"Indeed, Mr. Hodolew was summoned here by Tiffania, just like Saito," Tabitha said thoughtfully. "And since Mr. Hodolew's homeland has mages, then surely there are magical particles in the air. Perhaps we could use magic there as well."
"Wouldn't that be wonderful? Louise, hurry up and open the gate!"
Kirche clapped her hands and laughed with excitement. "I've never been to another world before!"
"The problem is, Louise can't go in. She has to stay here to open the 'World Gate' for the World Government at any time. If she left without permission, it would cause serious trouble."
"And if she doesn't go in with us, then unless we can pass through the 'Ginza Gate,' there's no way for us to return."
Tabitha poured a bucket of cold water on the excitement with her calm explanation.
"Wha—" Kirche slumped in disappointment.
Tabitha went on in her usual steady tone.
"So even if we can open a 'Gate' back, it can only be Mr. Hodolew who returns."
"At most, Tiffania could go with him—but she must be prepared for the possibility of never coming back."
"Though, if the World Government conquers the Falmart Continent, you should be able to return then."
Just as Mr. Hodolew was about to say he could go back alone, Tiffania bit her lip and spoke up first: "I want to go with him. Because I was the one who summoned Mr. Hodolew here, and I am his master. I believe that if it were Miss Louise, she would never let Saito-san leave on his own either!"
Louise froze for a moment, then planted her hands firmly on her hips and lifted her chin with a proud air.
"Hmph! Of course I wouldn't. That lecherous dog Saito—I'd never let him run around on his own. Who knows how many women he'd attract again!"
"Hey, hey, hey! That's not touching at all, you know!" Saito groaned, exasperation written all over his face.
At once—except for Mr. Hodolew—
the girls present all burst into ringing laughter, even Tabitha curling her lips into a smile.
"In that case, I must ask Miss Louise to open the 'Gate' that will return Mr. Hodolew home. Please, I beg you!"
Tiffania set aside her smile and made the request once more.
"Please, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière!"
Hodolew also rose to his feet, bowing deeply as he solemnly spoke Louise's full noble name as a mark of respect.
"Then, please place your hand in mine."
"Alright."
Hodolew did as Louise asked, raising his hand for her to take.
Everyone around them watched curiously.
"Now, I need you to focus on imagining the scenes of your world. They will be transmitted into my mind as well."
Louise's voice remained gentle as she explained.
Hearing this, Hodolew closed his eyes and began to recall his past.
Soon, Louise saw visions of another world.
She gathered her focus, reciting the incantation of the "World Gate" spell and praying with all her heart.
"Please… open the gate to Mr. Hodolew's world!"
The tip of her wand quickly burst into dazzling white light.
[Wummmmm——]
The light spread rapidly in front of her, forming into an oval-shaped gate.
When most of the glow faded, leaving only its shimmering edges, the scene beyond became clear.
Charred, blackened trees stood lifeless, and the air still carried faint wisps of smoke.
"Yes! This is it—the Forest of Koan, the homeland of our High Elves!"
Hodolew was overjoyed and immediately tried to rush inside.
Though he knew it was impossible, he still longed to reach the well at once.
But in that very instant…
a mass of dark, blue-tinged light appeared, shattering the newly-formed "World Gate" in an instant.
[BOOM!!!]
In that same moment, the erupting energy surged into a thick black pillar of light, blasting the entire roof of the meeting room apart.
...
[Woooooo————]
The shrill, piercing sound of alarms instantly echoed through the entire base.
Nearby auxiliary corps sentries rushed with rifles toward the site of the explosion.
At the same time—
The conference room, now completely turned into an open rooftop, was in utter chaos.
Louise and the others coughed repeatedly in the lingering smoke.
"Cough, cough… What was that just now?"
"That was really dangerous. Luckily, Derflinger absorbed the excess energy that burst out—otherwise, someone would definitely have been injured!"
Saito looked at the "Spirit Sword" in his hands, his heart still pounding.
Just moments ago, the sword had unsheathed itself to protect them.
But then, Derflinger shouted at him: "Partner, this magic isn't right! I can't digest it! Quick—point me somewhere with no people around!"
"Huh?"
Saito froze, then hurriedly aimed the sword tip at the clear blue sky.
[BOOM!]
The next moment, black energy laced with faint blue light erupted from the blade, shooting upward until it disappeared into the distant heavens.
"Ugh… that was awful. This definitely isn't normal magic. If I had absorbed any more, I'd have shattered already!"
Derflinger's voice rang out urgently.
"In other words, someone just used magic to damage the 'World Gate'!"
Louise tightened her grip on her staff, staring in shock at Derflinger in Saito's hand.
"No… not someone. A god."
Hodolew's face darkened as he spoke his grim guess.
But he didn't understand—why would some unknown god want to stop him from going home?
"I think right now we should focus on how we're going to explain this."
Tabitha glanced at the soldiers rushing in and quietly reminded them.
Yes.
They were in trouble.
