Game of Monsters - 80 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

In Teaching You Will Learn

“Drawing things on essays, huh?” Joshua commented, half amused as he looked over Kunou’s work. ‘Nice drawing,’ he thought to himself, even if he wouldn’t voice it. It would likely get Yasaka on his case and encourage Kunou, which would be bad. He already praised her drawings plenty, no need to do it with this one.

There was an unintelligible grumble behind him, where Kunou stood, running her fingers through his hair. As she did, he smiled out of her sight. It’d been a bit of a gamble, to dye his hair like that, but it should be mostly fine. He could just say he wanted to feel closer to Jeanne, his sister. It should be enough to convince people he supposed, and it wasn’t even a complete lie.

He still couldn’t shake off the feeling that people would connect the right dots together, but that was something for Yasaka and him to deal with in time. As it was, he knew that he’d likely be unable to avoid politics forever anyway. He could help the youkai leader deal with the fallout if it came to it. Kunou’s moved expression by itself was worth it, honestly.

Yasaka also seemed quite happy with things, although he couldn’t quite understand why. He was pretty sure it would be a chore for her to make sure nobody picked up on the real reason why Joshua did what he did. Then again, she probably also thought it was completely worth it just to make Kunou happy, he supposed.

“You are awesome, dad,” Kunou said then, hugging him from behind and resting her head over his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Be sure to tell your mother too. She’s the one that will have to deal with things if this backfires,” Joshua told her with a smile.

“Thanks, mom.”

“Don’t mention it, Kunou,” the woman waved off, still smiling, looking as pleased as one could be. “Honestly, it was Joshua’s idea. I just told him to go for it. Even if things turn bad, we’ll both take care of it,” she added, widening her smile.

To that, Kunou hummed happily before she moved to sit on Joshua’s lap.

“Speaking of… Things are going well, right?” Joshua asked, turning towards Yasaka. “I probably should ask more, all things considered. I kind of focused too much on Khaos Brigade and forgot there might be other things for you to take care of.”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Joshua,” Yasaka reassured him, waving off his concern. “I’ve been doing this job for a long time and, terrorist group notwithstanding, my pantheon is in a rather peaceful moment in time. At least now that the issues with the devils have been mostly solved, or are being solved.”

“The thing with Kuoh, right?”

“Among other things,” Yasaka nodded. “It was rather simple all along but people can be stubborn, myself included. Sometimes we forget that the other side has its own things to deal with. Serafall is trying though, which is more than I can say of how things were before,” the leader explained to him, making him hum.

Just from all the ramblings Serafall had gone on in his presence, he knew that the old Ladies and Lords of Devil society didn’t like accepting defeat in any way, even when it wasn’t even really that. As it was, the Satans were barely keeping the people under control regarding their own affairs, nevermind things with other factions.

‘The Healing Spell will be quite the big thing though,’ Joshua considered then, narrowing his eyes. ‘A bit of overkill to just get Rias’s free, according to Serafall. So… Maybe I can use that for a little more.’

“Well, if I succeed with the Healing Spell, I might have enough pull on the Devils to smooth things over,” Joshua commented, drawing a wide-eyed look from Yasaka. “Besides that, I don’t know if I could do much. Maybe offer to ward some of their territories. I’m a human though, most of them probably wouldn’t be interested… at best.”

“It’s fine, I couldn’t ask you to do any of that, Joshua,” Yasaka told him. Joshua did notice that her smile was… weird, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on why and Life Sense wasn’t helping much. Then again, that skill tended to not be all that useful when it came to Yasaka. “The fact that you are thinking about doing such things is enough for me.”

“I mean, considering everything, I think I can at least try to make your job easier. It might open up some of your schedule to spend time with Kunou,” he told her with a half-smile before turning his head slightly to look at his daughter, who was grinning widely as she looked at the two of them. “She’ll get tired of me otherwise.”

“Dad, don’t be stupid,” the girl protested, elbowing him and pouting adorably. “I won’t get tired of you, stupid,” she mumbled then, huffing and crossing her arms.

“Sure you won’t,” he replied with a grin and a shake of his head. “But she’ll still enjoy having her mother around more often, if it’s possible,” he added, looking towards Yasaka again.

“If you are determined to do this…” the woman started, trailing off at the end. He guessed she didn’t want to impose, and it kind of was against what he usually said but… Not helping because he hated politics left him feeling bad, so he might as well push through. With some luck, it wouldn’t be as bad as he feared.

“Just remember that I have no idea how to do any politicking, so I’ll need help or I’ll just make things worse,” Joshua said wryly, drawing a beaming smile from Yasaka. “Otherwise, sure, why not? I think I threw myself off the deep end a long time ago, honestly,” he mumbled, looking again at Kunou’s essay. “Now, I think we have a class to start, don’t we?” he asked.

“Dad!” Kunou protested, drawing a raised eyebrow from both Yasaka and him. The former of which was the one the girl saw, making her deflate. “Fine…”

[}-o-{]

“Nice job, Karin,” Joshua said, making the nervous girl beam at him while he read over the circle she’d worked on. “I’m not an expert in your… Nature Magic, was it?” he asked then, getting a quick nod in response. “Right, I don’t know all that much about it, but everything looks good to me. We can do some testing in the next class with everyone else that’s done a decent enough job or wants to go for it,” he said, speaking a little louder so others would hear.

There were some whispers and such, but he placed the sheet down in front of Karin and gave her a smile before continuing with the next student. The next happened to be the boy that had been getting Joshua’s attention for a while now. He hadn’t asked for the guy’s name just yet, but his work was certainly interesting. This instance wasn’t much different.

“What was your magic again?” Joshua asked, frowning at the sheet in his hands. It read somewhat similar to Healing magic and all the work on the Healing Spell he’d been so far too. Not quite as powerful though, not even close, but it didn’t seem to be the emphasis of the spell or the magic. Healing over time seemed to be more like it.

“Ah, Recovery Magic,” the boy replied, bringing a hand up and rubbing the back of his head. “It’s, ah, healing magic, but with slow effects. Boosts the, um, time it takes for someone to heal from wounds or illness, mainly the latter. It’s not very, um, popular, since it takes so long to take effect but it’s what my family does so…”

“No such thing as a bad branch of magic as far as I’ve seen,” Joshua said, setting the sheet down and looking at the boy. “All magics have strong points and all magics have weak points. What are yours?”

“Er, I mean, Recovery Magic is… slow, as I said,” the boy stammered, seemingly growing more and more nervous. Especially then, since the rest of the class had grown interested in their conversation. “But it’s… It can heal things that give trouble to most healing magics. Curse damage and such, f-for example, it takes time but it can… cure them too.”

“I see,” Joshua mused, his eyes darting back to the sheet and then to the boy again. “What’s your name?”

“G-George, eh, Pickingill, Professor Davis,” the boy stuttered, eyes growing wide.

“What association are you from, George?” Joshua asked then, seemingly making the guy even more nervous and the class even more interested. He wasn’t sure why though. Sure, he hadn’t asked any of them that question before, but it wasn’t that big of a deal, right?

“Er, I’m from here, actually… From House of Water, sir,” George replied after visibly calming himself. “Is… Is something the matter, Professor Davis?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, George, and your work looks good, pretty good, actually,” he said, trying to make the boy relax a little, which he succeeded in. The poor student still looked to be shaking but at least he didn’t seem to be about to pass out. Small victories, Joshua supposed.

The rest of the class continued much the same, with Joshua going over people’s adjusted seals and commenting on them. Many were still making mistakes here and there, but that seemed to be the norm for people, Joshua supposed. Either that, or his class was filled with incompetent people, but he was sure that wasn’t the case.

