Me? Human? : Chapter 51 : The Golden Boy of Heaven & his long list of Blunders.... (Patreon)

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

Nephilim Institute

–Azazel–

He was working on his damned paperwork when the door was pushed open, and he sensed Penemue entering his office. Without even looking up, as he was in the right this time and not slacking off, he spoke up, “I am doing my paperwork, like you asked me to. I don’t know why–”

“Michael has made contact.”

He froze mid signature, before completing it and setting down the papers calmly to the side and looking up at Penemue, who looked interested in what the Leader of Heaven could want with the Governor General of the Grigori. That didn't mean that he was going to satisfy her curiosity, though, so he gave her a look before opening the golden, holy letter. That was Michael’s power, no doubt; it was the best authenticity seal anyone could create.

Penemue nodded and left, even though she looked reluctant, as this was the first time Michael had initiated contact through official channels in years. The last time they did this was when Michael had some doubts about the academy and any undue influence being exerted on Sacred Gear users specifically, and they had come up with an annual inspection of all the students studying here. After that, only a contingent of Angels arrived annually to check upon the students. That had been a rather severe issue for Michael, hence the personal seal.

He wondered what it could be this time. He eyed the golden letter and sighed. Who was he kidding with the guessing? Who else could it be? This was definitely about Motohama, as he had long since sensed Heaven’s mark on the boy when they first met. At first, he had figured that it was just the system malfunctioning and adding an extra Heaven’s mark on the boy with the Sacred Gear, but the boy did not have any Sacred Gear.

So, did all that Light Manipulation come from Heaven? He immediately rejected that hypothesis, as the boy was manipulating just light, not Holy light. In fact, he was using what was identical to the Light used by Fallen Angels. That light was not pure light magic either. It was a slightly tainted version of Light Magic, which meant that his theory of Motohama gaining the spark from Raynare, and then increasing that spark after repeated battles with the Cadre, held true.

Shaking his head, he looked at the letter and decided to just rip the band-aid off. A pulse of his magic had the letter glowing a bright golden, before whatever security enchantments on the letter were peeled off, leaving behind the letter. He opened it and swiftly read through the entire thing, his face turning solemn as he realised that it was just an invitation to a meeting.

Nothing concrete was written in the letter itself, but that just meant that the matter at hand was more serious than he had expected. He had expected a soft inquiry or a demand about the situation of Motohama, and an explanation or a question about the Heaven’s mark on the boy, and what it might mean.

Not this. This just rang alarm bells in his mind. Well, thankfully, he wouldn’t have to wait too long, as the meeting was scheduled immediately. Standard engagement rules applied. 

One assistant and one guard were all he could bring with him. Michael would most likely bring Gabriel and one of the many scribes. He would take Baraqiel and Penemue, most likely.

Sure, on paper, it looked like he was on the back foot, as the other side was going to bring two Twelve Winged Angels whereas his side only had him on that level, but he was not really concerned about sabotage here. Out of the two of them, Michael was far more tired of war and violence. Sure, if it came down to it, Michael would mow him down without an ounce of hesitation, but it was not Michael’s style to either make the first move or to do so under the pretext of a meeting.

Shaking his head, he sent out orders for Baraqiel and Penemue for tomorrow, before watching as the letter began dissipating into motes of light, its job done. He always liked to watch it happen as it reminded him of his Father’s miracles. Michael was the only one alive who could use Holy Magic even remotely reminiscent of their Father.

Snapping out of it, he sighed and turned to the paperwork pending on his desk before getting to it. Better leave nothing behind for the meeting tomorrow.

___xx___

Seventh Heaven

–Michael–

When he’d first learned that the same person he had cursed for indulging in something as severe as cannibalism, he had done so without giving it much thought, as time was scarce for him, and he could rely on the Church and its resources for at least these trivial tasks. The distance between the mindset of the ruling body of the Church and Heaven was widening day by day, but there wasn’t much he could do. Not without risking turning their relationship sour.

Sure, the relationship was supposed to be tilted in their favour, but recent events and Father’s passing, along with their inability to increase their numbers like the Devils in recent times, meant that the balance of power was shifting towards the Vatican more and more. Sending Uriel was tempting, but that would just remove more of their influence over the operations of the Church, which is why he did what he could realistically do. 

The politician's way out. 

He just ignored the problem and hoped that they did not go too far out of line. Which is why, when he first realised the identity of the new Light Human, the only one he had ever heard of, the first thing he did was contact the Pope immediately for an update about the cursed tracking team.

To his surprise, the Pope told him, with a hint of embarrassment, that the Church hadn’t even sent anyone to track down the cursed human. It was both relieving and saddening, as it meant that while he would not have to fight through the Church’s negative image, it did mean that even direct orders from Heaven were being, if not disobeyed, then at least ignored and delayed.

