Chapter 4: Be Like Solomon?

April 14th-22nd, 2017

That night I decide to toss Firebird another message before passing out. It would be another few days before I could expect any response, but it would be a soothing exercise, nevertheless.

Thalex: Please come back soon. I fucked up today. Not as badly as I first thought I did, but it was still very stressful. I would very much like to bitch at you for a bit. It would make me feel much better. Also, I still need to kill your disgusting steppe tribes with my Slavic Steel.

Thalex: Oh, and I hope things are going well with your brother. Talk to you soon.

With that out of the way, I do my final checks to ensure my queue is set up right. Spellform development should begin while I am sleeping tonight, and I currently have them ordered so that my new HUD upgrade finishes first. After that would be the mana bolt, and then my healing suite.

I would save the physical reinforcement spell and shielding for last. They might save my life, but I would rather have something sooner rather than nothing later, because I couldn't blast the face off of some horrible monster, or sense it coming and run away.

Offense and avoidance were, after all, the best defence really.

The upgrade to my sensors also seemed quite pertinent given that there wasa fucking demon in the middle of my school, and I had no idea if there might be others like them or precisely what the fuck that even really meant in a practical sense.

I mean, I had plenty of stories about demons, and I knew what most of the people I knew back home would have to say on the matter, but who fucking knew whether they were accurate or to what degree.

Hopefully, they weren't. If they were...

Well, that was what all the prep was for.

In any case, being able to better scan the people around me, and maybe get an estimate of their strength, could be vital.

Now done with my absolute priorities, I curled up in my bed and tried to fall asleep while surrounded by a somewhat greater than usual quantity of holy symbols.

My paranoia might have been slightly getting to me.

Better paranoid than dead though, at least until I got more info.

Despite my fears, everything did not spontaneously combust. Instead, I was able to get into a bit of a routine.

I even started jogging in the mornings, as I figured Zombieland rules worked well enough in this case, and cardio could be important.

Counterintuitively, this relative peace did not make me feel much better, instead only heightening my paranoia as I waited for the other shoe to drop.

This was not to say that things were boring, per se. In fact, my school life was much more active than it had been before.

At lunch I continued to sit with the trio, and even loosely participated in conversation when it swung around to topics of greater interest to me. This was not especially often though, so I mostly ended up ignoring them while I took sensor readings on every student to pass close enough to our table.

The results I got were not helping my sense of impending doom, as once every few dozen students I would actually pick up a sensor reading indicating either above average mana levels, or a demonic mana signature.

What was really confusing to me was how most of those last ones were... off. Like someone had fused a standard human signature with that of the pure strain demonic ones I had seen so far.

Were they possessed or something? Maybe they had sold their souls?

Could they have been tainted somehow by long-term exposure to a demon?

I couldn't know for certain. Not without asking them, and I was definitely not ready to do that until I had at least my first few spells operational.

Regular classes at least were a bit calmer, although I still felt a little awkward between the looks some of the girls were now giving me, and Aika occasionally coming up and teasing me.

With a few hours of distance from the event, and plenty of free time to think over the issue as I tried to distract myself from my bigger problems, I had come to realize a few things.

The first was that my speech may not have actually been that bad as far it could have been. Embarrassing, certainly, but most of it could be taken as me joking around, and the majority of the content wasn't even particularly sexual in nature.

Ignoring the last few sentences.

It was still not entirely optimal in my mind that a school full of people now knew my preferences in a potential romantic partner, and my views on the nature of stable relationships. However, that was mostly just because I dislike being in the limelight, rather than them being bad things in and of itself.

Doubly so given Aika's nudging seemed to head off most potential negative interpretations of what I said, while boosting the positives.

I really was going to have to properly thank her at some point wasn't I?

It was strange, the situation with her.

On the one hand, she was almost as openly perverted as the trio, which made it slightly weird to me that they were terrified of her rather than being good friends on a side note, and seemed to derive a great deal of enjoyment from trying to get a rise out of me.

On the other hand, she seemed to be a generally decent person, and even genuinely kind to those around her in her own way.

Also, despite how it slightly grated to admit it even to myself, she was in fact exceptionally pretty. Not to the same supernaturally perfect degree as President Shitori, but she also wasn't some kind of literal demonic temptress as far as I could tell, so that made sense.

On second thought, didn't she actually tick several of my boxes as well? I mean, she was certainly intellectually stimulating, and while aggravating at times I could see the appeal in her sense of humor. Elegant and refined might be arguable, as she leaned more towards seductive and flirtatious, but she definitely had presence. And I had just stated that she was definitely not horrifically ugly.

