“Yes,” Harry said.
“I learned the spell because my initial plan was to summon my broom and try to fly around the dragon.”
Ajuka just stared blankly at him for a moment before rolling his eyes.
Holding out his right hand, it glowed in teal light for a moment, and a small, dark-colored ring appeared in his palm.
It too glowed teal for a moment, and afterward, little runes appeared engraved in the metal.
“Unless your tournament organizers are morons, they’ll have enchanted the thing you need to steal from the dragon to prevent summoning,” he said.
“This will let you bypass such enchantments.”
“Do I wear it?” he asked, concerned slightly because it looked like it might barely fit on his pinky finger.
“No,” Ajuka said.
“You slip this thing on your wand, and whatever spell you cast, it will ignore all attempts to stop it.
You’ll only get one spell out of it, though, as it will turn to dust once its charge is used up.”
“Thank you,” Harry said, taking the ring and pocketing it.
“Technically speaking, I suppose I don’t need you here constantly to study the problem,” Ajuka sighed, “but I will be calling on you often over the coming months.”
“So long as I survive the tournament, I’ll help you however I can,” Harry said.
“Now,” Ajuka said, waving his hand and summoning a small hospital bed.
“Lie down here, and we’ll get started on the tests.”
“I can’t believe this was all a test,” Rias said as she sat down across from her mother.
“Thank you, dear,” Venelana said, smiling at the servant who had brought her tea.
“Do you want anything, Rias?”
“No point,” Rias sighed.
“I’m going to pass out soon enough anyway.”
“That will be all,” Venelana said, dismissing the servant.
“It was and wasn’t a test.”
“What do you mean?” Rias asked.
“The benefits I saw in the union were perfectly valid,” she said.
“Uniting the Gremorys and the Phenexes together would have been quite the coup, especially if you and Riser managed to have a truly powerful child or two.
That said, you made your opposition to the idea plain as day.
and so I wanted to see how you’d get out of it.
If you succeeded, you’d prove yourself to be an eminently capable devil, and if you failed, we would get the benefits of the marriage.”
“So you’d get something out of it either way,” Rias said.
“The greatest skill I could ever impart on you, my dear, is learning how to set up your board so that no matter the outcome, you win something,” Venelana said.
“In the end, every single thing is chess,” Rias said, quoting her brother.
“The heavenly host has their unity; the fallen have their way with humans; but we devils have our cunning,” Venelana said.
“Our disadvantages are terrible, and even with the evil pieces, we’ll never be able to challenge our great foes openly.
The Great War proved that.
To survive in this world, you must truly embody what it means to be a devil.
Adaptability, cunning, ruthlessness, these are our ways.
Whether you proved yourself capable of forging your own path or ended up with an immortal husband willing to kill in your defense, you’d have been safer in my eyes, and for a species as long-lived and infertile as ours, nothing is more important than ensuring the safety of your children.
You found a way to escape Riser, and I am proud of that, though I wish you’d found a more impressive way.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rias smirked.
“I’d say Harry’s plenty impressive.”
“He’s rather cute, your human,” Venelana said.
“Perhaps I should send him another picture.”
“Mother!” Rias exclaimed.
“Oh, relax, dear, I’m kidding,” Venelana laughed.
“So, how was he?”
“Divine,” Rias sighed before furrowing her brow and adding, “and strange.”
“How so?” Venelana asked, sipping her tea.
“He has his perks and showed promise, but after he finished the first time, it was like something awoke inside him.
He became a ravenous beast after that, taking me again and again until I was exhausted.
To be honest, if Grayfia hadn’t arrived when she did, I’d have slept the day away.”
“His first time?” Venelana asked, blinking.
“That is odd.”
“I’m not complaining,” Rias said.
“I hope Lord Ajuka figures this out quickly.
I want him as my servant.
There’s power in him, and I honestly think he could be a useful addition to my peerage on top of the other benefits of keeping him around.”
Her mother just chuckled and finished her tea as she fought back a yawn.
“I guess Grayfia’s spell is wearing off,” Venelana said.
“Head to bed, dear.
We’ll talk later.”
“Alright,” Rias yawned, feeling the sudden exhaustion hit her hard.
“Night, mother.”
Female giggling was the first thing Harry registered when he woke up hours later, and he struggled for a minute to remember where he was.
Ajuka had run a number of tests on him that he barely understood, most of which involved those silent spells that the devils cast.
He had also drawn blood to test it, though Harry had no idea how the curse could be in it since it had always seemed contained in his forehead.
He didn’t recall leaving the study, which likely meant that he passed out during the test.
The female voice mumbled something, and Harry assumed that Rias had come to check on him.
“Rias?” he asked as his eyes slowly opened.
“Not quite,” the woman replied, and he jerked backward.
All he could make out without his glasses was that the woman had very dark hair.
“There’s no need to be scared,” the woman laughed.
“I would never hurt someone so precious to Rias without permission.”
“Mine or hers?” Harry asked.