He told the Pope to ignore his previous order and erase all the files the Church might have on one Motohama Kenji, ignoring the Pope’s burning curiosity before falling into deep thought about whether he should even tell this to his siblings.

If he chose to tell the others, they might take matters into their own hands or go enthusiastic about something like this happening, taking it as a sign for something that it might not be. He did not want them to raise their expectations about the boy, especially since the boy was not some pious soul. Even good natured, they might do something that might derail his efforts in making sure that the human was firmly in their camp.

His siblings were talented and capable in many ways, but politics was not one of their strong suits. They would fail, and then they would blame themselves for anything that might happen later on.

On the other hand, if he chose not to tell them and take matters into his own hands, they might end up resenting him for keeping such an important thing from them. This was something that had the potential to inspire a new wave of Hope throughout Heaven, or to push them deeper into the pits of despair. Already, they were not having the best of morale, so a new Saint somehow not living up to their lofty expectations might end up damaging them more.

In the end, he chose to compromise. He told only Gabirl about the boy, and judging by her reaction- squealing and jumping around, praying to their Father- he was right in keeping this from the rest of their siblings. He could barely restrain one Gabriel from running around and shouting Motohama’s name everywhere, he couldn't imagine having to do this for the others.

After that, it was a waiting game. Gabriel acted odd the entire time his people were searching for the boy, something that everyone noticed but did not comment on. It took a while, but they realised why the boy had disappeared from his hometown, along with his sole family member, his mother.

Azazel had him. Or, rather, the Nephilim Institute had him. The only reason they even found out about the boy was because of the updated student list that Azazel willingly shared with Heaven every quarter, as part of his deal with Azazel about the Sacred Gear users in his institute. Azazel only did so when he threatened his sibling with the last option when it comes to regulating Sacred Gears through Heaven’s Systems.

Shaking his head, he sent the letter to Azazel, asking for an urgent meeting with their usual engagement protocols, and looked at Gabriel, exasperated as she continued to just bounce in place, way too excited about meeting the first human given the Light Human designation to think rationally about things.

“Gabriel,” He said, trying to get her attention as she was in her own world ever since she came to know about Motohama’s existence, “you should temper your expectations. You know what the boy did before—”

“Mm-hm,” Gabirled replied, clearly not listening to what he had to say about the boy and why he was cursed before. It might be possible that the System was wrong, but the chances of that happening were very low. Not to mention, the reports he received about the Devils being involved in a fight with a few rogue Fallen, with an unidentified third party participating in the combat as well.

The third party must be Motohama, after which he gained Azazel’s attention. Azazel, being the kind of person he is, saw the potential gain in allying with Motohama and took the boy in as part of the institute. His sibling did always possess a keen eye for talent, hence the many talented and powerful humans and half-humans in his employ. After all, even his siblings agreed, albeit begrudgingly, that better the Fallen than the Devils.

Especially so after his deal with Azazel about Azazel vowing over the System’s power not using mind control over the human Sacred Gear wielders to keep them tied to his side, and to give every single one of the students a way out if they so wished, without any danger of retaliation.

Very generous terms, especially so for factions that were technically still at war with each other, but he supposed that the threat of the last resort of the System was just that great, that even Azazel had to take a step back and make a deal.

Once again, that deal was not something any of his other siblings would have made. They would have fought to the end and not gotten anything in return.

It would seem that I have become the politician out of all of us, he thought exasperatedly to himself.

“Gabriel,” He spoke once more.

“Yes, Big Brother?”

“Shall we go over the plan once more?”

“Hmm,” She looked quite adorable when she tilted her head at him in confusion. “Why would we need a plan, brother? Shouldn’t he come willingly, especially since the system could crown him a Saint? Iamsoexcited!” Her words turned to gibberish towards the end, as he sighed once more, unable to bear her getting hurt, either now when he told her what was likely to happen or later when she met him and got her expectations crushed.

In her defence, the plan was not really much, especially since he had sent out the letter to Azazel the moment he had received confirmation about Motohama’s location, but so far, he only had getting the Lord’s blessing and specialised power training as advantages.

Unfortunately, he could see the boy not valuing it at all. When he read more about the boy, he knew then and there that Motohama was not going to have the same draw towards the Lord that a normal exorcist might have, let alone what Gabriel was expecting.

Sadly, without that elementary requirement, they could not offer anything to Motohama that Azazel was not capable of giving him. 

Plus, there was the matter of the curse. The moment he’d tried to revoke the curse, something that the System could do, the System had found an error and told him that the curse was subsumed somehow, despite that being impossible. Azazel could have certainly dispelled it but not subsumed it, which meant it was done by the boy himself.

Yet another blunder on his part. Another one in his long list.

Looking at the radiant face of his sister, he couldn't bear telling her that the best case scenario of the meeting was getting a measure of the boy’s character, presenting an amicable, if not at least a neutral, front, and making sure that Azazel trained the human properly.