Ch.10 The Tyrant's Aura
Issei's imprisoning of Rias and her servants weren't very pleasing to the underworld…
Yeah, the house of Phenex was in an uproar about it
Regardless, we were then approached by many devil nobles over the ordeal, but before that, the next day was one that made me reflect on things for a moment.
After the imprisoning of Rias, Issei makes it to Rossweisse hours later when she wakes up. Upon entering her room, he hears the sounds of eating as he opens her door and sees a bunch of plates with bits of food on them and sees her digging into a piece of meat.
He smiles and asks "So, got the munchies?"
After seeing him, she blushes with embarrassment and shouts "No, don't look at me!"
He comes to her side and puts his hand on her shoulder "Hey, I'm just glad you're okay. You really worried me back there."
She has steam coming from her when hearing that he's concerned for her well being. She is also happy that he's concerned for her, but she asks "Issei, why did you act so brashly to her?"
Her worries are about his overly indignant behavior and his stubbornness towards what Rias said. He calmly tells her "Because I'm not going to let people tell me what to do anymore. I'd rather die than let those kind of people order me and threaten to attack my home."
"But she was only warning you. So why the stubbornness?" she argues
He places his hand to her side and states "Because she hurt you, Rossweisse. I'm not letting my friend getting hurt slide."
She' touched and utters "You mean…you did this because of me? I didn't think I was that important that you'd attack a devil noble."
He rubs the area that was destroyed by Rias before her rebirth and explains "Of course you are. You're a very important person to me. I'd be in a bad spot if weren't for you, Rossweisse."
Overcome with emotion, she gently grips Issei's arm and kisses him lovingly on the face while saying "Thank you for saying that." She lies back down on the bed and Issei lets her rest for the moment. He has to get to sleep himself. He joins his wives for a nice rest.
Prison
Hours later, Rias, Akeno, and Koneko are sharing a prison cell with a magic circle below their feet to seal their powers making them as vulnerable as normal humans. Rias looks remorseful for her actions on attacking Issei when he left.
"I can't believe I had to resort to that…It's so underhanded." She says to herself reflecting upon her move.
Akeno is also unhappy but she mentions "You… had to. It was the only way to get here, right?"
But Rias mentions "I almost killed someone who had nothing to do with this. If only I could have restrained myself more."
Akeno tries her best to get Rias' mind off of what happened, but it doesn't work.
But Koneko comments "Didn't think that guy would team up with her of all people." She grips her fist "He's probably sleeping with her." Her anger showing through her calm demeanor, Koneko is thinking about her sister being in the same building as her.
Speaking of which, Kuroka stands before the cell door and retorts "No, I haven't given him any yet. But that might change later." Her voice mischievous, Kuroka puts a tray near a small hatch on the door and mentions "Eat up, the boss doesn't want you all to starve."
The presentation is nice when Rias pulls off a lid from the tray and a nice simple meal of rice, miso soup, and fish is their dinner tonight. But they see a slice of cake with a note that reads: A little something extra, Shirone." Indicating that Kuroka is thinking of her sister, but Koneko tells Rias or Akeno to eat it. They need to play the waiting game for the time, but at least they have a plan.
The Next Day-Afternoon
The day is progressing fine. Rossweisse is doing fine with her new body and is being helped by her peers on how her powers should be working. But while this goes on, Ophis gives a delicate smile to them and thinks about the powerful dragons that will come from these girls.
Issei sits comfortably on the ground outside the manor while looking at the sky and wondering about the struggles to come as he closes his eyes to take a nap, but there is little worry for him. He then feels a cold sensation on his face and is immediately woken up by Kuroka who holds a cold drink to his face.
She smiles and lies next to him while saying "Hey, I need to talk to you about something."
Issei takes a cold drink from her and listens to what she has to say. She talks about her sister and a little bit of their history, but only a few details like how her sister and her were once devils serving another devil and that she killed him but had to leave her sister behind.
After hearing this, Issei asks her "Then why did you suggest that we take them as prisoners?"
Kuroka sighs "I wanted her to be close again, but seeing in that cell put a bad taste in my mouth." She explains while looking unease about the situation.
He wants to get along with Kuroka seeing as how they're allies now, but he reminds her "Kuroka, I can't just let her out after what happened last night. She might attack us like Rias did."
Kuroka argues with him "I know she won't attack you at random, not if you have that Gremory devil in your prison."
Clearly, she cares for her sister but Issei can't let Kuroka's personal feelings get in the way, but he does offer "Can I have some time to think on this?"
Kuroka then moves on top of him while her clothes fall down and she gets close to him with a sweet smell coming from her hair at is basically in Issei's face and she seductively looks at him "Would it be possible for me to persuade you to just do it?"
He simply smiles and replies "I appreciate the offer, but that's not going to change my mind. But I will promise that I won't hurt and won't let anyone you don't like near her. How does that sound for now?"
It's a start for the moment and Kuroka goes back to lying next to him while she continues to worry about her sister but decides to take a nap and get some lazy time in. But Issei does think that something was off last night. He thinks about Rias suddenly attacking him and it seemed too weird. He doesn't know her, but she doesn't seem like the backstabbing type. He decides to talk with someone about this, someone who may have dealt with Rias before.
Bedroom
He finds Irina in their shared bedroom taking a nap as she tires out easily and takes naps every so often to help. She looks so comfortable in the bed and she moves around revealing her naked form underneath the sheets with her breasts jiggling as she tosses and turns a little.
Issei looks at her lovingly and rubs her head while saying "I'll bother you later."
She opens her eyes a little and Issei sees a glimpse of her dragon power as her eyes are temporarily slits as she grabs Issei's arm without realizing it and her eyes turn back immediately when she realizes who he is.
