Chapter 2:
They're calling me what!?
I gazed down at the courtyard from between the blinds of the window. Three boys, the infamous Perverted Trio, ran screaming from a pack of girls, members of the girl's Kendo team going off their uniforms, who chased after them with shinais and bokkens raised over their heads.
I couldn't help but shake my head at the sight.
"Any reason why those three are still at school? Considering their actions I'm surprised you haven't had them expelled, if not outright arrested." I turned away from the window towards the girl I was addressing.
Like her sister, she was a fairly petite girl, though not as full-figured and a few inches taller despite being a few (hundred) years younger. Violet eyes gazed out of her heart-shaped face adorned with purple spectacles and framed with black hair styled in a bob-cut.
She was dressed immaculately in her Kuoh Academy uniform, the female version of the one I was currently wearing. Despite mine being literally brand new, her uniform seemed to actually be in better condition. She gazed at me with a no-nonsense face that wouldn't have been out of place on a stereotypical strict librarian which, had I been an ordinary student, would have intimated me enough to guarantee my best behaviour.
However, since my resurrection, I have seen Serafall break through her little sister's false exterior too many times to fall for it. Really, after seeing her run away in embarrassed tears while being chased by an apologetic magical girl, it was hard to picture Sona as an intimidating figure.
Though for her pride's sake, if nothing else, I was willing to at least pretend that the strict image has some effect on me.
"Considering your personal stance on rule-breakers, I would have thought you out of all people would have dealt with those three since day one. That you've tolerated them for an entire year is something I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it myself. Well, unless you have a soft spot for perverts that I was unaware of, Sona?"
And it's true, well, not the pervert part, but Sona's almost fanatical adherence to rules.
I had never known a bigger stickler for rules in my life. It's to the level that even the teachers are afraid of her. In the few hours I've been here I've seen two separate cases where teachers broke out into a panic at the mere sight of her heading their way, quickly checking themselves over to make sure that they aren't failing to meet her standards.
I swear I once saw a terrified teacher leap into a janitor's closet when he noticed Sona walking towards him and realized that he hadn't buttoned his shirt up properly.
If my old friend and the student council president of my old school Issei Ryuudou was here, I had no doubt Sona would have found herself with a new admirer. Considering his own straight-laced nature and the fighting efficiency that Sona carried out her duties with, I had no trouble imagining that he'd end up worshipping the ground she walked on by the time the week was out.
Then again, it may be a good thing he's not here. After all, I don't want to see how he'd react when he finds out he shares his name with one of the Perverted Trio.
"Hardly," She scoffs out at the accusation as she adjusts her glasses. "If it was up to me I would have gotten rid of those troublemakers long ago. Unfortunately, it's not up to me, at least not entirely. And Shirou, while I won't object to you referring to me by name outside of school grounds while we're within it, I would appreciate it if you were to refer to me as Kaichou."
"Whatever you say, Kaichou," I replied, though try as I may I couldn't quite stop a hint of amusement from colouring my voice. I swear I've been hanging around Serafall for too long, as I could not help but think how adorable little Sona looked when she was trying to act all grown up.
That I was only a year older than Sona just goes to show how much Serafall has succeeded in corrupting me these last few months.
Sona narrowed her eyes, no doubt catching the barely concealed laughter in my voice, but she thankfully let things be and allowed the conversation to return to the topic at hand.
"What do you mean it's not up to you?" I asked, sitting down on one of the foldable chairs that lined the walls of the student council as I did so, "Your family runs the entire school. No matter what kind of big shots their parents are they shouldn't have anywhere near the amount of pull to stop you from expelling them. Even if they did somehow managed to keep the police from getting involved."
"I wished it were their parents that were the problem." She breathed out a tired sigh as she adjusted her glasses by its sides again, a habit that tended to pop up whenever she was irritated or thinking. "And you're mistaken; my family does not own the school. Or at least, they're not the only owners."
That stumped me for a moment, as I vividly remembered being told by Serafall herself that Kuoh Academy was a Devil owned school. She should know after all, she ended up buying it when she found out Sona was planning on attending.
In fact, the only reason why she doesn't own the entire school outright was because another Devil ended up getting ahold of the remaining shareholders before she did and ended up buying the rest of the shares.
The answer hit me like a slap to the face.
"Gremory." I tried to keep my voice neutral as I said that name, I really did, but I must have failed as I noticed a rare, small smirk make its way to Sona's usually expressionless face.
