Chapter 7
"The past is always with us."
Attributed to unknown source.
City of Kuoh Japan 2012 M 3
Kuoh City had changed in the decade since issei had truly been here. Untold numbers of businesses had closed and or started in the city. People had also come and gone as their lives changed like water never truly stopping. However, the scars of the night of red flame had never truly gone away.
The city had a memorial set up near the epicenter of the explosion, the crater had been filled in and smothered to make way for a new park that held the memorial stone in an solemn well-kept and maintained wall that held the names of those who had died during the tragedy and later those who had joined after. Such as the emergency services workers and survivors who could not forget and move on. In total the number of dead that had been finally declared was 2250 lives. The city had also turned the day of the explosion into one that reminded people of the tragedy and made sure that nobody was forgotten. A small ceremony was held every single year by the mayor of Kuoh whomever it would be.
Issei now stood in front of that wall looking at the names of his parents. He had suppressed his aura to that of a normal teenager his age and an illusion of another was easily presented to the onlooking world. He could hear Ddraig and revelation in his mind apologizing to him and them.
"It is my fault partner. My aura is what drew the witch and her companions."
I do not blame you. It was a pure chance of the skeins of fate that you were placed here with me and were noticed. I do not regret coming to know the dragon that has accepted the old man and my view of the world. This dream we are building is what each of us wants. Protection, Strength, and the feeling of being a human that will not forget and then toss away the feelings of others without truly clear and good reasons. To see both the micro and the meta. I will not forget either.
"You are a wiser man Issei than I ever was. I failed my species. Failed my sons because, I could not see either. You will go farther than I ever could and like the lizard. I will stay with you until the stars die and the light goes out of the universe. You will be what I should have been. The one who truly should now and forever be the Master of Mankind."
You humble me old man.
The affection for the man who had finally come to terms with his past and future. Who was the angel and devil on his shoulders helping him in everything he did.
"You truly are and will always be the strongest Red Dragon Emperor. Issei no one will stop you and with the other skills at your disposal you keep me hidden and that will be your greatest asset. You can play off everything and claim the skeletons power the gear is always hidden under your armor I too am with you until whatever end."
That same affection for the lazy lizard was just as strong. He had lost everything that night and had gained so much more. Together they were making something that would stand far longer than the previous red dragons and the imperium. The new imperium would be the start of something that would be better than the one of the past. Its wings would spread to all corners of the galaxy and perhaps even beyond it. Daliea had found plans deep in the database of conceptual designs for intergalactic warp travel.
The past was always with them. But the future shown brighter than ever before, even with the hint of ever present war.
City of Kuoh base of operations beginning of the school year 2012 M 3
Issei turned his key in the lock on his door and entered the home he would be using for the duration of his mission here. The home was big enough for a high middle class family being three stories up and having three basements. One public knowledge in the building specs of the home and the other two hidden behind a wall that required a specific phrase in high gothic to open the wall. Said phrase was hope lies here.
Behind the wall in the two additional basements was an armory filled with wargear, munitions explosives and extra armor held up on great racks. A full hospital with all the medical supplies and equipment that would be needed for this operation. A training cage and shooting range finished out the first basement with the second basement being used to hold loading zones for the items the teleportation machine that would move supplies and people from the forge to this house. The teleporter machine took four years to get from the end point to the beginning fixing the problems that had occurred during the development. But the finished product was as good as they could get it powered by a small room that held two plasma generators.
The upper levels of the home were well furnished, and the layout was modern with hints of the design showing the proud past. Issei's room was on the third floor with plenty of spare rooms for his art studio and extra rooms for a future purpose should the need arise. The second floor consisted of bedrooms for Caroline, Freed and Daliea, the Ai had taken to having her processing power shut down in her body during the night in a simile of sleep, it was another thing that connected her to the world with her next gen of processing servers being quite a bit smaller and more powerful than the previous generation servers. Hopefully soon they could miniaturize the servers down to where they could fit entirely in her body, and they could use her current server room as another production line.
Issei walked into the front room and looked to his left seeing Caroline going over several data slates that were clearly medical related if the brief glance he caught of the one she was currently reading. He moved past her silently not wanting to disturb her focus. As he entered the kitchen, freed was digging around in the fridge for food. The man was always hungry a side effect of the cloning process and one that would have been bad if he were not with someone with steady income and was willing to pay for his maw of a stomach. The owner of the home made his way past the man and was given a slight bow of the head when freed noticed him moving about.
In a room near the kitchen was where Issei sat down in and powered up his computer typing in his password that was in low gothic and seeing that he had received multiple messages from his moles he began the process of sorting out the information gathered into separate files in the server room set aside for the cloak and dagger. He took note of the fact that one of the Satan's was quietly looking for a mercenary who was extremely competent and that he was willing to pay a good chunk of money for their services.
Another noted that the fallen had begun moving a team that included the mole he had for the angel of the stars. Their message read that the team was there mostly under duress and that their mission was scouting the city for the devils bases of operations and for sacred gear users if there were any found that could be a threat to future missions. The team had been given a scanner that could give a rough idea of what a gear could be. The best of these being held by the governor-general and a select few of his most trusted.
He sent a short message to the operative and told them to come to a local park in two days sit at a specific fountain and then say one of two phrases, one for if they had been followed and the other if they had not. The confirmation was sent less than a minute later.
