Lord of The Red Planet

"In that case, we'll return to Avanheim." Rian turned, extending his hand into the empty space before him, and a Magic Portal began to form.

"Then what about Jarvis and Octavia, My Lord?" Merlin asked. The smile on his face faded slightly as he looked at his master's back.

Rian turned his head, his voice calm and calculating. "Leave them on Earth for now to watch over Yamada. Just in case the worst happens and the spell Emma placed on him wears off."

"I see." Merlin's smile returned. "It seems Jarvis and Octavia will be staying outside of Avanheim for a while."

Rian didn't respond to Merlin's joke. He simply stepped into the pulsating, bluish-black spherical vortex before him.

Merlin stepped toward the portal. Before entering, he glanced back for a moment at the city view behind him. The smile on his face was gone, replaced by a cold gaze.

"Enjoy your peace while it lasts, humans."

He stepped inside, and the portal generated by the Gate spell collapsed in on itself, then vanished without a sound.

A streetlight flickered once before returning to normal.

The pedestrian bridge was quiet again, as if nothing had ever happened.

…

In an expensive and elite-looking room, several people in black and dark blue suits sat around a long table.

At the head of the table, a flag with a white background and a red circle in the center stood tall on the right. To its left was a flag with 13 horizontal red and white stripes, and a blue rectangle in the upper left corner adorned with 50 white stars.

"So, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, what was so urgent that you had to come to Japan without prior notice?" An old man who looked to be in his 60s asked with a friendly smile and tone. He rested his arms on the table, waiting for an answer from the Western man in the black suit and red tie.

Marco Rubio didn't answer immediately. He ordered his subordinate to place a laptop on the table. He typed something, then slid the laptop toward Shigeru Ishiba, the Prime Minister of Japan, so he could see it.

"I want you to see this video. This is the reason I came to Japan without prior notice." Marco clicked the mouse, and the video began to play.

"What was that noise?"

"Look, up there, it looks like there's someone!"

The friendly smile on Shigeru Ishiba's face slowly faded as the amateur footage played. His brow furrowed as the shaky video panned to five blurry figures hovering above Shibuya Crossing. He leaned closer, his eyes narrowing, trying to catch details from the pixelated image.

The video continued with the appearance of a fighter jet, followed by the moment when the five figures… vanished. Just like that. Without a trace.

The video ended. Silence filled the room.

"This is… a fabrication, of course," Shigeru Ishiba said, leaning back in his chair, though his smile did not return. "A very well-made hoax. CGI technology really is incredible these days."

Do you think I'm stupid? If it were just ordinary CGI, why would Japan scramble an F-35? Marco Rubio cursed inwardly.

He just shook his head slowly. "We thought so too, at first," he replied, his voice heavy. "Until we compared it with another anomalous piece of data we received… from a completely different place."

He slid the laptop back and opened a new file. This time, a static but much clearer image appeared. An image that shouldn't exist.

"This was taken three months earlier by the Rover Prometheus… at the foot of Olympus Mons, on Mars."

On the screen was the image of Natasha Evergarden in her silver armor, standing beside Epsilon in her maid uniform, with the barren red landscape of Mars in the background.

Shigeru Ishiba froze. Rover Prometheus… that name… I've heard it in a report a few years ago. If I'm not mistaken, that was the American rover that lost contact, wasn't it?

"So… are you saying that Japan is potentially under threat of an alien attack?" the Japanese Prime Minister asked, his friendly tone now completely gone, replaced by a sharp tension.

"We don't know if they intend to attack or not," Rubio answered honestly. "But we do know that two impossible events occurred in close succession. One on another planet, the other in the heart of your capital city. And if you look closely…" Rubio zoomed in on the image from the Shibuya video. Although blurry, the silhouette of one of the figures behind the black-armored leader wore a maid's armor that was very similar to the armor of the blue-haired woman on Mars.

THUMP! Shigeru Ishiba's face turned pale. He held his breath.

