Chapter 28 (Patreon)

Asia again, Sona thought with faint irritation, then immediately tried to push the feeling away.

The girl with the healing-type Sacred Gear and lovely disposition was dear to everyone in the clan, Sona included. Recruiting her would be difficult without resorting to methods the Sitri heiress found unacceptable. For now, the green-eyed nun simply lived here in the Underworld, in Taro’s house. Even so, Sona was glad that Asia was, in a sense, with them. There was just one problem.

The same problem she had been thinking about earlier: Asia was very close to Taro, and that left Sona with a faint but unmistakable sense of discomfort. It took only seconds to dispel. She didn’t even need to rein in her emotions; she just had to apply a little logic. Taro saw Asia as a sweet child, nothing more. And the nun herself was an endearing, innocent girl whose thoughts never strayed to anything… beyond enjoying the company of people she liked. Demons, in this case.

“Sona, hello!” The green-eyed blonde gave her a wide, open smile that drove the last traces of… jealousy from the student council president’s heart. Yes, jealousy. She had to be honest with herself.

“Hello, Asia,” the pureblood demon greeted her warmly. “What are you doing out here?”

She meant beside the training ground, where she had teleported in, rather than at Taro’s house in general—Asia lived here, after all. She could, of course, have appeared inside the house, but it was considered polite to arrive outdoors and walk to the front door. Besides, she had come specifically to visit her servant’s training ground.

“Well…” The nun glanced toward the training ground beside Taro’s house, and Sona could plainly see the worry in her expressive green eyes. “He’s been sitting out there since yesterday evening, and the flames…”

“Do they frighten you?” Sona asked, mostly to say something.

“Huh? Not really… A little. I’m inside the house, well, almost all the time.” Asia began nervously twisting the fabric of her dress. “Honestly, I’m more worried about Taro. He’s… well… nothing’s going to happen to him, is it?”

“Taro…” Sona hesitated for a moment, but didn’t add an honorific. She wanted to tell herself it was simply because Asia was used to calling him that. In truth, with her Rook out of earshot, she didn’t want to… fall behind. Calling someone by their given name alone meant a great deal in Japan. “Taro is strong, and he knows what he’s doing. If he says this is necessary for his growth, then it is.”

“Mm.” The green-eyed blonde sighed. “He told me not to worry, too. And asked me not to pray for him.” The nun smiled sadly.

“Yes, you definitely shouldn’t do that.” Sona barely managed to keep from laughing; a laugh would hurt Asia’s feelings. “Just support him in your heart. Don’t ask anyone else to help Taro. Believe in his strength.”

“I do…” Another guileless look, another sincere but slightly sad smile. “Still… every time I see that, I get nervous.”

“I understand.” Sona turned toward the training ground with Asia and rested a reassuring hand on the nun’s shoulder. “Even I’m impressed by the energies raging in there.”

Asia’s worry was understandable. “Comprehending fire” was how Taro had described what he was doing in that churning pool of flame. Fire filled the modified dome over the training ground, and Sona’s servant sat at its center in the lotus position.

“Stand still for a moment, all right?” Sona smiled at the nun, took a step toward the dome, and raised her hands.

Demonic power streamed from Sona’s fingers toward the dome. Around the bubble of faintly rumbling flame, Taro had set up what he called a “formation.” Sona still didn’t fully understand what that meant, but her Rook had explained the basics: formations, arrays, constructs, and techniques were a practitioner’s counterparts to spells and other ways of using energy.

Before Sona’s power reached the dome, it swirled around Taro’s meditation site and sank into the ground. The flames within roared louder, like a well-fed beast. She could hear them even through the sound dampening—a measure of how fiercely the fire sealed inside with her Rook was roaring.

“He’s all right,” the heiress of House Sitri said with a calm nod.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Sona smiled. “If Taro were truly struggling, he wouldn’t let us see him. Look—the flames reach his chest, almost up to his shoulders, and the whole dome is ablaze above him. Yet we can clearly see how calm he is. He’s controlling the fire and making sure we can see him so we won’t worry.”

“Hah…” The nun let out a relieved breath as she peered into the dome. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Sona gave a small smile and shrugged.

Sona had known moments like that herself: moments when she desperately wanted someone to tell her everything would be all right. Someone to help carry the burden. Someone whose judgment she could trust enough to set her doubts aside. A small kindness between friends, really, but a precious one. Especially to Asia. Little gestures like this mattered greatly to her now. Cast out by the Church and betrayed by the Fallen Angels, the young woman had come perilously close to despair.

Close enough that, for all her faith in the Biblical God, she was living here in the Underworld among demons—the enemies of both her former factions—and had no wish to leave, though she never said so. Even after Sona told her the problem with Raynare had been dealt with, Asia never mentioned returning to Earth.

