26 - My Deadlock

I raised my eyebrows when I heard Zeoticus, and the back of my left hand suddenly glowed.

"It's been a while, Crimson Devil," Ddraig replied intimately.

"You two... know each other?" I asked, relatively surprised.

At the time, it was a shock to me, but on second thought, it made sense that these two would know each other.

As Rias herself explained, there had been reincarnations of Ddraig's hosts who were devils, and Zeoticus, as an adult devil, had probably lived for thousands of years. Zeoticus laughed briefly at my question. "If we know each other? One of the Welsh Dragon's hosts and I got along very well in our other life. Well... until that happened."

I was about to ask what 'that' was, but I was suddenly interrupted by Ddraig.

"What about that old woman? Is she okay?"

Crossing his arms, Zeoticus nodded. "She went into hibernation again a few centuries ago. I'll let you know when she wakes up."

Surprisingly, Ddraig laughed. "[I doubt she'll wake up in this host's lifetime, but I'll be waiting.]"

"Yes, but she must be getting hungry... Anyway, it wasn't about old memories that I called you two here." Zeoticus said, returning to his previous serious expression. "Please, Tonello-san, have a seat." He pointed to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

I sat down without question, which made Zeoticus smile and look back at the window behind him.

"You made a very bold move for such a young boy, but I must admit it was clever," Zeoticus said solemnly. "Especially since there are few who know about the King Pieces these days. I think I can attribute that to you, Welsh Dragon."

Ddraig did not respond, which Zeoticus could only assume was silence of consent. The long-haired red devil glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"In the end, I believe it was predictable that we would hand over a King Piece to you anyway if you asked. Having the Welsh Dragon as a devil is something we cannot afford to refuse. However, I wonder why you, boy, decided to become a devil when you could have been an Angel? I believe they would have accepted you too."

I shook my head.

"The moral compass of Angels is nothing like mine. I'd probably be kicked out of heaven on the first day." Zeoticus' eyes widened, then he burst out laughing again. "I think that's true. Especially considering that the first person you want to turn into a devil is a former nun. I can't imagine anything more devilish."

Hearing that from a thousand-year-old devil wasn't something that made me feel good about myself, but I guess that was just part of the job. Compared to devils like Diodora Astaroth, my soul was still pure.

"And that's exactly what I want to talk about... Now that you'll have a servant, you'll officially be starting your Peerage. How do you feel about that?" Zeoticus asked.

"Hmm. I don't know yet... Gathering people I can trust in my life can be quite difficult."

"Tonello-san, not every devil needs to have several servants around them. As long as you have one servant you can trust with all your heart, you'll be fine."

Zeoticus' words echoed in my mind as I returned to the room. Our conversation was short and less to the point than I had expected, but I feel that it served to allow Zeoticus to analyze what kind of man I was and whether I was truly trustworthy. He was more of a doting father than I had imagined, since he made a point of talking to me just to make sure his family and others would be okay trusting me.

'I hope I made a good impression,' I thought aloud as I walked toward the Occult Research Club building after class.

That day, I got my set of Evil Pieces and officially made Asia Argento my servant. She slept for an entire night to recover from the mutation process her body had gone through.

Three days later, Asia Argento officially joined the Kuoh Academy thanks to Zeoticus Gremory's efforts.

Thus, I gained a companion for my boring duties as a novice devil. According to Rias, she talked to Sona, and together they decided that I didn't need to be behind a desk full with paperwork like they did. I needed to focus on learning as much as possible.

In the early days, Asia took a while to get used to the activities of a devil, but she caught on easily. For me, it was even better to have a pretty girl by my side all the time while handing out flyers and carrying out boring missions.

However, opportunities to win her heart did not come as easily as I had hoped.

Apparently, I got them more easily at decisive and important moments.

In addition, since each character had different personalities, tastes, and stories, it was a little difficult to predict how to win their hearts.

This system was so balanced that I felt like I wasn't making any progress.

I felt like Akeno was avoiding me, and Asia seemed so happy with her new life that I was afraid to move forward.

So, if I wasn't making any progress with them, I needed to move on.

On Friday morning, I went to the Occult Research Club room before class.

Rias was sitting on the sofa, elegantly drinking green tea.

"Good morning, Rias-san."

"Good morning, Leonard-kun. How are your tasks going?"

"Everything is going well."

I sat down on the same sofa as Rias, and she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Tea?" Rias asked with a slight smile.

I nodded, and she immediately stood up to get another cup from the cabinet near the door.

There were several things I wanted to ask her, but the only thing I could think of as I watched her gently pour the tea was how I could get closer to her naturally.

"Is something bothering you, Leonard-kun? If so, I can try to help," Rias asked, taking the initiative.

When I heard her voice, surprisingly, my thoughts became clearer.

"Actually, yes, I'm curious about something. You have Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko, but why not recruit more?"

As my question hung in the air, Rias sat down, leaned forward to pick up her teacup, and crossed her legs. She brought the cup close to her mouth but stopped at the last moment to ask,

"Leonard-kun, do you know the saying about the Evil Pieces?"

'Saying?' I thought for a moment before shaking my head. 'I've never heard of that.'

"I figured as much." Rias took a sip of tea and began to explain: "Well, among the nobles, there is a saying that has been around for a long time. This saying goes that [Queens] are worth nine [Pawns]. [Rooks] are worth five [Pawns]. [Knights] and [Bishops] are worth three [Pawns] each. It's a simple saying and not nearly as creative as human sayings, but it serves to spread the word that there is no standard for the strength of each individual. It's unfair to Pawns, but it also praises how even a Pawn can be worth as much as a Queen if they are strong enough to carry all the Evil Pieces on their body."

"To be honest, part of me wanted you to be my only powerful Pawn, Leonard-kun," Rias said, her cheeks flushed.

It was the first time I had seen this kind of reaction from her, wasn't it?

"But you probably asked me that question because you think I could have many more servants than I do, am I right? Well, of course, many low-ranking devils would fight each other for the opportunity to serve me, but I don't want an army of servants. I want a team of companions who value each other."

She said and gently placed the cup on the coffee table.

"Companions, right?"

"If you're confused about whether you should follow the same path as me or not, unfortunately, you won't find your answer—"

"No. I've already found my answer." I interrupted Rias and began to drink all of the hot tea, which went down my throat smoothly despite the temperature.

Soon after, I placed the cup on the table and said to Rias:

"I will follow my senpai's example and look for good companions!"

She looked surprised for a moment, but soon closed her mouth.

"You never cease to amaze me, kohai. You'll definitely become strong quickly, but I think I should probably stop adoring you here. Asia will become jealous of me."

"L-Leo-kun...?" I heard a sweet voice behind me.

When I turned around, Asia was trying to smile while her hands trembled.

"A-Asia?"

It was like an arrow struck my head when I remembered that I had asked Asia to go to the cafeteria to buy our breakfast, since I didn't have time to prepare anything before we left home.

"I understand... Rias is very beautiful, so even Leo-kun would like her... N-no! I can't think like that. Maybe we can share and...! No, no. Oh, God— Itee!"

At that moment, I realized I was wrong. If I had more hearts with Asia now than I had with Akeno when I kissed her, she definitely didn't see me as just a friend, and she wasn't as saintly as I thought. Did that mean it was a green light to move forward?