- the next day -

"Gremory came here last night?" I asked in fake curiosity but genuine surprise as the Nun Duo while we're eating a traditional Japanese Breakfast. I'm honestly surprised that Gremory would appear after everything, with her intentions clear as days...

"Yeah." Argento said with a nod while Hyōdō continued to eat silently, but I noticed the few glances she throw at me "It was honestly shocking that she suddenly appeared out of your room when I was on my way downstairs for some water. She even asked me where you were, and I told her that I had no idea where you were. Then another person dressed in a maid outfit soon came out and took Gremory-san away."

"Which begs the question..." Hyōdō suddenly spoke up, putting down her chopsticks and bowl to face me with a neutral expression on her face "Why did the redhead come here last night looking for you?"

"I might have an idea why she came here, but not completely sure since we're not exactly friends in the first place." I replied before taking a slip of my miso soup and then continued on "As for where I was last night, I have a tendency to walk around town late at night to think about something..."

"...Which is?" Hyōdō raised an eyebrow at how I trailed off, crossing her arms while Argento just looked at us with a worried expression on her face.

"About Himejima-san's request for help." I said, getting curious looks from the duo "Remember that she wanted to talk to me privately yesterday? Well, she wanted my help in case the redhead does something crazy... Which I was kinda failed to do, considering that she appeared here without my notice."

"But that doesn't explain why Gremory-san appeared last night." Argento retorted with her slightly tilted to the side, which Hyōdō nodded in agreement.

"She wanted to use me to escape her arranged marriage." I said, getting shocked looks from the Nuns and I took that as a sign to continue on "I'll try and simplify the reason: Rias Gremory was put into an arranged marriage by her parents with another High-Class Devil from another Pillar House in order to preserve the line of Pure-Blood Devils." I started off the explanation, which they nodded in understanding as causalities in the Great War is pretty common knowledge "Since she doesn't like her future fiancé at all, she asked her parents to let her be free from the deal until she finishes her studies in the human world... But yesterday, she received a letter from her father saying that the marriage date will be moved to a few days." "And before any of you ask why I know this, Himejima-san was the one that told me Rias Gremory's story."

"So that's why she was here last night..." Hyōdō muttered in realisation before looking at me with curiously "So, what do you plan to do?"

"About Himejima-san's request? I'm honestly leaning to say no." I replied honestly without any hesitation, not wanting to meet an playboy wannabe asshole like Riser Phenex because I might feel the urge to experiment to see if Hamon would negate the regenerate of a Devil from the House of Phenex "I'm not her or the redhead's friend, and I don't exactly like the latter due to personal reasons. Plus, I'm not really a fan of getting involved with their kind's business like arraigned marriages between the heirs of two Houses-"

Ayayayaya~

I blinked when I heard my phone ring for calls, not expecting a so early in the morning. Taking out my phone from my right pocket, I saw that the caller is unknown... Well, with the exception of Hyōdō and Argento, I don't have other numbers in my phone. And I don't have a reason to add other numbers since I'm not exactly someone that socialise with mob characters.

And despite an unknown message was the reason why I'm here, I'm going to answer this call. It's not like the same thing is going to happen, because that would be ridiculous and stupid. Getting off my chair, I moved to answer the call somewhere else without saying a word to the Nun Duo so they can continue to eat and keep the illusion of a good but stoic host by answering the call in the table.

"Hello?"

{Hello, Kōjiro-kun.}

"...I'm going straight to the point, how the hell did you get hold of my number?" I asked, wondering exactly did Akeno Himejima knew my phone number when we nevertheless did exchange numbers before... And the weirdest thing is that she called me when I was talking about her with my housemates.

What's with this 'Speak of the Devil and (s)he shall appear' joke actually becoming true?

{That's not important right now-}

"On the contrary, it is." I cut her off with a frown on my face before leaning on the wall on my right "How can I even trust your next words if I don't know how you called me-"

{I got it from Sona-san.} Himejima answered, cutting me off from finishing my sentence {Now I'll get straight to the point as well, I need you to come to the clubroom as soon as possible. It's extremely urgent.}

"...I'll take it that it has something to do with Gremory appearing in my house last night." I said in a neutral voice, having no reason to be serious when the personally important stuff is over "Let's continue our conversation with a question, why should I help your [King]?" I asked, looking at the sky through a nearby window "She's not important to me in any way, I'm not some kind of hero that's would throw my life away for others in a heartbeat, and I don't like her at all."

{...Like I said, I'm willing to pay you if you'll help us.}

"How much are you willing to pay to hire a bastard like me that never taught anyone before?" I asked, now really questioning Himejima's sanity. I know that people can become desperate in certain events, but asking a person that doesn't like her [King] and is not that close in terms of strength or experience to an Ultimate-Class Devil?

