Chapter 45: Kuoh Town's Heating Up!
As her master, Martha, had ordered, Tagitsuhime had come to Kuoh Town to observe Alduin.
Or in her eyes, the "Young Lord."
A title that had absolutely nothing to do with his noble status from the serpentine princess's perspective. She was her Lady's offspring, and for her, that was reason enough for him to earn her undying affection.
Moreover, once she actually laid eyes upon him for the first time, discreetly watching from afar while he remained none the wiser, that affection only grew. Seeing those haunting, luminescent, verdant irises evoked a fierce sense of familiarity within her.
Even if the rest of his appearance had been "sullied" by the genes of an inferior man, incapable of comprehending just how fortunate he was to be graced by her Lady's presence, the sight of Alduin's eyes alone completely extinguished any and all feelings of disdain or discontent from her mind. He was, without a shadow of a doubt, Martha Sallos' son.
Still, she couldn't help but resent the assignment her Lady had given her a little.
Why had she been designated as a mere observer? Forbidden from making any direct contact with the Young Lord whatsoever? As her Lady's servant, wasn't it only natural for her to become Alduin's caretaker?
She could aid him with his Senjutsu training, making full use of the wealth of knowledge she possessed by virtue of being a part of Ryuichi Cave's royalty. Hell, she could even prepare him to confront the trials of the cave conducted by the White Snake Sage herself.
Simply because Alduin was her Lady's son, she had full faith that he could attain the fabled power of a Sage just like his mother had all those centuries ago. Especially if he had the guidance of the great Tagitsuhime!
Not only that, but she also firmly believed she'd be the perfect protector for him. On top of being an unfathomably lethal combatant who had been around for, well, an amount of time she didn't care to keep track of anymore, her immense Senjutsu prowess made her an extremely capable healer.
If anything were to happen to the Young Lord by virtue of the double-edged sword that was his paternal bloodline, she could be there to heal him at a moment's notice! Since Martha herself wasn't present to do so.
And last but not least, there was "Sylvie," the special breed of Ryuichi Snake her Lady had given the Young Lord as a reward of sorts.
Tagitsuhime's youngest sibling.
The first offspring to be born directly from the White Snake Sage herself in a long, long time. After Tagitsuhime, and her sisters Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime had been born. The Sage hadn't expressed any interest in producing any more offspring, confident that the three princesses would be enough to manage Ryuichi Cave for her, testing all who were daring enough to try coveting the cave's power and sacred knowledge.
But all of a sudden, she had birthed a fourth daughter roughly about a year ago. With no explanation or warning, whether the Sage had done so out of mere amusement, boredom with her current offspring, or some other unfathomable reason remained unknown to the princesses.
Did any of them dare question their mother?
No.
No one questioned the Sage, not then, not now, not ever. Regardless of whether they were a hopeful getting close to obtaining Ryuichi Cave's venomous strength, a true contractor, or her kin.
Well, except for Martha.
She was special.
The only contractor whose Senjutsu surpassed that of all three princesses, despite her being a pureblood devil without a shred of Yōkai or Sage blood running through her veins. As well as being the only creature in all existence who had gained the White Snake Sage's permission to refer to her as a "friend."
There was a reason Martha had earned the undying admiration of the princesses after all, even if she found their fanfare excessive at times, she couldn't deny that having such high-level creatures at her beck and call had been of immense use to her.
However, despite Tagitsuhime's everlasting admiration for her Lady, she still found herself in disagreement with the orders she had been given.
Martha forbade her from making physical contact with Alduin, but was fine with allowing a mere Dhampir of all creatures to fulfil the role of his caretaker. A responsibility she vehemently believed belonged to her, and her alone.
It wasn't fair.
What "care" could that maid possibly give her Young Lord?
Tagitsuhime had watched her closely upon arriving at Kuoh Town, and she had seen everything that transpired between her and Alduin.
Including the passionate exchange, that had transpired in their living room.
It disgusted her, right down to her very core.
Her Young Lord was being sullied, his skin touched, and his blood consumed by someone who was unequivocally unworthy of the privilege. To her, the maid was naught more than a mere parasite, a leech hoping to fill the void that was her lacking existence.
She couldn't stand it, no one but herself, her youngest sibling, and, of course, her Lady were supposed to have any kind of connection with Alduin. She loathed the maid with every fibre of her being.
