Ch 173: They took even that from you.

Sayaka felt very depressed as she stared at the handcuffs on her wrists.

How had it come to this?

Her life was now ruined. Her parents had just left the cell, and her mother's sobs… the disappointment she saw in her father's eyes…

She flinched again, wanting to bury herself into a hole and disappear forever.

The cell's door opened, and two young women entered, wearing the uniform of First High. Mayumi Saegusa, president of the student council, and Mari Watanabe, chief of the public morals committee.

"Hello, Mibu-san." smiled Mayumi. "I won't ask you if you are doing well, it is obvious you aren't."

"…Are you here to gloat?" bitterly asked Sayaka, glaring at Mari.

"Not at all. First, I wish to show you the footage of Tsubasa-kun's interrogation. Part of it, anyway."

Mayumi activated a holo-screen and Sayaka saw her club captain, sitting with his gaze unfocused.

One military officer asked him about the rifles, and what they were intended for. Kinoe replied with a flat voice, completely devoid of emotion.

Sayaka couldn't believe her ears as she heard the details of Hajime Tsukasa's plan. Attacking the school and killing both Course 1 and Course 2 students as a diversion during the open debate? Sending their elite troops to the School's mainframe and hacking it to steal sensitive materials, then flee to the GAU?

"It's got to be a lie." exclaimed Sayaka, shocked, when Mayumi stopped the video.

"It isn't." gently said Mayumi. "The soldiers found military-grade hacking equipment and more weapons in the back of the warehouse. The hacking tools were manufactured in the GAU, although that doesn't really prove anything."

Sayaka fell silent. She desperately wanted to deny it. To remember some detail that would prove to her that their claims were false, an attempt to manipulate her into revealing… What exactly? She didn't know anything worth manipulating her, now that her whole group was arrested.

Tears started falling from her eyes as she realized just how foolish she had been, and how she had become a pawn for foreign spies.

Mayumi wordlessly gave her a handkerchief, and Sayaka wiped her tears, trying to get her voice under control.

"So, what now? Am I going to be executed? Or a life sentence?"

After World War Three and the cold war that followed, nations didn't joke around when it came to punishing foreign spies, or those who cooperated with them.

"Nothing that extreme." said Mayumi as she shook her head. "Mibu-san, Akeno has asked to be the one to decide your punishment, and the government agreed, as a favor for teaching the ancient magic she possesses to a small number of students and an army officer."

"As for the punishment Akeno has decided for you… you are to follow her lessons as well, at least fifteen hours a week. This incident will not be entered into your criminal record, and we will not spread news of your involvement at school. You will continue as a student of First High, and we will all leave what happened last night behind us."

Sayaka stared at Mayumi, incredulous. Could this even be called a punishment?

"As for me." sighed Mari. "I came to apologize to you, Mibu-san."

She bowed deeply as she said that, and Sayaka looked at her with surprise.

"A-Apologize?"

"Yes. Back then, after we fought at the tournament, I said that we weren't a good fit. Himejima-san has scolded me a lot for those words, and I realize it was my fault for being so ambiguous back then. What I meant back then is that I wasn't good enough to be your opponent."

"What?"

"Your skill with the sword, is not something I can compare to. Yes, I had defeated you using magic, but you still completely outclassed me in pure sword skills, and it was obvious to me."

"I…I misunderstood, all this time?"

"It was my fault for not choosing my words more carefully. Once again, I am sorry, Mibu-san."

Sayaka started sobbing again. She couldn't help it.

"We will leave you some privacy now. You parents are waiting outside and will bring you home. Take a few days off school to get better, Mibu-san, then return to class."

"Y-Yes. T-Thank you." replied Sayaka.

Mayumi and Mari left the room, and a policeman came, removed her handcuffs, then left. Her parents came back, and they hugged her tightly.

"Your friend Himejima-kun told us, about you having fallen prey to a brainwashing magic." said her father, regretting his previous cold attitude. "It's going to be okay, my little dove."

"Y-yes. I'm so sorry, Mom, Dad." cried Sayaka, her sobs turning into a full crying.

…

Three days after Akeno called him and told him about her conversation with the Lieutenant, Noah waited for the agreed-upon time, and moved on one of the palace's unoccupied bedrooms. He then called Akeno and initiated the video.

"Hi, Noah." grinned Akeno.

"Hi, Akeno. Are things ready on your side?"

"Yes. But they'd like to speak to you a little before you start. There will also be a camera recording my smartphone's screen."

"I do not mind." nodded Noah.

On the screen of his smartphone, the view changed as Akeno placed her own device on a support, setting its field of vision to show several people.

"Hi, Rin. How are you doing." smiled Noah.

"Hi. I'm doing fine, thanks." nodded Rin.