“Ok, everyone, next class we will be testing the circles we checked today,” Joshua announced, with every eye on him. “In the meantime, go over them and apply the corrections I pointed out. If your work is good or you think you are done with the corrections at some point, use the extra time to look for a new spell to modify. This time though, we’ll be making big changes,” he announced, making more than one person pale or groan. “No worries about it though, this is a long term project that will span several classes, but it’s better to get started sooner rather than later. That’s all, see you next class.”

“Thank you, Professor Davis,” the class as a whole said, making Joshua grin wryly as he usually did when they did that. He still wasn’t over that measure of respect that the students seemed to have for him. Fortunately, he was getting used to being called Davis, at least.

‘With that out of the way…’ he thought, turning towards Morag, who peeked over the back of his chair and waved one of her legs. With a smile and a roll of his eyes, he walked closer before she jumped on him before attaching herself to his back. ‘There’s a talk to be had here,’ he mused

“I have something to do, but I’ll see you in a bit back home, alright, Morag?” he asked, getting an affectioned pull of his now short hair before he teleported the spider back to his house.

[}-o-{]

[Agnes Waterhouse]

“You didn’t meet him,” she said, eyeing Elizabeth with a frown. “I gave you the chance, served on a silver platter and wrapped with a nice bow and… You didn’t meet him,” she clarified, giving her head a shake as if that would get things to make sense, but it didn’t.

“So impatient, Waterhouse,” the woman replied with a shake of her head. “Unlike you, I can wait and make the proper preparations for such a thing. Joshua Davis isn’t some nobody that can be met at any time.”

“... You learned something,” Agnes accused with narrowed eyes. What Elizabeth could have learned to make her step back from Joshua, she didn’t know but it was an interesting thing to find out regardless. “How very interesting, indeed,” she mumbled, tilting her head and smiling at her fellow magician’s frustrated expression.

Before the conversation could go on though, her secretary’s voice reached them.

“Director Agnes, Joshua Davis wants to see you,” she said and Agnes blinked. After a second though, she sent a curious expression towards Elizabeth, who seemed to have tensed up. Báthory didn’t say anything to her look though.

“Send him in,” Agnes said, grinning widely at the glare Elizabeth sent her way. “Joshua, so good to see you,” she greeted as the man walked inside her office. As he did, his eyes found Elizabeth in one of the seats in the room and gave her a narrow-eyed gaze. “Can I just say, I like the new look.”

“Thank you,” Joshua wryly replied. “It’s good to see you too, Director Agnes,” he greeted back then, before turning once more to the other woman in the office. “I don’t think we’ve met,” he said then, but there was something in his tone that Agnes couldn’t quite place.

“Elizabeth, nice to meet you,” Báthory said, trying to appear innocent and prompting a snort from Agnes. She also didn’t elaborate on her surname. Agnes didn’t really care for her fellow magician though. Instead, she asked a question to the new arrival at her office.

“Something I can do for you, Joshua?” she voiced, pulling herself together so she could be properly professional. It wouldn’t do to unknowingly insult such a good asset for her institution.

“Actually, yes, there is,” Davis replied, making her blink at the blunt answer. “George Pickingill, he’s one of my students, one of your members and he’s in my class,” he said, making her frown. Agnes knew quite a few of the students in the class, some promising, some well connected. George Pickingill didn’t ring any bells though. She knew the surname, for sure, it was an old one, one with weight. Even the full name held importance once upon a time, but the person itself… She was drawing a blank.

“What about him, did he give you trouble?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Joshua Davis was a gold mine waiting to be exploited, after all. She wouldn’t let him go easily. If one of their students gave the man trouble… Well, there were ways to deal with such trouble, that was for sure.

“On the contrary, I want to work more closely with him. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, he works well and he has a good attitude for modifying spells. He also specializes in a branch of magic I’m interested in,” Joshua told her, and suddenly Agnes was making plans that were quite different in regards to Pickingill. “I wanted to ask you if it’d be alright for me to interact with him outside of the classroom. I’m not very familiar with the workings of magical associations besides what I’ve had to personally deal with myself.”

