5 Sorting out the memories

Later that night after dinner Masaru was sitting near his desk trying to write down all he remembered,

'Although I know aunt Cleria is in danger but the secret she discovered... I have to find it out, from what I remember this secret was large enough for Bael to cooperate with the Church which was right when I told Grandfather he can't seek assistance from them... Well I can leave this to father to deal with'

Masaru ticked the box he wrote about Cleria,

'Akeno seems to be active after a week of training, I don't have much information about her other than some random information I remembered of her which I read off a wiki which was mostly about Shuri and her meeting with Rias... Ah, I forgot that girl'

He sighed while ticking the box where he wrote an objective to prevent Akeno's trauma.

'It was an unbecoming move of me to force her into my team but I will take responsibility for it and make her happy'

'Shirone and Kuroka were truly by luck... I will have to investigate why they specifically targeted to kill my mom yet I still live, even if there is reason to keep me alive for experimentation but then there would be more who are a better choice than me'

He shook his head feeling that something was simply not right

'Even me and my mother's existence needs to be investigated, I don't know much about my father from the book but there is one thing I know... There was no mentioning of a lover and child'

Masaru wrote several objectives he needed to complete which was to investigate the reason behind the kidnapping and his mother's origin, although it was not an important objective he needed to complete now as it will only give him an understanding of how he ends up as he did, he knew this is not something he could find out within a day or even a month.

'I will have to complete my peerage soon before I start going to school officially, I have to be grateful that Grandmother took it upon herself to teach me while she herself was also studying in order to teach me, with this I have more time available to prepare myself'

Then he looked at the tick box that had the following written, [Peace Talks ?????]. The reason for that was the fact he really did not know what time this would happen and under what circumstances, But he knew from that day forth his current peaceful life will come to an end.

'Then my plan for the trip to the Vatican, it's going to be difficult to search for a blonde-haired girl...'

He sighed but still wrote additional steps of things he needed to prepare before leaving.

'I guess this Vatican trip will be the last time I make a willful request of my father and grandparents if I display too many movements it will become a problem. Using the Sacred Gear as an excuse they no longer question me, but I believe because of experience in dealing with people they still find it doubtful. If it wasn't for my age that truly help me there to dispel their doubts as they would not expect me to be this cunning for my age, smart yes but not an experienced white liar.'

'The other things I remember are too fragmented without any way of figuring out the times... Sigh too many problems but not enough information!!!!'

Masaru wanted to scream out his frustration but chose to keep it in and maintain calm.

During these past two years and a few months, he also discovered his personality is still unstable. For some reason, he still acts like a child yet at other times he does not, since his previous life memories are fragmented he needed to use the memories of the former host to supplement the parts he did not have.

It was a dangerous situation for him since he did not understand psychiatry. 'This is not something I can tackle without understanding anything, perhaps I should indirectly make a plan to meet Ajuka. From the information, I gathered that man should be well versed in dealing with soul and mind related issues since the Evil Pieces does have relations to these two points other than the body as well.'

He wrote in larger size compared to the other goals as something he will have to do soon, with all these small matters written down so he won't easily forget, he climbed into bed and slept.

>\/<

The morning came and everything proceeded as normal with having breakfast after breakfast was jogging to warm up their bodies. Well, it was normal for everyone but for Masaru who felt something was amiss, he did not sense any ill-intent or anything but the attitude of the current Akeno was simply a contrast of her usual playful self.

'What the hell is going on!?'

Masaru wanted to ask her but feared something might have happened or could it be the trauma he tried to prevent still formed a knot in her heart so he could not carelessly step in this. He was just a bit confused at her current behaviour of being exceptionally obedient today.

Shirone who noticed Masaru's troubled face and the way Akeno was acting understood her master could be troubled about Akeno's change, she went closer to Master and only replied short

"Don't worry, she is fine"

Masaru who was bewildered at Shirone's response but because they have been together for several years now she understood him well and he knew it.

'Fine? She is a bit too close! If it was several years later I would understand but isn't this a bit.... too fast? Is this alright?'

Masaru felt a bit conflicted about his situation although he did not hate it, it was proceeding a bit too fast.

After the second round of jogging the troubling thoughts were already at the back of his head, today the three of them were training together against Edward and Jacob Black to gain some battle experience against a Knight and Rook.

Edward, Diehauser's Knight was the great-grandson of Edward the Black Prince. Being the descendant of Edward the Black Prince he inherited his ability to manipulate and shape light and darkness.

According to the records of his battles in the Rating games, he is an extremely powerful knight able to move at the speed of light while possessing a powerful demonic spear known as Ama-no-Saka-hoko (Heavenly Upside Down Spear) that allows him to create clouds of any type of demonic energy of his choosing by spinning it. He gained this spear after his expedition to Japan.

Masaru called out his Sacred Gear Singing Book, shortly old Norse runes began to float out of the opened book flowing towards his right palm he was pointing in front of him

"Å, portørvakt for norrøn, pass på mitt kall og gi meg et blad for å kutte ned fiendene mine! Hǫfuð"

(Oh gatekeeper of Norse, heed my call and grant me a blade to cut down my enemies! Hǫfuð)

Within Masaru's hands, a sword materialized, it was an imitation spell sword that took the shape of the sword of Heimdallr.

"Hoh? You want to challenge me as a Knight?"

Edward smiled broadly at his young master's bold actions to challenge him while knowing that a spear had a longer reach compared to a sword,

"I simply wish to understand how far I have reached with my current strength"

Masaru looked towards his two peerage members and gave his orders as their king

"Akeno, Shirone you two will handle Jacob. Be careful, he's a Werewolf and is incredibly strong especially with the Rook Traits so fight him seriously from the get-go"

Edward who heard this smiled wryly, thinking for the current team set up it was the best choice

"So you don't take me seriously?"

Edward thought of taunting him but suddenly he felt a strong surge of Demonic Energy and Ki was converging within Masaru's body,

"No... I am taking this seriously, so I will fight as if my life is on the line"

'This pressure could easily cause mid-rank and lower devils lose their will to fight in an instant... hehe'

Edward chuckled and took his stance, the moment he was in his stance the atmosphere around him changed abruptly causing Masaru to feel that he was up against an incredibly dangerous monster.

Without anyone to tell them to start Masaru took his first step enhancing his initial burst of speed with his demonic power, Edward could guess what was his intentions chose to not make his move but wait for Masaru till he was in his attack range and simply thrust his spear towards the head of Masaru.

This attack may appear to be simple but it was done while calculating the time Masaru who take to stop, Masaru who saw this did not flinch as his father would also pull this kind of stunts on him making it was the habit of him to use a wind element magic called, Breeze.

As it names state it only causes a breeze but what Masaru did was focus the breeze on the half right side of his body moving in a circle like a tornado move to dodge the spear while using the momentum of the spinning speed to slash down the sword with his left hand.

CLANG!

The sound of two weapons clashing against one another echoed within the forest followed by a strong gust of wind blowing fiercely in all directions, Edward grinned while Masaru felt a bit excited for some reason.

Perhaps it was the thrill of having a life-threatening battle causing his adrenaline to rush boosting his strength, this increase of strength also gave him an addictive rush feeling as if he could do anything.

Using his spear as a staff Edward sways Masaru's sword towards the right to disrupt his balance while twirling the sword in a circular motion using the spin to force him to release the sword which Masaru did, but what he did not expect was Masaru dropping down in a kneeling stance with his left hand on the ground.

"Ground shrink"

It was an earth element magic that has similarity to a space warp spell which allowed Masaru to move almost instantly in the direction his sword flew and caught it.

"Just how much of a monster does your father want you to become?"

