Ch 355: Media offensive.

When Noah entered the classroom, followed by Yukino, the guarded expression most of the classmates displayed were proof that the news already reached the school.

"Hello, everyone." smiled Noah with a wave of the hand.

"Hello." nodded Yukino.

"Hey!" replied some of the classmates, more muted than usual. They didn't meet Yukino's eyes.

"Yukino!" exclaimed Endou as he left his seat to stand before her. "The allegations in the press, about your father! It's got to be a lie, right?!"

Noah wanted to facepalm. He should have expected that guy to have no tact or awareness.

Yukino took a deep breath and shook her head, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"I just learned about it. As far as I can tell, this is true, my father is a monster, and he is on the run. I have cut contact with him, and will do so with any of my relatives who knew. For now, I am living with my sister at a friend's place."

"Ah? It can't be!" gasped Endou as he took a step back.

"Alright, everyone to your seats." declared Minaho as she entered the room. Once they were all settled, she didn't start the roll call immediately and slowly looked at each of the students.

"By now, I am sure everyone heard the rumors about Sousuke Shirasaka, Yukino's father. Let me be clear, Yukino has nothing to do with it, and I will not tolerate any bullying in my class. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Sensei!" replied the students.

"Good, I will start the roll call."

As Minaho started on it, Noah blinked in surprise as his system suddenly displayed a message.

[The Grand Quest has reached 50% completion. Its reward will now be revealed. All 72 timelines will become permanently accessible to User and his subordinates.]

Noah absentmindedly replied 'Present' when his name was called and frowned.

[System, I am suddenly responsible for all those worlds?]

[You are not, my Champion.] replied Lilith instead of his system. [Just try not to leave messes behind you.]

[But, isn't that interfering with worlds other gods have created?]

[We obtained their permission. For the Grand Quest with Solomon's demons, the seven of us specifically chose worlds whose creators do not care about what happens to them in the long term, and we paid for permanent access by trading a tiny bit of divine power. You and your girls will be able to visit, and you can do some good if you wish to. But do try to keep any future recruitment from those worlds consensual, even if we will tolerate the occasional slip-up.]

[I understand what you meant when you once said it would be a net drain on the number of my available subordinates, but in a good way. Thank you, Lilith-sama. I'm sure they will love to be able to visit their friends and relatives after all.]

[We gods do try to reward our subordinates. And you should turn your phone off until lunch break, because you're about to receive a lot of calls. You aren't the only one who received this notification.] chuckled Lilith.

…

"You're too nervous, Shuuko. It will be fine." grinned Chisato.

The next timeline was about to be opened, and the team had gathered. This time, seven of them were going thanks to an upgrade of Chaldea's fusion reactor.

"Easy for you to say." replied Shuuko as she drew a nervous breath. "You have more experience, a full-fledged System, and more abilities that most. And more importantly, you aren't bringing your sisters with you. Sisters who are only able to use beginner-level Magecraft right now, and who I am responsible for."

Shuuko's sisters, Emi and Kanna, stepped closer.

"Little sister, who died and made you our boss?" asked Emi with a raised eyebrow. "You may currently be stronger because Sakura did with you whatever you're still hiding from us, but we're going to fix that very soon."

"Yes, that's why we're coming." vehemently nodded Kanna.

Like many others in Chaldea, Emi and Kanna had signed magic contracts created by Akeno before she departed another timeline, stating that they agreed to follow Noah's orders, as well as follow the training regimen that would let them acquire the abilities Noah could share.

The new contracts didn't include the words 'slave' or 'Master', and the particulars of the training regimen weren't detailed. But it didn't matter. When Emi and Kanna signed the contracts, they trapped themselves just as thoroughly as if Akeno had used the old contracts.

Some of the girls in Misaki's clique, using the same contracts, were already gaining Noah's abilities, and seeing this, Emi and Kanna had decided that they wanted to close that irksome gap that separated them from Shuuko.

"Oh?" asked Rin with a smile. "I thought you were just getting bored with the Magecraft lessons and the combat training."

"Well, that too." grudgingly admitted Kanna. "I'm an outdoor kind of girl. I need to see some scenery soon or I'll start banging my head on the walls."

"You shouldn't be too much concerned about their safety, Shuuko." smiled Takina. "With Chisato, Sakura, Rin, and me, we will be the second strongest team deployed to date after the one Akeno currently leads. It would take something extreme to really put you and your sisters in danger, and if the worst somehow happens, we can count on Noah to bring them back."

"Yes, do not worry, Shuuko." smiled Sakura. "I will get started on Kanna and Emi soon after we enter this one. They too will have Noah's abilities before you know it."

"I hope so." nodded Emi. "Seeing Shuuko learn Magecraft much faster than us because of her artificially expanded intellect is quite… aggravating."

"I understand." smiled Sakura.

She turned to look at her companions, who nodded, then Chisato made a thumb up at Olga-Marie, Romani and Type: Moon waiting on the side.

"Team Chisato is ready to go!"

"I wish you good fortune, everyone." smiled Romani.

"Yes, please return safely." nodded Olga-Marie.

She didn't ask them to limit the number of new people they would return with. She had long given up on that.

Romani pressed a button on his tablet, and the machine behind the group came alive. Seconds later, they disappeared.

…

Chisato looked around, first checking that her six companions were all present. Then, she examined her surroundings.

They were standing on the top of a small grassy hill, and the weather was pleasantly warm, the blue sky almost free of clouds.

"Kanna, you wanted to see some scenery. What do you think?" asked Sakura.

"It looks nice so far, and the air smells pretty good. I feels like months since my skin was exposed to actual sunlight." nodded Kanna with obvious satisfaction. "I suppose we're going to that city?"

A few kilometers from them stood huge city, looking big enough for at least half a million people to live within its walls.

"Is that a railway I see over there?" asked Emi as she pointed far in the distance to something linking the city to a distant bridge. She didn't have her senses artificially enhanced yet.

"It is." confirmed Rin with squinted eyes as she observed the city. "So, railways, but without power lines, and dirt roads. Horse carriages, and the buildings look like last century Paris. The technology here seem decent enough that we should live comfortably without having to resort to using our Sanctuary.

"And we got our quests." said Takina as she started reading. Her words were unnecessary as the blue-tinted windows opened in front of everyone.

"Quest n°1: Join the Midgar Dark Knight Academy and befriend Princess Alexia and Claire Kagenou. Uniforms and invitation letters are provided. The school records have been altered. Reward: Primordial Rune: Pulse."

"Quest n°2: Stop at least three of the Cult of Diablos's schemes. Reward: Primordial Rune: Momentum."

