Chapter 81: Meeting

Another sigh escaped me as I gazed out at the busy street from my car. That meeting had been the epitome of insanity. I was heading home alone, having left Lily at the school gate. She said she wanted to travel, so I indulged her. Even though I had given her the freedom to go wherever she pleased, she was still me. If I wanted, I could see everything she did through the window with Felicia’s help.

"Felicia, we need to talk," I sighed again.

"Of course, you have my undivided attention," she replied, swishing her tail.

"You seem troubled, Miss Yuri," my butler, Sebastian, noted.

"Yes. It's a Magical Girl business," I answered.

"My apologies, then, for I cannot be of assistance. However, would it ease your worries if we dined at Eden’s Café? The parfait there is quite delicious."

"No need. Thank you for your concern, but I need to speak with my familiar—hopefully somewhere private."

"As you wish. We shall head to your house immediately."

As the car moved toward home, Felicia tilted her head. "So, what exactly is troubling you?"

"First—the legality. Are you sure Zenith is okay with this?"

"Not really. Zenith does not control Magical Girls the way humanity does. We do not enforce laws that forbid things. We provide guidelines—recommendations for Zenith members."

"Do those guidelines include not punishing wrongdoing?"

"If the populace of the world is okay with it, then so are we," Felicia said matter-of-factly.

I took a deep breath, struggling to process her blunt, uncaring response. Something didn’t add up. If Zenith was so lenient toward its members, why did Guardian Command and the UNH seem so submissive to them?

"So… we can actually deny Zenith’s objections? Then why do UNH and GC act as if they’re under Zenith’s control?"

"We assume they comply willingly so that we allocate more funding to them. Humanity right now couldn’t survive without points from Zenith, after all. But this is merely a conjecture."

I rubbed my temples, nursing the headache that was forming. Then, I sighed.

"Well… if Zenith doesn’t care, I guess that’s fine. Now, about what Freya asked of me…"

Enra and Newstar were actively sabotaging Freya’s every attempt to save her father. The board believed that was the only way to protect their own positions and avoid further scrutiny. So, she asked Lily to rescue her father and me to provide him with a safe place and a job somewhere remote.

I told her it wasn’t possible, but then she asked if I could borrow someone’s identity for her father to use temporarily. Lily and I could certainly make that work. Magical Girls had special access to Zenith's mainframe, so creating new identities was possible. All she needed was an eyewitness to confirm that this new identity and her father were different people.

"Will you submit a report? Tampering with Zenith's system, unless absolutely necessary, is not encouraged. If you object, Zenith will listen and ban Freya from carrying out her plan," Felicia stated.

"I could do that?" I asked, surprised.

"The question is—is it necessary? We need a third party to confirm this. On one hand, what Freya is doing will not damage the system. On the other, it won't provide any real benefits either."

"Does Zenith even know Freya is planning this? Your answer sounds so… robotic. Uncaring," I tried to probe Felicia. Zenith should have known all of our moves. Was this a lapse in their judgment? Or was it just an AI monitoring us? After all, they had familiars watching every Magical Girl and Guardian.

"Zenith does not monitor any of you. We also do not report any of your non-military activities to Guardian Command or Zenith. We do not govern you. So, unless military matters are involved, we often turn a blind eye. If you report this to Zenith, using your secret quest as an excuse—saying that Freya’s actions are risky—some sapient Zenith members will review it, specifically the issuer of the quest. They might place a ban on her familiar. However, that would also mean the quest is considered prematurely completed. There might not be a reward."

“Oh yeah. That secret quest.” I muttered. I had some doubts about whether it was an AI or a human that issued the quest, but this made it clear. “Ugh… 20 thousand points… wait. What were they looking for anyway?”

“They want to know how Enra and Newstar operate. Francesca and her father are not enough. If possible, they want you to join Enra and Newstar's board of directors. Then, you can compile a full report on their activities, their chain of command, and their true vision regarding their efforts against Anathema.”

“Hm… I feel bad hiding this from Kageyama. Could I tell him about my mission? I would need to ask for his help too.”