Far from it.

Plus, she pulled off the glasses and stockings combo quite well.

Hmm.

I might actually have to reach out to her, once I get a handle on the other issues currently on my mind. As appealing as pursuing a friendship with her was starting to sound, and as much as I might enjoy the practical benefits of a social manipulator type backing me up, I would rather not pile even more stuff onto my already stressed mental state until I was more relaxed.

Actually, no. Fuck it.

No time like the present.

Knowing me, if I put it off until I was more mentally ready, I would continue delaying it indefinitely. If I was serious about this, then I was going to do it right now. It was a free period as well, so its not like I even had the excuse of waiting until class was over.

My resolve set, I immediately stand from my desk and walk over to her own, as she watches my sudden actions with a slightly bemused expression.

Now standing directly in front of her, I take a deep breath and then begin, "Aika. Having now given it some thought, I have decided that, despite how aggravating you can be at times, I am actually quite fond of you. At least in theory. You also helped me out with that debacle yesterday, and I like to engage in reciprocity when I can. So, I would like to pursue a friendship with you, assuming that is something you would also appreciate."

She seems genuinely surprised for a moment, before shifting into a small, happy smile, "Well, I didn't expect you to be so bold. I thought it would be at least another few weeks before you were willing to go this far." She leans back slightly in her chair and makes direct eye contact with me, "I would be happy to be your friend, Alex. I hope we have a mutually beneficial relationship going forward."

At this last bit she shifts her gaze over the entirety of my body, focusing on my crotch just a bit longer than might be considered socially acceptable.

I shudder, realizing I may have miscalculated slightly, and that perhaps procrastination really was the way to go on this one. Oh well. Too late now. Maybe it would be best to try and fire back?

Actually, I wonder?

I bow to her, and give a parting remark before returning to my seat, "Thank you, Aika. I hope so as well. Ah, and before I go, I would like to say something. As friends." I give a slight pause at this, and lock my eyes onto her own with the most intense stare I can manage, "You are an exceptionally beautiful woman, and have a very appealing personality. You also look really cute in those glasses."

I then turn and walk away, internally smiling at the incandescent blush I managed to provoke from her, and the revelation that I may not be completely defenseless in future interactions.

I guess my mark was right.

While she may be able to tease at a much higher level than myself, she also seemed to have a weakness to direct compliments. I guess I will have to see if that holds up.

I just hope she doesn't make me pay for it later.

Probably.

Maybe it would be fun?

At least keep my mind off things if nothing else.

Sunday was a very nice change of pace. Primarily because I got to cozy up in my room and make some preparations for my currently planned confrontation with Sona.

I started the day by skimming through the old pocket bible Irina got me for my 11th birthday.

While there wasn't too much of obvious use to my current situation, it was a slightly calming experience, and it might be useful to have a refresher on The Lord's Prayer and a few other bits.

Assuming they worked against demons like they did in the movies.

On a similar note, I asked my mother if I could make use of her crafting station and fabric, as well as some plywood I had picked up at a hardware store.

She was mildly bemused when she saw that I was making several bandoliers of handmade crosses designed to be attached to my school uniform, and a headband with a printed Hail Mary circling around the outside edge. In theory, this might give me a bit of protection from every direction.

If not, well, its not like it could hurt.

Upon her questioning, I simply explained to her that I was planning to have a conversation with a local group of demons infesting my new school, and wanted to be prepared in case diplomacy failed and I had to make a hasty exit.

She laughed at my obvious joke, and left me to it at that after wishing me luck.

Refuge in Audacity was truly a beautiful thing. Especially as it meant I didn't technically have to lie to my parents while still deciding how much I should tell them.

My other bit of preparation regarded something that had been bugging me ever since Alice first explained Arcane Ascendance.

"Hey, Alice, I had been thinking of how to allocate my resources going forward when I noticed something kind of strange. While I can see how much mana is pulled from the core per second, it doesn't actually tell me how much I have on hand at any given time? Could you explain that?"

"Acknowledged. There seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the nature of magic production and usage."

I put on a slightly puzzled look at this, and lean back in my chair, "Can you elaborate? What am I misunderstanding?"

"Acknowledged. Mana is not a form of resource which naturally accumulates in a reservoir that can be emptied and drained as necessary; although creating such a situation artificially is theoretically possible. Rather, mana is continually produced within the souls of any and all creatures which possess one, at a fixed rate dependent upon the soul in question. All creatures with souls are also naturally possessed of one Mana Channel, which draws this energy from their souls, and allows it to be utilized to affect their environment. Any Mana which is not used is returned to the soul and reabsorbed, with a small percentage lost as waste to the outside world.

