Chapter 82: 2 Years Later

Volume 2: Kuoh

Chapter 82: 2 Years Later

{Two Years Later, Early Morning — Kuoh Academy, Kuoh Town}

—Sona Sitri—

Early morning. Natural sunlight, birds chirping, and clean, fresh air.

This was the human world, strikingly different from the Underworld. Here, beauty felt natural yet fragile, soothing yet fleeting. And she had come to appreciate it.

“Good morning, President!”

Over the time she’d spent here, Sona had done her best to climb her way to the top. Similar to the devil world, the human world also had hierarchies, and here, she had reached the highest position she could through her own efforts.

“Good morning.” She rarely smiled, and even now, it wasn’t really a smile, more a simple acknowledgment.

Unlike most other devils, who could fake emotions and expressions naturally, she didn’t find it so easy. After trying in the past and failing miserably, she stopped bothering with it altogether.

Instead, she focused entirely on doing her job as the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy, while soaking in as much knowledge about the human world as she could.

In the two years she had spent here, she hadn’t wasted a moment. She was quite proud of her achievements, and in her generation, only a few devils could match her. Maybe only two could surpass her.

No.

That thought made her pause.

“Is something the matter, Sona?” her queen, Tsubaki, asked.

“No, it’s nothing.” Shaking her head, she picked up her pace again.

She often forgot about him, despite having seen him just a month ago. But it wasn’t her fault. The devil was simply insane.

‘How could someone my age even reach that stage?’

She had long since given up trying to compete with that person and instead focused entirely on her own goals.

‘No point in thinking about him.’

“Good morning, President!”

This time, the one greeting her was a pawn she had recruited not too long ago, and someone she considered herself quite lucky to have found.

“Good morning, Saji.”

Saji Genshirou, a student of Kuoh Academy and a boy she had met by chance. He had lost his parents at a very young age, and not long ago, he had lost his grandfather as well, leaving him alone to take care of his siblings. And that was no easy task for someone his age.

By sheer luck, he ended up with a leaflet that summoned Sona, back when she had been gathering merit by fulfilling contracts. That was when she discovered that the boy possessed a dragon-type Sacred Gear—Absorption Line.

That alone was enough for her to take him into her peerage. And all he wanted in return was a better life for his siblings, which was easy enough to handle for someone like her.

“Did you just arrive?” she asked, and he nodded eagerly.

“I did, but I made sure to do a round of the campus before coming here. Everything seems perfectly fine!”

His response made her smile. A real one.

She had earned the trust of her teachers and seniors quite a while ago, and once she became a senior herself, she was elected as the Student Council President. Naturally, she brought her peerage members into the council and assigned them various roles.

Saji happened to have one of those roles, which kept him running around campus, making sure nothing out of line was happening.

“Good,” she said, satisfied. “Just make sure you get enough rest. You still have your contract errands to handle.”

The last part was said in a lower voice, meant only for him.

“I will!”

Seeing how energetic he was, she felt reassured.

“Go to your class now,” she ordered. “I don’t want my council member to be late for his own class because of council duties.”

Saji turned to look at one of the clocks hanging in the corridor, and the moment he saw the time, his face went pale.

“I-I’ll get going!”

He didn’t even wait for her response before bolting off, realizing he was already running late.

Tsubaki, her queen, who had been quietly standing behind her, finally spoke. “Will you be going to the council room?”

That was what Sona almost always did before her classes, arrange the tasks for the day, gather all the documents, and then leave for class. But today, she wasn’t going there.

“No,” she shook her head. “I already allocated all the tasks yesterday before school ended, so there’s nothing left to handle. And I left Momo in charge of making sure no one slacks off.”

Momo, her bishop, was a cheerful girl who arrived at the academy even earlier than Sona. That made her reliable enough to leave things to without worry.

“We don’t have first period today, so I’ll be visiting the Occult Research Club.” She glanced at the clock. “Rias and the rest should be there.”

Tsubaki looked at her for a moment after hearing that. Sona immediately understood why and let out a small, awkward chuckle.

“Yeah… right.”

It wasn’t that Rias came early. It was more that she had turned the room designated for the Occult Research Club, a club that wouldn’t have even existed without Sona’s help, into her personal living space. The red-haired heiress practically lived there.

As they walked toward the clubroom, Tsubaki muttered softly, “I wonder what they even do in that club.”

Sona glanced at her. “Good question.”

Because even she didn’t know.

On paper, they were supposed to research the occult, the strange and mystical happenings around Kuoh and the academy. But not once had Sona received any report or document that resembled actual research.

