I had to admit, I was impressed.
The shamelessness required to act as if she wasn’t half-dressed at school, playing Pokémon, while trying to hold a normal conversation without changing clothes was impressive.
And a little sad.
“Senpai,” I said awkwardly.
“I think you should go change.” Rias tilted her head.
“I don’t know where to look, and I’m trying very hard to be normal about this.” She blushed and gave a little huff.
“Thank you.
I’ll be right back.” She turned toward Koneko.
“Feel free to get into the snacks.” Then she got up and left.
I couldn’t help but notice Koneko was vibrating.
A little foodie, huh?
Me too.
Becoming aware also meant that food actually mattered now.
And I loved it.
“You have to share!” Rias’s voice rang out from the other room.
I could almost see Koneko droop in depression.
I could barely catch what she muttered.
“Well, if it’s him, it’s fine, I guess.” Oooh.
Melon bread.
— Rias POV Embarrassing!
Why did Koneko bring him here so suddenly?!
Still, he probably isn’t an immediate threat.
The short time I had spent with him was enough to tell me that much.
His gaze had appreciation, obviously, but it didn’t linger.
He looked away quickly, and Koneko didn’t even call him a pervert.
So far, only Kiba and my cousin Sai had earned that kind of approval from her.
His magical energy was more solid now.
Condensed.
I understood what Koneko meant.
It was a strange feeling, like something had been leaking from him yesterday and had suddenly learned how to hold itself together.
I would have to ask Akeno about it.
She had always been better at magic.
As I changed, I looked at myself in the mirror and let out a slow breath.
At least the accident had revealed something useful.
Raoul Kurokaze was not like Issei.
He had noticed.
He had chosen not to stare.
And Koneko felt comfortable enough to bring him here directly.
That mattered.
If it had been Riser…
Ugh.
No.
I was not thinking about that shitty bird.
I needed to contact Akeno and Kiba.
We should speak with him properly.
Luckily, Koneko had already filled me in through a magical message.
Why did we even use cellphones?
— Raoul POV The meeting went about how I expected it to.
Rias gave me the whole spiel about devils and a basic introduction to the hidden world of the supernatural.
Nothing I didn’t already know, particularly, but the invention of the “Devil phone” was interesting.
A supernatural private network?
I wanted to take it apart and figure out how it worked.
Sadly, I barely knew Onmyōdō.
“Do you have any questions?” Rias asked kindly.
Akeno served everyone tea, giving me a wink as she set down my cup in a way that very deliberately drew attention to her chest.
I couldn’t help but blush and look away.
Before had been an accident.
Akeno was doing it on purpose.
I was new to these emotions!
Devils!
Hmmm.
I cleared my throat and tried to focus on literally anything other than the absurdly attractive devil pouring tea.
“Territory,” I said.
Rias blinked.
“Territory?” “Koneko said I was on someone’s turf acting like an idiot.
So what does that actually mean?
Am I breaking some supernatural law by existing weirdly in the wrong neighborhood?” The room went quiet for a moment.
Koneko munched on melon bread.
“He is acting like an idiot,” she said helpfully.
“Thank you, Koneko.” “It’s basically just telling the people who oversee the area where you’re living and reporting any anomalies like stray devils, crazy mages, criminals, and so on,” Kiba added helpfully as he stood at the side of the room like a knight.
Ah.
“Okay, no problem.
I’m here.
I’m a wizard, I guess?
Or a mage?
I don’t know.
I figured out some Onmyōdō recently.
That was pretty neat.
I kind of made the ink out of ginseng paste, but…” I looked around.
Everyone was staring at me like I was crazy.
I wasn’t crazy.
Okay?
I was in a room full of devils.
Oh.
Now I got it.
Koneko snorted in laughter.
“Ginseng paste?” Akeno asked, eyes sparkling.
“Ara ara.
That is either very stupid or surprisingly clever.” “Did it work?” Kiba asked.
“For six minutes.” The room stared at me like I was an idiot.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“It was root paste.” Akeno covered her mouth with one hand.
Kiba looked like he was trying very hard to be polite.
Rias stared at me for a long moment.
“How did you figure that out alone?” “Uh.” I scratched my cheek.
“Vague mythological association?” Rias started giggling.
“You’re ridiculous,” she choked out through her laughter.