They're calling me what!?(3)

At any given time, there are approximately two dozen highly skilled devils that were assigned by both Sirzechs and Serafall to patrol the borders of the city and prevent anything too dangerous from wandering in.

Really, that Sona was willing to believe that both she and the Gremory girl would have been left entirely unguarded even for one single moment just went to show that for all of her intelligence she could be quite naïve at times.

Even if you were willing to ignore that they were both the sole Heirs to two of the most important families in the Underworld, they were still the beloved sisters to the leaders of all Devilkind, the Maou. And they honestly expected themselves to be left unguarded while they remain on earth? That's the equivalent of leaving the President's daughters unprotected in a politically unstable country. It's just not going to happen.

Still, I have no intention of letting her find out about this, not from me at least. No way I'm gonna let myself be dragged into that particular mess.

"Anyway," I began after of a quick clearing of my throat, "while I can't give out any details, I can at least assure you that I'm not here to babysit you. I was in fact given explicit orders not to interfere in any way unless it was a matter of life or death. Anything short of that and I'm not allowed to get involved."

"I see." Despite the near-perfect poker face she wore, it was clear that Sona was rather pleased with this particular bit of news. "Yet that doesn't explain why you're here in particular, as in this school. I doubt whatever assignment you're on required you to pose as a high school student."

I nodded my head at that, "That true, but I wasn't lying when I said I never had the chance to graduate."

That had always irritated me for some reason. While it's true that neither my past ambition of becoming a Hero or my current reality of living as a Devil would benefit from me formally getting my high school diploma, the thought of never graduating, especially after all the years of work I put into it, just irks me. Especially since I only had a few more month of my formal education left.

Plus, there was only so many times I could take Serafall teasingly calling me a high school drop out before I started to get the hint. You couldn't tell by looking at her, but Serafall takes education quite seriously.

"Part of the reason why I'm actually here is as a cover. Anyone looking will most likely come to the same conclusion as you did when they realize that I was attending the same school as my master's sister and not dig any deeper after that."

"That's a likely assumption." Sona nodded her head in agreement only to pause. She tilted her head in thought, "You said 'part', so is there another reason why you're attending Kuoh?"

"Ah, well." I couldn't help but scratch my cheek in embarrassment at that, "Apparently Serafall wanted us to get to know each other better."

There was a brief moment of silence.

Then, whether at my words or my obvious embarrassment, Sona gave me a faint smile. "I'd like that."

Before the moment could become any more awkward, or embarrassing, I quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway," taking a moment to clear my throat, I subtly tried to scan the room for something to talk about and found one as my eyes landing on the chess set before me. "I heard that you're almost old enough to qualify for the rating games. Do you plan on participating in this year's Young Devils Gathering?"

The knowing smile on her face told me she knew exactly what I was trying to do, but decided to play along anyway. "As a matter of fact, I do. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there is going to be an unusually high number of heirs qualifying for this year's gathering. It will be the perfect chance for me to test myself and prove my worth to the rest of the underworld. Plus Rias definitely plans to enter and there is no way I'm going to allow her to get one up on me."

Despite Sona's surprisingly childish attitude when it comes to her well-known rivalry with the Gremory heir, I couldn't fault the rest of her reasoning. "And what do you think your odds of winning are?"

"Truthfully?" she asked which I nodded. "Zero."

"Oh~?" Despite my questioning tone, I couldn't help but smile in approval at her response. Unlike many of the younger Devils or even the older ones, Sona has no delusions of grandeur when it comes to her combat capabilities. "Why would you say that? Don't you have any confidence in your Peerage's strength?"

"Not at all," There was no hesitation in her replay, "I have the utmost confidence that my Peerage is more than capable of handling anything that they end up facing."

Around us, Sona's Peerage practically preened from her praise, even as they continued to pretend they weren't listening and maintain their charade of working.

Masking my smile at their hijinks, I asked, "So, what's the problem then?"

