"The Japanese Liberation Front had been nearly wiped out by your recent operation, Viceroy. Though there are still some of its members on the run, we are currently in the process of capturing them-"
"Is that sarcasm, minister? We are forced to reorganize our troops as well after that fiasco!"
"Oh, no! That wasn't my intention!"
The apologetic voice that belonged to one of the many ministers that governed "Area 11" resounded throughout the main meeting hall of the Viceroy's Palace and Government Borough. Almost a dozen other ministers sat on his side of the table, while Euphemia and Cornelia's generals sat on the opposite side with Cornelia herself sitting at the head.
"I believe this was caused by our pursuing a flawed occupation policy from the start. Why have we ignored Area 11's subways and mining railways thus far? In the ghettos, the family registries and property deeds are also left ambiguous and they're left to breed anti-government activity!"
Guilford asserted.
"Well, the subways practically stretch around the entire country. And we don't have the budget to fill in all of the abandoned tunnels."
"Even knowing they'd become the terrorists' main base and escape routes?!"
"P-Prince Clovis instructed us to… H-He said that if we forced them, we'd just trigger an uprising, which would give the Chinese Federation an opportunity to exploit."
Cornelia wanted to counter the Vice Minister's words. The Chinese Federation had already gotten their chance. Zero's growing power had given them that opportunity. But in that moment, she recalled Zero's words, causing her to bite her tongue.
"Vice ministers, aren't there delegates of the Elevens which the Ministry of Internal Affairs has charged with the Self-Governance of this Area? I believe it is a group named N.A.C?"
A look of recognition flashed across all of the ministers' expressions when Andreas Darlton, a General and Knight of Cornelia, mentioned the name.
"We were hoping to catch the tail of the NAC in the operations two days ago, but the data was buried in the landslide. However, our suspicions remain high. If we suppress them first…"
Darlton turned towards the princess she served. But once again, Cornelia was reminded of Zero's words.
Dealing with the N.A.C, the final bastion of Japanese Governance, and subjugating them under the rule of the Empire would certainly "end the war". But she knew that it would only be for a moment.
As long as the Black Knights, and those who'd still sacrifice their lives to fight against Britannia, existed, then the cycle of war, pain, death, and suffering would continue.
A cycle she was all but tired with.
Seeing Cornelia's silence, which the vice minister took as the Viceroy seriously considering Darlton's suggestion, he stood up in a panic.
"P-Please wait for a moment! Those are just rumors! There's no evidence of it at all! If we suppress them, the Eleven economy won't be able to stand! It'll affect the tax revenue we send back to the homeland! Also, the idea that Numbers should take care of their own is a guiding principle of the empire!"
"Enough, vice minister. I understand…"
"Y-Yes, Viceroy…"
The vice minister let out a sigh of relief and sat back down before Cornelia asked him a question.
"What about the search for the black knights?"
"F-From the shield machine left behind, we've confirmed that the Narita Incident was caused by Zero. But that's as much information as we can glean from the remains of their members."
"I see… Then what about the Excalibur?"
At the mention of the name, all ministers and generals alike tense up as they await the report. Even Euphemia, who only knew about the Excalibur after seeing the footage of Lancelot's fight against it, felt herself shudder from the name alone.
She, herself, had seen Lancelot and Suzaku's skill and prowess in the battlefield. But this Excalibur and the pilot had managed to make him look like a child playing with a toy sword.
And for it to be their enemy… even as inexperienced in war as she was, Euphemia knew how dire the situation was.
"Y-Yes… Unfortunately, we are unable to find out any more information than that it was the lost masterpiece developed by the late Lord Arthur von Morningstar. Information and knowledge regarding its development had been lost along with all the papers and researchers who helped Lord Morningstar with its development. Only reports from Lord Asplund regarding its specifications were left, and he emphasized that it is only a vague guess on its true specifications. Other than that, we know nothing…"
"I see…"
Cornelia let out a deep sigh as she leaned back to her seat. Revisiting such topics once more, though it never truly left her mind, and discussing it with others had been weighing heavily on her mind.
Worry and the feeling of being conflicted never left her since her encounter with the black grim reaper and Zero.
Zero… I truly hope that you truly mean what you said.
She prayed as her generals and vice ministers continued their discussion.
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
"Okay, what made you look so worried~? Are you constipated~? Or are you on your period~?"
Looking up from her laptop, Milly noticed a frown on the orange-haired beauty's face and began teasing her.
