Chapter 5: The Exorcist Duo

Chapter 5:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

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"Are you sure this is a good idea, Jin-sama?" The sun had only just risen, and the two were already strolling through the center of Kuoh's bustling populace. 

"They're the ones who asked to meet —I merely wish to see if they'll be of any use to us. In my position, I'd be an idiot to turn down potential help." 

"We don't even know who they are, for all we know we could be walking into a direct trap." 

"In that case, it's a good thing you're here isn't it?" Oron sighed helplessly as Jin pushed in the door to what appeared to be some sort of cafe. 

His head turned towards a table with two oddly-dressed youths on it, they both donned what seemed to be white robes with crosses down their backsides. 

(I can sense Holy Power from those two, however, I'm confident neither of them are the same as me. Although, wouldn't that imply that they're humans? The church? I certainly wasn't expecting them.) 

It didn't take long for Oron to arrive at the same conclusion, his eyes narrowed as he drew closer to Jin. "Relax, if they planned on attacking me they wouldn't do it in public." 

Jin approached their table with an affable smile on his face as the duo came closer into view. 

One of them had chin-length blue hair with a dyed green fringe on the side, and the other had long chestnut hair fashioned into twin-tails. 

The more archaic one of the two looked up at Jin with an omelet still in her mouth.

"...Wh'r yu?" She mumbled. 

"That's my line." Jin reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter with the cafe's address on it and handed it over. 

She finished chewing her meal as she glanced back and forth between the letter and Jin's figure. 

"Are you the Crow? Who's that next to you?" Her off-handed insult brought a scowl to Oron's face as Jin gestured for him to ignore it. 

He retained his smile as he reached his hand out to the Exorcist. 

"That I am, and this here is my assistant. May we sit?" His amiable gesture went ignored as she simply returned a stiff nod. 

But even still, his expression retained its indifference. 

Seemingly in no hurry to get straight to business, he stretched his hand out and called for the waiter. 

"Good morning sir, what can I get for you?" 

(Sir? Do I look that old?) 

"Just an iced coffee thank you very much, and what about you Oron?" 

"Uhm, I guess I'll have the same." 

"Alright, I'll be with you shortly." 

As the waiter walked off Jin's attention returned to the two sitting opposite him. 

"So, what solicited two fine Exorcists such as yourself to get into contact with someone like me?" 

"Just to be clear, we approached one of the Devil groups first. In truth, we shouldn't be in contact at all with vermin like you, but we're out of options." 

Once more, Jin ensured that his assistant withheld his tongue. 

"I see, and how did that end up in you coming to me?" 

"They're having some sort of conflict with another household making them unavailable. As hard as I find it to believe, I was told you're trying to have the stolen Excalibur's returned?" 

He chuckled dryly as he politely thanked the waiter as he handed him his beverage. "Haha, yes I understand that it's all rather hard to believe from your perspective. However, those are indeed my orders." 

"Orders? Surely you aren't referring to Grigori?" 

"Why would I be referring to anyone else?" 

"Grigori's responsible for the stolen swords in the first place. Am I supposed to believe the same people who stole them want them returned? Don't mock me." 

His smile faded ever so slightly as he set aside his drink, his eyes dipped as he reflected on the prior day's conversation. 

"Kokabiel?" 

"Oh? So you're aware of it?" 

"I had my suspicions, but I must ask —are you 100% certain?" 

"Of course, I wouldn't go this far if I wasn't." 

(Looks like I was right, but the Gremory's not being available has made things more complicated. I'll need a new approach.) 

"In that case, as of now, you can consider Kokabiel excommunicated. Grigori's intent has been, and still is to have those swords returned. You have my word." 

"Jin-sama—" 

"Not now." 

The cerulean-haired Exorcist scoffed as she examined Jin's expression. 

"Really? You have that kind of authority?" 

(Nope.) 

"You can relay my message to your superiors if you want, once they get in contact with Grigori you'll have your confirmation." 

(I'm counting on you —Azazel.) 

"Hmph, even if that's the case. Why would you turn heel on your own kind like that?" 

"He's the one who turned his back on Grigori first, if he suffers for it then that's on him, Leader-Class or not." 

She watched him with even more apprehension than before, and what she found managed to unnerve her ever so slightly. 

Apathy. 

"Well, do you have some sort of plan in mind? As much as I loathe your kind, I must admit Kokabiel isn't exactly an easy target." 

(I was hoping you had one.) 

"When you said the Devils were unavailable, was that just one of them or both?" 

"Only the Gremory." 

(Good, so not all hope is lost.) 

"I see, I take it you're aware of a man by the name of Balba Galilei?" 

Both herself and her partner's pupils flared at the mention of the exile. 

"Tch, you better have a good reason for bringing up heathen's name." 

The corners of his mouth quirked up as he offered a composed nod, he slid the photo Oron had handed him the other night and slid it towards the two.

Their disgust became evident as she slid the photo right on back. 

"That photo was taken here, in Kuoh." 

She leered at him as they both withheld the urge to let their jaws drop. 

"Of course that snake had a hand in this." 

"Truly repulsive." 

(Oh, so the other one can speak, after all, here I was beginning to think she was mute.) 

"I've heard about the nature of his work, and I share your sentiment. I'm certain that he's being backed by Kokabiel which is why I'm hoping to use Balba to draw him out." 

"Use? How so?" 

"It's simple really, all we have to do is kill him." 

Her lips curled from ear to ear as she nodded with boundless approval. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm more than happy to collaborate with you on that front. It baffles me as to how he has the gall to still don those robes after all he's done." 

(That's all well and good, but I can tell she's still concerned about something.) 

"But after we've lured Kokabiel out, then what? I'm not so naive as to believe even all four of us together could take him out." 

