Chapter 201 — A Guest from the North

Yuki

I took another sip of my tea as I watched a small smile form on Koneko’s face.

Although I didn't want to join Rias’s mission at first, I ended up enjoying myself a decent amount.

Xenovia broke me out of my thoughts by asking a question.

“Yuki, it’s been a little while, so how is your training of Dream’s Voice going?”

The room became quiet for a moment as everyone looked at me.

I glanced at Irina.

She had flinched and then gone still at the mention of my ability.

I looked to Xenovia.

“I would say that it has been going well. Asia, Gasper-kun, and Yuuto-san have been the ones to help me test the ability so far, and there haven't been any real incidents,” I said as I set down my teacup.

“It really isn’t that bad,” Asia said brightly. “It’s definitely weird and feels funny, but Yuki’s being careful with it and Yuuto-san, Gasper-kun, and I are trying to see if we can find ways to break out of her control.”

“We’ve only been able to help Yuki-san practice a few times so far, and we are only practicing with one person being affected at a time so that there is always someone who can help if things go wrong,” Yuuto added.

“Yuki’s ability can’t target a single person without also affecting others, I thought. Did she figure out a way to stop affecting everyone?” Rias asked.

“Earplugs,” Yuuto said simply. “If we can’t hear her, her ability doesn't work.”

I nodded.

“She’s right. That is a potential weakness we can exploit to stop me from accidentally affecting our team during a fight. But I am still hoping we find a way for you all to build an immunity to my ability. It may also help against other mental manipulation effects,” I said.

“It would be great if it worked how you’re hoping for, Yuki, but even if it doesn’t, we have a way to stop your ability from interfering with our side of a fight at least,” Rias said. “What about your control? Has that improved since your first tests?”

Rias glanced at Irina as she asked.

Irina was looking down at the table with her hands clenched around her silverware.

“…Irina-san. If you’re not comfortable with us discussing this around you, we can talk about something else. I understand that you’re still upset with what happened,” I said gently.

Irina looked up quickly. 

Her face was slightly pale, but she smiled brightly anyway.

“N-No, it’s fine! I was just thinking about something else, that’s all! I don’t mind if you talk about this. Go ahead!” She said with forced enthusiasm.

Asia reached out and placed a hand onto one of Irina’s.

“Irina-san, I am going to step outside to get some air. Would you like to come with me?” Asia asked.

Irina looked like she was going to deny Asia, but Xenovia spoke before she could.

“That sounds nice. It’s a bit warm in here, so I’ll join you two.”

Asia nodded, and the two of them stood.

Irina looked between them for a moment. 

“A-Alright. I’ll go with you guys,” she said as she stood.

I watched as the three of them left the cafe and went outside.

“Irina still seems pretty badly shaken. It seems that what she did to Yuki and how she was controlled are still bothering her. It wasn’t the best idea to bring it up around her,” Rias said as she watched the three of them through the window.

“…Irina-senpai is uncomfortable around Yuki-senpai,” Koneko added.

“I hope that she’ll be able to move past it, but I understand that what I made her do would make her uncomfortable to be around me,” I said as I looked at my now empty teacup.

I looked back up at Rias, Koenko, and Yuuto.

“But to your earlier question, Buchou. I have been able to improve my control a bit with our practice sessions and understand some issues with my ability. If I give a command that is too broad, my target will be able to act within the bounds of that order as they wish. And if they receive a strong enough disruption, such as pain or intense emotion, they can break out of my control.”

“I see. Well, you’ve only had a few days to really practice with your newest ability. Continue to practice and keep me informed of any important developments. For now, I’ll continue the ban on using your ability in fights and Rating Games. It’s still too uncontrolled," Rias said.

I nodded. 

“I agree. I am not familiar enough with it to use it reliably anyway. It would likely only hurt our side during a fight.”

“I am still curious as to why Irina-san acted the way she did to your ability, Yuki-san,” Yuuto said. “Ise-kun showed some signs of resistance like Irina did, but he didn’t just shut down and then act suddenly as she did.”