Currently, only her, Shriley, and Nina were present within the Student Council's office. And since there were no guys around, she decided to ask Shirley what brought such frown onto her expression.
"N-No!"
"Then, you must be lonely because Lelouch isn't here, right~?"
Shirley flinched when the student council president managed to guess the source of her gloomy mood so perfectly. Her first instinct was to deny Milly out of embarrassment. But, in the end, she couldn't hide it anymore from Milly as she gave her a knowing look.
"Not just that… Kallen's absent with him. Again."
Milly smiled and leaned back to her chair.
"So carefree~ The world is talking about what happened in Narita two days ago, which is also the reason why Suzaku was absent. But you're here thinking about those two~"
"I-I know, but my problem is with Lulu and Kallen!"
"Fufu~ I envy you, Shirley~ That's what I love about you~"
"Could you please not make fun of me?!"
Shirley slammed the envelop in her hand which she had received from her father. Within it was a pair of tickets for her to go with a friend.
She wanted to ask Lelouch if he'd like to go with her this morning. But instead, she found out that he's absent along with Kallen.
"That's why I've been saying… Just tell him already~! Say that I like you~"
"E-Eh?! H-How could I do that?! I-I can't! W-What if…"
"What if he rejects me~? Maybe we won't be able to even be friends~! Ahahahaha~!"
Shirley blushed and deflated as Milly laughed out loud, having guessed the orange-haired maiden's internal conflict perfectly once again.
"You don't have to laugh like that, you know…?"
Milly smiled and crossed her arms under her full chest.
"You know, those two are not the only ones absent?"
"Hm? Ah, do you mean Alexander?"
"That's right. You're so focused on your "Lulu" that you forgot about Alexander, right? Don't tell me you didn't know about the rumors going on around Kallen and Alexander?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
Shirley tilted her head confusedly, causing Milly to let out a tired sigh before she turned towards Nina.
"Nina, you know what I'm talking about, right?"
The quiet green-haired girl nodded.
"Uhn… Some people have seen them talk to each other when nobody was around. They seemed to be just talking casually, but many people suspect they're in a relationship."
"E-Eh?! Seriously?! When?!"
Nina didn't stop her fingers, which was still typing away on her computer, as she responded.
"It seems like they've only seen them talk with each other once. But with Alexander and Kallen's popularity, many have jumped into their own conclusions."
"And we don't know if it is the truth or not. But that also goes for Kallen and Lelouch too, right?"
"..."
Shirley couldn't deny Milly's words. All of her suspicions regarding Lelouch and Kallen's relationship stemmed from when he suddenly asked her out for a private talk a short time after Kallen returned to the academy. From then on, although she hadn't seen any sort of interaction between them, she was still suspicious of their relationship.
After all, what if Lelouch and Kallen were really in a relationship? One was her friend, while the other… she had a crushed on for so long.
If those two were to be in a relationship… she wouldn't know what to do?
Just then, the sound of the automatic door opening resounded.
"Look, if it's bothering you that much, why not just ask him about it as soon as you can?"
Milly grinned and turned towards the person who had just entered the office.
"So? How were things on your end?"
Shirley's eyes widened and she immediately turned to see who had just come.
"L-Lulu?! I-I thought you were out for today?!"
"Nunnally just had a little fever. Sayoko had things to do until the noon, so I stayed home to take care of her."
Dressed in his casual outfit of a black, turtleneck shirt and brown leather jacket, Lelouch entered the Student Council Office as he explained the reason behind his absence.
"O-Oh, you don't say! Is Nunna feeling better now?"
"She is."
Lelouch nodded and inwardly thanked Satoru for helping him take care of Nunnally from the shadow. The eldest member of the Group Chat had gone out of his way to have his phantom "Momonga" to stealthily watch over Lelouch's little sister and used some spells to cure her and help alleviate her pain.
Thanks to that, Nunnally was now simply resting and recovering from her fever.
"Ms. President, do you have that paperwork you wanted me to work on?"
"Oh, right. Make sure you organize them by year and class, okay?"
"Yes yes. You work people to the ground as usual, huh?"
Lelouch picked up the paperworks in front of Shirley.
"Well, it's my pleasure to have such an able subordinate~ Oh, and please do help me make sure Alexander becomes a permanent member of the council~ He does as great of a job as you and complains a lot less~"
"Then please, by all means, make him replace me so I can be free from this mortal coil."
