- the next day -

Character Name: Raiga Kōjiro

Alignment: Peerage of Rias Gremory

LvL: 34 EXP: 31%

Profession: The Gamer, Student of Kuoh Academia, Devil, Pawn of Rias Gremory,
Part timer at TakeSushi and Novice in the Shigure Soen Ryu.

Title: None

Fame: None

HP: 260/260 Regen: 1 per hour

MP: 260/260 Regen: 3 per minute

STR: 25

END: 23+3

AGI: 25+1

INT: 23+3

WIS: 25+1

MAG: 22+4

Luck: 18

Point: 0

Money: ¥ 317200

Skills List:

[Observe] - Active - LvL: 28/100 - EXP: 6% - MP cost: 1

[Dying Will Mode] - Active - LvL: 24/100 - EXP: 69% - MP cost: 3 per second

You passively gain the following bonuses when in this mode, Increase in STR, AGI and END by 1.5%

Variants:

[Hyper Dying Will Mode] - Active - LvL: 24/100 - EXP: 69% - MP cost: 20

You passively gain the following bonuses when in this mode, Increase in STR, INT, AGI, WIS and END by 2.1%

[Vongola Hyper Intuition] - Passive - LvL: 31/100 - EXP: 72%

[Sky Flames] - Active - LvL: 25/100 - EXP: 12% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains if constantly use)

[Storm Flames] - Active - LvL: 24/100 - EXP: 88% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains if constantly use)

Variants:

[Flames of Wrath] - Active - LvL: 24/100 - EXP: 88% - MP cost: 8 (continuously drains if constantly use)

[Sun Flames] - Active - LvL: 12/100 - EXP: 4% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains if constantly use)

[Activation] - Active - LvL: 12/100 - EXP: 4% - MP cost: 3 per second

[Rain Flames] - Active – LvL: 9/100 - EXP: 37% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains when constantly use)

[Lightning Flames] - Active – LvL: 7/100 - EXP: 65% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains when constantly use)

[Cloud Flames] - Active – LvL: 13/100 - EXP: 9% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains when constantly use)

[Mist Flames] - Active – LvL: 13/100 - EXP: 5% - MP cost: 5 (continuously drains when constantly use)

[ID CREATE] - Active - LvL: 18/100 - EXP: 0% - MP cost: 100

Description: A skill to create an instant dungeon, you can bring other in only if you wish to do so yourself.

Current dungeon available: Zombies, Ghouls.

[ID ESCAPE] - Active - LvL: 18/100 - EXP: 0% - MP cost: 100

Description: A skill to escape an instant dungeon, but when a boss-type enemy appear you cannot escape till the boss is destroyed.

[Shigure Soen Ryu] - Passive - LvL: 26/100 EXP: 8%

[Sterling Blue] - Active - LvL: 4/100 EXP: 10% - MP cost: 8 (continuously drains when constantly use)

Inventory: [Auto Loot] on

Black Slacks (Equipped)

School Blazer (Equipped)

Black Shoes (Equipped)

Plain Polo (Equipped)

Plain Socks (Equipped)

Plain Underwear (Equipped)

Money: ¥ 250000

Small HP Potions x29: restores 10 HP

Small MP Potions x31: restores 10 MP

HP Potions x2: restores 50 HP

MP Potions x5: restores 50 MP

Steel Katana x2

Magic Revolver

Greed Scanner

Eyepatch Power Seal

Steel Gauntlets

Iron Greaves

Iron Dagger x12

Iron Mace x7

Steel Flail x4

Novice's Staff x3

Novice's Robe x2

Silver Ore x5

Copper Ore x17

...I have a bunch of stuff that's not useful in my inventory. I might be a magic user, but I'm not going to role play as a Magician.

Hmm... I can get rid of them, but that's just a waste... But I don't know who buy them in the first place. It's not like there're rare or anything, but I highly doubt that anyone would pay good money for them.

Other than the stuff in my inventory, my [LvL], skills and stats have gone even higher than that of anyone in the [OCR]. I still can't see their full stats, but what I have is better than nothing at all.

