Chapter 003: Plotting a Course

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[You must live for today, 'cause yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.]

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{CYRUS DRAKON}

Raynare was sat up in the bed Sebastian had chosen for her as we walked in, a bandage around her right forearm and face. It occurred to me that I hadn't shared my Retinue-included abilities with her yet, so her wounds were still present and probably painful.

Sebastian, finding her clothing in bad taste, had dressed her in a baggy shirt that acted like a hospital gown. Looking over it more closely, it looked to be in my size. I frowned at the thought of my shirt being tainted by her, but ultimately let it go. I was certain Fischer had a washing machine around here somewhere, but, if not, I could always launch the garment into the sun.

She kept her head turned away from us, looking at the wall to her left as I grabbed a chair from the mahogany desk in the room and placed it next to the bed. The room was fairly large and much more than she needed or deserved for trying to kill a Dragon like Issei and Ddraig.

The bed she was sat on was a queen-size mattress with dark red sheets with a matching bedspread, which her legs were tucked under. The frame was made of the same brown mahogany as the desk that sat against the wall to her right and the dresser that sat against the wall opposite the door.

Across from the wall her bed was against, a white door led into a private bathroom that I had yet to inspect.

Snorting my disagreement with the high-quality lodgings she had been given, I sat in the small chair and felt it creak under the weight of my muscled form. Raynare flinched slightly as I leaned forward and let out a gruff, "What was your reason for attacking Issei?"

I could feel Fischer behind me, leaning against the wall near the door with his arms crossed over his chest. If he knew anything, he didn't say it.

Raynare slowly turned to look at me, only her right eye not covered by the bloody bandages that spanned the rest of her head. Her violet eye trembled as she traced the edges of my hands, fear causing her eyes to widen.

"W-we… We're killing any Humans who might pose a problem to us." She hugged herself, bringing her knees to her chest and burying her head in them. It was strange to see the girl who had been so cocky and defiant becoming so scared and broken after a few taps to the ground.

"So, because Issei has the Boosted Gear you were going to kill him?" Lacing my fingers together, I sighed and leaned back in the wooden chair.

Raynare lifted her head and looked at me in confusion, "Issei has the Boosted Gear? That makes sense, I guess."

She seemed depressed, lowering her head again and moving to curl up into a ball on her left side. I glanced over my shoulder to Fischer, seeing him walk forward to sit on the edge of her bed. The small man – relatively speaking, of course – cleared his throat to get her attention, "I've never really liked you, Raynare, I'll be honest. You're a backstabbing, double-crossing, ignorant, selfish slut and nobody will ever love you. However, you're lucky. See, Drakon here is in need of decent Retinue members. Seeing as how you're not dead yet, you have some use, I guess."

As rude as his words seemed, I couldn't find a lie among them – not that I'd truly know if there was. Sure, I could barely hear his heartbeat and it was supposed to flutter or something when people lied but I couldn't tell given my inexperience with biology in general. I also didn't take any talents that allowed me to tell if someone was lying or bending the truth at all.

Raynare sniffled, somehow having reverted to a little girl with her experiences in the last few hours. Fischer got up and patted my shoulder, "I'll be downstairs if you decide you don't want to kill her yourself."

"If it comes down to that," I laughed, "I'd just sell her."

"Not that you'd get a lot for someone so weak," His words made my brow furrow, given that she was probably the same strength as him, if not stronger.

But I kept my words to myself, waiting until Fischer left to close the door. Moving the chair back to its spot at Raynare's desk, I sat on the edge of her bed near the center. It was fairly obvious that whatever personality the girl used to have was shattered by our confrontation into a million pieces.

With that in mind, I shared my Body Tune-Up perk with her and waited. It was a fairly simple perk that healed all wounds, but only once when the person first received it. In addition to that, the perk healed any additional blemishes – not that she had any I could see – and would have made her taller if she wasn't fully grown already. That left her height at about five-four, which was still very short when compared to me.

I watched as her black wings spread from her back and slowly turned white again, starting from their base and spreading along the spines and down the feathers. I knew that the perk would revert any detrimental irregularities or physical transformations, but I wasn't expecting it to change her back into an actual angel.

Raynare, noticing this change in her physique, sat up and removed her bandages. She stared in shock and awe at the undamaged skin where I had bitten her – though a tattoo now occupied the area – and then at the pure white feathers of her wings. Tears formed in her eyes and she lunged at me unexpectedly, wrapping her arms around me and crying into my chest, "Thank you, thank you, Master! I never thought it was possible to regain my grace! Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"It's a non-issue," I patted her back, deciding to forge a new personality that lived to serve me and wasn't as sadistic as Raynare used to be. Along with her new personality, I decided she could use a new name as well, "With your new life, how about I give you a new name as well?"

