Ch 246: Akeno losing patience.

"Such opulence. Can you imagine the yearly utility bill with some many windows? You could probably buy an Alexander for less than it cost to keep this place warm." snorted Akeno as the limo approached the stupendously big building where the gala was hosted.

It was only four stories high, but its front was close to three hundred meters wide, a good half of its surface made of windows.

"Just wait until you see it from the inside." said Leila with a sour voice. "But to be honest, I'm feeling envious of Roze right now. I would much rather spend the evening with a book in that comfy house of yours, near the fireplace."

Akeno shared a smile with her. Sakuya was currently in Akeno's Sanctuary, allowed to go anywhere except in the basement. She had a few books to pass the time, and access to water and food. Akeno had also sent Leila inside for a few minutes to give her a tour.

Akeno and Leila, dressed in their blue URE military uniforms, left the limo and entered the building, only to leave through the back gate. Thet had to cross the massive inner garden, two hundred meters long and wide, to reach the reception hall. There was even a half-size replica of the Arc de Triomphe in the middle.

"Are we technically on the inside?" smirked Akeno as they walked.

"Aren't you used to it, Akeno? You talked about this whole huge island where you live when you're not running around saving worlds."

"While it is true that there are gardens just as big, as well as massive palaces in Noah's island, each large enough to be a home for two thousand people without it feeling crowded, the space is designed with comfort and elegance in mind, not to participate in a competition at who can throw the most money at gold candlesticks and eighteenth-century furniture."

"Two thousand people? Do you really need that much space?" wondered Leila.

Akeno giggled.

"I didn't mention the Sisters. In one of the worlds another team visited, some evil bastards were performing a sordid scientific experiment. I'll tell you more details about it later if you wish, but there was a lot of human cloning involved. A lot. All of them girls. Those who survived have been transported to the island, where Noah is still in the process of granting them immortality to counteract their short lifespan, courtesy of all the drugs the scums used to accelerate their growth. Noah is treating about a hundred a day, started over two months ago, and he still isn't done!"

She laughed at Leila's goggly eyes, and was almost tempted to call Noah right now and ask him to make a video call with some of the Sisters.

"The Sisters have taken five of the Palaces for themselves, and they're happy and well taken care of. They do the bulk of the work in the worlds Noah is supervising, treating patients in hospitals, acting as living lie detectors in courts, and so on..."

By then, they had arrived at the reception hall. They could hear a groups of violinists performing a soothing tune.

"Time to put our game faces on." muttered Leila, and Akeno agreed, switching to a vague and impersonal smile as they entered. A waitress wearing a mix of bunny girl and sleeveless tailcoat outfit appeared in seconds, holding a platter with several glasses filled with pink wine, and they each took a glass.

Leila and Akeno slowly moved along the groups of socialites, hearing fragments of conversation.

"That painting fetched a rather tidy sum."

"It's better to speculate in art these days, not gold."

"Nonsense, investing in national bonds during wartime is much more lucrative."

"True, Britannia doesn't appear to have any interest in expanding the war."

"It's best when both sides are simply glaring at each other like they are now."

"I suppose a war without fighting is much more profitable than peace."

"Perhaps I should have invested more…"

"Your bankers are terrible…"

"Look at them… Can you believe they're wearing military uniforms here?"

And on and on…

Despite herself, Akeno felt a deep anger rising. The fools. The utter fools.

URE and Britannians soldiers at the frontline were doing a lot more than glare at each other. How could those rich snobs be so blissfully unaware?

It was so insulting to those who shed blood on the battlefield, both their own and the blood of their enemies, that Akeno felt an urge to turn this hall into an abattoir.

"Deep breaths, Akeno." said Leila, struggling to keep a serene face herself.

"I know." sighed Akeno.

They walked to a corner of the reception hall, far enough that they wouldn't hear the surrounding conversations, for their own mental peace. And the snobs' safety.

"And now, we wait for those who wanted to speak to us." said Leila with a low voice.

Akeno nodded and took a sip of her drink. "This carbonated pink wine isn't bad, at least. And now that I have memorized the taste, I will be able to replicate it at will."

"You're such a cheat." smiled Leila. "People are coming."

