Chapter 73 - Who's your master?
Knowing Issei was a reincarnated devil unaffiliated with her or Sona's peerages, Rias cut to the chase, voicing her suspicions directly.
"What master?" Issei replied, staring blankly, genuinely puzzled by the question.
"It's not wise to play innocent now, Hyoudou Issei." Rias warned.
"Rias-senpai, you're asking such a weird question out of nowhere. I don't know how to answer," Issei replied, scratching his head awkwardly.
He sat cautiously, the oppressive aura from Rias, Sona, and Akeno overwhelming him.
"Sharp instincts," Rias said, raising an eyebrow at Issei's wary expression.
"Your master likely told you to hide your identity, but a low-class devil's aura is hard to conceal, especially from high-class devils like us."
"Low-class devils? High-class devils?" Issei's confusion deepened.
The words made sense individually, but together, they were gibberish.
Since when was he a "low-class devil"?
Had his lecherous reputation reached the third-years, earning him such nickname?
"Are you still playing innocent?" Rias sneered.
"Fine, I'll be blunt. We're devils, just like you."
With a snap, Rias unfurled her bat-like wings.
Akeno, Koneko, Yuuto, Sona, and her council followed, their wings spreading in unison.
Issei jumped at the sound, his jaw dropping as wings sprouted from their backs.
"Wings… are they real?" he stammered, swallowing hard.
The clubroom's ominous setup fueled his imagination.
Had he stumbled into a vampire's den?
Yet, as an otaku steeped in fantasy games and anime, fear gave way to excitement.
Was this a plot trigger, a chance to seize a grand destiny?
"What about them?" Issei asked, eyeing Roy and Asia, who lacked wings.
"Asia and I aren't devils," Roy said, shaking his head.
"You, however, are a devil, with wings like ours," Akeno blinked.
"Me?" Issei shrugged his shoulders, half-expecting wings to emerge.
"Yuuto," Rias prompted.
Yuuto stepped behind Issei, probing his back briefly.
"Hey, I'm not into guys!" Issei protested, but a pair of black devil wings unfurled.
"No way…" Issei's expression twisted as he felt the new appendages.
Testing them, he flapped the wings, which moved naturally.
"This is real?"
"See? You're a devil like us," Rias said coolly.
"No need to play innocent. Answer my question honestly."
"What's happening?" Issei said, dazed.
"I don't know how I became a devil. I was human before. Are my parents devils?"
Rias frowned, a bit puzzled.
Issei's persistent denial seemed genuine.
Was he clueless or an exceptional actor?
"Rias, he might not know," Sona said.
Rias glanced at Sona, who nodded and turned to Issei, explaining devils, Evil Pieces, and reincarnated devils.
She displayed an unused Evil Piece to illustrate.
"So, someone used an Evil Piece to make me a devil?" Issei said, frustration mixing with realization.
"Exactly," Sona said.
"Your master, as Rias mentioned, is the one who gave you that piece. Any memory of who it was?"
"I've got no clue. I don't even know when it happened," Issei said, helpless.
Rias pressed further, but Issei's answers remained vague.
"You haven't suppressed your demonic power, have you?" Sona asked, noting his confusion.
"An ordinary devil like you probably doesn't know how."
"Rias, he might've been abandoned," Sona suggested.
"Possible," Rias agreed, nodding.
Issei's unrestrained demonic power was weak, barely above a human's power, despite the Evil Piece's enhancement.
His ignorance of devil society suggested a high-class devil had discarded him, deeming him unfit for investment.
Rias speculated Issei's poor potential led his master to abandon him, unwilling to waste resources.
While rare, such cases occurred, as Evil Pieces were limited, and training a weak one was costlier than cutting losses.
"Abandoned?" Issei's face fell, grasping that his unknown master had deemed him worthless and left him to fend for himself.
"Rias, Kuoh Academy is your territory. What's your plan?" Sona asked.
"Honestly, I'd rather not have an unknown reincarnated devil here," Rias said, eyeing Issei calmly.
Abandonment was one possibility; espionage was another.
An unstable element like Issei posed a risk.
"So, you'll eliminate him?" Sona asked lightly.
"Eliminate? You mean kill me?" Issei blurted, stunned.
"I didn't do anything! Why me? Some random high-class devil forced this on me!"
"This isn't my choice!" he protested.
His outburst met with pitying looks, as if he were a fool.
"Hyoudou Issei, you haven't adjusted to our reality," Sona said.
"You're a devil now, in a world beyond human norms."
"Human rights require status and strength, which you lack as a masterless low-class devil in another's territory."
"Devil society mirrors medieval Europe," she added.
"You have no grounds to resist."
"President, ease up on my classmate," Roy interjected.
Roy couldn't reveal the full truth but felt compelled to protect Issei, having turned him into a devil to save his life.
Sona nodded, falling silent.
Issei shot Roy a grateful look, touched by his support, and mentally vowed to defend Roy against any slander.
"Rias, isn't there a way to turn devils back into humans?" Roy asked.
Issei perked up, nodding eagerly.
"Yeah, I didn't choose this. Can you make me human again?"
"No such method exists," Rias said, shaking her head.
"So I'm stuck as a devil?" Issei's face paled.
The fantastical allure of devilhood had crumbled, leaving him yearning for his ordinary human life.
"I don't have to eliminate you," Rias said, sighing.
"But masterless devils like you can become Stray Devils, driven by unchecked desires. If that happens, you'd be killed."
"You're part of the second-year pervert trio, harassing girls. Your desires are strong," Koneko said bluntly.
Issei's face whitened further.
"I'll stop! I swear, I'm done with that!"
"Even if you don't go Stray, leaving Kuoh Town risks death by exorcists, fallen angels, angels, or other devils," Akeno giggled slightly.
"I'll stay in Kuoh Town, I promise!" Issei said desperately.
Rias sighed, exasperated. Issei's quick compliance left her at a loss, though she'd never intended to kill him.
"I'll assign someone to monitor you," Rias said.
"Once you've learned to live as a devil and proven harmless, I'll report to my clan, allowing you to live normally in my territory."
"No problem!" Issei agreed instantly, then glanced at Koneko and Akeno.
"Will Himejima-senpai or Toujou-san watch me?"
"President, let's end this guy," Koneko said, raising a fist.
"Sorry, I'm too busy," Akeno rejected.
"I'll do it," Yuuto volunteered.
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