"Quest n°3: Shadow Garden, a secretive organization of vigilantes, is fighting the Cult of Diablos. While their members are acting on good intentions, they blindly follow a leader whose problematic character will cause the deaths of many civilians if left unchecked. Do something about him. Subdue the other members of Shadow Garden and integrate them into Valhalla. Reward: 10% completion towards the Grand Quest."

"Quest n°4: Participate in the Martial God Festival and have Valhalla monopolize at least four of the five top ranks. Reward: Advanced Item Creation, ability to create sapient, evolving items."

"Quest n°5: Take Control of Lawless City and start reforming it. Reward: One randomly chosen ability from Noah's Yin-Yang Store."

Chisato looked at Takina with a grin, her eyes shining. "It's that one, right? We're going to have a lot of fun!"

Takina nodded with a knowing smile. During her time with Chisato and Aria in her original world, in the first few months of their relationship, they binge-watched quite a few animes, and the 'Eminence in Shadows' was one of them.

"That one?" asked Shuuko, confused.

"You know how Noah and Aria know in advance about some of the timelines we visit, right?" nodded Chisato. "Aria told us about several of those worlds, and one of them featured a secret war between two secret organizations, Shadow Garden and the Cult of Diablos. So we vaguely know what to expect. This is a world where we will find not just humans, but also elves and wolfgirls and foxgirls, there's even a few vampires in Lawless City."

Chisato was a bit careful with her words, since Shuuko could detect lies. It was true indeed that they chatted with Aria about the anime this world was based on, even thought that discussion wasn't their main source of information.

"Yes, this world is going to be interesting." frowned Takina. "But Shadow is a real monster. Even we might have a hard time subjugating him, especially if we do not fight to kill. I feel like we'll have to call some reinforcements after all."

"Yes. We'll bring out the heavy artillery. Scathach, Okita, and some of the other Heroic Spirits?" suggested Chisato.

"That would be a good idea." nodded Takina.

"That guy is that strong?" asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"He is." nodded Takina. "He is not just very skilled with a sword. He is fiendishly fast, possibly more than us when we use Augment. He can unleash his magic power to create an explosion that would raze multiple city blocks, and the outfit he wears is made of magic-controlled slime he can shape at will. He can extrude blades from any part of the outfit and strike at a speed normal people can't follow. In fact, all the members of Shadow Garden wear those slime suits, so we'll have to be careful when we face them."

"Slime suits? It sounds disgusting." said Emi as she shuddered in revulsion.

"And if we are to recruit all of Shadow Garden, that's over five hundred people!" nodded Chisato before chuckling. "When we tell her about it, Olga-Marie is going to sigh in defeat!"

"Not necessarily, Chisato." frowned Takina. "Since we'll be allowed to return later, maybe she should leave the bulk of Shadow Garden here, to keep an eye on things until we are done with all of Solomon's Demons. Then, we can ask Akeno or Noah himself to come and make them all sign Soul Contracts. Or you can phone Akeno and have her issue verbal contracts."

"Yes, you're right." nodded Chisato.

"I assume this Shadow you're speaking about is the leader of Shadow Garden." said Emi.

"Do you know what the quest means by 'problematic character'?"

"We know." nodded Chisato. "He's a huge narcissist, and he is completely obsessed with the idea of becoming the secretly overpowered character who hides in the background until he shows off his power. It's to the point that he will go to great lengths to appear utterly average in his everyday life, but that will instead make him stand out as a weirdo. And I didn't mention that this guy is actually a reincarnator coming from another timeline, so he possesses knowledge of modern technology from his previous life. He knows about smartphones and internet and so on."

"…So, he's basically a chunnibyou?" blinked Kanna.

"Yes, but can we really call him a chuuni when he actually has the power to back up his delusions?" sighed Takina.

"I have a question about this Shadow." frowned Sakura. "What weapons does he carry with him?"

"He makes them out of his slime outfit. Typically, a sword or huge claws or thin wires for killing at a longer range. Why? Oh, I see!" grinned Chisato as she figured out Sakura's idea. "We can use the Stop Runes to turn his weapons back into goo!"

"Exactly. But we should be sure to wait for the decisive time to expose this, or he might come up with countermeasures."

The girls nodded to each other, and Rin spoke.

"First things first, let's get into the Sanctuary and change into our new uniforms. I suspect we'll be quite conspicuous if we enter the city with our current outfits..."

Each of them was dressed in what had become Valhalla's standard uniform, black with gold trims.

"…Then, we'll start asking for direction to the Dark Knights Academy. With luck, they will have dormitories. If not, we'll find lodging in the city. Or we'll use the Sanctuary again"

The girls nodded, and Sakura took the crystal ball out of her inventory. Rin, Chisato, Takina, Shuuko, Emi and Kanna entered, and Sakura started walking leisurely down the hill. Minutes later, Rin reappeared, wearing an elegant uniform, white and blue with gold trims. A steel sword hung from the left side of her belt.

"Hum, it looks good on you, Nee-san." smiled Sakura.

"Yes, it's not bad at all." nodded Rin. Sakura handed over the Sanctuary, then entered it to change into her own uniform.

After walking for almost an hour, they reached the city. The buildings were almost all four stories high, built from light gray stone and following the same general architecture. There were horse-drawn carriages everywhere, as well as many bus-sized tramways using steam engines. Streetlamps at regular intervals showed that the Midgar Kingdom could use electricity on a large scale.

Many of the people on the streets often glanced at them once as seeing seven female students together was slightly unusual, then stared as they noticed that they were all very beautiful.

The girls asked for directions and headed toward the city's center. The Dark Knight Academy wasn't very far from the Royal Palace.

The Academy was a collection of a dozen large buildings with white walls and teal roofs, with many green spaces separating them. A thick belt of trees surrounded the campus, and a high white wall enclosed the campus everywhere except for the large gate in front.

The gate was open, and the girls entered, immediately drawing attention.

Chisato could hear the whispers from small groups of students wondering about their identity, and why they hadn't seen them before.

She displayed her best smile as she approached a certain young woman walking close by. If her memories were correct, she was one of the notable characters of the original fiction.

"Hi hi! Would you mind pointing us toward the admission office, please?"

"The admission office? You must be new students then." smiled the girl. She had amber eyes and long blonde hair styled into eight long drills, two of which framed her face.

"Please follow me, I will lead you there and give you a tour at the same time. I am Rose Oriana. It's nice to meet you all, and welcome to Midgar's Dark Knights Academy."

"Thank you very much! I am Chisato Nishikigi." replied Chisato with an infectious grin. Once Takina and the others made their own introductions, Rose started walking while pointing toward the buildings and telling them about their use.

"Rose, are you really fine with giving us a tour?" asked Chisato. "We do not want to inconvenience you."