Akeno followed Leila's gaze and saw a group of five people slowly walking towards them. Two who seemed to be female bodyguards, one middle-aged man with black frizzled hair, and two exceptionally beautiful young women.

"Are you sure you want to come close?" smiled Akeno. "It seems wearing military uniforms makes us diseased or something, if I judge by those people's reaction. You may catch a bug."

"We are quite certain, but thank you for worrying about our health." grinned the smallest of the two gorgeous girls. "I am Kaguya Sumeragi, of the Kyoto House in Japan. My companions are Kaname Ohgi, and Kallen Stadfeldt. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Akeno took a deep look at them while Leila introduced herself, then it was her turn.

"I am Akano Himejima." smiled Akeno with a soft voice, too low to be heard by the other guests. "It is a great pleasure to meet you, Kaguya-sama, as well as the second in command and the Ace of the Black Knights."

Those words got her sharp looks alright. Ohgi and Kallen were clearly surprised that she already knew about them. Leila watched them with vigilance.

"How do you know about us?" asked Kallen.

"That would be a long and complicated story, and not one to be told in this place where privacy is relative. Kaguya-sama, am I correct in assuming that you are a relative of the Imperial Princess Sakuya-sama?"

"She's my cousin. Do you have news about her?" asked Kaguya, looking even more interested.

"Only that I intend to do something about her situation. I dare say that you can expect some good news on that topic in the near future."

"I will pray to receive those good news, then." nodded Kaguya, careful with her words. "We do not have much time before other people will come talk with you both, I'm afraid, so please allow me to skip the pleasantries. What organization do you belong to? Is it a Japanese one?"

"The faction I represent doesn't have an official name, but since the wZERO special squadron agreed to join us, we can use that name for now. We are transnational in nature, but Japan is heavily represented among our members."

"To anticipate your next questions, I am the policy maker, Lieutenant-Colonel Malcal agreed to be our operational commander, and our goals are to defeat the Britannian Orders of Raphael and Michael at the Eastern border, then relocate the squadron to Japan and liberate the country."

"I was expecting to initiate contact with the Black Knights then and work out an agreement, but it seems you heard of my antics and came to take a look."

"Thank you. You already answered most of the questions I meant to ask." nodded Kaguya. "Is it true that you personally destroyed thirty-one Sutherlands two days ago?"

"I didn't keep count, but it sounds about right." said Akeno as she turned to Leila. "Is this the official number?"

"Yes, that is the number I wrote in the report." nodded Leila.

"How did you do it?" asked Kallen, curious.

"The Haken-Mk1 is armed with a heavy railgun rifle projecting standard bullets at over three kilometers per second. More than twice the average for a Knightmare's rifle. They pack enough punch that one or two hits in the chest are enough to incapacitate a Sutherland. Add to it advanced targeting systems helping to track moving targets, and that is how I destroyed about half of them."

"The other half was done in melee combat using two vibrating blades. At the risk of sounding immodest, I am a rather skilled pilot." shrugged Akeno, sipping her wine.

"I see." nodded Ohgi. "I will be honest and say that we were considering offering you to join the Black Knights, but it looks like this isn't going to happen. Unless the whole wZERO squadron and the rest of your organization would be willing to consider it?"

Akeno shook her head. She wouldn't let Zero become her boss, and that meant not joining the Black Knights. But she also wanted to pull Kallen away from Zero and into her own arms, and the detailed information Noah had given her offered her a way to drive a wedge between them. She could use Zero's paranoia and secrecy against himself.

"Sorry, but that is out of the question." replied Akeno. "I know a lot about Zero, including some things that he himself isn't aware of. I will acknowledge him as an excellent tactician and schemer, and his goal is very compatible with mine, but he has that nasty habit of seeing others as mere pawns he can sacrifice for the greater good, and in my view, this disqualify him for any leadership position."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Ohgi, frowning.

"If you want a recent example, let us talk about the destruction of Japan's Liberation Front last week. Do you really think they committed Seppuku by blowing up their ship to avoid capture?"

"Are you saying they didn't?" asked Kaguya, her eyes narrowing, and Akeno shook her head.

