After passing through the boundary known as the "Gate," they saw rows and rows of towers which scraped the sky. At this time, Piña wondered; what did the men of the Imperial Army who first set foot here think? Did they have any idea of their upcoming fate? Nestled within the valleys between these vast buildings, I realized how small I truly was. The fact that we have declared war on a country that built such magnificent structures makes the imperial princess worry for the fate of the Empire.
Then again, Ginza would not have things like skyscrapers. If one thought about it, most of the tall buildings one might see would be found in places like Shinjuku or New York.
On the topic of grand structures, Piña and Bozes considered the Imperial Palace, the Senate building, and various other military strongholds to be quite impressive, so to them, even walking down Ginza must have struck them dumb with awe.
Having a tall building among regular buildings would only make the tall building stand out more.
Because of that, from Piña's point of view, a capital city should be planned so that there would be an awe-inspiring structure standing in the middle. However, the city on the other side of the "Gate" was different. All its buildings were massive skyscrapers.
If there were a single giant tree, one might still be at peace when looking at it from underneath. However, a forest of giant trees would inflict an enormous pressure on those beneath it.
Among her thoughts, she glanced to Beelzebub who sat beside her. Every time she looked at his face she started to blush uncontrollably and she could not help it. But uncontrollably turned her head away.
"Why I feel like this? Maybe he is using some kind of magic to make me feel uncomfortable?" she shook her head. "No! He is a royalty. A royalty would never live with such dirty tricks?" She considered the other options. "Then if it is not magic. It is his own charisma. Damn!" she bit her lower lips. "A country with the army of the gods, leaders with an inhumanly level of charisma and vast territory... what have we done! And I don't even meet his father... if he is like this... I wonder what kind of man his father would be..." she looked at Beelzebub with a worried expression.
Prince Beelzebub seemed completely calm despite the sudden environment change. Neither Momon showed any sign of excitement. The two of them was the statue of calmness. As the car slowly left the gate behind. They inspected their surroundings.
On Beelzebub face his usual smiling expression settled. On Momon's illusionary face his always serious, suspicious expression can be seen as he glanced out of the vehicle and measured his surroundings.
As Beelzebub looked out of the window, he wondered. "So that's how Japan looks like... I saw numerous recordings, pictures and there was a countless piece of literature about this world in the archives of Nazarick. But to see it live... really spectacular. Not as spectacular as the enormous floating castles back in the capital. Still, commendable..." he nodded to himself. "After all... they don't have magic. So they had to build all of this without it. Only using their wits..." as he mused about this. He looked out again at the window.
"Still... in the archives, there were pictures about much older as well more modern buildings. Sceneries both thriving with life and pictures of a dead world suffocating in metal and its own stain... I wonder... father and aunt were there multiple times? I wonder if they experienced this world first hand? Both in its past, present and future..." he frowned. "I need to ask them later..."
As Momonga glanced out of the window, the nostalgia caught up with him. "So this is it... This is the Japan of old." A small smile curled on his illusionary face. "I must admit. It is exactly like in the pictures on the internet. I am so glad we managed to come here!" he burst out in joy and his emotion suppression triggered. "Tch... Annoying thing..." he frowned.
"Of course our new world has beautiful sceneries as well. But this... this is the place where we come from. The place of our origin. Despite I am an undead now and the resident of the New World or as my friend call it... 'Bob'... I still feel a kinship towards the Japanese people... but of course, if I have to choose between the two I chose my current world. my kingdom. If any nation from Earth or the world what located on the other side of our gate threaten my friend's legacy..." he breathed deeply with his non-existent lungs.
"They better start to pray whatever deity they believe because I will not show mercy! I will rain apocalypse upon them. I will show them the true meaning of fear and despair!" under the illusion the two dazzling crimson lights in his eyes started to shine brighter.
Beelzebub looked around feeling a similar presence. It was like his father sitting near him. Thinking about this he shook his head. Maybe a few people said his father is everywhere and see everything, but despite the Sorcerer King's miracles, Beelzebub did not believe in such thing. Anyway... It would be a pretty pervert if he saw everything.
As he thought about such things he chuckled.
The small group left the cars and started to walk down on the street.
Standing there, Piña's and Bozes' hearts were deeply shaken by the sights before them.
Of course, they were not the only two affected by it. Lelei, Tuka, and Rory were staring with eyes wide open, oblivious to the cold even though they stood at the heart of Ginza in the winter.
Raidyn breathed the clean, cold air deeply inside of her lungs and murmured. "Finally..." she started to smirk. (of course, the air was still full of chemicals. But it was a lot cleaner than back ion 2138.) "Back to our roots... hehe..." she chuckled in herself.
"Ara, good thing I didn't miss you guys."
