Game of Monsters - 129 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

Everybody’s Gonna Know My Name

[Serafall Leviathan]

She hummed the theme of her show to herself as she waited.

She was the first to arrive at the next meeting, as she usually was. Joshua would arrive soon, if he wasn’t distracted with something, which was likely. Then Sirzechs would make an appearance and the Phenex would be the last to arrive, as they always were. It was how the meetings were set up, really.

That way, Serafall and Joshua would get some nice time to just chat for a bit before things got started. Then they’d go over things quickly with Sirzechs. To end things off, they’d actually hold the meeting and get what they wanted to do out of the way.

She predicted that they’d have to make a bunch more, but that was fine. Things were going smoothly, even if they were also going slowly. It was part of how they wanted to do things. That way, they could make sure that the Phenex had some… acclimatization time, as it were.

If they didn’t do things that way, there was a risk of the devil family getting… agitated, some would say. It would be more of a shock if things progressed too fast, because it’d be even more of a testament of how Joshua had them under his thumb. There’d been several of those, but they were allowed to participate, even if their voice mattered little. Fortunately for them, Joshua didn’t care about pressing them for all they were worth and was happy to have things go without problems by making some concessions here and there.

Serafall was happy to have a reason to put aside other work and also spend time with Joshua too, so she’d encouraged that. It wasn’t like what she was putting off was important anyway. She mainly used it as an excuse to be able to end other meetings that would go on for entirely too long.

Some people just loved the sound of their own voice.

She was stopped – and saved, really – from continuing to think about that when Joshua appeared in a corner of the room, teleporting just like she had. She turned towards him with a wide grin, a gesture that dimmed when she saw the expression on his face. ‘Well, seems like something happened,’ she realized instantly. ‘Khaos Brigade, I bet,’ she added, taking in his sight while he turned towards her. After all, the terrorist group seemed to be about the only thing that could put Joshua in a mood like the one he seemed to be in.

“Hey there, handsome~” she greeted, making his lip twitch into a smile that didn’t quite come to be. Well, it seemed like things weren’t too bad, at least. “Something the matter?” she asked, skipping until she was in front of him and then pecking his lips, one of her hands coming to rest against his chest. Again, Serafall was left glad that their relationship existed at all, nevermind how well it was going. She’d expected a little more… awkwardness, going in.

Thankfully, Joshua seemed to underestimate himself on that too.

“Something came up, you could say,” he commented, a smile more firmly setting on his face, even if there was still some steel in his blue eyes. Not that Serafall disliked that. She’d even say it was hot. “Not too bad though, I just have to deal with… annoyances.”

“Rowdy students?” she asked with a giggle.

“I wish. No,” he answered, his good mood seemingly evaporating as something that almost could be called a snarl replaced it. “One of Kunou’s teachers was an idiot,” he said and Serafall already knew that whoever it was, he or she was screwed. No way Yasaka would let something like that pass and even if she did, Joshua wouldn’t. “Yasaka and I talked and… I think I should make a speedrun to get my name some more weight.”

Oh, well, that cleared the picture a whole lot.

Serafall beamed.

“You are on board with the new plan, I take it?” he asked, seemingly a little relieved. Silly Joshua. As if Serafall would be against having to stop hiding their relationship. If she wasn’t wrong, then he wanted to make his relationship with Yasaka public to be able to help with some things. That was what she picked up from what he said, at least. And there was no way Joshua would leave her out of that, she knew. Not that there was any problem with hiding their relationship, but it’d be nice to be more free to talk about it, to show how they cared for one another without worries and to just let the world know.

That sounded wonderful to her.

Besides, there was no way she was backing down from their relationship and the little competition that she had with Yasaka, which would be what telling him no would be. Because maybe if he were doing what he was for Yasaka, she might have been able to convince him not to do something, with the right arguments and such. But stopping him from doing something for Kunou?

Yeah, she wasn’t getting in the way of that.

