Hagane has art! Go see pretty art! :)

Chapter 51

So I told her everything Yanagida and I had discussed. The mission, our limits, and just how much support we could expect. She was far more familiar with the politics on the other side, so she understood why the JSDF was taking such a light handed approach. They had built up a solid foundation of trust with the people, and if they started kicking down doors, they'd be no better than the Empire who had just so recently stopped.

And just for transparency, I also told her why I accepted at all. I needed freedom to move about on that side, so I could try and talk to Hardy. The Gate was a problem, and I wanted it gone. The mission for the JSDF was basically secondary to my goal, but since I was asked for help, I'd help.

"So..." She started once I'd finished, but stopped when I put up a hand.

"If it's mission related, it doesn't count." I said.

She nodded, smiling a little, "Why do you want the Gate removed? Sure, I get that you don't want the world to end, but Lelei-san can close the Gate. You don't want your monsters wandering off. But now it's in a safe place." A pause, "Well, safer."

"If something happened to Lelei, Arpeggio or Cato, then we can't close the Gate. Sure, we might be able to figure out how, but that might take too much time." I replied, "The monsters you might find close to the city are pretty negligible sure, but people are the real monsters."

"Right... you're from Earth." She sighed.

"I am. And Orario, right now, is almost exactly how I want it. The last thing I need is for someone to roll in a tank, and start taking down the wall, or someone with a 'Buddy' to run through the streets emptying clips into the civilians."

"Magazines." She interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Clips were for old school rifles. Magazines are detachable from the gun."

"New thing every day then." I nodded, "But you get my point. Only the more experienced Alchemists of the city could ever figure out something like gunpowder, but since explosives are very much an 'emergency only' thing for the dungeon, there isn't much call for it."

"So you want the Gate off you driveway, on the off chance something scarier than the Adventurers walks out of it?"

"Much like it did to the Empire, right?"

"They attacked us first!" She retorted.

"I know. And we don't have time for that kinda crap." I pointed out the nearest window, to the Tower, "We have enough to deal with."

She sighed, "Yeah, I get it." She met my eyes, "Do you know about the raid that happened just before your arrival from the Jungle?"

"Just that it happened. I was told as much after the bakery bombing."

She nodded, "Before that, when we first tried to reconnect with Earth, the monsters from the jungle came through. In the confusion, some of the JSDF material was taken."

"Hence how Zorzal came up with black powder at all."

"It wasn't just that. I of course don't have the exact numbers. But there were crates of ammo, around a dozen soldiers worth of equipment stripped off the dead, and a few other odds and ends. It was obvious they knew what to take, but they didn't know what it all did."

I hmm'ed a moment. Something like that pointed towards traitors in the Militia. With such a tight group as they were over on the Base, the only real 'loose end' would be the natives. They were given a reasonable amount of freedom on an otherwise secure base...

"Okay, so they steal a bunch of random stuff. Smash open some bullets and figure out a simple black powder. Then add that to the harassment the JSDF have been getting. And you couldn't find out who stole the stuff?"

"It was obvious who it was, since they never returned and weren't accounted for among the dead. But that only helps after the fact."

"And the JSDF don't have the manpower for a full investigation of all the natives that work for them, like they would back home."

We nodded together, "They know the first rule of being a Stainless Steel Rat." Nanami sighed.

"When the operation is over, it's over." I said, smiling when she went wide eyed, "What? Good books. I told Itami that he had a problem, and it was that Zorzal is acting professional. We made the trip back from Italica, in the dark, alone, in a single Humvee, just to tempt them."

"But they were already gone..." She nodded, "Okay. So what did you want my help with?"

"It's obvious you have connections, else you wouldn't have access to those kinds of details. Me and the others coming with me will need some starting points. Since we've been told not to just go north and toss Zorzal off a wall until he stops getting back up, we have to do this with as little noise as possible." I made a fist, "I understand the 'still have to live there' thing, so I'm playing along."

"I have a few ideas." She said, "But need to check in with them. This isn't something you just surprise people with, especially informants." She held up a hand, "And while I can't 100 percent confirm they aren't working with Zorzal, I can say they've done much better since the JSDF showed up."

I nodded, thankful, "That would be a huge help." I hmm'ed other ideas coming to mind, but those would need clearance with some of the JSDF, like Yagagida.