"Hey Kōjiro!" I heard a voice called out, so I turned towards the source to see Ichigo Hyōdō walking towards my table.

"What is it, Hyōdō?" I asked, curiosity in my voice. She never bothered to communicate with me outside club activities, so I wondered on the sudden change of pace. When she stopped in from of my table, she seemed a bit nervous as she kept shifting her gaze to somewhere else and I noticed that we attracted a small crowd.

"Well..." Hyōdō began quietly with a thoughtful expression in her eyes. She looks like she's thinking things over on the spot "I was wonder, can I have lunch with you?"

I blinked, a bit surprised at her proposal. I did her work last night and I just gave her some words of encouragement, so how did it came to this?

"Did you heard what she said?"

"I know! She just asked Kōjiro-kun to have lunch with her!"

"You think that Hyōdō plans to corrupt Kōjiro to become someone like her?"

"Why did he got asked by a girl to eat with her!?"

I just ignored the comments and just looked at Hyōdō, who seemed even more nervous then before when the others started whispering with each other... I have based her on the [Title] before and I felt ashamed to myself for it, so I might as well make up for it "Sure."

My answer silenced our classmates and caused Hyōdō to smile brightly "Alright! Then let's go!" She declared before grabbing a hold of my hand and dragging me away to wherever she's going to lead me.

____________________________________________

I'm currently at the roof top, eating my lunch with Hyōdō sitting in front of me. She sat with her legs crossed, which showed her underwear... If it wasn't for cycling shorts that she's currently wearing. I didn't had the time to study her before, not having the time with my part time job, doing Devil work and training. From looking at her posture, she seems a bit of an energetic, perverted tomboy.

"Hey." I blinked, noticing that Hyōdō's face a bit close to my own "You alright? You looked you're spacing out."

I shook my head "No, I'm fine. Just thinking about some questions going on my head."

"What kind of questions?" I can't believe my lie actually worked, but I just that she's not very good at reading people.

"Like, how did Gremory-san revive us?" I stated, raising a good point. It didn't escaped my mind that Gremory-san didn't explained the way that she brought Hyōdō and 'I' back to life that time "If this was necromancy, then we should currently be mindless zombies that hunger endlessly for human flesh."

"...You do have a point." Hyōdō muttered out loud, but I can tell that she didn't like the idea of being a zombie "But I'm sure that Buchou will explained things soon."

Eventually, a comfortable silence washed over the 2 of us as we continued eating our own lunches... But that silence was soon destroyed when Hyōdō asked me a question "Hey, Kōjiro. What's your dream?" I actually paused from chewing the food in my mouth to think about her question...

What is my dream? I didn't thought of it before until Hyōdō brought it up. Even before I was brought into this world, I didn't had any ambitions to begin with and didn't had anything that I want in the moment.

"...To be honest, I don't have a dream." I admitted to the brunette, before looking at her with curious eyes "But what about you, Hyōdō?"

"*Hehehe!* My dream... Is become Harem Queen!" Hyōdō declared proudly while standing up into her feet and raising a fist into the air "I want a harem of beautiful girls and handsome guys to do ecchi things with them! So I must become a High-Class Devil to get my own peerage to fulfil my goal!"

I stared at Hyōdō with a blank expression on my face. She... Wants to become Harem Queen... And wants a harem of beautiful girls and handsome guys... That's her goal? "Okay..." Was all I said, unable to think of a better response, before continuing eating my lunch.

- later in the afternoon -

"Don't ever get close to the Church again." Gremory-san told Hyōdō in a scolding manner. It all started when Hyōdō told everyone in [ORC] about this nun that she meet early and helped her towards the local church in the town.

"To us Devils, the Church is an enemy's territory. Just stepping into it can cause an incident between the Devils and God." Gremory-san continued her explanation on the Church "Since it was an act of kindness by taking the nun to the Church, they didn't harm you, but the Angels are always on the lookout. You were in a situation where it wouldn't be strange for them to hit you with a Light Spear."

"And don't get involved with people from the Church. Especially the Exorcists who are our biggest enemy. They could easily eliminate us because their powers are supported by the prayer of God. More so if it is an Exorcist with a Sacred Gear. That would be the same as standing on the boundary of death, Ichigo." Gremory-san warned and it's not just towards Hyōdō but I can tell that it's towards me as well.