"And I assume you are Lieutenant Fujibayashi, Captain… Kazama, if I remember correctly, Shiba-san, and Shiba-san. it is nice to meet you all."

"That is correct." said Captain Kazama with a nod. "How should we address you?"

"Just Noah is fine." chuckled Noah. "It wasn't so long ago that I was just a random accountant in some company. I haven't had time to grow a big ego yet."

"Very well, Noah. Akeno here told us that you are aware of events that haven't happened yet. You referred to incidents in the upcoming Nine-Schools competition and Thesis competition."

"A criminal syndicate from the GAU named No-Head Dragon will bet a hundred million dollars on Third High being the victor. To ensure that outcome, they will arrange various sabotage attempts targeted at First High."

"It will start with an out-of-control car and suicidal driver meant to collide with the bus transporting First High's team, and gradually escalate as their attempts fail and the leaders of that organization grow more desperate, fearing that their heads might be on the chopping block for losing that much money. By the way, the ultimate leader of No-Head Dragon is Jiedo Heigu, the same man who is behind Blanche, one of the seven Sages."

"As for the Thesis Competition incident, the GAU will essentially send an assault ship camouflaged as a civilian transport, launch missiles and unload ground troops to try to kidnap all of the participating students. As long as Akeno and Rin are on site, they will easily neutralize the treat. Just make sure not to sink the ship inside the port, or the area will be severely polluted by hydraz... Whatever you use for fuel."

"Thank you. We will make sure to be prepared ahead of time. But the seven Sages? What can you tell us about them?"

"The USNA has a global surveillance system, Echelon III. Whoever created it also included a backdoor access, and the system randomly selects seven adult people and grant them access. They are called the Sages. They do not cooperate with each other, and generally do not know each other. Whenever one of them dies, the system selects another person. Jiedo Heigu is one, and Maya Yotsuba another." Noah grinned as she saw Tatsuya and Miyuki stiffen.

"Since you mentioned the Yotsuba family, I got the impression from your first conversation with Akeno that you have a particular dislike of them." carefully said the Captain. "Do you intend to have Akeno or Rin do anything about it?"

Noah grew more solemn.

"I think any decent person would 'dislike', as you put it, most of the Yotsuba. I do not like the fact that magicians on your world are forced into the military, although I understand that under the present circumstances, and with the GAU being so aggressive, it would be foolish to try to change it now."

"But what the Yotsuba are doing is so much worse. Creating artificial magicians, deciding their roles at birth, treating them as nothing but disposable tools or… ant drones, that is a crime against mankind as far as I am concerned."

"After what they did to Tatsuya-kun, they should be groveling at his feet and beg for his forgiveness. And yet even their butler insults him like he is beneath them!"

Miyuki nodded vehemently at his words, and frost began to spread around her.

"Miyuki." firmly said Tatsuya, and the frost disappeared.

"Noah, I appreciate your sentiments." nodded Tatsuya. "But I have no desire to see them grovel or exact any kind of revenge."

Noah looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed. "Yes. I'm aware that you wouldn't feel satisfaction from getting some revenge. They took even that from you."

"But to answer your question, Captain, I will not ask Akeno or Rin to make a move against the Yotsuba. They have enough to deal with, trying to save multiples worlds from destruction. The Yotsuba will be your mess to clean."

"Moving on..." said the Captain, not wanting to discuss the Yotsuba any further. They were dangerous people. He thanked the camera's presence. If Maya Yotsuba started thinking that she could keep her status as a Sage secret by killing both him and the Lieutenant, She might just go for it. With the camera, however, she would also have to kill many high-level members of the military and government to do it. So, she wouldn't try. Probably.

"…Akeno warned us of severe consequences if we were to attempt to kill her or Rin, and that is certainly not our intention. At this point, we take the possibility of her saying the truth about the world fragments very seriously. We do not dare not to. But couldn't you just resurrect them if something happened to them?"

"I could." nodded Noah. "But something as potent as resurrection comes with a cost, and the stronger the person I am resurrecting, the greater the cost. And with how strong Akeno and Rin have become? I would have to lose over a year's worth of hard work, and it would delay the resurrection of some other people on my waiting list. There's also the trauma of dying, that I do not want them to experience. Having to revive them would tick me off greatly."

"On the matter of the world fragment. Could you tell us anything about the 'pullers' mentioned by Akeno? Could there be more than one of them on our world?" asked Kyouko.

"…I have a hunch. Akeno, how many fragments are out there exactly? Did Alaya tell you?"

"Seventy-three, if you count Chaldea… Are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"Likely. The seventy-two demon pillars of Solomon. They are stronger than most Heroic Spirits, but not that much stronger. I think there will only be one of them per timeline, unless several world fragments are pulled toward a single timeline."

