Azazel gave Mittelt a very hard look that put her on edge. He let the silence build for a moment before speaking very seriously, "This falls under the same provisions you agreed to when taking this job." He only continued after Mittelt nodded in understanding, "There's something off about that kid."
He set down his writing implement and crossed his arms over his chest, "I looked into his background as much as I could. There's not much to find. Arai Junichiro was born to Arai Sansa, deceased. When she was alive, Sansa was under suspicion of being a prostitute, though she was never caught or convicted. Junichiro's father is unknown but is definitely a regular human, or a weak mage at the very most. So, how is it that he not only unlocked his own mana but also discovered brand new ways to forge mana into mundane metal? How does he know the things he knows and have such confidence in knowledge that seems to come from nowhere?"
Mittelt shrugged her shoulders, "Sacred Gear of some type?"
Azazel nodded, "Exactly my thoughts. Of course, I've never heard of such a Sacred Gear that gives the owner knowledge without manifesting. Not to mention that any Sacred Gear that can communicate with its owner has a living soul locked inside of it, like Albion inside of Divine Dividing. If he had a Sacred Gear in that class, I'd be able to sense it while standing right in front of him. Not to mention all the sensors back at base. But there's nothing. So, either it's an extremely weak model, or he hasn't got one."
Mittelt's eyes widened, "You wanted him to fight that stray to see if he would awaken a Sacred Gear!"
Azazel grinned brightly, "Exactly! If he had one, the encounter with her should have drawn it out into the open. The fact that he didn't have one was proven when he didn't subconsciously call on it. Which begs the question, where does he get his knowledge from? How did he learn to do what he does? No one, except maybe dad, could just make stuff up and have it work because they say it works! His knowledge and ability to use it is bullshit and I want to know where it comes from!"
Mittelt's eyes widened in shock, "Are you saying he might be related to DAD?!"
Azazel scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Of course not. Dad died a long time ago and the kid is confirmed to be thirteen, well almost fourteen now. Besides, I checked already. Don't get me wrong though, clearly the kid is very intelligent and resourceful. The setup he had when I met him was crude, but it worked and he'd done it all by himself."
Mittelt grunted and shook her head, "So, now what? The kid is missing the majority of his dominant arm. Clearly he's not going to be making anything anytime soon."
Azazel waved his hand around airily, "Oh, I'll just have someone move in with him to protect him and give him a hand... Erm, pun definitely not intended. Even I wouldn't tell a joke that poor in taste."
Mittelt had to restrain her laugh at the pun and only emitted a little snort. The kid meant literally nothing to her, he was just some random human stranger. So, why would she feel anything for his suffering? That's all humans ever did, live, suffer, die. She'd seen it happen a countless number of times both before and after her fall from grace over the course of millennia. So a terrible pun about some humans suffering was actually kind of entertaining to her. The deadpan look from Azazel kept her from smiling though as she asked, "So, whose the sucker going to be?"
Azazel slowly began to smile as he continued to stare at her giving her some idea of who he had in mind, "Oh come on! I've already got to be the gopher between him and you!"
Azazel nodded with a bright smile, "Exactly! Now you'll just spend most of your time here instead of at headquarters waiting for his calls."
Mittelt groaned and sat at the table just so she could slam her head into it, "Why me?!"