Spear Devil - 023

[A/N: Tomorrow's upload will be for The Wanderer, for those of you who are waiting for a new chapter. Enjoy!]

Chapter 023 – Rejected

[April – 2008]

"How much do you know about the Three Factions, Sasaki-san?", Risa suddenly asked seriously.

"Only bits and pieces.", I replied calmly, as I continued, "My awakening came with some knowledge but I am not sure how accurate it is. I knew about your rule in this town from a Youkai I befriended."

"Then let me make things a bit clearer to you so that you have a general understanding of the Supernatural World.", Rias replied with a sincere smile, a thoughtful look crossing over her face for a moment, "The three biblical factions are the Devils, the Angels, and the Fallen Angels respectively, which are currently still at war, even though it is a cold one."

“The last Great War has left the three factions severely weakened due to the many losses in the battles. And while we tried to recoup our losses, Devils have extremely low birthrates, balancing out their extremely long lifespans.”

"Still, one of the current Four Satans came up with a solution to help strengthen the Devil race by reincarnating other races into Devils using the Evil Pieces. These Evil Pieces were then given by High-Class Devils such as myself so that we could create a peerage and increase the number of Devils."

"It's how Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko became Devils even though they were not born into my race.", she explained with a soft look at her servants. I knew all of her peerage members had some kind of trauma and that being reincarnated by Rias had quite literally been their only option for survival.

“Peerage? You mean to say that these three are bound to you by magic? Like slaves?”, I questioned deliberately, a deep frown on my face.

The shocked and appalled look on Rias' face at the insinuation that her beloved peerage were her slaves told me what she thought about my question. I could even see Akeno and Kiba tense up, while Koneko stared at me with a bit more intensity.

“No, no. Nothing like that.”, Rias hurriedly explained, while shaking her head in denial.

“Do you mean that they aren't your slaves, or that you don't treat them like such?”, I dug deeper, not wanting to let her off the hook so easily.

“No- … I- … They aren't- … “, Rias stuttered, her confident facade breaking under my sharp gaze, before she took a deep breath and sighed deeply.

"You are right, Sasaki-san.", she replied quietly, her gaze somewhat downcast as she continued,  "Peerage members are lawfully their Master's property and are supposed to follow any order without question. And while I won't deny that there are indeed Devils that treat their peerage as nothing but slaves, I would never treat my servants like that."

"My peerage is my family!", Rias insisted fiercely, sincerity shining in her eyes, "I would never do anything to harm them or order them to act against their will!"

Easing the frown on my face, I replied with a calm nod: “I do believe you, Lady Gremory. And I know of your House's reputation as 'kind' Devils.”

“Thank you, Sasaki-san.”, she voiced out, simply relieved that I believed her.

It was a bit ridiculous to think of her as a Devil, the incarnation of Sin, when she acted with such sincerity and naivety.

Regaining some of her earlier composure, Rias continued: "Well, the reason I brought this up, is that you, as a half-dragon hybrid and son of the Red Dragon Emperor, are basically a prime target for recruitment amongst all three factions."

"Even though the Church would probably only do so with great reluctance, as they believe in the purity of humanity and aren't as tolerant as the other two factions when it comes to recruitment."

“Still, if word got out about you, which it undoubtedly will in time, then you can expect that there will be many who would want to recruit you for your potential and power. And I fear that some of them will not accept no for an answer.”, she ended.

"Well, if that is the case, maybe I should join a faction.", I replied thoughtfully, frowning slightly, "The Youkai Faction in Kyoto will probably not deny me entry

," I added as if thinking out loud.

“Wait! Why the Y-Youkai Faction?!”, Rias called out unable to hold back, clearly surprised at my words. The look in her eyes had turned somewhat panicked.

Looking at her calmly, I replied: “Well, from what I heard and what you explained. The Devil Faction is a no-go, as I would basically be a slave by law. I can't treat something like that lightly, as I will not join a faction that tries to enslave me.”

“And the Fallen don't come across very trustworthy, considering that I discovered four of them in the Old Church planning to kill a human just because he was a Sacred Gear wielder. And as you said the Church isn't very tolerant, so why-”

"Fallen in the Old Church?!", Rias interrupted me with a surprised shout, while I could see Akeno's gaze turn positively murderous for just a moment before a fake smile spread across her lips as she giggled quietly.

Yuuto likewise tensed, his expression hardening, while Koneko just jumped a little and rubbed her ears when Rias suddenly shouted from right beside her.

"I already told Lady Sitri about it, and she assured me that she would take care of them.", I explained, causing Rias to calm down again while Akeno still frowned slightly, seemingly disappointed that she couldn't torture some poor Fallen.

“Anyway.”, I continued calmly, “The Youkai Faction seems most likely to accept me without expecting me to give up my freedom and dignity.”

"W-Why not join my peerage?", Rias finally just come out with it, unable to stop herself as she saw that the situation had turned very unfavorable for her, "As I told you, I don't treat my peerage like servants. They are my family and I would protect them with my life."

“And as long as you reach the High-Class, you will even be given your own peerage. With your father being the Red Dragon Emperor, such a thing is only a matter of time.”, she added almost desperately.

[A task has been generated.]

[Become a Devil. Reward: One-Time-Use Path-Changing Ticket(Rare), Blood of the Demon(Rare), Resistance Bracelets(Rare).]

Ignoring the system message for the moment, as I had expected a task to be generated due to Rias' offer, I instead focused on the crimson-haired heiress and addressed her.

"But you don't make the laws in Devil society, do you?", I questioned, "It doesn't matter how you treat me if I am just a slave in the eyes of the Supernatural World without any rights to refuse your orders. You don't really expect me to give up my humanity and freedom on your word alone, do you Lady Gremory?”

“I- … I-I don't … “, she relented, finally realizing what she really offered me – a collar.

Still, I knew that Sona wouldn't have just given up like that in her recruitment, which just showed that Rias had never really done this before. All her servants had practically been served to her on a silver platter, she never had to convince someone to join her, to bargain for someone's life and service like a true Devil.

Even her peerage looked somewhat defeated, none of them throwing me any threatening looks. It seemed my words had brought my point across more effectively than I had expected.

"Well, I don't plan to make a decision about that any time soon though, as I still plan to first finish my second and third year of high school here in Kuoh before joining any side. Only you and Lady Sitri know of my heritage after all, so I should be fine for the time being.", I said, as I rose from my seat.

I knew that my words caused a spark of hope to reignite in Rias' heart, as she would undoubtedly think that she could find something to make me change my mind, which was exactly what I wanted.

You never accepted the first offer for something you knew the other party wanted, especially not when you knew that the other party was desperate. And Rias was about to get very desperate as soon as Grafyia came to visit her and inform her that her time was up.

Which was exactly the time when I would be able to get the most benefits for joining her peerage. Even though it was true that the Youkai Faction might accept me.

The problem with that though was that I had too little knowledge about them and I did not want to risk joining them on a hunch, even though I did believe that they might be welcoming.

Joining Rias was still the best course of action, as long as it happened on my terms.