Chapter 18 : Rias glanced at Sona
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She turned back to face the portal, but before she could say more, the door to the room opened to allow Sona and Tsubaki to quickly come inside and join the others.
Rias glanced at Sona, who looked a combination of depressed and annoyed. When she spoke her tone was slightly harsh and clipped, "What is it this time?"
Without waiting for an answer, Sona called up her magic circle and began scanning the portal as she had last time.
Rias answered while she worked, "If it's the same as last time, there's no telling what will be inside until we actually enter it."
Sona grunted something very out of character, and dismissed her magic circle, "I'm getting the same readings as before.
If this is the user of Innovate Clear and they are new to it, then we should expect the world inside to not be much bigger than the one we already experienced. If so, it shouldn't be too dangerous."
That was all Rias needed to hear! Between Sona's analysis and her belief that the person doing this was like her, she had little fear of the portal.
She quickly dashed into it leaving behind five exasperated people. Akeno shook her head and gave a rueful smile while making her way toward the portal.
Just as she was about to enter it to follow her King, said King popped back out, her eyes wide and her body vibrating in excitement, "It's an ONSEN!"
Everyone blinked at that with Sona being the one to say, "It's a what?"
Rias, still vibrating in excitement answered like a hyper kid on their way to Disney World, "It's an outdoor onsen! A complete facility! With staff and everything!"
Sona's eyebrow twitched as she stared at the portal like it had personally wronged her, "You're saying, whoever this is, opened a portal right in your bathroom, scaring the hell out of me, just to put in a pocket dimension containing an onsen?!"
Rias smiled brightly, "Yup! Oh relax Sona. Given the things we've seen so far I don't believe that whoever this is, is malicious.
Millicus could have gone into that first portal and come out just fine, and he's still a little kid! I'm more than willing to chalk Hyoudou-san's death up to an accident. Now come on, get the rest of your peerage and let's relax for a bit!"
With her part said, Rias dashed back through the portal leaving her bemused peerage and a very annoyed Sona behind. Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko all followed their King into the portal leaving just Tsubaki and Sona behind.
Sona let out a deep sigh and turned to Tsubaki, "Get the others and bring them here. If nothing else, having so many of us on hand should be more than enough to deal with any unpleasant surprises."
Tsubaki accepted her orders and dashed off to collect the rest of the peerage. Sona, meanwhile, let out a bone-weary sigh and walked through the portal into the onsen.
She couldn't help it as her eyes widened in surprise. Unlike the last time, the building she stepped into this time was modern and tastefully decorated while still maintaining a traditional Japanese look.
Looking around showed a couple of staff members, an older man, and a woman, wearing simple yukatas, working behind the main desk. Rias and her peerage were in front of the old woman who had a bright smile on her face.
As she joined them, she caught the next part of the conversation. The old woman addressing something Rias must have asked, "... only wished to apologize for the trouble caused by the first scenario. My Master never intended for the young man to die. It was quite the opposite really."
Rias pondered that and asked, "He wanted to make Hyoudou-san stronger?"
The old woman nodded agreeably, "That is correct."
Sona butted in and asked, "Why?"
The old lady turned her gaze to Sona and answered, "Because he was important. The young man had a very special power."
"A Sacred Gear?"
The old woman nodded, "Yes. A very special one, the Boosted Gear." That drew gasps of surprise from everyone, "My master wished to make the young man stronger and to bring out his hidden power. Sadly, this did not go according to plan."
Rias looked devastated. A powerful Sacred Gear, a Longinus class one, in fact, had been right under her nose and was now completely out of her grasp.
Issei's body had been too heavily damaged for her to revive when they arrived and even if it hadn't, it had been too long since he died to revive him anyway. While Rias wallowed in her depression, Sona asked, "Why did your master want to help Hyoudou-san?"
The old woman smiled apologetically, "I do not know."
"What about you? What is your purpose? Why are you here?"
The old woman perked up and smiled happily, "My Master made my husband and myself to run this onsen and to give his apologies to you.
While you are here, we shall serve you to the best of our abilities. We have many facilities, including a gaming center and private bedrooms. There is more than enough space for all of you and you are all very welcome to stay as long as you wish."
Sona watched as Rias pulled herself back together and lifted out of her depression. For as lazy as her best friend could be, Sona had to admire how determined she could sometimes be. Rias looked at the matron of the onsen and asked, "Is it possible to meet your Master?"
The old woman turned to Rias, "I do not know."
Rias bit her lip for a moment before speaking, "If you can, please let your Master know what I would very much like to speak with him."
The matron gave a small, polite, bow, "He shall know."
Rias brightened, "Thank you!"
At that moment, the rest of Sona's peerage stepped through the portal, which on this side looked like a regular doorway filled with the same swirling blue light.
All of them looked around in shock until they found Sona and joined her. The matron looked over the many people in the room and smiled brightly, "Will that be all of you?"
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