Ch 50: trading gold for glass beads.

Noah deliberately ignored the pointed and disgusted looks of the cashier and nearby customers when he bought almost two dozen adult magazines, and hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him if he ever became famous. It probably would.

He paid, took the large paper bag containing his loot, and headed to Kuoh town.

Noah had left Ginsei Academy after informing Miyabi and Kyouka that he might be a no-show for a while. Kyouka hadn’t been happy, but when he told her why, she grudgingly accepted.

Noah reached the entrance of Kuoh Academy before the end of the class, found a discreet location, and waited.

Eventually, the bell rang, and students started coming through the gates. Noah recognized Rias and her peerage, including Suzu, and opened his smartphone. He sent Rias a short message.

“Hey, Rias. I’ll be running a little late, an hour at most. I have an opportunity in sight. I’m sure you won’t mind if I succeed.”

Noah saw Rias receive the message on her smartphone and discuss it with Suzu and the others, but they kept going home and didn’t see him.

And Noah spotted the one he was waiting for. Issei Hyoudou, a student of average height and spiky brown hairs. The DxD protagonist, and a breast-obsessed pervert.

Noah followed him quietly, until they walked into a relatively empty street, with a park on the side. He closed the distance.

“Hey, Hyoudou-kun.” Called out Noah with a friendly smile.

Issei turned in surprise, and gasped when he saw Noah.

“Huh, hello? Have we met before?”

“No, but I heard about you. I am Noah Enfield, nice to meet you.”

Noah presented his right hand, and Issei shook it warily.

“I have something you might find interesting, and I am willing to trade it for something you have.”

“Something I’d find interesting?”

“Here.” Noah smiled like a pervert, opened the large paper bag, allowing him to peek inside and see it was full of magazines. Noah lifted one of them so Issei would see part of its cover, and his eyes widened.”

“That’s… so many… Where did you find such treasure!” he asked excitedly. Issei’s expression was so perverted that he almost saw his nostrils enlarge as he breathed strongly.

Noah closed the paper bag, and Issei’s expression changed to one of despair like he had just been denied Paradise.

“All those could be yours, Hyoudou-kun. How about we enter the park and speak more privately?”

“Yes!” Excitedly nodded the pervert.

Noah led him behind a few bushes, and crouched, placing the bag on the ground. Issei followed suit.

“Now, Hyoudou-kun, I’ll give you the short version. Do you know what a sacred gear is?”

“Yes? They are gifts from God, to allow humans to fight hollows, right?”

“That’s right. And you have one inside of you. I can use soul magic, and I feel it. The one you have is called Boosted Gear, and allows you to double your strength. Not very useful to you, who has only a human’s base strength and has no training, and it won’t really help you gain a good job either. So I want to trade it from you.”

Noah had not lied, technically, but had not told Issei the whole truth, either. While it was correct that the Boosted Gear only double the strength of an untrained human, if was quite a different thing after its owner would actually train and get familiar with it. The boost function would become usable multiple times, increasing the user’s strength exponentially, and additional functions would later be unlocked. In the fiction, it was said the owner of this sacred gear, if entering a berserk state, could become powerful enough to wipe out whole nations or mountain ranges. It this world, however, Noah had no doubt that Lilith had clubbed its potential down with the nerf bat.

“Senpai, assuming you tell the truth and I have a sacred gear inside me, why do you want such a weak sounding one?”

“Because I know someone who is very strong, and had trained in martial arts a lot, but has no sacred gear. That person would make better use of it that you. Besides, there are some people out there that seek sacred gears to study them or just collect them like art pieces, no matter their potential. If those people find you, they might kill you for it. That’s why it’s a win-win situation for you, if you accept. You get to live a peaceful life, and I give you those magazines.”

Noah high charisma might have made his words more convincing, as Issei looked around worriedly.

“If I give it to you… is removing it dangerous? Will it be painful?”

“For others, removing that sacred gear would kill you, because it is linked to your very soul. But I am proficient in soul magic. I am confident that I can extract it without harming you, and you’ll be unconscious, so you won’t feel any pain.”

Issei seemed to consider a moment, but Noah noticed his eyes were glued to the paper bag. He nodded in assent, and Noah used his soul magic to make him lose consciousness.

Then, he extended a filament made of soul power to touch the glowing red entity he felt attached to issei’s soul.

[Huh? Who are you, and what did you do to my host?] a deep voice rumbled in his mind.

[Nice to meet you, Ddraig. I am Noah Enfield. I just put your current host under, and I won’t harm him. I intend to take you from him. I have a far better host in mind for you.]

[And what if I say no?] flatly refused Ddraig.

[You host just agreed to sell you out for a few erotic magazines. Do you really want to stay linked to a weak pervert? Do you think you have a chance to defeat Albion with him?]

[You have a point. But you already have a sacred gear, I can sense it.]

[Yes. I do not intend to become your host. But I know someone who would be far better than Issei-kun]

[…As long as you don’t kill him. Maybe not getting this youngster involved in conflicts would be doing him a favor.]

[Thank you for your cooperation, Ddraig. You won’t be disappointed. Now I’ll start detaching you from his soul.]

Noah started the delicate work of untangling the many filaments and roots linking the red glowing star that was Ddraig and the Booster Gear from Issei’s soul, without damaging it. It took him a while, but finally, the shining red star emerged from Issei’s chest, without leaving a hole behind it. Noah took it like it was an utterly precious object, which was exactly the case, and put it in his inventory. He then woke up Issei.

“The procedure is over. How do you feel?”

“…I don’t feel anything different.” Said Issei cautiously, as he ran his hands over his body.

“Then we’re done. You can live your life peacefully from now on. But this should stay between us, if you do not want people to think you’re crazy. Farewell, Hyoudou-kun.” Said Noah as he teleported away, leaving Issei gasping in shock again. Then he remembered the magazines, and pressed the bag against his chest with a perverted grin.

…

Noah teleported to his home first, and sent a message to Suzu, asking her if he could teleport to her.

Upon received confirmation, he did, and found himself in a large living room, with Suzu, Rias, Akeno, Koneko and Yuuto facing him.

“Hi again... It’s a nice place.” He said as he quickly looked around.

“Thank you, Noah. Please sit with us, we’re having tea.” She gestured toward several sofas surrounding a low table, where a tea set and plates full of snacks were ready to use.

“Gladly, but before that, as a guest, I thought I should bring a little gift.” grinned Noah.

“Oh?”

“The opportunity I mentioned before.” Noah took from his inventory the shining red star, small enough to easily fit into his palm.

“It’s pretty. But what is this?” asked Akeno.

“This, is a Sacred Gear. As someone who can use soul magic, I can extract sacred gears from their owners without killing them, and I just did for this one. This one is for you, Rias.”

“But I’m a pure-blood devil, I can’t use a sacred gear.”

“Pure blood devils cannot be born with a sacred gear. Because the God from the Bible set up his system to attribute sacred gears to humans only when they are born. But that doesn’t mean devil souls are incompatible with sacred gears.”

“That’s…” Rias and the others started seriously contemplating the matter.

“Do you know what sacred Gear this one is?”

“I do. It’s one of the Longinus, the Boosted Gear.”

Noah laughed softly at the abject shock on their face.

Among all Sacred gear, were thirteen who were a lot more powerful than the others. They were called Longinus, in reference to one of them, the True Longinus, the spear who had pierced Jesus’s heart. If sacred gear were like tactical weapons, the Longinus were strategic ones.

“I can’t possibly accept this!” protested Rias.

“Rias, you are going to be my Queen one day, are you not? The people who are close to me deserve the very best. Because the stronger they are, the less I'll worry about their safety. So just accept it, Rias. Were you not seeking power?”

Rias gulped, and with hesitation, she nodded. Noah guided the red star to her chest, where it disappeared without a trace.

Noah nodded and looked at her carefully.

“How do you feel?”

“…I’m fine. I don’t feel anything different, really. Thank you very much, Noah.” Rias smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat.

“Over time, I’ll procure other sacred gears. I’ll give one to each of you as well.”

“That’s very generous of you, Noah.” grinned Akeno.

Noah shrugged.

“Not really. We are companions from now on, so helping you become stronger is only part of what is expected of me. And it’s not like I won’t benefit indirectly. Like I said, I do not want to have to worry about you guys’ safety. Still, Rias, you’ll have to train hard to master the Boosted Gear. I told Ddraig his next host would be a hard working one, and you will have to face Albion and his host eventually.”

“Yes, I will!” promised Rias.

“Let’s have tea, before it gets cold. Noah, can you tell us how exactly you obtained a Longinus, of all things?” asked Akeno.

They all sat on the sofas, and Akeno served everyone.