Does she have [Mad Enhancement] without knowing it?

{¥50000.} Himejima said, causing me to pause in surprise at the amount.

"...Let me think about it." Was all I said before ending and thought over her offer:

I don't a problem with money since I don't have to pay any kind of bills that involve the house, and I didn't bother to question it since it's useless. The only times that I need money is to spend on food and buying or enhancing Skills... And personally, even I have a hard time saying no to half a million yen.

But I can't be sure if Himejima is lying or not. She's one of the few people that I can't get a read on properly, plus my [Discernment of the Poor] has weakened that I can't tell if an enemy is lying anymore. While I know her past through canon, but she's a tad different in this version... And I'll add in the fact that I don't trust her and her group, especially her [King].

"...I might as well take this risk for the money." I muttered to myself after thinking things through while putting my phone away before moving back to the dining room to see that Hyōdō and Argento are already done with their meals and are currently washing the dishes.

"Argento-san, Hyōdō-san." I called out to the duo, gaining their attention "I'll be going ahead. Himejima wants to know my answer personally."

"You didn't tell her through the call?"

"...After hearing that she's willing to pay for my services, I've changed my mind." I responded, giving them the cash hand sign "I might not look like it, but even I can't say no to a large amount of cash." I then put my hands on my pockets while looking at them a bit seriously "Also, don't go to the ORC today... I feel that things will become more complicated if you two appeared." My eyes then moved towards Hyōdō before saying "Especially you, Hyōdō-san."

"Why are you naming me out?" Hyōdō asked with a confused expression on her face, but I didn't feel like answering her so I turned around and left the room "Hey, get back here!"

- a few minutes later -

"Thank you for coming here, Kōjiro-kun." Himejima greeted me as she and I stood at the top of the rooftop, with the Yamato Nadeshiko holding a mail that's thicker than the usual one... To think that she's serious about paying me to help her group.

"Here's the money that I've promised." The [Queen] of Rias Gremory said while handing me the mail, which I quickly opened up to see the contents.

"...I'm honestly surprised that you would pay a bastard like me to help you and your group," I said while looking through the bills with reinforced eyes, trying to see if any of them are fake... And I was "You know, you could have just asked someone professional to train your group instead of me, like a member of Maō Lucifer's peerage.

"That wouldn't look good at Erica-sama's image." The Yamato Nadeshiko replied with a shake of her head "A Maō getting personally involved, even her peerage, with matters between two Pillar Houses is a blatant show of favouritism, especially if you originated from one of the Houses."

...I really feel like pointing out that Maō Lucifer is pretty clear about her favouritism to Gremory when she just lets the heiress take ownership of Kuoh alongside Sitri. While the Student Council President can be trusted with the area because of how serious she is about her duties, Gremory can't because of how carefree she is.

But I can't say that the more responsible of the two heiress doesn't have her own set of flaws. Sitri doesn't know how to truly enjoy herself in the little things of life and relax when outside of work... It'll probably come to the point that she becomes a workaholic and will continue to do so until she burns herself out, just like how I'm coming closer to enjoy killing others.

"Quick question." I asked while putting the money on my bag in order to hide the act of putting it into my Inventory "If the redhead doesn't like the fact that you paid a bastard like me for any assistance, what will you do?"

"I'm 100% sure that she wouldn't mind having you on board in her problems." Himejima replied without any hesitation in her voice, clearly confident that her [King] will get me involved with her shenanigans "And even if that possibility happened, I'll accept any punishment if it means that we'll win."

"...Anyways, what do I have to do?" I asked in fake curiosity in order to change the subject, already having an idea on what to do but I'm giving her the image of me needing bits of instruction for the next move

"We're heading to the ORC." Himejima said while walking past me, no doubt expecting me to follow her lead "Rias, Yumi-chan, Koneko-chan and Grayfia-san are waiting for 'me' to arrive, and 'I' can't keep them waiting."

I didn't nod or verbally responded to her words, but I simply followed her out of the rooftop while I wondered how will things play out since Himejima never did this in canon...

But there's one thing that I have to make sure, is that I can't make myself too noticeable and get myself personally involved with Gremory's problem but fighting with them against Riser. After all, it wouldn't be fun if things are a little too similar to canon.

"...Let's set a few things straight about helping your group, Himejima." I said as she and I are walking through the hallway of the main school building, and while the Yamato Nadeshiko didn't stop and turn towards me or even gave a response, I can tell that she's listening none the less "I'm not going to join your groups' fight against Riser Phenex and his peerage in if the ORC has to, since I rather not get myself put in the spotlight and I'm not a member of Gremory's peerage."