"You really don't like the Gremorys, do you." This time it was her voice that was coloured with amusement. "They're not as bad as you make them out to be. I would know, I've been friends with Rias for years after all."
"I have never met Rias so I will reserve my judgment until I do. And you're wrong; it's not the Gremorys as a whole that I dislike. Just one particular one that I'm not entirely fond of." And the less I thought of that prick the better.
Only Archer had ever been able to get under my skin as easily as he did.
Judging by the smirk that remained sitting on her face, Sona didn't seem to buy my reasoning. Fortunately, she decided to drop the topic.
Making her way behind a desk, she drew out a chair and sat down. "Rias seems to have taken a bit of interest in those three." She explained, with a beginning of a frown on her lips. "It appears that one of them is a Sacred Gear wielder and Rias is dead set on making him a part of her Peerage."
I couldn't quite hide my incredulity at that. Really, them? I haven't been here for a full day and I've already heard about them. Multiple time. I've literally had both students and staff members pull me aside and warn me about the there, to make sure I didn't get mixed up with the wrong crowd.
Apparently the Perverted Trio had plans on becoming the Perverted Quartet.
Whenever a new male student ended up joining the school, whether they were freshmen or a transfer student like me, they tried their best to invite them into their little group. Well, so long as they weren't too good looking that is. It seemed that the trio had some kind of grudge against good looking guys.
In the end, it turns out that they were right in warning me. The Trio had barely laid their eyes on me before I found myself invited to join them in peeping.
...Wait a minute. I'm pretty sure I should be offended for some reason.
However, at the clear scepticism on my face, Sona's frown became a little more pronounced as she gave me a sharp nod of silent agreement.
There is no surprise that Sona would disapprove of recruiting any of those three into her Peerage. In the Underworld, a Peerage was more than one's personal army, they were the representative of one's King. Good or bad, everything a Peerage does will reflect on their King's reputation. And with a reputation like theirs, well...
That was not even mentioning that if those three were having this much trouble controlling their lusts as humans, there is no telling how horrible they'd be once they've been turned into devils.
Plus I had my own doubts about one of them bearing a Sacred Gear.
Sacred Gear wielders were not chosen at random. They weren't chosen at all, rather Sacred Gears were drawn to souls that matched their nature. A Pyromaniac might draw a flame-based Sacred Gear while a particularly cunning and sly soul might attract a serpent-based Gear.
It was for that reason that so many Sacred Gear users often end up with personalities that resemble their Sacred Gears.
I couldn't completely repress the shudder that ran through me at the thought. It was terrifying to contemplate what kind of Sacred Gear those three might have when you took in their behaviour.
Looking up to find Sona staring back at me with a mixture of understanding and revolution in eyes, I knew that she shared my fear.
Once again shed adjusted her glasses before speaking.
"I have of course tried to dissuade her from her current course of action but it has proven a fruitless endeavour so far." She released an exasperated sigh. "I'm afraid as long as I have known her Rias has always been a stubborn one, even as a child. Once she decided on a course of action there is no persuading her from it."
She appeared to hesitate for a moment.
A faint coating of red, so light that I only caught it because I was staring straight at her, made its way onto her cheeks and I realised with a started that Sona was blushing. Visibly steeling herself, Sona carried on, "And as I can't think of any way of putting this delicately, I'll just come out and say it. Rias is a nudist."
If I was drinking anything at the moment, Sona would have undoubtedly borne witness to me doing a perfect spit take. Instead, I just choked on air for a moment, gasping in disbelief in her direction.
Though her expression remained in the usual stern state that she always wore, Sona's blush only deepened under the force of my incredulous stare. If I had any doubts about the legitimacy of her words, they were gone as soon as I realised just how hard she was fighting down her blush.
"W-What?" I sputtered.
"She a nudist, they all are. The whole Gremory clan is a bunch of nudists." It was as if once the flood gates have finally opened, she just couldn't stop, the words just came pouring out of her. "If you think that's bad, imagine how it was like for me when I accidentally discovered this at a sleepover when I was just twelve. I saw my best friend's brother, the bloody Maou Lucifer himself, walk out of the bathroom stark naked and his only reaction was to ruffle my hair as he walked on by while wishing me good morning. Do you understand how weird that was? Now every time I hear some curse about 'by Lucifer's balls', I literally have a mental image of them pop up because that memory of his actual balls was seared into my adolescent mind."
