Trust in us. Then, you will become strong as well as us. We can win this!”
—Become stronger. Me? “Let’s show it to those that looked down on you. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is Phoenix or not. We need to teach them very strictly in how strong Rias Gremory and her servants are!”
[Yes!] Everyone replies to her with a strong voice. That’s right! I have Buchou and everyone with me! I will become strong! I will become stronger along with everyone! I will defeat Raiser Phoenix! After having new-found determination, the mountain training went through smoothly. Then we reached the day for the decisive battle. On the day of the decisive battle. “I’m ready.”
I’m getting fired up in my room. Right now, it’s 10 o’clock at night. The decisive battle will start in two hours, exactly from 12am. Today our job as a Devil is off. We went home straight after school. That’s because we may end up wasting our stamina. We plan to meet up at the club room 30 minutes prior to the match, so I can only stay here for about 90 minutes. But still, I feel the most relaxed here in my own room. So I want to stay here as long as I can. If I go there, I will feel nervous whether I like it or not. Ah, I feel more nervous than the time I was waiting for my entrance exam results to our academy……
I’m wearing my uniform. I thought this will be the most fitting clothing for this. Rather, should I prepare clothing for battle purpose? When I asked that to Buchou,
“If my group has a uniform, then it has to be the uniform of Kuou academy. We are the members of the Occult Research Club after all.”
Buchou replied like that to me with a smile. That’s why my battle uniform will be my school uniform. Well, if I was doing martial arts I could have prepared a dougi. There are lots of banana peels near me. I ate all of them already, and that technique that I have been practicing ever since camp is almost completed. I can do this. I can do this! My new ultimate technique! KNOCK KNOCK
Someone knocks on the door. Huh? Is it Asia? “Ise-san, may I come in?”
“Yeah, sure.”
I get a bit shocked when I witness the clothing that Asia is wearing. That’s because she is wearing a nun outfit. Obviously she doesn’t have her Rosario hanging around her neck. She also doesn’t have her veil on her head. “Asia that outfit……”
“Y-Yes. When I asked Buchou-san, she told me, “Wear something that you feel the most comfortable in”. I thought about it a lot, and I found out that this outfit is the easiest for me to move around in. ……I’m not a Christian anymore, but I haven’t forgotten my beliefs. Even though I’m a Devil now……”
Is that so? This girl must have thought deeply about it. I’m sure that you need a lot of guts to appear in a nun’s outfit for a battle between Devils, but if that’s what Asia chose then I don’t have any complaints. Buchou will also allow it with a smile. “Yeah. You look the most natural in a nun’s outfit. You also look good in our school uniform, but you were dressed in that outfit when I first met you. Yeah, you look great.”
“Thank you very much.”
Asia makes a very happy face when I praise her. “U-Umm, Ise-san?”
Asia suddenly becomes hesitant. What’s up with her? “Can I sit beside you?”
“Y-Yeah. Sure.”
Asia approaches me who am sitting on my bed and then she sits beside me. She then hugs onto my arm tightly. “W-What’s wrong?”
I panic, but I can feel her shaking through my arm. “……I can’t stop shaking when I think that there is a scary battle waiting for us. But if Ise-san is with me, I will be okay.”
“Asia……”
“Ehehe. I’m not scared if I’m with Ise-san after all. ……Can I stay like this until we leave?”
“Sure.”
“……Can I stay with you forever from now on?”
“Yeah, we will always be together.”
I hold on to Asia’s hand gently and we stay like this till we left the house. After that, I didn’t feel nervous anymore and Asia’s shaking has also stopped. Around 11.40pm at night—. The other club members and I have gathered in the old school building. We are waiting in our most relaxing positions. Everyone except Asia is wearing their uniform. Kiba is equipped with a gauntlet on his hands and has some armour on his lower leg. He has his swords against the wall. Koneko-chan is sitting on the chair and is reading a book. On her hands, she is wearing gloves that allow her fingers to be seen. It’s one of those gloves that martial artists wear. It looks pretty intense if a girl with a loli face wears it. Akeno-san and Buchou are drinking green tea elegantly. Just to be expected from our Onee-samas, they sure are calm……
Asia and I sit on the chair quietly while we wait for the time to come. Ten minutes prior to the match, the magic-circle glows and Grayfia-san appears from it. “Is everyone ready? It’s ten minutes before the match.”
Everyone stands up after Grayfia-san confirms us. Grayfia-san then starts to explain about the battle. “When it becomes the time to start the battle, you will be teleported to the battlefield through this magic-circle. The location of the place is in a different dimension used for battles. You may fight with all your power. It’s a disposable space so feel free to fight to your satisfaction.”
I see. A battle purpose field, huh. So Devils can prepare something like that as well. Indeed if we fight somewhere in the humans' world or Devils' world, we can’t avoid destruction. So it means that we need a place where we won’t harm anything no matter what we do. But leaving that aside, there’s something that I’m concerned about. “Hey, Buchou?”
“What is it?”
“Buchou, you also have another [Bishop], right? Where is that person?”
Yes, that’s what Buchou told me before she reincarnated Asia. She told me she already has another [Bishop]—. She told me that the [Bishop] is doing another mission, but why isn’t the [Bishop] here under this serious situation? After I asked the question, everyone except me and Asia acts weird. It seems like I asked something I shouldn’t have. It feels like the atmosphere in this room has changed. All of them are keeping their mouth closed. “Unfortunately, the other [Bishop] can’t participate. Though there will be a time when I will talk about that in the near future.”
Buchou says that to me without looking at me in the eyes. Seems like there’s something complicated about this matter. I probably should stop asking about this topic now. But what’s so important that the [Bishop] can’t appear for its Master’s important match? I can’t get rid of my suspicions. Grayfia-san then speaks under this weird atmosphere. “This “Rating Game” battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location through broadcast.”
Are you serious? So they will be watching us? So they are going to view us like VIP members, huh. They sure must be having fun. Since Buchou’s parents are watching this as well, I can’t show them an unsightly scene. “Maou Lucifer-sama will also be viewing this battle. Please do not forget about it.”
Maou!? Maou-sama!? Wow, that makes me nervous.