"That goes without saying, which is why we'll use his arrival as a summon of sorts." 

"What?" 

"If we bring the Sitri Heiress alongside us, Kokabiel's arrival will count as her life being in imminent danger. Thus, the Leviathan will have no choice but to come to her aid —once that happens we can simply let Kokabiel spell his own demise." 

"Using a Satan huh? I'd rather not rely on one but I'm already talking to you so I doubt I could stoop any lower." 

(Well thanks for the compliment.) 

"Still, are you sure the Satan will be able to win?" 

"I've heard the Leviathan is pretty crazy about her sister, worst-case scenario the two end up taking each other out." 

"Hm, that would be ideal for the church." 

(I know, which is why you'll follow along.) 

"And for Grigori, without their Leader-Class blanket, any remaining traitors will have an awfully hard time keeping afloat, best to mend the wounds before they start festering." 

(Once that's over, I'll finally be able to wash my hands clean of this predicament, and maybe I'll be able to wring some answers out of that lunatic.) 

"You seem to have thought most of this through, but aren't you still forgetting something?" 

"Oh?" 

"Even I wouldn't take the Satans lightly, what if the Leviathan figures out you used her relative as a part of your scheme?" 

"It was for the sake of peace, she'll understand." 

"And if she doesn't?" 

(Well, I've already died once. Should a Satan want me dead then there's not much I'll be able to do anyways, such is life.) 

"Why would you care?" 

"Fair point, I wouldn't." 

Oron's face expressed his clear concern, and instead of shutting him down Jin merely gestured that they could discuss it later. 

"So, when do we begin this operation of yours?" 

"Definitely not now, tomorrow meet me in front of Kuoh Academy. Our first order of business should be getting the Sitri Princess on board. Only then can we take Balba's head." 

"Alright, since we're going to be working together it's probably best for me not to refer to you as 'Crow' all the time. What's your name?" 

"Jin, and you?" 

"Xenovia." 

"Then I look forward to working with you, Xenovia." 

Oron followed as Jin stood up from his seat and prepared to take his leave. 

"Can't say I feel the same." 

A dry chuckle escaped his lips as he stepped out the front door. 

"Xenovia…?" 

"What is it?" 

"Do we have the money to pay for all this food?" 

"Shit." 

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

Oron had led Jin to an open clearing near his house, which the latter found odd at first but complied nonetheless. 

"Jin-sama, have you learned how to create a spear yet?" 

"A spear?" 

Oron nodded as he conjured a vivid amber spear in his hand. 

"Like this, it's something every Fallen Angel should be capable of doing." 

(Ah, so he's brought me here for a training session it seems, he could've at least told me that much.) 

Jin shrugged his shoulders as he lightly shook his head. 

"Then I guess I'm the exception." 

"Not for long, creating one is beyond simple. All you have to do —is imagine it, nothing more nothing less." 

(Simple huh? That's certainly a change of pace for me.) 

Though Jin found it hard to believe replicating Oron was as easy as his assistant made it sound, he decided to give it a go nonetheless. 

"Huh." 

And lo and behold, there it was. A radiant silver spear had appeared in his hands, his pupils dilated as he loosely fiddled around with his new armament. 

(Looks like he was right, pretty neat.)

"That's an interesting color you've got there, I suppose now I can get to the real reason as to why I called you out here." 

(Eh? There's more?) 

Oron's expression slowly devolved into an unnerving scowl as he inched closer towards Jin. 

"Oron?" 

"Hm?" 

"Everything alright?" 

"Of course, why would you suggest otherwise Jin-sama?" 

His approach continued, gradually he rose his spear upwards as if he was about to launch an attack of sorts. 

(Everything's clearly not alright.) 

"Hold—-" 

Jin quickly raised his spear above his head as Oron's came crashing down at his skull. Though the latter was evidently holding back, he was still able to force out the [Queen] like properties of the [Gold General]. 

(Are you a gorilla or something? What's with this brute strength?) 

"If you can handle this much, I might as well raise the bar a little." 

The sediment beneath him quivered as his arms struggled to keep Oron's spear at bay. 

"Oi, aren't you getting a little too serious?" 

"Perhaps." He answered nonchalantly. 

(Fine, then don't blame me for doing the same.) 

Both of Jin's wings protruded from his back as the feathers hardened and lunged at Oron's hands. 

"Not bad." 

Thanks to his superior reflexes, Oron was able to disorient Jin with a swift knee to the chin as he put some distance between the two. 

(Yeah, this definitely has nothing to do with training.) 

"Any plans on telling me what this is about?" 

"Maybe, maybe not." 

"...Oron." 

The assistant clicked his tongue as he seemed to ease up ever so slightly, at least on the physical side. 

"Then I'll be blunt, what the hell was that back there?" 

"Sorry?" 

(Buddy you're going to need to be a little more specific.) 

"You admitted to the possibility of the Leviathan killing you as if it was of no consequence. Do you have a death wish or something?" 

(So that's what this is about.) 

"That's all it is, Oron, a possibility. You're saying it like I'm actively chasing the prospect, we both know that's not true." 

"Even if it's a possibility, you should look for a different route —life isn't something you can just gamble away." 

(I've hardly known you for a day, don't get all sentimental on me.) 

"There is no different route, at least none that I can see." 

As much as he wanted to refute, Jin's stone-cold glare wouldn't allow him the luxury. 

"Your protection is my responsibility, how do you expect me to do that if you go off angering Satan?" 

"Enough, you're still talking in absolutes. I'll do what I have to do, you needn't worry about anything beyond that." 

Jin disarmed himself as he turned his back and walked towards his residence. 

"We have a long day tomorrow, get some rest."