"The 'problem', as you put it, is the competition." She pushed her glasses by the bridge of the frame-up her nose as she spoke, causing it to flash as it reflected the light, "I already mentioned that this year's gathering will be unusually large, well, consequently it's also going to be unusually fierce."

Pausing, she shut her eyes and gathered her thoughts, before continuing, "Like every gathering, there are several strong Devils among this year contenders, but there are two that stand out head and shoulders above the crowd."

Lifting one finger in the air, "First, there's Riser Phenex. Despite being well-known as a playboy and minor troublemaker, Riser is undeniably a genius when it comes to using his family's flames. His regeneration is at the level that would have taken most Phenex's the better part of a century to reach, and yet he's barely over twenty years old.

"The matches he's participated in this year only solidified that fact. Despite that the majority of his Peerage consist of members with substandard combat abilities, he has won all eight of the matches he's fought in and emerged without a single wound to show for it. Three out of the eight opponents he's faced simply resigned when they realized that none of their attacks were able to harm him even after he invited them to freely hit him.

"That doesn't even take his sister into the equation. While less talented in her control over the Phoenix flames than her brothers, she more than makes up for it with her intelligence. Ravel Phenex is a first-class tactician with a gift in small-scale strategy that I can honestly say rivals mine."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Coming from Sona that was quite a high praise indeed.

"While Riser has a more laissez-faire approach to managing his Peerage in battle, which basically consists of him just sitting back and doing nothing, Ravel takes a more hands-on approach.

"Though she doesn't directly participate in the fight, she often leads a part of the Peerage to combat the enemy and helps them coordinate, as all the while she stands back and assesses the enemy's battle style for threats and weaknesses. Under her leadership, they were able to win two matches without having Raiser get involved at all.

"Together they form a formidable team that covers each other's weak points rather well. While they do have some rather large flaws that can be exploited, the raw power of two High-Class Devils in one team makes it almost impossible for any team in their age group to take advantage of it."

I nodded my head in agreement with her assessment. I knew most of this information already, but I had a feeling she was explaining this to her Peerage just as much as she was to me. Plus while I knew why it was unlikely for her to win, I wanted to see if her reasoning matched my own, so I made sure not to interrupt her explanation.

"While I have never met the pair or seen any of their matches, I've heard the Phenex siblings are one of the favourites in this year's gathering." I added, "Second only to him of course."

Sona nodded solemnly, "Yes, him," she raised up a second finger, "Sairaorg Beal, the strongest of the young Devils.

"He was born with neither skill nor talent, and even failed to inherit the power of his bloodline, the Power of Destruction. By Devil's standards, he was born a cripple. With such handicaps, he should have been a weakling that would be incapable of fighting even Low-Class Devils, let alone High-Class ones.

"But apparently someone failed to tell Sairaorg that, because over the last three years he crushed every High-Class devil born in the last century and at least half of the ones born earlier, all in one-on-one duels.

"Today he is the closest among the younger generation to becoming the next Satan, a Maou." Sona shook her head in disbelief, "Honestly, the only way for Sairaorg to lose is if he decided to fight the entire tournament alone without his peerage, and even then I'm not entirely sure that he wouldn't win."

The scary thing is that she wasn't exaggerating in the slightest if anything she was understating things. Sairaorg was a monster, pure and simple. Devils usually took centuries of training to reach Ultimate Class level, and that's with the power they inherited from their Clan. This guy did it before he was twenty when he was considered a cripple magic-wise.

After finally finishing her explanation, Sona lowered her hand. "And that's why realistically, I don't believe I have any real chance of winning. With only one of them entering it would still have been difficult, a long shot. Both? My chances have dropped so far below zero, it practically became an imaginary number. That even before you take into account that they both have full Peerages while I'm still in the process of building mine.

"If this year's gathering wasn't so important, I would honestly consider delaying my debut for another year, but unfortunately that would have made me look like a coward and as an Heir, I can't allow my reputation to be damaged in such a way."

I couldn't help but feel a stirring of pride at her analysis. While it wasn't word for word, Serafall had basically told me the same thing and for mostly the same reasons. Looks like my master's little sister is gonna turn out just fine.

Unfortunately though, while most of what she said is accurate, it's also incomplete.

I had to bite back a grimace. Though I hate playing the bad guy, it was for her own good. Ah, well. Time to clear up some misconceptions.

"Even if you don't expect to win, I hope that doesn't mean you intend to lose."

Sona smirked at me. "Hardly," she replied, "while first place is beyond me, it is still possible for me to rank pretty high. I have scouted the other participants and have found that the majority of them are hardly a threat at all. The few that are, I have already prepared a basic strategy to counter them if I ever end up playing against them."

"So you expect to end up doing pretty well then?"

"I do." There was no hesitation.

"How well?"

"I estimate that as long as I don't get unlucky and end up facing either Phenex or Sairaorg in one of the earlier rounds, I would have a fair chance of winning fourth place, maybe higher if I end up getting lucky."

I deliberately let out a quiet snort in response.

And, naturally, Sona caught it.

"You disagree?" She asked while cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes," Well, here comes the tough love part. You owe me for this, Serafall, "You won't make it anywhere near that far."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because you're too weak."

It was incredible how much quieter the practically silent room became as everyone in the council room just froze. Sona went rigid in surprise so fast that it looked like she was electrocuted, hell, even her Queen Tsubaki's jaw dropped in disbelief.

For a human, what I said wouldn't have been too bad. Even for a Devil, a race that prided itself on its strength and power, it would have been only mildly insulting. Well, that would have been true if Pride wasn't this Devil's chosen deadly sin.

Pride, Sona's weakness of the seven. And I, someone who was practically one step away from being her family, just stomped on it, in front of her entire Peerage. A little harsh, I admit, but there were few better ways to gain someone's attention and make them listen, and I mean truly listen than to hurt their pride.

"Why, you bastard, apologi-", the only male in the student council, a blond-haired kid, charged straight at me only to be stopped by Sona's raised hand before he could take more than a step.

Never taking her eyes off me, Sona scrutinized me for the better part of a minute before deciding to speak.

"Explain yourself, Emiya." She growled out at me, glaring murder all the while. Once again her attempt at intimidation made her look nothing more than a murderous little kitty. It was actually every bit as adorable as Serafall claimed.

I, however, made sure to keep these thoughts to myself as I waved my hand over the table between us in response, "This right here Sona is why you're weak."

Judging by the taken-aback looks I was receiving, they looked like they were willing to listen to me then let their temper get the better of them. Good, that will make things easier then.

"Chess?" For the first time it wasn't Sona who spoke but her Queen, Tsubaki, "You're saying the Kaichou's weakness is chess? But she's amazing in it."

"That's not quite what I meant," though I replied to Tsubaki's question, I didn't take my eyes off Sona as I spoke. "And it's not just your Kaichou's, but also Devil kind as a whole."

Pointing at the chess set in front of me, "Tell me, Sona, what does Chess and the Rating games have in common? And I'm talking about the practical aspects, not the superficial stuff like names and titles."

If Sona was in any way thrown off by my line of questioning, she didn't show it. She just stared at the board game for a few seconds before looking back up at me, "I'm not exactly sure what you're asking me, Shirou."

"Let me rephrase it for you this way," I crossed my arms before me as I leaned back into my chair. "What exactly do chess and battle have in common?"

This time she didn't bother to glance at the chessboard but focused all her attention on me, as she contemplated the question.

"Normally I would answer something like strategy or tactics," she began, "but I have a feeling that isn't the answer you're looking for."

I nodded my head at her answer.

A little bit naïve maybe, but no one had ever accused Sona of being stupid.

"The answer is simple, almost nothing at all."