"Do not worry. I happen to be the Student Council President, and providing guidance to students in need is part of my duties. Ah, this is the library. Please keep your voices down while we're inside."

Chisato and the others nodded as Rose led them inside the building. The furniture inside looked surprisingly modern with reading stations separated by wooden panels for privacy on one side, and tables for group reading on another. The building featured many large windows for comfortable reading.

They took a good look inside, then Rose gestured for them to leave.

"I like this library already. It seems well designed." smiled Sakura.

"Right?" smiled Rose as she pointed to another building. "Over there is where most classrooms are found. Students attend class three hours per day, physical training for one hour, and sword training for four hours."

"I'm looking forward to it. Say, Rose, are there dorms in the campus?" asked Chisato.

"There are for the hundred strongest students." nodded Rose as they kept walking. "The others have to find accommodations within the city. There are several privately owned dorms relatively close that are sponsored by the Kingdom, so the rent for students is fairly cheap."

"How are the hundred top students determined?" asked Sakura with a gleam in her eyes. "Is there some kind of tournament we can join?"

"There is a tournament every year." smiled Rose. "It will happen about six weeks from now. Until then, if you feel strong enough, you can challenge someone, and if you defeat them, take their spot in the ranking. Are you thinking about seizing one of the dorm's rooms?"

"I am." smiled Sakura.

"I like to see confidence in my fellow students." chuckled Rose. "But most of the top students are second or third-years. I do not know how strong you are, but I suggest watching for a while before challenging anyone. We train and spar with real swords, not ones with blunt edges, and injuries happen sometimes."

"Why do you not use wooden swords when sparring?" asked Kanna, looking uneasy at the perspective of being injured.

Rose froze for a second, looking at Kanna in confusion.

"You do not know?"

"…I don't."

"But… you enrolled in the Academy. I am assuming that you already have years of training, but… is that not the case?"

"Urgh. Rose, can you wait here for just a minute, please?" pleaded Chisato. "We need to have a little bit of a private discussion."

"…Alright?" replied Rose, her confusion growing.

Chisato and the others walked fifteen meters away and put their heads close together, whispering as they formed a circle.

"Kanna messed up." winced Rin with a low voice.

"How did I mess up?" retorted Kanna, but no one paid her protest any attention.

"We should have seen this coming." nodded Takina. "We don't know enough about the way Dark Knights use their magic. We should not have asked any questions about it until we could observe the students and replicate it."

Kanna paled as she understood her mistake.

"At this rate, we're going to be accused of being foreign spies or something, out to steal their techniques." said Rin. "So, change of approach? We're pulling a variant of what Akeno and I did on our first timeline. It worked well enough. We demonstrate some of our own magic and maybe offer to train some of them. Exchange of favors, and all that. As for our origins, we're going to be asked about it, so we claim we're from Valhalla, a secret organization fighting the Cult of Diablos, and we heard that some of their members were lurking in the capital and the Academy. That would even be true."

"Yes, I think we can run with this. Any objections?" asked Sakura.

"I vote yes." smiled Chisato, and Takina nodded. Shuuko, Emi and Kanna exchanged a quick glance and a nod, and Shuuko spoke for them.

"We're new to this, so we'll trust you."

"Alright." smiled Chisato as they turned back to Rose, who was now watching them with obvious suspicion.

"Sorry about that, Rose." apologized Chisato as they walked back to her. "We have a favor to ask you. Can you please bring us to a quiet spot where we can speak alone? And it would be best if a member of the Royal family could join us, because what we have to say is to some extent related to them."

Rose frowned for a few seconds, scrutinizing them, and slowly nodded.

"On one condition. You will temporarily leave your swords in my custody before we go in any secluded place. For all I know, this might be a trap to lure the Princess into an ambush."

Chisato, Takina and the others each had a steel sword hanging from their waist. They were part of the Academy's uniform.

"Yes, that is fine." nodded Chisato.

…

"O, most beautiful Princess Alexia! Goddess of our campus! I humbly ask you to join me in pure and upright courtship!" proclaimed the brown-haired student, kneeling in front of her while offering two dozen red roses.

Alexia closed her eyes for an instant, aware of the presence of a dozen other students witnessing the confession. She needed to restrain her urge to kick him away.

"Not interested." replied Alexia with a neutral tone, turning and walking away.

She heard the shocked gasp of the young man, apparently so confident in the success of his confession that he couldn't process her rejection.

She kept walking away, wondering why he was so surprised. She rejected confessions twice a week on average. She brushed aside a strand of her long platinum-white hair as she joined her friend.

"Sorry for the interruption." shrugged Alexia.

"Are you done breaking another heart?" smiled Claire Kagenou.

"He'll get over it. It's not like he was interested in anything but my status and my beauty anyway. Will you be my sparring partner again?"

"Sure." shrugged Claire as they headed for the main dojo. "And maybe this time you'll manage to land a hit."

"You! Are you looking down on me? Just because you're a prodigy doesn't give…"

"I'm not looking down on you, Alexia." cut in Claire. "I know better than most how many hours you spend training yourself. That is admirable. Your foundations have reached a degree of precision that exceeds even mine."

"But only the foundations." bitterly said Alexia.

Unlike her sister Iris who possessed abundant magic power, Alexia didn't have that much. As a result, she couldn't quite reach the speed and reflexes of some of the more gifted students, and when it came to power, the gap was worse.

Through sheer grit and tenacity, Alexia still managed to climb into the rank 10 of the Academy. But she just couldn't beat some people like Claire or the Student Council President.

As if thinking about her summoned her, Alexia noticed Rose Ariana making a beeline toward her, followed by seven girls Alexia had never seen before. She seemed tense, with her left hand loosely holding the scabbard of her sword, as if lifting it slightly for a quicker draw.

"Princess Alexia, may I ask for a few minutes of your time? We have a situation that may require your attention." said Rose as she glanced back at those following her. Alexia understood from her body language that Rose didn't trust them, and she shifted her posture slightly, adjusting her footing for sudden movement.

Claire apparently noticed Rose's tension, too, as she made a step forward, ready to position herself in front of Alexia.

"What is it?" asked Alexia.

"Those people just entered the Academy. They introduced themselves as new students, but their questions revealed a strange ignorance of the Bushinryu style, and when I questioned them, they asked for a private talk with a member of the royal family present. I told them I would consider asking you if they surrendered their swords."

"Yes, and on that note…" smiled the blonde one as she unhooked her scabbard from her belt and extended it to Rose. The others did the same.

"I'll collect them." said Claire, volunteering herself. She wanted to hear what they would have to say, and this would give her an excuse to hang around. She also wanted to stay close to her friend, just in case the newcomers had bad intentions.

