Even if they were limited by the value of the [Pawn] piece, having eight pieces meant that they were incredibly strong, right…? Has Rias dragged in even the power of a god into her team? This was truly remarkable. Irina also said
“A god in Rias-san’s team…. Rias-san is also the core of [DxD]. If she extended an invitation, I wonder if a god would accept…”
But Xenovia expressed her doubt on this. “So this is the substitute for Ise? Ise has forced Rizevim into a corner, defeated a Heavenly Dragon-class Apophis, and fought against Trihexa’s core in the Evil Dragon War. Even a god wouldn’t be able to casually accept an invitation to replace Ise.”
I felt honoured to receive such praise…but, was it really that hard to find a replacement for me? Would I be used for comparison? Well — hmm. Rossweisse-san also nodded in agreement with Xenovia’s opinion. “I also agree with Xenovia-san. Ise-kun has now become a [King], but he is still Rias-san’s [Pawn]. Even if it’s only for this tournament, I find it hard to believe that there are gods who would readily accept being judged like this…. After all, the entire world will be comparing them to Ise-kun.”
Unless they were up against a powerful opponent, Mr. Black would not come out to fight. Perhaps I’ll just look forward to that time then. …Perhaps he’s the kind that doesn’t care about looking forward to things, or perhaps that guy is just ridiculously strong. At that time, the program changed scenes to show Kiba instead. Kiba relied on his prided speed and swordsmanship to instantly cut down his opponents. In the footage that was played back, there was not a single person who was able to catch up to Kiba, let alone attack him. A few days before the tournament began, Kiba said to me
“I — swear that I will remain Rias-neesan’s [Knight] for my entire life. Before you, I had already been recognised as Rias-neesan’s [Knight]. So, now that you have your own team…from this point onwards, you and I are rivals. Even if you and I are friends, if we happen to fight, I will not hesitate to stand before you as Rias-neesan’s sword.”
Before I could say anything else, my friend Kiba continued
“Ise-kun, at that time, we’ll both show off our true skill! —Being able to have a serious fight with you, that is something I look forward to!”
…Kiba, if I really have to fight against you or Rias…I will definitely stand up for an honest showdown. I definitely won’t lose to you guys! “—Ise-sama, Ise-sama.”
Ravel pulled me back from my reminiscence of Kiba. “Ah, oh, what is it?”
Ravel sighed. “Really, please focus. Ise-sama is our [King], right? Even if I can give you advice, the final decision still rests in your hands.”
Hahaha, our manager-sama really is strict. She actually became even stricter after becoming one of my peerage members. But this is all for my sake, so I’m counting on you, Ravel. At that time, a knocking sound reverberated over from the door. After answering, the people who came in were — Le Fay and Kunou, as well as Lilith. “U-Umm, has your meeting concluded yet?”
Le Fay asked us nervously. She was holding a tray in her hands, on top of which was some tea. “Oh, it’s Le Fay. I was just looking for a time to take a break. Everyone, is that alright?”
When I asked, everyone smiled as they nodded. Upon seeing this, Kunou took the red tea that was on the tray and served it to everyone. “Please have some tea, Ise.”
“Oh, thank you Kunou. But, uh Lili — no, Lith.”
Whilst I wasn’t paying attention, Lilith sat down on my lap again. It seems that aside from Koneko-chan, the people who compete for my lap are increasing, with Ravel and Lilith now among them as well. By the way, Lilith has now been entrusted to us. Because we previously had taken care of Ophis, it naturally became the case that the Hyoudou residence became the default place for keeping someone hidden. And precisely because of this, the Ophis (Lilith) who was being controlled by Qlippoth was proclaimed to have disappeared during the battle. But going back to the main point, like Ophis’ name, Lilith’s name couldn’t be exposed in front of Kunou, so it was shortened to Lith. Either way, the name isn’t too different. “Cake cake.”
The Lilith on my lap seemed interested in the cake on the tray, and after receiving a portion from Ravel, she began to eat it in big mouthfuls. Just like Ophis, she seemed to be a big eater. The cake that Ravel had prepared for everyone was a chocolate cake. “I also prepared a cake for everyone, so please enjoy it.”
So it was Ravel who personally baked it. While Kunou tasted the cake (the edges of her mouth were stained with chocolate), she said
“That’s right, constantly talking about difficult topics will only cause your brain to slow down, so we should rest a little!”
Although she said that, it was really just to vent the fact that she was unable to play with us, which is why she found an excuse to come over to us. Hahaha, Kunou really is cute. “Le Fay, Kunou, have you gotten used to school life?”
I asked the two of them. “Of course! I immediately made friends! I didn’t think the people here were so easy to converse with.”
Indeed, Kunou didn’t come to the Occult Research Club after school sometimes, so she was probably playing with her friends at those times. That was good, it was good to hear that she was able to make friends. Le Fay said with a calm expression
“For me, high school life is a new starting point, and although there are a lot of areas that I’m unfamiliar with…it’s all very fresh to me, so I’m enjoying it.”
I then asked about the Vali team’s situation. “How about the Vali team?”
“After the new team members, the current Sha Wujing-san and the current Zhu Bajie-san joined our team, we immediately headed into a match, so it was a bit overwhelming.”
Indeed, the new members of the Vali team were the current ‘Sha Wujing’ and the current ‘Zhu Bajie’. I had also only just heard about it this Winter, and had also met the two of them. The first-generation old man Sun Wukong said that he wanted to train the two of them for the sake of inheriting the positions of ‘Sha Wujing’ and ‘Zhu Bajie’; thus he entrusted them to Vali. They were supposedly reserve members…but it looks like they’ve become part of the official team for the tournament. A contemporary Journey to the West combination had been formed within Vali’s team, and it would really be worth watching if they went up against the first-generation’s team. I then asked Kunou. “It seems that there are also Youkai participating in the game?”
“Uh-huh. From each of the leaders, three teams have been elected to participate in the tournament. Kyoto also has three teams. The team to which the strongest member in each area belongs is said to be strong enough to act as the leader’s representative. Ise and you guys, if you encounter them, you definitely can’t be careless, okay?”
Kunou said that whilst eating, but at that time, the door was opened once again. “I, appear.”
The one who had arrived was Ophis.