So, uh, it's back. After two years.
For those who really enjoy this story, my apology for delaying for too long.
About this chapter... it doesn't advance too much, but I decided to take it slower and put a bit more focused details so at least I have some back-up to work for future chapters/story, and to solid my main OC's background.
For now, enjoy the new chapter.
"These guys seriously need a new alarm…" Itami grunts as he starts wiping the sweat out of his forehead.
Currently he's standing near the Gate at Alnus Hill. Before he headed there, he has received a call from General Hazama saying that the Diet has added a new topic and it's about the missing people after the Battle of Ginza. The old soldier told the younger one that the girl Third Recon met in Italica will go with Itami's group, along with her 'new' family. Itami plans to ask for a 'tactical retreat', but the General ensures that all costs will be paid by the girl's brother, and he made sure that his group wouldn't bother Itami's group… too much.
"At least I can save some money to buy what I need." Itami mumbles, looking at his phone again to check the time. "Things are getting more and more expensive…"
"Well that's economy for you." Itami turns back and jumps in surprise at the sudden appearance of a certain happy-go-lucky brother. "Sorry for making you wait. Peace forgot about the winter in Japan, so we had to do last-minute shopping."
"It's… fine." Itami replies, then notices that there's only him and his sister standing with them, with the latter wearing winter clothes. "Uh… where's your group?"
"Just Kuro is fine. Besides, I'm younger than you."
"Yeah no brother, you are the eldest one here."
"Eh, perspective." The male CPU just laughs as Peace shakes her head in amusement. "About your question, it's a bit of also a last-minute discussion with your department. A group that freely going back-and-forth to the Gate would cause some problems."
"I can see why…" The soldier relaxes a bit after seeing the man before him having no concerns about formality. "What you told us in Italica… was it really true? Or you were just messing with us?"
"Nope. Those are true stories. And that's me mitigating some scenes and not going into details." Kuro almost chuckles when he sees the terrified look on the soldier's face. He changes the subject: "Anyway, how are the two elves doing?"
"Better." Deciding to not comment about it, Itami replies: "Thanks to mister Hodor being alive, Tuka's not as distraught as before. Though, they just did a quick mourn for their dead friends last night."
"Good for them." Kuro decides to end the conversation, as he notices a few cars running to their group's location. "Guess that's the rest of us."
Everyone then starts getting out of the cars, and to Itami's surprise, Yanagida and General Hazama are among them. Though he suspects that they need to talk with him, or the older brother, about something.
"General Hazama." Kuro is the one to reach out for the first handshake. "I believe T.O has told you about our arrival. And my apology for the sudden request."
"It's no problems, sir Kuro." The general returns the gesture. He quickly greets Peace with a smile before returning to Kuro. "Your country would be glad to have you back, but the Diet wants to know more about what happened that day. Miss… Peace, correct?" He has to pull out the tablet to check her alternative name before continuing. "She must have seen others being captured as well, right?"
"That's true. But… we're separated soon after." The girl timidly replies back.
"This is a good sign that there are people still being alive. We just need to find a way to bring them back without waging another war."
"And I believe some of the higher-ups want to have a cooperation with Gamindustri." That earns Kuro a confirmation. "Give us some time to think about it." He then glances towards the Princess and her knight and asks: "Should they be with us?"
"Before and after the Diet. During that, they will be with our other Ministry."
"Name?"
"You can guess."
That answer from Hazama causes both to chuckle once. Kuro then shakes hands one last time and says: "It's a pleasure seeing you. We might see each other more in the future."
"Wish you luck. And welcome back to Earth."
With that, they part way and Kuro sees that Itami is also done talking with his friends. He asks him: "So, are we ready to get pass the Gate?"
"We do. Let's go."
"That was a little embarrassing." The older brother sheepishly says as everyone is now enjoying their breakfast in a ramen restaurant. "I can never get used to it."
"With how old you are, son, I would think you enjoy it." His father starts joking, which makes Kuro's face slightly heat up. "And I really mean it."
"You mean when all of us teased him and his soon-to-be wife back then?" Peace puts more gas to the fire.
"True." The father chuckles.
When the group got pass the security check and finally entered the land of Japan, the siblings' father was already and he gave both of them a tight hug while trying his best to not burst out too loud about how he missed them all. The sister wholeheartly accepted it, but the brother was a little anxious due to how long he has left though he decided to just put it aside and hugs the old man back. After both sides greeted and introduced each other (with the PSIA joining and Kuribayashi screaming after finding out Itami is both a Ranger and a Special Force), they headed out for some refreshments before the Diet happens.
