Great Teacher Grimoire 15 - Censored (High School DxD, OC-SI, Celestial Grimoire) (Patreon)

It was the afternoon of the next day, and having run myself through the newest of my rituals, I could say without a shadow of a doubt that they worked. They worked better than expected, actually, as I tried to settle down and get used to the feeling running through my body. An undercurrent of power that seemed to thrum beneath my veins.

To feel your life force was a buoying sensation. An odd one, to be sure, as it did feel a bit different from the well of magical energy inside of me. Fortifying the eddies and flows of one’s life essence to make it a true, constant current. Not a particularly strong one, in my case, but that was nothing that couldn’t be solved with further training or enhancements down the line.

I wasn’t sure if most would call this a trade-off, so much less a fact of the matter, but I felt amped. Full of energy and unsure of where I should spend it. If Mittelt had it her way, I’d likely have spent it in her, but I at least wanted to try and be productive…

For a little bit, anyway.

Which was why I was in the demiplane again, as Asia worked through her homework and Kalawarner was off training on the other side of the small pocket dimension. I’d gotten around to sharing the Pyromancy flame with her, and she was taking a steady, slow, and methodical approach to experimenting with it. Issei wasn’t present for another round of pyromancy training, busy with Devil contracts that evening. 

Not that I was too upset about it. My student was trying, but at times it did seem like his perversion was baked in well before he’d ever become a literal creature of desire. Sometimes a little bit of distance could make the heart grow fonder… and not make me want to throttle him when he inadvertently turned my supernatural techniques into lewd ones.

Mittelt was the only one not doing anything particularly productive, fiddling around with some of the other uses of her flame. Specifically, trying to coat her blade in her Pyromancer’s flame, which… could be feasible, I guess? There’s nothing I knew of that said it couldn’t work. It just depended on how dedicated she was to the task.

… Did I think it was normal that she spent so much time doing flips and trying to flash me? Probably not. Did I mind being distracted in that way? Not at all. It wasn’t like she wasn’t getting an eyeful of her own, if the measuring glances she kept sending my way were any indication.

I was certainly straining against my workout clothes, muscles bulging, as I ran myself through the drills that had embedded themselves into my psyche. Bit by bit, growing ever more comfortable with the actual wealth of martial arts that I now possessed. Between the man I was before I came to Japan and the man I am now, you might have been hard-pressed to recognize me.

From the Ashina Archives alone, I’d been turned into a fairly passable swordsman, archer, and, strangely enough, gunner. Now I could add no small amount of competent hand-to-hand combat to my growing resume. None of it was perhaps the bookish learning that I’d have preferred to possess, but without a shadow of a doubt, it was definitely magical.

I could tell myself that I wasn’t turning into just another punch wizard. Maybe if I said it long enough, I’d actually believe it. Right now, though, outside of the actual mundane techniques, I was aiming to spring for something more complicated. Purposefully using my chi at one of the lowest levels, and seeing what I could do.

Concentrating the chi to my fist, I felt it begin to glow with an eerie, golden light. Then, rushing forward in a pummeling series of blows toward the air… I let my raging fist pour forth, and the results were enlightening, to say the least. Just enough to allow for blasts of energy to resound with cracks from the sheer, unrelenting speed of the strike.

Not that it was without cost. I felt my flow of chi slow even further after it, as I exhaled and lowered my arms.

“Not bad. I mean, I knew senjutsu was handy, but I didn’t know it was that useful…” Mittelt commented, stopping her own training to look at me curiously.

“What do you actually know about senjutsu to begin with?”

“Not much,” the blonde admitted. “I don’t think any Fallen has learned it. Then again, I’m beginning to learn there are a lot of things about other Fallen that I don’t know.”

“Everyone has skeletons in their closet. But, uh, back to what you actually know?”

“Well, it’s usually a power that’s related to Youkai, but that in and of itself is a catch-all term for basically almost all the various supernatural species of Asia,” she explained, shrugging softly. “Basically useless. Youjutsu is their special magical system native to their races, but again, so diverse as to be useless when speaking of specific ones.”

“The real kicker is that senjutsu is usable by high-level Youkai and some Taoists. Maybe a few monks?” the Fallen guessed, eyebrows furrowing together as she tried to wrack her mind for the specifics. “I don’t believe it’s as powerful as Demonic Power or Light Power, but it has certain things it can do that either don’t do as well. Additionally, it’s another pool of energy you can use, which makes it useful when not reliant on your magic reserves.”

“I can feel that much,” I confirmed, flexing my bicep and allowing chi to pump through my body. Between this, Mana Skin, and my innate, Elven capacity, I was well and truly in the range of the superhuman. 

While I wished I could tell where I stood in relation to other supernatural entities, I didn’t think I was weak anymore. Which, if we were being honest, was my biggest concern.

“Agreed,” Mittelt spoke, half-lidded eyes trailing along the exposed muscles of my body. “We should test out your stamina now. See where you stand these days…”

I’d have to be a special kind of idiot if I couldn’t read the insinuation in her words. It was enough to make my pulse quicken, as I straightened up on the spot. “You’ve got a knack for nothing but good ideas, y’know.”

“It’s one of my best qualities,” she said, smiling sweetly at my words. “Now, should we get out of here?”

I practically threw her over my shoulder in my haste to leave the demiplane. A very reasonable reaction, in my eyes, after we said our rapid goodbyes to the other two women present. Asia, looking on bemusedly, and Kalawarner with a knowing twinkle in her eye. I’d like to say that the time between me hurriedly carrying the blonde back home was filled with flirtation, or otherwise saying clever, witty things…

But that’d be a lie. It was mostly filled with laughs and giggles whenever our eyes met, like idiots, and from an objective view I could realize how stupid I must have looked. Under her gaze, though, I found that I didn’t actually care what other people thought of me. As long as she kept looking at me like that, it felt like I could do anything.

So the moment that we were in my apartment, the door closed and locked, we looked at each other again. A brief second, a calm before the storm to come, and then… there wasn’t time to think of much of anything at all, as my hands went for Mittelt, and her hands went for me.

[Rest of chapter censored for Patreon, check relevant google doc for full scene on discord.]

One does not simply walk into the Underworld…

… Actually, no, that was a gigantic lie. For all that the various factions in the Underworld were fairly restrictive of who could leave or enter their territory, the reality was that they actually had well-defined and regular routes in and out of the Underworld as they wished. The Chthonic Deities, like Hades, rarely had a reason to make use of them, seeing as their regions tended to be outgrowths of their relevant pantheonic afterlives.

Such things could not be said about the Devils and the Fallen. Both of those factions made regular travel, or even had transportation systems like trains for commuters. Yes, this sounded very silly to me. I also wanted to actually get my hands on some of those spells, if only I could figure out how they worked.

Why was I even worrying about the Underworld? Well, Sona had said that her father wished to meet me, and I wasn’t too surprised at the knowledge. My apples were apparently shaping up to be a major asset for the Sitri, and her father shared her proclivity for gauging their business partners. Not that I could blame the man.

You could tell a lot about a man by how he treated others. How he acted in the face of discomfort, or someone who was stronger than him. Personally, I would have liked to dodge the meeting entirely. But I also liked money, and frankly, he was the guy in charge of giving me more of it, no matter how much his daughter had taken the enterprise onto her own shoulders for similar levels of profit.

That didn’t mean I had even the remotest intention of walking into their territory. I told her as much to her face when we were talking about the matter at lunch.

“We’d be assuring your security,” Sona stated, eyebrows furrowing together in genuine confusion. “I’m not sure what the problem is.”

“Sitri-san, you’re an exemplary student, and frankly, if most of my pupils were as committed as you, I’d barely have to work. But your goodwill only goes so far as your own person,” I pointed out. “While I am taking your word that your father is a good person and will honor the prior arrangements, I am not so trusting that I’m willing to put myself entirely in your place of power.”

It was a level of suspicion that, in hindsight, I should have been strengthening more and more. The Fallen, however, had torn the veil quite thoroughly off of my eyes. Even a faction with well-meaning or positively inclined members could ultimately be suborned or misled by bad actors at the top of the heap. All I knew about her father was everything she’d told me.

He was also a Devil leading a noble house. The man had likely buried countless bodies in his time. Unless there was a second or even third guarantor of good behavior, I didn’t intend on going to the Underworld anytime soon. Maybe when I hit Ultimate-class and had stable ways of traversing between the worlds and dimensions with ease.

