Overlord of biblical proportions: Overlord of High School (10) (Patreon)

Miki opened her eyes, with the cold from the dawn highlighting the emptiness of her own room, The gradual brightening of her room the only thing that tells her that time is still moving.

Miki's gaze slowly moved towards the clock, hanging opposite the bed. The tick down of the clock, usually almost inaudible in any other time, was almost deafening in the silent morning hours. It’s currently a quarter past six.

It was the usual time at which Miki used to wake up, just enough to prepare for the day’s goings-on, to prepare breakfast and lunch for Issei and… Gorou. Ten to fifteen minutes to brush her teeth and shower, fully washing away the leftover morning drowsiness, and she would go down to the kitchen, leaving herself a full hour to cook. Cooking something big or gourmet in that time was difficult, but breakfast was neither the former nor the latter. When she was in a good mood, oyakodon or even curry for packed lunch.

By the time everything was ready, the rest of the household would be finally awake, going down to the kitchen with a fully prepared breakfast…

‘Does that make any sense?’ Miki silently caught the last thought in her mind, looking at the clock that was so disgustingly slow and loudly counting down the passing seconds.

‘Why am I awake at this time? Gorou is gone, Issei is also gone… I am the only one left, what’s the point in waking up so early?’

Suddenly, another thought flashed through Miki's mind. ‘Just me and Satoru…’

Miki covered her eyes for a moment, trying to understand what she was feeling at this time, from this thought. Joy? Regret? Anger?

The tangle of thoughts in Miki's head shrank after time passed, but failed to generate an answer. Instead of a clear understanding, only a heap of emotions came to her. Like a computer repeating error messages, after deleting some very important files, spitting back panicked errors that made no sense. As if someone had ripped out some critical part of Miki's mind that kept it functioning, and now it had to hobble on, encountering error after error.

‘Does this even make sense?’ Miki's shattered mind couldn't even tell her what she liked and didn't like, and what that even meant in the first place.

Miki waited a few seconds, as if clarity would come to her… And that epiphany came along with the slight, barely audible squeaking of a pen on sheets of paper. Someone else was already awake even earlier than her, and seemed to be already busy working.

‘It's Satoru.’ The realization came to Miki a moment later. ‘He's up even earlier than me and already working…? While I can't even decide if I should get up at all… Ha, he must be hungry, right? That should be something that I could do… But he’s a much better cook than me… No, just because he made a fancy breakfast yesterday, have I now decided that I can dump all my responsibilities on him? What purpose would I even have then…’

Miki exhaled and then got out of bed forcefully, throwing back the blanket before heading off to do her morning routines. A bath should help clear her head, at least, she hoped so.

A few minutes later, Miki came out of the bathroom, refreshed but still not knowing exactly what she needed to do with her life. At least, she knows what she is going to do in the next hour.

Slowly, trying not to make any noise, Miki tried to determine where Satoru was at the moment, then froze in her steps when she realized the answer to that question.

Satoru was in Gorou's office.

‘Haha, really, it’s not like I could blame him, it's not like I gave him a room. Even if I did, there's only an extra bed in the home, and that’s in Gorou's office. So, the most logical thing for him to do was to settle in there.’ Miki smiled sadly to herself, but still with a wistful happiness. It was as if Satoru had cut another little thread leading to her past, relieving her of another chain weighing on her that she hadn't even suspected was there before.

‘And now he…’

“Mom?” Satoru turned around, just as Miki had looked into the room and saw that Satoru was covered in textbooks and notebooks, he had noticed her presence.

“Ah, Satoru, good morning," Miki answered him, noticing from the corner of her eye that the books Satoru was reading were mainly textbooks and dictionaries. ‘Of course, how else would he get a hundred points in all subjects, if not by spending his free time on his studies, from the early morning even, what a studious student… so unlike Issei.’

“Good morning, Mom.” Satoru nodded back in greeting, a polite smile on his face, changing into a worried one when he looked at Miki, who was staring. "Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing," Miki shook her head a little sadly, Satoru’s likeness to Gorou making her feel wistful. "Breakfast will be ready in about an hour. Do you have any requests?”

“Umu.” Satoru assented, thinking for a moment. “No, nothing like that – make whatever you want yourself… Or, umu, I can make something myself?”