Whenever Tagitsuhime's eyes landed upon her, she could feel her Senjutsu begin to waver as unparalleled envy and wrath plagued her thoughts.
Yet, each time that happened, she'd force herself back into composure. Her Lady had given her a task, and she fully intended to follow through.
Then again, she'd be lying if she said there wasn't a part of her beckoning her to do something about her resentment.
===
Morning had arrived, and like usual, Rias Gremory's day began with her sitting at her desk within her clubroom, going over stacks of piled-up paperwork and contract-related logistics while her peerage went about their daily academic activities.
Despite the nature of her agreement with her father and the Phenex Clan to "postpone" her wedding until she graduated from human university, she expressed very little interest in experiencing human schooling, unlike her Sitri counterpart, who had gone as far as to assume the mantle of Student President.
Thanks to her being armed with the power to seamlessly brainwash the minds of humans, altering her attendance and exam results to ensure her graduation proved to be no challenge at all.
She was free to ditch class as much as she liked, pouring all her focus into her devil-related obligations, as well as a considerably unhealthy amount of anime consumption.
What a pain, Rias grumbled inwardly, massaging her aching shoulders that had endured a long night of struggling and exertion thanks to a certain someone who had left her bound admits an array of self-repairing tree trunks.
Sure, eventually she had channeled enough of her Power of Destruction to fight her teacher's tree formation in a war of attrition and break free.
But did that lessen the humiliation she felt whilst being entangled within it in the first place?
No.
Not even a little.
The memory of it alone caused her face to redden with unadulterated indignation, if she were made aware of Alduin's current address, she'd have more likely than not marched over there and attempted to raise the place to the ground out of sheer spite.
However, as much as she hated to admit, the experience hadn't been all negative. Not only did she feel her control over her Power of Destruction start to increase, even if only marginally, but she felt like she was on the cusp of grasping an entirely new technique.
Or perhaps it'd be more accurate to call it her first technique, seeing as her usage of the Power of Destruction until now consisted of nothing more than wildly throwing it around as if it were a flamethrower let loose.
Every time she cloaked her body in the Bael Clan's signature destructive energy, just as Alduin had instructed, she felt the process of doing so gradually become easier and easier.
Naturally, it didn't become second nature to her after merely a single day of training. However, she was fairly confident her aptitude for the process could reach such a state with enough practice and perfection.
If that were to happen, wouldn't I get my hands on a pretty good defensive technique? I've always exclusively used my Power of Destruction for offense, but a bit of versatility couldn't hurt.
This was the first time in the Gremory's life that she had properly evaluated her own abilities, academics aside, her family had never pushed her to undertake any formal kind of physical training. Allowing her to coast on what already existed within her, rather than focus on developing it into something more.
But thanks to Alduin's involvement, that was starting to change. Rias' sheltered life had shielded her from the fundamental rule of the Underworld, power above all.
Withal, the combination of an undesired betrothment weighing over her head, and the beginning of her tutelage under the Buné had split that shield in two, both metaphorically and literally.
Now, she couldn't help but wonder how far she could take her personal strength.
Sure, her formative days when her growth would be at its apex were long gone, and there was no way to retrieve them.
But there wasn't any harm in trying her hardest regardless, was there? Besides, she doubted Alduin would even bother training her in the first place if she were a lost cause.
What a troublesome figure you've sprung on me, Onii-sama. She stabbed her forehead with her thumb, looking back on just how much her subordinates had changed since Alduin's arrival.
In spite of it only having been a day.
Akeno, for one, appeared to have fallen into an extraordinarily deep state of contemplation. Everyone around her noticed, not that it was a tall task by any means, seeing the Lightning Priestess without her usual, overly flirtatious attitude came as an immediate shock to anyone who had interacted with her on any level at all.
Instead, her expression had become completely and utterly lustreless. Blank. Void. Dull. Rias couldn't even begin to fathom what was going through her Queen's head, especially since the woman in question refused to talk to her. Disclosing only that she and Alduin's "training" had consisted of a conversation, and nothing more.
Instead of attending class or honing her tea-brewing craft like usual, Akeno had notified Rias that she'd be going on a "walk" this morning. Simply stating that she needed some time to herself, and of course, her King felt obligated to approve upon observing Akeno's demeanour.
All Rias knew was that her Queen was experiencing some kind of change, just like she was, however, whether that change ended up being a positive or negative one remained to be seen.
I swear Alduin, if you've messed with Akeno's mind somehow, there'll be hell to pay! She squeezed her pen with all her might.