"So the best I can get from you is training us..." Himejima said in a monotone, no doubt regretting her choice of asking for my help in her mind... I've never heard her speak in such a quiet voice before, but I guess there's a first for everything.

"And let's add in the fact that I'm not the best trainer since I never taught anyone before," I replied truthfully since I've never trained anyone in my old world before, even if it's something like cooking fried rice or eggs "But I can see the flaws of each member of the ORC, which will give me an idea on how to help."

My companion suddenly stopped on her tracks, which also caused me to pause as well, and then turned towards me with a slight glare on her face "What do you mean about our flaws?" She asked in a demanding manner, another first just like her monotone just a few seconds ago... She's a lot more responsive towards insults than I've expected.

"I'll explain later, the others need to hear this themselves." I said before continuing on the path towards the ORC "For now, we need to get to the clubroom. We, mostly you, can't keep the others waiting too long."

She didn't demand me to answer her question and I didn't need to look back in order to know that she began to follow my lead, but I know that she's expecting me to explain later.

The short trip to the ORC was once again filled with a comfortable (for me) silence between us and for good reasons. I don't have any reason to ask questions since she filled me in about it earlier, we don't have anything to talk about because of how serious (for Himejima) the situation is and I'm not the type for small talk with someone that I don't know well and we hardly talk with each other during or outside of 'club activities', so neither of us can't start a casual conversation.

When we were just outside of the clubroom, I opened the door for the Yamato Nadeshiko and let her go in first before I went inside myself... And the mood in the room was deathly quiet; Gremory had a disturbed face as she sat at her desk, Kiba was sitting in one of the sofas with a tense smile on her face, Tōjō is sitting on a chair in the corner quietly so she wouldn't get involved with what was going to happen.

...But the one that really took my attention was the person standing near the redhead. A young woman with silver hair and crimson eyes, dressed in a blue and white French Maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head. Her hair, which flows all the way down to her back, features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down, ending in twin braids. And despite being our first meeting, I already knew who this maid is:

Grayfia Lucifuge, The [Strongest Queen] and head maid of the House of Gremory.

"[Observe]." I muttered so quietly to myself that even I had a hard time hearing it, but the [Skill] worked none the less.

*Ding*

Character Name: Grayfia Lucifuge

Alignment: Yōndai Maō, Underworld, Peerage of Erica Lucifer and The House of Gremory

LvL: ?

Profession: Devil, Maid of the House of Gremory, Ultimate-Class Devil, Queen of Erica Lucifer

Title: Strongest Queen, Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation, Queen of Erica Lucifer

Fame: Strongest Queen, Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation, Queen of Erica Lucifer, Traitor of the Old Maō

HP: ?/? Regen: ?

MP: ?/? Regen: ?

...Okay, this is the first time that [Observe] failed to show me the [LvL], [HP], [MP] and the [Regens] of a character. I've used this Skills numerous times, and not once did this happen before. Could it be that Lucifuge is too powerful for me to properly get a read on, or is that the Skill is still too low levelled that it can't see the stats of above "X" level characters? No matter the reason, this is something that I have to improve.

Lucifuge raised an eyebrow at seeing us, mostly towards me. She must be curious about why a human is here, or maybe because she quickly realised that I'm the human that Gremory wanted to fuck with in order to get out of her arranged marriage by losing her virginity... Either way, I'm an oddball in this room that's mostly occupied by Devils.

"...I take it that you're the [Silver-Hair Queen of Annihilation], Grayfia Lucifuge." I stated while staring at the maid in the room, which caused the powerful Devil to simply stare at me with calculating eyes that remind me of a certain heiress "Greetings, my name is Raiga Kōjiro, a member of Occult Research Club... Unless you already knew of my name, thanks to the redhead beside you."

"...Why am I not surprised that you recognised Grayfia with just a single glance?" Gremory asked with a sigh, while I moved towards the sofa that Kiba is sitting and placed myself there before the redhead looked at us with a frown on her face "...Before we start the club, there's something I need to tell all of you."

"Ojou-sama, do you want me to explain the situation?" Lucifuge asked the redhead, who responded by holding up her hand to reject the maid's offer, and I can't help but be amused at the nervous expression on her face.

"The truth is..." She started before getting cut off by the magic circle that form on the floor

"...Phenex." Kiba muttered quietly, but I still heard her none the less.

The light shined through the room and a person appeared from the magic circle before flames started to pour out from the magic circle that ignited throughout the whole room. The heat of the flames didn't have any effect me as I have a thin layer of [Bukoshoko Haki] protecting me, but something else was on my mind...

What the hell is with some Devils and making a dramatic entry?

