Highschool DxD: A New Opportunity - Chapter 41

Part 1

MC’s POV

A few events when by after getting caught by that lady shrouded in darkness, but I will take it to my grave. The next day I went to meet Suzaku, and we chatted about different topics, but what we focused on was the spy I found on her people and the group that is preparing to strike the Five Great Clans. She was saddened by the person whom she considered close kin to be doing that and I had to spoil her a bit by lending her my ŀȧp, or rather, she asked for it in a sweet tone so I found it hard to refuse. I advised her against confronting that person, however, the smart girl already had thought of the same thing. It is easy to forget about it, but the girl who happily frolics on my ŀȧp is the next head of the Himejima Clan. For now, we let the matter as it was but soon they will take care of it. Since we had some time, we shared some knowledge, I tried to teach her a bit of Senjutsu and Touki, but it proved difficult due to her lacking amount of Ki, she only had a regular amount, so she would need to start to meditate to raise it. Nevertheless, I did not fair that well with what she taught me either. I wanted to learn the spell she used to make a silent room, but it was not something that could be learned in one go. The other thing I wanted to learn was about the creation and use of shikigamis, however, she had to leave so her explanation was a brief one. After promising to meet soon, she left.

I had informed her about the travel I would have to do, but I did not tell her the reason.

…

…

…

Days went by until I was called by Kasen-san using a couple of birds that arrived at my house. It might be my imagination, but I could almost swear that their chirping sounded like a proper language to me. However, as soon as I tried to deny it, it went back to being a simple sound.

Regardless of my doubts, I visited the self-proclaimed hermit. Nonetheless, the lady just gave me a bandage that she gently tied to my arm. I feel like her hands spent longer time than usual inside my clothing, but that is surely my imagination.

Without much of an explanation, she simply pointed at her hand, the one was made of bandages, and made it change shapes. She extended her arm or even used it like a whip, but she always maintained full control of it and then turned it into her hand again. I was curious about her reasons, but she just told me to silently take this gift. She had personally made it, and it was not a simple bandage, but it had several enhances attached. The way to use was just simply extending my Ki through it, but it sounded easier to do than actually doing it. Like a busybody, she stuffed my pouch with several things, and some of them made me want to retort but her gentle and caring smile was enough to make me give up that idea.

…

…

…

More days went by, and finally, the time to go and meet Rossweisse came. I was supposed to take a plane there. I had questions, but I never minded planes, at least it was not a train so I was cool with it.

…

…

“Nora-kun, it might be a bit inconvenient to send you this way, but your fiance’s grandmother, Gondul, has an important business to take care of.” Yasaka-san muttered in a regretful tone. “I would like you to take you there myself, but since the master of the house, that is Gondul is not there at the moment, I can’t carelessly teleport you there, otherwise the Norse God’s might not take it favorably if they happen to find out about it.”

At a private airport, I was about to board a plane… no, a damn jet, that Yasaka-san prepared for me. Only a few members were here, Yasaka-san, Kunou-chan, Kuroka-chan, and Shirone-chan. Akiko-san had to stay home as she was not feeling well today, or rather, I had her stay there, otherwise the girl might even crawl this way even if it was difficult for her. I was worried about her mental help, but I had arranged a meeting between her and Tomoe-san so I hope that helps. Artoria was in a rather bad mood at my departure as well, but I was not sure why. Her sister just told me to not worry since it was a simple matter of the stomach. She also apologized for not coming, but I understood their reasons as they were technically fugitives.

“It is ok, I think this thing is overdoing it already.” I muttered.

The damn jet will only have me and the pilot so I think she went overboard.

“I wish I could go with you until that place, but there have been suspicious movements around the city. In particular, a large amount of Youma books has been stolen from their place of storage.” Yasaka-san bit her lips. “Even though the renewal ritual of the killing stone is so close by, problems seem to be appearing.”

The ritual she spoke of, was not something as easy going as it sounded. The killing stone in this world, just like in the legends of my old world, is about ‘that’ one. However, in this world, there were some differences. Tamamo no Mae, the mighty youkai and nine-tailed fox was not killed, she was ‘simply’ sealed. Her body had been weakened enough for it to happen, and they sealed her. Nevertheless, despite how kind she was described by the youkai documents I read, she could not help but start hating her situation, and it soon became hatred, one that began to become a poisonous miasma that harmed those that came near her.

There were a lot of lacking details, but she was said to be one of the first nine-tailed foxes to exist so Yasaka-san was kind of a fan of her. However, even though I asked her, there were details about what exactly happened that she did not share with me. I happened to have many questions because the books I read were not clear enough. That said, the fact that they needed a ritual to strengthen the seal on the mighty youkai is true, not to mention to deal with the poisonous miasma.

“I am sure that everything will work out, Yasaka-san is not unlucky like me so nothing bad will happen.” I said.

Perhaps I should visit that Youkai that absorbs misfortune, she was introduced to me by Kaa-san long ago, but she is a busy individual, so I do not try to interfere with her schedule if I don’t have to.

“Fufu, thank you for the encouragement. If Nora-kun says so, will try to think positively.” Yasaka-san replied. “Now now, Kunou, you have to let go of him, he has to leave, you girls as well.”

At her gentle words, Kunou-chan who clung to my neck did not move, neither did the two cats who were wrapped around my legs to prevent me from moving.

I chuckled at Yasaka-san’s troubled expression.

“Ok, you girls need to listen to the lady. I have to go, the faster I go, the faster I will come back, you know?” I gently patted their head.

The first ones to follow my words were the pair of cats who reluctantly let me go… or not, they both hugged me before planting a kiss on my cheeks.

I widened my eyes in surprise, Kuroka-chan is very affectionate, however, Shirone-chan is the shy type so she rarely displays this level of affection with me.

“Nora-nya has to come back soon-nya, we will miss you-nya.” Kuroka-chan down-heartedly said.

“Onee-sama, I know how you feel, but we both decided to act differently.” Shirone-chan chided her sister.

Nonetheless, just like her sister, her tone sounded a tiny bit sad, while her ears were down just like the black one.