"With your and my Captain's permission…" declared Tatsuya "…I would like to accompany Akeno and Rin when they search for that thing."

"I have no issue with this." replied Noah.

"Onii-sama!" exclaimed Miyuki.

"It's fine, Miyuki. If that demon pillar threatens our peaceful lives, I should help deal with it."

"…Yes, Onii-sama. I know how strong you are. I will be waiting for your return." smiled Miyuki.

The atmosphere between them seemed to turn pink, and after a few seconds, Akeno cleared her throat.

"Yes, we'd be glad to have you, Tatsuya-kun."

"Captain Kazama." asked Noah. "Could I ask you to give Akeno a car or two, and a few samples of your civilian technology? I am trying to reform the worlds I am overseeing with more eco-friendly policies, and samples coming from a more technologically advanced society might save me a few decades."

"I see no harm in that, and we could compile a database of sort with production processes and other useful information, but how about you offer us something in exchange? Akeno mentioned a fusion reactor in Chaldea. That is a technology we do not have yet."

"I'll ask Da Vinci." nodded Akeno. "I do not know if I'll be able to offer you detailed blueprints, but she might at least explain to you how it works."

"She? Da Vinci is a 'she'?" asked Kyouko, an eyebrow raised.

"Da Vinci was a man when she was alive, but as a Servant, her body is modeled after the woman of the Mona Lisa painting. I didn't ask about her gender preference." shrugged Akeno.

"Well, if you have no other questions, I should get started with the resurrection process." said Noah.

Tatsuya nodded and took a paper file, handing it to Akeno. She opened it to take a look.

"Oh, she's cute. Her name is Honami Sakurai." said Akeno as she showed the photo included in the file in front of the smartphone, and Noah nodded, recognizing her.

"I see. That is enough, thank you." nodded Noah. He used his smartphone to show the empty bed, and activated his resurrection skill. At 8 000 Yin points, Honami wasn't very expensive. She clearly was more than an untrained civilian, but Noah estimated that this cost range was about comparable to someone who would be able to kill a hollow or two by themselves.

A massive quantity of right blue mana streamed from his hands, coalescing into a humanoid shape laying on the bed. Seconds later, Honami Sakurai was peacefully asleep on the bed, wearing the same reinforced black bodysuit that many Japanese magicians wore in battle.

She had neck-length purplish wine-colored hair with a longer braid on her left temple, and violet eyes. And the beauty that could be expected of most female anime characters.

After a few tenths of seconds, she opened her eyes and stared at the room and Noah in confusion.

"Where am I?"

"Welcome back, Sakurai-san. I am Noah Enfield. It is nice to meet you. I am going to lend you this, and I will wait outside of the room."

Still confused, Honami took the smartphone and stared at the screen, recognizing Lieutenant Kasama, as well as Tatsuya and Miyuki. Tatsuya was looking at her with a gentle expression, and Miyuki was smiling radiantly while a few tears escaped her eyes. And they both looked a little older than she remembered.

"Tatsuya-kun? Miyuki-sama? Lieutenant?"

"Yes. Welcome back, Honami-chan." said Miyuki.

"It's Captain now, but never mind. I am glad to see you again." smiled Captain Kazama. He took his cue from Noah's behavior and gestured to Kyouko, and they left the room, taking the camera with him.

"Tatsuya-kun, please tell us when you are done."

"Yes, thank you, Captain."

Honami also saw the two beautiful young women she didn't know leave the room, and was grateful that she could speak to Tatsuya and Miyuki alone. Even though she was still extremely confused.

…

After most of an hour had passed, the door opened, and Honami came out of the room, watching him intently. She gave him the phone back and bowed to him.

"Thank you very much, Noah-sama. I am very grateful that you revived me."

"Please raise your head. Maybe it is me who should apologize to you. I remember you saying just before your death that you wanted to be able to choose how you would die. To die as a human, and not as a tool. And yet, I revived you for my own selfish goals."

Honami blushed.

"Ah, please do not mind it. It is true that I wanted to get at least some freedom when my end was coming, but of course I would rather stay alive if I could, and you offered me a chance to do just that. How could I ever repay you, Noah-sama?"

"Can I call you Honami?" smiled Noah.

"Yes. I do not mind."

"Thank you, Honami. I am not like the Yotsuba. I am going to give you a choice regarding your future. I can have you living in one of the worlds I am overseeing. I have a working relationship with the Japanese government, and they will accept giving you identity papers, and a stipend. How you live your life then will be up to you. That's the first option."

"The second option would be to live here as one of my maids. Since most of the chores have been automated, the work expected of you would take you less than two hours a day, and you would be free to spend the rest of your time as you wish. There are a few rules you would have to follow, like not doing something that would tarnish my image where the outside world is concerned, but you would be free to explore and pursue your own interests."

