章節 14: [King]

"King?" Not knowing things is really starting to annoy me despite my best efforts.

She looks at me with clear confusion before she has a face of realization coupled with a few seconds of her taking off her glasses and massaging between her eyes.

"I thought Rias explained how Peerages worked to you," She explains with a bit of exasperation as she collects herself. Yeesh, maybe I overestimated Rias' competence. That, or she's just that desperate.

"Briefly, she didn't really go into detail besides telling me about the benefits," I say to reassure her that she's not technically wrong.

More sighing and massaging at that, "Of course she did. To further explain, peerages work similarly to chess. Each person represents a piece on the board, and some people have multiple of the same piece depending on how powerful they are. I, along with Rias, are Kings."

To accentuate her words, she gestures to the already setup Chess game waiting to be played on the table in front of us. Without prompt, we begin to play silently. A peaceful atmosphere, if only a little strained by the narrowed eyes I'm getting from the only guy in the room.

A look from Sona stops his glaring, Saji I believe it is, but the silence doesn't continue. I'm a bit focused on the game since I haven't played chess in a very long time, but I manage to scrape out some words to keep the conversation going.

"So you're both just the two leaders of the devils that live here," I comment, already knowing that it's true.

"Exactly. And because we are High-Class devils, we have a territory that we protect and reign over. Kuoh Town is both mine and Rias' territory." She says proudly with a slight puff of her chest.

But what would a devil leader want with me, some random human with a bit of power-

"...Are you trying to recruit me then?" I ask in thinly veiled annoyance. Of course, one 'king' would take advantage of the other's failure.

Typical devi-

"Maybe. I didn't call you here with that intention, but I may change my mind depending on what Sacred Gear you have."

"Huh?" I'm momentarily stunned I'm not being instantly given offers but she interprets my confusion differently.

"Right. A Sacred Gear is an artifact created by... the leader of Heaven. They're gifted to random humans upon birth and pass on when that human dies. Originally, they were created to give humanity a fighting chance against the might of all the stronger beings. Since we reincarnate humans into devils, they keep the Sacred Gear as well." She explains.

After a second to shrug off that ego check, her words register in my mind.

So not only do the devils steal the strongest humans for themselves and boost their power, but they even eagerly take away the protections set up by God himself? Wow.

I mean, it's probably a step up from what they were doing a few centuries ago but still, wow. They really are naturally sinful, huh.

"So you can tell I have a Sacred Gear?"

She made a so-so motion, "I couldn't while it was dormant, but I can now. I can tell you the name of it and explain its history if you can tell me its abilities."

A few moments pass as we calmly and silently play chess. She is kicking my ass six ways to Sunday so I guess she plays this a lot. It wouldn't be her opening action if she didn't.

In the middle of a move, I activate my Sacred Gear as she looks up in slight shock. The moment her eyes are off the board I illegally move pieces around in my favor.

I'll be the first person to admit I suck at this game and cheated, but I really wanna see her face if I win.

"...I see. That is Revelation Shatter, a unique Sacred Gear. It has a history of users who were upfront and… merciless serial killers. Although no one has ever spoken with him, most believe that Cain, the first murderer, was sealed into the gear. That seal is the reason the gear has never had more than one wielder at a time." She ends her sentence by adjusting her glasses.

"Neat." I don't really care about its history, but it is interesting either way. Good to know no one else has this power, though.

She notices something is off about the chess game, but my nonchalant response to that bit of history distracts her enough to not say anything about it.

"'Neat', he says. In other news, I'm not interested in recruiting you for your sacred gear. While it is an interesting one, I'm currently looking for hard hitters, not technical fighters. We already have too many of those," She assures me.

That's a weird feeling. I'm still happy she won't annoy me with recruitment offers but I'm annoyed that she doesn't want me. I understand why she doesn't want me, but I can't help but feel that way.

"Either way, that's not what I called you here for. As the ones who govern the territory, we make it a habit to understand who in the supernatural is authorized to be here and who isn't. Because you've recently joined, I need to put you in." She remarks, waving off the previous topic.

"There are other supernatural besides the black feather ones from before?" Like that blonde chick?

"Well, the fallen and you are currently the only ones we know of. Sadly, most people run the moment they realize who exactly governs the town." She says with a grimace.

"Ah, I guess you guys are just so strong that only idiots or the ignorant would stay here, I'm guessing." I approve.