Noah started to narrate exactly how and for what he traded the sacred gear. They all went goggly-eyed at the idea of a strategic-grade sacred gear being traded for a stack of adult magazines, making Noah laugh, and they at first thought he was joking. Noah even used soul magic to show them his memories.

“That’s so ridiculous!” laughed Akeno at last. “And to think one of the Longinus was right under our nose, in the same school!”

“Yes, fate has a strange sense of humor.” Agreed Noah. Then the put his cup of tea back on the table and became serious.

“There is also a piece of news I got from my goddess, that I wish to share with you guys. It is about Koneko-chan, and her sister Kuroka.”

“Me?” gasped Koneko, as everyone fell silent.

“Yes. At the current time, all of you are under the impression that Kuroka was driven mad by her use of Senjutsu, killed her master and fled. Am I correct?”

“Yes, that is right. Are you implying that we got it wrong?” wondered Rias, frowning.

“Yes. Kuroka was never mad, and still isn’t. She did it to protect her little sister, who is her most precious thing in the world. And the ‘master’ she killed, some guy from a branch of the Naberius clan, was a vile piece of shit.”

“What do you mean?” asked Rias.

“He was doing illegal experiments, with the complicity of a human scientist, to try to artificially create Super Devils, whose power would be comparable to the Great Satans. One of their first experiments was on the scientist’s wife Fujimai, Kuroka’s and Koneko-chan’s mother. The experiments eventually went horribly wrong, and Fujimai as well as the human scientist both passed away.” said Noah softly.

Koneko’s eyes filled with tears, and Rias and Akeno moved to sit beside her and comfort her.

“Kaa-san…” she started sobbing.

Noah sighed as he looked at Koneko, feeling sick at seeing the adorable little girl crying. He promised to himself that he would give her a good ending.

“Moving on, those two men also experimented on Kuroka, and they met partial success. She became very strong even for a Nekomata. After the incident were Kuroka and Koneko-chan became orphans, the devil took them in, and made Kuroka his Bishop. But his intentions were anything but pure. Some time later, he wanted to force Koneko-chan to use Senjutsu, a potent but dangerous magic that should not be rushed. Kuroka did everything she could to dissuade him from forcing Koneko-chan, but the devil ignored her.”

“So, Kuroka did what she had to, to prevent her little sister from being turned into another subject for experiments. She killed her Master, accepting the fate of being branded as a stray devil, and fled.”

“That’s terrible.” Whispered Yuuto, his eyes brimming with tears. He wasn’t the only one.

Noah walked closer to Koneko-chan and crouched in front of her, so that their eyes would be at the same height.

“Koneko-chan, I’ll make you a promise. Give me a few months, a year, at most. I will find Kuroka, get her stray devil status revoked, and you will both live together.”

“Noah-senpai… T-Thank you, for telling me.” whispered Koneko as she wiped her tears.

“I will try to help with Kuroka’s status, Noah, but I only have your word to go by. I’m not sure if it will be enough to convince my mother and the other Satans.” Said Rias.

“There is some evidence left, actually. Fujimai hid the result of her husband’s research in one of the hair clips she gave to Koneko-chan.”  Said Noah, pointing to the two black cat-shaped hair clips adorning Koneko’s white hairs.

Koneko was shocked, and with fumbling hands, she removed the hair clips, examining them closely. They were made of several pieces of plastic held together by small screws, and Noah helpfully formed a screwdriver made of solid light. As Koneko held tightly on the hair clips, Noah removed the screws, then the back part of the clip. Inside was a folded piece of paper.

Koneko took the paper and unfolded it. It was densely packed with Japanese characters, numbers and math formulas, but she couldn’t make sense of it. She gave the paper to Rias, who examined it as well, but couldn’t decipher it either.

“I’ll give this to my mother. Thank you, Noah.” Said Rias with heartfelt feelings.

“You do not need to thank me for this. I feel sorry for both Kuroka and Koneko-chan, so if I can help them in any way, I will.”

Noah stood and returned to sit on the sofa.

“That’s all the surprises I had in store for today.”

“I feel like it’s enough already.” giggled Akeno. “We’ve only met today, and I am starting to feel numb. Wait, you said ‘for today’. Does that mean you have more in store?”

Noah grinned.

“Indeed. There is one thing I have in mind. It will be a nice surprise for some of you. But that’s something that is still months away at best.”