"Fufufu~ Nope~ Although he's capable, I must treat that hottie so much better~ After all, he's an eye candy too~"
"Hah… I see. So I'm just the uglier of the two you're willing to work to the bone, huh?"
"Oh my~ You make me sound so evil~"
"..."
"Fufu~ Thank you, Lelouch~"
"You're welcome."
With those parting words, Lelouch headed out of the office to return to his residence. Although "Momonga" was there to watch over Nunnally, it's give him more peace of mind if he were there to look after her personally. So he decided to work on these paperworks from his home.
As he was walking home, he noticed a presence standing atop one of the roof floors of the academy.
He glanced at the direction of the presence, and with his enhanced sight thanks to his SSR, he was able to see his figure clearly.
He's here… So the time has come, huh?
The man that almost broke him and Shirley in the anime… If he didn't know about what would come and what he would do, then Lelouch might've experienced the same thing.
But it's different now… I will make sure you experience how helpless you are in this world.
He ignored the presence as nothing that man could do now with his geass could affect him now with his [Archivist of Universal Knowledge].
But just then, a voice that came from behind him snapped him out of his daze.
"Lulu!"
"Yes?"
"U-Uhm, a-actually… I think you brought an envelope by mistake!"
"An envelope…"
Lelouch looked down to his pile of papers and indeed found an envelope above it.
Ah, that's right… I didn't realize its here… I should've known about this.
"Is this it?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you…"
Shirley grabbed the envelope and fell into silence for a bit as she lowered her head.
Then, a few moments later, a determined expression appeared on her redly blushing face as she opened the envelope, took one of the two tickets, and pushed it towards Lelouch.
"I-I got this concert ticket f-from my father! He actually wanted to go to it with my mom, but he was hospitalized recently. S-So he gave this to me. I-I'm giving one to you. So if you have the time, you should come!"
Lelouch's eyes widened in shock as he held one of the tickets in his hand. And immediately,Tatsuya, Yuuji, and Satoru's words resounded in his mind.
...Have you not made your feelings known to her yet, Lelouch? We all know you have romantic feelings for her.
Now that we're here, you can rely on us… Allow yourself some happiness.
If you have a girl you like… tell her. You only know how much you treasure something when you lose it. And I've seen how painful it was for you when you lost her. So please… don't live a life you'll regret.
Those words they said… Lelouch brushed them off before since he was busy with something else.
No… He ran away from it. He was afraid of dragging Shirley into the darkness that he had begun trudging his path towards. And… he was still afraid.
But… with his friends now here with him. Would he be able to experience… even a sliver of happiness?
Would it be alright for him… to experience such a thing?
We all know you have romantic feelings for her.
Allow yourself some happiness…
Don't live a life you'll regret.
Their words resounded within his mind once again. And at that moment, he made his decision.
Just as Shirley turned around and was about to run away out of embarrassment, Lelouch's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Thank you for the ticket! I'll… I'll definitely go!"
Shirley slowly turned around, her face blushing extremely redly. And when she did, she saw Lelouch with a tinge of blush in his face.
Her heart skipped a beat as her face grew hotter and hotter.
It was at that moment that she couldn't deny it any longer… She had utterly fallen in love with the man before her.
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
Meanwhile, within the headquarters of the Black Knights.
With Zero absent, Mordred had taken over some of his tasks and was reviewing a few documents in his laptop. And Karen, who had just finished doing some maintenance on her Guren, was sitting adjacent to him on the same couch.
"... Have you even moved since I left to do maintenance on the Guren? I swear you've been in the same position for hours now. Do you ever get tired?"
Karen remarked. With the amount of time they've spent together since Mordred entered the organization, Karen had noticed his exceedingly incredible physical prowess and seemingly endless stamina.
She had never seen him get exhausted or even get a bit tired. Even after a long, major operation like the one they had just finished in Narita, he was still running around their headquarters, making sure everything was alright, while the others collapsed into their beds and took a nap.
He's just like a machine…
Mordred raised his head from his laptop and turned towards the crimson-haired beauty.
"Oh? Are you worried about me~?"
A blush immediately appeared on her cheeks and her leg quickly flew for a kick to his shin.
"I-I'm not! Geez, can't you be serious for a second?"
"O-Ow… You didn't have to kick me, you know…?"
"Hmph…"
Mordred rubbed his shin before shaking his head to her.
"I'm fine. I'm used to this. How about you? You must be tired, right?"
