>>>>>

"Can you let Yuu help with that?" Kaito suggested, offering another alternative to solve her situation. At the moment, Kaito thought that getting the evil pieces set in a week should be very hard--- if not impossible to achieve. The only other option was to use 'points' to obtain evil pieces on his own,  but people in that world going to notice that and he would be in trouble for that.

"I don't want to turn into a zombie." Aika denied his suggestion and added, "It's better to be a devil. I can fly, using magic, and have a very long life span."

"Besides that, wouldn't joining your peerage make things better? I think I have proved enough of how smart I am to the chat group." Aika suggested.

"Hmm..."

Hearing what Aika said, Kaito became speechless and thought that what she said had some truth to it. While in the world of SAO, it is undeniable that apart from Uta, Aika is the number 2 person who contributes the most to the success of working on special group tasks. She was the one who mostly managed all the important matters in the guild, making plans and maintaining their guild's reputation as the number 1 guild possible.

If Aika were in his peerage, Kaito would have no hesitation in handing over the second command to her and he's sure the girls would agree with him on this decision. This idea alone is quite motivating for him-- especially since he admits that Aika is probably a more competent leader than himself.

And the most important thing is that everyone knows that Aika already loved someone else-- so adding her to the peerage won't really add more competition to the girls. Albeit, it probably won't stop her to tease him like any other girl who liked him.

...

"How it is, Kaito-san?" Aika asked with a teasing tone, as she was sure Kaito won't refuse her idea.

"Oh well, it wouldn't be a lie if I wasn't happy about that." Kaito shrugged, hiding his excitement. After that, Kaito who didn't hesitate anymore quickly cleared his voice, and seriously asked, "Then, naturally the next question is... how to obtain evil pieces set under a week?"

"According to the memory, only high-rank devil could obtain their own evil pieces set, right? Naturally, you just need to do that before the weekend." Aika suggested.

"That's true..." Miya commented.

"So, the problem now becomes how to raise the rank of Kaito-sama, right?" Sakuya added.

"How to raise the rank? Isn't having sufficient strength do the trick? After all, it seems in that world the higher rank devil is, the more powerful they are." Nico Robin followed.

"Well... It's easy to be said that it be done." Kaito shook his head, obviously, he also knew about that fact. However, raising the rank of a devil itself is not easy-- the reason why Issei makes it look easy is because he is the 'protagonist' and there are a ton of convenience plots that keep coming at him.

"I know. I never said it would be easy for you." Aika then turned to Ravel who had been quiet for a while watching the conversation between her and Kaito, "But fortunately, there is Ravel with us that could help to explain how to do that."

"Ravel-chan should know something about this right? After all, you are part of the nobility of the devil itself." Aika asked, which made everyone's sight turn to her.

"Uh... Yes." Ravel nodded and continues said as she put 3 fingers up on the table,  "As far I know, There are three methods a devil could do to raise their rank which is: Contracting,  Rating Game, and Military Accomplishment." 

After that, Ravel explains how the method worked, and everyone in the meeting room listened to it carefully, "The first method is contracting, where a devil does a devil's job by granting the client's wish. A Devil's contract will garner points over time, but it is a gradual process unless the human customer is someone with great power and influence. Promotion through contract is the slowest method to raise devil rank but also the safest."

"Rejected. You already said it, it's the slowest method. We need to raise Kaito's rank quickly under a week." (Aika)

"Also rejected. This method seems to be unreliable and I dont want to spend my time running around to do it." (Kaito)

"Rejected. Even if Kaito wanted to do it, he doesn't know any influence members on human society anyway."(Nico Robin)

After that, the rest of the meeting members also showed their disagreement to use the method and even the chat group members who still watched through Aika also gave the same opinion. The reason for this rejection is obvious, it's unsuitable to use for Kaito who had a deadline of under a week.

Ravel already knows that this method won't work at all, so she decides to move on and continue to explain the next method.

"The second method is through Rating Game."

"Rating game..." Miya who also has watched the memory quickly reacted, "Isn't that what the protagonist did to break the engagement with your brother in the memory?"

"Correct." Ravel nodded and explained, "The Rating Game allows reincarnated Devils to hone and show off their skill and abilities against others in a controlled non-lethal environment. As long a devil performs well in the Rating Game, their reputation will be rising quickly and it will lead to promotion."

"This is by far the best method to raise one's own ranking of Devil. Many devils raise their rank through this method. and definitely the most popular one." Ravel added, clearly that she preferred this method compared to others. Sadly, none of members share this sentiment, especially smart ones like Aika and Kaito.