“You are right-nya! I am the Onee-chan so I need to act like one-nya!” Kuroka-chan muttered with newfound spirits. “Nora-nya! Leave this place to me, Onee-chan will take care of the house-nya!”

“Just like Onee-sama said, we will take care of the house so you should go… go, and come back quickly before we get lonely.” Shirone-chan avoided looking at me in the eyes.

What to do? I am overloaded with the feeling of wanting to spoil these two. Should I cuddle them with hugs or shower them with head pats.

I did both.

…

…

…

Sometimes later, I had let go of the feelings I had, and the girls were satisfied.

“Don’t act like you are asleep, you need to let me go. I will come back soon so be a good girl, like you always are, and let me go.” I kindly said.

Kunou-chan who kept silent until now finally released her hands and let herself be carried by Yasaka-san who was smiling wryly.

“This child pays more attention to you than me, I feel a little troubled about it.” Yasaka-san complained.

I would say that is the power of sweets and head pats but the lady in front of me will pound my head if I say it aloud.

“She loves her mother a lot, so that can’t be true.” I muttered.

Extending my hand, I gave a few head pats to the girl who looked pleased. Her fluffy tails were not pardoned either, but she did not dislike it. Talking about tails-

“Yasaka-san, I happened to hear an interesting from Serafall-san. You see, she told me that you were aware of my imminent fate that day, and how you got a lot of things in exchange.” I stared at her with a wide smile.

Since the mood change, Yasaka-san started to sweat coldly but kept a smile plastered on her face.

“…What could you be talking about?” Yasaka-san played the innocent.

“I don’t mind that much since it is for the good of the youkais, but I am mentally wounded, such a wound can only be cured in one way.” I directed my eyes at her tails.

A visible blush appeared on her face and she did not reply.

“Ah! I am hurt, I was sold to other people without even knowing, my future looks grim. That’s it, I will move out somewhere far. The Caribbean Sea has some nice beaches, I could heal my wounded heart there.” I pulled a handkerchief to wipe my fake tears.

My beloved kitsune’s lips twitched but she sight and nodded begrudgingly.

“You win…” Yasaka-san gave up.

My smug smile might’ve annoyed her because her arm was raised threateningly.

“No more jokes, see ya.” I hastily turned around to leave.

Nevertheless, something I was not aware that was possible happened. Fluffy tails like gold stopped me in place, I turned to look behind me but Yasaka-san was still far away, but her tails had somehow extended to stop me. Maybe I could learn this technique one day.

“Take this token, it can be used to communicate directly to me by injecting ki. You can use it to tell me when you arrive and your status every day you spent there. Regardless of what you decide, I will not complain, it was the idiot of your mother who made that kind of promise while being drunk after all.” Yasaka-san said.

Once again, I think that Yasaka is the best woman.

Taking the token from her hands, I inspected it, but it was a plain wooden one, about the size of my palm. It had my name on one side while hers on the other, somehow I liked this wooden thingy.

“Go, I will be waiting.” Yasaka-san sent me off.

I smiled at that, and so I left, but I was not aware that my luck would end up messing with me.

——————————————–

3rd Person POV

It had been an hour since Yasaka had brought the girls back to Urakyoto, and despite her worry at their low mood, she had a business to take care so she left to work after leaving them at Nora’s house.

Raising the document lying on her desk, she briefly read it.

“…Nora-kun left me some strange homework, find these people shouldn’t be hard but I do not know why he wants me to report about their status and ensure their safety. He even sent Shizuku and Marion to prepare a place in the city they are located to use as a base.” Yasaka sighed. “That child even told that it would be beneficial to protect their family and acquaintances, having them owe us a favor will be useful.”

Nora was always thinking of strange things so she was not surprised for getting an odd request, she would do it since she received her payment, Yasaka thought as she patted her stomach. One of the best cakes he has made was eaten already so she can’t back down. It did not help that he mentioned when she was already at half the cake, he got her.

Suddenly, someone abruptly opened her office’s door, Asamiya came rushing in a panicked state.

“Yasaka-sama! Shiki-sama’s jet crashed!” Asamiya exclaimed.

The blonde-haired kitsune felt like fainting at that news, her eyes got blurry but she bit her lips and cleared her head using Senjutsu.

Before she could speak, something on her sleeve started to make noises, when she checked, it was the token used to communicate with Nora. Unknowingly, she gulped before connecting it.

“Nora-kun here, I had a little issue on the way. The jet was taken down, the culprit flew away without engaging.” Nora nonchalantly said. “The pilot is safe, I descended into an inhabited island, or so I thought, but we almost got eaten by cannibals. Man, that was scary. However, Nora-kun is a child who can do it if he tries so we escaped to a nearby island and we found someone who aided us. It seems she strayed from her family and it’s planning to reunite with them, we are planning to travel together.”

First of all, Yasaka felt relief, then she just wanted to head there and with all her love, pound his head. How nonchalant can someone be in that kind of situation?

“Are you not hurt? Is that person someone you can trust? I will send a rescue team on the route that the jet took, hang on.” Yasaka said.

Regardless of her wish to teach him a lesson, she was still worried. Her heart was about to stop, and she would be in trouble, foxes only have one life, unlike cats.

“I am fine, just a broken arm during landing but I fixed that.” Nora spoke. “Her name is Lilitifa-san, and she is a cute and shy mermaid, there is no way that she is a bad person. The name sound familiar for some reason… anyway, I can do this alone just fine, I might take a bit longer to arrive, but I will go meet Gondul-san and Rossweisse-san. As soon as I find a place to leave the pilot, I will contact you, ops, Lilitifa-san is calling for me, I have to go.”

Resisting the urge to crush the token with all her heart, Yasaka swallowed her anger. It is not enough to get a fiance out of the blue, he is now flirting with a girl he happened to meet during an accident. A mermaid, Nora wouldn’t call her cute unless she had the upper body of a woman. She felt annoyed, but she took a deep breath, it is not her business if he flirts with other girls. Even though he had confessed to her almost every day, and she turned him down. No, it is her business, her daughter Kunou will one day be his wife so she should put him in his place, yes, all for Kunou’s sake.

