Stepping off the train and making the short trek through the station, Tobio quickly stepped on the street moments later. He founds himself unable to contain his gaze that quickly darted around, checking to see if he was not followed, or worse already under surveillance.
After all, albeit peacefully, he had still entered Devil territory, more so, Kuoh, which was the residence of the younger sisters of two ruling Satans. It wouldn't have surprised him if the entire city was packed with Devils, relentlessly watching every new person arriving in Kuoh.
Not to mention that the train stations or really any exits and entrance to the city are the first line of defense of the two younger sisters of the two rulers.
However, all he encountered upon arrival in the city were ordinary people, maybe someone with magical talent beyond the ordinary, but that didn't even mean that person was a mage, and not just a lucky civilian. Still, Tobio's heartbeat was still out of sorts thanks to his nervousness.
Why wouldn't he? Tobio had received a mission from Azazel, that alone should be requirement enough for him to believe that he would be hounded by all sorts of Factions the moment he stepped out of the train. But it didn't end there, in fact it got a lot worse.
He was to infiltrate Kuoh, Devil territory, and doing so under the nose of Serafall Leviathan herself, to conduct an inspection of the church of fallen angels who had failed Azazel's own mission. And lastly, to make sure that failed mission hadn't triggered a small problem in the form of a deranged Red Welsh Dragon's host half a step away from turning half of Japan into ruins.
If Tobio had time, he would be happy to ask Azazel what drugs he had inhaled until he had gotten the bright idea to order the murder of this generation's Red Dragon Emperor. To do so by paranormal means under the noses of two of Satan's younger sisters. And why, if he had gotten the idea, he had sent a few weak Fallen instead of at least a professional team of a couple of six-winged Fallen Angel.
In fact, why not just start the Second Great War while he was at it!
Of course, that last part kind of revealed the fact that it was not Azazel that had ordered such a thing, he loved peace too much for that. But, not that it matter now, it was still Fallen Angels that had been ordered to assassinate the Red Dragon Emperor, the Devils would be all too happy to point them the Fallen Angel's way.
So the situation was urgent, for the world was on the verge of an incident.
Diplomatic for the demon and the Fallen, and apocalyptic for Japan. And Tobio really rather not have his birthplace be a crater, both of them, that is. Pissing off the Heavenly Dragons is widely regarded as an elaborate method of suicide for a reason, after all.
So his list of actions was simple, clear, and straightforward. The less he stayed in Kuoh, as much as he liked to look at the sights of the small town, the better chance he had of sorting out his problems and disappearing from this town without being caught by Serafall. And so, glancing around once more, making sure he wasn't spotted by any Devil watchers, he hurried forward, not in a hurried pace, but with the expression of a man who knew exactly where he was going at any given moment. A great defense against Devils, cops, and annoying salesmen or hawkers.
Of course, it was a little unusual for Tobio to act alone without his team, but again it was stealth that he was in need for, having his team around would only make moving without being noticed harder. And in case he was caught, traveling around with a battle group would make any argument that he was not planning to fight really hard to argue.
Of course, sending a two-winged Fallen Angel would be even stealthier. However, he was probably one step away from crossing blades with an insane host of a [Longinus] right now, so Azazel couldn't entrust that mission to someone without Tobio's combat potential, therefore forcing him to go at it alone…
Which didn't help Tobio's gnawing intuition, which kept whispering to him that he was in for a very unfortunate adventure.
However, it was too late to retreat now, so moving along the general flow of people, Tobio struggled to control his movements. Not allowing either excessive sloppiness or excessive strictness, all the while moving in a wide arc in order to bypass Kuoh Academy.
Firstly because the concentration of Devils was the highest there. And second because Tobio was ready to swear by Jin that Serafall was there as well, at best looking from across the street at her little sister, stalking her in other words, the leviathan's habits are already well known.
And at worst, already substituting for one of the teachers at the academy.
But thinking about the family habits of Devils was not conducive to completing his mission, and so Tobio stopped contemplating the Devils' habits, and instead returning his attention to his surroundings as he continued onward to his destination. The church. It is the place where he would most likely find out any information, along with checking with the Fallen Angels here, as the last report Azazel had received had noted that they had made the Abandoned Church their base.