Shortly after, her thoughts started to drift towards Kiba. Unlike her Queen, the Knight's change was clear as day to her, though that didn't make said change any less shocking.
He had become focused. Even more so than usual, his eyes carried a sense of iron-clad resolve and determination Rias had never even thought possible.
By standing near him, she could feel an immense expression of sharpness resonate between them. Like metaphorical boulders of confusion and aimlessness had been lifted right off his shoulders, or as if Alduin had put the Knight's mind against a whetstone.
When she had visited his dojo last night to check up on him, she didn't find him working on his swordplay form like usual. Instead, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a notebook and pencil in hand.
He had actually begun theory-crafting, exploring the limitations of Sword Birth both on paper and in practice. From what Rias could recall, Kiba had started writing down combat scenarios in relation to the abilities of Riser Phenex and his peerage, pondering what kind of blades would be best to deal with certain abilities.
Moreover, none of his thinking required Alduin's input, sure, his teacher had been the one to get him started. But the actual meat and bones of Kiba's new mindset was something he could manage all on his own.
And the surprises didn't end there.
Right before Rias took her leave to check up on Koneko, Kiba requested something from her. Something Rias would never have expected in a million years.
He asked her to start calling him Isaiah again.
Actually, he had to ask her that about five times because of how difficult it was for Rias' brain to wrap its head around what it was hearing.
Eventually though, she had to come to terms with the fact that Kiba had indeed wished for her to refer to him by his true name once more.
He still flinched at the name, Rias could tell that much, and the trauma that came with what happened during the Holy Sword Project undoubtedly still haunted him. Alduin was capable, but one can't just cure such a fierce mental burden with words alone. And definitely not in such a short span of time.
However, the fact that he had asked at all signified something huge. Kiba wanted to move on, it definitely wouldn't be an easy path, but the desire to break free of those shackles was now there.
For Kiba, that was a behemothic step in the right direction.
Be thankful Alduin, it's only because I witnessed the effect you had on him first-hand that I didn't jump to conclusions about what you did with Akeno.
Then there was her adorable little Rook, Koneko. According to Kiba and Akeno's recount of what had transpired during Alduin's initial ambush, after Rias had been knocked out and all, she was the first one to truly act. Despite being the timidest out of the group, if you excluded Gasper, since he wasn't present during the battle.
She had used her Nekomata Mode, completely out of her own volition and desire to protect her comrades. Unlike with Akeno, Alduin hadn't pushed her to do so while they were fighting. The Buné hadn't admitted it, but even he was thoroughly taken aback by her sudden show of bravery.
Koneko had displayed true courage, and for that, Rias was both proud of her fluffy subordinate, and ashamed that she had fallen short when the person her older brother had entrusted her to protect had pushed herself to her limits.
And surprisingly enough, Alduin, a pureblooded devil, was revealed to be a Senjutsu practitioner. He used his knowledge of the art form to start teaching Koneko how to meditate in order to give the Nekoshou a tighter grip over her bloodline abilities. Gradually lessening her ever-present fear of going berserk, a fear her teacher understood perfectly well.
As far as Rias was aware, Senjutsu wasn't something that came with the Buné family name, igniting a sense of morbid curiosity within her that led her to do a little investigating.
Not that said investigating was all that difficult, the information she found was openly accessible to pretty much everyone in noble society, especially someone from a Clan bearing the rank of Duke.
Lo and behold, his Senjutsu came from his maternal bloodline, House Sallos. Leading Rias to a revelation that trumped all else regarding the mentor her older brother had conscripted.
Alduin Buné was a dual-trait possessing pureblood devil.
The only one to have been born in all of the Underworld's history.
Originally, she theorized that his Wood Manipulation was a result of him consuming the blood of a dragon who could wield that form of elemental manipulation. But that clearly wasn't the case.
House Sallos truly is an enigma, she thought, gently tapping her chin with a pensive look on her face. They possess a Clan Trait called "Dryad", as in a singular Clan Trait. Yet, the abilities that Clan Trait carries all seem separate to me.
Wood Manipulation as a unique application of elemental magic.
Dryadic Blessing as a recovery-type power.
And of course, Senjutsu, which was well-known to be an incredibly potent and versatile technique.
Sure, you could say they fit together thematically, but categorically, the Clan Trait possessed offense, recovery, and support all in one. Compared to the rest of the Clan Traits within the Underworld, something about House Sallos' strength just didn't seem to fit in.