"…Alright, let's go to my room." decided Alexia once Claire secured all of their swords. With Rose and Claire escorting her, plus Marco posted at the door of her room, she felt that she would be reasonably safe. "This better not be a waste of my time."

…

"Whoa, this is a great room!" exclaimed Chisato as she looked around. Princess Alexia's room wasn't just a bedroom. They stepped into a large living room, six meters by ten, and two open doors on the back wall revealed a bedroom and a bathroom. The floor was covered by a beige carpet, and the walls were lined with dark oak. A beige sofa and armchairs were positioned around a low table, and another table with six chairs was behind the sofa.

"I doubt all the dorm's rooms are like this." nodded Takina.

"They aren't." said Rose. She, the Princess, and Claire didn't sit, and Alexia didn't invite them to sit either. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Chisato glanced at Marco. He entered with them and was now standing by the door. She considered for an instant asking the Princess to get him out, but seeing her expression, she would likely refuse.

"Alright." nodded Chisato. "Introductions first. My name is Chisato Nishikigi, and it is nice to meet you all."

Her companions introduced each other, and so did Alexia, Claire and Marco.

"We do not currently know about the Bushinryu style because we never practiced it before. But we all have magic power, and I am confident that within six months, we will be the strongest in the Academy."

"What a ridiculous boast. I feel personally insulted." glared Claire.

"That's because, while we aren't Dark Knights, we are Spellblades!" announced Chisato, coining the term. She had borrowed it from a video game she played where one of the characters could be specialized as a melee-focused mage.

"Spellblades?" asked Claire with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. As I understand it, a Dark Knight uses magic to reinforce their body and their sword. This makes them able to move much faster, cut through boulders, and take hits that would outright kill normal people. A Spellblade can also do all that, although I am not sure how we compare yet since the methods we use are different. We have also trained in various styles of swordsmanship. But more than that, a Spellblade can externalize their magic power and manifest it in various ways!"

Chisato plucked one single strand of her hair and used a Magecraft spell on it. The single hair shone with white light and moved, rearranging itself as it lengthened and formed a bird-shaped frame.

The bird slowly flapped its wings, lifting itself to head level and staying there.

"Is that, alive?" wondered Alexia as she watched the bird with interest.

"No." said Takina as she shook her head. "This bird is essentially a magic formula, with a few set parameters to determine its behavior. That spell can be used for combat, but we won't demonstrate it here to avoid causing damage to this room."

Chisato made the bird disappear.

"Now, you will probably assume that we entered the Dark Knight Academy to learn your methods. That is not wrong, but there is more to it. We belong to a secret organization called Valhalla, and we are hunting another secret organization called the Cult of Diablos."

"The Cult of Diablos?" frowned Alexia.

"Those guys again?" angrily said Claire.

"You know about them?" asked Alexia, and Claire nodded.

"They kidnapped me once just before I joined the Academy. They were blabbering some nonsense about me being a descendant of one of the three Legendary Heroes, and they wanted to use my body as a vessel to revive Diablos. Then some commotion happened, and when I managed to free myself from the cell they were keeping me in, those guys had already been killed. I never knew who did it. Was it Valhalla?"

"No." shrugged Chisato. "If it were us, we would have found you and released you. And we would probably have offered for you to join us. But we know that we aren't the only ones secretly fighting them."

"You do not seem to be very much of a secret organization, if you are speaking to us so freely about it." said Alexia with a sardonic smile.

"Right?" grinned Chisato. "But there's a reason for it. Originally, we wanted to just integrate the Academy quietly, observe your methods long enough for us to reproduce them, and then lay in wait until the Cult made its move. But since we got caught so early, we decided that cooperating with you served our purpose better than insisting on our cover would. We do not really mind you knowing, as long as you do not spread around knowledge of Valhalla outside of the royal family."

"They are going to make a move? Are they targeting me again?" asked Claire.

"No, not you." replied Chisato as she shook her head. "From the message we managed to intercept, they want blood to perform some sick experiment. But not any blood. They need the blood of Midgar's Royal family. And the message suggested that they already have someone inside the Academy."

Alexia, Carlos, Rose and Claire tensed again, but this time, their tension wasn't only directed at Chisato and the others.

"Can I see that message?" asked Alexia.

"We do not have it." shrugged Chisato. "We were simply informed of its content and asked to join the Academy and stop their scheme."

"…What do you think, Claire?" asked Alexia without taking her gaze away from Chisato.

"…I know the Cult of Diablos exists, and performing experiments using human blood sounds like something they'd do. Beyond that, I am doubtful but open-minded. Chisato, you said you girls trained in various swordsmanship styles. I want to test you."

"Gladly!" grinned Chisato. "That will give us an idea about how we compare with Dark Knights. How strong are you, compared to the average student?"

"Rose and I are the strongest among the students."

"That's great!" nodded Chisato.

"Rose? Do you agree with this?" asked Alexia.

Rose considered Chisato and her friends for a few seconds, then nodded.

"I agree, but we should wait for a while. The school day is about to end. If we stay there for a while, most of the students will be back to the dorms or outside the campus. If their fighting style is distinctive, we shouldn't draw more attention to them than necessary."

Alexia agreed.

"We have some time to kill, then… Sit down, everyone. While we wait, I'd like to know more about that magic of yours. How does it work?"

"Thank you." smiled Chisato as she created a half-dozen hands of hardened light and grabbed the chairs from behind the sofa, putting them into a loose semi-circle around the low table.

"We actually know several types of magic. Some, like the ability to concentrate light to shape solid objects, are restricted to the members of Valhalla. But there are others that can be taught."

Chisato smiled as she saw the interest in Alexia's eyes.

"Rin, Sakura, you two are the experts when it comes to Magecraft. How about you take over?" suggested Chisato.

"Sure, we don't mind." smiled Sakura. "When someone wishes to learn Magecraft, the first thing that needs to be done is to engrave Magic Circuits on their body, a procedure that is completely safe, and lasts a few hours. The circuits facilitate the circulation of mana, or magic power. The number and quality of the magic circuits that will be created depends on the user's potential, and…"

Sakura talked for a while, talking about Magecraft in general terms, and giving some examples of its specializations like astromancy and crystallomancy.

"… And that's about all I can say about Magecraft without going too much into the details." finished Sakura.

"And you would be willing to teach the kingdom Magecraft?" asked Alexia.

"Not the kingdom." said Rin as she shook her head. "We do not want for Magecraft to fall into the hands of the Cult of Diablos, which will likely happen if a whole institution learns it. We also do not want the balance between nations to be disrupted. This could lead to wars."

