Chapter 131 - Meeting/Training

Talking over lunch that day, in which Baraqiel and Raynare also participated, it was decided that the girls would move into the new building, which was a replica of Drako's previous home, while the boys would live in the apartment building. The exception to this was Drako, who also slept in the new building.

Drako could not have been more grateful to have his imperial-sized bed back. Kuroka, Valina, Akeno, and Shirone slept with him daily, and even Mordred had joined the night group. In one of the continuous rooms, Natsume and Lavinia slept, and in the other Valerie slept.

Kouki Samejima had been released from the hospital five days later, so he was back in the apartments. To that day, he was the only one living there. He had not yet fully recovered from his injuries and depended on crutches for his daily life. In a short time, it was said that he would return to his normal life.

Drako was quick to offer him a position at Akatsuki, which Kouki accepted without hesitation.

He knew that he could no longer live a normal life, and it would not be long before he would be haunted again unless he obtained something or someone to back him up.

"You were safe, Ikuse!"

Ten days had passed since the "final battle" against the Utsusemi Agency.

Tobio, who had just returned to the apartment building after being discharged, was being jokingly beaten by Kouki's crutch. Next to him was his childhood friend, Sae Toujou. Like Kouki, Sae had not fully recovered and was still using the wheelchair.

"That you didn't choose to leave those memories behind... although it would usually be the nicest choice. Isn't that hard?" Natsume talked to Sae.

Unlike Sae, Natsume and Samejima's friends had been sealed off. They were still unconscious during the progress, so it had been the decision of the now members of Akatsuki to erase their memories of the incident.

Thus, of the former second-year students of the Ryoukou School, except for those with Sacred Gears, Sae was the only one who was aware of the truth of the entire affair.

"Uh-uh- After all, Jin-chan is so cute."

Sae responded as such, as Jun, who had transformed into a big dog, was licking her cheeks. For Jin, who had undergone such major changes, it was not that he had become more emotionally attached to Sae instead of Tobio, but rather that it was only an illusion caused by the fact that he had allowed himself to be spoiled by her.

Unlike the transformed Jin, the Sacred Gears of Natsume and Kouko - Griffon and Byakusa - had once again taken on the appearance of a hawk and a cat, respectively. They probably adopted their previous forms for convenience in everyday life.

Seeing that Natsume had arrived, Kouki smiled bitterly.

"However, you cannot possibly say that with that appearance, can you?"

As for what Natsume was wearing, it was a uniform supplied by Azazel's organization, Grigori.

Using blue as its basic shade, the design took some small deviations when compared to the typical high school uniform.

This was the same uniform that Raynare wore when she first met Drako. The dragon had also seen Akeno wear it when she trained with Baraqiel.

"It can't be helped, can it? Since I go to school prepared by the Governor-General, I was told to wear this." Natsume said as she looked at her own appearance.

That is correct, this was Nephilim's uniform.

Just as Azazel promised Drako, he was going to allow Akatsuki members who were unfamiliar with the supernatural world to train on Nephilim.

Upon hearing Natsume's words, Samejima's facial expression changed to one of complete boredom.

"Seriously, is the school uniform a joke?"

"I think it's better not to complain about this school's uniform since you haven't seen Akatsuki's uniform design. I wonder if Drako the one suffering from Chūnibyō, and not Valina." Natsume sighed.

According to Drako, the Akatsuki members had to wear long black capes with red clouds, a red interior, and a collar at chin level. He had even gone so far as to add a straw hat to hide the face of the members, but that idea had gone beyond the limit of what most could accept.

During the meal with Baraqiel and Shuri, Drako informed Natsume that the fallen angel was to be his teacher. They were to train with Raynare and Akeno, with whom they formed the "Baraqiel Class".

"So you don't like my design?"

A dull voice sounded from behind Natsume, sending shivers down his spine.

"Eeeeeh! That's not what I meant, Drako-kun!"

"Well, never mind. You only have to wear the uniform when you have an official mission, to have something that distinguishes us. I want when someone sees us to say, "Akatsuki's guys are here" or something like that."

Drako walked past Natsume as he explained the reasons for this uniform. There was one more reason, but he wasn't going to say it was because he was a fan of a certain show in his previous life.

"I agree with you, Boss."

Kouki gives Drako a thumbs up.

"Boss?"

