Kuoh Academy stood as an "ordinary" institution in the human world, at least on the surface.
At this particular moment, Takeyo Kagutsuchi, an unassuming student at the academy, sat reading in the Student Council room. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the polished wooden floor.
"Takeyo? The Student Council will be closing soon. You've been working so hard today."
At the table representing the highest authority among the students, a demure young woman with short black hair and glasses looked up from her paperwork. Her violet eyes regarded him calmly behind her frames.
Though she hadn't checked the time, Sona Sitri knew instinctively that it was time to close the building. After the school gates closed, the campus became the domain of the Student Council and the Occult Research Club, a world that an ordinary student like Takeyo, in her estimation, couldn't participate in.
"Hmm..." Takeyo gently closed the book in his hands, a flash of excitement crossing his dark eyes.
"President, thank you for letting me stay. See you tomorrow."
He stood and gave Sona a slight bow. His features were refined and pleasant, not the kind of face that would stop someone in their tracks, but one that grew more appealing the longer you looked at it. A faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
"Yes, Takeyo. Goodbye."
As Takeyo's footsteps faded down the hallway, Sona's composed expression wavered slightly. A flicker of hesitation crossed her face as she stared at the closed door.
"Click..."
The door of nanmu wood, worth millions of yen, closed with a soft sound behind Takeyo.
"Whoosh..."
The moment he left, countless small bats materialized in the Student Council room, swirling together until they coalesced into the figure of a statuesque woman with long black hair.
Tsubaki Shinra, the Vice President of the Student Council, appeared before Sona. As Sona's Queen and closest confidante, she had recognized her friend's internal struggle from the beginning.
"President, are you considering making Takeyo a member of your peerage?" Tsubaki asked, her heterochromatic eyes, one violet, one light brown, studying Sona carefully.
"Tsubaki, he's the first person who's ever defeated me in chess. His strategic mind is extraordinary, and his personal abilities are impressive as well." Sona removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "The only things he lacks are magical talent and a Sacred Gear. Otherwise, he would be the perfect candidate for reincarnation."
She had been wrestling with this decision ever since Takeyo enrolled and defeated her in their first chess match, subsequently joining the Student Council.
If it were possible, she wanted to offer him more than just a human lifespan of one hundred years. She wanted him to stand beside her for centuries to come, a worthy opponent and ally.
"Then why not make him a member of your peerage?" Tsubaki suggested pragmatically.
She too had come to appreciate Takeyo over the past year. Despite being human, he had integrated seamlessly into the Student Council, handling various tasks and organizational challenges with remarkable ease. Sometimes she even wondered if the Student Council would function more efficiently under his management than under Sona's.
"No... forget it. You know my position, Tsubaki. Every one of my Evil Pieces is precious..."
Sona trailed off, then her eyes suddenly widened as a new possibility occurred to her.
"Tsubaki, with Takeyo's exceptional intellect, if he could learn Ajuka-sama's techniques and formulas, he should have sufficient ability!"
Her voice rose with excitement, a rare display of emotion from the usually stoic heiress.
Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the current Four Great Satans, had achieved transcendent strength through his powerful "Kankara Formula." Of course, the outside world didn't know this, believing instead that he possessed inherent Satan-level power.
Tsubaki regarded her friend silently for a moment before speaking.
"President, you're talking about another Maou. Are you certain you want to do this?"
Asking for help from another Satan, even in the form of a transaction, would impact Sona's standing. As the younger sister of Serafall Leviathan, any perceived dependence on other Satans could be seen as weakness.
In Tsubaki's opinion, it wasn't worth potentially diminishing the reputation of a Satan's sister for an unknown human, no matter how talented, even if Serafall doted on Sona excessively.
"I'll be returning to the Underworld soon... that settles it."
Sona's tone was decisive, her natural determination showing through.
Perhaps it was because she had met the first member of the opposite sex who made her heart race, not due to his appearance, but because of his abilities and character.
Meanwhile, the young man who had captured Sona's attention walked out of the teaching building, barely suppressing his excitement.
If he weren't forcing himself to remain calm, Takeyo felt certain he would be jumping for joy right now.
After so many years of absorption, his system had finally awakened!
When he first crossed into this world, he discovered he had awakened a system, one that had been absorbing the energy of this world to activate itself.
Who could have known that this absorption would take more than ten years? And that was even with him doing everything possible to speed up the process.
A decade ago, an ordinary foreign couple came to Kuoh and gave birth to a child they named Takeyo Kagutsuchi.
At that time, Takeyo's system had already activated its startup sequence.
[Ding!]
[Divine Sign-In System activated!]
[Activation progress: 0.01%...]
Takeyo soon discovered that in places where spiritual power, magical power, or cursed energy was abundant, the activation speed increased dramatically.
That's why he had worked so hard to enroll in Kuoh Academy.
Even though the academy had only recently converted from an all-girls school, he had gained admission easily, thanks to his excellent grades and exceptionally high test scores.
After enrolling, he immediately felt the system's activation accelerate.
Several High-Class Devils attended Kuoh Academy, at minimum, Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri, Akeno Himejima, and Tsubaki Shinra. The demonic power released by these four alone could significantly speed up the system's activation.
However, he still felt the progress was too slow. So he joined the Student Council, staying until closing time each day before going home.
He hadn't chosen to join the Occult Research Club for one simple reason: compared to Sona's tactical brilliance and strategic acumen, Rias was... less gifted in that department.
Just looking at her future peerage configuration made it obvious:
Her Queen was Akeno Himejima, daughter of a Fallen Angel Cadre, possessing dual attributes of lightning and light.
Her Knights included Yuuto Kiba, wielder of a powerful Sacred Gear, and Xenovia, a Holy Sword user before her reincarnation.
Her Rooks were Koneko, a member of the nearly extinct Nekomata race, and Rossweisse, a powerful Norse Valkyrie.
Her Bishops included Asia, holder of Twilight Healing, one of the ultimate healing-type Sacred Gears, and Gasper, possessing the Forbidden Balor View, capable of stopping time itself.
And finally, her Pawn was Issei Hyoudou, the wielder of the Boosted Gear, one of the Thirteen Longinus.
So...
Knowing his own limitations, Takeyo had wisely chosen to align himself with Sona instead.