"We are, however, willing to teach it to a handful of individuals as compensation for learning the Bushinryu style, on the condition that they first sign a magic contract preventing them from teaching it to others without our approval."

"I understand." nodded Alexia. "You said earlier that engraving magic circuits on someone helped bring out their magic potential. Is that technique compatible with the use of Bushinryu?"

"We do not know." frowned Sakura. "We never tested it in conjunction with Bushinryu yet. I do not think there would be a compatibility issue, but if the user's magic potential has already been fully drawn out by the practice of Bushinryu, Magic Circuits probably won't amplify it. We do have another technique that is guaranteed to greatly amplify someone's overall capabilities, including their magic power, but this one is exclusive to Valhalla."

Alexia sighed in slight disappointment.

"Where did Valhalla learn those magics in the first place?" asked Rose. "They seem too elaborate and diverse to be something created recently."

"That's a secret." winked Chisato as she cutely stuck her tongue. "We're a secret organization after all. We got to keep some secrets!"

Rose, Claire and Alexia looked poleaxed for an instant before Chisato's infectious grin and charisma got to them, and they chuckled.

"Fair enough." nodded Alexia. "But maybe you can speak about your sword styles instead of magic, then. Why does your organization have several?"

"We have three sword masters, and they each have their own distinct styles." said Sakura. "One is pursuing absolute speed, another is focused on counters, and the third one aims to control the distance and mix illusions with real attacks. We have trained with all three to some extent or another, and we also have our own habits we developed over time, so none of us uses the exact same fighting style."

"And now, since we've been busted, I'd like to ask." grinned Chisato. "Why do you not use wooden swords when sparring?"

Alexia looked at Rose, who shrugged before answering.

"Wood has lousy magic power conductivity. Metals are much better in that regard. Sword steel sits at around 70%, depending on its purity and the quality of the forging, but even the best wood won't reach 30%. A wooden sword would shatter during any serious training."

"I understand." nodded Chisato.

Claire moved to the window and looked outside.

"Most of the students are gone already. A few more minutes, and we'll be able to head to one of the dojos unnoticed."

…

The girls entered the large building without being noticed, a dojo whose floor was covered with large, thin mats, dark green in color.

Alexia, Rose and Claire had changed into their training outfits become leaving the dorm. instead of the white and blue academy uniform, they now wore sleeveless, tight-fitting black dresses with light blue trims. The dresses reached down past their knees, but slits on both sides reaching all the way up to their hips insured that the girls could move their legs without impairment.

"You haven't received your training uniforms yet. I'll try to arrange it for tomorrow." said Rose.

"Thank you. We'll accept them to stick to our cover, but we can already create some for now." smiled Chisato as she used Item Creation. In seconds, she held a copy of the training uniform they wore. "Is there a place where we can change? If not, I don't mind doing it right here."

"Right here?" asked Alexia with a raised eyebrow.

"It's only us girls." shrugged Chisato. She put her training dress on the ground and started unbuttoning her uniform.

Claire, Rose and Alexia turned to the side, feeling slightly embarrassed. And Rose noticed something.

"Shuuko, why did you make copies of the uniform for Emi and Kanna?"

"Emi and Kanna are recent members of Valhalla." smiled Sakura as she changed, answering before Shuuko could. "They have received some Magecraft and combat training, but they do not yet have the techniques and boons exclusive to our organization. We plan to teach them within the next few weeks."

"I see." nodded Rose.

Within two minutes, they were ready, and Sakura walked to the center. She held her steel sword in her right hand in a seemingly loose but firm grip, tip pointed toward the ground on her right.

"I'm ready." nodded Sakura.

Alexia, Claire and Rose looked at each other, and Claire was the first to move.

"I'm going. I love to fight strong opponents." smiled Claire.

Sakura nodded, and Claire stopped six meters from her, holding her own sword in a raised guard, hands near her head and sword pointed toward the ceiling.

"Now, teaching the Bushinryu style to foreigners is normally considered a crime, but if Alexia allows it…" said Claire.

"Yes, I'll allow it, in return for them returning the favor." nodded Alexia.

"I'll start slow, and accelerate if you can keep up, okay?"

"Okay." nodded Sakura.

"Then, let's do it!" smiled Claire as she flexed her legs further to lower her center of gravity, and jumped forward.

She wasn't all that slow, and a civilian watching would have seen her turn into a blur.

But for Sakura who could easily pluck bullets out of the air, she didn't have any difficulty using her sword in an upward, slanted slash to intercept Claire's sword.

There was a problem, however, and Sakura immediately noticed that Claire's sword was biting rather deep into her own blade, and she immediately used Shunpo to reappear a few meters away.

"Stop. Before we continue, can you show me how you circulate mana into your sword?" asked Sakura as she showed the deep dent to Claire.

Claire, who had been surprised by Sakura's sudden relocation, nodded.

"You're fast... You do it like this. Try to see how it circulates within the blade." said Claire as she deliberately infused a lot of mana into her sword, to the point that it became visible to the naked eyes as waves of bright yellow energy coiling around her sword.

Sakura watched carefully then tried with her own sword. Within thirty seconds, her blade, too, was surrounded by a wild current of purple energy, and it gradually stabilized as Sakura refined her technique.

Since the sword was compromised, she threw it away and created another.

"Alright, thank you for your patience, Claire." smiled Sakura.

"Good." grinned Claire, adjusting her footing again.

This time, they both jumped at the same instant, with a speed that would have made them invisible to a civilian.

The sounds of swords clashing filled the dojo, and Alexia grunted in dismay.

"That's too fast, I can't keep up."

"You can't?" asked Chisato.

"I can follow their moves with my eyes, but I wouldn't be quite fast enough to fight either of them." sighed Alexia.

Claire's focused expression turned into surprise when Sakura slipped under her guard and grabbed her right wrist, then pivoted as she pulled.

Had Claire been knowledgeable about martial arts in other worlds, she would have recognized a classic Judo throw.

"Whaa!" exclaimed Claire as her world went upside down as she was thrown to the ground.

"We were trained in unharmed combat as well." smiled Sakura as she released her wrist. "Are you okay?"

Claire shook herself and quickly got back to her feet. She was actually happy.

"I'm fine! It will take more than that to injure me. But your fighting style is interesting. And you're fast and strong enough to keep up!"

Claire and Sakura resumed the fight in earnest. Their swords clashed against each other several times per second, but most of the strikes weren't actually connecting with anything as both girls constantly evaded or stepped in and out of the other's range.

After two minutes, they both stopped, beads of sweat emerging from their foreheads.

"We are, evenly matched?" panted Claire with a happy grin.

"Just about." grinned Sakura. "At least as long as I don't start using magic."