A voice called out to Itami from behind the six girls, Momon and Beelzebub. Just as he was about to leave the sentry post.
Turning around, he saw a group of black-suited men. At their head stood their leader, a middle-aged man.
"You must be Lieutenant Itami."
"Yes, that's me."
"I'm Komakado from Intel. We'll be handling escort and guidance duties for this operation."
The man was smiling, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He had the same forceful aura around him as JSDF trainees who had just completed the Ranger course. One could describe it as a pressure, but to him as a JSDF trooper, it was more like a razor-edged look in his eyes.
The way this man smiled superficially was not entirely like that of a soldier. He might have come from the Public Security branch of the police, or perhaps another intelligence agency. He might even have been the result of the exchange program between the JSDF and the police.
"Tell me, are you really from the JSDF?"
"As I thought, was it so easy to tell?"
"You don't feel like a proper serviceman. If a pure JSDF officer were handling this, there would probably be leaks."
The corners of Komakado's mouth turned up in a wicked smile.
A voice entered in Momonga's head. [Message]: "Ainz-sama. We scouted your and Esdeath-sama's surroundings. There is no detectable source of danger. We continue our scouting and information gathering. As well to collect the special items what Esdeath-sama listed us."
[Message]: "Good job..." Then it comes to his mind what Zero said lastly. "Wait!? What items?"
[Message]: "She ordered us to collect literature as well primitive digital media from a list what she sent us. She described the special items as manga, light novel, and games..."
"Is she really use the head of the secret services to collect manga for herself?" Momonga sweat dropped. Then furrowed his non-existent brows angrily. "How dare she let me out such things! Don't she know I want to read a new manga, light novels and play the games of this era too?! Oh! Esdeath! We will settle this thing later!"
[Message]: "Ainz-sama? Everything all right?" asked Zero in a worried tone.
While Momonga furrowed on the fact. His friend dared to let him out from such thing. He does not even recognize he is still speaking with Zero. [Message]: "Umu... Continue your work. Report us if you or any other units detect anything suspicious."
[Message]: "As you wish. Exalted one." The connection has been terminated by Momonga.
Meanwhile, Itami and Komakado still conversed.
"Hmm, you're no ordinary guy. As expected of a man who was at Nijubashi. You know, I read up on your background before I came here."
"Nothing worth mentioning, I hope?" joked Itami.
"Not exactly. After graduating from an average university with average grades, you entered the officer cadet course and ended up graduating second from the bottom in your batch, as a second lieutenant. The bottom cadet was injured during training and washed out. So in truth, you would be the lower part of your cohort, am I wrong?" noted Komakado. It seemed he made his homework and knew everything from the First Lieutenant.
He flipped through his notebook.
"Some people commented that it was unfair that you passed while the injured fellow had to flunk out. Your performance appraisals wavered on the border of acceptable and unacceptable… and eventually, you managed to scrape somehow through. The superiors you angered sent you to the Ranger course, but for some reason, even though you trailed at the back of your cohort, you were never washed out. Your teammates treated you like a plague and avoided you, and for some reason, you were posted to Narashino. Although you were slated to be a permanent 2nd Lieutenant, after the Nijubashi incident you were promoted to 1st Lieutenant."
Komakado recited Itami's history from his black leather notebook as he flipped through it.
"Your fellow soldiers had the following opinions of you: "otaku," "a true salary thief," "at least he understands the JSDF's anti-war values." Kukuku, how interesting." he chuckled in a malicious way what make Tuka cringe.
As this fellow delivered his scathing lecture, Itami scratched the back of his scalp.
"So how did someone like you get into 'S' ?"
Acha~ Itami sagged his shoulders as he heard the question. That was a prickly one.
"I think there was a paper some time ago which said that among all the worker ants in a colony, 20% are slackers?"
"?"
"It means, no matter what kind of ants you have, 20% of them will become slackers."
"I see. So in order to ensure none of the elite, handpicked ants backslide into slackers, you need to have slackers in there, to begin with?"
"I bullshitted my superiors when they lectured me about slacking off. The logic might sound strange, but rather than gathering a group of elites together and have 20% of them become slackers, why not just include those slackers from the beginning and minimize the decay of skilled personnel? Back then, there was a spate of suicide cases in the WAIR (JGSDF Western Army Infantry Regiment (Light)), so the unit took that suggestion seriously."
"Kukuku, so, is that how someone like you got into the Special Forces? If anyone knew that someone as easygoing and slack as you could get in, they'd bang their heads on the wall while wailing about how they were doing worse than you."
Komakado's words made Itami sigh deeply.
And just at this moment—
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~."
A shrill cry of despair rang out from the side, like a girl who had been abandoned by her lover.
On closer inspection, the one crying out was Kuribayashi.
