10

Chapter 10: The Pursuit of Joy

"No, no, no! Damn it all!" Keijutsu yelled, covering his eyes as another explosion ripped through the testing room. Once he was sure that there was nothing left to blind him, he opened them and looked inside. Just like last time, the inside of the room looked as if a bomb had gone off in it. The golem responsible was lying on the ground, and there was nothing left of either the device or the test subjects.

Off to the side, still in her smaller form, Fronea yawned. "And another test ends in failure. This has been, what, your sixth attempt in the last two weeks? If you keep this up, the pet store you buy those tadpoles from is going to be very curious about what you're using them for," she pointed out.

The white-haired youth grunted and waved his hand. A trio of more golems entered the testing area and began cleaning up, while two more picked up their fallen comrade and took it away for repairs. Once that was done, he picked up the Sphinx and walked out of the room, heading to the stairs that led to his apartment complex.

As he walked, he said "It's not the store owners that are the problem. If they start getting suspicious, I'll just switch to using fish as subjects, which I can buy by the dozen with no questions asked. No, the problem is that I can't seem to solve the issue with keeping the isolation sphere stable. It starts out fine, but once the aging process generates enough heat, it can't keep it contained and starts to go out of control."

Fronea tilted her head. "I see. So your theory is right, it's how to apply it that is messing up you up. Have you thought of any ways to fix it?" she asked.

They reached his door, and Keijutsu disabled the silent alarm before walking in. "A few, actually. I could strengthen the isolation sphere to the point that it can contains any heat that is created, regardless of the amount. I could reduce the amount of heat that the aging process creates. Or find a way to actually make the net entropy within the sphere decrease instead of increase, which would eliminate the need for heat generation entirely," he explained.

"That second option sounds like it would best, in my opinion. So how are you going to go about it?" the familiar questioned, leaping from his arms and landing on the couch.

"To be frank… I have no idea. I'm completely stumped on how to go about fixing the design of my entropy-manipulation devices to solve this issue. I didn't even expect it to be this difficult; I fully expected the hard part to be when I got around to synthesizing human reproductive cells," he said, running a hand through his hair before looking at his watch.

The moment he did, he eyes threatened to pop out of his head, and he yelled "Holy-! Class starts in five minutes! I'm gonna be late!" He dashed into the kitchen and grabbed his bookbag before dashing to the door, but stopped when Fronea said "Couldn't you just use a magic circle to teleport there?"

Keijutsu froze, thought about that for moment, before lowering his head. He was really off today… Wordlessly, he conjured a circle that would transport him to the Student Council Room, and waved Fronea goodbye before leaving.

Later that day…

"I call," the Artificer stated, smirking over his cards at Sona.

The heiress to the Sitri House was completely calm, not even a twitch in her expression. Ever since Keijutsu's reincarnation as her Bishop, the two of them had begun meeting once a week for tea and to play another round of chess. So far, the number of wins and losses was even on either side, something that both pleased and infuriated Sona.

This time, however, the two of them had decided to take a break from chess to try out a card game called 'Texas Hold 'Em'. Once they learned how to play, it was simple enough, and both enjoyed the prospect of a new challenge.

"Very well, Kei-san. Let's see what you've got," she said.

Rising to the challenge, he laid down his hand and smirked. There was a six from each suit, totaling four. "Four of a kind, Sona-san. Try and beat that," he said.

Sona's response was to, one a time, lay down each of her cards. There was a four of spades, and a five of spades, a six, a seven… and an eight. A straight flush. "I believe I win that hand," she said, allowing her smile to finally surface.

Keijutsu stared for a moment. The odds of getting a straight flush were—he did a quick mental calculation—over 70,000 to 1, compared to a four-of-a-kind's odds of over 4000 to 1. There should have been no way for her to get that hand… and yet she had.

He hung his head in defeat. "Very well. I concede defeat," he said fake-sullenly.

Sona chuckled and took a sip of her tea, sighing as the herbal taste washed across her taste buds. "By the way, there's something I've been curious about," she said.

"Oh? Ask away," Keijutsu replied.