“I don’t know exactly why she reacted that way. It might be due to the wording of the orders I gave, the orders being too open-ended, or that I tried to give multiple orders in a row before she finished processing the last one,” I said with a sigh. “I could be any of those things or all of them.”

“…Or it was something else,” Koenko added.

“Yes. Though I doubt it was the fact that she is a reincarnated Angel. Though she resisted the other commands I gave, she seemed to be affected normally otherwise. I won’t know what the issue was until I have more practice with my Siren Tail.”

Koneko tilted her head.

“…Siren Tail?”

I blinked.

“Yes, my fifth tail. When I first figured out the ability, I named it my Siren Tail.”

“You name your tails?” Yuuto asked with a wry grin.

“I did when I was younger. It’s something the other Kitsune children in my village did, so I did too,” I said with a shrug.

“Well, the name is rather fitting for your ability,” Rias said.

“…That’s cute. What did you name your other tails?” Koneko asked, leaning towards me.

Her face was still blank, but her eyes were rather intense.

“Well, my first tail is my Sight Tail, my second is my Leap Tail, my third is my Illusion Tail, and my fourth is my Shade Tail.”

Rias chuckled softly.

“Those are rather simple but accurate names, Yuki.” 

“I named my first four tails at the same time. It was right after my fourth tail came in when I was five. Then I named my fifth tail when it came in, when I was eleven. The other kids all had rather simple names for their tails similar to mine, though I was the only one with more than one tail at the time. By the time my fifth tail came in, one other Kitsune my age had a second tail, though I never learned what he named it. By that point I was already shunned by the rest of the kids.”

The others were quiet for a moment.

Then Koenko spoke up.

“…Are you going to name your next tail?”

I chuckled.

“No, probably not. That was more of something fun to do as a child. I’ll name the ability, but that’s all.”

Xenovia, Asia, and Irina came back to the table then.

Irina looked more relaxed now.

“What did we miss?” Xenovia asked.

“Yuki-senpai named each of her tails when she was little. She was telling us about it,” Koneko said.

Asia looked immediately interested.

“Oh! What did you name them? I want to learn more about little Yuki!”

I was about to reply when Rias’s phone buzzed. She looked at it, and her face lost all of its casual relaxation.

She stared at the message with a serious look.

“Is everything alright, Buchou?” I asked.

“We need to head back to the house,” Rias said as she stood.

“Right now?” Asia asked. 

“Yes. I’ll explain on the way, but we need to go.”

The rest of us stood, and we quickly made our way out of the cafe.

___

We gathered in a meeting room on the top floor of the Hyoudou house.

It was a room that had been set up to host meetings with important members of the Three Great Powers alliance, and Issei and Rias referred to it as the VIP room.

When we arrived, Issei, Akeno, and Azazel-sensei were already there. 

There were three other people with them.

I recognized Odin-sama immediately despite his rough clothes.

He was sitting at a low table with Azazel-sensei.

The other two standing behind him, I didn’t recognize. 

One was a beautiful silver-haired woman wearing a neat suit.

She had light blue eyes and an attentive look on her face as she watched all of us come into the room.

The other person was a tall, muscular, gruff-looking Fallen Angel man.

The moment his eyes landed on me, his expression soured slightly.

I was confused by his apparent dislike of me.

I had never met the man before and had little dealings with Fallen Angels before meeting Rias and the others.

So he either knew of me or disliked Kitsune.

Odin-sama chuckled to himself as we entered.

“Hohoho, it’s nice to see all of these lovely ladies. I’m glad I stopped by for a visit.”

We all settled in near the main table, and Rias went to Issei before moving to get tea ready.

When she stopped next to Issei, she pinched his cheek and whispered something to him that made him pale slightly and swallow nervously as she left.

Akeno looked upset.

Any trace of her earlier mood from her date with Issei was gone, and she wasn’t bothering to hide her poor mood with her usual smile.

She seemed to be purposefully looking away from the Fallen Angel man, so I could only make the assumption that he was the cause of her mood. 