Her face was pale, and that was not a joke or exaggeration. To her, the fact that Itami was a Ranger was a seemingly irreconcilable paradox, and now she learned he was from the Special Forces. This otaku, this supreme slacker, to think he was a member of the Special Forces she admired! Learning that fact plunged her into the deepest despair, and she wanted to curse this world and scream her anger to her enemies.
"Nooooooooooo~~~~!"
She ran off like a frightened rabbit, although since there were obstacles set up around the "Gate," she could not go far.
Tomita gave chase, and when he caught up, he patted her gently on the back to show that he understood, comforting her like he would a victim of sexual assault.
Raidyn chuckled. "I like this place already!"
Momon seeing this comedic show released a weak chuckled. But Beelzebub just smiled and shook his head. "After all... they are still human. Not different than our people. They act exactly like them..." He thought. Then looked at the gate. "It reminds me when I walked amongst father vassals using an illusion. Watching how they live..." a wider smile curled on his face. "It seems... we are not so different after all..."
Most of the soldiers in the checkpoint stared at Beelzebub with a frightened expression. To be precise his golden irises with vertically split pupils and the two thick horns what sprouted out from the two sides of his temples. Some religious amongst them grabbed their crosses or prayer beads in their neck and started to pray.
Komakado could not help but laugh as he saw this. He tried his best to keep his voice down, but in the end, he was still laughing while grabbing his belly. After a while, Komakado managed to calm down and catch his breath. He straightened himself up and then bowed to Itami.
"You aren't an ordinary man. Being able to pretend to be a lazy ant among the other hardworking ants is an impressive feat. I respect you, and I mean that."
"No way, someone tells me he's lying… Ah, this is just a dream, it can't possibly be real~."
Kuribayashi covered her face with her hands and tried to deny reality. She radiated an aura of gloom and despair. Raidyn started to pat her back. "It is okay... I am sure Itami-kun earned that badge..."
"You just made it worse Raidyn..." she sniffed.
Fortunately, the microbus from Intelligence Branch picked this time to show up. It was a godsend because the interior was spacious.
Kuribayashi sat in the rear seats, while Itami was all the way in front, sat beside the driver, in order to avoid being contaminated by the aura of misery around her. Rory, Piña and the others did not dislike Kuribayashi, and Rory herself was actually favorably inclined toward her, but they decided to cluster near the front in order to keep their distance from Kuribayashi.
As usual, Beelzebub sat near Piña. Momon sat just in the right distance from Beelzebub if the case wishes he could jump and protect him. But let him enough breathing room to speak with the imperial princess comfortably.
As Raidyn... Well, she wanted to sit on the top of the microbus, but Itami explained to her it would be against the laws and Momon scolded her because of her childishly stupid idea.
In her depression, she sat near Kuribayashi, and now the two of them emitted the aura of wailing depression while curled up in a ball.
The two exaggerated reaction was somewhat problematic.
"Lieutenant Itami, where are we headed?"
The question came from the Intelligence Branch driver, who was wearing a suit.
"We'll go get some clothes first. Since we're out of time, just take us to some place that sells suits, we can't let them go on camera like this."
Rory, Tuka, Lelei, Raidyn, and Momon had needed some proper clothes before they went before the Diet. In particular, Tuka's and Raidyn's T-shirt and jeans did not look like something that a person testifying before the National Diet should wear. Neither Momon's leather jacket and jeans.
Originally, the plan was to let Kuribayashi pick out clothes for the girls, but since she was suffering a mental breakdown, the task fell to Itami, the man with no taste whatsoever. If Kurokawa were there, she would definitely try to stop Itami from doing something stupid.
The driver in Black informed his superiors about where they were going, then started up the microbus and set off.
The area surrounding the Ginza side of the "Gate" was under the jurisdiction of the JSDF, and some people called it the "Ginza Garrison." However, once their vehicle left the restricted zone, they were back in the heart of Ginza again. The girls from the Special Region could not help but stare in awe at the sights which now surrounded them.
As Momon. He watched Ginza with suspicious calculating eyes. Not because it was his true expression. But he does not allow his illusionary face show his true emotions this time. After all. Now he is Momon of the Darkness. A badass warrior who defeated monsters from the nightmares of the people. Showing such emotions would stain his reputation.
As for his companion. The people who know her already get used to her suddenly changing behavior. So they did not give her much attention.
Although, that was inevitable. The reason was because, after the Ginza Incident, the shopping districts in Ginza now sported all manner of shiny decorations, festival lights, and Christmas trees to draw in customers, and the glass display windows showcased name-brand clothing, expensive jewelry, and all the things which would draw a girl's attention.
The Ginza district did not look like a place which had been the site of a battlefield just half a year ago. The roads were packed with cars, and the shoppers thronged the streets.
