HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24 - Interrogation

— Third Person POV —

— Underworld —

“Look alive, Falbium!” Serafall kicked the Satan napping beside her as she sat down in her seat. “What did you call us for, Zechs-chan?”

“Directly to the point today, Serafall?” the Crimson-Haired Embodiment of Destruction asked with a polite chuckle.

“Why not? So-tan wanted my help getting in contact with a school in the Human World for her! Do you know how rare it is for my cute So-tan to ask something from me? She is usually all like, ‘Not now, Nee-Chan!’, ‘Stop groping me, Onee-san!’, and all that. But actually asking for help? That’s new!” Serafall explained excitedly. “So I am in a bit of a hurry. I am actually going to have a meeting with the headmaster of that school! And don’t forget that this is for your beloved Ria-tan too! She put the idea into So-tan’s head and picked the school!”

“That’s today?” Sirzechs asked in surprise, clearly unaware of the actual meeting. “Then sorry about holding you up from your task. But I actually have something important to inquire about, and I felt it would be better if all of us were aware of it. It is actually related to Rias.”

Ajuka nodded calmly. “Then start. I would also love to return to my laboratory.”

Falbium simply responded with a light snore.

Sirzechs pulled out his phone and opened a picture from a chat with Rias. “It’s about this.”

Serafall’s eyes widened as she immediately recognized what the picture was showing. There were a few of those spread throughout the Underworld, but she did not recognize where this specific one was.

And that was troubling. While there were only a few, she knew every last one of them.

Sirzechs directly addressed Ajuka. “Do you have any idea how a Kingmaker Array landed somewhere outside of our control? Rias asked me if it was one of them, but she wouldn’t tell me where she saw it or where she even got that image. I couldn’t trace it back either. As far as I am aware, it suddenly appeared on her Devil Phone. It wasn’t made with the phone, but simply appeared from nowhere without a digital trace.”

Yes, it was a Magic Circle used to bind a set of Evil Pieces to a new King.

But another detail caught Serafall’s attention.

“See? You are spying on your sister too! You even hacked her phone!”

Sirzechs simply stared at her in disbelief. “No, I don’t. In this case, I felt justified. This is a matter of our kind’s national security. The creation and binding methods for the Evil Pieces are a well-guarded secret for a reason!”

“It’s still spying. You probably have cameras in her room too!”

“I don’t…” Sirzechs sighed in annoyance and turned toward the green-haired Satan, Beelzebub. “Ajuka, please tell me you have an idea.”

“I made that circle.”

“That’s too bad. I had hoped you would know something—wait, what?”

Ajuka repeated himself. “I made it. Don’t worry, it was a one-time-use circle. This Circle is the reason we got the Evil Pieces in the first place. It was part of a deal I made a long time ago with old Malphas. His research into Devilification is the basis for the Evil Pieces.”

“Wasn’t he the creator of those Wizards?” Sirzechs asked.

“Yes, an attempt to create Bloodline Devils. But instead, he created a completely new race. He was of the opinion that all they were lacking was true Devil ancestry to create a new Devil House. After he bred with one of their kind, founding their very first Pureblood House, all his descendants were born as Witches and Wizards with an inferior version of his bloodline. Not a single Devil was among them. Yet, he was convinced that one day, one would appear among his descendants.”

“And what does that have to do with a set of Evil Pieces?”

“Oh, I exchanged it for his research. Under the condition that, if a naturally born Devil really did appear among his descendants one day, they would be granted a set of their own Evil Pieces. Officially recognized and all that. Right, since we are all here, the House Malphas is officially no longer extinct. I handed in the paperwork 541 years ago. It should be somewhere around that time in the archives.” Ajuka nodded before standing up. “That would be all.”

He promptly left, returning to whatever research he was currently performing.

“I can already see the dumbasses of the Great King Faction throwing a fit again.” Sirzechs sighed. “At least I have an answer for Rias’s other question.”

“What question?”

“Oh, she asked me if those Evil Pieces and the resulting Peerage were legally recognized. She would have pestered me about that. I am sure of it. Nice that Ajuka took care of that for me.” Sirzechs stood up and headed for the door. “Hmm, Grayfia is still taking care of Millicas, and that meeting was supposed to be longer. That means… free time!”

“Lucky you. At least I now know why Rias was so interested in the Wizarding World. It puts a lot of things into context. Are you not worried about her knowing a completely unfamiliar Devil Noble?”

“Nobody else knows them. She is the first contact with Devil Society. This is rather beneficial to her. Although it is a bit worrying that I don’t know how they are contacting each other…” Sirzechs replied as the two of them headed through the door, leaving the snoring Falbium behind in his seat.

———

— 77 Diagon Alley, London —

“Please don’t break my arm?” I asked pleadingly, looking towards the younger girl clinging to me.

“I won’t, as long as you tell us everything. If I let go, you will just escape,” Astoria replied as we headed up the Stairs towards our Apartment.

