Bab 92: 92. Mecha Geek, Leon and Reversal!
Omniscient POV
A few days later, Serafall was leaving for work, accompanied by Sona and Tsubaki.
"Kou-chan, Onee-chan has to go. She has work to do," says Serafall with a sad and worried expression, thinking about her paperwork.
"Hmm. But did you at least get some rest?" asks Kouske.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sera replies.
"That's good. Here, take this. Your farewell gift," says Kouske, handing Sera a beautifully wrapped box.
"What is this, Kou-chan?" asks Sera, becoming excited as she takes the gift.
"Like I said, it's a gift. But don't open it now. You should open it in your office," says Kouske, stopping her as she was already starting to unwrap it.
"Why?! I wanna see what's inside!" Sera pouts.
"Not now. Open it later. Then it will be more special," says Kouske, making her stop.
"If you say so," replies Sera.
After that exchange, Kouske could feel the gaze of Sona and Tsubaki. Honestly, he could feel the gaze of many others too. It was a relief that he had already bought gifts for everyone.
"Sona-chan, Tsubaki-chan, here are your gifts," says Kouske as he hands them over.
"It's not like I was asking for any, you know," says Sona, trying to keep her expression neutral, but the red tints in her earlobes showed her happiness.
"Ooh! Tsundere So-tan is just too cute!" says Sera as she hugs Sona.
"Nee-sama! Unhand me! I am not a child anymore," murmurs Sona, trying to escape Sera's hug, with a visible blush on her face.
"Thanks, Kouske-kun. I will treasure it," says Tsubaki with a smile.
"You're welcome," says Kouske.
After they left, Kouske slowly gave everyone their respective gifts, and they all went back to Earth.
Meanwhile, after returning, Sera was disheartened, looking at the pile of papers. She decided to open the gift from Kouske to cheer herself up. Inside, she found a gorgeous pink feather pen and a letter from Kouske.
[Sera,
You have been working way too much. Don't overwork yourself again. You are always welcome to my home whenever you are feeling tired and need a break.
This pen is not an ordinary pen. It's a magically engineered pen. If you put your aura and will into it and try to connect with it, it will link to your subconscious.
This pen will work like a second brain and can share its senses with you. It will handle all the paperwork as if you were doing it yourself and send all the information to your brain in real-time.
Don't worry, there's a mechanism to prevent it from overwhelming your brain. Try it. I'm sure you'll never have to do paperwork again in your life.
It's actually one of Akatsuki's recent projects. Consider it a special present from me.
Also, I can assure you it won't harm you or steal any information from your brain.
And nobody else but you can use the pen. So, have fun and take regular rests! Bye.
Love, Kouske]
After staring at the pen for a few minutes, Serafall finally decided to follow Kouske's advice, trusting him completely.
For a moment, it felt like her brain was split in two, but she found she could use both parts simultaneously without any problems.
She tested it out on a not-so-important paper. After the initial success, she tried it on some more difficult documents.
Seeing that the pen was doing exactly what she would have done and even sending real-time information to her brain, she jumped up in joy, yelling and giggling loudly like a maniac.
Watching her workload decrease while she sat comfortably in her chair, she couldn't contain her excitement.
"I am finally free from this curse! I will never have to touch these accursed things again! Goodbye paperwork, FOREVER! LOVE YOU, KOU-CHAAAN!" Sera yells in her room.
That day, the staff in her office could hear the strongest female devil in the Underworld singing, dancing, crying, giggling, and yelling incoherently with maniacal laughter.
It wasn't hard to see how scared the staff was, seeing her behave like this.
They knew about her quirky personality, but that day, they thought she might have gone insane and could blast the whole place at any moment in her blissful madness, noting the few sudden releases and spikes in her magical power.
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Half a month after Sera's departure, Kouske was informed about a new visitor. It was Lord Agares and his daughter, Seekvaira Agares.
They were already led inside. So, he teleported into his mansion and went straight to the meeting room. Upon entering, he saw the two of them seated.
Lord Agares appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with greenish-blonde hair and red eyes.
Seekvaira, who seemed to be around Sona's age, is a beautiful young woman with long, pale greenish-blonde hair like her father's, but with long slit pink eyes and glasses that give off an impression of being cold rather than cool.
