Chapter 43
A Parted Initiative
"I am surprised it took you two so long to get in touch," the tall, svelte man said as he pushed up his glasses. "Did we not collaborate extensively in the prelude to Britannia's invasion of Japan?"
"You didn't exactly make yourself easy to find," Mao responded, doing his best to maintain a slight sneer. "Every time we tried to get in touch with you, the roundtrip delay of the messages always meant one or both of us had already moved on before a meeting could be arranged."
"The necessity of that should be obvious," the man said. "Neither of us are particularly popular in Japan right now, though seeing as quite a few of the most recent fiascos were precipitated by your hands, you really don't have anyone but yourselves to blame."
Mao tensed, but before he could come up with a retort Mao spoke up in his stead.
"Be that as it may, does the fact that you agreed to meet mean the prior partnership remains intact?" she said in a level tone.
The man gave a dry chuckle. "So long as I am dully compensated, I have no problems continuing our collaboration."
"How mercenary of you," Mao said, a snide smirk on his face.
"Why thank you," the man said, responding in kind. "I would hate to be accused of a lack of professionalism as an assassin."
Mao's face twisted into a grimace, but again Mao intervened before he could say anything he would genuinely regret.
"Then we are agreed." She pushed forward the large envelope. "These are your targets."
The man picked it up and pulled out the sheets inside, flipping through them quickly.
"Hmm. I'm surprised you don't have the viceroy on this list."
"As if you stand any chance against the likes of him."
The edge of the man's lips quirked again. "As compared to yourselves?"
"The Cardinal Lamperouge is not someone who can be bested man-to-man," Mao said, shooting her partner a pointed look. By now the pattern was almost rote. "Eliminating him requires significantly heavier ordnance, of military grade at minimum. That at the very least falls well outside of your realm of expertise."
The man chuckled, putting the papers and photos back into the envelope.
"That is probably true enough, though the targets you're contracting out to me are no slouches themselves. How much of it is I wonder the fact that you haven't been able to find them?"
"We are generally lacking in understanding about Ise's internal structure," Mao said, forestalling any further snipping from her partner, "hence why we have always been interested in native perspectives."
"Very well then, I shall endeavor not to disappoint. Just make sure the rest of my compensation is ready. The Cardinal Lamperouge may not be within my reach, but the same cannot be said of yourselves."
"Why you-" Mao began.
The man however was already on his way out, paying no mind to the youth's roiling temper. Before Mao could actually get more than two words out, the door was closed, leaving the young man to stew in frustration.
"Damnation, I hate that man," Mao exclaimed once he got over being so blithely ignored. "Not only is he an insufferable twat, he gives me the creeps the way he stares at me."
Mao rolled her eyes but did not give voice to her opinion of her partner's lack of awareness.
"Creepy as he is, the Sakurazukamori is still the best assassin in Japan," she said instead. "The last time the Order issued him a contract, he was able to kill everyone on the list despite the short window he was given. If anyone can finish Ise off, it's the man that dealt the first near-fatal blow."
"Even with Eden Vital openly extending Ise its protection?" Mao did not sound convinced.
Mao shrugged. "Our orders were to contract out the assassinations to the Sakurazukamori. We cannot be held accountable if he fails."
That was not entirely true, but neither youth seemed to want to dwell overly long on that point.
"Besides, we have our own concerns to deal with," Mao continued. "With Kyoto House and the JLF turning coat, the plan to have them serve a diversionary role when China invades has gone out the window. The grandmaster wants us to find a means of making good that loss."
"Isn't that why we infiltrated those Samurai guys?" Mao said impatiently. "We've already finished indoctrinating them, it's just a matter of moving them closer to Tokyo so they can launch their attack at the same time as China makes its move."
"That will likely not be enough," Mao declared bluntly. "You've seen how the Cardinal Lamperouge is adept at both martial and civil matters. An attack on Tokyo alone might momentarily distract him, but the Blood of the Samurai are not nearly strong enough to seize the city by themselves. If the chaos they induce is to serve any meaningful purpose, it must be further magnified."
Mao narrowed his eyes. "Magnified how?"
"Ideally the entire city would go up in flames in rioting and fighting," Mao said, "but there isn't enough Refrain left in the country to rile the populace up like that, or a means to distribute it widely enough even if there were." The petite girl drummed her fingers against her chair. "What we need is something that will rile up both the Britannian and Japanese populaces alike. Something that will get them so angry that there will be no opportunity for cooler heads to intervene." A most unpleasant smirk crossed Mao's face. "And I know just the thing."
Outside, the man known as the Sakurazukamori was nary a block away when something in his jacket pocket began vibrating. Pulling out his cell, he answered nonchalantly.
"You're taking an awful risk calling me out in the open like this."
"Satsuki has assured me that the encryption is good enough that even Eden Vital would have some difficulty cracking it in real-time," the woman on the other end responded. "Well? How did it go?"
The man feigned a resigned sigh. "I got the job, as we predicted. The rogue cardinal seems quite determined to wipe out the remaining Ise fundamentalists. That should clear the way for you to become high priestess as per the original deal, assuming you actually believe the Chinese will actually make good on their end."
"Leave worrying about that to me," the woman on the other end said firmly. "You just make sure Hinoto's surviving disciples are eliminated."
A click signaled the call terminating. The man looked down at his cellphone for a moment before chuckling.