“No, you shouldn't, there’s no need for that.” Miki shook her head.

“Thank you for the offer, but if you cook for the second day in a row, I'll feel uncomfortable…”

“Umu, okay," Satoru nodded, before waiting another moment to see if Miki would ask him anything else, and seeing that they were done talking, returning to his studies.

‘Why can’t Issei be like his older brother…’ Miki unconsciously allowed a bitter thought into her mind before she froze. ‘Ha-ha, how strange? I’m already comparing between Satoru and Issei like they’re siblings already, and I’m already picking favorites… Ha-ha, I'm definitely not Gorou's wife anymore, maybe I'm even already not Issei's mother after all? If I'm neither a wife nor a mother, then what am I?’

Miki slowly tore her gaze away from Satoru before forcing her body to move, slowly heading down the corridor further, toward the stairs and the first floor, determined to distract herself from thinking about that thought further. Slowly descending the stairs, Miki found the hall with her eyes and froze, as she looked at a clean room.

Her brain connected yesterday’s memory with the incongruous visage in front of her. The room should be a wreck, the spilled alcohol, empty bottles, the vomits. The room was cleaned, spotless – but it could not erase what she had done yesterday. The way she had brushed off Issei when he only wanted to help, the way Satoru brought her warmth, care, understanding. What kind of mother was she?

When Issei appeared beside her, all Miki could do was throw insults back at him. But as soon as her mind realized that Satoru was beside her – her stupor that should have seemingly knocked her down long ago, and had by then, instantly evaporated. It was as if her body could not bear the very thought of Satoru seeing her in her miserable state. Like in those silly stories where a person can instantly sober up from the mere realization that he has to do it, or from fear.

Haha, how is it that Issei only made Miki irritated and angry, while Satoru was, on the contrary, able to bring her out of her condition. How is it that just by standing next to him, it made Miki feel calm and protected, her body became strong, and her mind became calm?

‘One is my son, whom I have always loved, watching with bated breath as he grows and matures with such high hopes. And the other is a random stranger whose existence I didn't even know existed just a week ago…’ Miki looked at the living room, which no longer held any trace of her outbursts last night. The only evidence that this was not a dream was the slightly crumpled upholstery of the couch and the light, almost weathered, tart smell of alcohol.

‘So why can't I figure out which one is supposed to be my son that I loved?’

Miki felt her emotions shivering in a single tangle – guilt from thinking that she’s loving her son less, and happiness that her new son is an upstanding man. The confusion prevented her from making sense of her situation, from figuring out exactly what she was feeling now, and for whom. But at the same time Miki equally hoped and feared that if she could only sort her life out again, get it back on track, reignite what was left of her identity as Miki Hyoudou, she would get an answer…  An answer she would not know what to do with.

Miki made her way to the kitchen, then smiled slightly as she looked at her familiar, yet for some reason, now, alien utensils. ‘Funny, these are the same utensils I've been using for the past few years, and for some reason it seems so new and strange to me now. Had not using them to cook just for one day made them feel so strange now?’

Opening the fridge, Miki was pleased to find that there’s still some Satoru’s food leftover from yesterday. He had cooked a really large amount, and it would go bad soon, so Miki had found what she’s going to cook now.

Taking out some eggs and chicken breasts, Miki grabbed the leftovers as well, before taking out the rice from the nearby drawer, then proceeding with the cooking.

Rice to the steamer, chicken to cut up, eggs to prepare – oyakodon with rice, a breakfast fit to start the day.

The container of Satoru's breakfast leftovers from yesterday opened, allowing Miki a little snack before starting to cook. The process itself, hitherto always so ordinary and familiar, suddenly brought an unusual warmth inside Miki, causing her, for the first time in a while, to show a little smile on her face.

‘I've been a housewife for over ten years, and all that time I've been doing the same thing, all the time, every day.’ Miki felt her smile grow sad, but the sadness in her smile was only superficial, not reaching her eyes. ‘And all this time I thought this was my place in this life, that I was happy with my place and happy with my occupation. But I am smiling, doing what I have always done, only now, feeling joy as if nothing had happened before, with neither Gorou nor Issei. As if everything had become good only at this moment, only now that my life had meaning…’

These thoughts, just a few days ago, would have caused Miki's psyche to be terrified, to cause her to doubt her mental health. But Miki was aware that she was definitely no longer healthy in the sense that ordinary people understood it. Miki had lost some important part inside her that had stopped her thoughts from heading in that direction in the past. As if, after a day and a half of incessant psychological and emotional abuse, some critical thread inside her mind had broken. And what should have been assembled into a single structure, ensuring Miki's functioning as a complete person, had fallen apart, in an instant, nothing remained of the past Miki.