"So..." Nanami started, "Three questions."

I snapped back to 'now', "Ask your questions bridge keeper, I am not afraid."

The serious atmosphere shattered, and she giggled at the quote, "Ni!"

I flinched, "To think that anyone can just say that to random passerby."

We relaxed a little after the laugh, and she put on a more serious, but less severe expression, "Who is your contact... no, Primary contact on Earth?"

I couldn't not tell her. And I could only evade a very small amount. So I had to do a little trusting. "Akeno."

She went a little wide eyed again, "I thought it might have been Kurin sensei... But thinking about it... Himejima... Kurin sensei mentioned that last name more than once while she was teaching me." A pause, "Though, the best place to hide is in plain sight..."

"Yes, the Occult Research Club was almost exactly what it said it was."

"You said that Both her and Sona-sempai were from the 'oldest bloodlines'. Which ones exactly?"

"That's dangerous information." I wasn't forbidden from telling her, but knowing might put her in danger if she made it back to Earth. "Similar to what I did to you."

"Tell me." She said after a moment.

"Are you familiar with the 72 pillars? That old."

For a moment, I thought she might faint, like she used to. But no, a moment after her head dropped, she started chuckle, then laugh, like some half insane conspiracy theorist who had just been proven right all along. "HA! I knew it! When you gave me the first clue, I thought maybe I was right, but now you've just told me! YES! Take that! I'm not crazy!" She jumped to her feet, pretended she had just spiked a football, and did a dance.

I waited patiently for her to settle down a little, "That kind of information could get you into a lot of trouble back on Earth."

She plunked her rear back into the chair, "Yeah... No one would believe me, except the people it really mattered to. And well..." She shook her head, "You said I had talent, but some of the things Kurin sensei had wandering by her home were... way beyond me."

"I could change that." I shrugged, "But that's a 'later' thing, if you felt up to it."

She nodded, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then asked, "Is there some way you can help us get in contact with Earth?"

"That's not really a question..." I mean, strictly speaking, it was, but the 'spirit' of the question was more of a request.

"I'll count it as a question then." She replied, one step ahead on the 'game', "Or if you rather, 'will you help me try and get in contact with Earth'?"

"I can try and have something roundabout happen. But it may not work at all. And I do not want to give things away."

She nodded, "I understand. But I'm sure you can see why I'm asking."

"Yeah, I was a refugee when I went back to Earth. I'll work on it while I make ready for the mission."

"Thank you." She nodded.

And like that, I felt the 'obligation' of answering questions lifted from me. I'd have to give Delly a hug later. This reminded me, "Hey, want to continue the tour? I have some business at the Zoo."

"You have a Zoo in the city?"

Finding Delly wasn't usually difficult. She was still a morning person, and despite her upbeat attitude took what we were doing here seriously. A 'work hard, play hard' person. And since we (about half the Manor) had left the house for the little demonstration this morning, she and the rest stayed home and called it a 'chore day'.

And since she had wings, that meant she'd be in the library dusting the shelves. And if not there, doing a little tour of the rooftop to make sure that any bird nests we'd gathered were well behaved and the gutters were free of clogs.

Nanami of course followed me, commenting on things as we encountered them, and occasionally taking a picture.

"Wouldn't happen to have a good printer on Base?" I asked as she took a quick snapshot of Kei's rear as they hunted under the couch for a ball. Then another one as Chigusa lifted the couch up.

"Nothing photo grade, but the colour printers aren't terrible." She said with a smile as Kei got the ball, a headpat, and returned a thank you before zipping off again.

"I'd consider it a favour if you could print a few of those." I replied as we walked around the corner nearest the kitchen, waved to Weine as she walked by with a thick cloth bag of compost.

"I'll have to sneak in the time, since we have no way to resupply the ink. But I won't tell if you don't."

"Deal." I pushed open the door to the 'school wing' then made an immediate left, "While you'll only be able to read one of those, this is the Library."

In eight different languages, the word Library was written over the single metal door. Our home might be made of marble and stone, but I still made sure it was built to 'fire safety code' as best I could. The only way a fire could reach this room was from the inside, or through one of those thick stone walls.

"Wow. Though, I suppose each of the races here would have a language as well." She nodded, "Wait, what's that noise?"

