Author notes:
I am back! And what do you know! It's my and Yuki's birthday today!
Happy birthday to myself and to our beloved Marshal! Thanks my mother kindly for accompanying me on this occasion! Thanks my Patrons for accompanying me thus far! Finally, thank you all of you readers who have tuned in to this story day by day, week by week!
Peace to all of you!
P.S: Don't forget to check out the pictures! https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9
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When the video projection shut down, the entire conference room falls under a silencing spell. In the end, nobody knows what to say after so many stunning revelations. Night has long befallen the outside world, and not everyone manages to notice that it's long past dinner time. Rather than forcing a session of Q&A, King Gustaf V decides to just end the day right after.
"Due to the influx of new information, the conference will be adjourned for the day and tomorrow. I think we can all agree here that a short period is needed to gather our thoughts and to decide on the path going forward."
Collective nods are the response to King Gustaf V's suggestion. Even with their impressive mental faculty, politicians are still beholden to their stamina and various other afflictions. They will be taking the night off before dedicating the better part of tomorrow to determine new plans and countermeasures. Not a small number of them are bemoaning the fact that, because they pushed for the truth and possible profits, they now have to deal with the fallout that could have been avoided. Countries that host a sizeable portion of Christians will be facing hard times soon.
Perhaps it's better to solicit the reporters, if not to censor the news then at least to soften the impact. The last thing they need is to have riots occur when many nations are still rebuilding.
Indeed, when people are filing out of the conference hall, members of some delegations start accosting the group of reporters, presumably to have a word or two. Lu and Bryn see this in full view, though the former only smile lightly at their attempt. There's a thing called rivalry in the reporter industry, whoever snags a lucrative news and is the one to post it first will win. The Devil doubts that these reporters can resist their greed and competitiveness for long, even when there's a gun pointed at their heads.
Hence, she just let Bryn lead her back to their quarter after leaving some parting instructions behind for their delegation. Because Belka runs under a whole different religion altogether, one that is arguably the best in existence currently, Lu isn't afraid of the fallout from Christianity tearing itself apart. Once again, it's ironic that the Pantheon Lu is somewhat associated with will be torn apart by human hands. Granted, they're a given a nudge here and there by a Fallen Greek Goddess of all things.
But before Lu and Bryn can tuck away in their personal quarter, with Bryn already called for dinner and Lu anxiously waiting to talk to Yuki about the things that happened, Amaterasu and Vill-V call out to them.
"Lu! Wait up!"
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Inside Lu's and Bryn's royal suite for a quarter, Amaterasu and Vill-V have taken their seats at a tea table, with Lu relaxing on a couch while her loving Valkyrie places down trays of snacks and drinks. Bryn then sits down next to Lu, having finished her task. The Devil thanks her Valkyrie before placing an arm over the latter's shoulders, pulling her closer. Bryn just sighs at Lu's antic.
"Lu, I can understand if you do this in front of Amaterasu or Yuki, but there's another guest here... What if you make her uncomfortable?"
Being mentioned, Vill-V just giggles amusingly while raising a hand in greeting. "Don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the view."
Amaterasu just lightly bonked Vill-V on the head. "Behave, we're in front of my friends."
"Hey, I am sure that the mother of Yuki will be an easy person to get along with, I don't think you need to worry, much." Vill-V responded while rubbing her head.
Lu snickers. "True that. I am not a sticker on courtesy or politeness in a private setting like this. So tell me, what can we help you with?"
The question dispels the previously harmonious atmosphere. In its stead, a solemn silence befalls the room.
"... Was all of that real?" Amaterasu asks after a moment of silence. Her heart is heavy with the knowledge she has learned.
Lu rolls her eyes at the question, she is immediately chided by Bryn, however. "Be serious, Lu. It's an understandable reaction from anyone, really."
"Right," Amaterasu added, her cheek burning slightly. "Excuse me if I need answers to dispel my doubt. With how badly Sardegna ruined itself, I can't just go and confront whoever is the current Pope."
Lu just shakes her head, though a mocking grin is there on her face. "While I can't remark about Vill-V, no offense but we really haven't known each other for that long..."
"None taken, your majesty." Vill-V gave a thumb-up.
