“First we have to take down Raiser’s [Pawns]. It will be troublesome if they all promote into [Queen]”, Buchou says it while sitting on the sofa. She looks quite confident.

 

Akeno-san starts to prepare tea. I also relax and stand against a wall. I mean rushing in is a bad thing after all.

 

“B-Buchou, you seem pretty calm……”, said Issei. It looks like he is confused by this calm atmosphere.

 

“Ise, the battle just started. The “Rating Game” is originally a game that doesn’t finish in a short time. There are times when it becomes a “blitz”, but mostly it’s a game that takes very long. Just like the actual chess game”, said Buchou.

 

“Besides we are fewer in number, if we go in without any plan, we will get obliterated”, I added.

 

“Correct. The “Rating Game” has a meaning only if you use the battlefield to the fullest. Usually the base would be a fortress, a castle or even a tower. There are forests and rivers between the two bases and we battle using those areas. This time the school is our stage. Yuuto”, said Rias after nodding to my comment.

 

“Yes”, said Kiba as he spreads a map on the table. Wow, the whole map of our school.

 

It’s divided into grids and there are English alphabets and numbers on it. Oh I get it.

 

It’s broken into grid that is similar to a chessboard.

 

Buchou draws a circle around the old school building and the new school building with a red pen. Oh, I see. She marked our base and the enemy’s base.

 

“There’s a forest near our base. It’s safe to assume that this is also our territory. In other words the new school building would be Riser’s territory. It’s quite possible that there will be an ambush when you enter their territory. The school field is visible from the new school building. So it’s dangerous to pass through here”, said Rias.

 

“Then do we have to go through the sports ground to get to the new school building?”, asked Issei.

 

“Normally, yes. But the enemy will also know that. So he’ll have his servant positioned at the sports ground. …… He’ll have his [Knight] or [Rook] positioned at one of the clubrooms located in the sports ground. No, if it’s a sports ground, you will need a person with “mobility”. So he’ll have one [Knight] and three [Pawns], a total of four servants positioned here. Then he’ll have control of the whole sports ground”, Rias chucked and replied.

 

“Buchou, it’s about the gym near the old school building. Shouldn’t we occupy this location first? If we capture it here then we will have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so we could also restrain the enemy’s movements”, asked Kiba.

 

“Yes, I also have the same opinion. First we will capture the gym. ……In terms of location, the opponent may have his [Rook] positioned there. Since it’s inside a building, it would be better to use the [Rook] with destructive power over [Knight] with mobility”, Rias nodded and answered.

 

All this time I kept quiet and listened to the conversations.

 

“……Yuuto and Koneko, you two set a trap in the forest. Take another map with you and make sure you mark the places where you set the trap in. I will make a copy afterwards and hand it to everyone”, said Rias.

 

“Yes”, said Koneko.

 

“……Roger”, said Kiba. Koneko and Kiba then leaves the room straight away and takes a map and a weird looking tool box with them.

 

“Everyone else will be on standby until they finish setting up the trap. Oh, Akeno”, Rias continued.

 

“Yes?”, asked Akeno.

 

“After Yuuto and Koneko returns, can you cast illusions and mists around the forest and the sky? Obviously a trap that only reacts to Raiser’s group. That’s how the start of the match will be like, though it seems like this battle will become intense midway through it. So I’ll leave the issue regarding the mists and the illusions to you, Akeno”, said Rias.

 

“I understand, Buchou”, replied Akeno.

 

“U-Umm, Buchou? What am I supposed to do?”, asked Issei. I and Asia were waiting for our instructions too.

 

“Yes. Ise, you are a [Pawn] so you have to use ‘promotion’ ”, said Rias.

 

She then said, “Ise come here” and beckoned him to come in front of her.

 

“Yes!”, replied Issei.

 

As he came in front of her she put a hand on his forehead.

 

“……I unlocked a small portion of the seal that I had cast on you”, said Rias.

 

“Huh? Seal?”, Issei exclaimed in confusion but suddenly stopped as if he felt something.

 

“Do you remember? The talk about where I used all my eight pieces of [Pawns] to reincarnate you?”, asked Rias.

 

“Yes”, said Issei.

 

“At that time, your strength as a Devil was low so I had to put a limit on your power as a [Pawn]. You, who just reincarnated from human, didn’t have a body that could endure the power of eight pieces of [Pawns]. To put it simply, you would be the strongest after Akeno, so you needed to attain more power or else your body would break. So I just unsealed a bit of the seal”, said Rias.

 

“That training was meant to have you cope with the power of Boosted Gear and the [Pawn]. Though there are areas you still lack in”, continued Rias.

 

Rias then turned towards me and smiled and said, “Akira sit here” and pointed next to her on the sofa.

 

“Yes”, I said and went to her and sat beside her. What is this suddenly?

 

“Lay down here”, said Rias pointing at her lap. I froze for a second. I see so that’s it, not like I am complaining though, always wanted to experience a “lap pillow”. So I said, “Yes” and lay down without hesitation.

 

TOUCH.

 

I can feel a really soft sensation on my cheek. Why are you so soft, Buchou!? This amount of physical contact is very stimulating for someone of my age, I control myself somehow. Besides there is a match ongoing now, I need to focus.

 

Issei was at tears at the sight of this scene. I ignored him.

 

Ah! Asia is looking at me with teary eyes! And she is making a weird face. Crap she is angry and I feel bad about this too, but like hell am I letting this opportunity go, so I just avoided her eyes.

 

PAT PAT.

 

Buchou then starts to pat my head. Aah, it feels so nice to have Onee-sama pat my head.

 

Asia was looking at me with sharp eyes but again I ignored her.

 

“Listen up, Akira. You have to beat your opponent even if they are girls, okay? You can’t hold back. They won’t hold back against you”, said Rias.

 

“Of course! It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl, an enemy is an enemy”, I said resolutely.

 

“That’s a good boy. We are already at a disadvantage by having fewer members than Riser. So you have to prepare yourself to work over the limit. If we lose even a single person, our situation will get even harder”, said Rias.

 

“Of course! We will definitely win. I will make sure we win”, I said.

 

Buchou smiles after hearing that.

 

“Yes, I will be relying on you. My adorable, Akira”, said rias.

 

It’s not like I am just spouting big things like Issei, I already have plans in place, just you wait Riser, I’ll demolish you.

 

Like that, I was having fun with Buchou’s lap until Kiba and Koneko-chan got back.

 

Thanks to that, I’m fully pumped!