‘Could it be that’s because Issei is Gorou's son?’ Scary thoughts for any mother settled in Miki's mind with absolute ease. ‘I always thought that I loved Issei, maybe I was just confusing love with affection? Or confused love for Gorou with Issei? When we first tried to have a baby, I loved Gorou, after all, so I decided to have a child with him. I loved Gorou, and Issei came as a result of what happened after many tries, and failures… The fruit of love, ha-ha. But I loved Gorou, not Issei in the beginning, it's just that Issei came into my life, and I loved him because he was my son with Gorou, the proof of our love. And when it turned out in the end that my love for Gorou was built on false pretenses, then wouldn’t it mean that my love for Issei was false too? If there was no reason to love Gorou, then why should I love Issei…’

Tasting the oyakodon for seasoning, and determining that it was ready, Miki turned off the stove, then checked the steamer, noticing that it was almost done as well. Miki then smiled as she looked at the prepared breakfast, before glancing at her watch. "Seven-fifteen…  Usually by this time Gorou and Issei were down for breakfast, but they’re not here anymore."

And, as if in response to her thoughts, Miki heard quiet footsteps on the second floor, coming down the stairs. Satoru appeared in the dining room a moment later, looking at Miki with the same eternal polite smile that never seemed to leave the confines of his face, and Miki smiled back. ‘Of course, there’s Satoru, exactly as it should be…’

Something else inside Miki broke with a loud bone-crunching crunch, but this time she welcomed the sound with something akin to joy.

***

Momonga smiled at Miki, as she looked at him with warmth in her eyes, feeling a little uncomfortable internally as he looked at the spread of food on the table. Though perhaps the feeling came from some strange sense of nostalgia, Momonga wasn’t so sure. ‘I don't need to eat at all, so no point in wasting food on me, but Miki had made me food anyway, and she looked so happy doing it. Ha, is it because she's my 'mom' now? I never thought before that adoption could really change the relationship between people so radically… Hmm, maybe I need to do something for her in that case, too?’

Realizing that he was once again immersed in his own thoughts, Momonga returned his attention back to the breakfast on the table. Before he could begin to eat, he noticed that Miki was still standing, and that there was no food on the table for her. “Mom, what about you? “

“I usually have breakfast after everyone…” Miki thought for a moment, then shook her head and smiled slightly again. “Then again, why not?”

Miki joined Momonga a moment later, getting a portion of food for herself, so that his guilt over the food waste receded from Momonga, allowing him to enjoy the food finally without any reservation.

‘Incredibly delicious!’ Momonga hadn't tasted everything that could be eaten in Nazarick, limiting himself to a few experiments with low-level dishes, but Miki's cooking seemed to be on their own level! Considering that the magical dishes that Ainz brought from YGGDRASIL represented magical items or were prepared by very high-leveled cooks, Miki's food far exceeded what Momonga expected. ‘I know that my taste for quality is skewed since I’m used to the thankfully tasteless, nutritional paste and insect flour, but this food still tastes incredible! Plus, it's made with non-magical foods, I specifically checked those earlier – so Miki really deserves praise!’

Momonga took another bite, then another, finishing his breakfast very quickly, then smiled at Miki for the good food. "Thanks a lot, Mom, that was incredibly delicious… Hmm?”

A strange effect however made Momonga pause for a moment. ‘Wait, maybe…? No, damn it, it was!’

Momonga felt the food buff begin to take effect on him.

A completely insignificant one, one that he could have easily missed if it had come to him unexpectedly while he was doing something. But since Momonga knew, by this point, exactly what he had to be looking at to notice it, he instantly realized that the meal Miki had cooked had given him a buff. He had to thank his previous ample experiments to make him unusually perceptive when he’s eating, even when he doesn’t need to.