Hopefully they would still be alive, at worst he could at least find out that his target of observation is already aware of the Supernatural. Though he's not holding onto hope that the Fallen Angel would still be alive in that case, or if the Abandoned Church is still standing at that… And he had to follow the Red Dragon Emperor around, one that would probably have a very negative outlook on the Fallen Angel, just his luck.
And yet, despite the future clash that he'd foreseen against a [Longinus] user, every step that he walked closer to the Abandoned Church was the thing that made his intuition sounds the alarm. Something that should've presented no danger at all to him.
Tobio was used to trusting his intuition, at least because he believed that 'intuition' didn't really exist.
Intuition was defined as unconscious decisions, the result of analyzing minute details past meaningful reason. That if someone took the time and opportunity to look into a particular case of 'acting on intuition', then that person would be able to come to a rational conclusion as to why a particular course of action is chosen.
However, even trying his best to find a rational reason as to why exactly Tobio felt so uncomfortable on his way to the old Abandoned Church – Tobio couldn't find an answer to that question. It was just a 'bad feeling', just the result of stress that whispered in his ear that he shouldn't have gone near that place – and nothing more.
However, in the end, Tobio was used to trusting his intuition. Even if he didn't fully understand why it was telling him right now why he was in danger when he was just planning on meeting some low-level Fallen Angels, he decided to trust hi intuition.
And so instead of heading straight towards the church according to his original plan, Tobio decided to make a detour. This time bypassing the old church building at a respectful distance before finding a suitable spot of clean ground and settling down in it, ignoring the cleanliness of his stylish black cloak, as he started looking carefully at the church.
Something about its appearance bothered Tobio, but he couldn't figure out what.
Frowning his eyebrows slightly, he tried to find what is out of place on the old abandoned church in front of him. The windows were in place, moreover, they seemed to have been washed recently, and the doors were in place and, judging by their appearance, without any damage, as if it was just refurbished. Did someone make a donation to the church? There are a sizeable amount of Christian in Kuoh after all.
Tobio couldn't see the interior of the church, but he assumed that it would be in quite decent as well. Well, at least as decent as decency could be acceptable for Fallen Angels. Surely the church would be filled with broken statues of Jesus and desecrated icons, they are still Fallen Angels after all.
Sex toys in the shape of a Rosario or prayer beads is quite the hot item for Fallen Angels.
Tobio did not approve of such blasphemous tendencies of the Fallen Angels, but he did not interfere with them with his worldview. What did he, being a mere human, knew about the relationship of God's fallen children to Himself, and even more so to His religion?
So if not by appearance, but what then is pinging his danger sense… Suspicious activity?
Tobio gazed into the church's windows, to see if he could any silhouette or something, but saw nothing suspicious, the church seemed deserted, but that was nothing too surprising in itself. It was supposed to be simply a gathering place for a small group of Fallen Angels and their subordinates.
On the contrary, it would be extremely strange to find crowds of people scurrying in and out of the church haphazardly.
So, some kind of Magic, perhaps? With the Leviathan here, it would be quite the miracle for the Fallen's presence to remain hidden, so maybe he's sensing the trap that was laid on the Abandoned Church to catch people like him? Spies, that is. Tobio doesn't think that even the Leviathan would expect his arrival in Kuoh.
Tobio gazed into the church once more, this time using all his magical abilities, he may not be Lavinia, but he was not a one-trick pony who only relies on his [Longinus] either. He had spent quite a bit of time studying magic, and had succeeded quite a bit at it.
Instantly, observing the church before him revealed the secret that the church was protected by a barrier concealing its occupants – but that was no surprise to Tobio either. After all, it was a gathering place for Fallen Angels hiding under the nose of two VIPs and their retinue, it would be far more surprising to find that the place was not trying to hide in any way.
At least with the presence of magic that's hiding the inhabitants of the church from outside view, it confirms to Tobio that the Fallen Angel he's supposed to meet is still alive… Maybe.
Because of the presence of the presence concealment magic, even if something magical was in the church, Tobio could not detect it…
But then again, on the other hand, it was unlikely that the Fallen Angels could find a first-class barrier master so easily, so it was most likely a rather hastily erected cover. Something which Tobio could bypass if he concentrated on his senses a bit more.