Hyōdō sighed. "Yeah. I get it. I won't do it again."

But it seems that Gremory-san isn't finished "You could avoid death as a human by being resurrected as a Devil. But Devils who are exorcised become completely terminated. They return to nothing. NOTHING!!! There is nothing left and you feel nothing. Do you know how serious that is?"

Apparently, it seems that Hyōdō's expression satisfied Gremory-san before the red head shook her head. "I'm sorry. I got too heated. Anyway, be careful from now on."

"Hai."

"Ara ara, did you finish lecturing her?" Himejima asked as she appeared behind Hyōdō, shocking the brunette.

"Akeno, did something happen?"

Himejima-san's expression changed after Gremory-san asked her, becoming more serious "We received an order for a hunt from the Archduke."

- a few minutes later -

And now we're hunting down a Stray Devil.

Stray Devils were Devils who betrayed or killed their masters. It's rare, but not unheard of from what Gremory-san told us.

Where there's power, there's always someone who's going to abuse it. It's the same for Devils as it is for humans. There will always be those who choose to use that power for their own self-interests.

Stray Devils leave their master's side and end up causing problems somewhere else. They are no different from Stray dogs in a way. They cause trouble for quite a lot of people.

That's why the law of the Devils states that when they are found, they are to be eliminated. Other races like Angels and Fallen Angels also seem them as threats and eliminate them as well.

I went to the unused building located at the outer part of the town along with Gremory-san, Himejima-san, Kiba, Tōjō and Hyōdō. There was a rumour that a Stray Devil is hidden in this house, hunting and devouring humans at night.

And my [Vongola Hyper Intuition] is acting up ever since we came close to this place. I came feel the dark aura that the area gave off and it didn't sit well with me, not a single bit.

"...The stench of blood." Tōjō said, while I didn't smell anything. Hmm... I guess she has more stronger senses than I do.

I shoved my hands into my pockets as we entered the house. I could feel the quietness of the house add to the tension. This was because I could FEEL the abnormal killing intent directed towards us. I readied myself to fight and I KNEW a fight was coming. And so we started our search for the Stray Devil.

"Ichigo and Kōjiro-kun, it's a good opportunity to experience what it's like to fight." Gremory-san said as she faced me and Hyōdō. I noticed that the brunette nodded in response while I didn't say and do anything to answer the red head's word, and I somehow drew her attention "You can watch what a Devils' battle is like. Today, just concentrate and look at how we fight. Oh, yes. I will also explain the traits the Servants have."

"Traits?" Hyōdō asked.

It seem that there's more to this 'servant' thing than it meet the eye. I decided to keep quiet, figuring there would be less questions if I didn't mention my own fighting experiences to them. Not that they'll believe on a power that let you live your life like a video game.

"There was a 3 sided war between the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and the Biblical God with its Angels followers. All 3 sides had a large army and they fought for almost eternity." Gremory-san started the tale "As a result, all 3 sides lost most of their troops and the war finished several hundred years ago with no side winning."

"The Devils were no exception." Kiba continued the tale "Big Devils with Peerage who commanded about 20 or 30 troops lost most of their underlings because of the war. They lost so many that they couldn't even form new armies."

"I heard that most of the pure Devils passed away in that war." Himejima-san added in "But even after the war, there are still problems between the Devils, the Fallen Angels and God. Even when the Fallen Angels' and God's side also lost most of their troops, we are still in a position where we can't let our guard down, or else we will be in trouble."

"Then, the Devils decided to use a system to form a small group of soldiers. And that is the [Evil Pieces]." Gremory-san finished. I noticed that Hyōdō looked amazed but I just chosen to stay silence. Silence is a virtue.

[Evil Pieces]... Are they the things that revived me and Hyōdō? "What are these [Evil Pieces]?" I asked, curiosity in my voice.