"...No. There's not much wrong with the Guren, so I just did some standard maintenance checks."
"I see. That's good."
Karen crossed her arms and leaned back onto the couch as she kept her eyes at the masked figure.
Ever since she first met him, Karen couldn't get his figure out of her mind.
His appearance was what caught her attention first. But with three other masked figures, having a mask didn't really make him stand out much.
Then, what caught her attention next was his piloting skills. He was… a monster. She didn't know what else to call him except a monster. He was a genius when it came to piloting a knightmare frame.
When he pilots a knightmare, it was as if the machine had become an extension of his body. And he could control every single aspect of it.
She had never seen anyone with such a level of control and skills.
And then, she found out that outside piloting a knightmare, he was also a genius with investing and trading in the stock market.
Even now, most of their budget for the Black Knights came from the profits he had gained through his stock trading.
And not only that, he was also extremely skilled with managing their finances as well as managing the members of the black knights.
With every moment she spent with him, she learned a new side of him that she never knew about. And before she knew it, she found herself spending most of her time with him while she was with the Black knights.
Even now, when she could've gone anywhere else to rest, she came here and sat next to him.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she stared at the demon-masked figure. And before she knew it, that curiosity was slowly turning to interest.
Though at this point, she was still unaware of that subtle change.
Just then, the door to the trailer opened, and climbing up the stairs was Ohgi with an envelope in his hand.
He turned towards the two and tilted his head a bit when he saw Mordred clutching onto his shin.
"Hm? What happened?"
Karen blushed and quickly sat back while Mordred simply shook his head.
"Nothing. I just hit my shin onto the table. What's wrong?
"Oh, alright… There's a letter for Zero."
"A letter?"
Mordred took the letter from Ohgi and opened it, taking out the folded piece of paper within.
"It's from Kyoto. Seems like they're asking us to meet them."
Mordred began reading it through as Ohgi and Karen awaited his decision.
Meanwhile, within Yuuji's mind, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry.
The request from Kyoto House finally came… That means Mao's arc must be starting as well…
Mao, a man obsessed with C.C after the geass he received from her went out of control, causing him to be unable to stop hearing the voices of everyone around him.
His geass made it extremely difficult for Lelouch, who's main weapon was his brilliant mind, to fight against him in a game of wits. He only managed to win because he had cast a geass onto himself to make him forget about his plan.
But now… Lelouch won't be having that problem. With his [Archivist of Universal Knowledge], his mind will be protected from any magical phenomenon that would attempt to affect it.
Yuuji had a geas that would disable all geass activation in his sight in addition to his immunity to all magical effects. While Satoru can simply summon a "Phantom" of one of his guildmates to cast a spell that would protect himself and Tatsuya against Mao's geass.
And without his geass, he'd be reduced to a deranged powerless man with a loose screw.
Honestly, dealing with him would be easy. But… If he were to be simply erased from the picture, C.C's guilt of giving him the Geass and abandoning him afterwards might not be resolved.
That's why they must tread this problem carefully.
After a while, Yuuji closed the letter and folded it back to the envelope.
"What do you think, Mordred?"
Yuuji nodded to Ohgi.
"Honestly, it's not a bad deal. This will help expand our coffers more and give us more breathing room to use our budget."
Ohgi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I think so too. The profits you got from your stock trading were enough to keep this entire organization afloat. But if we could get their backing, it'll be easier for us to expand."
When Ohgi first saw Mordred's skill with investments and trading, he honestly couldn't believe it… The man was essentially robbing from the rich. He managed to accumulate an amount that they'd previously only be able to get after a month, in a day.
Thanks to him, the Black Knights were able to procure more weapons, money for their operations, do maintenance for their knightmare frames, and also improve their livelihood. And now, if they could get the backing of the Kyoto House, they'll be able to expand even larger than before and undertake larger operations.
"Mm. I'll hold on to this and give it to Zero later to get his approval. Thank you, Ohgi."
"You're welcome. Oh, and also…"
"Hm?"
Yuuji looked back up towards Ohgi just when he was about to turn his attention back to his work in his laptop.
"If possible, you should… rest for a bit. You've been working so hard… Some of us are getting a bit worried about you."
Inside his mask, Yuuji's eyes widened in surprise from the sudden show of concern from Ohgi. But, he soon smiled and nodded.
"Sure. Thanks. I'll take it a bit easy after we return from Kyoto."