Ch 42: First quest.

Noah was surprised when he saw the modern-looking house Lilith had prepared for him. It was more a mansion than a house, with over two dozen rooms on three floors, as well as two basements. There was even a pool in the back! Working for a benevolent goddess certainly came with nice perks.

Noah found the master bedroom, tastefully furnished with simple, but high quality furniture. The main feature was the huge bed, large enough for seven or eight people to sleep in comfortably.

For now, he took a shower, chose to sleep in a room with a smaller bed, and contemplated his next course of action.

As Lilith had warned him, this world clearly was a mash-up of different fictions. He knew about Bleach and Highschool DxD so far. But the whole anti-demon corps thing was new to him. But it did seem interesting, and the power he got from Kyouka was right up his alley. As long as he obtained the cooperation of the other corps’ members, he might be able to upgrade himself a lot. And speaking of upgrading, he had gained one attribute point.

After some thinking, he added it to his endurance. Bleach and High-school DxD were both full of bullshit powers, and he was going to take hits for certain. Suddenly, his status didn’t seem that overpowered anymore. One the scale of power, his weapon mastery and body strengthening likely only counted as lower-mid. No, not even that. Although the new abilities provided by the twins, Hard Light Arsenal and Hole, would help him punch out of his category.

As a test, Noah created a small stake made of yellow light, then willed it to float above his palm. And it worked. He tried to move it around, and although it took him some mental effort, he managed. Noah grinned as he dissipated the sword, his mind thinking of a certain living mass of arrogance from the Fate fiction. With a lot of training, he might eventually be able to replicate some of the things the golden prick could do.

But his mood soured as he thought back to something that had been in his mind a few times already, and he decided to ask.

[System, I received no ability from Asuna. Is she okay?]

[This information is restricted. User does not need to worry. Lilith offered User’s servants an ability from the start, or the chance to acquire one.]

[So she got the later possibility, most likely. Thanks.]

Noah had not been too worried, as if something had happened to her, he would just have resurrected her later, after acquiring that ability. Still, it was a relief to know.

Killing over two hundred hollows had been quite profitable and he had just over 5k Yin points. Which was just enough to buy the first quest.

[Quest Acquired. Quest Item received: Invitation to Hagun Island.]

[Quest objective: Be at the provided location on October 17th, 10AM. Dress code: formal. You will be transported to Hagun island. Once there, assess the situation, and do something about it. Difficulty level: Very high. Reward: Arcana Card - Magician. Additional rewards will depend on overall results and will be inversely correlated with the amount of outside assistance User will rely on.]

The location was engraved in Noah’s mind, but he didn’t pay attention to it. His eyes widened at the mention of the Arcana Card. He now remembered where he had read the name of his new academy. It belonged to a fiction named Maou Gakuen No Hangyakusha, where twenty-two candidates to the title of Devil King fought each other in a battle royale, each of them having absurd abilities thanks to their Arcana, based on the twenty-Two Major Arcana from tarot. Some would give a hard time even to Bleach lieutenants or some of its weaker captains-level figures.

But there were also a few beautiful girls in that novel. Girls he looked forward to meet.

Noah sighed as he tried to put away his perverted thoughts. He was too weak right now, and he had a hard quest to do first. Hagun Island didn’t ring a bell, and he didn’t know squat about it.

Another issue was that, while he had read this new fiction, it had been incomplete at the time, and he only knew about half of the rivals he might have to defeat. He didn’t even know what ability was associated to the Magician Arcana.

He needed to grow much stronger, and he wouldn’t have much time to do it. October 17 was only twelve days away, and for all he knew, the struggle against the devil king candidates might start right after that.

Noah sighed and willed himself to sleep. It was only when as was starting to drift that he realized he was completely overlooking the very high level of difficulty of the upcoming quest. He just wasn’t taking it seriously. He didn’t even consider not going to that island, despite there not being penalties for declining. It seemed his string of victories had broken his sense of danger.

And if whatever happened in that island was bad enough that Lilith wanted to deploy him over here, he would have a hard time sleeping if he ignored it.

…

On the other side of the world, in Italy, the sun was setting, and Kaede was relaxing, soaking naked in a large bath in company with her two new teammates. After a few hours of training in their company, they had eaten dinner, taken a shower, and were relaxing before going to bed. Kaede had been assigned a room in a dormitory next to her new companions.

Sister Griselda was actually very strong and had effortlessly defeated Kaede in a spear duel, after using her light magic to form a spear identical to Kaede’s.

She reflected on what she had learned, both against Griselda and her two pupils. Well, three now since she was included. Griselda had been fairly satisfied with Kaed’s use of the business end of the spear, but had shown her that she underused the shaft and blunt end of it. Many times, Griselda had caused Kaede’s butt to kiss the ground by stepping within Kaede’s range and using the shaft of her own spear to disrupt her footing.

It had been vexing, to be played with this way. But Kaede readily acknowledged how useful this training was. She was happy to learn now, rather than in a real battle, where there would not be a second try.

