Capítulo 3: Chapter 2.
Rias Gremory, a tall, voluptuous beauty with a mane of crimson hair that resembled blazing flames, known for her devastating power and heritage, was paying close attention to the report from the Seeker. Her friend, Sona, had taken an interest in an ordinary human.
For Rias, this was highly atypical.
Neo Mori, a young man of eighteen, had a good reputation, and Rias couldn't help but acknowledge his intelligence. He scored as well as Sona on tests, and that was something.
Rias hated cramming unnecessary information and had no interest in being at the top of her class at the academy. Why would she? Human tests were not relevant to her. She would learn anything she needed when it became necessary, but for now, she had no intention of straining her brain unnecessarily.
She had other concerns.
Finding useful individuals and recruiting pieces that would be necessary for her in the future.
In the current era, demons hadn't distanced themselves too far from humanity. Or had humanity distanced itself from demons? Whatever was not alien to one was not alien to the other, and vice versa.
It was probably for this reason that the offspring of the Gremory and Sitri families found themselves on the vast battlefield known as the "human world" and felt perfectly at ease.
Rias, with interest, read the report about an ordinary yet intelligent human, already scheming in her mind.
"He's ordinary," Rias said for the umpteenth time, raising her crimson eyes to the delicate girl with almost silver-white hair. She was sitting on a leather couch, silently finishing a third box of cookies and washing them down with tea. "Why has he caught Sona's interest? Koneko, you've met him a couple of times; what do you think?"
Koneko, who had been distracted by her meal, raised her curious golden eyes to her mistress.
"He's an ordinary boy. Nice. He helps everyone, even if you don't ask," the girl replied in short, clipped phrases. She took a few more sips from her porcelain cup before continuing. "And... he smells good."
"Very important information," Rias said slowly, taking a seat next to her Queen. "What should I do? He's caught Sona's interest, so there must be something unusual about him. But she hasn't officially claimed him. Unofficially...," Rias chewed her lip, contemplating her next move.
On one hand, if Sona was interested in someone, he was definitely extraordinary. Could it be that she somehow learned that this boy possessed a Sacred Gear? No, she would have sensed it. Owners of Sacred Gears emitted slightly different auras, and after spending so much time together, demons could notice such anomalies.
But if he didn't have a Sacred Gear, why had he piqued Sona's interest? Was it his intelligence? Something else? Special abilities not inherent to humans? A very powerful mage or exorcist concealing his aura? Hmmm...
"Sona might get angry with me if I start making moves in his direction," Rias continued her thought process, pacing slowly around the spacious room, which looked more like the chamber of some nobleman with leather furniture, large wardrobes, a private toilet, and shower than the office of the Occult Research Club. "Especially since we've already selected potential Sacred Gear possessors for ourselves, and Sona noticed this 'Neo Mori' first. She's essentially claimed him, unofficially. In the worst-case scenario, Sona will wage a personal war against me for a while and then get over it. But if that happens, I'll apologize; it won't be a big deal. Nevertheless, what should I do?"
"I can keep an eye on him," Koneko said slowly after a few minutes of silence. "On Neo Mori. But I make no promises."
"Thank you, Koneko. That would be wonderful," Rias replied with the same tone, continuing to study the personal file of the entirely ordinary human.
Koneko nodded and got up from her seat, finishing her tea in one gulp.
"He should be at the academy. I'll track him," she said, and with those words, she left the room, leaving Rias to contemplate in solitude.
Yes, dealing with her personal pieces was a complete farce. She didn't have a full set yet, and she needed to recruit as quickly as possible and begin training. Both her personal pieces and her other servants. She saw no point in training an incomplete and uncoordinated team, especially...
Her gaze fell on the locked door, from behind which emanated the aura of her most troublesome piece. Potentially the most powerful one. But how should she approach her?
Problems had a way of accumulating, and there was also the vast territory, the size of a city, entrusted to the girl's care. It was time to start setting up barriers, sending out seekers, but... the city of Kyo had always been a quiet place, and Rias doubted that her presence would drastically change anything. The territory could wait until she resolved the issue with her pieces.
Yes, that was it.
She nodded to her own thoughts, then set aside the report and picked up an inconspicuous book labeled "Fairy Tales."
Even demons had their small weaknesses.
"What did he do?!" Sona jumped up from behind her desk, punching an innocent wooden object, causing it to crack.
"Um, he spent about three hours in Toru Ando's house, and we don't know what he was doing there since the forest and the area around the building are under the control of the Kitsune community," Tsubaki reported, holding a sheet of information from the surveillance operation close to her chest. "Other than that, he's a perfectly normal guy. I could speculate that Neo goes there for calligraphy lessons, as he mentioned."
