Chapter 7 : Summon

[ Side Quest Completed: Helped a young man from a Fallen Angel ]

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Richard walked leisurely, with Kalawanar quietly following beside him.

"Richard-sama, I didn't expect you to kill Raynare like that," Kalawanar said.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't want the devils to find out that I was the one who killed that Fallen Angel," Richard replied. He had used his full speed to eliminate Raynare, knowing there were eyes watching Issei being attacked.

All Richard had to do was move at full speed, and that alone made it impossible for Kiba and Koneko to detect what happened. They were too weak, and their eyes and perception weren't fast enough to see him.

"Richard-sama, are we going to your house now?" Kalawanar asked curiously, prompting Richard to raise an eyebrow as if remembering something.

"Oh, I forgot. I haven't bought a house yet…"

"Heh?"

"I guess we'll have to stay at a hotel tonight. I'll buy a house tomorrow~."

———

While Richard was in high spirits, things weren't as cheerful for Rias and her group. They were having headaches over what Kiba had told them. Someone had killed Raynare right in front of them, and they had no idea who it was.

"This is really serious," Rias said with a frown, crossing her arms, causing her chest to bounce slightly. She turned to her Queen and spoke,

"What do you think?"

"Hmmm… A powerful person is in our territory, and we didn't even notice… That's kind of scary," Akeno replied honestly.

Rias nodded in agreement and then looked toward Kiba.

"Are you sure it was a sword slash?"

"I'm certain. From my experience, that was definitely a slash," Kiba said.

"Even my senses didn't pick up the presence of whoever slashed that Fallen Angel," Koneko added. Her senses were sharp, which meant that whoever killed Raynare was stealthy enough to avoid even her detection.

"Or… what's scarier is that the person's attack speed was so fast that even Kiba couldn't see anything," Akeno said with a frown. If someone like that was in their town, it was definitely a cause for concern.

"Maybe we should discuss this with Sona. For now, all of you should patrol in pairs to avoid any danger," Rias ordered. She wanted to find out the identity of whoever killed Raynare — and if possible, send them an invitation.

"What about Issei Hyoudou?" Akeno asked. They had already healed the boy's leg injuries.

"Invite him here tomorrow. I'll ask him to join my peerage."

———

A few days after Richard arrived in Kuoh Town, he quickly bought a large house with one living room and four bedrooms. He also bought another property for his business. He used Kalawanar's money to do all this after discovering her bank account had a ridiculous amount of money.

He designed the café in a modern and trendy style. In his previous life, Richard had dreamed of opening his own little café but never had the means. Now he was taking the opportunity to fulfill that dream. With just a few more finishing touches, the café would be ready to open. Richard would be the barista, while Kalawanar would handle the cashier and waiting tables.

"If business goes well, I'll hire more staff~," Richard said happily before taking out a small piece of paper — something he had received from a beautiful girl. Richard could sense that she wasn't human, nor was she a devil.

"This looks like something used to summon… Looks like it's for humans to summon devils," Richard muttered while observing the patterns on the paper.

At that moment, Richard was at home while Kalawanar was at the café, so he didn't hesitate to test the summoning paper. He dropped a small drop of blood onto the paper, and it immediately began to glow. A magic circle formed on the floor. Richard took a step back, waiting for whatever would appear.

A handsome young blonde man gradually appeared. He gave a polite smile upon seeing the client who summoned him.

Richard raised an eyebrow at Kiba's appearance. He knew this young man was a reincarnated devil and a member of Rias's peerage — he had already learned about the devils in Kuoh from Kalawanar.

Although he didn't show it, Richard felt slightly disappointed that he hadn't summoned the black-haired devil with the strange chest.

"I'm Richard. Pleased to meet you, Divel-san," Richard greeted calmly, surprising Kiba a little. He knew this was Richard's first time summoning a devil, and normally people would be shocked, but Richard looked completely unfazed.

"I'm Yuuto Kiba. Nice to meet you. Do you have any requests?" Kiba replied, observing Richard carefully. He quickly concluded that Richard was just a regular human — he couldn't sense anything from him.

"Before I make a request, I'd like to ask something," Richard said.

"What would you like to ask?" Kiba responded.

"Will I have to sell my soul to you after I make a request?" Richard joked.

"That stopped happening over a thousand years ago. We don't do that anymore."

"Oh, you talk like you're a devil who's lived for a thousand years… You clearly look young," Richard said. He could sense that the devil in front of him wasn't a bad person — at least, far better than those exorcists he killed the other day.

"… Devils can live very long lives and still look young even after 1,000 years. But yes, I'm still young. I'm a student," Kiba replied with a smile. It wasn't the first time a client was curious about these things.

"So, which clan are you from? If I'm not mistaken, devils have 72 clans, right?" Richard asked.

"I'm from the Gremory Clan, but I'm not a pure-blooded devil. I'm a reincarnated devil," Kiba answered.

"Oh."

Richard then continued asking Kiba about his experiences after becoming a devil. Everything was fine until Richard asked about Kiba's life before becoming a devil. That made Kiba freeze. Though his expression didn't change, inside he felt uneasy remembering those past events.

"Hmmm, it seems like you didn't have a very pleasant time before becoming a devil… maybe even some really bad experiences~," Richard remarked. He noticed Kiba frowning at that.

"Oh, so it was a bad experience, huh? Still, don't hate your human side. Even if those experiences were unpleasant, they're part of what makes you who you are — now and in the future~. Use it to shape the best version of your future self."

Kiba remained silent, pondering Richard's words carefully. It wasn't every day he met a customer this interesting.

Meanwhile, Richard happily thought to himself:

"Damn, if I shaved my head, they might mistake me for Buddha."