"Ever the classy lady, eh, Kanoe?" He put the phone away. "Ah well, you were never my type in the first place." Then chuckled. "Now, Subaru, ah, old friend, I'll be seeing you soon."
"Oh my god," Kallen exclaimed.
Milly looked over at the other girl. "Should a sister of Eden Vital really take the Lord's name in vain like that?"
"I wasn't baptized as a Christian and I'm still not," Kallen said.
"Really?" Milly said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"The Order is actually pretty flexible about the denominations of its lay members," Kallen said. "Only ordained members have to be actually baptized in Eden Vital proper."
"Huh, never knew that," Milly said. "That aside, you look right poofed."
"I am," Kallen said. "I knew from the civics class that there're a lot of responsibilities that comes from being a noble, but I never imagined it'd be this much!"
Milly chuckled as she gave the younger girl a sympathetic pat on the head. "To be fair, normally a noble heir would have at least the time of their tertiary education to get brought up to speed. Your situation is, while not unique, still a bit out of the ordinary."
As Kallen's father had declared to his very soon to be ex-wife, Albrecht was indeed stepping down as Viscount of Fox Valley. This of course meant someone else needed to carry on the title, and as Kallen was his only designated legal heir, that duty fell to her. The complication here was that Kallen was both a minor and had yet to complete her secondary education, much less the tertiary degrees that titled nobles were expected to pick up to qualify them as both administrators and sitting members of the Lords. That meant for reasons of practicality if nothing else, Albrecht would need to remain in a caretaker role until Kallen was older and had completed more of her qualifications. Her father however was not wasting any time, and indeed seemed intent on making up for all the time he had not spent in the past educating her about her family fief, a place that Kallen had never actually set foot in before becoming its lord.
"I never wanted the title," Kallen groused. "I've never even been to the Fox Valley, for that matter. And now I'm legally obliged to make it my home?"
"It's not quite so bad," Milly said. "After all, Grandfather spends most of his time here in Japan despite our family fief being New England."
"Why is that, anyway?" Kallen said. "From everything I've learned, I'd expect your grandfather to spend most of his time in Pendragon dealing with business in the Lords."
"Grandfather considers himself, retired, from all that," Milly said with a sly smile, "hence why it's Father that sits in the Lords as his duly appointed proxy, and why Mother is the one that handles most of the direct administration of New England proper, while Grandfather occupies his time with his hobbies, like running Ashford Industries, and of course the academy."
Such an arrangement was not uncommon amongst the various families with noble patents. When parliament was in session, scrutinizing the bills that passed through the Lords amounted to a fulltime job that left its members little time for anything else. Similarly, administration of one's fief was also an immense responsibility that went on year-round. That meant realistically a single person could not possibly handle both tasks simultaneously, hence why noble families tended to split the tasks amongst their members. This was another way of forcing such families to maintain a high degree of rigor, as those that allowed their scions to become overly idle would end up overwhelmed with work and ultimately lose their patent of nobility for failing to uphold their duties.
Kallen slowly shook her head. "Your family is really something."
"The same could arguably be said for yours," Milly said. "Your father has somehow managed to juggle his duties as Viscount of Fox Valley, a sitting peer, and kept his business interests afloat all by himself. More than afloat, actually, since his personal fortune is I think the sixteenth largest amongst the peerage, stripping out the value of the fief itself."
"I'm starting to think Father abdicated just so he could spend more time on his hobbies too," Kallen said, giving her hair an exasperated tug.
Milly chuckled again. "Maybe. But you won't be alone in sorting out all this, and it seems like the Fox Valley is more or less running itself fine, so you don't need to stress too much about it."
"That's true," Kallen agreed. "And a good chunk of Father's business involves arbitrating trade for the companies based there, so even if he's officially stepped back, he'll still keep an eye out for business reasons if nothing else." The girl still sighed. "Though I'll still need to pay a visit in the near term just to reassure the people I'm not ignoring them or anything."
"Comes part and parcel with the title," Milly said.
The Ashford daughter was providing Kallen both moral and practical support, lending an ear when she needed to let off some steam like this and also helping her learn more about the ins and outs of what would be expected of her as a titled lord. Having had a more focused education on that matter, Milly could at least offer Kallen a peer's perspective on all the subtle little details.
"Still, by all indications your family's done a pretty good job managing its fief," Milly said, leafing through some of the documents scattered around the table. "Quite a lot of territories from the East Coast to the Midwest fell on hard times when lots of mass manufacturing shifted southward or even further in the 80s. My family had a hell of a time arresting the decline and revitalizing the provincial economy. Your fief is one of the few territories that actually gained in manufacturing work."
The Fox Valley fief encompassed a number of small cities and towns along the Fox River in the province of Wisconsin, with the city of Appleton as the viscounty's capital. Wisconsin for the most part did not have much to its name, being for the most part a mixture of large sweeping agricultural regions broken up by a few small cities. Prior to having to dig deeper about her domain, Kallen had at most associated cheese with the province, though others might be tempted to pick beer instead. Now however she was starting to learn that the province had actually a very strong manufacturing base centered squarely in her family's fief. It might not be as large or as dense as that of some other provinces, but the manufacturing that did take place tended to be of higher precision and more specialized, and thus of greater value.
Kallen blinked. "Oh? Why would manufacturing work have left New England when your family owns Ashford Industries?"