"I reviewed my family's banking accounts last night, and I found something interesting. In the past few weeks, there's have been several purchases of both pocket watches and of pet toads, both occurring at roughly the same time and in similar quantities. Would you have anything to do with that?" she asked, looking at him over the rim of her glasses.

He stiffened for a moment, before shrugging. "Yes, that was my doing. I needed the watches and toads for a set of experiments I've been running. And as per our agreement when I first beat you, I can use any amount of money from the Sitri accounts for my research so long as I don't leave you bankrupt," he reminded her.

"Yes, I remember that. That said, it does still leave me curious as to exactly what kind of experiments you would need those for. Could you enlighten me?" she requested.

For a moment, Keijutsu pondered whether or not to tell her. Technically, he was under no obligation to do so, and he could just say that his research was private. Although it wasn't the answer Sona was hoping for, he knew she'd respect it. Still, it was her family's money that he was using to fund his research, so he supposed that it would at least be courteous to let them know what he was doing with it.

And so, his mind made up, he told Sona about the current focus of his research. His attempts to find a limit to what magic could do, his goal to use magic to make intelligent human life, and his work of inducing aging via entropy.

When he was finally done, Sona leaned back in her seat and looked at her glass. For a long while, she didn't say anything, or even look at him. The silence stretched on, and eventually Keijutsu frowned. "Well? What do you think?"

Sona sighed. "What you've told me is… troubling, to be honest. From an intellectual standpoint, I can understand what you're trying to do and why you're doing it. And it is a valid question to research, what the limitations on magic are. But have you given any thought about what will happen after you go through with this?"

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that the method you've chosen to create a living being can have severe ramifications. First off, what will you do with the person you've made if you succeed? Will you make sure that they're able to function in society on their own, or keep them in your lab like you do with your golems?" she asked.

Keijutsu didn't say anything, though his eyes did widen.

Sona continued. "And what of the knowledge and memories that a fully-grown human is supposed to have? This person will have none of those things, essentially making them an infant in a grown body."

His eyes grew wider.

"Both of these can have serious consequences, depending on how they're handled. If you succeed in creating a human in a lab, does that person have free will just like the rest of us? How would they be able to integrate into society? And how would you ensure that they have the knowledge and tools to do so? These are the possible problems that I can see with your approach," she explained.

Keijutsu was silent, considering what she said. To be honest, he hadn't even considered these questions when he pondered whether or not to take this approach.

They were valid points to consider. Assuming he did succeed in creating a living being, what would happen to the person he made afterwards? Would he let them leave, or would he keep them nearby to study and examine? Would he be willing to accept responsibility if something went wrong? And now that he was thinking about it, while the process would ensure that he did make a human life, how could he guarantee that the life he made was actually intelligent?

Seeing that he was seriously considering her words, Sona sat back down. "I'm not telling you to stop your research, Kei-san. But I am asking you to consider the implications of what going through with it could mean. Are you willing to bear that burden, that responsibility?" she asked more calmly.

He didn't respond, simply staring at the floor as his thought process went into overdrive. His imagination was already conjuring an array of possible images. One image was of a hunched-over, sickly looking infant, one who was stuck with a genetic defect of his own making. Another image was of a faceless adult wearing diapers, whose care would be his responsibility. And yet another was of the same faceless individual, this time fully sound in mind and body, but whose days were spent being poked and prodded like a lab rat.

Every single image disturbed him, and he briefly found himself even question whether he was doing the right thing at all.

But the moment his resolve wavered, an old memory came back to him. It was of himself, younger and shunned by the other children for having powers beyong his control or their understanding. During that time, he would read about the great things done by other scientists in history. And during his reading, he found one quote that had always stuck with him.

"I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by an inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success. Such emotions can make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything."

The quote was said by Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American engineer and physicist who developed the modern AC electric supply system. From the moment Keijutsu read those words, he had always wanted to feel the thrill that Tesla mentioned, that ultimate joy that could only come from inventing. And to this day, he still found no feeling that equaled it.

That was why he sought answers to his questions, why he was willing to go so far in his endeavors. In a way, it could be seen as selfish, doing research solely for the purpose of feeling great.