"We work for you now, don't we? That's why I have to call you Boss, Boss."

Drako decided to ignore Kouki for the time being.

Today, everyone had gathered at the apartment building. Specifically, in the same room where they had seen the video about the Utsusemis. Lavinia had been the one who had asked those who had been active in the whole Utsusemi Agency affair to form the meeting.

That is, those who were present were: Drako, Tobio, Sae, Kouki, Valina, Natsume and Lavinia.

Seeing that they had all arrived, Lavinia again told the reason why they had been asked to meet here.

"The reason we have gathered here is that I want to be able to explain why I cooperated with everyone."

That is, what was the reason for Lavinia to participate with them against the "Four Fiends Project" implemented by the "Utsusemi Agency".

Her search for that magician, the one who had cooperated with the Utsusemi Agency, how she had started in the first place. Those magicians had disappeared somewhere without inviting the survivors of the agency.

Lavinia explained.

"This is something from a long time ago. I belonged to an association of magicians, another one different from Grauzauberer, one that was divided into two due to a certain event. The remaining half on Earth has not had a change of direction until today. However, as for the other group, using the original barrier magic, they built a unique territory in the "Dimensional Gap" that extends on both sides of the borders between the worlds."

Lavinia took out a book. This was... a picture book. Most likely, it was a book that she wanted to show everyone...

"This book is..."

Lavinia kept talking as she took the photo book in her hand.

"Appearing inside this book is the proof behind the reality of this world they created. The author realized these worlds by chance, and it's certainly the territory they had created in the Dimensional Gap."

Lavinia then said it clearly.

"These wizards... are the Wizards of Oz."

--!

As expected, all members found this information surprising. Only Valina accepted everything without being disturbed.

Drako was also surprised, but for different reasons. That a childish story is real was no reason for Drako to be surprised. What was surprising was that he knew nothing about them, nothing at all. They are not even mentioned in the DxD story, although they probably changed their name to Hexennacht.

Drako could connect the dots as he recognized Walburga in this vast underground chamber when he went to check on Lavinia. The a.d.u.l.t witch should be her teacher and predecessor.

"I... Grauzauberer along with Grigori has been pursuing the wizards who had infiltrated from the magical domain known as 'Oz' since they allied themselves with a traitor to Grigori, the fallen angel of the Cadre Class Satanael."

This was something Drako already knew, but Tobio and the rest didn't.

Now, it was Drako's time to intervene.

"From now on, Akatsuki's job is to investigate and neutralize this alliance. But that is only secondary, as Grigori and Grauzauberer are going to be our allies and take care of the hard part. Our main objective is to ensure the rescue of the two remaining Fiends."

.....................

That evening, Drako accompanied Natsume and Akeno to the underworld. Natsume was greatly surprised to see that the building's elevator could take them to the underworld.

Once in Grigori, he accompanied them to where Baraqiel should be training Raynare. It did not take long for them to arrive at the place where the two of them were waiting.

Raynare, like Natsume and Akeno, wore the blue uniform of Grigori.

"I brought you the girls, Baraqiel. Please be gentle with Natsume, it's her first time."

Drako greeted Baraqiel that way.

"M-M-M-My first time... What are you talking about! Pervert! Ecchi! Hentai!" Natsume blushed at Drako's words.

"What are you talking about? I'm saying it so you won't die of exhaustion later. Your physical condition is even worse than Raynare's when she started training with Baraqiel, and it wasn't long before she died. It's obvious you won't be able to handle the training if he has no mercy on you."

"E-e-ehh..."

Natsume seemed to want to say more, but Drako had already marched on Raynare.

"We have work to do," Drako said to the fallen angel.

"I will be in your care today." She leaned in slightly.

Drako had promised Raynare to help her with her training, so that was the reason he was here. Drako's goal was to help Raynare unlock her Sacred Gear and her hereditary ability.

With Raynare's current ability, she should be able to use her Sacred Gear with no problem. However, she's unable to manifest it, so she probably can't do it because of mental issues. Drako was gonna try to do what he could to fix that.

The same goes for her Sacred Flames, which she should be able to use, but she doesn't.

Drako had no doubt that this was related to the incident she had as a child, in which her parents died due to Raynare's flames. He was sure that something else should have happened, but Raynare probably did not remember or was too young to notice.

Drako had his work cut out for him.