High School DxD DX - Volume 6 - Chapter 5

Life 5. Is the Order a Devil? 

Part 1 

On a certain day… 

Suddenly, Rias said something shocking. 

“What do you think…about opening up a private cafe in Kuoh Town?” 

I had to ask Rias to repeat what she said. After finishing dinner, we all relaxed in the living room to discuss this sudden cafe idea together. Rias elegantly sipped her cup of black tea before speaking. 

“Yes, after the alliance of the Three Factions, Azazel purchased real estate for Team DxD. In fact, the property’s top floor is already suitably furnished and laid out for it.” 

…Sensei’s inheritance… I couldn’t say it, but Azazel-sensei was fighting a war inside the Isolation Barrier Field. It might be rude to say, but just how many properties did that guy own in this town…? The office in which we, the Hyoudou Issei peerage, were working out of for our Devil’s Job was also owned by Azazel-sensei. Rias smiled while proposing this to us. 

“Well then, let’s go, shall we?” 

And with that, we all went to go check out the building in question. It was the top floor of a building in Kuoh Town’s shopping district. We teleported to the top floor directly using a magic circle. In front of us was an empty store. On the inside — was a restaurant-like area with a wide floor. I looked around while spinning and said, 

“…Unbelievable. The floor plan is laid out just like a restaurant.” 

This was the town I was born in and live in, but I didn’t remember this building…I think. But I had no idea what kind of store was here before… Even though it was so close by, I had no clue about the details of some things… I noticed the light in the back was on. Someone suddenly made an appearance from the back — it was Irina! 

“Ah, Ise-kun, Rias-san! And everyone else!” 

After dinner, Irina, Asia and Xenovia had said “We’ve got a few things to go do, alright?” and left the house, but… This is where they came! 

“Irina, is this what you had to go do?” 

Irina responded to my question with, 

“Yep, I’m preparing the shop. It seems the Church is supposed to be the ones running it. But I’m not the only one here preparing.” 

But then…where are the other members right now? Irina sent a look towards the back and, 

“Ise-san, Rias onee-sama and everyone else. You came!” 

“You all came, huh.” 

Asia and Xenovia made an appearance. More people that I didn’t recognise came out as well. 

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Hyoudou peerage.” 

With that voice, Lint Sellzen and a beautiful girl wearing a black sister’s outfit appeared! The other woman dressed in a black sister’s outfit was Mirana Shatarova-san! A sister in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Ace of one of the Four Great Seraphs, Gabriel-san! Her eyes, which were ashen grey with a tint of blue, were very pretty. Her beautiful ashen blonde hair felt wasted under her veil, only peeking out on occasion. She also participated in the International Rating Game Tournament with the team of reincarnated Angels which Dulio leads as the [King], Joker. We, the Sekiryuutei of the Blazing Truth team, fought against them in the preliminaries. 

“…Good evening.” 

Maybe because she didn’t know us very well, her face was dyed red and her body kept fidgeting. This girl was just so cute! Even better, she had such huge breasts…! By the way, in the game against each other, I had used Dragon Deification’s [Dress Break DxD] to tear her outfit off! At that time, I saw her naked body… I carved a vivid image into my brain for later use… Gufufu! What massive oppai she had! 

“…Senpai, you’re making a lewd face again.” 

Koneko-chan called me out for it again! How embarrassing! 

“…Iya.” 

Mirana-san hid her breasts with her hands while making a cute sound. Even though she was wearing clothes now, it seemed she was embarrassed about being reminded of that time. I’m sorry, but that pose was just too cute! …Well, it would probably be even more unpleasant for me to talk to her about it. 

Oh? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the figure of a person. From the bathroom door, someone’s face appeared — a white-haired young boy. He had to be somewhere around eleven or twelve years old? For some reason, his face looked very familiar. Lint-san said, 

“Ah, that boy, huh? That boy is the promising product of the Sigurd Institution. There you are, come over here, will you?” 

Lint-san beckoned the child…but he became embarrassed and ran back into the bathroom. 

Ah, the Sigurd Institution — it was the place where the Church trained white-haired warriors. Their goal was to create a warrior who could control the Demon Sword Gram from the blood of the hero Sigurd. The insane priest Freed and the Hero Faction’s assistant leader Siegfried were also from there, as well as Lint-san. 

So that’s why. He looked a lot like Siegfried. The organisation must have pulled from the same gene pool, which was why his face looked similar. The same was true for Freed and Lint-san as well. Lint-san introduced the boy to us. 

“This boy’s name is Sigmund. Those of us from the organisation call him Sig. He’s made up of half of mine and Freed aniki’s genetic information and half of Sieg’s genetic information.” 

The boy slowly came out from the doorway and made his way over to where we were. Lint-san told us, 

“We got an order from the Vatican telling us to put Sig-cchi to use here. Headquarters didn’t know what else to do with him.” 

Ehh, so they transferred one of the organisation’s promising individuals here, huh? And Lint-san calls him “Sig-cchi” as well. Even though he kept staring at us, it seemed like he wouldn’t open up, so I guess I’ll talk with Irina first. I said to Irina, 

“Actually, I only just heard about this shop from Rias earlier.” 

“Oh really? Ise-kun only just heard about it? Well, we’ve known about it for a few days now. And so, that’s why we’re all cleaning it today.” 

That was Irina’s reply. From what Irina said earlier, this shop was the Church’s responsibility, wasn’t it? Well, there were members of the Church here in the middle of preparing the shop too. I glanced towards Rias, and she began explaining it to me. 

“Regarding this shop, the higher ups discussed it. This building belongs to the Grigori. The shop itself belongs to Heaven. The production of it is left to those in the Hyoudou household, who are from from the Underworld.” 

It seemed like an arrangement from all three factions. Rias used her magic to summon a stack of papers. She then placed them on the counter for all of us to see. 

“Issei, leave the store’s interior design to the Gremory Hou… Leave it to me. I’ve already ordered several of the tables and stools. I already have plans to make a shop like this.” 

The documents showed the plans for the shop when it would be completed. It had a chic aspect to it with a calm atmosphere. The stools, tables and sofa were all very elegant. It seemed there would be seperate rooms available for those who wanted to talk in private. 

“As expected of Rias-sama, your design sense is brilliant.” 

Looking at the design drawings, Ravel was admiring Rias’s design sense. Xenovia, who had a mop in her hand, said, 

“Still though, I think it’d be good to make the private [DxD] cafe stylish.” 

“Having a secret shop like this had my heart pounding just thinking about it!” 

Irina also expressed her agreement. In response to that, Rias said, 

“[DxD] has been gradually growing in members ever since it was formed. However, there are some members who don’t often get to interact with each other. I think it’d be lovely to have a place where those who don’t talk with us on a daily basis can come and have a chat. I’m hoping that this can become that sort of place and have designed it with that in mind.” 

She’s right. The members of [DxD] haven’t really talked much other than when we’re fighting enemies. Actually, we could have a noisy and laid back party when we open, but it might be hard finding a time when everyone would be available. Every member of [DxD] had their own role and position before joining. Plus, if you also included the support members, that’s a huge amount of people. I’ve talked to a lot of the members, but there’s definitely still bound to be many people that I’ve yet to talk to. I asked, 

“So then, we’ve got customers, but who’s going to run the shop?” 

Irina made a V sign with her hand while responding. 

“We Angels will be in charge of the basics! Also, the Church staff, Asia-san and Xenovia offered to help. Everyone else also said they’d be happy to help out in their spare time!” 

Ah, I get it. The Angels, Asia and Xenovia, as well as the Church’s staff, would take care of the standard operations. Well, I guess it’s only natural that they’re in charge. Oh man, wouldn’t it be great to be served tea by an Angel! Xenovia and Asia were both really enthusiastic about all this. 

“Leave it to us! Everyone will look forward to coming here for the cute girls!” 

“Yep! I’m looking forward to it!” 

Rias and Akeno-san, who were producing it all, were also talking about it excitedly. 

“Now then, Akeno. What shall we do? First off, we’ll need coffee beans, tea leaves and the like, and a branded set of tea supplies would be nice too.” 

“A snack menu would be a good idea too, don’t you think? Sandwiches are a must… Rice balls would be interesting too.” 

They spread open some paper and began discussing what sort of things would be on their first menu. Suddenly, Koneko-chan asked Rias, 

“…Rias nee-sama. What will the name of the store be?” 

Rias put her hand on her chin and began to think about it. 

