[Romani Oyama]
In the Occult Research Club, Rias was staring at me with her cheeks slightly puffed in anger, her red hair framing her face like contained flames, her blue eyes half-narrowed with an intensity that was trying very hard to come across as intimidating.
No matter how irritated she was, she was unbearably cute.
Obviously, I held that thought back before it could slip out, and kept my expression neutral, doing my best to look like someone who was taking the situation seriously. This was definitely not the moment to compliment my boss on her adorableness.
Recapping recent events: after defeating Viser, my free-falling body had been grabbed by a furious and visibly worried Rias. From the expression on her face, it was more than obvious that she wanted to give me a rather severe lecture, but seeing the deplorable state of my arm made her bite her lip and swallow the words.
Instead, she allowed Koneko to carry me back to the ORC.
Being carried in a loli's arms was, in and of itself, a difficult experience to categorize. But her murmur, saying that I smelled nice, added an extra layer of strangeness to the situation. Not quite sure what to do with that information, I simply decided to interpret her words as a compliment from a cute girl.
And that was how I arrived at the club, now standing face to face with a clearly irritated Rias Gremory.
There was something almost amusing about the way she oscillated between the urge to scold me and the concern that kept insisting on appearing at the corners of her eyes. The situation would have been even more comical if my arm weren't throbbing with infernal pain.
For a few long seconds, the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess kept staring at me in silence, biting her lip, her eyes sliding back and forth between my face and my crumbled arm. Then, she moved toward me, raising one arm.
*I think I'm about to be disciplined...*
The thought was abruptly cut short when she grabbed my head and buried it in her embrace, nestling my face against her chest with a gentleness that contrasted with all the tension built up in the moment.
The soft, floral scent of her body flooded my senses as I blinked, slightly confused.
"Romani-kun, I want to be angry with you, and honestly, I am..." Her trembling fingers ran through my long black hair, stroking my head with an almost maternal care. "It's impossible not to be, watching my precious servant put himself in danger like this."
*Strange. A warm, odd sensation bloomed in my chest. Must be some kind of cardiovascular arrhythmia, right?*
Somewhat embarrassed and in pain, I disentangled myself from her embrace, scratching my cheek with the hand that was still intact. "I wasn't putting myself in danger. I simply believed you'd take care of anything that could happen to me."
"..."
Rias stared at me, her face taking on beautiful shades of red that spread across her cheeks, before she let out a slow and resigned sigh through her rosy lips. "You're quite clever, you know that? You certainly know how to use words to get out of trouble." Giving me a slight smile, she let her gaze fall upon my arm. "Either way, we need to deal with this problem first. It must hurt, doesn't it?"
"A little."
A fine lie. With each passing second, my arm throbbed with even more pain, as if someone were hammering the bones from the inside. Were it not for a beautiful woman standing in front of me, I'd most likely already be shedding some embarrassed tears. Apologies. I'm not a tough guy when it comes to pain, especially when my ⟨Pugna Constitution⟩ isn't taking care of my senses.
"Huh?" Rias frowned, concerned, bringing her fingers to her lips. "Unfortunately, I don't have any Phoenix Tears on me at the moment."
*Phoenix Tears!? Aren't those the healing potions created by the Phenex Clan?*
From the information I'd gathered on DevilNet, a single one of those potions was extremely expensive and rare for anyone who didn't belong to a noble family.
My inferior-quality minor healing potions weren't even worthy of being compared to Phoenix Tears.
*Hmpf. For now.* My pride as an alchemist burned in silent flames, hungry to show that clan of chickens what a real healing potion looked like.
For the time being, I needed to make a decision: should I or should I not reveal my potion to Rias?
My eyes slid discreetly toward the bag at my side, where a few flasks of minor healing potion rested.
There were clearly more pros than cons to revealing it. If I demonstrated my alchemy skill, my value as a peerage member would rise considerably, and I could request higher-quality alchemical materials from one of the wealthiest ladies in the underworld.
I bit the inside of my cheek. *Reveal or not reveal?* Until now, Rias had been wonderful to me, acting like a protective older sister. Damn. I suppose I can trust her a little more. If something goes wrong, it'll be my fault, and at least it'll serve as a lesson.
"Perhaps I can..."
"That won't be necessary, Rias-san." My words cut across hers before she could finish. I moved my hand toward the bag and pulled a flask from inside it.
It was a cylindrical container of transparent glass, sealed with a cork stopper, containing a vivid-red liquid that glimmered faintly under the club's light.
"Huh? What is that?" Rias blinked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity.
Smiling slightly, I held the flask with my good hand and bit the cork, pulling it out with my teeth. Under Rias's attentive gaze, I tilted the flask to my lips and let the liquid flow down my throat. It had a metallic, faintly sweet taste, like honey mixed with molten copper
"Romani-kun, you..."
Her words died as I raised my injured arm, exposing the damaged tissue as it began to repair itself.