Although Edward was currently suppressing his strength to that of a High-Class devil, the fact that Masaru was keeping up with him still shocked him as he could not entirely believe this boy who everyone doting on especially the females could exhibit such strength.

"Haah... Honestly, I don't know, but for the sake of surviving and having the strength to protect myself and those around me. I don't mind being called a monster you know"

"Spoken like a true Heir of the Belial, Allow this knight to become slightly more serious this time!"

Soon the two of them continued to clash against one another once again.

>\/<

"So I will be up against little Kitty and Little Birdy?"

Jacob Black, Diehauser's second rook and the youngest of his peerage. A werewolf who watched his pack get murdered by a vampire when he was younger, after being saved and trained by Diehauser he succeeded in going out to find and killed the vampires who murdered his family.

According to the information on the rating games, he wields a powerful great sword most of the time while rarely using his crossbow which was cursed with demonic magic.

Shirone and Akeno did not take offence to his taunting words since they were repeatedly taught by Masaru to never fall prey for any insults regardless of what they say, however they knew Jacob was still sceptical if they are worthy of being in Masaru's team since Jacob was particularly overprotective of Masaru whom he sees as his little brother.

"Hoh? So you two think you grew up? Let me test you today to see if you are worthy of being by Young master's side"

Shirone nodded at Akeno who flash casts lighting onto Jacob while Shirone entered her Neko-mode and immediately dashed forward, the lightning did not flinch Jacob at all and he could sense Shirone was coming at him.

While Shirone was still moving Akeno immediately casts a mist spell surrounding the territory in the mist before taking flight into the skies to oversee the battlefield.

"Hmmm, not a bad idea but have you two forgotten what your master told you?"

Jacob spoke loud enough for only the two to hear him when Shirone punched out towards Jacob she realizes he was already gone and it was only an afterimage.

'He's this fast despite being a rook!?'

Shirone shuddered but soon strengthen her fighting spirit using senjutsu to sense his presence, but before she could react Jacob came behind her to strike her.

Shirone who felt a warning signal at the last moment decided to fall flat on the ground missing the sword strike by a hair breathes immediately spinning a kick like a top to trip Jacob but he jumped back to dodge it but above him, another several lightning strikes came down upon him.

He infused his demonic energy into his throat and roared towards the lightning causing ripples of Demonic energy to flow out of his mouth, there was nothing noteworthy of this technique other than the fact it was strong enough to ward off the lightning to other directions from him.

Shirone stood up while Akeno was floating above them, it was a short battle but they used almost all of their energy in those attacks since they were up against someone who is known to be in the top 5 strongest Rook.

"I will at least acknowledge you two are quite skilful, but it is still not enough"

Jacob rested his sword on his shoulder while looking at the girls, Shirone who did not respond before looked at him with determined eyes, she muttered in a soft voice only Jacob could hear

"Need more power"

A strange sense of dread crawled on the spine of Jacob who felt the dangerous vibe the white aura that was slowly starting to materialize around Shirone, at first he thought it was touki but this dreadful presence made him feel she is dangerous the way she was.

"Shirone?"

Akeno who felt something was amiss called out to Shirone who ignored her, suddenly strong killing intent burst out of Shirone's body causing Akeno to shudder.

'Could this be the cause her sister killed her master?'

Jacob misunderstood the report he once read about Kuroka who killed her master by linking this situation with her, without any further thoughts he immediately sprinted towards Shirone and began to fiercely battle against her.

He could feel this girl was growing stronger with each minute that force was flowing out of her, but instead, it was his own body that grew weaker due to his Devil side being weak against this fire that feels similar to a purification.

Seeing his situation was getting really bad he immediately pulled his crossbow from his back which had a sleeping poison smeared on the bolt, he appeared behind Shirone and shot her leg.

It took a while before the poison took effect causing Shirone to collapse on the ground sleeping,

"Shirone!"

Akeno who was still afraid of the previous Shirone finally snapped out of it when she saw Shirone falling on the ground.

"What happened to her!? If you harmed her then I will kill you!"