"Calligraphy..." Sitri said thoughtfully, realizing that it was quite possible. But was it just a coincidence? All his words, hints, and now this, could they all just be coincidences?
Well, in the world of humans, many things were possible, such as demons living side by side with humans and other "mythical creatures," so why not something like this?
But still... denying that it was a coincidence was too foolish.
"Toru is a renowned master, and if he's interested in Neo, it means the boy has extraordinary talent. Remember how many aspiring demons he flatly refused to teach, sending them off to learn from someone else? And no one dares to say anything to him because of his eccentricity and quick temper. But what did he see in this guy that's lacking in demons? Is it because he's human?..."
"President, you're too fixated on Neo Mori. I want to point out that it's not normal," Tsubaki said, flashing her glasses and disapprovingly gazing at the girl who was lost in thought, constructing hundreds of theories only to immediately dismiss them. "Have you fallen in love with this young man?"
Shinro decided to approach the situation from a different angle, and it was successful.
"Cough, what?!" The strong demon, secretly just an ordinary girl hiding behind the facade of an "Ice Princess," immediately regained her composure, shooting a disapproving look at her teasing friend. "Don't talk nonsense!"
"Don't forget, President, we also have another guy on our radar..." The girl momentarily shifted her gaze to her tablet. "Genshiro Saji*, a potential bearer of the Holy Gear."
"One doesn't exclude the other," Sitri philosophically pointed out, wrinkling her nose at the fact that her red-haired friend and herself had uttered this phrase numerous times. Often in quite absurd situations completely unrelated to it. "By the way, classes have ended, and he's still not here. The tracker says he's... in the academy."
Sona frowned and walked over to the window to track the boy's location. He was sitting under a tree, almost directly across from the Student Council room, passionately explaining something to a familiar young girl. All too familiar.
"Rias, the Knight..." the demon girl slowly removed her glasses, momentarily releasing a surge of magical energy, then squinted at Koneko, who was nodding her head with a small smile on her pale face. "Well done, Rias. So, you decided to play this way? Breaking all the rules and agreements? You must have sent your servant to him for a reason. You found out that I was interested in him, but you didn't make an official declaration? Cunning, crimson, foolish demon!"
"President, your orders?"
"Let them talk," Sona reluctantly said, slowly returning to her desk and calming down her flaring anger. "I'll have a personal conversation with Rias later. Face to face. And... please, make some tea."
"At once," Tsubasa bowed and picked up a small porcelain teapot from the table, then placed her hand on one side of it, casting a simple household magic spell.
Being a demon had many advantages in everyday life.
But it also had its fair share of drawbacks...
"Koneko, I'm sorry, but I have to go," Neo said, slowly getting up from his seat. "I have a meeting scheduled with the Student Council President, and I'm already running late... Let's shake hands."
The girl hesitantly extended her hand and squeezed his hand a bit too tightly, causing Neo to wince.
"Oh, you're quite strong... even though you look so fragile," Neo said, helping the girl to her feet. "Once, I fell and broke my arm; it was quite awkward!"
Koneko smiled again, silently chastising herself for her lack of control over her strength, and simply nodded.
"Then I'll be going. It was nice talking to you, Koneko."
"Likewise," Koneko nodded once more, watching as Neo walked away.
She couldn't understand what was wrong with him... that familiar scent brought back memories of her sister, and she found herself having strange thoughts. And she realized that she had smiled, for the first time in a very long time...
But whose scent was it? It definitely didn't belong to Neo, although the half-demon, without realizing it, felt a certain sympathy for him.
There was something about him... a calmness that Koneko remembered from her childhood. It was as if she were back in the embrace of her family, and none of the past horrors had happened yet. A very strange and bittersweet feeling.
Koneko continued to walk towards the Occult Research Club, but suddenly she stopped, turning around 180 degrees, and raised a delicate white eyebrow in a quizzical manner.
"Why did I start talking to him?" Koneko shook her head disapprovingly, banishing the foolish thoughts and berating herself for her "cat-like curiosity."
She just needed to track him, and she had gone too far. Just like with her strength... Rias didn't need to know about it, but she had to report the conversation.
In the end, Neo was just an ordinary guy, except for that scent. That was all that mattered.
Nodding in agreement and reassuring herself with these thoughts, Koneko once again directed her steps toward the Occult Research Club.
And only a thin, invisible thread indicated the spider's actions, luring yet another victim into its web.
After all, everything was going exactly as it had planned.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder