Scarlet 55 (Patreon)

Scarlet 55

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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Now, I understand running away from a female that wants to be your mate when she’s stronger than you, but this is just silly. Don’t you want a harem?

I want a harem and a cozy life, Ddraig.

I’m not going to work my ass off and get as strong as I possibly can only to have a horrible private life at home. It’s fine and funny in manga, but I’m not spending my adult life kowtowing and not feeling comfortable in my own home.

That’s the whole reason why I’m only with women who are fine with me having a harem in the first place.

So, why didn’t you tell that exorcist that you can’t take her because she’s only interested in monogamy?

Because… well…

Admit it.

Because…

Admit. It.

Because… because I don’t want to be NTR’d okay!?

Hah! Haha! It’s horrible isn’t it!?Just thinking about your childhood friend being with another person makes you feel like shit, right!?

I decided to ignore Ddraig as he cackled with his victory and got back home.

Where I was greeted by an amazing sight.

“Oh, welcome home, Ise-kun!” Rias beamed at me with a smile that could blind even through the hardiest of tints. She was practically aglow at the threshold of my home. She wore some very short denim shorts and a big white and fluffy sweater. Cute. “Did Irina-chan try to get engaged to you already?”

I took a second to parse those words.

“She told you!?”

“I know, I was surprised as well, but I should’ve expected it. She’s a nice and straightforward girl, after all.” Rias took my arm and wrapped herself around it. My arm sank into the depths of the sweater, enrobed by the fabric’s fluffiness, only for my brain to short circuit as my arm encountered nothing else between the fluffy sweater and Rias. A fuzzy marshmallow valley encapsulated my being and threatened to rob me of my ability to think. “It’s better than fighting against her in combat, so I took her challenge.”

“Ara, getting started already, Rias-chan? Akeno’s voice drifted over my way and I nearly swallowed my tongue as I looked at her. She was wearing a white, sleeveless blouse, glasses, and a short pencil skirt along with stockings. Hot purple lipstick adorned her lips. Hot teacher cosplay. “You sure are excited to beat the Church in keeping our man, huh?”

My brain, already just barely capable of functioning, started feeling like it had blown a fuse. Nothing that could compose higher thought managed to evade the lack of power, and they shut down completely as Akeno took my other arm and held onto it as well. The soft fabric of her shirt confirmed that she was also wearing nothing beneath… no… I could see them. Nipple covers colored white hid her nipples.

She noticed my laser-focus at the realization and blushed lightly as she smiled.

“Wait until you see what’s covering me up under my skirt, Ise-kun~.” Akeno teased, and it took every ounce of my will not to pick them each up and head straight to my room. Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to do it. No, I knew exactly why. My parents were— “Go ahead and tell him he doesn’t have to worry about a thing, Rias.”

Eh?

I’m leaving.

Rias went close and whispered into my ear.

“I sent them away on a nice, long onsen holiday, Ise-kun. You don’t have to worry at all.”

And, with that, any ability of mine to think went out the window.

…

Sona raised as eyebrow at the dinner table, as I took a whole liter bottle of barley tea and chugged it down.

I checked the time.

School had ended four hours ago and it was eight o’clock.

Devils, huh?

“I see that Rias and Akeno’s efforts to keep you from being seduced have proven to be successful. I didn’t wish to partake in such things, yet, so I have simply brought dinner.” I took a seat at the dinner table. It was laden in thick soups with loads of meat and a few roasted meats on my side, while the rest was akin to a normal Japanese dinner. Some grilled fish, salad, miso soup, and fresh rice. There were some on the side for me, to enjoy as well. Oh, and Asia was nibbling on some fish with a completely red face beside Sona. “Would you mind confirming that you have no desire to switch sides with the Church, Ise-kun?”

I considered the question carefully and Sona saw through me and sighed.

“I’m sure that those two don’t need the Church’s efforts as a reason to keep offering themselves to you, given their… displayed enthusiasm.” Sona’s town was dry and only the faintest blush was on her face. I found it cute, but thankfully I was completely spent and capable of respecting her wishes. She doesn’t want to do it yet, so we won’t do it yet. You are a beacon of virtue. Thanks, Ddraig. That was sarcasm. “You needn’t pretend that you’re interested in the Exorcists to get them to continue, I assure you.”