“You’ve got a point… That is pretty important. Hmm… Do the Angels have any suggestions?” 

Rias asked Irina. Irina let out a strained laugh. 

“Actually, various suggestions have been made and are pending. If you name it after a Saint, then Devils and Fallen Angels may have issues entering the shop because a divine protection may go off in it. But at the same time, if we use a name from the Underworld, then what about those from Heaven?” 

Rias nodded after hearing this. 

“…I see. Well, we’ll decide on it later, I guess. We’ll have to get a signboard too.” 

I asked Rias, 

“Well then, when do you plan to open up this shop?” 

“The plan is to open up next week.” 

So soon! Well, the chairs and tables and such were being handled by the Gremory staff, so I suppose it’d be done with their demonic power. And it’d also have a limited customer base, so we didn’t need to have a load of food and ingredients. And that’s how it was decided to open a cafe exclusively for the anti-terrorism team [DxD]. 

Part 2 

Today was the day we would open team [DxD]’s personal cafe. When I arrived, the customers — or rather, my companions were already gathered around in small groups here and there. I relaxed while looking around the inside of the store. 

“Ah, Ise-kun. Welcome.” 

Irina came out and welcomed me. The cafe’s uniform was so cute! 

“Allow me to guide you to an available seat.” 

Prompted by Irina, I was guided to a seat that overlooked the rest of the shop. Along the way, I exchanged greetings with some of the unfamiliar members with “Well, hello there,” and “It’s nice to meet you,” and such. Once we reached my seat, I asked Irina, 

“How’s the attendance?” 

“It’s plenty, since we have regulars. Those who live in the Hyoudou residence also drop by when they have a bit of free time. And there were even authorised people and staff members that brought along their parents.” 

Ehhh… The cafe was a bit more crowded than I expected. For the time being, the main way in and out of the cafe was the transportation magic circle we prepared on the top floor of this building. I also came through that magic circle, jumping from the large transportation circle in the Hyoudou family house’s basement. The top floor had a spell placed on it that made the general public avoid it, and it seemed the elevator was made to not travel to the top floor. Similarly, the staircase was covered in some sort of illusion that prevented the general public from being able to recognise the stairs leading here or see this floor in general. 

“Well then, I’ll have an iced coffee.” 

I gave Irina my order. 

“Yep! Thank you very much!” 

Irina wrote down my order and headed to the store’s back. Suddenly, the uniformed figure of Mirana-san (cute) came into view…but she hid her chest again and ran away……Well then, I pulled myself together and did what I came here to do. That is, to take a look around the store and…to have conversations with the various people gathered here. Unexpectedly… No, exactly as I had expected, there were many new people to talk to. There were many stories to be told, and I never lost interest. 

After a while, when I was relaxed and comfortable…His Eminence Strada came in! I came out of my seat a little before sitting back down. Sairaorg-san also made an appearance in the shop! As Sairaorg-san was being led to his seat by Asia, he locked eyes with His Eminence Strada. 

“Oh… If it isn’t His Eminence Vasco Strada!” 

“Hmm. Hello there, next head of the house of Bael. It’s good to see you.” 

“I’d like to talk with you at once if possible. May I have the privilege of sitting with you?” 

“I should be the one saying that. If you’re alright with my old bones, then certainly.” 

And thus, Sairaorg-san and His Eminence Strada were seated together! Wow! Power sitting with power! While taking a sip of his black coffee, Sairaorg-san said, 

“I saw your tournament match. Also, I read the records that the Bael House has on you from your younger days. Especially the anecdotes on the time around the second world war, I can only describe them as awe inspiring.” 

“Fufufu, you embarrass me too much. I had heard there were records of the time I was still refining myself written in the records of the House of the Great King.” 

“Before the alliance, Bael’s soldiers were taught that you were one of the opponents they should avoid if at all possible. That we can be here drinking coffee together…I just don’t know what we can expect to happen next.” 

“I can completely agree with you there. By the way, this coffee…” 

While holding his cup in his hand, His Eminence said, 

“I hear it was the Bael House’s recommendation.” 

Sairaorg-san’s cheeks became a little red. 

“Yeah, I’m somewhat particular about my coffee beans… Rias had asked me for my opinion.” 