By the time she had finished her little tirade, Sona was literally panting. Her shoulders rose and fell with every breath, while her face was flushed red from a mix of exertion and embarrassment.
After taking a moment to catch her breath, she quickly began to collect herself. Sitting straight up, she gave a quick tug to her shirt to straighten out any wrinkles before clearing her throat, "Sorry about that."
"...You've wanted to get that off your chest for a while now, haven't you?
She gave a quick but sharp nod in response, "You have no idea."
An awkward silence hung between as Sona no doubt mentally reprimanded herself over her outburst and while I tried my very best to purge the image of a naked Sirzechs waving his dong in front of a traumatized twelve-year-old Sona from my mind.
I failed, oh how I failed.
Thankfully the sound of the chair being pushed across the floor as Sona stood up was able to break me out of my morbid thoughts.
"Anyway," She made her way towards a small chess table while she spoke. "That's the reason why Rias isn't bothered by the Perverted Trio's behaviour. In her mind it isn't a big deal to be seen naked, she actually finds the lengths they'd go to do so rather amusing." A disapproving frown made its way back to her face. "From her perspective, it's the girls who are overreacting. As it stands, I only control half the school, so I simply do not have the authority to expel them. Rias has the right to veto any of my decisions and vice-versa, at least when it comes to school matters. While I can force the issue if I wished, I'll be forced to owe Rias a favour, which is something I'm unwilling to do over such a minor issue as those three."
Pulling out a rather comfortable looking wooden chair from under the chess table, which I noted was of superior quality compared to the rest of furniture in the room, Sona took a seat while indicating for me to seat myself on the other one. I complied with her silent request and soon found myself seated across Sona with a chess set between us.
It was at this moment that my mind had finally been rebooted from where it had still been clogged by images of a naked Sirzechs and realized that I had just willingly placed a chess set between Sona and myself.
I was about to get my butt kicked, wasn't I? Very badly at that.
Chess, well, let's just say it's not quite one of my strong points and leave it at that. I'm not exactly terrible at it. It's just that I'd never really played it before I became a devil. Being Japanese, Kiritsugu was always more interested in Shogi than chess, and the only person in my age group that was interesting in strategy board games was Issei, and he was a Go player.
Sona, on the other hand, is said to have been born with a chess piece in hand. Even in the underworld, where the average age of players is measured in centuries, Sona is famed for being one of the greatest living chess players, despite just turning eighteen herself.
She was able to get out of an arranged marriage with a former suitor, who was apparently an avid chess fanatic and an amateur chess champion, by gambling her hand over a game of chess. The suitor jumped at the chance at what he perceived as a riskless method to solidify his marriage arrangements and needless to say she wiped the floor with him.
It was odd how the entire Devil race appeared to be so obsessed with chess.
I simply could not comprehend it. I mean, it would have made some sense if Devils enjoyed strategy or board games in general, but that didn't appear to be the case. As far as I can tell, outside of chess, Devils have no interest in them at all.
Serafall told me it was due to how similar chess is to the Rating Games, an incredibly popular sport not just in the Underworld, but the Supernatural world as a whole, which in my opinion was more bull than one of Kotomine's sermons.
The battlefield had almost nothing in common with chess, anyone who set foot on the one could have told you that much.
But that wasn't important at the moment. There were other, more vital matters that needed my attention, such as trying to think of a way to avoid getting my ass kicked by a teenage girl that probably weighs less than a hundred pounds when soaking wet.
During my short existence as a Devil, I have learned one golden rule that seems to be able to get me out of almost anything.
When in doubt, ask yourself, what would Serafall do?
...It was at moments like this I realized how messed up my life's become. If someone told me just a year ago that I would one day be willing to try to emulate a Demon Lord that loves to cosplay as a magical girl to get me out of trouble, I would have asked what the hell have they done to piss Zelretch off.
"Enough about that," Sona's voice drew me from my thoughts, "As enjoyable as discussing school politics with you is, that's not the reason why I invited you over."
She waved a hand over the chess set, "I have a few questions that only you'd be able to answer. And while we talk, I hope that you'd be willing to indulge me with a game of chess."
No doubt taking note of the hesitant expression I wore on my face as I eyed the chess pieces, she raised an eyebrow at me. "You do know how to play...don't you?"
"Of course I do," I reassured her as I finally figured a way out of this mess. "It's just I'm still rather new at it and there is a couple of rules that I'm not quite clear on, I was hoping that you'll clarify them for me."
"Certainly," She nodded, "What do you need me to clarify?"