In the simplest terms, the club existed as a front for Rias to enjoy her time at Kuoh without being disturbed.

That was about it.

‘She worries a lot, but I haven’t seen her put much effort into anything.’ Sona felt a hint of bitterness. ‘She’ll never win against Riser if this continues.’

Sona knew she was privileged. Serafall had always doted on her, and she was fully aware of it. But she still tried to keep her sister’s involvement to a minimum and achieve things on her own. She hated being handed things without effort.

Rias was the opposite. She was used to being spoon-fed, and it made her lazy. Almost… entitled.

Sona would never say it to her face, but she had hinted at it more than once, hoping Rias would take things seriously and start putting in effort.

Especially because it annoyed her how much of her natural talent was going to waste.

The Sitri were masters of water, but with Gremory and Bael blood, Rias had absurd levels of talent, ability, and luck. It was the kind of advantage that made Sona a little jealous.

Still, life wasn’t fair. And she was privileged too, so she couldn’t really complain.

Even so, she wished her best friend would act a little more… mature.

Especially when three people from their generation had climbed so high that comparing their achievements to hers and Rias’s felt almost embarrassing.

And anything Sona did would always be compared to her sister, a Satan and a genius among devils.

‘It isn’t fair…’

“Sona?”

As she stepped into the Occult Research Club’s room, which looked more like a hotel suite than a clubroom, she was greeted by her best friend standing there with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body.

Sona’s eyebrows twitched in irritation.

“I’ve told you a dozen times to lock the door when you go for a shower…”

“Oh, I told her as well~”

Sona heard Akeno’s giggle as she walked in from the other side, a teapot in hand. Rias’s queen had recently taken an interest in Japanese tea, and Sona didn’t mind it. In fact, she quite enjoyed the tea Akeno made.

“Where are the rest?” Sona glanced around, noticing it was just Rias and Akeno. “Ah… classes.”

“As if,” the red-haired princess chuckled. “You know we can skip classes whenever we want.”

That wasn’t something Sona agreed with, though she couldn’t really deny it. The school board was practically under the Gremorys and the Sitris, and with the two of them being heiresses, they had far too many privileges.

Sona didn’t use them lightly. She only missed classes when she absolutely had to.

Rias? She didn’t need much of a reason.

“Kiba is helping out at the volleyball and archery clubs, while Koneko is probably napping somewhere,” Akeno said, answering her unspoken question. “Tea?”

“Yes, please.” Sona sighed as she settled comfortably onto one of the couches. ‘What am I even working so hard for when none of them are?’

But she knew the answer, and that was enough to keep her going. Even on days like this, when she didn’t feel particularly motivated.

Magically wrapping herself in clothes, Rias took a seat across from her.

“How have the patrols been?”

As much as Sona wanted this visit to just be about tea and a bit of rest, that wasn’t the only reason she was here. It had a lot to do with the patrols.

“I was out patrolling yesterday,” she said. “And guess what… not a single fallen feather. No sightings of strays either.”

That caught Rias’s attention. “None?”

“Other than the obvious ones from the abandoned church. But before this, there were always a few we stumbled upon and dealt with.” Sona frowned. “Yesterday, I couldn’t find even a trace of them.”

“That’s… weird.” Rias frowned. “Do you think they’ve gathered at the church?”

Sona shook her head as Akeno placed a cup of freshly brewed green tea in front of her.

“No. I don’t sense any new presence there.”

Rias fell into thought. “That’s bad. Having no information isn’t good. I might have to send Koneko and Kiba to patrol around the church area, just to figure something out.”

Normally, Rias might have left this to Sona as well, and Sona knew that. But this time, Rias had a strong reason to get involved herself.

Especially because of their agreement.

“Do you think they’ve sensed the Sacred Gear?”

That was the real reason Rias was so invested.

A certain… annoying didn’t quite cover it. Extremely perverted boy was walking around with a dormant Sacred Gear. Even without it being awakened, Koneko could smell a dragon from him. And for that scent to be so strong without activation, both heiresses knew it had to be a high-grade Sacred Gear.

And Rias wanted it badly.

So badly that she brought up a promise they had made long ago and used it to secure the boy’s gear.

Sona hadn’t wanted to give in so easily, especially with such a valuable Sacred Gear involved. But considering Rias’s situation, and the fact that Sona already had Saji, a dragon-type Sacred Gear wielder, she relented.

“We can’t be sure,” Sona sighed. “We’ll need to investigate this properly.”

