The Foldable Cultivator [High School DxD]

[NuclearBirb]

Extremely funny reaction to basically go "lol haha suuuure youre demons" to rias and sona. The difference between a cultivation Demon and a DxD devil is truly grand.

 

[Starman25]

The MC will take an interest in Sacred Gears, the information the Fallen Angels possess regarding them, and the experiments they conducted on their wielders (this appears in the novel: Devil!Issei conversing with Fallen Angels while, in the background, other Fallen Angels perform experiments on Sacred Gear bearers).

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Is this normal?" Tsubaki asked.

Sona rarely saw Tsubaki show such strong emotion. She had feelings, of course; Shinra-chan was simply very reserved. Loyal and caring, intelligent and serious—her Queen embodied the very qualities the heiress of House Sitri valued.

Yet now the astonishment on her closest aide's face was impossible to miss. Chiba-kun had begun accepting the Rook—the Evil Piece that had responded to him—but the process wasn't going at all as it usually did.

He had settled into the lotus position and taken the Rook in his hands. That was when things got strange. Over a minute had passed, and the process showed no sign of ending. The Piece itself was sinking into his body very, very slowly.

"I've never seen anything like it," Sona said, shaking her head as she sat down on the sofa and topped up her tea. "Let's wait and see."

Her new servant was a strange one—still human, for now. He kept surprising her even as he accepted the Evil Piece.

Despite her worries about the strange way Chiba's reincarnation was unfolding, a faint smile of triumph crossed Sona's face. They'd gotten lucky this time. The student council played an active role in school life, so she kept a list of every student who showed even a hint of promise.

Chiba-kun was on that list. She knew enough about him to see that he could be useful: in Hell as a servant of House Sitri, or in the human world working for the Shitori family. Someone so diligent and determined would always be in demand.

Sona was still inexperienced, but she worked hard to live up to her position as heiress. She took every opportunity to strengthen herself and her House, even when that meant offering the House's patronage to promising young mortals.

It had all begun quite recently. Sona had seen it herself: the quiet, composed, serious Chiba Taro-kun had returned to school after his "cold" practically glowing with life force. He had stood out before, but that seemed normal enough given his training under a renowned kendo master, his wushu classes, his healthy lifestyle, and his almost fanatical attention to his diet.

But no healthy lifestyle could explain such a leap. That much life force was beyond human limits. They had looked for an explanation and found none. An athletic young man had fallen ill, spent a week at home, and come back to school changed. He and his parents were entirely human, and nothing suspicious had been found in his home.

"Sitri-san," Tsubaki said, drawing her attention. "Why did he agree so quickly? He didn't even take time to… What's that?"

An expression of deep frustration crossed Taro's serene face. Gold flashed beneath his closed eyelids—brief and bright, like a lightbulb burning out.

"Blood?" Sona's voice grew worried. Blood was running from Taro's nose.

The heiress of House Sitri barely had time to frown before his face was serene again.

"Everything's fine, Sitri-sama," Chiba-kun said, sounding a little guilty. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Chiba-kun?" Sona was startled to hear him speak. "What's going on? Why is it taking so long? What was that flash?"

"Everything is proceeding as it should. I have almost no control over it, but I've managed to slow it down. My body is my kingdom, but the power of this artifact, this Evil Piece, is like a great army inexorably conquering my lands. I have only enough strength to slow its advance. Incredible power."

"But why?" Tsubaki couldn't help asking. "You agreed to this!"

"Two reasons." Frustration crossed his face again. "My dantian, the seat of life, has begun producing altered qi. My body is changing along with it. The reincarnation is happening on every level. The array I built inside my head had one absolute requirement: it had to be constructed from qi native to my body. But the life energy I used to build it is now foreign to me. If I hadn't destroyed the array before the changes reached my brain, it would have killed me. Several months of work down the drain, unfortunately."

"And the second?" Sona made a mental note of what her… not-quite-servant had said and prompted him to continue.

"A thirsty man drinks from every spring." A delighted smile spread across Taro's face. "I thirst for strength, for power. And what's happening inside my body is the work of a truly great mind. I dare to hope I can grasp at least some of the principles and mechanisms at work within me."

"Oh?" Sona was surprised yet again. Slowing down his reincarnation so he could study it? That was… highly unusual.

"As for your question, Shinra-san, I thought it through carefully before I agreed." His smile faded. His expression was serene again, his voice measured and calm. "Your faction seemed the best fit for me. I intend to become strong. Very strong. But that's a difficult road. I'll need resources and training. I doubt I can get everything I need on my own, and even if I can, I won't be able to keep my growing power a secret. I'll need fights, chances to hone my skills, opponents worth facing. Someone will notice. Maybe not ordinary people, but one of the three factions certainly will."

Chiba Taro fell silent for several seconds. When Tsubaki was about to hurry him along, Sona stopped her with a hand on her arm. Whatever he was observing within himself seemed to demand his full attention.

"As I grow stronger, someone will notice," he continued as though he'd never paused. "And the factions won't be content to leave me alone. No matter what a powerful neutral promises, he could always side with an enemy. The Fallen seem the least appealing option, all else being equal. For one thing, I beat up the only black-winged bird I've met, and I don't even know his name."

"Yes, that was unwise," Tsubaki said with a hint of mockery. The remark was meant more for Sona than for the boy, who still sat with his eyes closed.

"Not at all," Chiba replied. "Two things led me to join that fight: the surveillance I'd sensed ever since you and Sitri-sama took such an interest in me in the school corridor, and Hyoudou Issei's sudden increase in strength. Someone noticed the changes in me at school, so there was a good chance it was you. Too many coincidences: my progress in cultivation, the unexplained attention of the school's most beautiful girls—who'd barely spared me an indifferent glance before—and then the surveillance. I concluded that the school had 'owners.' Fairly friendly ones, at that. I was being watched, but no one tried to pressure me. I appreciated that. An idiot might have taken offense at being watched, but I'm no idiot. I'd keep an eye on an unfamiliar young man on my turf too. I wouldn't want some stranger causing trouble in my own backyard."

Sona exchanged a look with Tsubaki. It was interesting to follow Taro's reasoning. He'd had few facts to work with, but his conclusions seemed sound.

"And then there was Issei. He'd changed. Grown stronger. I could sense he might become an opponent worth fighting one day. Not yet, of course—right now he's still trash—but the potential is there. And as I said, I want to grow stronger. So I decided to keep an eye on him, just as you'd kept an eye on me. That gave me two possibilities: the school's mysterious owners might approach me, or Hyoudou might lead me to the information I was after. Then that winged piece of trash in the stylish hat showed up. Perfect opportunity. Save Issei, get some answers, and do his patrons a favor. He had to have patrons. Someone like Issei couldn't have gained that kind of power on his own. Unless you count the power to get a hard-on."

"And what if he really had been on his own?" Sona asked.

"He couldn't have been. I heard what the winged man said, and I saw Issei's reaction. The Fallen asked Hyoudou-kun, 'Where's your master?' The feathered trash in the hat sounded certain. He assumed my classmate was either out wandering on his own or an Exile, while Issei just gaped at him. To be thrown out of somewhere, you have to have been there in the first place, and Hyoudou's dumb face made it perfectly clear he had no idea what was going on. So there was a chance he was a new initiate who didn't even know he'd joined anything. Anyone even slightly acquainted with that member of the Perverted Trio would have no trouble believing it."

He fell silent for a couple of seconds, frowned slightly, then raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Marvelous…"

"What?" Tsubaki asked, confused.

"The changes. They're incredible…" He fell silent for a few more seconds, then his expression became serene once more. "Forgive me. I got distracted. Anyway, even if Issei had been on his own, saving him could still have gotten me information. Maybe he'd found some strange object or something. Either way, I stood to gain. But when you appeared in the park, everything fell into place. And after Sitri-sama explained things, I decided House Sitri was a perfect fit for me."

"And what makes you say that?" Sona asked with a faint smile.