Until then, if I had a choice, I was going to be parking my ass on Earth. Would it stop someone from the Underworld or beyond who is truly powerful and dedicated to coming to get me? No, not in the slightest. But it was at least an attempt at some semblance of sensibility on my part. Suspicion, skepticism, and thinking the worst of people were still something I struggled with, even in my second life.

Guess I was just a gullible soul at heart. But I was also finding deeper reserves of inner strength than I’d known existed inside of me when it really mattered.

No matter how Sona’s face pinched, I could tell that my words at least made sense to her. “That’s… a shame that you feel that way, sensei. But I can see how you might come to that conclusion.”

“A reasonable one.”

“To that end, I think a video call would suffice, if you’re willing to accede to that. Seeing as being in the presence of powerful figures seems to be your concern. Despite how I technically qualify…”

Okay, maybe she was a little upset with my position. But she was also not someone I intended to fold to.

“That’d work perfectly, thank you,” I nodded, smiling over at her innocently. “Though, I’m a little curious as to what he actually wanted to hear from me that he can’t hear from you.”

“It’s a matter of due diligence, I imagine. If we’re going to be doing business in the long run, which I suspect will be the case between your Elven nature and the apples, it behooves him to get a measure of your character.”

Just like how I wasn’t entirely trusting of her own account of her father, given her biases, he was trying to get his own measure of my character. I couldn’t be that upset, seeing as I was pretty much holding him at arm’s length because of Sona’s own inherent inclinations toward her family. Or anything they might do and not tell her about beforehand.

“Then a video call works for me. Just let me know when.”

Not that I had to wait for very long. It was barely a day later before the text came to me with when and where I was going to go for the video call. I didn’t think the technology was there yet, but either Kuoh was ahead of the curve because it was funded by Devil money, or they just happened to have relevant Devil magitech that I wasn’t aware of.

Whatever the actual origin of it was, there was an actual video cart, a screen on wheels, sitting in the student council room after school had let out. The last time I’d actually seen one of these was college, in my first lifetime, so it was a little bewildering. But I tried to take it in stride, as I settled down in my seat.

“So, there’s a camera that’s just going to connect me to the Underworld? Actually, how does that even work? Since it’s an entirely separate dimension or world.”

“I can’t actually speak to the exact mechanics,” Sona admitted, standing in the room with Tsubaki. The rest of her peerage was elsewhere, likely doing other things or just not needed for this in the first place. "But we've used similar devices like it in our businesses when there needs to be cross-world communication and strategy meetings.”

“Neat.” And I actually meant it! While I had a fairly tangential idea of the technology involved, I was curious about how it actually interfaced with magic.

“We do have a bit of time until he’s available, by my estimation. Would you care for a game of chess?”

“I’m pretty bad at chess,” I admitted. “Honestly, it’s kind of boring to me.”

I hadn’t expected my words to make her look positively poleaxed, like I’d disrespected her mother or something. She didn’t look angry, just a little baffled. Only for Tsubaki to have a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

“I-I see,” Sona said, a little off-kilter from my frank admission. “Then I suppose I’ll have to retract the offer.”

“It was appreciated, just better spent on someone who’s got more of an eye for the tactics and strategy it sounds like it requires.” Then again, I could play a mean game of Settlers of Catan. Maybe I was underestimating myself.

… Nah. My estimations regarding my acumen there were definitely accurate.

“I do actually have a question, though.”

“Oh?” She blinked, a little surprised. “Feel free to ask it, and I’ll see if I can answer within reason.”

“Why Japan, out of any country you could have gone to?” I asked, seeing as I’d been pondering the question for some time. “I think their school system does have some strong points, but the actual influence I’m fairly sure you have could have been established at any school in the world.”

“Part of it was proximity to Rias, who’s a bit of a Japanophile,” Sona admitted with a little shrug. “She’s a childhood friend, and I imagine that knowing we were going to the same location gave our older siblings some reassurance.”

“Sensible,” I nodded in agreement, seeing the logic there. “And the other parts?”

“My… ambitions, as it were, hinged on me gaining some true academic experience, not entirely contingent on private tutors or the high-brow institutions in the Underworld for children of wealth and power.”

Ah. So she’d just wanted to be a normal girl for once and see how everyone else went with the flow. Well, I wasn’t going to begrudge her the choice. Even the rich and famous should be allowed their choices, even if I might have personally preferred to teach at a normal, mundane institution with no supernatural influence.

Then again, if Kuoh wasn’t a town influenced by supernatural factions, would everything that’d happened so far have occurred? I might not have awakened my Sacred Gear or gotten all sorts of magical abilities, let alone met Mittelt. Much of it was frightening; it still was terrifying, really. But that didn’t mean I thought the new direction my life had taken was bad.

“Well, whatever goal you have, as long as it’s a largely positive one for the world, I wish you the best in your endeavors,” I added, recognizing that she didn’t quite feel ready to share her dream with me. “The most rewarding thing for me, anyway, is seeing my students become their best possible selves and achieve their ambitions.”

“Isn’t that the same for all teachers?” Tsubaki asked.

“Only the ones worth anything,” I shot back. “Plenty are in it for a paycheck. Maybe I’ll be ground down to that point eventually, but until then, I’d try to keep my current level of enthusiasm going.”

“I’ll be eager to see if you can,” Sona agreed. “On that note, however, I do believe it’s time for the actual meeting.”

“Welp. Here we go, I guess…”

It didn’t take that much time to get things set up. Like the aspiring office lady archetype that she was, Sona and Tsubaki took maybe a minute to get the screen connected and were already accepting a call via the Devilnet, which was so outrageously simply named, I refused to believe it was called that. It had to be a shorthand for something else.

Though when it did connect, the two girls took a seat nearby, obviously meant to be bystanders at most for this meeting. My attention was mostly on the man who appeared before me, trying to take in as much as I could of his looks and neutral expression.

Sona’s father, the reigning head of the Sitri household, shared a lot of resemblance with her. At the very least, I could tell that he shared her eye color, hair color, and the general shape of her face. He looked like he was in his middle age, though with how Devils actually worked, I knew that was a purposeful affectation.

The feature he shared with her the most was that singular, piercing gaze. From the moment that the call started and he could see my face, I got the inclination that he was watching me closely. Trying his best to peer past the screen and genuinely take my measure to the best of his ability.

“Lord Sitri,” I greeted. “Thank you for having me.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he assured me, in tones so cool, I was briefly made to believe butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. “While I would have preferred to host you properly in my demesne, I understand the caution a man in your position feels.”

“You do?” I blinked, a little surprised at the admission.

He looked at me with a smile that felt paternal and calculating at the same time. I wasn’t sure which was which, and really, I was questioning how much of his demeanor was a mask and how much was the real thing. 

“Of course. In your shoes, I’d likely prove even more paranoid and cautious. The fact that you’ve extended so much trust to me and my family is, without a doubt, humbling. I merely wished to talk and assure you that every effort is being made to ensure your identity remains as obscured as possible.”

All of this was exactly what I wanted to hear, which was why it felt a little false. Like he was pouring honey in my ear, trying to give me some validation for my paranoia. Or maybe this was just how the nobility of any culture spoke. My parents in this life were lawyers, and what little I’d heard of them speaking on a professional level kind of felt like this.

Roundabout and slippery, it was hard to tell if these were their genuine feelings or if this was more of a mask. For all that my brain had been boosted, my actual social comprehension hadn’t changed all that much. Something I once more dearly wished wasn’t the case.

Not for the first time, I wondered if my deal with the devil was a bad idea. The notion that I’d somehow be able to dance around them seemed foolish. Of course, this was just as possibly my own skittishness coming to the fore.

I’d made my choice. No other way out but through.

“Our current contract is through for the next year, though I can also promise that future profits of upcoming auctions should be drastically higher,” the man said. “And to offer further financial services for you, as a valued client.”

“Such as?” I was a little tempted.

“We have a wealth of means to ‘clean’ the profits, as it were, or at least make it seem like it comes from more mundane sources,” Lord Sitri explained. “As well as various banking firms that could begin to grow your wealth, if you’d like to put it in our care.”

Frankly, the fact that the Devils were wrapped up in financial institutions wasn't that much of a surprising realization. Only an infernal mind could come up with subprime mortgages. The real question was whether or not I felt comfortable putting so much of my prospective, future, nebulous wealth in the hands of Devils.

I had no doubt that they would increase my profits. But it also felt like the sort of thing that would keep me entangled in their system for longer if I found I wasn’t comfortable with this contract past the year we’d signed for.

“For the moment, I believe that I’m good with just letting the money rest in my accounts,” I assured him. “Exploring my options before I make any real commitments there seems like a better idea.”

“As you wish,” he nodded, not giving any sign of displeasure at my refusal. “Though there are other services that you may wish to take us up on.”

“Such as?”

Those must have been the magic words that he’d been waiting for, because a lot of the things that came steadily spilling forth were offers that seemed designed to either part me from my profits or otherwise get deeper into my good graces. Introductions to magician organizations and tutors for magic, for example. Access to magical items, certain services often used by Contracted Magicians, things of that nature.

I wouldn’t lie, I was tempted. That was probably the point, and the fact of the matter was, it wasn’t exactly evil in the sense of being corrupted. Or maybe it was, and I was too far in the middle of things to see a truly corrosive element to the scenario. It felt more like they were trying to sniff out what I actually wanted or needed.

Thankfully, very little.

The money I’d gotten for the test run of golden apple sales was already so far beyond my wildest dreams, and I was fairly sure the next auction would be even larger. Between money and the magical book in my chest, I didn’t think I actually needed anything right now. Even if Lord Sitri seemed intent on probing the matter personally.

… Was I underestimating how big of a deal what I had so far was? Or my own potential? It was something that I had to sit down and chew on, as things came to a close.

“Well, I can see that you’re not quite in need of many of our available offers at this moment,” Lord Sitri spoke, as if it would be a matter of time if that changed. “Feel free to contact Sona if that changes.”

“I’ll certainly do so,” I confirmed, unsure if I’d given anything away accidentally or incidentally by any of my refusals. “I’ll admit I’m a little surprised we didn’t have this meeting over a phone call, rather than going through all of this hullabaloo.”

“There’s only so much reports and incidental anecdotes can tell you about someone, young man,” he responded, giving me a smile that I suspected was practiced, since it was a little too warm. “Understanding the needs of our most important clients and contractors is how a Pillar house like ours stays relevant and powerful.”

“Outside of having a member of your clan as a Satan?”

He let out a small laugh, and that was probably the most genuine bit of reaction I’d gotten from him so far today. “Ha! You’re not incorrect that a mailed fist underneath velvet certainly gets more done than gentility alone. I’ll leave you to your business, sir.”

When the video winked out of existence, and the camera went dim, it did feel like a relief. No longer under the watchful eyes of someone whose attention was scrutinizing in every sense of the word. Glancing over at Sona, she gave me a small nod and a smile.

“You handled that well.”

“By trying to act as stiff and formal as possible?”

“Given that you lacked etiquette lessons? Yes,” she answered.

“It still feels like all of that was just an excuse for him to pick at my seams,” I commented, standing up from my seat.

Sona nodded again. “It might have been. Part of it is that we’re taking a tentative interest in your future. You’re developing quickly, and if you continue at the same rate, that’s notable enough for anyone’s eyes to want to drift your way.”

Telling them I’d unlocked bootleg senjutsu seemed like a bad idea, in that case. Better to keep my Chi business to myself.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I informed her. “If nothing else, though, I’ve got important Magician business to get back to.”

Tsubaki’s eyes glimmered in amusement. “Oh?”

“Spells to practice, papers to grade, other important matters to procrastinate on.”

“Then we won’t keep you,” the Sitri King stated, giving me a nod as I took my leave. It was good, because walking out gave me some time to think about the conference all in and of itself.

If there was anything that I was relieved about, it was that I didn’t have to deal with any frustrating Devil games of trying to figure out whether or not they meant what they said. Most of the meeting felt like it was just an excuse to take my measure, and frankly, I didn’t know what Lord Sitri saw in his attempt to do so. I could only hope that it wasn’t that bad.

… And maybe hasten my efforts to diversify the support that I practically held. The Grigori were out, or at least it’d be a while until I actually was willing to trust them. However, they weren’t exactly the only game in town. The Church was an option, and I was hardly willing to tar them with the same brush as everyone else. I just had no idea where to go to get in contact with the faction, let alone what I could offer them.