Rias moved next to Odin-sama and Azazel-sensei and poured them tea. 

“Here you are,” she said with a polite smile.

“Thank you. I’m glad to see you and your group again. There are plenty of large things to look at here,” Odin-sama said as he openly stared at Rias and Akeno’s chests.

Rias’s smile stiffened at his comment.

His lecherous gaze also moved across the rest of the girls in the room.

This was the man Azazel-sensei said I should speak to regarding my seals.

I was already feeling a headache forming at the thought of it.

The silver-haired woman struck Odin-sama on the head with a paper fan. 

“Odin-sama! You can’t stare at them with such a perverted gaze!” She shouted as he rubbed the top of his head. “She is the little sister of the Maou Lucifer-sama! You’re going to cause a diplomatic incident!”

“Sheesh, you’re no fun, are you?” He muttered. “Sirzechs Lucifer’s younger sister is famous for being a beauty with a glamorous body, so staring can’t be helped. And those other girls aren’t lacking either. I’m not going to ignore something interesting when it’s right in front of me.”

Odin-sama’s gaze landed on me as he finished.

I couldn't tell if he was still being a pervert or was inspecting the seals on me. 

“You are meant to have manners,” the woman snapped at him.

At least the woman with him seemed to be reasonable.

“Yes, yes,” he said as he rubbed his head.

Odin-sama looked back at the rest of us.

“Oh, and this woman nagging me is my escort Valkyrie.”

“My name is Rossweisse. I will be under your care during our stay in Japan. It is a pleasure to meet all of you.”

She bowed politely after introducing herself.

“Yes, and she’s a virgin girl, where the number of years she hasn’t had a boyfriend equals her age,” Odin-sama said with a smirk.

Rossweisse made a strange noise before collapsing to her knees from her bow.

“Why did you tell them that?! That wasn't important, and it’s not like I chose not to have a boyfriend! I'll find someone eventually! I’m still young!” She cried out and smacked the floor with a closed fist.

I stared at her as she complained about being single and how it wasn’t her fault.

It appeared that she was only reasonable about certain things.

Her neat and proper appearance didn’t match how she was acting at all. 

“Well, business in the world of battle maidens has been rough lately,” Odin-sama said. “Even if they have looks, the truly outstanding ones are rare. Heroes and great warriors are harder to find these days. Because of that, the Valkyrie force had to be reduced. So even this one was pushed to the side before becoming my escort.”

Azazel-sensei chuckled as he set down his teacup.

“It’s been decided that while the Geezer is staying in Japan, we will be his guards. Baraqiel here was sent as support for the Fallen Angels because of this. And with how busy I’ve been lately, there will be times when I have to leave town for a bit. In those cases, Baraqiel will look after your group.”

The large Fallen Angel man, Baraqiel-san, nodded.

“I look forward to working with you.”

After hearing his name, I realized that he was Akeno’s father.

That explained her poor mood and why she seemed to dislike him so much.

That would make things complicated.

And I normally would be worried that we were supposed to act as bodyguards for a god, but after seeing Odin-sama fight before, it felt like more of a formality than anything.

Azazel-sensei frowned slightly at Odin-sama.

“But Geezer, why did you show up so early? You weren’t supposed to arrive for your visit to speak with the Japanese gods for a few days, right? Michael, Sirzechs, and I will be attending that meeting with you. Those two are intermediaries, and I’m just there to escort you, right?”

“That’s the idea,” Odin-sama said, stroking his beard. “But things are a little troublesome on my side. There’s a troublesome lad in our country who objects to my ways. I thought it would be better to move things along before he causes trouble. So I want to speak with the Japanese Gods sooner. Until now, our sides haven’t exactly been sociable with one another.”

I frowned.

If there was someone who was causing issues among the gods of Valhalla and it was enough to cause Odin-sama to act prematurely, then it was a worrying situation.

Especially if that person had ties to the Khaos Brigade.

Azazel-sensei smirked at Odin-sama.