She wore clothes that were very fitting for female nobles, with a flashy design and accessories bearing the Agares seal, giving off a posh vibe.
Instead of a dress, she opted for a miniskirt and high boots, which complemented her posh clothing.
Both of them had calm and serious expressions, making them seem hard to approach.
"Greetings, Archduke Agares and Heiress Agares," Kouske greeted them politely as he entered the room. They greeted him back briefly.
"So, I am honored. But is there any particular reason for this unexpected visit?" Kouske asked, puzzled by his presence.
It was entirely unexpected for someone of his stature to approach Kouske directly.
Lord Agares was one of the 72 Pillar clan leaders who formed the Anti-Satan Faction during the Devil Civil War.
He is renowned as a skilled diplomat, mediating political disagreements between the Great King Faction and the supporters of the Four Great Satans.
In fact, Kouske believes he is an even greater diplomat than Serafall. So, it's quite surprising that someone as busy as he would come here so suddenly.
"Not really. I just wanted to meet Kaito's son, is all," replied Lord Agares.
"Uh," was the only thing that left Kouske's mouth as he remembered Lord Agares had worked with his father for many years.
He was also the one who took care of the ringleaders behind Saki and Rin's kidnapping.
"Umm, thanks for your help taking care of Saki's kidnappers," Kouske said, genuinely thankful.
"You mean Ryuga's daughter? Don't bother. That was part of our contract," replied Lord Agares, dismissing the topic.
After that, they started talking about various things, mainly about Kouske's father and his company.
"You know, you look a lot like him. But your behavior is different. Kaito never liked dealing with the supernatural, but he didn't have many choices.
He was a great businessman who always kept his word. And I think you are also on the same path.
You at least have a talent for it, judging by how you managed to make a deal with the Gremorys and the state of your territories.
I wonder how you did it," said Lord Agares.
But as they talked more, Kouske could tell he was also trying to make him reveal various information and verify different details.
"Ha ha ha. Thank you for your compliment," Kouske replied without commenting on any of it. Hearing him, Lord Agares smiled.
"Are you busy by any chance for the next few days? No need to feel pressured. Just an honest answer would do," asked Lord Agares.
"Umm... No, I don't think so. Why?" asked Kouske, confused.
"Then let my daughter stay here for a while. She would do well to at least learn some things from you about managing a territory. You don't have to teach her anything; just letting her observe your work will be more than enough. She won't bother you if it's anything confidential," said Lord Agares, making even Seekvaira, who had been quiet the entire time, surprised.
And here she was, just a few moments ago, wondering why she had been brought here today.
"Umm... That's not a problem, I guess," replied Kouske, unsure of what else to say.
"Great. Then I will leave her here. Please take good care of her," said Lord Agares.
"I will," replied Kouske.
"Then I will take my leave, if you don't mind. I have some important things to attend to. And you should be careful of any devils who suddenly act so nice and all.
Devils are deceitful beings. Don't trust others too easily," advised Lord Agares as he left quickly, leaving Seekvaira surprised.
He was gone as suddenly as he came, not wasting any TIME at all!
'What was he even here for?' was the thought in both Kouske and Seekvaira's minds.
After he left, the atmosphere in the room became a bit awkward.
"Umm... Shall I make arrangements for your stay?" asked Kouske, unsurely.
"Uh. Yes, that would be kind of you," replied Seekvaira, adjusting her glasses as they flashed and contemplating her father's reasons for leaving her here.
*
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For the last week or so, Kouske had been showing Seekvaira around the territory. She would follow him wherever he went.
At least she had relaxed a bit around him since then. She also met some of the girls. Kouske had discovered many things about her.
In one sentence, she was a better and far more flexible version of Sona, though she still had issues with her short temper and sharp tongue.
Looks wise, she was the strict, sexy glasses secretary type of girl! But unfortunately, as a heiress, she cannot be someone else's secretary!
She seemed very serious, even colder than Sona, but at least she could break free from the shackles of rules and had a sense of humor.
He also remembered her being a strategic prodigy who could go toe-to-toe against Sona in rating games.