" Additionally, mana channels do not necessarily correspond to the output of the soul, and any mana which cannot be transferred into the channels is also reabsorbed. By consciously or instinctually utilizing mana, the mana channel is able to grow and eventually match the output of the soul. This can also occur as a result of existing in a mana-rich environment or by artificial methods."

"The primary limiting factors in utilizing magic are thus the individual's maximum output, their current draw rate, and their ability to control and shape the mana into the form desired. Arcane Ascendance ameliorates the first and last limitations, while allowing for conscious expansion of your mana channels via constructing MTCs. MTCs are additionally beneficial in that they are incapable of temporarily or permanently burning out, unless used at greater than 100% of maximum rated output."

I take several moments to think over some of the implications of this before responding. "Ok. I guess that would explain a few things. So magic is a use it or lose it type of thing. Cool. Actually, what about my own natural production and mana channels? Shouldn't those be factored into the calculations then?"

There is silence for several seconds, before I finally get an answer.

"Negative. For unknown reasons, your soul does not appear to generate mana, or have any naturally occurring mana channels. Hypothesis: this may be a result of one or more black-boxed functions."

That sounded less than good.

Unfortunately, it also sounded like something I can't really do anything about right now. Something to look into later though.

Maybe the encrypted message will explain things?

Later.

I need to focus on the immediate future for now, and then I can worry about yet more creepy stuff. Hell, for all I know that could be normal for Sacred Gear users.

"Alright. Good to know. Keep up the good work Alice."

The next three days were not particularly good for my nerves.

The complete lack of any further direct interaction from any of the demons in hiding paradoxically had me more stressed than an outright attack would have. At least then I might have learned something new; been able to seize a firmer grip on my situation.

As it was, I could only stew in paranoia and darkness.

The entire time I was at school, I could barely stop myself from anxiously glancing in every direction, searching for any potential vectors from which a hostile force may arrive. Even my basic first round of spellforms would not be complete until nearly the end of the week, and without them I was feeling naked.

Even worse, by the time of Wednesday afternoon I had detected nearly a full dozen separate demonic mana signatures, and managed to get a detailed enough scan of several of them that I even had estimates of their mana channeling capacity.

The weakest I saw was nearly 400 MU/S, with the strongest closer to 10,000. Even once I had fully reached my current maximum capacity, I would stand little chance of winning a straight-up magic fight it seemed. I was quickly realizing that if diplomacy was not viable, I would have to get very creative to survive any confrontation.

This was not comforting. Not even slightly.

So it was that after school on Wednesday I was still sitting at my desk after most other students had already left, hunched over in a ball of tension, and wondering if I should just get it over with and make my move today.

Suddenly, I then felt a slender pair of arms wrap around me from behind.

A tender voice whispered into my ear before lightly nipping at it, "You've seemed kind of stressed out the past few days, friend. I do hope it's not my fault?"

I nearly flinch myself right out of existence before realizing who it is and calming down slightly. "No. Unrelated stuff. Actually, now that I'm more used to it, you've gone from a source of stress, to one of the things relieving it. You're very pleasant in that way." I try my best to keep a joking tone in my voice as her closeness has me a bit out of whack.

There's no way she knows how sexy I think reverse hugs are, right? Has to be a coincidence.

She tightens her grip slightly, and then responds in the most suggestive voice I have heard from her yet, "Well, it's nice to hear that you enjoy our little talks as much as I do. I don't suppose you would be interested in coming over to my place tonight, and engaging in a little more direct stress relief?" I can hear her breath speed up slightly at her statement.

Oookay then. This is happening now. Isn't it kind of sudden?

I mean, I've known her for what, three weeks? Been tentative friends for a few days?

On the other hand, that's a really tempting idea. I mean, yeah. Plus, I am kind of half-expecting myself to horrifically die soon, so would it be so bad to at least try things out a little? Expand my horizons?

I feel her begin to pull away slightly, "Ah, I understand if that might be a bit much for you. If you need a little more time before you're ready, I-"

"No, actually, that sounds like it could be really nice. A bit sudden and unexpected, but nice." I quickly turn around and pull her into a hug of my own before moving my own lips near her ear, "Besides, I like to think I believe in reciprocity. This seems like it could be a good opportunity to pay you back for helping me out, friend."