Aah, this coffee! I had thought I recognised its aroma and taste somewhere. It seemed Sairaorg-san had recommended it! I had coffee with Sairaorg-san occasionally, and this iced coffee tasted similar. It seemed this was the coffee Sairaorg-san liked. The taste wasn’t quite the same, so maybe the beans were a bit different? Or was it different because of how they’re being prepared? His Eminence Strada said, 

“It’s exceedingly easy to drink, and it has quite the friendly charm to it. There seems to be very little that could be bad about it, so it seems like we’ll have many people who will come visit here.” 

Sairaorg-san seemed even more bashful as he said, 

“Because I’m the one who recommended these beans to Rias, I taught them a variety of blends that they serve here. It is an honour for you to be drinking it.” 

It was unusual to see Sairaorg-san be shy. It seemed he was very happy to have His Eminence Strada be complimenting his recommended coffee. His Eminence Strada asked Sairaorg-san, 

“I also like my coffee a bit more bitter. Do you have any recommendations for that?” 

“Ooh, actually, I… I [1] also like that type of coffee. Certainly, there’s–” 

And as such, that was the kind of conversation the unusual pair of Sairaorg-san and His Eminence Strada had that day. 

Part 3 

When I visited on another day — Vali, Bikou, the current Zhu Bajie (a pig-shaped humanoid Youkai), and a cute middle school student, the current generation Sha Wujing-chan, who had fluffy scarlet hair, were seated surrounded by a large number of people. On the opposing seats there were the first generation Sun Wukong (The Victorious Fighting Buddha), a humanoid youkai looking like a stout pig — the first generation Zhu Bajie (Cleanser of the Altars), the one with a skull necklace hanging from his neck and ample moustache — the first generation Sha Wujing (Golden-bodied Arhat), and a boy in clothes reminiscent of a lotus — Prince Nezha. Each one of the Journey to the West team’s splendid members was present here! This might be the first time the current Journey to the West members and the first generation Journey to the West members were sitting in a room together! 

The current Journey to the West members…everyone except Vali had sweat pouring down their faces, as they were all very nervous. Bikou wasn’t any good at interacting with the first generation Sun Wukong jii-san. The current generation Zhu Bajie and the current generation Sha Wujing-chan must also think very highly of their first generation counterparts as well. While the first generation Sha Wujing jii-san was eating a parfait, he asked Vali and the others, 

“What’s been up lately?” 

Bikou smiled stiffly while replying, 

“La-Lately? What do you mean?” 

The first generation Sha Wujing jii-san explained, 

“Why don’t we get straight to the point? The pig’s descendant is an M [2] , and my descendant is a JC [3] . And your leader is Va-kun?” 

Instead of going for Bikou, he addressed the leader of their team, Vali. What’s more, the first generation Sha Wujing jii-san called that guy “Va-kun”… Vali said, 

“All three of us fight well in the tournament matches… Well, we do occasionally have moments where things get out of order.” 

In response to that, the first generation Sha Wujing jii-san said, 

“Mine, Wukong’s and Bajie’s descendants, you all have talent, but…you’re all immature, or rather, you’re all lacking self control…” 

Next to the first generation Sha Wujing jii-san presenting his honest opinion, the first generation Zhu Bajie jii-san finished his parfait in three bites, caught the shop attendant Asia, and asked her, “I’ll take another one of these please. And by the way, are there bigger servings of it?” The first generation Sun Wukong said, 

“Well, you’re no worse than these guys when we were younger. You see, when I was traveling with my master, my master and Bajie drank the water from the Mother-and-Child River in the Women’s Kingdom of West Liang.” 

The first generation Sha Wujing jii-san reminisced on those memories many times over. 

“Ah, there was that, too. My master and the pig got pregnant. If you drink the water there, it makes you pregnant.” 

“That country only has women in it. But still, it was fun, Wujing.” 

“Good grief…” 

A country of only women!? …Surely there was such a story in “Journey to the West”! I had thought it was just a made up story… I’ll have to ask more about that story later! 

While the first generation Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing jii-san were talking, the current generation members had no choice but to just constantly respond with “…huh“ and “so that’s how it is…” and such. Next to them, the first generation Zhu Bajie jii-san was happily eating his massive parfait, and Prince Nezha was wiggling around in his sleep. During all of this, there seemed to be something that was bothering Vali, so he asked the jii-sans. 