"It was a remote-controlled sea mine Zero previously placed on the ship's path. Zero used them as bait to attract some of Cornelia's escort away from her, then killed them alongside the JLF, and then launched his attack against Cornelia. Ohgi, you should already know, since you were present. And you know how he stopped you from covering the JLF's retreat. Real classy move here, and none of it was necessary."

Ohgi shook his head in denial, but he remembered how Zero had remained silent as he was asking for permission to intervene, over and over. How Zero had finally allowed it only a second before the explosion. And now that he thought back about that explosion that vaporized the Sakuradite-loaded ship, he had indeed seen a flash of light illuminate the sea around the boat a fraction of second before the boat itself blew up. He had been far too preoccupied at the time, assuming that the explosion had first pierced the bottom of the hull and spent some of its power into the sea below it, but when added to Zero's declaration of them committing seppuku only seconds later… he suddenly felt nauseous.

"Kallen, you know it as well." shrugged Akeno. "You caught Zero while he was removing his scuba diving gear before that operation."

"…How can you possibly know all this…" asked Kallen, looking at Akeno in fear.

"That's a secret." shrugged Akeno. "Anyway, this is why we won't follow Zero. Rather, I will give Zero several reasons to join me, as an advisor only, and for the Black Knights to become a wing of the liberation force."

"Under your command." mused Kaguya, squinting her eyes at Akeno. "Are you trying to become the next Empress of Japan?"

"Under your cousin, the Imperial Princess's command. I will be either piloting a Knightmare in battle or doing sabotage behind enemy lines. I am many things, but a political figure and a military commander aren't on the list. I have Leila, and soon, the Princess, for that."

"And, we'll have to put aside this conversation for now." added Akeno, watching over their shoulders as a trio of nobles walked closer. They not-so-politely waited for Kaguya and her companions to be done, while being close enough to hear and effectively prevent any further meaningful conversation from continuing.

Kaguya saw them and gestured to one of her bodyguards, who took a card from her pocket and handed it to Kaguya.

"This is my phone number. Please call me tomorrow. You have given me many things to think about."

"I appreciate it, Kaguya-sama. I will call you tomorrow without fault." smiled Akeno as she took the card from Kaguya's hand. "I wish you an excellent night, Kaguya-sama, Kallen, Ohgi."

"Yes, see you later." said Kallen, troubled.

"I wish you the same. Farewell, Miss Himejima, Lieutenant Colonel Malcal." smiled Kaguya as she went away.

Leila replied with a strained voice. Akeno glanced at her and saw that she was staring at the three men with a reluctant expression.

"Leila, it's been over a year since we saw each other! You didn't tell us you were coming." said the overweight man of the trio. Akeno, since she wasn't in a charitable mood where Europian elites were concerned, mentally designated them as fatty, scrawny, and hairdo.

"It's been too long, Daniel, Stefan, Jean. Ah, Akeno, they are my brothers."

"Oh. A pleasure to meet you. I am Akeno Himejima." replied Akeno with a polite nod, but scrawny and fatty barely even glanced at her, while hairdo Jean... looked entirely too fascinated.

Akeno mentally groaned.

"Leila." said fatty Daniel. "Why in the world are you wearing that to a perfectly good party? Please stop this boorish nonsense."

"A military uniform is formal wear for me." retorted Leila.

"I certainly see that your tone is the same as ever, Leila." smirked scrawny Stefan.

"As Leila said, I'm Jean, another one of her big brothers." said jean, his curly hair falling over his shoulders, stepping closer to Akeno than polite norms allowed and towering above her with a confident smirk. "And perhaps I should get this out of the way, but I am also his fiancé."

Akeno turned to Leila and raised an eyebrow.

"…Complicated family circumstances." said Leila with a glare at Jean, clearly unhappy that he had revealed that information. "We aren't blood related."

"This young lady was adopted into the Malcal family." said Jean as he seized Leila's left wrist and forcibly pulled her close to him with a possessive expression. "She is the apple in our father's eye, and I am the eldest son, so he decided that we should get married."

"Unhand me!" said Leila with a sharp tone.

"But I do have an open position for a mistress." continued Hairdo Jean without caring. "Isn't that a much better opportunity for an Eleven like you than to end up dead in a trench? You'll be my kept woman!"