Tobio gazed intently into the church again, trying to catch the tiniest fluctuations of the false background in front of him and… Nothing.
Not in the sense that he didn't feel any fluctuations, but in the sense that he didn't feel the background at all. It was as if what is behind the barrier wasn't there at all, the barrier had stopped all the energy from what is inside form leaking at all, a feat that only the best made barriers were capable of.
Tobio's paranoia instantly kicked in. The likelihood that the fallen angels could find a powerful mage on their own, much less doing so secretly from Azazel, and make him work was almost negligible. Tobio realized that the church was a trap.
But it was too late.
After all, no one making a barrier wouldn't also put in an alarm should someone try to peer inside it.
"[Frost of Judecca]." Declared softly but in the iciest tone of voice Tobio have ever heard, which is quite the accomplishment seeing that he regularly hangs out with Lavinia.
A moment later, before Tobio could even turn around to face the speaker, ice shackled his body completely, turning it into frozen stone. And as one might expect, magic of this level means that it was not ordinary ice, which would not last even a moment under the influence of his abilities. Tobio was no ordinary man, he was one of the strongest fighters in the entire Fallen faction, second only to Azazel in terms of battle flexibility.
He might lose out in power to the Fallen Cadre, or even that temperamental adopted son of his, but Tobio was never one to be without options.
And so, straining with all his might, Tobio instantly focused his all to free even a small part of his body. It was a very well-thought-out ambush, the ice effectively cutting his connection with his shadow.
He needed at least a small part of his body free, then he could summon [Canis Lycaon] and free himself from his icy prison through his shadow. The ice beneath reacted to his attempt, dousing his attempt to call his power to bear, but Tobio wouldn't be giving up so easily.
Judging by the feel of it, this ability was being used by someone no weaker than a Cadre level fighter, and right now, there was at least one Ultimate Class demon with ice control abilities in the city. Someone who would surely attack Tobio before even trying to start a conversation. A Maou famous for doting on her little sister.
So Tobio, inwardly remembering all the swear words only applicable to Azazel, prepared to come face to face with an enraged Serafall, paused for a moment in an attempt to break free from the icy prison he found himself in.
In retrospect, it was a bad decision.
However, also in retrospect, it was unlikely that his continued actions would have been able to shatter Demiurge's ice prison in the instant it took Shalltear to open a [Gate] leading to Nazarick's Frozen Prison.
Today was a bad day to be Tobio Ikuse.
***
Time stretched so slowly in the school that the entire time of Momonga's classes, he wanted to check to see if he had run into some Chronomancer who had cast [Time Stretch] on him while he was distracted. Of course, Momonga was protected from temporal influences, but that was the only possibility that crossed his mind as he watched the second hand on the clock in front of him crawl at a snail's pace.
After all, this world was a new and unexplored area to Momonga, so there was no denying that the possibility of a similar ability capable of ignoring his temporal defenses did not exist. The ability was only affecting him on a negligible level, however, and so Momonga was forced to admit that there's no mystery special Chronomancer currently casting its most annoying debuff on him.
Momonga was simply bored.
In YGGDRASIL, Momonga had encountered such problem quite often. Recharging abilities, waiting for connections, recovery times for daily quests, even unskippable cutscenes in which he could do nothing but watch them, again and again. Those were perhaps the most annoying, especially when he saw the same scenes repeated for the tenth or twentieth time, sometimes in a row.
But in YGGDRASIL, there was always something he could do during this wait… Except for the unskippable cutscenes, of course.
However, for all the inhuman sadism of the shitty devs, and they were sadistic to a fault, the longest unskippable cutscene in all of YGGDRASIL was only twenty-three minutes long, and Momonga had only seen it once. That is the cutscene after defeating [World Eater], the game's final boss – and he even liked it.
For all their sadism, at least the developers of YGGDRASIL would, reluctantly, recognize the players' achievements. But what about the four-hour unskippable cutscene that he has to do on the daily!
A cutscene titled 'lessons at Kuoh Academy'.
