Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, Overlord, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
The Sorcerer Hero: Deku
Chapter fifteen: Nazarick vs. the League of Villains, part one
Over at the bar that served as the base of operations for the League of Villains, Dabi stood before a number of prospective new recruits into the League of Villains. Standing with Dabi were two persons he's gotten already, a blonde girl with her hair in twin buns and a lizardman looking fellow. Behind the bar stood Mirajane.
Stepping forward, Giran the info broker said to Dabi, "Well here you go, the best that I was able to gather based on your budget."
Dabi turned to look at the first potential recruit into the League of Villains, a masked fellow wearing a top hat and a long brown coat, also he carried a cane. Overall, the masked fellow gave off a very dapper air. "So what's your name?" Dabi asked.
"I am the mysterious man of prestidigitation known as Mr. Compress," replied Mr. Compress as he gave his name, "A dab hand at appropriating possessions and acquiring currency."
Pointing at Mr. Compress, the blonde girl with Dabi said, "I like your funny words, magic man!"
Dabi turned to look at a man in a black and white full body suit. "And who are you?" Dabi asked.
"The name's Twice and I'm looking forward to shit stomping some heroes," Twice said, "Aww geez, I hope no heroes show up!"
"Yeah Twice here has a somewhat paradoxical nature," Giran explained.
Dabi nodded once before turning to look at a boy in a Junior High school uniform, but he wore a WW2 helmet and a gas mask. "What about you, little dude?" Dabi asked.
"The name's Mustard," said Mustard as he gave his name, "The popularity of the heroes annoys me, so I wanna help bring them down."
Dabi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the heroes piss me off too." Dabi then turned to look at the next potential recruit into the League of Villains, a tall buff blonde man who Dabi was pretty damn sure would turn out to be a loose cannon. "How about you?"
"The name's Muscular," replied Muscular as he gave his name, "Just point me at a hero, and I'll make them dead for you!"
"There's one hero I wanna make dead myself, but others I'll let you have free reign on," Dabi said, making sure to keep an eye out for Muscular in the future. Dabi then turned to look at a man wrapped up entirely in black leather, with only his mouth exposed. Dabi was getting creepy vibes from the bondage guy here. "And you, Mr. Black Leather," Dabi began, "Who are y-"
"Flllleeeeesssssshhhhh..." said the man in black leather, creeping Dabi out.
"That's Moonfish," Giran said, "He's on record for having killed at least ten people."
Dabi nodded once in understanding, wanting also to keep an eye on Moonfish. Turning to look at Beros who stood there with Rappa, Dabi asked, "And what's your name, Robin Hood?"
"My name is Beros," began Beros, "My previous way of life... was messed up over where I used to live. Heroes are to blame. I want to take them down."
After nodding once, Dabi turned to look at Rappa. "And what of you? You look like a big strong brute type like Muscular."
"The name's Rappa," began Rappa, "And I'm looking for a good fight! I got it the heroes can give me one, so I wanna try 'em!" Dabi got vibes that Rappa is far more controllable than Muscular and far less likely to screw up. Dabi told Giran that he'll take the lot.
To his new recruits, Dabi said, "Welcome to the League of Villains."
Later the next day at Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, as all of Class 1-A were shopping for stuff they would need for the summer break training camp, Ainz who was shopping alone went into a restaurant, ordered a meal, and sat his sign at the booth he got before going in to use the restroom. He went in there in truth to sit in a stall so he could communicate on a comm device when he got a blip from Kurono.
To Ainz's delight, Beros and Rappa have successfully infiltrated the League of Villains. They also were able to get a complete listing of all members they know of and have seen; Dabi's lizardman second in command Spinner, a blonde schoolgirl named Toga, the other new recruits Mr. Compress, Mustard, Twice, Muscular, and Moonfish, and a female bartender named Mirajane who was in a male bartender outfit also she was made of black swirling surging sludge.
