AdrianKing
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Game of Monsters - 138
🕑 Added 2024-04-30 17:55:51 +0000 UTCDisclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.
Ain’t Ever Wannabes
“I said I was sorry,” Joshua most definitely did not whine. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that there was no way he was getting himself off the hook with just words. It was ridiculous. “You are supposed to work for me. Why are you glaring at me?” he grumbled, turning away from Ravel’s pout and glare combo.
It was very effective, as it turned out.
“Exactly. I’m supposed to help you with this kind of thing, sir,” she said, trying to sound professional, despite the exceedingly childish expression she wore. “I can’t do my job if you don’t tell me about these things.”
“And I said I was sorry,” he repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “I’m used to doing this kind of thing on my own,” he added, running his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I did that badly,” he mumbled under his breath, although he did so loudly enough to be heard.
“That you didn’t, I guess,” the girl admitted reluctantly.
“Do I have to repeat that I’m your boss?”
“Yes, which one would think you’d let me do my job,” the girl grumbled, looking at the notepad she was holding and flipping through a few pages. “House of Water is very solidly in your debt if you haven’t left anything out,” she mumbled then and Joshua had to roll his eyes. It seemed she wouldn’t let that go for a while.
“I’ve already asked of them what I could, I think,” he pointed out, leaning back on his seat at the table of his home. Jeanne was out with Kiba, he was pretty sure, and Asia was in her garden. His familiars were, for the most part, keeping the fallen trio training, much to Raynare’s delight.
That is, with the exception of Cheshire, who was accompanying him.
Then there was Kuroka, who was waiting-
“I have some ideas for other things, actually, if you are interested,” Ravel said, looking at him with wide eyes that reminded him of Kunou when she really wanted to show off some illusion circle she’d worked on. It made him smile fondly almost out of instinct.
“Sure thing. What did you have in mind?” he asked, leaning forward and resting his chin on his palm, preparing himself to hear her out, at least. For one, Serafall had picked her for a reason and she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, from what he’d seen so far. For another, maybe she’d stop being upset if he heard her out?
It was worth trying and she seemed fairly pleased with just his response already.
“Well, I can’t tell you what you could ask in regards to furthering your magic studies and projects,” Ravel said, her expression clearing and becoming the definition of professional… Which looked very out of place on a teenager like her. How old was she, even? Fifteen? ‘Still knows more about politics than me though,’ he thought to himself, somewhat amused. That subject was really not his strong suit, after all. “However, I think something you can do with your accumulated favor is get a seat at the top of the association, if you are interested. You are the one person that pushed them into a notorious position, so asking for a position back wouldn’t be out of place.”
“Sounds like it’d be a bother more than payment,” Joshua commented, not even trying to hide how unimpressed he was with that idea. However, much to his surprise, Ravel was unphased by his reaction.
“I expected you’d say that. However, while many would use such a position to further their political agenda or try to amass more power, you can use this to solidify your reputation too,” she continued and now she definitely had his attention. “Because most of what is being spread around about you are stories of feats which, while impressive, don’t have any… tangibility, as it were.”
Well, she was getting somewhere with this, it seemed. Somewhere that Joshua might actually be interested in. It sounded like politics though, which made him almost grimace. Alas, that was an inescapable evil for him already. With the relationships he was part of, there was just no way he could stay out of that mess, sadly.
“As of this moment, Mr. Davis, you are only a teacher at House of Water, tutor of Kunou of the West Youkai Faction and a contracted magician of my family, the Phenex,” Ravel continued explaining, flipping the pages on her notepad to check on some other part. He was actually somewhat curious to know what she had written down there. “None of those are something to scoff at, but at the same time… they are not enough. Beyond that, there’s your position with the Egyptian Pantheon, but that’s… a little bit of a gray area, in this discussion. They don’t interact much with the world, after all, so other than not contradicting you or backing you up if someone actually dares to challenge you, nobody can know that for sure.”
