More meetings and a little adventure… I just want to go home though

 

 

Part 1

 

MC’s POV

 

After teleporting us,
Grayfia-san led the way out of the building we used as an arrival point.

 

I can only make a guess here,
but in case something when wrong, this distance from the meeting place was
going to be enough to buy time for important people to flee the scene. There
could be several reasons, but I couldn’t care less.

 

Two particular things were
taking my full attention. First, the scenery around the Underworld, and second,
Grayfia-san's appearance that I could appreciate better now we were walking to
the mansion of the Sitri household.

 

The Underworld was less
exciting than I originally thought, I mean, there were weird-looking trees here
and there, but other than the sky which looked different colored than the one I
am used to, this just looked like a foreign country. Urakyoto looked more
wondrous to me.

 

That said, I might be slightly
partial to one side considering my precedence. However, you can't blame me
here; I was expecting the flying islands I read in the Canon. Sadly none of
them were in sight. Perhaps a closer look into one of the cities might change
my mind later.

 

Now, in the case of
Grayfia-san, she looked like I imagined, a beautiful young woman. She was
slightly smaller than Kaa-san but still tall overall. With silver hair and red
eyes, her hair is long enough to reach her back which she keeps in two long
braids at the front with even longer twin braids in the back. Her blue and
white long-sleeved French maid outfit also stands out a lot.

 

Maids are life.

 

Well, she was an attractive
woman so there is no way that she will look bad. This is why attractive people are
unfair. Wait, Kaa-san is beautiful too, given that I have some resemblance to
her, perhaps I will be good-looking!? No way, genetic always screws up at times
like this.

 

Having nonchalant thoughts I
kept myself distracted from the uncomfortable silence that the two
young-looking women created.

 

Even though I expected this
after the comment from before we teleported, this was hard to take.

 

Even when I tried to push a
topic of conversation like-

 

"Should we take the
opportunity to look around later? There are many places that seem interesting
around here". I asked my silent Kaa-san.

 

"Why here? I can take you
to more interesting places later". Kaa-san sourly muttered.

 

Aaaargh, why are you making
this so hard? And you had even told me before how you wanted me to be stronger
before leaving Urakyoto to look around just the other day, although we are in
the Underworld right now.

 

As expected, the third party
here did not take her words nicely.

 

"Nora-kun, I could give
you a tour if you want, there are many interesting places to look around here
and I could take you to sightsee given you agree to it though".
Grayfia-san offered 'kindly'.

 

Why are you acting so
different from your Canon self all of sudden? I know that as a maid, and as the
queen of the peerage from that overpowered Maou, you don't have much free time
to spare.

 

You were supposed to be very
thorough about your duties too.

 

I am not such a fool to
believe that this is a sudden rush of affection and you took a liking to me.
This was to get back at Kaa-san's comment from before; she would get angry if
her son took someone else's side during an argument.

 

Any kind of answer will piss
off the other party. This is a too high-level ordeal for me.

 

...

...

 

My salvation came in form of the
Sitri household’s mansion.

 

Never in my life, had I felt
such an appreciation for a building, seriously.

 

A large western-styled
mansion, that pretty much explained what I was seeing. We had finally arrived
after a few minutes of walking.

 

Kaa-san, true to her desire to
leave as soon as possible asked to be taken to meet the requester. I, being
concerned about her possible reactions, of course, follow along, but against
all probabilities-

 

They got along surprisingly
well, thanks to my sacrifice (?).

 

...

...

 

"Isn't he cute? Isn't he
soft? Look look!" Kaa-san exclaimed while raising me, in my cat form.

 

This was a nightmare.

 

"Kuh! You win this time;
now let me pet him too". A slight dignified voice spoke.

 

Kaa-san, in a rare moment of
'open-mindedness', handed me to the person who asked her that.

 

"He is the son I am proud
of!" Kaa-san declared brimming with pride.

 

I would be happy if the reason
for those words was not this... hellish situation.

 

The worst is that I kinda
enjoyed being cuddled as of late; my pride being crushed long ago might have
something to do with it though.

 

Now with me in the hands of
the other party, I began getting petted all over... not bad lady, you got talent.

 

In the room we were taken,
only three people and I (In cat form) were talking (I'm being cuddled though).

 

Grayfia-san is currently
placing tea of some probably expensive blend on the table while peeking over
here often. Kaa-san is smugly crossing her arms in a satisfied manner while
observing me. And the remaining party who has me in her arms, Venelana Gremory
is... well, petting me.

 

I was a little surprised at
this but I decided to stop caring since I already met Maid-san. It was a
certain possibility how she is here. After all, it was either her, the
crimson-haired Maou... or that crimson-haired Princess.

 

But really, what's wrong with
the high specs of the people I have met so far. I must be looking plainer and
plainer every time one of these high spec individuals shows up.

 

Venelana Gremory has flaxen
hair that reaches slightly below the shoulder and purple eyes. I think the
purple eyes were one of the features of her family, the Bael. She is wearing a
purple-colored strapless dress that reaches her knees. Although it has a
simple-looking design, it fits her perfectly given her sensual figure.

 

This lady here, as easygoing
as she looks cuddling me is kinda scary. You should not consider her outer
look, but inside of her head.

 

When Kaa-san entered the room,
she immediately asked for the details of the request, and when I thought that
perhaps we would have the second coming of Grayfia-san in our hands... this
woman, Venelana just brushed off the hostilities and started a different topic.

 

Changing topics for a while
with a smile on her face, she led the conversation until Kaa-san was more or
less calm. Then, as a critical hit, she started talking about her children, and
while this could've been ignored by Kaa-san, they somehow started talking about
who had the most adorable child. It was insane how the topic got there.

 

Out of nowhere, Venelana-san
got pictures of her children when they were smaller. This was the starting
point of a competition in that area, which I only won after changing into a cat
after Kaa-san urgings.

 

It was scary how they became
friends that quickly.

 

You should never underestimate
a devil, not to mention a female devil noble who has dealt with all kinds of
troublesome people. Even if Venelana-san looks like this, she has lived much
longer than I can imagine.

 

I think she is scary, but I am
grateful for her efforts.

 

She might have not done this
for Kaa-san's sake, but she was having fun. From what I can tell while she is
near me, there are not many people she can call friends.

 

That said, they are not
talking about the job. I have an idea why the topics did not touch the heart of
the matter so far, and I think it was because of me.

 

The Gremory lady is abstaining
from talking while I am present.

 

It makes me slightly curious
what they will talk about, but I can ask Kaa-san the details later.

 

Nevertheless, we are supposed
to be in the Sitri household property, however, I have not seen any of the
members of the family here so far. Did they leave for today? Too bad, I was kind
of curious about the appearance of the parents of that Student Council
President and Magical Girl.

 

Maybe I should leave for a
while to see if they start talking about the topic. Yes, for that reason.

 

It is certainly not because
while I was lost in thought, I was passed to Grayfia-san's hands and then to
Venelana-san's a couple of times. Yeah, it is not.

 

Part 2

 

Asking for a breather was
easier than I thought, making me think that the idea of waiting for me to leave
to start the real topic might be true, although I truly did not expect to meet
these two here.

 

Who was the idiot that said
something about them not being here? Ah, that was me all along.

 

Grayfia-san had guided me to
another room, but there were already two people (devils) inside.

 

I immediately wanted to change
locations, but the Maid-san just closed the door behind my back leaving me with
the two of them.

 

Without noticing me, the two
seemed to be absorbed in a game of chess.

 

"Sona-chan, that's not
fair!" One of the two people (devils) complained.

 

Blue eyes, with long crimson
and having a strand of hair standing strong on top of her head (called ahoge).
Different from her buxom figure in the future, the current she is just a child.
Using the word beautiful would not fit the current her, but rather cute. She
was wearing a light pink dress, Rias Gremory.

 

"It is not unfair; the
rules of the game say that you can do that, Rias". The other person (devil)
reasoned.

 

With black hair styled in a
short bob cut and violet eyes, wearing purple framed glasses, another person (devil)
different from her adolescent version in the canon. Now a child wearing a blue
dress with a few frills, like her friend, beautiful did fit to describe her
child form. The word cute is what fits her the most. Sona Sitri.

 

"Ehh? Why are you calling
me Rias? I like it more when you call me Rias-chan..." The young Rias
exclaimed.

 

What the heck? I am meeting
too many canon characters at once.

 

Is it because I spent so much
time living secluded with Kaa-san that these meetings came all at once?

 

"We need to act more
befitting to our role as heirs of our clans and families. I certainly do not do
it because I am feeling shy when you call me like that in public". The
young Sona replied while she avoided eye contact with Rias.

 

Little girl, your true
thoughts just leaked.

 

However, I did not expect I
would witness the child version, no, the loli version of these two.

 

The description from their
respective sis-con brother and sister were true, they are adorable.

 

So far, the canon characters I
met were extremely similar to their counterpart in the novel, only
appearance-wise though, but this time I got to see a new side from these two.

 

Seeing new sights seems like a
goal worth pursuing. Doing that should be fun.

 

Nevertheless, these two sure
got absorbed in their bickering. They still have not noticed me. They just
continue to talk among themselves.

 

"To begin with Rias, you
need to learn more about the game before you-". Sona, no, Sona-chan was
going to lecture Rias-chan when she turned her head my way and made eye contact
with me, she immediately stopped talking.

 

Widening her eyes in surprise,
she just stared at me without saying a word.

 

Now I feel bad. I wonder if I
scared her. Imagine if suddenly you find a stranger staring at you inside the
room with you, and you don't know how he got there... yeah, scary.

 

"What is it? Sona-chan,
you just suddenly went-". Rias-chan spoke after noticing her silent friend;
turning her sights my way... she also stared at me with wide eyes.

 

Well, this is awkward.

 

"...Hi there". I
said while raising a hand.

 

The first one to recover her
bearings was... Sona-chan.

 

Wait... Should I use '-san'
for these two instead of '-chan'?

 

"...Who are you? Are
you-". She started questioning me but was interrupted by Rias-chan.

 

"It's a Youkai! Look
Sona-chan! He has a tail and cat ears". Rias-chan excitedly exclaimed.

 

Hmmmm? Tail? Cat ears?

 

Moving my hands on top of my
head to confirm that, I found two soft cat ears.

 

I had forgotten to hide them
after the whole cat-form-and-cuddling situation.

 

The funny thing is how I got
used to having them in this life. When I just became aware of them, I couldn't
help but be conscious of them and feel every little movement, but nowadays I
just accept them as a normal part of my body and don't pay too much attention
to it unless I focus on them or feeling their changes.

 

Quickly hiding my Nekomatas
traits with Youjutsu I turn to face the two girls in front of me.

 

"Awww, the ears are
gone". Rias-chan muttered with mild surprise and disappointment.

 

Glad that you are at least
having fun.

 

"Rias, wait... I have
never seen him before in the mansion, and you did not bring any servant with
you having a similar description. You can't carelessly approach him".
Sona-chan warned while taking Rias-chan's hand and backing off.

 

Oh... so she had a good head
on her shoulders since a young age.

 

"I know, I know... It's
just that it is really rare to meet a Youkai in the Underworld". Rias-chan
replied.

 

She was always carefree
compared to Sona-chan, but from the signal of danger I am feeling from one of
her hands... she must be gathering her demonic power in case I am a suspicious
person.

 

That is not a bad idea.

 

However, this room is not that
big so I could reach them rather quickly if I tried. Instead of facing an
unknown person, you should call for help, little girls.

 

While those two backed away, I
wondered what to do to dispel this atmosphere.

 

"If I say that I am not a
suspicious person. Would you believe me?" I tried asking just in case.

 

I could see both of them
shaking their heads.

 

Yeah, figures.

 

 

...

...

 

 

Things were awkward for a
while until my silver-haired savior came.

 

Grayfia-san, the cause of this
situation, just nonchalantly came carrying a tray of snacks and tea for the
young girls and me. That was why she had left after dropping me here.

 

I had my complaints, but the
snacks were good and no harm came to me. However, I kinda feel like I was being
tested somehow but the feeling was faint.

 

After clearing my identity as
a guest, the two girls apologized.

 

Not much they could do about it;
I was pretty suspicious to suddenly appear in the room out of the blue, not to
mention that I never let them know of my presence until they found me.

 

With that out of the way,
Grayfia-san just left to take care of her duties, whatever those were.

 

I was left alone with the
girls alone again, and without much to do, I joined them in a match of chess.

 

Currently, I was sitting on a
sofa by myself; a table was in front of me, placed on top of it there was a
chessboard. On the other side seated on a sofa too, Rias-chan and Sona-chan
were facing me.

 

The sitting arrangements came
simply because of their somewhat shyness to sit close to a stranger like me,
and while Rias-chan was curious about my traits as Youkai, she became focused
on the game as soon as it started.

 

They were taking turns playing
with me, considering that they play with each other often.

 

Thankfully for me, I knew my
way somewhat in chess, although I was far off from being a pro, I had
experienced a good number of matches so I could put up a fight.

 

At the moment, I was facing
Rias-chan.

 

"Hmmm, if I move here
then the match will finish quickly, here too... and here too". Rias-chan's
mumbled while paying attention to each of her pieces.

 

While I think I was somewhat
bullying her, I could not go easy on any of them, because when I tried it
before they got mad, although they were frustrated when they lost too. It made
no sense. But I just followed along with their instructions.

 

To be honest, I am mostly
relying on strategies from people I played with in the past so this is not my
victory.

 

"No good, I am almost out
of moves". Rias-chan bitterly commented.

 

Oh, the guilt.

 

By Rias-chan's side, Sona-chan
seemed to pay attention to the board too.

 

This game is close to
finishing so she might be trying to learn about my strategy to use it during
her turn or to prepare a countermeasure.

 

Talk about a hard worker.

 

Having time to spare, I
started to look around the room but quickly lost interest. Everything looked
luxurious, but there was nothing that I found interesting.

 

I wondered if there was a
library around here. Although I had tested somewhat the ability to understand a
good number of languages, I would like to see how it would fare with books
written in devil tongues. He (?) mentioned that I would understand all
languages here, but He (?) is rather unreliable sometimes.

 

Even the other ability that he
gave me is too hard to use often.

 

Going back to the library, if
I ask the girls, they would not deny me that information, right?

 

I can't deny the possibility
of them doing it for reasons like preventing me from reading some important
family-only related books though.

 

"Excuse me; do you have a
library around here? I am curious about what kind of books you have here".
I tried asking.

 

"Library, is it? We have
one but-". Sona-chan answered while looking at the board.

 

She must be worried about
interrupting her friend's match.

 

Said friend though-

 

"That's right! I forgot.
The book I told you about before... I had left it there for you to read later
but we can go now to look for it". Rias spoke as vigorously stood up.

 

"But, what about the
game?" Sona-chan inquired in a concerned tone.

 

She does care about it huh.

 

"Let's leave it like for
the moment, we can continue after coming back. I will show you the book first,
I am sure you will like it". Rias-chan cheerfully said after thinking for
a short moment.

 

Not like I mind, but it has
already been decided that we are coming back to play again huh.

 

"*Sigh* Very well, follow
me, Shiki-san. I will lead you there". Sona-chan exasperatedly said.

 

She sighed at that but still
followed Rias-chan's idea to go there. I could only sigh at that too.

 

...

...

 

At the library, I opened
different books to test if I could read and it worked perfectly.

 

While I tested that on a few
more books I could not help but listen to the pair's conversation.

 

"This is the book! It
became pretty famous in the human world recently. The Author, Kuroneko has also
published several light novels and mangas too, and I have read all his works. I
am one of his fans". Rias-chan proudly explained.

 

*Dropping book noises*

 

The devil duo turned to the
source of the sound.

 

"Are you ok?"
Rias-chan asked worriedly.

 

While she did not say
anything, Sona-chan was also looking at me who dropped the book on his foot
with concern.

 

Ouch! It was quite heavy.

 

"I am ok! I thought the
book was going to be lighter and it slipped off my fingers when I was reaching
for it". I answered.

 

"*Sigh* Do be careful.
They can be pretty heavy". Sona-chan commented after she heard that I was
fine.

 

Rias-chan also stopped looking
this way and kept cheerfully telling her friend about the book.

 

Back to me though, what I had
said was a lie. I can break regular wooden logs if I want to so this book was
nothing. I dropped the damn thing after I heard what they were talking about.

 

Kuroneko is the creative (it
isn't) pseudonym I chose to publish my original stories, only my original
stories. The light novels and manga are supposed to be published under another
pseudonym, one that certain four-tailed nekomata and nine-tailed fox were
supposed to manage. However, this was... damn, Kaa-san and Yasaka-san had a
hand on this. They are not letting me prepare a stage where I hand them all the
money I make with those.

 

I hardly deal with the people
working in those areas, I only write the manuscripts. The closest thing I had
to do with the publishing process was during those meetings regarding the manga
adaptations.

 

Those two, I would eventually
found out. Were they even trying to hide it?

 

Besides, I am surprised that
one of the copies ended up here, not to mention that it was the novel I created
and not some of the ones I copied. Well, I do recall Kaa-san mentioning how it
became popular with kids before.

 

Nevertheless, it ended in
Rias-chan's hands and now she spreading the word.

 

Rias-chan, good job!

 

Such a good kid is spreading
the word about my book; I should reward her by... Hmmm... giving her a sign?
She does like the book. Wait, I recall this girl liked Japan a lot so perhaps
giving her Japanese sweets would be a better idea.

 

As I keep having random
thoughts I continued to hear them speaking.

 

"It is unusual to listen
to you talk so much about a book these days, perhaps I should buy one
too". Sona-chan muttered while opening the book to take a look.

 

Once again, Rias-chan good
job!

 

Now, this girl will buy one
too and she will spread the word as well. Sweets for Sona-chan too.

 

Like this, more and more
people (devils) will come to know about it. Should I make a manga version?

 

Well, I am happy that people
liked my work so I will just leave it at that for now.

 

"Rias, there is no such a
thing nearby..." I could hear Sona-chan's troubled voice.

 

Wait, what? Wasn't she
defeated by Rias-chan's sales pitch and started reading the book?

 

"There is, I heard the
maids in the mansion talking about it. Let's go and take a look".
Rias-chan argued.

 

What happened to your sales
pitch?

 

"Rias, I don't think you
should believe in those rumors. It is true that we have a big forest just
outside of the mansion, but there is no treasure to be found". Sona-chan
explained and added. "This might not be our main residence but I know that
there is no such a thing".

 

You tell her, girl! And then,
start reading again... then get hooked and buy the bo- wait... What are they
talking about?

 

"Sona-chan, let's just
take a look... Please?" Rias-chan begged pitifully while putting her hands
together, and lowering her head a bit... even her ahoge seemed crestfallen.

 

The heck, how do you do that?
Can you move it on your own? How unrealistic... No, never mind. This is
Highschool DxD world; my previous world's logic won't work here.

 

"Rias, you... *Sigh* Let
me ask you this. I just did a quick read and don't know many details, but your
sudden urge to go and check that rumor. Was inspired because you read this book
after all?" Sona-chan inquired using a stern gaze to question Rias-chan while
pushing her glasses.

 

"Urgh... Nooo?" Rias-chan
replied while avoiding eye contact.

 

It does sound like your
bespectacled friend said if you act like that little girl.

 

Although, I never thought
about what kind of influence it might have on people who read it. Well, I did
not even think it would sell this well either.

 

At her answer, Sona-chan
narrowed her eyes.

 

"So, you don't want to
'look for treasures' because the book is about that particular theme then?"
Sona-chan asked.

 

Her question sent Rias-chan
into a panicked state.

 

"Eh? Uh... maybe?"
Rias-chan replied after the pressure that the gaze of Sona-chan was releasing
made her answer honestly.

 

You gave up too fast missy.

 

"You also said that we
should go alone? You know that it is reckless to do so". Sona-chan
continued questioning Rias-chan.

 

On the other hand, Rias-chan
was not sure what to answer; her eyes were darting left and right in hopes to
find some help.

 

Oh no, this was no good.

 

I try to turn my head again to
pay attention to the book in hopes that I don't get involved. But my green eyes
met a certain pair of blue eyes, and the effect was as I expected.

 

She opened her eyes wide and
seemed to regain her vigor, heck, even that damn ahoge was standing proudly.

 

With a beaming smile, she
started to talk.

 

"We will not go alone, he
will come with us". Rias-chan proclaimed as she pointed me at me.

 

What about asking me first?

 

"Shiki-san will? But he
never said that". Sona-chan argued, finally lowering the hand that was
raising her glasses.

 

Her stern gaze softened and
her tone was filled with suspicion.

 

Turning to me, Rias-chan
included me in the conversation by asking me something which did not give me
the freedom to turn her down.

 

"You are coming with us,
right? Great!" Rias-chan said in a high-spirited voice without waiting for
me to answer anything back.

 

"Rias... *Sigh* I am
sorry that you got dragged into this. Would you mind coming with us? I am not
sure about that 'treasure', but going to take a look is the only thing that
will calm her down now that she is like that. The forest is not far, a few minutes’
walk if we go at a normal pace". Sona-chan asked. She was exasperated at
her friend's actions, but Sona-chan still decided to convince me to tag along.

 

As loli, she might look, but
she does have a responsible personality. She also wanted me to come along
though. Well, I don't have to think too deeply about this.

 

They are both nice girls, and
we might become friends in the future thanks to today’s meeting.

 

Coming here today, I thought
of taking advantage to form a good tie for the sake of Kaa-san and Yasaka-san,
but I don't think my conscience would stand using these two for that.

 

Due to my lack of response,
Rias-chan came closer to me and waved her hand in front of my face.

 

"Are you ok? Are you not
feeling well?" The crimson-haired girl asked with eyes filled with worry.

 

Even though she might act
somewhat spoiled, she does put others well being first. She does stick to her
nature in the canon.

 

While not saying anything, the
bespectacled girl was looking at me the same way.

 

"No, I am fine. Lead the
way, I will follow you". I said with a slight smile to dispel their
worries.

 

I am supposed to be the adult
here.

 

"Great, I will take you
there then". Rias-chan exclaimed cheerfully while taking my hand and
Sona-chan's hand, then dragging us away.

 

I could only smile wryly at
that.

 

While being dragged I turned
to look beside me and found someone with a similar expression.

 

We both laughed at that.

 

I might be an adult, but I
could not help to remember those times when I was a kid and could play around.
Those times of pure freedom are slightly foggy in my memory but the feeling is
something I won't forget because it was before 'that' happened.

 

Childlike innocence is
something you lose real quickly. Even in this new life, I did not use my time
to play around like the child I look like, but that is why I think that I could
play along with them for now, eventually; this will become a fond memory.

 

I am doing this because I was
slightly nostalgic about my past. Yet, instead of the feelings of the past, I
would like this to be a memory of the present.

 

I don't know if I will meet
them again after all. Not that I would be against it.

 

...

...

 

After getting out of the
mansion, we were walking to the location of the 'treasure' mentioned by
Rias-chan.

 

Talking about the way I refer
to them, it is something they decided after we started to play chess.

 

Rias-chan was quite eager to
be called by her name in a close manner, thus she became Rias-chan, while she
wanted to call me in the same manner. At least while we play, I think if
something official comes up, I might need to use the whole 'Gremory-sama'.

 

Regarding Sona-chan though, she
was more reserved, calling me 'Shiki-san'.

 

Well, she did allow me to call
her by her name, as long as I did not use '-chan'. Mentally I will use that
though. She looks like a loli after all.

 

I think that this is mostly
because she is a shy girl, but her education as a noble might have something to
do with it.

 

Nonchalantly having such a
thought kept me busy for a good part of the way.

 

As we entered this forest, the
little girls were in high spirits (Sona-chan denied it when Rias-chan pointed
it out). There was a slight problem though. Rias-chan was not completely sure
of the place we should go.

 

One thing is to hear about a
place but another one is to be able to get there based on hearing rumors about
it, particularly in this situation. It was a rumor, so the weight of the
information was somewhat weak.

 

During the stroll, Rias-chan
and Sona-chan still kept a high tension talking about this and that, but now
they are tired and don't feel like talking too much.

 

Just in case, I thought that I
should lend a hand to these two.

 

I can't exactly cure wounds at
the same level as Kaa-san but restoring fatigue is simple enough.

 

"Wait you two, I think we
should take a rest". I spoke to make them stop.

 

Both of them did not even
question what I said and stopped.

 

Adventures and the like are
not always sunshine and rainbows, but you can't expect that two children will
know about it. Traveling around requires a lot of stamina, which these two are
lacking. But that is ok.

 

At times like this, you would
normally want to go back, but the two friends-and-rival duos are quite stubborn
and won't back down that easily.

 

That is no good. But with me
here, things change for a bit.

 

I walk closer to them, enough
to reach them with my hands.

 

When treating someone, you can
raise the efficiency by making contact with wounded areas, which is mostly the
case with normal Senjutsu users.

 

However, Kaa-san goes beyond
that with her long-distance healing. While the efficiency would drop somewhat
that way, she is skilled enough in her craft to make the difference almost nil.

 

In my case, I can barely treat
someone a few meters from me and it only works on fatigue for now.

 

In this opportunity, I went
with regular fatigue relief with physical contact. No need to make an extra effort
when there is no need to, although I will only touch one place, their hands.

 

Extending my hand, none of
them reacted to my gesture. Well... that was awkward.

 

"Would you lend me your
hands for a moment?" I asked in a slightly embarrassed tone.

 

When the other party doesn't
react and leaves you hanging... It's kind of embarrassing.

 

While the cautious Sona-chan
did not move her hand, the curious Rias-chan did it without thinking much about
it.

 

Upon contact, I started
sending strands of Ki into her.

 

The crimson-haired little girl
widened her eyes as soon that felt the changes; she glanced at her hand then to
my face with a surprised face.

 

"Amazing... Is this a
youkai's technique?" She asked while still maintaining a surprised
expression.

 

Finishing the process, I
released her hand.

 

"That's right, although I
did not do anything complicated, just relieving you of your tiredness. This
should make it easier for you girls to keep moving forward". I explained.

 

I once again extended my hand
to Sona-chan, who took it this time after briefly hesitating.

 

I repeated the same process as
before.

 

The bespectacled girl just
blinked in wonder in response to the feeling of Ki.

 

Done with the process, I
released her hand.

 

Both of them kept opening and
closing their hands, the lingering feeling perhaps was still there.

 

I do recall how I reacted when
Kaa-san used it the first time so I understood their reactions.

 

"Say there... Have you
heard of the Evil pieces?" Sona-chan asked after a moment of silence.

 

Sure have.

 

"Ah, that's not fair; I
also wanted to tell him about it". Rias-chan protested.

 

Yeah, this is going to be a
sales pitch of joining their peerages.

 

At times like this-

 

"Shouldn't we continue
walking? We don't have all day". I suggested while trying to change the
subject.

 

"I guess so".
Rias-chan easily agreed with me.

 

Ah, so gullible. She is so
naive and adorable now. To think that she becomes a buxom onee-san type in the
future. Life is such a mystery.

 

"Hmm, you are right, but
let's continue this topic when we get back". Sona-chan said with her
narrowed eyes while she adjusted her glasses.

 

This one knows that I wanted
to change the subject, smiling bitterly at that I started to think what to say
later.

 

...

...

 

Walking for a little more, we
came before a vacant space. A small wooden hut was located just in the middle.

 

For some reason, I felt slight
discomfort at that sight.

 

I raised my alertness somewhat
and started to look around. With no luck, I spread my Ki around to sense the
surrounding space.

 

I think I caught a presence
but-

 

"This has to be the place;
it is just as the rumors said". Rias-chan excitedly exclaimed.

 

Without any sense of danger
whatsoever, she headed to the hut.

 

"Wait, Rias. I don't
recall a building like this being here before. Let's go back, this is a bad
idea!" Sona-chan said, trying to convince her friend. The unease of her
tone made me anxious along with her words.

 

But said the friend did not
stop so she went after her and as Sona-chan grabbed Rias-chan hand to stop her-

 

A magic circle appeared below
them.

 

As soon as I saw that, I
dashed at them as fast as I could.

 

The situation looked really
bad, but I could worry about that later. Because the feeling I got from the
magic circle was somewhat similar to the one were used before coming here.

 

I felt a chill at that
possibility.

 

I could've dashed the other
way and go to a safe place, that would've been the most rational choice.
However, I have never been the rational type. They are good girls, and I don't
want anything bad to happen to them so I was not going to abandon them.

 

At that moment, I was not
thinking about their status as canon main characters, no, I knew it at all
along, but I kept denying it. I was treating them as if they were only
characters of the light novel, but they were not. They were people (devils) of
flesh and blood.

 

When a crisis strikes, many
curious things happen, like now, when even though a great number of thoughts
coursed through my head, the time outside moved slowly.

 

One step, two steps, I kept
getting closer to them, but it looked in slow motion to me. Nevertheless, I
made it. I managed to get a hold of them.

 

Taking them by their wrists, I
prepared to flee somewhere else at full speed, but sadly, the magic circle
activated at that time. Without any other options, I pulled out something
concealed in a secret pocket of my sleeve and crushed it.

 

As I hoped that it worked, the
light of the magic circle blinded my vision.

 

I glanced at the possible
culprit this time and saw a young woman with a maid dress, but there was
something eerie and uncanny about her, there was some sort of strands of black
smoke coming out of her, but before I could observe more, the scenery
completely changed.

 

...

...

 

We were now standing on some
sort of forest, I think (the trees in the Underworld have some differences to
the ones I have seen so far), but it was not the same place that we were
before.

 

"Are you girls ok?"
I asked the devil duo.

 

Both girls were slightly out
of it but recovered quickly.