"Kōjiro-kun, do you know what chess is?" Gremory-san asked me. I nodded in response, chess is pretty famous around the world. Many countries have their own version of chess, like shogi in Japan,

"There are 6 different types of pieces. There's the [King], the leader. If your [King] got taken out, you lost the game, so it was important above all else to keep the [King] safe. The other pieces are [Queen], [Knight], [Rook], [Bishop] and [Pawn]. Each piece has its own individual trait and use in chess." Gremory-san nodded, apparently pleased that I knew as much as I did about the game.

"Devils with Peerage decide to use the traits of the human's game to their Servant Devils. It was sarcasm, because most of the Servants are Devils that were reincarnated from humans. Since then, Chess became a popular game in the world of the Devils. We'll leave that aside. Devils, who are masters, are a [King]. In our case, that is me."

-_-

I already know that part, I didn't need to be reminded that my will is being chained down someone.

"From there, they created 5 special traits that consist of [Queen], [Pawn], [Rook], [Bishop], and [Knight]. Since they couldn't make an army, they decided to have a small number of Devils and give them enormous powers. This system was made in the past few hundred years, and this unexpectedly became popular amongst Devils with Peerage."

It makes sense. Even if you don't have numbers to bet they odds, your strength can be a great factor to victory.

"They started to compete against each other. For example like, 'My Knight is stronger!', or 'No, my Rook is stronger!'. As a result, high-class Devils started to play a game like that of Chess against each other using their Servant Devils. We call it the [Rating Game]."

I have a hunch that in the future, I would be forced to fight in the Rating Games for Gremory-san... And I don't like the idea of being someone's weapon in battle, for I fight on my own will. Nothing else.

"Anyway, this game became very popular amongst the Devils. Now, there are even tournaments for it. The strength of their [Pieces] and also how strong they are at the game affects the Devils' social position, and their Peerage. There is a thing called [Piece Collect], where they gather humans with talents and make them into their [Pieces]. It is very popular recently. Talented Servants become their status."

This Devils must have nothing better to do than be collector, I find collecting to be a bit boring at time.

"I'm not a matured Devil yet, so I can't participate in the official tournament. Even if I could, there are things that I need to go through, or else I can't play. In short, you and my other servants here won't be participating in a game for a while."

But that left one question "So we have these [Evil Pieces] that turn us into Devils, so what [Piece] am I and what can I do?"

Gremory-san smiled "Kōjiro-kun, you are..." She trailed off and I knew why. The chill in the air had increased as did the the enemy's killing intent.

We had found our Stray.

I could feel it approaching us even without my [Vongola Hyper Intuition].

"I can smell something disgusting. But I can also smell something delicious. Is it sweet? Or is it sour?" A low weird voice sang as I covered my nose. Damn straight! Something reeks! But somehow I knew this scent. It was the scent of blood. It was nauseating.

"Stray Devil Vizor, we're here to destroy you!" Gremory-san declare...

-_-

"Really? You had to announce our presence, like some cliché anime protagonist." I started, making everbody pause for a second and look at me in confusion while Gremory-san has a blush on her face.

"It's cool." She defended herself lamely while crossing her arms.

"But not useful in real life." I countered back, as I felt the Stray coming out from its hiding spot do I looked at its direction.

I moved to the right to avoid some sort of object that was thrown at me. I was about to look at the person who threw it at me, but my immediate attention was drawn to the object itself. I was curious and had to see what it was.

My eyes blinked. It was a corpse and not even a full one. It was like someone ate half the body but lost interest in the head, leaving the poor bastard's remains laying flat on the ground with his eyes opened.

"Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwa..." Abnormal laughter echoed around the room, my eyes focusing as a gigantic beast with the top half of a woman's body stepped out with heavy footsteps, in each hand was a large lance.

"Leaving your master's side, and rampaging as you please definitely deserves death. In the name of Duke Gremory, I will gladly eliminate you!" Gremory-san called out.

"You are cunning for a little girl! I will rip your body and color it in red just like your hair!" Vizer screamed.

"Vizor speaks in a stylish manner. Yumi!" Gremory-san exclaimed with a smirk, Kiba nodding as she sprinted towards Vizor.

"Kōjiro-kun and Ichigo, I will continue from the lecture before." Gremory-san started "Yumi's position is [Knight]. Its trait is speed. Those who become a [Knight] have their speed increased."