“…By the way, just now, you called me ‘Va-kun’ –” 

As soon as that left his mouth, 

“Well now, thanks for always looking after my Va-kun.” 

A beautiful blonde Magician appeared sitting next to Vali — Lavinia Reni-san! Even Vali seemed surprised by her sudden appearance! Leave it to Lavinia-san to not give myself or Vali even a hint of a feeling that she was there! It seems like only the female party members of the Two Heavenly Dragons have the skill to completely block their presence from Vali and myself! It looked like the appearance of Lavinia-san, who was like a sister to Vali, was a shock to him, since he lost his cool look and instead looked flustered. 

“La-Lavinia… Wh-What are you doing here…?” 

Lavinia-san replied, 

“When I walked into the cafeteria, I saw you engaged in conversation, so I decided to drop by and say ‘hello’ to the people who took care of you.” 

At this strange situation the First Generation Sun-Wukong laughed and commented, 

“Hahaha! I got to meet the Ice Princess the other day, and amongst other things, we discussed looking after the White Dragon Emperor. “ 

Upon hearing those words, Vali covered his face with both his palms as an expression of being flustered and nervous. I could confidently say it because I knew my arch-rival very well. But I could understand how embarrassing it was to be called ‘Va-kun’ by the First Generation Sha-Wujing jii-san in front of your acquaintances during a conversation. They might have learned this from Lavinia-san. Next to Vali, the nervous Bikou started to laugh cheerfully, since seeing his leader been made fun of had made him happy. Well, thanks to the appearance of the yellow-haired onee-sama with voluptuous oppai, the tense atmosphere between the current and first generation Journey to the West became quite cool and they started talking much more calmly. 

Part 4 

I decided to visit the cafeteria yet another day, and I noticed certain people. 

“Hey, manager-san, what’s my rank amongst the women?” 

“Wha–, that’s too blunt!” 

I could see Roygun Belphegor-san and Ravel had gathered together, apparently having an outrageous conversation. I did want to join them, but it seemed like a private conversation between the two so I had no choice but to overhear the conversation sitting somewhere else. Roygun-san said, 

“Because I’ve been exiled from Belphegor, I’ll have to find a husband, but the age gap is too big, and a former human man would most likely see me as their granny.” 

Ravel-san soothed Roygun-san, 

“That’s not a problem. From the eyes of a human, as long as you have the appearance of a woman, they’ll find you attractive.” 

“I hear that a lot…” 

Roygun-san sighed sadly, and then asked Ravel, 

“By the way manager-chan, since you’re his manager, you take care of various things for him, right?” 

“Of course! As his manager, I am the one who accompanies him everywhere and helps him in whatever way I can!” 

Roygun-san laughed at Ravel’s words of joy, 

“Then that too?” 

“That?” 

While pondering, Ravel seemed like she suddenly realized something and her face turned bright red 

“No-nnnnnn, I wouldn’t do that kind of thing!!!” 

Ravel answered with a raised voice. Roygun-san showed an expression of joy upon seeing Ravel’s amusing behaviour. 

“What about in the future?” 

Upon hearing that, Ravel blushed, 

“Aaah, in the future, I… I…” 

“Rather, if he asked you now, would you decline?” 

“De-Decline…? Well I…” 

“If you turn him down, that might be bad.” 

“W-Well, yes…” 

Ravel’s face had become as red as a tomato. 

“You’re very lecherous, Roygun-sama.” 

“Oh no, I didn’t mean anything indecent…but what did you think that is?” 

Ravel saw cheerfulness in Roygun-san’s eyes, who was one obscene onee-san. Despite this strange atmosphere, I felt it was good seeing Roygun-san talking to Ravel. 

Part 5 

On yet another day… 

“Ikuse-san, what club have you joined in your college?” 

“For now, I’m only in the culinary study club, but I don’t really show up much except for my duties and bartending.” 

So went the conversation between Rias and Ikuse-san. It was a rare combination of myself, Rias and Ikuse-san! Ikuse-san was the second cousin of Akeno-san, Rias’s Queen. Rias and Ikuse-san had both just started attending university together. I thought about joining their conversation, but their conversation was interesting, so I chose to just listen for a while. The conversation between the two college students seemed to be about their college life. Rias said, 

“It’s nice to have a Japanese Culture Study Club at university, though we can’t just travel around Japan for research at a moment’s notice…” 

“And the other members? Other than Akeno-chan, are the rest of the members normal people? I heard rumours that they’re all women.” 