However, any further investigation into Alduin's maternal house ended up proving a fruitless endeavour. Other than his mother, Martha Sallos' widely known, questionable marital track record. Anything and everything regarding House Sallos was inaccessible to her, an Heiress to a dukedom.
Hell, even the names of any other existing Sallos members, both past and present, came up dry, including its ancestor, which she found to be pretty outlandish. All she knew was they held the rank of Viscount, nothing more. Even the location of the house's compound remained a complete mystery.
Naturally, that only incited more of her curiosity and speculation.
It doesn't make sense, a Viscount shouldn't have the authority nor resources to hide information from a Duke. Her restless tapping against her chin quickened. Unless… someone with more authority is hiding their information for them?
Her older brother would definitely have the authority to do so as the man in charge of the Underworld's Domestic Affairs, albeit, Rias couldn't even begin to discern why he'd do such a thing.
Other than Onii-sama, the only people who could block information from a Duke would be Archduke Agares, or Great Kin—
"Yo!"
"FUCK!" Rias toppled over her office chair, falling flat on her backside after being startled by the abrupt greeting.
"Whoa, didn't mean to scare you there, sorry." A familiar, extremely punchable face hovered over her with an apologetic expression.
"Don't give me that shit! You absolutely meant to scare me, I didn't even hear the front door open!" She scowled, latching onto her desk and pulling herself up.
"That's because I didn't use the door," he chuckled, pointing towards the clubroom's window. "You left your window open, it was the faster option." He shrugged.
"And that somehow makes it okay!?" She grumbled, at a complete loss when it came to her teacher's logic. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Hey, I already apologized, didn't I?" Alduin huffed. "You can go ahead and wipe that frown off your pretty little face, you'll get wrinkles."
"I have a feeling I'm going to suffer from a lot more than just wrinkles as long as you're around." She clicked her tongue. "More importantly, you've got some nerve showing up in front of me so casually after that stunt you pulled yesterday."
"Hm? Oh, you mean the tree? Hehe, you can act annoyed all you want, but we both know it ended up being helpfu—"
"Not that," she interrupted with narrowed, accusatory eyes. "I'm talking about Gasper."
"Gasper? What about him?" Alduin lifted his brow and tilted his head.
"Don't play dumb with me, Alduin. Koneko sensed that his seal had been broken." She folded her hands together, eyeing him in a way that practically dared him to continue toying with her.
"Broken!? Goodness me!" He leapt back, raising both his hands and adorning his insufferable cloaked-Alduin voice once more. "You should send a search party out immediately! Someone could've kidnapped the poor kid—!"
"She picked up on your scent in his room as well."
"Oh," he immediately deflated back into his normal self. "I see."
"Well?" Rias' gaze hardened. "Don't you think I'm owed an explanation as to why you thought it was acceptable to take my Bishop away without my permission?"
"You say that as if I haven't already done so," he replied. "I told you at the start, didn't I? I'd be training all the members of your peerage, and that includes Gasper, even if he isn't an active part of your group."
"Still… a warning would've been nice," Rias sighed in resignation. It was hard to fault the man after seeing the effect he had on her and her peerage. "You could at least do me the courtesy of letting me know where you're keeping him."
"He's at my place, Thora's currently taking care of him."
"Thora?"
"My personal attendant and my house's Head Maid," he explained, emphasizing the title for Thora's sake. "She's a Dhampir like him, and she's doing an excellent job of taking care of him. Her input was also extremely helpful when I was training him."
Rias blinked. "Wait, your family hired a Dhampir? And you've already begun training Forbidden Balor View? I expected you to take some time to research before approaching that Sacred Gear."
"To answer your first question, yes, it's a long story for another time. As for your second, I was also hesitant about diving straight in at first, but Thora came up with a theory that I believed was worth trying." Alduin lifted his arm. "She hypothesized that Gasper consuming my draconic blood would allow his Dhampiric strength and Sacred Gear to work in tandem. Giving him full control over Forbidden Balor View, though only temporarily. And lo and behold, it ended up working! All's well that ends well, I suppose."
"Gasper drank blood!?" Rias jolted upwards, slamming her palms against her desk. Evidently much more shocked by that revelation than by that of the progress they had made with his Sacred Gear.
For as long as Gasper had been under the care of the Gremory family, not once had anyone managed to successfully get him to consume blood, a crucial factor towards a Dhampir's physical development.