She moved back slightly and wiped her tears from her face with the balls of her hands, "I'd be delighted, Master."

"How do you feel about…" Humming softly, I went through a list of names in my mind and clicked my tongue, "Amelia?"

"I love it!" She wrapped her arms around me again, rubbing her face against my chest. As much as I enjoyed having an objectively beautiful girl rubbing against me, she wasn't my type. Not by a long shot.

Maybe she'd get along with Issei though, he liked larger breasts. I lamented at the thought, groaning internally that I even considered it. Amelia's new personality was too pure for Issei, even if I did consider him as something of a family member now.

"That's good," I pushed her away and stood up, just now noticing that she wasn't wearing anything under the shirt that Sebastian had commandeered for her. Coughing into my hand, I looked away from the girl; the shirt curved around her breasts way too well and displayed the sharpness of her nipples. That was even disregarding how the shirt was meant to go around my thick neck – which was much thicker than hers- allowing me to see more of her chest than I wanted to.

"Is something wrong, Master?" She leaned forward, the shirt baggy enough that it showed her breasts through the neckline when I glanced again.

"Your, uhm, assets are on display, Amelia." She looked down and realized, then tilted her head in a smile that confused me.

"I don't mind you seeing," She closed her eyes to complete her smile, and I'm sure I would have fallen for her if my desires leaned her way.

Still, if she decided that she didn't mind me seeing, I wasn't the type to insist upon myself when it wasn't needed. I had grown up around modest women, even the girl that shaped my interests was a modest girl all through our childhood and teenage years.

So, though this was a new experience where I was seeing a girl's chesticles for the first time, I wouldn't shy away and demand that Amelia put them away. They weren't overly large, so they didn't flop around like sacks of potatoes, but they weren't quite my size either.

"I see," She nodded at my answer, "But you shouldn't go around like that outside of the island, okay?"

She couldn't leave the island without Fischer or one of his Retinue members, and, come to think of it, neither could I. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind for now, standing up from Amelia's bed and separating myself from the girl, "Get some more rest, I don't know if Body Tune-Up refreshes your stamina like it does your wounds. I'll be back before dinner."

Which, of course, I'd have Sebastian cook. I couldn't cook for shit and I doubted that Fischer was all that interested in cooking or that his Retinue had those skills.

"I'll be waiting, Master." Amelia slid back under her blankets, briefly — and I hope accidentally — flashing me when her oversized shirt pulled up as she moved across the bed.

I gave Amelia a curt smile before leaving and closing her door behind me. Sebastian stood to the left of the door with his hands at his sides, waiting for an order. I signaled him to follow after me, my steps heavy along the hardwood floors of Fisher's home. However, despite Sebastian being directly behind me, I could barely hear the light tapping that his shoes made against the floor, even then, I'm sure that's because he wanted me to.

Black Butler had been one of the only Anime I actually watched. As such, I'd need to rely on Fischer's knowledge of most worlds. The animes I had watched were pretty much confined to only three; Black Butler, Black Clover, and Fairy Tail. Along with that, I had read part of the manga for Danmachi and Death March to The Parallel World Rhapsody. And, I had read the Overlord Light Novel.

Compared to what Fischer seemed to know – and given his NEET personality – I was severely lacking.

But, I digress. Sebastian allowed me to hear him, for what reason, I wasn't sure. I looked over and stopped in front of a painting that seemed to move as I passed it by.

It was a fairly simple painting of a prairie with a farmer tending his field, his home in the distance. I leaned a little bit closer, seeing the edges of the painting expand as if it was a doorway to the farmer's world or a window of sorts.

Pushing a hand against it, the painting felt like a normal canvas with acrylic paint spread over it. I frowned as the farmer wiped his brow and continued cutting bushels of wheat with his scythe, noticing that the wheat in his field flowed like it was blowing in the wind.

Humming in slight surprise, I glanced over at Sebastian, "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"I have not," His response was expected, given that he wasn't familiar with things outside of the Angels, Demons, and Reapers of his world.

Nodding to the farmer — though I doubted he could see me — I continued walking through the manor. It was something of a long walk, despite the corridor being mostly straight.

The walls were mostly white, contrasting with the dark floor and furniture that sat in the hallway. An end table here or there with a vase or empty picture frame atop it.