Momonga sincerely tried to listen to his teacher for a while, and since they change every time he had to watch them, it might even sound reasonable to some people. Well, who would like to watch something that doesn't interest them, even if it changes all the time!?
For example, the lesson devoted to classical Japanese literature, it never managed to win his attention even the first day he had attended the class. So, after twenty minutes, when he finally stopped understanding the complex metaphors embedded in the text by the author, or at least how the teacher reasoned about the author's intent with his work, it simply turned into white noise!
And he still had an hour left until class finish! What kind of torture is this!?
And so, before his brain could melt through his ears, Momonga shifted his gaze to the academy's inner courtyard, deciding to spend the time on a rather questionable in effectiveness, but still a pastime.
Analyzing the situation in front of him in terms of battle development. That is, just what magic he would need to use to destroy the school and kill all its inhabitants.
So, to start with, the basics. Even just using magic of Tier Six, a tier that, in the context of a hundredth-level battle, was viewed solely from the perspective of a 'last ditch effort', when both sides' resources were already depleted, all those concrete walls and shelters were nothing at all. Not to mention that with the characteristics of level one hundred, even a simple Tier One [Magical Arrow] could pierce through the entire Academy building without losing a single bit of its combat effectiveness.
Momonga wasn't sure how much time he had devoted to his study of such an idle thought, but he was absolutely certain that he had spent at least a few hours. In fact, the lunch bell should be ringing nay time now… only to find the teacher still droning on about this or other.
When he turned his head back, causing the teacher in front of him, who was talking about the influence of Shintoism on the author's work, for some strange reason, to hiccup almost in fear.
Momonga found that the teacher hadn't even turned to the next page of the author's text, and Momonga himself had spent at best fifteen minutes in his musings.
If there really is a Chronomancer doing their best to screw with his time perception, he's going to find that asshole, and he's going to toss them into Neuronist's cell.
The torture then went on for hours, and a cycle would repeat itself. Momonga would get bored, find a distraction that would bore him after a while, and he would return to the lesson, only to remember why he had been bored in the first place. He would then try to find a new distraction for himself, repeat ad infinitum.
So, when the school bell did ring to herald the start of lunch break, it was like sound of a Siren call to Momonga's weary mind. He had time to get bored, distract himself and then get bored again, create three hundred notes in his head about future experiments with the magic system, forget half of them, and then come up with just as many more.
'And people pay money for this!?' Momonga could at least applaud his classmates. If these people went to school of their own volition, they were definitely extremely motivated people, willing to spend years of time on such tortures.
Perhaps he should change his opinion of Katase and Murayama? The two of them did manage to bear this torture that seemed insistent on breaking his mind, after all, and he's supposed to have immunity to those!
Who knew that those girls were actually that motivated!
Rising from his desk, Momonga stretched his back a little, shaking off the phantom stiffness that is impossible for him to actually have but which he somehow still enjoyed expelling with a stretch. That done with, he shifted his gaze to his classmates, and saw that some of them were talking amongst themselves, bringing out their lunch. An action that made Momonga remember that this time, having brought Miki's breakfast with him, he could invite Katase for lunch!
The memory of a girl who could distract Momonga a bit from the incredible ennui and boredom of the school instantly made Momonga think of his hike to the abandoned church yesterday. Or more specifically the end of that hike, and the kiss, but luckily for Momonga, his suppression of emotion worked instantly, preventing him from coughing in a fit of embarrassment. The forced calmness instead allowing him to ask himself the logical question.
'Am I in a relationship with Katase?'
Momonga wasn't sure if he should have congratulated himself or not on that thought. First Albedo, then Shalltear, and now Katase? If he was really in a relationship with her, which perhaps he could interpret her actions that way, given their sort-of date and kiss, then his harem had already grown to three girls. And this was only after his fourth day of existence in this world.
Did that mean that after a year of his life, his harem would have grown to several hundred?!
Momonga imagined a picture of him majestically walking along rows and rows of girls, dozens upon dozens dressed scantily, looking at him with worship in their eyes… How many girls would he have to walk just to see all the girls in his harem if it got to that point?!
A thought that caused him a little bit of pride and excitement, and no small amount of thankfulness for his infinite stamina. What can you do, after all, inside Momonga was still an ordinary man who couldn't at least on some minimal level not be pleased by such a sight, and a lot more fear for his pelvis.