Ainz also learned of Dabi himself, and that not only does Dabi have a spy within U.A.'s ranks giving the League of Villains intel, but Dabi also has a spy within Endeavor's hero agency, giving Dabi an in to hear what all the Flame Hero is up to. The spy within U.A.'s ranks would explain how the attack on the USJ facility happened, although Ainz has no idea why Dabi apparently wants to know what all is going on with Endeavor.
But apparently Dabi's beef with Endeavor must be very strong, given that Dabi plans to lead an attack on the summer break training camp that U.A.'s Class 1-A and Class 1-B are going to be going on. The attack has the goal of capturing a student right from under the noses of the pro heroes, and Dabi apparently has his heart set on taking Todoroki, who is Endeavor's son.
Not only will the villains make the pro heroes look ineffective by successfully kidnapping a student from the summer break training camp while they're supposed to be safe and under pro hero supervision, but it'll double as a personal attack against the Flame Hero. Two birds with one stone. Ainz intended to ask Albedo and Demiurge for their opinions on such a set-up. Even Ainz had to admit the plan had some value going for it, given what Dabi wanted.
Ainz could very easily stop the plan cold, though. He could go in, curb stomp the League of Villains, and prevent the attack from occurring. But he still knew so little, and not only is the leader All For One still in hiding, but so is the spy that the League of Villains has among U.A.'s personnel. Ainz if he acted rashly could scare both All For One and the spy into hiding. As much as he didn't like it, the Sorcerer King had to let things proceed as if he wasn't involved.
But he was going to be finding All For One. Ainz was going to find out who the spy that the League of Villains has among U.A.'s personnel is. Hell, Ainz was even going to find out who Dabi's spy he has at Endeavor's hero agency is, as well as the exact nature and cause of Dabi's beef that he has with the Flame Hero.
...
After Ainz came out of the bathroom, he saw that his meal had already arrived. When he sat down, he was barely halfway to reaching for the cup when he heard the familiar voice of Itsuka Kendo of U.A.'s Class 1-B call out, "There you are, Midoriya!"
Ainz looked up, saw that Itsuka came walking up to greet him. Ainz was just going to sip his drink a bit as he contemplated how to go about his plans, then take the rest to go and find some way to be rid of it; as an undead he had no need for food, he bought it mainly to have a cover for coming into the restaurant to use the restroom so he could answer the blip from Kurono. "Ah, Kendo," Ainz said, "How did your class do in the finals?"
"We all passed the written stuff," Itsuka said, "And everyone except Monoma passed the practical stuff." Gesturing to Ainz, "What about your class?"
"We all passed the written stuff," Ainz began, "But Ashido, Sero, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sato all failed the practicals."
"Yeesh," Itsuka said, "Monoma when he sees that will use it as an excuse to proclaim Class 1-B as having bested Class 1-A. He's always on about our class one upping yours."
Ainz nodded in understanding; Monoma, with his anti-Class 1-A attitude, was being as bad as Bakugo with being a bully and Mineta with being a pervert. But both of them showed signs of being better, getting better; Mineta even sincerely, humbly gave condolences to the five Class 1-A students who failed the practicals. If Bakugo and Mineta could improve as people, then so can Monoma.
"I don't think that this line of conversation is why you seemingly sought me out," Ainz said.
"No, I wanted to ask you something," Itsuka said, sitting down with Ainz at his booth. "Is it true that your classmate Todoroki isn't romantically interested in your classmate Yaoyorozu?"
Ainz was a bit surprised that's what Itsuka wanted to asked about, mostly because he wanted to know how she knew. "Yes, although the question here has become how you knew about that," said the Sorcerer King.
"I got it from your classmate Hagakure who was listening in," Itsuka replied. Ah yes, Toru Hagakure. She had cemented herself as a bit of a gossip. Ainz will have to correct that later, he isn't one to like the presence of eavesdroppers. "I'm just surprised," Itsuka said, "I mean, you'd figure that Todoroki could get any girl he wanted."
"He has said that he simply has no interest in romance right now," Ainz said, "But he'll seek out a girlfriend if and when he is interested in romance. But he'll refrain from Yaoyorozu out of respect for a boy in your class who, according to Todoroki, has feelings for Yaoyorozu."