After a few moments of silence, and a slight increase in the heat I can feel radiating from her cheek, I hear a slight chuckle. "Alright then. I'll send you a text with my address. If you come by around 6:00, we should have the house to ourselves. My parents are going out for their anniversary, and won't be back for a few days."

"S-sounds good to me. I guess I'll see you then?"

Redacted- Scene Present on QQ

Thursday, I was much more relaxed than the previous few days.

Endorphins were a hell of a drug.

I was even able to mostly ignore the occasional chiming of tagged mana signatures coming in and out of range as I ate lunch, instead focusing primarily on what Matsuda, Motohama, and Issei were saying for once.

"Man, I don't know what you did to get Kiryuu after you, but that must suck! I mean, seriously dude. She's bad enough in general, but she seems to really like messing with you. You must have really fucked up in a past life or something!" Matsuda joked in his usual boisterous tone.

Huh.

That actually kind of annoyed me.

I mean, she really wasn't that bad once you got to know her.

Fun even.

I was considering exactly how I should respond to his comment, when I noticed all three of the trio go slightly pale and clam up before a lunch tray landed on the table next to my own.

Suddenly, my lap was full of teenage girl as Aika dexterously slid onto my chair crosswise, and wrapped an arm around my neck. "Hey there lover-boy. I wanted to check up on my new boyfriend and see how he was doing." At this, she pulls my head down slightly, and does a commendable job of trying to shove her tongue down my throat.

I am stunned for longer than I would like to admit before my own tongue leaps into action and valiantly attempts to defend itself, while I try not to laugh at the realization of what she's doing.

Unfortunately, this is one arena where my internet knowledge does not give me much advantage, and I am utterly dominated by her.

I'm not overly annoyed by this though, as it was quite a pleasant experience overall. She had managed to tilt her head just right so that our glasses didn't clink against each-other too badly, and she tasted faintly of cherries.

When she finally pulled away, I was able to confirm that it was entirely worth it to openly reveal our new relationship despite my slight misgivings.

Matsuda and Motohama's faces were contorted visages of shock and horror, while Issei merely stared blankly in the distance, as if entirely incapable of comprehending what he just saw.

I could hear strangled noises of confusion leaking out of their throats as they processed what just happened.

Meanwhile, Aika and I both proceeded to continue with our lunch as though nothing unusual had happened, her opting to remain in my lap while she ate, until Issei finally managed to reboot his brain.

"Wait. What! What the hell!? Are you two dating now or something? How!?"

Aika cuts in before I can, once more turning and wrapping her arms around me as she nuzzles into my chest. I could almost swear I saw literal hearts appear in her eyes as she began, "Yes, it turns out Alex is a true gentleman. He really knows how to treat a girl right. There was simply no way for me to not fall desperately in love with him."

Seeing an opportunity, I took it myself. Once more adopting the refined voice I had used in my previous rant, I began. "Aye, and Aika here is a truly wondrous woman. Finer than any other I have yet met. My previous blindness to this is truly lamentable in hindsight, but we now fully realize the perfection of our coupling. So, we began to date." At this I wrap my own arms fully around her, before looking at them with a coldly serious edge in my eyes, "I understand if this is shocking to you, but know this. When you are ready to go beyond the puerile desires of the flesh, I am fully willing to use my great wisdom to assist you in acquiring your own girlfriends. As a true bro should, you understand."

At this final utterance, I hold my gaze on them for as long as I can manage without breaking character.

Within seconds, I can hear giggling emanate from where Aika has her face pressed against my school jacket, and begin to feel my own façade splintering around the edges.

Quickly, we are both cackling like mad as the full understanding of the fact they had just been punked sinks into the Trio.

Totally worth it.

Friday evening found me in the park closest to my house, trying out my finally complete initial spell repertoire in the hopes of being at least minimally prepared for my plans tomorrow.

This mostly consisted of me throwing rocks at summoned planes of defensive mana and blasting small holes in the dirt while sprinting in loose circles, but it was still nice to get a general idea of my new abilities.

Even if I had to dodge a few bits of lithoid shrapnel which I really should have anticipated better.

After I think I have a decent feel for what I can do, I pause for a bit and take a drink of water before speaking to Alice.

"Hey Alice, tomorrow I should have enough mana for, what, both healing spells plus 10 shields or 5 mana bolts every 2 seconds? That right?"

"Yes. In theory you could disable your passive healing as well, if you required more of the latter two. However, are you certain you wish to do the meeting tomorrow? If you waited until next week, you would be able to triple your effective mana supply."

"Yeah. I know. But the cutoff for selecting a club is tomorrow. More importantly, I don't think even increasing my active mana supply by an order of magnitude would be enough to actually even up the odds.