"Well, just to make sure," I reached out and picked up the knight piece, "The horsey is the one that goes two step forwards and one to the side, right?"
The rest of the student council members, who so far were pretending to be busy with paperwork while eavesdropping on our conversation, broke out laughing at my comment.
I could see Sona try and fight to keep her stoic mask in place as she glared at me, but judging by the way the corners of her mouth kept twitching upwards, she couldn't quite pull it off.
I know it was rather mean of me, but I did promise Serafall I'd try to break Sona out of her shell from time to time and make sure she at least has some fun.
Besides, while I hated to admit it, Serafall was right, teasing Sona was so much fun. When she gets like this, glaring at me over the rim of her glasses, she resembles nothing more than a little kitten trying to give you a death glare. It just makes her that much cuter.
I wonder if this was how Rin felt like when she teased me. If so, I finally understand why she did it so often, this was hilarious.
She tried to hold her glare on me for a moment longer before she gave up with a sigh and allowed a wry smile to make its way to her face, "I see, my sister has been rubbing off on you."
It was sad but true. There was no way I could have stuck with Serafall for so long without having some of her habits rub off on me.
I shamelessly nodded my head, "When it comes to Serafall it's either fight her or join her and well, you should know better than anyone well how impossible it is to defy her for long." She gave me an understanding look at that.
"Now," I set down my knight piece back on its proper place on the board. "I believe you have some questions for me."
Obviously noting the shift in my voice, Sona straightened her posture and looked me in the eye as she spoke. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Now, don't take this the wrong, Shirou, but why are you even here?"
"What, do I need a reason to go to school?" I deflected. I had nothing to hide, but that didn't mean I was gonna make it easy for her. Besides, I knew Sona loves to play these kinds of mind games. She's the type that would rather put the pieces together herself than just have me outright tell her. "Just because I'm a Devil now doesn't mean I want to be known as a high school dropout. I never did get the chance to graduate before I was reincarnated."
"That's not what I meant and you know it." The light glinted off her glasses as she adjusted it. "What I want to know is what you're doing here, as in the human world, rather than simply entering a Devil high school or getting homeschooled."
Sona flicked a finger and Tsubaki, Sona's Queen and the student council vice-president, appeared by her side and handed her a sheet of paper.
Without even looking at it Sona held the sheet out towards me, "This, Shirou, is the result of your placement test. Since you didn't have any transfer papers we had to test you to measure your level of education. Do you know what you scored?"
"No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me." Not even bothering to reach for the paper I replied.
Again she didn't even bother to glance at the paper as she focused her entire attention on me, "You passed."
"Passed?" I cocked my head in confusion. "I thought it was a placement test, how can I pass? Do you mean that I made into the senior year?
She watched me carefully, probably assessing my sincerity, before apparently deciding I was being serious, "No," She shook her head. "I meant that you passed, as in you passed high school. According to your results, you can sit your graduation exams right this instant and pass with a solid B. Better if worked on your social studies and modern literature grades."
Really? Now isn't that a pleasant surprise for once. I've always been a pretty diligent student, but it's been a while since I've last been to school. Despite all the last-minute cramming I've been doing in the last few weeks, I wasn't quite confident on how well I'd do. Seems like I ended up getting myself all worked up over nothing again.
"So let me ask you again. Shirou, why are you here? If education was all that mattered, you would be better off in a university rather than a high school."
"I could ask the same thing of you, Sona." I countered, "From what I've been hearing your education level is so much higher than high school level that you're probably not learning anything from any of your classes, are you? That you're taking several additional online university courses on the side is a proof of that."
Going by the look of astonishment on the faces of the rest of the student council members, it seems none of them were aware of how far ahead of her coursework their leader was. Sona, on the other hand, hardly seemed surprised that I knew. Then again, considering that Serafall was my master, it wouldn't have taken a genius to put two and two together.
Serafall has always been a proud older sister after all. Hardly a day goes by without her bragging about her little 'So-tan's' achievements.
"Not that it matters, but the reason why I decided to remain in high school is that I believe there are some things that cannot be taught in a classroom or learned from the pages of a book. By fulfilling my duties as a Student President and interacting with peers my own age I have learned things that I would have never learned otherwise.
"Now, stop stalling and answer me, Shirou. Why are you here?" Judging by the way she glared at me, it didn't look like she'd allow me to deflect again.
I just gave her a shrug in response. "Why are you asking me a question whose answer you already know?"