That… Well, that was fine, all things considered.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. If you want him to be your apprentice or something, that’s where things can get a little messy,” Agnes informed him, making him curiously tilt his head. “If you wanted that, it’d complicate matters, because having one of our people apprentice with an outsider would be like admitting that our own people weren’t good enough. You have quite the reputation, but it’d still be troublesome.”

“I see… Well, I don’t plan on going quite that far. Our branches are quite different, at least the main ones. However, I’ll keep that in mind,” Joshua said then before nodding. “On that note, have you considered what I asked before? About having another class?”

“I did, and we’d be open to that idea, but there was something I wanted to speak with you about before that,” Agnes said then, before her eyes found Elizabeth again. “If you’d leave us for a bit, Elizabeth?” she asked then, visibly annoying the other woman, but she hid it well. A second later, she stood up.

“I’ll be outside, so we can continue our conversation later,” the woman said as she left, Agnes and, surprisingly, Joshua following her with their eyes. Curiously, the Director noticed that it took a moment before Joshua looked back at her.

“So…?”

“Joshua, you are a great teacher. Too good, in fact,” Agnes bluntly told him, very clearly taking the man off guard. “Most other magical teachers are a lot more reluctant to give away their knowledge to other people. It’s basically giving away the things you’ve worked so hard to learn yourself. Giving up an advantage.”

“Isn’t that what being a teacher is all about?” Joshua asked dryly, drawing a chuckle from Agnes.

“It is, generally speaking, but in the magical community, that’s not how it works,” Agnes told him. “Most teachers would give their students as little as they can get away with. It’s why most associations ask for a minimum success score for their classes. So that they won’t keep too much to themselves.”

“And you didn’t do that with me because…”

“Because you were new to this community and I wanted to earn myself some favor. I didn’t expect for it to work so in my favor, honestly,” she admitted, drawing a tilt of his head. “Now though, I can’t do that anymore. If I did, I’d risk you finding out in some way and wanting to get away from us, which I can’t have. So, sadly, I have to tell you that you can probably ask for a lot for your services,” she told him begrudgingly.

For a long moment, Joshua stared at her before nodding slowly.

“Good to know. Thank you for telling me,” the man replied slowly, consideringly. She expected something else to be said. Maybe for him to ask for more payment for the class he was giving already or something like that. Maybe to reconsider teaching another class. Maybe… any number of things. “So, about that second class?” he asked then, which was something that Agnes hadn’t considered him doing, at least not so… casually.

“Of course you can. House of Water would be honored to have you teach even more in its halls. I have to say though, that we’d likely need to agree on a payment beforehand,” the Director told Joshua, drawing a slow nod from him. “I’m sure we won’t have any problems in that regard, however. If you would just tell me what you want in exchange for another class and what you want to teach?”

“I honestly don’t have anything I want right now,” Joshua replied then, making Agnes blink. “Consider it a favor on my part. One that you can repay me at a later date or in a way you see fitting. I have it on good authority that you can’t really scam me, even with an open ended deal like that,” the man told her, regarding her with a neutral expression that Agnes was starting to think was rather dangerous. Certainly more than the usually laid back one Joshua always wore. “What do you say?”

“... And what would you be teaching?” Agnes asked, considering that. Joshua Davis was a person that was gaining renown the more time passed and the more knowledge about what he could do spread around. Having him teach Spatial Magic, Neutral Magic or even Illusion Magic would be amazing. If Agnes could convince him to teach Hex Magic, it’d be a great win for her people-

“Ward Magic,” Joshua answered, almost casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on her.

His main magic.

Joshua was offering to teach his main branch of magic to her people. She would have drooled at the chance to have the man whose wards kept Annihilation Maker at bay teach how to use those very spells at her institution. She had to wonder if it wasn’t too much, even. How was she supposed to repay such a thing?

However, she couldn’t pass up on such an opportunity.

“I’m almost scared of what I’ll have to pay for that,” Agnes admitted, drawing a pleased expression from Joshua as he grinned at her. “But of course, I’ll have everything ready for you to start soon.”