It was incredibly weak, something on the level of maybe a level five or ten, food – yet Miki was able to make a buff-giving dish from completely non-magical ingredients. Which in turn indicated that she possessed at least five levels of Cook.

‘Umu, this is a great find!’ Momonga felt a small light ignite in his depths, as excitement coursed through him.

‘Hmm, there aren't many cooks in Nazarick capable of cooking for the inhabitants, I can only think of Clavu to be honest… Miki could strengthen Nazarick if I convinced her to work for me, especially since she could hide in plain sight, being a Human and all. Huh, I am already her adopted son, so I could ask her to cook extra, but if I start asking her to start cooking for dozens of people at once… Yeah, that will definitely look weird, something I couldn’t easily explain away. Hmm, if only there was a way to somehow use her for Nazarick's benefit and still ensure her loyalty… Gorou and Issei have already disappeared from the picture, so if I use Pandora’s Actor well, perhaps I can somehow influence her attitude towards me. Issei is her son after all, she will have to listen to him. Huhum, this would absolutely work! Let's start the experiment to strengthen Nazarick by using the inhabitants of this world!’

“Thank you again for breakfast, Mom, but I’ve got something that I need doing…” Momonga spoke as he rose from the table, nodding to Miki, before she abruptly stopped his attempt to head for the sink, "Satoru, why don't you sit with me for a while… Son.”

Miki said the last word with a sort of smile and almost tenderness, that Momonga felt a little awkward for lying, it was that heartfelt that it caused some emotional damage to the Undead. An incredible feat. ‘Ha, great, now I'm feeling a little sorry that I decided to infiltrate this world using such a cover, when Miki was about to contribute greatly to Nazarick… Well, I'll try to give Miki a good working environment.’

In any case, finding no reason to refuse Miki’s request, and judging by the time, Momonga had time to stay a while before going to school. Momonga sat back down, after bringing his plate to the sink to clean it as a force of habit.

Momonga looked at Miki, as she glanced back at him suddenly looking thoughtful, as if thinking something inwardly, before popping the question. "Satoru, if you don't mind, I'd like to know a little more about you…”

Momonga frowned inwardly at the question, his paranoia rearing its ugly head, before quickly realizing that Miki probably wanted to know something about Satoru Suzuki's past, who Momonga introduced himself as, or rather, how Pandora’s Actor introduced him. She wasn’t asking about ‘Momonga’. ‘Huh, I never thought through my false backstory actually, I was too busy with other things all this time… Okay, what should I say here in that case? Pandora’s Actor didn't say anything specific, so I could try just repeating what he said and then come up with more specific details a little later when I have time to think it over…’

“Well, umu, I'm just an ordinary person, my name is Satoru Suzuki, and my mother is Mai Suzuki, and my father, umu, Gorou Hyoudou.” After repeating what Pandora had said, pretty much useless information that doesn’t say anything that Miki doesn’t already know, Momonga decided to continue as vaguely as possible.

"I, umu, after Mothe… Mai Suzuki died, I came here, looking for my father, not knowing exactly what he looked like… Which in hindsight, was actually a terrible idea when I only had a name, but I just didn’t know what to do after Mai died. I was probably just going to wander around for a few days with no lead before giving up – that is, until I luckily met Issei by chance, and he led me to you. And well, umu, you know the rest…”

After these words, Miki nodded a few times and looked up at him, then smiled a little sadly, “Ah, about your mother… About Mai Suzuki – what can you say about her?”

“She was nothing out of the ordinary," Momonga instantly decided to answer as vaguely as possible. "She's just like any other mother… I mean, um, Mai…”

Momonga hesitated, then decided to take the unfortunate line of thought into furthering his story, and strengthening his background. If he can compliment Miki as well, that’s just swell. He needs Miki to think of him well if he wants to make her contribute to Nazarick. "I mean, of course Mai was a good mother, but you're much better than her, Mother.”

Miki, hearing the unexpected compliment, froze, then shifted her gaze to his and shook her head slightly, "Just as I thought…”

‘Hmm, did I say something strange? What kind of conclusion did you pick up from that very vague story?’ Momonga thought about it for a moment, returning to the conversation when Miki asked another question, “And how am I better than her?”

“You're a great cook for one…” Momonga suddenly froze at the unintended compliment he had blurted out – that’s the wrong thing to say, isn’t it?

