Scarlet 58 (Patreon)

Scarlet 58

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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“Yeah, sorry. Pop died in the last Great War.”

I almost spat out my drink.

“What the hell, Azazel!?”

“Hey, you asked. He went out swinging. Took out Lucifer and everything.” Azazel shrugged and took a chip from the table. We were both at a park near the school. I could feel a lot of looks our way from passerby. However, I was more focused on the fact that capital-G God was dead. “Heavens kept it quiet, and so has Hell. Everyone with power knows, but the masses don’t. It keeps everything nice and stable. Heck, he even managed to fix up and finish the Sacred Gear system before dying.”

I processed the information with all the grace and ability that I could muster.

“Well… shit.” I was working under the impression that the current peace was… enforceable. However, God being dead also made things make a bit more sense. The Church was filled with people who were doing crazy things that went against their doctrines almost completely. Then there was the whole conference that just happened, after the attack made by Kokabiel, where all three Factions came together to hash out peace talks right after conflict nearly ignited again. It was fast, as if everyone was prepared to set it up and make it happen if things suddenly got hot. “So, everyone in power is invested in peace, but not everybody in every faction wants it.”

“Right on the money. Kokabiel’s not alone. There’s a bunch of nutcases who want to be stupid and drag everyone else in. Heaven’s fine, but the Church isn’t, and both the Grigori and Hell are riddled with a lot people nursing scars and hatred.”

“Heaven’s fine?”

“Oh, yeah. Michael and everyone else are keeping things together up there and working on things. I’m helping a bit. They’ve got a system like the Peerage one coming up soon, that’ll let them start producing Angels again.” Azazel shared a national secret with me and I glowered at him, while he chuckled. “C’mon, knowledge is power. Don’t you want as much as you can get?”

“Pertinent information is important. Going out there to know everything may as well be going out there to make everyone your enemy. I don’t want everyone’s secrets. Just my enemies and the threats to me and mine.” I shook my head, and helped myself to some beef jerky that he brought from overseas. It was a familiar taste. Just peppery, smoky, and a bit smoky. Over here, in Japan, the closest thing that I could find was still too sweet for me to enjoy. I also missed American pizza and pasta and not what they had here. “I don’t want trouble.”

“Trouble will find you. You’re a Dragon, Issei-kun. There’s no way you’re not going to have an interesting life.” Azazel pointed out, and I grunted. He helped himself to some more Japanese snacks and some sake, while I indulged in some basic potato chips from America. Basic and boring, but the taste was unmistakably the same as from my previous life. “You’re doing things right by making allies, keeping potential ones in on the wings, and not making enemies… but eventually, you’re going to be looking across at the battlefield at people who just want to defeat you for glory.”

It comes with the territory, yep. But we already knew that.

“The plan is to horribly maim and injure whoever tries that first. There are plenty of Dragons in history who’ve just been left alone, because everyone knows better than to pick fights with them.” Azazel conceded the point with a snort of approval. I spent some time thinking about the situation some more, before continuing after swallowing another bite of jerky with some chips. I thought about asking for some spray cheese, but I had enough pride not to. “God being dead only changes one thing: the potential for your people, Heaven, and Hell to mess things up. There’s no one to enforce peace through deterrence.”

“Yep… along with all the other people who want to cause chaos for one reason or another. Honestly, we’re lucky Kokabiel didn’t manage to blurt it out. The fact we’ve managed to keep it a secret for so long is impressive already.” Azazel’s words made me frown. It was problematic twice over. The threshold for things to go wrong decreased with God being dead. However, maybe more importantly, the level of entry to start something awful and ignite things also decreased with God not being in the picture. It’ll only take one actor with sufficient strength and influence to set the world on fire. Yeah. This isn’t good. “What are you thinking? You’ve got the sort of look on your face humans mostly have when they’re about to do something dangerous.”

“I think that I need to grow stronger, while getting more allies than I thought, and that meeting the Hero Faction with Vali is a good opportunity to do that.”

“Oi… that might not be a bad idea. If we’ve got actual humans, not affiliated with Heaven ready to keep the peace, then we’ll all be better off.”

“That’s what I thought.” Gangs in the Bay warred with each other, but they never went so far as to make themselves easy prey for the Protectorate. The same could be said for nation-states. A country wouldn’t attack its rival, if another with more firepower and ability to move it was going to come in to make sure that the status quo remained the same. “We take the firepower that the budding Hero Faction has, and their desire for acknowledgement, and use it to keep everything in line and in check. Instead of being a destabilizing factor, we’ll make it into a stabilizing one.”

“Hm, from my research, they do follow the rule of whoever’s the strongest leads, so that can work. We just need to put you in charge… but you’ll need to beat Vali for that. He won’t let you take over that organization, if you don’t actually do it.” Azazel mused for a moment before giving a ‘tsk.’ I felt the same way and mimicked him. “That brat would sooner make the organization his and use them like lackeys or just keep them around to gloat over you. That’ll just have them scatter to the four winds.”

I think I’m predicting what needs to happen here.

“Then, I need to get stronger. As strong as possible, as fast as I can.” It was all about strength and power at this point in time. Azazel nodded in agreement, while I gripped my hand into a fist. With a bit of will, I summoned my Sacred Gear. “Hey, how strong do you think I need to be to take the Hero Faction on all by myself?”

Azazel pondered for a long time before replying.

“If you want to live through it and do it by yourself, probably three times stronger than you are now at your full strength. That’s not happening anytime soon, so you’ll need to look into your contacts.” Azazel levelled a steady gaze my way. “I know you want to keep your people safe, but there’s a difference between caring for them and putting them in a gilded cage, Issei-kun. Remind yourself that they’re still people. Not objects in stasis that you can just keep stored away forever and collect.”