Of course, there were shops which had not reopened, and which were sealed off by thick metal shutters. For most of them, their owners had died during the Ginza Incident.
Other shops had lost their staff to the fighting and had gone out of business.
Even so, there were still a lot of people who wanted to restore Ginza to its former glory, and they brought in more and more customers. This might be the resilience of the Japanese people.
"There are a lot of people here. Could this be a marketplace?"
"Ah, look at that dress…" awed Bozes.
Piña and Bozes were whispering a conversation to each other. Beelzebub just shook his head. Women remain women after all. No matter the race, age or civilization. They acted exactly like the women back at home.
The microbus stopped in front of a clothing store which specialized in Western fashions.
Itami sought out a female sales attendant and handed Tuka and Raidyn to her while saying, "Get the, a formal-looking set of clothes, to be worn right away. The cheapest will do, just send the bill to this address." Because Itami emphasized "cheapest," the lady brought Tuka and Raidyn to the returns section, where the more affordable clothes were.
"I will not wear clown clothes..." Raidyn huffed like a child. "Is my cool jacket is not appropriate?"
"You have to wear something formal. Or they will not allow you participate in the diet..." sweat dropped Itami.
"Who want to participate in that stupid thing?" she turned her head away while puffed her cheek.
Itami looked pleadingly to Momon. "Little help. Momon?"
Momon nodded. Slowly strolled to her and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened. Straightened herself and saluted. "I will do it!" she shouted. Then looked to Momon. "But I will still wear my cool long coat!" then the female sale attendant. "And no high heels!" She pointed to the attendant. The female sales attendant just nodded with a surprised expression.
"Rory, Lelei, do you want to wear something more formal too?" Itami turned to the other two girls.
Rory walked one full turn around the store, looking at both male and female fashions, before declining. "I'm not really interested in these clothes. Besides, this is my priestess' formal wear."
Lelei replied, "No need." Unlike Rory, she seemed completely uninterested in new clothing.
Well, Lelei's robes probably qualify as an ethnic costume. The problem is Rory's goth-loli clothes. Even if she says it's formal wear, there's no way anyone would believe it. We'll just have to insist that it's a set of ethnic clothing that just so happens to resemble a goth-loli outfit.
On the other hand, Piña and Bozes were looking at the clothes on display, but their attention was focused on the quality of the fabric used to make them.
They were currently wearing Imperial nobles' clothing, suitable for semi-formal events.
Those clothes were made of very high-quality, hand-stitched silk, designed for use in garden parties or mounted activities. In that sense, it was like a medieval musketeer's uniform.
With the addition of a sidearm sword, it would make a good set of casual clothing for a knight.
However, Yanagida firmly forbade them to carry weapons through the "Gate," so Bozes and Panache had gone through with nothing at their waists.
Pina and Bozes only complaint about these clothes was that their fabric was too thin, so they considered buying a winter coat. However, the microbus and the clothing store were heated, so it was not a huge priority. Instead, they simply wandered the store looking at clothes.
Beelzebub looked around with a bored expression. It was not too interesting for him due in Nazarick they have similar clothes. Mostly in his father's collection. He wore his high quality enchanted formal outfit what he always carries with himself in his void storage. More than enough to attend to such events.
It resembles a fancy suit befitting to a royalty. With golden edges, multiple brooches, and award pinned on his chest. Two golden epaulets on his shoulders and an ornamental sword. What he currently does not wear due to the Japanese laws. Not as he can't store his armor and numerous weapons in his personal inventory. So he could always change his gear if the case wished.
Many royalties wore similar ornamental swords in the globe. Of course, Beelzebub's clothing was not a simple formal wear. What the simple people does not recognize. It was heavily enchanted with the highest quality of data crystals what made it resistant to any kind of harm and increased his persuasion abilities as well made him capable of using passive charm effect on others.
"Oh, this material's quite sturdy. It would probably sell for a lot in the Empire." noted the imperial princess.
The sheer variety of goods on display made them wonder if the owner of this place was some kind of merchant prince, to be able to boast such a huge stock.
Momon barely found the clothes of his liking. Thanks to his muscled. Bulking. Illusionary body. He was barely able to find clothes what fit for him. In the end, he chose a black suit with a tie and white shirt. Kuribayashi looked away with a blushing face while Rory grabbed his muscled arm. "Ahh. Momon! You look so good!" she squealed. All for Momon's displeasure.
Raidyn chuckled on his sudden popularity. "I see you have a good time Momon-kun!" she teased him reproachfully.
Momon turned to her. "Those clothes fit you. You should wear similar things more often." He retorted.
Raidyn flushed in anger. "You... I will hit you!" she threatened him while raised her clenched fist.
Momon simply released a weak crackle under his nose like he doesn't even care about her threat.