Before Issei closed his computer he noticed a ping from his public email account and checking it showed that his tests for getting into Kuoh academy had been seen by the school administrator and accepted. He had been told to report there on Friday for orientation and then class beginning on Monday. The school had confirmed by Freed during surveillance of the city to be where wards were located. the Four other locations being the former church in one of the towns that were unofficially part of Kuoh with another being in a very upper class neighborhood, another that after further investigation was actually a small enclave of Youkai who while paying lip service to the devils was in truth loyal to Yasaka. The final being weirdly enough the Kuoh train station. Freed again digging till he was able to find out that it actually was one of the possible entrances to the underworld. Issei had double checked this with the shadow network and had found three devils that could confirm this.
The dinner that night was as always excellent with Issei and Freed who was surprisingly a good cook because of eternal hunger and because structure in the recipes brought him a sense of peace. Daliea and Caroline were busy discussing further plans for a vaccine that would finally kill off the of face terra tuberculosis, it was ambitious and something that would put Caroline in the pages of history as this vaccine would require fine tuning towards making perfectly sure that it would not cause damage to people using it. They had enjoyed tasty food, friendly conversation, and good banter between Freed and Caroline, their relationship having improved from the time they had both spent recovering. It was a night that Issei knew would happen repeatedly in the future.
Kuoh Central Park Wednesday.
Issei sat at the fountain and enjoyed the beautiful view of the park. People were running, walking pets, throwing frisbees, chatting good naturedly to each other and in a nearby field of open grass, an impromptu singing contest was being held by two groups of students from different schools each trying to outdo the other and their activity had gathered a small crowd who were cheering for each of the choirs. It was peaceful and bright. He was not totally in harmony with the park denizens and his attention was dragged from the scene towards a young woman that was making her way towards the fountain and when she reached it she sat down next to Issei a socially acceptable distance and then looked to him.
"The clouds look like the wings of angel's today do you think? It is too bad a storm is coming in tomorrow."
"Your right they do look like angel wings. And it is still possible for the storm of black from the night to not hit tomorrow."
He got a better look at his mole.
She was clothed in a well-made gothic black dress with several frills. Her blonde hair was done up in a double twin tail that went well with her dress a black bow in between the tails of hair. Her eyes were a sapphire blue and they showed that she was incredibly nervous to be here with just a touch of fear in those eyes of hers.
The code had been spoken and it was told in such a way that it along with the thoughts Issei was picking up from her said she believed that she had not been followed. A small psychic ward was raised getting a reaction from the young woman, before to everyone else in the park the two strangers who had been sitting there had never existed.
"We can talk freely now; the ward will keep unwanted attention from coming."
The girl let out a sigh of relief and stretched her back before looking at the agent her handler had told her would be here today. The thing that bothered her was that she could not make out his face in any way. It just seemed like he did not have a face at all.
"I am Alpharius. Your new handler for the duration of the mission here. Weaver has given me most of what I need to know, however I would like to get a few details from you that I noticed in the file."
The voice like his face was impossible to pinpoint an accent or even vocal tone that would hint at what end of the singing spectrum he was on, the only thing that was 'certain' was that her handler was male.
"Ask away, the others think I am busy searching for gear users, and they do not expect me back for three hours, before the next one on shift starts going through their quadrant afterwards. I already did mine earlier before this."
"How many in the flock?"
"With myself there are four. We are supposed to get another three more in a few weeks."
"Any exorcists or mercs accompanying you?"
"We are getting a total of fifty exorcists that will be smuggled in through the city's ward scheme. Our head found a weak point in the wards near that park with the memorial wall. The ward stone was found to be in bad shape and that will be our avenue of entrance I am unsure about mercs the boss says that we are running a tight ship and that mercs are not in the works for now but that might change."
"Who is the boss? My report said that they were being randomly selected for the role."
"Her name is Raynare. We met her less than a week ago."
"How many wings are in the flock?"
"Kalawarna has two, as does Dohnaskeek and myself. Raynare has four but is remarkably close to six. I will update you if and or when the others arrive."
Alpharius nodded, Mittelt got the feeling that he was impressed.
"Excellent work. I will make sure that when I report to Weaver, I will personally ensure the agreed terms of your employment will make their way to your family."
Mittelt let a smile come over her previously stone polished face. That relieved her greatly. Protection for her family. That was the agreement that she had struck with Weaver. Mittelt was a third generation fallen and had a large family with her grandparents, their son, and his wife and then Mittelt and two younger sisters. She was actually eighty years old but used her magic to keep her age closer to that of her younger siblings so that they would be more comfortable around her. The younger girls were the one in a million pair of twins that were born to fallen angels. That had made them extra special to their family. Mittelt had originally joined the angel of the star's cadre in a phase of rebellion in her youth and now that she had her two younger siblings she had begun to regret her choice.
Oaths to a cadre head were taken very seriously and leaving a heads service voluntarily was seen as a great shame. So great in fact that you would be killed by the majority of fallen if they discovered that you had done this, a legacy of the Great War. The infighting in Grigori was terrible but the fallen would never break that oath to the heads of the cadres. Mittelt was here till she or Kobabiel died. But her head kept his most fanatical followers watching the families of those fewer stout members as extra insurance, just in case.