Some might think that insulting in some way, that she wasn’t his priority, but she understood. Kunou was as good as his daughter and there was nothing that Joshua valued more than his family. Nobody with his blood was alive or safe in their world, so he was alone on that front, but he was building himself one. His familiars, Jeanne, Kunou.

Yasaka and Serafall herself might be two very important people to Joshua, but they weren’t quite on that level.

Yet.

And that was fine. Serafall understood. She could very much understand loving one’s family to such levels. If anything, that part of him was something that she loved about Joshua.

“I’m glad,” he said, and it was his turn to peck her lips, his smile returning once more.

“I sure am, silly,” she confirmed to him with a content hum. Only thing better than what they had then and there would be… Hm, maybe later. “What did you… Well, Yasaka, more like, come up with?” she asked and Joshua chuckled, acknowledging her point with a nod even though it wasn’t meant literally.

“She said there’s plenty of moves I can make to put more weight behind my name. I’ll start looking into that,” he commented, pulling away a little and walking towards the table they’d used for the meeting. Serafall happily wrapped her arms around his and walked beside him as he talked. “Actually, I’ve already started, kind of. The Egyptians are fully on board, it seems, which is… not that surprising.”

That was, indeed, expected. They wanted Joshua to champion their Pantheon, after all. He’d do a much better job of it if he became more known, because the more people looked at, respected and “believed” in Joshua, the more they did the Pantheon, basically. She was actually surprised that the faction hadn’t actually pushed for Joshua to show himself more to the world before.

“On that note, how much do you think we can speed up this?” he asked when they reached the table. He seemed to wait for a moment there before she let go of his arm, pushed him on a chair and sat on his lap with a wide grin.

“I mean, we can have this finished this session, if we need to.”

“Yeah, I figured, but what’s the ideal way to do this? I know we were going slow to make things more… stable, sort of, but can we speed it up a little without risking ruining things?” he asked, making her hum as she considered the question.

“Here’s what I think.”

[}-o-{]

[Agnes Waterhouse]

She was a little worried, she’d admit.

Having one of her people come to her office with a message from Joshua simply saying “we need to talk” was more than a little nerve wracking. Agnes was actually wondering if he’d done that on purpose, because one couldn’t just not know the effect that such vague words had on people. She’d already tripled checked, in the time before the man’s class finished, to make sure that there hadn’t been any incidents that could warrant problems coming her organization’s or Agnes’ way.

Still, Davis never really bothered speaking with her unless she called him herself. Even when they’d been working against Hexennacht, they had barely talked besides clearing up some details to make sure they didn’t get in each other’s way. The only time she could remember when he called for her was with the Ordinton issue, which had been handled well and hadn’t been nearly as vague as he was being now.

So, as far as she knew, things were going well.

Which wasn’t to say that it was a sure thing, but she had to trust something.

Ultimately, she could only wait while her mind conjured a myriad of worst case scenarios. That, and come up with ways to make up for whatever might or might not have annoyed Davis. An easier said than done feat, considering Agnes still hadn’t quite found good enough ways to repay the debts she had already incurred with him. If nothing else, there might have to be some groveling involved.

It was degrading, to consider that, but Davis was worth it. The man was a boon that had helped her organization rise to the top with the likes of Golden Dawn. Even higher, some would say. On top of that, he had also officially taken out two Longinus, one of which he’d basically hunted down himself. She couldn’t just not try to keep him on her side.

The door opened then, finally freeing her from her thoughts.

“Agnes,” Davis greeted with a nod as he entered. He didn’t seem angry, but appearances could be deceiving.

“Joshua,” she replied, watching him move to take one of the seats across her desk without waiting for permission. Then again, he was always informal like that and Agnes hadn’t ever felt like she could risk trying to force the issue, or like it was worth it. It felt meaningful at that moment though, as she felt the sword hanging over her head. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes. Yes, there is,” he replied, looking at her with his blue eyes. There was no soft carefree shine there now though. They were solid, resolute iceshards that almost had her gulping. “You owe me, a lot.”