Beelzebub shook his head with an amused expression seeing the two Godkin's prattle.
The little group returned to the microbus and took their seats again.
"Itami, where will we be going next?" the bus driver turned to the First Lieutenant and asked.
Itami replied, "Let's get something to eat first. We'll be going before the Diet at three, so we should be there by two to give ourselves some buffer time."
"Then where shall we go to eat?" asked the driver.
Itami grinned and gave the driver his directions.
Scene Change: In the restaurant.
"Wait, why do we have beef bowls?"
Tomita grumbled, and for a good reason. They had traveled all the way to another world; could they not entertain their guests with something better?
Itami rebutted him by saying that since they had to report to the Diet from Ginza, they would have to pass by Shinbashi on foot, which would take them past a beef bowl restaurant. He ordered eleven beef bowl set meals (paid by the JSDF, of course) and then everyone sat down together to eat.
"We won't be on vacation yet until we finish speaking to the Diet. As a result, even though traffic and food can be billed to the JSDF, we can't spend more than 500 yen for meals per person."
"5-500 yen?"
"Well, a single cup of coffee from the cafes here will cost more than that. Beef bowls or soba are pretty much the only things that cost under 500 yen in this area. But we can't have them eat while standing, so I went with the beef bowl. Besides, it looks like they're enjoying it."
Lelei and the others were digging into their food with great gusto. As an aside, they had learned how to use chopsticks in the refugee camp. To Lelei's group, which were used to eating JSDF-supplied combat rations, the beef bowl tasted delicious."
"But is it alright to let the Princess, the Prince, and Bozes eat beef bowls?"
"They're here to learn about us, right? That being the case, why not let them experience what the average citizen has for lunch?"
The high-bred noblewomen in question were gingerly spooning up the beef bowl and egg before swallowing it. Although it was the first time they had encountered a rice bowl dish, they did not protest it, probably because their time in training had inured them to vile food. That being said, they found the beef bowl delicious.
Raidyn and Momon used the chopsticks as they were in breed Japanese and eat their food. Thanks to the advanced reality bending enchantment what Esdeath herself developed. The illusionary stomach of Momon could receive food. The food and drinks automatically convert to negative energy what he used.
Of course, he still can't enjoy the taste of the food and could not gain any buff from it because of his body undead nature. Still, he could make the others believe he can eat.
Beelzebub who taught how to use every kind of cutlery from his childhood. Used the chopsticks. Proficiently. The food before him was a pretty simple and tasted quite bland compared to the culinary masterpieces what he used to eat daily base back in his childhood. But his consumption of the food of Nazarick became rarer and rarer since his aunt commanded her to don't live as a hedonist asshole because he will go soft.
So nowadays he rarely enjoyed the meals what prepared by either Sous Chef or Zero.
Some guest in the restaurant slowly left the establishment with fear on their faces. Maybe they thought Beelzebub was some kind of demon from hell and came to judge them. Seeing this reaction, Beelzebub only smiled.
"This food is pretty bland..." he mused in his head. "Japanese people really treat royalties like this? This is just disappointing..."
From the shadows a butler uniform wearing figure watched them. Boiling in anger seeing his masters had to eat such unworthy food. His hands trembled in anger and almost revealed himself. Pulling out his scientific handguns he pointed it to the food while hid in the shadows. He wanted to blast away that stain what these miserable creatures called food.
"Unacceptable! Not worthy of a consumption of the heir of Ainz-sama and the Supreme Beings! That stench... What kind of monster capable of making that thing what they call food here? Calm down! Calm down! Esdeath-sama ordered me to collect the items. Still, I can't bear to see them eat such food! It is against my ethic as a servant and as one of the head chef of the glorious Nazarick!"
A few Japanese citizens entered the shop and prostrated before Beelzebub. "Satan-sama! Oh! Our unholy Lord! Please give us your blessing!"
Beelzebub and the others looked at them with a dumbfounded expression. But being curious they did not intervene.
"Satan-sama?" Beelzebub scratched his face as he turned to the people who prostrated before him. "Unholy Lord? I must admit... I never heard such titles..." he chuckled.
The middle one among the several worshippers looked up with a hopeful expression. "What is your name, my Lord? If this humble servant can ask it."
"Beelzebub Ooal Gown. It is nice to meet you." He chuckled.
"Ah! I see!" he nodded. Then bowed down again. "Please Lord Beelzebub! Give us your blessing!"
Beelzebub decided to play along. "Please rise faithful servants."
As if a puppeteer moved the persons before Beelzebub. They rise with eyes filled with hope
"Unfortunately. I can't really give you buffs what you seek. But I can give you some money if that is adequate." He reached in his personal storage. His hand disappeared into the black void for a moment.