She loved her family and would do almost anything to protect them, even secretly betraying her head. Their lives mattered more than hers. Which is why when she had been approached by a fellow fallen who was in a comparable situation with another cadre head, the man had mentioned to her that there was a possible way out and all that was asked from him was mostly general information about that specific cadre. It was mostly common knowledge in Grigori and the man had insisted that their benefactor was also a fallen, probably an agent close to Azazel, who was keeping his own tabs on his subordinates.
Alpharius spoke again breaking her thought train.
"You said most of the flock is under duress, thus unwillingly here,"
She nodded.
"Donhaseek is being pressured by higher ups in the cadre to do this mission, he owes someone nasty a favor that from what I can get out of him is near impossible to repay. Kalawarna is in deep debt to someone else financially, the money is going towards her older brother who is a Great War veteran and needs expensive medicine and she has been promised that after this operation the debt will be forgiven. "
That caught her handler's attention.
"What is the medication?"
"He needs a liquid made from a specific tree that only grows in the Amazon. The sap numbs his pain and allows him to be an almost complete member of society. The tree species is heavily controlled by a cadre of fallen that hate us so the price is triple that that what it would normally go, his condition is exceedingly rare and so the cadre uses that to gouge Kala for the sake of spite."
"Do you know the tree's name? Our backers have very deep pockets and could possibly find a way around the cadre."
"I don't, I'll have to ask Kala and get back to you."
Alpharius nodded.
"Do so, Weaver and I are not heartless. We will not even put that on the table and ask her to help you with your work."
That surprised Mittelt greatly. She did not believe it. The disbelief apparently was noticeable because Alpharius commented on it.
"I will help her."
Mittelt wanted to believe him.
Base of operations City of Kuoh Friday 2012
Mittelt had gotten the name of the tree and had immediately forwarded it to Issei. A quick search of the internet had indeed confirmed the story. This tree was exceedingly rare, and it would take a bit of effort to get a sapling and using technology grow it to adulthood. Thankfully, Issei had several moles in that cadre and like most of his other agents they too were unhappy about the status quo. A word here and favor there saw the head of the ring in the cadre reply that they would send a sapling to their regular meeting point in two weeks.
Freed would get the tree and they would use the grounds above the forge as the beginning of an orchard. Despite what being in the presence of fallen made Issei feel, which was as if he was more sluggish and a tiny bit more irritated. They were not all monsters in the dark. Azazel was trying to change his organization from the shadows to the sun. But too many fallen still bore the grudges of the Great War and it was why the angel of the stars had a very devoted and strong following even outside his cadre.
Issei could see that all sides of the big three held those feelings. With the one being the freest of it being the devils. Yes the OSF still fought from the darkest shadows to bring about their counter revolution and return to the past. But most of the GKF and the NKF agreed to let most of the bygones be bygones. They had lost the second most out of the war. But their narcissism about purity was what was hurting them so much. Their social structure was very feudal. The pillars at the top then the extra families and middle class nobility and then the lower nobility and at the bottom were the reincarnated who were slaves.
Issei hated with a burning passion the evil piece system. Yes it was what had pushed back extinction for the species. Issei actually had a bit of respect for Lord Beelzebub, he was a rare genius that would have gotten along with Cawl. But the system itself was a reflection of devil society. It was open ended too much and allowed the kings to if they so choose to abuse and mistreat their charges. And many male and female kings used the system as a very convenient excuse to gather humans and others up for harems or other more despicable things.
The worst part was that the pieces changed the minds of those that it reincarnated. It was for a good reason; devils minds were alien to the others of Terra and the change was to help new devils integrate with their magic system and with the change in biology. The change however was not perfect, and it left triggers that had been found on accident by the kings and it made reincarnated devils subservient to their masters and when a devil in a bad peerage tried to get out it was just like with the fallen. You had to become a stray and then your master in a fit of spite for not being totally obedient to them would cut off their demonic power to said piece and you would go from being a regular person into one of pure horror.
Beelzebub and the other Satans had become horrified and disgusted by what the system had become. It was the anti-thesis of what they had fought for in the civil war. The Lord of Flies working tirelessly to fix the flaws while also trying to find other less damaging ways to fix the exceptionally low fertility rate that all devils shared. He was at an extremely hard impasse and while he was working, Lord Lucifer and Lady Leviathan were trying to change their society to address the very glaring issues. It was working very slowly. However, the nobility was immortal and would not change. They enjoyed the flaws of the evil system and fought tooth and nail against every reform that the Satan's tried to pass in their senate. It was a terribly slow losing battle.
Just like being in the presence of fallen. It was trying to be near a devil. They were creatures of darkness even more so than the fallen who from time to time had to feed their primary sin. The devil's thought process was to always feed the sin that defined them. Lord Lucifer and Beelzebub's sin was pride. Lady Leviathan sin was actually surprisingly wrath, she hid it well by running of all things a children's tv show. Issei had seen several episodes of it and the show was actually incredibly good, but wrath could be seen very very subtly in the dark. And Asmodeus's sin was sloth, the man never being a very productive member of the four unless it was forced out of him reluctantly.
Issei had done digging on the devils here in Kuoh and had been surprised to learn that there were actually three peerages here in the city. The clear ruler was Cleria Belial, and her sin was also pride. She fed it in an incredibly unique way by doing acts that largely benefited the city's population and had been vital in the Night of Red Flame not being even more deadly. The pride came from her good works rather than from feeling a natural superiority complex. She was busy preparing the other two kings and their peerages for future ruling duties as more territory was beginning to show fruit.