"They are both wearing very identical Maid Armors. I wouldn't believe it was just a coincidence," Marco Rubio said, closing his laptop.

"We've known about their existence for three months, when a small NASA team accidentally discovered this information."

Then, a man behind him immediately handed over a black-and-white photo. Marco slid the photo toward Shigeru Ishiba.

"This is…?" Shigeru Ishiba asked with a confused expression.

"Look closely at the photo. You can find dots that are moving very unnaturally." Marco pointed to the unusual dots on the photo.

"If this is true, why haven't I been informed of this sooner?" Shigeru Ishiba asked with a slightly angry tone, staring sharply at his secretary.

The young man quickly explained, "Prime Minister, Japan has no satellites orbiting Mars at all."

"Is that so?! Damn it! Since when does a great nation like ours not have a single satellite orbiting Mars?!" Shigeru Ishiba slammed his fist on the table. Then, he felt a strange look from across the table. Instantly, his face flushed with embarrassment.

He immediately bowed his head over the table. "I apologize, Secretary Rubio, for showing you something so embarrassing."

"It's fine. Raise your head. We still have much to discuss." Marco stood up and tried to lift Shigeru Ishiba's head.

What a troublesome Japanese man! he complained inwardly.

"Thank you, Secretary Rubio." Shigeru Ishiba bowed his head slightly, then asked carefully, "So, what does the United States want from Japan in this matter?"

"President Trump has authorized the formation of a secret joint task force to investigate this anomaly," Marco Rubio replied, his tone now shifting to one of negotiation.

"We want Japan to be our first partner in this. Any information your Self-Defense Forces have regarding the incident in Shibuya would be invaluable."

Shigeru Ishiba looked sharply at Rubio. "A task force… or surveillance?" he asked, showing that he would not so easily hand over his intelligence sovereignty.

"A partnership," Rubio insisted. "The United States and Japan are allies. So, I think it's only natural for Japan to join as our partner in this matter."

Silence once again filled the room. Only the sound of the air conditioning could be heard. In the midst of the luxury of the Prime Minister's office, Shigeru Ishiba weighed the proposal.

"I will give you what you need," he finally said, his voice weary. "But I want a guarantee that Japan will be involved in every step and every discovery. Without exception."

Marco Rubio nodded. He stood up and extended his hand. "In that case… welcome aboard."

With this, the United States could deploy its forces in Japan if something bad were to happen.

And let's just hope… these aliens have good intentions, Marco thought with a long sigh. In his first term as the United States Secretary of State, he had to deal with such a troublesome matter.

Perhaps his workload would be greater than his predecessors' during the Cold War.

…

"So… why aren't you running anymore?"

Octavia asked sarcastically at Yamada, who was now lying helplessly on the floor. The man's face was battered, covered in bruises as if he had just been repeatedly hit with a bat.

"Hey, answer me." Octavia stomped hard on Yamada's stomach.

"Aghh!" Yamada coughed, spitting up blood. "You… demon bastards… I, Yamada, leader of the Red Lotus organization… will never… surrender and bow to bastards like you… who want to take over all my hard work! Not even in death! Hahaha!"

He laughed hysterically, even as blood continued to flow from his mouth.

"Although I'd like to kill you right now, I don't think Lord Arthur would be happy to hear about it." Octavia tapped the floor with the tip of her shoe, thinking. "So… what should I do with you?"

It seems it's true. The First-Sequence Magic: Suggestion that Lady Emma used wasn't strong enough. When I ordered him to carry out Lord Arthur's command to convert part of his assets into that strange currency, he immediately went crazy and lost control.

Because…. This is why I like humans. Especially the criminals…. They are interesting creatures. Octavia smiled with a terrifying expression.

It's a shame Sister Betta isn't here. If she were, it would surely be more interesting.

Thinking of her younger sister, Betta, Octavia felt a little homesick for her other sisters.