He remembers, that Issei once described her as giving off a sense of coldness rather than calmness and having a stricter aura compared to Sona, which was scary, as she once publicly threatened to kill Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas for being disrespectful to her in the original story.
He thinks her father was worried that his daughter's mental fortitude might be crushed under the pressure of assuming the role of Archduke, so he taught her to relax by watching mecha anime, turning her into a giant mecha geek.
She even started doing Dumgam reviews on DeviTube secretly. Kouske has been saving her videos. Who knows when they might come in handy if someday he needed to black *ahem* ask for favors from her.
And yeah, Dumgam was the watered-down version of Gundam, just like Drag-so-ball in this world.
Kouske and Seekvaira at least got a bit closer, with Kouske being overly friendly and calling her Seek-chan. At first, she did get angry, but after a while, she had to relent. Kouske had fun teasing her.
She actually let him call her by her first name as they became friends. She stayed for a little more than a week and then went back home, with the promise of meeting again.
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Kouske's POV
Today, I got a call from James. He seems to have found Leonardo. Having a professional do the job really makes things easier. He did this earlier than I thought!
Right now, I'm at the orphanage where Leonardo is supposed to live. As I entered the place, I was stopped by someone.
"Excuse me. Who are you? Why are you just entering like that?" asked a young woman.
"You are?" I asked.
"I am the caretaker here. But who are you, mister?" asked the caretaker, looking at me suspiciously.
"I am Akatsuki. I saw the orphanage and just wanted to see if I could help in any way," I replied, making her calm down a bit.
"This is just a small orphanage without much support. So if you really want to help, we would greatly appreciate it," said the caretaker, smiling even though a bit skeptical about whether the youngster could really help.
But she couldn't help thinking there were always rich kids, and I looked like a foreigner from a good background.
"I would love to," I replied with a smile, making her blush a bit.
"U-umm. So, would you like to talk this over with a cup of tea?" she asked, meekly.
"Sure," I replied.
After that, we talked mostly about the orphanage. It seems one of the local businessmen helped build this place and has been supporting it ever since.
But he passed away two years ago, and let's just say his family wasn't so fond of his charity. They weren't heartless enough to ask for the place to be demolished nor did they demand the property back, but they made it clear that they wouldn't be helping any longer.
So, it's been quite tough on the children for the last two years. This orphanage is in the countryside with not many people around, so they are not receiving much help.
I guess if things had continued as they were, this orphanage would have eventually shut down in the future, and Leonardo would have ended up in an orphanage under the Hero Faction.
They would have found out about his Sacred Gear under the guise of doctors checking everyone. I think at first, they didn't know it was a Longinus and tried extracting it, which caused Leonardo to suffer and become how he is in the future.
We talked for a bit, and I decided to arrange for this orphanage to move to a better place with easier access to better facilities, and I will keep sponsoring the place.
What is the meaning of having so much wealth if I do not use it at the right time for the right cause? It's not like I am lacking in money. I asked the caretaker if I could look around the place, and she obliged.
As I looked over the place, it was pretty small and old. But behind it, there was a big playground which also belonged to that businessman.
But it seems the children won't be able to freely play in that place as the family of that businessman will be constructing houses on the plot.
Can't really blame them as it's their property to begin with. But it's a shame.
As I looked at the huge playground, I could see a short, dark-skinned young boy with gray-blue hair and purple eyes playing football happily alongside the other children.
He was young, around only seven years old I think. He was Leonardo from the information I got from James. He looks so innocent and happy now, totally in contrast to his canon self.
I also used Observe on him to make sure, and he really does have the Annihilation Maker, unawakened. I watched them play for a bit and then joined in myself, playing with them for a while.
After some time, we all lay down on the grass, tired, looking at the sky.
"I will get you all some water and some fruits. But you will have to clean yourselves before eating," said the caretaker, smiling at the children.
"Ok, miss!" everyone replied in unison.
"Mr. Akatsuki, you should clean yourself too. You made all your clothes dirty. I get that you wanted to join in the fun with the children, but please be aware of your appearance. There's mud and dirt on your face. You aren't a child anymore," said the caretaker in a slightly sharp tone, sighing at my antics.
