Chapter 32: Watchful Eye

Chapter 32:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

AN: Personally I think this chapter is way too short so I'll be doing a double release. Enjoy!

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"This should be a good enough vantage point." After Azazel notified Jin of Odin's imminent arrival, he perched himself atop the catwalk spanning across the venue in order to give him a good bird's eye view of everything below. 

"There's no notable activity among the attendees, sir." 

"Good, but keep a close eye on them nonetheless. I can't imagine anything worse than missing a rebel when they're right underneath our noses." 

"Understood." 

"Halfling, look." Raon's head peered over the railings as he aimed his paw towards a figure below, a short youth with snow-white hair with a black cat-shaped hairpin on her head. 

(If I remember correctly, that's one of Red's subordinates isn't it?)

"What about her?" 

"Fear." The hatchling responded. 

"Fear?" Jin scratched his chin as his field of view seemed to offer no dead giveaways. "How can you tell?" 

"Smell." 

(Smell?)

"I see." 

(Probably just another Dragon thing.) 

Jin continued to observe the room, when all of a sudden he noticed the chatter in the room gradually begin to die down. Heads turned towards the main stage as even the faction leaders brought their discussions to an abrupt halt. 

"Good work, Baraqiel." Azazel praised as the sound of a rustic cane tapping against the marble floor resounded through the still air. 

"This pretentious atmosphere is suffocating, would it kill you to liven things up?" An aged voice remarked, stemming from an elderly man with long gray hair and a matching beard. His presence furthered by the golden ringed monocle on his left eye. 

"Looks like you haven't changed in the slightest, Odin." Azazel replied, his eyelids shifting slightly upwards as he turned to the geezer's side. "Which is what I'd say, if it weren't for the sudden company you've brought with you." 

"Odin-sama! I told you to wait for me!" A woman with long straight silver hair wearing some form of norse battle armor approached the elderly figure, clearly agitated as she scurried to his side. 

"Sheesh, a bodyguard ought to be able to keep up with their own assignment." Odin rolled his eyes as the prospect of having someone hound him 24/7 didn't seem to sit well. 

"Maybe if you would start telling me in advance before you run off I wouldn't have this problem!" She protested. 

Odin shrugged as he turned towards the Governor-General. 

"This is Rossweisse, as you can see she's made pestering me around the clock her full time job, but for all her accolades still falls short on the front of securing herself a single man." 

"Ah! You didn't have to bring that up Odin-sama!" The Valkyrie immediately broke out into tears as she slumped onto the floor, offering up quite an odd sight for the surrounding figures. 

"Odd." Jin muttered under his breath. "Oh?" His reptilian eyes darted back to the crowd as the sound of hurried feet scurrying their way towards one of the elevators caught his attention. 

"Sir, should we inter-" 

"No need, I'll handle it." 

"Understood."

… 

Ba-dump! 

Ba-dump! 

Her heart continued to beat out of her chest as she made a mad dash towards the elevator, the hairs on the back of her neck had grown fully erect by virtue of the same fear that caused her palms to drip. 

(Why!? Why is she here!?) She pleaded internally. 

There was no mistaking it, despite not having been exposed to the cold, callous energy invading her veins for years, both her heart and mind knew exactly who it belonged to. 

Her mind continued to race as she was only inches away from the elevator, her nimble fingers quickly reached out towards the buttons— 

But, she found herself unable to finish the motion. 

"Something the matter?" A voice innocently questioned. Her eyes widened as the steel in front of her reflected two haunting violet pupils glaring at her small figure. "You look as if you've seen a ghost." It continued. 

Slowly, she turned around to meet the spiky-haired individual whilst a deep sense of warning gradually began to plague her. 

(Hm? Why isn't she talking? Did I do something?) 

{Your aura's leaking, idiot.} 

(Oh, looks like I still don't have the hang of it.) 

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare you." Jin apologized, tilting his head ever so slightly as he continued to stare at the [Rook]. "Any reason you're in such a rush?" 

Thanks to the unintentional draconic wave subsiding, she mustered the courage to talk to him. 

"Who are you?" 

(Oh right, we haven't actually met yet. Silly me.) 

"I'm Jin, a security guard. And this is my cat Raon." He motioned towards the uninterested creature perched on his shoulders. 

"Cat…?" 

(Oh c'mon, I swear I'm going to make that joke work one day.) 

Jin cleared his throat as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "Erm, not really." An awkward silence briefly stilled between the two. "Anyhow, back to my question, is there something out there I should be aware of?" 

Her heart tightened as her brain struggled to find a suitable excuse to satisfy the "guard." 

"Ah-em." An all too familiar voice resounded from behind Jin.

(You've got to be kidding me.) 

"What do you want Re– I mean Gremory?" 

"That's my [Rook] you're talking too, don't you think it's a bit brazen to be hounding her like that?" 

"Hounding is a bit of a stretch, but if you could provide me with some answers then I suppose I won't have any need to question her." Rias rose a single brow as she leaned past Jin, sending a questioning look Koneko's way. 

(I guess she isn't on it.) 

"What's going o— Is that the Dragon?" Issei joined.

(Great, another problem child.) 

{Look who's talking.} 

(Shush!) 

"No he's the Ca— Actually nevermind, yeah this is Raon. But that's besides the point! Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" 

"Huh? I just came here because I was curious. What's with the bandages?" 

"Questions later! Answers first!" Jin snapped, turning back towards Koneko as his face neared hers. "Well?" 

"I…" He clicked his tongue out of irritation as Koneko struggled to come up with a believable farce under the watch of his sclera. 

"Fine, I'll figure it out myself." Jin closed his eyes as the Gremory trio felt the temperature drop around them. 

(Someone's out there, that's for sure, but they're doing a pretty good job of masking themselves. I can't even tell what species they are.) 

Click! 

Jin pressed the elevator button as motioned for Koneko to enter before him. "If you're going to confront whoevers that is, I might as well come with you. Just think of it as added protection." 

"We're coming with." As soon as both Rias and Issei stepped forwards, Jin's bandaged arm came sweeping towards them, blocking them from proceeding. 

"The hell you are, stay put." 

"Excuse me? She's my [Rook]." 

"Doesn't matter, I'm in charge right now. Not you." 

(Exposing you to possible danger when the Siscon-Satan is right there? You've lost your mind woman.)