Milly gave a snort. "Two reasons. First, Ashford Industries might be big, but we certainly don't own all of the factories in New England. If other businesses decided they want to pick up stakes and move, we don't have much say in it. Second, and more importantly, business is business. If our competitors are able to undercut us on price while maintaining quality, then practically there are only two outcomes. We either replicate their cost structure, which usually means figuring out how to cut labor costs, or we go out of business."
"I suppose that's true enough," Kallen said, "it just feels a bit, callous, to just abandon all those people that used to work for you."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Kallen looked up at the other girl in mild befuddlement. "What? I mean, how is that not a bad thing?"
Milly clasped her fingers together. "You're still in the second-year civics course, so consider this a sneak peek of next year."
At the visible grimace, Milly cracked a smile before continuing.
"Why is putting someone out of work callous? Because they lose the means by which to put food on the table and a roof over their heads? True, that is certainly calamitous for the person being put out of work, but consider what the wider societal consequence is. The product that they previously made is now made for cheaper, and so the price a buyer ultimately pays also goes down, making the product accessible to more people. Then there's the newer worker that replaced the older one. Suddenly they have a job that lets them put food on the table. True, they may be getting paid less, but that's a consequence of the cost of living being lower where they are, and the increased purchasing power they obtain helps increase overall consumption as well. Considering all of the resulting benefits, from a societal perspective, is it not better for work to be shifted to a lower cost base where possible, even if the people work is being shifted away from end up in a worse position personally."
"As much sense as that may make logically," Kallen said, "it still feels irresponsible to just leave those people hanging."
"Well obviously we don't do that," Milly said with a snort. "Didn't I say my family had a hell of a time revitalizing New England's economy? We might have been forced to make decisions that put thousands of people out of work, but we did our damndest to soften the blow. Everyone too old to retrain got early retirement. Everyone young enough to find new work, we helped with placement in work elsewhere and even stipends for retraining. And we also tried to build up businesses that weren't so cost sensitive, to try to replace the jobs that moved away. We certainly weren't able to help catch everyone that fell, but we managed to at least make it so some of the benefits of the work moves were felt by those that lost their original jobs."
"I see," Kallen said. "I suppose I should apologize, for being presumptuous about what your family did and didn't do for those left behind."
"Apology accepted," Milly said. "But the point I was trying to make is, those people that stand to lose the most in the immediate wake of these sorts of decisions? By and large they're not properly equipped to evaluate the societal benefits that result from their loss. Nor should they be expected to. They have their hands full with the immediate demands of their own work, their families, their lives. Think of all the time spent preparing us to succeed our family's titles. Think of the specialized degrees that our parents accrue and which we're expected to also get. It's a lifetime of work for us to even gather the tools necessary to understand all the nuances of the decisions we need to make. How much of their lives would they have to sacrifice in order to become as well-informed as us? How useful would that knowledge even be for the sorts of lives they live?"
Kallen frowned, grasping at the abstract reasoning Milly was laying on her. If this really was a preview of the third-year civics course, she could foresee lots of headaches in her future.
"What I'm saying is," Milly continued, "it's a lot of work to be able to make well-informed policy and legislative decisions. The privilege and comfort that we enjoy are there to enable us to devote the time necessary to do that work. That means our subjects depend on us to not only be ready to soften the blows from the hard decisions we make, but to make those hard decisions in the first place. What course of action is for the greater good? What must be sacrificed in the short term for a brighter long term? The people out there living their day to day lives don't have the time to be able to expand their vision beyond that of their own immediate circumstances. We, the aristocracy, with our immediate basic needs and wants satisfied to the level of comfort, we're the ones that have the time. And we are only deserving of those comforts if we use that time to make the hard decisions that our subjects are ill-prepared to handle."
"But can we not be wrong in our decisions?" Kallen countered. "What if we screw up and make things worse?"
Milly gave another snort. "Of course we can be wrong. We can even screw up spectacularly enough to be stripped of our titles, deservedly so in such cases. And this holds true even for the emperor, since that's exactly what happened when Emperor Charles kicked off his coup against his own grandfather. Make no mistake, Kallen. The Britannian aristocracy does not presume the permanence that the continentals did. Our houses retain their titles for only as long as we are worthy of them. These titles are hereditary because our families generally have the most resources to invest in our education to prepare us to succeed, but the notion that we're somehow more suitable just because of the blood flowing through us is antiquated nonsense."
"That's not how the Purists seem to look at things," Kallen noted.
Milly crossed her arms and leaned back against the table. "This about your grandparents being Purists?"
Kallen blinked. "How do you know about that?"
"Kallen, Purists have never been shy about their affiliations. And while your grandparents weren't the most outspoken or prominent adherents of that movement, they were still widely recognized as card-carrying members. So? Out with it. What's gotten your panties all twisted?"
The redhead almost winced. "Do you really have to put it that way?"
"Didn't take you for such a prude," Milly said, cracking a playful smirk.
If that was the older girl's way of easing the tension, Kallen had to admit it was working at least a little bit. The momentary distraction of the lurid image at least broke through Kallen's current moodiness.
"My grandparents were Purists, meaning inevitably they would draw others of that ilk around them, and would influence others along a similar vein. How prevalent, then, is Purism within the Fox Valley Viscounty?"
A viscounty that was in the process of getting a mixed-blood viscountess.