“Today was very fun!” said Irina as she lowered her body in the warm water, distracting Kaede from her thoughts. She looked fondly at the cute girl with long light brown hairs and purple eyes. Her hairs were down as she was bathing, but Irina favored a twin tails style that remined Kaede of Silica.

“Not very fun for me, but very profitable. I get to learn about some of the flaws I have, and I get two new friends!”

Kaede and Irina grinned at each other, while the third girl soaking in them looked at them fondly. Xenovia was an equally attractive girl, with brown eyes and short blue hairs. She had a fringe died green, and it suited her well.

“You’re strong, Kaede. Even stronger than us. But I do not recognize your style. Where did you train?”

“I’m wondering, too.” Said Irina, looking at Kaede with a serous expression. “You’re faster and stronger than us, but your technique is a little… disjointed? Mechanical?”

Kaede looked in turns at Irina and Xenovia. Since both girls were beautiful and has pleasant personalities, she had already decided that they would eventually join her family, and was quite willing to prime them for Noah to seize... She decided answering them as honestly as she could, would be the best way to nurture their trust.

“I never had a formal teacher. I actually learned how to use the spear by studying the moves of a spear user in a video game called Sword Art Online.”

Kaede giggled at their goggly-eyes reaction.

“Tell me you’re joking!” demanded Irina.

“I’m not!” laughed softly Kaede.

“But… you couldn’t possibly become this strong just by imitating a fictional character?” protested Xenovia.

“I agree, I couldn’t.” Kaede stopped laughing and took a deep breath.

“What I’m about to say, you can’t repeat it to anyone else… Well, it wouldn’t matter all that much if you did, but I would be disappointed in you if you gossip about it.”

“I won’t, I promise. It would be rude of me.” Promised Irina earnestly.

Xenovia nodded. “I won’t say a word of it, unless keeping silent brings danger to someone.”

“I understand, and there’s no risk of that. The truth is, my Master made a soul contract with each of his maids. Our souls are linked together. And we all benefit from it.”

“A magic contract?” Irina and Xenovia stared intently at Kaede, who nodded with a fond smile.

“Oh, yes. You’re a maid, so you must have a Master. What are the specifics of that contract?” cautiously asked Xenovia.

“It is a soul contract, where I swore eternal loyalty to my Master. Due to the contract, Master is able to use my Hard Light Arsenal as if he owned a copy of it, and shares my light affinity. And I, become able to use the majority of Master’s abilities, like being able to speak in any language or create objects, and I get half of his body strengthening. That is why I am faster and stronger than you girls.”

“Oh… that sounds like a powerful ability.” Said Irina was admiration. Then she suddenly blushed. “But wait, you said you swore loyalty to your Master. Does that mean he can order you to… you know…”

Kaede smiled.

“He can, but he doesn’t need to order me. He can simply ask me, and I will be happy to do whatever he wants. We slept in the same bed every night. He loves me, I love him, and yes, we’ve already been intimate, plenty of times. I’ve been with him for about 18 months now.”

“Wow… But… shouldn’t you wait until you’re married?” asked Irina as she blushed further.

“There aren’t many people nowadays who wait until they are married for this. But if you’re referring to needing a strong commitment to each other before doing that kind of thing, I’d say that linking our souls together is even more meaningful than marriage is. The contract cannot be undone. There is no such thing as divorce for him and me.”

“…I can see how you would think that.” mused Irina.

“Kaede.” Asked Xenovia. “Earlier, you implied that your twin sister was also your Master’s maid. Did she also link her soul to your Master?”

“She did. And he loves us equally.”

“Eh? That’s…” Irina and Xenovia were shocked. For them who were devout Catholics, the idea of polygamy was frowned upon, to say the least. At the same time, they couldn’t deny that they wanted to know more. They were young women with healthy bodies, and they were curious about sex. And now, they both had an opportunity to talk with someone who actually did the deed!

And Kaede was perfectly willing to encourage their interest.

…

Suzu looked at herself in front of the mirror, making sure she was presentable. The Kuoh Academy’s female uniform… wasn’t really up to her tastes, but it could be worse. Rias’s family had some serious influence, for her to be able to provide Suzu with a house and school uniforms her size within hours of meeting her, despite the requests coming in the middle of the night.

She nodded to herself, made sure she hadn’t forgotten any of her school supplies, also supplied in record time, and left the house.

She didn’t know who had done the grunt work, but if they had a website, she would visit it to write them a glowing review.

To her surprise, Rias, Akeno, Yuuto and Koneko were already waiting for her, smiling.

“Good morning, Suzu!” said Rias, as she and the others waved happily.

“Good morning, Rias-sama, Akeno-san, Yuuto-san, Koneko-san.” Said Suzu as she bowed.

Akeno laughed. “Ara ara, please do not be so formal, Suzu. It may be necessary in a formal setting, but Rias’s peerage is like an extension of her family. She doesn’t treat us as mere servants.”

“Yes, Suzu. If you keep being formal all the time, it will start making me uncomfortable.”

“I understand. Thank you, Rias, for the help you are giving me. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble to wait for me.”

“Not at all. This house is only three minutes away from my own. Koneko-chan is living with me, and Akeno’s and Yuuto’s houses aren’t far, either. Let’s go, or we’ll end up being late for school.”