Of course with the recent giant mosquito thing on her side of the Gate, she'd pick up on the sound of 'giant insect wings'. "That, is Delly dusting the bookshelves." From the ground floor, I looked up at the second level of the library for the source of the steady 'thummmmm' of wings. "Hey Delly!"

Wearing a modified proper maid uniform (so allowing her wings to move freely, yet not giving anyone a show of too much skin), Delly landed on the railing of one of our reading balconies. Barefoot as usual around the house, she had no trouble keeping her balance. "Oh hey boss!" Pause, "Ohhhhh I remember you!"

Nanami looked up at her, then to me, "Wait, another one?"

"Yup. This is Delly, formerly of Sherwood, then of Jiru, and now of Astraea Familia." I waved at her to come down, "She was much smaller on Earth, and was usually hidden from sight."

"I was her familiar." Delly sad as her little feet touched the stone of the ground floor, then did a little twirl in place. She then glomped me for just long enough to get a headpat before letting go, "She was a great boss! Unless she was doing something stupid."

"I'll never live it down, but I did live through it." I nodded.

Delly stopped squinting sparkly daggers at me, then stuck her hand out to Nanami, "Delly. Pleased to actually say hello to you!"

"Nanami." They shook, "You must have seen me after I'd fainted..." She sighed, "But as you can see, I've gotten better."

"Around the school too." Delly nodded, "I wasn't always next to her. And occasionally skulked around for snacks."

"Oh really?" It was my turn for little dagger eyes.

"I did no harm! I mean, all those sugary foods? Bad for you!" Delly pouted, but accepted my headpat of forgiveness, "Anyhow, what's up?"

"Well, now that she's a reporter, and I've cleared her to visit, I was going to give her a little tour. That said, we got a message from Shakti, and the birds need your attention."

"Oh! Okay, yeah that'd be awesome! Kinda missing them, even if they keep trying to nip my ears." She looked down at herself, "I'll get changed first, oh, and finish dusting that last corner!"

And like the sparkly high energy girl she was, she zipped back up to the second floor. "I have to change too. Appearances to keep up." I said, turning towards the door, "Go to the living room and I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"Sure." Nanami nodded, "Why does your library have so many empty shelves?"

"Books are popular, but still a little difficult to make in bulk. Give it a year I think, and the third version of the printing press will be as close to 'modern day' as it can get without computers." I said, "See you in a few minutes."

Now on our way, with Delly and I in our full adventuring gear, Nanami went back to taking pictures, or pausing to scribble something down in her notebook. We let her of course, since I did invite her to actually 'work' and she should have something to show for it.

"You seem pretty popular. Are you really the strongest?" She asked, "I mean... usually that means you're the biggest target."

"In a way, I am." I nodded, "But..." I sighed, "You said you saw things at Kurin's place-"

"Oh! How's she doing? She was a terrible boss, but had cleaned up pretty good last I saw her!" Delly interrupted.

"She's doing pretty good, though that was six months before we went through the Gate." Nanami said, "You were saying?"

"You said you saw things that you couldn't deal with. Well, I did too. Except I managed to somehow improve, and basically jump in weight classes. The last time someone in the city took a swing at me, it was a 'friendly' sparring match against Loki Familia's top members."

"How'd you do? I mean... I kinda only sorta have an idea on power levels here. Something I picked up while learning." She motioned to Delly, "For example, her elements are Air, void, water, fire and earth, in that order of affinity. While yours is... Wait..."

"I kinda only count as four, not five. Don't worry about it." I waved it off, "And they didn't even touch me. It took me about thirty seconds to beat all but their toughest, and their fastest. Bell beat their fastest, while the toughest went for a drink with his friends instead."

"Huh..." She scratched her head, "Maybe I can stay an extra day, just so I can learn a bit more."

"If you can make it a day of touring the city, you'd be welcome." I smiled.

"Just because I'm not my sister, doesn't mean I'm a wimp." She grumbled.

"She's not calling you a wimp." Delly laughed, "But... you know, I'm gonna let it be a surprise. I think I know what's going on with the birds."

Nanami's reaction to I AM GANESHA, much to my surprise, wasn't the same as everyone else. She didn't call it silly, sigh at how loud it was, or even scratch her head at it. Nope, she just took some pictures, wrote down a couple of things, and said, "All that bronze must take forever to keep shiny."

