27

At Kuoh Academy, Anastasia was standing in front of the third year class room.

"I'm ready... I can do it." Anastasia comfort herself before entering.

Anastasia puts her hand on the doorknob and takes a deep breath. Then she opens the door and walks into the room going straight to the front of the classroom.

As she walked to the front of the blackboard she noticed the gazes coming from all the students.

Of the students in the room, she made the biggest impression on five ladies who were clearly involved in the supernatural world.

"She is clearly his daughter." Anastasia sighs looking at the first girl.

Among the five there is a devil who looked like a young, female version of the high school administrator. The girl is a beautiful young woman with crimson hair and blue eyes, characteristic traits of the Gremory clan.

"This one certainly is a reincarnated devil. I wonder who her family is among the fallen angels." Anastasia smiles and the girl returns one with a gentle smile with her eyes closed.

[This girl gives me bad vibes... is she one of those S&M perverts?] The bracelet, which is Apollyon's hidden form, shakes as he chats in her mind.

"Probably, but you should listen to Merlin less." Anastasia warns.

[It was you who lent me to him. As I had no choice, I just took the most advantage of the experience.]

"I still wonder why I let him borrow you to annoy everyone pretending to have the full Excalibur. He pissed off the entire Church and certainly the Pendragon family." She gets a headache thinking about the troublesome mage.

After finishing she looks back at the second of the girls.

This lady emanated energy from a fallen angel and at the same time from a devil. This girl has long black hair and beautiful violet eyes. Her most memorable feature other than the first one is that she has a peculiar hair color, she has a fake smile that hides an air of danger.

"Another pure devil. Please don't be another from a famous family. I just wanted to stay here with no complications." Anastasia almost prays to her best friend, but stops when she remembers that Michael can see everyone praying to God.

[Considering her luck she's going to be the sister of one of the important devils.] Apollyon mocks her.

"I know." Anastasia sighs.

The third girl is also a devil. She has black hair and violet eyes, but unlike the previous girl, her hair is short and she wears glasses. The girl just like the first one exudes the energy of a high-class devil.

"Another devil reincarnated." Anastasia makes a mental note.

The fourth girl had long black hair and eyes with heterochromia, one eye was violet and the other brown. Just like the girl with short hair, she also wears glasses, and unlike the previous ones, she exudes an aura that seems to have been human and now is that of a devil.

"Wow a human." Anastasia is happy to see a human connected to the supernatural in this town.

[She gives me a friendly aura.] Apollyon comments.

"It's probably a beast tamer." Anastasia mentally maintains the reminder.

The fifth different from all girls is not a devil, she is a human. But also different from the previous ones, it emanates the aura of multiple supernatural creatures. She has brown color eyes and brown color long hair.

After observing the five girls, she briefly glances around her class noticing many students.

"Apollyon, did you notice something too?" She initiates another mental dialogue.

[The fact that you're a biased teacher or that this school is the heaven for perverts?]

"Yep, it's a pervert's paradise. Most of these girls have giant boobs, Odin would get a nosebleed if he came here. ... Wait a minute, what do you mean by biased?"

[You just paid more attention to five girls and skimmed across the rest of the room. And surprisingly all five are involved with the supernatural. So I conclude from my evidence that you are biased in picking favourites.]

"Come on, I'm not biased, they just grab attention at first glance. The crimson girl, The black ponytail smiling girl, The short haired girl with glasses that looks intellectual, The girl with heterochromia and finally the only human girl involved in the supernatural."

[You just proved my point. You were only interested in the period hair girl, the S&M addict with fake smile, the glasses girl, the girl with strange eye colors and the pet tamer because they are involved with the supernatural.]

"You're an asshole." She mentally curses.

[And you're stuck with me for eternity. Who told you to seal me in your sword, now deal with me. Changing the subject, you should introduce yourself, the silence must already be embarrassing these teenagers.]

As she looked around she noticed that the students really were awkward and even the girl who gave her a fake smile was no longer showing it.

"Hello everyone, my name is Anastasia Ambrosius and I'm your new history teacher, feel free to call me Anastasia. It's nice to meet you and please take care of me." Anastasia bows his head a little showing that he respects his students, but still maintaining an air of authority.

In the room echoes a chorus of voices saying "Welcome Anastasia-sensei."

"I'd like you to introduce yourselves, it helps me remember each other's names." Anastasia said with a big smile and the girl with the crimson hair started.

"Nice to meet you sensei. My name is Rias Gremory."

"Hello Gremory-san, from your last name I believe you are the daughter of the academy manager."

"Yes I am."

"Your family doesn't look Japanese. If I may ask, why did you move here?"

"I want to learn more about Japanese culture, because I always was a big fan in my childhood." Rias kindly smiles, obviously happy to be in Japan.

[So the menstruation hair is called Rias.] Apollyon says trying to help his partner with mental notes.