Noah was thinking about the ultimate skill of his Path of the Healer, the ability to resurrect people. Koneko’s mother Fujimai, as well as Shuri, Akeno’s mother, were on his little list of people to bring back to the world of the living. But he would still need a lot of Yin points, especially as he had to prioritize the other big spender on the Path, extending his immortality to his slaves, to save Reina.

The Resurrection skill required 3000 Yang Points, and he still sat at 1700 Yang Points. He was going to have to step up his game and enslave a bunch of girls to pay for it before Reina started running out of lifespan.

There was always the option of resurrecting her later, but for Noah, this would be a failure, as he would have broken his promise to Reina, Lizel, and Miyabi.

“You’re not going to tell us anything about it, Noah?” asked Akeno, making puppy eyes at him.

“Nope.” Noah lifted his cup of tea to his lips and sipped it. “It’s a good tea, by the way. It has a deeper taste than those found in store. Were you the one who brewed it?”

“Thank you for the praise.” Smiled Akeno. “I prepared it using the traditional Japanese method.”

“I see. I am grateful for the privilege.”

Noah chatted with them for a while, until Rias cleared her throat.

“I guess we should get on with the reason you came, Noah.”

From a drawer, she took a small wooden case. She opened it, and Noah saw inside a number of chess pieces, made of a red material, each held in place by black velvet padding A few empty slots showed missing pieces. From it, she took the single removing Rook, and signaled for Noah to stand in front of her.

“Noah Enfield, do you accept to become part of my Peerage? To fight for me, and defend me from my enemies?” solemnly asked Rias.

“I accept.” Said Noah with the same seriousness.

Slowly, Rias pressed the chest piece against Noah’s chest, and it glowed crimson as it sank inside him. A message appeared in his vision.

[Integrating… Converting… User has gained 50 STR and 50 END.]

“I can feel myself being significantly stronger. Thank you, Rias. You won’t regret your decision.” Said Noah.

“What you have done for us so far is already worth this Rook piece of mine. But I will still count on you in the future. Work hard, for our sake.”

“Of course.”

“Welcome to our family, Noah.” grinned Akeno. “You and Suzu got it easy, you know? Normally, is part of the ritual, Rias was supposed to ask you to acknowledge her as your Master and obey her every command.”

“Really?”

“I changed the formulation, because I knew you both would have issues with it. And I do not intend to order you around outside of battle or rating games.” Admitted Rias.

“I am grateful for your consideration… Wait, I’m a reincarnated devil now, I wonder if I can get hurt by my own light weapons…”

As a test, Noah created a light dagger, and scratched his forearm with it. It didn’t sting more than usual.

[User is protected by the light-attribute’s poisonous effect due to Negative Effect Immunity.]

“Looks like Suzu and I don’t have the devil vulnerability to light magic.” Said Noah with satisfaction as he healed his scratch.

“Can you be any more of a monster? I’m getting envious.” grinned Akeno.

Noah decided not to tell them just yet about the soul contract. He wanted to gain their trust before starting to dangle the lure of power in front of their noses.

“Is there any other matter we need to discuss today? If not, I’d like to spend a bit of time with Suzu to celebrate our reunion, and then I’ll go work on my preparations. I probably won’t show my face to you guys for a while, but we can still communicate via our smartphones.”

Akeno, Rias, Koneko and Yuuto looked at Suzu and Noah in turn, having no difficulty imagining what their celebration would imply.

“What kind of preparations do you intend to do? Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Rias.

“Shinigamis live in Soul Society and only come in the mortal world for patrols and to fight hollows. However, there are a few that live there permanently in Japan and sort of serve as logistic officers. I’ll make contact with them and ask them to teach me a technique or two.”

“Would they accept? From the little I know of them, they seem to be quite secretive and aloof.”

“Yes. But Lilith told me a few things about them that they themselves ignore, and that gives me some bargaining power.”

“Well, you know what you’re doing, I guess. I’ll wish you luck, Noah. Don’t be too rough on Suzu, ok?”

Noah laughed as he hugged Suzu, who waved at them.

“See you later, everyone.”

Noah teleported away, taking Suzu with him.

Rias stared at the place they just had occupied in instant before. Then she looked at Akeno.

“Akeno, Koneko-chan, Yuuto. We’re going to train much harder, from now on. I do not want our peerage to be carried by two people. It would be shameful.”

Akeno nodded. “Yes, Rias. We can’t let that happen. I’m glad you’re more motivated.”

Rias took her smartphone, and sent a message to one agent Grayfia had instructed her to contact if needed. Unless Grayfia was busy, she would come a few minutes later minutes.