Akeno was confused but angry as well since she could not handle her friend being harmed in front of her, Shirone was her first friend and she could not understand what was happening. Jacob who saw this could only sigh thinking his young master truly picked up a troubling peerage member, he looked at Akeno while gently as possible to he removed the bolt from Shirone's body and bandaging it up.

"All I can say is this girl tapped into a power inside her which she had no control over, you don't have to worry the young master can cast a healing spell on the wound as for the reason she fainted... Well, it was my sleeping poison"

While Jacob was explaining Edward came running while holding the exhausted Masaru on his back, but when Masaru saw Shirone's state the sense of urgency gave him some strength to force himself off Edward's back moving towards her.

He did not ask any questions and focused on healing her wound when he inspected her body with his

"Composition Spell: Full body Scan"

He saw there was no major damage to her body thanks to Jacob using a Sleeping poison instead of forcibly knocking her out psychically, this allowed the rampant energy to slowly diminish. When the wound was healed he heard the story Jacob but Masaru did not have any recollections of Shirone having this kind of power before.

"Young Master, we have to seal this girl's power. It is simply too Dangerous"

Jacob felt that having Shirone the way she is will be dangerous for Masaru, but Masaru shook his head

"From your description, it should be a sort of purification power, you should also remember that practitioners of Senjutsu are all exposed to negative energy within the natural energy. Yin and Yang, only by controlling both good and evil can one find balance. Even she a Nekomata can get influenced by it, she is simply inexperienced. I believe she will be able to control it, this situation simply stems off from her strong desire to become stronger"

"But it is still dangerous"

Jacob protested while feeling that he was the only one who truly understood how dreadful that power was especially for a Devil.

"Control can be trained if we seal her without teaching her or allowing her to learn how to control it. What would happen when she becomes an adult or the power accidentally unseals itself? There is no absolute in the world"

Jacob who heard this remained silent for a long time.

"I suppose we can end today's training with this"

>\/<

Later that night Diehauser was sitting together with Edward and Jacob who reported today's training after they completed their report Diehauser could only sigh

"What Masaru said was reasonable because in such cases it would not be uncommon if she was killed on the spot"

Jacob who heard immediately added

"I believe we should replace her instead! She is too dangerous!"

Diehauser looked at Jacob, he knew this overprotective rook of his was simply too emotional right now.

"No, let Masaru handle this. It will serve as his training as a King, it is his peerage and he will have to manage them in the future"

Jacob could only slump into the chair feeling stressed over the idea of his little brother being in danger.

"Well how about we arrange someone to watch over them in intervals till we are certain the girl is no longer a danger"

Edward suggested since he too was a bit reluctant to simply let the situation be, Diehauser who heard this nodded

"Let's do that"

>\/<

Masaru was currently sitting next to the bed of the Shirone who felt sad and conflicted about happened, although she could not remember everything she still remembers the feeling of losing control.

"Are you not going to punish me?"

Shirone looked Masaru who still looked at her warmly, she felt conflicted that she was perhaps taking advantage of Masaru's kindness who will never blame her.

"Well what happened could honestly not be helped, we both train in senjutsu and know that some power does not come without a cost. The best thing to do is to face forward, train harder on our control"

Masaru spoke towards Shirone who nodded

"I will train harder... But this power"

Masaru tapped her head gently

"Don't fear the power, yes it's dangerous but it's your power. Power is only dangerous if we can't control it, so we can study it together and learn how to control it"

Shirone nodded but kept her head down, Masaru could only sigh thinking that this girl will be like this for a while unless he truly punishes her.

After thinking for a while he decided on a method to 'punish' her,

"Very well, I will have your punishment prepared for you"

Shirone who heard this looked at Masaru with vigour, she was not scared of being punished but she did not expect him to truly consider punishing her.

--------------

Author Note:

The chapter has been edited, If I missed something please just drop a Paragraph Comment and I will Fix it