"Well if that's what you're worried about," Milly said, pulling out her cellphone, "let's take a look at the party breakdown from the last election."
Kallen blinked. "What?"
"You do remember that the House of Commons is composed of elected representatives, right?" Milly said wryly. "Let's see, the two representatives from Fox Valley are, a Centralist and a Liberal. As for the actual last election, let's see here, looks like the Liberals didn't put forward a candidate, that probably means they've got a deal with the Centralists for strategic voting purposes. Alright, the Centralist candidate won with 43%, the Crown Loyalist candidate came second with 35%, not bad at all there, Labor came in with 13%, would have expected them to do a bit better in a manufacturing region like the Valley, but suppose that just means your family's done a pretty good job keeping them down, the Britannian National Party, they're the commoner contingent of the Purist movement, got 4%, and the last 5% are divided up amongst a mix of small, fairly inconsequential parties like the Republicans and the Greens."
Milly looked up from reading off the numbers.
"Since voting is mandatory, we can say that of the eligible voting population of Fox Valley, only about 4% of them hold outright Purist sentiment, while the vast majority are of a more rational bent. The Liberals have never really had any time for Purist nonsense, and the Centralists have been shifting towards a more and more tolerant posture with each passing year. The Crown Loyalists these days tend to be as reasonable as the Centralists, what with all the years Emperor Charles has been on the throne, and Labor likes to think of itself as an umbrella for workers of all cultures. When they discriminate, it's usually along class lines instead of racial ones."
Kallen blinked, still trying to parse through the initial set of numbers Milly had spouted, much less the breakdown of where the various political parties stood with respect to racial discrimination.
"Bottom line is," Milly concluded, "only the BNP actually have Purist ideology ingrained within their political manifesto, and as you can see they attracted one of the lowest proportions of votes in the Fox Valley. That of course doesn't mean all the rest of the people in the Fox Valley are openminded and totally welcoming of other races, but any hesitancy on their part will probably just be down to the appearance of a new face. And you know what? That's the exact same anxiety you're feeling yourself about having to meet all these people as their new viscountess."
That saw Kallen crack a wry smile. "You really know how to read people, don't you, Milly?"
"I do try," Milly smiled back. "You've got lots of people watching your back, Kallen. Even if there are some bigots in your domain, you're the viscountess now, and it's up to you to put your mark down."
"I'll certainly try."
Milly nodded. "Besides, it's been five years since your father assumed the title himself. Your grandparents might have been Purists, but it's pretty clear your father is cut from a different cloth. With how dynamic a person he is, I'm sure he's put his own imprint on the viscounty."
"That is probably true," Kallen found herself agreeing before sighing slightly. "Though that promises to be exhausting for entirely different reasons."
Milly chuckled. "Well, it'll be a few years yet before you have to shoulder a greater proportion of the administrative workload. In the meantime, aside from preparing for the succession ceremony, your biggest worry will probably be how now that I'm taken, you've just become Ashford Academy's most eligible available bachelorette."
All amusement faded from Kallen's expression as she stared at Milly with a completely blank expression.
"After all, we might have quite a few noble heirs attending the school, but you'd be the only one with a title in her own right."
The color that now returned was a mix of horror and exasperation.
"I suspect you'll be quite the popular prospective date for this year's festival ball," Milly concluded with a wide smirk.
A thud sounded as Kallen planted her face down atop the pile of paper she was reading, which about summed up her opinion of that particular prospect.
As Suzaku rolled into the prefect clubhouse, he was more than happy to be greeted by the charming young woman seated at the large table.
"Oh, hello Suzaku," Euphemia greeted with a smile, looking up from the sheets of paper spread before her.
Arthur, who was previously lazing about next to Euphemia on the table, looked up and meowed as she saw Suzaku.
"Good afternoon, Euphemia," Suzaku said. "Or, I suppose it's almost evening."
Rolling to a stop, he reached out to give the cat a pet, who promptly took a bit of the outstretched hand.
"Youch!" Suzaku said, trying to pull free.
"Arthur," Euphemia admonished, taking hold of the cat to try to get her to let go.
Fortunately, Arthur did not need too much convincing and released Suzaku's hand.
"Are you alright?" Euphemia asked.
"I think so," Suzaku said, looking over the marks. "I don't think Arthur actually bit down, just more of a slight gnawing."
"I'm glad," Euphemia said, and then down at the cat. "You shouldn't do that, Arthur. Suzaku here is a friend, got it?"
The cat meowed again, though whether in acknowledgment or dismissal of the point remained unclear.
"Studying for some test?" Suzaku asked, nodding to all the papers.
Euphemia shook her head, setting Arthur back down. "No, this has more to do with my, official duties." She shuffled some of the pages about. "You know about the Special Administration Act that's currently being debated in the Lords?"
Suzaku gave a firm nod. "Of course."
It would have been hard not to for the Japanese youth, seeing as that act was the culmination of so much of his hope that the Japanese and Britannian peoples might reach a point of mutual recognition and peaceful coexistence. The road to get there had been long and hard, as evidenced by the last six or so years of turmoil. Still, now that the goal was in sight, everything seemed to be moving so quickly that even Suzaku, a fervent believer in it, found himself more than a little bit bewildered from the present precipitance. And just a little bit anxious that it might all be snatched away without warning.