But in the end, it was what made him human. Even now, having chosen to become a Devil, he still had a human's feelings, and a human's desire for joy. And come hell or high water, he would never shy away for it.

"Yes," he said, causing Sona to look up at him. When she did, she was startled to see a blaze of pure passion in his eyes, an unbroken desire that would never be extinguished.

"Yes, I am willing to accept that responsibility. If the being I create wishes to have a life of their own, I will accept that. If they need me to instruct them how to function in society, then I will teach them everything I know. And if I screw up and they suffer for it, then I will bear that burden without regret. Because that is what it means to be an Artificer," he said determinedly.

For a moment, Sona simply stared at him, amazed at the conviction in his words. Eventually, however, she smiled widely, and nodded. "You're right. I can see now. No matter what happens, I can see that you're willing to do whatever is needed to see your research through to the end. And that is something I can fully respect," she said.

Keijutsu smiled and nodded back, before standing. "You know, talking this much about my research really has me fired up. If you don't mind, I'd like to get going and work on just that," he said.

Sona waved him off. "Go right ahead. And by the way, I'm sorry if it felt like I was discouraging your work. Just remember to be careful."

"Always," he replied, and walked out.

One week later…

'So… this is the address where he lives?' Keijutsu thought. Supposedly, the person living here had made a request of Sona's peerage, just like any other client. However, there were a few things that were strange with this one. First, while the client hadn't specified the nature of their request, they had specified that they wanted the 'newest Devil' to be the one to do it. And, he had sent the request via the mail, instead of using one of the fliers.

All in all, it was very unusual, and left Sona more than a little suspicious about who would make such a request. But in the end, they had decided that it was better to find out than be left in the dark, and so she had sent Keijutsu to fill out the unknown request.

That was how he found himself in front of an apartment much like his own. Except that it was larger, more expensive, and practically had 'fancy' written all over it. Whoever this client was, he was definitely rich.

'Well, here goes nothing,' he thought, and pressed the doorbell. After a moment, the door opened, and he got his first look at his newest potential contract. He was a tall man with an average build, somewhat tanned skin, and violet eyes. His hair was black with golden bangs, and he had a black goatee. He was wearing a loose-fitting gray kimono.

"Ah, so you're the Devil I asked to see. My name is Zel, nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand.

Keijutsu smiled and shook it, saying "It's a pleasure to meet you, Zel-san. My name is Keijutsu Hatsume. May I come in?"

"Of course. And please, none of that '-san' business. Around here, we can speak on informal terms," Zel said, stepping aside to let him in.

Keijutsu nodded and walked inside. Much like the rest of the complex, the interior of the apartment was lavish and spoke of great wealth. Several bonsai trees were around the edge of the living room, the furniture was all high-end, and there was even a spot on the wall where it looked like a painting had once been hanging.

He was drawn out of his inspection by Zel, who showed up with a bottle of saké and two saucers. "Well, you certainly showed up sooner than I expected. Faster than the last Devil I asked for, at least," he said.

Keijutsu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "The last Devil? You mean that I'm not the first Devil you've summoned?" he asked.

Pouring himself some sake, Zel replied "No, I had a Devil here last week who I hoped would be my drinking partner. But not only was he a minor, it also took him ages to get here. And get this: he showed up a bike!" He laughed. "Can you believe it? A Devil on a bike? What, are they going to be working at burger joints next?"

'A Devil who has to travel by bike… maybe he's talking about Hyoudou-san?' he thought. If he recalled correctly, Sona had mentioned a while ago that, for all the power his Sacred Gear had, it was still amusing that Rias's sole Pawn couldn't even use a magic circle without help.

"So, is that why you asked me here? To share a drink with you?" he asked out loud.

"Yup, that's it. What, don't tell me that you're a minor too?" Zel responded.

Keijutsu shrugged. "Technically, yes, since the legal drinking age is twenty and I'm only eighteen. But I can use my magic to purge the alcohol from my bloodstream just as quickly as my body processes it, so I could drink with you without becoming intoxicated," he explained.

Zel sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. In that case, let's drink up!" he said, and raised his saucer up high.

He copied the action and they both took a sip together. Keijutsu muttered a small incantation to cast the spell, and the burning he felt in his throat vanished just as soon as it appeared, leaving only the taste of the saké behind. And to be honest, it wasn't half bad.

