What? A Talent Display?

[Lilith, The Underworld]

{Sirzechs Lucifer}

"Why did I think it was a good idea?"

I looked at Grayfia, who didn't give me an answer but had a 'told you' look on her face.

"No," I said, unsure of what Azazel was thinking. "Don't answer."

I had to go through the contents of the letter once more.

`Vouching for the second favor, Sirzechs~`

Each time he vouches for a favor, it results in new bundles of paperwork piling up on my desk.

And this time, the request was almost ridiculous.

`Help convince the two Devil Lords to allow Rias to fill her peerage slot temporarily for the Rating Game.`

Why was he even interested in helping Rias?

Well, I'm glad he's trying to help, but it's a rather difficult request.

"I'm more interested in the person he suggested as a temporary member for this Rating Game," Grayfia finally spoke, drawing my attention to the name of the person in the letter.

`It would be difficult to have supporters from other factions or devils who are already part of another peerage fight for her.`

It was strictly forbidden unless there was a trade-off that allowed the transfer of a person from one Peerage to another.

So, having any of Sona's peerage members or any of her other friends was not possible.

`But if the member joining isn't part of any other peerage and is a human, then it shouldn't be an issue.`

"Reo Takeda," Grayfia said.

`Reo Takeda.` And the letter continued.

In just a few days, this human boy has become a target of interest for many.

His magic was unique; we didn't know his motives, but he seemed to be friendly with Rias and didn't have a shady past either.

`I have asked Reo to work under me in the study of Sacred Gears.`

Last time he tried creating a Gear of his own, it exploded and caused a major quake that was felt even here.

`But he said he would only agree if I could somehow help Rias by allowing him to fight beside her.`

Oh.

So, it wasn't his idea?

But the idea of the boy instead?

"What do you think, Grayfia?" 

"Reo Takeda is someone we don't know much about. But from what I've seen and from the information I found while looking into him… he has always been just a normal human that most didn't even pay attention to."

Amusing.

"And now that he has awakened a potentially unknown Sacred Gear, everyone is chasing after him," I deduced. "So, do you think it is safe to have him around Rias?"

"I don't see it being a problem for now."

If she was willing to vouch for the boy, then it was fine.

However, there was another issue.

"And how do you think we can get Riser to agree to this?" 

Surprisingly, she didn't seem worried about it.

"If you can get Lord Gremory and Lord Phenex to agree as well, then I can get Riser to agree too," she said confidently, which made me smile even without realizing it.

"I know I can trust you, Grayfia."

After all, she is the Strongest Queen.

…

…

[Next Day — Kuoh Academy]

"Ah… Aa… Achoo!"

Is someone talking about me? I've been feeling like my nose has been runny for a while.

But given how much chaos has happened in the last couple of days, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was indeed talking about me.

"Quite tiring, isn't it?"

It was, and I immediately agreed with the girl who popped up behind me.

"It sure is, Murayama."

It's been a while since I last talked to her. I kind of feel bad about it.

"I told you to call me Aya." She gave a mock offended look, which I thought was rather cute.

"Well then, Aya. How has your Kendo practice been going?" I recalled that they had been training for a national kendo championship. The club was super active because of it, and I had seen them stay quite late.

"Going well," she said, sitting next to me. "We are hoping to win the championship. If not the champion's trophy, then at least the runner-up trophy."

"Oi!" However, someone didn't like the idea of a runner-up trophy. "We are not losing this, Aya."

Turning my head around, I saw Katase.

Or, well, given how Murayama prefers to be called Aya, it's a safe bet to assume that Katase would like to be called Emi too.

"She's right," I agreed with Emi. "You should aim for the champion's trophy, not the runner-up one."

"Don't even think that coming second is an option." Emi was determined to win. "Our club and dojo are going to be the champions no matter what."

I liked how enthusiastic they were about this.

I can't even remember the last time I felt this way about a hobby.

But I guess, in their case, it's passion.

"Of course, of course." Aya laughed. "We will be the champions. And look how engrossed you've been in this. You even forgot to greet Reo."

This finally put an expression other than a frown on Emi's face.

A look of realization and embarrassment.

"Ah, Reo… sorry about that." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly. It was most certainly a fake act, but she still pulled it off well.

It looked cute.

"It's fine," I reassured. "Anyhow, how are the two of you?"

Emi placed her hands inside the pockets of her jumpsuit. "Tired, but working hard enough to definitely secure first place."

She gets rather hyped whenever we talk about Kendo.

"But I guess not as tired as you." Aya chuckled. "I heard Sona asked you to join the council."

I pointed to the little badge stuck to my shirt. "Yep."

I had requested Sona to remove that ugly armband and replace it with something cleaner, like the badge I was wearing.

It was fun walking around with a sleeve that announced I was in the student council.

But the ugly outweighed the satisfaction by a lot, so I'm glad she listened.

"Anyhow, I would like you to come to the Chashu shop once in a while," Aya teased, scooting closer to me. "Or have you found another Chashu Ramen shop?"

She gasped. "Don't tell me you're cheating on our Chashu with some other Chashu?"

They were playful and quite funny.

Most people don't see this side of them as they're mostly at the club.

But if you talk to them, you'd realize they're quite fun to be around.

And maybe this is the case for everyone.

People didn't talk to me in the past, and now they say I'm quite fun.

"By the way," Emi drew my attention. "What event are you going to take part in?"

Event?

"What do you mean?" I was confused by her sudden question.

"The inter-school talent display?" She caught me by surprise. "Don't tell me you haven't heard about it."

Well, I…

I haven't.

Was that a bad thing?

"Err… I don't think I have."

This made the two of them rather amused. "That's surprising coming from a student council member."

This made me even more confused.

"Does it have anything to do with the student council?"

I mean, I could see us handling student documentation and registrations, but nothing beyond that.

However, once they realized I wasn't kidding and truly didn't know about this talent display, they looked at one another in amusement.

"Well… the Inter-School Talent Display is a competition held between the top schools each year to choose the best performers for a given sport or event. It's like a reputation event where the school with the highest number of wins receives quite a lot of respect and fame."

But what surprised me wasn't Emi's description of the event, but Aya's description of the rules.

"And well, it is mandatory for student council members to take part in at least one event."

.

.

.

"You… are joking right?"

"We aren't."

{Quest Alert!}

Oh, for fucks sake!

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P.S. Will post next chapter after waking up.]]