"Well, my family is still a bit askance about me putting in too public a showing," Euphemia said, "at least not without some more practice. Hence why I'll be hosting a Q&A for the students here at Ashford next week. I imagine quite a few students, Japanese and Britannian both, will have plenty of things they'll want to ask."
That Suzaku wholeheartedly agreed with, seeing as he was one of them.
"Is that what you're working on now?" he asked.
Euphemia nodded, gesturing and the papers. "This is a copy of the latest iteration of the bill. It's undergone a few tweaks since its introduction, nothing too drastic, but it's best I remain abreast of all the amendments so that I can provide accurate answers."
"I didn't realize just how, umm, big the bill was," Suzaku said, eyeing the large spread.
Euphemia chuckled. "I arguably shouldn't be printing it out like this, but I find it easier to have a hardcopy in front of me than trying to read everything on a screen."
Suzaku could sympathize. He had to stare at plenty enough screens as part of his work with Camelot. Ashford itself also had quite a bit of its coursework digitized, though the school used a customized tablet whose display was more paper-like than any other tablet Suzaku had ever worked with, ostensibly to help reduce the eyestrain.
"That being the case, did you want to try asking me some questions?" Euphemia said. "It would help me see if I've got a good enough grasp of the information to answer."
"Oh, sure," Suzaku said. "Yes, I definitely have a lot of questions."
"Then fire away," Euphemia said with notably enthusiasm.
Suzaku flashed a smile as he began more seriously. "I think the bit that concerns me the most is there still seems to be a two-tier system, of Britannian residents versus citizens."
Euphemia nodded. "That one's a bit inevitable, and it's a consequence of Britannian law that has nothing to do with the Area Administrative Acts. Basically, all imperial citizens have to be willing to bear arms for the Empire. There is no conscientious objector exemption. In the past, natural-born citizens have even been stripped of full citizenship on account of their refusal to respond to a draft. People that were born foreign nationals that then want to become Britannian citizens are required to take an oath that includes an explicit reference to their willingness to take up arms if called to do so by the Empire. This particular provision holds true even for people that become imperial subjects through conquest. The Empire at minimum will not presume their willingness to bear arms for it, hence why only people who have already sworn oaths to become Honorary Britannians, like yourself, will get automatic conversion to citizenship. Everyone else will need to take the regular citizenship oath, otherwise they will simply be granted the status of native resident."
That singular question had elicited such a long answer, but that simply went to show just how serious Euphemia took her responsibility to provide those answers.
"In practical terms, the main difference between native residents and citizens are that the former does not have the vote and also are excluded from the draft," Euphemia continued. "Otherwise, residents and citizens have the same rights and privileges. And unlike with permanent residents, native residents can be hired for government jobs."
Suzaku blinked. "What's the difference between native versus permanent residents?"
"Permanent residents are foreign nationals that have elected to settle long-term within the Empire, usually with the intention of becoming citizens," Euphemia said. "They are however recognized as still citizens of another nation which Britannia has diplomatic relations with, which results in a few additional restrictions being placed upon them until they become citizens. Their passports, for example, are still issued by their country of origin, and they cannot apply for government jobs. Native residents on the other hand are not considered to be foreign nationals, the Empire assumes full responsibility for them in an international setting, like with issuing passports."
"This distinction, has it always been there in imperial law?"
Euphemia nodded. "In all honesty, the Empire should have granted Japan's people native residency a long time ago. The process isn't automatic though, since there haven't been that many occasions where Britannia has needed to grant a large number of people native residency. Every time it's been done, it was a result of a direct act of parliament, just like this time. Except this time, parliament really dragged its feet, which it really shouldn't have."
"I see," Suzaku said thoughtfully. "You seem to know a lot of background behind all this."
Euphemia cracked a slight smile. "I've had to do a lot of reading. Before I pushed through my debut, I honestly hadn't been aware of much of this."
"Your debut," Suzaku said. "It can't have been easy, convincing your family to let you make it here in Japan."
"There were certainly challenges," Euphemia agreed, "but in the end it was a thing worth doing, and I'm glad I did."
"Me too."
The smile between the two lingered, and might have continued doing so save for the sound of the doors opening again. So startled, the two quickly averted their eyes before looking over to see who had entered.
"Sorry I'm late, Suzaku," Kaguya announced. "I was-oh."
Keen as her intuition was, it did not escape Kaguya's eyes that her cousin and his companion were, if not exactly flustered, then at least looked suspiciously like they had been interrupted. Difficult as it was, she barely managed to constrain the smile on her face to friendly politeness instead of the giant smirk that was threatening to break out.
"Oh, were you waiting for your cousin?" Euphemia managed to sound almost nonchalant.
"Umm, yes," Suzaku was not quite as successful. "We were going to have dinner before I headed over to MacArthur Base for the weekend."
The princess blinked. "The base? Why would you be going there over the weekend?"
"Well, I am still a soldier," Suzaku said. "And there's some work that takes longer than can be fit in during a weekday evening. My superiors are actually being quite considerate, and my colleagues too, taking time out of their weekends so that I don't have to skip classes too often."
Euphemia glanced ever so discretely at the wheelchair Suzaku was seated in.
"After everything you've sacrificed for the Empire, and for my brother, that is the least courtesy you are owed," she stated firmly.
Suzaku smiled. "I thank you for your consideration, Euphie."
Euphemia returned the expression. "Well, I shan't keep you if you're to dine with your cousin."