Even the weakest demonic signature we have on record is still over three times as strong as I would be with all 12 MTCs active and freed up. Given that, I would rather just get it over with now, before I start getting really paranoid.

At least I'll have the initiative that way."

"Acknowledged. In that case, I shall endeavor to assist you as best I can. Good luck, User Thalex."

"Thanks Alice. I'm sure you will. Oh, and if we live through this, remind me to get on that research for upgrading you to be fully sapient. You're already good enough at pretending that I can't really tell most of the time anyways."

"Acknowledged."

I think it's finally time.

All my basic spells are complete, my mana channels are developed enough for me to cut and run if necessary, and the week is almost over.

I have my special supplies with me in my school bag as well.

While I could hold back another few days and finish maxing out, the extra mana wouldn't really help in a stand-up fight. It would be like having two thimbles of water instead of one while hiking through Nevada.

I guess I'm negotiating with the devil today. Or a devil, anyways.

I give Aika a quick hug on my way out of class for the day, and apologize that I won't be able to walk home with her. Then, I leave for the bathroom just outside the Student Council Room on the third floor.

Gearing up is a simple matter, but it still takes a few minutes to make sure the bandoliers and headband sit right on my body. At the end, I looked a bit like if Rambo had bumbled his way through a congregation of Southern Baptists just after transferring into a Japanese Highschool.

Perfect in other words.

"Alice, you ready for this? If things seem to be going badly, I want you to cut power to my healing suite, then dedicate half of my mana to creating shields angled to deflect incoming attacks, and the other half to bursting the door down with mana bolts. The room should be small enough to detect any hostile mana build-up in time to do that, I think. Hopefully I can make a break for it, and they'll be reluctant to chase me out to where other people are. If not, well… let's not think about that."

"Acknowledged. How do you plan to make your approach?"

How did I?

Well, I could just go in normally, and not bring up the whole "demon's infesting the school" issue until we had done our introductions and relaxed a bit. On the other hand, loud, direct, and hammy had seemed to work out surprisingly well for me back in the cafeteria.

"I think the direct approach might be best. If nothing else, we'll go out having fun that way."

At this I stroll out of the bathroom as confidently as I can manage, and proceed to the door just down the hall. For the entrance to the lair of a bunch of demons, it was surprisingly, mundane.

Just a regular fiberboard door on a pair of swivel hinges. It was painted white, with a small golden plaque identifying it as the "Kuoh Academy Student Council Meeting Room".

My physical enhancement magic flaring to life around me, I proceeded to knock on the door three times, each one hard enough to shake the entire thing in its frame, before bellowing forth in English with my best southern preacher accent, "Bang! Bang! Bang! The laird has sent me down as his most holy instrument on this day. My task is to commune with thee foul demons, godless heathens though ye may be, and determine thy intentions upon this fine institute of edu-ma-cation!"

The quiet susurrus of activity on the other side suddenly stops all at once, and I can just barely hear an impact as if someone had dropped a stack of paperwork on the ground.

After several seconds of presumably stunned silence, I hear a murmur as if several people had all begun whispering to each other at once.

This was not quite the reaction I was expecting. From what little I could make out, it seemed more like a bunch of overworked bureaucrats deciding who had to go and deal with the crazy guy, rather than a bunch of demons plotting the destruction of the foolish mortal who had dared to enter their abode.

After nearly two minutes of this, I am tapping my foot and considering trying again when the whispering stops, and I hear footsteps gingerly padding towards the door.

A young male voice I don't quite recognize filters through, "Uh. Could you please repeat that? We're pretty sure we didn't quite hear you right the first time."

Satisfied at this, I speak once again in the same manner, "I had said, that my name is Alexander Blackfel, and I have come here today to inquire as to the possibili-tay of joining the student council of this most illustrious institution."

"Ah. Alright then. Do you happen to have an appointment scheduled?" He sounds entirely incredulous at this, but seems willing to play along for the moment.

"Nay. Although, some time ago, in the week before this current, I had informed President Shitori of my intentions. She assured me that I was welcome to ply her doorstep at any time."

He walks away at this, and the whispering resumes for a brief period before he returns.

"Well, um. President Shitori is out at the moment. However, she should be back soon. Would you like to wait for her inside?" The tone of his voice makes it rather obvious that he would much rather I leave than take him up on that offer.

Unfortunately for us both, I had no intentions of doing so.

"Why, that would be mighty kind of ye. Downright hospitatious, in fact. I would gladly avail myself of a seat in your room whilst I wait for her to return."

