"Here."
Hit by Lambda's voice, she broke off from staring at empty space. "Thanks." She then accepted the rag she had asked her to fetch.
After a nod, Lambda went back to scraping wax off of the central altar. Some candles there also needed to be replaced.
Noel watched her work for a short while before getting started on wiping the corners near the windows. Though they didn't speak out loud about it, their new day-to-day chores took some getting used to. The gap left behind had to be filled one way or another.
Starting from one side of the main hall, Noel worked her way to the other end bit by bit. Simple tasks like these allowed her mind to wander, thinking about pleasant things or future plans. But a set of muffled voices currently disturbed the meditative silence.
They originated from outside, getting louder as she made her way to the last window. From the sound alone, it appeared to be a debate of some kind. The noise eventually died down, so Noel saw it as a good time to investigate the people outside. Something about their voices drew her in.
Her fingers barely touched the surface of the door handle when they suddenly opened themselves. "Ah—" A distinct shade of blue entered her field of view and she looked up. Their eyes met, making her heart jolt. "N-Nii-sama?!"
By the expression on his face, Jin still held a degree of severity towards her despite having acknowledged her origins as his sister. "Move already."
Realizing she had been blocking the entranceway, she backed up a bit. She caught a glimpse of someone else outside but she quickly returned to look at Jin. Even after all this time, she never quite knew how to act around him. Noel waited a moment to calm herself before speaking. "It's rather late… Why are you here?"
The doors closed behind Jin once he slipped through the gap. Rather than answering, he walked past her. His gaze moved around the interior, pointing it up at the ceiling before traveling down to look at the pews. A slight grimace formed on his face as he did so.
Seeing his scowl deepening, Noel's body tensed up. "W-what?" From the corner of her eyes, she saw Lambda retreat behind the open doorway leading to the other half of the building.
"Not just the outside, but the inside as well… It looks exactly like the old one," Jin said, not bothering to conceal his disapproval.
"Oh, I did ask for them to make it the same." It had been a stroke of fortune that the reconstruction crew had found an old safe in the ruins of the former church during a land survey. The thick insulation of the container had protected the original building's blueprints. "It-it's not weird, okay? I…liked it." She was sure he had a fondness for their childhood home too, but none reserved for this new one.
Still holding a frown, Jin took a step back to face her properly. "Whatever, I'm not here to sightsee. I'm here to listen to your excuses."
The question regarding his visit came back to her. She had already guessed as to why her brother would suddenly visit her in the middle of the night. Her throat went a little dry. "I-I don't know what you mean."
"Don't start acting stupid now." He toughened his glare, seeing right through her. "The thirteenth Prime Field Device isn't here anymore, is she?"
The rough fabric of the cleaning rag began to hurt her palm as she squeezed it. "…How do you know?"
"From Kagura. Lucky for us, his informants are loyal to him first and foremost. So the only people outside that know right now are him, me, and Tsubaki."
"But I…I don't understand! What does the Librarium want from us? A-aren't we supposed to be—" A fear she thought belonged in the past resurfaced.
Jin crossed his arms, a pillar of composure compared to her. "Whatever ridiculous conclusion you've gotten to, stop that. The Librarium only cares for the girl because they have their eyes on that weapon's core."
"You mean…the Takemikazuchi?" She had almost forgotten about it. The Nox Nyctores in her sister's possession hadn't been discussed at all by anyone. It was like a secret swept under the rug when they were all so eager to move on with peaceful times. "H-have they found where she is? What are they going to do?"
"Officially, the Librarium still believes she's here. But that's going to change soon, and we can't delay it."
The feeling of relief dissolved just as soon as it had appeared. "But why?"
"Can't you think for even a second?" Jin's impatience with her flared up. "If we wait, Kagura won't be the only one to discover that she has gone elsewhere. Either he reports it under our terms or someone else will. Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"
His accusatory tone irritated her more than anything. "You make it sound like this is my fault! What was I supposed to do about something I didn't even know about!?"
The harshness on his face eased off a little, yet he didn't relent on pressing his point. "You should have reported Nu-13 as a runaway, and yet you didn't."
Noel stared down at the thin gap in the floorboards. "I can't do that. Even if I had known the Librarium was still keeping its eyes on her. She…she doesn't deserve to be treated like a fugitive just for wanting to go outside!" If she had done that, the NOL was likely to decide on hunting down her sister for taking a dangerous Nox Nyctores outside their surveillance.
