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Overlord of biblical proportions: Return of the Biblical God (2)
🕑 Added 2024-10-27 10:48:55 +0000 UTCLife was a paradoxically strange and surprising thing in Momonga's perception – it could both be mundane, and almost eldritch in how it could turn into the strange on a dime. And no, at the moment he was not talking about the fact that he suddenly found himself in another world in the body of his game avatar… Or, at least, not only about that.
After arriving into this new world, somehow, Momonga quickly felt the pressure, the burden of expectations as he was showered with adoration that seemed to be physically emanating from every inhabitant of Nazarick. Each time he walks, it is almost as if his very presence causes the sun to rise and fall.
It was no wonder that he took the first chance he got to escape? No, to distance himself, yes that sounds better, from this overbearing adoration and expectation, self admitted they might be, from the denizen of Nazarick.
At first, it was the draw of completing his education, or at least experiencing what it was like to be in school again. It was interesting and might even be useful. Of course, the fact that it would allow him to escape the looks of adoration, and the silent expectations he put on himself to meet the challenge to be worthy of that adoration, was just a very beneficial side benefit.
But really, every time he spoke of anything, the maids, the Floor, or Area Guardians would stop whatever it was they were doing, to give respect to him. The maids would hold out their maid dress and bow to him, a pose which he learned later was called a curtsy, while the others would genuflect… At least he had made them stop doing a dogeza, or kneel on the ground.
Of course, he had to couch it in the action wasting time, time for them to do more work… It was no wonder that he found it all too much.
No, Momonga of course considered the Great Tomb his home and its inhabitants, the beloved children of his friends, created in their image and likeness and even inherited some of their personalities. But Momonga fears that if he stays in Nazarick he would go crazy from the constant worship, where he could do no wrong.
Escaping to the Human World, giving out noble reasons like gathering information, or scouting the new world, seemed to Momonga a very good idea.
Of course, just his luck, the town he had picked turned out to be the holdings of Demons, and the ‘School’ in his mind was nothing more than an idealized fantasy. Stuck in possible enemy territory and the Hell that is High School, Momonga found himself stuck in between a rock and a hard place.
School, he had found, was a much worse, disgusting grind than Momonga could have ever imagined – he barely lasted a few days before wanting to kill himself. And he had many experiences grinding for rare materials that just doesn’t seem to want to drop for him to compare it to!
At least while in YGGDRASIL, the process of grinding enemies was at least fun, in the way that there are at least monsters to slay, strategies to develop, and for a time, he had friends to grind along with. Momonga doubts that the Demons would appreciate him killing the teacher when they drone on about some eldritch knowledge like Math.
Worst of all, his whole purpose to go to the Human World, gathering information and resources, was quickly overshadowed by his subordinates’ actions.
Albedo earned a fortune and a half playing the Markets. Demiurge’s collection of information and scouting of all the races in the world was as complete and all-encompassing as it could get. Even Shalltear and Pandora's Actor, which in private he kinda doubts how successful they might be, had infiltrated factions while Momonga had been twiddling his thumbs at school. The scraps of information he had gathered were paltry when compared to the two.
The fact that, for the inhabitants of Nazarick, the world might as well be an alien world, and they had been manifold more successful than Momonga, a finishing blow to his sense of self-esteem.
Sure, he was glad that he didn’t have to be stuck in School anymore, but after ‘rewarding’ Albedo and Shalltear for their achievement, and talking with Katase and Murayama, Momonga found that he had nothing to do.
All of his subordinates were more effective in performing any actions than he was, and in fact did not need supervision, because Albedo and Demiurge also turned out to be more effective in controlling subordinates than he was. So, having chatted a little with Murayama and answering with a vague answer to her request to show him the most powerful magic that he knows, which Murayama took as consent, Momonga found himself taking a walk.
He needs the time and space to reflect on the current situation, and what he could do next.
Because Momonga, despite knowing that everything would turn out fine if he just went back to Nazarick and spent his days sitting on the Throne of Kings, pretending that any and all actions and events were a part of his ‘plans’, he still wants to contribute something for Nazarick. He really wanted to contribute and do something good for Nazarick, even if his contribution turns out to be negligible relative to the contribution of his subordinates.
Of course, the NPCs would not see it that way, glorifying it as something like a cornerstone of all schemes, Momonga knows his subordinates after all, he could swallow the embarrassment and take the compliment. Then again, for all he knows, knowing his luck, any random action of his could turn out to be indeed something amazing when taken in hindsight.
He would also swallow his incredulousness if something like that did happen, and just accept it as it is. It’s not like he could control these events from happening, preferring to concentrate on things he can control. There was only one problem, however.
Momonga simply did not know how he could help Nazarick!
Everything that came to his mind, his subordinates either had already managed to do, or could do with much higher efficiency than Momonga himself. Moreover, they could do what Momonga himself would never dare to do – for example, being deprived of even the most basic stealth abilities, excluding spells, Momonga would never risk going to the enemy camp personally.
Something that Demiurge, using many low-level but specialized in stealth mobs, had done, perfectly penetrating into the scattered enclaves of the paranormal factions around the world. Even Pandora's Actor returned with information about the church and the Fallen angels. He had done his job so perfectly and without attracting attention, that Momonga could even feel proud of his ‘son’… Almost.
It was a feeling tempered by the shame he felt every time he watched his usual antics.
Of course, initially, Momonga gave the order to Pandora's Actor exclusively to study the church from afar, and not the complete infiltration that he was doing right now. After all, the Church seemed to be the offspring and allies of the Biblical God, someone Momonga had decided to disguise himself as.
Both to the outside world, and to the denizens of Nazarick as well.
Given this rather complex relationship, not that the Church and the Angels know about it, Momonga definitely needed information about how the Biblical God acted to make sure his disguise remained intact. After all, he did not want to create the impression among the inhabitants of Nazarick that he had completely forgotten about his supposed past creations and now considered them enemies.
After Momonga tried his best to present himself as a good boss – he didn’t want to then suddenly turn around and act like a tyrannical and petty one, punishing his past ‘employees’ for his own failing.
It was a doozy and a half receiving such a large load of information about the Church from Pandora’s Actor when he had only expected something basic and rather surface level. Another point is just how hard Momonga needed to better himself to answer his creations’ expectations… But did Pandora Actor really need to send all the mundane ongoing about the Church?
At first, it was just something vague like ‘they look like followers of a good God’, which Momonga didn’t know how to parse. So he answered back with the usual vague acknowledgement that he had quickly learned how to use. Then came reports of the daily minutiae about the internal happenings inside the church, including all the political intrigues that a religion with a billion adherents could have.
Of course, that report is on a pile in Momonga’s Inventory, labeled as ‘Headache Medicine Necessary’, and maybe he would actually open the reports again… In the far future. Of course, in that pile included the report about the Fallen Angels – about how the Church had endeavored to destroy the faction as a whole. Archangel Michael had even personally seen to this.
And, of course, this was also part of the magnificent plan of Lord Momonga. He didn’t even know where to put the quotation mark in that phrase!
In other words, his subordinates not only completed the mission assigned to them with incredible efficiency, but had completed then not at all the way Momonga himself wanted it!
Not that he would be saying that out loud, of course.
Momonga did not care at all about the lives of the Fallen Angels themselves. Moreover, if these actions did not lead to the strengthening of others or the weakening of Nazarick – he only found himself feeling glad about the elimination of a potential enemy.
The only problem was that he had already extended a hand towards the Fallen Angels – Raynare, Mitelt, Kalawarner, and that other guy that tried to betray him, running away before he was caught by Demiurge. Or at least something like that.
And so, a question would arise, why had Momonga ‘forgive’ the three for their sins, why not the other Fallen Angels?
There were a myriad of reasons, all complex and interconnected, as to why he had done what he did… In other words, he was making things up as he goes, lying his ass off, piling up lies after lies into an unstable Jenga tower where adding more things at the top might just lead to the whole thing collapsing.
Besides, Momonga really did not want to kill the Fallen Angels – they’re a very precious and unique resources, after all!
Even if he didn’t care at all about their continued existence, after picking the battlefield clean of the corpses and remains of the Fallen Angels, he had only thousands of them at his disposal! Nowhere near enough!
Never mind their use as ingredients for permanent summons, he has countless in stock in Nazarick. Never mind their unique magics or capabilities, using [Dark Wisdom] on a multitude of them revealed the fact that their unique capabilities are not counted as [Spells] but [Special Abilities] and he cannot copy those. Even the attempt to feed their corpses into the [Exchange Box], capable of turning any inanimate objects into gold depending on the volume of fed materials or the value of the material itself, only netted him one measly gold coin… After feeding the box, a hundred corpses.
In other words, killing off the Fallen Angels is simply unprofitable – their death brought him no profit.
On the other hand, the Fallen were a unique asset of this world – and that was enough.
Although YGGDRASIL had its own Fallen Angels, their race was just one of many available races that had similarities with ordinary angels in terms of lore, appearance, and even some development paths. Momonga was pretty sure that the Developers had made them into a separate race, entirely because of their laziness. It is the rare opportunity being able to do a Palate Swap and having it made sense and lore compliant without the Players complaining.
Being able to only change Golden or White wings to Black, edit some cosmetics and being able to create another Playable race? Someone in the Dev Team either got a bonus for that, or just more work.
Although, of course, it was possible to turn an Angel into a Fallen Angel, and vice versa, in YGGDRASIL using racial change items. It was only in this world, the unique mechanics of turning Angels into Fallen, Momonga was unsure if the reverse is possible, just as their unique mechanics of increasing the number of wings with an increase in their power, exists. Was this related to the growth of [Racial Levels] or was it some other indicator?
Momonga did not know this, and would be more than happy to find that out… Something that would be very difficult to do if all the Fallen were gone!
Of course, talking about effectiveness, barring personal biases, in Momonga’s opinion, as an army, the Undead were many times more effective than the Fallen Angels. After all, the Undead did not get tired, did not consume any resources for their work, and are loyal without risk of even Mental Spells disrupting that because they are Immune.
However, studying the Fallen Angels could shed light on some special abilities of the creatures of this world.
Moreover, to be honest, Momonga liked unique things. Even if it was just a low-level artifact, he was still a collector who wanted to collect all the unique things he could. Already suffering from the loss of a Unique Dragon of this world, two of them even! And even lost the Unique Artifact that came along with it, an Artifact that he suspected was a [World Item] it was just that powerful, Momonga did not want to miss out on anything!
Especially considering that the Fallen had many variations to them – two-winged, four-winged, and the definitely unique six-winged Fallen Angels, the few that had Fallen with Azazel after their betrayal of the Biblical God.
It was practically a full collector's set! And now all of them are lost…
Sighing to himself, Momonga had to thank his Emotional Suppression to delay his outburst, even tempering it. Of course, it was the ultimate ridiculousness giving mercy to his enemy, just because he wanted to add them to his collection, he would not risk any of Nazarick’s just to satisfy his Collector instincts.
Especially knowing that just one word from him could send all the forces of Nazarick to capture all the surviving Fallen to the detriment of all other plans…
And therefore, Momonga did not know exactly what he needed to do.
He couldn't just go out and say that all the surviving Fallen were now under his control and protection – it would just be stupid and counterproductive. Just as he did not want to simply destroy them completely.
Yes, he already had three Fallen Angels in his collection from the church in Kuoh under his control, but these were only three Fallen of a certain level. What about the cadres or the ‘natural’ four-winged Fallen Angels, those that from the beginning had two pairs of wings before their Fall? What about those with six wings?
Raynare did not know when she had fallen, or when her pure white wings had turned black as she was under the influence of madness. Mittelt fell much later after the death of the Biblical God, and Kalawarner was a ‘natural’ Fallen Angel, born from two other fallen angels. What about the Fallen Angels who fell during the life of the Biblical God?
After all, what if you force a Fallen Angel to learn spells, then kill them and try to absorb their body – will Momonga be able to learn their spells in this way?
In general, Momonga's mind was overflowing with questions, ideas about experiments that he could now not carry out, and other such ideas without a conclusion to them… That was why he was in a familiar mood, wandering the streets without an aim in mind.
After he had parted with Murayama, Momonga had to go on a walk to calm his mind, trying to come up with what to do next, to figure out a useful way to spend his time to contribute to Nazarick. But, no brilliant idea came to mind even as he walked around the neighborhood, only to end up back in front of Miki’s house.
It seems that his walk had been unsuccessful, he was as lost just as before he had started the walk to clear his head. Worse, looking at the placid and peaceful nature around him, a boon that he had not yet gotten tired off, only made him remember what he could have had. That is, the Fallen Angels, so many unique things that he now could not have.
In the end, Momonga was unsuccessful in his endeavor to find useful things he could do for Nazarick. That was why he could only go with his original plan.
If he could not find things he could help Nazarick with – he could at least not make things worse for it, doing things that wouldn’t hurt it.
And no, it did not include having copious sex with Shalltear and Albedo… No matter how much his libido wanted to. If it was his own lack that made it impossible to find things that could help with Nazarick, then he would need only to fix it to help with Nazarick – and educating himself would only help in that regard.
He was not going to enroll himself in a school, he had enough of that to last a lifetime – it had taught him that not all ‘education’ is beneficial at least. But to engage in his religious education.
After all, judging by everything that is happening, his collision with the paranormal factions of this world in the future was inevitable. Even if Momonga wanted to keep Nazarick in the shadows for as long as possible, it was impossible. Two could keep a secret if one of them is dead… Or at least that’s what Peroroncino had said about his porn stash.
And just like Peroroncino couldn’t kill his sister, who had happily aired out his collection to the Guild at large, the Paranormal World had gotten an inkling about Nazarick’s existence.
The Demons had already made contact with Momonga, the Fallen, the three that had joined Nazarick at least, especially Raynare that had already visited the Tomb. With the way the Fallen had been deleted as a faction thanks to the action of the Church, Nazarick had already made a ripple. Even if Nazarick’s involvement would never be discovered, it was only a matter of time before someone could put things together.
That there was another Faction, another Force, acting on things.
A major collision with the factions of the paranormal world was inevitable, and so Momonga needed information. Not only the intelligence that Demiurge and Pandora's Actor had already managed to obtain without his intervention, but also an understanding of ‘his’ supposed religion.
This was something that Momonga could not simply rely on his subordinates for. After all, no one would believe his words of ‘please remind me, what exactly did I preach about in the past?’. Momonga had to figure out this information on his own.
However, it was worth saying that Momonga's stay in hell, read, school, had given him at least one extremely important piece of realization. That is, Momonga was surprisingly poorly suited for proper learning in a school setting.
And so Momonga did not even think about going to some kind of Catholic academy, Bible school or personally sitting down to study the writings of theologians. Instead, Momonga recalled that in the past, in YGGDRASIL, he had always learned on the go, by doing, by observing. And so this time, he also planned to do the same, after all, Pandora's Actor had easily infiltrated the church before, creating a fake identity. Momonga could do the same.
He didn't even need to draw attention to himself. He could just use the fake identity Pandora’s Actor had created, quietly slipping into an active church, watching the lives of the church's followers, before leaving it, sending Pandora's Actor back to replace his fake identity.
There’s no way that could go wrong, right?
Chuckling to himself at how ‘effective’ his walk had turned out to be, even if he had only gotten his idea when he was standing in the foyer of Miki’s house, completing the circuit. Though, now that he is back… Is Murayama and Katase still around?
Coming in and greeting Miki who was happily humming some wordless song to herself, the woman informed him that Katase had left. That would mean that Murayama had left as well, right? She must be disappointed that Momonga was not able to help them.
Still, Murayama would not have left her friend behind, would she?
And even if Katase did stay at Miki's house while Momonga was thoughtfully walking the streets…
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Shrugging to himself, Momonga started thinking about the ways to implement his plans, and more importantly, how to relay it to the NPCs…
***
Saji Genshirou woke up as he always does, at the usual time. Not because he feared being late to school, but more because of the problems that would befall him should he be late.
After all, Kuoh Academy was an elite education institution with outstanding teachers and excellent funding from the donations of influential and rich families.
Actually… It was quite difficult to judge just how elite Kuoh Academy is when compared to the rest of Japan – Saji is just not that interested in such a thing, But, in Kuoh, there was no finer institution of Education. To say that their rules and punishments were strict would be to put things lightly.
Or at least, when your name is not Issei, Motohama or… Saji actually forgot what the third member of the Pervert Trio is called. How those three, who laughed at all the laws and moral principles of this world and therefore could ignore all the internal school rules, had not been expelled yet, is a mystery.
Though, it seems that Issei has been cleaning his act lately?
Anyway, since Saji didn’t have some kind of immunity against punishment, even if Saji was late even by a few minutes, he would find himself soon wasting time being reprimanded by the teachers. How those old fossils could drone on about the ‘noble status’ of a student at Kuoh Academy, when those three were around, is yet another mystery.
Saji skipping class would probably result in talks about expulsion on suspensions being bandied around, The director of the Academy was a surprisingly strict person… Even when he was actually under the employ of Demons.
Which probably explained how the Pervert Trio had gotten away with all sorts of things that could have gotten them arrested, actually. The three had probably sold their souls in exchange for being able to perv at the girls without serious consequences.
Indeed, Saji had recently found out that right under his, and, as Saji himself suspected, most of humanity's noses, there was a whole world of paranormal and inexplicable phenomena, Angels, Demons, and magicians that existed unnoticed by him. Moreover, Kuoh Academy was actually truly so elite because a dozen Demons studied there, including two heiresses of aristocratic demonic families who invested money in supporting the Academy. Furthermore, the principal of his school was a powerful magician in the service of one of these aristocratic families.
Oh, and lest he forget, a God, with capital G, as the Fallen Angels living in a church that Saji had thought abandoned had drilled into his head, is also attending school.
The amount of not-so-veiled killing intent Saji got from them should Saji even think of disrespecting God, made it that even in his own head, he didn’t dare blaspheme.
That’s right, the person he thought was just an upperclassman that could help him with being emancipated, was the One, the same God from the Bible, who had returned after his reincarnation. He also kills dragons and commands some incredibly powerful Demons.
Oh, right, and his school is rubble now, destroyed by a pissed off demon for one reason or another…
Saji could feel his vision darkening, as he mentally listed out all the revelations that he had just learned – he had to actually close his eyes and count his breath to stop himself from passing out. It was as if by breathing out, he was trying to expel all the information that did not fit into his weak human mind.
Sadly, he couldn’t just forget all the things he had learned, but at the very least, he could compress all the shocking things he had learned into one ball, and try not to think about it too much.
After all, for a weak human like himself, what difference did it make what gods and demons and everything else were around him if he was just a human with his own small human destiny? He had managed to get adopted by his principal, Johan, who had allowed Saji and his family to live in his grandfather's old house, so what else does he need to care about?
It wasn’t even a hard thing for the principal to accomplish, something that had almost driven Saji mad.
After all, it would actually be strange if an influential magician like the principal did not have his own influential acquaintances.
And that was enough for Saji.
Even after all the revelation, his entire world view becoming expanded against his will, he had woken up today like he did every day. He had taken care of his younger siblings' morning routine, took them to school, and then gone on to his own. He had also received a ‘decent’ amount of allowance for himself and for his younger siblings from his ‘adoptive father’ and it had made them happy.
With his family taken care off, even happy, everything was fine.
Moreover, although he now had gained the terrifying perspective of just how insignificant he is in the grand scheme of things, he had also gained the patronage of a strong magician. Which, by proxy, means that he has the patronage of the Biblical God. At the very least, the things that go bump at night would have to think twice before hurting him or his family with that kind of backing.
So, it might even be said that he has the best support to be able to adapt to his new position in life quite easily. His life now did not differ too much from his old life – and that was fine.
Leaving his room, Saji yawned, habitually going to the kitchen and about to greet his grandfather, before stopping as he remembered something, a swear on his lips. It was quite easy to forget with all the bombastic happenings in his life, probably because he can reason it out as something that happens with or without his input, getting used to the death of his grandfather still gives him pause. Simply because it was something that is very much intimately close to him.
He was no longer going to cry however, he already had ample time to do so, even if the wounds are still fresh – life must go on. His younger sister and brother needed him – they needed their older brother to be strong, to take care of them. And so he should greet them with a smile.
Even when he found it hard to do so.
And so, when he is going to wake up his younger siblings, he needs to get his mind in gear, and not try to greet an empty room. He needs to be in his A-game if he wants to be able to get his younger siblings to school in time, and also get to the new school that he was assigned to while waiting for Kuoh to be rebuilt.
Saji did not even think to remember that he needed to get up even earlier in order to have time to cook something to eat.
It was usually a chore that his grandfather used to do – no matter how hard Saji wanted to help him with it. Saji just finally resorted to getting part-time jobs to contribute what little money distributing leaflets and courier work could get him to pay back his grandfather’s kindness.
But the death was still too recent for Saji to be able to unconsciously restructure his sleep and waking schedule – and so, that’s why there was still no food on the table right now. For him, breakfast could easily be sorted with a sandwich and a coffee can while on his way to school, it was his younger siblings that he was concerned with, however.
While he was in the middle of a dilemma about whether or not he should prepare sandwiches for all three of them, or take advantage of the technicality that it was the first day of a new school for him to excuse his tardiness, and create something more substantial, he was shocked to find that he was not alone in the kitchen. And that he was not actually the first person awake in the household.
"Oh, good morning!" Kaho, his younger sister, smiled at Saji while she was busy making the dining table, a plate of rice and stewed beef to his chair.
"Have a seat! Gengo will be here soon too!"
Saji instantly felt a pang of shame, his cheeks blushing red, but he did not make the situation even worse – as it could be done. Kaho had already prepared breakfast and so rather than making a big deal out of it, proclaiming something like it was his job to look after her, after all he was the one that had overslept. And so, all he could do was say thank you and make a note to himself that he needed to wake up even earlier in the future,
So that he would not make his younger middle school-aged sister cook breakfast for him. The shame, it was good, it would make sure that he would not forget his responsibility – that he had taken on the task as the sole grown man in the Genshirou household. Rather than just desiring it, talking the talk, now he also had to walk the walk.
Saji sat at the table, not showing the emotion he felt on his face, before immediately returning to standing when he heard the front door’s bell ringing. Waving to Kaho that he would be the one to check, he couldn’t make his sister work more, so he headed to the front door, confused about who would be coming to his house so early in the morning.
For a moment, even if it was illogical since the Genshirous is already the proper ward of the Principal, his imagination ran wild. The fear of one day people from the Social Services separating himself from his siblings into different orphanages keeps him awake at night. He had already seen the adoption papers, Johan, the Principal, had shown him it as soon as it was made official.
So, it would not make sense for Social Services to visit them now. Of course, Saji then had to trust the word of a Magician in the service of Demons, and then God, but then, what else could he do?
Reaching the front door, Saji still looked through the peephole.
Just because it would not be the Social Services, doesn’t mean that Saji would be opening his doors to strangers.
It didn’t take him long to recognize the familiar figure… Well, technically a stranger, since Saji hadn’t ‘known’ him for long.
"Principal Johan, come in. We were just about to have breakfast, would you like to join us?"
Letting who is, practically speaking, a stranger, no matter what a piece of paper saying that he was supposed to be Saji’s new father, into his house and even inviting him to breakfast was uncomfortable for Saji. But after Johan had become his guardian and even provided his family with money, sending him away or keeping him waiting on the doorstep would be even more awkward for Saji than just inviting him inside.
"Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline for today," The director tried to smile, but Saji instantly felt that the Principal was hiding something, otherwise his smile would not look like it was hiding some great tension behind it. The European looking man seemed like he was one step away from becoming hysterical.
“How long… Will that take your breakfast, I meant?"
Saji, confused for a moment by the strange question, looked at the Principal, a tinge of worry in his voice. "Ten to fifteen minutes… Principal, did something happen?"
"No, no, nothing…" As if on autopilot, the Principal tried to reassure Saji as quickly as possible before cutting off his words and sighing. "Nothing fatally important in any case."
Hearing himself talk, the Principal looked spooked, looking to the left and then to the right, as if trying to see if there’s anyone that had overheard him. He had even looked inside the house, into the corridor to see if either of Saji’s siblings had overheard him – as if he had just said some kind of secret.
Saji was about to speak before the Principal started gesturing, murmuring something that caused a litany of glowing script to run along the walls of his house. It was an inexplicable phenomenon, another feat of magic, it was no less incredible than the first time he had seen something like it.
After waiting for a few moments, as if waiting for some kind of… Saji has no idea what, but after nothing happened, the Principal finally breathed a sigh of relief, before finally sharing whatever important secret that had gotten the Principal so scared. "Lord Demiurge and Lady Albedo decided that it was time to begin your magic training."
"My training?" Saji wanted to say that that was not at all that shocking of a secret, before he could finally parse what it meant. He actually had to stop himself from reacting violently at what the Principal was saying. In excitement, that is.
As a teenager, he had once daydreamed about magic, or special abilities that he could have had. About how cool it was to have magic or some kind of superpowers. But now, now that he knows that magic is actually real, if at all possible, he was even more excited and scared in equal measure.
Of course the reality of it, that the other side that would teach him the power, would ask for some kind of payment. Nothing is for free, after all, and nothing is more costly than power.
He didn’t want to strive for something like that, but he was no longer in a position to not pay it.
"Yes, your training… I can't say that it was completely unexpected for it to start in some time, but Lord Demiurge and Lady Albedo had decided to start the training for the outstanding students of this Magic academy. And you are in the first batch." Johan blurted out the information like a confession, relaxing a little after he was able to convey the important information to his recipient. The way he looked at Saji, looked a bit like a smile and equal pride in a past and future student.
"The first batch?" Saji, honed in on an important detail in what the Principal had said, staring at him intently on his face before darting with fear back to the house, at his younger siblings. The Principal, figuring Saji’s unasked question and unspoken worry, shrugged.
"I won't lie, I don't know if your siblings have a talent for magic. Almost anyone can be taught a couple of parlor tricks, but it would require so much effort and time that only an immortal being, either out of boredom or pursuing their own, incomprehensible goals, would engage in it…"
After these words, as if remembering that he was now in the service of the Biblical God, Johan suddenly cleared his throat and hastened to add something else, "In any case, don't worry, the second batch, if there is one, has not been determined yet. For now, Lady Albedo wants to test how effective such training will be, and Lord Demiurge wants to test methods of possibly teaching newcomers the magical arts."
Saji breathed a sigh of relief, one that he didn’t even bother hiding.
"Okay…" Saji nodded – what else could he do? Whether he wanted to or not to engage in such training was completely irrelevant. People didn't refuse such offers… If it was even an offer at all, and not a quite unambiguous order from the patrons of his patrons.
"And who exactly will participate in this training?"
"You, Katase Higa, Murayama Tanabe… And Miki Hyoudou as the trial batch. You know of them, right?" The director glanced at Saji, making him roll his eyes.
Of course, he knew Katase, the eternal victim of harassment from the Academy's Perverted Trio, along with her best friend Murayama, but Miki… Hyoudou? Saji certainly knew the Hyoudou surname, but he didn't remember Issei having any sisters or cousins. So, with his eyes wide as an idea popped into his mind, he looked at the director with incredulousness written on it. "Issei's mother?!"
"Yeah, ahem, exactly," The director started mumbling by the end, clearly feeling uncomfortable and out of his element. "And there will also be Asia Argento, but you'll meet her later. In any case, this training will be an after school affair, a babysitter will take care of your siblings during."
Saji frowned slightly at the Principal’s words. Leaving his family with a stranger was repugnant to him, but it's not like he had the ability to prevent it. So, with a sigh, he could only nod accepting the decision.
"Okay, fine, but… Why?"
"If you're talking about why you were chosen? Well, it's all related to the fact that Satoru, that is, Lord Momonga, had personally marked you." The man said, relaxing slightly as he moved away from a topic that was clearly uncomfortable for him. "And if you're asking why the training is starting at this particular moment…"
Johan shrugged. "I can't say for sure. Believe me, the Lords have more important things to do than report to me about all the plans that exist in the world. I only know that it has something to do with Katase and Miki, but you'd better talk to them about that."
Trying to imagine himself asking Miki Hyoudou, a woman several decades older than himself, about something like she was a peer, Saji could only lower his gaze, feeling a new surge of embarrassment. However, seeing Saji’s actions, Johan only put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in a slightly encouraging gesture.
"Don't worry too much. This training will take place under the patronage of the most experienced mages, and in the end, you will gain superpowers. So why should you worry?"
At the rather stilted encouragement, Saji forced himself to shake the sad look off his face, he’d really rather not show his sad face to his younger siblings. Instead, he tried to smile, thinking about the positive that he would get from learning magic.
Indeed, he would gain magical abilities and get to know a bunch of girls in the same class as him better. Especially the beautiful Katase and Murayama… Sure, he has no idea who Asia is supposed to be, and Mrs. Hyoudou isn’t exactly a peer, but two out of four is still great, right?
After all, what could go wrong?
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Abaddon Lucifer
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