"You can!? Please do it!" Aika is also surprised at Kisuke's answer. She was only joking when she asks that and didn't would get a yes for an answer.
"I will do it if only can agree to what I have to say." Kisuke became serious when he said this which made Aika quite nervous, but still intent on listening, "Please tell me."
"First, activating your Scared Gear means stepping into this supernatural world. Basic memory erasure only affects ordinary people, once the Scared Gear was awakened, it'll start gathering Mana to support itself and the host. Although minuscule, it'll give the host some magic resistance which can deflect weak basic magics which mostly are only for ordinary people. We can still erase your memory, but we'll have to use stronger magic and your body will try to reject it which may cause unknown side effects, and we don't want that happening to you.
" Second, stepping into the supernatural world means that you would be putting your life into danger."
Aika shuddered when she heard of that and already wanted to back off, but Kisuke still not finished speaking. She can make her decision later anyway, so she decided to continue listening.
"If I would describe the current supernatural world, I would say that it's civil, but still a strength-based society. There are some politics but if you're weak, you would just be fodder for the strong. Of course, there are ways to survive, after all, most of the denizens the supernatural world are weak, not much stronger than a normal human. How? To go under someone's influence and protection. Devil citizens of the Underworld are protected by their respective lords. Exorcists are protected by the Church. Magicians are protected by the Magic Association. Those are just a few examples but you know the idea." Kisuke stopped speaking to drink some tea.
"Then how are you surviving?" Aika asked a very important question for herself.
"Me? I'm just hiding. No one is interested in me anyway. I'm just a plain old candy shop keeper after all.~" Kisuke suddenly took out a white fan out of nowhere and covered half of his face while laughing.
"Is that fine? Aren't you in danger too?" Aika felt a bit worried about her crush.
"Yep, I have some aces hidden in case something not nice happens, but overall, I'm in a safe position."
"There is another way for a Human Mage of Sacred Gear user to go under an influence, and that is becoming a reincarnated Devil under a High-Class Devil," Sona suggested another way to Aika and this greatly surprised her, "Reincarnated Devil? You die and become a Devil?"
"In a way, it is. When you reincarnate as a Devil, you'll change inside out. The advantage is your lifespan will greatly lengthen, same as a normal Devil, if I remembered it right, it should be around 10,000 years." Kisuke affirmed.
"10,000 years!? That's one long life!" Aika shouted, 'That advantage is big enough, should I change?'
"Almost no one reaches that age as Devils often die in battle or some sickness." Sona knew what she was thinking. She is interested as taking her in as a Rook is she truly have a Sacred Gear, but she doesn't want to entice her to become a Devil just because of apparent advantage that almost no one can take advantage of.
"D-die in battle?"
"That's a given. The Devils have a lot of enemies, including those families which oppose yours. The fertility rate of Devils is very low which is proportional to their long lifespan so a lot of grudges can accumulate in just one Generation. Joining them means stepping into the politics of these guys. You have to get used to an aristocratic life. And when a human reincarnated as a Devil, they will always be a Low-Class, and most of these guys hate Low-Class.
"Another downside of becoming a Devil is that they cannot go near/get involved with anything that has to do with the Biblical God, as they will suffer nasty side effects like headaches, immense pain and more. They are vulnerable to holy objects such as crucifixes, holy water, and the Bible, and can get killed easily by Holy Swords and Sacred Gears with divine properties. They are also susceptible to light which significantly drains them of their energy once hit. They are also susceptible to light which significantly drains them of their energy once hit.
But if you want to stay in the supernatural world relatively safe, becoming a Devil under a good house isn't a bad choice." Kisuke narrated.
"Sounds like it sucks to be a Devil," Aika commented.
"There are so many disadvantages of being a Devil, that also why I didn't want to become one," Kisuke replied.
"Why do you sound like you could have become one?" Aika asked.
"I tried inviting him to my peerage, but I failed miserably" Sona lamented as she remembers the stake they had in there chess match.