He leaned closer, the air around him turning heavy. "Believe what you want, but that won't stop the consequences if they find out before we report it to them. You and the other girl can be put under arrest for hiding critical information related to public safety. You may claim ignorance, but they won't believe you once they suspect your involvement in a bad light."
"O-okay, I get it! I just wish it didn't have to be like this…" She understood the potential repercussions of ignoring Jin's warning. This entire matter could lead to Lambda and her getting into serious trouble if she didn't act soon. "What am I even supposed to do...? I don't have a way to tell her about this, and I don't even know where she is…"
He gave her a flat look as he sighed, "Your concerns for her are wasted anyway. Nu-13 won't be back for a long time, that's what I believe."
She blinked, confused by what he just said. "What do you mean?"
"The intel has an interesting footnote saying that they can't find the Takemikazuchi's tracking signal. For something that big to disappear so quietly, I'm sure you can also suspect where she's gone." He let her think about the rest of the answer.
Remembering the days before Juusan's departure, Noel had had no success in finding out why she wanted to leave. Her sister had also refused to tell her where she planned to go, only that it was somewhere very far. "She left through a cauldron, hasn't she…"
On one hand, the Librarium couldn't reach her anymore. But on the other hand, the fact that Juusan had gone out to the Boundary made her more worried than pleased. She wanted to scold her for not changing from her impulsive ways.
Noel shook off those thoughts to leave them for another time. Right now, she had to focus on what could be done. "You came here to tell me how to fix this, right? I mean, I'm guessing you need me to do something."
"Yes." Jumping straight to the point seemed to somewhat lighten his mood. "Go to Yabiko's headquarters and lie to them that Nu-13 has gone missing for days without your knowledge. In other words, use her as a scapegoat. They will check the facts, so make up a believable story to go along with them. It should be simple enough for you."
His instructions sounded easy to follow, but she pressed her lips into a line at the thought. "What if I get found out?"
"You won't. No one should know about Nu-13's status until then. Plus, Kagura will be sure to back you up when he catches on to the fact that you showed up at his doorsteps for help," Jin said after a pause. "That is if he doesn't get my message in time first."
"..." To make the cover-up appear convincing, she had to show up in person. A fake report could draw the wrong kind of attention if it didn't have compelling testimony to support it. Determined to protect the life she and her sisters had earned, she steeled herself for the day ahead. She silently gave Juusan an apology and prayed she could safely return home one day when the storm blew over. "All right, I'll go tomorrow morning and get this over with as fast as I can."
"Good. I'm done here." Uncrossing his arms, he started heading to the exit. "If anyone asks, we never discussed anything."
"G-got it." She followed Jin until he opened the doors to leave. As he began walking away down the dirt path, she found it fit to at least say something. "Um, be careful on the way back, Nii-sama!"
Like she expected, he didn't say anything in reply nor did he stop. After catching up to him, Tsubaki answered her instead with an apologetic smile. Noel returned a hand wave in kind, though naturally only one of them saw the gesture.
Once Noel retreated inside, the sound of the doors closing echoed. A weight seemed to have vanished from the air. She did not expect to see Tsubaki again so soon under these circumstances. Based on the sounds she had overheard moments ago, she wasn't the only one to initially be against directing the Librarium's attention at Juusan.
A standing lock of hair emerged from hiding before a pair of eyes peeked to see if the coast was clear. Lambda then made her way down the aisle to meet up at the center.
"Hey." After reassuring her sister with a smile, Noel asked, "Can you handle things by yourself tomorrow? I'll try to be back sooner than later. Maybe by the evening." From that distance, Lambda had to have heard most of the conversation.
"I can." She answered with a resolve to take on the challenge.
Grateful, Noel went to finish her part of the chores. She had decided to retire for the night immediately afterward in preparation for the trip. A long ride to Yabiko awaited her, even with a first-rate ars magus vessel. Not to mention, she had to prepare for an important task. Lying in this manner was not her strong suit. She could already imagine the scrutinizing eyes surrounding her when it came time to talk, recording her every word.
"Noel."
"Hm?" She had just thrown the rag into an empty bucket when Lambda called for her attention.
Lambda, ever strangely perceptive, opened her mouth to say, "Everything will be fine."
When she heard that, Noel wanted to chime in with the same point. Of course, things were going to be okay, having gone through thick and thin themselves. And now, they had people who tried their best to help them no matter what. But when the time came to express it, she found a simple reply to be enough to convey her most honest feelings. "Thank you."