“What should be done? We can send people to picking him up.” Asamiya commented.

Shaking her head, Yasaka turned down the offer.

“Let him be, send people only to keep an eye on him, that child is not your regular kid, he knows how to take care of himself.” Yasaka muttered. “When he is not busy causing troubles that are…”

Yasaka sighed again.

Looking out at the window, the kitsune pondered for a moment.

“There was a child that made him flee just with her presence, right? Could you bring her here? Inform at her place before you do so, use any words to bring her here, not by force.” Yasaka smiled mischievously.

Since he liked to cause her headaches, she might as well cause him some.

Chuckling, Yasaka started to hatch a harmless joke for Nora, without knowing that she would regret it in a few years in the future.

Part 2

MC’s POV

It was a hectic situation, thanks to that mermaid I managed to get to the firm ground after a few days of traveling on the water. Rations and water were in my pouch so I did not have such an issue. A make-shift boat was rather fun to make, I had many things in my pouch so I made a sturdy one.

I run into a couple of troubles during my travels on land though, following the advice from the pilot to visit a Youkai branch in China ended up getting me into some kind of martial arts tournament between humans and youkais. Thankfully, I did not fight any strong one, I would be doomed if someone like Sun Wukong was feeling bored and decided to participate. I am not sure what was a stake either, but some people were going wild during the fights, even to the point of brawling their eyes out. I do not know what the Yang family (the ones who made the tournament) were capable of, but the participants cried about their wishes not becoming true. Those perverts even wanted to marry the daughter of the Clan Head, but she was only 9 years old from what I heard. Not only do shotacons walk around freely, but lolicons run rampant as well. Good thing I made a couple of friends, an energic girl who wanted to fight me after she lost… ok, we might not be friends since she considered me her greatest foe. That said, the other one was actually a friend, she was shy at first we warmed to each other soon.

Such was my visit to China, I feel like my fate is to get mixed in all kinds of troubles, but even I think that it is a bit too exaggerated.

I can’t be that unlucky, can I? I better shut up.

It was not until a week later that I put a foot on Rossweisse-san’s hometown, although I was not even aware of it until ‘that’ happened.

…

…

…

Honestly, it had been a little tough on me, I had the general directions I had to head towards, but even though I bought a regular map on the way, I couldn’t even find the name of that small town on it.

It seems I will need to get closer and look for one there. Contacting Yasaka-san was mostly useless since she hardly left Urakyoto so she could only give me her encouragement. It was enough for the simple me who got enough energy to continue forward. I am a fool in love after all.

…

…

…

I had to postpone my search for Rossweisse-san, something disturbing had come my way.

“Should be speaking about this here?”

“There is only an old man and a brat here, and he is using headphones, as long as you don’t raise your voice, it should be ok.”

I was on a bus that would lead me to the next town I will be checking, but some suspicious guys wearing black raining coats with hoods were riding it as well, and they started to speak strange things. However, what made me pay attention to them was-

“Rumor has it that she is making an essay about the beast of the apocalypse, and one of our leaders is interested to know if it could aid him. That said, I am not sure what kind of use it could have.”

The whispering guys just mentioned something I could not let go, the ‘she’ here is without doubt Rossweisse-san, in the Canon she worked hard to make an essay about it. Right now, besides the bus driver, the two suspicious guys… there is only an old man wearing a brown trench coat, he seems to be asleep so he wouldn’t care about the conversation given that it was made in whispers. I had my headphones but there was no sound coming from them so I heard clearly.

It is a fan’s instinct to protect Rossweisse if they can so I will act, however, if I do so needlessly I will make them send more people later so I have to make it seem unrelated to the Valkyrie.

“Aren’t we quite something? To be sent in this mission despite our limited prowess, perhaps they have seen some hidden potential on us? Wait… could it be that we have some kind of powerful sacred gear?”

Would you listen to this toy? His enthusiastic tone is embarrassing, how delusional can you be?

“Hehe, your thought process has always been slow…”

Yes, tell him, suspicious guy number one, tell the suspicious guy number two to get real-time

“But sometimes you have good ideas, I had also thought of that. I suspect that it could even be a Longinus.”

Wut?

“Big bro! As expected of you, you have the brightest mind of the two of us, I did not even think of that.”

I did not think of that either so that makes us two. Are they on drugs? As expected, my father and mother always told me to stay away from those substances for a reason, and I can clearly see why.

…

…

…

A while later, we finally arrived at the town, it was a small place surrounded by fields where many apple trees were planted. As expected, one of the staple fruits of the area is those. The golden apples in their mythology are famous so it is only natural. Everyone got down at the bus stop, but we all went in different directions. That said, I just wanted to look for a secluded area to change into my cat form so I could follow those guys. I also wanted to get away from the old man in the trench coat, getting him involved would be bad.

…

…

…

Keeping an eye on those dumb but suspicious guys was easy with my ability, although I had troubles using like that time at Sora’s, I think that with enough practice I could manage to do it again, but for now, the usual way is enough to peep- no, to keep an eye on them.

…

…

…

I almost made a blunder and get discovered when my killing intent soared for a bit.

Those scum bags hypnotized a random family that lived on the outskirts of the town, they wanted to use the house as a base of operation for a while or so it seemed, and when the old man of the family took too long to leave, they kicked him out themselves.

I did not want to go hard on them because I thought they were the dumb that gets dragged on evil scheming and plans, but I changed my mind. I shall be brutal, I might even use the forbidden technique passed down by my mother, ‘Civilization’s End’, I recall that it was an almighty technique that mother used to threaten- convince my father with.

…

…

…

I observed for a while longer from a prudent distance but they have not taken any significant actions, I expected them to contact their boss or even call other people through magic, but they are only getting off surveillance gadgets from their bags. It seemed like they are using that method. Although I must say, it is not a bad idea considering that Rossweisse-san lives with her grandmother who is said to be a super-skilled magician, that is without counting the serious valkyrie, she might be young but her skills must be already beyond your average magician, she could detect unskilled magic usage easily so this method is a good counter.