Dad, who was also aware of everything, had gone back to the Store to check in on his Clerks. He clearly had no interest in getting involved in whatever this ended up becoming. Mom, instead, watched us with silent amusement.

Ghislaine quietly accompanied us, seemingly unaware of any trouble.

As soon as the Entrance Door closed behind us, all three girls whirled around to face me.

“Speak,” Daphne ordered.

Tracey nodded firmly beside her. “Come on, Alistair, no secrets!”

Yeah, how about no? I wasn’t going to share everything with them.

But I guess Mom, Dad, and Grandpa already knew about most of it, so it was only right for Tracey to be informed too. Daphne and Astoria were my childhood friends, the only friends I had made in the Wizarding World, and were practically like Sisters to me.

It would also be hard to explain my idea for the Curse without giving them some context.

“How about we take a seat first?” Mom suggested with amusement, leading us to the living Room. Once everybody had gotten comfortable on a Couch or Chair, Tracey quickly began to grow impatient.

“Alright, Al, time to come clean. First of all, why were you gone over Christmas? Mom cancelled our Christmas plans because of you and made me stay in Hogwarts.”

“Simply put, I gained the Ability to travel to different Worlds and did so. I also unlocked a secret heritage of the Lestrange Family and became a Devil.” There, I said it.

All three girls stared at me blankly. At the same time, Mom just held her face in her hands, while Ghislaine merely nodded.

“What?”

Mom shook her head. “That was brief… How about you give them some Details? Maybe some Context? They are just Hogwarts Students and are unaware of how big the World is.”

“Fine…”

And so, I explained everything about Sacred Gears, my Adventure, and our Devil Heritage. I even showed them my Wings.

“…”

“That’s a lot to take in,” Daphne muttered in shock as I put my Wings away.

“A lot to take in? That’s fucking scary! I am part Devil!” Tracey cried out.

“We all are,” Mom said, having dealt with the same Problem all her Life. “But that doesn’t make us Evil.”

I looked at my Sister. “Are you now scared of me because I am a Devil?”

“No, of course not!” Tracey quickly replied. “You are obviously still Al!”

“Yes, and most Devils are a lot like normal People. After all, the majority of them these days have been reincarnated from Humans or other Races. The main difference is probably that they are more sinful, I guess.”

Astoria perked up at that. “More sinful? How?”

“It’s hard to explain. But they aren’t as prudish as us, they can get angry more easily, or they can be lazier. Some are very greedy or gluttonous, others are really prideful, and others can be quite envious of others. Sometimes it’s a combination of all of them. Other times, they are just like Humans. The best way to put it is that Devils fall into the seven sins more easily.” I admitted.

“So, like you becoming more perverted, and your first action is to recruit a sexy amazon Cat Girl into your Harem?” Astoria said with an impish grin.

“Oy, Ghislaine is my Friend, and she decided to follow me! And most importantly, I don’t have a Harem!”

Astoria looked at me in disbelief, then pointed to herself, followed by Daphne, Tracey, and Ghislaine. “That’s already four. If that isn’t a Harem, then what is?”

“You little brat, one is my Sister, and Daphne and you are my Friends, whom I pretty much consider Sisters too!”

“So Ghislaine is part of your Harem?”

“What—”

“He hasn’t claimed me yet, but I am hoping that will happen soon,” the Swordmaster spoke up from her Spot as if that were the most normal thing in the World to say.

“What’s that supposed to—” But I was interrupted again as Astoria grinned mischievously.

Daphne first glared at her, then at Ghislaine, and finally at me. “You!”

“Me?” I asked helplessly. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Playboy! Cheater! Pervert!” she said with annoyance before crossing her arms in front of her ample chest.

What happened to Slytherin’s Ice Queen?

“What about the Curse?” Tracey quickly asked before the Situation could escalate.

“None of you wants to forget about that, huh?” I said with annoyance after ignoring the glares Daphne was throwing at me.

I am not some clueless protagonist. The fact that she has a crush on me is not exactly new to me. In all honesty, I like her too.

While it is hard for me to separate them from the Harry Potter Characters and their Fanfiction counterparts that I remember from my past life, I have developed genuine feelings for them.

At the same time, I also feel a bit scummy. But what would anybody else do if they suddenly got reincarnated into the Wizarding World? Or any Fictional World they were familiar with?

Obviously, you set yourself up for Life, placing yourself in the best possible position by using your Meta Knowledge.

Realizing that I was the older brother of Tracey Davis, who is commonly known as Daphne Greengrass’s best friend, and that my Mother was actually best friends with Daphne’s Mother, it was a no-brainer for me to set myself up as her Childhood friend.

The Greengrasses are a powerful Pureblood House belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Even with my Status as a Half-Blood, I should have been able to overcome that gap, especially since I abused my Meta Knowledge to gain every advantage I could. Things like practicing Wandless Magic from an early age, being far more disciplined than any other young Wizard thanks to my Adult Mind, knowing many secrets of Hogwarts from the Books, Games, and Movies, like the Room of Requirement, and ultimately knowing Voldemort’s Secrets.