Zel sighed again, this time in satisfaction, and poured himself another drink. "Now that's the stuff. I tell you, I've had different types of alcohol from all over the world, but saké still holds a special place in my heart," he stated.

"All over the world? You mean to say that you've actually traveled to different countries just to taste the alcohol there?" Keijutsu asked.

"Well, I don't like to brag, but…" the man said, before standing up and walking over to a large cabinet. Grabbing one handle with each hand, he swung it open and stood back with a flourish. Keijutsu stared. Inside was a bottle of alcohol from seemingly every country on the planet. He could see writing on the bottles in Japanese, English, Italian, French, German, you name it. "…I do fancy myself a collector of sorts," Zel finished.

Keijutsu had to refrain from snorting. A collector indeed. "So that's your hobby? Traveling around the world and collecting different types of alcohol?"

"Not just alcohol, no. I like to collect things in general; if I see something I like, I try to enjoy as much of it as possible. Alcohol, women, food, women, all the finer things on Earth, and women. Few things give me greater joy than that," he said, before sitting back down and taking another drink. "And what about you? Do you have something that brings you happiness?"

For some reason, when Zel asked that, an image of Sona popped into his head, specifically an image of her in that blue dress she wore.

Thinking nothing of it, he said "I enjoy doing research on things that I'm curious about. To me, that unparalleled joy you speak of comes when I can take the knowledge I have accumulated and use it to answer a question, one that usually involves performing experiments. Then, once I have the answer, I can feel the satisfaction of knowing that everything was worth it."

Zel slowly nodded. "I see," he said, an intense look appearing on his face for a second. The sight of it startled Keijutsu, but then it vanished so quickly that he was left to wonder whether or not he had actually seen it at all. "Well, this has been fun, but I think I'm going to call it a night here," he said, standing up.

Keijutsu blinked. "Already? We aren't even halfway done with the bottle," he pointed out.

The older man chuckled. "It's better to take things one bit at a time, rather than do it all at once. Same goes for enjoying a drink. But if you want, then I can form a contract with you and request to see you next weekend. We can continue making our way through this bottle then," he suggested.

After a moment of silence, the youth smiled and stood as well. "I'd consider that to be an excellent idea," he said. Zel smiled back, and the two of them shook hands on it. A miniature version of the Sitri crest glowed on the back of their hands, signifying that the contract had been formed. With that done, Keijutsu called forth a magic circle to surround him. "Well, it was a pleasure talking with you, Zel. See you next week."

Zel nodded. "See you then, Keijutsu."

While Keijutsu was heading home, triumphant at having another contract formed, three individuals made their way into the ruins of the town's church. Each of them wore white hooded cloaks, though one of them had a large sword wrapped in cloth strapped to her back.

Once inside, they took note of the collapsed columns, the shattered benches, and even the hole in one of the upper windows that let the rain fall in. One of the figures sighed, saying "This place would be best described as 'utter ruin'," and revealing themselves to be female.

The second figure, also female and shorter than the others, nodded and added "There was an incident here not too long ago, one between a group of Fallen Angels and Devils. If they're even able to set foot here, much less fight, than God has truly left this house."

The third girl took off her hood, showing that she was rather attractive, with chestnut hair held up in twin-tails and violet eyes. "These Devils… they're the ones that we're gonna have to speak with before we start our search, right?" she asked curiously.

The first woman nodded and also removed her hood. Like her partner, she was rather young, only about an inch taller than her. Her hair reached her chin, was dark blue with a green fringe, and she had dark yellow eyes. Her expression was also much more stoic than the others. "That's right. And this is also the place where we're supposed to meet our contact. We should take this time to rest before they arrive."

"I agree," the third woman said, discarding her robe. She was just under five feet in height, with fair skin, aqua-colored eyes and long navy-blue hair that was held up in a ponytail on one side. Unlike her other companions, she wore a set of long red and white robes beneath her cloak that were lined with gold.