“... Ok, I’m listening,” he told her, eyes narrowed as he processed what she was saying. It made sense, he supposed. Despite things going well and Serafall’s and Yasaka’s reassurances, things were only ok. If he could have things go a little better for himself…
“There’s also your… newly released relationship with Serafall Leviathan and Yasaka of the West Youkai Faction,” Ravel continued, making it very obvious that she knew the relationship had been going on before their recent openness on the matter. Not that it was a very well kept secret for anyone that had known them for any length of time before the unofficial announcements. She looked miffed, to his eyes, but he guessed that made sense. It had to be a bit annoying for the Phenex, considering Serafall had been part of the negotiations for their recent “deal”, if it could be called that. “However, these require you to have a solid reputation so it won’t backfire on you… or them,” she added and this time she seemed a little more hesitant, as if she were afraid to upset him.
“Yes, I’m somewhat aware of that. It’s why I pulled strings to raise my reputation,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her. Would she point out that the deal with her family was part of that? Would she be angry? Would she poke again at the evident discrepancies with the stories about his “recent” relationship with Serafall and Yasaka?
Ultimately, Ravel just nodded calmly and read from her notepad once more.
She was full of surprises, it seemed.
“Indeed. However, you can further secure your position and security by solidifying your standing in the supernatural world. That means more… official positions to speak of,” Ravel replied, glancing between her notepad and him as if waiting for him to snap at her or something of the sort. He didn’t know why he would though. She was making sense, from what he could gather. He’d likely double check with Serafall and Yasaka, but for the moment…
“And one such position would be a high one in House of Water,” he continued, making her nod, still hesitant. “That… makes sense. And you are saying that I wouldn’t have to deal with any of the baggage that comes from that because I don’t actually care for any of it?”
“Exactly. Normally, the work put into such a position would be in order to build favor with the association, its members and other associations,” Ravel explained, flipping pages once more. “However, if you don’t, then you’d be… like a silent partner. Director Waterhouse would need to hear you out if you spoke out, but other than that, you could basically continue as you are. I can’t imagine she’d be too opposed. She should know by now that you wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
One would think so, but supernatural people seemed to have the weirdest hang ups.
“Ok, that all makes sense. I guess I could think that over. It sounds like a good idea though,” he replied, and he had to hold back a smile and a chuckle after seeing the way Ravel beamed proudly at him. She was reminding him a whole lot of Kunou, as it turned out. “Any other ideas?”
“I have a few, but I’m currently working out details,” she answered rushedly. “I’m discussing some of it with your… Star students?” she continued, a little unsure if she’d gotten the title right before flipping the pages of her notepad a bit more and then nodding as she likely confirmed that. “There is, however, the fact that you don’t officially have an apprentice. Having someone of standing or renown of any kind would push yours further up too, by association. I know you see the human diviner in such a light, but if you could reconsider, I think Meredith Ordinton would be a great candidate. She’s of royal blood and has a very strong Sacred Gear too.”
Well, if he needed further proof that Ravel was good, that conversation was certainly giving him that.
“Well, we need to talk about quite a bit, it seems,” he commented and somehow that seemed to please his secretary.
Well, if she was happy, he supposed.
[}-o-{]
“I know you two are children, but you could not act like it, you know?” he pointed out, getting both “children” to glare at him. In turn, he raised an eyebrow at them, which only made their pouts more pronounced before they went back to glaring at each other instead. He just sighed, glancing to the side, where a hidden Kuroka giggled.
“Chicken,” Koneko deadpanned at Ravel and Joshua almost sighed. Especially because he saw the way the Phenex all but bristled at the name. He could almost see the ruffled feathers and all, if the girl had had any. Instead, he settled for firmly planting a hand on the nekoshou’s head.
“No name calling,” he told the white-haired girl and he could have sworn she was pouting again. It was nice to see Koneko be more expressive… but he just wished it were for different reasons. ‘I think this kind of rivalry was canon too? What’s up with that?’ he wondered to himself. “Ravel was here first and she’s helping me with some of my business, so please be nice.”
The Phenex really wasn’t helping with the smug look she sent Koneko’s way.
“Do I have to?”
“Yes,” he answered before turning his attention towards Ravel. “And you, be nice to my guests,” he added, making her stiffen and then look down at her notepad sheepishly.
“Sorry, sir,” she mumbled and Joshua brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
“I’ve told you to stop calling me sir,” he said with an unimpressed expression.
“Sorry, sir,” she added, more cheekily, if tentatively. Well, that was… progress? Maybe? He’d choose to see it that way.
“Why is the chic-” Koneko started before pausing at the look he gave her. “Why is she helping you with business?”
“Because Serafall likes to meddle and I needed someone to help me organize my schedule. I’m a busy man, you know?” he commented, leaning back on his chair and bringing his cup of tea to his lips. “Also because she knows more about stuff like politics than I do… or care to learn.”
“Hm, she’s boring, then,” Koneko mumbled, nodding to herself as if everything had gone back to making sense in the world. He didn’t need to look at Ravel to know she hadn’t taken that well.
“Excuse you?!” Case in point.
“You’ll both behave yourselves or I’ll be sending both of you home. I don’t care who starts something, but I will end it,” he warned them, making both girls stiffen a little. “And no cookies for you, Koneko.”
“... I wasn’t lying,” she mumbled, pouting at him much more expressively than he’d have expected. It almost made him change his mind. Almost, but not quite.
“Now,” he started, ignoring the nekoshou’s look. “In the spirit of distracting you so you don’t go back to being children,” he said before rolling his eyes as both girls huffed. “I think we could play a game.” Well, they were curious now, which was great. “How would you two like to play a card game?”
That was how they started a mini-tournament while playing with Project Duel. Kunou and him had gotten it more or less done by then. Now they were mostly working on adding more and more cards to it. It wouldn’t have been a very long activity to get through, admittedly, with just three people. However, neither of the girls knew what the game was all about, so he had to explain things as best he could and help them create their own decks to play with.
Unsurprisingly, Koneko went for a Beast deck that had felines aplenty while Ravel went for a Fire deck with a Phoenix as the ace card.
The games were a little awkward, since they were still getting used to playing, but Joshua didn’t mind explaining to them. In the end, the tournament didn’t even take off, really. Instead, Koneko and Ravel spiraled into a series of matches and rematches while they tried to one up each other. It was actually quite adorable, but he did have to stop them from trash talking too much.
Eventually, he had to stop them altogether, even if they seemed to be having fun.
Either that, or they were a breath away from killing each other.
It was hard to tell.
“I could stay a little longer,” Ravel mumbled, shuffling where she stood.
“You have places to be, I’m sure. I also have plans in a bit, so there’s that,” he commented with a smile as he shook his head. “Besides, I have to separate you two or you’ll never get off each other's throats,” he added, getting a pout from the Phenex that he was sure was mirrored by the nekoshou behind him.
“I’ll, um, look over my ideas and we can talk about them further next time?” she asked shyly, fidgeting with the notepad in her hands.
“Tomorrow,” he told her, getting a beaming smile in response. She was entirely too adorable. If her family weren’t so troublesome, maybe things would be a lot simpler. “See you then, yeah?”
“Until then, sir,” she said, back to her “serious” persona before she teleported away.
“Now, what do you want to do?” he asked, turning towards Koneko. “I have time before my next appointment comes around,” he commented, which was going to the cafe and helping around because Jeanne was going to go with her club to hang out and she wanted the best food for her friends.
“We could play?” Koneko asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “... Is she here?” she added then and he nodded, doing his best not to glance towards the corner of the room where Kuroka had been watching them. “Maybe I could… play with her?” Koneko asked hesitantly.
“If you are sure,” he replied calmly, neutrally. He resolutely ignored the spike that Kuroka’s emotions sent through his senses and his spells.
“Hm, I think I am,” Koneko nodded slowly. “Can you… sit beside me?” she asked then and he smiled reassuringly at her.
“Sure. I’ll help you beat her.”
“Excuse you?” Kuroka asked as the spells that kept her hidden and her own tricks vanished. She wasn’t as over the top as she’d usually have been though. She looked downright calm, really. Joshua was sure that was very much intentional.
Maybe the two would actually have a good time as siblings, if awkwardly.
He hoped so.
[}-o-{]
[Issei Hyoudou]
[Partner,] Ddraig said in his mind, which never really did stop being weird whenever it happened. Thankfully, it wasn’t too often. Although, maybe he’d get used to it if it did happen more often? Issei didn’t know, really. It’d be worth it if it was the case, because the dragon was very unnerving. [Can you focus for two seconds?] the giant lizard asked, annoyance clear in his deep, imposing voice. [Lizard?!] Oops? Regardless, Ddraig seemed to pause and take a deep breath in. [The magician’s spells are… very powerful,] the dragon commented then.