"As I said, things are already strained between me and the Fallen. Cross them off. I know nothing about the angels, for one thing. For another, I'm not fond of men dressed in white. Too often, the only things setting them apart from everyone else are clean clothes and lofty slogans. Cross them off. You…" He paused, and Sona thought she caught the faintest mocking smile on his face. "The demons seemed the most appealing choice, based on what I know. You came to Issei's aid—a little late, granted, but you came. Gremory-san was very sweet with Hyoudou, fussing over him like that… Your teleportation magic impressed me. And you attend the same academy I do. You know where I live, who I am, who my parents are. You could make trouble for me. Besides, there are two groups operating here, and you don't seem to be enemies. And I'm happy with the terms you offered."

"Why Sitri and not Gremory?" Sona asked, taking a sip of tea.

"First, because Sitri-sama defeated Gremory-san in the battle for me. I heard your conversation, and now that I know about the Evil Pieces, I understand what it was about. An argument is a battle too, and whoever is stronger wins. All else being equal, I'd rather serve the stronger party. Second, that argument showed me your Houses had already reached an agreement about me. Gremory-san is unlikely to want to offend Sitri-sama. Third, there's Issei, who clearly serves House Gremory. He's a decent enough guy, even amusing, but if I spent too much time around him, I'm afraid I'd end up killing him during one of Hyoudou's bouts of terminal horniness. And fourth and finally, Sitri-sama ranks first when it comes to beauty. So, given a choice between her and Gremory-san, of course I choose Sitri Sona-sama."

"According to Kuoh Academy's unofficial beauty rankings, I'm in third place," Sona corrected him calmly.

"I don't give a damn about rankings put together by a bunch of trash," Taro said serenely. "Beauty is subjective, and as far as I'm concerned, Sitri-sama, you take first place. And not just at our school—not by a long shot."

"Um…" Sona caught Tsubaki's amused glance and blushed just a little. "Thank you, Chiba-kun."

"The truth weighs nothing, but to the weak it's heavier than a mountain," he said calmly. "Forgive me, but the changes taking place won't allow me to continue our conversation."

Silence settled over the student council room. He said nothing, his face frozen into a stony mask. Only his slow, deep breathing showed that he was still alive.

"The ego on that boy…" Tsubaki shook her head.

"Hmm?" Sona raised an eyebrow and took another sip of tea.

"The truth is heavier than a mountain to the weak, but he's so strong he can say it to your face without hesitation," her Queen said with a snort. "And he calls everyone trash every other sentence."

"He certainly thinks highly of himself," Sitri agreed. "I'll talk to him. Chiba Taro is about to discover a vast world inhabited by some very powerful beings."

"And if he doesn't listen?"

"Then someone he offends will give him a beating." Sona shrugged.

"He's smiling!" Shinra Tsubaki exclaimed suddenly. "He's listening in on us!"

Sure enough, a faint smile of anticipation had appeared on Taro's face. Sona smirked.

"Well, he said he couldn't continue our conversation. He never said he couldn't listen."

"You sly… demon!" The Queen shook her head in disapproval, though her eyes were laughing. Taro's smile grew a fraction wider.

"Don't flatter him just yet." Sona hid her own smile behind another sip of tea. He hadn't needed to let on that he could hear them, after all.

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[Bigreader]

Well, he made a couple of wrong assumptions that would have been right. In a cultivation world. And honestly, he's wrong gremmory, and her group all come out is more powerful. Both in potential and in actual strength and would be that much more powerful if they would train more in all of their potential abilities.

 

[FTR2017]

Sona's in for quite the shocking surprise, I doubt Siscon-sama will be able to keep him away from her dear lil' sister's bed at this rate!

 

[Boroda Orka]

Evil Pieces really are incredible, I thought as I came out of meditation. It was morning already. School soon, and after classes the student council was expecting me.

My homeroom teacher would be over the moon. At our academy, joining the student council was more prestigious than joining any club. "For educational purposes," the administration had handed the council a hefty share of authority over the school and now merely signed off on its decisions. I suspected those signatures were just for show. Houses Sitri and Gremory held the real power at Kuoh, period. And if there was any adult supervision, the adults involved certainly weren't human.

Unfortunately, Sitri-sama and I hadn't had much time for a proper conversation. By the time I'd finished reincarnating as a demon, it was pretty late for a high school student to be out. The president had sent me home, warning me that I'd have to get my parents' permission to stay out the following night.

