I took another sip of the surprisingly good cup of tea. I had no idea what brand the leaves were, but they tasted fantastic, considering I took it from the Student Council's personal stash, though I doubted Sona would mind.
Despite the lights being off, the Student Council room was illuminated thanks to the large windows filling one entire wall. Even though it was only seven in the morning, it was already a bright and sunny day. I was sitting in a corner out of the way while waiting for the rest of the Student Council to arrive.
You must be wondering why I'm here?
It's simple: Sona called me here and said she wanted to talk, so I decided to come early and surprise her.
"Sure, Kaichou?" a voice signaled that my wait was finally over as I heard the steady rhythm of footsteps approaching the door.
"Yes, Tsubaki. I just need a minute to handle something alone," the doorknob turned, and the door opened slightly. "Please ensure the repairs are done before the school day starts."
"Understood, Kaichou," Tsubaki replied before I heard her walk away.
The Student Council door opened fully, and Sona entered. She didn't seem to notice me as she immediately closed the door behind her, leaned against it, and closed her eyes. The only sound filling the room was Tsubaki's fading footsteps, and when they finally disappeared, the place was plunged into silence.
I was about to call out to Sona and reveal my presence when something happened that gave me pause.
Sona, still leaning against the door, started to laugh. It began as a soft, barely audible sound but quickly grew. Soon, it reached the point where Sona could no longer contain herself, threw her head back, and just laughed.
Her manic laughter echoed off the walls of the Council room as I stared, perplexed, unsure of what was happening or what to do. It went on for what seemed like a full minute before she finally began mixing her laughter with words.
"HAHAHAHA, feel it, Rias, FEEL IT! YES! YES! YES! AHAHAHAHA," she said before starting to thrust her hips. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but yes, Sona Sitri, perhaps one of the most uptight people I knew, was thrusting her hips while interspersing each thrust with a shout of "Burn! Burn! Burn!"
I looked at my tea and checked for drugs with my magic, but it came back negative. I checked again, but when the results stayed the same, I gave up denying reality and just stared, dumbfounded.
"Can you feel it, Rias? Can you feel the weight~~? I said, can you feel it?" At that exact moment, mid-hip thrust, Sona saw me sitting in the corner. She froze, rooted to the spot, her eyes widening and her face paling as she stared at me with a perfect 'deer in the headlights' look.
Unfortunately for her, she froze in the last position she was in, mid-hip thrust, meaning her arms were behind her with her elbows bent, and her groin was thrust forward toward a point on the wall slightly to my right.
What I wouldn't give to have a camera here—or better, to show Serafall Leviathan.
For what felt like an hour, we just stared at each other, neither of us sure what to say, before I felt a massive shit-eating grin spread across my face.
"Oh, don't mind me," I said calmly, leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs before waving for her to continue. "Go on, this seems important. I'll wait." I deliberately raised my cup to my lips and took a long sip while watching her, doing my best not to laugh.
She just gaped at me, so shocked that her face turned pale before her embarrassment kicked in, and she started turning red.
"I-I… that's not… I mean… don't think that…" she began stammering nonsensically as her mind tried and failed to come up with something to say.
Deciding to take pity on her, I raised a hand and motioned for her to stop. "No need to explain," I said. "You can stop holding that pose now."
Sona looked down, and her face, which was slowly returning to its normal color, turned red again as she realized she was still in the hip-thrust position and quickly straightened up.
I gave her a few more seconds to compose herself before asking, "So, what happened? It must've been something big for you to act so excited this early, and what does it have to do with Gremory?"
By now, Sona had her strict librarian persona firmly in place, with only a slight flush on her cheeks betraying any emotion. But let's be honest, after seeing her act like that, I'd never fall for her strict act again.
She gave a single cough into her fist before speaking. "Yes, I actually just received some rather surprising news." She walked toward the desk containing coffee and tea supplies. "And it would be more accurate to say 'someone' happened rather than something."
"Oh?" My interest piqued despite myself. "And who's this someone?"
"Hyoudou Issei."
My expression darkened.
Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of Hyoudou, not just because of his perversion—something I still couldn't understand how was possible.