'No, no, don't get ahead of yourself! You're not entirely sure how to handle even one girl, three at once is so far beyond you, that you shouldn't even think about it!'
The suppression of emotions once again showed itself as Momonga's most powerful ability, surpassing even his [The Goal of All Life Is Death], allowing Momonga to calm down and return to normalcy.
Momonga's gaze slid over his surroundings before coming across a couple of girls casting glances at him, a picture that made Momonga instantly interested and nervous, thankfully, for nothing.
"Really, they say the whole trio came in beaten up! None of them even look at the girls now!"
One of the girls' eyes practically sparkled as she recounted the story, her long brown hair curled in many locks, falling down over her very prominent breasts.
"So they're into boys now?" Her companion raised one eyebrow, making the girl frown.
"No, they aren't! They say the new guy, Satoru, went up against them one-on-one and beat them up single-handedly! Satoru said that if they dared peep on the girls again, he's going to beat them up again!" At that moment, the girl glanced at Momonga herself, and when faced with his undivided attention, she hiccupped in surprise, averting her gaze, trying to cover her cheeks that were slowly beginning to turn scarlet with her long hair.
'I guess the rumors have already spread around the academy. And as you'd expect, these rumors are surprisingly 'true' and not as I feared them to be embellished as. Or worse, making it turn out as if staking my claim over the Academy like some mega pervert.'
Momonga took his eyes off the girls before walking past them, ignoring the furtive look the girls were giving him.
'Well, at least those rumors are positive, even though I haven't done anything of the sort, and wasn't one of the Perverted Trio supposed to be my brother? How did the rumor that I beat them up came about…? On the other hand, it's not like I'd really have a hard time defeating that trio. First-level mobs like Issei's friends weren't even worthy of consideration, and I know the Pandora Actor himself probably better than any other creature in the world. Not to mention the fact I could just order him to surrender. Well, I'm in no hurry to dissipate that rumor, a good reputation is always useful.'
Stepping out of the classroom and into the hallways, Momonga instantly found Murayama's familiar figure with his gaze, and Katase? Whom Murayama was pulling with all her might, grasping onto her elbow like a locomotive pulling a stubborn carriage behind her.
"Katase Higa, you're going to meet Satoru, one way or another, or my name isn't Murayama Tanabe!" Murayama's voice was loud enough, that hearing the girls' words wasn't difficult for Momonga, or even a particularly deaf person for that matter.
'I understand you, Katase, completely understand, even I felt like a lead cuff is on my legs when I had to confront Shalltear and Albedo. Doing something embarrassing is way too hard….'
Momonga sighed as he approached the girl who's busy trying to escape the grasp of her best friend. 'More to the point, if this situation is difficult for you, then you simply have no idea how confusing it is for me…'
However, in the current situation, Momonga didn't see any more suitable actions for him to take. And moreso he would probably go mad with boredom if he decided to spend lunchtime alone, and so, appearing behind the two girls' backs, he greeted them, "Good afternoon."
"Ack!" Katase's panicked exclamation coincided with her sharp turn on the spot, causing Murayama, who was holding on to her elbow, to almost fall to the ground. Seeing the person that she didn't want to meet, Katase opened her mouth and, unable to find the courage to say anything, closed it, and then opened it again. Doing her best to create a believable mute pantomime of a beached fish.
"Oh, Satoru, you're just in time!" Murayama, having decided to take the reins of the conversation into her own hands instead of Katase, who was paralyzed with embarrassment and fear, smiled at Momonga. "Would you like to join us for a lunch?"
"Sure," Momonga nodded, looking at the girls, whose ordinary and normal behavior made him feel a strange warmth in his chest. Once upon a time, he had also been just like that, socializing and fooling around with his friends…
The memories of Ainz Ooal Gown's past made his mood that had soared for a moment instantly plummet. But this was not the time to be morose about his friends, after which he nodded seriously.
In any case, it's not like there's anything more interesting at school at the moment anyway…
At least that's what Momonga thought for the next few seconds, until he heard a shout from a guy with short blond hair that is approaching him. Momonga's memory told him that he had seen him somewhere before, but meeting him was clearly not on Momonga's mind.
