Tale of Discovery

Chapter 60: Negotiations

Having created a round table as well as several seats, I sit and wait for them to do so as well.

Did I overdo it with Kiba? Looking at his limping figure as he walks to a seat, I get the feeling that I really did overdo it.

Gift:

-Regeneration

After waiting a couple of seconds for his pain to diminish, I begin with the second phase of my plan,

"Now, before we get started, I need to state that this was nothing more than a test of worthiness."

My statement immediately earns me a few glares. Well, that's understandable, as I did hurt them a little.

"Which part of keeping my servant as a hostage is considered to be a 'test'?!", Rias exclaims.

Is she seriously asking me this right now and in such a manner? She did hear what I said a little while ago, right?

"I suggest you shut up and listen," I say, trying my best to sound calm.

Clearing my throat, I begin,

"I'm not going dilly-dally any longer, as my time is rather precious unlike yours. I'm 'joining' your peerage. And by that I mean that I will be coming over to any events you Devils hold by acting as a part of your peerage.

"In return, I will train you guys so that you would at least have more worth and intelligence compared to a flea. What I'm trying to say is that you guys are weak and in need of a reform. Plus, as I'm going to be 'a part of' your peerage, I will unconditionally help you out with something once a day.

"I doubt you will be able to make use of that though, as if you go through with the training, you won't need help with shit."

Having finished what I had to say, I wait for them to think it through.

My reasons for doing this are quite simple. I'm in need of a way to get into contact with a lot of non-human races, so the best way to do so is join "nobility" in one of those races. Surely they hold banquets and events, through which I can meet more of them.

As for the part about me unconditionally helping them with one thing once a day, it's basically a way for me to find someone with an interesting ability. Because, if there is a battle they will need my help with, it's going to be one of the following reasons:

-The enemy is strong, which will give me an opportunity to have a proper battle instead of playing around with a bunch of weaklings.

-They have great numbers, which will grant me the opportunity to release chaos upon a battlefield while drowning in the blood of my foes. Sounds genuinely fun.

-The enemy has a "cheat" ability, which is the most important reason. This is where my Plunder comes into play.

What I'm most curious about is how Angels will react to my appearance once I reveal myself.

Naturally, I'll bring down all those that stand in my path, regardless of race and gender.

"We're fine with the terms, but what will become of Issei Hyoudo?", Rias finally says after a while.

"Oh, that's simple," I say before waving my left hand.

Understanding my intentions through our link, Kalawarner goes and brings Issei's unconscious body over before placing it on the round table.

Not willing to waste any more time, I use Transmutation to convert his chest into light, insert my arm inside, before pulling out a chess piece.

Based on the energy coming from it, I can tell that this is the product of several pieces combined.

I pass the chess piece over to Rias, then utilize my Destruction and press my palm on Issei's body.

The next moment, his body breaks down into particles and is no longer perceivable.

"Hey!", Kiba exclaims as he jumps up from his seat, while the rest of the Devils are looking at me with stupor.

Irene, have you gotten his soul?

{Affirmative.}

I use Creation to produce a white sheet before creating the body of a human underneath it.

Using Spiritualism, I make Issei's soul integrate with the newly formed body which is basically a copy of his original body. Honestly, I wouldn't have bothered with this if it weren't for Ddraig.

He demanded of me that I let Issei live, or else he would do everything in his power to seal away the power of the Boosted Gear.

I don't give a damn about the Boosted Gear, but losing a potential friend would be annoying after all the trouble I've gone through.

So I came up with this way to let him "live".

"Ugh," Issei groans as he slowly opens his eyes.

"What happened?", he asks, confused.

I'm not letting this opportunity go to waste.

"You died, which made you lose your worth as a Devil," I say.

"What?", he says while looking at me with bewilderment.

I give a signal to Rias. Hopefully she will be a bit less dumb and understand what I'm trying to convey.

Surprisingly, she did, as she says,

"Issei, you are no longer a Devil,"

For some reason, Issei reacts way more strongly when she said it, as his eyes widen as he looks towards her and says,

"President, please don't-"

Not letting him finish what he has to say, she says in forceful tone,

"You are to live as normal human once again. It's better if you forget about our existence."

Looking at the guy going through an emotional crisis, and Kiba who seems like he's going to help him out and complicate shit for me, I take immediate action.

"Yuno, send him out," I say under my breath, knowing that she will hear me.

The next moment, a circle appears from under Issei and slowly drags him inside. Issei soon realizes what's happening and begins to shout desperately,

"No! President! Please, don't do this! Let me! Didn't you say I was going to become the harem ki-"

His words are cut off as he goes through the circle. Based on the experience I gained in my past life with Yuno, he will break down in a couple of hours.

The guy just had everything that made him worth something taken away from him. Whoops. I almost messed up. I need to act like I did what I did for his well-being,

"This was for the best. You guys took advantage of an opportunity to drag an innocent high-schooler into your ploys."

Berating them for something I don't give a damn about sure is strange. Anyways, the next part of the negotiation is the most important part,

"I'm keeping Koneko with me," I directly state as I look at the petite girl silently sitting beside me.

"What? Why?", Rias immediately asks, while Akeno and Kiba furrow their brows.

"Because I find her cute," I reply nonchalantly.

Ah those expressions are gold. Wish I had a camera to save this moment Oh, right!

I assign Thoughtography to the Tertiary section of my abilities then create a photo film before burning the image in front of me into it.

"Also, I will be taking your Power of Destruction away," I declare to Rias.

Before she can react, I use Plunder on her. Once I'm back in my body, I explain my reasoning for doing so,

"You, despite being the one who leads the peerage, are the weakest in terms of battle prowess. During our earlier battle, the only thing you were capable of doing was using that paltry power against me.

"And don't you dare say something like, 'but my power is made for long ranges', as the same thing goes for Akeno, but she was able to hold her grounds while fighting with my Angel in close combat. You? You were beaten like piata without being able to fight back at all.

"So, I've decided that you're training will be twice as hard as the others."

Once I'm done speaking, I take a look at her face, and see that it's flushed red out of anger and shame.

So much for nobility.

"This concludes our negotiations. I hope you don't attempt anything stupid, as I doubt you'd want me and my Angels to go to war with Devils. Besides, if I'm 'somehow' discovered, I would immediately be able to tell that its because of you."

"Yuno, we're done," I say before they can respond to my warning.

------

Once we're out, I bid the Devils farewell. Then, I order my Angels to keep looking for the Knowledge of the Tales and prioritize it, while also looking for any Fallen Angels willing to serve me.

After they've all gone away, I observe Koneko who's beside me, silently staring at the direction Rias and the others left from.

I approach her and embrace her petite body.

"Don't worry. After this, your team will no longer make dumb decisions and will be much stronger."

She startles me by hugging me back briefly as she lets out an "um" before she lets go and runs back to the apartment.

So adorable. I'm glad that I decided to keep her.

The main reason for doing so was, like I had said, because I found her cute. However, there was another reason, which was preventing Rias and her peerage from telling anyone about me. If they do, they're going to risk her life.

Same goes for the reason I took her Power of Destruction. This thing is weak, so I obviously didn't take it for its power.

Instead, I took it because I bet it's a symbol of power for "Rias Gremory". Without it, she will be having a hard time with the nobility if discovered.

Well then,

"Once again, nice to meet you, Ddraig," I say.

[You're evil.]

"No I'm not."