The location of Kuoh Academy wasn't exactly close to Tokyo Minato.
Lynn and Utaha had to take a train for nearly two hours before finally arriving in Kuoh Town.
This made Lynn even more envious of the teleportation magic that Rias had demonstrated in the anime.
Kuoh Town
Utaha looked around curiously.
"So, what exactly is this place you brought me to?"
"Uh... a devil family's territory?"
"Huh?"
Utaha stopped in her tracks, eyes widening in surprise. "A devil family's territory?"
Her pace suddenly slowed, and she lowered her voice. "Is it really okay for us to just walk in like this?"
Seeing how cautious she was acting, Lynn reassured her, "Don't worry, I have a good relationship with the people in charge here."
Well… probably.
"That's a relief."
Utaha let out a quiet sigh but still felt a little uneasy.
After all, they were devils.
So far, besides the spider Low-Class Devil, the only other devil she had encountered was Lynn.
"I have no idea what other devils are like..."
---
Kuoh Academy Gates
A girl with an almost floor-length black ponytail stood quietly near the entrance.
The moment she spotted Lynn, her eyes lit up. She quickly walked over, adjusted the hem of her skirt, and greeted him with a smile:
"You must be Mr. Lynn. I'm Akeno Himejima, a retainer of the President. She sent me to escort you."
"Sorry to trouble you, Himejima-san."
Stare—
Utaha couldn't help but fixate on Akeno, silently muttering to herself.
"Isn't this figure a little too supermodel-like?!"
She glanced down at herself. Normally, she was quite confident, but in this round… she had lost, no doubt about it.
Noticing Utaha's gaze, Akeno merely responded with a gentle smile, but subtly straightened her back just a little more.
Utaha felt even more depressed.
"This girl must be Lynn's Peerage member."
After teasing Utaha a little, Akeno led the two of them toward the Occult Research Club in the old school building.
On the way, she casually introduced various locations within Kuoh Academy to keep the conversation flowing and avoid any awkward silence.
---
Occult Research Club
"President, Mr. Lynn is here."
Rias shook her crimson hair, then stood up from the sofa to greet them.
"Lynn, welcome to Kuoh Town."
Rias assumed the demeanor of a gracious host and smiled. "You're a guest from afar. Have a seat—let's talk."
"Akeno, prepare some black tea for our guests."
"Yes, President."
As Utaha sat down, she noticed a petite girl sitting in the corner of the couch.
Rias introduced her, "This is one of my Peerage members, Koneko Toujou. She's currently in the middle school division."
"Hello, senpais."
Koneko greeted them in a flat, emotionless voice.
Lynn took a moment to glance around, quietly admiring the luxurious setting before asking curiously, "Rias, do you only have two Peerage members?"
Rias hesitated slightly, then tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. "Yes. I focus on quality over quantity, so it's difficult to find suitable members."
Lynn fell into thought.
Kiba Yuuto isn't here? That vampire isn't around either?
Haven't they joined yet? Or is this because of the so-called 'butterfly effect'...
"This must be your Peerage member."
Rias turned her gaze to Utaha.
After all, the Evil Piece she had given to Lynn was used just yesterday. For him to already have a Peerage member, they must have had a close connection beforehand.
Rias silently assessed her.
No Sacred Gear aura.
No signs of combat training.
Just an ordinary person…?
"I'm Kasumigaoka Utaha."
Utaha introduced herself calmly, though her eyes lingered on Rias.
This dynamic between master and servant…
She glanced at Koneko.
Then, she suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Koneko: "?"
Kitten alert!
---
"I already know why you're here."
After all, they had discussed it over the phone yesterday.
Since Lynn had never received formal underworld education on devil society, Rias directly pulled out a very thick black book.
It was about the size of two bricks.
Lynn's eyelids twitched at the sight of it.
"This book, '360 Ways to Use Magic', is a general reference for the Underworld. It contains information on various common magic techniques."
Rias apologized, "I'm sorry, but I can only provide this standard compilation. More advanced techniques are the closely guarded secrets of individual devil families."
Lynn nodded in understanding. "This is more than enough."
Honestly, just reading through this one book would already take a long time.
Fortunately…
He had Utaha.
Lynn casually pushed 360 Ways to Use Magic toward Utaha with a grin.
"I'll leave it to you, Utaha."
"...?"
A giant question mark appeared over Utaha's head.
She wanted to complain, but considering they were in someone else's territory, she forcibly swallowed her protests.
Instead, she stared at the massive book in front of her with a headache.
Fortunately, she didn't need to actually understand or learn it.
She just needed to record it.
Utaha gritted her teeth.
"Fine. Copy!"
***
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