The second peerage was that of Rias Gremory and she was the one who would likely take up ruling Kuoh in the future. Her sin was greed in all things. The best food, clothes, and the attention of others, what fed her the most was the greed for peerage members. She was the most aggressive of the two younger peerages in member hunting. That fact was offset by her being one of the rare, good kings, who did love and support her pieces Being from House Gremory was a significant factor but she despite her sin was a good person.
The final peerage was formed by Sona Sitri. Like Rias, her sin was also greed. But instead of food or members it was a greed for knowledge. That had made Issei curious and after looking deeper into that, what he discovered was remarkably interesting. Sona was out of the three devil kings in the city, the one Issei could respect the most. Sona was an idealist. Her goal in life was to build a school that would teach reincarnated devils the ins and outs of the ratings games, the mostly bloodless sport of their kind. The games were the one way that reincarnated devils could better their state through arduous work. But it was too many a reincarnates dead dreams that they would never understand the unspoken codes that were part of the games culture. There was a school that taught these things, but it was only open to the higher nobility.
Sona was fighting the system like her older sister, not willing to back down from her goal. So, she was here to learn how to govern a territory and then apply that knowledge to running her future school. She was from nobility, yet she was not blind to the fact reincarnated devils outnumbered the purebloods, instead of joining the other nobles in looking down and considering them others. She saw the reincarnated as the future of their species. That was praiseworthy and Issei if he ever did become acquaintances with her would bow his head slightly in respect.
All three were both potential Allies or Enemies. It was through connecting the dots that Issei saw the angel of the stars game. Sona and Rias were the younger siblings of the two most powerful of the Satans and their deaths would be the catalyst, the spark that would set the three factions back onto the path of a second Great War. He and his faction would prevent this.
City of Kuoh Japan Saturday.
Mittelt was incredibly surprised. The day after sending Alpharius the name of the tree, she had received a message that informed her that a sapling from the tree was secured and on the way. A picture of said sapling was attached to the message. Mittelt could not believe it, her handler it seemed did have a heart. She had mentioned to Kala that afternoon in a very vague way that Mittelt had a friend who might be able to help Kala with her problem.
Kalawarna had looked at her like she had grown three heads and before she could refute that and yell at Mittelt for saying that anyone would care about her problems, the picture of the sapling made the slap that had been incoming halt. Kala looked with wide eyes at the picture before having a small breakdown. Mittelt held her while she cried almost being crushed by the size difference between them. When Kala had finally stopped crying she had tried to crush the younger fallens lungs with the ferocity of the hug. Thank you. Thank you. Was on repeat and when that stopped the blue haired fallen looked to her blond comrade and spoke.
"I do not know who your friend is mitt, but when you see them again tell them they have given hope to me and my brother, I do not care what your friend wants. Me becoming their concubine or my soul or whatever. I will never be able to repay this. Tell me now what they want?"
Mittelt had enjoyed the look of pure amazement that had crossed Kala's face when she assured the blue haired woman that her friend did not want anything for the deed.
"I will help. That is what he said to me when I told him about your brother."
Kala had shaken her head in disbelief and amazement.
"That is all he said? The saplings are almost impossible to get a hold of. There must be something no one is that kind."
The younger fallen was about to agree with the statement but remembered the relief that had been her own experience with her handler. She had been told that a team was ready to extract her family whenever she was ready. She had not believed that until Alpharius gave the exact description of where her family lived down to the exact details of what the house looked like under the tree that her parents had planted for her sisters and then listed the number of loyalists down to their wings and the hair colors. Mittelt was amazed because that was more information that she had never shared with weaver.
"It is the truth Kala. He is that kind."
For a moment it looked like her fellow fallens wings of black tried turning to white again before the color returned.
"I will do anything he asks of me Mitt, and I do mean anything. You are spying on us are not you."
It was a statement not a question.
Mittelt only nodded you could never tell when you were being watched. Instead of the condemnation that Mittelt thought Kala would throw at her, the other woman instead in deep thought before breaking the tension.
"Whomever this person is. They are willing to do this act for me, a near useless fallen who can give nothing that you are not already giving to them. I will repeat it again. I will do anything. Sacrifice anything. I will help you in your work. You who saw my pain and mentioned it to someone who you do not know anything about. If I have to openly break my oath to him. I will do so with no hesitation. I say that and will swear it on our maker."
Pathway to Kuoh academy Monday.
Issei made way through the streets of this city to where he would be studying. The truth was that he did not need to go to a school. It was in many ways pointless. But he had agreed to it partly because it would serve as cover for him and partly because of the social needs of humanity to make connections with others.
He was still lonely. He learned something horrible. He was a social dragon. Ever since her birth Daliea had filled a tiny bit of the hole in his soul with that. The feeling had been amplified by when he had become friends with Yasaka and Kunou. It grew again with Caroline and Freed. The connections made his life better, and he appreciated each in their own unique way. With Daliea and Yasaka it was a relationship that he who knew so much about life could converse with someone who had the same experiences. With Kunou it was a relationship of innocence. To be more carefree to not have his destiny weigh on him. With Freed and Caroline there was a power imbalance because of how they had all met, but that had left as soon as both of them came to understand him more.
