The Best Bait

Mitsunaga Seigi spent his lunch period eating on the roof. Ever since he had joined the Student Council, his reputation had practically skyrocketed, which led to many fangirls who constantly disturbed his peace.

Thus, he ate on the roof, were the long stairs and cold winds dissuaded everyone from visiting. Those weren't obstacles to Seigi, so it was an obvious place to hide away from the natural chaos and prying eyes.

Taking out his bento, Seigi once again thanked his past self for learning how to cook. Of course, it was more out of necessity than want. As his training progressed, his body needed more and more sustenance to keep himself in peak condition. Buying enough food to maintain his body had taken a large amount of his savings, and he had learned to cook to make the most out of every ingredient.

Currently, Seigi had reached a point where he held enough confidence in his cooking to feed someone else. Turns out having extreme sensory capabilities and incredible speed was a major advantage when preparing food. Especially when you could time steps to perfection and react the moment each part ended.

The bento he had made today was very simple, cooked rice covered in nori dipped in soy sauce, topped by a slice of broiled salmon. Not his best work, but it was definitely enough to fill his stomach for now.

The reason he wasn't eating immediately was because he had sensed someone coming towards the roof. Seigi already knew who it was however, as the person's aura was very distinct, the only one he had seen of their kind.

Koneko Toujo, the school mascot, was peaking behind the door, and was staring intensely at Seigi's food. This wasn't the first time that Koneko had followed him during his daily routine, as she was obviously reporting his activities to Rias. They just didn't know that Seigi had known the whole time, he just didn't care enough to point it out.

"If you want to mooch of me, you could just ask. I brought a second one with me anyway." Seigi pointed out as he took out another bento.

It seems that an invitation was what Koneko was waiting for, as she instantly closed the gap between them and took the bento from his grasp. It was cute to watch her expression brighten as she took a bite from the broiled salmon.

It was hard to tell whether or not Koneko had come to spy on him, as she could have come for the food as well. When she had first followed him to the roof, she was incredibly cautious when he had offered her food, to the point that she had inspected the given chopsticks.

Now, she had devoured the food in less time than one could blink. In fact, she actually purred like a real cat while eating his cooked meals. In just a few seconds, her chopsticks had met the bottom of the bento, and she was savoring the last remaining bites.

"Delicious", Koneko mumbled shamelessly after swallowing the last remaining bits. Truly she had mastered the secret art of all Chinese protagonists. They would be proud of her gouging out his food.

That was how his lunch ended, with Koneko thanking him for the food before leaving. Honestly, she really was part cat, because she begged for treats just like one. It was part of why he didn't find her annoying. Koneko did not try to pry information about him or try to manipulate him, she just straight up stalked him, like how normal people should.

Jokes aside, he knew that she was very intent of observing him. That was because Rias thought he was the one killing all the Stray Devils wandering into her territory. Which was true, he was the one going around killing all the troublemakers, to the point that he had earned the nickname "Slayer" from the local supernatural community.

Seigi could have stopped once they had started to follow his trail, but he didn't see a reason to. He could care less about his identity being revealed and killing the Strays stopped them from hurting other people. The anime probably did not mention the people who had died because of the territory owner's negligence.

Sona was dutiful, but she also spent most of her time playing principal to a school of troublesome kids who committed crimes on a daily basis. He had no idea what Rias did, but if he were to guess, she probably spent all her time watching anime. She meant well, but she was also spoiled and never put in more effort than the bare minimum, which was why she got stomped by Riser despite the fact that the quality of her peerage was much higher than his.

So Seigi had decided it was his job to pick up the slack. Not to mention that the devil hunting also benefited him, as it allowed him to gain battle experience and test out new ideas and applications of his many abilities. He had planned on slowing down since canon was approaching soon, and the plot would kick in when it began.

When the fallen angels came around, Seigi was going to capture all of them. It didn't matter if it interfered with the story, as Seigi was going to mess it up at some point whether he wanted to or not. He never understood why most transmigrated protagonists had to stick to the plot when they already knew that their existence was going to shatter it anyway.

Seigi was just too strong for the factions not to pay attention to him. Unless he committed himself into living a completely normal life, he would be discovered eventually. So, he might as well tip things into his side of the scale before his identity is revealed.

Such as leveraging the traitor fallen angels in exchange for favors with Azazel. The Grigori was the best organization for normal people such as him, with the Church being corrupted and the Devils treating humans like slaves. Seigi didn't know any magic so no magic organizations, and the Hero faction was a big no for very obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, the Grigori had no problems hiring people that have no relation to them and had the biggest assortment of knowledge when it came to Sacred Gears. Azazel was a chill and pragmatic leader who genuinely wanted peace. He also cared about the fallen angels, since there were so only so many remaining, and was likely to accept any requests as long as they weren't too over the line or difficult.

Also, it would help shield him from the more persistent factions, like the Church. Of course, he could easily beat anyone sent from them with only a few exceptions, but it would be annoying to him, nonetheless. It would be much easier for him to just ask Azazel to run interference for him so he wouldn't be disturbed.