Chapter 5

"She is fucking miserable..."

"That's high praise coming from you," Azazel smirked, hearing that. "You don't usually bother with people if they don't leave any impression on you. Even Vali had to beat you a few times before you stopped ignoring him like he's air."

"Speaking of Vali, how is that sharkboy doing these days?" I asked, cranking my neck up at him with much difficulty. —#1

"He is doing fine. been busy sightseeing with his new cohort." 

"Aww, A father worrying about his son. How cute~" I grinned.

"I ain't worrying, brat." Azazel's face went blank in an instant. "But forget about Vali- he's capable of handling himself. Why don't you talk about the redhead?" He went on to warn sternly, "Don't you try to divert my attention."

"...Pass me the chips first," I demanded, "And Get off me."

He complied, for a change, and passed me some of the chili-flavoured ones. "Now then," I began, munching, "Before I tell you everything I noticed, I would need all the details of your deal with Sirzechs Lucifer."

"Hmm, why the sudden curiosity?" He tilted his head, "You never bothered to learn about the details of the task, opting to 'wing it' as you go. What made this task any different?"

"Just tell me." I insisted.

"Well, let's see..." He cradled his chin and tapped his cheeks thoughtfully, "You know that Sirzechs' father, current gremory lord, has signed an agreement to engage Rias to house Phoenix when she came of age, correct?"

"Yes, but I have a question..." I said, skeptically, "From what you've taught me about the 'three-fraction', House gremory is/ has been a strange devil household. They deeply value their familial connections and core values- and don't just change colors for some paltry gains..."

I further went on to add, "So for the head of gremory to engage/chain his second child, who they happen to have centuries after the first one, without her consent, doesn't make sense. I understand that this deal would bring the two behemoth houses together- one with extreme riches, and the other with direct political connections with the satans and extremely coveted 'Power of destruction'. But..." —#2

"But it directly contradicts the nature of the Gremory Heritage." He added, completing my assertion. "Issei, do you know why she's looking for a pawn to add to her peerage?"

"To fight on her behalf." I asserted confidently.

"Partly true," He corrected, asking another question, "Did you notice anything strange with the girl?"

"Uhh...I guess she looked nervous-desperate, even," I mentioned after thinking for a minute, "Like, I wasn't expecting to be put on watch before I even took a step inside the campus. I thought it was because they were cautious and were merely assessing me, since you'd obscured my details. But immediately after that, Rias herself came to interrogate me..."

"That doesn't make sense, does it?" Aza pointed, "What information they could've gained in mere minutes to warrant endangering the heiress herse-"

"Uhh, Actually," I interjected somewhat awkwardly, "I was deliberately releasing my draconic infused mana..."

"...Why were you doing that?" He asked flatly.

I shrugged, "To see what I'm working with." Biting down on the stacked chips layer, I added, "Now that I think about it, that might've given them false signals about my actual strength."

Azazel gave me a long stare for a minute straight, "...Seriously?"

"Don't worry about it, I didn't scare her off. If anything, they should be underestimating me by now..."

"You aren't strong enough to scare her, you lazy ass." He began to lecture me, but as he saw my disinterested face, he gave up midway. "Whatever...I'll give you the brief run down this one instance, so you better listen carefully."

"Uh-huh, I'm listening, Boss..."

He huffed and began a history lesson, "First, the devil council put pressure on pure-blooded houses to marry off their children at the shortest notice to repopulate the pure-blood devils. The noble houses didn't directly accept the offer, and instead chose a roundabout way of engaging them at the Rite of passing, and then letting the adults carve their futures..."

"...Gremory, like all houses, had to follow through with it. So they chose to engage their daughter to the third son of Phoenix House. Since it was almost unheard of to break engagement in devil society, the council pretended to be blinded to the little trickery."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. Get to the point."

Azazel ignored me, "Problem is, the third son of Phenix house- Riser Phoenix- turned out to be a lecherous little shit..."

"Just like you."

"...And despite Rias repeatedly saving that she hates him, He showed no signs of aversion to the contract. Since the two parties didn't come to a mutual agreement for breaking the contract, it held. This was just the historic context, now let's come to the present..."