Her expression was even more serious than the blue-head's, and she looked at her more curious comrade. "Remember, although this town may have been your home as a child, it is still under the rule of Devils, and must be treated as such. Will you be able to prevent your feelings from interfering with your duty?" she asked bluntly.

The brown-haired girl straightened and, in a rare display of seriousness, said "I can definitely prevent that. We're here to search for Excalibur, and I'm willing to do whatever is needed to make sure we succeed. You can count on that."

The aqua-haired woman nodded, and the three of them turned in for the night.

Keijutsu could sense that something was wrong from the moment he appeared in Council Room. Sure, everything looked the same. Nothing was out of place, and it didn't sound like there was any kind of commotion going on. Indeed, it seemed like a regular school day.

The moment he activated his other senses, however, the ones attuned to magic and the supernatural, he could sense the abnormality. Standing near the front of the school were three powerful energy signatures, each one of them human but considerably more… pure… than average. Not only that, but they were accompanied by two other energy sources that weren't human but felt even purer.

Quickly walking over to the window behind Sona's desk, he drew the curtain aside and looked down into the Academy's front courtyard. Sure enough, there was a trio of strangers wearing white cloaks standing at the gate. They weren't coming any closer and seemed to be waiting for something, all the while ignoring the looks they were getting from the students.

Keijutsu hummed and channeled a trickle of magical energy to his eyes, causing them to glow slightly. When they did, the energy signature of everything within his field of view became visible. For most of the students, it was a shade of muddy brown that outlined their bodies like an aura, occasionally flickering to a different color in accordance with their emotions.

But for the trio in front of the church, their energy signatures were a sunny yellow, a deep blue and solid grey, respectively. And the two other energies he sensed were coming from something on one woman's back and the arm of the one next to her, both shining a solid white.

As if they sensed that he was watching, the shortest one out of the group spun around and seemed to stare straight at him, despite the fact that there should have been no way for her to see him with the morning sun reflecting off the windows. Keijutsu raised an eyebrow, but decided to close the curtain and walk away. If they were here to cause trouble, Sona would find out soon enough and have the matter dealt with.

Still, while he walked to his next class, Keijutsu quietly summoned several dozens of his mechanical wasps and had them hide in the corner of various hallways, just in case.

The day crept on, and Keijutsu could sense nothing wrong. It irked him, since he knew that those three people at the gate were not from here, and they obviously had some sort of alignment with the supernatural. And while he was glad that nothing had happened, he still couldn't help but feel restless.

When the final bell finally rang and they were let out of class for the day, he couldn't get out of the door faster. Opening his senses once more, he tried to figure out where the group of strangers went. To his alarm, he could sense that they were still on the school grounds, only this time they were headed for… the Old Schoolhouse.

'Shit. Does Gremory-san know that they're heading that way? If she doesn't, and they're moving in that direction anyway, this could end very badly,' he thought. Without another thought, he began running in the direction of the Old Schoolhouse, hoping to at least get there before nothing bad happened.

Unfortunately, by the time he got there, he could already sense that they were inside. Therefore, he stopped running and approached more cautiously. The front door to the building was unlocked, but it didn't look like it had been forced open. That may or may not have been a good sign. He entered and focused his senses further.

The three were inside the main lounge of the building, and he didn't sense any spikes of energy that might have come from fighting. Which meant that they were here in peace… or he was too late. Coming closer, he began to make out voices on the other side of the door, and crept even closer.

It was only once he was right in front of the door that he heard a voice, one that belonged to a young woman, state "Then you should let me execute you now."

'So they are here to cause trouble. If I had known, I would have taken care of these three when I first saw them. Well, I'm not waiting now!' he thought. Even if Rias or her servants were of a different peerage, they were still fellow students and Devils. If he turned a blind eye to them being attacked, what kind of person would he be?

With that in mind, he willed an array of seals to appear over each of his hands before charging forward. He burst through the doors and saw that the three strangers—who he saw were all women—were standing right in front of him. But one of them, the one with blue hair and yellow eyes, had her hand on her massive sword and was looking towards Rias's Bishop, who looked ready to burst into tears.

His entrance startled every person in the room, be they Devil or human. But before they could react, he lunged at the bluenette and called "Try executing someone after this!" and fired an orb of pure energy at her.