Chapter 212: Loser

Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Loser

Kuoh

The soft click of a chess piece against the board broke the silence in the room. Sona Sitri withdrew her hand after moving one of her bishops, while Rias sat across from her glaring furiously at the board, a cup of tea at her side and several of her captured pieces already piled near the edge.

"I don’t like it," Sona commented without taking her attention off the board. "This has been going on for almost two months now."

Rias rested her cheek against one hand, still more concerned with finding a way out of her current position. "Two months of what?" she asked distractedly.

"Kuoh has been quieter than usual." Sona turned her attention toward one of the windows, where the green grass and trees surrounding Kuoh Academy could be seen outside. "Activity reports have dropped considerably. We used to encounter stray devils around Kuoh fairly often, but lately several of them have disappeared before my group can even track them down."

Rias picked up one of her pieces and began playing with it between her fingers. "And that’s a bad thing? Fewer stray devils means less work. Besides, why does it matter? It’s not our problem."

Sona rolled her eyes. Of course Rias would say something like that. Her friend barely concerned herself with those kinds of matters; she spent most of her time in her club, handled one or two contracts, and seemed to consider that enough to fulfill her responsibilities. Sona had told her more than once that she needed to be doing much more, especially considering her situation with Riser.

If Rias truly wanted any chance of changing her future, she needed to train, gain experience, and face real enemies instead of waiting for a solution to appear on its own. The problem was that lecturing Rias about it was almost like talking to a wall.

Sona let out a sigh and returned her attention to the board. "It would at least be useful to know why they’re disappearing." She moved another piece before continuing. "I doubt they all suddenly decided to leave Kuoh at the same time. Someone is eliminating them."

That managed to catch Rias’s interest a little more. "Someone?"

"Probably." Sona studied the board while considering the possibilities. "And if they’re defeating stray devils often enough to reduce their presence throughout the entire area, I seriously doubt they’re weak."

Rias’s blue eyes lit up. "Can you imagine if we found them?"

Sona narrowed her eyes. She knew that tone far too well. "Rias..."

"Think about it." The Gremory leaned forward slightly, almost completely forgetting about the game. "If they’re independent and really that strong, they could make a great addition to my peerage."

Sona massaged her temple while calmly moving a rook. "I don’t think that would be a good idea."

Rias made a small pout. "We don’t even know who it is."

"Exactly." Sona raised her eyes toward her friend. "You don’t know who they are, what they want, or why they’re hunting stray devils. And Kuoh isn’t Gremory territory either. We’re here because Damon allowed our presence under the terms agreed upon with Lady Venelana. If you start trying to recruit supernatural beings operating within his territory without even knowing who you’re dealing with, you could get yourself into serious trouble very quickly."

Rias crossed her arms beneath her chest, clearly unconvinced, though she did not argue. Sona’s words had gone in one ear and were already dangerously close to going out the other. Someone capable of eliminating stray devils with ease could be exactly the kind of piece she needed. A powerful piece meant a stronger peerage, and in Rias’s mind, that meant one more chance of eventually freeing herself from her engagement to Riser.

Sona recognized the expression on her friend’s face and sighed. "You’re not listening to me."

"I am listening to you, Sona. You don’t have to tell me again," the redhead complained with a pout.

"I’m just saying it doesn’t look like you are," the Sitri replied calmly.

Rias gave a small huff and put on her most innocent expression. "You said I should be careful. That’s all."

"That wasn’t even remotely all I said," Sona replied, shaking her head as she moved another piece. "Check."

Rias finally looked down at the board, her eyes widening. "What? When did you do that? I didn’t even notice!" The Gremory dropped her forehead against the table, making several pieces shake across the board.

Sona calmly adjusted her glasses as a faint gleam crossed the lenses. "That’s what happens when you’re too busy thinking about turning a complete stranger into your servant." She looked over the board once more before adding with satisfaction, "By the way, this makes the one hundred and twenty-seventh time I’ve beaten you. One hundred and twenty-seven to zero."

At that, Rias raised her head with a frown. She hated losing, and she hated hearing the score out loud even more. She studied her position again with an intensity that would have been far more useful a few minutes earlier, desperately searching for an escape Sona already knew did not exist. The Sitri let her try anyway; she was in no hurry and knew perfectly well how it would end.

"Speaking of your peerage," Sona commented while Rias continued searching for an impossible move, "how is your newest member doing?"