Once again, I looked around to check for possible collaborators but I did not find anyone, although there were many wild animals.

Just in case, I at least changed into a different outfit and covered my face. The outfit was a priest outfit I happened to borrow indefinitely from a pair of exorcists that attacked me on the way here. After beating them, I took all of their belongings as a spoil of war- I mean, I did it so they could not harm innocent youkais. My face was covered with the bandage that Kasen-san handed me, I could control it for a bit so I was able to keep it in place without worrying if it felt, however, I am a little concerned, Kasen-san’s aroma was attached in excess, exaggeratedly. I decided to not give much thought about the particular aroma it had, for Kasen-san’s sake. She is still a young woman and they also have-

————————————-

Kasen’s POV

“Oh no, no, no, no! I gave him the wrong one!!! ARGH! WHY? WHY!? He will think I am a pervert!” Kasen lamented.

She started to clean her house and found that her bandage was missing. She washed them given the important material that was used to make so creating new ones was not so easy. However, the one she gave the boy had her sweat, and whatever scent that might be left after she touched something even-

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Kasen yelled.

She threw her body on the floor and started to roll left and right.

“Even though I wanted to give him one easier to use so he could train in Ki usage, mine is difficult to use, not to mention… the day before changing the bandage I had… AHHHHHHHHHHHH! No, why! Why!” Kasen complained. “…ah, I want to die.”

Kasen stood up with hollow eyes.

“There is only one choice.” Kasen energetically muttered. “I should play dumb, yes.”

Nodding to herself, the self-proclaimed hermit arrived at that brilliant (?) conclusion.

It was much later when Nora had head chopped her, that she thought that perhaps she should’ve given a better excuse.

———————————-

MC’s POV

I somehow got the feeling I should be pounding someone’s head, but I do not know why.

Shaking my head, I got rid of those useless ideas, I had gotten closer to the house but I did not plan to face those two fair and square. I had some herbs on my pouch, I plan to use some of the burnable ones that had sleeping effects to put them out. It might be cowardly, but I couldn’t let my guard down, they are pretty good at hiding their strength since I have not been able to gauge their prowess.

…

…

…

Suspicious guy number two instantly, but number one got alarmed and hastily left the scene, going out of the house so I gave pursuit.

…

…

…

Jumping from one tree to another, I used the advantage of my physical abilities to chase him, the large number of trees from the outskirts was useful for me so I would be silly to not use them.

I waited until he had gained quite the distance from number two so in case that he woke up from his slumber, he won’t offer his help.

…

…

…

Finding the time perfect, I accelerated my speed, number one looked scared when the sound of my landing on the ground was heard, but since I made it on purpose to startle him, I would say I did a good job.

Relying on Senjutsu and Touki, I reached him quickly, and at the distance of about five meters, he turned around and snickered. He pointed his arm at me and from the ordinary bracelet on his left wrist, an ordinary jewel began to shine.

I felt a chill and jumped to one side, not long after, a magic circle had appeared and a blue sphere flew out. It followed a straight path, crashing into the tree that was behind me, splitting it in two.

Yikes, that is dangerous. He did not chant at all, is that an artifact or is he that skilled?

I might’ve taken them lightly because they were delusional but they were chosen for a reason.

Clicking his tongue, he did not bother to strike a conversation, instead, he reached for his pants pocket and pulled a jewel similar to the one in his wrist before he threw it at me. I swiftly moved away. It was the right choice because it blew up. Who are you, Rin? If you want to use that kind of magic, you need to be a cute girl with twin tails.

I did not jump in to test his abilities, I need battle experience in order to grow stronger, and right now he is alone. Just in case, I put my hands on the ground.

“” I muttered.

Following my chant, Ki flowed from me to the earth then to the plants just below that guy’s feet, making them grow and tying him. I have almost made my technique into a spell, and while there are ones similar to mine, it is something I plan to improve to fit me.

He is now being held in place but saw me staying still so he threw more jewels at me. I dodged by rolling on the ground. While I was busy evading, he took off his belt, then from his belt, he pulled a long thin blade that he used to slash the plants tying him down, or at least he tried, I made sure to reinforce those with plenty of Ki so a simple blade-

“How about this!”

He yelled and put one of the jewels in a small crevice located in the belt-sword, it started to heat up until it was red, along with several attacks and the new added effect to the belt-sword, he got rid of his binding. I guess that is the limit to regular plants with the regular weakness to fire.

An explosion coming from the direction we left that guy sleeping distracted me briefly, enough for the guy to throw one jewel at my feet. I managed to jump backward, but my clothing received some damage. Damn it, I just ‘borrowed’ this outfit.

As I am used to, I keep some knives in my outfit so I used them, with my right hand, I threw one knife. The guy sidestepped to the left, but I had sent another one with my left hand with that position in mind.

“Argh!”

His tight was pierced and he stumble due to his previous actions. Watching him fall, I did not dash to beat the sh*t out of him, instead I trapped him with plants. Given that he was lying on the floor after falling, there were more places to tie him.

I covered him completely with plants, but his mouth was uncovered, that said, I will seal it if he starts chanting.

“Who the heck are you!?”

Good question, how should I introduce myself? Depending on the answer I could cause more harm than good. Should I go by the plain ‘you wanted to mess with my woman!’? Nah, Rossweisse-san is not my woman, although she is technically my fiance, she does not belong to me. How about-

“You evil-doer! You made that poor family leave their house for your wicked agenda, I, Freed Sellzen will not stand for this.” I lied.

This should be good enough, nothing wrong was done at this place. Even if something were to happen to that piece of sh*t because of this, I will be able to sleep soundly. Maybe I should’ve used another name that inspired justice, next time, I will use Kotomine Kirei.

“I do not who you are but I will smash your skull when I get the chance.”

Yay!

“Speak, what other evil plans did you have in mind. I saw those cameras and spying devices, are you here to peep on the women while they bathe, you scumbag!?” I raised my voice indignantly.

I must be a genius to come up with so much nonsense this quickly.

“Who the heck is a voyeur? There is no proof of my actions back then so you can’t accuse me of that.”