I considered the situation for a moment, before coming to a decision.

“I’ll probably try and poach Irina from the Church over to our side instead. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that it doesn’t cause a war.”

“… If you can manage to do that and empower your side, I won’t stop you. But you must remember that relations with the Church have only just improved with the Devils. Seducing Irina will be a task you must do on your own.” Sona stated and I nodded. She saw that I was resolute and not going to do something stupid, so she withdrew from that conversation. Instead, she chose something else weighing on her mind to talk about. “How far have you improved since we last trained together?”

“I’d say I’m about fifty percent stronger than the last time we trained together. Mostly because of the improvements Ddraig made to my body, but also learning how to predict and dodge attacks from your sister.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s really good training and I can heal just fine with Asia’s help.” Asia calmed down after we finished talking about lewd stuff, and she was eager to join the conversation now. “Besides, Asia can tell you that Leviathan is being more considerate, lately.”

“Y-yes, Serafall-san was a bit mean in the first few days, but she’s calmed down. I think she knows that Ise-kun is a good person now.” Asia blushed at those last set of words and so did I. She’d been here the whole time and we’d gone at it for half of the night. Not only that, but Akeno and Rias weren’t getting down here anytime soon. The last couple days had been too busy for that sort of thing. Actually, it’s been a couple of weeks and this time around Ddraig’s changes were in full bloom. Overall, I can’t say that I’ve been ‘good’ these past couple of hours. “Ise-kun is getting much better at dodging and enduring attacks, too. Serafall-san really is helping Ise-kun a lot.”

“I see. If such is the case, then I’ll go ahead and send a thank-you gift to my sister.”

“Oi, that might kill her. Why don’t just give her a call and say thank you?”

“Please don’t remind me that you know of my sister’s attitude.”

“It’s kinda hard to ignore.”

Sona shook her head and valiantly ran away from that conversation.

“What’s your plan to grow stronger, then? My sister won’t be here anymore. Did Azazel offer you anything? You should also take advantage of the duels you’ll be having with the wielder of Divine Dividing.” Sona went into lecture mode and went straight into advising me. I was partially engrossed with consuming what I needed to satisfy my body’s increasing demands, but I managed to listen. “Stories say that your armor, Boosted Gear, had the ability to take in artifacts and weapons and grow in strength over time. Are you looking for any artifacts and techniques to add to your repertoire?”

“I’ve thought about it, but I think it’s safer to expand my current arsenal and keep improving outside of using Scale Mail. I’ve only got half-an-hour in that thing and fights can go on for a lot longer. Besides, I haven’t reached the limit of this body and I need to get to know it better.” That was the downside to getting some upgrades to my body, besides the vastly increased caloric requirement. “I need to regain a lot of muscle memory. A lot of it is still there, but they’re just so improved that it’s difficult to control.”

“Ah, it’s akin to being resurrected as a Devil, then. There are plans for such cases.” Sona pushed up her glasses and smiled at my words. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised. Turning from a human into a Devil would be a pretty massive change. It makes sense that Devils would know a way to fast track the process. “Tomorrow, we’ll meet the gymnasium after lessons. There, we’ll see your new limits and train to master them.”

“Thanks, that sound great.”

“Uhm, ah, can I help with that, too?” Asia spoke up after a moment. A furrow formed on her brow as she spoke. “I think, after healing Ise-kun so much, I can tell the difference between wounds and muscle changes now. My healing shouldn’t slow things down anymore.”

“Of course, you can. That would be an immense boon, Asia.” Sona latched onto Asia’s offer with wide eyes and a large smile. Why would she not? That simple change expanded her options for her lesson plan and also accelerated them. She can test more of my limits than expected and everything will progress more quickly. “And, if you cannot do it yet, this is the best time to train until you can. Rest assured that you are more than welcome to join us in training.”