"Oh yeah, Awase," Itsuka said, "Yeah, I know he's got feelings for Yaoyorozu. But I still think that Todoroki would be a better match for her."
"You are not considering the feelings of the persons involved," Ainz said, drawing a surprised look from Itsuka. "Allow the boys to work things out on their own," Ainz suggested, "And when we get an idea on Yaoyorozu's feelings on the matter, we'll adjust things as need be to account for the new bit of info thrown into the mix."
Itsuka relented a bit. "...Shoda and Honeyuki told me words to that effect. Sorry, but I guess that I just got caught up in things." Looking to Ainz, Itsuka said, "On the subject, if you don't mind sharing it with me Midoriya, do you have a crush on anyone at school?"
Ainz, were he not undead, might have choked on his drink. He knew full well that any person at U.A. that he shows romantic interest in will draw the ire of Shalltear and Albedo, even if it's for his cover as Izuku Midoriya. "...I do have a crush, but she's not at school," Ainz said, "I'm still trying to figure out how to tell things to her as I know she likes me back and will freak if I tell her." Ainz doesn't have feelings of romance for either floor guardian vying for his heart, but he was using them as part of the cover lie he was making up on the fly.
Also, if he DID tell Shalltear or Albedo that he loves them romantically, not only would the recipient actually freak, but the one not confessed to will undoubtedly try to at least attack the victorious one. It's why Ainz swore to never let that happen.
"Ah, well I wish the two of you the best," Itsuka replied. Ainz then called a waiter so he could ask to take the rest of his meal to go, he needed to get going. He took care of what other shopping he had to do, even if some of it was for appearances as he had no need for some of what he bought. He was also glad that his business interests in the second New World was affording him a lot of spare funds, that helped with purchases.
A few days later, Ainz and the rest of his peers left for the summer break training camp. Things were kept under wraps about the training camp due to security issues; the students weren't even given much details until the day they all left for the camp. Ainz sat in his seat, eyes closed, as he was deep in thought about what all he felt was going to happen. Thanks to Beros and Rappa, Ainz had it that Dabi was going to lead his men to attack the training camp in a bid to kidnap Todoroki.
Unlike when the League of Villains attacked the USJ with three big names and dozens of fodder force peons, the force Dabi would be leading was a fraction of what was at the USJ, but all of them were big names. Quality over quantity. Ainz got it the day before he and his peers in Class 1-A that Dabi was bringing a Nomu to supplement his forces.
Given that there's a chance the spy that the League of Villains has might be at the training camp, Ainz can't bring in a Death Knight and have it kill the Nomu before leaving. Ainz could at least use Time Stop to freeze time, take the Nomu's quirks, back off, then let time resume. That would make dealing with the Nomu that Dabi was bringing to the table a lot easier for the heroes that would be there, and also help protect the students.
Ainz was a bit concerned when he heard that the only pro heroes who were going to be at the training camp were Aizawa, the Class 1-B homeroom teacher Sekijiro Kan, and a team of four pro heroes called the Wild Wild Pussycats. A combined forty students were going to be at the training camp, and villains were going to attack it (although Ainz as far as he knew was the only one who knew that). Even two more pro heroes would help make things easier.
About part way through the trip, the busses carrying Class 1-A and Class 1-B stopped suddenly. Ainz was confused, especially as he and the others were told to get off the bus. When they did, the Class 1-A students saw that they were greeted by two ladies who Ainz was able to identify as Mandalay and Pixie-Bob of the Wild Wild Pussycats. Having inherited the memories of Izuku, who was a massive hero fanboy, really helped out sometimes.
"Is there a reason why we stopped?" Ojiro asked.
"Because the training camp starts right now, kiddies," Pixie-Bob said, "See that area over there?" The students all turned to look to see what Pixie-Bob was pointing at.
"That there is our training camp lodge," Mandalay said, "You have from now until noon to get there, otherwise you don't get lunch."