The guy barked back. I raised an eyebrow but I let the information pass, this world is the kind of place where there is a dragon that eats pȧntɨės.

“Are you alone? I heard there is an ȧssociation called ‘Peeping Toms no more, there are also Jacks and James’, spill the beans, they are targeting the old ladies of the neighborhood.” I pointed at the guy.

If he is as dumb as he talked in the bus, he might just spill the beans in a flustered state, first he will deny my words-

“Y-You! H-How do you know about it!? You know about us!?”

Wut?

I had an urge to smack this guy’s head, but I held it in. It seemed like I would have to use more violent methods to get more info.

“Answer me! We never leave any evidence, how did a nobody like you catch us!? We are over 1000 members working all over the world trying to spread the love of ladies in their 80 and their charms.”

I did not need to know that, I wonder if smacking my head with a brick could erase that memory.

A chill went down my spine and I hastily turned around. An old man in a trench coat was standing a few steps behind me without me noticing. An old wand was grasped in his hand, and the suspicious guy number two was floating behind him. The old man stepped forward and my alertness rose, I did not even feel him. If this guy had been hiding his killing intent, he could’ve easily killed me.

However, contrary to my somber ideas, the old man laughed and directed a kind gaze at me.

“Just like your mother, you get involved in some interesting things.” The old ‘man’ said.

I furrowed my eyebrows at this person’s words. The voice did not belong to an old man, but to a lady who did not sound old at all, she didn’t sound like a young lady either, but the firm tone did not sound immature.

Wait, my mother?

“Who are you?” I warily inquired.

My Ki and even my demonic power started to leak. I do not know who this is, but a suspicious person is mentioning the name of your missing family member, the normal reaction is not exactly to warmly greet each other.

“My, my, you look like her with every action you take. She used to be quite reckless back them.” The old ‘man’ had a nostalgic smile. “Well, I cannot blame you for being wary, I should instead praise you for that. Alright, I guess this is just a bother.”

After saying that and raising the wand, the person in front of me completely changed her appearance. In the place of the old man, an older lady who wears a deep blue colored robe stood. She has a fearless look and a good posture, her figure looks slim and her height should be over 170cm tall.

“We have never personally introduced each other yet, I am Gondul, your mother’s drinking buddy and the grandmother of Rossweisse, your fiance.” Gondul-san muttered with a smile on her face.

I hastily turned to see the guy, if he is awake he will hear everything.

“Don’t worry, I put him to sleep when you were not looking.” Gondul-san commented.

Just like she said, the guy is sleeping like a log.

I could only sigh helplessly, this one will be a toughie.

Part 3

Gondul’s POV

-A few hours before

Under the cover of an illusion and concealment spell, Gondul’s was patiently waiting for certain people. She had received a worrisome Intel again regarding the safety of her dear granddaughter so she was preparing to confirm it with her own eyes. It was not the first time she received information of this kind of nature, but it is not always correct. It all began with the research her granddaughter, Rossweisse, started. Not many people had gotten interested in that abomination, not to mention the fact that such a people did not conduct such deep research, and now it seemed that unsavory individuals had taken interest in Rossweisse.

Calling an acquaintance for help, she prepared a bus and had people stay away from it. The two individuals she had heard about arrived after an hour, however, they were not alone, a young boy that was around 10 years old also rode the bus with them. She was momentarily surprised, his appearance overlapped sightly with an old friend of hers. He had green eyes and black hair that almost reached his shoulders, and while she can be certain yet, he should be hiding a pair of cat ears and tails. Feeling a bit emotional, she almost spoke to him, but she stopped herself. Right now, she had a prior business to take care of.

…

…

…

The ride on the bus was mostly silent, but the suspicious guys started to speak aloud about their plans. She had even used a spell to let her hear in case they whispered but it was unnecessary. She saw how the boy reacted and started to pay attention to them. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

…

…

…

Just like she had suspected, the boy followed them after arriving at her hometown. Thanks to the spell, she could hear the whisper he mustered after getting out the bus, ‘for Rossweisse’s sake’. It baffled her, at most the boy had probably seen pictures of Rossweisse, nothing else, why would he go and get involved in this?

To avoid detection, she used familiars to keep an eye on the situation.

…

…

…

She silently praised the boy when he tried to put them to sleep, although one of them managed to escape, he managed to separate them.

Since the boy when after one, she will take care of the sleeping one. They were causing a ruckus in her hometown and she won’t take it lightly, not to mention, her grandaughter is important to her, she won’t forgive those who have plans against her.

…

…

…

After securing in place the suspect, she lightly woke him up using an explosion, but he remained asleep even after that. Her lips twitched, what did the boy use to knock him down?

No use then, she will have to interrogate the other one since it seems he is awake.

…

…

…

When she stumbled upon the boy and the suspect, the battle was over. She almost tripped when she heard them speaking, she did not know who was worse, the boy who asked strange questions or the guy who answered.

Regardless of that, the boy, Nora had done enough. She would take it from here and deal with these people. A simple hypnosis spell should be enough to get what she wants, and just in case they do not come back, she will leave a hidden spell in them. It might be detected but she can use it to spy on the ones behind these people.

That said, about this boy, she had an interesting idea. Gondul wondered if the boy caught on her schemes given that he was trembling and looking at her with fearful eyes.

——————————————–

MC’s POV

After Gondul-san handled the family that was led away, she left the suspicious guy’s somewhere and took me to her house. A place big enough to be called a small villa was waiting for me. It had a classic Nordic style, and the garden outside looked well-groomed. Unfortunately, Rossweisse-san was not there at the moment so I felt a little empty, but I had come for other reasons, I was not expecting to flirt with the beautiful valkyrie.

…

…

…

“I have made a simple introduction before so you probably have no other questions regarding my identity. However, you might have other stuff to talk about, but I believe you are weary from your travels, there is a bath on the second floor, go and refresh yourself, we can postpone our chat until then.” Gondul-san looked at an antique clock on the wall. “I have a little something to take care so I will use this chance to do so.”

Not waiting for my words, Gondul-san stood up and left the living room where we both had been sitting.