“He would need to sign a binding geas. And the geas must remain private—not made public or known to anyone, including Guardian Command.”

“How can a geas be hidden from Guardian Command?”

“Well… you buy them from the store. I can issue a binding geas for civilians now if you wish. It will cost 500 points per person.”

“It costs points?” I should have known.

“Of course, nyaa.” I sighed.

“I’m going to Kageyama’s office now. Could you buy one geas for me?”

[You have 8,400 points remaining.]

“Done. I took the liberty of filling in the content with the usual NDA agreements.”

A black box dropped before me. Inside, there was a piece of paper and a blood lancet. The document looked like a normal contract, except for a designated spot where Kageyama needed to place his thumbprint in blood.

“So a geas needs blood, huh?” I had never seen one before, but I knew they existed. All captains in my PMC had signed one, ensuring their loyalty and making them aware of the risks they faced. Regular soldiers only signed standard agreements.

“The geas imprints a command into their DNA, making them unable to violate the agreement,” Felicia explained. “Guardians don’t need to do this because of us.”

“Let’s go.” I nodded.

I called Kageyama soon after. He welcomed the idea when I told him I wanted to speak to him about something important. We quickly scheduled an appointment in his office.

“I usually handle important discussions like these in a restaurant with wine. So, what is it that you want to talk about?” Kageyama asked, motioning for his secretary to serve us tea.

“Um… I apologize, but I need you to sign this first before I can tell you.” I placed the geas before him. As expected, he recognized it immediately. I then summoned Felicia, and he glared at her. The moment his eyes shifted from the geas to me, I knew he had been looking for her.

“Hm… from what I see, I just need to keep my mouth shut, right? Are there any other obligations I should know about?”

“Yes. Yuri may ask for your help after this, but you are free to refuse her. Your only obligation is to keep this confidential.”

“If I don’t help her, will something happen to her?”

“...” Felicia didn’t answer, and Kageyama sighed.

“Well, this isn’t the worst agreement I’ve signed. But remember—I’m not promising anything. I’m just agreeing to stay silent.”

Kageyama took the blood lancet. After pricking his finger, he pressed his thumb onto the paper. Motes of light shimmered from the contract, disintegrating it before the magic was absorbed into his body.

“Done. Now, what is this about?”

“Long story short, Lily accepted a classified mission. The mission is to investigate Newstar and Enra. The Zenith are curious whether they are truly aligned with humanity… or against it.”

“... I see.” Kageyama paused for a moment before responding.

“You’re calmer than I expected,” I remarked.

I had been completely caught off guard when Felicia first told me the Zenith were suspicious of our intention. It seemed absurd. Anathema were the bane of our existence—sabotaging the Zenith’s efforts against them would be suicide.

“I can assure you, my niece, that I am more surprised than I let on. I suppose the UNH’s answer didn’t satisfy you? And may I ask why they recruited a seventeen-year-old teenager as their auditor? This… blunder… will certainly require more than a teenager to investigate. I’m sure Zenith wouldn’t be so ignorant of that fact.”

“Well, they needed a third party to judge. Someone who has been in a similar situation—inside a conglomerate. Enra and Newstar have been promoting their Guardians into the ranks of shareholders, right?”

“Well, that’s true. So… hmm… Yuri, did you get paid for this job?” Kageyama suddenly threw the question at me.

“Um… pay? They didn’t pay me in credits. But the quest said it was worth 20,000 points.” I fumbled. That was a stupid answer. Of course he meant points—I’m a Guardian. Points were more important than credits. The only reason Guardians were so loved was because they could earn points.

“Yes. The Zenith is willing to pay Lily 20,000 points for the investigation.” Felicia confirmed the fact.

Kageyama’s eyes widened as he processed the information. This time, he didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

“What are you going to do with that information?”

“Since I don’t have the report, I can’t say for sure,” Felicia said.

“Are you telling me you’re giving away a tenth of Eden’s monthly budget from the Zenith… for nothing?”

“Well, the reason for this quest was not provided to me. But I imagine they’ll use it for our future engagements. A study is important, after all.”

