Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Occult Research Club; Devils
"Are you sure!?"
Sona sipped on her tea as she noticed the dumbfounded look on her friend's face.
Said friend was no short of a beauty. In fact, calling her beautiful was an understatement.
She was a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous body, white skin, blue eyes and a buxom figure.
Her most distinctive feature was her long, beautiful crimson hair, which she inherited from her father, that reached down to her thighs with a single hair strand sticking out from the top. Her hair also had loose bangs covering her forehead and side bangs framing her face.
Truly a devilish beauty.
"I'm not in the mood to joke." Sona sighed and Rias frowned.
"I'll check her out then, thanks."
"I wonder if we'll find Sacred Gear holders this time." Sona showed a longing look.
Sacred Gears… also known as God's Artifacts, are items with powerful abilities bestowed upon humans by God of the Bible. Humans had no astounding uniqueness before the period of Sacred Gears. They were mostly treated as livestock and slaves.
Heck, they were still treated as slaves, only a few select Devils actually cared about humans.
Sona felt a little regret.
Rias sensed this.
She immediately cupped Sona's hands. "I love you! Thank you so much! You know how much support I need right now. I'll let you have the next one, promise!"
"Inevitably, you'll have to face Riser in a rating game. You don't have much time left. You can only improve so much in 2-3 years. Riser is an experienced dueler. It'll be hard, very hard. I've repeatedly told you to not skimp on your training. When will you listen?" Sona felt mad.
Had her friend not lazed around like a spoiled princess she wouldn't be in this situation. Rias believes in her talent so much that she thinks taking Riser in a battle would be easy in a few years.
Rias thought that Sona was overreacting. She was confident in herself because both she and Riser were High-Class Devils. How large could the gap be between them?
The problem arose in their peerages.
Her peerage wasn't even fully developed with only three members beside her at the moment. On the other hand, Riser had fourteen members! All strong in their own rights! While Rias believed the quality of her peerage was greater she wasn't dumb enough to think she could defeat Riser while being so outnumbered.
"I will, I will just let me get this one first. I'll talk to Yamamoto Ichika after class today."
…
Tatsuya sat in his seat and looked out of the window.
His demeanour gave off a carefree vibe, full of nonchalance. It was as if nothing in the world besides him mattered at the moment.
Is this how a protagonist feels? Very cool.
Tatsuya gave it a 7/10 in feeling.
Most of the class was also glancing at him from time to time. The married female teacher was no different. A smile from Tatsuya was all it took for her to blush and ignore his lack of discipline.
Any other student and they would've been hit by a chalk by now.
The whole day was a boon for the girls of the class as they alternated their gazes between Kiba, the Prince of Kuoh and Tatsuya, the King of Kuoh.
His nickname was decided by the girls because, unlike the gentle Kiba, the aloof Tatsuya gave off a more regal aura.
The stark contrast between Tatsuya of Classroom of the Elite and DxD was that Tatsuya no longer needed to pretend to be a sociable student. The only reason he acted that way in COTE was because he wasn't sure how the System worked.
Corny ass title. Tatsuya cringed inwardly. It's the last class huh? They should approach Ichika in a bit. This crafty girl, she really is crazy but I'll have to admit her plan while entertaining has some value. I don't have to be cautious till the point I'm scared of even having this little fun. I'm curious to see how they'll react.
Class ended and Tatsuya noticed Kiba rush off towards somewhere.
He smiled.
…
Amasawa talked with her classmates in a sociable manner. She was trained to excellence, blending in with high schoolers was the least of her worries.
Classes ended smoothly and as she was about to pack her bag and leave she heard a round of kyaa's~
She looked over curiously and saw a pretty boy walk over. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked thin.
He came over to Ichika and smiled.
"Hello, I'm Kiba Yuuto from Class 3-B, the same as your brother's. I'm part of the Occult Research Club hosted by Rias Gremory, she asked me to invite you to the club for a chat."
"Chat? Occult Research Club?" Ichika showed a hesitant look before chuckling nervously, "T-That sounds scary."
"Ah," Kiba was a bit surprised, "Don't worry, it's just for fun. You can decline if you don't want to."
"No, it's alright. I'll come, just let me pack real quick."
Kiba nodded with a smile and left, waiting at the entrance. Ichika waved at her new friends who were looking at her with jealousy and followed Kiba towards this weird club.
She did her best to stop an excited smile from surfacing on her face.
It didn't take them long to reach this odd club. It was on the outskirts of the school.
"The original Occult Research Club was dissolved, but thanks to Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai it began operations once again. Right now there's only Rias-senpai, Akeno-senpai, me and another member of the club. We're barely surviving considering the minimum number of students required for a club is four."
Kiba made some small talk as they walked towards their destination to make Ichika more comfortable. She seemed nervous.