She stilled for a moment before asking, "My sister sent you here, didn't she?"
I didn't bother replying, I doubt she expected me to anyway.
Sona didn't seem to surprise by my response, or lack of it, just upset. She removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, before exhaling loudly. Though I kept my eyes on her, I noticed from the edge of my eyes how the rest of the Council froze at her reaction.
Sona held her position for several seconds longer before, with one last exhale through her nose, she returned her frames to its proper place, folded her arms and stared straight at me.
"When I persuaded our parents to allow me to attend Kuoh Academy, my sister promised me that she wouldn't interfere. As much as I love her, I will never be able to grow if she tries to hold my hand at everything I do, and Kuoh was supposed to be an opportunity for me to experience life on my own. To learn how to take care of myself without my family backing me every step of the way or for my sister to save me the moment something goes wrong." When she first started, she spoke in her usual calm manner, but slowly her control started to slip.
She didn't shout or even approached anything near that level but considering how even-tempered Sona usually was, for her, this was the equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum.
"I am the sole heir of the Sitri Clan, one of the last few remaining Pillars of the Underworld, and one day I'll be expected to lead the entire Clan and all its territory. Yet how does she expect me to do that if she won't even trust me to run one little school?
"When I first informed her about coming here, she told me she understood. The while she didn't like the idea of me so far away from her, she'd respect my decision and wholeheartedly support me. So far, except for sending an occasional familiar to check up on me, she has kept that promise."
"Until now.
"So tell me, Emiya Shirou, why has my sister decided to back out of her promise!"
"Whoa, wait a second. I think you're misunderstanding something here." I quickly stopped her before this mix up gets any further out of hand than it had already had. I knew teenage girls could get a little bit emotionally fickle at times, but I always thought Sona was an exception to that particular rule.
I swear, these two sisters will be the death of me. Even if they appeared to be complete opposites, they had even more in common. That both of their hot button topics were each other just proves it.
"While it's true that your sister sent me here on a mission, I promise you that other than the fact that it's happening in your territory, it doesn't have anything to do with you at all."
"If that's the case then tell me what your mission is."
"I can't tell you—NO, wait, I really can't," I quickly interject as soon as I noticed her face beginning to darken. "It's classified, other than those who are directly participating in it, only the Maou and their Peerage are authorized to know about it."
Which was the honest truth, I wasn't supposed to let anyone know exactly what I was doing here unless I absolutely had to.
Sona scrutinized me through her glasses, no doubt looking for even the slightest hint of deceit. After what felt like a small eternity, she relented.
She seemed to almost physically deflate, slumping over slightly as she relaxed back onto her chair. After a brief moment, she glanced back up at me and, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, gave me a weary smile.
"Sorry," She mumbled out, "It's just..."
"Don't worry," I said as I waved her apology away, "I understand."
And I really did. I could completely understand where she's coming from. From her point of view, it must have been a minor miracle for her sister to leave her alone for this long, especially when you consider how incredibly overprotective Serafall can be.
Then to have me, a member of her Peerage, arrive out of nowhere without any warning or reason, it's no surprise that she jumped to conclusions. It was only natural for her to be suspicious of how compliant Serafall has been of her demands so far.
Unfortunately for her, her paranoia is well-founded.
At any given time, there are approximately two dozen highly skilled devils that were assigned by both Sirzechs and Serafall to patrol the borders of the city and prevent anything too dangerous from wandering in.
Really, that Sona was willing to believe that both she and the Gremory girl would have been left entirely unguarded even for one single moment just went to show that for all of her intelligence she could be quite naïve at times.
Even if you were willing to ignore that they were both the sole Heirs to two of the most important families in the Underworld, they were still the beloved sisters to the leaders of all Devilkind, the Maou. And they honestly expected themselves to be left unguarded while they remain on earth? That's the equivalent of leaving the President's daughters unprotected in a politically unstable country. It's just not going to happen.
Still, I have no intention of letting her find out about this, not from me at least. No way I'm gonna let myself be dragged into that particular mess.
"Anyway," I began after of a quick clearing of my throat, "while I can't give out any details, I can at least assure you that I'm not here to babysit you. I was in fact given explicit orders not to interfere in any way unless it was a matter of life or death. Anything short of that and I'm not allowed to get involved."
"I see." Despite the near-perfect poker face she wore, it was clear that Sona was rather pleased with this particular bit of news. "Yet that doesn't explain why you're here in particular, as in this school. I doubt whatever assignment you're on required you to pose as a high school student."
