It was like a normal day for Issei Hyoudou. But everything changed when a sudden visitor came knocking on the door of the Occult club.
"Well, your arrival is certainly a big surprise. I have never thought you would be giving me such a surprise visit, Miss Ravel, " Rias said as she looked at Ravel Phenex, who sat on the sofa in front of her.
"I apologize for the sudden visit, Miss Rias," Ravel said as she clenched the hem of her skirt. She was a bit nervous speaking to Rias after all that had happened in the past few months.
"So, Ravel, what brings you here? " Rias asked as she sipped her cup of tea. Although she didn't show much reaction but she is still a bit disturbed to talk with a member of the Phenex family after the engagement. But as a noble, she knew not to take personal feelings when dealing with other noble families.
"Well, um, how should I put it? "There was a look of shame on Ravel's face as she fumbled for words. Finally, after much struggle, she spoke.
"Lady Rias, I think you must have heard about my big brother's condition, right? " Ravel barely managed to speak those words as her whole body was red with shame.
"Wait, who is Riser? " Irina asked quietly as she nudged Xenovia, who was next to her. Since Ravel's visit to the human world was a bit of a big thing, Rias asked everyone who is part of the Occult Club to be present.
"Well, although I don't know either, as far as I remember, Riser should be a high-class devil from the Phenex clan, " Xenovia said, unsure of herself.
"Yes, Riser is the second heir to the Phenex clan and is Rias's ex-fiancé." Asia, who was also next to them, spoke, dispelling their doubts.
"Oh, fiancé." Hearing the word fiancé, both Irina and Xenovia became very interested. To those who had received church training since young, the word fiancé is like Prince Charming. So in their minds, both of them were imagining various romantic scenes.
"Wait, you said ex-fiancée, right? " Rosswise, who was also eavesdropping on this conversation, he asked. Unlike the little girls, she quickly caught on to the important part of Asia's speech.
"Yes, during Rias and Riser's engagement, Issei barged in and challenged Riser to a duel. After the duel, Issei won, and Rias managed to cancel her engagement. " Asia said with a look of reminiscing. She still remembered how Issei fought bravely that day.
"Ohh, " the three girls had the same reaction as they heard this. All three of them wished they could have witnessed this scene.
"Well, last I heard, after the engagement, he locked himself in his room, " Rias said, a bit unsure. She really didn't want to think about Riser, so she never actively went out of her way to gather information about him.
"As you may have heard, after the end of my brother's duel with Mr. Issei, he had locked himself in his room and had not come out ever since. " Ravel with a look of sadness.
"After his last defeat, he had completely lost his confidence and is now even afraid of dragons. Due to this, he had repeatedly declined many rating game matches, making his ranking drop considerably. If this goes on, his ranking would drop to the lowest bottom and would harm him and the Phenex clan greatly, " Ravel said with clenched fists.
Although she loved her brother very much, she couldn't stand his current self. After just one loss, he went from a confident man to a sore loser. This is something unacceptable for Ravel, who loves her family dearly.
"Wait, he is now afraid of dragons?" Rias asked in disbelief. Even she never expected this. Sure, she expected Riser's confidence to take a huge blow, and it would take quite a while for him to get back on his feet.
This is nothing special, as almost all of the devil heirs from noble families show such a reaction when they suffer their first defeat. Riser wasn't the first, and he certainly wasn't the last. But he received a trauma of dragons that was something no one expected.
"Yes, he often gets scared silly whenever someone talks about dragons. This had seriously affected his reputation, and rumors had spread that Brother Riser had become a useless devil. " Ravel said with a tired sigh.
The Phenex family had been trying their best to stop that rumor and search for its origin. But no matter how hard they searched, they just couldn't find any clues at all.
"Lady Rias, I beg you, please help my brother? As this is your family's specialty, I know you can help my brother come back to his usual self, " Ravel said as she bowed her head. Tears were threatening to fall down her face.
Although nobles should never bow down to another noble, Ravel didn't care about this. For her brother, she is willing to do at least this much.
"Ravel, you don't bow down. Although my feelings for Riser are complicated, I will still help you," Rias said with a soft tone. It is very hard for her to say no when Ravel is like this.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm sure we can bring Riser back to normal, " Issei said with his signature confident smile.
"Really thank… I mean, if you insist, I would graciously accept your help," Ravel said as she went back to her tsundere self.
"Hahaha, " everyone chuckled at her cute reaction.
While the Occult club is planning to go for a surprise visit to the Underworld, they don't realize there is an orange nine-tailed fox sleeping soundly on the tree next to them.
"Hmm, Riser Phenex, huh? I wonder if Mistress Roxanne would even want to hear this news, " Kurumi, who was faking falling asleep, muttered as she got up lazily.
"Well, I'm going back anyway, so I might as well inform her of this, " she muttered as she jumped down from the tree. And as soon as she touched the ground, she dashed away, leaving afterimages.
…..
"Wait, are you sure what you heard is right? " Roxanne, who was skipping class and was playing video games on the rooftop, asked in surprise as she looked at Kurumi, who came to report to her.
"Yes, they said they will go to the underworld this weekend and check on Riser Phenex's condition. " Kurumi said, not expecting Roxanne to actually get interested in this topic.
"I see, " Roxanne muttered. She began to drift into her own thoughts. She thought that since her intervention, this plot would not happen.
"Um, Mistress, is there something wrong with this news? " Kurumi asked when she noticed Roxanne's absent-minded look.
"Uh, no, it's okay, thank you for your hard work, Kurumi, " Roxanne said as she snapped back to reality. She smiled as she began to pat Kurumi on the head.
Kurumi narrowed her eyes as she smiled happily at Roxanne's actions. Although she only allowed Roxanne to pet her like this, she very much enjoyed this.
While Kurumi was enjoying herself, she didn't notice the confusion that appeared in Roxanne's eyes.
Roxanne knew who Riser was and what had happened with him and Issei. But she was puzzled as to why the plot hadn't changed when she clearly made a deal with Riser.
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