 

"What happened?"
Rias-chan asked while glancing around.

 

Well, Rias-chan seemed ok.

 

"A teleportation magic
circle sent us somewhere". Sona-chan answered to her clueless friend.

 

Sona-chan also seemed fine;
she even took off her glasses and started to wipe them in a composed manner.

 

Sona-chan is the cool type
huh.

 

Confirming their safety, I
continue to glance at our surroundings.

 

Now then, what to do?

 

I used the token Yasaka-san
gave me before, or rather, gave us since Kaa-san has one too.

 

They are made of wood,
carrying several enchantments engraved. The one I broke was made easy to be
destroyed to accomplish its job.

 

Considering the nature of the
request this time, we came somewhat prepared for a couple of situations, one
they included getting separated and in trouble, a truly ordinary possibility,
but worth preparing for. We even have one that can track each other's
whereabouts.

 

That said, the token is not
all-powerful since the further the distance, the less accurate the location it
will point out.

 

It is quite complex so making
one is hard, Yasaka-san wanted that we carefully kept them in one piece if
possible.

 

Thankfully I had these tokens
with me. They were originally prepared in case that the people who wanted to
harm Kaa-san showed up. Although they were not used for their true purpose,
they still will do the job.

 

The one I broke is a type of
token that lets the other know of possible danger, but it only works as a
warning since it won't tell you what happened.

 

Kaa-san is the only one I can
truly trust out here so I can only wait for her. I do wonder how she is doing.
Hopefully, she won't be flipping tables because she got angry.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

???’s POV

 

At the previous location of
Nora, Rias, and Sona. A young woman could be seen standing still while looking
at the fading magic circle. She was wearing a maid outfit but had an uncanny
presence.

 

The uncanny about her presence
was the strands of black smoke coming out her.

 

She (?) kept staring for a
while longer before speaking to herself.

 

"This was somewhat
different from how he said the plan would go. That child was not supposed to be
here. Hmmm, there isn't much that can be done now. Using too much power just
now broke the concealment magic so they will be able to track me if I stay any
longer. I should leave this body or they might catch me. However, I won't make
it easy for them". The maid (?) muttered in an emotionless tone of voice.

 

With a wave of her hand, the
magic circle was destroyed.

 

With that done-

 

She (?) fell forward, like a
puppet whose strings were cut, she did not move.

 

The smoke was no more and
silence returned to the place.

 

Part 3

3er Person POV

 

A little after Nora left the
room guided by Grayfia, the remaining parties, Saya and Venelana, continued
talking about their children for a while.

 

However, the atmosphere changed
when one of the parties decided to speak about the subject they intended to originally
talk about in the meeting.

 

"Now that we are alone, I
would like to explain the reason why I want to ask for your services this
time". The flaxen-haired woman, Venelana, spoke in a serious tone of
voice.

 

"You could've talked
about this with my son here, although he might not look like that, he is very
talented in my craft so he can offer good ideas sometimes. However, since you
waited for him to leave, I assume that this won't be something easy to deal
with". The black-haired woman, Saya asserted.

 

"It's simply because the
topic is not particularly of good influence for children". Venelana
argued.

 

Saya thought about the mental
age of her son and could not help but smile wryly at the other's party
consideration. She was thankful of course, but she was wondering how Venelana
would feel if she told her about Nora's circumstances after she took the
precaution of him leaving. Then again, it was just a thought, that was her
son's secret and she would keep it for him.

 

"I see. Then do explain
to me what it that you want from me". Saya said in a dry tone.

 

Even though she found talking
with Venelana enjoyable, much more than with that maid, it was important to
separate private matters from work.

 

Having dealt with different
factions a couple of times in the past already, she knew that going straight to
the point was important to avoid falling into the other party's pace. Although
she slightly forgot how she fell into the other woman's pace after arriving at
the room, proving once more that she could be quite careless.

 

At her words that sounded
somewhat harsh, Venelana did not change her expression since she did her
research about the other party's attitude when dealing with Non-youkai
requesters.

 

"Have you heard of the
'Devil Sleeping Disease'?". Venelana raised a question.

 

Raising an eyebrow at that,
Saya contemplated for a moment before answering.

 

"I have heard of it, it's
a disease that causes devils to fall into a deep sleep which is similar to a
coma. The origin is not something I know since I do not deal with devils that
much". Saya replied with a frown on her face.

 

Even while not getting
involved with the devils that often, Saya had heard about it, but only that.
Since it was mentioned just now then this request is most likely related to it.

 

"That's right. Although
the causes are not completely clear, there are several cases where devils get
sick because their physical state excessively deteriorates. The reason I called
you is that I want you to deal with someone who recently fell victim to that disease".
Venelana explained with a pained expression.

 

As Saya expected, the request
had to do with the disease mentioned before.

 

The question was, why did
Venelana need Nora to leave if that's all the request was about? The only
possibility was that there was more to it and-

 

"As you might've guessed,
there is a troublesome aspect in my request, besides treating the person (devil)
in question, access to the patient will have to go through rather
unconventional methods, you could say that going as far as being in a secretive
manner". Venelana clarified.

 

That sounded 'troublesome'
indeed, but there had to be something else.

 

The lady in front of Saya was
from the Gremory house, a devil household with great influence. To say the
words 'secretive', makes you wonder, secret from whom?

 

"You should elaborate
some more, I don't plan to accept if you start hiding things from me".
Saya declared while narrowing her eyes.

 

Venelana could see how
displeased was the woman seated in front of her so she described all about it.

 

There was no need to hide it
if this would cause the other party to leave, Venelana did ask for her presence
for a reason.

 

The story of why it had to be
done like that was rather simple in structure, but it took a long period of
time to explain.

 

It all started when her
younger brother who is the Lord of the Bael household, banished his wife to the
countryside because she had given birth to a child that did not have the Bael
clan's distinctive Power of Destruction. Venelana, who had a great relationship
with her sister-in-law tried to bring her into the Gremory family but was
prevented from doing so by the Bael clan.