“They’re all girls who know of our situation, you know. There are also a lot of special cases among their families, so when it comes to famous Japanese places…” 

“There are cases of techniques being applied to them, like evil repelling charms and barriers against possessors of supernatural powers, huh?” 

Rias nodded at what Ikuse-san said. 

“Though, since the alliance between the factions, Akeno and I sometimes get permission in special cases, because of our involvement in [DxD]…” 

“So that means those other people with supernatural powers or unique abilities have a hard time going to Japan’s famous places, huh?” 

“Yeah, that’s right. Due to this, I’d like to have a talk with the Himejima clan through Akeno about that… with the Five Principal Houses.” 

“Ah… The Five Principal Houses… They’re quite troublesome, aren’t they?” 

Ikuse-san said that with a bitter laugh. Rias also let out a bitter laugh. 

“You’re speaking from experience, aren’t you?” 

I was listening to the conversation between the two college students from beside Rias. When you come to this cafe, you often hear an interesting combination of conversations, and it can be really entertaining. However, sometimes the atmosphere is gloomy, and you have the conversations to match. That was the scene that I came across that day. 

Part 6 

On another day, I was with Kiba and his companion, Tosca-san, and we were all visiting the cafe together… We happened to come across a white-haired boy — Sigmund. Sigmund saw Kiba and boldly took the seat in front of him. He then stared intently at Kiba. He had a rather complex expression on his face and in his eyes. 

The first time they met, Sigmund was shyly watching us from behind the restroom’s door…but right now, he was staring at Kiba with a lot of interest. Tosca-san and I didn’t know what to say, so the atmosphere ended up becoming somewhat tense. Kiba and Sigmund just stared at each other, Kiba with a troubled face and Sigmund with a serious expression. 

“Let’s see… Sigmund-kun, was it…? What is it that you need from me?” 

Kiba asked him with a troubled look on his face and, 

“………” 

Sigmund just kept staring at him in silence. It looked like the conversation wasn’t going to get anywhere. — However, mindlessly poking in probably wouldn't be good, so Tosca-san and I invited Lint-san over to an empty seat and asked her about the circumstances. 

“…What’s going on?” 

I asked Lint-san while looking in Kiba’s direction. Lint-san responded with, 

“Sig-cchi really respects Sieg-sensei. So… Well, it’s complicated.” 

…Ah, so it’s complicated. Kiba had taken the Demonic Emperor Sword Gram that Siegfried had… Furthermore, Kiba was the one who had defeated Siegfried. If Sigmund really respected his sensei Siegfried…did that mean Kiba would become his rival? Lint-san cheerfully said, 

“From the viewpoint of the Sigurd Institution, Kiba-kyun-paisen [4] has quite a deep connection with them. Freed-aniki and Sieg-sensei were both defeated by him, plus he has Gram. After all–” 

Lint-san’s eyes moved towards Tosca-san. 

“His companion, Tosca-aneki also comes from the Sigurd Institution. Honestly, Kiba-kyun-paisen is deeply connected to our entire organisation.” 

Hearing that, Tosca-san said, 

“Ah… Excuse me… Lint-san… Calling me aneki like that…” 

“No, no, I’m pretty sure you’re the same age or older than I am, and we came out of the same organisation, so it’s a given that we are sisters! So I hope you’ll allow me to call you aneki.” 

“Bu-but I… I was asleep for some time, so…” 

“No, no, aneki is definitely aneki.” 

“…Ah… Ahhh…” 

After hearing that from Lint-san, Tosca-san let out a bit of a sigh and looked a bit troubled. Now then, Kiba and Sigmund, who were staring at each other, finally made a move. Sigmund broke his silence and began to speak. 

“…Gram… I heard you have it.” 

“Yeah, I’m its owner right now.” 

“…Originally, it was Siegfried-sensei’s sword….” 

“Yeah, that’s right.” 

“…Siegfried-sensei… Was he a bad person?” 

It was a very straightforward question. How do you answer that question to a boy who respects Siegfried? Kiba, the one who defeated Siegfried, would have to be the one who answered. Kiba responded with a calm tone. 

“I’m sure he had his own beliefs. — However, he was an enemy to me. Because of that, I defeated him. Otherwise, he might have defeated us.” 