Kaguya cleared her throat at that. "If you don't happen to have any other plans, would you like to join us, Euphie?"
At that the princess blinked. "What?"
"Well, I was just thinking, in all the time you've been here in Japan, have you actually had the chance to eat some genuine Japanese cuisine?"
Euphemia blinked again before slowly shaking her head.
"Whenever Suzaku and I dine together, I make sure to include some traditional cuisine, since he so rarely gets a chance to eat it himself," Kaguya said, clapping her hands together. "It wouldn't be any trouble to have some prepared for you as well, and it would give us a chance to get to know each other better. You'd like that too, wouldn't you, Suzaku?"
The gurgling sound Suzaku made similarly indicated his surprise, albeit less elegantly.
"Of course!" he managed. "I'd love to-I mean, it would be a pleasure to-I mean-"
Despite herself, Euphemia could not help but giggle as Suzaku's tongue became thoroughly tangled.
"Where would you happen to be dining?" she asked Kaguya. "I'm afraid I am obligated to remain on campus grounds unless prior arrangements are made."
"That's no problem," Kaguya assured her. "We actually dine in my dorm room, and yes, Suzaku has the somewhat unique privilege of being allowed into the girls' dorms despite being a boy."
Euphemia regarded Suzaku with a hard to describe gaze. "Is that so?"
"It's just Kaguya's room!" Suzaku immediately clarified. "And even then it has to be cleared beforehand!"
This time it was Kaguya that giggled. "Well, what do you say?"
Euphemia took a moment or so to consider it before giving a smiling nod.
"Why not. I've been curious about Japanese cuisine for quite some time, so this seems a good opportunity as any. Oh, but I'll need to let Milly know I won't be joining her family tonight."
"No problem at all," Kaguya said. "We can wait a little bit longer, right Suzaku?"
"Right," Suzaku managed with a bit more composure this time. "No rush."
Throughout all this Kaguya kept smiling, feeling a giddy sense of satisfaction at the unfolding scene. It was not just for the sake of her own amusement that Kaguya was providing a little nudge here, she cared enough about her cousin to want him to be happy. Besides, establishing a connection like this with the Britannian imperial family would do Japan no small amount of good. That it would also, in a roundabout way, of making her family of sorts with a certain black-haired and violet-eyed youth, well, that was no bad thing either.
"Your Eminence," Lucretia's voice sounded over the intercom, "the Grandmaster has returned and has brought, guests, with her."
Lelouch looked over at the phone, clearly torn between asking for further elucidation and trying to pretend he had not just heard what he did. Eventually the cardinal's sense of duty won out, barely so, and he pressed the button to respond.
"And whom might these guests be?"
"Members of the Ise priesthood and associates," came the answer.
While Lelouch had suspected full well the grandmaster's little trip out to Kyoto was hardly for pleasure, he was still taken aback by the pronouncement. Kaguya's difficulties securing personnel that could fill out the reconstituted Ise priesthood was well known to Lelouch, so the fact that the grandmaster was able to turn up with even a few such individuals indicated at least one secret she had declined to previously divulge to either Lelouch or Kaguya. It promised to not be the last either.
"See that they are comfortably settled," Lelouch ordered, "and ask when would be a convenient time for us to meet."
Exactly two hours later, Lelouch watched as two Japanese women and one Japanese man entered, accompanied by the grandmaster herself. The tall, aloof looking woman with long, straight black hair was clearly the leader of her party, while the younger woman carried herself with the bearing of a guard. The man on the other hand seemed almost decorative in comparison, though Lelouch could sense a keen sharpness to his bearing as well.
"Cardinal Lamperouge," the older woman said, bowing deeply. "I am Arashi Arisugawa, Hidden Priestess of Ise."
"Sorata Arisugawa," the man said as he likewise bowed, "of Mount Koya."
The younger girl did not introduce herself, an indication that she was not to be a participant in the conversation. Lelouch set her out of mind for the moment as he regarded the man.
"Mount Koya," he said. "That is a Buddhist temple settlement, the headquarters of the Koya sect of Buddhism."
The man flashed a wide smile. "I'm surprised you know of us, Your Eminence."
"And I am equally surprised to see a union between a Buddhist monk and an Ise priestess," Lelouch said, eyeing the grandmaster pointedly. "It seems the ties between Ise and Japan's other ecclesiastical orders run deeper than I was made aware of."
The smile on C.C.'s face showed the grandmaster to be utterly unrepentant, so after a moment longer spent glaring at her, Lelouch turned his attention back to his guests.
"Might I be granted an explanation as to your specific place within the Ise priesthood?" the cardinal asked.
"Certainly," Arashi said. "The position of hidden priestess is intended as a failsafe, to ensure the preservation of Ise's rituals and secrets should the wider priesthood fall. I am also charged with felling that priesthood itself should it stray from its stated charge, the stewardship of the Kamine Island thought elevator." A glint flashed in Arashi's eyes. "I consider it my good fortune that recent developments have not obliged me to take up that aspect of my duty."
One moment, Lelouch was politely attentive in his expression. The next, a glare of incandescent fury was directed at the grandmaster, one of such smoldering intensity that the room actually felt as if the temperature had risen by several degrees. Considering the cardinal's geass, the sensation might have portended a literal manifestation of his powers. Similarly, the equally sudden reversion an indication the grandmaster had exerted hers to calm the excited particles in the air. That of course did nothing to calm the cardinal himself.