I felt that something was off, but I let it go since I was a simple visitor. There is the earlier issue, I am sure that a proper follow-up is needed so I can’t just angrily tell her to pay attention to her guests when those two could be the cause of some harm coming to Rossweisse-san.

…

…

…

Before entering the bathroom, I peeked using clairvoyance, it might be problematic if there was someone inside, but I want to avoid any template. Besides, even if I saw someone, they will not see me watching them so I won’t get yelled at. I still feel like a pervert though. Nevertheless, the bathroom was empty, my slight suspicion that Gondul-san might try to set me up to get in the bath with Rossweisse-san is probably my imagination. Just in case-

—————————————-

3rd Person POV

After a tiresome day at college, a young girl had just put a foot on her grandmother’s house. She had been called here, and while she had rented a place near her college, it was not as grand or comfortable as this place. However, she had done with her own money so she was proud, even though it felt lonely. Clad in a black mini skirt and a blazer that had an uncanny resemblance to a sailor uniform of a certain country, she mentally grumbled at the abuse of authority that the chief god of Norse mythology had done to even make the special college for Valkyries to have it as a uniform despite the complaints from some students, herself included.

Inwardly, she prepared to hear her dear grandmother chide her about her lack of romantic life despite her age. Lately, her grandmother had been rather quiet regarding that topic, but it did not seem like she had given up, most likely she had some sort of plan or scheme laying in wait.

Sighing, the young girl about her situation. She felt ashamed of disappointing her family, being unable to inherit the family crest that was passed down onto the next generation every time the heir had grown all enough would usually warrant the banishment from said individual. She had read about it before and it scared her, but none of her family members blamed her. That said, the looks from their family acquaintances were easy to read, and she could tell from the way they looked at her that the disappointment was high.

Her parents work for the Norse gods and for that reason she has been in the care of her grandmother since she was a child, but even though she wanted to put aside any distractions such as playing around and dating, her grandmother kept nagging her about it.

Finding herself in the living room, the young girl saw her grandmother that just finished speaking with someone using a communication spell, she had failed to hear what the conversation was about due to her musings.

“Rose, welcome home.” Gondul greeted. “Look at you, I can see your exhausted expression without getting close to you. You must be tired, right? Why don’t take a long and warm bath? I left some water heated in the bath.”

The young girl, Rossweisse, saw the kindest smile on the face of her grandmother, and a bad feeling instantly invaded her, but she shook her head to get rid of it. Her dear grandmother, whom she respects and who had taken care of her since young was being considerate, how could she consider that bad?

Without waiting for her reply, Gondul led her to the second floor and left her there. She could almost swear that her grandmother was skipping lightly when she went down the stairs, but it was probably a misunderstanding. The no-good smile on her face was probably her mind playing tricks on her as well.

…

…

…

Undressing did not take long thanks to the usage of magic, Rossweisse took upon every opportunity to use magic so she train and enhance her mastery over it.

Walking further onto the spacious bath, she widened her eyes and mouth in surprise. It seemed that she was not the only one here, and she froze. Her bewildered expression was probably a mirror to what the boy relaxing in the bathtub had.

“Ah…” Rossweisse ġrȯȧnėd.

It dawned onto her, she was not dressed. One look below, and there was not even a towel covering her. It was not strange considering that was not used to cover herself since her grandmother and her were the only people in the house since long ago. Now, it was different, an unknown boy was in front of her, and he was looking at her nȧkėd body… a boy… was looking… at her nȧkėd body-

“Ah… Ah…” Rossweisse took a step back.

The body that can only be seen by her special someone, the one she wanted to only show the person she liked. Rossweisse eyes started to blur, tears probably were ready to burst from the corner of her eyes.

The boy stood up from the bathtub with natural movements, he looked slightly flustered but his actions were carried firmly.

Hastily covering her eyes, she still peeked from the gasp of her fingers. However, the boy’s nȧkėd figure… was not what she saw. He was wearing a swimsuit so his figure below was covered. She could not bother to question why he was bathing like that. Something started to bother her, Rossweisse was clearly the older one, she entered the bath while he was bathing, and she was nȧkėd. He did not do anything wrong, he was even covered… which makes it look almost like she is a pervert. That thought process almost made her want to cry, but she held it in. The boy had stood in front of her, and before she could tell, he had a pouch in his hands. In one swift motion, he pulled a bath towel, one big enough to cover her.

“I am thankful for the treat, but please have some modesty, ecchi.” Nora muttered.

Done with his words, he left the bath after covering himself with a towel as well.

Rossweisse was left awkwardly standing there, her mood was complicated. Should she cry or scream? Isn’t she the bad one?

She stood there for another while until her thought process finally coped with her situation.

Part 4

3rd Person POV

“Grandmother! Why didn’t you tell me that he was in the bath? You led me there on purpose knowing that he was inside!” Rossweisse angrily hit the dining table.

It had been about half an hour after the encounter in the bath, and she had finally reacted. After taking her bath, she changed and went directly to the kitchen where her grandmother was calmly sipping some tea. It seemed that Nora had prepared her some as well as she could see a cup waiting for her. Rossweisse blushed when she recalled what happened earlier, but she still faced her grandmother with a strict expression.

“It was not a big deal, only a small accident. It happens all the time when people live together.” Gondul sipped her tea. “This is really good, can you refill my cup again.”

Speaking like it was not an important business, her grandmother praised the boy’s tea.

“Granny!” Rossweisse angrily spoke her voice.

“Rose, don’t raise your voice. It is rude towards our guest.” Gondul pointed out. “You have not touched the tea that Nora-kun especially made for you.”

At her grandmother’s reproach, Rossweisse backed down. She had indeed left the cup untouched, and despite having the boy who was a guest to prepare her a beverage, she acted ungratefully.

“Try this, I was not sure if the tea would suit your taste so I think this will help.” Nora kindly offered.

On his hands, he carried a plate with several small cookies. They were delicate and had different shapes, some had star shapes while others looked like the moon. They must be pretty expensive, it was the first thing that Rossweisse thought, should she really take advantage of the boy’s kindness to take one?