"Hey, you're free, right?" Though clearly, the blond kid had other plans in mind, greeting him with a wave quite rudely.
Momonga's gaze instantly sharpened in response to the unfriendly remark, internally, that is. Though, thanks to the unchanged expression on his face, it made it look as if he was looking at the blonde with hostility, causing him to halt his steps in the middle of the hallway.
Seeing, that the blonde has become silent, Momonga could only sigh, responding so that he could get this over with. "I apologize, but I think we should introduce ourselves to each other first before I'll go anywhere with you."
"Yes, that's right, s-sorry." The blonde, and before the eyes of Katase, Murayama, and the dozen or so other students in the hallway staring at him, the two girls with unmasked hostility, started speaking with some nervousness.
"Genshiro Saji."
After a moment, Genshiro immediately bent in a deep bow, a very unpracticed but more than sincere bow, almost creating a right angle,
"Please, I need your help!"
***
Pandora's actor, Issei Hyoudou to the rest of the world, spent his lunch break the same way as he always did, or at least Issei did, devouring Miki's cooking. Eating, solely for the purpose of not attracting attention, but at the same time still remembering to note the taste of the food prepared for him, if nothing else so that Miki could improve her offerings to the Father. As he shoveled another morsel of food, he looked at his surrounding 'friends'.
Matsuda and Motohama. Normally the lunch break between them would have been spent talking, laughing, and discussing the various female forms, whether seen in the locker room or in an erotic magazine. But now there was no conversation between them, creating an awkward silence in the air.
Naturally, after Satoru, that is Lord Momonga's more than clear demonstration of His willingness to stop the 'Perverted Trio's actions, if need be, by physical intervention. And after his very intense threat of bodily harm, the two perverts who had dedicated their lives to pursuing the vision of the female form were in a very upset state of mind.
Not to mention the great awkwardness hanging in the air over the fact that Satoru was Issei's older brother. Something which made being around Issei make Matsuda feel awkward, not to mention Motohama, who somehow still frowning his eyebrows in mute anger. At least his brain is functioning enough to realize that he shouldn't have provoked someone who was more than ready to break every bone in his body.
Pandora's Actor himself was more than satisfied with the current situation. Besides being deprived of the necessity of maintaining a social mask, dealing with such tiresome and 'uncool' ausstellungsstücke, he could also devote his time to his much more attractive business.
That is, studying the scene created by his Father, and also maintained the 'natural awkwardness' of playing the role of an ordinary schoolboy who found himself in such an unpleasant but, for all expectations, very 'ordinary' situation.
Therefore, although his human gaze slid in uncertain embarrassed silence over the faces of his friends, Pandora Actor's focus was turned towards his Vater. To be more precise, not daring to even consider touching the shining mind of the genius that is creating the masterpiece.
Issei instead turned his attention to his surroundings, at the small parts that make up the entire grand play.
Genshiro Saji, such a positive and friendly, cheerful young man, just entering his sophomore year of high school, was now in such a depressed state. He was full of empty anger and sad despair, and yet determined, like a ship being swallowed by the inexorable whirlpool of life, and yet desperately clinging to every hope of another day.
Genshiro Saji had lost his parents years ago and left with the two youngest children, his sister, and brother. His life was not too happy, but not too sad either. After the death of his parents, Genshiro and his small family were left in the care of his grandfather, who had just passed away three days ago.
The elderly patriarch's death came as no surprise to Genshiro, for all the painfulness of the subject, the old patriarch was sick and the long course of an incurable illness had simply reaped its harvest. And yet it had left Saji alone with his fate. For, at this point, Saji Genshiro was not a fully functioning adult member of society.
Perhaps, after proving his ability to exist independently, he could be left to fend for himself, with only the occasional need for check-ups by social workers. But what to do with his younger sister and brother? Small children in need of care and would probably to be separated by a cruel fate, a tragic tale of family separation that Genshiro was not willing to allow as best he could, clutching at every possible straw… Such as summoning Devils.