"Good to know you like this country. I'm not a native either, but I'm enjoying my stay." Anastasia smiles at the girl while mentally yelling at her troublesome weapon.

After Rias started, the process continued. Soon, it was followed by the girl with the fake smile.

"Hello Anastasia-sensei, my name is Akeno Himejima. Like my friend Rias, I also want to learn more about our country." Akeno continued to express her characteristic smile.

[The girl from S&M is called Akeno Himejima. Hey Himejima wasn't those annoying humans' names?]

'Yes, it's one of the five main Japanese families, and Vali dealt with a defector from it in that incident with Tobio Ikuse.' She answers seriously in her head.

In order not to make the student uncomfortable, she answers quickly.

"Himejima-san, it's nice to meet you. Is your family from the country?

"My mother's family is from Japan. My fathers side of the family was not from here." Akeno force a smile that has a frightening aura.

"I see." Anastasia speaks and mentally comments at the same moment as her faithful companion the same word to describe the girl: 'Scary'.

With that Anastasia continued the series of presentations by her students, arriving at one more of the five that caught her attention.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sensei. My name is Souna Shitori. I'm the student council president, if you need a guide to get acquainted we can help you in case of the other teachers are busy."

[Look Ana, the glasses girl is so serious and it's so cute that she thinks that fake name is good for something. Why don't we play some tricks on her.] Apollyon laugh mischievously.

'Of course...' Anastasia consider the option, but refutes right away when you remember that the current Leviathan is from the Sitri family. 'NO!'

[Tsk... how boring. Merlin said he would come to this school, that kid is much more fun than you.]

Apollyon tries to piss her off, but is ignored.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sitri-san, and thanks for the offer I may have to take it." Anastasia smiles deeply.

When called by her real name, the girl with short hair is in shock and looks at Rias who is also surprised.

"Oh my, I'm sorry is that a friend of mine is also called Sona and I'm used to it." Anastasia put your hand in front of your mouth pretending to be innocent.

"What about Sitri." Sona asks without realizing it.

"I heard wrong. The sound of both is similar, I'm sorry Souna Shitori-san." Anastasia smiles apologetic showing remorse for the mistake.

Her actions raise a question in the hell of the room, but none of the four devils present feel any energy emanating from the teacher, which leads them to believe the lie.

"Please continue." Anastasia asks the class.

[It's the turn of the girl with strange colored eyes.]

'Apollyon, the name of the condition is heterochromia, and it's not weird, it's just not usual. I would call it unique or rare.'

[You're just using a euphemism, to me it is strange. At least I say what I want to say at the face.] Apollyon snorts and fall silent.

'You're talking to me mentally, the girl can't hear you.'

[And? Just because she can't hear doesn't mean I didn't speak in front of her.]

"My name is Tsubaki Shinra. I'm the vice-president of the student council." Tsubaki follows the same pattern of introduction as her peerage's king.

"Nice to meet you Shinra-san."

After a few more introductions, the last girl who attracted Anastasia's attention introduced herself as Kiyome Abe. Anastasia and Apollyon immediately recognized her as a human with the ability to tame wild beasts.

Then some more presentations took place and it was time to start the class.

"Well class, our history lesson today will be focused on mythology. Do you know what a mythology is?"

"It is the name given to the set of beliefs of a certain people." Sona Sitri answer.

"Great answer Sitri-san... I say Shitori-san. Sorry I'm still memorizing the names." The name again made the young devil raise her guard. "Could someone else answer me what would be the distinction between the concept of myth and religion?"

"Mythologies are for false stories?" One of the boys Anastasia couldn't quite remember the name replied.

"Considering all myths to be false is incorrect by generalization, they can be both true and false. And if we followed his idea, we would be considering the facts told by religions as true." Anastasia pointed out the logic of the boy's argument and promptly received a predictable response.

"Got it, sensei. I'm really wrong, it's not possible that devils or gods exist in our world." He scratches his head and laughs a little bit.

The boy's reaction causes the teacher to have a brief smile, and again she asks about the distinction between the two concepts.

"I believe that religions can fit the concept of mythologies, as both bring a set of beliefs of a people." Tsubaki Shinra comments.

"Very correct Shinra-san. Both concepts deal with a set of values added by people throughout history, the difference is that mythologies in general had a considerable drop in the number of their followers." Anastasia explains and turns to the blackboard in the room writing the word: 'Christianity'

"The topic of our class will be about Christian mythology. Can anyone tell me what they know about this religion?"

"I think the Bible talks about the existence of angels, devils and fallen angels. All created by an almighty god. If I were to explain it, it would be the belief of humans in a unique and almighty God, who created the world and sent his son Jesus Christ to save humanity from sin." A boy in the room comments and hearing the last part Anastasia feels nostalgic, but that feeling is quickly suppressed to continue the class.