Chisato nodded to herself, keeping a smile on her face, but deep inside, she was worried. She knew from the anime that Shadow was much faster than Claire, and that was before he really got serious. While Sakura hadn't used Augment, it was clear to her that its use wouldn't close the gap.

The current Sakura wouldn't manage to hold her own against Shadow. She probably would be able to keep up against some of the top members of Shadow Garden like Beta or Epsilon, but even Alpha, Shadow Garden's Vice-Leader, might be a tough nut to crack.

And Chisato, while faster than Sakura, wasn't that much faster either. It was clear to her that she needed to devote her daily attribute points income to Agility and maybe buy some upgrades from her own store.

"So, what do you think, Princess Alexia?" asked Takina with a smile.

"I think Chisato's boast of becoming the strongest within six months wasn't just arrogance talking after all." sighed Alexia. "Can you teach me your sword style?"

"Sure, I don't mind." nodded Takina. "Although depending on what weapon you'd prefer to use, I might not be the best one to teach you. Me and Chisato prefer to fight with a sword and a gun, or even two guns. If you only wish to use a one-handed sword, Rin and Sakura would be better teachers."

"Two guns?" asked Rose, confused. "How do you reload them? Or maybe you carry a lot of guns somewhere, and you throw them away after using them?"

"Magic guns, who fire blasts of magic instead of bullets." smiled Chisato, manifesting her own.

"I understand." nodded Rose. "If you can move as fast as Sakura, you'd be able to pepper your opponents with them while staying out of range."

"Yes. And if we teach you Magecraft, you could do that as well. But for now, can you teach us some basic Bushinryu moves and stances? We need to blend in in class, starting tomorrow."

"Right." nodded Claire as she grinned at Alexia. "How about you do it, miss Fencer Ordinaire?"

"…Alright." nodded Alexia.

"Fencer Ordinaire?" asked Rin.

"Some people call me that. I don't really like it." shrugged Alexia.

"Alexia has completely mastered the basic forms or the Bushinryu style." nodded Claire. "That's why she's the best one to teach you those."

"You better watch carefully, everyone." warned Alexia as she took the same initial stance as Claire used when she started the spar. "I don't like wasting my time, so I'll only show you each stance a few times…"

For the following hour, Alexia taught them everything they needed to pretend to be average students in the Bushinryu style.

When they parted ways, Chisato and the others left the campus to spend the night in the Sanctuary, after hiding it in a safe spot. They would return early in the morning to properly register in the admission office and would likely be spread over several classrooms.

Alexia intended to inform her sister and her father of the latest developments, but she didn't dare entrust a letter to a messenger and considered that going herself might tip off the Cult of Diablos. Likewise, sending Marcos would expose her. She instead decided to sit on the information until the week-end, when she would have a legitimate reason to visit the royal palace.

…

"Kanna, Emi, it is time." smiled Sakura once they were done with dinner. "This part of your training will be done with the help of one of us. Do you have a preference?"

"I don't have any preference, so if you don't mind..." shrugged Kanna.

"Alright, come with me, then." nodded Sakura, and they left the living room to the room upstairs that Sakura had chosen.

"Why does it happen in your bedroom, Sakura?" asked Kanna.

"You'll be spending some time laying down, so it will be more comfortable if it is on a bed." smiled Sakura.

"I see. So, what is this mysterious process like? Is it going to be like engraving magic circuits?"

"Not at all. From this moment onward, Kanna, your training is officially starting. That means that you can't talk about any of what you're about to experience to anyone who hasn't already gone through it, and you have to follow my instructions."

"Yes, like I agreed when I signed the contract."

"Good." nodded Sakura as she started undressing. "Remove your clothes, please, then stand in front of me, hands by your sides. Let me see what I have to work with."

"Hugh." winced Kanna, but she started to obey without having to be coerced by the contract's magic.

When she was done, she fought the urge to cover her nipples and crotch.

"What then?" asked Kanna with a flushed face.

"Has anyone told you that you are quite beautiful, Kanna?" asked Sakura with a smile.

"A few former boyfriends, yes. And I don't much like the way you look at me right now. I know you're into girls, but I'm not."

"A pity. Do not move, Kanna. I must put a Stop rune on you to seal for powers for a little while. It would interfere with the process."

Kanna nodded once and didn't resist when Sakura brushed her neck-length hair aside and engraved a Stop rune on her nape.

"Now, I will tell you the big secret that none of the girls back at Chaldea disclosed to you, Kanna. To obtain the qualification to share Noah's abilities, two things are needed. First, the signing of a Soul Contract stipulating your willingness to follow his commands. This has been taken care of already. Second, is the desire to devote yourself to him."

"That's the part where we have to join his harem, right?" nodded Kanna. "I don't like it, but I agreed to pay that price already."

"Right. But there is a world of difference between a reluctant agreement and an honest desire, and that is the reason you and Emi do not have his abilities yet. That is what we need to correct." nodded Sakura.

"…How?"

"You have seen his picture already." said Sakura as she faced Kanna, only half a meter separating them. "Do you find him attractive?"

"Well, yes. Physically, at least." frowned Kanna. "I don't think you'd find anyone calling him plain or ugly."

"The fact that he is to your taste is going to make things easier. So, on to the matter of turning your reluctance into eagerness. Kanna, I am going to show you the pleasure that can be found in sexual submission. When your training is over, you will wish for Noah to call you to his bed or to serve him in any other capacity. That's the key."

Kanna's eyes widened as she realized just what kind of training she was going to be subjected to.

"Wha-Wha Wait! Did you do that with Shuuko too?"

"I did." proudly declared Sakura. "Whenever she protested, I kept kissing her to shut her up. She quickly learned to just accept what I was doing to her, and after a while, she grew to like it. Now she calls me Mistress when we're in private, but she still blushes when she asks me to tie her up and have my way with her. Shuuko is cute like this. Ah, I'm allowing you to move, by the way."

Kanna, who had been forced to stand still, recovered control of her body and hurriedly took two steps back. She misjudged the distance or forgot about the bed as her legs stumbled over it, and she found herself sitting on the bed, facing Sakura.

"Please! Is there no other way?" pleaded Kanna.

"No." said Sakura as she took a black leather collar from her inventory. "But I am fond of you, Kanna, so I will let you have some input over your training. I want you to think carefully for a minute, and then, you will tell me about what you think is the best way to mold you into a sexual submissive. You will tell me about what you think is the most effective way to turn you into a good sex slave."

"That's cruel!" complained Kanna, her mind coerced into thinking about different BDSM scenarios. "You're weaponizing the contract against me!"