‘Ah, crap, nobody liked being complimented like that, right? What to do now!?’ Momonga almost slapped his face at his faux pas, realizing that he didn't know how to say compliments to girls properly.

Touch Me always did say there was one win-win way to compliment a girl – and Bukubukuchagama agreed with him then, while Ulbert on the contrary, says that it only worked with handsome men like Touch Me.

‘Ahem, well, at least let's check whether I would count as handsome in this body, if nothing else I could just apologize, right? Saying your mother is beautiful is just something normal, right?’

“And you are also incredibly beautiful.”

Miki, hearing Momonga’s compliment, blinked a few times, confused, before then shifted her gaze to Momonga, making him inwardly draw near, the moment he noticed some unhealthy light in Miki's eyes for a moment. But Momonga didn't have time to ask if she was all right, as he heard the abrupt mechanical singing of a bird trill – the sound of the house's doorbell.

Miki's gaze momentarily lost the strange emotion in it, replaced by irritation, before Miki rose from the table and quickly made her way to the front door.

Momonga himself picked himself up internally, recovering from the social disaster of his conversation with Miki, angering her. Actually, if the bell was from Pandora Actor coming home, that wasn't bad – but if it wasn't him, Momonga instantly became curious.

Who would visit his dwelling so early in the day? Was it the Devils?

Trying not to show his nervousness, Momonga finished his mug of tea, then, hearing an unfamiliar muffled voice and the sound of footsteps in the living room, used his scouting spells immediately. Silently, of course. “[Life Essence], [Mana Essence].”

The blaze showed that apart from Miki’s low parameters, one that he’s already familiar with, there’s another similarly low leveled figure in the house.

Seeing that it’s not an ambush, Momonga exited the kitchen, coming face to face with the unfamiliar presence sitting in the living room with an indignant Miki. It was a short, thin, middle-aged man dressed in something that reminded Momonga of the ‘cleaner’ uniforms from his past world.

‘Practically zero mana, just like Miki, but he has considerably more health. Or rather, he only has significantly more health when compared to Miki, whose health is lower than the average first level. I'd say this man has, um, judging early levels’ parameters is very difficult, but judging by the comparison… Maybe a third level warrior? Or a fifth level?’

“Ah, good afternoon," The man, seeing Momonga’s figure stiffen on his way out of the kitchen, only nodded sadly. "Excuse me, are you Issei Hyoudou?”

Momonga, hearing the unexpected words, shifted his gaze to Miki, trying to understand what he needed to answer at the moment. But Miki, probably misunderstanding his gaze and his thoughts, shifted her gaze back to the man, looking even more incensed than before.

“Officer, what exactly is the matter?”

“Ahem, excuse me, Madam Hyoudou," The now revealed to be police officer moved his gaze to Miki, then back to Momonga, as if trying to mutely gesture to Miki to see if Momonga was supposed to be present at the moment. Miki, however, only continued to glare at the officer, forcing him to surrender. “Alright, Miss Hyoudou, I’ll explain. The fact of the matter is that your husband, Gorou Hyoudou, did not show up for work yesterday, And when he didn’t come to work today, his office decided to lodge a report when they couldn’t contact him. That’s why I was sent to check for a house visit to see if something’s wrong…”

“And I hope he never comes home again either!” Miki practically spat the angry words out at the officer, causing him to recoil a little and then cough awkwardly into his fist with a forceful cough to dispel the awkward air.

“Ahem, well, I take it you have no information on his current whereabouts?” The office suddenly addressed the silent Momonga, causing him to blink in confusion and surprise at that moment, finally realizing what had happened and why the police officer was here.

‘Did something happen to Gorou? Where did he disappear to? What happened to him was definitely something that would cause such an abrupt change in routine. So, did he not go back to work? Well, his job definitely noticed his disappearance…  Ha, it was indeed something incredibly strange if someone didn't show up for their work in my past world. Their bank account would be automatically deducted due to his absence from work as a penalty… But wouldn’t police officers only show up to their domicile when their bank account runs dry, making the employee a criminal. Then and only then would a police officer come visit to drag the employee to jail, or at least to remove a dead body from the apartment, a very common occurrence, sadly. Did Gorou have such a small account that was only enough for him to miss work for only one day, or were there other laws in Japan’s past?’