"Well with the busses that ought to be a cinch," remarked Hagakure. Ainz could easily get to the lodge with his magic, but the threat of having his lunch revoked if he didn't make it in time was moot as a threat to him. Being undead has its perks, after all.
"Well here's your first lesson," Pixie-Bob said, "The first thing that you need to keep in mind when dealing with a villain is to make use of the element of surprise." A few seconds passed in silence before Pixie-Bob suddenly yelled, "SURPRISE!" Pixie-Bob then quickly knelt down and touched the ground with her hands, making the ground surge under the students in a powerful, violent rolling wave that flung them into the forest below.
"This entire area is Wild Wild Pussycats domain!" Pixie-Bob called out, "Feel free to use your quirks as you see fit to get to the lodge in time!"
As the students were flung into the forests below, Ainz was simply thinking about how amazing Pixie-Bob's quirk is. It's obviously some manner of powerful geomancy quirk. The Sorcerer King made a mental note to get a copy of it for his plans for the future. Regardless, he was able to get to the ground in the forest safely enough.
When he and the others landed, Ainz immediately spotted some manner of earthen construct beast. Acting more on reflex, Ainz cast a Fireball at it and destroyed it instantly. "That construct wasn't also the spawn of Pixie-Bob's power, was it?" one of Ainz's female classmates (things were a bit hectic so Ainz wasn't exactly able to tell who said it) practically exclaimed.
Looking around, Ainz saw that there were a few more of the earthen construct beasts around. That, plus the distance from there to the lodge, suggested to Ainz that at the current levels the first year hero course students of U.A. have, only he could get to the lodge in time to not be denied lunch. He felt as if the Wild Wild Pussycats were doing that on purpose.
Ainz decided to cast Time Stop, fly around to every student even the ones from Class 1-B, apply every buff he could think of to every student, then go back to where he was before casting Time Stop to drop it and let the now powered up students decimate the earthen construct beasts. Now it seemed to Ainz that getting to the lodge on time was a very real possibility.
To the surprise of Mandalay and Pixie-Bob, all of Class 1-A and Class 1-B made it to the lodge in time to not be denied lunch. Even the last of the students to arrive had at least half an hour to spare. "Wow Aizawa and Kan," Mandalay said to the two homeroom teachers, "All of your students made it in before noon! I have no idea what you over at U.A. are doing, but keep it up!"
Shrugging, Pixie-Bob said, "Well, I guess this means lunch is on us." What the Wild Wild Pussycats did not know was that the students all made it in time due to all of them being magically buffed by the Sorcerer King. Ainz saw that Pixie-Bob looked like she had just been one upped but was going to be a good sport about it. At least she was humble in defeat.
...
Later at around five to six that evening, things were set up for dinner. The students had all of their stuff stored away, so after dinner it'd be straight to the hot springs and then to bed. While dinner was getting set up, Mandalay and Pixie-Bob welcomed in two persons wearing costumes similar to theirs but were each of different color schemes. They had with them a boy who looked to Ainz to be about the same age as Katsuma Shimono.
"Ah, Ragdoll, Tiger," Mandalay greeted, "About time you two got here! And you even brought Kota!"
"Ms. Mandalay," Ainz began, "I assume that the other heroes in the costumes similar to what you and Ms. Pixie-Bob are wearing are your teammates?" Ainz, thanks to memories he inherited from Izuku who was a major hero fanboy already had the gist on the Wild Wild Pussycats, but he wanted to lead into discussion on the boy who is apparently named Kota.
"Oh yeah," Mandalay replied, "Me, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger form the whole of the pro hero team known as the Wild Wild Pussycats! We specialize in forest rescue!"
Gesturing to who he assumes is Kota, Ainz went on, "And I assume that is Kota?"
Nodding once, Mandalay replied, "Yeah, that's my little cousin Kota. I'm... watching him right now." Ainz could tell by the shift in Mandalay's tone that the reason she's watching Kota was a bit of a sensitive subject, so Ainz decided not to push forward in that direction.
