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"Whoa, more cute girls?""No surprise there, it's Senior Minato after all. So jealous…"
Voices of amazement echoed from all directions on the way to Kuoh Academy.
And really, who could blame them?
After all, Minato was walking with six followers by his side.
They were easily the most eye-catching group on the road.
Erica and Liliana had already transferred to Kuoh Academy in record time and were now wearing the school uniforms.
Seeing the girls laughing and chatting along the way, Minato couldn't help but smile.
You had to admit—
When it came to social skills, Erica was seriously a master.Thanks to her, even Liliana managed to blend into the group quickly.
"You don't need to push yourself, y'know," Minato said, patting Irina on the head gently. "You could've just had Shiyu ask for a leave on your behalf."
"I-I'm fine now…"
Irina blushed hard, her heart starting to race again.
Yesterday's events still had quite an effect on her. Even now, thinking about it was super embarrassing.
She'd totally thrown all her girlish pride out the window.
Why had she ever agreed to Xenovia's suggestion in the first place?
But still… the result wasn't too bad.
Minato looked at her and smiled softly. "You can come find me again today, if you want."
Irina's body froze a little, then she pouted. "Master, can you not say stuff like that all the time?"
"What? Isn't it a master's job to take care of his followers?"
Minato said that with a perfectly serious face.
"Heh… hehe…"Erica, walking behind them, twitched at the corners of her mouth.
Her King… when he acted all serious like this, it was honestly unbeatable.
Thud!
A dull thump rang out as Erica walked right into Minato's back, flattening the waves in front of her in an instant.
"What's wrong, my King?""Doesn't look like it from the outside, but you're packing, huh.""Can you be serious for once, my King…"
Erica's face flushed red, clearly embarrassed. "You totally did that on purpose!"
"You're my follower. How could that count as taking advantage?"
Minato grinned, then got serious again. "Alright, enough teasing. We've got company."
The girls finally looked ahead.
A man in casual clothes stood there—but his features were unusually striking, almost devilishly handsome.
Shiyu instinctively asked, "Who is that?"
"One of the Four Great Demon Kings—Ajuka Beelzebub."
"Demon King?!"
Asia got nervous. "Wait, is that the same title as Rias's big brother?"
Erica's expression turned wary. "My King, looks like he's here for you. Be careful."
Seeing Erica tense up like a lioness, Minato chuckled. "Relax. I'm not just a God Slayer, I'm also a devil, y'know."
"…Right."
Erica blinked, then nodded.
Guess she was being a little too jumpy.
I mean, her King really did have a very unusual identity.
"Haha, so you do know me. That makes things easier."
Ajuka walked up, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Lord Minato."
"Sounds like you already know who I am."
Minato nodded. "That saves me the trouble of introducing myself."
"Of course."
Ajuka gave him a quick once-over and said, "If you've got a moment, would you mind coming with me?"
"Sure."
Minato signaled the girls to head to class without him and followed after Ajuka.
Not long after—
They arrived at a quiet, secluded spot.
"First off, let me apologize," Ajuka said. "I've been too busy lately, so I could only meet you with a mental projection."
Minato shook his head, signaling that it was fine.
He'd already noticed the moment Ajuka showed up—this wasn't his real body.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Haha, well, you're the only one in countless ages who's managed to become a God Slayer as a devil. Of course I had to come meet you."
Ajuka laughed heartily. "Plus, I won't be able to attend the upcoming meeting, so I thought I'd drop by to apologize in advance."
"Meeting?"
"You haven't heard yet? I guess Sirzechs hasn't had a chance to tell you."
Ajuka explained, "Pretty soon, there'll be a meeting about you—the God Slayer—between devils, angels, and fallen angels."
Minato smirked. "Wow, I must be kind of a big deal."
"You're more than that. If your existence becomes widely known, it could cause a total upheaval."
Ajuka said with a complicated expression, "Your appearance might completely disrupt the balance between the three factions."
"I see."
Minato nodded thoughtfully, then grinned. "Well, since you're here to apologize… shouldn't you show a little sincerity?"
"…"
Ajuka froze for a second.
Seriously?!
He was just trying to be polite, and this guy really went straight for the loot!
Ajuka gave a helpless smile. "So, what kind of sincerity do you want, Lord Minato?"
"Nothing major. I'm just curious about the tech behind devil chess pieces."
Minato dropped the act: "Think you could let me take a look?"
He'd long since felt that devil chess pieces were limiting.
Sure, he could still get loyal followers without them.
But devil pieces were way more convenient—and had way more potential.
"You're actually interested in that?"
Ajuka looked surprised, then chuckled. "Sure."
"Wait, you're just giving it to me like that?"
"Why not? It's not like it's anything super precious."
Ajuka smiled and said, "Honestly, the devil piece system was just something I developed to help devils reproduce and expand."
"If it weren't for those pureblood fossils scared of losing their status, I would've shared the tech ages ago."
As he spoke, a glow appeared in Ajuka's hand, and a notebook appeared, which he handed to Minato.
"Well, I won't hold back then."
Minato took it and started flipping through.
[Root 1001][Root 1005]
The technology was complex, but there wasn't actually that much content. Minato quickly memorized it all.
"This tech… with a few tweaks, there's no need to limit it to just chess, huh."
Closing the notebook, Minato's eyes sparkled.
"Exactly. But again, those old fossils don't want to see too many reincarnated devils."
Ajuka shrugged. "So yeah… you could say it's a kind of compromise."
"....."