“Surely not here! I'd check on one of his mistresses… If I knew who they were, and if I even cared where he was now." Miki exhaled loudly, before adopting an angered visage as she continued complaining at the officer.

"Actually, officer, If you find him, no need to notify me, but if he shows up at the door I will tell you about it. But there’s no way he's coming back to live in this house either!”

The officer looked away, uncomfortable at the outbreak of emotion-filled words, before exhaling and shook his head. “Well, I understand you, madam… Good day and I apologize for such an unexpected visit this early in the morning.”

After a short nod, the officer rose from his seat before turning around and heading for the front door, with Miki, who was still holding a frown on her face, following behind him, closing the door. At the same time, Momonga himself felt calm again before returning to thinking about what might have happened with Gorou.

‘Huh, actually, I don't even know where exactly Pandora’s Actor sent Gorou – if Pandora’s Actor actually did anything already. Maybe he just decided to move away to another city entirely because of the debacle with Miki yesterday? This world is more primitive in terms of technology, so possibly Gorou has not yet had time to convey the fact that he ended up in another city…  Huh, on second thought, what if Pandora’s Actor sent Gorou to another country? Then it might be quite impossible for Gorou to contact his past place of employment, especially considering that I doubt that Pandora’s Actor would send Gorou with any of his money or paperwork…  Gorou, I'm really sorry!’

Miki returned a moment later, still fuming – apparently the reminder about Gorou seriously displeased her. With a huff, she settled back down on the couch, looking with a frown somewhere ahead and yet somewhere very far away.

“Mom, is everything all right?” Momonga tried to show a little empathy, feeling guilty for Gorou and, because of that, following the connection, for Miki as well.

“It's okay.” Miki, however, only brushed his words aside before shaking her head and looking at him again, this time more calmly, “Don't you have to go to school soon, Satoru?”

Momonga glanced at his watch and nodded, and he began to stand to return to his room to ‘prepare’, before Miki shouted about something behind him.

“Don't forget your lunchbox in the kitchen!” Miki smiled at him as he turned back, so Momonga just nodded at those words and went to get ready for school.

***

Issei Hyoudou, Pandora’s Actor, walked along with Motohama and Matsuda, who had joined the duo halfway to the school. He could only watch with internal glee as Issei's two friends – his friends now, almost stumbled over their feet as their thoughts were still a thick, thick mud brought about by their early morning stupor. Their main aspiration at the moment, it seems, is to find a suitable place to sleep, and yet, their feet continue to carry them to school like instinct.

‘Sleep really is such an irrational waste of time.’ Issei shook his head at the weakness of these lesser beings. Blessed by the wisdom of his Creator, Issei possessed abilities and equipment that completely negated his need for rest and food. And as expected, the lesser creatures of this world were not afforded similar abilities nor such artifacts, and therefore were forced to spend an irrational amount of time and resources on sleep and daily sustenance. Something that forced Issei himself, who required no such thing, to conform to the behavior of the two people beside him and go to sleep – or rather, simulate sleep.

Issei simply lied still in one place with his eyes closed, while inwardly making a count and inventory of the great treasures of Forty-One. While there’s no such thing as wasting time in service of the Great Forty-One, Issei much preferred doing so, in person, in the Treasury.

It was a long eight hours before he could sense the waking mind of those around him and consider it an appropriate time for his awakening.

Even then, when amply made awake by their alarm clock, his friends were not capable of acting with satisfactory efficiency. Their minds were still half asleep, their bodies were slow, and their aspirations had degenerated even further, from inferior desires to physiological ones.

Issei even felt a little pity for these sad, imperfect creatures, capable only of meager capabilities to further their own false functions. And even those, for only for some invisibly small part of their lives, require devoting an unbearably large amount of time to support their physiology and compensate for the weakness of their bodies.

Issei could not even imagine how sad it must be for Aura and Mare, who were told by Father to ‘get as much sleep and food as necessary for their growing bodies’ – how terrifying! Such a useless waste of time in which they were forced to face their own imperfections, forced to give up the opportunity to devote themselves to work for the good of the Great Tomb of Nazarick… Issei dare not imagine what they had done to deserve such grave punishment.