Sure, in the novel, he improves a lot and becomes less perverted, but still.
The main reason is his actions. I have no doubt that if Rias asked, he'd become a devil in a heartbeat.
That irritated me—that he'd throw away his humanity for that, discard something so important for a mere pair of breasts.
That's why I didn't save him and took the [Boosted Gear]. Of course, I could make better use of it.
And out of pity, I gave him three Sacred Gears.
The first Sacred Gear I gave him was a simple [Twice Critical], which allowed its user to temporarily double their power. If mastered, Issei could increase it up to five times, though it's useless since he'd need to boost eight times to reach Riser's [Rook] level.
The second Sacred Gear I gave him was [Night Reflection], which can absorb attacks using shadows and redirect them in any direction the user desires from any shadow in the Sacred Gear's area of influence. It can create shadow monsters to attack opponents, alter the user's form into blades and spears to attack enemies, form a shadow barrier shield around the user and others, allow the user to submerge into shadows and reappear elsewhere, and even entangle enemies, binding their movements. It's a very powerful Sacred Gear if used correctly.
The last was [Flame Shake], which grants the user pyrokinesis, conjuring white flames from their hands and firing them at the target. These flames presumably burn hotter than normal fire but are useless against those with high fire resistance, like dragons or members of the Phoenix clan.
Individually, they're strong, but if mastered and used together, they can be even stronger. I have no doubt that if Issei perfectly masters all three, he could achieve the power of an Ultimate-Class devil, or at least High-Class, but it'll require a lot of training.
"You don't like him," Sona said.
"I don't like how Rias tried to approach him and me," I told Sona.
"If it helps," Sona said after seeing I wasn't going to continue.
"I personally thought the whole thing was a stupid idea."
"You do?"
"It's too risky," she replied with a nod. "Leaving aside the ethical issue, the plan is flawed on a fundamental level. There are too many variables, too many forces at play beyond Rias's control to justify the risk. Even if everything goes according to plan, which is unlikely, there's still the question of what would happen if Issei and you found out Rias let him die. No matter how close he is to the rest of her Peerage by then, I doubt it would end well. Just like it did with you. If it were me, I would've handled the situation completely differently."
"How would you have done it then?"
"Simple, I would've recruited him to the Student Council. It wouldn't have been hard to convince him, seeing as most of our members are girls, and I would've forced him to behave by threatening expulsion. Considering how many rules he broke last year spying on all the girls," an unpleasant frown crossed her face as she said this, though whether it was for the spying or rule-breaking was anyone's guess.
"It would've been easy to convince him that it was well within my power to expel him, not just from this school but from every other school in the country. That I actually have genuine enough grounds to justify expulsion made it easier. Rias is the only reason he hasn't been expelled yet."
"I would've observed him for six months or more, keeping our identity as devils a secret. During that period, I'd judge whether he could be safely integrated into my Peerage. It would depend, of course, on how well he got along with the rest of the Council and how strong their bonds were.
"If he failed, I'd simply expel him. No matter how great the prize, it's not worth recklessly risking my Peerage's lives, especially when it comes to something as dangerous as an out-of-control dragon. If, on the other hand, he passed, I would've informed him about devils, bribed him with the knowledge that devils can legally have harems, and then spent the rest of the year getting his weak body into shape, with the promise of sending him to one of the Underworld's many brothels as a reward.
"Overall, it would be a long-term investment with low risk and high reward. In other words, my preferred method of operation."
"If it was that easy, why didn't Gremory do the same?" I asked.
She grimaced. "You have to understand, Gilgamesh, Rias has always had luck when it comes to her Peerage, and I mean insanely lucky. I would've understood if she had done some work and spent time and effort searching for Peerage members, but she never needed to. It was like the hand of some god guided them to her.
"Every single one of her companions seemed to fall into her lap with barely a finger lifted. To make it even more unbelievable, each one has a powerful Sacred Gear or a strong bloodline."
She began counting them off, raising a finger for each example. "Kiba has the Sword Birth Sacred Gear, Koneko is a Nekoshou, Akeno has the blood of a powerful Fallen Angel as well as the Himejima clan, and then Gasper, a Dhampir with the rare Daywalker ability and a Sacred Gear one step away from being a Longinus, the Forbidden Balor View.