‘Yes, yes they are,’ Issei thought to himself, grimacing as he felt the constricting presence of Joshua’s Hexes and Wards. At least the Boons were nicer, he supposed. He wasn’t great at sensing magic yet, but he’d been under their influence for long enough that he was picking up on them a little.
Aika had a much better idea though, admittedly. Magic was her thing.
Awful as they were to experience though, they did wonders for training.
[That they do,] Ddraig agreed appreciatively. Issei was a little confused as to why his partner was so chatty, but he guessed it wasn’t too surprising. The dragon had gone on and on about how he needed to be strong to fight “the White One” which Issei had learned meant the wielder of Divine Dividing, the Vanishing Dragon.
He couldn’t say he was looking forward to that, but the way everyone talked about it, it was inevitable. Issei was definitely not a fan of that. However, Joshua had explained it to him rather simply. He was a great teacher like that, after all.
“The supernatural world is a dangerous place, Issei. The Vanishing Dragon and any number of other individuals can come looking for trouble. I personally don’t care for getting stronger but…” Joshua had said. “... I need to be strong, for the sake of my family and the people I care about. Every time I feel like slacking off, I remember that someone can and will come to threaten them. I imagine how it’d be to be in that situation and be too weak and… I hate it. I hate it so much that I work twice as hard instead.”
Issei could definitely understand that.
He visualized that as he prepared to face the fallen, Raynare, once more in a spar. He imagined her, with her resting bitch face, threatening his life, threatening Joshua’s life, threatening Aika’s life, threatening his parent’s life. It wasn’t particularly difficult, considering that she was far from nice.
Anger flowed through his veins as he did and Issei felt Boosted Gear thrumming with power.
[Yes… It seems we owe that man, partner,] he heard Ddraig said, sounding happier than he ever had up to that point. [After all, without him… We wouldn’t have achieved this.]
‘I don’t know what you are talking about, giant lizard,’ he thought, pushing the dragon’s voice aside. He was angry now and he wouldn’t stop being so until after he got some punches in and maybe slammed the bitchy fallen into the ground. There was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.
Well, that and the fact that he might have visualized a little too we-
[Boosted Gear: Scale Mail,] Ddraig called from his gauntlet… and then it stopped being just a gauntlet. The piece of armor grew over his arm, his chest, his other arm, his head and his legs. In a second, Issei was covered in bright red armor with some yellow accents here and there and deep green gems in some places.
Well, that had certainly killed whatever anger he’d mustered with thorough surprise.
“No fucking way,” Raynare muttered from in front of him. Now that he turned to look, it was kind of weird that he could see perfectly fine with a full helmet on his head, right?
“Huh, it worked. I had wondered,” Joshua’s voice said from behind him. “A little push was all it took?”
[A little push, he says. You found a dangerous human, partner,] Ddraig commented and Issei was surprised to find some amount of respect there. [It’s not every day that a human forces Balance Breaker. On someone else no less.]
“Well, I think the spar will be canceled now,” Joshua commented and Issei was confused for a moment. At the questioning tilt of his head, his employer/friend?/teacher chuckled. “You’ll drop to the ground in a second, buddy, in case you didn’t notice.” Sure enough, Issei felt himself surprisingly drained when he pointed that out. A moment later, the armor disappeared and he dropped to his knees. “We gotta work on your stamina and then on your Balance Breaker.”
“Ok? Do you mind if I just…?” Issei asked, dropping on his back on the floor of the training facilities.
“Not at all. This is a huge step for you, man,” Joshua reassured with a chuckle. He was right.
“Am I strong?” Issei asked, his eyelids feeling heavy but feeling… accomplished. Joshua had made it sound like Balance Breaker was some crazy powered up he’d get in the future. To get it so fast… “Strong enough?”
“You are getting there, Issei. You can rest now.”
“Ok…”
And so, Issei fell asleep, happy knowing that he was getting there.
He really did owe Joshua a lot, he supposed.
[}-o-{]
[Meredith Ordinton]
She swung her practice sword at her instructor, sweat drops falling down the sides of her face and occasionally threatening her eyes.