The clubhouse was a three-story building, with the third story serving as a clock tower. It has been painted white with a black roof with vines creeping up to the second story.
They soon reached the innermost room and Kiba knocked on the door.
"Come in," A gentle soothing voice echoed from behind the door and Ichika raised a brow. There was a foreign force in the voice, similar to the smell from Tatsuya.
She didn't show any reaction and simply stopped being nervous as if the soothing voice truly had an effect on her.
The club room interior was a wood-panelled room with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the walls. One side had a large curtain along with the shadow of a shower head.
A bath?
Ichika was amused but she soon analysed the individuals in the room. In the front seat was a red-haired girl with her breasts popping out of her chest in an exaggerated manner. Ichika was a bit stunned so she looked at the second member of the club.
It was a girl with black hair in a ponytail. There was a yellow ribbon wrapping around her hair and she had a soft expression on her face. At the moment she was bent over and filling the teacup of Rias like a maid.
Ichika's lips twitched as she saw the jiggling gigantic jugs. A bit depressed she turned towards the last member only to be pleasantly surprised.
It was a loli!
All this happened in an instant.
"Hello! Welcome to our club. I'm Rias Gremory, a Third Year Student and the president of the club. This is Akeno Himejima, the vice president. Since you've already met Kiba I won't mention him. The last member is Koneko Tojo, she's a bit shy so don't mind it if she doesn't talk much." Rias smoothly introduced everyone before raising her hand, "Have a seat!"
Ichika obliged and looked at Rias curiously.
"Kiba told me you want to talk to me. It's my first day so I'm curious how I've caught your eye."
Rias didn't answer immediately and simply stared at Ichika, as did the rest of the members of the club. As Ichika felt the silence become suffocating Rias smiled widely before narrowing her eyes.
"You're a magician, right?"
Ichika flinched in surprise, before immediately recovering. "Uh? Magician? Hehe, but you've got it wrong I don't know any card tricks or the sort."
Rias's smile only widened further as she pointed her finger at Ichika, "I'm not talking about party tricks. You're a real magician, the one in fairy tales."
Ichika could only shake her head, "Is this some kind of prank?" She sounded dissatisfied, as if angry for being called over for such a farce.
Rias showed a thoughtful look before extending her palm. Seconds later, as if there was a gust of wind in the room, Ichika felt a cold breeze. At the same time, on top of Rias's palm, there was a bright glowing ball of fire.
Looking at the fireball Ichika froze in place like a statue.
Instantly she shot up from her chair and pointed her finger at Rias.
"You!" She paused as if not understanding what to say next, "You are a magician too…?"
As soon as Rias heard that her smile brightened, as if the cat was already in the bag.
"Calm down, we mean no harm." Rias let Ichika sort her thoughts out.
Ichika took a minute to adjust her breathing before sitting down again, this time her gaze nervous and wary.
"Are all of you magicians? You don't seem surprised." Ichika addressed the rest of the members and they nodded in a weird manner.
Rias showed a wry smile before shaking her head.
"We're not exactly Magicians but something similar." Rias placed both her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the front side of her hands, "First tell me how much you know about Supernatural Beings and how you learnt magic. This way I can explain better."
"Supernatural Beings…?" Ichika showed a confused look before shaking her head, "A month ago my brother and I were visiting a Library. There I saw a book called Harnessing the Hidden Energy in the World. At first, I was just curious and thought it was a book about meditation… but as I practised it I started noticing weird colored particles in the air that weren't present before. We all have some knowledge of fantasy, right? It didn't take me long to connect the dots..." Ichika continued to explain, fabricating a beautiful story of hardship and how she was able to make a fireball, albeit, a useless one.
Though her expression dimmed a bit, "My brother burned the book. He thought I was wasting my time instead of studying. I couldn't figure things out after that and have been stuck for more than a week."
Not only Rias's but Akeno and Koneko's lips also twitched. She created a fireball by herself using some unknown book.
Genius!
That was the only word in Rias's mind. How many people could actually harness Mana on their own? The concept of inconceivable but this girl in front of not only did that but also made the accurate calculations to create a fireball!
Incredible!
Only Kiba was slightly lost as he didn't understand the significance of Ichika's words. His mind was hung on something else.
"Your brother is a bit extreme, he didn't have to burn the book."
"Ah…" Ichika stumbled on her words appearing nervous, "Uhm, it's okay, I don't blame him." Her tone had inexplicably dropped.
Rias sensed this and shifted the topic.
"Well, that's amazing. You have quite the talent for magic."
Ichika's face brightened hearing that.
"Actually, most supernatural beings like vampires, werewolves etc exist. Even the Gods and Angels exist." Rias paused here, "Fallen Angels and Devils also exist."
Seeing there was no obvious repulsion at the mention of Devils Rias felt happy.