 

Since the birth of the child, Venelana’s
nephew, both were shunned in the clan, having no allies in that family had made
her life harder. But tragedy stroke when her sister-in-law had a sharp decline
in health until she fell into a coma.

 

During that time, she tried
different methods to aid her but most of them were prevented by the Bael clan.

 

...

...

 

Concluding the explanation
both women remained silent.

 

The first to break the silence
was Saya.

 

"I understand the
request, and I accept. However, there is something I find problematic in all
this. I am not sure if I can treat it, although I would need to meet the
patient before being completely certain, and from what you explained, that is a
very difficult thing to do". Saya spoke.

 

Her reason for accepting even
when the request seemed complicated is for pure sympathy. She feels bad for
that woman. Although as a doctor she hardly ever turns down treating a patient,
there are cases where she does it. Mostly because she cannot treat them or she
knows other people who are better than her at treating that particular case.
She was by no means almighty, she knew several people who specialize in
treating unique cases and she will not hesitate to send a person to them if she
believes that they might do a better job.

 

"That is something I have
taken care of. Through trial and failure, I found a way to create a secure
route secret from the Baels where I can give some help to my sister-in-law and
nephew. Regarding your acceptance to treat her, I am extremely thankful. I am
also aware of the difficult challenge it represents. There are no known
effective methods to treat that disease, but I have to keep trying for the sake
of not only my sister-in-law but my nephew too". Venelana spoke.

 

Saya was not found of devils,
but she has to admit that she could get along well with Venelana.

 

She had heard before of how
friendly and kind the Gremory were, but she refused to believe any of that due
to her extreme dislike of devils. Now, she had the chance to witness how wrong
she was. Her son helped her to make the right choice in coming here.

 

While she was thinking of her
son, she felt something on her sleeve. Quickly taking it out, she saw the
wooden token given her friend to keep an eye on Nora (she was told that),
sending a signal that she did not want to see, a signal that meant that her son
was in trouble.

 

At the same time, the door
opened and a flustered maid entered to inform something to Venelana.

 

"Venelana-sama, we
can't-". The maid stopped mid-sentence after noticing Saya.

 

"You can speak in her
presence". Venelana urged the maid to speak.

 

Saya was not interested in
what the maid might have to say because she had to find Nora, but before Saya
could stand up-

 

"Rias-sama, Sona-sama,
and Nora-sama are missing. Grayfia-sama found some traces of their tracks and
she is on her way to look for them". The maid explained in one breath.

 

Saya could not believe that it
was that simple, her child would not make use of the token for something like
getting lost or just to play a prank after hiding somewhere.

 

"Is that all?"
Venelana could tell that there was something else going on.

 

"Well..." The maid
still found it hard to speak about the rest in front of an outsider like Saya.

 

"That's her child who is
missing too; you can speak without minding anything else". Venelana
reminded.

 

The maid seemed to finally
leave behind any restrain and-

 

"We found several of the
staff suffering from effects of brainwashing, after learning this, Grayfia-sama
started to investigate the situation in more depth. She also sent staff to
confirm the safety of the children but they were not found in the room they were
left playing together. We searched everywhere and did not find them.
Grayfia-sama started questioning the staff but none of them had any
recollection of seeing them leave. She immediately sent me here to report while
she went along some others to search the surroundings". The maid reported
in no time.

 

Saya could see how Venelana
bit her lips in frustration; even she was tightening her fist pretty hard.

 

She was feeling a great deal
of worry, but above all, she felt rage, at herself, at the devils, and everyone
responsible for this.

 

However, she kept it to
herself. It was no time to lash out. She is not supposed to blame others like
that.

 

Doing her best to calm down,
she started to think rationally.

 

Nora has a certain level of
strength, if he was kidnapped in the mansion, he would've done something
besides using the token.

 

They did not mention any kind
of damage due to a fight, and if it had happened they would've been able to
hear about it sooner.

 

Meaning, they left the mansion
peacefully on their own or with someone else. The last statement was not
possible for Nora.

 

He would not go with strangers
like that.

 

So they left on their own, but
if Nora agreed to that, he would only do so if he did not notice anything
dangerous.

 

So they probably were unaware
of what was happening in the mansion at that time.

 

Saya tightened her fist
stronger.

 

Then, Where... Hmm?

 

She remembered something that
she missed due to her rage.

 

There was another token.

 

She hastily brought it out.

 

The token was supposed to
display a simple 'map' to find something if the distance was close. If the
distance went more than a certain point, it could still point a vague direction
to follow.

 

There was no 'map' after she
activated the token, only an arrow pointing to a certain direction, meaning
that Nora was pretty far.

 

She thought of going alone,
but one look a Venelana made her hesitate. As fellow mothers, they should help
each other.

 

"Venelana, listen to
me". She called the flaxen-haired woman.

 

Part 4

 

Checking the token, the
feature of the 'map' did not display anything more than an arrow pointing
vaguely south of my location.

 

The distance between Kaa-san
and me must rather wide, but at least not enough to lose the signal entirely.

 

I guess that help will take
some time to arrive. The question is what to do in the meantime.

 

Turning to the two devils,
they were each displaying a different reaction.

 

Sona-chan kept frowning while
wiping her glasses. I originally thought that she was keeping her cool, but she
has been doing that for a while now, enough to clean the glasses several times
over. This was perhaps her way to calm herself down.

 

In Rias-chan's case, she
looked crestfallen after understanding the situation we were in. She probably
feels guilty because she thought this was her fault. Her emotion measuring
device, the ahoge, was expressing her mood pretty honestly by laying down. I still
don't understand the logic behind that.

 

To be honest, I would not be
too hard with the girl. I am the adult here and I let this happen given that I
happened to help them to keep going forward back then. I was overconfident
because this was the residence of the Sitri household so I did not expect this
to happen. Besides, there was someone like Grayfia-san around, not to mention
Kaa-san.

 

But thinking about it, this
whole situation looks way too bizarre to be a coincidence. That maid at the end
looked abnormal too, although getting answers can wait until we are safe.

 

I turn to face the two girls.