I made a mental note to get Fischer to decorate the place at some point, finding myself bored with how The Company decided to leave it.

"Tell me about your time with Ciel," I clasped my hands behind my back, my shirt straining around my shoulders.

"What do you wish to know?" His tone didn't change, showing that he didn't feel any which way about being taken from his former master. This specific Sebastian had never actually met Ciel Phantomhive, the boy who made a deal with him in the story, as he was a simple clone that was given to me by my patron, The First Contractor.

"Why did you choose to accept his plea?" It was something I had never been clear on, Ciel was shown to have made a deal in order to punish those who mistreated him and destroyed his family.

"His conviction," Sebastian stated it so simply that it surprised me, no hesitation in his answer, "Despite being so young, Ciel showed greater conviction and greed than many of the men I've known over the years."

"Do you not hate me for taking you from that?" For all Sebastian knew I had stolen him from his former master. For clones like him, they were in their universe one second and bound to a master in a foreign space the next.

"My contract with Ciel was over when I became bound to you, Master." He gave the small smile that sent girls crazy in my previous world, the same one that had them forcing him into a relationship with Ciel in multiple fanfictions.

Personally, I never understood the appeal of two men together. They couldn't have children together, so what was the point? Why start a relationship if not to build a family?

I was torn from my thoughts as we walked into the living room and I found Issei hitting on Blue-Eyes again. Only the two of them and Fischer were in the room, the others of his Retinue probably milling about somewhere else.

Seeing as she hadn't smacked him into oblivion, he had at least taken some of my advice on women. He kept his mouth shut long enough that she could get past his horrendous comments and see him for what he was; trash.

The frown on her face betrayed any feeling one would get that she was actually entertaining the idea of going out with him, not that he noticed. And, though I was tempted to discipline him again, I decided that I'd rather do something that yielded real results.

"Did that old guy bite you too? You into that?" Issei winked at her, causing even Sebastian to visibly cringe. It was quite the feat to make the Demon Butler show much more than mild annoyance, showcasing just how much of a degenerate Issei was.

"I think that's enough," Issei jumped off the couch, hearing my voice from behind him.

He turned to look at me sheepishly, "I don't suppose you just got here??"

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{Dominik Fischer}

I, personally, didn't mind watching Issei fail to land anything more than a condescending look, but he was a member of Drakon's Retinue and thus had to follow his orders. How he managed to circumvent them at times with his perverse behavior astounded me, but I didn't think too much of it. There was much more in DxD's canon that just didn't make sense that I decided to let it be.

Drakon spent about five minutes lecturing Issei on the etiquette to be used when talking to people, especially women. Issei clearly didn't understand any of it, but he nodded along and gave a quaint 'yeah' here or there.

"That aside," I interjected, standing up from the chair I had been sitting in off to the side. Whilst Issei had been flunking out with Blue-Eyes, I was looking through my phone at the list of targets in DxD, "What are you going to do with your new points?"

"I can't use them yet," Drakon looked at me in confusion, possibly unsure of why I was asking, "I have to wait a week."

"No," I shook my head, sticking my phone in the front right pocket of my pants, "You had to wait a week for the points you had left over, your new points can be used whenever you want."

"Oh," He gave a shy smile, making me think that the talent he had been endowed with was just for show, "I haven't thought about it cause I thought I'd need to wait."

"Well, you might want to take a look when you get the chance. For now, there's someone I want to capture and I'll probably need your help." Looking over at Issei, I figured it'd be a good opportunity for training as well, "Bring the Oppai Dragon too, we can train him while we're there."

"Please don't call us that…" Ddraig's voice, hollow and empty, resounded from Issei. It reminded me that he abhorred the name in the future, so much in fact that it made him depressed for a while.

"Where are we going? Should I bring Amelia?" My brow furrowed unconsciously at his question, making me think if I knew anyone by that name.

Deciding I didn't, I voiced the same, "Who?"

"Right, I didn't tell you yet. Raynare's personality has been completely wiped via a combination of my beating her skull into the pavement and some other stuffs," He waved it away as if that wouldn't get him arrested in a hundred and ninety countries, "Anyway, I named her Amelia to go along with her new personality and race as an Angel."

"You spent points to change her back?" I disregarded the initial part of his explanation as it didn't much matter, however, his wasting points to make her an Angel again was just plain stupid.

"Nope," He shook his head and smiled, "I shared Body Tune-Up with her and it reverted her to before she was a Fallen Angel."