Knowing the lecture's gonna last long, I decided to lay out a sheet on the floor, and decided to lie down. As the saying goes, A comfortable body leads to a functioning mind.

"Recently, the devil council has cracked down on the relaxed approach taken by Novel houses, and Poor Rias was caught in the crossfire. Gremory and Phoenix houses were forced to move the engagement date forward, despite Sirzechs' attempts to stall time for his sister...."

"Zzzzzz....snort.....Zzzz...."

*SLAP

"ZzzGuh...What?"

"...So Sirzechs devised a plan to help his sister. When Riser came to visit Rias, He sent his Queen to use the Phoenix's arrogance to goad him into a rating game with Rias."

"The one where they fight with the familia?"

"Peerage." He corrected, "But yes. While that happened, He approached me for help. It seems he knew I had the 'White dragon emperor's custody..."

"Wait, not the Red one?!" I jumped in shock, "Then why the fuck am I slaving out there in the boring ass school?!"

"It ain't even that bad, sit down." Aza chopped me on the head with his hand, "Oww..." "Vali refused, saying he was busy. So I approached you, and who knew my lazy student would be happy to take the job."

"...I tried to refuse, but just had to make the reward irresistible." I snorted.

"Uhm, where was I? Ah, yes- So Sirzechs managed to arrange a rating game whose winner can decide the outcome of this engagement farce."

"I feel like a but is coming..."

"However, even that wasn't enough. Despite Rias inheriting the Power of Destruction, Riser was older and stronger than her. His Bloodline trait is borderline invincible within the rules of the game, and he had a full peerage, as compared to Rias' trouble-ridden and lackluster one."

"So, Mr. Superdevil set out to look for a heavy hitter that could present his coddled little sister with a win on a platter..."

"You could be a little sympathetic to the poor girls' predicament, y'know." He argued with a helpless smile, "What is she supposed to do in the little time she has been offered..."

"Idk, train..."

"It isn't so easy for devils to increase their strength in such a short time."

"Neither is looking for a magic lamp that'd solve all her problems."

Azazel got slightly irked by that, "Boy, don't you try to pretend you're some hot shit. You spend fifteen hours a day sleeping like a log. You should be the last person to judge someone."

"And yet, I'm a thousand times stronger than these 'Pure-blooded' high-class devils."

"If you're so talented, why do you get your ass handed everytime you fight Vali."

"Ohhh, so now, you're bringing your bastard son into this, huh?" I said with some anger. Why did this old fossil have to remind me of those humiliations? Still, I had to say something to defend myself. "Well...Well, that's because he had half a decade more to train his sacred gear."

Azazel turned away and gave me a contemptuous side glance, "Should've trained to cover the distance, instead of begging me for Phoenix tears."

"I...huh," That left me stumped. As much as it vexed me, it was a good question. Why didn't I just train until I was stronger than that Smug face? Well, the answer was simple- I hated training.

There was no other reason, except that I despised training and the pain that came along with it. In fact, the reason I chose to do this job was because the reward I'd get would help me grow stronger without punching air for hours on end.

So, I guess, she too was somewhat similar...

I stared back at him to see him shaking his head in disappointment, "...What's with that look?"

He sighed, and brought his hand to my head, ruffling my well-done hairstyle, "See, one way or the other, we all look for shortcuts. It isn't fair for us to judge someone based on it."

I parted my lips to crack a joke, or to make a silly comment, before deciding against it, "...Noted."

"...But there's still one problem."

"Hmm?"

"She isn't strong enough to reincarnate me."

"Really?"

"...Unless she's got one of those mutated pieces, Hundred percent."

"Oh............"

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#1: When the first time, Issei saw the Balance Breaker of Divine Dividing, he couldn't help but compare its white and blue colors to those of an aquatic fish, and the first image that came to his mind was that of a shark.

#2: A headstart, but Gremory house would be a big centerpiece in the politics of the underworld in this story, and I might give them a bloodline ability. In fact, I've already laid its base out there.