The acid-corroded flesh contracted and pulsed, pink fibers rising from the edge of the wound toward the center like roots growing in slow motion. It was a slow process, almost unsettling to observe up close.
The bone, however, was an entirely different matter.
The microfractures and fissures sealed shut as though liquid, incandescent cement were being injected from within, filling each crack with an abrasive pressure. It was like feeling two slabs of stone being compressed against each other inside my own forearm.
A dry snap broke the club's silence.
Then another.
And another.
Rias, eyes wide, stared at me as though she had forgotten how to breathe.
A minute and thirty seconds later, the process came to an end.
I let out a long sigh of relief and lowered my eyes to the restored arm. The new skin was practically identical to the previous one, only a shade lighter, as if it had never seen the sun. I flexed my fingers slowly.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Perfect.
With a lazy smile, I set the empty flask on the table. The soft sound of glass against wood echoed through the club's silence.
"I... have several questions, but..." Rias blinked, clearly not knowing where to begin, before settling her gaze directly on my face. "What in the world was that?"
"A minor healing potion." I shrugged with an air of unconcern.
"A minor healing potion!?" She stared at me as though it were the first time in her life she had heard those words together. "I don't understand. How did you get something like that?"
"I made it." I raised my hand with a gesture of contained pride, twirling a strand of my hair between my fingers. "Since the materials weren't the best, even being minor-grade, the quality came out slightly below ideal."
"Wait a moment..." Rias raised a hand toward me, massaging her own temple with an expression of mental overload. "You made it? Could it be... you're an alchemist?"
"Exactly." I nodded in agreement, finding her look of genuine astonishment utterly charming. "Though I'm still far from being among the best."
Rias stared at me for a few seconds in complete silence, the astonishment slowly transforming into something different, until a soft, disbelieving laugh escaped through her lips.
My boss had broken.
"Romani-kun." She ran her fingers beneath her eyes, wiping away the tears from laughing so hard. "You never stop surprising me."
"That's my profession." I raised a finger in a victory pose.
"I suppose you don't want to tell me how you learned alchemy, do you?" Smiling, she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.
"About that... I'm more or less self-taught. I found a tutorial on DevilNet and learned through practice." A lie. Clearly a lie — I knew it very well, and I'm almost certain Rias did too.
"I see. So if you don't want to tell me, that's alright." She shot me an amused, sharp-eyed smile. "I imagine the tentacles, the demonic ice, and the mysterious mage are secrets as well."
"I found a familiar-summoning book on the street. The tentacles are... hmm... the fruit of a particularly firm willpower combined with excessive exposure to Japanese animation of a dubious nature. And the ice is an ability I simply happen to be able to use."
Wow. Without even trying, I was a surprisingly convincing liar.
"Well, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Your familiar clearly serves you with excellence, and I have no complaints about my precious family member growing stronger." She smiled with genuine warmth. "So there's no problem."
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I truly had no desire whatsoever to explain the origin of each of those abilities. Why didn't I fully trust Rias with every fiber of my being yet? Partly I did — but the other part was simply because it seemed like too much work.
"If you ever feel the need, remember that we are here to help you train your abilities. Don't be shy about asking for help, Romani-kun. You are part of this family." Rias hugged me one last time, with slightly more force and... possessiveness? Hmm. It was certainly just my imagination. She then pulled back with a soft smile. "Either way, you defeated Viser on your own. That deserves a reward. What do you want? It can be anything."
Being a man, my gaze instinctively slid toward her voluptuous figure for less than half a second before a violent moral slap from my own brain struck me clean across the face
"Well, I don't really consider what I did all that impressive..."
"Romani-kun, no false modesty." Rias fixed me with a firm smile. "What you did was incredible, and I want to reward a valuable member of my family. Please, ask for something."
A slightly dry smile formed on my lips. My boss was, undeniably, a little stubborn.
"Alright. Then... can you give me some alchemical materials?"
"Alchemical materials..." She raised a hand, gently tapping her own lips as she thought. "Honestly, I don't know much about that, but if it's what you want as a reward, consider it done. Make a list and hand it to me, and it will be arranged." Rias patted her own chest with the air of a satisfied proprietor.
"Okay!" Since she was insisting, I wasn't going to go easy on the list.
"But it's late. You should go home and rest. Today must have been quite exhausting. You can send me the list by phone."
"Leave it to me." I nodded in agreement, stifling a yawn. I really was wrecked after a life-or-death battle.
It had been quite a day.
And, as strange as it was to admit, it had also been, without a shadow of a doubt, a whole lot of fun.
Author's Note: Romani has successfully accomplished several important milestones today. He defeated a dangerous enemy. He impressed Rias. He revealed that he's an alchemist. He obtained access to the financial resources of one of the richest heiresses in the Underworld.
Meanwhile, Rias has begun experiencing the early symptoms of a very serious condition known as "Romani Exposure Syndrome." Side effects include confusion, disbelief, headaches, emotional attachment, and the growing realization that your peerage member might actually be insane.