She looks guilty and immediately panics "Darling, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." She frantically speaks while letting go of his wrist. Her grip is so strong; it actually leaves a bruise around Issei's wrist.
He doesn't hold anything against her and instead simply looks at wrist commenting "You've got a nice grip, Irina. I should keep that in mind."
Irina blushes a bit and asks "Does everything that come your mind perverted?" He laughs and nods to which Irina pulls him closer and presses his face between her breasts "As long it's always about me, I'm fine with that."
Despite the fact he can't actually validate that promise, he does at least say "Well, at least those thoughts are about you right now, Irina."
After hearing this, Irina pulls Issei on top of her and they start kissing. Then, yeah, they do the dirty deed for about an hour. They don't talk much about Rias since they focus on many positions and things to use.
Prison
Kuroka makes her way back to the prison after a nap to deliver lunch to the imprisoned Rias and her servants. She wants to know something as well, so she brings them their food as an excuse to come and see them.
Like before, she places the tray and moves it under a hatch on the cell door and this time the meal is a little grander with a plate of nice sandwiches with bowls of chowder and bottles of iced tea. She explains "The cooks were a little nicer today." Just like before, there is a little extra for Koneko and she says "Shirone, I thought you'd like some cookies with your lunch, so I…."
Before she can finish, Koneko rebukes "Don't call me that. My name is Koneko Toujou." She sits to the wall to avoid eye contact with her sister.
Sighing, Kuroka looks at Rias now and then asks "Okay, how about the king herself. Why did you attack him like that? Doesn't seem like something you'd do."
Rias doesn't like Kuroka, but she does explain "I have my reasons, but I'll confess that it wasn't my intent to harm that woman with your group. I was just going to harm him slightly and she jumped in the way."
Still not satisfied, Kuroka offers a deal "Look, I'm not trying to bust you guys for this. I don't think Issei is going to be more upset at this point. You killed Rossweisse, and if Ophis wasn't…." then it hits her "Did Ophis being there have something to do with it?" she asks in her mind.
Rias looks serious not to say anything but then she admits "It wasn't something I wanted to do, but I got desperate. I'm arranged to be married to someone I don't love. I just needed to get away from there for a while to get help from somewhere."
Curious, Kuroka wants to know "You could have just come here and ask for help. I'm sure we could have worked something out. So why the drama?"
"He's not the charitable type to us. He's only made deals with the underworld in exchange for compensation in some form. He sold a holy sword to us for a large sum of money, he only agreed to Sona's request in exchange for her direct cooperation, but I couldn't afford word getting out that I'm planning on defying my family in such a way."
Issei did promise Sona that he'd inform her of all deals he makes as a sign of good will towards the underworld and because of this, most of the nobles and the four devil kings know of Issei's dealings with the other factions, as well as his aggressive behavior with the church. "So do you think I'd believe he'd simply help us out of his goodwill?" "she asks Kuroka.
Kuroka simply sighs and replies "Well, I think you were stupid with that stunt. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't just kill you. Seeking help from us is dangerous." She leaves after hearing this and does plan to tell Issei about this, but mentions "If she wants, I think Shirone could get you the help you want."
Rias just states "I'm not doing anything with that dragon that would hurt my servants in any way. I've already made them suffer enough with this gamble as it is."
Kuroka leaves after hearing this feeling that everything has been said and maybe she can use this to persuade Issei to reconsider letting Koneko out. But Rias remembers her attack on Issei once more and really questions the decision to do it.
Even Akeno comments "I did think it was out of character of you. But I trusted you knew what you were doing."
Rias lowers her head and remembers that moment when she attacked and says "I don't get it either, Akeno. Suddenly, I just felt an urge to fight and a desire for carnage. I just wanted to start something to get us here and work something out without my family knowing it. I didn't even to attack him like that at all."
Still staring at the wall, Koneko remarks "Seeing Kuroka, I wasn't happy, but I wanted to kill her when they showed up and she was with them."
In another cell, Kiba can hear and he tells them "Yeah, I had the same feeling. I held it in, but I wanted to kill Issei for him keeping those wretched holy swords."
They wonder what came over them but Rias was the only one who acted on impulse, something they find strange and weird. But they got this far, and Rias says "When they come back, I'll try to make a deal with the Red Dragon Emperor. But I'm going to have to be discrete about it." She hopes that Kuroka's talking with Issei to let Koneko out will help her in some way, but at least she has a place to reflect and not worry about her engagement. Though, she may have to do something drastic to get out of it.
Bedroom
Issei is lying with Irina embracing her lovingly in his arms and he asks "Hey, I was wondering, do you miss your old life?"
Irina holds Issei tightly and nods while responding "I loved serving God and the church. It was my passion, my life, and my dream." She reminds herself "But it's all gone now. Just because I learned the truth, I can never go back there. I can't even return to see my parents again." She thinks on her parents in England and her father and mother probably being told she betrayed the church.
He reflects on his actions and says "I'm sorry, Irina. If I hadn't hit like that, maybe you'd still be…"
She interrupts and nuzzles to his chest saying "Darling, don't blame yourself. I fought knowing I was hurt, I was killed by Kokabiel and that rouge priest, Kokabiel said the truth, and the church abandoned me. Only you were the one there for me when I needed love the most. It's you I live for now, the church, exorcisms, Michael, and even my faith is behind me now." She wants nothing more than to be with Issei and her new friends now. With a child on the way, Irina believes her new life to be better than her old one and wishes for this future to continue.
Things were progressing nicely, Irina and Xenovia were showing maternal instincts and were making moves to better improve their health. It was Issei that felt reckless and then I began to notice that the women he came by had affinities for something, and it was intriguing to me.