I nodded my head at that, "That true, but I wasn't lying when I said I never had the chance to graduate."
That had always irritated me for some reason. While it's true that neither my past ambition of becoming a Hero or my current reality of living as a Devil would benefit from me formally getting my high school diploma, the thought of never graduating, especially after all the years of work I put into it, just irks me. Especially since I only had a few more month of my formal education left.
Plus, there was only so many times I could take Serafall teasingly calling me a high school drop out before I started to get the hint. You couldn't tell by looking at her, but Serafall takes education quite seriously.
"Part of the reason why I'm actually here is as a cover. Anyone looking will most likely come to the same conclusion as you did when they realize that I was attending the same school as my master's sister and not dig any deeper after that."
"That's a likely assumption." Sona nodded her head in agreement only to pause. She tilted her head in thought, "You said 'part', so is there another reason why you're attending Kuoh?"
"Ah, well." I couldn't help but scratch my cheek in embarrassment at that, "Apparently Serafall wanted us to get to know each other better."
There was a brief moment of silence.
Then, whether at my words or my obvious embarrassment, Sona gave me a faint smile. "I'd like that."
Before the moment could become any more awkward, or embarrassing, I quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway," taking a moment to clear my throat, I subtly tried to scan the room for something to talk about and found one as my eyes landing on the chess set before me. "I heard that you're almost old enough to qualify for the rating games. Do you plan on participating in this year's Young Devils Gathering?"
The knowing smile on her face told me she knew exactly what I was trying to do, but decided to play along anyway. "As a matter of fact, I do. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there is going to be an unusually high number of heirs qualifying for this year's gathering. It will be the perfect chance for me to test myself and prove my worth to the rest of the underworld. Plus Rias definitely plans to enter and there is no way I'm going to allow her to get one up on me."
Despite Sona's surprisingly childish attitude when it comes to her well-known rivalry with the Gremory heir, I couldn't fault the rest of her reasoning. "And what do you think your odds of winning are?"
"Truthfully?" she asked which I nodded. "Zero."
"Oh~?" Despite my questioning tone, I couldn't help but smile in approval at her response. Unlike many of the younger Devils or even the older ones, Sona has no delusions of grandeur when it comes to her combat capabilities. "Why would you say that? Don't you have any confidence in your Peerage's strength?"
"Not at all," There was no hesitation in her replay, "I have the utmost confidence that my Peerage is more than capable of handling anything that they end up facing."
Around us, Sona's Peerage practically preened from her praise, even as they continued to pretend they weren't listening and maintain their charade of working.
Masking my smile at their hijinks, I asked, "So, what's the problem then?"
"The 'problem', as you put it, is the competition." She pushed her glasses by the bridge of the frame-up her nose as she spoke, causing it to flash as it reflected the light, "I already mentioned that this year's gathering will be unusually large, well, consequently it's also going to be unusually fierce."
Pausing, she shut her eyes and gathered her thoughts, before continuing, "Like every gathering, there are several strong Devils among this year contenders, but there are two that stand out head and shoulders above the crowd."
Lifting one finger in the air, "First, there's Riser Phenex. Despite being well-known as a playboy and minor troublemaker, Riser is undeniably a genius when it comes to using his family's flames. His regeneration is at the level that would have taken most Phenex's the better part of a century to reach, and yet he's barely over twenty years old.
"The matches he's participated in this year only solidified that fact. Despite that the majority of his Peerage consist of members with substandard combat abilities, he has won all eight of the matches he's fought in and emerged without a single wound to show for it. Three out of the eight opponents he's faced simply resigned when they realized that none of their attacks were able to harm him even after he invited them to freely hit him.
"That doesn't even take his sister into the equation. While less talented in her control over the Phoenix flames than her brothers, she more than makes up for it with her intelligence. Ravel Phenex is a first-class tactician with a gift in small-scale strategy that I can honestly say rivals mine."
I raised an eyebrow at that. Coming from Sona that was quite a high praise indeed.
"While Riser has a more laissez-faire approach to managing his Peerage in battle, which basically consists of him just sitting back and doing nothing, Ravel takes a more hands-on approach.
"Though she doesn't directly participate in the fight, she often leads a part of the Peerage to combat the enemy and helps them coordinate, as all the while she stands back and assesses the enemy's battle style for threats and weaknesses. Under her leadership, they were able to win two matches without having Raiser get involved at all.