His father then glances at Lelei then asks Kuro: "Is it just me, or did I see another Charlotte?"
"It's… you can call it a trope." He instantly notices the smirk on the old man's face. "Don't. I have my own limitations."
"What should we do after the Diet?" Peace questions. "And when do you need to return back, father?"
"Tonight. I have some important meetings tomorrow."
"So we only have today."
"Shouldn't you just help this old man out?"
"I would refrain from using major spells until I show myself up, father. Think it like I need permission to fly on a foreign country's sky."
"Teleportation is not that big of a deal, mister Kuro." Hodor overhears the conversation and joins in. "Besides, no one would know…"
"The Military in my hometown, the Ambassadors, and every camera run by rice within a 5-meter circle." Kuro replies, and after three seconds the trio laugh, leaving the elf confused. "And 'major' here means differently depending on spells and perspective. If I have to teleport between countries then yes, I would call it major."
"So I still have to wait to meet my grandchildren, huh?"
"Great-grandchild, too."
"Oh now you make me older." The old man says in mock pain.
"The same to me."
Hodor then asks Peace: "Is your brother always like this?"
"Only when he's around his friends and family, and even it's rare. Probably changed after his journey."
"Though… I'm a bit curious. I know you said you wore lab-coat to remember us, but do you wear it everywhere?" He starts thinking about the meeting and sees how his son is wearing.
"Fashion in Gamindustri are wild… yeah, maybe I should take the suit and dust it off. Wait…" Kuro then moves himself back a bit and calls out for the First Lieutenant: "Hey, Itami. You said that you were heading to a clothes store, right? Can we accompany you? My treat, by the way."
"All good!" The soldier replies with a thumb up.
That makes the elder elf chuckle. Kuro's father then talks to him: "What's so funny?"
"Ah, it feels strange seeing how he acts between moments."
"I can understand. Though, I believe every child would come to an age in their life."
"That's true."
"So you are saying I'm still a child, father?"
"Aren't you?"
"I never said that you're wrong."
The time of Diet comes.
The group is now waiting before the door of the Inquiry Room. Due to not being directly related to the topic of the Diet, the siblings' father returns back to his hotel. Kuribayashi and Tomita are escorting Princess Pina and Bozes to the Ministry of Foreign affair so both are excused.
Kuro's now donning a white suit, which makes himself feel weird despite himself picking it. Hodor picks a green suit, his prefer color since it reminds him of the forests where the elves normally live. Peace wears a long shirt along with a white jacket and dark blue jeans. The rest wear exactly like the origin manga.
About a minute before the Diet, Itami notices that Kuro's finger-tips lighting up a bit so he asks: "What are you doing?"
"A translation spell. It would be easier to get the message to each other better than having a third party changing language."
"Didn't we already do that?" Tuka asks in confusion.
"I'm casting through the whole Inquiry plus the voice receivers." A few seconds after that, the light disappears. "It's done."
"Can you teach me that?"
"You want to lose your job?" Kuro chuckles as the mage looks a bit down. "On serious note, this spell works only for a few hours, so I can teach you later."
With the conversation ending there, the Diet starts and the group enters the room. And like a 'meeting fashion', murmurs start around the room as everyone says about the elves' appearances or what Rory holds in her hand or the humans who are not JSDF among them. Unknown to them, Kuro already has another set of eyes on one of the crowds outside the Inquiry and, to his slight surprise, sees that the talking focuses more on the elves. 'Well… the rest are human… looks human. Understandable.'
After everything's in order, the chairman of the Diet calls out for the first matter of the Diet, which is about the incident with the Fire Dragon. The one who does the question, Kouhara Mizuki, starts bombarding questions about how JSDF can't save a fourth of the people of the village they rescued. Though Itami's answers, which are both truth and hilarious, causes the woman to irritate inside and show a bit on her face. The woman actually reminds Kuro a bit of some of the nobles who just try to blame others for what they can't control.