His voice was loud enough to be heard by many, and half of the conversations had stopped as the guests watched.

Jean smirked as if he was expecting Akeno to just agree, then released Leila's wrist only to shove her away. Leila managed to recover her balance after a step back, but most of the content of her glass fell on the floor and some of it splashed on her shoes.

"Ufufu, I understand." smiled Akeno as she smoothly moved behind Jean. She crouched, placed her hands around his waist, and pulled his pants and underwear down all the way to his ankles.

The crowd of onlookers gasped, and Jean looked down in sheer disbelief as his little jean was exposed, but Akeno wasn't done. With expert moves, she only needed a few seconds to strip him down to his socks and shoes, no matter how much he struggled and screamed. She gathered his clothes and threw them up over the gold candlesticks, far out of his reach.

"This is what you get for getting on my nerves." said Akeno, a sadistic smile on her face. "And you two, I suggest you make yourselves scarce, or more clothes might end up added to the hall's décor."

Stefan and Daniel shuddered and hastily retreated, not daring to utter a word in protest. Stefan offered his vest to Jean, as the three of them left in a hurry. Jean was alternating between shouts of impotent rage and strangled sobs of humiliation.

The crowd was staring at Akeno, utterly scandalized, but they also fell silent and refused to meet her eyes when she glared back.

Except a few. Kaguya was hiding her mouth with a hand to hide her grin, while Ohgi and Kallen were nodding their approval.

"Akeno, I appreciate the sentiment, but that was very excessive." said Leila with a glare of her own.

"It wasn't. This guy is lucky he is getting out with only his dignity wounded. Do not forget that I represent seven Gods, Leila. They expects us not to stand idle when this kind of situation happen right before our nose. They would have been disappointed with me if I had only turned him down."

"…I am never going to live this down… They might strip me of my rank for bringing you there." muttered Leila, giving up and focusing on taking deep breaths.

"I think you're exaggerating." sighed Akeno. "At worst, we'll simply become independent and fight Britannia on our own. It's not like we need their resources anymore."

"…That's actually true. With you being able to do everything you can do… Still, the castle is too useful to give up on…" sighed Leila.

Akeno gestured to a waitress, who walked closer with some trepidation. Akeno placed her empty glass on the tray and took two more, offering one to Leila.

"Thank you." smiled Akeno, and the waitress retreated, relieved.

Due to the incident, the gap between them in the corner and the rest of the guests had turned into a twenty-meter no-mans-land. It was almost comical to see.

"So, how long do you think we need to stay here before leaving, so our hosts won't think we are bad guests?" winked Akeno, and Leila froze, then giggled.

"A bit late for that, thanks to a certain someone. Considering the circumstances, I think twenty minutes would be fine."

Akeno nodded, and they chatted in a low voice about Akeno's last world, and her fight against extra-dimensional invaders and giant dragons. After a while, a tall man with wide shoulders, dressed in a black suit, crossed the no-mans-land, and Leila straightened her posture.

"Good evening, general Smilas." said Leila.

"Good evening, general." repeated Akeno with a nod. If the general had been in uniform, they would have needed to salute him.

"Thank you. And good evening to you too."  replied. "I just arrived, but I already heard there was an… incident."

He glanced up at the clothes still dangling from the candlestick for a second.

"A minor one, General." struggled Akeno. "Some idiot assaulted the Lieutenant-Colonel and made some very improper comments, and I took it upon myself to incapacitate him without causing him the slightest injury."

"We may not agree about him not having suffered any injury, but I am not really interested in the matter, to speak frankly."

"Yes, general." smiled Akeno. "I am sure you are more interested in my Knightmare."

"Among other things. But this isn't the place for it, and since you already attracted more attention than I'd like, how about we continue this conversation in my car? We will drop you at your hotel."

Akeno glanced at Leila, who nodded, then back at him before answering. "Very well, general."

The trio left the reception and crossed the garden in silence, and they entered a black armored limo. Two armored cars with machineguns fixed on their roofs took position in front and behind them.

"So, let us talk. Who are you?"