“I’m glad we could reach an agreement so easily,” Joshua said, nodding and standing up before she even said anything else. “Also, Agnes,” he started, forgoing her title of Director for the first time. “I’ve liked working here and I like how… easy it is to deal and work with you and your association. There’s no unnecessary nonsense, which I appreciate,” he said then, but the expression on his face didn’t let Agnes enjoy the praise to her and her people. “Be very careful though, because if you mess up… Just, don’t do it,” he added ominously, making her gulp.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied honestly, drawing a hum from Joshua.

“Good to hear,” he said with a nod. “See you around.”

As she watched the man leave, Agnes couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d dodged a bullet there. ‘I don’t think I even want to know what that was about,’ she thought to herself. For the moment though, she let herself relax.

[}-o-{]

[Elizabeth Báthory]

As she saw Davis step out of Agnes’s office, she stood up. She had to pause though, as the man walked towards her instead of away from the place. The warder stopped in front of her and regarded her for a moment.

“I don’t know who you are, Elizabeth,” he said then, with piercing blue eyes that made her stiffen ever so slightly. Her magic stirred, ready to fight if necessary. “I don’t know why you went to my classroom that day, but that’s the first time that someone out of my class does that and doesn’t have anything to do there.”

So, he had felt her, annoying but not unexpected.

“Agnes doesn’t like you,” he added, making her eye twitch. “So, you’ve got two points against you. I’d be very careful if I were you.”

“Are you threatening me?” she asked with her eyes narrowed. The gall of the man. Maybe he was more than what she had expected, but she could still take him if it came to it. His wards and hexes might be impressive, for sure, but if she didn’t give him time to react-

“Yes, I am,” he answered bluntly, making her blink. “I already have things to deal with that are incredibly dangerous and annoying. I don't want to have anything else on my plate right now.”

“Just because Agnes favors you-” she started, before she felt killing intent wash over her.

“I don’t like you either. I can feel very wrong things about you,” Davis said, taking another step closer and she felt her body lock up as he twirled a dagger in his hand. ‘When did he take that out?’ she wondered, disturbed. “I hope I’m reading too much into it, but all things considered… I’ve got my eyes on you, Elizabeth,” the man said before his free hand found itself in his pocket.

Elizabeth followed the movement apprehensive before he took out a crystal construct of a lotus. For a single second, she was confused. The mystery cleared itself up when she felt something wash over her. A power that was both familiar and not, the power of gods, the power of Egyptian gods. It’d have been remiss of her not to recognize the feeling of some of the most important patrons of her association.

“And I’ve got more backing than that, just to let you know, Elizabeth,” Davis told her, moving the item back to his pocket and she let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding in. “Prove me wrong, please,” the man said, before sighing and deflating, which immediately made the oppressive aura he’d unleashed in the room disappear.

She almost deflated in relief when she saw him move away and start turning. It was a short-lived feeling though, because before he fully looked away, he gave her one last glance. Elizabeth gulped as a very uncomfortable silence spread over them for a long second.

“You are powerful,” the man commented and Elizabeth couldn’t even bring herself to be pleased by the compliment. “I’d much rather have you as an ally than as an enemy… just saying,” he added, almost absentmindedly as he started walking away.

‘Joshua Davis,’ Elizabeth thought after she was left alone outside Agnes’s office once more. ‘What an interesting man. Interesting, and frightening,’ she mused, her eyes still looking in the direction Davis had left.

It seemed that she had a lot to think about in regards to him, again.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Man, I’ve had some actual plot in mind for a while but things continue to pop up and my characters continue doing stuff before I can get to that. I’m honestly starting to wonder when they’ll let me move on with some other stuff. Shouldn’t be too long before I manage to get to that… if we are all lucky.

If not, well, you’ll have to bear with me for a while more, I guess.

Still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Some of you might have noticed that Agnes, Elizabeth and George are more than simple OCs. A simple google search of their names can tell you why. The question is: Do you know who Karin is supposed to be considering that pattern?

See you.