The two guards, just as surprised as I was, nodded, "Yes Ma'am." One said in Eastern, "But it isn't actually bronze, but brass."

I blinked, "Wait, really?"

"You didn't know, Ma'am Fox?"

"No... I figured making Brass was mostly impossible."

"Well... locally yes." He shrugged, "Makes repairs very costly."

Brass was an alloy of copper and zinc, but zinc was difficult to process, and not found locally in any sort of quantity. Even the 'junk metal' they were pulling out of the mountain pass on the way to Rakia was just... not worth mining for zinc, even though it had the best chance to have rich deposits of it.

"The building is also very old." The other said with a sigh, "All I know is I'm on cleaning duty next week."

I sighed and felt like kicking a pebble or something just to be petulant, but just shrugged it off, "Anyhow, I'm here about the message from Shakti."

They both nodded, accepting the switch to 'business' seamlessly, "Be welcome at our home, I AM GANESHA." And they stepped aside.

Walking past them, Nanami finally showed her 'claws' about the place, "It also looks pretty silly, doesn't it?"

Delly giggled, "It does. But look around." She motioned to all the Civilians in the area. "A lot of people rely on this place."

"Well, since we have a few minutes before we get to the zoo, lemme give you the 'who Ganesha Familia is'."

It was a big building, so I actually had time to give her a little more than just Ganesha's 'party line'. I also went over Hephaestus and Goibniu, and was about to get into Loki's, when we got to the entrance of the zoo. It had changed since I'd first seen it, all those years ago before I knew Ganesha wasn't just some lovable idiot.

Before, it was just a guarded fenced off field filled with all kinds of large animal enclosures. Now, it had friendly people at an 'amusement park' styled kiosk selling tickets, while another sold merchandise. There was even a third stall, but it had a guild employee at it, and the title over the stall above their head was 'Rental Inquiries'.

Nanami was of course taking pictures and scribbling things down, but suddenly stopped. "This is a pretty cheerf- you feel that?"

"Boss... I think I'm right." Delly said.

Since I usually kept my 'magic sensitivity' dialed down to a more 'local' area around me (lest I go crazy from too much sensory input) I had to take a moment to adjust. "Oh... Yeah I do."

Just then, there was a little breeze from the direction of the zoo. And while you could of course smell 'animal' and all the things associated with them, there was a hint of 'other' things too. Like ground level ozone and ice.

"Kodori!" It was Shakti, one of her hands tapping a little glass earring, "The front guards told me you were here." She smiled, bowed a little to me, then Delly, "And Ma'am Delly, you as well. Please, come quickly." I fished in a pouch for the usual fee, but she waved it off, "This is business."

I motioned to Nanami, "I've got a guest." And put the money on the counter as we went past, the Ganesha Familia behind the counter waving cheerfully as we walked quickly behind Shakti. "Is something wrong?" Delly asked.

"Not... exactly?" Shakti replied, switching to Eastern since Delly and I were speaking it.

Now, most of the Citizens of Orario had their heads on straight when it came to danger. If they saw something dangerous, they'd call for help and find cover. Just like the people of Rondel when Arpeggio took a shot at Lelei. They watched, but from behind the most sturdy thing they could get behind.

At the Zoo though... 'The people' seemed to lose a little of that caution. Some of it was because the 'danger' was already contained inside something sturdy. Some of it was because there were Ganesha Familia all over the place, directing traffic, patrolling, and occasionally using a whip to keep the more grouchy animals away from the bars.

And today's 'grouchy animals' were the Phoenix.

"It's like a plasma ball." Nanami said, taking a picture or two.

The first of the enclosures we came to was for the 'Black Phoenix'. The same ones I'd had on my bed back in Kuoh. I myself had a reasonable affinity for 'air', but the real kicker was Akeno, who shared my bed a number of times while I was there. No surprise that her element was also air but specialized into lightning.

As for the plasma ball comment? Well before they left the manor, the three of them liked to get your attention with little sparks. Harmless, but impossible to ignore. They also liked to look innocent when you turned to see which of them had done it. The biggest 'bolt' I'd seen was when one tried to zap Gros, covering the distance of maybe ten metres. But it was still lightning, and was attracted to the metal bars of the cage, grounding it out harmlessly.