"I didn't know it could do that," Rubbing my chin, I hummed in thought for a second, "Listen, you can have all of the Fallen Angels from this portion of the mission, except one. I want a girl named Mittelt, I'll leave everyone else and their points to you."

"I'm lost," Issei raised his hand, waiting for one of us to call on him, "Can someone explain?"

"Are you sure? That's a lot of points." Drakon ignored him initially and then turned to face the future Oppai Dragon, "We get paid for capturing people like you and that girl who attacked you."

"Yuuma? You kept her alive?" He looked around in worry, let out a breath when he didn't see her, "Isn't she dangerous? Also, doesn't that make you Human Traffickers?"

"No," Drakon refused, making me wonder if he was high or something, "We don't just traffic Humans."

There it was. That made a lot more sense, seeing as only two of our combined Retinues were Human. I guess Issei could currently be considered Human, but for Company purposes, he was a Dragon-Devil-Transhuman abomination worth way too many points for his current strength.

"Regardless," Putting up a hand, I looked from Issei to Drakon, "There's someone in Romania that I want to save; a girl named Valerie."

"What are we saving her from?" It came as something of a shock that he didn't ask why or even care all that much that we were going such a distance. I guess it showed something of his personality that he was already raring to go.

"Her family." Seeing his questioning gaze, I continued, "The girl's family is abusing her power and it's driving her insane."

"I see," Drakon's hands clenched into fists and looked toward the floor, probably disliking that someone was picking on the weak. Or maybe he was upset that someone was abusing a female. If I remember correctly, some species of Dragons in other stories were said to have a strong desire to protect women for some reason. If Drakon was that type of Dragon, it would explain his affection for Yuu.

I knew, of course, it wasn't any romantic or sexual affection; more along the lines of an older brother doting on his younger sister, but it would still prove useful at some point.

Issei looked at me with a confounded expression, his brown eyes betraying the tinge of anger he felt within. He opened his mouth and then closed it, probably thinking of what to say in a way that didn't upset his Master.

After a few seconds of silence, Drakon flicked his slitted eyes back up at me and relaxed his grip, "When can we leave?"

"It will take me a bit to plot a course, but we should be able to leave right after we capture the rest of the Fallen Ones." I wanted to leave now, but with Asia's safety — and thus the entire mission — on the line, I didn't want to waste too much time.

"Then a change in plans?" Drakon caught on quickly, a smirk finding its way onto his face and turning into a grin, "I'll go get Amelia and we can raid that church."

"Good," I nodded to him as he stalked away, heading back up to speak with Rayn- Amelia.

That left me alone with Blue-Eyes and Issei. It would probably be best to take Artoria, but I didn't want her to see Drakon turn a bunch of no-names into ketchup, so I hesitated to call on her.

On the other hand, Blue-Eyes was physically powerful and probably had more than a few tricks up her sleeve. Along with that, she most likely wasn't used to fighting in her Human form so she was a no-go for now.

My next best option was my adorable Yuu, who was a veritable army against Humans. She was armed with one four-point-one-three inch SK C/32 naval gun, a one-point-five inch SK C/30 anti-air cannon, a zero-point-seven-nine inch C/30 anti-air flak cannon, four front-facing twenty-one inch torpedo tubes and two rear-facing tubes.

Together, I bet even Drakon, with his bullshit defense, would be hard-pressed to push forward against her. However, most of that weaponry would completely eradicate the church, and we wanted Asia to have a place to stay outside of when she was with us.

That left the combatant that was already out at the church, watching and waiting for Asia to come to town. Of course, I wasn't going to suggest we took Issei since he was completely useless at this point in canon.

Maybe I'd ask Drakon to train him and I could be alone with Yuu on our way to Romania. I'd need to think that plan through a bit more, but I doubted that Drakon would reject it.

The thought of being alone made me realize that someone had been missing for a while. Sebastian had come in with Drakon but he was gone before the Dragon left and I didn't remember seeing him go anywhere.

I cocked my left brow and looked around for traces of him, though I doubted I'd be able to find him if he didn't want to be found. After a few seconds of nothing, I sat back in my seat and pulled out my phone to look over the data entry for Valerie Tepes.

Issei followed suit, deciding not to sit next to Blue-Eyes this time and instead sitting across the coffee table from me. He looked around in boredom before pulling out his own phone and dialing a number.

I found Valerie to be Tier Eight, the same Tier as Issei's listing in the Company Roster. That would fetch me a good price even for capturing her, though I had no plans to sell regardless of how much she was currently worth.