"Correct, but that's not all. Christian mythology also includes the stories, symbols, traditions, and doctrines that Christians have developed over the centuries to explain and defend their faith. Christian mythology is very rich and complex, and has influenced many other cultures and religions." Anastasia nods.

"But teacher, isn't Christian mythology true? Is it not based on historical facts and divine revelations?" Another boy who wears a visible crucifix on his chest asks.

"This is a difficult question to answer, because it depends on one's point of view. For Christians, Christian mythology is absolute truth, revealed by God and confirmed by history. For non-Christians, Christian mythology is a human construction, based on interpretations and adaptations of historical facts and other sources. This is similarly true for Shintoists, Hindus, or any other religion." Anastasia tries to justify the boy's faith, without making him a fanatical believer after all, she knows that all the gods of each religion really exist. Some less annoying than others.

"How would you describe the devils." Anastasia grins.

"Beings of an evil nature who trick humans into stealing souls through temptations and contracts." A girl in the room comments.

"As you can see, the general view we have in the Christian mindset is that inherent good is associated with angels and absolute evil is associated with devils or other supernatural beings who qualify on a similar level."

Anastasia's smile gets bigger when she sees Rias, Akeno, Sona and Tsubaki's expressions.

[You are sadistic. But I would love to eat popcorn right now, these girls' faces are priceless.] Apollyon complains.

'You are a sword!'

[I have needs, you know, I demand my rights.]

'I really have to punish Merlin. I miss when you didn't complain.'

[That time never existed.]

"I disagree, I don't think they're that bad. If they were all created by the same being they are not necessarily evil." Rias Gremory speaks.

"It's a good counterpoint Gremory-san, if God is just and good he would not develop inherently evil beings, but free choice can corrupt everyone including men. By the way, Gremory knows the origin of his surname, it's well related to our topic."

"No." Rias tries to pretend not to know.

"The name Gremory is related to the 72 demonic pillars cited in the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis Regis, a pseudepigraphical grimoire dating from the 17th century. This work portrays King Solomon's experience and how he managed to make pacts with ancient devils to take part of their powers to use for the benefit of humanity." When the teacher explains the origin of the name, Sona and Rias look on in surprise at this fact.

"I didn't know my last name had that origin. But who would be the devil Gremory mentioned in this book?" Rias asks curiously.

"If I remember correctly the name should have been Runeas Gremory." Anastasia responds calmly and openly looking Rias up and down. "You know the description of the Gremory clan completely matches your physical appearance. Pretty interesting." Anastasia just smiles mysteriously.

Rias and Sona again look suspiciously at their new teacher.

However, Anastasia's actions remained innocent and her body did not emanate any form of magical power. Soon afterwards, without succeeding in noticing energy, the two devils calm down and one of them asks a question.

"Sensei, what are the main sources of Christian mythology? How can we study it?" Sona Sitri asks with a visible interest in his eyes. A thirst for more knowledge worthy of scholars.

"The main sources of Christian mythology are the sacred texts of Christians, such as the Bible and the Apocrypha, the writings of the church fathers, ecumenical councils, hagiographies, legends and the arts. To study Christian mythology, we need to use critical and comparative methods, taking into account the historical, cultural and theological context of each source."

"Anastasia-sensei, what are the main themes of Christian mythology? What are its distinguishing features?" Akeno Himejima raises her hand to ask.

"The main themes of Christian mythology are: the creation of the world and man; the fall of man and angels; God's plan of salvation; the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the final judgment and eternal destiny of souls; the celestial and infernal hierarchy; miracles and prophecies; the saints and the martyrs; demons and sins; virtues and gifts; sacraments and rituals; heresies and sects; relics and symbols. The distinctive features of Christian mythology are: monotheism; the trinity; the incarnation; redemption; the fun; the faith; the hope; love."

"Teacher, what are the main challenges and conflicts of Christian mythology? What are the contradictions and paradoxes?" Tsubasa Shinra asks curiously.

"The main challenges and conflicts of Christian mythology are: the relationship between God and man; the relationship between man and the world; the relationship between good and evil; the relationship between reason and revelation; the relationship between church and state; the relationship between the different Christian denominations. The main contradictions and paradoxes of Christian mythology are: the omnipotence and goodness of God; man's freedom and predestination; original sin and free will; the human and divine nature of Christ; the justice and mercy of God; the law and the gospel; the cross and the glory." Anastasia then takes a deep breath and decides to end the class.

"Well, I think I've said enough for today. I hope you learned something new and interesting about Christian mythology. Now I'm going to give you an exercise to do at home. I want you to choose one of the topics I mentioned and write a short text about it, using the sources I indicated. You have until next week to deliver it to me. Any questions?"

After that, about two minutes pass and with the sound of the bell, the class ends.

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Obs:

— I probably won't do a chapter focused on her class again, I only did it this time because I started in the last chapter and decided to continue. After the next one, a canonical event will finally begin... Raynare asking Issei out on a date.