"I thought only High-Class Devils can turn someone into a Devil?"
"Aika-chan, our President here a real and bonafide Ojou-sama from a Prince Clan."
"What!? A real Ojou-sama? This is my first time seeing one! Please shake my hands!" Aika happily approaches Sona.
"Ahahaha, Aika-chan, you've got the wrong response this time. Although I can't say I hate it!" Kisuke is laughing at Aika's antics.
Sona thoughts were all over the place, 'Shouldn't you become afraid of my position, or at least become awkward. The longer I come in contact with her, the stronger she resembles Kisuke. Did the Ouroboros Dragon notice them because of this? Nonono... That would be insane. Wake up Sona, you can't keep following their pace.'
"Ehem, What is your decision Kiryuu-san? If you want to reincarnate as a Devil, I can take you in." Sona feigned a cough to gather their attention and fixed her glasses to get back her composure.
"..." Aika went into thinking mode, analyzing her options, 'Becoming a Devil isn't a bad choice as Kisuke said if I can choose a good house.'
"Kaichou-san, How do you take care of your servants?" Aika asked Sona.
"I'm strict with them, especially on my peerage members." Sona didn't sound positive nor negative and described her relationship with her servant in just one sentence.
"Is that so. Kisuke-kun, what do you think of what she said? You're the best judge of a person of all the people I knew. I want your opinion on this one." Aika faced Kisuke this time and asked.
Kisuke smiled at what she said and replied, "She's telling the truth, and I can assure you that she means it in a good way. Although she's hiding some things, I think you can trust her. But if I really want to say something, you should rely on your own judgement this time as it'll change your whole life. Whether you regret it or thank yourself in the future, you will only have yourself to blame. I'm just giving you the choice here."
"My own judgement..." Aika repeated what he said and take it to her heart, 'Do I really want to step into this world? I'll only be putting myself in danger. Aside from a pretty boring life I have, I don't have any other complaints in my current life. So should I just take a step back here...?'
Aika looked at Kisuke who is staring at her with his annoying grin and thought, 'I can never close our distance if I step back here, but is it really worth it? I can probably find another guy in the future as I'm still very young. Haaah... I guess I should refuse his offer of awakening my Sacred Gear and just forget everything happened here... Wait... Sacred Gear?'
Something flashed in Aika's mind and reviewed everything she heard today, 'Kisuke can activate my Sacred Gear, but that's just one way of awakening it. I can awaken it on my own just the same. If that happens, what will happen to me then? I would may have no support or whatsoever that particular time and I'll be in deep sh*t. Since I'll forget everything today, that means I won't know anything when I accidentally activate my Sacred Gear and chances of someone chasing after is high if Sacred Gears are very rare. I need to confirm this first.'
"Do I have a chance activating my Sacred Gear on my own?" Aika asked them.
"Of course, that's always a possibility," Kisuke answered, 'Looks like she already gets her situation, I wonder what she'll do next.'
Aika went back to her thoughts, 'So that's how it really is. Then it's a better choice to just step in today instead of finding myself at lost when the time comes. Becoming a Devil then? I don't really want to quit being a human. And I still don't trust Kaichou enough to entrust my life to her. Then my only choice is...'
She suddenly shook her head, 'Stop it Aika! Don't be reckless, It's not yet sure if I really awaken my Sacred Gear and might regret this decision.'
Aika's vision wandered to the three people on eating snacks. It was unknown when Sakura overcame her fear and approached Ophis and started feeding her enjoying herself, 'If I step back now, I won't be able to touch those cat ears and tail on Koneko. I'm really curious about it... If I step back now, I won't be able to hug Ophis-chan, my Angel, anymore... '
Aika snapped her neck towards Kisuke direction and declared, "Activate my Sacred Gear now!"
Kisuke's mouth twitches and said, "Why do I feel like the lynchpin of your decision is very stupid."
"You're just imagining it."