After I caught Leonardo by the back of the neck I started taking him back to the others, strangely enough, it looked like I was carrying a cat instead of a person but that doesn't really bother me.

Taking care of an annoyed cat isn't anything new to me, especially when said 'cat' was human-sized. Haineko does have her moments where she is a true pain in the ass.

Anyway, after walking for a while we reached the others and decided to go to the hotel sooner. To be fair this should have been a romantic trip for me and Peko and dealing with a brat and a group of super annoying prey (Lo'lo influenced me after years of living together) was not part of the deal, but I guess this is part of what life is like.

"Young Master, is there anything bothering you? You seem more irritated than normal." Peko said as she walked beside me on the hotel corridor.

Well, I guess I am not THAT okay with the whole situation at hand. But who can blame me? I wanted ONE day to enjoy time with Peko, to make her feel like a princess and shit, but now here I am serving as a babysitter to some kid while trying to ignore the fact that a crazy priest is looking for me right now. And, while true that this is great news overall since I now have means to remove a big chunck of Cao Cao's battle potential with the removal of Leonardo and that I also obtained a demonic sword that I believe is Nothung as I did look over info about demonic swords, I still wish it wasn't NOW that this happens.

One good night with one of my girlfriends, and in her birthday no less, shouldn't be that much to ask!

"Sorry for this Peko, it is just that this was not how I thought this day would be like." I said. We had at most 13 more hours before I had to go back to Kuoh, and I only had a total of 5 before Narberal had to go back.

Things were getting a bit tight for time here, and knowing that there will probably not be any late night enjoyment is not helping my mood in any way.

Cockblocked by a small child giving me a stinky eye, I am not a parent yet so why is this happening to me?!

Entering the room I put the kid down, he instantly made to dash away from the room but Peko caught him this time putting her hands on his shoulders. After that failed he 'calmed down' but it was clear that his eyes were scaning the entire room at all times.

Meanwhile Komaeda decided to sit in a corner to 'watch hope take action' or some shit like that, after a while you simply stop trying to comprehend him and accept his actions as 'whatever'. Narberal positioned herself behind me, probably as protection since I did not order her to move in this specific fashion, and Dulio caught a chir and sat dowm with a can of coke in hand that he caught in the frigobar.

"So, I guess introductions are in order. My name is Joseph Barbatus, the others here are Narberal Gamma, Komaeda Nagito, Dulio Gesualdo, and the pretty lady behind you is Peko Pekoyama." I said pointing to everyone in the room. "And what is your name?"

"...why should I tell you? Because you kicked that rapist?-


Somewhere else in Milan Siegfried suddenly got the feeling that someone was accusing him of something he was not!

He was just a priest that was walking in dark alleys trying to kidnap a small boy while being dressed as a priest, how could anyone think of him as anything other than a hero?


"Or should I believe you because you brought me here by force? Maybe because you said some names that I don't even know if are really yours or not?" The boy said accusingly and hearing his words I can only think one thing.

I am actually liking the annoying brat.

He might be just a kid to my eyes but it is undeniable that he is at least smart and wary of his surroundings, he is at least capable of distrusting everything and everyone, an admirable quality in my honest opinion. And the fact that he was honest enough to say outright that he doesn't trust me makes me like him even more.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right." I said, making his eyes bulge a bit. He probably thought I was gonna get mad at him for talking against my words, but that is as far from the truth as possible right now.

If he did talk and accepted everything I have to say without any questions whatsoever I would look down on him. Trust is something to be earned and idiocy is punishable with death, this is what I learned from both Sebastian-sensei and Demiurge-sensei respectively.

"Okay, so why don't you tell me something else entirely. Are you happy with it all?" I asked.

That earned a raised eyebrow from him.

"With what you mean?"

"Well, everything really. Your life, your limitations, your power, your current existence of having to steal to survive, are you happy with it?" I said.

"Oy oy, let's not try to start pacts while I am right here okay? My superiors would get pissed if they were to find out I saw this and did nothing." Dulio said with some seriousness.

"What, it is not like I am requesting his soul or anything and besides I am what I am and understanding is something your God did say was important riiighhht?" I told him making him frown a bit.

But in the end he relaxed again and stopped complaining, he was someone that liked to obey God's words instead of his superiors and he would intercede if I did anything excessive anyway so it was fine, sort of, it is kind of a blurry line here but let's ignore this.

"I still can't understand how a devil can know so much about the bible." Dulio said under his breath probably trying to not get 'caught' speaking this.

"Huh, isn't it obvious that someone in my position should at least understand a rough outline of what the bible says. Even if I get a headache it still is a good way to know at least what you guys from the Heaven side think, even if we aren't that much of an enemy anyway." I said making him nod stiffly.

It may seem strange but, amongst the devil race, my house was probably the one with the best relationship with Heaven. We were the ones that fought beside the angels during the heavenly dragons attack and also made many operations against the fallen together. We also never indiscriminately acted against the innocent like most other houses had in the past and have some connections to the other races and thus serve as a rallying point between Heaven and those races.

