Chapter 73: Chapter:73 Peerages
After all, what need had he to spend his money on static images when he had real-life oppai bouncing on display 24-7? As a result of this, his poor wallet, usually barren post allowance day, was practically bursting at the seams due to the excess of funds he’d accumulated...or at least it would have had he not been forced to pay for a certain pair of exorcists’ meal due to the deviousness of a certain suicidal Damned Handsome.
"I mean, seriously, where the hell does he get off trying to act all cool like that?" he muttered, glaring at the screen with his tongue between his teeth, tilting his Famicom controller awkwardly in an attempt to make his car turn faster "Bad enough he totally stole the show, but then he goes and almost offs himself only to disappear on us for a week!" he snorted bitterly "Seriously, why does he get to lay low while we deal with the fallout?"
Now that was putting things likely. Putting aside the original political drama that came with the original theft of the swords & Kokabiel’s involvement, the past week had seen both his Master and Sona-Kaichou in almost constant correspondence with representatives of both Heaven and Hell.
In the case of the former, while they were ’grateful’ that the situation had been resolved with minimal loss of human life, the fact that all of the Excaliburs barring Xenovia’s Destruction, the Roman-Orthadox’s Blessing and the missing Ruler had been destroyed hadn’t exactly earned the Kuoh faction any favors with the church.
To make matters worse, Xenovia had disappeared with Durandal following the battle with Kokabiel, though not before entrusting Excalibur-Destruction to a confused, heartbroken Irina in what Rias deduced to be a noble attempt to lessen the punishment that likely awaited Issei’s childhood friend upon her return to the Vatican.
Then again, Issei could hardly blame Xenovia for running off like she had. Considering the political minefield the Gremory & Sitri peerage were currently dealing with following their exposure to the dark truths behind not one, not two, but three of their ancestral enemy’s most closely guarded secrets.
Now Issei had never been particularly pious growing up, unless lusting after Oppai counted, in which case he was probably the best candidate for Pope, Buddha or what have you of whatever perverse religion based itself around such, but from what little he recalled of Irina’s family gatherings prior to her moving back to England, he could sort of understand how big a deal the death of their Patron Deity had to be for them.
With that in mind, he’d completely understood when Rias ordered him to keep the secret behind Xenovia’s excommunication from Irina, even though it had cut him to the core to see the cold dismissal and shame in his childhood friend’s eyes, his heart going out to the pig-tailed exorcist as he watched her leave to return the shattered remains of the Excaliburs to the Vatican, alone.
Though her mission was technically a success, it was entirely thanks to the efforts of the Gremory and Sitri peerages, the same Devils she and Xenovia had been ordered to ’politely’ ask to refrain from getting involved, rather than anything of her own doing. To make matters worse, not only had she allowed the stolen swords to be destroyed, she’d lost her own and her partner had done a runner, taking with her one of the few remaining True Holy Swords in the Vatican’s arsenal.
Issei might be a pervert, okay screw it he was quite possibly one of the most perverted individuals to walk the earth in the current age, but nothing hurt him more than seeing a girl cry or being unable to help a friend, so watching Irina walk away with her head lowered in shame, unable to offer her so much as a hug or word of encouragement, had been a devastating double blow that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Thankfully for all those involved, things on the Infernal spectrum had been slightly more bearable, partly due to the fact that the reinforcements sent by Rias’ elder brother had handled all of the clean-up and political maneuvering, thus allowing the members of the Occult Research Club and Student Council to get some much-needed rest.
That being said, things weren’t exactly a bed of roses, as evidenced by the lecture delivered to them by Greyfia-san herself the day immediately following the battle. While Sirzech could not, in good faith, condemn his beloved little sister for her actions, and indeed had praised her & Sona-Kaichou for acquitting themselves against a superior opponent, the fact the heiresses hadn’t immediately contacted their elder siblings upon learning that Kokabiel was involved out of misplaced pride hadn’t earned them any brownie points with the Lucifer.
Nor, it seemed, had it done anything to improve Grayfia’s temper, a fact the ’Strongest Queen’ made abundantly clear despite never raising her voice the entire debriefing. Sirzech-sama had apparently been in the middle of a highly important meeting when word reached him about the situation in Kuoh and it had taken the combined efforts of Grayfia and Ajuka Beelzebub to keep the Lucifer from going in guns blazing personally and instead send reinforcements to back them up.
In short, while Rias & Sona had acquitted themselves well given the situation, the fact remained that their stubborn, childish pride had made the whole affair far more complicated than it needed to be. Had they informed their respective siblings, or at the very least passed word along to Grayfia from the get go, Sirzechs could have put together a covert task force to assist Irina and Xenovia from behind the scenes whilst luring Kokabiel out into the open, thus putting the Church in their debt without risking the lives of the civilian populace or putting their own fledgling, inexperienced Peerages in harms way.
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