Now though? The three of them almost seemed to be playing. Throwing long bolts of lightning all over the place, shocking the bars, random stones in their enclosure, each other... And while the 'front face' of the exhibit (I offset the cost of keeping them here by letting them be 'public') was guarded and people were being kept well away from the metal bars. Didn't stop people from looking though, and the show was getting quite the gathering.

"Ma'am Shakti! Good you've brought them." One guard said, stepping out of line and coming towards us. "Lady Delly, good to see you."

Delly grinned and gave him a thumbs up, "Well, I can see your problem." She nodded, "Seems you have playful lightning birds."

"A little more than that. We had to take special measures to get food to them without getting electrocuted." He sighed, "They started doing this two days after they got here. But only yesterday did they actually start acting out."

"Lemme go talk to them." Delly said, her wings humming for a half second.

And like most people with any sense, when the expert wanted to pass, they let the expert pass. She was led to a side door with a big lock on it, which was unlocked by someone wearing 'supporter gloves' (for all your dungeon hazard gathering needs) and let in.

"Looks like the crowd is expecting a show." Nanami mumbled to me as all of 'the people' started to lean forward a little.

"Some of them might have seen the disaster that breakfast was this morning." Shakti said, "Since they're yours, and normal animals, we can't use the normal techniques we use when taming. So we've just had to deal with it."

People were 'ooo'ing at the show now, as the birds spotted their new playmate. One of them flapped its stubby wings, extended its long neck and sent a line of jagged energy towards Delly. But she simply kept walking, the bolt seeming to curve around her.

"She's quite good." Shakti mumbled, "We had to use metal rods to protect the feeders."

"Her name, where she's from, means Lightning." I said.

There were a few more attempts to zap her, but at about five good paces from them, the Phoenix stopped and started to pace back and forth a little. "Calmed down it seems." Nanami said, "Oh wait..."

The three of them flared up at once, and this time Delly actually had to move, raising her hands, her wings thrumming to full speed. A half second later, a wave of lightning crashed into her upraised palms. Looking more like water than lightning, the energy washed over a domed barrier, arcing around the Fox-fairy, hitting stone, the enclosure bars, a much abused tree, but not once the diminutive girl herself.

And all the while she'd kept moving forward. And now within arms reach and the lightning stopped, she reached out and gave the closest one a Karate Chop of Justice. A moment later, the other two got close enough and also received their punishment. But then Delly started to run her hands through their feathery bodies and hug them like long lost pets.

"Seems the show's over." Shakti sighed, "I had no idea what putting them in a 'high energy' environment would do, but something so literal..."

"They kind of look like ostrich." Nanami hmm'ed as Delly was lost in the middle of a pile of feathers, making 'the people' laugh at the show.

"Ostrich Phoenix hybrids, shamelessly stolen idea from Jurassic Park." I said, "What? I had the idea, and someone else had the technology."

"I can't tell if you're insane or genius." Nanami sighed.

Ignoring the comment I looked to Shakti, "What about the others?"

"The ice Phoenix are... less troublesome. They've become far more territorial, and created a nest of ice in the middle of their enclosure. We had to thaw out our animal doctor, but otherwise we've just stopped bringing them food and simply dropped it off a safe distance away for them to get themselves."

"So they've become territorial. Okay, that's not terrible. And the other two?"

"They're..."

Bigger. Nothing extreme. So no, I didn't create Roc or something. But the two 'element-less' Phoenix were just... bigger. They had wings that might have let them glide, their chest and neck were more sturdy looking, they had more feathers with more 'direction' (instead of that kind of 'dangerous puff ball' look ostrich had) and their legs looked almost twice as thick.

"Grey Chocobo?" Nanami commented, making me laugh, "What? I mean, aside from the massive beak and crest on the back of their head, the look almost exactly the same."

"Another animal from your home?" Shakti asked.

"Kind of." I shook my head, "Huh. So the magic just... gave them a growth spurt."

"They are a little less sociable than when they arrived, but they are not aggressive." Shakti explained, "Unless we are late for feeding time. The extra size has increased their apatite."

Huh, I'd created Swol-nix.