Despite all that he was still lonely. A small part of him was still the child he had been. He wanted more friends. And so, he had enrolled in the school.
Kuoh academy front gate.
The school that Issei stood before was a breathtaking sight to behold. Its grounds were clearly maintained by the gardeners with a pride in their work that was impressive to see. The buildings that made the campus were in wonderful condition, the only exception to that rule was an old, not yet worn down building at the back of the area.
Wards were here as freed had noted. They were good. Not as good as they could have been, but they were adequate at the noncombative role that they filled.
When he entered the courtyard the conversation between his fellow students continued on without a glance at the newcomer. That was until a female student noticed him, jabbed her friend in the side and then pointed to him. That had brought people's attention to the unknown. He could never truly hide all parts of his being, the face to the world was handsome and his hair and eyes stood out to the crowd.
The young teenage woman had looked at him with hearts in her teal eyes and that look spread quickly to increasingly more of the female population. The men of the school were looking at him with both hate from those more jealous and interest from others, there were even a few of the boys who upon seeing the girl's reaction to him winced in sympathy. Fangirls were evil.
Issei continued walking not giving the indication that the looks bothered him, because they did not. That apparent attitude inspired more of the female population to gaze at him with those hearts. He heard a few of the less subtle girls talking about how lucky they were to have another prince here now and that they would win this one's heart.
That had made Issei snort in amusement. He despite his loneliness was not looking for a relationship of that kind yet, especially one that was built off of hero worship, he wanted to have a partner that would look at him and accept all of who he was, the good, the bad and the incredibly ugly.
He and Yasaka had what might, key word might be the barest hint of a relationship of that nature. Only if you squinted at their conversations incredibly hard. He did notice that Kunou would when he was visiting for work of when he and Yasaka would get together for tea, stare at him with eyes, which spoke of how she wanted to be with him. Kunou would get jealous when her mother would flirt with him, there was genuine love for him in the teen kitsune. Maybe, maybe in a few more years should they both stay where they were. He had come to know her and did enjoy being with her in many settings. The jealousy would have to be nipped in the bud if she wanted to be with him.
He continued moving to his first class.
More eyes than just the regular students and faculty had seen the new transfer student. Out of two very different windows on two different buildings, they had watched this mystery.
Rias looked at the human teen that she had seen was attracting such attention. He, she would freely admit was handsome. In both looks and in the hint of a personality she could guess at. He had moved she noticed like that of a cat amongst the birds that were the other students. This intrigued the red haired young woman. The moves were made in such a way that no energy that he was putting into movement was wasted or slothful. His eyes were what had drawn her in. Gold.
The other observer had been with her queen and her knight, the three had been discussing an issue that happened during the last week of the previous school year. Two boys had been caught. Trying to get panty shots of the schools predominantly female population in the changing rooms of the sports clubs. The action had only been stopped by pure chance as Sona had unconsciously released a spark of magic, short circuiting the video recorder in one of those rooms.
The fallout from this action had painted the academy in a bad light, that these two had done the action and that the school had ignored obvious signs that the two perverts had been escalating with prior incidents. However, Sona had worked to put her money where her mouth was and had after an incredibly detailed investigation had helped in expelling the two young men.
The results had led to both being never again allowed on the premises, with a restraining order placed and that the police were now aware of them and would watch out for further attempted violations at their new school.
It had been a somewhat victory.
The students were disappointed that it had taken so long for the correction and while many of the girls in those clubs that were using the rooms were still somewhat bitter about what had happened. The fact that the pervs had been punished swiftly after the discovery had been something of a balm to the anger.
Sona looked over the shoulder and saw in the courtyard the reason for the sudden excitement that had alerted her to the commotion. The new transfer student. He had seriously impressed the faculty and her by the test scores that had emerged. They were exceptionally good. No, not simply good, they had been near perfect. The young man was a certified genius that you would only vaguely hear about on the news stations or the radio. His scores had been so good that the principle had made a call last Friday after orientation to keep the young man back and have him redo the tests again to prove he had not attempted to cheat his way into the cities best school.
The young adult had shrugged and took the tests again. They had come back for the second time near perfect and with the proof shown to them no cheating had taken place, the school had eagerly accepted this teen.
Sona would be very honest, she wanted him in her peerage. She was planning to have Tsubaki extend the offer to join the student council and was hoping that he would accept. Before Rias got her claws in him.
The two kings were friends and rivals and while Sona was extremely sympathetic to the redhead's issue with her betrothed, however her dream mattered just as much as Risa's did. She like her rival had noticed that the young man was moving like a predator and that made her believe that a rook or a knight would be the best fit for him. If worst came to worst she could use the other four pawns she had. The other half had been given to a young man who showed immense potential. She hoped that this time on Wednesday the issue would be settled.
She turned back to her queen.
Kuoh academy lunchtime
Issei sat under a tree in one of the outdoor cafeterias that were in the school. He was eating a bento that he had made early that morning. He watched as the students were enjoying their meals and talked to one another.
The first half of the day had not been as bad as what he had considered, he was mostly just gawked at by the established clicks and clubs, he had in his home room introduced himself to the students there and was almost immediately asked by a very forward young woman if he was looking for a girlfriend, he had merely smiled politely and said no not at the current moment. The response broke, a good many of the young women hearts before they had brightened, the new prince was available!