"You and I will be having words about this later, Grandmaster," Lelouch said, the chill of his tone a stark complement to the harsh light in his eyes.
"As you wish," C.C. however answered without any hint of being perturbed by her protégé's mood.
After taking a deep breath to moderate his temper, Lelouch looked back at Arashi again.
"I trust I can hold you to your assessment that Ise has not strayed from its charge."
"For the time being," Arashi answered frankly.
That was probably as much reassurance as he would likely get, so Lelouch moved on.
"May I presume then that you are here in pursuance of your first charge?"
Arashi nodded. "And to enlist Eden Vital's assistance in the process."
The cardinal blinked. "The Order has already offered its assistance in restoring Ise."
"A restoration that will do little good if those that struck down so many of my fellow priests are allowed the opportunity to do so again."
Another brief pause passed as Lelouch mulled over the implications.
"You know who the party responsible for the deaths of your fellow priests is."
Despite the phrasing, Lelouch was not asking a question.
"Regrettably so," Arashi responded, then nodded to Sorata.
The man opened up a large envelope he was carrying and laid out on the table several photos of various people, all of Japanese ethnicity.
"The woman here is Kanoe Sumeragi," Arashi indicated to the first photo.
The woman in it had flowing black hair, styled more gaudily than Arashi's simpler cut. The tint of her skin was noticeably paler too, which combined with her jade-like eyes gave the woman an almost ephemeral allure.
"Prior to the invasion, she worked as a secretary to Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi and acted as the primary liaison between Ise and the Japanese cabinet. She was responsible for conveying the results of the economic and sociological models Ise ran on behalf of the Japanese government, and she used her position to manipulate the reports to make the prime minister believe Britannia would bend to economic pressure via a sakuradite embargo."
"Should I presume she also manipulated the results of other models as well?"
"Most probably," Arashi said, "though we lack definitive confirmation for the others."
"Well, that explains somewhat the Japanese government's diplomatic folly, at least," Lelouch said, massaging his temple.
As with Eden Vital, and the other ecclesiastical orders in all likelihood, Ise performed not just scientific and engineering computations, but also models and simulations for the respective sponsoring governments. These simulations were wide-ranging, with their results helping to formulate all sorts of government policy, both domestic and foreign facing. In fact the simple ability to employ the thought elevators in this manner allowed for far more detailed analysis of proposed policy changes far more quickly than would have been possible with conventional computational resources, allowing for more nuanced and finely tuned policies to be enacted.
This dependency however also meant anyone that managed to successfully manipulate the results being conveyed to the corresponding government could cause untold chaos and disruption, as evidenced by the catastrophic outcome of the Japanese government thinking it could economically blackmail Britannia. Granted any rational foreign policy professional should have been able to immediately notice the discrepancy, but there had been an underlying nationalist streak within Japanese politics that for decades yearned for an opportunity to, in their view, throw off the Britannian yoke. The resulting confirmation bias this engendered probably played no small role in getting the Japanese government to accept the manipulated Ise projections, with catastrophic consequences.
"She has been missing since the before the invasion," Arashi concluded, "shortly after her mother and siblings were all murdered."
One of whom was Kaguya's own mother. Though even if Kanoe possessed a modicum of authority as a priestess of Ise and Diet secretary, she still presumably was not capable of pulling off even that limited set of murders all by her lonesome.
"These would be her collaborators?" Lelouch indicated the other photos.
"Indeed," Arashi said, pointing to a young woman with short, boyish hair and large glasses next. "This is Satsuki Yatoji, a computer prodigy. She was one of the operators responsible for managing computations in the Kamine Island thought elevator, and was the recipient of a crude, early generation neuro-link interface."
Lelouch stiffened for a moment as a grimace crossed his face. "How crude?"
Arashi however shook her head. "I am afraid I am not well versed in such technological matters. I know only of its existence, not the extent of its capabilities."
"I see," Lelouch said unhappily.
While Eden Vital had achieved a high degree of functionality with the neuro-link interface installed within Lelouch and the other contractors, the Order's rapid progress was a consequence of its greater utilization of the thought elevators allowing it to skip a few stages of iteration. The other ecclesiastical orders, those that had the capacity to even pursue the technology, obviously needed to take things more slowly, which also meant they were obliged to set their sights lower as to what constituted a minimal viable product. This ironically seemed to have resulted in Ise at least developing an earlier generation interface that could be installed in people. Even if said interface was much less capable than Eden Vital's current generation, its existence in the first place was a considerable complication that needed accounting for.
"We are fairly confident that Yatoji was not only responsible for the digital subterfuge that distracted the authorities from the attack launched upon Ise," Arashi continued, "but also the deletion of so much of Ise's digital records."
That certainly would explain just how few traces Eden Vital's own forensics teams had had in trying to piece anything together, having to resort to the few offline backups still intact, as well as paper hardcopies.
"And is this Satsuki still believed to be active?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes," Arashi affirmed.
That was both good and bad. Bad, in the sense that this woman was clearly capable of doing a lot of damage, especially with how interconnected the world's digital systems were. On the other hand, if she did try something, now that they knew to be on the lookout, it might be possible to track her once she made a move.
"Next," Arashi said, moving onto the first of the two men in the photos. "Yuto Kigai."