"Hey boss!" Delly caught up to us finally, "I know what happened." She was a little out of breath and covered in feathers, but was unharmed. Oh, except her tail was floofed out as if it had been zapped. "Ack bleh feathers." She took a tiny bit of down from the corner of her mouth, "Tastes like static."

We gathered around her, and I started to pluck feathers off her back since she couldn't reach. "I'm interested in knowing as well." Shakti nodded.

"The extra magic basically woke up some of their other abilities, and organs. Even dragons have a biological component to breathing fire after all." Delly said, reaching back for her tail, her fingers crackling as the static was bled off. "So when you put them here, those abilities, and more importantly the internal bits they needed for them, got to grow properly."

"And the extra food might have helped that along." Shakti hmm'ed, "Will they continue to cause trouble?"

"I'll talk to the ice ones before I go." Delly said, "But those ones have been... told very firmly to behave themselves." She smiled, "Though you might have to bring them something sweet with their morning meals now."

"We'll include some pomegranates." Shakti nodded. "And these?"

Delly, noticing the Swol-nix (if Welf could use silly names, I could too!), interrupted our feather cleaning and 'squeed' all the way to the bars of the enclosure. With a little wiggle, she slipped through the bars, and was met by the birds themselves. Moments later, the three of them were having a 'long lost pet reunion'.

"Well no problems there I guess?" I shrugged, "Anyhow, while she's doing that, lets finish your zoo tour."

"Sure." Nanami said, "Pleasure meeting you, Shakti."

"You as well. Thank you Kodori."

A little idea popped into my head on the way back home, and I gave Nanami a question. "How are you with heights?"

"Planes don't bother me. Why?" She paused in mid-photo to give me a 'where did that come from' look. "Wait... You're allowed?"

"So long as I don't cause trouble, I can basically do anything I want." I shrugged, "I don't pull rank often, but I am the strongest in the city."

"Oh oh can I come too?" Delly asked, "I'm not strong enough to get up there on my own."

I nodded, "Sure. Next question, do you want 'boring' or 'exciting' first?"

She may have misunderstood my question, but she replied with, "Boring."

"Okay then." I looked towards the tower, then down the street, "This way."

After a quick question to the Guild official at the exchange counter just outside the dungeon, Nanami Delly and I were cleared for the elevator. I was a little surprised, but no one had actually moved into the top floor yet. It had been a couple years, but well, the rent was just as high as the altitude.

"I can't... how is this even a thing? It's an elevator!" She didn't resist when I nudged her into the weirdly modern elevator, "It even has buttons!"

"We have our theories about it, but none of the Gods will tell us." Delly laughed, "But, it's part of the tower all the same."

"Oh?"

"The tower was put here a thousand years ago as a kind of monument, living space, and seal to the dungeon. There are a few Gods who live here, and all the 'official meetings' the Gods have are held here. It's also just as unbreakable as the Gods themselves." I explained.

"They're immortal?"

"I'm not going to explain that." I said, "Nothing against you, but you are an outsider."

She didn't rile or balk at me stonewalling her curiosity, but nodded in understanding, "Fair."

I gave her shoulder a pat, "Good." I pretended to look at a watch, "Since we have a few minutes, I'll continue the 'larger picture' of the city."

"Please." And she got her notebook out again.

"Okay, no peeking." Delly said, her hands over Nanami's eyes.

"Sure sure... It even has a 'ding!' That's just too weird."

I made sure the path, and the room, were clear so she wouldn't trip over anything. And yes, aside from looking like it had been cleaned recently, nothing about the top floor had changed. Bare outer wall, almost no walls aside from a single walled room (bath room/toilet) and a simple kitchen and capped pipes. Freya had stripped it bare, save for those things, likely to pay off her debt. Probably to make sure no one else had those 'nice things' when they moved in as well.

"Okay." I said, "Oh wait..." I spread out a veil of my mana cloth, blacking out all the windows and putting the room in near total darkness, "Delly?"

She led our guest into what was once Freya's 'Bell watching spot', the balcony view that faced the Manor. "Surprise!"

She took her hands away, and I dispelled the cloth, flooding the room with not only light, but the highest view anyone who wasn't flying would get in this world. "Oh... wow!" She immediately started with the camera, "You're saying Freya lived up here? Why did she ever leave?"