I can tell from how fast Kiba is moving at, but I have no problem keeping track of her. From what I see, she just relies on her speed to evade attacks and has no defensive moves "And Yumi's ultimate weapon is swords." Gremory-san added as Kiba drew a European sword from its scabbard and cut off both of Vizor's arms off.

[Gyaaaaaaaaaah!]

"This is Yumi's power: Speed that you can't follow with your eyes, and sword skills of that of a professional. By combining these 2, she became the fastest [Knight]." I mentally snort, that's nothing more to fuel her ego. I can believe that there are others that're faster than Kiba.

Kiba stopped right in front of Vizor with her sword at her side. A foolish move when the enemy is right behind her and can perform a sudden attack that nobody expects, but then I saw another figure run up behind her.

"Koneko-chan?!" Hyōdō cried out, and I noticed that she made a move to try and stop the albino but Gremory-san stopped her in her tracks.

[YOU LITTLE BUUUUG!!!] The Stray screeched as it attempted to stomp on both Kiba and Tōjō.

"Don't worry." Gremory-san said "Koneko's role is [Rook]."

I watched in interest as Tōjō's tiny body was able to hold up the beast's giant foot with seemingly little effort "Let me guess. The [Rooks] have insane strength and defense?"

Gremory-san smiled at my obvious guess "Exactly. That is the trait of a [Rook]. It's impossible for a Devil with that caliber to stamp on Koneko. It can't crush her."

I watch Tōjō lifted up the beast still without showing any strain "...Fly." She jumped high and delivered a sharp punch to the monster's stomach, throwing her entire body backwards.

"How can it be... This band of youngsters..." That is usually what a villain says in an anime right before they kick the bucket. Seriously, are all Devils cliché?

"And lastly, Akeno."

"Yes, Buchou. Ara ara, what should I do?" She was... Laughing? That laughter... Reminds me of someone but I can't put in mind into it, but I guess I'll finally what's underneath that smile of her's.

"Akeno is a [Queen]. She's the one who is the strongest after me. She is the unbeatable Vice-president of our club who has all the traits of [Pawn], [Knight], [Bishop], and [Rook]." Gremory-san explained. So that means she's more powerful than the speedy princess and the crazy strong loli.

"Guguuuuuuu...!"

The monster moaned as she was staring at Akeno, a fearless laugh coming from the [Queen] of Gremory "Oh my, seems like you still have some energy left in you. Then how about this?" Holding her hands out towards the sky, lightning bolts shot down and hit the monster

[Gagagaggaaaaaa!] Visor's entire body was burnt and smoking.

"Oh my, seems like you are still energetic. Looks like you can take more."

Another bolt shot down and hit the Stray Devil, making it shout in pain again [Gwaaaaaaah!]

I frowned at seeing Himejima looked scary and cold while laughing and I couldn't help but feel that the sexual undertone mixed with her expression meant something.

"Akeno specialises in attacking her opponent with magic power." Gremory-san explained "She can use natural elements like lightning, ice, and fire. And most of all, she's really into S&M."

I shook my head, bringing my head back to the game. Looking at her, she must be using the [Bishop] characteristic since my gut tells me that they're magic users and Gremory-san forget to mention something again.

...No defence or technique, she just attacks. From her physical form, she doesn't seem to be the close combat type.

"Fufufufufufu. How much of my lightning can you take, Monster-san? You still can't die yet. The one who finishes you off will be my master. Ohohohoh!" For a few minutes, Himejima-san continued with her lightning attacks. I watched her sadistic streak with only a frown as the [Queen] started to calm down.

Gremory-san approached the monster and stuck her hand out towards the monster as she spoke "Any last words?"

"Kill me." Vizor groaned.

"Is that so? Then disappear." Gremory-san replued with a heartless voice as a gigantic black magic ball shot out from her palm, eliminating Vizor's body easily.

Just the same as Himejima-san, but a bit worse. She has no obvious control over releasing her attack.

"It's over. Good work everyone." Gremory-san said to after confirming she'd destroyed the Stray.