingdom of Heaven's paraphernalia left in the world. Other than Jeanne's own [Charisma] skill, the visual impact caused by their new abilities earned the group great faith and admiration, much unlike the system they're trying to tear down.

However, at the same time, they themselves didn't wish to be identified as 'Christians', because of everything associated with the term. Judaism, Catholicism, and the burgeoning Protestants were all… not them. Yes, the latter was perhaps the closest, as it championed freedom and common sense, but Jeanne didn't want to be constrained to such… human values. The Lord's words had been misinterpreted by mentally-limited humans to be shackles binding humanity, decrying anything supernatural to forever be forbidden to mankind.

But they had hypocritically ignored the deeds of the 'superhumans' recorded in the Bible, either as protagonists or antagonists, and how much the Lord praised them. Surely, that's what people should aspire to? To become God's champion among their local populace, instead of being taken down for the sin of 'pride'? Why must they, as a community, always try to smash down those glorious nails sticking out of the board of mediocrity, of the sin of stagnation?

Jeanne herself was a victim of this, and such endeavoured so no one should endure her pain, suffering, and death. From the start of her missionary career, when she was still a innocuous and beautiful farm girl, when that Heroic Vessel reached his hands out to her as others pushed her hand away when she confessed her visions… How he trained her to be capable in all things, to embrace God's omnipotence as a goal to emulate and worship; how he guided her behind the scenes as she faltered and hesitated numerous times under the need to take another's life before, during, and after the war; how he continuously provided her with strength when she was imprisoned and protected her from any untoward intention; how he opened the heavens and enabled Divine Spirits to materialize and legitimize her salvation from the sinful flames… all from the shadows.

This sort was top secret among Jeanne's innermost disciples… because they decided it so, even to the point of physically piling up on top of their own master when she carelessly opened her loose mouth during her sermons. She had always been rather lax about her own safety, knowing full well her multi-layered defensive skills and armaments would be enough even to withstand a divine smite, when one factored in what additional techniques the Heroic Vessel continuously engraved and passed down to her until his retraction from his successful mission. After that, she moved on with her life, saving many wronged heroes so the world might benefit.

Louíse never considered herself among this esteemed line-up, but her soul would be damned if she didn't aspire to at least practice what she and her teacher preached, driven by simple goodwill to better herself and others. She'd take any result, regardless of the reward.

Going back to the original topic, the fact someone who's obviously not of the mainstream Christian sects was granted a Guardian Spirit clearly from a Jewish hierarchy of angles and inspired by Kabbalah, a modern interpretation of the old text, was incredibly strange… for others. A good example would be Pedro Cabral whom she defeated – he was well-versed in orthodox Scriptures and Sacraments, yet his highest level of power was capped by the fact his soul was judged to be too evil to receive this level of blessing, not to mention his rigid adherence to the obviously limited and flawed 'main sects'. Jeanne's teachings returned everything as close to its original form via a derivation of spirit summoning, where she could directly ask her forebearers of the truth contained within everything they left behind. Were the records wrong or misinterpreted? Were there any hidden secrets? Had they even personally heard the voice, touch, sight, and guidance of the Lord?

In the end, when everything returned to their origins, infinite possibilities were born when one only held a single filter as standard. Louíse was good enough, thus she was able to be granted any kind of miracles from the Abrahamic religions. That's it. She didn't have to commit to a certain teaching, sect, or interpretation as was typical with normal Thaumaturgical education… as were Jeanne and her students.

The Ten Sefirots were no longer exclusive to certain practitioners. The cross symbology was no longer exclusive to certain practitioners. The statues and paintings were no longer exclusive to certain practitioners. If one practiced [Good] in their lives, then Jeanne would grant them anything. That was the sole, incredibly easy requirement… yet also the hardest.

After all, if it's all that simple, sins would cease to exist.

But, at the very least, one didn't have to make ridiculous amounts of 'donations' to temples, churches, or organizations just for the chance of being absolved of their sins and mistakes. The best way was always to never make one in the first place, so how should Jeanne teach in accordance to this goal? To make the grand assumption everyone was salvageable, instead of thinking economically and preparing when they gloriously fell into sin.