Rias looked up. "Issei? Pretty well. He still has a lot to learn, but he’s making progress. I still don’t know exactly what his Sacred Gear is, but it has to be something pretty good. Eight Pawns is... wow."

Sona nodded, completely agreeing with her friend on that point. Requiring eight Evil Pieces of the same type to reincarnate a single human was impressive; even she was curious about what Issei Hyoudou might be hiding. "I’m still surprised you recruited him. You could’ve gotten yourself into serious trouble, Rias. You know Lord Damon’s rules."

"Damon said he didn’t want us Devils running around Kuoh reincarnating humans as if they were resources." Rias shrugged. "Issei agreed voluntarily. I didn’t force him into anything."

Sona remained silent while turning one of the captured pieces between her fingers. Knowing Rias, she did not doubt that Issei had agreed of his own free will. What she did question was how much her friend had done to convince him. Rias had an irritating talent for getting certain men to do exactly what she wanted whenever she put her mind to it.

Sona’s eyes briefly drifted toward the Gremory’s chest before returning to the board.

Especially with those assets...

The Sitri adjusted her glasses with a small twitch in her brow and, when she looked up, found Rias watching her with a mischievous smile, clearly aware of exactly where her eyes had gone. "What?" the Gremory asked with feigned innocence.

"Nothing," Sona replied, turning her attention back to the board, slightly annoyed with herself for reasons she preferred not to examine too closely.

Rias took advantage of the distraction to move her king, convinced she had found a way out. Sona lowered her eyes toward the piece and needed only a moment to respond. "That’s still check."

Rias stared at the board before slowly returning her king to its original square. "Stupid game."

XXXXXXX

"I’m just saying that maybe not everything has to be solved by hitting someone," Asia commented as she walked beside Clarisse through one of Kuoh’s streets, several books held against her chest.

Clarisse let out a grunt. "That sounds exactly like something someone who’s never solved a problem by hitting it would say."

Asia gently shook her head. "The Gospel teaches us that we should try to understand others before judging them. Even when someone hurts us, forgiveness can be—"

"Asia, if you tell me to turn the other cheek again, I’m going to start thinking you want me to get hit twice."

The blonde’s eyes widened slightly. "No! That’s not what it means."

"Then they should’ve written it better," Clarisse replied without the slightest remorse.

Asia let out a small sigh, though the smile that followed made it clear this was far from the first time they had argued about this. Since she had started spending more time with the demigods, she had discovered that discussing religion with Clarisse was a rather unique experience. The daughter of Ares had no problem with Asia’s beliefs; what she could not stand were teachings that, in her opinion, sounded like standing still while someone tried to hurt you.

"Besides, if someone tries to kill you, you’re not going to start quoting Bible verses at them," Clarisse continued as they walked along the sidewalk.

Asia tilted her head. "I could try talking to them first."

Clarisse stopped walking and turned toward her with such a serious expression that Asia ended up stopping as well. "Promise me you’ll never do that."

"But maybe—"

"Asia," Clarisse repeated, her tone making it clear she was not negotiating.

The blonde let out another sigh. "All right, all right."

Satisfied with the answer, Clarisse started walking again. "Good. There’s a reason I like you."

Asia smiled as she fell back into step beside her. "I still think you should read with me sometime."

"I’d rather fight another Hellhound than do something like that," Clarisse replied with a huff.

"Ohhh, please don’t say that. Killing goes against the word of the Lord." Asia hugged the books a little tighter against her chest. "Besides... it was a puppy."

Clarisse turned toward her in disbelief. "It was a three-meter-tall dog that tried to tear my head off."

"But it was pretty cute," Asia replied with complete sincerity.

Clarisse stared at her before shaking her head. "You’re weird."

"Artemis-sama says that isn’t always a bad thing."

"Artemis lives in the woods with a group of girls who shoot arrows at monsters. Her definition of normal is completely broken. She’s even weirder than you." Clarisse raised a finger toward Asia and narrowed her eyes. "And don’t you dare tell her I said that."

Asia let out a small laugh. "I’m not promising anything."

Clarisse was about to reply when they rounded a corner and a boy came running from the opposite direction. Asia was too distracted to move out of the way and ended up colliding with him. Clarisse reacted quickly, grabbing her by the arm before she could lose her balance, while the stranger stumbled several steps backward.