I hear him sigh lightly, before the door handle clicks and begins to turn, "Alright. Come have a seat then. It shouldn't be long."

I step back from the door as it begins to swing open, making sure to stay behind it until it is fully ajar.

"What? Where did he-"

I step out from around the now fully open door and draw myself to my full height as I stride through the entrance to the room, making note of how he flinches back and hastily gets out of my way upon seeing the crosses covering me.

"Thank ye kindly." I say in a brief aside as I brush past him.

I take a moment to observe the room. It is moderately large, and three of the four walls are thoroughly covered with workstations and filing cabinets. The end of the room furthest from the door contains a larger desk with a window behind it, granting a view of the forest and the city beyond.

A large oval table lies in the middle, mostly covered with stacks of half-done paperwork and office supplies.

Overall, it really reinforced my growing mental image of this being a room for overworked pencil-pushers, rather than the den of a horde of theoretically ravenous demons.

This was slightly countered by my view of the half-dozen students scattered around the room. Each of them flinched away upon looking at me, and carefully kept their distance as I moved to take a seat at the central table, close to the room's entrance.

More damningly, each of them popped into my HUD as one of the strange Human/Demon mana signatures.

Two of them had particularly strong readings compared to the rest. My HUD identified them as Momo Hanakai and Reya Kusaka. I vaguely recognized them from when I had initially looked into joining the student council, and had read the membership roster.

The weaker signatures were identified as Tomoe Meguri, Tsubasa Yura, Ruruko Nimura and Genshirou Saji.

The last of them being the poor guy stuck with talking to me at the door. It took a little longer to get his reading. Apparently I hadn't already tagged him at some point.

"Warning. Anomaly detected in mana signature of Genshirou Saji. Hypothesis: He possesses an active Sacred Gear of his own."

I freeze at this slightly, before calmly pulling my pocket bible from the interior pocket on the front of my jacket, and idly flipping through it as though I was utterly calm and unconcerned.

"What do you mean? Don't you have to be human to have a Sacred Gear? That's what you told me, isn't it? That God gave us them to help protect us from other creatures?" I think to myself in a slight rush.

"That is accurate. Hypothesis: Genshirou Saji is, or once was, human. Alternatively, some method exists for extracting and stealing a Sacred Gear from its original user."

Fuck.

That could be bad.

No, that could be stupendously, horrifically terrible, if accurate.

Well, I guess I'll get my answers soon enough, for better or worse.

After about 15 minutes of sitting there and ignoring the slightly awkward silence as the probable demons in the room likewise tried to ignore my presence, the door finally opened once more.

Sona Shitori was the first to walk in, closely followed by Tsubaki Shinra. Both of them pinged on my scanner, and showed as powerful mana signatures.

Tsubaki was another of the Human/Demon hybrids, albeit more powerful than any of the others in the room by a fair margin. There was also something slightly strange about her reading. Echoey.

It was unclear why. Maybe some kind of magical obfuscation?

Sona meanwhile was the only signature on radar showing as a pure-strain demonic lifeform, and also happened to be the sole 10,000 MU signature I had detected earlier.

She calmly moved over to the head of the oval table, opposite my own seat, and primly sat down before so much as acknowledging my presence.

Meanwhile, Tsubaki carefully closed the door and did something involving a pulse of mana sweeping around the room, before moving to stand behind and just to the right of her.

Some kind of spell I guess, but I wasn't sure what. Not without a better opportunity to scan it in detail anyway.

I was considering exactly what to say in order to break the ice, when she suddenly leaned forward, interlaced her fingers just in front of her mouth and spoke, "It is good to see you finally found the time to drop by, Blackfel. I assume this means you have made a decision regarding joining the student council? I have to say though, that is a slightly unusual choice of dress. Is there a particular reason for it?"

I can barely stop my jaw from dropping open as she fucking Gendo Poses at me. It takes a second for me compose myself enough to answer, completing dropping my previous act.

"Ah, you could say that. I have a few concerns I would like to go over before I make a final decision on that front. Regarding my clothes, well. I suppose you could say that almost getting tortured to death and eaten by a naga-devil-whatever-the-fuck last week made me a bit gun shy when it comes to the whole 'my school is infested with demons' bit. I figured a bare minimum of protection might be in order before I waltzed in and had a chat, no matter how relatively non-aggressive they seemed. I hope you can understand my desire to be extra careful, Ikari."

At my last word, she suddenly leans back to adjust her glasses, and adopts a more neutral stance. I believe I also hear a few concealed snorts from the peanut gallery, so I guess it wasa fucking Gendo Pose.