“Thank you very much, Sona-chan!” Asia beamed and almost clasped her hands together to pray in thanks, but stopped herself. A blush came upon her face as Sona sighed in relief from evading a massive migraine. “Sorry. I’ll pray later.”

With that our talks went towards more normal topics like school and where to spend time after we were done with our duties tomorrow.

…

“Well, don’t you look like a cat who just got the canary. Finally get some after a couple of weeks evading notice?”

“I prefer to not talk about that sort of thing in public.”

“Got it, got it. Privacy. I respect that.” Azazel gestured for me to take a seat. It was lunch time at school and he’d invited me over to eat with him. The principal’s desk was covered in a myriad of foods of the Mediterranean style. Grilled meats, herbaceous salads, and flat breads. It looked pretty healthy, but I hoped that it’d would taste good. “So, you’ve got your training session planned out, right? How’re your lessons with me going to play out?”

“I need very little rest now, so I can accommodate you after midnight. I just need an hour or two to sleep nowadays.” I could sleep for a short time and recover quickly, but I could also take a long sleep that’ll see me subsist off meagre supplies for decades with ease. It might be centuries. You’ve got a pretty small body compared to me. More efficient, too. “And, you can teleport over here, right?”

“Right. That I can do, but honestly I’d rather not, and you’ll probably be better off for it. Here.” Azazel held out his hand, and from a magical circle a book fell off. It was a weighty tome, but there wasn’t a hint of damage or wear on it. In fact, it seemed brand new. “Wrote that up and stored it a long time ago, just in case someone I knew showed a hint of talent at making artifacts. Congrats, you’re that one person.”

The title was in English, not in Japanese, but that wasn’t a problem for me.

I had a whole past life where I never learned a single language besides English.

Still, I didn’t want to get suspected.

“I’m pretty good at English, but this might be too much. Can you— oh?” I watched as Azazel grinned while sipping some wine. The tome itself was an artifact. The moment I spoke in Japanese the letters transformed and turned into kanji. A self-translating book. I can use that. “Can the first thing I make be one of these? I’m sure not everyone I’m going to meat is Japanese.”

“Most people just use a translation spell, but the caster chooses what that translates and what it doesn’t. That’ll work as a listening device just fine and keep things completely recorded.” Azazel nodded and approved of my idea. If I can shrink this down, then I can have my Ratatoskr planet it and record voices whilst unnoticed. “You’ll need to investigate keeping it disguised, though. It’ll be found easily if it uses too much magic.”

“Sounds like a perfect first project.” I told Azazel simply. My powers were great, but there were shortcoming here and there. One of them was not knowing what competitors thought of me and how I they were doing. This can change things significantly, especially if I can make it very small. It’ll be a way to bug my enemies. “I’ll make my own copy of this artifact and get back to you.”

“I knew you’d get it.” Azazel nodded and smiled, before stopping and sighing. “By the way, I’ve also got some bad news for you.”

Azazel only had one possible connection to me to relay news about besides the training he was giving me now.

“Vali wants a rematch soon.”

“He’s really too straightforward for his own good. If he wasn’t so strong, being this straightforward would’ve gotten him in hot water too many times to count.” Azazel groused but nodded. “I’m having him investigate a group calling themselves the ‘Hero Faction’ over in Europe. It’ll take him a while, so he wants your next fight ahead of time.”

I was ready to just refuse, but the name ‘Hero Faction’ caught my interest.

“What’s the Hero Faction?” I was hesitant to just believe in the name. Heroes back in my world were a mix between those with their own agendas and those with actual good intentions. Just calling yourself a hero didn’t mean anything, just like calling yourself a villain didn’t. It’s all about what they did and why. “People like me who want some bargaining power instead of just getting poached?”

Azazel shook his head and I felt my stomach drop, before I steeled myself.

“Nothing so simple, I’m afraid.” Azazel stated. “They’re people with lineages that can be traced to heroes a few centuries ago, and they’re looking to cause trouble. A lot of it. Enough that your own situation might get compromised, unfortunately.”

Guilt by association, because fellow humans with powers have decided to fight against everyone for their own rights and freedoms instead of trying to carve their own niche.

Fuck.