We have two reasons for coming early." Grayfia cut in, drawing the attention of the entire room "First, to satiate my King's desire to check in on you and your peerage." Rias sighed at that while Sirzechs merely chuckled "Secondly is to perform a thorough examination of Kuoh Academy in order to prepare for the upcoming conference between the Faction Leaders."
"The conference is going to be held here?!" Rias exclaimed, turning to Sirzechs for confirmation, only to gape at his nod "Out of all the places you could have chosen, why on earth would you pick my school?!"
"Well, the truth of the matter is we really don't have many other places we could hold it." Sirzechs admitted with a chuckle "In case you forgot, the Three Factions are still an outside party here in the East." He glanced towards Shirou and Xenovia "And while I cannot speak for the Grigori, unlike the Church, who at least have a foothold here, we Devils have a decidedly limited amount influence outside of Kuoh due to the influence of the local pantheons."
'That makes sense…' Shirou mused. After all, despite how well they'd integrated into local society, the fact remained that Rias and Sona were heiresses to House Gremory and Sitri of the 72 Pillars, which, depending on your mythology, were either founded by or held close ties to the Biblical King Solomon.
While he could only begin to speculate their level of influence in the west, where Christendom had taken root, it was safe to say they were on rather thin ice in the East, where Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and countless other faiths reigned supreme.
Hell, there was even a point when Christendom was almost stamped out of Japan entirely, the Tohsaka Clan were apparently descended from Hidden Christians after all, so he could only imagine how hard the Biblical factions had struggled to get settled here.
"But why Kuoh Academy?" Rias persisted, clearly not liking the idea of such a delicate political event being held anywhere near her school, a sentiment that Shirou found himself supporting one-hundred percent. While he doubted Azazel would start anything, and despite his overwhelming power Shirou got the impression that Sirzechs wasn't a violent man, recent events and his own past experiences had left him more than a little paranoid when it came to the Church "Surely we have other venues within the city that could be utilized?"
"It's precisely because we own such venues that we cannot use them." Grayfia supplied "One of the conditions Heaven set down before they would consent to this conference was that it be held on neutral ground. And while it is true that Lord Gremory acts as the Academy's Administrator, the school itself remains under the control of the local government."
"That, and the fact that despite our best attempts at maintaining a façade of normalcy, the school seems to have a rather bizarre penchant for attracting interesting individuals." Sirzechs mused, the Lucifer letting his eyes roam over the assembled teens, lingering perhaps a little longer on Shirou before closing with a smile "I do believe you'd be hard pressed to find a place better suited to host all three factions." He clapped his hands together "But enough about that for now. The hour is late and Grayfia and I really should be getting a move on if we hope to find accommodation for the evening."
"Ah, Maou-sama?" Issei spoke up, halting the Lucifer in his tracks as he raised a hand in the air "If it's alright with you, would you like to crash at my place for the night?"
Casa d'Azazel
"He seriously said that?" Azazel cackled, the Governor General shaking his head in amusement at Shirou's nod of confirmation "Good grief, I knew the kid had more balls than common sense but I never heard of anyone willingly inviting the Devil Himself into his house!"
"It certainly took Rias by surprise." Shirou recalled, earning another round of laughter from the Fallen, the Faker having just finished recounting his meeting with the ORC "You think he'll be okay?" he wondered, shivering at the memory of Sirzechs' power and Grayfia's cold glare "I know he's Rias' brother and all but…it's Issei."
While his opinion of the Pawn had improved from their initial encounter, partially out of a bond of camaraderie and partially due to witnessing how he visibly restrained himself around Asia, the fact remained that, when it came to anything remotely erotic, and especially anything erotic involving Rias, Issei still tended to put both his feet in his mouth.
To make matter worse, he dimly recalled Akeno mentioning that, aside from both being Satans, the one thing both Rias and Sona's elder siblings had in common was that they doted on their younger siblings to the point of obsession. With that in mind, and factoring in the sheer, gut-wrenching terror he'd felt at the feeling of Sirzechs' unrestrained power, it should've been no-surprise to anyone that knew Issei that Shirou didn't value the boy's chances if the Lucifer perceived some slight to his sister's honor.
"Who cares?" Vali scoffed, the silver-haired Devil having decided to join them for breakfast instead of simply heading out to wherever he went during the day, something that was becoming increasingly common as of late ever since meeting Shirou "If he dies, then good riddance, maybe Ddraig's next host won't be so weak."
"Now Vali, that's hardly fair." Azazel chided with the patience of a parent "Keep in mind that, unlike you, Hyoudo Issei was just an ordinary human until Rias Gremory revived him." he nodded his head in approval "Not only that, but my investigation shows absolutely no traces of magical heritage in his background, so even comparing him to the likes of Arthur-kun would be out of the question."
Vali scoffed but didn't deign to refute the argument, instead choosing to quietly finish his meal, the conversation seemingly coming to a halt until Xenovia and Shirou began arguing over who was to clean up "Hey, what time are you two heading out?" he rolled his eyes at Shirou's look of confusion "To school I mean, what time do you have to be there?"
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