Chapter 39 My king

Sona held my gaze then nodded. "Good. Please leave us. There is a craft store half a kilometer down the road from the church. We will meet you there once I have organized my peerage."

I gave her a respectful nod, then left the classroom, Yubelluna and Clarissa following behind me.

"My king, I must protest your decision to follow Sona Sitri's orders." Yubelluna said as we left the grounds of Kuod Academy. "It is clear she is inexperienced and not in control of her peerage. In addition, her peerage appears reckless and will likely be killed if they are not reigned in."

"I agree with you." I said as we made our way to the craft shop Sona mentioned. "They all seem very gung ho about the whole fighting thing, but they likely haven't ever been in an actual fight. We'll give Sona a chance because this is her territory and it's her responsibility, but if things start going poorly we'll take over."

"That is acceptable, my king." Yubelluna said.

We arrived at the craft shop and sat down on a bench outside to wait for Sona's peerage. Seeing as there was nothing else to do with the time, I decided to make sure we were organized.

"Clarissa, I want you to focus mainly on finding what the Fallen are using to extract Sacred Gears."

"Did your visions show you its shape, my king?"

I shrugged, saying, "Sometimes it's a chain, others it's a cross. It could be a rock for all I know. That's why I want you to find it. Of the three of us, you're the most equipped to figure out what it is. Once you get it, retreat. That takes priority over fighting the devils. Yubelluna and I will cover you while you search and flee."

"I am not useless in a fight, my king." Clarissa said, sounding a little exasperated.

"I know you aren't, Clarissa, but the Devils need to figure out how the Fallen are able to remove Sacred Gears. Figuring that out trumps just about everything else we're doing here."

"I understand, my king. I will find the device and retreat with it."

"Thank you."

"My king, we should go inside the store." Yubelluna said quickly, a trace of anger leaking through to her voice.

Looking over at her, I saw her looking down the road. Following her gaze, I saw a red-haired devil and her posse strolling down the center of the street.

"That's probably a good idea, Yube." I said as I stood and led my peerage into the craft store. It wasn't that I was afraid of Rias, the way we'd handled her in the Rating Game showed I didn't need to, I just wanted to never have to talk to her again.

As we entered the store, we all spread out to look at various shelves. I was surprised to find a young woman with golden hair looking through a box of carved, wooden crosses.

She looked up at me with green eyes and gasped. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was blocking your way."

I waved off her concern and said, "You're not. I haven't seen you around town before. Are you new here?" I recognized the girl, but I wanted to be sure this was really her.

She smiled innocently and nodded. "I am! I arrived yesterday. My name is Asia." She offered me her hand.

I shook it and said, "My name is Riser. What brings you to Kuoh?"

"The church sent me." she said, a bright smile on her face. "I…I need to make up for a mistake I made recently."

As I studied the girl, I began to evaluate my position. The young woman in front of me possessed Twilight Healing, a Sacred Gear that would be a boon to any peerage, but I didn't know if I wanted the girl that came with the Sacred Gear.

Looking at her now…she wouldn't hurt a fly. That wasn't exactly a bad thing, but if she was going to be in my peerage, I would need her to fight. I would need her to be willing to kill if necessary, and I just couldn't picture this young woman killing anything.

I needed a second opinion.

Smiling at her, I said, "I hope you enjoy Kuoh."

"I will. Have a good day!"

I walked away from Asia to where Yubelluna was examining a shelf full of bolts of various types of fabric. I looked at the fabric with her and said, "That girl I was just talking to has a Sacred Gear – Twilight Healing to be specific."

Yubelluna didn't react in any noticeable manner. She pulled a bolt off the shelf to feel the fabric and said, "Are you going to reincarnate her, my king?"

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Having a healer would be great for us, but I don't think she has the temperament needed to be a fighter. The rest of us would have to go out of our way to protect her which would just result in more of us getting hurt."

"Is this knowledge gleaned from your anonymous source or from your brief interaction with her?"

"Both. According to my source, she was a pacifist who still took to the battlefield. She almost always had to be protected by another. It took her a long time to overcome that weakness."

Yubelluna replaced the bolt on the shelf and turned to face me. "May I speak freely, my king?"

I grinned at her and said, "You're my queen, Yube. It's your job to speak freely."

Her expression was serious as she said, "If she is truly that much of a burden in combat, she would be a waste of your pieces, my king. While our access to phoenix tears is now limited to what you can produce on your own, it is still a fantastic source of healing that many would kill for. I cannot recommend reincarnating this woman when we have such a viable alternative. Clarissa would kill for you. I will kill for you. Any others who join your peerage must be willing to do the same. That is the world we live in."

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