"I thought you have known me for long enough to know that I abhor lying, even if I am the Devil herself. So you best believe that as compromising as they might be, the things shown were the truth." Lu said with a clear conviction in her tone. Accompanying her words is a sudden feeling of otherwordly pressure, one tinted with sulfur and heat.
Nonetheless, the sensation disappears as fast as it comes when Bryn looks at Lu with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, the situation hasn't called for any such reaction from Lu, there's no need to antagonize their guests out of the blue. The Devil in question just shrugs at that. "Addendum, even if earlier was a lie, then why crafted such an elaborate one? For the decimation of the enemy's faith? Please, as if Belka needs any of such tricks in the first place."
Amaterasu squints her eyes at this. Obviously, the last sentence can be interpreted in many different ways, both good and bad in terms of meaning. Vill-V must have noticed that also, but from the look of it, this isn't quite her show just yet. Hence, much like Bryn, Vill-V will be sitting by the side, letting the leaders butt heads and words. Amaterasu supports that choice in all honesty for dealing with Lu has always been troublesome in one way or another.
Don't let her lax demeanor fool you, this Devil with draconic features is an Empress for a reason. Prior to Yuki's rise to power, Lu had been a very active and successful political player. The nascent Belkan Reich's formation in the grand stage that is the world had been largely due to her flexing her mental faculty all that time back. In fact, the Japanese Pantheon had an easier time maneuvering around than their Belkan counterpart. Belka back then was built up from the ashes of old Germany, and as a result, it must face a series of never-before-seen challenges. A new mindset, a new culture, accepting the fact that mankind was not alone, accepting the change in their cultural identities... The Belkan Reich resolves everything, one problem at a time in a surprisingly peaceful manner. While Lu has been going around saying that it was all thanks to her wife, Hel, that they could grasp the hearts and minds of the people, Amaterasu knows that is not the full truth. Lu had been the ultimate decision-maker and negotiator, ensuring peaceful win-win outcomes for talks that should have ended with a party six feet under. Still, this is not what Amaterasu should be paying attention to right now.
Rather, it's this fact that is more important than some extra details from a bygone year. "Alright Lu, I'll bite. I indeed have known you long enough to understand that you'll never lie about something that major."
The Sun Goddess' words prompt Lu to nod. "UmU"
"But I also know that while you detest lying, it doesn't mean that you will shy away from twisting the truth or omitting a part of the truth or the full truth. So, do tell me, have you done any of that back then?" Amaterasu finished with a pointed question, though she was not expecting any good answer for that.
Unsurprisingly, Lu chuckles. "That's a sound observation of me, Amaterasu. Still, why does it matter that we have to disseminate everything to you or anyone in fact?"
Sighing at the grinning Lu, Amaterasu crosses her arms. "As expected, you have redacted something from the projection you have shown. Hell, you're not even trying to hide it at all. I only have my suspicion because I understand you as a dear friend and Vill-V's offhanded comment. Those not in the known of your personality will be swept under your momentum without knowing the important bits."
Lu smiles cheekily. "I'll take that as a compliment. Though I am intrigued by that part about Vill-V's comment." Even Bryn finds herself scanning the girl Lu mentioned.
Amaterasu promptly hands over the stage to Vill-V, knowing that the previous train of conversation has reached an honestly expected stalemate. They should move on to something else, another suspicion of their in fact.
Vill-V, under the scrutiny of Bryn and Lu, presents the comment she made in private with Amaterasu. "It's nothing much, really. It's just that after my personal interactions with Yuki and my many correspondences with her, I just had an idea that maybe, just maybe, Belka is actually more advanced than what you demonstrated to the general public. As in way, way more advanced, so much so that I have no idea what kind of technologies you now have under your belts, and that irks me because I am a scientist myself. I have a feeling that a no-small part of the redacted version must have been because you want to keep your military technologies under-wrapped, much like how closely you guard your secrets as a nation normally."
Lu laughs. "No wonder Yuki said good things about you, Vill-V. You're the right kind of girl she would like to employ under her wings. But well, it's a cheeky accusation you made there, girl. One that is best answered with a question of my own. How far have your technologies progressed to ask of mine?"
Vill-V smiles wryly, already knowing where this would lead. "You got me there, and may I call you Lu?"
The Devil shrugs. "Go ahead."
"Nice."
"So, any other question, or should we start enjoying the evening in all of its entirety?" Lu asked.