"We'll sort that out later. For now, you'll have to manage on your own. I trust you'll emerge victorious from your battle with parental supervision," she said calmly, ending with a faintly mocking smile. She'd set aside the stack of papers she'd been working on while she and Shinra-san waited for me. "Demons are creatures of the night, so expect some discomfort in sunlight and greater strength from sunset to dawn. Your hearing will improve, and so will your eyesight. You'll be able to see easily in the dark, too. From now on, a lack of light will work in your favor. And one more thing: stay away from temples. Any of them. They're enemy territory. You could be attacked there, and whoever attacked you would be within their rights. That would cause problems for me, and they wouldn't end with the loss of a new servant!"

In just a few sentences, she'd taken a gentle jab at my ego, shown she had a taste for subtle humor, and covered what I needed to know for the following day. She hadn't buried me in details. She'd given me the essentials and pointed out the biggest danger.

Still… I really liked Sitri Sona. I'm not about to claim I've fallen madly in love at first sight. That's bullshit. In my first few lives, sure, I had my moments. But these days I'm past that sort of nonsense.

The madly part, I mean.

To me, love is made up of several things: liking a woman, finding her attractive, having compatible personalities and shared values, and respecting the way she lives and the choices she makes. You can't learn all that at "first sight." One look can only tell you whether you want to sleep with her.

Yes, yes, I'm boring and coldhearted. I don't give a damn. But of all the women I know, Sona comes closest to meeting my criteria for "serious consideration as a romantic prospect."

I chuckled under my breath as I got dressed after a quick shower. I liked the intelligence in Sona's violet eyes, her calm, pretty face, and its quiet, understated expressions. I liked what I'd seen of her character, too, and she had a good reputation.

It seemed I was slowly talking myself into pursuing Sitri Sona. I'd even started thinking about how useful a bride from a powerful family could be. All right. I'd see what she was like as I got to know her better.

"Mamoru!" I heard Mom shout. "Have you no shame, you rascal? That's Taro's bento! You know he makes his food to suit his diet, and you still keep stealing it!"

"But, Usagi, it's so good!" Dad protested, and I snorted. Of course it was. I wasn't going to eat "tasty, healthy meals made from stuff that isn't even food." After a shitload of reincarnations, I'd learned to make just about anything taste good enough to make you want to chew the chopsticks too.

"And how come our son cooks better than you do… and never makes enough?!"

You've got some fucking nerve, Dad, I thought as I headed downstairs. Every evening I make three bentos for the next day. Mom eats one, you devour the second, and then you start picking at the third to "just try this one little piece."

"Chiba Mamoru…" Mom's threatening voice didn't bode well for the old man. "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you! Stay right there and face your fate!"

"Good morning, honored Mother and Father," I said, coming into the kitchen with a broad smile and saving Dad's ass. "I'll need to spend the night at school for student council business."

"Good morning, worthy son," Mom replied with exaggerated solemnity. She smiled at me and slipped a wooden spatula behind her back—the one she'd been about to use for an act of violence against the senior male of our household. Then my words sank in, and her eyebrows shot up.

"Student council?" Dad voiced her unasked question and waved hello. "Since when have you had anything to do with the student council?"

"I've joined. Well, I'll officially join today." I checked how hot the kettle was, nodded in satisfaction, and started brewing my special tea. "The president, Shitori-san, offered me a place, and I didn't turn her down. They've got a mountain of paperwork, so they could use the help. It'll be good experience for me, too."

"Shitori-san?" Dad straightened up. "That delicate-looking girl with violet eyes?"

"That's her." I put on a dreamy smile and narrowed my eyes slightly as I poured boiling water into the teapot. "She's beautiful. Smart, serious, responsible, too. She's the best student council president this school has ever had!"

"You…" Mom's jaw dropped, her eyes wide with genuine astonishment.

"Of course, son," Dad said much too quickly and with far too much enthusiasm. "If you need to work hard for your future and learn from such a fine young lady…" He glanced at Mom, widening his eyes slightly to hint at something. "…a young lady with SO many fine qualities, then, as your father, I give you my blessing."