"Rias never needed to work to convince any of them to join her. Half of them were dead or dying when she found them, and the other half had nowhere to go and were more or less homeless orphans. So, she ended up turning them into her Peerage the same day she met them."
That's really true; it's so strange that Rias got all of them that it's almost frightening.
For example, how did Rias know Akeno was being hunted? How did she manage to find the girl in the middle of the entire Underworld?
And with Kiba, how did Rias, a young girl, manage to infiltrate and find the Church's secret territory and be there exactly at the moment of Kiba's death?
And with Gasper, when he fled the Tepes Faction, what was Rias doing in vampire territory, an enemy territory?
With Koneko, it's worse because Sirzechs basically handed Koneko to Rias on a silver platter.
Honestly, I don't find it strange that Sirzechs might have something to do with this.
"The reason she's so excited about Issei and you is because she has no idea how to recruit you. It wouldn't surprise me if she spent most of the year waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and save you," she shrugged as she saw me staring. "Now, don't look at me like that. It may seem foolish to us, but for Rias, she simply doesn't know another way. It probably never occurred to her to just approach you and try to be friends first.
"Besides, Rias is very aware of her luck, so she probably expected it to kick in somehow and give her an opportunity to rescue and recruit you like she usually does. So what happens? Lo and behold, a Fallen Angel shows up threatening Issei and you, and now she has the perfect chance to step in and save you." She shook her head, incredulous at the situation.
"She could've done it differently; I think even devils wouldn't want an angry Longinus user," I said to her.
"Think about it: Issei is the supposed wielder of the Boosted Gear, and you showed you had a Longinus Sacred Gear. Though they don't like it, that makes you a serious threat to them. Worse, in their view, you could become a weapon used against them if another faction or even other pantheons reached you."
"And seeing as the Fallen already found you, they feared others would soon follow," I finished for her. It made sense: the Fallen already had [Divine Dividing], [Canis Lykaon], and even [Absolute Demise], and the Angels had me, at least before, while the Church had two other Longinus, [Zenith Tempest] and [Regulus Nemea], making the Devil Faction much weaker for not having any Longinus.
With my words, a smile began to grow on Sona's face. "Well, if you're still upset about how Rias handled Issei, you're going to love this news."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "Does it have anything to do with why you were in such a good mood when you came in and why you wanted Gremory to 'feel it'?"
Though she blushed slightly, her smile didn't diminish one bit. "You need to understand that, while Rias is one of my dearest friends and I truly love her, she's been driving me crazy this past week.
"She took every opportunity to rub it in my face that she was about to get two Longinus users in her Peerage. How, even though I searched the school top to bottom for members, I missed the user, and she didn't. Or how wrong I was for wanting to expel the Perverted Trio and how right she was for wanting them to stay." Sona spread her hands and held them in front of her as if she were about to strangle something.
"It got to the point where I just wanted to strangle her pretty throat." Her smile looked more than a little strained as she said this. In fact, it was starting to look a bit scary.
"But then," her smile did a 180 and became much more genuine, "I heard the most wonderful news before arriving. I ran into Kiba on the way to morning training and found out what happened with Issei."
"What?" I asked, more than a little concerned about the kid. "Something went wrong? They didn't fail to resurrect him, did they?"
"Oh no, no, no," Sona's smile turned into a wide grin.
"Nothing went wrong. Quite the contrary. In fact, everything went according to plan. The Fallen killed Issei, Rias swooped in at the last second and successfully resurrected him as a Pawn, just as she wanted."
"I don't see why you're so happy about that."
Sona's smile stayed firmly in place, and she continued, "Ah, but I haven't told you the best part. It seems the shock and pain of his injuries caused Issei to awaken his Sacred Gear before he died."
Ah, I understood what was making Sona so happy.
I couldn't help but suppress a smile.
"He awakened his Sacred Gear." Her smile, if possible, grew even wider as her glasses seemed to glint in the sunlight. "However, it turned out the Sacred Gear he awakened wasn't the Boosted Gear, or even another Longinus." She paused, clearly savoring the moment before continuing, "It was a [Twice Critical]."
