The Last Member of Sona's Peerage

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

"Hold on, did you say Orcus?" James asked, reacting quite late to the information. "Like Orcus the Grim Reaper?"

"Uh... Yeah... He's, my dad." Bennia replied while scratching the side of her head not covered by the mask. "He was one of the Reapers who was against the plan to attack you all in the Underworld."

"So, the Grim Reapers aren't all on the same page?" Rias asked. "That's not what I was expecting to hear."

"Yeah, if they were, I would have never been sent here." Bennia said with a nod. "Dad didn't want me to get caught up in whatever was going to happen in the Land of the Dead."

"Instead, he sent you here to get caught up in whatever trouble there is for the week?" Reya said. "I mean, James has protagonist syndrome, so problems always pop up around him."

"*Sigh* As much as I'd like to refute that..." James said while shaking his head. "Anyway, so we have another companion to look forward to meeting after school, huh?"

"Yeah." Sona replied simply.

"Is he already at the estate?" Rias asked.

"Impossible." James and Scathach answered simultaneously.

"Until the newcomer is registered with the runic defenses, he will not be allowed entry." Scathach continued the answer.

"But how does that work with guests?" Maria asked curiously.

"They can enter while accompanying someone who has been registered." James said with a smile. "But if the registered member they entered with leaves the house, then they'll have to leave, too. Otherwise, the security systems will begin to go off."

The group continued to chat for a few minutes more, until they felt the humans begin to stir once again. So, they quickly made their way back to where they were before the barrier was erected. After that little incident, the rest of the school day went without a hitch.

After finishing their club activities and returning home, with James and the members of the MMA Club arriving after everyone else had already come home, Moka noticed a scent that she was not fond of.

"A lycan?" Moka said while twitching her nose. "How unpleasant."

"Now, now." James said while patting Moka on her head. "That's racist. But considering the grudges your original species held for one another, I guess I can understand how you feel. Anyway, play nice, okay?"

Because of James petting, Moka began to melt while her eyes narrowed like a cat. Because of that, she agreed to what James had to say subconsciously. After she realized what she had done, she snapped back to her senses and looked at James in an aggrieved manner.

"What's wrong, Moka?" James looked at her with an innocent expression on his face.

"It's unfair to get me to agree to things like that, James." Moka replied with a pout. "Especially since you know that I'll never go back on my word."

"It would seem we need to work on your mental defenses." Scathach said impassively. "We cannot allow your mentality to be influenced so easily from this point forward."

"Master Scathach, could it be that you're jealous seeing Moka get her head patted?" Mizore asked.

When Flora, Mio, and Maria heard that, they quietly, yet quickly, distanced themselves from Mizore. As they did, Scathach slowly turned her head toward Mizore as well. When their eyes met, Scathach did not speak. Instead, she continued to stare into Mizore's eyes for close to a minute. Mizore found herself terrified for the duration.

"None of you should be late for this evening's training session." Scathach said as she broke eye contact with Mizore.

After that, Scathach walked past everyone and made her way deeper into the house. When they could no longer see her, the rest of the group turned gazes of displeasure toward Mizore.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Mizore asked, a bit of fear seeping into her tone.

"You're just as bad as Lancer." Moka said while shaking her head.

"Yeah, that was a pretty serious case of saying what shouldn't have been said." Flora said.

*Sigh* Master Scathach is going to kill you a hundred times during tonight's training." Mio said before heading into the house.

"What? Wait!" Mizore said frantically. "What did I do wrong?"

Letting Mizore suffer, the girls continued to enter the house. At the same time, James could only chuckle at them. Especially since he knew that Mizore had hit the nail on the head with Scathach. Still, he did not pity Mizore for the storm she brought onto herself. He did pity the rest of the group who would be training tonight, though. Scathach would intensify everyone's training to keep up her appearance as a fair trainer.

"Good luck, everyone." James said as he followed the girls into the house, toward the living room on the ground floor.

When he arrived, he saw the usual suspects, plus the members of each peerage who were not living in the mansion. However, there was one person, a tall, young man in his late teens with grey hair and yellow eyes. On top of that, he was well built, extremely well built. He had a physique comparable to Sairaorg's.

'Damn, that's a big mother fucker.' James thought to himself as he sized up the new guy. '*Sigh* And that staring contest with Moka is going to be annoying in the long run, if I don't put an end to it early.'

A few minutes earlier, before James and the members of the MMA Club returned home, Sona was introducing her new [Pawn] to the other residents of the mansion.

"This is Loup Garou." Sona said as she introduced Loup to Rias' peerage. "He was originally a half werewolf."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Loup said in a polite tone. "I would appreciate it if you would call me Rugal."

Hearing the word "werewolf," Gasper was shaken. Vampires and werewolves were enemies historically. He was afraid that Loup would bully him because of that. Naturally, Koneko noticed Gasper shaking in fear.

"Gaspy, what are you afraid of?" Koneko asked while patting Gasper on the head. "He's only at the middle-rank. The intermediate-level, at that."

Hearing that, Gasper stopped shaking and checked the authenticity of Koneko's words. When he realized that she was right, he calmed down considerably. After that, Scathach made her way into the room. When she saw Loup, she looked him up and down. Then, she nodded.

"Quite the good piece of material." Scathach said calmly. "I can mold him into quite the warrior. On top of that, he should have some talent in magic as well."

Hearing that, and seeing the unfamiliar woman, Loup turned his gaze toward his [King].