"Rejected. It's a better method than contracting, but it's still too slow." (Aika)

"Always concise answer, Aika-san. Well, I also rejected this idea. Performing in the rating game means that I need to ask Riser to bring me, which I doubt he would normally." (Kaito)

"It's a good idea, but as our leader said, I believe there is no way to do it in under a week, right? Rejected. (Nico Robin)

After that, like the previous voting, the rest of the meeting members also showed their disagreement although some members decide to abstain to vote, thinking this method was indeed much better than the last one.

While Ravel thought the rating is the best method to solve the problem, she could understand why people still dislike it. After all, to perform a rating game under a week probably isn't something that easy to pull off... especially when Ravel remembers his brother's attitude. His brother wasn't lazy, but he certainly won't do multiple rating games in a week just to give a chance for Kaito to promote.

"The third method is through military accomplishments" 

"As the name said, you can raise your own devil rank by obtaining a great achievement in a time of crisis or situation. This includes showing exceptional abilities or skills in combat against the enemy. For example, defeating a high-rank enemy of the devil such as a cadre of fallen angels or archangels."

"This one is the fastest method, but it's unlikely to happen now." Ravel added.

"Why?" Aika asked while also raising her hand, "Isn't an angel and a fallen angel the devil,'s natural enemies?"

"Because it's not wartime. Attacking an enemy on your own without any aggression wouldn't raise your rank, but considered a crime since it will be categorized as provoking a war." Ravel answered with a frustrated tone.

"Oh, too bad. I actually really like this method compared to others." Aika said with disappointment in her voice, "There is room for manipulation after all."

"Oh?" Hearing what Aika said, Kaito raised his eyebrow and asked, "You had an idea with the last method?"

Kaito also liked the last method the same as her, since it was the method that the protagonist used to raise his devil rank pretty quickly. Sadly, as Ravel said, there is no way to use this method for now... at least until the plot begins which is one year later. Too bad he doesn't have that much time, otherwise he might as well pick the previous method to raise his rank.

"Of course. I mean, it's obvious. We just need to make someone from the chat group become an 'enemy' of the devil race, and then make you defeat it." Aika explained.

Hearing her idea, everyone couldn't help but think about the feasibility of it, but then none of them show any agreement with Aika's ideas. Most of the chat group members are good people, and it's not a surprise majority of people dislike that plan.

"Good idea, but too risky and it's also quite bad. Unless we have no other choice, there is no way I would follow that plan"

To be honest, Kaito admired her idea but he still need to reject it. Besides he believes most of the members won't approve it. he also considered his bad luck probably in a way to execute such an unstable plan-- Kaito didn't even want to do it since a lot of things could go wrong.

"Oh well..."

Hearing her suggestion got rejected by everyone, Aika didn't get disappointed and just shrugged it off. She then turned to Ravel again, and seriously asked, "Actually, Forget about the method. I want to ask... who is the one that decides the promotion rank of the devil, Ravel-san?"

"I am not 100% sure... but it should be Satan and the 72th pillars nobility?" 

"I believe that, basically the higher the rank of a devil, the stronger his power and influence in the underworld, right?" Aika continues to ask.

"That's correct" Ravel replied.

"Very good." Hearing her answer, Aika nodded on her own, clearly she must come up with an idea. Everyone already recognized her as the smartest person here and couldn't help but pay attention to her again... although they already did when this meeting started.

"What you are getting at, Aika-san?" Kaito curiously asked.

"Then everything becomes much more simple."Aika turned at Kaito again and suggested, "Kaito, the plan is simple. Find a satan, negotiate with them in private how to raise your devil rank quickly by any means... either you tried to challenge one of them to prove your strength, or even invite them into the chat group as a bargaining chip. It's not like any of us could prevent you to do that anyway."

"How about it?"

"...It might really work."

This time, even Kaito admits that this plan is quite good and has a very high chance of working without problems. He really had forgotten that group chats were the best asset to use in negotiations, and as Aika said--- Only he could invite members inside the chat group and no one could stop him from doing that.

Once again, Aika proved how smart she was to Kaito, making him more determined in carrying out the request Aika asked and putting her into his peerage later.

...

Renaxan

This chapter ended up taking so long to write because it's not really fun to do and I have some difficulty conveying some of my ideas into words (so the proofreading is quite bad here), but it's necessary to show Aika's worth to Kaito in this chapter. You could say this chapter is a filler, especially since I literally do infodump about the devil promotion method up there. Sorry!