The chairman confirms that the Fire Dragon is indeed as powerful as how Itami describes it. The Diet member then starts calling the Lelei up and plans to call for a translator, but the mage quickly speaks up and everyone realizes that they can understand her. While being a bit surprised, Mizuki decides not to question it yet and asks about how JSDF treats her. Lelei answers as it is, and even disagrees that JSDF is responsible of the deaths. Hodor and Tuka are called next, though they don't really have the long answer, since the former was actually with JSDF only for a day, while Tuka was unconscious during the run-away from the Dragon.
The next, and last for the matter, is Rory…
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?"
'Nice start.' Kuro smirks as Rory screams into the mic right at the starts, causing the whole audience's ears to ring up in distortion.
When everyone's hearing system returns, Rory continues: "Your questions are stupid. Which shows that you all are idiots." That causes others, especially Mizuki, to be fed up, but the Apostle ignores it. "Itami and his group did the impossible, which is to survive an attack from a Fire Dragon. You stated that one fourth died? It's wrong. Three-fourths were saved, and even more if you allowed them to have better weapons back then. I wonder how the soldiers here can work well with you senators who can't understand how the world works."
"Witness, please assume a more civil tone…" The chairman tries to talk to Rory, who just doesn't care and looks at the Diet member with a satisfied smirk.
"…Young Lady." Now the woman's pissed. "You should show more respect when talking to those older than you."
"Young lady? Are you referring to me?"
"That's right! You are being childish! It's my duty…"
Once again, a screeching sound causes the whole place to cover their ears again. Rory is also slightly affected, but she turns back to see Kuro with his palm holding his phone that causes the noise distortion. A second later he deactivates it.
"I am still controlling the situation."
"And I love seeing humanity's stupidity while being on the front seat." Pocketing it, Kuro stands up and turns to the dumbfounded chairman. "I would like to address something first about this matter before the Diet continues."
"…Um, in this case, mister…"
"Kuro."
"Mister Kuro, you have the permission."
With Rory sulkily returning back to her seat, Kuro stands before Mizuki and starts his speech: "I have to say that I'm slightly appalled at how you address this matter. Though miss Rory already said it out loud, so I won't speak about it anymore. Instead, I want to talk about 'common sense'."
"…Common sense, you say." The Diet member gets her voice back. "Surely you are talking about how she talked to me. As a person who is older…"
"And narrowed-mind." That completely shuts her up. "That is, unfortunately, not what I'm heading to. What I'm about to say is… how you should NOT assume the age of the person standing before you."
That causes the place to be silenced for a few seconds, before the chairman asks: "Can… can you elaborate further?"
"Of course." Kuro replies while keeping eye-contact with Mizuki. "I'm sure you have seen at least some of the clips about the fight in Ginza. The world from other side of the Gate has orges, dragons, bunny girls, harpies, and so on. We also have them, but only through documents."
"What's your point?"
"Do you know one of the many reasons people adore the Elves? Their long-life and prolonged beauty. Even in the end of their life, they retain their beautiful appearance, not even the signs of the age can hold them back." Kuro stops for three seconds for the audience to swallow the truth. "There are also being like vampires and unicorns, though they do need something to keep themselves to be beautiful, the point still stands. And then… we have Gods and the Chosen Ones."
That instantly earns him a nice reaction: Everyone else turns to look at Rory who just smirks in response.
"I believe that you all get the point. Pardon my rudeness that caused your ears to ring earlier." Kuro mockingly bows and returns to his seat without a beat.
"…I might regret this, but…" Mizuki regains her voice after swallowing once. "How old are you, miss Rory?"
"Nine hundred and sixty-one years old."
That causes everyone to freeze up. The woman slowly turns to the elves…
One hundred sixty-five and Four hundred sixty-six.
Their shocks only stop when Lelei and Peace say their real ages, which are both sixteen. Though it's back when they see Kuro amusingly glares back at them, signaling that he's easier older than any human in the room.
"I… I have no other questions." Mizuki starts picking up her notes and speaks and retreats quietly.
The chairman, seeing that there's another blank moment, speaks up: "Since madam Kouhara has no other questions, the other members can start their questions about…"
"I believe we have another matter that needs to be brought up immediately." One of them, around the age of 50, stands up and heads to where the first member starts her questioning. "Can miss **** please step forward?"
Knowing that it's her turn, Peace follows the request, and Kuro's smile turns off.
"I believe we should make it to the point. How many survivors in the Battle of Ginza have been taken to the other side of Gate?"
That simple question causes the whole Inquiry to gasp in surprise, as even the chairman doesn't know about it in his schedule. With his outside eyes, Kuro also sees many people in the crowd shouting to each other about this problem.