He had ignored several very persistent young women that thought he was the coolest person that they had ever met. A young man in his class had come up to him during the break between the change of teachers and had held out his hand in greetings.
"My name's Kioshi. Nice to meet you."
The gesture was returned.
"I am Issei, you are much more brave than anyone else today. The others have just stared and whispered."
Kioshi had chuckled good naturedly.
"They do that. I notice you are very physically fit. I am a member of the academy's track club, and I was going to ask if you would be interested in joining?"
Issei's smile was genuine, but he shook his head.
"Thank you for the offer. But I am sorry, I will have to decline. I am looking at becoming an engineer and the higher school that I want to attend wants me to have near perfect everything."
The other young man nodded in understanding.
"Completely understandable, I'm looking at joining a musical career myself, just because I like to exercise doesn't mean that I don't like art, music is my passion."
"What's your favorite genre of music?"
Kioshi's smile was infectious and the two had begun debating the pros and cons of the diverse types of music, the conversation had drawn a few other girls and boys in and by the end of the first half of the day Issei had made a few good new acquaintances.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a slight poke in the emotions around him and he looked over his right shoulder and saw a first year looking at him with blank eyes. In fairness the white haired girl could have been a blank. Her emotions were very muted, and her face bore not a single emotion. It would have been unnerving for someone who was very used to expressing those thoughts and feelings. He caught her eye. She didn't acknowledge that had happened instead she kept watching him.
Koneko was very confused. Rias had taken her aside and told her to watch the new transfer student. She had simply nodded, he was different, she could not tell if he was different in a good way, or in a bad way. He felt to her like he was hiding something. In fairness everyone was hiding something or other. She kept her eyes on him. He was not put off by the glances and instead of how some of the students in her year would be and gaze away quickly, he accepted her looks. Koneko would continue to be confused.
He had other watchers. Another man who was wearing the badge of the student council watched the new student with hawk precision and Issei was returning the look without backing down. The stare off ended when the other teen turned his gaze from Issei, who was amused that he had tried to intimidate him. He had been looking at the clubs listings in curiosity and had let a small smile cross his lips when he saw a kendo club was part of the approved extracurricular activities. He was also intrigued that an occult club was in the roster, revelation sneered at the club while ddraig was very amused.
The day continued onwards, and the fan girls tried increasingly forward, means of attracting his attention, one had slipped a note in his pocket of a poem, that Issei would admit that the writer had the barest hint of future potential in poetry, it was not great. But not bad. Another had tried very openly to loop her arm around his and when he glanced to the offender it was a girl with dirty blonde hair who when she saw the golden eyes look at her, she had backed off immediately with a very prominent blush. He had kept walking.
The school day had ended with a whimper and Issei made his way to the gate and again felt a look from someone, he turned towards the one giving the stare, it was a brown haired girl who had glasses with two others, one of the teens had of all things pink hair, the other had hair a deep mud brown and when he faced the trio completely the teen with the glasses took one look at something about him then froze, and then started spewing blood from her nose at an alarming rate before she toppled to the ground and only slightly started twitching. Issei and the two still standing women immediately started trying to help her and after five minutes the three had managed to get the fourth up and moving again. Said girl had looked at him again, gave a somewhat perverted giggle and then burst into a run towards the school exit. That had confused the master of mankind. The pink head had just shrugged before saying.
"Do not mind kiryuu she's harmless unlike the two others they expelled at the very end of last year. A fair warning to you, will probably have more admirers tomorrow. My names Katase."
The mud haired girl then spoke.
"And I am Murayama. Thank you for trying to help out with Kiryuu's fainting."
"I would be a lesser man if I stood and did nothing, I'm Issei nice to meet you both."
Both young women smiled, and Murayama had a small blush on her cheeks, but she was not being weird. She looked at his feet for some reason before asking.
"I noticed that you have the beginning of a kata for sword fighting. Are you a swordsman?"
Issei nodded.
"I know some katas and am ok with a sword, mainly western style types more than the ones found here in Asia."
"Interesting, Katase and I are captains of the kendo club and I'm wondering if you would like to try out for it."
His smile amplified the blush on Murayama's face and now put one on Katase.
"I am not looking to join a club, but I would be happy to spar with members of your club. If you would allow it?"
Both nodded furiously. Before they said together.
"We would be happy to have you there Issei-san, we meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the gymnasium about an hour after school."
His smile was kind the girls noticed, perhaps he was that rare male in the school besides Kiba-kun who was not perverted to a serious degree. He had only looked at their faces and not bodies.
He bowed to them.
"Thank you, I will see you both tomorrow. Have a good evening."
Issei turned and then began making his way out the gate and into the streets.
Base of operations.
Issei was with Caroline freed and Daliea in the hospital ward. Freed was in a bed and was strapped down with restraints. His face knew no fear.
In order to increase his effectiveness on the battlefield the white haired man had after looking at the data base requested the week before to enhance his body. To in his own words
"Give back to you who saved me, to become a warrior who could be more efficient in the service of Unification."
Issei looked at him and spoke.
"It will be painful some of these enhancements, I will not order you to go through that."
Freed had simply shaken his head.
"We all must make sacrifices."
Issei had remembered when he had been on a similar bed.