"The way I see it, Making you into a submissive is going to help you have a happy life as part of our Master's harem. This isn't harming you." shrugged Sakura. "I understand why you think that, but this training is meant to help you with more than giving you access to Master's abilities."

Kanna wanted to retort, but she was too busy considering everything she knew about BDSM. Which wasn't actually much. She considered one type of torture after another, all seemingly more horrifying than the last.

"You're going to hurt me? Things like inserting splinters under my nails until I give in, or…"

"What? Of course not!" exclaimed Sakura, shocked. "If you think you should be trained as a masochistic slave, some light to moderate whipping would be within the range of acceptable methods, but we don't injure our trainees! Don't think about any method that would result in you breaking because of pain. We use pleasure to train our slaves."

Kanna breathed out in relief as her mind shifted to softer scenarios, less painful but more humiliating.

"…The minute is up, Kanna." smiled Sakura. "Tell me, how should I train you to turn you into a willing sex slave?"

Kanna really didn't want to say it, but the contract didn't give her a choice.

"I think you should keep me tied to the bed, and you should edge me, day in and day out. And you should not let me cum until I would agree to do anything for an orgasm." said Kanna with a shudder.

"Hum, that's decided." nodded Sakura with proud approval. "Your training will be centered around edging and denial. But I will still let you cum on occasion when you demonstrate submission. The goal isn't to make you break once. It is to make you grow a liking to being controlled by someone else. And during the day at the Academy, your powers will not be sealed. I do not think I need to explain why. But I will put a rune preventing you from reaching an orgasm no matter how hard you touch yourself."

She stepped closer to Kanna and opened the collar.

Kanna looked away, knowing that she couldn't escape it.

Sakura fastened the collar around her neck and secured it, then took from her inventory four padded black leather cuffs.

Before long, Kanna was tied spread-eagled, the cuffs on her wrists and ankles bound to the bed frame by short chain. In addition to the collar, Sakura filled her mouth with a black ball gag.

"Your pubic hair has got to go, Kanna." purred Sakura as she started running her hands over Kanna's body. "Master prefers his girls smooth down there."

"Mmphoo!" protested Kanna as she saw a small red array appear on Sakura's hand, felt sudden heat on her skin, and when Sakura brushed her pelvis, the hair had disappeared!

"And now, Kanna, it's time for your edge. The first of many." gently smiled Sakura as she lowered her head to Kanna's crotch.

…

"Sensei, three people have entered the estate. Three Caucasian women, entering through the front gate." frowned Noah as they were on their way back from the school.

"How do you know it?" asked Megumi.

"Just a bit of magic." shrugged Noah.

Minaho's phone buzzed, and she took a look at the incoming message.

"A message from Margo. The one who entered is the contact who kept us informed about Viola's movements."

"Cordelia Prisken, then." nodded Noah.

"…One day, I will have you tell me exactly how you know so much." sighed Minaho.

"Sure." chuckled Noah.

"Sensei, won't she be exposed if she contacts us directly?" frowned Yukino.

"Logically speaking, yes, but Cordelia is an old hand. I trust she knows what she is doing." replied Minaho.

Noah was already using Promise to observe the Mansion's surroundings, and he didn't find anyone loitering around, or anyone armed, aside from a few cops patrolling down another street.

They quickly reached the Kuromori estate, and Minaho parked the car in front of the mansion.

They went inside, and found the three women in the living room, with Margo, Nei, Maika and Katsuko keeping them company. They were drinking tea.

"Welcome back, Ojou-sama." smiled Katsuko.

"Thank you. Hello, Cordelia." nodded Minaho. "Bad news?"

"Hi, Minaho." nodded Cordelia. "That depends on perspective."

Cordelia Prisken was a tall, fit woman with gray eyes and black, slightly curly hair ending between her shoulder plates. She was dressed in a beige turtleneck and black jeans. On the back of her chair was a brown leather jacket. Sitting beside her were two girls with blue eyes and long blonde hair, one of them with a very tanned skin.

After using Promise on the way, Noah knew that Cordelia and the fair-skinned blonde girl were both armed with pistols.

"So this is the boy you chose, eh? Seems unremarkable to me." said Cordelia as she looked at him."

"Thank you for the praise." chuckled Noah as he nodded to them. "Being unremarkable is the goal. I am Ren Nagano. It is nice to meet you, miss Prisken, and…"

"Edie, and Nikita Gorbachev. My cute children." said Cordelia.

Noah exchanged a nod with them and sat on the sofa facing them. Nei, feeling bold, or maybe wanting to make a statement, chose to sit on his lap.

He knew that Cordelia wasn't their biological mother. She was too young, for one thing. If he remembered correctly, Edie and Nikita were both Cordelia's disciples and her lovers.

"No, he's… weird. And he just lied." said Edie with a confused expression as she stared at Noah, and Cordelia raised an eyebrow in surprise before giving Noah a second look, frowning.

"Ren has reasons to conceal his identity that we are not aware of, but he earned our trust. He won't compromise our plan." said Minaho.

"…If you say so. You're the one who stands to lose the most if he messes up." shrugged Cordelia. "But if he leaks my name, I will kill him."

Noah nodded in acknowledgement of the threat, not bothering to refute it.

"Are you sure that Viola won't know you're here," asked Minaho.

"Of course I am." snorted Cordelia. He thinks I am staking your estate, and he asked Nikita to keep tabs on me, just in case. He still hasn't figured out that she's mine already."

"I see. But you still wouldn't have contacted us directly if it wasn't important."

"That's true, But I was also curious about how your plan was going, and I wanted to meet one of your protegees."

The look she sent Margo was pure venom.

"But we'll settle this matter later. I came to warn you, Minaho. Moritsugu Shirasaka has been rattled by your media offensive, and rattled badly. He contacted Viola and gave him 3 million dollars, and a whole list of people to kill. Since we were already going there, Viola accepted."

"A list? Am I in it?" asked Minaho, unfazed.

"Of course you are, and at the very top. And so are Katsuko and Morishita, the only members of Kuromori that he knows of. Add to it a dozen members of his family who may try to steal his position as the Head should the allegations in the media continue, and he even wants Sousuke Shirasaka, his wife, and his daughters permanently silenced. He wants a clean slate."

"Grandpa wants to kill us?" gasped Yukino, her eyes wide.

"He does." nodded Cordelia, her eyes growing a bit softer. "Since you and your sister have been taken by Minaho, he assumes that you may already know too much, and he's not taking the risk of you making declarations against him in the press."

"But, he's got to know that killing so many people would make him suspicious." protested Maika.

"As long as there's no actual evidence or witnesses, he can survive suspicion." shrugged Cordelia. "In a few years, the public would have forgotten about it, and it would be back to business as usual."