 

"You two, I know that
this looks bad. However, help will come pretty soon. In the meantime, we should
be careful of our surroundings. We must work together to get out of this one so
collaboration is important". I spoke slowly for them to take my words more
easily.

 

I am not sure if I am capable
of reassuring them with a motivational speech so I won't try that. Sadly my
charisma is pretty low; using words was never my forte. Nevertheless, I can at
least explain to them what they can do to ease their anxiety.

 

"I am a Youkai, and while
I am not a master in every technique. I can at least use some of them. I can
sense my surroundings to a certain degree. What can the two of you do? I heard
that devils can fly, is that true?" I inquired.

 

While I converse with them, I
began to scan around us using Senjutsu.

 

I am not sure how the
abilities of the two are at this age. While I remember that they were competent
magicians, that was a story from the Canon. They are much younger now so I
don't think they would be able to do the same. Now, I need to consider them to
be different beings that from the light novel, they are not characters to me
anymore.

 

I should only use my knowledge
as a reference and not a fact.

 

Interrupting my distracted
self, they finally began talking after sharing a look. Sona-chan was first.

 

"I can fly but not too
fast, I am still practicing. I can use the innate ability of the Sitri Clan
which consists of Water Manipulation. However, the current me can't muster any
offensive abilities when there is no much water around. I can still create some
with magic but it would take some time". Sona-chan explained after finally
putting her glasses again.

 

Flying will be handy. Her
Water Manipulation could be useful too, but as she said, there is no much water
around to control.

 

"I can't fly yet, but I
can use the innate Power of Destruction from my family for strong attacks. Ah,
but I can't control the power very well". Rias-chan timidly said after
thinking for a while.

 

She has high firepower but no
mobility, basically like her friend but backwards.

 

Judging by her tone, she must
still feel guilty. It is odd to see her so meek given how bold her canon-self
acted.

 

"Rias-chan... You don't
have to blame yourself for anything that happened. It was not your fault. I
don't blame you for this and I know that your friend here doesn't either. You
might've rushed at that time but that does not mean that it would've been
different if you hadn't. Listen, I need your help now, the help of the cheerful
Rias-chan". I tried coaxing her gently.

 

She was looking down when I
started talking but at the end, she seemed to regain her previous vigor.

 

"If Nora-nya thinks so
then I will lend you my help, I will make up for my mistake. Thank you for
trying to cheer me up". She said while slightly smiling.

 

Glad that it worked somewhat,
kids have to be full ofenergy and not depressed. However, she still considers
it her fault. I wish I could do a better follow-up, but her current look is
enough for the moment.

 

Now then, it is just in time
because I caught something coming this way during my scan.

 

Whatever it is, it felt
disgusting.

 

I had to cut my scanning
because the feeling it gave off started to make me sick.

 

Extending your Ki like that is
a double-edged sword at my current stage. You can get easily influenced by
strong or particular presences.

 

Just to confirm, I will take a
look using a certain ability I have been practicing.

 

Back then, He (?) kept telling
me to see but I could do nothing, but now I have learned to use that ability to
'see' somewhat. As I am now, I can only use it for a few seconds even after
practicing for long periods.

 

I could only come up with the
idea of seeing through things, and in this case, I can use it to ignore the
numerous trees between that and me. That way I will be able to identify what my
Senjutsu detected.

 

I immediately used it. Not
only I was able to ignore the obstacles in front, but I could also zoom what I
am seeing. Similar to clairvoyance's remote viewing. There might be more it
could do, but I lack the imagination to properly think anything else.

 

My eyes caught sight of a
strange figure, it looked like an over-grown black hound.

 

I was not sure how to express
what I saw, it was pretty big, forget about eating my hand in one bite, this
one could eat my head with those jaws. Almost two meters tall and four meters
in length, black all over, and with shining red eyes that carried a vicious
glint, his tail looked pretty long, close to one meter. Around his body,
strands of black smoke kept leaking. Overall, I can conclude that it was bad
news. Really bad news.

 

Cold sweat covered my back as
I imagined that thing close to me and-

 

The vision of the black hound
got cut, and a sharp pain assaulted my eyes, a small groan almost escaping my
mouth.

 

I quickly cover my eyes due to
the pain.

 

Noticing my actions, the girls
panicked.

 

"Shiki-san, what
happened?" Sona-chan asked worriedly while she came closer to examine me.

 

"Are you ok,
Nora-chan?" Rias-chan questioned in a concerned tone while she put a hand
on my head and slightly rubbed it to ease the pain.

 

Although it's heartwarming to
receive their concern, there was no time to waste.

 

"Listen to me, you two.
We need to move now. There is something really dangerous coming the way I was
looking just now. We must avoid that at all cost". I uttered in a slightly
stern tone.

 

Maybe they understood the
seriousness of the situation from my tone of voice, after sharing a glance for
a moment and nodding, both of them quickly starting walking in the other way I
was looking... is not what happened. Before walking away, they each took me
from one hand and pulled me, taking me with them.

 

I felt slightly embarrassed
but also grateful since I used that ability for more than I should've had. It
puts a strain on my body, or rather my head and I can't move very well for a
while due to the pain. I must be grateful for such mild side effects this time,
they can come at random whenever I exceed the limit, and they can be even worse
than this.

 

I am glad for their help since
I planned to ask for their assistance. However, they did it without me
mentioning anything. I should give them thank you gift after we get out of this
one. I wonder if a signed book would make them happy.

 

...

...

 

After a few minutes of
walking, I felt much better and could walk on my own again, but not all was
good news because we ran out of luck by finding the damned creature in front of
us.

 

How absurd, it was at a
considerable distance, how did it catch up so fast? We didn't see it passing
near us either.

 

Damn it.

 

The devil duo beside me is
getting paler and paler at the sight in front of us. None of them is saying a word.

 

What an irony. I liked dogs in
my previous life, and dogs were supposed to be the man's best friend. Now, I am
a Nekomata, technically a cat.

 

Dog and cats do not get along
that well.

 

We are truly out of luck.

 

Ah, ah... Can I go home now?

 

*GRooooWL*

 

The black hound started
growling as I thought that. I will take that as its answer to my question. Probably meaning... No.