Vol 1 - Chapter 5

"Hello," Mordred said with a stiff bow. "The name's Molly Knight. I'm from England. I would say 'please take care of

me', but I don't give a damn about any of you. Just stay out of my way and we'll get along fine."

Issei sat at his desk, smiling tiredly as the murmurs began.

"Hey, she's pretty cute."

"What an attitude though…"

"Are all foreigners like that?"

"No way, Rias onee-sama is nowhere near like that!"

The teacher instructed the blonde girl to sit near the front of the class and was duly ignored. She swaggered over to

the desk beside Issei and plopped down. Her eyes dared, no, begged him to refute her. The teacher looked ready to

do just that but froze as his eyes suddenly glazed over.

Issei glanced at Tamamo sitting behind him and saw the fox-girl muttering under her breath. She was subtly pointing

her index finger at the now-hypnotized instructor. Mordred growled in irritation before crossing her arms and gazing

out the window.

The blonde knight had been tense ever since she'd donned her new uniform this morning. She'd probably been eager

for a fight even if it was only with a normal human.

He sent a silent thanks to Tamamo. It seems she had calmed down from yesterday. At least, she was calm enough to

understand that Mordred picking a fight with the teacher would be a bad thing.

After breaking up last night's catfight, he'd received a call from Yuuma, the fallen angel girl. They spoke for a while

before she proposed that she walk him to school tomorrow. He'd agreed and told his servants as much. The rest of

the evening was spent in an uncomfortable silence, since Tamamo refused to speak to him.

Later that same evening he'd walked outside to see the fox-girl practicing random karate katas in the front yard.

"First, strike the crotch! Next, REALLY strike the crotch! Repentance through CROTCH VIOLENCE!"

Needless to say, he wasted no time retreating inside and barricading himself in the bathroom.

Issei was broken out of his musing by the teacher asking Mordred a question, to which the blonde answered with a

smart-ass reply. He sighed as he heard Tamamo muttering behind him.

It was going to be a long day.

Perhaps it hadn't been too bad, Issei mused. It seemed Rias had gotten Sona to agree in getting Ashiya hired. An

hour or so after the start of classes, the white-haired man had walked in, claiming to be their new math teacher for the

rest of the year. Thankfully, he'd ignored them for the majority of class, giving Mordred enough time to cool off and

relax.

It was after school now and the three students were on their way to the Occult Research Club room to introduce

Mordred to their new-found allies. Ashiya was currently at a staff meeting in order to get to know his new co-workers,

but he would be joining them later.

"We're here!" Issei called out as they stepped inside. The other club members were already there. They seemed to

have been waiting for him.

"Ah, Issei-kun," Rias greeted him. "Just the person I wished to speak to." She glanced at the blonde girl beside him. "I

see you've brought someone else with you. I presume she is another of your servants?"

"Yes," Issei nodded. "This is Molly Knight. She hails from England. She is my, uh, «Knight»." He finished sheepishly.

The crimson-haired beauty arched a single, delicate eyebrow. "Molly Knight, the «Knight»?" she questioned, her eyes

sparkled with amusement. "I assume that is not her true name."

"Indeed it's not, princess," Mordred said dryly. "Believe me, I'd change it, but there'd be way too much bullshit

involved."

Rias raised another eyebrow at her choice of words. While the others looked shocked that such a tiny, delicatelooking girl would speak in such a way. Looks truly could be deceiving.

"I see," the redhead nodded. "And may I ask what your true name is?"

Her peerage leaned in, eager to know the girl's true identity. After learning of Tamamo, they'd assumed that most of

Issei's servants would be well known figures. They were correct in that respect, however…

"And just why should I tell you?"

Issei sighed as Rias looked startled. "Well, I…"

"Mordred-chan, be polite," Tamamo chided. She smiled innocently as the blonde sent her an annoyed glare. "We're

guests here, after all."

Rias' eyes widened in shock. "Mor… it can't... y-you don't mean…?"

The blonde drew herself to her full, unimpressive height. "Yes, I am Mordred Pendragon, son of King Arthur and

knight of the Round Table." Even though she had to look down to meet the blonde's eyes, Rias still felt tiny in the

presence of the legendary knight.

"Unbelievable…" the redhead muttered as she stared at Issei intently. "Tamamo-no-Mae, the Nine-tailed Fox and

Mordred Pendragon, the Knight of Treachery… Who's next? Achilles? Heracles?"

Issei chuckled sheepishly. "No one that grand, I assure you." He held his hands up in surrender as both his servants

suddenly scowled at him. "No offense, girls."

"Ara, ara," Akeno began, a confused smile on her face. "I was under the impression that Mordred was male…?"

"The legends got more than my gender incorrect," the blonde girl grunted.

"Oh?" Kiba asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

Issei smiled. "Let's just say that Uther never had any sons."

It took several moments for those words to sink in. Rias was the first to realize what he meant. "Y-You mean that

Arthur Pendragon, the Once and Future King was actually…?"

"Arturia Pendragon," he nodded. "She was forced to hide her true gender because having a woman on the throne

would have been unacceptable during her time."

"I…I see," Rias said, regaining her composure. "Moving on. Issei-kun, there's something I'd like to speak with you

about."

"Oh?"

"Yes," she continued. "Koneko has told me that you were walking to school with a fallen angel this morning. I'm

curious about why."

Issei sighed before gazing at her seriously. "Alright, senpai, I'm entrusting you with quite a bit of information. I trust

you'll keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself?" At her hesitant nod, he continued. "Azazel, the Governor-General,

is losing control over his subordinates."

"Excuse me?" Was her shocked reply.

"You heard me," Issei nodded. "There is a new organization that has emerged sometime within the last few years.

They've taken to calling themselves the 'Khaos Brigade'. Their leader is currently unknown, but they've still made

quite a following."

"The good governor believes that one of his Grigori have sided with them," Tamamo continued. "Groups of fallen

angels have been going rogue. Azazel has asked us to help determine who this traitor is."

"You're working with the fallen angels?" Rias asked, eyes narrowing.

"Tell me, princess." Mordred interjected, her green eyes glinting fiercely. "Do you want to go to war?"

"What? Of course not."

"Because that's exactly what's going to happen if Azazel gets usurped." The blonde knight growled.

"Well perhaps not exactly," Issei admitted. "But the possibility is too high for us to ignore."

"I see," the crimson-haired girl seemed to deflate under their intense gazes. "And what do you intend to do with this

girl?"

"Well, my hope is to earn her trust and have her slip information, knowingly or otherwise," he explained. "But I'm

already suspicious of her actions. You know that they've been watching my workplace, correct?"

"Of course."

"Azazel explained that the rogue angels have been kidnapping Sacred Gear users,"

"Ara, ara, that certainly can't be good," Akeno muttered.

Mordred snorted. "Ya think?"

"Indeed," Tamamo nodded. "And at worst, they've turned up dead." This was the first time many of them had ever

seen her look so serious.

"And knowing this, we can deduce that someone working at WcDonalds possesses a Sacred Gear."

"When I first noticed that they were watching, I had one of my servants cast a tracking spell on my co-workers." Issei

explained. He paused for a moment. "As a matter of fact, here he is now."

As he said this, the door opened and a white-haired man stepped in. "Pardon the intrusion." Ashiya said with a polite

bow.

Issei stood. "Everyone this is Ashiya Shirou, my right hand." He said with a smile. "He's been with me since the

beginning and is my most loyal and powerful servant."

'His most powerful? So, this is his «Queen» then?' Rias thought as she stood to meet him.

"Ah, Ashiya-sensei," the crimson-haired girl said as she and her peerage bowed to him in respect. "I hope you've

found the school to your liking."

"Yes, the campus is beautiful." Ashiya nodded. "I believe you were discussing the fallen, Issei-sama?"

"Ah, yes, as I was saying," Issei continued. "I had Ashiya cast a tracking charm on my co-workers. Then, when

Tamamo arrived, I asked her to weave her own enchantments that would allow us to know if, when and where they

encounter a fallen angel."

"So far, our Master is the only person that they have approached," Tamamo reported.

"And when I parted ways with Yuuma-san this morning, I sent Chachazero to tail her," Issei added.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

"Er, Issei-sama," Ashiya questioned nervously. "Was that such a good idea?"

"I almost feel sorry for those people," Mordred muttered as she kicked her legs up on the table. "Almost."

"May their God have mercy on them, for she shall not," Tamamo murmured, before flinching from the prayer.

"Oh, come on, guys," Issei complained. "You can't honestly…" he quieted as they simply stared at him with looks of

pity. "Oh, God. I condemned them to death, didn't I?"

"Just what are you all talking about?" Rias demanded.

"Chachazero, she's my familiar," he explained, his voice tired. "She's a little… bloodthirsty."

His servants all snorted. "A little?" Issei just sighed once again.

"I'd better call her back." Issei stood and placed one hand on top of the other, palms facing downward. On the

tabletop, a complex magic circle appeared in a shower of blue light. Thankfully, the room was charmed to conceal all

supernatural activity from the outside world.

Rias' brow furrowed in thought as she stared at Issei's circle. She'd never seen that crest before. It seemed to

depict… a ram's skull? She was broken out of her musing as something small began to take shape. Finally, the

circle's light died down. The image they saw would forever be burned in their memories.

A green-haired doll resembling a marionette appeared before them. In her right hand was a meat cleaver the size of

Koneko's head and in her left hand was a dagger bigger than her torso. Her entire body was covered in blood and

was pointedly dripping all over the table. It was obviously not hers.

But the most disturbing image were her eyes, for they lacked all emotion save sheer psychotic glee. Her tiny mouth

was stretched into a shit-eating grin as she stared them all down.

"Aw, fun-time is over already?" the puppet asked in disappointment. "Eh, whatever. I was done anyway."

She took both knives and stabbed them into the table with a disturbing clunk.

"Zero…" Issei sighed tiredly. "Why…?"

"Why not?" she shrugged in reply. "Don't worry; your angel girlfriend is still alive. Can't say the same for all those

exorcists under the church though. Must have been twenty of 'em, at least."

"Well, I suppose it could have been worse," Ashiya acknowledged. Rias and her peerage looked at him as though he

were insane. Issei rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Did anyone see you?" he questioned.

"If they did, I guarantee they're not alive," the puppet answered as Ashiya cast a cleaning spell on her. She didn't

bother to acknowledge him. "I followed angel-girl into the church and saw her meet with three other angels and a

weird exorcist. The angels took off while the exorcist went down a hidden staircase underneath the altar."

"And this is where you killed all the exorcists?" Mordred questioned. Apparently Rias and the others were still trying to

get over the fact that they were conversing with a psychotic, mass murdering, killer puppet.

"Yup," she nodded. "The weird exorcist that was talking to the angels was checking out some kind of sacrificial altar.

He kept mumbling about a nun from Europe while giggling to himself. He was my kinda guy, really, so I let him leave

before I killed all his friends."

The puppet looked up at Rias, who was still gaping at her in shock. "Is she okay?"

Issei snapped his fingers in the girl's face, startling her. "Oh, uh, hello, I'm Rias Gremory, er, nice to meet you…"

"Oh, I know all about you," Chachazero said offhandedly. "I've followed you home a few times. To make sure you

weren't a threat."

Rias went pale and swallowed nervously. Issei couldn't blame her. Knowing that you've been stalked by a serial killer

was nerve racking to say the least.

"Well," he said, trying to break the tension. "I think that we've had enough excitement for one day."

He stood along with the rest of his servants and bowed politely. "Please don't be nervous about Chachazero. I

guarantee your safety from her." He glared at the puppet as she jumped onto his shoulder. "Right?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Yeah, yeah,"

Issei sighed but nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow, Rias-senpai."

"G-Goodbye, Issei-kun," Rias stammered as Ashiya summoned a transportation circle and the group of five

teleported home.

A/N: Alright, I think you've figured out that the first few chapters of this fic are going to go pretty slowly.

Because I didn't want to dump all these new characters on you at once, I intend to do an introductory chapter

for each new character followed by another chapter to move the plot along.

There will be two more characters introduced. Ashiya, Tamamo, Mordred and these two characters will form

the core of Issei's group. That's not to say that more won't be introduced later on, but these five will be our

basis for a while, as I don't want to overwhelm you with characters.

Fun fact: While in the fic, the girls all refer to Issei as 'Master', for flavor, they use different words that hold

the same basic meaning.

For instance, Tamamo uses the word 'goshujin-sama' (ご主人さま) which is pretty much the Japanese phrase

for 'Master' or 'Lord', but it can also translate into 'husband'. Maids in anime are notorious for using this

word.

Mordred and Chachazero on the other hand use the English word 'Master' (Masutaa マスター). This implies

ownership, in a sense, but also can be used by an apprentice to a teacher.

Our Main Characters in Kanji/Hiragana/Katakana

Hyoudou Issei/兵藤 一誠 / ひょうどう いっせい

Shirou Ashiya/四郎 芦屋 / しろう あしや

Chachazero/チャチャゼロ

Maeno Tamamo/前野 玉藻 / まえの たまも

Molly Knight/ モリー ナイト

Another fun fact: Mordred's alias 'Molly' is pronounced 'Mori' in Japanese. This can also be seen as

shorthand for her true name.