After serving Ophis and Claire some snacks, Akeno returned to Irina and started telling her how she met Ophis and how the boss of the terrorist organization made contact with one of the Devil Kings due to Kisuke's influence.
"You mean the story of Ophis suddenly appearing in front of Serafall-sama? But I heard, she claimed that Ophis didn't come to her after that one time and she only demanded to hand over something.", said Irina.
"That's a lie that Serafall told everyone so that they would get off her case. Of course, not everyone was convinced by it, but Ophis really never appeared in front of her when there were other people around.", explained Akeno to her.
"Then what is that 'something' that she demanded from Serafall-sama for her to appear in front of her and other leaders?"
Akeno looked away and whispered, "...late ...ar."
"Hmm?" Irina got closer, "I couldn't hear you."
"...colate ...bars.", whispered Akeno again.
Irina managed to piece her words together, but the contents were unbelievable, so she got even closer and said, "I still couldn't hear you! Say it louder! Or is it some big secret that can't be spoken loudly of?"
'Yes!', answered Akeno in her mind. For her, this was a big secret. Who knew that you could lure a transcendent being with 'that'. But after sighing, she finally answered with a normal voice, "Chocolate bars."
"Hmm? Pardon?" Irina still thought that her ears weren't working right.
Akeno knew that it was hard to believe and said it again, "Ophis came to Serafall-sama because of the chocolate bars that Kisuke-kun left for her."
Irina looked straight into Akeno's eyes and said, "...You're kidding me."
"...I wish I was."
Irina knew that Akeno didn't have any reason to tell such a ridiculous lie. Between a ridiculous lie or ridiculous truth, it was almost always the latter, 'I mean there's no way you couldn't have thought a more believable lie unless that's really the truth!', thought Irina while she held her head. It was really hard to believe that one of the most feared beings in the world was after some sweets, 'Is this why Kisuke set up this sweets shop?'
Ignoring that fact, at least for now, Irina continued to ask, "Then how can I be sure that you lot have nothing to do with the Khaos Brigade?"
Akeno's expression returned to normal and answered seriously, "Serafall figured it out from the way Ophis talks about her organization. She's something like a decorated leader."
"What do you mean?"
"First, let me tell you this. Ophis doesn't have any other goal or desire other than kicking Great Red out of the Dimensional Gap."
Irina's eyes widened, "But if she were to successfully do that, the world as we knew it might cease to exist!"
"I know. But Ophis, the Dragon God of Infinity, doesn't care about such 'triviality'. She only wanted to attain peace and quiet within the Dimensional Gap for eternity."
Irina couldn't help but smile wryly, "Trivial... Right... Something like that is trivial for her." Shaking her head to clear those thoughts away, she continued to ask, "What does it have to do with the Khaos Brigade."
"The Khaos Brigade used that desire of hers to let her grant them powers. Since Ophis doesn't really care about the method, once you've promised to work towards her goal, she'll grant you her blessing and in some cases, your wish. In addition to that, they also used her name to recruit more people to their cause. Nothing makes this organization stronger than their leader being the strongest being the world. Because of this, the first rule of the house is to never ask Ophis for more power. That's what separates us from the Khaos Brigade." Akeno explained firmly.
Irina stayed silent for a minute to process what Akeno just said, "I see... If that's the case, then this Dragon God of Infinity is quite a child."
Akeno shook her head, "She comes of as a 'child', but she never was a child. Although she is very naive and innocent, that is only with the ways of common sense. However, if we were to ask if she has the proper mentality of an ancient and all-powerful being, the answer is yes."
"I think I get your point. Since she really doesn't care about anything aside from one thing, then she also wouldn't care about any of the experiences, discarding them as she goes on with her life."
"Correct. That's why we should never take advantage of her, or else, we won't be that different from the Khaos Brigade."
Irina nodded at her. Some of her worries disappeared and she went to the next point, "Then my next question is, how is she related to Kisuke's and other's safety? Although you can justify yourself not being involved with the Khaos Brigade, Ophis' connection to all of this eludes me."
"Both me and Serafall-sama don't know how Kisuke Urahara is connected to Ophis. All we know is that the Dragon God took quite an interest in that fellow. Ophis is a being that doesn't lie so she's our best bet in finding Kisuke and the others. Unfortunately, even with our efforts, we still don't know where they are or how they are doing right now."
"Nothing? Not even a single clue?"
Akeno shook her head, "Nothing. Though Ophis has a suggestion, we can't do it."
"What is it?" Irina asked curiously.
"Get the help of Great Red, the True Dragon of Illusions and Dreams. She said we might be able to find him by asking Great Red to connect to his 'dream'."
"O-oh..." Irina could only react with twitching lips, "T-that's Ophis for you... I also understand that she won't be doing that herself because she doesn't like that guy."
"Exactly. That's why we're looking for other ways to find him." Akeno sighed.
Irina stayed silent for another few minutes, before giving Akeno a big smile, "If that's the case, let me help you!"
But Akeno only harrumphed at her, "That's obvious! I won't allow freeloaders in this place! The moment you came here, the only choice left for you was to help out or be silenced!"
"Don't be so stuck up! You only got into this because of your strange maid fetish!"
"Huh!? Who has a strange fetish!? And why would a maid fetish be strange!? And if I can get into this, then having a maid fetish is better than being a childhood friend!"
"What was that, you half-baked Devil!?"
"I just said it! Don't make me repeat myself, self-proclaimed Angel!"
"What!? I'm a real Angel!"
"And I'm a proud halfling!"
While the two of them started bickering with each other, Serafall, who had been watching from the door while hiding her presence, asked Ophis, who was also peeking like her, "Why did they start fighting now? Their discussion was going well until now."
Even though Ophis didn't really understand it, she instinctively felt what the answer was and answered, "They want the 'hat'."
With only that, Serafall immediately misunderstood Ophis. She thought that Ophis was referring to Kisuke's hat, which was in her possession and protested, "What!? There's no way I'm going to hand that over!" Little did she know that Ophis was actually referring to the hat's owner, but she didn't bother to explain it to her.
"And I'm going to use this hat to add another character to my show!", added Serafall proudly.
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Editors:
28th00: Oh man, Ophis being an idiot savant in regards to interpersonal relationships, with Serafall being the exact opposite. Serafall wanting to make the most wanted man in the world, a character on her show… Well, she's the most controversial Devil for a reason! She's too pure for this world, even Ophis understands, and she's the epitome of Naive.
Alexander: They could do a manzai show together. So, maid fetish is apparently not strange. Seems as if Kisuke's education was successful. The only thing left is the fight for seniority between her and Medusa.