Issei Hyoudou barely managed to stay on his feet, though the Kuoh Academy briefcase he was carrying in one hand was not as lucky. The clasp popped open from the impact and several papers went flying, sliding across the sidewalk around his feet. "Ah! Sorry, sorry!" he said while trying to catch his breath. "I was running late and didn’t see you."

Asia adjusted the books against her chest and immediately crouched down to help him. "I’m fine, sir. Don’t worry. Let me help you with your papers."

Clarisse frowned. "Help him? It was his fault."

"Clarisse-san..."

"What? It’s true."

The daughter of Ares was about to continue when one of the documents lying open near her boots caught her attention. She managed to read a few words printed across the top: Devil Contract.

Clarisse stopped complaining. Her eyes moved from the document to Issei and then to the Kuoh Academy briefcase he was carrying. She did not need much more to begin drawing her own conclusions. She said nothing, but now she was studying the boy far more carefully than before.

Issei, unaware of the redhead’s attention, crouched beside Asia and began gathering the papers. "Thanks. Seriously."

"It’s nothing," she replied warmly as she handed several back to him.

Clarisse crossed her arms. "Do you always run around corners like an idiot, or is today a special occasion?"

Issei raised his head, clearly unsure how he was supposed to answer that. It was then that he really looked at the two of them: first Asia, blonde, kind, and seemingly incapable of getting angry over the accident, and then Clarisse, who was studying him with a considerably less pleasant intensity.

"You two are new around here, right? I don’t think I’ve seen you before," he commented while finishing putting his papers away.

"Good eye," Clarisse replied dryly.

Asia gave her a small nudge with her elbow. "Clarisse-san, he’s trying to be nice."

"Well he’s not very good at it."

"Hey! I only asked if you were new!" Issei protested.

Clarisse briefly looked him over. "And I’m telling you to keep walking, loser."

It took Issei a moment to process the insult before he frowned. "Loser? You don’t even know who I am!"

"You ran into Asia because you were sprinting around like an idiot, and you’ve spent less than a minute trying to impress us. I have enough information."

Asia covered her mouth to hide a small laugh, though Issei caught her immediately and pointed at her with a betrayed expression. "You’re laughing too!"

"I’m sorry," the blonde replied, though the smile still on her face did little to make the apology convincing.

Issei was about to answer when he checked the time and his eyes widened. "Shit, the club meeting!" He closed the briefcase as best he could and took a couple of steps backward. "Uh... sorry again. I have to run!"

Clarisse followed the boy with her eyes as he hurried down the street. A devilish smile slowly appeared on her lips, enough for Asia to know that something bad was about to happen. "Clarisse-san... that smile never means anything good."

"What smile?" the daughter of Ares replied, feigning innocence as she focused on the metal trim of the briefcase swinging beside Issei’s leg. She barely moved two fingers, and the metal obeyed, jerking backward with force just as the boy took his next step.

"Eh—?!"

Issei lost his balance and went flying forward, landing face-first in a puddle beside the sidewalk. His legs folded up behind him and his ass pointed toward the sky while dirty water splashed around him.

Clarisse lasted less than a second before bursting into laughter. "HAHAHAHA!" Asia, meanwhile, brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. "Ohhh, my God!"

Issei shot back to his feet as quickly as he could, soaked from his face down to his chest and red all the way to his ears. Mud covered his face, his eyes were watering from the impact, and the expression of absolute humiliation on his face only made Clarisse laugh even harder. Several nearby pedestrians turned toward the commotion while the daughter of Ares clutched her stomach and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Your face! HAHAHA! You should’ve seen your face!" Clarisse managed between laughs.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Issei shouted, pointing at her in complete outrage.

Clarisse managed to catch enough of her breath to straighten up. "Nothing. You just need to learn to watch where you’re running, loser." Still chuckling, she started walking away and motioned for Asia to follow. "Come on."

Asia remained in front of Issei for a few seconds, torn between helping him and following Clarisse, before bowing her head apologetically. "I’m sorry about Clarisse-san. She’s actually pretty nice once you get to know her."

"Asia!" Clarisse called from farther ahead.

"Coming!"

The blonde hurried to catch up while Issei remained beside the puddle, soaked and embarrassed, watching the two disappear into the crowd. Clarisse still had a smile on her lips, but her attention had already returned to the words she had managed to read on that document.

Devil Contract.

Maybe that loser wasn’t so irrelevant after all.

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