Perhaps that was no surprise. She had nowhere to go. The nun was trapped, and after Sona and Taro explained to the naive, kindhearted girl what life on Earth might hold for someone alone with a valuable Sacred Gear… Asia had no idea what to do.

But no one here was rushing her. Quite the opposite: the whole clan was happy for the nun to stay. Sona would have preferred the blonde to have a house of her own… but that was a matter for later. And when it came to reincarnating Asia as a demon, they could afford to wait. At present, the nun would not entertain the idea. That was all right. There was plenty of time.

Sona had no intention of “tempting” her, and she had asked Taro not to try to sway the green-eyed girl. It would be… wrong. Almost a deception. The Sitri heiress refused to lie to her servants; lies poisoned the atmosphere and eroded trust.

Mortals liked to talk about free will, and the idea had always appealed to Sona. Her clan would protect Asia until she chose to leave. They even took the nun to Earth once a week, to places where her Sacred Gear could do some good. Asia was happy when she helped others. Humans, demons—it made no difference to her.

Sona was content with the arrangement, too. Sister Argento would never refuse if asked to use her power to heal someone the Sitri clan needed. So they could let things continue as they were. Time would tell what came next.

“Would you… like some tea?” Asia suggested suddenly, lowering her eyes with a strange shyness. “Taro left something… I think it’s for the two of us.”

“Tea?” Sona hadn’t intended to stay. She had plenty to do as the House’s heiress, and her student council duties took up no small amount of time. But the nun’s odd behavior intrigued her. “I suppose I could.”

“Then let’s go to the kitchen.” The green-eyed blonde brightened at once, smiling with open delight.

“Let’s.” Sona smiled back without trying to hide it.

She followed Asia, casting one last glance at the figure seated inside the vast dome of flame.

Such remarkable serenity, Sona thought.

She was worried about Taro, too, but the calm on his face reassured her. He didn’t look as though he was struggling. Besides, the young man serving on the Academy’s disciplinary committee had no shortage of experience. If he hadn’t believed he was ready, he was unlikely to attempt anything truly dangerous. Her Rook could seem… a little too hotheaded at times, but he had yet to make a serious mistake.

“Just a moment.” Asia drew Sona out of her thoughts. The moment they entered Taro’s kitchen, the nun perked up and began bustling about.

“Oh!” The heiress of the Great House stared in surprise.

“When I came into the kitchen this morning, that cupboard door was ajar,” Asia said, switching on the kettle and nodding toward it. “It’s usually locked, and… well, I got curious. I opened it and found all this!”

She gestured to the dining table, crowded with little plates of desserts. Cakes, pastries, cookies, candies—there was a bit of everything.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to eat them?” Sona wasn’t questioning whether they were edible. The smell alone was intoxicating.

“Well, no one lives here except Taro and me.” Asia dropped a few leaves of “Chiba’s exclusive blend” into the teapot, then tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the water to boil. “I wouldn’t have taken anything, of course, but there was a note in the cupboard, too.”

Sona picked up the small sheet of paper. Sure enough, in Taro’s handwriting, it read: Two portions. Enjoy.

“Yes. If Taro hadn’t meant to treat you, he wouldn’t have left a note…”

“Us!” Asia beamed. “He knew you were coming, so I thought he’d left them for both of us.”

“It does seem like rather a lot.” Sona surveyed the table doubtfully.

“I thought so too. Should we invite the others?”

“Everyone’s busy right now.” The Sitri heiress shook her head. “Let’s have our tea. I can take some for the girls and Genshiro afterward. Or we could leave it here and all get together this evening.”

“This evening, then! All together!” Asia was plainly delighted. Once again, Sona couldn’t help smiling at the honest joy written across her face.

The two of them did run into one small problem. Once the tea was brewed, they sat down and each tried a piece of the sweets Taro had left… and the thought of saving any for later vanished from both their minds.

The girl with long, thick hair and a purple dress stared blankly into the empty kitchen cupboard she had opened. She had been standing there without moving for a good ten seconds.

Then something happened that would have made almost anyone who knew her true identity shit themselves in fear: the girl’s impassive face shifted, and she frowned. Those same people would promptly have fainted at what came next: the adorable child in the purple dress clenched her little fists.

Someone had committed the worst crime imaginable in her eyes: they had taken what belonged to her. Just as that vile but powerful invader had once taken her home.

Again. The moment she turned her back, something she LIKED had been stolen. It drove her to fury. Not the same rage she had felt when her home was taken, but fierce all the same.

What infuriated her most was that some insect had committed the crime. It wasn’t the monster who had taken her home; she would have known if that creature had appeared here. So one of those feeble, weak, insignificant beings had dared to take what was hers…

The girl ground her teeth, almost too quietly to hear.

It certainly wasn’t Taro, the good little demon. He wouldn’t take back an offering he had prepared for her. Nor was it the blonde one with green eyes. She was very young, terribly weak, and a mortal besides. The girl couldn’t possibly have opened HER cupboard. Right now, that servant of the Biblical God was sitting in the gazebo at the center of the pond, drinking tea with a sad look on her face as she watched the good little demon play with fire.

She wanted to punish the thief, the wretch—to crush them, trample them, tear them apart… But she didn’t know who had done it. She had been too careless. Again. Once more, she had failed to protect something important to her, going about her own business while the little demon went about his.

They had… a wonderful, proper arrangement. For a while, she had mistakenly thought others knew how to treat her, but… as it turned out, they didn’t.

She had held on to the faint hope that those insects might grow stronger and somehow help her deal with the brazen invader. But their endless demands… irritated her. Give me this, give me that. Help me, help me, help me. It was exhausting.

Taro was different. A clever little thing. He made her food she enjoyed and asked for nothing in return. There wasn’t much of it, of course, but it was unbelievably delicious. She had never tasted anything so good. Anything like it at all. And given how long she had lived, never was a weighty word.

She had even checked recently, sampling sweets from the kitchens of Earth’s finest establishments. She made the ones who were always begging her for things bring her the very best. None of it was the same. It didn’t feel the same. Didn’t taste the same. It was sweet, yes, but… sweet in the wrong way. As though the people who made it hadn’t tried—or simply didn’t know how to do their jobs.

The little demon’s sweets were different. Every pastry, every slice of cake, every piece of candy was exactly as it should be. The taste was so perfect that, while she ate, all her worries receded. They became unimportant. Distant. Even the fact that the red-assed FREAK had stolen her home blurred into insignificance.

For the past few days, the girl had been savoring the young demon’s gifts, putting every thought of her troubles aside while she ate.

But someone had…

“Tsk.” Her irritation escaped in a sharp click of her tongue.

For now, she would have to put up with it. The thief was gone and had left no trace. The house smelled only of its usual visitors, and none of them could have opened HER cupboard. Certainly not the blonde. The high-class demoness who, judging by her scent, had been here recently might have managed it, but she would have left traces.

The girl waved a hand.

A spell of immense power, carefully concealed, settled over the house and its surroundings. Next time, the thief would not escape her. Next time, they would die. Slowly, in agony, regretting what they had done beneath the full weight of her furious revenge.

Then the girl vanished from Taro’s kitchen and appeared beside the dome where the little demon was playing with fire. With another wave of her hand, she cast a subtle illusion over the blonde servant of the Biblical God. From the fingers of the girl’s right hand, Fire began to flow. Nothing like the flames burning inside the dome: this was REAL Fire, fierce and unrestrained, the kind only the strongest of her people could produce.

The little demon hadn’t asked, but…

She wanted to thank him. She also wanted him to finish his games sooner. And so, for all its untamable power, her Flame obeyed her will and could do Taro no harm. It devoured the sorry excuse for fire that had been humming beneath the dome, then began to dance around the young man who made such delicious sweets. It nestled against him, eager to obey his will.

Good. The girl tilted her head to the right, feeling both pleased and surprised.

The young demon had tensed at first, but he found his bearings remarkably quickly and took hold of her Fire with eagerness—even excitement. She had been ready to guide him, to step in if he needed help, but there was no need.

That strange form of qigong which had surprised her when they first met handled the new flame with ease. And it wasn’t merely because her Fire was being as friendly to Taro as it possibly could. It almost seemed as though the little demon had encountered it before. But that was impossible. She would have sensed it.

Her Fire flowed freely through the little demon’s meridians, washing over his dantian and seeping inside a little at a time. Not ten seconds had passed, yet the powerful qi flowing through this peculiar martial artist had already blended with her Fire in proportions even she would call perfect.

He’ll be finished by evening, she thought with satisfaction.

Once the little demon Taro was done, he could make more sweets for her. Perhaps he would make chocolate mousse again, like he had when she sent him that sack of sugar. Lots of mousse. And if it tasted of banana and chocolate…

Feeling a trickle of drool at the corner of her mouth, the girl quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

She waved once more. As the girl vanished, the illusion fell away from the green-eyed blonde, and a scrap of paper appeared beside Taro. It bore just three words: Chocolate banana mousse. Strangely, amid the fury of the true Flame, the note showed no sign of burning…

“Whew…”

Done. And it had gone so well!

From the lotus position, I simply flopped back onto the sand of the training ground and spread my arms.

“Haven’t sweated like that in ages,” I confided to the Underworld sky.

Yeah. I hadn’t seen that coming. Hadn’t even suspected it was possible. As for hoping for a gift like that—I hadn’t even dreamed of it. Looks like the Great Dao really is showering me with good fortune!

A dragon, then.

Who would have thought that little whatever-the-hell-she-is was one of the Lords of Heaven? Mm… actually, I might have. I’d considered it, anyway, while running through every possibility I could think of.

No, she hadn’t shown herself to me, but who else could have sent dragonfire into the dome? With all due respect to my Mistress and her strength as a pureblood high-class demon, she couldn’t have done it. Sure, House Sitri might own an artifact containing sealed dragonfire, but making that fire so tame and friendly… No. That was simply impossible.

Those flying leather belts are so proud and arrogant that the most puffed-up martial arts masters look like humble, virtuous seminary students beside them. Dragonfire takes after its owner in every respect.

Across all my reincarnations, I could count on one hand the times anyone had actually forced a dragon to do something. People lied about it all the time, of course. Practitioners loved to bullshit about how this Great Master or that one had made a dragon bow. In reality, most of those mighty lizards would rather die than submit.

Could you strike a deal with one? Well, probably. Especially if a Lord of Heaven stood to gain from it. But I VERY much doubt some random dragon would agree to breathe fire on me—at least, not in a way that helped me instead of burning me to fucking ash. What am I right now, anyway? A big fat zero. No might, no real power. A Lord of Heaven wouldn’t spare someone like me a glance, let alone offer me such a… valuable resource for cultivation.

How many dragons in this world do I know who like me? The same number of local dragons I know at all: none.

I do, however, know one little whatever-the-hell-she-is who regularly devours the sweets I make. The conclusion? By Occam’s razor, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. And it looks to me as though that mysterious little girl with the vacant, idiotic expression is the dragon…

I glanced at the scrap of paper beside me. Hm… Chocolate banana mousse? Well, there was confirmation of my theory.

A dragon with a sweet tooth. A wild thought, but if that little whatever-the-hell-she-is was playing at being a child, it made sense.

“Taro? Are you all right?” Asia stopped beside me.

“Couldn’t be better,” I told the nun, meaning every word.

Of course I was. I’d attuned my dantian not just to fire, but to dragonfire! I could dive into a volcano right now and soak in the lava for half an hour. Sleeping soundly on red-hot coals would be a trifle. Every fire technique, array, and flame-based formation would now be far easier for me to master or create—and far more effective when I used it.

And besides… Hm. I’d need to investigate, but that dragonfire wasn’t ordinary. Its power was impressive, obviously; I just hadn’t worked out what other bonuses it came with. Ancient ice dragons, for instance, could burn you with freezing flame. The fire of golden celestial dragons carried the power of the stars. Shadow dragons could add darkness to theirs. Storm dragons, lightning.

What kind of Pokémon was this little one? No idea yet. I’d figure it out.

“Did anyone come by?” I asked, just in case, closing my fist around the note. I had no pockets—I was naked, covered only by an illusion.

“Only Sona,” the nun replied with a hint of regret I couldn’t place. “But she left almost right away. She only stayed for tea.”

“My Mistress has a lot to do.” I gave Asia a warm smile. She got lonely here sometimes, but she had never complained.

We chatted for a while as I continued lying on the sand like a log, recovering from a rather demanding stage of cultivation. One I’d finished early, by the way. I’d expected to be at it from yesterday evening until tomorrow evening, but the unexpected gift from the girl who liked to wear that vacant, idiotic expression had cut a good chunk off my meditation time.

“Well, then.” I sprang to my feet. “I’d better go. There’s something I need to do.”

“I’ll go too.” Asia breathed a sigh of relief, clasped her hands as if in prayer, and smiled brightly. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Thank you for worrying about me.” I meant it. It felt good to know someone cared. Better still when that concern was gentle, like Asia’s: warm, without pretense or hysterics.

I’d seen “concern” used as cover for someone to throw their weight around, completely ignoring me as a person. You tell someone, “I can handle it,” and they throw a fit, call you a fool and an idiot, then get offended when you ignore them and do what you meant to do anyway. I usually tell idiots like that to go fuck wolves in the woods.

The bad memories made me shudder. Good thing that in this life even my parents respected what I said, let alone the demons in my clan. Tsubaki-san grumbled sometimes, but her heart was never really in it.

I really did get lucky this time around, I thought, warmth spreading through me as I headed for the house.

The little whatever-the-hell-she-is had ordered chocolate banana mousse? Well, apparently she liked bananas. I’d see whether the “girl” had left any of the sweets I’d made yesterday. I’d put a note in her cupboard saying I’d made two portions. If there was anything left, I’d add a few more banana treats as a thank-you. If not, no matter. For a gift like that, I’d gladly spend a hundred years as a personal pastry chef—to her, to a dragon, or to the horned Devil himself.