“When you say trouble, you don’t mean the Vanir are coming after you, right? I'd prefer it if you didn’t start Ragnarok while you’re under our protection, Geezer.”

I could see that Issei looked lost at the mention of one of the tribes of Norse gods and the Norse mythos apocalypse.

Odin let out a low sigh.

“I don’t care about the Vanir they— Well, there’s no  reason to discuss that now.” He said as he shook his head. “More interestingly, it seems the Khaos Brigade are increasing the number of those who can use Balance Breaker. Scary, isn’t it? You’re the expert here, but isn’t that phenomenon supposed to be rare?”

Our group straightened at the mention of the Khaos Brigade members reaching Balance Breaker.

Just like the shadow user we fought at the factory.

Azazel nodded.

“They’re supposed to be. But some idiot found the quickest and dumbest way to have someone from a group succeed in reaching Balance Breaker. It’s a method that is simple, and anyone who has researched Sacred Gears has probably thought of it once. But the method is so unethical and cruel that no faction would be able to do it without the others stopping them.”

Issei asked as he leaned forward with interest.

“What method?”

Azazel-sensei sighed.

“The theory from the report Rias submitted regarding the Hero faction member you fought recently was pretty much correct. The process is simple. You gather Sacred Gear members by force. Then you brainwash and control them. And you send them to fight strong foes, those they normally shouldn’t be facing. You repeat that over and over until someone achieves  Balance Breaker. Then you teleport them back to you. Pretty much you throw enough into the fire until one makes it through.”

“That’s…” Asia whispered.

“Horrible,” Yuuto finished quietly.

Azazel nodded.

“These are things no major faction can do for a variety of reasons. If I had abducted Sacred Gear users and started sending them to important locations of Devils and Angels, they would treat it as an act of war and attack the Grigori. Or they would condemn me and try to stop me. But the Khaos Brigade can do so because they are terrorists.”

That meant the Khaos Brigade was building a force of brainwashed fighters who achieved Balance Breaker.

Even if it was a lower-tier Sacred Gear, any Balance Breaker was a force to be reckoned with.

“I think I trained to reach Balance Breaker in a pretty inhuman way too… It sounds kind of familiar…” Issei muttered.

“But you’re a devil. You’re tougher than a human, you know?” Azazel-sensei said with a smile.

“Even so, I almost died!”

“Ah, well.” Azazel-sensei waved one hand. “It doesn’t matter since it’s you.”

Issei stared at him in outrage.

“You can’t wave it off like that!”

Issei looked defeated as Azazel-sensei ignored his complaints.

Azazel-sensei returned to the previous topic.

“Either way, that’s the Khaos Brigade’s method. Abduct humans. Brainwash them. Force them into impossible battles until one of them breaks through.”

“What kind of people could do such horrible things like that?” Asia asked, her voice full of worry. 

“The main Hero Faction members. They are a gathering of ‘legendary heroes’ and ‘great warriors’,” Azazel-sensei said with disdain. “Their physical strength can match that of both Angels and Devils. And on top of that, they have legendary weapons and Sacred Gears. And on top of that, they have many members who have achieved Balance Breaker. And on top of that, they have multiple Longinus possessors in their ranks. But from the reports I've received, the Hero Faction members refuse to use Ophis’s snakes to enhance themselves.”

“They call themselves heroes, but they kidnap and sacrifice others for their own goals. It’s disgraceful,” Xenovia said with a scowl.

“…They’re monsters,” Koneko murmured.

“What are they planning by increasing the number of Balance Breaker users? That is the real problem,” Odin-sama said casually.

He wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t seem to be taking the issue seriously.

“It’s still under investigation. So there is no point exhausting ourselves speculating when we don’t have enough data,” Azazel-sensei said as he leaned back.

He turned to Odin-sama.

“So, Geezer. Since we’re not solving that right now, are there any places you particularly want to go?”

Odin-sama’s face lit up with a lecherous grin.

“I sure want to go to the Oppai-pub!”