Part.5

That night at the mansion.

I'm looking at the ceiling while lying down on my bed. A week has passed since we came to the mountains.

It's been training from morning to night. We also repeated many offense and defence formation as well as combination that we may use for the upcoming game.

I look towards Kiba who is sleeping on the bed besides mine. He's sleeping peacefully.

...Kiba is amazing. I realise the difference between us the more we train together.

I'll probably never beat Kiba in a sword fight. His skills he attained with his own talent and loads of training.

I don't have either. If I train hard from now on, will I have swordsmanship on par with Kiba? After how many years will that be? No, after how many decades? No, maybe I won't reach his level in eternity.

I——.

In demonic-power training. Asia keeps on improving her besides me. She starts to master using fire, water, and lightning, despite it being small. But I on other hand can only make a mass of demonic-power that is the size of a grain of rice.

I——.

Ah, damn it!

I can't resist it any longer, so I got up from the bed slowly and headed towards the kitchen. When I was drinking a cup of water—.

"Ara? Your awake?"

Buchou's voice came from the living room. When I look, there is Buchou who is sitting where the table is.

"Ah, Buchou. Hello."

"Why are you so stiff? Good timing, let's talk for a bit."

The tealight makes a faint glow on top of the table. Devils can see at night, even if there are no lights. Thanks to that, we were able to train even at night. Then this candle is used probably for looks then.

I then sit opposite of Buchou where we have the table between us.

Buchou is wearing a red negligee while wearing glasses and tying her crimson hair into one.

"Huh? Buchou, do you have bad eyesight?"

"Oh, this? It's just for looks. I can think more clearly while having my glasses on. Fufufu, this is the proof that I have been in the human's world for so long."

Buchou chuckles. Even Buchou with glasses looked beautiful... More like, she also looks wonderful when she wears a negligee!

On the table there are loads of paper that looks like a map and battle formation. ...Was she making a plan by herself at night?

Buchou closes the notebook with different strategies written on it.

"...To be honest, the only thing I will get by reading this is to have a peace of mind."

Buchou says it while making a sigh.

"Why is that?"

"If the opponent is another High-class Devil, then we could fight by reading this. This book is written with lots of research. But that isn't the problem."

"? Then what's wrong?"

"Raiser himself. No, the biggest problem is that our opponent is the Phoenix."

Buchou takes out a book after answering me and puts it on the table. She then points out at an opened page. There is a picture of a fire bird with its wings spread wide open heroically.

"A long time ago the mystical beast, Phoenix, was looked upon by humans as a bird that governs life. It was so looked upon that it left it legend in many countries in the human world where it's told that the tears of the Phoenix can heal any wounds, and the blood that flows within its body can give eternal youth to those that drink it."

But there was also another clan that is different from the mystical beast Phoenix. They are the Devils that had the rank of Marquis, and were counted as one of the "72 pillars". The "Phoenix" from the Devils' side.

"The humans named the Devils' Phoenix as "Phenex" to distinguish it from the mystical beast Phoenix, however the mystical beast Phoenix has the same ability as Raiser's clan. —In other words immortality. That's the opponent we must fight someone against."

Immortal!? H-Hold on!

"That's cheating! I mean being immortal is basically being invincible!"

"Yes. They are basically invincible. Even if you attack them, their wounds will heal right away. Their flames won't even leave a bone left. Eight wins and two losses. This is the record that Raiser has at the official "Rating Game". He fought ten times and won eight matches. He lost two of the match on purpose as kindness to one of the households he is close to. In reality he won all of his matches. He already became a candidate to obtain a title in the official game."

...What. I lost the words from my mouth.

I now understand what Buchou meant by "problem". —It's Raiser! She is thinking of a way to beat that bastard!

"I felt something uneasy when I heard that Raiser was chosen as my fiancé. Yes, I think Otou-sama and the others chose him in case something like this was to happen. They chose Raiser so I will have no choice but to marry him. Even if it becomes a match between households, they knew that there was no way for me to win. In chess you would say they tricked me. A swindle."

No matter how strong Buchou is, her parents knew that there was no way that that Buchou could beat someone immortal. That's unfair! Then no matter whose daughter it is, they can't avoid getting married.

"When the Rating Game became popular, the ones who climbed up the most is the House of the Phoenix. There weren't that many battles among Devils until the game were introduced. In a game where the [King] also participates, the strength of Phoenix became clearer. The House of Phoenix is the leading group among the strongest class. —Immortal. Devils realised how terrifying this power was for the first time."

If they are immortal, then they can resurrect no matter how many times they are defeated. The other Devils have limits to their powers unlike the Phoenix, so they would get defeated once they get exhausted. Uwa! They are so insanely strong that it's unfair!

—And that is our opponent!

Even if we defeat Raiser's servant, the beauties army, it doesn't mean anything if we don't defeat Raiser. No, the question is can we even defeat him? It won't be a fight where they planned to cheat to beat us, would it?

Buchou chuckles after looking at my serious face.

"You know, it's not like we can't defeat Raiser?"

"Are you serious!?"

"Yes. There are two ways you can defeat him. One is to beat him down with incredible power and the other one is to keep on taking him down until his mind crushes. The first method requires the strength of a God-class. The second one is to save our stamina until Raiser gets his mind crushed. Even if his body is immortal where he can resurrect his body many times, his mind isn't immortal. His mind will definitely tire down every time we defeat him. It's our win if we completely crush down the Phoenix's mind. Then he will stop resurrecting and he will fall. Well, the easiest way is to defeat him with a power that is on par with God that crushes him down with one strike which takes down both his body and mind."

...Won't both methods need a lot of effort to it pull off? Is it even possible to do something like that in our first battle? No, we have to do it.

In other words we have to fight until he says "I resurrected so much that I lost the will to fight so please forgive me".

Oh yeah, I will ask her the question that has been bothering this whole time.

"Buchou."

"What is it?"

"Why do you hate Raiser...no, more like, why are you against this marriage?"

Buchou sighs at my question.

Certainly Raiser seems like a scum and is quite the womaniser, but I think she can't reject this arrangement if you think about Buchou's house problem.

"...I'm a "Gremory"."

"Huh? W-Well, you certainly are..."

"No. I didn't re-introduce myself. I'm a Devil from the House of Gremory, and that name will follow me to wherever I go."

Oh, I think I get it.

"Do you hate it?"

"I feel proud of it. However, this is also something that is a burden to me. Everyone looks at me as Rias from the Gremory. I can't have them look at me simply as Rias. That's why I'm enjoying my life in the human world. They don't know about the Gremory the Devil. Everyone looks at me as who I am. I really like that feeling. I never felt something like this in the Devils' society, and I never will now on as well. The only time I can enjoy my life as myself is when I'm in the human world."

Buchou has a distant look. She also has very sad eyes.

She told me a story of the world that I can never imagine. I'm Hyoudou Issei, and I never felt anything to my name. I am myself; I'm just the son of my mum and my dad.

Right now, wherever I go, people looks at me as "Hyoudou Issei" as an individual. Buchou has been spending her life while carrying the name of Gremory on her back. That will be the same from now on.

"I want to be with someone who will love me as Rias without the fact that I'm a Gremory. That's my small dream I have... Unfortunately, Raiser only looks at me as Rias from the Gremory. And he loves me as Rias from the Gremory. That's why I hate it. But still, the pride of being a Gremory is very important. My feelings may be complicated, but I want to cherish this small dream I have."

So Buchou wants to be loved as "Rias" and not as "Rias Gremory" from the opposite sex... That's what you call a maiden's feelings huh.

But there's no doubt that Buchou is feeling complicated because of her house's problems.

Hmm, I don't understand both the feelings of a girl and the structure of the Devils' society, so I don't know what to say to her...

"I like Buchou as Buchou."

I just said what I thought. But Buchou stares at me in wonder.

"I don't know anything about Gremory or about the Devils' world, but to me Rias-buchou is Rias-buchou... Nggh, I don't understand all the complicated stuff but to me the usual Buchou is the best!"

I said everything I can think of with a smile.

Hahaha, I can't even say things that sound romantic.

...Hey, Buchou-sama? I don't know why but Buchou has her cheeks red.

"B-Buchou? D-Did I say something weird?"

I ask her with a dubious voice, but Buchou shakes her head where she says, "I-It's nothing!" while panicking.

What? Did something happen? Well, I'll leave that aside.

"But having an opponent like that for the genius Buchou's first match, it certainly will be a hard obstacle, right?"

"I don't actually like the word "genius"?"

Buchou answers me still with a red face.

"Why is that?"

"A talent that is given by heaven...it feels like it's a gift given by God so I don't feel good. My talent is born from the roots of the House of Gremory that has been passed down to the generations. I inherited that trait as a Devil. I never thought that I received it as a gift from God, and that's impossible. My power belongs to me and the House of Gremory. That's why I won't lose. I will win if I have to fight. I have to win."

Buchou says it to me as if she was saying it to herself.

Amazing. Buchou is really strong. Compared to that I... I...

"Buchou, I'm worthless. I have been useless...since I got here."

Buchou makes a dubious expression while looking at me said that in a weak voice.

"Ise?"

"I think I've gotten stronger since I came here and trained with everyone, but more than that...I felt the difference between us. If I do sword training, I realised how amazing Kiba is and realised that "I won't be able to become a swordsman like Kiba"... When I do the training for using demonic-power, I realise how superior Akeno-san is while Asia is improving her demonic-powers... And I can't do anything... I'm fine as long as I have my Boosted Gear! I acted tough by thinking like that..."

I have so many tears flowing out from my eyes without realising it.

I'm frustrated, just frustrated. The more I train, the more I realise how weak I am.

—I have no talent for battle.

I have come to realise it.

"I found out that I was the weakest... I also found out that...I'm the most useless... I realised it means nothing if I'm the one with the ultimate Sacred Gear. That's why I was laughed at by Raiser back then, right? "Pearl before swine, certainly a fitting phrase for me."

I start to shed lots of tears in front of Buchou. I'm having so much tears from my eyes due to this frustration that it makes me look pathetic. Even my nose is dripping.

Buchou stands up and sits next to me.

HUG.

—!

Buchou hugs me gently. She starts to pat my head many times.

"You want confidence, right? Okay, I will give you confidence. But now, you have to rest your body and mind. I will be with you until you feel like sleeping."

That time I didn't know what she meant. Except, Buchou's warmth is healing my soul.

That is enough for now.