Instead, he walked over to Ragdoll, Tiger, and Kota and held his hand out, looking like he was merely offering a handshake and friendly greeting to Kota. Instead, Ainz had cast Time Stop to freeze time because he wanted to check Kota's potential with Detect Quirk. The info Ainz got told him that Kota's full name was Kota Izumi, and he was level eleven. Very impressive for a child as young as him. He had one quirk and a quirk capacity of... six?!
Once again, Ainz met a child with a naturally high quirk capacity. Kota Izumi is comparable to Eri and the Shimono siblings. Ainz checked Kota's quirk, Water Gun, which lets the user release blasts of water from their hands. The Sorcerer King decided to make a note to keep an eye on Kota for his future plans. Until then, Ainz exited the menu then settled back to his position before he had cast Time Stop and dropped it.
When time resumed, Ainz said, "It's nice to mee-"
*STRIKE*
Ainz was cut off when Kota threw a punch right into his manhood. Of course, being undead meant that Ainz couldn't feel any pain down there, and even if he could the sheer difference in level between him and Kota meant that Kota's punch would never have harmed him. "...Nice to meet you," Ainz said as he finished his greeting.
"Woah dudes," Kaminari whispered to some of the other Class 1-A boys, "Midoriya just took a shot to his coin purse and didn't even flinch."
"Well it WAS a little kid who tried punching him in his family jewels," Sero whispered back, "Maybe the kid didn't have enough strength to do much."
Gently shaking his head, Kirishima whispered, "I dunno, that looked like a fairly solid, strong punch despite the little man's apparent young age."
Kota looked surprised that his punch to Ainz's manly tract of land did not so much as draw a mildly uncomfortable wince out of him, so he turned around and ran to hide behind Ragdoll and Tiger. Ainz was going to chalk it up to Kota being nervous, and he bet Mandalay's troubled tone when talking about how she's looking after Kota now may have some hints as to Kota's history.
Ainz was curious, and he was wanting to learn more.
Later that evening, everyone went to the hot springs after enjoying dinner. There, Ainz heard the boys speak of how on the other side of the walls dividing the hot springs was the girls' side. Things here reminded Ainz of the bathhouse in Nazarick, and the time he and the male guardians had to help out the female guardians while they were bathing because a trap was triggered. Some of the old guild mates Ainz had could be very... creative.
"So the girls are bathing on the other side of the wall, huh?" Mineta said.
"You aren't going to suggest that we try peeping on them, are you Mineta?" Tenya began in a tone already expecting to express disapproval.
Mineta, looking like he was struggling a bit with a moral conflict internally, ultimately shook his head in the negative. "...No," Mineta said, "No, we shouldn't. I won't deny I'd like to be sharing a side in a bathhouse with a girl, but..." Gently shaking his head, Mineta said, "...But no. Ultimately we ought to keep to ourselves here. It wouldn't be all that proper of us to try peeping on the girls. I kind of wish the baths were co-ed, but we in the end have to respect things here."
Ainz was impressed with what he was seeing out of Mineta. The short boy with purple sticky balls for hair still had his lewd habits and interests mind you, but Mineta was showing restraint that he ultimately was acting on. It was like the peephole incident back at U.A., and Mineta ultimately chose not to act on it. The Sorcerer King was growing more proud of Mineta, he was improving much like how Bakugo was improving.
...Hopefully Monoma of Class 1-B will also improve in the areas he needed to improve in.
...
Later that evening after the baths, Ainz found Mandalay in an office at the lodge building. Kota was fast asleep on a cool plush black leather sofa, his signature red hat with the little yellow horns on it sitting on a table near the chair Mandalay was sitting on. "Kota was patrolling the top of the wall that separated the boys' baths from the girls' baths because he wanted to make sure none of the boys peeped on the girls," Mandalay explained.
"The only boy who would have done so is my classmate Mineta, but he has grown and matured to the point he can control himself now," Ainz said, "Some credit ought to be afforded to Mineta for his maturing and being able to reign himself in now." Looking to where Kota laid on the sofa, Ainz asked, "While we're on the subject of Kota, I'm wanting to ask something concerning him."