The moment he stopped speaking, a weight seemed to fall from my shoulders, while he hummed.

“If you’re interested in just collecting and earning, go play some gacha games or start antique collecting. Both are money sinks, but no one gets hurt. Except your wallet.”

“…You could’ve just stopped talking and it would’ve been easier to respect you.”

“Bah, respect’s easy to get. A laugh though? That’s hard.”

I snorted and Azazel chuckled, while the two of us went on and indulged in the snacks each other offered.

Yeah.

While I gather enough strength, I’ll need to rely on Rias, Sona, and the others.

I disliked it.

I wanted them to just live their lives while I kept problems away.

But they’re part of my life and I’m part of theirs, like Azazel said, and they get to have a say in how things go.

…It’d be better if you were just strong enough to not have to, but I guess this is fine. Until you have enough strength.

I agreed with Ddraig wholeheartedly, but what I wanted and what I needed to do were both separate things at this point.

Until I have enough strength, I’ll need to compromise.

…

Sona sighed while Rias giggled and Akeno smiled brightly.

“Well, that’s a loss on my part.” Sona stated simply, turning to the other two sitting beside her across from me in the booth. We were just students eating together after school in a café to any passerby’s eyes. “Rias and Akeno said you’d talk to us about whatever concerned you first, while I believed we’d have to extract it from you.”

“Sona-chan, you need to trust Ise-kun more. He listens to advice and he learns really fast! And, he’s nice, too.” Rias beamed. The compliments rapidly made my face feel like I was too close to a bonfire. I’ll need to be very nice to Rias later. Nice in the way she likes. Gross. Shut up, Ddraig. “Ise-kun might need some prodding, but he’ll do the right thing for the people that he cares about.”

“Indeed, Ise-kun is quite direct when needed, though he knows when to be subtle and when to delay when he needs to.” Oi, Akeno. No bedroom eyes outside of the house and… that’s her foot on the inside of my thigh. I glared at her and moved her foot away. The blush on her face just deepened, while her smile widened as she placed her face against her hand with a sigh. I’d call it swooning, but she’s just being a tease. Like always. Can you guys stop flirting while talking about important things? I need to pay attention, you know? “You could say he knows what to do at the exactly the right time.”

The innuendos were getting to me, so I hastened the conversation.

“I need your help. I can’t promise you an alliance, because that threatens the stability of the town, but with just your help we can galvanize everyone else to work with me… and I can usurp whatever humanity has to keep everything in check.” The plan was to get power in order to get powerful enough to become even more powerful. It was simple and ridiculous, but in this world limits were a suggestion. Ordinary human beings can train hard enough and use magic to contest Dragons, even without Sacred Gears. They may be rare, but the Sacred Gear system existed to point them out and mark them. Given the fact that I had a Longinus, I had no excuse. Reaching the absolute pinnacle of human ability was within my reach. I couldn’t refuse. “The Hero Faction exists and it has multiple, powerful Sacred Gear users. They’re human-centric and see everyone who isn’t as foes. As they are now, they’re a threat to peace, but if they can be corralled and controlled, they can become a stabilizing agent.”

“I’d hardly call a deterrent a stabilizing agent, but I suppose that it can work as one to some degree. You must remember that deterrents only work if they are never used in an offensive manner, Ise-kun.” Sona spoke freely and I listened. My rapt attention wasn’t lost on her. She pushed up her glasses… and nearly unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. Thankfully, she managed to catch herself after a kid that was nearby ordered something from a waitress. A blush formed on her face and she coughed while ignoring the grins sent her way by Rias and Akeno. I was grateful for the coincidence. I wouldn’t have been able to stop her. “I agree, though. With the new information that we’ve received, it’ll be for the best that we work together and find a countermeasure against future threats to the peace known to this world. I will be happy to assist you in getting strong enough to usurp the head of this Hero Faction.”

“Me, too. I’m happy to help, Ise-kun! And, I’m glad that you’re willing to ask me for help, too.” Rias sent a bright smile my way. It was almost radiant. How could a species that was weak in the sunlight be so radiant? “I think that a few Rating Games would be great as training. There’s a tournament coming up where up and coming heirs and heiresses to Pillar Families will be participating. You can fight with my Peerage.”

I looked at Sona, who was already shaking her head, before asked my question.

“There’s no need to hesitate. Rating games are a way to test yourself against your peers and grow as individuals. It would be remiss of me to not have my Peerage face you, as well as for you not to face my Peerage.” Sona explained stoically, but she has a smirk on her face. She sat straight and was in perfect control of her posture. I could tell that she was confident. “You’ve done well to face many of your foes as an unknown quantity. It will be a good chance for you to fight against opponents who know the extent of your abilities and who has enough strength to challenge you, such as myself.”

It was a firm declaration by Sona that she could fight and face me in combat.

“That’s hot.” I stated simply, while Rias and Akeno nodded in unison. Sona’s composure was instantly blown away by my statement, and her face turned completely red. Practically instantly, she leaned over the table and started shaking me by my collar with both hands while making a cute and constant whining sound. Now, she was being cute. “Cute.”

Both Akeno and Rias crossed their arms and gave nods of understanding and acceptance at my words.

As she kept shaking me, I considered what lay ahead.

Fighting powerful Devils is a good way to gain strength and experience, but more importantly it’ll give you clear goals to work towards.

That’s right.

Just gaining strength wasn’t as productive as I wanted it to be. It was just blasting away, letting my reserves deplete, and pushing my limits. Little more than doing a training routine.

Now, though, I had targets to train for, analyze, and confront head-on.

Yeah.

This felt a lot better than just mindlessly training already.