Suzu nodded and followed Rias.

“Suzu, do you remember what we told you last night, about devils?”

Suzu nodded.

“Devils. Able to use demonic magic, but very vulnerable to light magic. With a lifespan of ten thousand years. In open conflict with the church’s Inquisition, angels, and fallen angels, although that conflict is currently at low intensity. Devils are socially divided into Low-class, Mid-class, High-class and Ultimate-class devils. Upon promotion to high-class, a set of sixteen Evil Pieces is provided, modeled after chess pieces. Devils can use those to reincarnate humans into devils, Like Rias did with me with that Bishop piece, increasing my abilities as a spell user. Devil society in the underworld ruled by 72 nobles families, the Gremory family being one of them, with the rank of Duke. The Five Great Satans make the decisions, Venelana Gremory, Ajuka Beelzebub, Serafall Leviathan, Gandou Barbatos, and Asmodeus.”

“That’s a great summary, Suzu.” Praised Rias with a smile. ”How about the promotion to a higher class and the rating game?”

Suzu paused for a moment to organize her thoughts as they walked.

“Rating game. Very important for Devil society. Current champion, Diehauser Belial.  Devil nobles or high-class devils having obtained their devil pieces compete in a team battle in a special space where participants will be teleported away and healed before their can sustain fatal injuries. Good results are important to be promoted in Devil’s society, and many conflicts are solved with a rating game. In Rias’s team, Akeno is the Queen, Koneko is the first Rook, Yuuto is the first Knight, and I am the second Bishop. I haven’t met the first one yet.”

Suzu made a show of looking tired, making Akeno and Rias giggle. They already understood she wasn’t used to speaking so much.

“Great answer.” Praised Rias again. “There is another way for promising devils, or even in theory, to be promoted directly to high-class devils and receive a set of Evil pieces. It’s a competition that happens once per generation using a prototype game that Ajuka Beelzebub created before the Evil Pieces. It is based on Tarot cards instead of Chess pieces. It is still being acknowledged as valid, And the next competition already has started. It is centered on the Academy of a neighbouring city, so we don’t need to concern ourselves about it.”

“Are you not tempted to use it?” Suzu asked as she tilted her head.

“No. I’m not in that much of a hurry to gain status. Besides, the Arcana Cards were judged too dangerous for widespread public use. The competition happens in the real world, not in bounded fields, so the competitors often end up dying. And the powers given by the twenty-two Arcana cards were over the top. Some of them were too vicious or dangerous. The worst one, in my opinion, is the infamous Devil Arcana. It gives its owner a set of fourteen invisible chains, each of them ending with an invisible collar. They are hard to avoid since they cannot be seen or felt, and any person with one of those collars around her neck will almost immediately fall deeply in love with the Devil Candidate and become their slave, without ever realizing they have been collared.”

“Nasty. My Master would be so disgusted by this.” Said Suzu while scrunching her face.

“Wow, Suzu can make such an expression.” joked Yuuto with a fond smile.

Suzu nodded to him with a small smile, signaling she wasn’t offended.

“That proves your Master is a decent fellow. Far too many people, human or devils, would jump at the idea of having such power.” Said Akeno.

Suzu nodded again. She was indeed convinced that her Master would disapprove of this Devil Arcana, if not for the reasons her companions imagined. To Noah, convincing a girl to submit to him was an art, to be savored slowly, and forever remembered. Just slapping a collar on and calling it a day would be high heresy to him, something akin to vandalizing, and Suzu didn’t doubt that if her Master ever met the owner of this Devil Arcana, only one of them would walk away.

“Suzu, can you tell us more about your Master, your sister and your friend? I will get my family’s agents to search for him.” asked Rias, curious about the young man her new family member seemed to idolize.

Suzu nodded.

“My sister, Kaede, is my twin. She looks almost exactly like me, with blue eyes. She is very outspoken and friendly. My Master, Noah Enfield, is 180cm tall, very handsome, with short black hairs and gray eyes, and is very fit. He keeps saying he wants a quiet life, and he really does, but his actions will put the spotlight on him. He just can’t stand seeing injustice and will do something to stop it, no matter how uncomfortable the attention will make him feel. And my friend, Asuna Yuuki, is beautiful, 170cm tall, with long light brown hairs and brown eyes. She is kind and gentle, but she will turn scary if someone insults our Master.”

“Eh… They do sound like people I would like to meet. Maybe even invite into my peerage, if they have combat potential.” wondered Rias.

Suzu nodded. Considering how attractive Rias and Akeno were, easily rivaling Asuna, she was certain her Master would indeed insure they became ‘close’ indeed. And Koneko would surely be devoured a few years later, too.

“We will soon reach the school.” Said Akeno. “Rias asked a favor from her childhood friend who is the president of the student council, and she arranged for you to be in the same class as she and I, since we’re of similar age, and your level of education seem equivalent. Yuuto is one grade lower, and Koneko-chan is starting her first year in Kuoh Academy.”

Suzu nodded again. She didn’t truly care about school, as her priority was to train and become stronger, but she still intended to give it her all.