It was sort of weird, but I suppose it is fine just as well. It isn't so different than the relationship that the priests and colonizers during the American colonization, both can't seem eye to eye sometimes but overall they can live in somewhat of an harmony (as long as you ignore the smaller movements to undermine each other)

I then turned back to Leonardo who was looking even more warily to us before he said.

"How could I even like this? Everything sucks since my parents died a few weeks back everything sucks! I hate EVERYTHING here, the people that don't help, the scraps that I have to eat, the loneliness and how powerless I am. I hate it, Hate it, HATE IT!" He said, by the end he was yelling with pure rage in his tone.

I waited for him to calm down a bit, and after a few seconds of him yelling he finally calmed down somewhat.

"Do you want to change this?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"I said, 'do you want to change this?'. If you do I can help you." I said, and as expected of someone who doesn't trust others he only snickered and said.

"And why should you? What is it you want?" He said.

"What, is it so hard to believe I am a good person that just wants to help?" I asked while trying my best to show an honest image. Well, 'best' is a strong world, I just did enough to someone who ACTUALLY looks for signs to notice my lie.

This is a small test, a test to see if this kid can see through my words.

"Honestly speaking, you isn't a good person at all." Leonardo said.

"Hoh, and why do you say that?"

"Because I can see it, you may not be outright evil but you are also not a good person. 'Good' people's eyes are different, they almost shine with goodness but they are too naive. Naive like my parents were. I don't trust naive people, so tell me honestly what is it you want?" Leonardo said

"...Good, very good. I am glad I am not speaking with some idiotic children here." I said, revealing my true feelings. The others in the room did not react as they did know that I like this sort of setting more than babysitting (especially Dulio since he once took me to an orphanage he takes care off and saw how I was not that good with kids but dealt with the mistrustful adults quite easily). "Okay, I want from you a few things. If you follow my requests I can assure you that at the worse you will be coming back to where you came from. This will be a give and take situation, the more you answer my questions the more I will answer yours.."

"...okay." He said after a long pause.

"First, I want to know your REAL name."

"My name is Leonardo, Leonardo Rossi. What is your real name, because I doubt you really are named after a devil?" Leonardo said, proving my suspicions that he actually knows a bit about demonology. Well, at least he knows some of the houses from the Ars-Goetia, which in itself means that he at least has a good education in many different areas as this one would hardly be the first priority for any kid to learn.

"Heh, actually this IS my real name. I am just surprised you still haven't identified me by yourself, I am kind of a big deal after all." I said with a small smile, making him tilt his head in doubt. "Here, just look over the internet for my name and you will see." I said throwing him one of my cellphones (a spare one I had just in case, considering how easily I sometimes end up in a fight having it break wouldn't be strange after all).

He caught the phone and really starts looking over it, for a while he managed to keep serious but after some time his eyes started to shine as he looked at me again.

"Wait, you are the creator of Supreme Leader Simulator? I love that game!" He said, making me chuckle a bit.

Supreme Leader Simulator was a game where you start of as the leader of a small gang and has to build up your strength until you can take over the whole world, but the best part was how I managed to put many actual usable facts from real life in the game (something I got info about from the gangs under Demiurge and my house control).

This is one of my most popular games and a personal favorite of mine, but knowing that this kid likes this game in specific really explains a few things. I DID put there how to better avoid police and pursuers after you commit evil acts, which in hindsight maybe wasn't my brightest idea to put on a kid's game.

Meh, it was popular anyway and I am a devil so fuck that.

"Yeah, glad that you liked the game." I said with a smile. "Now for the second question, did that thing that happened in the alley happened before with you, the whole people after you I mean?"

"I guess, I did notice that there were some people looking for me so I tried my best to not get caught. But this is the first time someone actually caught me. My turn, why did you protect me?"

"Because it was interesting and because I felt that you have something in you that is quite interesting. Seeing you get captured and taken away just like that against your will isn't something I would approve, unless you are a 'bad person' in which case I would not mind whatever happens to you." I said in complete honesty, I just haven't said a word about what EXACTLY he has but the rest is the truth. Even if I didn't know anything about the kid and he was an actual 'street rat' I would still help as long as he didn't do anything too evil (stealing Komaeda's wallet doesn't count as I put all the blame on my bishop's shitty luck).

He looks a bit skeptical but he doesn't react negatively to my comment about how I would not hesitate on leaving him to suffer who knows what if the situation was different. This brat is getting more and more interesting and great in my eyes, how did he become basically a doll during the whole hero faction shit? Oh, who am I kidding? I would bet a hundred thousand dollars that he was hypnotized by magic to remove any 'unnecessary part', all for the sake of turning this cheeky brat into a weapon.

Many would say that I can say much against it as my family does make something similar to some of our captured enemies, but we only do that to those we consider enemies anyway so I have no issue with what my family does. I am a hypocrite, a proud one at that!

