Chapter 998: Exploring the bottom (Granblue Fantasy is a crappy game that can’t be opened at all!)
Duanmu Huai always acted vigorously and resolutely, and it could be said that he was too lazy to think about it. It didn't take long for Naruse Mio and Wanria to enter Kuoh Academy as transfer students.
Their appearance naturally attracted the attention of many boys in Kuoh Academy. After all, Naruse Mio was beautiful and had a good figure. Although Maria was petite, she also attracted the attention of some boys with potential criminal tendencies. Moreover, she is naughty and cute, which makes many boys excited.
Of course, they were excited. When they learned that these two girls were relatives of Duanmu Huai, everyone had to stay away... Duanmu Huai was famous in this school, and no boy dared to feel uncomfortable in front of him. of. Because of this, Naruse Mio and Maria didn't encounter much trouble on the first day they transferred here.
However, for them, the next step is the real test.
"Hello, my name is Mio Naruse. It's our first time meeting you. Please give me some advice, Rias-senpai."
Standing in front of Rias, Naruse Mio bowed her head respectfully - her statement is not wrong. After all, whether it is from the grade in school or the time that both parties have lived as devils, Ria Ito is considered Mio Naruse's senior.
But...the two people are really similar.
Duanmu Huai, who was standing nearby, was carefully looking at Naruse Mio and Rias, and had to admit that there were similarities between the two. For example, both of them have red hair, but Rias has long, loose hair, while Naruse Mio has twin tails, and in terms of temperament, Rias is more mature and stable.
In contrast, Naruse Mio still can't hide her childish young girl temperament - how should I put it, Rias feels a bit like the adult version of Naruse Mio.
But I have to say that both of them have good figures, and I don’t know who is bigger. Logically speaking, it should be Rias—or maybe Naruse Mio? Hmm... you have to compare and contrast to find out.
"My name is Naruse Maria, and I am meeting you for the first time, Rias Gremory-sama. I have heard the name of the red-haired Killer Princess for a long time, and it is like thunder to my ears. When I meet her today, it is indeed well-deserved."
Maria also bowed her head respectfully to Rias, and her little face that usually had a sly and playful smile was tight and serious now - it seemed that she also knew how to suit the occasion.
"I already know your situation from Teacher Duanmu."
Rias also had a different expression than when she was talking to Duanmu Huai. Her whole person was filled with a coercive aura. She was seen sitting behind the table, staring at the two of them, exuding strong pressure and power.
"Woo..."
Feeling the pressure emerging from Rias, Naruse Mio gritted her teeth, and Maria also showed an uneasy expression. However, just when Rias was about to say something, Duanmu Huai stretched out her arms. He reached out and held Mio Naruse's shoulders while looking at Rias.
"Minister Rias, I'm afraid it's not good for you to threaten new members like this."
"………………"
As Duanmuhuai's words emerged, the pressure emanating from Rias's body was instantly released like a burst balloon, and she looked helplessly at Duanmuhuai and sighed.
"Indeed, Mr. Duanmu, as the head of the Occult Research Club, I shouldn't bully the new members... I'm sorry, Naruse-san, I just want to give it a try."
"No, it's nothing, I don't care."
Naruse Mio shook her head and spoke in a low voice. To be honest, facing Rias just now did make Naruse Mio feel a little inferior. You must know that before coming here, she had heard Maria introduce Rias and learned that she and she were actually equal in terms of status. But after they actually faced each other, Naruse Mio discovered that the pressure the other party brought to her was beyond imagination.
Obviously the other person is only one year older than herself, but Naruse Mio feels as if there is a completely unbridgeable gap between herself and Rias.
Fortunately, just when Naruse Mio was about to bear it no longer, she felt Duanmu Huai's heavy palm - like a mountain, which calmed Naruse Mio's mood.
Seeing Naruse Mio calm down, Rias coughed slightly, then she held her hands seriously and stared at Duanmu Huai.
"Teacher Duanmu, in principle, I can agree to your request. But... I think you should also understand that as a member of the Gremory family, I want to protect you who killed Marquis Zolgi, and Will The heir of the Bate family took the risk, so I think I have the right to demand compensation.”
"Say it."
Of course Duanmuhuai knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and what Rias said was right. She had to take risks when she wanted to protect Naruse Mio and Duanmuhuai.
"First of all, I want to know your true identity, Teacher Duanmu."
Speaking of this, Rias's eyes showed a sharp light.
"At the beginning, I thought you were just a lucky artifact host, but I don't think that an ordinary artifact host can easily kill a being of the level of Marquis Zolgi... So, I I can protect you, but I want to know your true identity.”
Before Zorji's incident, Rias had vague doubts about Duanmu Huai's identity. After all, even though he is a host of artifacts, his attitude is too indifferent. And that's not out of innocence of knowing nothing about the demon world, but more like a strong confidence in one's own strength. For example, Zorji, Duanmuhuai said he would kill him, and he was not worried at all about whether he would be in danger later.
It seems that in his opinion, demons as powerful as Zolgi are as unworthy of mention as weeds on the roadside.
So the question becomes, can a person with such a big heart be an ordinary person?
"So that's the question. If you had asked me earlier, it would have been fine."
Under Rias' gaze, Duanmuhuai seemed very calm.
"Then, let me introduce myself again - I am Duanmu Huai, the Grand Inquisitor from the Tribunal... Well, please remember it."
"Inquisition..."
Hearing this word, Rias' face tensed up.
"You are of the church..."
"I can almost guess what you are thinking, but I want to tell you that the Inquisition has absolutely nothing to do with the church you think of."
Of course Duanmuhuai could guess what Rias was thinking. He had already learned from Renali's shadow that there were currently three forces in the world, namely angels, fallen angels and demons.
As for humans, they are more like a subsidiary force.
"The duty of the Inquisition is to protect mankind and eliminate all entities that try to harm mankind."
Duanmuhuai looked at Rias and said.
"As I said before, the only goal of the Tribunal is to protect mankind. Therefore, whether it is angels, fallen angels, demons, gods or demon kings - as long as they dare to harm mankind, the Tribunal will not hesitate That's right, in the view of the Tribunal, humans do not need to sacrifice for gods or demons. On the contrary, if If gods or demons dare to harm humans, our Tribunal will completely eliminate them." At this point, Duanmu Huai's body once again showed a strong murderous intent, and everyone felt this cold murderous intent. Their hairs stood on end - as if they were standing on the edge of an abyss, and if they took one step, they would fall completely into the abyss.
"So, are we demons teachers the ones you want to destroy too?"
Kiba Yuto, who was standing next to Rias, was also tense at the moment. He stared at Duanmuhuai and asked, while Duanmuhuai glanced at him.
"Well... How should I put it? The standards used by the Tribunal to judge humans are different from what you think."
"Not the same?"
"That's right."
As Duanmuhuai spoke, he took out the rosette from his arms and unfolded it towards everyone.
"This is the Inquisitor's Rose Knot. Did you find anything?"
"Why is there a skull on it?"
Naruse Mio looked at the rosette in Duanmuhuai's hand and immediately complained. Generally speaking, shouldn't rosettes be hung with crosses or statues of the Virgin? Making a skull made Naruse Mio feel a bit like those middle school decorations that the boys in her class played with...
"That's right."
Duanmu Huai fiddled with it.
"This is the standard for the Tribunal to judge humans. For us, as long as the skull is human, then it is a human. So in the eyes of the Tribunal, no matter angels, fallen angels or demons, as long as your skull is consistent with that of a human, then the Tribunal They will treat you as a sub-race.”
"This is really......"
Hearing Duanmuhuai's explanation, Rias was a little dumbfounded. You must know that all angels, fallen angels and demons have always considered themselves to be a nobler race than humans. As a result, Duanmuhuai said as soon as he came up that they could be treated as sub-human races...
Well, if some radicals listen to Duanmuhuai, they may start a fight on the spot. To them, this is as outright offensive as monkeys think humans are just mutant monkeys without hair.
Duanmu Huai doesn't care about this. Is the human supremacy of the Tribunal fake?
Not convinced? Are you convinced by the fist as big as a casserole?
"That is to say...don't you regard demons as targets that must be destroyed like the church does?"
"Frankly speaking? We treat angels, fallen angels and demons equally. As long as you don't harm humans, then everything will be fine."
Duanmu Huai didn't say the rest of his sentence, but he believed that someone as smart as Rias would understand what he meant.
"If that's the case, then there's no problem."
Rias rolled her eyes and made a quick decision.
"Then, here's the reward I'm asking for - I hope a few of you can join me."
"I said, I will not be reincarnated into a devil."
Duanmuhuai once again rejected Rias' request, but this time, Rias just shook her head.
"No, it's not reincarnation, but a temporary contract."
"Temporary contract?"
"That's right."
Looking at Duanmu Huai, Rias nodded vigorously.
"I can help Naruse-san adapt to her power, teach her how to fight and some common sense about demons, but my request is that I hope that the three of you can join my force and fight for me!"
Next, Rias also explained the situation to Duanmu Huai, Naruse Mio and others.
The reason why she made such a request was related to the "ranking game".
The so-called ranking game is a game where demons with noble titles command their servants to fight and compete. Only mature demons can participate in official ranked games, so Rias has not participated in ranked games so far. But she is about to reach this stage, so Rias hopes to increase the number of chess pieces in her hand to prepare for the next ranking game.
This is also the reason why she has been looking for Duanmuhuai again and again - in Rias's view, if Duanmuhuai can join her camp, then she will be almost invincible in the ranking game.
Generally speaking, the subordinates in this ranking game are basically demons reincarnated from chess pieces. But there is also a special situation where you can make a temporary contract, that is, you do not reincarnate as a demon, but you only temporarily gain the bonus of the chess piece to fight. Of course, almost no superior demons would use this method, after all, they are equivalent to mercenaries. As for the superior demons, they still value subordinates who are loyal to them more than mercenaries.
This is just like how even if nobles hire mercenaries to fight in the front line, they still trust their own private soldiers the most. Therefore, generally speaking, temporary contracts rarely occur.
But since Duanmu Huai firmly disagrees with reincarnation as a demon, Rias has no choice but to settle for the next best thing.
"Hmm..."
Facing Rias's proposal, Duanmuhuai was silent for a moment. Then he turned to look at Naruse Mio and Wan Liya. When he noticed Duan Muhuai's gaze, Wan Liya didn't speak, while Naruse Mio gritted her teeth and said nothing. However, from her eyes and expression, Duanmu Huai already got the answer.
"Okay."
Duanmuhuai retracted his gaze and looked at Rias.
"Then it's settled."
(End of chapter)