"You want him to apologize for striking you in the down under earlier today?" Mandalay asked.
"His strike did nothing to me, and I'm dismissing it as simple playful rough housing," Ainz assured, "No, I wanted to ask about how you came to have guardianship over Kota. If it's not too sensitive a topic to share, that is."
Mandalay had a somber look on her face. "...Kota's parents, who were my cousins," Mandalay began, "They were the pro hero duo known as Water Hose. Anyway, they were killed in the line of duty two years ago by a villain called Muscular. They died to save civilian lives from that powerful villain who was rampaging at the time."
Ainz, although he didn't show it, had his interest piqued by the mention of Muscular being the villain who killed Kota's pro hero parents. According to the info he got thanks to Beros and Rappa having infiltrated the League of Villains, Muscular is one of the recruits that Dabi got recently, and will be part of the attack on the training camp Dabi will lead in a bid to kidnap Todoroki.
The Sorcerer King planned to... air some grievances towards Muscular when he showed up.
"Ever since he lost his parents," Mandalay said, "Kota has had a jaded view on heroes. But I still have no clue why his view on heroes would be jaded. I mean, his parents gave their lives to save innocent civilians. They were praised for the sacrifice they made. Kota was told how he ought to be proud of what his parents did."
"Die and leave him alone?"
Mandalay looked up at Ainz as he went on. "You say that his parents died two years ago, right?" Ainz said, "Then he ought to have be about three or so when he was orphaned. And all he was told about his parents having died is that he ought to be proud they died. It doesn't matter how or why they died, all that matters is that they died and left him all alone in the world, especially when he was at a point where he still needed them the most."
A dawning look of regretful realization appeared on Mandalay's face. "...Oh my... we didn't even consider how Kota may have felt about losing his parents. And he's still so young, still at a point where he needs his parents..." Ainz could understand why Kota would be so upset, some of Ainz's old guild mates have similar histories.
The Sorcerer King nodded once. "Although Kota's parents did die a noble and honorable death, it still doesn't change the fact that it left a kid not even half a decade old at the time all alone in the world. Kota ought to be told that, while there was a valid and pressing reason for his parents giving their lives, he still has the right to be upset that his parents, his entire world, is gone."
"You're a good kid, Midoriya."
Ainz and Mandalay turned to see Aizawa walking on into the office. "I got the gist of things about what happened to Water Hose," Aizawa began, "But had no idea until now they had a kid who as a result of their death had been orphaned." Ainz knew that Aizawa was there, it's hard to hide from the notice of the Sorcerer King, but he allowed Aizawa to remain unknown until he revealed himself. Ainz might draw too much unwanted attention to himself if he revealed that he could pick up on Aizawa's being there.
Looking to Mandalay, Aizawa said, "We ought to go over things with Kota, help him realize that his parents lost their lives for a good reason, but he still doesn't have to like it that they're dead." After Mandalay nodded in agreement, Aizawa turned to Ainz. "Midoriya, you ought to get to bed. You and the others will be gotten up early to begin training."
Ainz nodded in the affirmative as he took off to where the Class 1-A students were put to sleep. Ainz as an undead had no need for sleep, but he would lay in his provided futon with his eyes closed as he fantasized about how one of his subordinates in Nazarick would torture Muscular.
END, CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Author's notes;
This chapter opens with Dabi forming the League of Villains that he's going to take with him to go kidnap Todoroki from the summer break training camp. The only difference is that Beros and Rappa are part of the crew going, and no one else in the League of Villains knows that Beros and Rappa are actually taking their REAL orders from Ainz.
Then there a bit at the shopping mall where Ainz learns thanks to his spying efforts that the LoV has a spy within U.A.'s ranks, as well as Dabi having a spy at Endeavor's agency. Speaking of Endeavor, he's related to why it's Todoroki who Dabi plans to take from the summer break training camp. Ainz also has a talk with Itsuka about crushes.
Then everyone goes to the training camp where this time, the students all make it in time for lunch. Ainz then learns more about Kota, and vows to make life hell for Muscular. Things here will continue later.