"I get asked this often these last few days, General." said Akeno. "I am Akeno Himejima, a Private in the URE army. I am also the leader of a small outfit with access to advanced technology. One who designed and built the Haken-Mk1 from scratch in less than two weeks, and the Mk2 in less than ten days. Yes, there are two of them now, and more are planned. I wish to propose a trade to the URE government."

"…What would be the terms of this trade?"

"I want the wZERO special squadron. Its pilots and staff already declared their willingness to follow me, but we may as well make it official. I also want for the government to publicly announce that they will give temporary citizenship to the Japanese refugees, no, all war refugees. And I do not want this to just be empty words."

"That would be a hard sell, especially your second request." grunted general Smilas. "What would we get in return?"

"The wZERO squadron will launch an offense against the Britannian on the eastern Front, and inflict so much damage to them that they will likely need months to recover. And we will give you the design for a new Knightmare model meant for mass production. They will not be as potent as the Haken, but still significantly better than the Sutherlands and leagues better than your Panzer Hummels. You will have months of breathing room to build hundreds or even thousands of them, and by the time Britannia can attack the URE again, you will be ready."

"…Where will the wZERO squadron be by then, supposing you succeed in your offensive?"

"In Japan. Where else?" shrugged Akeno. "We will free the country and deprive Britannia of the resources they are extracting over there. And most of the Japanese refugees in the URE will likely return home once the liberation is over. It's not like you have given them many reasons to stay."

General Smilas stared at Akeno for a while, his fingers tapping on the leather of the limo's seat.

"…Speaking from a military officer's perspective…" finally said the General "…I would be inclined to agree on the condition that we get a demonstration of that mass production model and are satisfied with it, and that the design does not have any secret poison pill, or components we cannot produce ourselves."

"Of course." nodded Akeno.

"And speaking from the perspective of a man navigating the currents of URE's politics, I am rather confident that the politicians will see your demand regarding the refugees as a non-starter. You have surely noticed the political elites' disdain for Elevens. That feeling is largely shared by the rest of the population. Letting the Elevens out of the ghettos could cause riots, and they will not want to risk it."

"…I see." sighed Akeno. "Then I guess they will be more amenable to reason if I… motivate them."

Loud, long thunder rumbled down from above the car, despite there not being any cloud above, and both Leila and the general stiffened.

"…Are you threatening the government?"

"I am. Since me and my companions set foot upon this world, we have repeatedly experienced racism and discrimination in this rotting country you call home, and I find myself quickly running out of patience. If killing a few hundred scummy politicians and industry leaders proves necessary to get the rest to find again the meaning of the words in your country's slogan, then it will be worth it in my view."

Thunder rumbled again, and worried messages and questions came from the radio.

"So, what will it be, General? A mutually profitable trade, or a sword pressed against your politicians' necks?" softly asked Akeno.

"You are playing a dangerous game." frowned general Smilas. "I do not know what kind of technology makes you able to manipulate electricity like this, but it doesn't make you invulnerable. They won't save you from a bullet… And what do you mean, set foot upon this…"

He abruptly stopped speaking as the Limo performed an emergency braking, and a great noise came from the front.

They were on an elevated highway, and the section in front of them was collapsing. The lead armored car couldn't stop in time and fell over the edge. The one behind them managed to veer left before it could collide with the limo.

"Driver, go in reverse! Now!" shouted Leila.

Akeno activated Augment as she looked around, trying to locate the ambushers. She saw a Knightmare, an old model judging from its blocky design, burst from of one the top floors of a partially built building and land on the highway behind them.

The machinegun on top of the armored car opened fire, but the bullets didn't have the caliber to do real damage to the Knightmare who returned fire, and the armored car burst into flames.

Akeno saw a movement from the corner of her eye, and a black-haired girl dressed in white clothes ran to the limo, a large object in hand. With a smile, she knocked on the window to attract the general's attention, and when he stared back, showed off the device and pulled a pin from it, before throwing the device under the car and running off.

"We need to leave, now!" shouted Leila, but Akeno had other plans.

She transferred the Limo into her inventory, landing on her feet while Leila, the general and the driver landed on their butts, surprised. Akeno grabbed the device and yeeted it at the Knightmare, and it exploded in its face, making it stumble.