Regardless of her complicated thoughts, her hand had already moved to take one like it had a mind of its own. Even though she tried to resist (?) the impulse, she took one and ate it.

The moment she took a bite, she had coincidently shared a look with her grandmother, and she could see her doing the same. She had widened her eyes in surprise and she couldn’t stop her lips from curling into a smile. Rossweisse tried to save every cent she could when she started to live alone so she hardly had the opportunity to taste something like this. Before she realized it, her hand was going for another cookie, but she found the plate empty. Without being aware, her grandmother and her had swallowed the cookies, and they did not even leave one for the boy.

With a guilty conscience, she prepared to apologize to the boy.

“I am sorry, we ate them all, even though you bought such an expensive snack.” Rossweisse tearfully pulled her purse from a magic circle. “I-I w-will p-pay you-u b-back!”

She almost broke into tears for the expense she will face, but she bravely started to count her money.

“Ah, that is ok. I have more here, do you want some more?” Nora smiled wryly.

Rummaging his pouch, he pulled a zip bag that was full of more cookies.

Her mind almost shut down, so many expensive little things packet in that simple zip bag.

“They are homemade by me so they might be lacking compared to what is usually sold at stores, but please accept it as an apology for what happened earlier. I was at fault for relaxing too much on the bath to notice you entering. If I had called out, this conversation wouldn’t have happened.” Nora scratched his cheek.

What? Homemade….!?

“I have not tasted anything like that even at fancy stores in Asgard. What is this child? Is he lying? No, he wouldn’t get anything from it. This is a huge plus, with this, surely that overly serious girl will show some interest in something other than studies.” Gondul murmured.

She could not make out what her grandmother said. Her mind took some time to accept the boy’s words.

“Alright, it is decided. Rose, remember what I told you when you were little?” Gondul asked.

“To not touch the collection of illustrated books you have on your study?” Rossweisse instantly replied.

“Ahem, no. Rose, the other thing.” Gondul cleared her throat.

Her face had a slight blush and she avoided looking at her in the eyes.

“Eh… the other thing? Ah! It was when you were warning me not to ȧssociate with any bad boys and recklessly lose my c-chastity to them. Granny! He is still too small to hear about this kind of stuff! Why are you bringing this topic?” Rossweisse complained with a blush on her face.

“It is ok. You can forget about what I said, feel free to act on your impulses. He is a good boy, and above all, he is your fiancé.” Gondul lightly muttered.

Rossweisse mind took a huge blow and stopped working.

“Wait, about that matter… I came here to talk about that-” Nora tried to speak up but he was stopped.

“Rose, this child here was engaged to you before you were even born. You might think he is not what you want because you know nothing about him, however, his plane crashed on his way here, and he had the opportunity to turn back easily, but he pushed forward and came here alone, just for this engagement.” Gondul spoke in a solemn tone.

Blinking in surprise, even the slow to react Rossweisse found his actions impressive. However, she also felt slightly angry.

“Why was he traveling alone? He looks bȧrėly 10 years old, where are his father and mother?” Rossweisse inquired.

She would like to meet them to reproach them for sending him all alone, it must nothing but a miracle that he is alive.

“Rose!” Gondul raised her voice.

The young girl’s shoulders shrunk at the unexpected tone from Gondul.

“His father is dead as for his mother…” Gondul closed her eyes.

Understanding her slip of the tongue, Rossweisse guiltily peeked at the boy’s expression. He looked visibly depressed but shook his head at looked at her. He had controlled his expression and even smiled at her.

“I am sure that she is ok, I will find her and bring her home. Who knows, she might even be traveling around the world looking for treasures.” Nora joked.

Despite his merry tone, no one laughed.

“Now now, don’t be like that. We are just separated for a bit, I know that she is ok. My Kaa-san is not someone weak.” Nora said.

Taking a deep breath, Gondul opened her eyes again.

“You are right, she is one of the strongest Nekomatas to have ever existed since that event so it is obvious that she is ok.” Gondul smiled.

Sighing in relief, Rossweisse was impressed by Nora. She could understand a bit why they trusted him to come alone, he is not an inmate child. That said, she will have to lecture his guardian whoever that is, he is still underage, to send him on a plane alone is beyond reckless.

“The topic went off course for a bit.” Gondul muttered. “Back to what I was saying. Saya and I promised to one another that one of our descendants will marry the other this the engagement came to be.”

Pausing for a moment, Gondul sneakily took one cookie that Nora kept on the zip bag.

“Of course, none of you are of marriage age so you can’t get married yet.” Gondul shrugged her shoulders. “However, if we end the topic there, nothing will change. So I have this proposal. Nora-kun, I recall that you wanted to learn magic, right?”

With a raised eyebrow, Nora cautiously nodded.

“That is great, my granddaughter here is someone incredibly adept in it. She has even skipped a few grades, despite her age, she is already in college.” Gondul proudly said. “She can teach you, stay here for a while, I even got permission to enroll you in her college as a student. While you won’t understand the lessons, you will be able to access study materials that would usually be out of your reach so it is an offer that can be hardly heard of.”

“No, but I…” Nora tried to argue.

“What? Are you dissatisfied? What part is that you don’t like? Look at my granddaughter, Ross is a beautiful young girl with long, straight silver hair and aqua-colored eyes, what is there to complain about that? Her body proportions are still developing, but they will grow more, she is still in puberty after all.” Gondul pointed at certain places.

Rossweisse hastily put her hands to cover those areas from Nora’s eyes, even though she was clothed, she remembered that he had seen her nȧkėd.

“What is there to hide? He already saw what there is to see.” Gondul shook her head. “It was difficult to have a male enter that particular college, you know? They only accept female applicants, and never accept outsiders, however, I managed to get you the opportunity to enter there. Not to mention, you will be personally taught the basics of magic by such a cute girl, I don’t think I can offer you more.”

She came to learn this later when she got to know him more, but not many people left Nora without anything to retort at.

