krakenian
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Chapter 30: Coexistence 2
🕑 Added 2024-08-05 07:28:12 +0000 UTCRyuichi P.O.V
My eyebrow twitched as I assimilated the ridiculousness I had just heard a few seconds ago.
I had agreed to accompany Rias to her house to pick up what she needed, and when she invited me in, I refused, just like any moderately intelligent person would do.
After that, when I asked her if the entire building was her house, she said no, and "only" the penthouse on the top floor was where she lived.
Sitting near the entrance of the building while I waited, I shook my head, even with everything I had discovered, this blatant waste of money still took me by surprise, were all devils that rich?
There was no point in complaining, if I did that, it would make me look like a brat jealous of the luck of others, besides, with the missions I could also exchange the points obtained for money, right? If I got a good amount I could leave my part-time job to focus on training, and I would have no problem paying for my brother's studies.
'Yes, I just have to wait a little longer and complete the misión.' I thought, but accepting that also came with the idea that I should be training to become stronger so I can complete the mission without any problems.
I once again shook my head a few times, rushing in when I wasn't fit would be the height of foolishness, the path to a strong body requires rest to progress properly, and a serious injury due to overexertion could become fatal in my situation.
Leaving those kinds of thoughts for later, I stood up and stretched my arms before looking at the entrance of the building. "I hope she doesn't take too long, I don't want to leave Touji alone for too lon-"
And before I finished the last word, she came out of the building again, this time with a slightly more satisfied expression, she soon found me and walked towards me. "I have what I need, let's go." She said, moving at a speed slightly faster than a walk.
I raised an eyebrow and followed her. "Hey"
"Um?"
"Isn't this supposed to be a meeting to control my actions or something like that? Shouldn't you ask me something instead of just going to buy manga with me?"
"Oh, that's right." She seemed surprised that I told her what her job was.
"So, first, the skills you used, you said you just used them by instinct, right?"
I nodded in response.
"That's not impossible, but I would like to know what exactly they do or what they are like from your point of view"
"I think it was pretty obvious what the I used techniques did"
"User perception of a technique is important to discover things about it that external viewers do not notice"
I internally debated what to do before making my decision, in the end, they had already seen what I did and the effects of my techniques, so a brief extra explanation shouldn't hurt, but before that.
"Is it okay to talk about it in the middle of all these people?" I asked, looking around, because although the street was not full of people, it was not empty either, although I also noticed that everyone who passed by us made way for us without giving us a single glance.
"No problem, I put up a small barrier around us that makes everyone instinctively ignore us when we start talking, as long as we don't do something drastic and flashy we will be almost invisible"
I sighed. "Well, first there is the taiyoken, you have already seen it at least 2 times, basically it is just a flash of light to blind the opponent for a few moments or a few dozen seconds at best"
"And how do you do it?"
"I just think that I want my energy to shine"
"That's all?"
"That's it for all my techniques, it's something more instinctive than anything else"
"So what about…"
And so, the conversation continued as we walked, I talked about zanzoken and kaio-ken in the same ambiguous way to avoid giving away as much information as possible, and when that was over, I decided to ask some questions that could be considered the basics of the supernatural world.
Things like if all of Japan was under the rule of devils, if Satan was really all red with a tail and a trident, why were devils on Earth if they had hell? How many stray devils had been in Kuoh over the past few months, and more similar things.
From all this, I learned several things, but one of the most important was that Japan was under the protection of the Japanese gods worshiped in temples, such as Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and the like.
However, the devils had treaties with the Shinto pantheon, and one of the things they allowed them to do was give control of Kuoh to Rias and Sona, all of this so that they could "practice" governing a territory because they were both part of nobles houses and that's what they would do in the future yada yada yada, political things I didn't have much interest in.
Also, according to Rias, the devils no longer took people's souls, which I had a hard time believing, but rather they were something like all-terrain workers who offered their services in exchange for monetary payments, favors, magical power if the human was a magician or things like that.
Time passed and just after I learned that the angels were not aberrations from some Lovecraftian wet dream as the Bible described them, we finally arrived at the part of Kuoh that had the most manga stores, figures, etc.
They weren't too many, but for me, they would be enough, at least until I saved enough money to take a walk through Akihabara and get a volume of To Love Ru autographed by Kentaro Yabuki.
"Tomoe." I knocked as we walked through the doors of the store and saw that there was no one at the counter.
"Ah, Ichi-kun." A voice came from the passageway that led to the back room, and a couple of seconds later, a girl appeared.
With long, straight black hair, with a particularly delicate feminine appearance, Tomoe Takasago, greeted me with a friendly smile before noticing who was with me.
"Ichi-kun, I'll ask you now, are you going to start bringing girls here? Last time that kouhai almost knocked over a shelf because she was lunging at you, if you cause me trouble again I'm going to get angry." She said, and although she tried to sound threatening, considering her appearance it was more like watching a particularly cute hamster trying to roar like a lion.
"Hahaha, don't worry, I only came for the mangas that I mentioned to you last time, you have them right? And she apparently wanted to buy some things, I promise not to cause trouble"
"Oh." She, who pouted when I laughed, changed to a satisfied expression as she put her palms together. "If you are a customer then no problem, my name is Tomoe Takasago, welcome to Takasago Bookstore." She greeted Rias with a smile.
The redhead adopted a dignified bearing and approached. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rias Gremory, but just Rias is fine, what are the most recent manga and light novel volumes you have?"
"Here." She said handing over an electronic tablet. "This is the list of all our stocks, you can search by date, or if you have something specific you want, write it in the search engine, in the meantime, I will go get the things Ichi-kun ordered, is that okay with you?"
"No problem"
I watched this interaction a little surprised, especially since, although it was a bit hidden, it seemed like Rias was excited about buying manga.
It didn't take Tomoe even a minute to return with a bag, placing it on the counter and sighing. "Everything should be here, please check it"
"So." I opened the bag and listed my purchases. "Jujutsu Kaisen, volumes 20 to 22, Shuumatsu No Valkyrie, volumes 16 to 18, and Katekyō Hitman Reborn!, volumes 41 and 42." I finished listing the mangas and then moved on to the figures.
"A figure of Gojo using his domain expansion, done, a figure of Dio with the steamroller, done, and lastly, one of Arthur Boyle, all done." I said giving my card to Tomoe to make the payment.
"Hey, is it okay if I go to the second floor to review some novels while you tend to her?" I asked after putting everything in the bag and pointing at Rias, who was still looking at the tablet.
"Sure, I'll leave your bag here"
Nodding I left my things and went up the stairs to the second floor of the store, there were only a couple of guys talking while looking at some shelves, so I went to another aisle and headed to the part where the latest published novels were.
A new volume of SAO, the second of a novel called Silverwolf of Reincarnation, the fifth of another called I Have a Mansion in a Post-Apocalyptic World, and more.
As I walked down the hallway watching more novels, a truth came to my mind.
Was I really going to have time to continue with this hobby now that I was exposed not only to the supernatural world but also to the chat quests and all the problems they entailed?
The answer was a painful but obvious no, or at least not until I was strong and wealthy enough not to worry about the dangers or financial needs that would come in the future.
That discouraged me, and for not the first time, I wished I were not only someone with no power or knowledge of the supernatural but also a normal guy in a normal family who wouldn't have to worry about things other than graduating and finding a job or a decent university to study at.
The thought depressed me a little, and that bothered me even more, so I ended up leaving the section without taking anything, after all, at least for now, I doubted that I had too much time for manga, anime, or light novels.
Once I returned to the first floor I saw Tomoe with a total of 3 bags at least twice the size of mine and full of manga, novels, and various figures on the counter between she and Rias.
"Wow." I raised an eyebrow because of the obvious display of fanaticism towards Japanese works, I mean, in a way, I shared the sentiment, but this was exaggerating a bit, for my part, I only bought mangas or novels that I was reading, and the only reason why my the purchase on this occasion was so "big" it was because they were my purchases of two months together and because the figures had a 50% discount.
'Taking into account where she lived and this, I think I wouldn't be wrong if she claimed that her family seems to have a lot of money'
If I were to be honest, would I say that I felt genuine envy; enough money to live a life of luxury, and, if what I had felt was true, enough power and allies to not fear for my safety?
If after dying I had had to fill out a form for this life, I would have chosen those benefits.
I shook my head a few times, focusing on what I hadn't gotten, and getting upset about it wouldn't get me anywhere, it would only make me look like a crybaby, better to focus on what I could do, and the things I could aspire to win.
"Are you done?" I asked as I approached.
"Ah, Ichi-kun, thank you for bringing in such a good customer, dad will be happy for having sold so much"
"Oh really?" I asked a little incredulously, it was true that the things sold were many, but I doubted that they presented a substantial difference beyond a slight increase in their overall finances.
"Yes, this is only half of what she bought, and she also subscribed for us to send her store recommendations and new products that will arrive in her email once a month." She said happily.
Now, that was something different, did devils have a different notion than humans when it came to money? Somehow I could imagine Rias like in those pictures where a guy was throwing bills from a yacht.
"Here, in addition to the things and the shipping, I would like to pay twelve months of the subscription in advance." She said, handing over a black card.
After giving a surprised look to the card for a few seconds, Tomoe took the card and charged it. "Thank you, and enjoy your purchases." She leaned over, and after a couple of seconds, she stood up straight again. "Ah, Ichi-kun, will you be online today?"
"Maybe, but just for a moment, I have some things to do." I replied.
"Buh, you've barely logged on in the last month, and when you do it alone it's for less than half the time you did before, you haven't gotten another part-time job, have you?" She asked, and although she seemed a little upset, I would be foolish if she didn't realize that she was asking out of concern.
"Nah, I've just been busier at home"
"Did something happen with your little brother?"
"It seems like the little whirlwind has entered his rebellious phase, I feel almost like a single dad, so my respect for them has increased." I laughed a little tiredly, after all, this was partly true.
"Oh, I see, then don't worry, your brother is more important than any game." She changed her attitude and smiled so that she looked like a mother looking at her son. "Do your best Ichi-kun, if you need me to take care of Touji-kun for an afternoon don't hesitate to ask, I have a lot of experience taking care of children." She assured me, changing her smile to a more lively one as she flexed her arm to prove her point even though there was almost no muscle.
"Well, I'll definitely take that into account, but then don't complain too much, I'm sure Touji is different from any kid you've ever met or will ever meet." I responded, and we both laughed a little.
On the side, watching our interaction without interrupting and showing a thoughtful expression, I could see that Rias seemed to want to say something.
Leaving the store and holding my bag I walked with Rias at my side in silence, at least for a couple of minutes until she spoke. "It seems like you really have some friends, from the way everyone at your school was staring at you I thought you only got along with your teacher and the kouhai who greeted you"
"I've never been one to have too many friends, I'm not antisocial, but 99% of my schoolmates are just that, schoolmates, Mikazuki is a special case because we've known each other since middle school, and I met Tomoe a year ago, I accidentally knocked over some shelves in her store, she is the type of person that loves to chat with anyone, so while we were organizing everything we ended up talking for a long time and discovered that we played the same game, so she invited me to her guild, and we played a lot online, plus once a month I come to buy mangas, novels and things like that"
"About that, it seems like you really like Nekketsu"
I raised an eyebrow slightly surprised, that was curious, most people would say shōnen, and although they wouldn't be completely wrong, the correct term would be nekketsu.
She seemed to notice that I was surprised and asked. "What? Is it hard to believe I would know about that?"
"To be completely honest, I believed (and still believe) that all this buying so many novels and mangas were a ruse to try to get along better with me for some hidden reason"
She sighed as if she already expected it. "That's rude, one of the main reasons I came to Japan was because I was interested in its culture, and manga, anime, and novels are also part of that culture"
"I guess that's as good a reason as any." I said, trying to avoid getting into a tug-of-war type discussion where I was sure she would tell me that she had no bad intentions, so I changed the subject to clarify a genuine doubt I had.
"By the way." I said without waiting for her to respond as I reached into my bag and pulled out two of the manga volumes I bought. "These 2 guys exist and live in the underworld, right?" I asked showing 2 volumes of Shuumatsu No Valkyrie.
"Ah, Hades-sama and Beelzebub-sama? The first one lives in the kingdom of the dead of the Greek pantheon, so I have never seen him, but from what I heard, I doubt that that is a close representation of what he really is." She said, pointing her finger at volume 16, which, in my opinion, was a shame because Hades was one of my favorite characters on the side of the gods.
"But I know Beelzebub-sama, do you like the character?"
"Not too much, his backstory is good, and he's a well-built character, but I hate him for what he did to Tesla." I answered before asking. "Is the real one also a depressive and antisocial guy with a curse?"
"No? Although Beelzebub-sama is not the most expressive nor the most sociable devil, he is still quite an acclaimed figure in the underworld and is responsible for the creation of several of the inventions that make the lives of devils easier, actually, now that I remember, he also participated in the creation of the internet in the human world"
"What?"
"Yes, I wasn't born yet, but from what I was told he worked with some people in the United States to create the internet and then made his own version of it in the devil world"
"Do you have… internet in the hell? That place that everyone says burns for all eternity and where sinners are punished?" I asked in disbelief.
"The underworld is not on fire, in fact, it is quite similar to the earth except for some specific differences, and human souls do not go to the underworld, it is a bit long to explain, but depending on the religion of which the human is part, their soul will go to different places, in the case of those who believe in the god of the Bible, I do not know where the souls of sinners go, and I never asked, but it is not to the underworld, or at least not to the part where we devils live"
My fingers pressed the bridge of my nose as I took in this information, technically it should have been obvious, but since I discovered the supernatural world I hadn't thought about it, it was then that a related question occurred to me.
"Wait, what happens to the souls of atheists?" In modern times, more and more people renounced the idea of religion and gods so, although not dominant, the number of people who thought that way was not few.
Rias shook her head a few times. "Don't know"
I didn't want to think more about that topic, so I simply sighed and said. "I see"
"I wanted to ask." She began, calling my attention. "When you said that with the power you have now, you don't trust anyone, do you mean that you can only trust those who are weaker than you?"
Her words caught me off guard, and I was strongly tempted not to respond, but I didn't think that being too much of a dick was justified in this situation, if she wanted sincerity, I would give it to her, maybe on this occasion that would be the right thing to do.
######
Third Person P.O.V
Rias honestly did not understand the way of thinking of the person in front of her, she knew that most people would distrust devils even if they were not supporters of the church, and she had even seen them talking and cursing the existence of devils, calling them all like a cancer that damaged humanity.
But Ryuichi was clearly not like those people, his distrust, in his own words, went in all directions, stating that his treatment would be the same for angels, or even gods, something that no religious believer would say.
So he could only trust those who would literally be incapable of hurting him? In her opinion, an attitude like that was too paranoid, to say the least.
In her experience, and in that of all devils, and even humans, everyone felt attracted in one way or another towards power, towards a being that was stronger than them, moved by fascination, curiosity, or the feeling of protection that these beings could offer, that was why this person confused her so much.
"I…" He began to speak, and she could tell that he was trying to find the right words to say. "I can't say that I loved my ordinary life, there were clear difficulties, but they were within what I could handle, and I was happy, however, now my world changed, that... spider devil almost killed me, I survived more by luck than anything else, and even now I am afraid of that devil." He stopped to look directly at her.
"And of all of you too, if that guy, Yuuto, had wanted it, he could have killed me before I realized it, not only that, but now I have to assimilate that there are also more beings out there that I had no knowledge of, and that could surely erase me with just a wave of their hand?" He said without realizing that some of his fear was showing on his face.
The simple and clear truth was that Ryuichi was afraid and very suspicious of devils, not because of what they were, but because everything had been hidden until now and that his life, that of his brother, or that of anyone close to him could have ended just because some powerful supernatural being had wished it on a simple whim, and he would not have even suspected that it would have been like that.
That, added to his first encounter with a street devil, caused him to develop a feeling of distrust towards everything supernatural, similar to the fear that his own teacher had developed.
That was why he refused to completely believe the devil's words, it was why he consciously ignored his ki sense.
His ki sense was not only a radar to measure the strength of others, it could also transmit to him in a very vague way the very nature of the energy of whoever he sensed, evil or benign, and of devils, although their energy was felt... corrupt, there were no real bad intentions.
The only time he could feel something that he interpreted as sincere hostility, as a clear warning, was when he was ready to attack Rias when he saw her holding his brother, and at that time, he himself was sure that he was projecting nothing more than hostility.
But even when Ryuichi noticed this he refused both consciously and unconsciously to change his attitude, because he was afraid and distrustful, and fear was ultimately a feeling that pushed rationality and logic out of any equation or rational thought.
"If all myths have some truth, what does that mean for humanity?" He asked, looking down a little. "Do you know how many atrocities supernatural beings did just for the sake of doing them? Or worse yet, the gods themselves, how many catastrophes, crimes, wars, and so on have happened because of their actions, words, or desires? I don't know, and I'm not saying that humanity is innocent of their crimes, but how would you feel if you knew that a sword may or may not be hanging over your head, and the only reason it doesn't fall is because of the mercy or inaction of a being you don't know, and that to that being, in power or importance you are similar to an ant?"
Rias didn't know what to answer, and although this person's words sounded paranoid, she had to admit that he had a point, what would happen to the devils if Sirzech Gremory and Ajuka Astarot, now converted into Sirzech Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub, didn't exist?
Both were classified as super devils, both serving as shields and incredibly effective deterrent measures for any other pantheon even when the devil race was not fully united.
Without them, Rias did not doubt that her species could have suffered another internal war, and that was without counting the wrath of some other faction such as the angels or the fallen, just imagining such a life made her extremely uncomfortable.
That was the reason why the supernatural world was kept hidden from the eyes of the vast majority of humanity, fear would spread through the population like fire through a trail of gunpowder.
"I don't like feeling like this, living in constant fear is not living, maybe I'm just being a big idiot to all of you, maybe you are good people, I don't know, I don't know you well enough, and maybe if I had been born and known the world supernatural since I was a child would be different, but it is not like that, so I will get my life back, and to do that I have to be strong, strong enough not to be afraid once again." He said, looking up again.
And although his words spoke of the fear he felt, Rias could see something else shining in his eyes. "And you think that's possible? The weaker gods, those who are not even oriented towards fighting or pure power could erase cities without too much effort, and the stronger ones…" She left the statement unfinished for him to finish it with his own thoughts.
"So what?" He said as if erasing a city was something mundane.
"I will not be a slave to destiny or anyone, mythical creatures, monsters, devils, dragons, gods, I am insignificant to them now, but I will climb until I discard fear and be the only master of my destiny, I am my own person, not a pawn on someone else's board, therefore, the path I follow, the only one who decides will be me"
Rias's eyes widened upon hearing those words, and her mind took her through several moments where she had argued with her parents, her brother, and even her "fiancé".
'I don't want to, I won't marry Raiser, I won't be another trophy for him to display, I'm not just the Gremory heiress, I'm also Rias, that's why I'll be the only one who decides who I'll marry, I'll decide what I want my life to be like'
It was then that Rias came to a conclusion, devils craved power, and that's why most devils tried to recruit strong people or people with the potential to become strong to their peerages.
But as a devil, was that all Rias wanted? Relying solely on the power and potential of her peerage members hoping that they would fix any problem she could have?
As king, what image of her would she give to the beloved members of her peerage if this happened?
The devils craved power, and now in front of her was a human, a member of the species that among all the sentient species in the world was the most "simple", that did not naturally excel in strength, they were not normally born with outstanding magical powers, they had a cumbersome and complicated magic system, and that the only special thing that some had were the gifts of another superior being.
That was the notion that the vast majority of supernatural beings had of humanity, which is why it was even more surprising for her that it was a human who expressed in such a simple and sincere, but at the same time, ironclad way his desire to obtain power.
Therefore, if the human in front of her was capable of pursuing that ambition, how could she, a devil by birth, not feel somehow ashamed of how she had thought until now?
Devils craved power in different ways, and Rias Gremory, as a pure-blooded devil, was no different from the rest of her race, but at that moment, she craved power differently, it was okay to crave power in her beloved vassals.
But she, as the future leader of the Gremory clan, as the king of her peerage, and as simply Rias, desired power, a power she could call her own, to stand beside her peerage when they all flourished just as she was sure they would.
Rias's eyes took on a new shine, and with that same shine, she looked directly at Ryuichi.
"I see, that way of thinking, it's something I can respect, thank you for that, you've given me something I sincerely want to think about." She said turning around without waiting for a response.
"I won't bother you for today." She continued talking as she walked away, after all, there was no time to waste, there was much to think about, much to plan, and even more to do.
"Oh, before I forget." She said, turning her neck to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "About what you said before, yes, you've been a big jerk to all of us so far, but you don't seem like a bad person nor a fool who wouldn't realize it on his own, so who knows, maybe that could change in the future." She said with a slight smile before looking forward again and continuing to walk away.
Ryuichi looked at her back for a couple more seconds before also turning around and walking, he didn't know why, but somehow that conversation made him feel that he had lifted some of the weight he was carrying, and as he returned home an answer to the devil's last words sounded in his mind.
'Who knows'
X-X-X-X-X
Ok, this chapter was a little difficult to write, I didn't expect that balancing Ryuichi's attitude so that he isn't completely antagonistic would be so difficult, but I think I didn't do too badly.
Anyway, this chapter and everything that happens with Asia will be what defines Ryuichi's relationship not only with the devils but also his way of thinking about the rest of the supernatural world.
Another thing is Rias's way of thinking, I think that beyond all the cliches she has, it could be interesting if you push her attitude in the right direction.
The way she behaved with Ryuichi now was more "calm" because she wanted Ryuichi to join her peerage, but after their conversation, things could change.
Although devils (and the rest of the races) are indeed attracted to the power, I think they should desire their own power even more, this should be especially true with Rias because she is a pure-blood devil.
Comments
krakenian
Aun no, estoy tratando de aprender por YT, espero que pueda configurarlo antes de publicar la nueva historia el miércoles.
Narsus
Por cierto, lograste configurar el sistema de pago?
Narsus
Interesante como va la historia 👀