She recovers with commendable composure however, and replies after a moment of carefully staring me in the eyes. "I see. In that case, I believe an apology and an explanation may be in order. To begin, how much do you know of the supernatural world?"

"Honestly? Not too much. I know that apparently it's a thing, that God is definitely real, that he made some holy artifacts called Sacred Gears and passed them out among Humanity, and that I apparently have one. I also know that one or more varieties of demonic lifeforms exist, that some of them think humans are quite tasty, and that everyone in this room other than myself likely is one. Except all the others are weird, almost like they're partially human. Not sure on that last bit."

She nods at this, "Then I believe it may be useful to give you some backstory. First though, in future could you please refrain from using that beings name or title? It is a highly unpleasant experience for us, and your current accessories are already nauseating to be in the presence of."

"Alright. I can do that, if it means getting some answers." I lean back at this point, and motion with one hand for her to speak, as I settle in for a presumably long story.

"To begin, nearly every myth, legend, and religion you have heard in your life likely holds some grain of truth. Almost every supernatural entity of any renown is real, although not necessarily in the way the legends portray them. However, one of these beings has always held supreme over all the others, going back to the earliest recorded history available. This is including history not available within mundane sources. As you may have already guessed, this being is the same one worshipped by all branches of The Church, as well as several other now defunct precursor religions."

"Going back to ancient times, three Great Factions have been locked in conflict with one another, each stemming from this one being in some way. The first is generally known as Heaven, and consisted of that being, his Angels, and the humans who directly allied themselves with him. The next were The Fallen, those of his previous followers who were cast out or cast themselves out, but were unable or unwilling to fully join the other side. Finally, there was Hell. The exact origin of the creatures of Hell is not recorded in any text I have read, but it was known to be a force in direct opposition to Heaven, and the only power truly able to rival it. Originally, the forces of Hell were composed of two castes of creature. Demons, entities of great power and endless malice, who sought nothing but chaos and destruction, and Devils. The latter were used primarily as slaves and foot-soldiers in the great wars of the past, fulfilling a similar role to the Angels of Heaven. Although 72 families of these Devils were eventually raised above the others for their unique abilities."

"Roughly 500 years ago, there was a final great battle that utterly shattered the forces of all three factions, including the annihilation of the remaining four Demons, known as the Satans, that had been ruling over Hell for the past several millennia. After this battle, none of the factions were able to muster up the ability to meaningfully continue the fight, and Hell itself fell into a state of civil war as the Devils fought over who should seize the right to rule, now that their masters were finally gone. Ever since, the conflict has effectively been in a state of cease fire, with only occasional skirmishes and low-level disputes ongoing. There have even been some talks of forming a lasting peace, but those never seem to gain much traction." She openly sighs at this last part, and pinches the bridge of her nose slightly. I guess that must be a sore spot for her?

"Huh. Alright, that's a nice little bit of backstory there, and I appreciate the info. Assuming its accurate anyways. It doesn't really explain what exactly y'all are doing here though, or why the hell I almost got made dinner." I try to keep the skepticism and annoyance out of my voice, but a little bit leaked through in the end.

At this Sona readjusts in her seat and composes herself before continuing.

"Yes, well, simply put, the faction who ultimately seized power in Hell decided that it would be best to do away with war, at least for the moment, and focus on the reconstruction of their own people and the repopulation of their species. Unfortunately, many of the 72 great houses of Devilkind had been broken and lost to history, while the greater masses of our species were heavily depleted. This was compounded by a difficulty in natural reproduction common to all creatures of such magical potency. A solution had to be found, and it was in the form of Humanity. The Peerage System."

"One of the few great inventors and scientists of our species discovered a method of reincarnating worthy humans as Devils. Not only could these new Reincarnated Devils reach nearly the same heights of power as their pureblooded counterparts, but they also retained a portion of their human ability to easily reproduce, further bolstering our population. To the consternation of some, it also had the side effect of gradually injecting human culture into our own, to the point where Hell in the modern era is quite similar to Earth in many ways. The current New Satans have even constructed facsimiles of the sun and stars, to help acclimate new reincarnates."

"I myself was granted co-regency of this school and the surrounding city, so that I may find people worthy of joining my own peerage, and acquire the administrative skills I shall need later in life." At this she once more sighs, and then fixes me with a contrite look.

"And for that reason I must apologize to you. One of my duties as co-regent is to hunt down reincarnated Devils who go astray and harm humans. The creature you encountered is likely one of them, a reincarnate who betrayed their King and went insane, drunk on their own power and instincts without someone to regulate them while they adjusted to their new form. Such things are unfortunately common."

