Me? Human? : Chapter 28 : Poor Asia...or Maybe Not? (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

Kuoh, Japan

–Rias Gremory–

Even before he opened the door, she knew that Kenji was angry, and rightfully so. Whatever her opinions about his actions and the rejection of her offer, he had every right to be angry about the mind magic cast on his mother.

When she’d received the call from him in the morning, she had been a bit hopeful that he had come to his senses and was willing to enter her peerage. What she got there was a barely restrained murderous urge from the man who told her, in no uncertain terms, that if she did not undo the mind magic cast on his mother, an employee of Gremory Industries, then he was going to make sure she would not have a good night’s sleep ever, for the rest of her life.

While it was not life threatening or anything, since she expected Kenji to have some common sense because he knew things about the supernatural world, the anger in those words meant that there was real risk that Kenji might do something, and she did not want that.

Certainly not when they were in the wrong. The next number she’d called was of the local branch head who’d approved the holiday of Kenji’s mother, since she was long since informed that just over a third of Kuoh worked for their family directly or indirectly and that she could get most things done by calling that number.

When she’d received the confirmation from the man that they had been using mild mental motivation techniques to improve worker performance, retention, and reduce any complaints, she had been very angry about it.

To think that her family was running a Black Company all this time. She had given the man a piece of her mind, and the man had revealed to her that they had been planning to remove the mind magic the first thing the day she came back to work, likely because of her proximity to Rias Gremory.

It was just a mess all around, which is why he was unsurprised to see Kenji standing at the front door, glaring at her. She had brought only Akeno with her, knowing full well that bringing other members of her peerage just increased the chances of this turning into a fight.

And in case of a fight, she was confident that she could win, even if she was alone. Kenji, no matter how blessed with Light, was just a human, but she did not want this to turn into a fight. She had far more important things to address, and the only reason she had even come all the way here was that she did not want Kenji to think of Devils as these Evil Beings who looked at humans as if they were just resources to be exploited.

Humans did that all the time. She liked ot think that most Devils don’t, but she was also aware of the reality, so the best she could do was vouch for the Devils in her periphery. Sona, for one, would never do something like that, she hoped.

Before she could apologize, Kenji cut her off, “Can you undo the Mind magic cast on her?”

“Yes. Akeno is an expert in Mind Magics. She can do it easily. I assume your mother is asleep?”

“Yes. I gave her some sleeping pills just in case, but she was pretty tired already. The Stasis spell has tried her out completely. I hope that is the only side effect?”

Akeno replied, being the better magician of the two of them, “Yes. For longer timelines, there might have been some issues, but as far as your mother is concerned, she should be fine.”

Kenji nodded and let them inside the home, which looked normal, she supposed? Nothing that would indicate that a Blessed human lived here. Not even a hint of Holy Energy, which was unexpected, but then again, how many homes of Light wielding Humans had she visited before this?

Her sample size was really small, or maybe Kenji was keeping everything from his mother. After all, they might hire many humans, but as far as she was aware, the background verification process does take into account any known member of the supernatural community even around them, let alone a member of their family. This was done to safeguard both the company and the employees from any fanatics who might target their businesses in the human world.

To think that they somehow missed Kenji.

Kenji led the way, Akeno behind him as she trailed behind, knowing that her role was done. She was mostly here to apologise, both as the overseer of the Territory and also in a personal capacity because she had just blown Kenji off after their battle.

Thankfully, Sona knew what to do and had handled the transportation for Kenji; otherwise, she might have had one more thing to apologise for.

The rise in magic led her to the upper floor, likely Kenji’s bedroom; the subtle shine of the magical circle that disappeared as soon as it appeared told her that the job was done. Akeno was skillful like that. In her entire peerage, she was the most well versed in magic, both in terms of depth and width, with her signature Lightning magic being her most powerful magic.

Even that was a step below her natural gifts, the ones she refused to use out of resentment. Alas, there wasn’t much she could do about that, aside from letting her deal with it naturally, over time. It was a shame because that alone would have tipped the scales in their favour when she had to inevitably face Riser and his peerage in a Rating Game.

Kenji took one last look at the sleeping form of his mother, holding a small vial that was recommended to be used after being under Mind Magic of any sort, a gift from her side, before all of them sat in the living room, in silence.

Ultimately, she broke the silence, “I apologise once more for that. I had no idea that this was happening. I will make sure you are compensated properly. I assume you don’t wish for her to continue working there?”

He chuckled sardonically, "Of course not. Why would I let her go back in there? All this time, I had no idea. I just thought that she worked really hard for us…..” His words trailed off before he looked at her with a pointed glare, “I want 3 years of her salary as compensation. You owe us at least–”

“Done.” She interrupted him, as that money was… nothing to her. No matter her salary, she was the Gremory heiress. Let alone the money she had access to as a member of House Gremory; the money they earned by running Kuoh Town as well as the school was more than enough to compensate Kenji’s mom. That being said, she was going to make sure that the practice was not cordoned off across their businesses. It was not something she wanted any prospective peerage member to know from outside sources. 

She wondered just why they did it, though. It ran the risk of further destroying their reputation whenever they went to reincarnate humans.

“Done?” Kenji blinked at them before he schooled his expression.

“Yes,” she nodded, “You deserve at least that much. I will also make sure it is not common practice at our businesses.”

Kenji shook his head, “That’s fine, I suppose.”

Then, there was silence once more, which she once again broke by standing up, taking the silence for what it was, a pang of disappointment ringing in her chest as she realised that she had likely broken any chance of a cordial relationship with this clearly talented human. 

“Well, we will be off. Once again, I am sorry and hope your mother recovers soon.”

Kenji just nodded and then closed the door on their face. 

“He’s never going to come to school again, is he?”

“With the kind of money you just promised him? I don’t think so. If money permits, he might just leave the country as well.” Akeno confirmed for her, as they walked out of the neighbourhood to gain some distance before they could teleport back to the ORC.

Today had been just exhausting. First, dealing with Sona and her(well placed but still extremely irritating) criticism, the daunting task of leveraging yet another advantage of her family, and then this.

She liked Kenji and the antics of the Perverted Trio. She would have liked it if she somehow had two of them in her Peerage.

“Oh,” Akeno paused, “He might come back for Asia, though. He seemed awfully protective of her. You haven’t offered her a spot in your peerage, have you?”

Her eyes brightened at that. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about her.”

“We both did.”

“...You think Kenji did, too?”

“....Poor Asia.”

__xx__

“Hey!” She paused, Akeno having already entered the alley, turning around to see Kenji running towards them. 

Kenji stopped in front of her. “I need to see Asia. I need to make sure she is fine.”

She smiled at Kenji. “Sure. Come on.”