The demon summoning flier he had received had been used for its intended purpose, Issei had no doubt that if Genshiro had summoned one of the Devils, his problem would have been solved. In fact, for the two ruler of Kuoh, it would be a very easy task, not even needing a large sacrifice on Saji's part… If the two Heiress wasn't so busy dealing with Father's unexpected appearance, that is.
Father's appearance had thrown the Devils' day into disarray. In the days gone by, they hadn't dared poke their noses out of their fortified, yet so vulnerable, strongholds, causing the flier Saji received and used to summon them to go to waste. And so, the demonic miracle the desperate teenager had hoped for hadn't happened.
However, thanks to the oh so completely accidental spreading of news of Father's victory over the legendary, in the worst sense of the word, 'Perverted Trio', Father had become the talk of the school. And so, information about the 'newcomer' as well as information about his 'emancipated' status had become a hot topic, quickly spreading through the Academy, giving the desperate schoolboy a new hope.
Hope, capturing another figure from the stage, weaving another into the ongoing great play of Lord Momonga's name.
'Ah, mein Vater, each of Your acts holds a thousand upon thousands of secrets, and each act is but a prelude to the next, even grander.' Issei restrained himself only by straining all his strength not to give a military salute to his Father.
'Father, how blessed I am to watch the audience become unwitting participants in the performance themselves, not realizing that their 'free will' coincides so perfectly with Your wishes. How great it is that I am allowed the greatest honor of being the first violin under the greatest conductor, the star of the performance for the director who weaves life itself into such a grand production. But Father, what is your plan now for Genshiro Saji? '
Issei was unaware of exactly what Father was planning, how could he know the full grandeur of the plans of the Greatest of the Forty-One, but he could not help but notice the sequence of Father's steps. Each move made sense, each thread becoming a smaller part of an unimaginably larger fabric. First the reputation He had gained at the Academy by subduing the Perverted Trio, then Katase and Murayama, now Genshiro Saji being attracted to him because of so. Invisible but unbreakable threads had started being wrapped around Kuoh Academy, one by one, as Father's influence grew.
And surely Issei could see what those threads were working toward, what Father wanted by creating such a strong web around. While the Devils were shaking with fear at the mere thought of approaching the Father, stooping to such crude and direct methods as 'surveillance' and 'control', Father was slipping, with methodical inevitability, poison into the very blood of this academy. This city. This world.
Each action directing the puppets, of their own 'free will' to where the actors of this play were to be, getting closer to the Heiress hidden by the influence of the Devil rulers. Father was winning victory after victory against the Devils while they were still unaware that the battle had long since begun.
And yet Father was granting him Pandora's Actor, as Issei, the right to act as the star of his performance, to allow him to bring his act to perfection, and direct the pawns to their stage.
For a second, Issei contemplated going directly to Father for clarification, after all, He had already removed the need for him to maintain the mask of His current existence before Miki's eyes,
But the words spoken by Father were unequivocal.
Only when He directly and unequivocally announced the need to interrupt the act, only then would Pandora Actor's evaluation be complete and his test over. Until then, Issei had to play his role flawlessly.
And having embodied Issei for the moment so that he could complete his task flawlessly, Issei realized that the time for him to act was not yet at hand. On the other hand, he was supposed to think for himself…
Of course, directing any of the Devils' attention was ridiculously easy. Whether it was Rias or Sona, Issei needed only a few words and glances to make them break their shells and throw themselves at Father's feet. But for every one of Father's actions, there was a time, a place, and a reason, and if he was unwilling to direct them directly, then Issei had to find another way to take control of this academy.
In that case, he had to proceed carefully, he needs to be someone on the very edge, a link through which Issei could allow Father to penetrate this world even more.
Pandora Actor's mind, accustomed to collating thousands of collectibles, to careful cataloging and perfect knowledge of each exhibit, instantly provided him with a suitable idea. It was the perfect plan, making him smile inwardly a little before turning his head to his friends.
Acting as Issei, he appeared to look at them a little awkwardly before instantly putting the plan into action. "Hey…"
Matsuda and Motohama, hearing Issei, looked at him, allowing Issei to look away in that perfect 'confused and awkward guy' way to ask a question,
"Do you know if Ruruko Nimura in the freshman year has a boyfriend?"