I gave it my all not to grin at that.
Rias was so certain Issei had the [Boosted Gear] that she didn't expect this.
Of course, Issei originally had it, but not anymore.
In fact, Rias didn't know the Hakuryuukou was with Grigori, so she thought Issei had either the [Boosted Gear] or the [Divine Dividing]. When I showed up with Ddraig's power, she assumed Issei was the Hakuryuukou.
She was so sure of it.
But it seems Issei only managed to awaken the [Twice Critical] and not the others; his body and mind are much weaker than I imagined.
Sona let out a hearty, honest-to-Satan witch cackle at my reaction before speaking.
"A Pawn piece, a measly Pawn, Gilgamesh. Not even a mutated one, but a completely regular Pawn. That's even worse because the Twice Critical should automatically double a person's value, meaning Issei's base stats aren't even worth half a Pawn—damn it, my rival, now you can finally feel it.
"Oh, Rias rubbed it in my face that she was getting a Longinus for so long, making me burn with envy and anger over how I could've missed it, only for it to turn out to be a Twice Critical. Worse, she ended up with one of the Perverted Trio in her Peerage." Sona spread her hands in glee.
"I'm so happy with that kid that I won't expel the other two. They'll be a reminder of this day, and every time I'm in a bad mood, I'll just look at them, think of this moment, and laugh." Which she proceeded to do.
I couldn't help but laugh with her.
And from what it seemed, even with three Sacred Gears, it only took one Pawn to resurrect him. Honestly, that's disappointing.
"Now, don't get me wrong, Gilgamesh, I love Rias, but sometimes it feels like she keeps getting too lucky with her Peerage members. That, for once, just once, her luck abandoned her finally made things fair.
"I'm tempted to barge into her Club and start laughing in her face," Sona said before bursting into laughter.
We both laughed for a good while after that.
---
**Some Time Later**
After many laughs with Sona, I returned home.
It seemed Valerie wanted to see me and had something incredible to show.
When I arrived, everyone was in the garden.
"Finally, Master," Mordred said, tapping her foot.
"Sorry for the delay," I said.
"You said you had something impressive to show?" I asked.
Asia nodded, quickly explaining, "Well, we were worried about you and Sebas's biggest weakness to dragon-slaying weapons, at least against ours, and we wanted to work on fixing that. Can you show him, Enkidu-san?"
A professional nod from my friend produced a flash of light in front of him, a curved blade resembling a falchion in his open palms… and I immediately felt my eyebrow twitch violently as I looked at the thing.
"So, someone's ass is puckering just looking at that thing?"
Enkidu blinked at my unconventional description before shrugging, explaining, "This is a dragon-slaying sword I know how to make. Normally, it would easily cut any of us, especially you and Sebas, right?"
"Yeah…"
Valerie suddenly laughed, winking at me as she did.
"Well, check out what I did~!"
Without preamble, Mordred, who took the sword from Enkidu, approached Sebas and swung the sword at his torso.
And without blinking, we saw it ricochet off his abdomen, Sebas smiling as Enkidu dissipated the sword without further comment.
…
"Was that—"
"Heh heh… yeah, that was me~!"
Valerie offered a peace sign of all things before proudly puffing out her chest—don't stare, Gilgamesh—and informed me, "I finally managed to change things using my Sacred Gear! Sure, it's simple stuff like removing super obvious weaknesses… but I think I can start improving now!"
…
Holy shit.
In just a few months, hell, in just a few weeks, Valerie learned to properly modify very fundamental aspects of our bodies.
…
Has the power curve in this world always been this broken? I feel like the dumb kid in class for taking over ten years to reach my level.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I smiled, announcing, "Well, that's the best news I've heard today! Hey, do you think you could do me next?"
… Slightly weird phrasing.
She didn't seem to catch the innuendo, just smiling and announcing, "Of course! Just give me a moment here…"
The Dhampir stepped forward, placing her hands on my chest, closing her eyes, and focusing deeply as she suddenly began muttering to herself, almost as if in some kind of trance.