“I do,” she acknowledged easily, because there was no denying that. It was pointless. Hell, it would be straight out stupid.

“I think I’ve found a way for you to pay some of that back, at least a little,” he commented and she relaxed the smallest bit. It seemed that she’d worried for nothing if that was all. If he said only a little, then it couldn’t be that difficult.

“I’m all ears,” she replied, watching as he leaned back.

“I want you to mediate with the other factions. You haven’t used all the pull me being here offers you, I hope,” he told her, making her tilt her head.

“I haven’t,” she confirmed with a slow nod. It would have been stupid to do such a thing too. Sure, she’d used some of that influence and favor to make her organization raise, but using all of it would have been wasteful. One needed to keep strings well enough in hand, just in case.

“Great. There’s a number of subjects and matters that I need information on,” Davis told her, waving his hand and making a sheet of paper appear on her desk. Wasting no time, Agnes moved to take it carefully, as if she might tear it, and started reading. Nothing stood out to her though. There were a variety of topics there. Longinus, Sacred Gears in general, a bunch of factions and many other things, all of which were… not that special, Agnes supposed. “Feel free to use my name to pull on those, if you think it’ll help, but I need that.”

“I’ll get it done,” she replied quickly, but her mind was working overtime once more, this time with more information than a vague message. Something was going on here. Davis looked entirely too serious for such a vague, seemingly innocuous task. This was important for him, somehow, but she couldn’t figure out what from the list. The things in it were all over the place, there was little or nothing at all that could connect them. Not even Khaos Brigade, which had been her first guess.

‘Unless it’s not about the list at all,’ her mind told her, but what else could there be? Was this a move to remind her that she owed him? It was a little too over the top, but it could be. Except that didn’t fit Joshua at all and she didn’t think she was such a bad judge of character that he might have fooled her for that long.

The only thing left was the little addition he’d done to his request. He’d told her that she could use his name if she needed to, which was nice and could help, but wasn’t really necessary, especially right off the bat. Agnes was sure that he couldn’t be needing things badly enough to get a rush job, especially regarding so many things and so varied topics.

No, he’d given her an extensive list of things that he might need, just so that she’d have to look in plenty of places. Also so that she’d have to use his name at least a few times. ‘He wants me to talk about him with others,’ she realized, narrowing her eyes.

Davis had struck her as a private person. He didn’t seem to want to be bothered by random people and rarely did he accept a job. He rarely did much of anything, really, except pulling a string here and there when he felt like it. He was a creature of whim and practically, which was a bit of a contradiction, but he was a weird person overall. He did what he wanted, but he didn’t want for much.

And now he wanted people to know about him?

There was a reason for that, Agnes was sure.

Ultimately…

“I’ll probably have to use your name a lot, with a list this long. It’ll help smooth things over with people that might not be fans of my association,” she “warned”, trying to get a read on things, confirm her suspicious. Because if she was wrong, then she could very well ruin everything.

Joshua smiled.

“I’m aware of that,” he told her, staring straight into her eyes. Agnes could almost read the message between the lines there. “I’m counting on that,” was what he was really saying. “Well, glad you get it,” he added, making things even more obvious as his grin widened. “I knew I liked you for a reason, Agnes.”

“You give me too much credit, Joshua,” she replied humbly. “Was there anything else you needed? If not, I’ll start looking into this right away,” she added, watching him tilt his head.

“Hm, maybe I have an incentive of sorts for you, doubling as a favor for myself,” he commented, and now she was intrigued. A way to pay back her debt was nice, but something that she could benefit from? That was better. “So, remember when I brought up Levi?” he asked, and she blinked.

That was a bit of a change in topic, but she nodded nonetheless. Having Joshua Davis recommend someone to teach classes in her association was not something to overlook. The problem was that Levi was a terrible magician. Maybe he was a good scholar, like Davis said, but nobody would respect him if he couldn’t walk the walk after talking the talk. So, Agnes was hesitant to let that happen for the moment, maybe after Davis had taught him better, she could consider it more thoroughly.