"Two, actually." Amaterasu rejoined the conversation. "Any thought about nabbing Sardegna for yourself? It's technically an ownerless land right now and you're the one having an actual military presence in the land because of that humanitarian corridor."
Instead of Lu, it's Bryn who speaks up. "I shall be the one to reply to that one. Currently, the Reich Marshal has deemed Sardegna as a land offering no tactical or strategic value. Rather than occupying the land for much longer, Belkan military will soon be pulling out of Taranto. There are plans to lay off the humanitarian corridor duty to the Spanish Inquisition and Shadow Company, though if other nations would like to join in then by all means. From the start, Belka has only meant to run a Special Military Operation, never has it decided on a war of invasion for lands. As such, we have no desire to expand South." The 'just yet' was left unsaid.
It honestly quite baffling for Amaterasu when Belka just admitted that. "Job done!" Then proceed to go home just like that. There's no way to identify just how many forces Belka sent to Sardegna, but the best guess is that it's probably more than a division's worth of strength. That much investment should have been asking for a recoup of loss somewhere, but apparently, Belka just wants to be the hero for the day and asks nothing more in return.
That is... Wow. Amaterasu admits that there's no way this would fly if it had been her country in the mix instead of Belka.
Smacking her lips, Amaterasu moves on to the last question. Well, it's more of a request, honestly. "I can accept and understand that answer then, though I can't quite relate to it as a leader myself. But moving on," The Sun Goddess eyes both Bryn and Lu seriously. "Can you stop killing and undermining my agents at every step and turn? Truthfully, this whole shadowy war is starting to get out of hand."
Lu raises her eyebrow at this but does not comment on anything, leaving the task for Bryn. The Valkyrie just states calmly. "Well, you will have to be more specific than that, Amaterasu. What shadow war are you talking about?"
Rolling her eyes, Amaterasu explains. "China, South East Asia, West Coast of the United States,... My operatives are encountering setbacks after setbacks, some dead, some captured, and some escaped,... Our foreign intelligence network is being dismantled and off the top of my mind, I can only think of one nation that has such a capability, and that is yours."
"While I cannot confirm anything as this is outside of my jurisdiction, I can only say that it's as expected." Bryn commented.
"As expected?" Amaterasu asked back.
Bryn smiles a rare one. "It's as expected because your intelligence agency is inept at their job, and they have pissed off a lot of people in their line of work. I won't be surprised if there are blood debts, both old and new alike, that are waiting to be paid. Even then, grudges in the underground world are quite hard to forget."
While it's not an answer per se, Bryn's insinuation does bring up unpleasant memories about that party filled with too many heads for Amaterasu's liking. Despite not getting a proper answer, both Vill-V and Amaterasu understand that Bryn has basically said that. "No, we're not gonna stop. You made your bed by murdering our people, now you must lie with it six feet under."
Honestly, it's quite chilling to know that Belka has such an effective black ops detachment under their employment. That alone brings up so many implications and they dread whether or not Belka has already infiltrated the Japanese government. The consequences will be dire if that is to be the case. They can run an internal investigation when they return, but to what effectiveness then? It may even worsen their hard-earned standing amongst the leading figures of Japan. Her new policies have just been implemented and Amaterasu doesn't want them to hit a hiccup or two. It's not like Japan can also publicly protest, because honestly, who in their right mind would protest about their spies being killed by other spies in the first place?
That misstep by her former subordinates back then has such a far-reaching fallout that only now does Amaterasu start to see its effects. She can only make peace with the fact that, at the very least, the Belkan Reich hasn't made any wave on her home turf just yet. So far, they only interfered with Japan's foreign espionage efforts. At this point, she will take that as a win.
Right, there's also the fact that the official relationship between Belka and Japan remains frozen to this day. Amaterasu holds a very small hope of remedying that fact over dinner with Lu and Bryn tonight. It doesn't hurt to stick around and try to lobby for an improvement, no matter how slim the chance might be. With luck and effort, the Sun Goddess hopes that she could spare the loss of talented manpower at least. Reliable spies are hard to train, after all, and one blood bath has been enough for them to get their bearing straight. If they received another one, the spies might as well resign to save their hides. Japan would be strapped for acquiring field intelligence then and any plans in the future would have to be built on loose rocks and stones. That Amaterasu can not allow.