I looked at the children, and as if we were all in sync, we all yelled at the same time, "OK, Miss!" making the caretaker sigh and leave, embarrassed, to bring the things for everyone.
Well, I should be the one feeling embarrassed. But sometimes I think it's not bad playing along with children like this, and it's one of the reasons the kids at Akatsuki are fond of me.
"Hey, big bro! You are not from here, are you? You look like a foreigner!" asks one of the children, excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah. How is foreign? Is it different from here?"
"I heard people eat differently there. They don't eat humans, do they?" asks one, a bit scared.
"How far is it? Can I go there on the bus?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Is foreign a country? What's everyone talking about?" asks another child.
"Tell us!" yells everyone at once.
Hearing all this made Kouske laugh and smile. These are all children without much knowledge. They are naturally interested in the outside world.
Kouske spent some time talking with them until the caretaker came and made everyone wash themselves up. She even made Kouske clean himself. She somehow gave him the impression of an adult Asia.
"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" I asked Leonardo.
"Painter!" he replied after thinking for a moment, surprised by the sudden question.
After that, I spent some time with the children, mainly Leonardo, trying to understand him, what he really wants, and how his mind works.
To be honest, every time Akatsuki finds any sacred gear holders, the members always do a thorough investigation about the wielder and determine if it's safe to leave the sacred gear with them, as well as account for their wishes if they just want to lead a normal life.
I was also doing the same. I found out that Leonardo would rather lead a normal life being a painter, giving shape to all his imagination in a quiet place.
There was also the factor that the sacred gear Leonardo had was a world-destroying High-tier Longinus, one of the four strongest ones at that.
So I extracted Leonardo's Annihilation Maker, made arrangements for the orphanage to be moved to a better place, and admitted Leonardo to an Arts School, even trying to fulfill the dreams of the other children as far as I could.
I thought for a while about whom to give this to, and after some consideration, I decided it would be better to give it to Tarte, as emotions have a great impact on sacred gears, especially a Longinus.
So I gave it to Tarte and made a taming contract with her to obtain the God-Killing skill 'Annihilation Maker' from her.
I also gave Momo a sacred gear named Reversal. I had been planning to give her one since a while ago. So I decided to go through with it this time.
Reversal is something Armaros, Sahariel, and I have been working on for a while now. It's still not a complete sacred gear, as it's only just a skill etched onto an object, serving as the sacred gear.
There's still a lot of room for growth, but unfortunately, it doesn't grow stronger based on strong emotions. We're still not there yet. Maybe in a few more years, we can improve it.
I asked the others and gave it to Momo to gather practical information on it.
The Sacred Gear is called Reversal. It reverses the effects of magic attacks and even negates them to a certain extent.
For example, Momo could make Asia's healing turn into a deathly aura. Well, Asia can already do this herself for now, but it will also make Asia stronger if she practices with Momo.
At first, it was only Armaros's research; he was researching anti-magic. I knew about it from Canon and asked if I could help out.
Surprisingly, he accepted. He is one weird fellow, I tell you. He is what you would call a chuunibyou.
He is fascinated with villains from Japanese tokusatsu hero programs. Despite being a Grigori Cadre, he acts like this.
He wears armor, a helm, an eye-patch (even though his eyes are fine), and a cape, wielding a shield in his left hand and an axe in his right. He uses light-based attacks and can imbue anti-magic properties to his axe and shield.
Both his helm and shield have a motif of an eagle or a hawk. As a Fallen Angel Cadre, he possesses 10 black wings. This bastard was kicked out of heaven for having sex with a human.
The first time we met was also weird. He challenged me to a fight to 'protect' Grigori, as he declared I was a villain trying to destroy Grigori.
If Azazel hadn't told me about his unique personality beforehand, I would have thought it was serious, coming from one of the Cadres.
The other one involved in the research was Sahariel, one of the Cadres in the position of The Researcher of the Moon within Grigori.
He wears thick glasses and lab coats. He is not a bad guy, but still a bit weird. I cannot just forget that he was romantically interested in Gasper, mistaking him as a girl, in the original story.
So, every time he comes in front of me, it somehow makes me remember that, and I just cannot contain my laughter fully.
So let's just say he would rather not be around me. But I don't really bully the poor guy too much.
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone