Akatsuki Hideout in the Human World
Having lost most of their members in the previous expedition to Heaven, Akatsuki was now reduced to a pitiful number compared to its early days. Only a small elite remained in the castle: Jojo’s Hero Faction, who had come over from Chaos Brigade; Ouryuu Nakiri of the exorcist Nakiri clan; the yokai boss Nurarihyon; and the fire dragon Igneel, who was training in pursuit of the Dragon King. Madara, who had taken command of Akatsuki in Issei’s place, had left only the truly necessary members in the castle and marched on Heaven, while the troublesome ones had all been eliminated by Issei as planned. And after gathering those members together, Madara said,
“As I thought, there’s still a sense of insufficiency.”
He had received information about them from the [Shadow Clone Technique] that Issei had newly deployed. Since it was a judgment Issei himself had made after testing the members personally, there was no reason to doubt it, but as far as speaking of them as a fighting force went, they still felt lacking.
“Do you mean... our strength is still insufficient?”
“Our opponents are the Three Factions and the mythological factions besides them. And there’s even a man on equal footing with me. No matter how I look at it, it feels lacking.”
“In other words, we’re not enough...”
At Madara’s words, Jojo understood that he was saying they fell short of expectations. Madara’s martial prowess did not even need to be proven by the events in Heaven. He was unquestionably the strongest in the world, a man worthy of following without hesitation. But the problem was that he still had not acknowledged them. Jojo thought Madara had called them here to test them and was saying this to gauge their worth, and at the same time, several countermeasures came to mind. Madara, meanwhile, could read all of that through the [Sharingan].
‘As expected, this one is useful. His sense for techniques is good, and his mind is sharp. There’ll be no problem leaving the organization to him in my absence. Perhaps I should also entrust him with keeping that one in check.’
He was apparently preparing a plan different from the promise he had made with Issei, and after looking at the woman named Jeanne beneath Jojo, he thought,
‘This one...’
She was a blonde beauty with a fine figure. She looked like she would work well on Issei. Having thus set another scheme in motion, Madara asked,
“Jojo, how many people can you bring over from Chaos Brigade?”
“If you’re thinking of reinforcing our forces, there are other candidates, but honestly, I think it would be better not to use that side’s personnel anymore.”
Jojo had already grasped Madara’s intent. After the incident in the Demon World, Team Vali’s sudden departure from Chaos Brigade and the disappearance of its central figure, Ophis, made it clear that something was going badly wrong. He judged that it would be better not to get involved any further. As for talent, there were plenty of other places to find it among the gaps in the mythological factions. In fact, several suitable acquaintances were just coming to mind. And as Madara’s attention seemed to be focused only on Jojo,
“If that’s the case, I think our fire dragon clan could also be of help.”
Igneel, in human form, with red hair that looked as if it were blazing, cut in.
“Fire dragon, huh.”
Madara had never seen a creature in dragon form before, so he thought it might be amusing to take a look. Then the others, unwilling to be outdone, spoke up as well.
“Among yokai, there are also many who possess power no less than the leaders of the Three Factions.”
Nurarihyon, in the form of an old man, sat in seiza with his eyes closed, exuding the same seasoned composure as Madara himself. Then a remark came that abruptly changed the atmosphere.
“But do we really need to gather talent?”
“What do you mean?”
Madara’s attention was drawn to Ouryuu’s words, which flatly denied everyone else’s opinions. Though he received the murderous gazes of the three men at once for that wide-area provocation, he did not care and continued speaking.
“At this point, I don’t think it’s proper to rely on people. And even if we recruit more now, there’s no guarantee spies won’t slip in.”
“Then are you saying we should just continue with insufficient strength, human of the exorcist clan?”
When Igneel, the muscle-brained one, immediately snapped back, Ouryuu remained unfazed and opened his mouth again.
“No. I’m saying it would be unwise to use a poor method when there are more efficient alternatives. Lord Madara, I believe you understand what I’m trying to say.”
As he said that, he looked at Madara, and Madara stared back hard at Ouryuu.
‘I can’t read his thoughts. Is this the one Issei said he couldn’t figure out why he joined?’
Issei had called Ouryuu suspicious, but Madara actually felt relieved because of that suspicion. He concealed his own thoughts from the [Sharingan] through some unknown means, and had the boldness not to hide his suspiciousness at all, along with the intelligence to turn the entire direction of the problem upside down. Just as with Obito, he thought Ouryuu was the perfect kind of man to use and discard. His excellence came with risk, of course, but that had never been a problem for the legendary ninja Uchiha Madara. So first, he decided to make use of Ouryuu.
“If you have a method, then speak to the end.”
“Our exorcist clan has the power to capture yokai and monsters and command them as shikigami. And your eyes, Lord Madara... I believe they possess a power equal to, no, greater than our own ability to subjugate yokai as shikigami. If so, then surely even divine-beast class creatures can be tamed.”
“You mean using beasts instead of people. Not bad.”
There were those under Jojo who could create monsters, but taming and using legendary divine beasts such as the Vermilion Bird or Azure Dragon meant something entirely different.
“Then I have a divine beast I’d like to recommend right away.”
“Go on.”
A silent contest of nerves was unfolding between the one trying to use the other while pretending to follow, and the one pretending to be fooled while planning to use him in return. There was also someone who noticed the invisible tension between them.
‘Yes... keep using that power. And in the end, I will be the one...’
The one who had noticed it, inheriting the name of the hero who unified the world, was licking his lips in his heart like a cunning snake.
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Castle of the Ninja
After finishing his string of dates with Gabriel, Issei sent Gabriel back to Heaven and returned to the castle. Then, for the first time in a while, he shut himself away in the study packed with manga and immersed himself in his otaku life.
“Ooh, a new volume!”
The three who looked after Issei’s hobbies had already stocked new items for him, and Issei immediately plunged into reading. As the tension rose from the dramatic development, he flipped through the pages at a furious pace.
“So this guy was the mastermind after all! This is awesome!”
He kept reading, excited by the new volume’s explosive plot, eager to see what came next, when—
Knock knock
“What is it?”
“Lord Issei, a guest from the Demon World has arrived. What should we do?”
“Huh? A guest? Who is it?”
He was irritated at being interrupted just as things were getting good, but he still kept his cool and asked. Then—
“Lady Sigbaira Agares has come to visit.”
“Agares... as in that Grand Duke?”
He knew the name from the important-person list: Grand Duke Agares, who held power in the Demon World second only to the Demon Kings, and his daughter Sigbaira Agares.
‘I heard she’s quite the beauty. Heh-heh-heh!’
Unable to restrain his perverted instincts, which had only grown worse than before, he flared his nostrils and said,
“Bring her in!”
No matter what the other party’s purpose was, Issei’s purpose was only one. A little while later—
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hyoudou Issei-sama. I am Sigbaira Agares, daughter of Grand Duke Agares.”
A beautiful girl appeared beyond the doorway, with long straight blonde hair, glasses, and the sharp, intelligent look of a secretary, all wrapped in an aloof air. Seeing her,
‘Just as expected, she’s an incredible beauty!!’
His breathing grew rough as he looked at Sigbaira, but he soon calmed himself and cleared his throat.
“Ahem! What brings you here?”
“I have come to deliver this letter on behalf of my father, Grand Duke Agares.”
‘What is this, the Edo period? A letter?’
With an awkward expression, Issei took the enclosed letter, opened it, and read through it. Then—
‘So basically it says he wants to build a relationship with me, so how about a meal or something... Why write it so long?’
Looking at the handwritten pages crammed full of text, he sneered inwardly, but then put on a solemn face—though not even one percent of it was actually solemn—and set the letter down before staring straight at Sigbaira.
“Uh... is there something on my face?”
As expected, after being stared at for more than a minute, Sigbaira grew conscious of it and asked with an awkward expression. Then Issei said,
“To summarize the letter, the Grand Duke wants to build a close relationship with me, right?”
“Yes, my father wishes to become closer to you, Lord Issei.”
With his successful pursuit of Raynare and Rias, and with the record of the greatest beauty in Heaven, the archangel, falling for him at first sight, his confidence had soared to the heavens. Because of that, he ended up taking things too far.
“Then wouldn’t it be fine to make me your son-in-law?”
“Pardon?”
That was a reckless leap among reckless leaps. Grand Duke Agares had only one daughter, Sigbaira, so becoming his son-in-law meant taking Sigbaira as his wife. It was only natural that Sigbaira stared at Issei in utter bewilderment.
“Um...”
“If you’d be willing to date me with marriage as the premise, I’ll consider it.”
Political marriages between noble houses were common, so he was trying to exploit that. But Issei, driven by his position and his one-sided political aggression, had no idea what he was doing at all because of his perverted nature.
“B-but I...”
Torn between her family and her own freedom, Sigbaira was thrown into serious conflict. And Issei, seeing the blonde beauty who had seemed so aloof and secretary-like now flustered and lost in thought, felt like he was going to lose his mind from how cute she was.
‘T-this is the gap moe I’ve only heard about!’
Someone, please punish this hopeless pervert. Unfortunately, there was no one in this other world capable of doing so, and Issei’s rampage did not stop.
“Then let’s say you’re dating me with marriage as the premise.”
“Hyaaaaaa!?”
The incident with Rias and Raiser Phoenix had been completely forgotten, and with Issei’s reckless move, the aloof Sigbaira was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she blushed bright red and let out a shriek.
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