"…At that day, I saw promptly about ten people being captured with me." Peace tries to remember without freaking herself out. She's still a bit uneasy returning back to the time. "It could be more, since that's just an instance of a moment."
"Do you know what might happen to them?"
"That… I do not have a define answer. But, if it's similar to me, then the survivors might be sold as…" She stops right there.
"…As?" The member notices Kuro now raising his hand up. "Yes, mister Kuro?"
"That's up to your imagination. And this also depends on the buyers. Miss **** was lucky that her buyer only needed a worker to clean his place."
"…So she managed to draw the long straw." The member understands. "Then, may I ask how you found the JSDF? From what I can tell, you can't exactly send any emergency signals to their base."
"It's the opposite, sir. JSDF found me." Peace responds, although it's a bit of a half-truth. The other maids did notice her about the JSDF's appearance, but only when his brother appeared that she knew that she's certainly safe.
"I see. JSDF is surely bringing us back a lot of good news." He then turns to Kuro, who is surprisingly closing his eyes. "Then, how about you, mister Kuro? I believe you were also involved to these events. Care to share what you know?" To his surprise, the person doesn't answer. "…Mister Kuro?"
"…Sister. I will handle the rest." To the others' surprise, Kuro changes his language that only Peace is able to understand, as she says to the Diet member that he will talk for her. When standing forward, Kuro uses his serious tone and says to the member in the right language: "From what you have asked, I assume you have already gotten some information from me."
"That… I would have to deny the possibility. All I know is that you know something about this."
"I do. However, even I don't have a full Intel about the survivors until my scouting parties sweep the whole other side."
"Scouting parties, you say?" The murmurs start getting louder and louder. "You are not from…"
"Sedaran Empire. By the way, that's just one power faction in the other side. They also attacked the world I'm currently living, and we had to respond the same way you did."
The noise around starts to overpower the main conversation, so the chairman quickly tells them all to calm down. After thanking him, the Diet members continues: "I see. My apology for bringing it up. Although, I doubt there is a connection between that and the current event."
"The link is **** herself." Kuro sighs once then asks: "Do you, perhaps, have some knowledge about her family?"
"Only on the surface, unfortunately. Her father is well-known in his professional, though I found some rumors saying that his son is missing…" That self-reminder stops the member from continuing, and instead looking back-and-forth between Peace and Kuro. The cameras are also doing the same, and now everyone manages to find a lot of similarities between the two. "Wait… you two…"
"I would like you all to not shout. Hearing the crowd outside the Inquiry is already enough."
The undertone of the request spreads clear message to the people in the room, so they quickly shut their mouths.
"Thank you. And for your suspicion, yes, it's correct." He quickly taps his left ear to shut down his connection with the outside eyes. "And it's completely by chance that we ran into each other the same time JSDF arrived. And before you ask, no, my disappearance had nothing to do with the Gate."
It takes a full minute for the member to rearrange his questions and continues the conversation: "Mister Kuro… or should I call you by your real name?"
"For some serious security reasons, please refer to me as the name from now on unless I say otherwise."
"…Mister Kuro, how come do you not directly seek for us when we arrived into the other side of the Gate?"
"It's actually very simple: I have encountered another Earth which is not ours, so I didn't expect this one to be my own until our meeting." He takes a glance to Peace. "To be honest, with my new job, I didn't think we can even meet again."
"Your new job?"
"That, is also a serious thing that I can't get into details. Anyway… about the survivors. I'm here to tell you that we will support with the rescue."
"…We?"
"A full story would need to hold on for a bit. I know that you definitely have new questions, but I have hold this a bit too long than expected. If possible, I will hold some sorts of meeting in the future." Kuro bows, this time in a more respectful manner, and returns back to his seat.
"…Let us have a few minutes resting, then we can continue the topic." The chairman speaks out, and some quickly head out for a quick breath while the others start speaking with each other…
"You brought it to yourself." Rory casually spins the sealed weapon in her hand as she says her words. "Why the seriousness, though? You were laughing at that woman and then…"
"Like I said, I like seeing that. But when it comes to the normal people, it has to be casted aside. And what I just mentioned is extremely dangerous to say in public."
"Which scale of danger are we talking about?" Hodor asks the question…
And he regrets it when Kuro's left eye turns dark. "At the smallest, world level. At worst, universe, could be even worse."