If these guys are this high up on the power ladder, maybe accepting-

"Not exactly. My sister and Rias' brother are two of the four current rulers of all Devils. Most know about their overprotectiveness and don't want to risk being targeted by two of the four strongest Devils." She reluctantly says, oblivious to my thoughts.

Just one curveball after another. Didn't Sin say something about me having a sacred gear only so I could get involved with the main plot? Knowing it involves these guys, I'd rather not.

"I see," I comment. I won't be cowed, but I would rather not have to deal with the leaders of an entire race this early in my life.

"Others leave because Rias pesters them with peerage offers until they get sick of it. Ah, don't worry! I've told Rias to tone it down this time, and our siblings have been told our desire to function independently." My feelings must've shown on my face because she quickly blurts that last sentence after getting a look at me.

I don't believe she can actually stop her sibling if she tried, assuming the leaders are chosen on their level of power. Still, knowing that she'd be on my side if it ever comes down to it is a bit reassuring.

"Moving on, I'm going to need information about your species, abilities, expertise, level of power, and what you identify as. Go on in that order."

In the background, one of the girls pulls out a clipboard and a pen.

"Sure thing. I'm human. I can use Ki, and since that's the only thing I've got besides my sacred gear, Ki would be my expertise." I rattled off.

She raises a hand to pause the conversation, "Do you not have magic as well? I can feel the magic rolling off of you right now, even if it isn't much."

"I have it. I know it's there, but I don't know how to use it."

She doesn't need to know about my transmutation magic. Keeping it private so I can make t my trump card eventually would be nice. Especially since it actually hurts to use most of the time.

"Right, of course. And 'level of power'… Rias told me you can instinctively tell how strong others are. If you had to fight everyone in this room individually, who would you lose against?" She gestures to the room.

I take a careful look and there are six total individuals excluding Sona. Besides the girl with the clipboard, no one else really stands out.

"Besides you and her, everyone else is a toss-up," I reply honestly. Saji bristles at my remark behind me but Sona looks over my shoulder with the coldest look I've seen on anyone here, stopping him right in his tracks.

I wouldn't say I could beat these guys if I really couldn't. I'm confident, not cocky or delusional. With my Ki to boost me and my Sacred Gear to guide me, each fight should be pretty quick.

Still, she raises an eyebrow despite her reprimand, "Bold claim, but I'll trust your word for now." She takes a pause while Shinra writes, "So, what do you identify as? Magician, Buddhist monk, aspiring Sage?"

"I don't see how this matters, nor do I have anything I'm partial to. Can you just come up with one for me?"

She takes a moment to think about it, before just shrugging and talking to Shinra over her shoulder.

"It's a matter of keeping track using classification, but sure, just put down Enhanced Human for now."

"Hm... well anything else relevant we already know about. Anything you want to tell me?" She leans in, hoping for something. I don't know what, but I don't have anything of note to tell-

Actually, wait, I might have something.

"Oh yeah, this guy tried to kill me last night with fancy light weapons. He had a gun and a sword and he looked kinda like a priest." I answer flippantly. It wasn't a big deal. It didn't even feel like a first kill because of how annoying that guy was.

Clearly, she doesn't agree that it wasn't a big deal with the deadpan look she's giving me.

"That would've been nice to know EARLIER. But thank you for telling me. I'm guessing you fought him off since you're alive, but if something like that happens again, use this." She sighs, handing me a piece of paper.

On the paper is another magic circle to call the devils, but I guess this one is for her group instead of Rias'.

As I put the paper away, I notice that she has completely fucked me over in the chess game. I noticed a few moves ago that I wouldn't get out of this, but wow is she good.

Sighing at my inevitable defeat, I stand up to leave, "No problem."

"Have a nice day." She says with a smirk.

Before I can leave, she calls me at the door, "Oh, Naoki. One more thing before you go. If you really want to help Rias and stay human, there is one option I know of. It just has... political issues attached."

Political issues? Meh.

"Go on," I say, looking over my shoulder.

She hesitates before speaking, "When you get the time, ask Rias about making a pact. Specifically, mention your status as technically being a magician."

Giving her a thumbs up, I step out of the Student Council room and get back to class.

A pact between a magician and a devil, huh? I wonder what that would entail…

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A/N: I noticed people tend to ignore the Author's Thoughts bubble so I'm gonna put my thoughts in the chapter itself. Like this!

Random Question: If you could give Katuso any familiar, canon to DxD or not, what would it be?