"Now it is my turn, what do you intend to do after getting out of this door? Go back to live as a petty thief while running away from people who clearly are stronger than you? Run away from town and hope they don't find you? Or roll over and hope nothing happens?" I asked, making him freeze.

He probably hasn't thought this much yet.

"I-I don't know. I will find some way to live, I will survive through this and everything in whatever way I can." Leonardo said while clenching his fist.

Interesting, he truly is a kid that is trying his best to survive and win no matter what. I am truly liking him more and more, maybe I can make him a surrogate little brother much like Entoma is my surrogate little sister. That could be interesting as well.

"Good, you truly is good! Do you want to ask anything else?" I asked.

"Yes, I want to ask what exactly do I have that would make others interested in me? I doubt you would have talked so much with me without a reason and those guys didn't come without a reason either, so what is it?"

"You have something called a sacred gear, it is a magic item made by the Catholic God long ago that can have all types of powers. I am not sure how strong yours is but this is probably the reason why they attacked you, a sacred gear can be seen as a blessing or a curse depending on how you look at it because while it can grant amazing powers to otherwise weak humans it also makes them a target for those who would like to use said powers." I explained to the kid. "Okay Leonardo, I will give you one last question before I give you MY last question. What happens next will all depend on you."

He tensed while the others looked amusedly at our conversation. They probably thought it funny how I was treating a child of most likely no more than 12 but that isn't a problem for me.

Well, most of the others were looking at this. Komaeda was in his corner writing down what I believe is a poem about hope... let's ignore him.

"...What are you?" Leonardo asked after a long while.

I grinned at his question. This was truly a smart brat, if I do manage to rope him in he would be so useful and having someone like this around would be truly great.

"I am a Devil, or to be more specific part devil as I do have human blood too." I said and I could clearly say that he did not struggle against Peko's hand, but he is looking at me as if I was stupid.

Well, I suppose he needs more proofs after all.

Releasing my wings I felt a bit more relaxed as this was how my body should be like more often.

Leonardo looked like he was just about to scream and cry, but after a few minutes of this he finally calmed down somewhat.

"Are you done yet or do you need to catch some fresh air before you can continue your screaming marathon?" I asked him mockingly, making his face get red in embarrassment. "Hey, don't worry, okay? I get it that seeing a devil is surprising and all but it isn't like I want to devour your soul or anything like that. I just have one last question for you and then we will have settled this whole thing." I explained to him, making him calm down. Good, now he probably will listen properly. "Do you want to enter a contract with me?"

The silence in the room lasted for quite a while this time, Leonardo's face changed expression many times as he clearly thought of many things

"What?" Leonardo said incredulously.

"A contract, it is a very simple process really you agree to what I say and then write down your name in this," I said taking out an actual contract for him to sign, this one was a special version that would not need to have anyone to write it down anything besides the name as it would record the terms spoken instantly. "and it will be done."

He looks even more warily at me, so I decided to sign Peko to release his shoulders so as to let him feel freer.

"If you accept the terms are like this: first - you will be treated as a provisional member of my peerage, something like family if you want to think like this, until you are 15 years old, but you will remain as a human; I will not demand of you to act in any dangerous situation whatsoever and will prioritize your life whenever possible; third is that you will be given the chance to get as strong as possible and will not be shown any disrespect; fourth is that all your accommodations will be taken care off by me, that includes a proper salary and payment for whatever service you make; fifth and last is that if at any point you WANT to become an official member of my peerage a slot will be available for you."

Dulio made to say something, he probably didn't like that I was trying to make a kid join me this young, but even then he decided to remain quiet in the end. This may not seem that fair with Leonardo but this way he will get plenty of protection and letting him go right now is the same as delivering the boy to those who want to catch him. At least with me, Leonardo will be safer, I will not make him do anything against his moral code or dangerous for him, and will remain human as long as he wants.

Besides, I may be somewhat well known for being evil but I also am known for how I am overprotective of those from my peerage to the point of being overbearing (once someone tried to kill Chris after she was found as a devil. Those who tried to harm her, their families, and even their pets were never found again the next week, I had to look for them after all and killing people inside the Vatican wasn't exactly easy either but I did it anyway and I would do it all over again if anyone threatened them). And, taking the kid to the church was no different than condemning the kid to exactly the same thing that the hero faction would have done, especially considering that Leonardo has a strong gear. Dulio knows as well as me that the corruption of the church runs too deep and some kid with no background surging with a sacred gear would at best be treated as expendable and at worse as a lab rat, heck I do not doubt that there would be some that would try to indoctrinate, hypnotize, or even outright remove his personality altogether to try and obtain his 'help' as he is someone who can produce an army for the church to use. It would possibly break the balance of power between the three factions, and this is too risky of a situation to let the church and its corruption to manage.

"G-Give me some time to think." Leonardo said after a while. "But could you tell me more of, well, everything I don't know about this?"

I nodded and started explaining to him everything about the word that isn't normally seem by humanity. About the supernatural side of things.