Chapter 23 -:23 the Gremory Pawn

Chapter 23 -:23 the Gremory PawnIf you want to read ahead by 25 Chapters from her you can visit my Patre-on. {P} {A} {T} {R} {E} {O} {N} /Playerfanfic ----------- Sona sighed as Shirou shut the door behind him. In all honesty, a part of her was oddly relieved that the kind, helpful teen wasn't an enemy in disguise. There were far too few honest-to-goodness gentlemen at Kuoh and Kiba didn't count due to the simple fact he'd been a Devil for some time before Rias enrolled here. That being said, while she'd certainly learnt enough to erase him from the list of potential enemies, it wasn't enough to list him as a potential ally either. For one thing, while he'd given reasons as to why his branch of Magic, 'Magecraft' she mentally corrected, was deemed useless by many, he still didn't explain why he'd chosen to continue with it. He also hadn't elaborated as to just what schools his Mentors had adhered to, or indeed, which group of Magic Users they were aligned with. He had introduced himself as having 'No Clan to Speak of', but did that mean he was never affiliated with one? Or that he was exiled for some reason? Either way would explain for his supposed lack of skill in more 'Traditional' Magecraft seen thus far. However, neither could explain just how he'd not only managed to stand up to a prodigal Exorcist of the church, even if said prodigy was mad as a hatter, let alone destroy one of the Seven Holy Excaliburs said organization deemed the strongest of Holy Swords. Still, she'd learned enough for today that she was willing to give the redhead some breathing space. At the very least, she'd confirmed he was in possession of the Excalibur shards and had convinced him to hand them over to avoid any unnecessary unpleasantness with the Church. Speaking of which... "Rias..." she called out, the Gremory heiress pausing in the midst of reaching for the tray of Daifuku to look at her "Back when we informed Emiya-kun of what we were, did you sense anything off about him." "You mean his left arm?" Rias pondered, her troubled expression confirming Sona's line of inquiry "I must admit, for a moment I thought he was about to pull out a Sacred Gear...but in all honesty it felt more akin to the wards Xenovia used to seal away her Excalibur." "Except whatever he was sealing wasn't a Holy Sword." Sona confirmed, her expression unreadable behind her glasses "And whatever it was, it clearly has an adverse effect on Emiya-kun's body if his brief reaction was any indication." "He did seem to blank out for a moment there." Tsubaki noted, her tone tinged with a hint of concern for the Kuoh Brownie "Perhaps his arm is afflicted with a curse of some kind?" "If it were a curse, we would have sensed the malignant energies even through the bindings." Sona dismissed, her expression thoughtful "No, while whatever it is clearly causes him discomfort, I get the feeling it's not actively malignant." "Which means it can be put aside for another day, Sona." Rias opined, reaching forward and helping herself to a Daifuku, plopping one of the ground Mochi balls in her rival's lap in passing "For now, let's enjoy these before we have to get back to class." "Honestly..." Sona sighed, shaking her head in exasperation as she accepted the tea Tsubaki held out to her, the rest of their group digging into the sweets with reckless abandon, some of them already turned to limbless puddles of ecstasy, with the notable exception of Koneko, who was shovelling them in as fast as she could swallow. Searᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So caught up in their confectionary heaven were they, that none of the group seemingly noticed Issei approaching Saji, the Gremory Pawn apparently arranging to meet up with his Sitri counterpart after school. After school... 'Well that went well...' Shirou sighed, waving absentmindedly towards the track-and-field team as he made his way out of the gates, intent on heading for his part-time job 'At the very least I won't have to spend my days waiting for Gremory-sempai to pop up around corners anymore.' It wasn't that her aura was any less intimidating than before. Hell, if anything the fact he'd managed to sit in front of her for so long had been a testament to his resolve and faith in their good will. It was simply that now that he knew just what he was dealing with, he could plan accordingly for anything that may arise in the future. For example, Rias had already attempted to recruit him for her 'Peerage', something Shirou would never consider even if he'd never met Archer, living testament to the fact that 'Contracting with a Higher Being in Exchange for Power' typically came back to bite you in the ass. Still, for the moment, he had one less problem to deal with, and the sole remaining problem could probably be dealt with simply by handing over the shards of Rapidly to Sona, who would no doubt use them to place the church in her debt, a concept that troubled him less than it should, considering what little exposure he had of the Vatican had come through Kirei and Azazel's comments on the Holy Sword Plan. Which brought him to his current, most immediate concern, namely the two Exorcists from the Church that were currently in town and, if Sona's information was accurate, packing two of the remaining Excalibur Swords. While he personally didn't have any beef with the Church, from what little he knew and what Azazel had described, these Exorcists were likely to be no better than the Executors back home, Zealots dedicated to 'Purging the Earth of all Blasphemy', regardless of what got caught in their path. The only saving grace he could think of was that the Vatican's influence on Japan was relatively minor compared to the likes of Europe, meaning the Exorcists wouldn't be able to do as they pleased for fear of drawing attention to themselves. As such, so long as he kept his head down until tomorrow, he'd most likely never have to worry about running into them. It was therefore par for the course that he should just so happen to run right into a pair of suspicious looking figures in clergy robes standing outside his workplace. Fucking E-Rank Luck. ----------- If you want to read ahead by 25 Chapters from her you can visit my Patre-on. {P} {A} {T} {R} {E} {O} {N} /Playerfanfic