"Sensei, do you have plans for that man?" casually asked Noah. "If not, I may pay him a visit sometime next week."

"I do have a plan, and it should start… in about ten minutes." smiled Minaho as she checked her watch.

"Pay him a visit? What can you even do?" asked Cordelia as she looked down at Noah. "You're just a student."

"I have been involved in a war once, Cordelia." shrugged Noah. "I know you're a professional killer, but I believe I have a higher kill count than you. Not that this is something to brag about."

"Can you tell us about that war?" asked Nei with a soft voice.

Noah looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed.

"Another day, once I am allowed to say more."

Noah didn't really mind telling them about the way he once stopped a genocide with the help of a few of his girls, but there was a chance that they might connect a few dots and think about the sudden stop of the British's failed invasion.

"Alright." nodded Nei.

Minaho took the remote controlling the video projector on the ceiling and turned it on. She switched the channel to a national news network.

"In a few minutes, Shirasaka Moritsugu will do a press conference." said Minaho with anticipation. "I have prepared a surprise for him. A last-minute improvisation to exploit a sudden opportunity, but it should be interesting."

"I am looking forward to it." nodded Cordelia.

…

A few dozen kilometers from the Kuromori estate, CBZ media, a company whose major shareholder was Shirasaka Moritsugu, had invited fifty journalists from various organizations to a conference.

It was a desperate bid from Moritsugu to strip the inconvenient videos of their credibility by presenting an appearance of openness.

"Thank you for coming, everyone." declared Moritsugu from behind the lectern. "We are gathered here to respond to the false allegations targeting my family. I suspect those slanderous videos to be the work of a competing organization. You can be assured that the Shirasaka family stands united, and that we will use all available means to trace those materials back to their source and bring the culprits to justice. I now welcome your questions or comments."

"Gihei Kazehara, AD News." asked the first journalist, someone from another media controlled by Moritsugu. "Shirasaka-san, it isn't rare for companies and other public personalities to be targeted in this manner. Do you have any clue as to the origin of those defamatory videos?"

"Not yet." replied Moritsugu. "We are pursuing legal action to force the news medias who spread those videos to disclose their source. The culprits will not be able to hide for long."

He gestured toward another lifted hand.

"Asa Tadamichi, Tokyo Morning News." started the journalist, another one indirectly on Moritsugu's payroll. "You assert that those videos are fake. What is this opinion based on?"

"I do not believe that my son would be able to do the kind of things described in those fake videos. There are subtle clues in the footage that suggests that they have been generated by AI. We hired experts to prove it formally."

Moritsugu gestured toward someone else, expecting another softball question. He had arranged for over three quarters of the journalists present to be on his payroll.

"Shun Watabe, Associated Press." smiled the journalist as he stood and took from is pocket a small notebook. "One of the alleged victims just sent us some screenshots of texts she received, and I would like to hear your opinion about them. The texts are said to be the last words of a thirteen-year-old girl whose first name was Naomi, and whose last name started with the letter K. Do you recognize that name?"

"…I do not." glared Moritsugu, but his face was paling.

"According to those texts, you, Moritsugu-san, as well as your son Sousuke Shirasaka, both put Naomi-san into a coffin and buried her alive in your garden. You then planted a rose bush to explain the upturned soil. But you made a mistake. You didn't search her thoroughly, and she had her smartphone hidden inside one of her boots. She used what remaining charge she had to write to her sister."

"Those are lies! Vile, odious lies!" shouted Moritsugu, his composure cracking. He knew the journalist was lying. What he was claiming simply wasn't possible. But is his claims caused the police to search his garden, they would find the body!

"Are they?" replied the journalist. "The messages describe how your son abducted and kidnapped both Naomi-san and her elder sister, forced them into prostitution, and later hired a shady man to force them to have abortions after they both got pregnant."

"This is bullshit!" growled Moritsugu. "Stop lying this instant, or I'll sue you!"

"The messages also referred to the quack having botched the job, making both Naomi-san and her sister unable to have sex ever again. And how that is what made Sousuke Shirasaka decide to get rid of her. The elder sister was only spared because she was useful as a clerical and janitorial staff for your son's brothel."

"Those messages are fake!" shouted Moritsugu, his face red. He had completely lost control. "She can't have sent them! We buried her in the soil! And she was naked!"

All the journalists suddenly froze in absolute shock, not even daring to breathe as they processed what they heard, and Moritsugu recoiled in horror as he realized what he had just said.

"Yes, I admit it, the messages are fake." nodded Shun with a cold smile. "They are fake because, as you just said, you buried her corpse without using a coffin, and Naomi-san had already passed due to massive blood loss from that botched abortion. I was contacted by the elder sister, whose name I will not reveal for her privacy's sake, which is why I know. And you just confessed to the crime on national television."

…

"And that, is that." nodded Minaho with obvious satisfaction as the projector displayed Moritsugu Shirasaka fleeing from his own press conference as fast as his legs could carry him.

He wouldn't be able to run far. It would be a few minutes at worst before some judge signed a warrant for his arrest and for searching his property. The cops wouldn't even wait for a warrant to put him in cuffs.

"That journalist, is he a friend of yours?" asked Cordelia.

"Someone who owes a favor to His Excellency." shrugged Minaho.

"Well, that was quite fun to watch." smiled Cordelia as she stood. "Viola is still going to try to kill you all, though. The money has already been transferred, and he takes pride in being a professional. He won't stop simply because his customer is in jail."

"Of course. We're counting on that."

"Sensei, that was magnificent." grinned Noah. "Please remind me to never play chess with you when there are significant stakes on the line."

"Nagano-kun, I that man somehow manages to escape the cops, I would like you to find him and stuff him in a police station's cell." smiled Minaho, and Noah nodded.

"Sure, after I break his limbs."

Cordelia, unaware that Noah could teleport, wondered why Minaho asked him, but she didn't ask.

"It's time for us to go. We'll meet again Saturday. And Margo, once Viola is settled… I will kill you."

"You still haven't told me why you hate my guts." frowned Margo, barely reacting. "I do not remember ever meeting you before."

"She hates you because she believes that Kyoko-san dumped her, and that you are her new lover." said Noah.

All sets of eyes immediately turned on him.

"What? That's ridiculous!" blurted out Margo. "There's nothing romantic between Kyoko and I!"

"What do you think you know about it?" asked Cordelia with squinted eyes.

"I could tell you, but you have no reasons to trust anything I'd say when we've barely met." shrugged Noah. "Just wait until Saturday. Kyoko-san will be there, and you can ask her directly."

Cordelia watched him for a few more seconds, then turned away without a word and left the room. Edie and Nikita nodded a silent apology at Minaho before hurrying after her.