But as it was…

“I’ll start teaching more classes,” Davis said, making her eyes widen. “What do you want? Illusions? Neutral? Hexes? Communication?” he asked, and she was suddenly unable to breathe. He was already teaching two very important, very much scene changing classes. If he taught more for her association… “Just say the word. One, two, three. I can teach those. Consider that extra motivation. Levi will be my assistant and then I’ll have him take over. Does that sound better?” he asked her and Agness had to pause and consider that.

“It… might,” she admitted slowly, her mind racing. This could change everything. Because it’d mean that, even if he didn’t stay to continue teaching the classes, they were Davis approved. If Levi was challenged on things, Davis was the one that was actually challenged and nobody would do that once that fact was made clear, just like nobody challenged him anymore.

“Let’s talk about it, yeah?” Davis asked her, grinning a grin that reminded Agnes that he was dangerous. He might be laidback, casual and unassuming, but that didn’t make Davis any less of a monster. It was easy to forget, but she had a very fresh reminder of what he could do when he set his mind on something.

She could only thank her lucky stars that she was on this sleeping beast’s side.

[}-o-{]

[Gabriel]

She felt the now familiar feeling of spells washing over her and then their presence around. They were… small, for her, at least. Their presence felt like a puppy trying to act as a guard dog. However, she knew those would grow with time as the spells gathered more and more energy to strengthen themselves.

Gabriel had visited some of the first bases Joshua had placed defenses on and even she would have hesitated in the face of those guardians.

“And that’s the last of them,” the man announced, standing straight and stretching his back with a groan. She did her best to ignore the way his undershirt rode up with the motion, noticing the slight pink dusting on Griselda’s cheeks as she did so. “Now, with that done-”

“No, Joshua,” Gabriel interrupted, a kind smile on her face, if slightly exasperated. She knew where he was going, as he always did, every visit. “We don’t need anything else added to the spell scheme.”

“It’s fine, I’m sure I can think of something myself,” he said with a cheeky smile that made her grow even more exasperated than she already felt. And yet…

Gabriel shook her head. She didn’t need those kinds of thoughts in her mind. It’d have been a lot easier to do if not for the way her siblings continued pointing out that she was a little too eager during Joshua’s visits and during Khaos meetings.

They were wrong anyway.

“We can’t afford to owe you any more than we already do, Joshua,” she told the man, not even having to lie despite the joking tone. They did, indeed, owe the man entirely too much. They could only be thankful for his generous nature, because anyone else would have bled them dry for the work he was doing for them. Especially since they couldn’t tell him no. They needed the help.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I have something I need some help with,” he commented then, immediately catching her attention. Then he glanced around towards Griselda and the swordswomen with her. “No offense, but I’d like for as few people as possible to know about this,” he added and judging by the way his sister and his familiars didn’t react at all, this was something he’d planned on doing.

From what Gabriel could pick up, Griselda didn’t seem offended by the request, but maybe a little disappointed. Although, if her suspicions about Joshua, Yasaka and Serafall were accurate, then the woman had her work cut out for her. Nevermind…

She sighed internally.

Focusing on what was important at the moment, she cast a barrier around them to keep their conversation private. Joshua seemed to pause for a moment, considering her spell for himself before nodding. Gabriel would admit to being a little pleased for the approval. That kind of magic was more his area than hers, admittedly.

“Remember what I told you about what I was trying to do with the Fallen?” he asked, making her eyes widen.

“You figured it out?” she asked with a breath. He’d asked them for information, for which they didn’t have much, regarding their wings. She had given it to him, after much deliberation with her siblings. For one, because it was something that they dearly needed themselves, now that their Father wasn’t around to help them if something happened. For another, they couldn’t afford to fall behind with the Fallen, and Joshua would likely go ahead with what he wanted to do anyway.

His grudge against Kokabiel ran that deep, after all.