"Oh, darling, you're absolutely right!" Mom said in a rush, trying to look composed again. Her delighted eyes and the smile she couldn't quite suppress gave her away. "Taro, if that's what you need to do, your father and I are behind you all the way. Show them how hard Chiba Taro can work! You've got this!"

Her fist shot into the air, and she struck a pose straight out of an anime pep talk. I chuckled under my breath. I really had lucked into wonderful parents this time around, and I did my best not to let them down.

"Would you like some tea?" I asked, taking out three cups. Purely a formality. Everyone loved my special tea. Grandpa out in the village practically lived on the supply I sent him.

"Taro, dear, who else is on your student council?" Mom asked cautiously.

"Shinra Tsubaki, Yura Tsubasa, Meguri Tomoe, Hanakai Momo, Kusaka Rei… and one guy, but I've forgotten his name," I lied. His name was Saji Genshiro. I poured the tea and slid the cups over to my parents.

The kitchen went quiet for about ten seconds, so I took a sip. Wonderful. An ordinary person would have a hard time believing what an experienced cultivator's care could do for ordinary tea bushes like the ones I'd planted in the yard. Weekly infusions of qi and the right nutrients had made the plants incredibly healthy. The tea was fragrant and exceptionally good for you.

If I ever decided to just get rich, I could buy a tea plantation and sell the leaves to the world's wealthiest connoisseurs for obscene amounts of money. I'd even sent a gift box of my tea to some sheikh in the UAE recently, as a joke. He'd mentioned on the TV news that the best tea in the world came from India. If the package never reached him, no big deal. If he tasted it, I doubted he'd stick to that opinion.

Come to think of it, I'd have to take some tea leaves with me. Let my new kin have a cup. Get them hooked on regular shipments, so to speak.

"I'll be right back," Dad said suddenly, rising from the table with a glazed look in his eyes. Mom and I watched him go, baffled. More puzzling still, once he left the kitchen, he practically sprinted toward their bedroom.

"So there are six girls on the student council and only two boys, including you?" Mom asked, turning a stunned gaze on me.

"Yeah, Mom. It's Kuoh. There are way more girls than boys here. The numbers are slowly evening out, but the girls will still outnumber us by a wide margin for at least another two years."

"And you're all spending the night at school?"

"I'm not sure." I rubbed my chin. "But I think so. They're swamped with work, and Shitori-san wanted to introduce me to the rest of the council."

Speaking of my chin, I really ought to decide on a look for after graduation. Grow a little beard and go for the "wise, kindly mentor" look? Go for the standard smooth-faced bishonen? Or maybe I was in the mood for something villainous this time. Bushy eyebrows, a menacing glare… Hmm.

Facial hair had started coming in, and I couldn't be bothered to shave. Should I get rid of it for good—the easy option—or make it disappear only temporarily, which would take more work?

"Son," Dad said, coming back into the kitchen. "Here, take this. Invite your new friends to a café or karaoke. Get to know them, make a good impression. It'll help you get off on the right foot with the group."

"Dad…" I stared at the thick stack of yen bills my old man had put on the table. That was enough to take the entire student council to a good restaurant with downright ugly prices. Twice. "Why? I have money."

"Taro, please don't argue." Dad sat back down and took a sip of tea, closing his eyes in contentment. "Humor your old man and take some good advice. You're the kind of son your mother and I could only have dreamed of. But you haven't had much luck with gi— with friends. I know you don't like wasting your time, but working on the student council will be excellent preparation for adult life."

"Your father's right," Mom said, nodding. "You'll finish school, then university, and after that you'll get a job. You'll have colleagues you'll work with for years, so knowing how to get along with people is important."

Husband and wife—two halves of the same devil. That was my parents, all right. Look at them, telling their son the hard truths about adult life with perfectly innocent faces. They'd worked training into the argument and thrown in a healthy dose of parental concern.

If the student council had been all boys, they wouldn't have stopped me from "helping the team" overnight. But there wouldn't have been all this song and dance, either. They'd waited so long for their clever plan with Kuoh Academy to pay off… I think Mom and Dad had even begun to suspect that trying to set me up, in any form, was a lost cause.