"She tried to take my children, so I put a plan together that would turn the entire city against her and told her that if she didn't stop I'd kill her entire Familia, then throw her off the tower." I said flatly, "She backed down, and since she no longer held title as 'strongest Familia' the Guild finally hit her with all the fines and fees she owed for the entire mess."

Delly giggled as Nanami's camera fell from numb fingers and swung on the strap around the reporter's neck. "She's a great big sister. Will do anything for Family."

"I... see." Nanami shook off the shock and made sure her camera was okay. "Oh, balconies too?"

"One in each cardinal direction." I opened one up, "Careful, it can get windy."

She stayed up there until her camera made an unhappy sounding beep, and a little red light appeared on the digital display. But before that, she had basically taken an entire 'tower's eye view' map of the entire city in small pictures. It would make for an amazing news article, certainly.

"Huh... no point in asking to stay to work, when my camera is loaded." She sighed, "That'll teach that twit Kuzunari! I work twice as hard and don't try and twist things around!"

"Hey hey, no scuffing the floors." I said with a laugh, "But yeah, when you get back home, ditch that guy. I'll bet I can set you up with a little backing, depending on how my call to Akeno goes."

"Really? A sponsor? But you're literally a world away!"

"Careful Boss, you might spoil her." Delly laughed.

"Even if it was a mistake, I did you wrong." I said, "So, instead of 'making right and forgetting' the debt, I'll just 'say sorry and support' you as best I can. Anyhow. I'll drop you off at the Gate then."

"Sure." She nodded, offering her hand, "Thank you, Kodori-sama."

"Don't thank me juuuuuust yet." I said, taking her hand anyhow, "You wanted the boring way up. So you get the exciting way down." And before she could (try to) take her hand back, I pulled her close, turned her around so her back was to my front, and wrapped her up in my tails, "Delly? Think you can make it down okay? Or want some help?"

"Wait, no way! You're not gonna-"

"I'll stay close, in case I need help." Delly said, giving Nanami a headpat, then opening the nearest balcony door, "I'll close this before following."

"We don't even have a parachute!"

"Did you miss the giant fox shaped glider?" I asked, walking up to the railing, getting my bearings, and hopping up on the railing, "Good updraft today, no big clouds, little wind... Perfect day for gliding."

"I take it back! Boring way down!"

"Nope. You said boring first." And I hopped off the tower.

Like most people who joined me in the skies, after they calmed down they really started to enjoy themselves. Delly had to join me too about a third of the way down, her fight with gravity kind of difficult even with her 'flying' skill. But that was okay, with enough time to prepare I could carry most of a car without needing extra bits like a platform or the like. But that only helped poor Nanami calm down, since Delly was there to chat with her while I made sure to make it a smooth trip.

And like before, I made sure to light some foxfire as I got closer to the Gate. Wouldn't do to have to dodge bullets while I had Nanami being held against my chest.

Sadly, though hilariously, once on the ground she did the 'angry kitten shin kick'. Only once, since I was in full armour and they were protected by metal.

So while she hopped up and down on one foot, I walked up to the guy guarding the mini-fort entrance, "There you go. One civilian reporter, slightly irritated, returned."

"Thank you ma'am." He saluted, "You make me wish I'd never left the airborn infantry."

"You say that, but you got to visit a world with magic and other neat stuff." I replied, "Besides, most of the stuff in the air on both sides of the Gate would love to try and eat you."

"Fair enough Ma'am." He grinned then saluted, "Clear skies."

I walked back over to Nanami and Delly, "I'll talk to Lelei if my contacts come up with anything."

She shook her poor foot out one last time, "Thank you. I'll be stuck in my office putting all this together anyhow." She grinned, "Thanks for taking me seriously."

"You saw a wider world and sought to protect yourself and understand it, instead of trying to kill it." I nodded, "After my visit back there, I really respect that point of view." I gave her shoulder a pat, then a little push towards the Fort entrance.

Delly and I watched her go, "Are you really going to ask Akeno to help directly?"

"Akeno? No. But she'll know who to pass the requests to."

After getting home, giving anyone interested the usual wave/hug/headpat/ear scroofle/noseboop (or combinations thereof), I got back to my lab. I had a little time before dinner, so I made sure to use the time productively.

After dinner, (another of Marius's and Asfi's 'field ration improvement recipes') we had a short meeting.