He was strapped down, Daliea was looking at him with extreme worry, the machine that had made his nerves closer to an Astarte's the upgrade to a Custodies and then a Primarch and then finally Revelation's old body would come later, began to retract and for just a moment her father had been incredibly still. Before breaking out in a psychic scream that was enhanced further by the dragon in him shaking the room and the part of the bunker they were in. His nerves were there and making him feel everything at 15 times the strength of the regular human stock that he had been before. The hardening of his bones was next, then the replacement of his old blood production centers with new ones. And many more.
Issei had said that again to the man who had pledged his being to him. Freed still knew no fear. He was going to take genetic crafting up to that which was comparable to elite Tempestus Scions.
He would be only bed ridden for a week.
Kuoh academy Tuesday.
The second day of school had been similar to the first, normal and boring. That was something that Issei enjoyed, to be normal was a gift that he and to an extent the others in him were one that should never be taken for granted. Just like what Murayama had said would happen the girls of the school were now heavily invested in trying to get closer to him. Kiryuu had been surrounded by a large crowd of young women and they had all been red faced and when they caught sight of him, the horde had gazed with clear fanatics at him. He hated that type of look.
The girls had stepped up their efforts again to get closer to him and during lunch they had hidden themselves badly near a few tables close to his tree and giggling was the most that the large group would do.
A girl with red hair had actually come up to him under the tree and had asked him if he would be her boyfriend. His rejection was done in such a way as to not kill her bravery forever and to make sure that it would show again for someone she had a chance with. The girl had been disappointed but could see what the other had done. She had smiled brightly to him in an unspoken thank you before bowing and departing.
The white haired first year was still watching him and now joined by two unbelievably beautiful third years. One was a very well-endowed redhead with sea blue-green eyes. To her left was a Black-haired young woman who unlike her friend who was European, was of Japanese stock. Her eyes were light purple and when she looked at Issei he could clearly see in her thoughts that he and the girl were doing something that was actually quite tame compared to what the lord/lady of excess had partook in. The red-haired girl's thoughts were primarily centered on a greed for him.
This must be Rias and two of her peerage. The violent eyed young woman sin was very clearly lust; however, he could still not get a hint of what their white hair junior was thinking, or what her sin was.
Still, he just ate and enjoyed peace. It was always a brief feeling.
Gym after school Tuesday.
When Issei entered the gym 45 minutes before the kendo club was meeting he set the bag that contained his school uniform on one of the bleachers and began warm up exercises. Katase and Murayama were both there with most of the club's members and all the girls appreciated the eye candy they were given.
When the last members of the club finally arrived four minutes before the beginning, Issei was ready for the exertion that would come. He watched the matches of the club respectfully and after the last one concluded Murayama had called him over and then handed him a wooden sword.
They had backed up away from each other, they both bowed and then took up stances.
"Don't hold back, Issei-san."
He nodded.
"Be prepared then."
They watched each other looking for a flaw in the others stances. Issei found it first. With startling speed, he charged forward catching his opponent off guard and she was barely able to bring her wooden blade up into a parry, the second strike was a gentle tap to Murayama's left hand.
"Point Issei."
That was called by another of the girls of the club. The girls were all looking at him in clear shock and admiration. Here was a true fellow disciple of the blade.
"You said not to hold back, I won't."
The second round began, and it was Murayama who opened, she moved towards him at a respectable speed for a human who only used a weapon as a side activity. Her stab was blocked, and then pushed back by the young man and then the fight began in earnest, strike after strike stab after stab, blocking and then parrying back and forth. The fight lasted for 15 minutes with Issei holding himself back to give his opponent here on the mock battlefield a chance to improve their mind and body should they in the incredibly small chance that they would need it.
He blocked the latest blow and then again lashed forward and placed a strike this time on Murayama's right shoulder.
"Point Issei."
The two fighters looked at each other with very generous respect. Mura was not bad at all she was quick and had deflected blows well until the end. They bowed to each other lowly as they had seen hints of the other on the field of battle and Mura could see that he had been holding back to give her a fight that was as equal as he could make it. He had still treated her as a serious opponent, but he was clearly better than what he had said he was.
"I enjoyed the matches Murayama-san."
"As did I Issei-kun would you be willing to show us some of your katas and stances? We would all appreciate it; we are trying to get a championship victory on the high school circuit. You teaching us would help immensely."
The rest of the club waited for the answer anxiously.
"I will try and help, I'm not a master of the blade and there are probably people out there better than me."
The club did not believe that and had instead let out a cheer that was filled with hope for finally getting a win on the high school circuit. Issei could see the happiness that his words brought and that had filled him with the barest hint of pride. The club had not been the only ones watching.
Rias's grin was now pure shark like as she was watching the exchange in the gym taking place now beyond eager to get the transfer student in her peerage. Kiba had also been watching with her as the familiar that was tasked with following their recruit had watched from a window invisible.
"He is good, almost as good as I am."
Kiba spoke the truth when he said that. The young man had watched on with Rias and the rest of the peerage even their hidden member. Kiba was the sole knight of the peerage, and he was in his own prideful thoughts that was the hint of his first sin, an incredibly good swordsman. Yet here was one who if Kiba fought on a true field of battle against he would struggle with. That as he said hurt his pride. His second sin rose to overcome the first and he was determined to feed it with a fight against this regular human.
