29 Chapter 29-Caught Up In This World

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Caught Up In This World

"You sure this is a good idea, Josh?" Jeanne asked next to him. She didn't look particularly concerned, but she did look skeptical. To be fair with her, he wasn't very sure that his idea would work. However, it was the only idea he'd got to increase his Mind Resistance skill. Short of forcing Jeanne to use her swords, which he didn't want to do.

"It'll be fine. Worse comes to worst, we lose one wardstone. Small risk and high rewards," He mused as he finished setting up the ward.

[Deterring Ward has gone up a level.]

Then he walked away. He'd tweaked the ward so it would activate on its own after all possible targets left the area that it covered. He'd also made it small, since it was for training purposes alone.

As for what the ward did, well, it did what the name said, basically. Everyone that it considered a target would be discouraged from entering. According to what Jeanne had said when Joshua had been testing it in preparation, it felt like a strange mix of being uncomfortable and afraid. She could power through it though, but that was only because he'd made that one particularly weak, since it was just for testing.

"Everyone ready?" Joshua asked, looking at his familiars. They were all going to train here, trying to power through the ward. He was fairly sure that it counted as a mind altering effect, which should be counted under what Mind Resistance could work against. That was the theory, which had been proved when Nagini and Morag had earned the skill too.

All three animals nodded their heads or, in Morag's case, bobbed their body up and down. Jeanne, meanwhile, stood slightly behind them with Margalo in her hands. She was here mostly for moral support and to make sure that nothing happened. It was improbable, but Joshua was glad that they were covered in that aspect.

His first conclusion about the ward was that Jeanne had gotten the right idea even with the underpowered version. The second one was that this better work or he would be very pissed. The ward was an absolute pain to deal with.

It probably wasn't as bad normally, he supposed. The problem was that it immediately reminded him of that first time he'd had to go back to the Hunter's house. The fear, the dread he'd felt about going inside after what he'd had to live through inside the place. That's how the ward felt for him. It was also the reason he struggled to take another step forward once he felt it.

Joshua was slightly reassured by the fact that his familiars seemed to be faring about as well as he did. All three of them had frozen. Nagini and Morag were even inching backwards the smallest bit. 'I have Mind Resistance at 10 and Cheshire got the skill before them, is that the difference?' He thought to himself.

Then, the two of them stopped and seemed to regain a slight measure of strength. 'The skill leveled up?' He wondered, although he was fairly sure that was the case. Taking a deep breath in, he focused on moving forward himself. They were all on their own here. If anyone had extra trouble, he could see how to help them later on. For the moment though, he was the one that needed this the most.

Joshua was sure he'd not even consider using Setan Kober outside of real emergencies if he didn't have a high level Mind Resistance. Even more, that would be after he made sure that it worked and well. He was already working on a ward array that would contain him long enough for him to be disarmed by a sword dummy of Jeanne's. He wouldn't even let her get close to him if he was being driven berserk by the Demonic Artifact, that was for sure.

It was, maybe, a big risk to use the weapon. However, Sairaorg had given it to him, which by itself meant that it shouldn't be that bad. He'd squeezed all the information the Devil had on the weapon and had been told some reassuring facts, fortunately.

Most important of all was the detail that the keris worked slowly increasing anger and bloodlust. He was curious about how that worked with his Bloodlust skill, a skill that he'd been… reluctant to use so far, but it was an interesting thought nevertheless. His theories aside, this should help him stay in control long enough for himself or his companions to realize that he needed to let go of the thing in a controlled situation.

From there, he'd have to see if it was safe for use in real battle situations, not that he wanted to be in one of those. Unfortunately, the world he was now in had proven to him time and time again that it was better to expect a dangerous encounter. He was intent on being more than prepared too. He'd make sure that whoever wanted to interrupt his peaceful life with his new family paid dearly.

For that, he needed to be able to use that keris though. It was quite possibly the best weapon available. Better than anything Jeanne could make with Blade Blacksmith, he'd go as far as saying. At least for a while until his adopted sister got a lot better.

Joshua's best guess was that he was decent in a fight, but that was by human standards alone. If he considered the races that he'd read about, he was nothing. He needed every little thing that he could stack in his favor so that he'd stand a chance.

With his resolution decided, he took a step forward, the ward's effect intensifying. He ignored it, he ignored the fear gripping at his heart and the way his stomach seemed to revolt at the idea of continuing. He pushed aside all thoughts of turning back and doing literally anything else.

'I need to do this,' He thought firmly, conjuring images of his familiars and Jeanne. 'I need to do this,' He repeated.

[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]

[}-o-{]

"Hey, this is actually kind of good," Joshua commented with a grin and wide eyes, looking at his plate. Jeanne, for her part, simply pouted at him.

"You don't have to sound so surprised, you know? Or make it sound so backhanded," She pointed out with a glare. In response, Joshua almost coordinated with his familiars to look at her. The only one not staring back at her was Margalo and only because she was too young and new to know exactly what was going on. The girl simply huffed. "Meanies, the lot of you. No wonder they are your familiars."

"Of course, I only get the smart ones," He replied with a smile still in place. "So, any idea what you'll try your hand at next? Or do I get to cook again sometime soon? The cafe is good and all, but I'd like to actually eat what I prepare sometimes too."

"I guess," Jeanne mumbled, looking away from him and crossing her arms. Joshua, for his part, simply rolled his eyes at her.

"How about we prepare a meal together? You might learn something and I'll get to cook in our kitchen again," He offered, earning a reluctant nod. "Great. Now, did you want to do any-" He started, ready to bribe Jeanne with an outing of her choosing so that she would be in a good mood again. However, he was interrupted when he felt his pocket get warmer.

Some people had phones that rang or vibrated. Joshua though, had pieces of paper that heated and lit up. A minimal thing, if one were to consider the number of oddities and lunacies that now made up his life, but it was something that still struck him as just as weird as everything else. Maybe it was precisely because it was such a small but repeatedly noticed change, he supposed.

"Well, it seems that Sairaorg wants… this is not Sairaorg's flier," He said as he pulled out the fliers. The one that was contacting him was one that his Devil friend had given to him. One of those he'd said were from Devils that he vouched for and were interested in doing business with him.

"What do they want?" Jeanne asked, almost convincing him with her casual tone. He could see that she was nervous, however. Her shoulders were tense and her expression almost empty, visibly trying to conceal her emotions. She wasn't a fan of him doing deals with other Devils.

"They only gave me a time when they'll come and said they are interested in a ward to overlook a territory. Same deal that I made with Sairaorg, it seems," He mused as he read the message. Setting the paper down, he leaned back on his chair.

Mentally, he cursed Sairaorg for trying to be funny and not telling him who the fliers were from. He'd swore that they were good people though, and Cheshire had vouched for him. That was the only reason why Joshua had agreed with letting things go back then.

It made him nervous now though.

"Do the voices have anything to say?" He asked. It had been a while since he'd personally asked for them or since he'd seen Jeanne mention them or been obvious about them. He guessed they either didn't have much to say or Jeanne didn't think things were important enough to tell him.

"They are… reluctantly agreeing that we are approaching things well," She told him. It seemed that she was the one that had the most problems with this. "It's just… they are Devils though. I like Kuisha, I do, and Sairaorg seems nice but…"

"I know the feeling," Joshua sighed and nodded. He knew all too well. "Must be an instinctual thing or something. There's no reason to go against this other than the fact that they are Devils. I trust Sairaorg as much as I would trust anyone outside my family… and yet, I doubt…"

Nagini hissed something and rubbed her head against his cheek as he sighed again. Raising a hand, he scratched under her jaw to return the favor. He needed to stop thinking so much, he guessed. He'd already agreed when Sairaorg offered to tell others about him and he'd readily accepted the fliers he'd been given. It wasn't time to start doubting things now of all times.

"Anything they say though? You haven't mentioned them much lately," He asked Jeanne then, who looked slightly surprised at the question. Then she smiled bashfully in a way that made Joshua want to hug her. Sometimes his adopted sister was just so adorable.

"They are just… happy, as I am, I guess," She replied, looking down at her now empty plate. "Happy for me, I mean," She continued, as if clarifying. "They don't say much. Sometimes they comment on things when we train or when I'm going over sword ideas, but not much else. They are both more and less talkative than they were in the past."

That last part made him blink and tilt his head.

"Ugh, I mean. They used to give advice a lot… in the past," She said, in a way that said 'when I was with my parents' but at the same time didn't. "Now they are more… it's more like they are talking with me instead of just telling me stuff I should do. They talk less often though."

"I think I get it," Joshua replied with a slow nod as he considered that. It made some sense, he supposed. Although, without knowing exactly what was going on, he supposed that was as much as he could understand since he was a third party here. "Well, I'm glad things are ok."

"More than ok," Jeanne said firmly but smiling brightly. "Thank you, Joshua, for picking me up that day."

"Thank Cheshire, she was the one that found you and convinced me," He waved off with a grin.

"Thank you too, Cheshire," The girl added, receiving a very smug meow and preening from the cat. At that, both siblings rolled their eyes.

[}-o-{]

"How do you think this'll go?" Jeanne asked curiously as they waited at what had become the meeting room at the Hunter's House. It'd become practically their home too, even if they occasionally stayed in the old apartment. Joshua didn't feel like leaving it completely just yet.

"I don't know. I just hope it'll be over fast," He mumbled to himself, fidgeting with a card in his right hand. He had several things inside it. From notes on his ward arrays to Setan Kober. He may trust Sairaorg but he'd still like to have his back covered for this. That coupled with the fact that he'd never stopped adding and modifying wards around the house meant that they should be fine. "Someone's excited…" He added then, a smile tugging at his lips as he felt Margalo moving excitedly on his shoulder.

The little bird was developing really well. Jeanne and him expected to be able to tell which species she was soon. They'd read over lots of lists to prepare themselves. Unfortunately, birds seemed to look pretty much the same as nestlings.

"Not surprising, we are meeting new people here," Jeanne defended unnecessarily. Joshua decided against commenting on that though, simply sharing a look with Nagini and Cheshire. Morag was left out both because she was over his head and because she wasn't faring much better than the small bird.

Anything more they might have said was interrupted by the arrival of the new Devil.

She looked… young, was the first thing Joshua noticed. Around Jeanne's age even. Then again, appearances could be deceiving in the supernatural world, he knew. She had short black hair and violet eyes behind glasses. She looked… serious, was the first impression he got. It contrasted somewhat with Sairaorg's more laid back approach.

Behind her teleported another girl, looking much more developed. She had very long black hair and one of her eyes was brown while the other was violet. With how similar their expressions were, Joshua had to wonder if they were sisters.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," The one that appeared in front - 'The King?' - said. "I'm Sona Sitri and this is my Queen, Tsubaki Shinra." 'Ok, not actually related, good to know… Sitri though, one of the Pillar families… Haven't I heard that somewhere else though?'

"The pleasure is all mine," He said politely as he stood up. "I'm Joshua Davis, these are my sister, Jeanne, and my familiars, Cheshire, Nagini, Morag and Margalo," He added, putting the bird in his list of familiars even if she wasn't there yet. "You don't have to remember all of them right away, but I'd appreciate it if you treated them well," He told them. He'd be the first to admit to having problems remembering names, especially when given a bunch at once. So long as they respected his familiars, they would be fine.

He frowned then. 'I feel like I should… think about something?' He mused, confused and suddenly nervous. A moment later, that feeling disappeared. 'It's probably nothing.'

"Joshua?" Jeanne snapped him from his thoughts, making him shake his head.

"Sorry about that, you said you wanted to talk about wards to look over a territory?" He asked, blinking and taking a deep breath in to focus back on reality. 'What even was that?'

"I said I wanted a set of detection wards," Sona corrected, pushing her glasses up.

"Yeah, well, thing is, a Detection Ward is a specific spell. While it can be tweaked to cover a lot of things, I've found that using other spells to cover for holes left by it makes it much more effective," He explained, almost impressed that she seemed to know what he was talking about. 'Was that a test?' He realized 'You gotta do better than that, girl.' "Do you want wards only for observation or do you want something a little more offensive?"

"Something to keep an eye on what happens inside our city should be enough," She answered and Joshua was pretty sure she was almost smiling. "Speaking of, I share that territory with a friend. I'd like to invite her and her Queen to this meeting. I thought it'd be better to ask before we both came."

He appreciated that, Joshua couldn't say he would have reacted well if they had dropped in unannounced. After all, he wasn't too keen on it with the warning, if he was honest. Hesitant, he looked at his advisors of sorts, Jeanne and Cheshire. When both replied in the affirmative, he nodded.

"They can come," He told Sitri, warily keeping his metaphorical finger on the trigger for his wards.

"Thank you," Sona replied with a polite smile.

Then two more girls appeared inside the room. 'Black hair and violet eyes again, are they somehow more common in the supernatural world?' He noted from who he was pretty sure was the Queen, since she appeared slightly behind the other. Another female that was quite the contrast with everyone else in the room with her bright red hair and blue eyes.

"My friend and fellow King, Rias Gremory, and her Queen, Akeno Himejima," Sona introduced, but Joshua was frowning once more. Not only because that weird sensation had come back with a vengeance, almost giving him a headache, but also… 'Sitri… Gremory… Wait…'

"The fucking Satans, of course," He mumbled to himself as he connected the dots. Both girls evidently heard him, because they flinched.

"We assure you, we try to keep family matters separate from what happens in our territory," The Gremory girl told him hastily.

'Goddamnit, Sairaorg,' Joshua thought to himself as he sighed. He almost wanted to send the two away. Getting in trouble with these two could end up in disaster… But rejecting them could lead to the same thing. 'Furthermore…' He thought, his eyes finding the other new arrival.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Davis?" Sona asked.

"Call me Joshua," He replied instantly before sighing again. "And yes, I'm currently going over all the trouble that Sairaorg has dropped on me all of a sudden. No offense, but do you know how complicated you make things for me just by doing this? Two relatives of the current Satans coming to make a serious deal with a nobody like me, it can draw all kinds of attention to me, from others and from your own pantheon and faction. Nevermind the fact that you brought a half-Fallen with you too."

Now that last part nobody expected, he realized by how everyone went wide-eyed and how said girl flinched. He narrowed his eyes further at that, his hand fidgeting with the card between his fingers, ready to draw his weapons. He felt Morag shift her legs preparing for a jump and Nagini started warily looking between all four people. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jeanne prepare to summon one of her swords. The only one on their side that was relatively calm was Cheshire, which was the only reason Joshua hadn't triggered the wards already.

"Please, we mean no harm, I swear," Sona tried, visibly trying to remain calm. "I know our… identities are high profile," She continued. "But we've been trying to separate ourselves from our families and their influence by moving over to the human world. We are trying to do things our way and with our own power."

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't mean that your families won't come after me in case anything happens. My wards are good, but I won't bet my life on them keeping away whoever wants to attack you," He said. His voice was calm, but his eyes continued darting between the four girls. If they twitched the wrong way, the full might of his wards would fall on them. He didn't want it to come to that though. Even if he could take them, he couldn't risk angering their families.

'I'm so gonna have words with Sairaorg for this,' He growled to himself.

Both Kings looked at one another and sighed, their shoulders slumping.

"We can talk to our siblings regarding this," Rias offered but it only made his eyes widen. 'Siblings?! They are the sisters of the current Lucifer and Leviathan?' Joshua realized, panic coursing through his veins. "I'm sure they were going to check our protections themselves just in case. We can make sure that they'll leave you alone. We are doing this our way in our city."

Joshua wanted to believe then, he really did. However, he also knew that what they believed and what could be the case would be entirely different things. What could he do though? If he sent them away, it could backfire just as badly as if he made the wards and they failed.

He looked Cheshire's way and the feline gave him a nod.

He sighed, shoulders slumping.

"Take a seat before I regret this," He offered with a grimace. He resolutely ignored the happy smile on the redhead and the slight one on the Sitri. "Guess I'll have to put sweat, blood and tears into this thing if I don't want pantheon leaders coming after me," He couldn't help but add, making them grimace in turn.

'God, I almost miss the days when the Hunter was the worst thing that had and could happen to me,' He thought to himself as he pulled notes out of his card. He went over them, explaining to the Kings and Queens what he could do in as simple a way as he could make it. Sona seemed to follow what he said easily enough, with Tsubaki slightly behind. The Gremory pair struggled though, he noticed. 'Guess the one to talk to regarding this is Sona and Rias is just here because she is in charge of the territory too,' He noted.

Joshua wasn't even trying to be insulting, things just were like that. He'd done the same with Sairaorg and Kuisha. The Queen was usually the one that followed his plans the best. The King was the one that okayed everything, but he usually struggled to follow along with the finer details of the wards.

"Those sound like pretty good wards," Sona commented as she looked over the notes he'd presented to them. "We can get you the specifics of Kuoh Town by next week," She added, her eyes going over the list of requirements he'd given them about what he needed to fine tune the ward array to their territory.

'Again with that,' Joshua thought, messaging his head as he felt a headache coming. He didn't know what was up, but it sure was annoying. 'It's probably nothing.'

"Is that all you need?" Rias asked, probably feeling like she hadn't contributed much. Which she hadn't, but Joshua didn't hold that against her. Jeanne looked bored out of her mind a few times there too.

"Actually, no, I'd need more information about the general location. What pantheons are close by and what species are common around it, that kind of thing. That way, I can focus more on those instead of trying to cover everything. It'd also help me get what's the most important out of the way quicker and then slowly add the rarer filters," He told the redhead who considered that for a moment. Joshua could almost see the moment she realized that she could actually help with that instead of leaving that to Sona too.

"Is that how you knew that Akeno was a… half-Fallen?" Rias asked then and Joshua pretended not to notice how tense the aforementioned girl was ever since he'd revealed what she was. 'Hm, wonder why that is though,' He mused.

"Yes. I've tailored my wards to every species that I've come to know. I especially focused on your pantheon though. I've run across Devils and the Church so far. I thought it likely that I'd do so with a Fallen too. I didn't see it happening like this though," He explained.

"Could I ask you… not to mention it? Akeno isn't fond of that… part of her," Rias told him, seemingly having trouble finding the right words for her request.

"Sure, no problem," Joshua nodded. Not only was he eager to be on the two King's good side, now that he'd decided to go ahead with the deal, but also because it really didn't cost him anything to go along with that. He was curious as to the circumstances, but he'd prefer to stay out of it if he could help it.

"Thank you."

"I think that's all that needed to be discussed, wasn't it?" Sona asked then, gathering all the papers that he'd given her in a neat pile. She reminded Joshua distinctly of a teacher, which was an amusing comparison, to him at least.

"Then I guess I'll see you in a week when you give me those details," He nodded.

'That could have gone better… and worse too, I guess.'

[} Chapter End {]

(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)