Valerie was a cute girl with blonde hair and crimson eyes, and, at this point in the story, was still something of a shy girl. She wanted to make her big brother happy and, so, used her Sacred Gear to carry out his plans.

In the image that was provided with her short dossier, she wore a thin dark red dress with fur along its neckline and parts of its arms. She also wore small black bracelets on each wrist and a similar necklace.

Issei being listed as Tier Eight despite barely getting his Boosted Gear was some of the dumbest shit The Company has done so far. However, I knew that it wasn't how strong they were currently that mattered but how strong they would be at their peak in the canon of their story.

Valerie, I could understand, even now she was strong. As a Dhampir she was a Vampire-Hybrid that could walk in the daylight and had one of the strongest support-type Sacred Gears. Sephiroth Graal, her Sacred Gear, was a fairly powerful healing item that could remove racial weaknesses and even resurrect the dead.

Her Sephiroth Graal was even more special as it contained three chalices instead of the singular chalice that usually came with the Sacred Gear. It could also restore youth to people, and was said to have come into contact with Jesus' blood, which allowed it to manipulate the Principle of Life itself, at some cost to the user, however.

The Sacred Gear was one of the thirteen original Longinus and one of the five Holy Relics. That alone made me want to save her and have her on our side, added to the fact that she was abused and stripped of two of her chalices later in the story helped a bit as well.

Still, Sephiroth Graal couldn't even begin to compare to the healing speed of Asia's Twilight Healing. Of course, I wouldn't turn down the chance to add someone with healing abilities to our team, which was something we didn't currently have.

Actually, maybe Amelia could heal now that she was an Angel. Regardless, Body Tune-Up was a one-time thing and I'm sure Drakon didn't want her to fall again; which she might if she goes around healing everyone and their mother.

"So, when do I get to go home?" Issei suddenly spoke up, drawing my attention from my phone as he looked at me quizzically.

"Whenever your Master decides so," Looking back down, I flicked the screen to my first target, Mittelt.

Mittelt was a Fallen Angel of about the same strength as Amelia and a similar personality as well. However, she was Hitler's Aryan wet dream on the outside; a cute girl with medium-length blonde hair and blue eyes.

She kept her hair in two pigtails, tied up with a black bow that had white frilled edges. She wore something of a gothic lolita outfit with thigh-high white stockings and black shoes. Her stockings were topped with white garters that connected up into her black dress decorated with white frills.

She wore a charcoal gray bow wrapped around her midriff and a smaller bow with a green broach on her collarbone.

There was, obviously, the matter of Binding her to me which I hadn't quite worked out yet. With my Nine-Tenths Law perk, I only needed to keep her captive for three days straight regardless of method. During that time, she needed to either be asleep on her own terms or awake and know about her captivity.

I couldn't drug her or use anything unnatural on her, but I could wrap her in enough chains to make the Ghost Rider jealous and then make sure she knew who Daddy was.

Alternatively, I could slap a collar on her and call her kitten until she submitted. That was probably my better option, especially considering that she'd never be able to take it off.

Options, options. I could also have Drakon chomp her and then take her from him, but that was probably not the greatest option. He didn't seem like the type to share.

My last option was to just fuck her into oblivion using my Aggressive Initiations perk to reduce her capture time to almost nothing and hope she lost the will to resist so I could nix the time altogether.

"When do you think that'll be?" Issei's question, once again, broke me from my thoughts.

Looking over at him, I set my phone down and sighed, "Look, I don't control Drakon and I barely can tell what he's thinking most of the time. He'll let you go when he lets you go. Just leave it at that, or ask him yourself."

"Right," He slunk into his seat, "I get that, I guess. It's just… my mom's been texting me nonstop, asking me where I've been and why I didn't come home last night."

"After we solve our Fallen Angel problem," Drakon's voice came from the hallway leading to the Retinue quarters of the manor. He walked in and stopped behind Issei with Amelia in tow, "I'll let you go spend some time with your family. For now, you're safer here. It's far too dangerous for you out there on your own."

"I see… I'll just be here then." Issei closed his eyes and leaned his head on his hand, using his arm as a prop.

"There's a game console in the theater room if you get bored," I stood and began walking toward the door, "I think Kazuki and Miku went down there earlier, and I'm pretty sure Yuu is in the pool."

"Thanks," Issei gave a half-smile, showing just how homesick he really was. I probably would be homesick too if I had anyone waiting for me back home, but I was pretty much alone even before this.

I wondered, as we prepared to leave, if Drakon had someone back home who missed him or if he was like me.