I’ll give you some candy afterwards. “Ise, we’re making our rounds of greetings.”
“Heh?”
I had an idiotic face, but even so, it seemed the fact that the legendary dragon had become a devil was famous and there were many high-class devils who wanted to greet me. For that reason, I ended up being led around by Buchou as we circulated the floor. I was surprised by how the gentlemanly behaviour that Buchou’s mother had taught me was more effective than I had expected. I see, now that I’ve become a part of Buchou’s group, it was an indispensable skill. Buchou’s mother. Thank you very much! Thanks to you, I wasn’t embarrassing myself! “Ah, I’m so tired.”
Having finished my greetings, I was freed, but…
Me, Asia and Gasper sat down on chairs prepared in a corner of the floor. Buchou and Akeno-san were a distance away conversing with some female devils. Kiba was—surrounded by all the female devils! Damn it! Die, good-looking guy! Though even if I say that, since this really was my first time at such a party, me and Asia and the others were all mentally fatigued and completely exhausted in a corner. Occasionally, there were male devils that greeted the cute Asia. As I thought, Asia’s cuteness is well understood even in the world of devils, because she’s so extremely cute. “Ise, Asia, Gasper, I’ve gotten some food, eat up.”
Xenovia, who had gotten up from her seat a little while ago, was skilfully holding a massive quantity of dishes. On top of the dishes were various extravagant foods. “Sorry about this, Xenovia.”
“No, it’s nothing. This amount is inexpensive. Look, it’s better for Asia to have a drink too.”
“Thank you very much, Xenovia-san…Since it’s my first time doing this kind of thing, I was nervous and my throat got dry…”
Asia accepted the glass of juice from Xenovia and started drinking it. I started on the dish I’d been given…It came complete with chopsticks. Well, since there were reincarnated devils besides us in here, they must have been prepared for every way to pick up one’s food. And then, there was a silhouette in front of me. It was a girl wearing a dress. She was staring at me really hard. Who was she? Huh? I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…
“Ah, you’re—”
“I-It’s been a while, Sekiryuutei.”
“The sister of that yakitori bastard.”
Yes, it was the sister of Rias’ former fiancé, Raiser Phoenix. How nostalgic. It’s been several months since then, right? “It’s Ravel Phoenix! Geez, this is why low-class devils are so slow and disagreeable.”
She was really angry. As I thought, she was angry because of the drama from the cancellation of the engagement, huh. “Sorry. So, is your brother doing well?”
When I spoke about her brother, Ravel sighed. “…Thanks to you, he’s been in low spirits. It seems that his defeat and having Rias-sama stolen away by you was a great shock. Well, since he had always relied on his talent and got cocky because of it, it should have been a good lesson for him.”
Arara, how harsh. So, she severely cuts at her brother too. What a sharp tongue. “Hahahaha…You’re pretty merciless. You were also part of your brother’s group, right?”
“About that, I’ve currently finished trading, and I’ve now become my mother’s servant. My mother traded away an unused piece she had in exchange for me. Since my mother said that she would trade me again when I found someone whose family I want to become part of, I’m essentially a free [Bishop] now. Since my mother doesn’t participate in the games.”
“Trading?”
I quizzically thought about this word that I wasn’t familiar with. “Huh? Don’t you know? Trading, according to the rules of the Rating Games, it’s possible to exchange pieces between devils [Kings]. On the condition that they’re the same kind of piece.”
Heeh, so there was also something like that. “B-By the way, Sekiryuutei—”
“Please stop it with the Sekiryuutei. My name is Hyoudou Issei. You’re the same age as me, right? Then, speaking to me normally is fine. Everyone calls me [Ise], you know?”
So I said, but since she’s a devil, she can freely choose her appearance, can’t she? Though she may look the same age as me, could she be older? No, judging from the times we’ve met each other, I get the sense that she’s the same age. “I-Is it really okay for me to call you by your name! ?”
Eh…? What’s with that reaction? She’s a bit happy? Impossible, she looks down on me so much, after all. “*C-Cough*. T-Then, I’ll oblige and call you Ise-sama without reservation.”
“Sama? No, no, it’s fine without such a thing.”
“No, this is important!”
…Hahaha, I understand this girl even less than Xenovia. It’s difficult keeping company with her. And then, an Onee-san that I recognised also appeared. “Ravel-sama. Danna-sama’sfriend is calling for you.”
If I remembered correctly, this person is from Raiser’s family. An Onee-san called Isabella, who hurt my face badly with a flicker. Her naked body that I saw when her clothes fell apart is still preserved inside my brain. “I understand. Ise-sama, the next time we meet, would you like to have some tea with me? A-A-A-And if it’s okay with you, would you like to have a homemade cake p-p-prepared by me?”
Ravel suddenly raised the hem of her dress, curtsied and then left. Somehow, I don’t understand that girl very well. “Hey, Hyoudou Issei.”
This time it was Isabella-san who spoke to me. “You’re Isabella-san of the Phoenix family, right?”
“Yes. You gave me a good blow back then. I still remember it. It seems you’ve become even stronger. When you become even stronger, I’ll be able to boast about my story as well.”
“Umm, are you that girl’s…Ravel’s escort?”
“Well, something like that. Because that girl has things that she can’t grasp as a child, like our master Raiser-sama…Since that battle during the engagement party, Ravel has only talked about you. She seems to have found the fight between you and Raiser-sama very impressive.”
“Isn’t she just complaining? Since I interfered in her brother’s engagement, and made some thoughtless remarks to her too.”
“…No, it’s the opposite. Well, it’s fine. You’ll understand eventually.”
“? In any case, please tell her that having tea with her would be okay with me.”
“Really? Thank you for that. Ravel will be happy. Now then, please excuse me now. Please have a good time at the party.”
With that, Isabella-san waved her hand and left just like that. I really don’t get it…
Well, there’s no use being troubled about it anymore, tea is fine, right? “…Ise-senpai, you surprisingly have a lot of devil friends…”
Gasper said that with a look of admiration, but…Does it really look like a lot? Hmm, I don’t know. But, I have met various devils since coming here. However, my encounters with devils besides Buchou and my friends have a lot of value to me. The things I now know like about the problem of discrimination, and about dragons were a lot. I think that I’m glad to know these things now. Not only power, but such things may also be important for me to catch up to Vali.