"That is Master Scathach, the greatest trainer of heroes in Celtic lore." Sona replied to the question in Loup's eyes. Then, she smiled before continuing. "And my fiancé, James' [Queen]. She's also the one responsible for training us."

Loup's eyes widened after hearing Scathach's identity. Then, he bowed his head politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Scathach." Loup said with reverence in his tone. "I look forward to your guidance in the future."

Everyone else in the room smiled wryly. They could all remember how enthusiastic they were to receive training from such a legendary trainer as Scathach. Until they started training with her, anyway. Now, they truly understand the saying, "no pain, no gain."

A few moments later, Moka entered the living room. When she did, the atmosphere changed immediately. Though they both knew better than to start a fight here, the tensions between the races of vampires and werewolves were deeply engrained in both of them at this point. As time went by, Mizore, Flora, Shuna, Mio, and Maria also entered the room.

"Didn't James just say something to her like two minutes ago?" Mizore said.

"Like you're one to talk." Flora replied with a wry smile.

Mizore could only blush in embarrassment and look away. At the same time, Shuna, Mio, and Maria snickered quietly. Eventually James stepped into the room. Examining the situation for a moment, he sighed. Then, he flared his aura, targeting Moka and Loup, putting just enough pressure on them that they would feel like kneeling, without actually forcing them to kneel. Then, he strode over to Moka...

*Thump!*

And flicked her in the middle of the forehead.

"Ow... James..." Moka whined.

"Don't give me that, Moka." James said sternly. "Didn't I just tell you to play nice, like, two minutes ago?"

"Yeah, but..." Moka tried to protest.

"No buts." James said in a tone that suggested there was nothing else to discuss. Then, he turned toward the newcomer, Loup. "Nice to meet you. I'm James Alaverus, the owner of this house and your [King's] fiancé."

For a moment after James spoke with his hand extended for a handshake, Loup was frozen. He had never felt an aura that strong before. James' aura dwarfed his [King's] by quite a bit as well. However, he was able to snap out of his surprised state quickly enough. Then, he quickly extended his own hand and accepted James' handshake.

"Th... The pleasure is mine." Loup replied. "I'm Loup Garou, but you can call me Rugal."

"Alright then, Rugal." James said with a smile. "Welcome to the family."

"It's over, just like that?" Issei asked Asia quietly.

"Probably?" Asia replied. "James is a nice person, so he shouldn't do anything to Rugal, right?"

"I'm not so sure..." Issei said apprehensively.

At the same time, James flared his aura once again.

"I'm going to say this to both of you." James said, looking at Moka and Loup, alternately. "There will be no discrimination over racial stuff. I don't care if you don't get along after getting to know each other, but drop the prejudice, right now. Are we clear?"

This time, James released enough aura that the entire estate began to shake. Moka and Loup paled quickly, as most of James' pressure was focused on the two of them. Though, everyone was a bit flustered by the amount of power James was showing.

"I understand." Moka and Loup said simultaneously.

"Good, anyone who can't follow this rule gets to spar with me for an hour." James said with a bright smile on his face.

"I hate that smile." Issei said while shuddering.

"What was that, Ise?" James asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Issei replied while waving his hands in front of him.

"Alright, that's enough flexing, Sweetheart." Leona said. "We should have dinner, already. I'm sure you don't want to go into training with no energy."

"Yes." Scathach said in response. "I would advise against going into tonight's training without enough calories."

Most of the people in the living room were confused. It seemed as if Scathach had the intention to raise the intensity of their training. However, none of them could tell why. Those who entered with James, however, all stared at Mizore with frustration in their gazes. Seeing that, everyone else began staring at Mizore as well.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" Mizore asked.

"What did she do?" Tsubaki asked, ignoring Mizore's confusion.

"She's contracted your boyfriend's disease." Flora responded with a wry smile.

"I see." Tsubaki nodded in understanding.

"I don't have any disease." Cu Chulainn said with confusion in his tone.

"You do." Akeno said with pity in her eyes. "It's a very serious one, as well."

"What are you talking about?" Cu Chulainn asked, his confusion growing.

"Your disease is a lot like James'." Reya said. "It's kind of a metaphysical disease."

Hearing that, James could only smile wryly. Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn grew more and more confused as time went by.

"You have an illness that causes you to put your foot in your mouth at a high frequency." Shuna said.

After Shuna's comment, Cu Chulainn joined James in wearing a wry smile. He knew exactly what everyone was talking about now. A moment later, he turned his gaze toward Mizore. However, his smile had turned from a wry one, to a smug one.

"Mizore, Oh, Mizore." Cu Chulainn said with schadenfreude in his tone. "I wonder what you said to bring this upon yourself. No, wait, don't repeat it. I wouldn't want you to make things worse."

"Shut up, Cu Cu!" Mizore shouted.

Human World, Romania, Tepes Territory.

In the castle that houses the Shuzen Clan, Akua and Kahlua were seated on opposite sides of a table with a pot of tea between them.

"*Sigh* I don't remember the last time I failed a mission." Akua said, sipping from her teacup. "I wasn't expecting Moka to grow up so much after running away."

"I know." Kahlua said with a naïve smile on her face. "But was what she said about the Tepes and our clan wanting to sacrifice her true? I mean, Daddy would never let that happen, right?"

"I don't know." Akua replied. "But if that man attacking without our orders is any indication, It's probably true."

"I don't know, I mean we don't have the highest positions because we're women, you know." Kahlua pointed out.

"I know." Akua said, taking another sip of her tea. "We'll have to wait until Father returns to ask him about this."