So my words about Shitori-san—all true, by the way; I really did think she was the most beautiful girl I knew, with a wonderful character to match—fell like blessed rain on the parched soil of my parents' hopes. I could practically hear what was going through their heads:

Taro's found a girl who's just as nuts as he is, obsessed with responsibility and taking everything seriously, and he actually likes her. We need to visit every temple and pray to every god we can think of so things work out between them—and they give us lots of little serious, responsible rugrats.

"I'll take this much," I said, picking up about a quarter of the stack. "Thanks, Dad. I'll try to invite them to a café, but not anytime soon. They're swamped, like I said."

"All right, all right." Dad smiled in relief. "I'm not saying you should drag them all there by the scruff of their necks today. You're a smart kid. You'll figure it out. Just don't forget."

"Deal." I nodded to my parents, finished my tea, and got up from the table. "I'd better get ready for school."

"Go on, sweetheart." Mom gave me a quick hug. "Have a good day."

"And a good night," Dad added, clapping me on the shoulder once she let go.

As I left the kitchen and headed upstairs to my room, my enhanced hearing caught Dad's quiet whisper.

"Usagi, tonight after work, I'll pick up some wine. You make a celebratory dinner… And you haven't stashed that sailor fuku we bought for cosplay too far away, have you?"

"Ooh… Does my Tuxedo Mask want to relive the old days?" Mom giggled. "Don't forget the rose…"

I stopped listening after that, chuckling to myself. Apparently my parents were in the mood to get up to a little mischief while their son worked surrounded by no fewer than six girls. I had a feeling there'd be more than one toast to future grandchildren in this house tonight.

---

Sunlight… yeah. The plan for the near future: once the storm of altered qi in my body settled and my dantian stopped pumping out energy at full throttle, I'd rebuild the Nine Eyes of the Sage with my new "native" qi. Then I could get back to leveling up and start attuning myself to the elements.

I knew a few weather techniques that I suspected would become favorites. That "gentle" sunshine felt bloody awful. Even after I formed the Mantle of Might, it was still unpleasant.

Being out in the light was miserable. The sun's rays felt almost solid, like coarse sandpaper—hot, coarse sandpaper dragged across hypersensitive skin. And that lovely little sun was clearly weakening my newly altered body.

In a dark room, I felt much stronger than I had before. Out in sunlight, though, my "power level" was only a little higher than it had been before I accepted the Rook. The Mantle canceled out roughly forty percent of the effect, but I still felt like crap.

But at night… whew. The cultivation potential of this world's demons was enormous. I hardly had words for it. If I'd accepted an Evil Piece as an ordinary mortal who'd never cultivated, I'd now be almost as strong as I'd been yesterday, before the Rook.

No wonder Kings sought out powerful beings for their Pieces, especially those with exceptional talents or unusual abilities. An Evil Piece didn't just turn you into a demon, already stronger than a human by default. It gave you one hell of a boost on top of that. And for a cultivator, the possibilities were staggering.

Picture two buildings, each a hundred stories tall. One stands at sea level and is… let's say three hundred meters high. The other is identical, but it stands on a hill five hundred meters high. Its roof ends up much higher above sea level. The same principle applies to cultivators.

I was much stronger than I'd been yesterday, and it hadn't cost me a thing! Figuratively speaking, a tall hill had sprung up beneath the "building" of my cultivation progress. I now stood a good deal higher above "sea level."

I think you can see where this is going. Once I regained my old level of strength—and it was considerable—I'd stand an entire hill's height above my former self.

So I had another goal for this life: get my hands on the secret of how Evil Pieces were made. Figure out the principles behind them, try to create a version using qi—even a weaker one—and carry the recipe for another booster into my future lives. Preferably one without that little sunlight problem.

If I failed to break through here, if enlightenment never came, a qi version of an Evil Piece would be just what the doctor ordered. Besides, more raw power never hurt. Cultivators don't turn down a boost. The greedy toad inside every one of us is far too eager to hoard every power-up it can get.

"Chiba-san!" I heard Issei call as I approached the academy. "Good morning!"