… I don't feel any discomfort.
Fucking cold.
Modifying your soul is a very… unusual experience. And by unusual, I mean it feels freezing, for whatever bizarre reason. Judging by Sebas's confused look at my shivering reaction, he didn't experience anything like this.
Jesus, it feels like someone dropped ice cubes in my heart and stomach!
My teeth started chattering as Valerie finally finished her work and… gave me a confused look?
She stared for a few awkward moments, and just as I was about to ask if something went wrong with the process, she flashed a bright smile, cheerfully stating, "Okay, you're done, Gilgamesh! Completely immune to dragon-slaying weapons! Enkidu?"
Before I could say I'm not ready for this, the knight swung the curved blade at my arm—
—and with a dull pain like someone hit me with a two-by-four, the sword ricocheted, not even a light bruise on my flesh.
"Well, I'll be damned… it really worked."
Suppressing my chattering teeth, I reached out and patted Valerie on the head, the Dhampir giggling to herself as I praised her with, "Well, that's just outstanding work you did today, Valerie. All of you, too; this is a huge step forward. We—"
GGGRRROOWWWLLLL!
I fell silent as everyone stared at Valerie, the Dhampir's face slowly turning red with embarrassment.
"Eh heh… heh? Using my Sacred Gear might've left me a little, um… hungry?"
We all burst into laughter as Valerie pouted, one porcelain cheek puffing out in irritation until she finally caught her breath to ask, "Well, in that case… anyone feel like steak, potatoes, and salad?"
Enkidu immediately perked up and asked, "Ooh, can we make it?!"
Valerie looked horrified and said, "No way, we have to have something else today!"
Mordred flashed a big grin. "Yeah, let's make burgers!"
A debate quickly erupted, and I approached Asia, the girl watching the heated discussion with a confused expression.
"And you, Asia? Got any specific requests for the chef?"
She jumped, startled by my sudden question, before hurriedly replying, "O-oh, anything's fine, Gilgamesh… it's just, um… I've never eaten steak, so I can't say one way or another how I'd like it…"
Laughing, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and replied good-naturedly, "Well, then tonight I'll have to make a special meal just for you! How about some medium-rare steak to start, between what those three want?"
Her eyes widened before she frantically waved her hands, stammering, "N-no, I couldn't! Everyone has their own desires, I couldn't—"
She cut off as I genuinely laughed at her rushed words.
"Asia, what those three seem to be forgetting is that I have a big kitchen and a big freezer. Not to mention some time on my hands. I can make three types of food, no problem."
She blinked once as it dawned on her.
And blushed gracefully, responding, "O-oh, right… I forgot."
I smiled at her. "Don't worry, we'll have a feast tonight."
I said as we headed inside the house.
---
**Later**
Ahh… a hearty meal.
Cleaning the last dish beside my sensitive appliances, I stretched my back and was more than ready to call it a night when…
"Umm, Gilgamesh? Can I talk to you about something… kind of private?"
A wild Dhampir appeared!
…
Now's not the time for Pokémon references, brain.
Smiling at Valerie as she timidly peeked her head around the kitchen doorframe, I waved friendly, asking, "Sure, I'll be in the living room in just a moment."
Blonde hair whipped around the corner as she hurried to the mentioned room, a slight frown tugging at my lips as I pondered what this conversation might entail.
… Does this have something to do with my soul, and why it felt so cold when she modified it? Or did she discover something?
There's only one way to find out…
Following her footsteps, I arrived at the sofa and living room with couches, a fire burning in the fireplace as I saw Valerie nervously shifting from foot to foot, her hands anxiously clasped in front of her.
… And I'm pretty sure my brain needs to reboot at the sight of what she's wearing.
A pure white doll dress hanging off her shoulders, all lace and sheer material with vanilla stockings and garter belts to accentuate her creamy legs.
…
I really hope this doesn't turn out to be some dangerous, relationship-altering conversation, because most of the blood has left my head for the other one.
Sorry, brain. But you're running on reserve fuel for now.
"Erm… this might sound like a pretty strange question, Gilgamesh… but are you, well… from this plane of existence?"
…
…
Goddamn.
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