There was the silhouette of a man behind the flames. When he spread his arm across to the side, the flames disappeared. The person that appeared is a tall young man in his early 20's with short blond hair and dark blue eyes. His outfit consists of a burgundy blazer with gold embroidery on the right with matching pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer is a white dress shirt that is not fully buttoned (just one button short), giving a slight view to his chest...

Riser 'Yakitori' Phenex has entered the board.

"[Observe]." I muttered so quietly to myself that even I had a hard time hearing it, but the [Skill] worked none the less.

*Ding*

Character Name: Riser Phenex

Alignment: Underworld, Peerage of Riser Phenex and The House of Phenex

LvL: 50

Profession: Devil, High-Class Devil, King

Title: Heir of the House of Phenex

Fame: Immortal Phoenix

HP: 589/589 Regen: 15% per second

MP: 745/745 Regen: 90 per minute

So he's actually stronger than a majority of the people in this room... Not that surprising, since the only reason why he lost to Issei is thanks to a bottle of holy water and the [Boosted Gear] increasing the effectiveness of the former.

"Fuu... I haven't come to the human world for a while." Phenex started before turning towards Gremory with a smirk on his face, the look of lust so obvious in his eyes that an innocent child can see it, and will likely comment on it in an innocent manner "My lovely Rias. I came to take you." My amusement grew slightly at seeing Gremory look back with half-closed angry eyes which seemed to be ignored as her fiancé "Then Rias, let's go and take a look at the ceremony hall. The date of the ceremony is decided so we need to check it before then."

Phenex grabbed Gremory's arm, only to lose it as the redhead shook him off "...Let go of me, Riser." The hate and disgust in her voice are so open that even an idiot could sense it. The only one that doesn't seem to notice (and probably doesn't care about) them is Riser Phenex himself.

"We can sure feel the love from your words, Gremory..." I muttered to myself quietly with clear sarcasm, but not silent enough as I felt the stares of everyone in the room turned towards me. Mostly surprise, annoyance from Lucifuge's eyes and a look of seeing someone like a piece of shit from Phenex.

"Huh? Who are you?" The blondie male asked with a displeased tone while he looked at me with disgust.

"I'm just a bastard of a club member, not a servant of your fiancé." I said with a casual wave in a lazy manner towards the blonde male "Don't mind me, I'm just here because of club obligations."

"I don't buy it." Phenex replied with a disbelieving tone in his voice, glaring at me from where he stood "There's no way that a guy, especially a regular human, would be here out of club obligations."

"Well aren't you observant," I replied sarcastically with my eyes closed while the gears in my head turned on why he's focused on my existence in the room right now... The only reason I can think of at the moment is that he doesn't like guys outside of his or Gremory's family near the redhead or any girl that he considered to be in his harem, which might extend to Gremory's peerage "And here I thought that your mind would be filled with having your way with Gremory here, based on your few seconds of dialogue with her."

"Do you know WHO you're antagonising?" The Yakitori demand while he moved closer to the sofa that I'm sitting on right now and looked down at me with a very pissed off glare in his face.

"A dip-shit that tries too hard to be a man?" I guessed sarcastically while standing up at full height, refusing to let him feel superior by figuratively and literally looking down on me, even if he's taller than me by a few inches "Besides, I wouldn't talking shit about you if you just ignored me and continued on harassing your fiancé."

Phenex raised his right fist that's glowing crimson red, giving the image that it's going to lit up in flames "Give me a reason why I shouldn't destroy you right now?"

"...Am I supposed to be intimidated by your glowing girlfriend? Because I've seen far worse than that." The light emitting from Phenex's fist seemed to increase slightly in strength from my insult. Honestly, it's amusing how easy it is to piss off someone you don't know and know well enough that they can't attack you "But I would understand if you're shit when it comes to intimidation, Phenex. After all, why could anyone be scared of a face that some people would want to punch so hard that the damage is permanent?"

"You filthy and arrogant bastard..." The blonde growled while he reared back his fist, his intentions clear as day "Know-"

"Riser-sama, Kōjiro-san, I would prefer it if the both of you do not fight." Lucifuge's voice interrupted the two of us and put an end to the start of a possible fight between me and the heir of the House of Phenex, which I responded by shrugging my shoulders before crossing my arms and sat back on the sofa again.

Though he was still pissed, Phenex released a breath that made the glow on his hand disappear while putting back down said hand and taking a few steps away from me before smiling towards Lucifuge "If the [Strongest Queen] asks me not to fight, then how can I disagree?"

The silver-haired maid regarded the heir of the House of Phenex, who kept on smiling towards the powerful Devil, and then she turned me, which I just stared back without saying a thing, before she nodded "If everyone has calmed down, then we can get back to business."