The worshipper's mouth hung open for a moment. He pulled out a small purse of coins from the darkness what swallowed his hand previously. "Here. Take it. Your performance was magnificent." He threw the purse lazily to the leader of the worshippers.
The leader of the worshiper's hands trembled as he caught the little leather bag. He felt his mouth has been completely dried out. He opened the small bag slowly, and his eyes almost popped open. The purse was full of priceless gems, diamonds, and golden coins.
They bent themselves even deeper than before. "Oh! Merciful Lord! Thank you for your contribution towards your meaningless servants! We are nothing more than meaningless flies in your eyes! Still, you care about our wellbeing so much! Thank you! We will praise your name until the end of the world."
"Until the end of the world!" the other worshippers said in unison.
"Ask anything, and we will fulfill it. Do you wish war? We will cause war. Do you wish sacrifices? We will provide you any sacrifice what you wish! You only had to wish, and we fulfill it in the best of our abilities!"
"Hmm..." Beelzebub thought for a moment. His mouth curled into a smile.
He leaned closer to his new 'servants' and whispered his request in their leader's ears. He continued acting like a demon lord.
"Go! And spread my great name!" he announced and posed like a true demon lord.
"Yes! Beelzebub-sama!" they shouted in unison then left.
After the worshippers left. Itami who just watched the whole thing with a stunned expression until now interjected.
"P-Prince Beelzebub! What did you ask them?"
"Well... they were performers, and their acting was flawless." Noted Beelzebub with an innocent face. "I think they deserved the payment. As for what I asked for them. Let that be my little secret." he chuckled.
Itami sweat dropped. "They were Satanists... if you asked something pervert from them. They will surely do it..."
"Satanist?" asked Beelzebub as he turned to Itami and Tomita.
"They worship demons..." explained Itami.
"Oh... I see..." Nodded Beelzebub with an interested look. "Interesting... We have demons back home, but only Father, Aunt and their past companions have been worshiped. Hmm..." A thoughtful expression settled on his face. "Strange..." He murmured.
"Whatever. It was fun!" his smile returned to his face. "I gave them a small amount of money anyway..." he waved away Itami's concern while smiled reassuringly.
Kurybayashi jumped up. "Your people worship demons!?"
Beelzebub tilted his head. "Yeah. After all. A few of my father old friends were demons. As well my aunt is half demon." he explained.
"Ehhh!" everyone screamed.
"I don't even want to know what is your aunt another half..." murmured Kurybayashi.
"Angel..." answered Beelzebub blandly as he drank from his fuzzy drink.
Kurybayashi falls into deeper depression. "I said... I don't want to know..." she curled together even more and hugged her knees.
Raidyn and Momon chuckled and shook their heads.
"Yeah... small contribution... seeing their expression, it was at least a small fortune..." Itami sighed and shook his head with a powerless, exhausted expression. "Why I did not interject while I still can? Damn!" he cursed.
Scene Change: Discussion between the three sides:
After their meal, the group continued to the National Diet Building.
Itami, Lelei, Rory, Raidyn, Momon and Tuka were led to a waiting room by members of the Diet.
This was where Beelzebub, Bozes, and Piña parted ways with Itami's group.
Kuribayashi and Tomita followed them onto the microbus, which left from the main gate of the Diet Building and traveled to a high-class hotel somewhere in Tokyo.
Unlike Beelzebub. Piña and Bozes were not official envoys, so there was no way to invite them into a government building officially. More importantly, on paper, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office was officially unaware that the three of them were in Japan. They had been invited to Japan by the Defense Ministry under the pretext of being "backup speakers in case the witnesses to the National Diet were unable to give their testimony."
After all, their presence in Japan at this point would cause a lot of problems if it were made public.
Once they gained a chance to open diplomatic negotiations, the military's opinions would naturally carry extra weight.
Diplomatic talks, especially those designed to clear up the aftermath of military conflicts, would absolutely require military power to back up any proposals made. But there were also many people who did not know, or who chose to ignore this fact and thus protested the accumulation of military power.
The Japanese government did not intend to excessively limit the JSDF's activities at this stage, and in order to avoid interference from external powers, they had officially disavowed the existence of Piña and Bozes.
That being said, Piña, Beelzebub, and Bozes were still VIPs. After all, it would be beneficial to Japan to gain an intermediary for secret negotiations with the Empire and the Sorcerer Kingdom, so it was a simple matter to pad the nominal roll of people present in order to accommodate them.
Piña, Beelzebub, and Bozes were brought to a stateroom in the high-class hotel which was their destination. Two groups of four men and women were waiting for them there.
"We welcome your visit, your Imperial Highness, your Excellency." Then they turned to Beelzebub. For a moment they were backed seeing Beelzebub demon-like features. Mostly his horns and pupils. Then continued and bowed deeply as the custom dictated. "Your Royal Highness."