Koneko was looking at the display with interest unusual for her, she was at the meetings after school feeding her own sin of gluttony on sweets.
Akeno was right now openly feeding her sin, panting in noticeably clear excitement at the fight and the muscles that the human male had shown. He was not a bodybuilder, more of a swimmer in muscle type with the elegance of his movements he made.
"We need him. Kiba try and talk to the kendo club and see if you can evaluate him Thursday. With luck we can get him into the peerage on Friday or Saturday."
Kiba had for a moment wanted to deny his king, why would she need a regular human when she had him? That thought, however, petered out and he only nodded trying with significant effort to not deny her.
"Of course, Buchou. I will talk to them tomorrow."
Rias noticed his struggle and instead of what the many of her kind would have done put a hand on his shoulders.
"I understand how hard that is to ask Kiba."
The anger and resentment that had been about to flow from his lips died upon seeing his king's face, he knew she meant those words. The rest of the peerage also understood the hidden meaning. They were with a king who actually cared about them. The stories that leaked from the gatherings most reincarnated had and were only spoken about with the barest of whispers about what their lords and ladies were like. Fate had given them all a king who cared about what they wanted. Most reincarnated would jump at the offer to become higher in the pecking order. But they were trading their lives as human or other away and often found the kind face of their new kings was not the true face, instead it was like the original Lucifer who was in a very distant way the new grandfather, they were monsters.
Rias cared about them, she had found ways to help them feed their sins that while the actions were mild for devils, kept them sated. They were incredibly lucky and grateful to her, and they all loved her for that kindness.
Kiba nodded to her for the words.
"Thank you Buchou. I will talk with them tomorrow morning and do as you ask."
The smile rias gave to him showed how much this meant. The hope on Koneko and Akeno faces showed how much this also means to them. Their kings betrothed was not a good person, he was not as bad as many others, but his primary sin was lust and he fed it often. His peerage was also his personal harem. The few times the two peerages had interacted with each other they could clearly see that fact. The smiles they gave him were genuine. But he was an absolute pig of a man and it really showed to Rias and the others that they needed an out. Part of the contract for Riser and Rias was the fact that he could ask anything he wanted from them, and they could not refuse, Kiba was safe being a man, but the others were not. They were his family; he would do anything for them. They who in each their own ways broken by something before becoming devils. He knew they would do anything for him too.
So, he would set aside his pride and get this help in with their king.
Kuoh city Tuesday night.
Issei was at the park with the memorial wall and was near the ward stone his mole had spoken of. It was indeed damaged. He did not know by what, but it was the door to the city. The wards of the city had been looked at after the night of red flames by Cleria's peerage and they had updated them heavily to prevent any further attempts at infiltration and they were now made to sense holy objects and people. If he made an educated guess the one who had probably broken the stone was Argus acting under orders to make an entrance.
Thus, Issei started setting up his own sensors and other equipment that would let him know when the grunts and potential future fallen arrived. The sensors were extremely small and were in the ground. They would ping him when an exorcist with their light swords and bullets or fallen with their now darkened but still holy energy passed through the door. The other reason was to make a way to forget for a few moments that his follower was in immense pain as the upgrades continued that night.
Freed continued to know no fear. He had also made the line his mantra and he put his faith in them to see himself through the tunnel. They too had put faith in him. They would not let this or any other sacrifice they made ever truly be forgotten. They all knew no fear and would fight for the dream.
Freed was right sacrifices needed to be made, the two baseline humans saw what he was willing to sacrifice, they had asked themselves if they could do the same. They took faith in him the one who had done the both of them true good, in each other they who had been enemies under their previous employer and finally all the things that were human. The answer had been noticeably clear.
The sensors were now up and running, Mittelt had reported to him that Monday that Kalawarna was with them and was also ready to make any sacrifice that he asked from them. She had told him that the first group of pawns were coming on Thursday night. She had learnt that by way of her new comrade who had gotten Raynare drunk with expensive sake on Sunday and in her inebriated state had let slip the information.
As the ghost moved away from his deed in the dark. He could see a bright future for himself and all.
AN Here is my discord name you can friend me there and ill get into the discord server i made for people who want to ask more questions Magos-Cedues #6263 Let us keep the discussion civil I have greatly enjoyed the communication and the community that is forming around this thought experiment. I will never not say this to everyone. Thank you for the support. You who have made this a good experience in my life. I saw we hit past fifty reviews and one hundred follower, i really do like the reviews all of them, even the harsh ones. It shows what I need to improve. I am sorry about this being a bit late. i will mention that the discord is completely optional im still happy to talk here and pms
ANN to the reviewer who asked about my first stuff. I do not have the original drafts anymore. I do not even remember what my plot was. Very glad you actually liked something from then. I do not think it was particularly good. It was an incredibly unique concept. I just could not fill the holes in the world. I did not have as much drive for it as I do for this. I think I am doing this vastly better. Saying that maybe one day. But more No than yes
ANNN. I hope this sheds a bit of light on my view of the evil piece system and devil, fallen nature. Feed the sin. not a very uncommon view. but i will hopefully add a few new takes. I made a new change here that i hope helps explain the harem aspect more to new viewers. Social dragon. its my belief that is why Issei in the series desires the harem unconsciously. Hope that clears things up.