At this point, she pauses for a moment, allowing silence silence to envelop the room. She gently taps her fingers against the table, before nodding to herself with a slight sigh.

"Now, I would be glad to continue this conversation, and answer more of your questions if you have them, but I must ask you to leave for the moment. The extended presence of your 'precautions' is more than slightly deleterious to the health of beings such as us. While I have more resistance than many myself, those of my peerage do not yet have that luxury, and I cannot allow any further exposure for their sake. However, know that we do not mean you any harm, so long as you promise the same and don't cause undue trouble."

I stand from my seat and look her in the eye at that. I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for, but she seems genuine enough.

Or at least a good enough pretender that I wouldn't be able to tell.

"Alright then. I suppose that will have to do for now. I don't know that I can say I trust you, but I'll have to take your word for the moment. It was nice talking. Thanks for the information. And for not trying to horrifically murder and eat me. I was honestly kind of expecting that to be what happened when I stepped in here."

At that, they allow me to take my leave and I begin the journey home, lost in thought as I consider everything I was told.

I can't see any immediately obvious lies, but they obviously left a lot out as well.

Now the question was whether that was due to us being short on time, or if they were trying to deceive me somehow. I was leaning towards the latter, but that was admittedly mostly due to general distrust rather than any specific instinct.

"What about you Alice? What's your take on all this?"

"Nothing in the database explicitly goes against the information you were given. For now, it has been marked as tentatively accurate, awaiting further sources of information to compare against. Additionally, we now have sufficient data to begin a study of the nature of the 'Devils' souls and biology, as well as how they differ from one another. This may shed further light on the matter."

"Alright then. In that case, queue that up to take place as soon as the decryption of the first layer of the puzzle box is complete. I want to get that done first, and see what the hell is in it ASAP."

"Acknowledged."

I finally got a response from Firebird that night after getting home from my meeting, and she took full advantage of the opportunity afforded by my plea for help.

Unbound Firebird: Do you need your white knight to come and save you? I'd be more than happy to come and make all the bad things go away. Although it might cost you…

Thalex: I've said it before, and I will say it again. First, I am not nearly pretty enough to be a damsel in distress. Second, you are far too conniving to be prince charming. Third, I can't be your queen, no matter how much you beg me. I don't exactly have the equipment for it. The succession crisis would be a nightmare. Worse than that game of Crusader Kings after I finally conquered the dirty Franks, and then up and died with no direct heirs.

Thalex: On a more serious note, nice to see you back. How did the thing with your brother go?

Unbound Firebird: Same as usual. He spent absolutely zero time preparing whatsoever, because he was too busy with his girlfriends, and then crushed the other guy anyway. Its frustrating, sometimes. I mean, I don't want him to lose. I'm just worried that if he keeps up like this, he's gonna get hurt when it really matters, because he doesn't think he even needs to try properly!

This was an old complaint of hers. It seemed like her brother was blessed with natural talent only rivaled by his lust, from what descriptions she had given.

I could kind of relate actually.

Not on the lust and debauchery part, well not too much anyways, but on the whole not putting in any real effort because it didn't feel like you needed to.

I could also see where Firebird was coming from though, as I had come pretty close to burning myself as a result on more than one occasion.

Thalex: Awh, you're such a kind and caring little sister. Well, how about this. If we ever meet IRL, I can challenge your brother to a valiant duel, and teach him a lesson on why it pays to be prepared. No matter how talented you are. Eh?

Unbound Firebird: LMAO. I'd say I'd like to see you try, but I also don't want him to break your face. Maybe if you challenged him in Civ5 you could kick his ass, but I don't think your chances are very good in a fistfight.

Thalex: Nah, I could totally win. Well, probably. He doesn't happen to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger and say "I'll Be Back" a lot, does he?

We continue in that vein for a while, idly bullshitting at each other and generally enjoying the others "fine" company.

For the first time in a week, I could feel my paranoia and stress fully recede, and I managed to relax a bit.

Well, until we hopped into voice chat and booted up our game of EUIV.

It turns out that my Slavic Steel was not, in fact, going to be turning her Golden Hordes to powder.

Damned Horse Archers.

Just as I am about to turn in for the night, I get a message from Issei's Discord, having shared accounts a few days ago.

Huh.

Good for him.

Apparently he actually managed to get a girlfriend as well, and is going on a date tomorrow.

I'll have to ask him about that on Monday.

See how it went.