"It's good she enjoyed her stay." Bell said, "We she really so timid when you first met her?"

Maki laughed, though it wasn't a happy laugh. "Most people 'back home' are... waiting for something exciting. Unless they are like us, they don't have very much excitement to look forward to. Go to school, grow up, get a job, maybe start a family, grow old, die. Some people find success, or a talent they can elevate themselves with. But the rest..." She shrugged, "I was one of those with the opposite problem. I wanted that boring life."

Everyone knew why, so they didn't comment.

"She was into something called Cosplay." Delly explained, "Dressing up as something different, and going out in public. Sure, it was a job, but while she was there, she wasn't 'boring'."

"I kinda showed her a glimpse into our world, and she couldn't really believe it." I said, "A person's mind will do that sometimes. Forget or ignore something that doesn't fit their world view. But then I gave her something that proved it was real. It was a gift, but not a very thoughtful one."

"She's better now though, right?" Hestia asked, "I mean, she wasn't nearly as uncomfortable here as the other JSDF people."

"She's adjusted her perspective for sure." Maki nodded, "But back home, since she's not 'normal' she has to be careful. But that's up to her."

We nodded, accepting that Nanami was a 'friend' here, but not our 'problem'.

"So, now that it's been a couple days. How are we getting along with the new language?" I asked, "It's best we start thinking up plans now, since Nanami's actual job might give us a little head start with connections."

"So you didn't just bring her over to say sorry?" Aisha teased.

"I could have just said 'sorry', sure. But I figured a little extra effort would help." I nodded, "I asked, and she agreed to at least try to pull up a little support."

"It wouldn't do to say no to that kind of generosity." Mikoto nodded.

"Lilly wonders... would she make a good supporter?"

"Shino would be upset if we tried to keep her." Delly giggled, "But as a plain old human, she'd got real talent for magic!"

The three Gods in the room did their own version of a 'thoughtful expression'.

"Anyhow? How many think they'll be okay with going?" I asked.

Maki raised her hand, so did Ryuu. They already had a grip on the language before hand, so it was obvious they'd qualify. Mikoto raised a hand too, "I may look a little similar to the 'Japanese', but I can stay out of sight and support if need be."

We nodded. "Not a bad idea. If we split up, we'll need a way to communicate over distance so we don't get in each other's way."

"Oh! I want to go!" Kaede raised her hand, "I mean, I'm a warrior bunny too!"

No doubt that she was, literally so. "Think you can get a handle on the language?" I asked.

"It's not toooooooo bad. I'll make sure to practise more!"

"I'll give her a hand." Aisha said, "I'll stay behind though."

I gave her 'the raised eyebrow', but Haruhime came to the rescue, "Aisha-san would attract even more attention than normal, since Amazon are supposedly extinct there?"

Haruhime, Aisha and I knew the 'other' reason she was staying behind, but of course didn't say anything about that. "Yeah, besides, if you're going, someone has to stay back and make sure the city doesn't burn down."

"I'll go." Shinkage raised her hand, "What? I've forgotten more languages than most will ever know. And I should get a little more exercise."

The entire room shrugged and nodded. She was right. And while no longer attached to Hagane, she was still more cat than most would think. "Okay, that's six. Anyone else?"

"If too many go, it becomes harder to defend the Manor." Ouka said.

"Make sure you keep in touch with us!" Hestia said, waggling her finger at us, "We all worry about you, even if that world of theirs isn't as scary as this one."

We all nodded, "Okay, I still haven't heard back from the JSDF, so aside from learning the local language, nothing has changed. Oh, and if anyone needs potion loops filled, lemme know." I looked to Marius and Asfi, "And if you have anything you need that I can make, I'll get to it as well."

They nodded, and we started to disperse for the evening. "Ko-san? You were going to call Akeno-chan?"

"Would you like to join me? It's just business, but she'd be happy to hear from you."

"Of course. I'll gather up the children. They miss aunty-keno." She giggled behind her hand.

NOTES!

Well then. We're one step away from the return to the Special Region, and aside from a few little odds and ends, it's all set to go.

Party on, and see you all next time.

Daeore on Ko-fi and Inkitt. (Yay more art!)

Discord is aKAQg4bnYu (but even if you join us there, please, comment here too!)