Scarlet 54

Scarlet 54

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

…

Rias looked at me with wide eyes and a big smile.

“Onii-san told you that you should make a secret organization! That’s amazing!” Rias gushed and I blinked. I’d attributed the request to more akin to making a team. We were having a little get together with the Occult Research Club. The food was junk. Pizza, soda, and some bags of chips on the side. I had some of the chips, but avoided the stranger pizzas. Shrimp and fish and seaweed do not belong on pizza. I’d thought pineapple was the worst thing to put on pizza, until I realized what they did to it here. It’s sweet, too. Nothing like your memories. “But… it’ll be difficult, Ise-kun. There’s lots of people after Sacred Gear users.”

Sona sat beside her and indulged in a single slice of pizza with a little cup of soda. Not diet, surprisingly, but I guess this was the proper way of having pizza. I could stomach the cheese slices, but each bite felt closer to dessert than dinner. It was difficult to eat. Thankfully, I could blame it on my changed palate. I just liked lots of meat nowadays. So, Koneko was enjoying most of the slices allocated to me.

Our class president spoke.

“Indeed, you have a difficult task ahead of you, but it may not be as difficult as it may seem. You’ve already achieved an immense amount of fame and your reputation that is nigh unbelievable.” Sona spoke softly and with a furrowed brow. She placed her food on her lap and her brow furrowed further. This was her way of thinking deeply. She pushed up her glasses and tilted her head from side to side as she spoke.  “Not only that, but even with your affiliation to us, you’ve worked with the Grigori and the Church, too. You have an enviable position, Ise-kun, but one that others will fight for.”

I put two and two together.

“Other Sacred Gear users might look to take me down and use me as a stepping stone for whatever their own plans are, huh?” I wouldn’t lose all my reputation if someone beat me, but they could co-opt whatever I’ve done for their own plans. Without structure and without culture, Sacred Gear users basically assigned themselves rankings based on power, which generally meant Longinus users were at the top and everyone else was below them. I’d say Twilight Healing was a far more useful asset given its healing abilities, but people are just naturally drawn to power. “Most of them are human, right?”

Sona glared at me and pointed a finger my way.

Cute.

“No, you cannot retaliate first, Ise-kun.”

“Hey, if they come all the way to Japan without notifying anyone and walk to Kuoh without sending a letter first, then they’re obviously going to try and do something.” Traveling all the way to the town I live when they can contact me through various means? Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one’s going to come here just to speak to me. They’ll be coming here to bring me down. Therefore, I had to do what I needed to do. “Do you expect me to just rely on Azazel to keep the town safe from everything? Not just threats to peace?”

“We’d fight on your behalf, Ise-kun. Therefore, it would be a threat to peace of someone targeted you.” Kiba spoke up with a smile. I didn’t see him for a while. After the whole thing with the Excaliburs, he’d spent a lot of time deep in thought. All the girls in the school pined over him loads, while he went through the day not noticing them. If I did the same, I’d be called a prick. The benefits of looking handsome, I guess. Also, call me Issei. “You’ve helped us out very much. Even if you are only allied with us on paper, we will come to your aid.”

“It’s better if you didn’t, and I’m not saying that for the sake of being macho, either. I want the influence and the power the position offers. It’s a perfect deterrent.” With enough of a reputation, a lot of potential opponents that I may have in the future will simply choose to not fight me. Granted, I’d be painting a target on my back for strong Sacred Gear users, but they’ll be coming after me anyway. It would just be smarter to not cull the small fry from the start, so that I didn’t have to deal with them. “Besides, I need more training and experience. There are few better ways to do that than fighting people that are my peers.”

“Ise-kun, most Sacred Gear Users wouldn’t be able to fight against you. Rias and myself would struggle against you, and we can easily dispatch most Sacred Gear users who do not wield one of the Longinus.” Sona shook her head and put her food on the table. She shook her head. “Honestly, you’re far stronger than you believe and you have Asia-chan to heal any wounds your regeneration cannot. With your strength, speed, and defenses, you stand near the top of reality as we know it.”

“But there are plenty of people still stronger than me.” Sona grudgingly nodded at my words. With all my training, Ddraig’s help, my experience from my previous life, and a whole slew of other advantages, I understood that I’m more than a match for the average Sacred Gear user. However, those people weren’t who I worried about. Not even counting the people who had the same class of Sacred Gear that I did, there’s thousands of Devils, Fallen, and Angels stronger than me. “And, from those people, there’ll be more than a few who’ll try to get me under their thumb or just defeat me, right?”

Sona sighed and Rias nodded worriedly. The mood of the party dimmed, but I turned it around.

“So, I’ll work hard, I’ll get allies wherever I can, and I’ll make sure to get strong enough to beat them. I won’t stop and I won’t give up.” With my plan to remain hidden well and truly gone, the only option that I had was to get so strong that I could defeat all that lay in front of me. That’s right. No one will trouble you, as long as you’re truly strong. And, you’ll be doing the world a favor dealing with the idiots who still come after you. “So, I’ll be in your care. I appreciate all of you helping me, and I’ll do the same for you.”

I got a bunch of heads shaking at me, before Koneko decided to speak.

“You’re a pervert, but you’ve helped us, so we’ll help you.”

My heart was struck with intense pain and gratitude at the same time.

Koneko sure had a way with words.

…

On my way back home from school, I found a moving truck right next to my home.

It didn’t take long for me to realize what I was looking at.

“Issei-kun!” Irina waved at me. She wore a white sweater and blue jeans and had her hair in her usual ponytails. She had a big grin on her face as she reached me. “We’re neighbors again!”

Just how much money does the Church have? The house next to ours went up in value by a lot since she left.

What’s so strange about the Church having money? They’re one of the wealthiest human organizations, right?