I had already lifted my hand up to stop the retort that Sona would have undeniably replied with before I even finished my sentence. Sure enough, Sona already had her mouth opened before she managed to stop herself.

"Now, I'm not claiming that Chess isn't useful for developing strategic thinking or planning, which it undoubtedly does, only that its use in developing battle skill is greatly overvalued in modern Devil society." I continued after making sure I wasn't going to get interrupted. "In fact, outside of basic strategy, it shares almost nothing in common with real-life warfare.

"And yet Devils as a whole seem to worship it as the ideal war game simulator. The amount of hype Devils seem to pile up on chess is so ridiculous that it has actually started to negatively affect the fighting potential of the younger generation of Devils."

"For example," I raised a single finger, "There is a military term known as 'information uncertainty'. It's when you're unsure how accurate the information you have on the enemy is, or a situation where you don't even have any information at all. That is a key aspect on any battlefield and something that simply doesn't exist in chess." I added another second finger. "Then there is the amount of forces each side has. In chess, no matter your skill level, your starting pieces are equal in number and strength, which is a completely ridiculous scenario in real life, one that will never occur."

I quickly added a third, fourth and fifth finger to the others. "Then there is the terrain and weather advantage, communication problems, panic and morale among the soldiers." I formed my hand into a fist. "And perhaps the most important lesson at all, Chess doesn't teach you when to run away. Victory is always possible in Chess, in real life, sometimes all you can do is run. There are times it's much better to retreat than stand and fight till you die a meaningless death. This simple lesson, learning when to run, is one that too many people fail to ever learn until it's too late."

I know, I know. This coming from a guy who willingly fought Gilgamesh and other Servants as a human probably makes it the most hypocritical thing I've ever said, but it doesn't make it any less true.

Finally, I lowered my hand.

"Chess, Sona," I continued after I allowed a few seconds for my words to sink in, "Is a great starting point for developing your skills as a strategist, but if you cling to it for too long it will only end up limiting you. And that is something that is already happening to you."

I spread my arms and indicated the entire room with a wave, "Your choice of Peerage is a perfect example of this."

Anger, genuine barely restrained anger, flooded her face as she all but hissed at me, "Watch your next words, Shirou. Or even your master won't be able to save you."

I was barely able to bite back a smile at her response and even then I only succeeded because I was sure she'd misinterpret it.

Heh, I knew there was a reason why I liked this girl.

She was angrier with me over the slight of her peerage than when I insulted her. This means she has more Pride in them than she had in herself. For all their outer differences, the more I get to know these two sisters, the more similar I found them to be.

I raised both my hands up in front of me in a placating manner, "Now, now, calm down. That's not what I meant. I didn't intend for you to take what I said as an insult toward your Peerage."

"Then what exactly did you mean, Shirou?" While Sona hadn't quite cooled off, at the very least she didn't look like she was making any plans to rip my head off anymore.

"Your peerage, they're a reflection of how you fight."

That at least was able to throw her off enough to knock the wind out of her sails.

Before she even got the chance to ask, I answered. "They're all like chess pieces. No, to be more precise, they're more like surgical knives."

I glanced around the room at all seven members of her Peerage.

"Even with just a glance, I can tell that almost everyone in this room was chosen not for their raw fighting abilities. Instead, you chose them for their abilities to counter your enemies' strength or to exploit their weaknesses." I gave them a knowing nod when I saw their eyes widened in surprise at how close I hit the mark. No doubt they wondered how I was able to figure that out just by looking at them. In truth, I knew most of this from the reports Serafall gave me, but they didn't need to know that. "Like a craftsman choosing his tool, you picked every piece in your peerage in preparation to exploit any situation that you find yourself in.

"Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Quite the opposite really, I can honestly say that many Peerages can benefit from adopting your approach."

"Then what the heck is the problem?" The blond hair boy yelled out. Well, looks like I figured out who the loudmouth of the group was.