Beelzebub acted like a true royalty and nodded. It seemed he is completely calm despite the situation. Those long hours of his father, mother and various teacher who taught him diplomatic skills finally paid off.
The first two humans who sat before them was Councillor Shirayuri Reiko, the Prime Minister's aide, as well as Sugawara Kouji from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was there to take notes for the meeting.
In addition, Kuribayashi and Tomita were present, wearing their dress uniforms. Because of Lelei, the most proficient with the Special Region's language was not present, Kuribayashi and Tomita would take her place as interpreters.
Not as they needed because the imperial princess still wore her translator item as well Beelzebub.
Piña and Bozes were understandably nervous. After all, a single mistake could ruin the Empire.
Piña had not come here for talks. She had only agreed to come as an intermediary to facilitate relations between the Empire and Japan. If Japan asked her to speak on the Empire's behalf, that would be an entirely different beast from being a middleman. Given that the Empire had suffered multiple crushing defeats on the battlefield, asking her to sign a treaty would be no different from demanding the Empire's surrender.
Because of that, she had to stick to her position of being an intermediary. She was so worried about saying the wrong thing that the sweat beaded visible on her forehead.
Piña felt that "Diplomacy is a war of words," and right now she regretted not having brought Hamilton along with her. She looked at Beelzebub for a moment with eyes full of fear. Beelzebub gave her a reassuring nod with a smile. His smile has two effects on Piña.
One. It made her think everything will be alright. This effect took place when she needed it most and did not negotiate with Beelzebub. But when she negotiated with him. That smile reminded her what would happen to the Empire if a bad word leaves her mouth. Reminded her the Sorcerer Kingdom forces could easily crush the Empire. Or worse... Beelzebub father could release a monster in their capital to play with their forces and slowly bleed dry them. Even thinking of this made her tremble.
Thanks to the translator item. Tomita and Kuribayashi poor interpreter skills are not needed.
The two of them did not have Lelei's analytical and deductive skills or her extensive vocabulary, and although Itami was not a cunning linguist, having him around would have cut out a lot of the trivial details.
When Shirayuri and Kouji heard the perfect Japanese of the imperial princess and Beelzebub. They were, of course, surprised at first. But after the Prince explained to them he and the princess wore the translator item what the Sorcerer Kingdom provided. They can't do anything just to accept it.
The two of them started to inquire about where could they find the Empire's and the Kingdom's heads of state, particularly representatives they could communicate with, and what powers and position did these people have?
As for these "representatives, they could communicate with," the first choice would obviously be Piña and Beelzebub, who made it clear to Japan who they were communicating with. Of course, they would not dump all their requests on them; even being a middleman would be enough. The Japanese government would obviously want to verify that piece of good news.
Next would be the number of people in the first group of envoys.
In negotiations, a single person could not attend meetings and dictate conditions by themselves. These matters would be discussed repeatedly, over long periods of time, with both parties working together to come to a compromise that they could both agree on. This was a long and tiring process, and it only made sense to send multiple people to carry it out.
In addition, they would have to decide how to pay for their envoys' stay in their host country.
This too was natural; after all, diplomatic negotiations would not be finished in a day or two.
The negotiation process might take months or even years. There was a joke that "Congress does not move, it dances," Beelzebub knows this very well. And honestly hated how long this meaningless process takes.
But it accurately reflected the process of ironing out the conflicts of interest between all three parties. The joke referred to the Congress of Vienna, which only reached a decision because of the shocking news of Napoleon's escape from the Island of Elba.
In other words, without any grave threat, the Congress of Vienna would not have reached a decision. From that example, one could imagine that the negotiations would take a very long time, and as a result, the food, lodgings, and dress of the envoys, among other expenses, would need to be taken into consideration as well.
At the same time, since Pina was accepting the position of an intermediary, the question of bribes came up. Only a child would frown at bribes; they were a necessary part of doing business.
However, the bribes in question would also depend on the opposition's position. All three parties might not place the same value on mere currency; therefore, an effective bribe would be an offer of an object or service that the other side needed.
Also, they had to address the matter of how all three countries would speak to each other. Beelzebub suggested sending several scholars to learn the Knee Horn language (the empire's language) and the common language of the Sorcerer Kingdom, while Sugawara promised to take his request into consideration. After all. Translator items were not cheap.
The language barrier had to be conquered for effective negotiations to take place, after all. Not everyone had translator item.
The final item they discussed was the matter of the prisoners.
The Japanese government had captured roughly 6000 members of the Imperial Army that had crossed through the gate to invade Japan. Because there were a lot of them, it was troublesome to care for them, to say nothing of where to house them. The government built a POW camp on an unmanned island in the Seto Inland Sea and stuffed the captives in there.