"Gods and Dragons exist!?" Ichika showed disbelief.
"Yes, in fact, I'm one of those species, can you guess which one?"
"Ah," As if caught off guard Ichika yelped before showing a thoughtful look, "I can't really tell, you could be anything."
As if on cue, all four members of the Occult Research Club had bat wings emerge from their backs. Ichika frowned, "Are you guys… Devils?" She sounded scared.
"Wait wait, don't be afraid." Rias smiled bitterly, "I know the reputation of Devils on Earth but no, we don't eat humans nor do we ask for your souls."
"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to be prejudiced." Ichika hurriedly apologised like a mannerful girl causing the Occult Research Club members to widen their eyes.
It was hard to find a normal human who not only understood Devils but also apologised to them. Rias and the rest could also see the fear in her eyes was gone, replaced by curiosity.
Rias felt warm in her heart.
She coughed, "Well I'm glad you don't hate us." She paused once again, "What I really wanted to ask you is are you willing to join the Occult Research Club?"
Ichika's eyes widened and she frowned.
"Does that mean I'll have to become a Devil?"
"Yes. Not only do Devils have supernatural strength far exceeding humans but they also have longer lifespans! You can live for hundreds of years easily. Not only that…" Rias smiled mysteriously, "You'll be able to learn Devil Magic. Unlike normal magic where you have to rack your brains for complex spells, you just have to think of the spell and it'll materialise using Demonic Power. Oh yeah, you can speak any language in the world too, I guess that's cool."
Ichika's frown grew deeper.
"But why me?"
"Don't sell yourself short!" Rias said, "You have a lot of potential in magic."
"What are the conditions, it can't be you're turning people into Devils for free."
At this point, Rias hesitated for a moment, which Ichika had caught. How dare she slip up in front of a Whiteroom student? Had Ichika not wanted to join in the first place she would've already left seeing her hesitation.
Though to the average person, it might seem like Rias was organising her thoughts.
"We Devils are separated in hierarchy. I am a noble High-Class Devil of the Gremory Family and my brother is the current Satan. Ah, don't worry it's just a title." Rias giggled, clearly proud of her heritage, "High-Class Devils like me use the Chess System to create a peerage. Kiba here is my knight, Akeno is my Queen and Koneko is my rook. If you join I will give you the Bishop piece that will immediately multiply your strength and give you incredible control over Mana. Not to mention personalised training that self-training can't compare to."
"...There should be more, no?" Ichika's frown eased and Rias felt comfortable continuing.
"On paper, once you join my peerage you will be my slave..." Rias continued seeing no reaction from Ichika. She abruptly stood up and patted her chest, "But trust me, you'll be anything but a slave. I treat my peerage like my family! I won't force you to do anything against your will! Please trust me!"
Ichika was stunned. She slowly looked around and saw the warm smiles on Kiba, Akeno and Koneko's lips.
She hesitated for a second before nodding.
Rias broke out with a bright smile. She was incredibly happy!
But to her surprise, Ichika suddenly shuddered and a fearful look emerged on her face. She trembled and Akeno, who was closely watching her, frowned.
"I… I… please give me some time." Ichika bowed in a sorry manner.
Akeno nudged the stunned Rias. Something's wrong.
Rias nodded.
"Why!? Is there something troubling you? Please tell me, since you've agreed to join, you are my family and from now on! Your problem is my problem!"
"Ah…" Ichika was stunned by Rias's sincerity, she hesitated before parting her trembling lips, the state she was in clearly indicated trauma, "I have to tell my brother… if I do something without telling him… h-he… he'll punish me."
"???" The Occult Research Club was stunned.
Punishment? Clearly, the girl was traumatised.
Akeno had a startling thought and so did the others.
Could it be that her brother, Yamamoto Tatsuya, is… abusive?
The mere thought filled the kind Devils' hearts with anger.
Suddenly!
As if on cue, Ichika's phone rang. The ringtone caused deafening silence to erupt in the room.
Ichika began trembling and fear emerged on her face.
Rias's face hardened.
"It's okay, please pick it up and keep it on speaker. I will do my best to help you."
Ichika froze before nodding.
She picked up the phone and kept it on speaker.
"O-Onii-chan?"
"Where are you?" A cold voice erupted from behind the speaker. For some reason, even the Devils felt chilly hearing the voice.
"I… I…" Ichika stuttered in obvious fear when Rias gestured towards her whispering something.
"The Occult Research Club asked me for a meeting. They were asking me to join since every student needs to join at least one club."
"I asked you where you were." The voice behind the speaker seemed to not care for whatever she was saying.
Ichika frowned before speaking in a low tone.
"It's on the west side of the school. The abandoned dormitory."
The phone cut off.
A loud beep echoed in the room and a heavy atmosphere settled in.
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