For some reason the man was wearing a pink suit, instead of one more traditionally colored.
"He was a bureaucrat working for the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and one charged with directly liaising with Ise to convey to them the government's inputs and requirements for various simulations."
In other words, the Japanese government's counterpart to Kanoe. Which elicited a slightly quizzical look from Lelouch.
"Aside from potentially fiddling with the numbers to hide the manipulation of the results in the past, what threat would Yuto constitute now?" Lelouch asked.
"He had access to the accounts for compensating Ise for its services," Arashi answered, "accounts that were drained as the invasion unfolded."
Which meant if he were still involved with Kanoe now, he could be in a position to continue bankrolling whatever ambitions she possessed.
"He was also in a suspected relationship with Kanoe."
Less of an if, in that case. Fortunately, tracking down a money trail was something Eden Vital was very good at, once it became aware of a need to do so. Even with Satsuki's help obfuscating the financial flows, it should still be possible for the Order, or rather Sancia in particular, to spot the thread.
"And this last person?" Lelouch referred to the tall, slender man wearing glasses captured in the photo.
"Seishirou Sakurazuka," Arashi said, her voice hardening even more than when she first brought up Kanoe. "The Sakurazukamori."
Lelouch blinked. "That's not a myth?"
Arashi shook her head slowly. "The Sakurazukamori has served as a discrete enforcer for the Japanese government since ages past, with the title being passed on generation after generation to whomever succeeds in killing the previous holder. This man is the most recent bearer, as was his mother before him."
It was for a singular moment, but the cardinal's body stopped moving in its entirety. The only ones that might have noticed were C.C. or his attendants, as otherwise Lelouch gave no indication of being visibly shaken by that last bit.
"How did you manage to acquire a photo of him?"
"This was taken of his public persona," Arashi explained. "Officially he is a surgeon, and was even well acquainted with several members of the Ise priesthood. It was only much later that that we discovered his true role as the Sakurazukamori."
A rather perverse twist there, having dual professions where one took lives while the other was supposed to save them. Though if Seishirou was still an actively practicing surgeon, they might be able to find him that way. Taking him out would probably be a tad more difficult than with the others, however.
"Does Ise have any particular preferences as to how these four are dealt with if found?"
"The Sakurazukamori is too dangerous to leave alive," Arashi stated. "The others, if they can be taken alive, they might have useful intelligence that can be extracted."
Lelouch nodded. "It will be done. Is there anything else?"
"We will need to make contact with Kaguya," Arashi said. "There is much to be done to prepare her if she is to truly assume the title of High Priestess."
The cardinal's jaw tightened. "That can be arranged, but bear in mind that I consider Kaguya to be under my protection. I will not brook any harm befalling her, from anyone."
"A most forward statement," Arashi said utterly nonplussed, "and misplaced at that. Kaguya is and always will be of Ise. It is only if an attempt is made to remove her that would constitute harm being done to her person. Bear that in mind, Cardinal of Eden Vital."
End of Chapter 43
Just a note, the last scene of chapter 42 got tweaked. I was feeling sufficiently dissatisfied with it that I went back and gave Leila a few more lines. The goal always was to have her play a more active part in the trip to Kono Shrine, but the original draft just didn't click the way I wanted it to for her to assert herself. I've gone back and made at least a partial effort to fix that. Her role is still more subdued than I would like, but at this point I don't have the time to do further revisions.
The scene between Kallen and Milly ended up running away longer than expected and even resulted in me pushing yet again another scene into next chapter. I suppose there was a lot more info I needed to dump, and character development to set up, than anticipated.
The Suzaku x Euphemia pairing tends to evoke extremely strong feelings in the Code Geass fanbase. A portion vehemently detests it, while another swears by it as if it were holy writ. My own position ranges between mild indifference to its existence to moderate irritation at the way it was handled/written. The latter is more a consequence of my general problems with how Euphemia and Suzaku in particular were written and less about the relationship itself, but as R1 at least hadn't yet managed to mangle the characters the way R2 did my feelings never rose beyond that.
One thing I want to make very, very clear however is that the portrayal of this relationship in my story does not serve to validate or invalidate the relationship that was portrayed in the canon anime. The motives and rationale for why Suzaku and Euphemia are growing closer have only the most tangential relation with what drove the canon relationship. The dynamics are very different here, and the success or failure (yes, it's still early days yet, and I've already noted I let relationships unfold organically as fits the needs of the narrative) of the relationship here has no reliance on how things worked out in canon, nor provides any reinforcement for it.
Why do I feel the need to lay all this out? Because frankly the one thing that I genuinely loathe as a fanfic writer is the imposition of a canon derived preconception upon my work. I actively break canon left and right in order to escape its bounds when crafting my stories. As such treating this story's Suzaku x Euphemia relationship as if it were some mere projection of the canon relationship when it explicitly is not, irritates me, since doing so is an indication that a reader has ignored a substantial amount of setup and development in the process. And if you're going to be doing that, why bother following this story at all?
Arashi has neither code nor geass. There weren't any allusions in the narrative to suggest otherwise, at least not intentionally.
No, Kaguya would not have come out ahead marrying Lelouch. This chapter has laid out at least one reason why she would have been in a lot of trouble if she actually surrendered custody of the Kamine Island thought elevator to Eden Vital to secure that marriage, and more will be covered as the Ise narrative unfolds further next chapter.