But while they were considering the possibility that the Fallen Angels were planning something, Tsubaki offered a different angle.

“Are we sure that ‘he’ isn’t involved in all this?” she asked. “It’s been a while since we last saw him.”

‘Him.’

Sona paused. So did Rias.

‘Yeah… if it’s him…’

“Where is he?” Akeno asked. “He came to Kuoh a year after us, didn’t join the academy, and we don’t even know where he lives. The last time we saw him was over a month ago, when we all met up to check on each other.”

That was a good question.

Because none of them knew what ‘he’ was up to.

However, unknown to them, he knew everything that was happening to and around them. Even what they were doing right now.

After all, they failed to notice the one bee quietly buzzing around the academy campus.

* * *

{Same Time — Devil’s Meeting Assembly of Lucifaad}

—Sirzechs Lucifer—

Sirzechs, Ajuka, Falbium, and Serafall sat formally on one side, careful not to appear unprofessional.

Especially Ajuka. He had made sure to remind both Sirzechs and Serafall to behave as professionally as possible.

And there was a good reason for it.

“I hope you didn’t have any difficulty on your journey.”

Ajuka glanced at Falbium at that, most likely cursing him internally for the question.

Because while Falbium was a military genius, he wasn’t exactly great at this kind of political conversation.

“It was… fine.” The woman’s voice carried a hint of amusement, and rightfully so. She had teleported here.

There was no journey to speak of.

“Though it isn’t very pleasant around here, especially the air and the lack of natural energies.”

There wasn’t much they could do about that. It was the Underworld, after all.

That said, it wasn’t nearly as bad as she made it sound. Surely.

“Uhm,” clearing his throat, Ajuka turned toward the beautiful blonde woman. “Well, we should begin, Lady Yasaka.”

“We should.” Yasaka, the leader of the West Youkai Faction of Kyoto and the spokesperson for the Shinto faction, had come on behalf of the Shinto gods. While her position alone didn’t quite match that of the Satans, being their spokesperson certainly did. “And I would like to state that Lady Amaterasu is quite satisfied with the recent management of Kuoh, especially over the past year. There has been less damage to the spiritual barrier and far fewer clashes between devils, exorcists, and fallen angels.”

A year ago, all four Satans knew exactly why that was.

“And Lady Amaterasu expresses her gratitude for sending ‘him’ to aid the yokai living around the Kuoh territory.”

Now that… was news.

All four of them glanced at each other, but none of them spoke.

They hadn’t sent him to deal with anything. They had only wanted him to enjoy his life, maybe explore the human world, and at most keep an eye on Rias and Sona.

What he had been doing on his own, they had no idea.

“Lady Amaterasu is so pleased with his recent help that she would like to offer a few trade routes, linking fabrics and gems created by the yokai to be traded with the devils.”

Once again, they were caught off guard.

‘Then again… it’s him. Anything he touches somehow ends up benefiting the devils.’ Sirzechs wanted to sigh, but didn’t dare do so in front of a representative.

“We… accept it gratefully,” Ajuka said. “But, if it’s not too much to ask… what exactly has he been doing these past few days?”

That drew everyone’s attention.

Everyone except Serafall, who looked off to the side.

Sirzechs immediately understood.

She already knew.

“He has been fulfilling a number of Lady Amaterasu’s requests,” Yasaka replied. “Many of them involved eliminating beasts and terrorists attempting to harm the yokai or enter Kuoh. Recently, he also dealt with a few fallen angels and devils within Kuoh who had been gathering to smuggle young yokai into the black market.”

Sirzechs felt a bit awkward hearing that.

All of this had been happening inside Kuoh, the town under the supervision of his and Serafall’s younger sisters.

Which meant… neither of them had even realized what was going on in the very place they were supposed to protect.

“So, Lady Amaterasu expresses her gratitude and promises to send a few additional gifts, aside from the trade.”

At least it wasn’t all bad. They were getting something out of it.

No… they were getting a lot out of this.

“Where is he now?” Falbium asked. “We… haven’t heard from him in a little over a week.”

That was a lie.

They hadn’t heard from him in months.

“Oh?” Yasaka seemed amused. “Considering his recent pattern, he should be out hunting.”

“Hunting?”

“Mhm.” The yokai queen nodded. “They call him the Boogeyman, after all. The Boogeyman with horns.”

“Boogeyman?” Even Ajuka looked baffled.

‘Just… what have you been up to, Faiser?’

Sirzechs finally gave in and sighed.

With Faiser, he could never be certain.