Being known as one of the main Heroes who put him down for good, after the good guys ultimately won, would have easily bridged that gap. I would not only have the Status gained from my own ‘deeds,’ but I could also marry into a filthy rich Family.

Until all my careful planning crumbled thanks to my presumed Squibhood.

Yet neither my Family nor Daphne or Astoria ever looked down on me.

And here I am now, secretly thinking about forming my own Harem already.

Astoria saw right through me. She is scarily perceptive, even if she hides that behind her cheeky nature.

I am not only a manipulative gold digger but also outright scum.

How does a responsible person handle such a Situation?

No idea. I never was one, and technically, I am just a young adult barely out of my teenage years.

It’s not like suddenly gaining access to the Multiverse and some Evil Pieces is such a common Situation that there is any responsible experience I could pull from as a reference.

I just want to enjoy my Life…

Probably just not being an ass about it is the right choice?

Don’t alienate her, but be honest about it?

My feelings haven’t changed. I didn’t suddenly start disliking Daphne after planning to marry her for years. She’s fucking hot, and really nice to the people close to her.

It’s just my Situation in general that has changed. My perspective has broadened.

“Damn it, stop ignoring us and spit it out!” an impatient Daphne interrupted my thought process. I had probably drifted off for a while there.

“Okay! Fine! To be honest, I was planning to discuss it with Mom first, maybe have her consult some Healers and experts on Curses. Probably involve your Parents too. And most importantly, find some experimental Subject to test it on first,” I said after being forced to answer.

“So you really thought up a method that could heal my Curse?” Astoria asked hopefully.

Then I pointed at her. “See? Right there! That’s what I wanted to prevent. I don’t know if it will work. But I didn’t want to create false hope in the first place, only to have it crushed if it doesn’t even work.”

The small, dark-haired girl just scoffed. “False Hope is far better than no hope. And I like people being honest with me! Now tell us, what did you find in the different World?”

“Who says it’s from a different World?”

Daphne just looked at me, completely unamused. “Our Family has tried for Generations to remove the Curse. If there is a method, it either doesn’t exist yet or is not from this World. Even your suggestion a few years ago to consult a Muggle Healer about Autoimmune Diseases only lessened the suffering. It didn’t heal it.”

“I have a hard time believing that. The fact alone that Non-magical healing could lessen the Symptoms proves that. Especially after you learned that the World is much bigger,” I argued. But I didn’t push the matter. Instead, I decided to come clean. “Alright, I came up with two ideas. The first one is from THIS World. My Evil Pieces, to be precise. Maybe turning Astoria and you into Devils will remove the Curse. But admittedly, that’s just a long shot, and we would need to consult an expert on them. And the only expert on the Evil Pieces I know of is their Creator, and I don’t think he would even reply to us.”

“Sounds like a possibility. Before we consider that, I would like to hear your second idea,” Mother said with a thoughtful nod.

“Well, the other method is based on the other World. There is an ancient disease from a time when there were People with almost no Magic Power. Their natural Magic Power invaded their Bodies, building up inside them, and their bodies began to reject the foreign Magic and harm themselves. It’s called Drain Syndrome. My thought was that foreign Magic sounds a lot like the basic principle of a Curse.”

“Hmm, in the simplest sense, that is true. But usually, it’s the Curse that does the harming, not a defense reaction from the Body,” Mom countered.

“Normally, yes, but the Non-magical medication that suppressed the Body’s Autoimmune reactions helped!” I followed up. “The moment I came up with the thought, I used my Magic Power Eye to observe both Astoria and Daphne. The Curse is bound to their Magic, but their Magical Cores themselves are made purely of their own Magic, as if the pressure around them is too great for the foreign Magic to corrupt their Cores.”

“Okay, I understand what you are trying to describe. And how did they heal that Drain Syndrome in the other World?”

“Through a herbal tea made from a grass I brought with me that is able to purge Magic from the Body. It removes all the Magic through their… well, waste,” I explained excitedly. The more I explained my idea, the more I started to believe that it was actually feasible. “If we purge their Bodies of Magic until every last bit of the Curse is gone, they should be free from it. It’s not like it can return if we get rid of every last bit of it. The only problem I see is how their Magical Cores would react to the Tea. That’s why I said we would need someone to try it on first. The People of the other World are built a bit differently. They don’t have a Magical Core. Instead, their Magic Network is far more developed. They can use a lot more Magic at once, but their reserves recover far more slowly, and they generally have less Magic than us overall.”

“This… I think it may actually be possible?” Mother said after thinking it through for a moment. “Of course, you are right. We would need to test it first. But if you are right, then you haven’t just found a method to remove Blood Curses, but Curses in general! Maybe even Lycanthropy.”

I have the feeling I say that a lot recently, but…

“What?”

[-- End of Chapter --]