Chapter 14

Finally understanding why he’d felt like he was hugging a body pillow last night, Shoyo got up and washed up to prepare for school. As always, his self-discipline was top-tier, the legendary "other people's child," the model student everyone praised.

“Est, please transform into your holy sword form and hide inside my body,” Shoyo said to the little l*li spirit who held the power to slay Demon Lords.

“Hmm..............” Est nodded, turning into a beam of white light that surged into the contract crest on Shoyo’s hand.

“The power in my body’s definitely increased. Just a little more and I’ll reach the level of a Middle-class devil.” Shoyo clenched his fist, feeling the abundant spiritual energy coursing through his body. He used to think that a single Queen piece would be enough to boost him to Upper-class devil level, but the reality was far more demanding, he’d need a truckload of them. His body was a bottomless pit, not so easy to upgrade. On the other hand, he was practically invincible at every level. A Low-class devil with the strength to fight an Upper-class one? Ridiculous. Yet, it was real.

Feeling great about his power-up, Shoyo opened his door.

Click!

“Hm?” He paused. Something, or someone, was in front of his door. Since he didn’t constantly keep [Krishna the Dark One] active, he hadn’t noticed the presence outside.

If he ever truly reached the level of the Origin Vishnu, [Krishna the Dark One] would grant him near-omniscience and omnipotence. For now, it merely amplified his senses and occasionally gave him strange bursts of knowledge.

“Uh... why is she at my door?” Shoyo finally saw who it was. Even if you're the Maou-sama, isn’t loitering at someone else's door a bit much?

With that thought, Shoyo kicked the door.

Thump!
Thud!

Two distinct sounds, one was the door being kicked, and the other, the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground.

“She didn’t even dodge?” Shoyo opened the door and found Serafall lying face-down in complete despair.

“Hey... hey?” Shoyo called out, noting that her eyes were wide open, but lifeless. What the hell happened to her? She looked like she’d been... broken? But he didn’t recall doing anything that would have led to this.

Thump!

Seeing her unresponsive, Shoyo didn’t hesitate and kicked her raised butt. It turned out to be very effective. He’d expected her to stop him before the kick landed, but surprisingly, it sent her flying into the door of the room across the hallway. That impact seemed to snap her out of her daze.

“Screwed up~ Screwed up Screwed up Screwed up Screwed up...” Serafall stared at Shoyo blankly, mumbling in a loop as she fell into a spiral of self-loathing.

“What did you screw up?!” Shoyo asked, confused. “You’re a Maou for crying out loud! Why’re you acting like a kicked puppy?”

“Now... now Sona-chan will definitely disown me as her Onee-sama!” Serafall wailed, tears welling up in her eyes. She glanced at Shoyo, her expression growing even more dramatic.

“Ahh, Sona-chan! Don’t abandon your Onee-sama! You can punish me however you want!” she screamed, bolting out of his apartment in a flash.

“Uhh.................. what... what just happened?” A cold sweat ran down Shoyo’s forehead. Why was she acting like this? What did she do to make Sona that mad?

[Master, I believe it has something to do with last night. She’s been acting this way ever since she came to your room.] Est’s voice echoed from the crest on the back of his hand, flickering with white light.

“She came to my room last night? What did she do?” Shoyo frowned. A suspicious idea popped into his mind.

[She stuffed some red things into your body. I wanted to stop her, but you didn’t have enough spiritual power to lend me strength.]

“Then why didn’t you tell me this morning?”

[Because... I forgot.]

“Pfft.”

“Whatever. The things she stuffed in, are they like these?” Shoyo raised his hand, and an image of various chess pieces appeared in midair.

[Hmm... six of these, one of that, and that one too...] Est pointed to them one by one.

Sure enough, when Shoyo looked inward, he sensed the presence of six Pawn pieces, one Rook, and one Bishop inside his body.

“She seriously snuck devil pieces into me? That’s totally something she would do,” Shoyo growled. Just kicking her once was too kind, he should’ve spanked her properly! Secret devil reincarnation?! And she didn’t even say anything?

“But I don’t feel like a real devil... The demonic energy is such a small part of my power. If she’s acting like she messed up, does that mean the reincarnation failed?”

“How ironic...” Shoyo chuckled. Sona would probably rip Serafall’s ears off over this one.

“Whatever, I’ll head to school first. I wonder if Sona already knows.” Still smiling, Shoyo gathered his things and walked out.

“Huh?” In the living room, he noticed a small item on the table. “Did she leave this behind as a souvenir?” It was a pink magic wand. But unlike a toy, this one could actually release magic. While the spells weren’t especially powerful, it still had a variety of useful enchantments.

“For now, I’ll take this as consolation. Once I’m strong enough, I’ll make her pay me back properly.” Shoyo narrowed his eyes and tucked the wand away. When he reached Middle-class devil level, he should be able to analyze and learn some of the Maou-grade spells from it.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Time for school~ One more sign-in left today.” His spirits were high, probably thanks to the haul of devil pieces he’d unknowingly received yesterday.


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Just as he stepped out, Shoyo ran into Issei Hyoudou, who was giving him a weird look.

“Hey, Shoyo? Was that your girlfriend who ran out of your place earlier? In a magical girl outfit, no less? I didn’t expect you to be into that kind of thing, man...” Issei grinned, clearly trying to tease him.

“And uh... I wanted to ask you something important.” His tone shifted, suddenly more serious. “A girl asked me out on a date yesterday.”

“Oh?” Shoyo raised an eyebrow. Amano Yuuma?

“Yeah, and... I’m really not into girls,” Issei confessed with an awkward laugh. “So I was hoping... could you take my place?”

“Hm. Where did you agree to meet her?” Shoyo asked, unsurprised.

“She wants to go shopping today, and I didn’t know how to say no... So maybe, if a handsome guy like you goes instead, she won’t get too mad, right? Hehe...” Issei chuckled nervously.

That was Issei’s logic. Girls were complicated, boys were simpler and easier to deal with. That’s how he saw it.

“Hm, okay,” Shoyo replied simply. His thoughts were clear, maybe he could trigger a useful sign-in from Amano Yuuma?


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