The expense of feeding these prisoners was shockingly high, and while many of the lesser troops had died in the conflict, many of the prisoners were high-ranking officers. As a result, their haughty air made them very difficult to deal with, and they only provided information that an officer might be expected to know. Perhaps their tongues could be loosened up with such delightful measures as hot irons, but there was no practical way such harsh measures would be approved, both for humane reasons, and because they wanted to use them as bargaining chips with the Empire.
As an aside, among these 6000 prisoners were huge beasts such as ogres and other demihumans that the people on this side of the "Gate" might identify as apes. Although they were not sure if they counted as human beings, they could speak, and so they were treated as humans to avoid problems with human-rights violations. Also, several prisoners had been taken away by the USA in the name of "Investigations by the United Nations."
Being this theme not affecting Beelzebub he listened to the negotiations patiently. Seeking more information from this world. After all. Releasing the Empire's prisoners from the Sorcerer Kingdom's magical prisons were not the theme of this discussion. After all, if the Princess want her people back. She had to negotiate with the adequate person. Beelzebub has no charge either know nothing about the people what the forces of the Sorcerer Kingdom captured. Not as he cared about them.
"Our country has imprisoned them as war criminals, and we hope your nation will seek a way to bring them home."
Piña was struck dumb when she heard the figure of 6000. "Let, let me calculate how much ransom we need to pay," she said. From what she knew, it would be a staggering sum, and the thought of it made her sweat even more.
However, Shirayuri Reiko simply smiled at her answer. "In this day and age, our country does not practice the ransoming of prisoners. After all, we do not trade in slaves. Under these conditions, we would prefer to take our payment by means other than hard currency. For instance, in exchange for the release of your captives, we would expect certain concessions from your country." Shirayuri paused briefly and then continued.
"In order to give Your Highness some bargaining power as our mediator, we are willing to unconditionally release a select few captives that Your Highness will select. We hope you will make use of these terms to ensure the negotiations go well."
And so, Piña learned how the country of Nihon treated their prisoners, as well as gaining a powerful weapon she could use to negotiate with the nobles of the Senate. Still, she still had no clue how the Sorcerer Kingdom treated its prisoners and how many did they captured. This makes her stomach churn.
"I have exclusive, reliable news that your son is still alive. If you want him to be released safely, then you'll have to negotiate with them. If need be, we will prepare a meeting place as well."
Which parent would not be moved by this news?
At this moment, Bozes cut in.
"I know it may not be possible now, but I would like to meet some of the prisoners. Could I count on you for that? I would also like a list of the captives' names."
In truth, one of her friends had sent her husband to the battlefield (Ginza).
At first, she had thought he had died in battle, but now there was a sliver of hope she could cling to. However, the news she had now was limited to "Some people might have survived?" If Bozes could give her more concrete information, it would help things. Frankly speaking though, Bozes wanted to run back to the capital and say, "Your husband might still be alive! Chin up!"
Secretary Sugawara answered, "Then, the next time you ladies pay us a visit, we will arrange for you to visit the prisoners in their holding facility. As for the name list, I will complete it and hand it to you before you return to the Empire.
As for Beelzebub. The representatives apologized from him once again about the accidents what happened back in Italica. And seek to make a good first impression to the Prince who was the first heir to a kingdom that according to the records. Owned the technology to make energy weapons and most likely has enough military and economic force to back up a full-scale invasion if they make them angry and they manage to find Earth.
Compared to the Empire of the Special Region. The two representative, as well as the JSDF, were complete blind about what kind of power the Sorcerer Kingdom have at its disposal. But reading the reports from the battle of Italica. They were aware of the fact. The Sorcerer Kingdom was strong enough and had the technological expertise to hijack their helicopters and counter their jets.
From this information, they came to the conclusion the Sorcerer Kingdom was capable of space travel. Thus capable of bombarding their cities from orbital range if they offend them. This made the two representatives chose their words wisely. Even more than the princess who they easily dominated under the negotiation.
They offered him a full-fledged diplomatic envoy rights. In return seeing their tension, Beelzebub invited jokingly a few of them in the Sorcerer Kingdom. The two envoy accepted it while their forehead heavily sweated. But they felt strange. Like some kind of power controlled what they said. Some kind of power made them want to appeal to the prince. But they thought it was the best choice of words.
In the end, Beelzebub authorized the two representatives to establish a full-fledged embassy in the Sorcerer Kingdom. What Shirayuri and Kouji reacted, saying. They have no rights to make such decisions, but they will pass the request to their superiors. And the United Nations will surely send envoys to learn more about the Sorcerer Kingdom.
And so, without being recorded in the history books, the first secret talks were thus concluded.
Scene Change: The National Diet: