The Ruined Princess (3/3)

I couldn't help but notice Rias' expression during the class. She had cut her hair short apparently and continuously wore an anxious expression. She was completely out of it. Considering how I knew that she liked her hair, I didn't know what happened for her to be forced to cut her hair, expect through external influence. Also, the fact that Koneko's arm was cut clean and wrapped in bandages to make it look like she just had a bone broken or something similar didn't escape my senses. The entirety of Rias' peerage was acting vastly different, not interacting with each other as much as they did previously.

Koneko's expression worsened from her usual blank expression, and she seemed to be lost in thoughts most of the time. Kiba didn't maintain his image as the Prince of Kuoh anymore and his fangirls were worried and started making up multiple outrageous reasons for his apparent change in personality all in a couple of hours. Akeno seemed troubled and riddled with guilt when she looked at Koneko but still seemed to talk to Rias. It hasn't even been a day yet but their behaviour changed a lot.

It had to do with whatever they did concerning the serial killer in Teioh that I possibly missed two days ago. I doubted the old werewolf or his son were completely behind the killings, but it was possible that Rias' peerage had met him, directly or indirectly and suffered from it. I technically couldn't ask Rias about what happened, though she probably knew I wasn't completely human, but it wasn't like I didn't have a plan B for the chance I had to reveal myself earlier than I wanted. Rias didn't come to school yesterday, just like her peerage and yesterday's night, I purposefully lowered my concealment abilities for the giant beacon of ice flying through the city to detect me.

I knew that it was either Serafall or Grayfia, they were the two only ones that had such immense magic power and control over ice magic. Though I had no idea why supernatural creatures in this world liked to display their power openly like this, barely restraining it, but it allowed me to know much of everything that happened in Kuoh. I preferred showcasing myself as a devil to either Grayfia or Serafall because an unknown would be extremely suspicious.

The fact that one of the two was here meant that something happened that was important, and that something happened to either Sona or Rias. Considering the attitude of Rias and her peerage, it was safe to say that I had my money on Grayfia being the one that scouted the city and that they indeed had a bad encounter with whatever killed at Teioh.

Though I said that I displayed my race and a little bit of my power, there was no telling that she wasn't able to simply see right through my disguise, but I couldn't know about it yet.

With this, I ensured the interest at least from the devil side, that would smoother my introduction into their world later on and even if they didn't know much more about me, the fact that they have some point to link me to would help them to reduce their assumptions. Very few low-class devils could become as strong as I was currently, and I could only claim I was an orphan low-class devil that was abandoned into the human world to hide the fact I used a king piece to become a devil. Even if the king piece I used didn't carry the same danger the king pieces Ajuka created that would boost the power of someone by close to 100 times, it still wouldn't be good for me to announce that I somehow got my hand on a king piece. The peerage set would stay secret until I got stronger after all only high-class devils usually have the chance to get them.

Killing Riser would propel me into the devil world easily, especially if I claimed to be the lover of Rias Gremory, but that wouldn't lower their suspicions on my origin. I wasn't part of her peerage nor did I have a well-known sacred gear as Issei did, my intentions aren't as clear as Issei's so I was bound to encounter some problems on that part.

I guess the time for the little game between me and Rias was up. It was enjoyable but now that whatever enemy appeared that wasn't present in the canon I knew, I needed to make my move. I couldn't stay passive, it would only spell doom for me.

The moment the bell rang across the building, I let out the classroom since I noticed Rias' glare being on me for quite a while. It was a mixture of affection, worry and a bunch of other things I couldn't exactly tell. She wanted to talk to me so we both stayed behind while the students left the room. Akeno who was in the same class, looking worryingly at her king for a second before Rias looked back at her. The queen recognized her king's look and sighed before leaving the room. She looked back at me for a second before closing the door.

Rias stood up from her chair and walked towards me, " Mr Aellias, no... Deo... I need to talk. " she said with a lot of emotions behind her voice. She seemed deeply affected by whatever happened to her, so affected that I was even surprised by the edge behind her words, it felt as if she needed a conversation with me. " But... first, c-can I trust you Deo? " she asked, her voice trembling as she seemed to be on the verge of breaking down. She looked straight into my eyes, her insecurities showing. She seemingly wanted to lay down her baggage in front of him and to be truthful...

She shouldn't trust me.

Not that I would betray her trust, but we didn't exactly have that many meaningful conversations between us during these past few years. We spent most of our time together flirting and mildly discovering each other. Compared to the few things presented in the show, I knew Rias on a deeper level, because she was really in front of me, and not behind a screen that showed only snippets of her life.

But it didn't mean she should be so trusting of me yet.

I wanted to admonish her a bit and tell her no, simply because I wanted her to be strong so that I could bring her with me and since I didn't know what kind of things I would be facing shortly, I couldn't take someone that was not strong enough to handle it mentally. I needed her to be ready to kill anyone if needed, able to act independently and react to the various powers the other participants would have quickly. The way Rias was at the beginning of the year was not someone I could bring with me.

The other reason was that if she wasn't strong enough, she probably wouldn't handle well the fact that I was possibly going to die. I would have to be the last one standing if I wanted to survive, it was vastly different from the kind of world she was used to, even if it was quite brutal but sugarcoated by the current temporary peace. I had to actively go and kill people that possibly had or have families and so on. I didn't care that much, it was either me or them, but for someone from outside the game and someone so accustomed to comfort, it would be dangerous for me and for her to bring her in.

That was why I had to manipulate her like this. And by all accounts, I should continue to do so in this situation and tell her that she shouldn't trust me and should be more vigilant about what she does, considering her status.

But her look told me that she wouldn't be the same if I told her this. I felt that she needed me right now much more than she wanted to show. Only one thing could have led her to be that desperate.

Riser Phenex.

I felt a bit of anger erupt inside of me when I realized what was the problem. It seems that my arrival pushed these events two years early. I didn't necessarily hate the man when it was only a show, but now that I was in this world and that he dared to try to lay his hand on what I decided to pursue was unacceptable. It seems that my plan to only beat him up and use him for my plans further down the line would have to be reinterpreted.

There wouldn't be much of a devil to use after I'm done with him.

I calmed myself down and looked inside Rias' deep blue eyes, that somehow reminded me that even though I manipulated her for her to join me, I didn't think of her as a pawn to be used and discarded. Although these were my thoughts when I entered the world after I realized that this was the place I would live the rest of my near-eternal existence if whoever created the Ancient Game didn't fuck this up, I found myself invested in the people that I talked to and the world I was now walking on.

I now cared for her more than anyone I've met in my two lives.

I moved on from not seeing my parents anymore very quickly even though I was somewhat close to them, but I wouldn't be completely fine if I screwed my thing with Rias just to try to create my perfect vision of Rias.

At this realization, I sighed, something that scared Rias that was waiting for my answer. It seemed that the way I was taking things was quite arrogant and wouldn't work anymore. People in this world weren't things that I could change at will to fit what I needed. I would need to change as well otherwise I would crash at some point.

With that in mind, I decided to answer Rias the way she wanted, no, the way she needed.

" Yes. " I smiled at her, showing her the care and trust she deeply needed right now. Although despite my looks being described as masculine and handsome, my smile made me seem more dangerous than appealing. Despite this, Rias' face lit up as she immediately hugged me with enough force to crush a normal human's bones. The differences in height and width between me and Rias made it so that she couldn't even circle her arms around my torso. " You can trust me Rias. " I continued, which made her hug me even harder.

I could feel her body relax in my embrace, and when she released me, she seemed quite pleased. She then realized what she did and her face brightened up in red as she coughed to dispel the embarrassment she felt. One thing that I noticed was that she didn't want to seem like a kid to me, as I was older than her and already an adult by human standard, she felt as if there was a gap in maturity between us that she needed to cross, which wasn't the case, at least not on all subjects. Her way of flirting with me was very adult though, so actions like this made her feel like she acted like a child. It wasn't the first time something like this happened, she didn't realize that she was the only one feeling like this and that I didn't feel it was childish.

Rias calmed down and became a bit more serious as she started to tell me what happened to her during these two days.

At the end of her tale, I couldn't help but feel both excited and angry at the developments that occurred due to my presence in this world.

Damned butterfly effect.