"And the third option would be to become one of my agents. Did Tatsuya-kun and Miyuki tell you about me, and what I do?"

"Yes, Noah-sama. You are acting on a deity's behalf to guide humanity to a more prosperous future." said Honami with some awe and reverence in her voice.

"Yes. I need subordinates to perform tasks such as treating patients in hospitals, interviewing politicians yearly to search for signs of corruption, and generally work to make the world a better place. I need many agents, so that they could do all that while still having a comfortable amount of free time. You could become one of them, if you wish to."

"The second and third options have a few additional perks. I would train you to become a stronger magician, and you would gain immortality, among other significant benefits."

"Noah-sama, would it be possible for me to return to my world?"

Noah shook his head. "Unfortunately, traveling to worlds that aren't part of my portfolio, so to speak, isn't nearly as easy as I let on. I let the Japanese government over there believe it, so as to be a deterrent to protect Rin and Akeno. But I cannot go over there at this time, and when they deal with the thing pulling the world fragment and return to Chaldea, the way to your world will be permanently closed."

"…I see." said Honami with visible disappointment.

"I will make sure to give you more opportunities to speak with Tatsuya and Miyuki before it happens, as long as you promise me not to reveal what I just told you. But that is all I can do."

"Can I have some time to think about it, Noah-sama?"

"Of course." nodded Noah. "I intend to give you a few weeks to adapt to life in the Island before I ask for your answer."

"Thank you very much, Noah-sama, for letting me choose." smiled Honami.

"Honami, I will never see you as a tool. If you choose to live there, as a maid or as an agent, you will not just be one of my subordinates. You will be family, and I will get out of my way to ensure you have a happy life."

"Now, come with me, please. I will assign you a room, help you personalize it to your preferences, and make you a few outfits that would be more comfortable than what you are wearing right now."

"Yes" nodded Honami.

As they walked down the hallway, she hesitated.

"Noah-sama, why did you revive me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You paid a price to revive me, when you could have chosen many people from your world. Surely there are many who would volunteer for the position."

"…Let us just say that I have a soft spot for pretty girls who are willing to sacrifice themselves to save someone else. And you proved that beyond doubt."

"…p-pretty." stuttered Honami as she blushed fiercely.

Noah chuckled softly at her over-reaction. It was such an anime trope.

He had given her a choice, but he already felt confident that she would choose the second or third option. Honami was already used to being subordinate to another person, and the warmth and affection she would experience in the island, without even considering the luxurious lifestyle and the endless lifespan, would be far more comfortable to her than the perspective of being left alone in a foreign world.

She might be put off by the perspective of having to warm his bed, but… He could already tell from her from the way she reacted to his praise that it wouldn't take him much to make her fall for him.

They were about to reach the room Noah wanted to give Honami when they met Rias, dressed in her maid outfit, walking down the hallway.

"Ah, Noah! New girl? She's cute." smiled Rias as she came closer.

"Rias, this is Honami Sakurai. She comes from the world Akeno is currently in, and I just revived her. I want her to experience being part of our family for a while, after which she will decide if she wants to stay or start a new life elsewhere. Honami, this is Rias Gremory."

"It's nice to meet you." warmly smiled Rias. "can I call you Honami?"

"Y-Yes." fidgeted Honami. "It is nice to meet you, Rias-sama."

"Just Rias. If you choose to stay, we will be equals."

"I was about to give her this room and make her a few clothes."

"I see." grinned Rias. She took Honami's hand and started leading her toward the room.

"I'll take over, Noah. We both know I have a better sense of fashion than you."

"I am cut to the quick." complained Noah as he leaned forward, pretending his chest suddenly hurt. "Rias, the Japan Honami's coming from has turned very, very conservative, so err on the modest side of things."

"Seriously? Akeno and Rin must hate it." grinned Rias.

"That they do. It is to the point that when women go to public baths, they wear a white outfit looking like a sleeveless kimono vest even when they're soaking in the bath."

"Wow. that's going to be a culture shock for poor Honami."

"A-are you saying that you take baths with other women, completely naked?" asked Honami, her eyes wide.

"Yes. Don't worry, you'll quickly get used to it." grinned Rias.

Honami made a small bow to Noah before she let Rias take her away. The scene that had just happened was unfathomable to her. She tried to imagine herself addressing Maya Yotsuba without honorific and telling, not just asking, but telling her that she was going to take over one task and joking about being better than her at doing it.

Honami shuddered at the thought. She might not have survived it. She might have wished she hadn't survived it.

Maybe, Noah really was serious when he spoke about his maids and agents being family. She would need to keep watching to make certain the encounter with Rias wasn't scripted, but if the people living there really treated each other so warmly… She already knew she would not want to leave.