Before long, they were taken to CP7, the department set up at the base, for questioning.
Fortunately, the group already had an unspoken understanding.
They all explained that Louise, once again triggered by Saito's lecherous thoughts toward other girls, had subconsciously used Void magic and blown the roof apart.
Louise herself admitted it on the spot, even loudly cursing Saito in front of the investigators, calling him a perverted dog who couldn't stop sneaking glances at Tiffania's chest.
CP7 didn't press them too hard after that.
First, it was only property damage—no casualties. An alchemist could fix the roof in minutes.
Second, they knew Louise's value to the World Government. Conquering the "Nuclear World" depended entirely on whether she agreed to open the "World Gate."
Third, they were well aware Louise often caused explosions with her magic anyway.
Fourth, after verifying Tiffania's figure for themselves, they immediately found Saito's behavior… understandable.
It really was big.
And Saito himself was quick to say: "Yes, yes, it's me, it's me! I'm the perverted dog! Sorry for the trouble, everyone. Really sorry!"
So before nightfall, CP7 sent them back.
Meanwhile—
The intelligence on the "Continent of Falmart" provided earlier by Hodolew was passed by the Other Worlds Strategic Committee to the General Staff, and from there circulated to the relevant departments and high-ranking officials.
...
Starfish World.
In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, inside Pangaea Castle's Room of Authority—
The Five Elders gathered together.
They were studying the "Map of the Continent of Falmart" projected into midair by the Den-Den Mushi.
Though sketched in haste, the map clearly depicted the continent's outline, the layout of each nation, and the geographic features of mountains and rivers.
Through it, even before a single person from the World Government had stepped foot in that other world, they already possessed knowledge of key locations: the Empire, Alnus Hill, the Forest of Koan, the Kingdom of Alguna, the League Principality, the Northern Vassal Kingdom of Elbe, the magic metropolis Rondel, and others.
Hodolew had even provided brief notes for each.
"It seems this so-called Empire isn't worth mentioning. At best, it's just an ancient country that breeds various monsters. Yet even their monsters are inferior to those of the Zero Magic World, no more than Level-3 Danger Beasts of the Teigu World."
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro coldly observed the map.
"Indeed. There's even a city like Rondel, where countless mages are gathered, yet they haven't absorbed it into the strength of their nation."
Saint Marcus Mars spoke with nothing but scorn in his tone. He could scarcely comprehend such a thing.
According to Hodolew's explanation—
The Empire required long "activation incantations" to cast spells, making them impractical in fierce battlefield combat, so they considered magic to hold little military value.
Instead, they placed greater emphasis on the martial skills of knights.
Such foolish thinking!
Never mind whether the incantations could be improved or shortened.
Even if they couldn't, even if a chant lasted several minutes, as long as the effect was powerful enough, it would still be worth using.
Not to mention, the Empire was still the sort of ancient nation that didn't even have cannons.
"Since they scorn it, we'll take Rondel for ourselves. It just so happens Lord Imu has already decided to establish a Magic Association!"
"Hmm. But the fact remains that their world has gods, and the 'Gate' is in their hands. That makes things difficult."
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter sat on a single sofa with his fingers interlaced across his chest, deep in thought.
"This means that those we send in could be lost as soon as the 'Gate' closes. Under such circumstances, without the approval of these gods, ruling that world would be impossible for us."
"Personally, I believe they will agree."
Seated at the center of the sofa, Saint Topman Warcury suddenly spoke.
"In the myths Hodolew mentioned, these gods open the Gates to draw in intelligent races, so that the civilizations of their world may undergo change and development."
"Looking at history—elves overthrew the dragons, the Empire overthrew the elves—when these gods judged that development had stagnated, they opened a 'Gate' to bring new change to the world."
"So the very appearance of the 'Gate of Ginza' itself means the god who opened it has grown weary of the Empire's rule. He wants a new power to replace it."
"In that case, it could naturally be us—the World Government. And I am confident we can bring that world unending growth and transformation!"
Warcury's words left the others in deep thought.
After a long silence, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn spoke softly: "In other words, the gods might not only refrain from stopping our conquest—they might even welcome it. But what if in the end they close the Gate? All of our investment would be wasted."
Saint Marcus Mars stroked his long white beard and nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Judging by past history, the gods don't like to keep the Gates open forever. It seems they only intend to introduce a new race or power into the world, not maintain permanent ties with it."
"Then we need to find an opportunity to speak with them," Warcury replied.
"You're all missing the point."
Suddenly, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro narrowed his eyes and cut into the discussion.
The other four turned their gazes toward him.
"Our immediate goal is conquering the 'Nuclear World,' not this suddenly appeared 'Continent of Falmart'—especially when it might vanish at any time."
"Once we've conquered the 'Nuclear World,' if Falmart is still there, we can consider it then."
"Indeed… it's like ignoring the meat already on the table, just to chase after ducks that might fly away at any moment. That's not a wise choice."
Jaygarcia Saturn muttered to himself.
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