Tonight's party was being held in the ballroom of the hotel located on the first basement level of the artificial ground. Thirty minutes before the start, the lobby was buzzing with guests.
"Mibu-san, are you nervous?"
"It's not so much nerves as it is... I just feel completely out of place," Sayaka replied.
"You'll be fine. That dress looks great on you," Azusa reassured her.
In the original timeline, they would have been guests of the Isori family, but things had shifted here. Kei Isori was the primary representative, accompanied by his fiancée Kanon. Their friend group included Hattori, Azusa, and Sawaki.
The change involved Kirihara and Sayaka. Due to the commissioning of the aircraft carrier Zuiho, the Navy had recalled retired officers to train the influx of inexperienced young personnel. Kirihara's father was among them, and at his father's request, Kirihara was attending this gala as a representative, with Sayaka as his fiancée.
"Don't worry, Sayaka. You'll get used to it," Kanon said confidently.
"When you say it with that much certainty, it's strangely convincing..." Sayaka admitted.
Though Kirihara and Sayaka had been surprised by the arrangement, the fact that the Kirihara and Mibu families had already finalized the agreement meant there was no turning back.
The lobby was filled with young socialites in their early twenties and girls around Sayaka's age. The presence of so many young people made Sayaka feel slightly less like an interloper.
"Besides, we can't leave A-chan all by herself. It would be cruel. We have to stick together," Kanon said.
"Chiyoda-san!?" Azusa squeaked.
"...Yeah, Kanon's right," Sayaka agreed.
"Mibu-san too!?"
No matter how much she dressed up, Azusa Nakajo was rarely mistaken for someone her actual age. Sayaka swallowed her own insecurities to join in the teasing, leaving Azusa looking for an escape. As the flustered student council president scanned the stairs for help, she spotted familiar faces descending.
The newcomers noticed them as well and quickened their pace, navigating through the crowd with grace.
"Nakajo-senpai, Chiyoda-senpai, Mibu-senpai... you're all here early," Honoka greeted them.
Shizuka gave a polite bow. The older girls immediately turned their attention to Shizuka, whose appearance was particularly striking. Realizing Shizuka might be uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny, Kanon skillfully pivoted the conversation.
"By the way, did you two come alone?"
Kanon knew that Shizuka and Honoka were technically attending as companions to Shizuka's parents. Normally, they would have had to enter the venue alongside them. Shizuka gestured toward the far side of the lobby.
"No, we're with them."
In the direction she pointed, Ushio and Akane Kitayama, along with Shizuka's brother Wataru, were being greeted by a politician Kanon recognized instantly.
"Wow..."
"Isn't that person... a pretty high-ranking politician? He went out of his way to greet them?"
"Calling him 'high-ranking' is an understatement," Isori added in a low voice. "He's a former cabinet minister and a heavyweight in the national defense faction. He's being extra careful with his manners."
The Kitayama family didn't deal in finished weapons, but they held a massive market share in the intermediate goods required to build everything from bullets to fighter jets. Because their primary business wasn't military-contracted, if Ushio Kitayama were ever offended, he could simply pivot his supply chain to the civilian or export sectors, potentially crippling the National Defense Force's procurement.
Even Kanon and the others understood that Isori's use of "careful" was a polite euphemism for "terrified of offending."
"This is a good opportunity. We should go pay our respects," Isori suggested.
"To which group?"
"Both, of course."
Kanon followed Isori, unaware that he was using the junior students as a buffer to meet the minister in a less formal, high-pressure setting.
"...Isori-senpai is going to have a hard time," Shizuka murmured.
"Shizuka? What do you mean by that?" Honoka asked.
"In many ways."
For Shizuka, meeting a cabinet minister was just part of the family business. However, the family she was set to marry into—the Yotsubas—was a name that made even those in power tremble. Compared to that level of intensity, the struggles of the Isori family, a mere branch of the Hundred Families, seemed manageable by comparison.
"By the way, are Shiba-kun and Yugen-kun not here yet?"
"I heard they're coming on a separate helicopter," Honoka replied, looking a bit disappointed.
The helicopter carrying Tatsuya and Yugen arrived just as Shizuka's group was merging with Azusa's in the lobby. However, they didn't head straight for the ballroom. Instead, they were escorted to an executive VIP suite.
With the Chairman of the Kamizaka Group, the current head of the Kagurazaka family, and the next head of the Yotsuba family all arriving at once, the hotel staff was on high alert. Yugen also wanted to avoid any unnecessary commotion surrounding Miyuki, whose title as the "Yotsuba Princess" carried immense weight.
Unexpectedly, Tatsuya stood up. "I'm going to the convenience store."
Ayako, dressed in her formal gown, immediately offered to go with him. Given their height difference, they could easily pass for siblings if anyone bothered to look.
"Leaving aside Kana-nee, was Lina okay with this?" Yugen asked.
"I have a strange feeling something's about to happen... though that might just be Muspelheim's influence," Lina replied.
She didn't think Tatsuya would go looking for trouble, but she sensed he was moving to observe something specific. Having Ayako with him would make him blend in better.
"Besides," Lina added, "I have to meet Senator Curtis at the party later. I need to rest while I can."
"Oh? Even Lina gets stressed by politics?" Ayako teased before she left.
"...I can't just leave everything to Sylvia forever," Lina muttered.
Lina's worries weren't limited to the USNA; this party included international guests from all over the globe. At that moment, however, she had no idea just how much of that burden she would end up carrying before the night was through.
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