Kageyama glared at me as if I had murdered his mother. The sheer intensity of his gaze made me reel back.

Did I do something wrong? I knew I probably shouldn’t have taken the quest, but—

“What do you need? What are you trying to do?” Kageyama asked, his voice low, like a growl. Like a wounded beast.

“Um... I need your help. I need someplace desolate to hide Francesca’s father. She’s the daughter of Enra’s CEO, two years my senior.”

“Huh? You’re trying to hide a criminal? Are you ins—” Kageyama stopped, holding his breath. “Did you plan this? Did you want to save this Francesca’s father so badly that you’re willing to defy the verdict?”

“Um… not really. It’s related to the mission…”

“Ah… so you’re hoping that by helping Francesca, you’ll be granted entry into their inner circle.” Kageyama then glanced toward my cat. “Does the Zenith know?”

“Francesca said the Zenith allowed it—only if no one knew,” I answered.

“How… Wait…” Kageyama was about to scream, but he held his breath, looking at my cat for confirmation. I could only shrug.

“The Zenith does not care about the life of one or two civilians. As long as peace is maintained and the effort against Anathema continues, we can turn a blind eye to this incident.”

“I see. This plan… You didn’t instigate it, did you?”

“No. It was all Francesca…”

“I see. As long as the Zenith understands that not all humans are like Enra or Newstar. Please note that we strive to eliminate Anathema as soon as possible. We will spare no expense in that effort.” Kageyama nodded.

“Naturally.”

“Then, about this criminal. You want to prevent his exile, right? I’m afraid there won’t be any place in any sanctuary city to house him. Almost everyone knows his face," Kageyama said. “Unless you plan to keep him locked inside a box without a single visitor—which would be a fate worse than jail… I hope you’re not considering something like that.”

“I see.” I sighed. I knew it was impossible. How should I tell Francesca this? She wasn’t going to like it.

“However, we could move him to one of our offshore oil rigs…” Kageyama eyed my cat as he spoke. “There are only 20 people there. If we can find someone from Guardian Command who can keep their mouth shut to work there… moreover, we wouldn’t technically be violating the verdict. They were exiled from sanctuary cities, after all. If the Zenith allows it…” Kageyama stared at Felicia. His way of phrasing was... odd.

“Well, in that case, we shall leave it to your capable hands.” Felicia nodded.

Kageyama was choosing his words very carefully, as if he was reluctant to go through with this. But in that case, why was he doing it at all? Did he want some of the point reward? And why did he insist on hiring someone from Guardian Command? Why not just use our own men?

“Well… if the mission is a success, I could offer up to ten thousand points…” I muttered. At that moment, I knew I had messed up. Kageyama knew I would have 20 thousand points. Would he think I was being greedy? No, I could just make the excuse that I planned to buy a masterwork vault. More weapons meant better equipment for him, too.

“I’ll call Guardian Command immediately. You can expect an answer within two or three days.” Kageyama said. However, his eyes never left Felicia. I tilted my head, confused by his odd phrasing. Why did he want to help us anyway? I thought he hated Enra.

“Why are you helping? Wasn’t Enra our competitor?”

“Enra and Newstar were our business rivals. But that doesn’t mean we wanted them dead. Just… imagine it as a competition. Do you understand, Familiar?”

“Of course. Competition is good. It enhances growth—as long as you don’t overdo it,” Felicia said. All the while, Kageyama kept his gaze fixed on Felicia. A slight fear was evident in his eyes, which only confused me further.

“In the end, we all need to join hands if we are to vanquish Anathema. If we can, we should help each other… if the Zenith allows it.” Kageyama said.

“Thank you.” Felicia bowed. “Ah, the geas only forbids you from revealing Black Lily’s goals and intentions. You may tell Guardian Command that Francesca asked Lily for help.”

“Understood. You may rest in your condo. Don’t forget about school. I have a lot of calls and meetings to make.” Kageyama soon kicked me out of his office.

“Well, that went better than I expected. I didn’t think he would actually agree.” I muttered. However, I wasn’t happy. This just meant more work. I should probably just cancel this mission…