"Yeah, it took a little convincing, but we got there in the end. The lil man's clearly retreated into his shell over time, but hopefully I'll manage to get him to open up somewhat before the Rating Game."
Alduin hummed, letting Rias mull over his words as his gaze gravitated towards her desk.
Specifically, a photo that was sitting atop a stack of unfinished paperwork.
"What's that?" He pointed.
Rias lifted her eyebrows, her expression displaying a brief flicker of panic once she noticed what had caught Alduin's attention.
"N-nothing!" She attempted to reach out and hide it, but Alduin's superior sleight of hand allowed him to swiftly grab hold of it before her fingertips could even near the item.
"Call me crazy, but I highly doubt you'd react like that if that were the case." His posture stiffened as he carefully scrutinized the photo, which appeared to be of an awfully worn-down, dilapidated church. "Is this something I ought to be concerned about?" He flipped the photo towards her, paying attention to Rias' aura to see if she was lying to him.
Rias hesitated for a second before breathing a defeated exhale, unable to keep her cool under the pressure of Alduin's reptilian glare.
As the princess's designated Guardian, his concern was only natural.
"Possibly…" She admitted, reclining into her chair. "When our familiars were patrolling around Kuoh like usual, they spotted, or perhaps it'd be more accurate to say they sensed something off about that place. If the church's location wasn't so detached from the rest of the town, we'd probably have noticed it sooner."
Alduin narrowed his eyes, gesturing for her to elaborate.
"I'm not 100% sure but… there appear to be traces of Light Magic surrounding the church. And it's not just a residual amount that a few stray artifacts would produce, it's the amount you'd expect from… people, as in multiple." She crossed her arms, her face tightening. "I'm holding off any further investigation since I don't want to risk stepping on any landmines, however, finding such a thing in my town is definitely… worrying, to say the least."
He nodded affirmatively. "First of all, you were right to hold off. Light Magic isn't something a devil should be careless around. Second of all, if we're talking people, then its presence means there are either Exorcists, Angels, or…"
"…Fallen Angels," she finished with a nervous gulp. "I don't understand, Kuoh is publicly marked as the Underworld's territory. With the current ceasefire between the Three Great Factions in effect, I doubt they'd be careless enough to intrude on land occupied by another faction."
"Not necessarily, that ceasefire is flimsy at best. The ocean's worth of historical enmity between us is still strong as ever. I wouldn't be surprised if a few bad actors here and there decided to act up, and that's just me considering the best-case scenario. Worst case, one of us is preparing to go to war again."
To Alduin's knowledge, the leaders of the three factions had just barely managed to put the ceasefire into effect, after enduring a colossal amount of rejection and discontent from their subordinates.
To say the ceasefire was being held together by pieces of string and paper mâché wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"W-war!? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" She insisted.
"No, both you and Sona are not only Heiresses to the 72 Pillars, you're also siblings of two currently sitting Satans." He furrowed his brow. "And it's like you said, your presence and claim over Kuoh Town is public knowledge. If someone's encroached on your territory, chances are they've done so knowingly."
Even if it was all just speculation, Rias couldn't deny that Alduin's logic checked out.
Which only made the situation more worrying.
"Are you trying to say that… we're being targeted?" She almost hesitated to ask.
"Possibly," he set the photo down and walked towards the window, putting one foot on the frame in preparation to leave. "Whatever the case, I intend on finding out and dealing with it before it becomes a problem."
"You're going to investigate? …Are you sure that's safe? Maybe we could ask for assistance first?"
"Sweetheart, I am the assistance." He let out an amused chuckle, which earned him a stiff pout from her in return. "I'm both your Guardian and a member of Foreign Affairs, it's quite literally my job to investigate stuff like this."
Before she had a chance to respond, he had already left, leaving behind nothing more than a faint gust of wind in his wake.
Hmph, he didn't have to sound so patronizing about it.
===
(From patreon ver.)
Yo, thought I'd start doing author notes on patreon again since it's been a while since I last did so.
As you can probably tell, I've started setting up the action that's going to go down in Kuoh Town. I like slice-of-life content as much as the next guy, but I know it's still important to get the story moving at a reasonable pace.
Also hinted at some stuff going down with Martha's snakey servant, and some tidbits of knowledge regarding House Sallos, which I do have a plan for (believe it or not).
If you've got any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave 'em down below and I'll be more than happy to answer.
———
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