Even if you try to pursue him for that now, it won’t change anything.”
Rias-zenbuchou allowed Ise-kun to calm down a bit, but Ise-kun’s aura was still bursting out of him as he yelled
“…I know that! I know all that! But, but…! Damn it! Tou-san, kaa-san are…! That bastard…! That bastard Rizevim…!”
Due to Ise-kun’s anger, he had begun to lose himself. We could also understand his feelings. Most of the people here had been under the care of Ise-kun’s parents, and lived together with Ophis. By putting their lives in danger, it certainly provoked our anger. Even I…also felt intense anger! —But, continuing this would result in nothing. Absolutely nothing. If things continued like this, Ise-kun — he would become the same as I was before. Being driven by revenge, completely disregarding what’s important, and ignoring the feelings of those important to him. I grabbed Ise-kun’s shoulder and said
“Calm down, Ise-kun.”
Ise-kun brushed my hand away, and drew near me. With a face full of rage, he grabbed my chest. “…You, are you also telling me to calm down…? When Ophis has been assaulted like this, and when even my parents have been taken away…! ?”
“That is exactly why you need to be calm. This is obviously the enemy’s trap. Not only the hostages, but Ophis as well, it’s to make you lose your cool. If you keep on going like this, you’ll only allow the enemy to succeed.”
Ise-kun continued to hold onto me, and lowered his head. “—Those bastards, I’ll never forgive them.”
…Really, being like this isn’t going to help. I turned the situation around and grabbed Ise-kun, then pushed him against the wall of the room. Facing him, I declared
“…I can’t replace you. Rias Gremory’s [Pawn] can only be you. That’s why I cannot replace you. That’s because my most important friend said this to me — you are Rias Gremory’s [Knight]. That is why I will be a [Knight] to the end.”
That was — the past, before the battle against the rebel Church warriors; the words that Ise-kun said to me when I had lost my composure. I returned these words to him. Realising this point, Ise-kun was surprised, and then he made a wry smile. “…The things of that time, you returned it to me.”
“I won’t tell you not to get angry. But please return to your usual self. If you forget the words which were originally your own, you definitely won’t be able to bring out your own true strength. Hyoudou Issei’s true value, is that he restrains the anger within himself, doesn’t allow his field of vision to narrow, and is able to find openings in his opponents.”
That’s right, you’ve always faced opponents who were above you; even if your own strength is known by your opponent, you would still aim for their openings. Hyoudou Issei always faces his opponents head on, and always chases his opponent’s weaknesses with the ultimate attack and defence. —If you lose your way, that’ll only be doing as your opponent wants. Not wanting to see him become like that, I had to stop him. “Also, it’s not just you who’s feeling sadness for your parents.”
I turned my gaze towards Asia. Ise-kun also followed my gaze. Standing there was a girl who had been crying ceaselessly. “…Asia.”
Seeing the crying Asia, Ise-kun’s eyes finally seemed to have regained a bit of their usual colour. Asia sobbed as she recounted
“…For me, they’re the otou-san and okaa-san that weren’t easy for me to get. Ise-san, I also…”
Asia broke into tears. For someone without a single relative like her, it certainly wasn’t easy for her to obtain ‘family’ in this world. She had obtained people whom she could call haha and chichi. —It wasn’t only Ise-kun who felt pain and sadness when his parents were taken away. Seeing Asia like this, Ise-kun shook his head and covered his face with his hand. “…About what I said. I’m sorry, Asia. I’m sorry, everyone…”
It seemed like he had finally regained his composure. Ise-kun turned around and said to me
“—Kiba, it’s good to have you.”
That was my line. You’ve helped me more than a few times. That thing doesn’t even count as anything significant. It’s just returning one small favour of the many that I owe you. When Ise-kun had calmed down, someone knocked on the door. Going over to see who it was, we found that it was actually Kuroka and Le Fay-san. “Ara, were you busy nya~?”
“Ah, hello everyone.”
After their simple greeting, Azazel-sensei asked the two of them. “Kuroka, Le Fay, where did you guys go? Although I heard that you were together with Vali…”
Kuroka didn’t wait for sensei to finish and interjected
“Well, we were together just then. From there, after we got hold of some important information, we hurried back over as soon as we could nya~”
Kuroka looked at all of us and said
“—We’ve roughly confirmed the location of those guys’ hideout, Agreas.”
[“—What! ?”]
Everyone was shocked to hear this information! Qlippoth’s base was in the floating city of Agreas! That place had finally been found—. After sensei heard this report, he couldn’t help laughing. “What good timing, Kuroka. As the saying goes, ‘having borrowed, one must return’. It’s our turn to take action!”
That was right. We wouldn’t let ourselves be bullied by them in silence. Starting from that, we began the meeting to discuss our battle strategy for the operation which would take place in Agreas—. The strategy plan for the Agreas battle operation was left to strategists like Azazel-sensei and Sona-zenkaichou to formulate. I — Hyoudou Issei returned to my own room, and began making preparations for the battle. Just then, a photo on the desk caught my attention. It was a photo of me, my parents, and Asia. It was taken last year in front of our house when Asia moved in with us. I — leaned my head against the wall, and then slowly sank down. …If I had gone fishing together with them, that wouldn’t have happened, right? No, that would’ve resulted in a situation in which I wouldn’t have been able to meet Ravel…but, at the least I needed to say something to my parents! Yes, why didn’t I consider such a situation? Precisely because the enemy is that kind of a dangerous bastard, it’s no surprise that my parents would be targeted! Somewhere in my mind, I kept on imagining that my parents were very ordinary people of this world who were not related to the supernatural. I believed that even if I reincarnated as a Devil, they would still be able to live an ordinary life in the human world. —That goal of that group of bastards was that, completely trampling over everything I thought of. …While I had no words to say, in my heart, I thought…I hope that tou-san and kaa-san are safe. My anger towards those bastards was endless, I wouldn’t forgive them. —I will definitely bring those two back. While I made such a resolve, someone knocked on the door. The person who walked in was — Ravel. “Ise-sama…”
Having walked into the room, Ravel looked at me with a worried expression. “What is it, Ravel? Don’t you need to rest?”
I smiled as I looked at her, but her face was still clouded with unhappiness.