Otherwise, a far easier prospect to get in contact with would likely be the Youkai. Whether or not they’d help would, again, come down to likely making it worth their time. While I liked to help for the sake of it, I didn’t think that most people were as willing or sanguine about lending a hand just because they were that nice.

Not when there were so many supernatural factions, egos, and prideful histories at play for simple assistance to be given freely. Anyone else in Japan was likely not in the game to help out a foreigner, unless they were given a rather steep profit in doing so. These were some of the thoughts swirling around in my head as I walked back home.

“How’d the meeting go?” Mittelt asked as I came into the apartment, glancing over her shoulder at my approach.

While she didn’t quite have my patient and fond obsession for JRPGs, if there was an obsession that she did have from Japan, it was being wrapped up in playing Idolmaster. Which… I personally didn’t get, and most of what was on the screen in front of her was incomprehensible to me. But I could see the appeal of cute girls in the abstract and wasn’t going to clown on her for it.

I was already a gigantic dork. Having a girlfriend who was her own special, specific brand of freak was just a benefit, really. A guy could frankly not ask for more.

“It was stressful,” I admitted, kicking off my shoes by the door mostly out of habit, rather than any hardcore inclination toward the Japanese style of doing things. “Talking to Lord Sitri felt like I was in over my head, in more ways than one, and generally not entirely knowing whether or not I knew what I was doing.”

She hummed in thought, hands dancing around the Xbox controller in her grasp. “I think that’s how most people feel when they talk to those old monsters. Unless you end up overturning the board, or you’re so strong they have to have a care in how they address you, they’ll end up running rings around you with the thousands of years of experience they’ve got.”

“You’ve dealt with it before?”

“From my mother, yeah. Trying to have a teenage rebellion sucks when you’ve got a mom that’s basically seen everything before.” She clicked her tongue in irritation at the notion. “It used to piss me off when I was younger. Having her basically preempt any tantrum like she was using social karate.”

“Sounds tough.”

“I didn’t handle it the best, given that I ended up running away to Japan under Raynare’s leadership,” Mittelt admitted, wincing at the reminder of her former loyalties. “... Still haven’t told her I kind of skipped out on the Grigori, either…”

That did sound worrisome. “Is disloyalty taken that badly?” I asked, sitting beside her to watch her go through the management elements of the Idolmaster game.

“It depends. The Grigori, at the best of times, are a bunch of competing interests barely being restrained by Azazel’s power. It’s not like I, or Kalawarner, am anyone that important.”

“Well, you’re important to me. And they can realize what they missed out on when you end up growing a few wings or something.”

“That’s unlikely,” she said, but I didn’t fail to notice her lips twitched as I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

“It’s the truth. With my Sacred Gear, at this rate, I’ll be able to teach you how to use your chi. That’ll push you even further along, won’t it?”

“It… probably will, yeah, if what little I know about the stuff is true,” she admitted. “I might be the first Fallen to learn it.”

“There you go. Something to gloat about later. For now, tell me what the deal with this game is. I’ve never gotten into the whole idol scene, but it seems fun.”

“Well, you’re playing as, like, a manager, and you’re making it so all of these idols have successful careers…”

Sitting beside her, I spent the evening watching her explain and play the game. It was a good way to clear my head from the actual exhausting politicking of the day. And more importantly, it obviously made Mittelt happy to share what she enjoyed doing.

Compared to the mental gymnastics of dealing with Devils, I’d prefer this any day of the week.

Author’s Notes

The world moves on, and Frederick learns to move with it. Not everything is perhaps the most positive of changes, as the world increasingly puts its eyes on him. But frankly, that’s not to be unexpected, given what he’s introduced to it.

It’s an effort to write someone suspicious for me, because I’m a trusting person. I really am, truly. My first instinct in a lot of situations is to think the best of my fellow man, which has gotten me into no small number of issues over the course of my life. Purposefully cultivating a sense of skepticism is difficult when you’re an adult, especially if the situations that burned you before weren’t that bad, just frustrating.

Outside of that, it’s been interesting to fall into writing a story where there’s objectively more smut. My readers have been appreciating it too, apparently.

Otherwise, I’m less sure if I did the actual meeting with Lord Sitri well. My capacity to judge "Wow, Frederick handled this decently" is limited, and sometimes I need feedback to really fine-tune this sort of thing. This might get edited.