I have questions for later.

“Irina, I wouldn’t get too close to the Dragon.” Quarta pipped up before Irina could reach me. She also wore a sweater, but instead of pants she wore denim shorts and stockings. Lady, I don’t think that denier is thick enough to protect against the cold. You say that like you’re complaining. “It seems like he’s just spent time indulging with Devils.”

“We had a small party to celebrate hosting the conference without issue. That’s a major milestone, you know?” I half expected another potential spark of war to come for us while the conference was happening. Honestly, I was surprised no one tried it. Then again, with the leaders of Heaven, Hell, and the Grigori present, that would’ve been elaborate suicide. Well, I would’ve done it. It would’ve been fun. Would you have won? Sometimes, losing is fun… alright. 50/50 chance I would’ve died or won. Depends if they worked together or not. “And, it’s nice to see you again, Irina.”

Irina beamed while Quarta raised an eyebrow at my direction.

“…I don’t mind seeing you?”

“Pervert.”

I shrugged in return, while Irina pouted at me.

“Fine, fine. I’ll ask. What are you doing back here?”

“To save Issei-kun from the predations of the Devils, the Church decided that we should do our best to convert you to our cause!” Irina proclaimed with a smile and looked at me with an expectant gaze. She held her hands together pleadingly before me. “Issei-kun, please forsake the path you now tread upon and join the righteous! All that is offered by Devils cannot compare to what God offers!”

Kinda afraid of that fact to be honest.

Devils are ridiculously powerful. The Satans can pretty much conquer countries with a flick of their wrist. The Grigori can infiltrate and seduce their way through the world, and even fight off Devils and Angels on even footing. However, there were things that stood above them all, and the most eminent of them was “God.”

The creator of reality itself, the individual who crafted everything, who could see everything, and do anything. An entity with such power and strength that just a prayer towards him resulted in Devils, even the Satans, getting splitting headaches. Not only that, but he granted powers to mortals, guided them according to his wishes, and finally created an alternate dimension where he and his favored are safe from harm.

There’s only one creature that comes to mind that I know that comes close to God… and I had doubts regarding my ability to force another one to commit suicide with my current powers.

Mass mind-control through multiple dimensions is pretty cool, but with training you can get my original powers. Both are enough to kill God.

You still ended up trapped.

He swooped in while Albion and I were fighting to the death. Whoever won and recovered from the fight would’ve had nothing to fear.

Right, I’ll take your word for it.

“Sorry, Irina, but I’m allied with the Devils now. They’ve helped me out too much for me to ignore. It’ll be wrong to turn my back on them.” Irina’s eyes widened at my words, but when she opened her mouth… she stopped herself. I was fairly sure that she realized that she couldn’t just say whatever she wanted about the people I worked with. Unfortunately, Quarta didn’t care nearly as much. “And, no. Just because they’re Devils doesn’t mean you can just decide that they’re wrong and can be defeated. They’ve helped me and they haven’t done anything wrong. Your people, meanwhile, made Artificial Holy Sword users, excommunicated Asia through a Fallen plot, and raised and let loose Freed.”

I’ve fought more Exorcists and fanatics from the Church than I have Stray Devils. Not only that, but Rias and Sona both actively keep Kuoh safe and their Peerages’ contracts with Kuoh’s populace are practically benign. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t need to take up arms against them for what they were doing… or reconsider my relationship with them in favor of the Church.

The grounds for their argument against Devils is literally ‘they’re bad and we’re good.’

“Look, if you find some definitive proof that Devils are all terrible people and haven’t changed as a species, I’ll reevaluate my situation.” I crossed my arms and made my point on the subject as clear as I possibly could. They were sent here to convince me to come over to their side. Therefore, its best if I laid down the conditions. Nothing underhanded. Nothing crazy. Just facts to sway me. “Give me proof of the Gremory and Sitri Pillar Families treating humans poorly, then I’ll reconsider my whole alliance with them.”

Quarta glowered at me.

“So, if what we find is not enough, you’ll not work with us.”

“If they kill even on innocent human being, or cause any harm to people out of malicious intent, I’ll break ties with them. I’ll fight against them with all my strength, even.” Monsters exist and I knew exactly what I needed to do when confronted with them. If they existed and they threatened people I cared for, then I’ll destroy them. “The same goes for the Church, too. Keep that in mind while you ask me to ally with you. From what I’ve seen so far, your people are inept at best. At the very worst, you’re doing despicable things for power, disregarding the path to your goals so long as you reach them.”

Against those words, Quarta could only glower at me with narrowed eyes.

Kinda reminds me of NTR doujins when the tomboy childhood friend tries to stand up to a delinquent.

I approve of taking what you want as long as you have power, but even I have limits…

Anyway, the good mood Irina created was gone after my statement, so I moved to head into my house… when Irina suddenly took hold of my arms.

“Ise-kun… I’ll let you do anything you want with me, as long as you stop communing with Devils.” Irina declared with teary eyes and a blush on her face. I was stopped in my tracks as I realized just what she was implying. “If the cost is my body, then I’ll gladly pay it to save your soul! Y-you may be perverse, but I would rather you be a pervert than a Devil or an ally to them!”

Out of nowhere, Irina offered herself completely to me, thus completely sending my mind into a tailspin.

Right into the gutter.

Thankfully, I recovered.

“That’s not something you should offer! Ever, Irina.”

“Don’t you like me, Ise-kun? Can’t you love me enough to leave the Devils?” Irina pleaded with teary eyes and she took my hand in hers. Her blush was deep and her pleading expression combined with it to create an intoxicating site. A maiden pleading to be loved by me. “Won’t you at least think about it? For me? Please?”

I made the best possible move I could in the face of her attack.

I ran away.