"You!" screamed the Knightmare pilot, pointing his Rifle at Akeno and opening fire.

Akeno created a dozen large golden shields, only having to replace four of them by the time the Knightmare's rifle was empty, and she used Shunpo to land on its head. Forming four large golden swords, she severed the Knightmare's arms and legs.

"Akeno, I want you to take them alive!" shouted Leila.

Akeno looked back, seeing that Leila had already neutralized the white-clad girl, keeping her right arm in an arm lock and forcing her to drop a short, straight kodachi. She returned her attention to the downed Knightmare.

"Get out of here and surrender, while I'm in a good mood. You have five seconds before I start opening that cockpit like a tuna can."

She waved her golden swords for effect, and the pilot opened the cockpit.

He was a young Japanese man with short brown, spiky hair, wearing a black leather vest and blue pants. He glared at Akeno.

"Who the hell are you? How can you do these things?"

"I am getting tired of questions." sighed Akeno, pointing in Leila's direction. "Get over there, and do not try anything stupid. More stupid, that is."

The man gritted his teeth as he lifted his hands in surrender and walked toward Leila and the General, and Akeno followed him, reducing her swords to a more human size but keeping them summoned.

"Ryo!" exclaimed the black-haired girl in mixed anger and nervousness.

"I'm fine, Ayano." replied the man. "Just a few bruises."

"What now..." muttered Akeno as she looked to her right. Another young Japanese man was walking toward them, wearing three of those big grenade devices on his chest. They were wired to a detonator he held in his right hand.

"Let them go!" shouted the young man. "Don't try to stall to buy yourselves time! Let them go right now, or I detonate these charges!"

"Leila, do you also want him alive?" sighed Akeno. "I can easily shield us while this fool blows himself up."

"Alive!"

"Fine." Akeno created two small blades of light in the man's blind spot and snip the wire linking the remote to the bombs. Before he could understand what had just happened, she used Shunpo to appear near him, touched his bombs, and they, too, wound up in her inventory. Two seconds later, she had cuffed him and was dragging him to Leila.

"Yukiya!" shouted Ayano.

"Well, General." shrugged Akeno. "Before we were so rudely interrupted, you were asking me why I could threaten to kill politicians without fearing retaliation. You just got a small demonstration. I never claimed that manipulating lightning was the only thing I could do."

She took the Limo from her inventory and set it back on the road.

"…I can see that." gulped general Smilas. He was still trying to process the images of that young woman looking bored as she performed a half-dozen impossible things back-to-back.

"Your name is Ayano, right?" asked Akeno, looking more closely at the while-clad girl. She had black neck-length hair and purple eyes, and was quite cute.

"Why do you care? Now that you captured us, you're going to kill us." bitterly said Ayano.

"You deserve it. You caused enormous damage to the city and just murdered six soldiers." said the general.

"I do not care about the two guys, but I want the girl." said Akeno with a nod of approval. "I will reform her into a proper agent for my organization."

"Fuck you!" growled the girl, and Akeno rolled her eyes.

"I will teach her manners as well."

"What are your demands?" asked Leila to Ryo, who she had identified as the leader by observing their body language.

"Our demands?" asked Ryo.

"You were clearly attempting to kidnap the general. What would have been your revendications if you succeeded?"

"I wanted top-of-the-line Knightmares." said Rio with an arrogant smile. He was trying to project confidence, but Akeno could see that it was just a fragile mask.

"Knightmares? Do you really think you could get away after doing something like this?"

"Knightmares are tools to project power, not an end in itself." said Akeno. "What were you really after?"

Ryo stopped smiled, and abandoned his flippant tone.

"We want a place to belong."

"To belong?" repeated Leila.

"I wish I was as dumb as you people. You make a rotten world like this and you're perfectly content with it. But for us Elevens, we don't belong anywhere in this world of yours."

His attitude had changed, and he was glaring fiercely at Leila and the general, as if daring them to challenge his words.

"If you want a place where you can belong, we'll give you one." declared Leila. "Join my team. That is where you can belong."

"…And if we refuse, we get executed, right?"

"If you decline my offer, you will have to face a criminal court on terrorism charges." shrugged Leila.

"Tche… Fine." conceded Ryo.