Sigmund looked down after hearing Kiba’s honest response and said, 

“I think… I think sensei was a sad person. Gram chose him because he was strong… So I think he couldn’t rely on anyone in the old organisation.” 

“…The Church’s structure at that time… I think you’re right.” 

Kiba’s eyes were full of sorrow. There were a lot of sad events in the old church… Kiba and Tosca-san were originally part of the Holy Sword Project and their companions were all sacrificed in order to save them. 

“Sigmund…-kun, can you rely on anyone? Do you have someone you’re able to rely on?” 

In response to Kiba’s question, Sigmund nodded. Seeing that, Kiba smiled. He was probably relieved about Sigmund’s current state and the Church’s current structure. Sigmund resolved himself and proclaimed, 

“My dream is to become Gram’s next master. That’s why, I’m sure I’ll do it. I’ll challenge Isaiah-sa… Kiba-san. I want to be able to use Gram even better than Siegfried-sensei! As… As a descendant of the hero Sigmund, that…that’s my dream!” 

So that was that white-haired kid’s dream and ambition, huh? At that time, Kiba was surprised, but he had a tender smile on his face. 

“I understand. However, I will do my best not to lose.” 

After hearing that from Kiba, Sigmund finished his drink in one go and smiled brightly. 

“*sniffle* Good, good for you, Sig-cchiiiiiiiiiiii!” 

What the heck? Next to me was the unusual sight of Lint-san wailing?! Sigmund walked over to Lint-san. 

“Lint-nee-yan [5] . I said it.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I saw you do it. You did a good job, Sig-cchi!” 

“Nee-yan, you’re crying.” 

The conversation that had started with a tense atmosphere ended with such a warm exchange. Kiba and Tosca-san had other business to attend to, so they left first, while I decided to give Asia a helping hand before heading home together with her. And that’s when they appeared. 

“Ah, Hyoudou Issei-kun.” 

It was the glasses-wearing next head of the Archduke Agares house, Seekvaira Agares! 

“Seekvaira-san! W…would you like some tea?” 

“Yes, I was going to take a short break here before heading to the Hyoudou house. This works perfectly though. I have some business with you.” 

“Some… Some business with me?” 

Seekvaira-san flashed her glasses before grabbing my hand and leading me to sit at a table. She then made a small magic circle appear on the tabletop. What emerged from the circle was a plastic model of a “Mobile Knight Dungam” [6] ! Everywhere you looked, there were handmade additions, and the details were amazing, while the paint looked like it had a lot of time put into it! 

“I finally finished the limited edition dunpla you bought for me at [Dungam Base], so I thought I’d show you it at least once.” 

“Dungam Base” was a manufacturer specialising in plastic models for “Mobile Knight Dungam” in Odaiba. The other day, I went there and bought a limited edition dunpla to send to Seekvaira-san at her request! 

Seekvaira-san made a few more magic circles on the table and a lot of Dungham materials appeared out of them. While showing off her completed dunpla, she began talking about her hobby. You could really feel Seekvaira-san’s burning passion. 

“I wanted to follow the pack and copy every detail. Here! This backpack is in this document, but this Saber Lelack doesn’t have it, but in this document that came out later, it’s there. Also, the leg thrusters are different here, but I personally prefer the original version—” 

And thus, I ended up talking to Seekvaira-san about Dungham until closing time. In this coffee shop, you could have unusual conversations and inspiring encounters, and then have Dungam talk as well! 

By the way, this shop was named [CxC]. The reason being, Cafe Cleric (churchman), Club, Community, Combination, etc, all start with the letter C. It was suggested by Mirana Shatarova. One of the reasons for choosing the name for Team [DxD] was “It’s simple because it’s a single D.” I’d love to see many more different encounters here at [CxC]! 

Translator Notes: 

 Swaps from using “ore” to using “watashi,” 俺 to 私 , basically changing to a more casual tone. 

 Just in case you don’t get it, Masochist 

 Short for “joshi chuugakusei,” ” 女子中学生,” which is a middle school girl. 

 Paisen is essentially another way of saying “senpai,” means near the same thing. 

 Just his dialect. Similar to what you’d see with -san or -chan at the end of a name. 

 Pretty obviously Gundam stuff, just copyright forces changes.