House of Water was really bending over backwards for her, she’d learned. Everything she asked, they happily delivered or accommodated for. If she was interested in a book that normal members couldn’t get? Sure, here you go and a few more just to be safe. If she asked about taking a job that would probably be reserved for someone with more pull? No problem, go ahead. If she was feeling a little tired – read, sleepy – in one of her other classes? No worries, we’ll give you notes on it later.
It was really… kind of awesome.
Also kind of awkward though.
Back to the present though, House of Water had been kind enough to do her another favor in the shape of getting her a swordsmanship instructor. She really appreciated it, but the need for practice swords kind of frustrated her. None of them fit in her hands like the Alphecca Tyrant-made shortswords she found she preferred using. However, it wasn’t like she could justify training with holy swords right off the bat for no reason other than because she was a little uncomfortable.
Or maybe she could.
Despite all that House of Water did for her though, Meredith was still kind of nervous about reaching the limit of their patience. She knew she was just there, and they were doing all they were, because her teacher had pulled on the association’s strings, after all. They couldn’t have cared less for her before that, really. Sure, they’d have liked to poach her, probably, since she had talent and a good Sacred Gear, but certainly not enough to antagonize Golden Dawn. Nobody would have done that.
So, she didn’t want to push her luck too much.
Even if it was tempting at times.
When she managed to block and lock her trainer’s sword, Meredith allowed a grin on her face. That is, until she heard clapping from the side and both her trainer and her turned to look. Her eyes widened and her back straightened at the person that was looking in from the side.
It was Joshua Davis himself standing there.
Meredith didn’t miss the fact that her trainer seemed to stiffen, his back straight and she was pretty sure that he gulped. Not that she blamed him, really. Her teacher was a big deal for magicians. Hell, he was a big deal in general, considering all that was happening as of late.
“Doing alright, it seems,” the man in question commented, walking towards them. “Didn’t know you used swords.”
“Good afternoon, Professor Davis,” she greeted, making him chuckle. “I can make swords with my Sacred Gear, so I’ve been training to use them better. They are… comfortable.”
“Good afternoon to you too. I guess I forgot my manners there. Happens to me a lot, sorry,” the man apologized then, giving both her teacher and her a nod. “I guess I could set you up to train with my sister. She has Blade Blacksmith. Hell, I guess I could train with you too, even if I use daggers instead of swords.”
“That-That won’t be necessary, Professor Davis. You’ve already done too much for me,” Meredith replied quickly. Because he really had. As it was, she was probably laughably under his thumb. If he asked anything of her, she couldn’t think of a reason why she’d refuse unless it was truly ridiculous or insane… And even then, it’d depend.
“If you say so,” the man said then, tilting his head and Meredith got the impression that he’d mostly ignored her words. She really wished he didn’t though, because didn’t know what she’d do if- “Well, I hope you aren’t worried about owing me,” he added then and she gave him a sheepish smile because that was exactly what was going on. In response, the man laughed. “I guess she was right,” he commented, confusing her a little before he extended his hand with two nice looking earrings in his hands. “Here. If Iever need you, I’ll contact you through this. Who knows, you might get to pay your debt that way.”
“Thank you, Professor Davis,” she replied, carefully taking the offered items and gazing at them reverently. They might just be her key to even things between her savior and herself, after all. “I appreciate it.”
Her teacher looked like he wanted to say something but instead changed his mind at the last second.
“Guess she was right indeed. I guess I might need to talk to you later about something.” he said instead, shaking his head. That last bit was a little concerning, but he continued speaking before she could get a word in. “Well, I have to go see Agnes now. Take care of yourself, yeah? And see you in the next class.”
“See you, Professor Davis!” she called, since the man had already turned and started walking away.
Meredith could only hope she’d get a chance to actually pay the man back some.
She owed him entirely too much as it was and he seemed intent on making her situation “worse”.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
I forgot to write notes when I edited the chapter and now it’s kinda late so… No notes today. Sorry, in case you are one of the people that actually read notes.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter though.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: Do you read chapter notes?
See you.
Comments
Coyote
I think he should choose an apprentice from each faction, or some job that brings them closer to him. (He has ravel as his secretary already so devils is taken care of) it would bring in some of his favors and create relations better at the same time.
Joaquin Cisterna
Si tbien me gustan las preguntas al final del capitulo me siento parte de la historia muchas gracias por el buen trabajo exelente capitulo.