A good man, Joshua might be, but her Fallen brother had found a way to bring the worst out of him. Gabriel could only pray that it wouldn’t get even worse. That, and that, maybe, just maybe, things would get better too.

“I haven’t, but I’m making progress… slowly,” he admitted with a frustrated sigh, as if he weren’t trying to crack the formula for something that only her Father had been able to do. “And whatever progress I’ve made is only… tangential, at best. I’ve circumvented the limitations of the wing number a bit, but that’s the most I’ve managed, like I told you. What I was thinking is if you’d like me to set up those spells somewhere for you and your siblings,” he asked, looking at her curiously. “I’ll admit, I don’t know why you didn’t ask for it yourself.”

“I meant it when I said we can’t owe you more than we do, Joshua,” she told him, but they both knew that wasn’t all. “Besides, Fallen aren’t the same as Angels. They change, fundamentally, when they fall. They might share similarities with us, but as far as we are concerned, it’s like saying that dogs are similar to cats.”

“Yeah, I figured that out already,” the man replied, seemingly not getting the point.

“If you are working a solution for the Fallen, you can’t-”

“Oh, I get it,” Joshua interrupted then and Gabriel sighed, her shoulders dropping. “I’ll start working on one anyway. Honestly, what’s one more project,” he added then, making her eyes widen as she looked at his grinning face. “You do know that I always have a bunch of projects going at the same time, right? Adding another is no issue.”

“We know how difficult this kind of project is, Joshua. We appreciate the offer, but I assure you that we can wait. We’ve lasted this long. Besides, that way we can make sure that we are in a position to actually repay you,” Gabriel told him, frowning. She didn’t like the reminders that her faction was, quite possibly, the weakest of the three at the moment. “We only ask that-”

“I don’t share the Fallen solution with the rest of the faction until you have yours,” Joshua finished for her. “Azazel was surprisingly accommodating regarding that,” he added, looking curious. She was surprised to hear that, but also not. Azazel was, after all, a researcher at heart. He was probably just happy to see Joshua progress, even if the project wasn’t actually used. “Yeah, I think I’ll work on yours anyway. That can be my project to help more, since you refuse to ask for anything.”

“Joshua,” she sighed then, smiling exasperatedly at him. It was an expression that she was coming to realize she was going to use a lot with him.

“I’ll let you know whenever I have something ready. I’ve been brainstorming in my free time and I have some notes here and there. Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” he told her then, not sounding sorry at all. “On that note… I do actually have something you can repay me with,” he said then, reminding her of why they were talking in private.

“And what’d that be?” she asked, happy to finally have something to offer the man. She appreciated his generosity, as did many in Heaven and the Church, but it was never good to depend on someone too much. Sooner or later, one had to start pulling their own weight.

Yet another lesson they had learned too late.

“I’ll be straight with you, Gabriel, because I think it’s the best approach for this,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “I need more power,” he told her, his previous casual attitude giving way to something far more rare, seriousness. “I need political power, to be more specific. I can’t tell you why, at least not right now, but I do. I’m pulling at the strings I have most faith on at the moment, and I’d appreciate your help with this.”

“I can help with that,” she told him, curious about his reasons but willing to hear him out. After all, if nothing else, she knew Joshua Davis to not be the kind of man that seeked power for power’s sake. No, there had to be a reason for this, even if he couldn’t tell her at the moment.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling in relief and making her smile in turn. “So, what I need, more specifically, is this…”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, Joshua is finally making actual moves in the political world instead of just sitting back and watching it slowly happen on its own. If nothing else, it’ll be fun to watch this happen… or the effects of it, at least. After all, I’ll probably continue to focus on Joshua’s side of things, so he’ll mostly still be sitting back, but now he’s at least pulling the strings he’s been collecting since forever ago.

That teacher really doesn’t know the shitstorm he started.

As it is, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Hm, I’d like opinions on what’s happening if you don’t mind. Please?

See you.