Those who were able to could clearly see the benefit, so more and more began leaving their old beliefs and follow her instead. Visual marketing was still the best no matter the era. Droves of hidden believers also flocked to Louíse's newly-established church in the Date territory after she slain Cabral – Nihon always respected great warriors, regardless of their fighting styles or beliefs, after all.

The nun had no qualm in thinking she was gifted all this privilege. She had to fight for it, and the same to maintain it. The Imperial Family would count on her cooperation after this stage of 'Tenka Fubu' was finished, so she essentially signed a life servitude contract by establishing her own communion here.

Louíse wished she could wait until her teacher was finished with her missionary work in America, at least so the former could have someone to hide behind under Himiko's intense glare. Seriously, how could a child Masamune's age be so… special?

She would proclaim she only had fear for the Lord… but this girl was something else. In their scant few meetings, not once had she felt she came out in an equal position. Other believers might reject and decry any form of divinity not related to the original Abrahamic culture, but Louíse knew they weren't alone in this universe – a belief first shared, to great shock, by Jeanne to her immediate students, before slowly suffusing it to the general populace by way of religious tolerance – and Himiko was one prime example. In front of the Empress, the nun felt she was sitting close to a literal god. Just because it's a different one than the one she worshipped didn't make it untrue or unreal.

…though perhaps she feared the unknown the most. Himiko, much as her personality towards outsiders was concerned, was a known quantity in terms of how much might she could bring – which was substantial, but it's measurable. Perhaps her teacher and master would win in a personal duel against the Empress, but that's only because of what Louíse knew of both parties… who had never met face-to-face, so their adaptability and reflexes would be tested if they truly came to blows on first sight. Most likely, Jeanne would be her usual friendly self, just the way she'd been since her hair was still bright gold instead of today's pure white, and outtalk the much younger ruler.

No, those two people, Louíse knew.

The man who first inducted her into Nobunaga's presence, then Himiko's. One who boasted he could kill even God, if given the chance.

…wait, no – that last statement never happened, but from the way he fought, there was little doubt in Louíse's mind there's already a lot of divine blood staining his hands.

Hopefully, he'd turn those against evil, instead of good.

Glossary Update!

I

Inverse Form

The corrupted method of Divine Apotheosis, particular to students of the Abrahamic Thaumaturgical Foundation. Unable to attain the blessings and favours of the 10 Sephira, they are usually tempted by the angels' 'mirror reflection', often mistakenly called 'demons'. They are closer to fallen angels, if anything, and people usually place great importance on the number '10' due to their attachment to what they view as 'mainstream'.

In fact, any high-level Divine Spirit in said school of thought has an Inverse Form, existing both as a warning and balancing act between [Light] and [Dark], [Good] and [Evil], [Order] and [Chaos]. Thus, for instance, the three levels within three Orders all has innumerable 'mirror reflection', which is of course too much for mortal minds to understand.

Their names – or the ones popular enough to be used widely – are:
1. Satan
2. Beelzebub
3. Lucifuge
4. Astaroth
5. Asmodeus
6. Belphegor
7. Baal
8. Adramelech
9. Lilith
10. Nahemah

S

Sephira

The Guardian Spirits inhabiting believers of YHWH. Consisting of ten angelic figures, they channelled various aspects of the omnipresent deity to aid their hosts. Uniquely, they rarely made appearances among official members of the Holy Church, undermining their authority in the eyes of the people since these Sephira often chose people of ordinary background who held great potential to become saints.

The Immortal Saint of Orleans was an aberration, who held an angel outside of this group of ten, though she was perhaps the worthiest to receive their powers. The number '10' was assumed solely from what humanity could gleam from the ancient texts, and their actual numbers were unknown – neither were their preferences nor personal judgements.

Their names – or the ones popular enough to be used widely – are:
0. Ain Soph Aur ↔ Ain Soph ↔ Ain
1. Metatron
2. Rasiel
3. Zafkiel
4. Zadkiel
5. Camael
6. Michael
7. Haniel
8. Raphael
9. Gabriel
10. Sandalphon