Although, Lady Bukubukuchagama did create Mare with a love for sleep, thereby saving him the incredible physical and mental torture of wasting his personal time on something so imperfect. Perhaps that was why Aura seems so irate when interacting with Shalltear?

Anyway, without anything else to occupy his time, Issei's mind had already habitually begun to touch and bounce around the people around his group, noting those who had been checked out yesterday and those who were new. Issei nearly lost his step when his mind discovered something new.

‘How interesting…’ With some strange gourmand's pleasure at discovering a new dish, Issei noted the new mind that had reached the periphery, the identity of the person still not evident.

‘What a strong mental defense… Hmm, it will be hard for me to get into this mind without using my special abilities, and even with them, it will be extremely difficult to do it unnoticed… [Silence in the Looking Glass] can only be used once a day, so I won't be able to penetrate this mind unnoticed for about another half hour. And even without touching this mind, I can determine that doing it in any other ways will definitely give me away, perhaps even that the owner of this mind will even detect and understand exactly what happened to them. How fascinating!’

Issei changed his trajectory slightly, which Matsuda and Motohama, who were just beginning to come to their senses after a short nap for the average person, of course did not notice. As Issei came near the person, he could barely hold his glee as he glanced at the possessor of the mind that had caught his attention.

It was a short girl with black hair gathered into two long ponytails at the sides of her head and with piercingly blue big eyes. She was wearing a pink tank top that covered her ample breasts, the outfit not quite fitting for her height, her short pink miniskirt that left little room for imagination. On her legs were long, knee-length, black-and-pink-striped socks, and on her head was a small pink beret, nestled neatly between the two ponytails.

The Actor instantly strained his memory and the memory of the others, which he had already managed to check later, to find her identity, after which he found a suitable answer. The source of the answer, also confirming that the person’s identity was anything but mundane.

‘Ah, Serafall Leviathan, or Serafall Sitri, if you refer to the family name which she had abandoned by taking the title of Leviathan. One of the strongest demons of the Underworld – incomparably weaker than Sirzechs Lucifer or Ajuka Beelzebub, but then it was simply because the two of them were the outlier. In the eyes of the local – she possessed incredible power and is quite possibly the strongest demoness, daemonette? In this world. Hmm, what an honor that you visited this academy in person – not surprising, though. Yesterday's meeting with Father had gone in one of the worst ways for the demons, as you failed to learn anything from Father, yet at the same time were forced to retreat, acknowledging His right to His own actions. Forced to allow His stay in the city, and more importantly in the academy, where your own relatives are studying. Sandwiched between a hammer and anvil, not yet realizing that you are mere blanks in the Master's hands, and that what you thought was your territory was never so. For everything in this world belongs to my Father by right of the Supreme Being.’

It took all of Pandora’s Actor's entire will to not allow even an iota of his inner thoughts and joy to appear on his face, maintaining Issei’s normal, bored appearance.

‘Ah, I almost felt sorry for you, Serafall Leviathan. Sorry for how little you know of this world, how little you understand, yet at the same time I am glad that Father is giving you such a grand revelation… Miki was the first – perhaps you will be next, Serafall?’

And sure enough, Father, already aware of what was happening, appeared moments later, heading forward and Serafall, who had instantly found Him with her gaze, as she went to cut across His trajectory.

‘I cannot read your mind, dear Lady Serafall, but I don't need to,’ - Issei allowed a slight smile to appear on his face.

‘I already know everything that you are thinking of, all your schemes, and plans, it’s almost routine really… You think you are a player in this world, and you see before you an opponent, a danger, a potential source of benefit. You would try to subdue the Father and use His power at the same time, to protect what you dare to call yours, whether it is territory or family. All the while not realizing that only the Supreme Being determines what is true and what is false in this world, and what was given to you, will turn into your curse, only to later become salvation. Go, mistress Leviathan, Vater wishes to see you on the stage, and you have no choice but to fulfill the role that pleases Him…’

“Ise, I do know that, that," Matsuda started, then pointed to the retreating figure of Serafall, moving toward Father. "Is a great eye candy, but what have you taken today, if you have the strength to smile this early in the morning?! You’ve slept less than we have!”

“I don't know," Issei shrugged, then looked up to Kuoh Academy, to where Father and Serafall had disappeared into.

"I just feel like something good is about to happen…”