“Alright, that is settled then. I will leave some money for you guys to use. You are free to use this villa or go to Rose’s place to stay. I will leave, I have a… Eh… something to take care of so I won’t be here for a long time so enjoys yourselves.” Gondul smiled suggestively. “Oh, everything has been arranged ready so take him with you when you go to college.”

After she said that, Gondul sneakily took the zip bag with her and left the villa.

Blinking, Rossweisse looked at the way her grandmother left.

“…you never asked me for my opinion.” Rossweisse muttered sadly.

Her opinion was not taken into account and that made her feel bad.

Suddenly, she felt a hand ċȧrėssing her hair.

“It is ok, don’t worry.” Nora consoled.

While she would like to step in and complain about being the older one and how she does not need to be patted… his hand was warm and it made her feel somehow happy so she let him do as he pleases.

——————————————–

???’s POV

Sitting on a throne made of ice, a figure languidly opened her eyelids.

“It is almost time…” The figure muttered. “If his words are correct, it should happen in a couple of days or a week at most.”

Standing up, she directed her gaze to what was behind her throne. Large shards of crystal that easily surpassed four meters were neatly arranged, and if you focused your eyes on them, you could make out figures inside.

“There has not been any movement from them so it has been quiet, enough to kill me of boredom several times.” The figure stretched. “I must be crazy to actually follow through that nonsense, but since I want to confirm if it is true or not, I will do what I never thought I would do again… that said, it does not fit me, Scathach, to accept everything like I am told to.”

The figure named Scathach was an extremely beautiful woman. She had long purple hair and red eyes and wears a full-body outfit that highlights her curvaceous body, with metallic shoulder pads. On her face, a slight bloodthirsty smile hung up.

“As I have done in the past, I left several clues to find me, if there is someone fated to meet me, they will have to either use their brain and follow the clues I left… or rely on luck to stumble upon me. Either way, it is good enough, warriors must have more than just their might.” Scathach muttered. “I am looking forward to meeting the person I was told about.”

On the throne she just sat, lying on each side, a pair of spears that were far from regular ones and were letting a bloodthirsty aura were waiting for her to take them. With her proclamation, they seemed to react to her mood and their aura increased.

“Ah, no good. I let myself be swept away by my emotions again.” Scathach said. “I should just kill time while I wait. Most of the things I was told became reality, but I just patrol the area just in case the location is slightly off.”

Raising her foot lightly, she tapped the floor and the spear flew at her side. She did not hesitate to grab them and swing one of them to write a symbol in the air. To those familiar with magic, they might recognize the symbol as a rune, and a high-level one at that. Once the rune was finished, it shone and Scathach disappeared.

Once the silence reigned, one of the crystals started to show a slight fissure. However, it was too small to be noticed unless one paid close attention to it, and even if Scathach had found it, there was not a way to say whether she would care or not.

———————————————

???’s POV

At the same time in another completely different location, a figure who shared an uncanny resemblance to the first one was opening an envelope. Sitting on a chair that was paired with a large desk, she was in a fancy room that was small by any means. However, the figure, that was wearing a fancy purple dress with detached sleeves and a cut-out cleavage, was not paying any mind to the room, but the letter contained on the envelope. Reading it with a bored expression, she would sometimes roll her eyes while at other times she would show some annoyment on her face, yet there was a time when she had a thoughtful and serious expression.

“That Odin, he should mind his own business, I can get married whenever I want. It is not that I can’t, but rather, I don’t want to.” The figure ġrȯȧnėd. “That geezer, he takes advantage of his status of one the strongest people in the world to say such bold things, how dare he to call Skadi, the woman who is sought by countless gods, someone who is too late for marriage? That impudent fool, I might not be as strong as him, but I can still hurt him quite a bit.”

The figure, Skadi, snorted in displeasure.

“That said, Mimir’s prophesy huh. No matter if it is the Ragnarok, the end of the Norse Mythology, or the end of the world, I agree that we need to raise the little ones so that they can stand up to future threats.” Skadi tapped her chin. “The problem is that I have not found someone good enough to pour my all into teaching. Should I rely on luck and pick someone at random? So far my criteria for talented people mostly caught those who liked to show off, and while they had someone skills, I always feel like they lack something.”

Finding the room hot, she stretched the cleavage of her generous cleavage slightly and started to fan using her hands.

“Those insolent fools, those who dislike ice cream are not good people. What is wrong with eating one even if it is snowing? They still taste good.” Skadi grumbled. “*Sigh* I will try my luck, perhaps some sort of signal will come to me when I find the right person.”

Touching her forehead, she noticed that she was sweating quite a bit. Furrowing her eyebrows, Skadi wondered why was her room this hot, it did not take long for Skadi to locate the source of heat. The letter she had at some point left lying on the desk was covered in runes, and they were runes that raised the heat in the area. Recalling who send the letter, Skadi grabbed it and tore it apart. With her eyebrow twitching, she could see from the corner of her eyes how one of the pieces she tore had a small draw, it was a small version of someone whom she found annoying.

“Odin, for stuff like this is that I rejected your proposal in the past as well. You are harassing me again, just because of that. Two can play this game, I might not go against you know, but I will get a disciple… no, maybe two? Yes, one might not be enough, but if I get two, plus me, we will surely punish you.” Skadi grumbled.

—————————————-

3rd Person POV

Nora and Rossweisse who were awkwardly sitting at the dining table and were not able to speak to one another suddenly got a chill on their backs at the same time.

“My cat senses detected something troublesome…” Nora warily looked left and right.

“Will the limited offer in the supermarket next town end today? Even though I could not go…” Rossweisse pitifully ġrȯȧnėd.

Each side had their complaints, and they each detected trouble differently, making their own conclusions of what will happen, however, there is no way for them to know what was going to happen in the next few days.

Author’s Notes

Finally the valkyrie appeared. To me, she is kind of a last boss character (as a girl), now we got her here. That said, she a got small appearance, however, she will get more in the next chapters.

How was the chapter? I have that question. Several things happened, that I am sure you are curious about, but it is all for future development. I am including Scathach and Skadi (from FGO) in the story, and they will have their role so don’t worry.

Do leave your thoughts below, and questions as well.

Have a nice day.