"Morning, Issei-kun." I raised a hand in greeting.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday!" He gave me a bright, grateful smile. Well, look at that. The guy wasn't just funny and a pervert. He had some good qualities too.

"You're welcome. Glad you're okay." I gave him a small smile, and I wasn't even lying. Much.

Mostly, I didn't give a damn about him. He got on my nerves sometimes, sure, but I didn't want him dead. Well… most of the time, anyway. And without him and the other two morons, school would be a hell of a lot duller. They were always screwing up spectacularly or putting on a show, proudly broadcasting their perversions to everyone around them.

I even agreed with them to a point: sex was great, boobs were beautiful, and girls made the world a prettier place. But why take it so far? Sure, I had self-control and Issei and his friends didn't, but they weren't the only guys at school who wanted to date girls. Somehow, the others managed just fine.

My conclusion? The three of them were playing it up for shock value, acting out their own little pervert subculture. Goths wear black and go on about how life is all doom and gloom—or is that emos? Honestly, I can't remember. The Perverted Trio did the same thing with porn, carrying it around and making damn sure everyone knew it.

"Yo, Ise! What's the deal? You're hanging out with gloomy Chiba now?" Motohama popped out from around the nearest corner like a jack-in-the-box, Matsuda right behind him. They were Hyoudou's two buddies. I had no idea what House Gremory's newest servant had been about to tell me, but the moment was shot to hell.

"Did you finally teach him to appreciate the finer things in life?" Matsuda chimed in.

"Don't get your hopes up, guys." My lips curled into a smirk as I clapped a hand onto each of their shoulders, hard enough to make both perverts wince. "Keep me out of your horny little club. Have a nice day."

As I passed through the academy gates, I noticed a small group of girls standing near where we'd just talked. When they caught me looking, all four put on stern expressions of approval and gave me a thumbs-up. They did it in such perfect unison that they looked like soldiers saluting. The girls seemed surprised by their own timing and burst out laughing.

Well… the Perverted Trio didn't exactly have the best reputation at the academy. I'd clearly just earned myself a few popularity points.

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[Chaosfox13]

*blinks* huh. Makes you wonder whether its just the names or if his parents actually have something going on. They cosplayed evidently, but were they cosplaying themselves?

I feel like he would have noticed something in his system with that sort of parentage. Over abundence of lunar and terrestrial qi or something.

Does sailor moon as media diageticly exist? The names would be giant coincidences if so.


(Edit) Oh my goodness I just realized Serafall would absolutely explode if it is.

 

[Starman25]

The MC is the child of Usagi and Mamoru—likely a peaceful reincarnation of Usagi, just as Usagi's mother and Luna had hoped—or perhaps Usagi used the Silver Crystal.
Part of the reason the MC feels good under the moonlight could also be attributed to Usagi being Sailor Moon—the guardian associated with the moon—which, from the MC's perspective, suggests that their current body has an affinity for Yin and/or lunar Qi.

 

[Vyraco]

Yeah, iIrc, Devils don't get an afterlife in DxD... maybe he just managed to break his own reincarnation cycle, and his soul just poofs out of existence when he dies

 

[Bigreader]

Well, a few do get an afterlife, but I don't think he's gonna qualify for heaven

Though it will be somewhat hilarious later. When someone explains the usual events after death for devils, and he realizes he also kind of screwed himself over for his reincarnations. It's either immortality in this life or nothing.

 

[Chaosfox13]

Yeah, iIrc, Devils don't get an afterlife in DxD... maybe he just managed to break his own reincarnation cycle, and his soul just poofs out of existence when he dies

Click to shrink...

That seems to just be a persistent bit of fanon. Heck, a devil canonically got into heaven.
In the absence of a specific statement to the contrary, it seems safe to assume that whatever happens to humans happens to them. The burden of proof lies with the assertion that they dont.

 

[Vyraco]

That seems to just be a persistent bit of fanon. Heck, a devil canonically got into heaven.
In the absence of a specific statement to the contrary, it seems safe to assume that whatever happens to humans happens to them. The burden of proof lies with the assertion that they dont.

Click to shrink...

I don't know for sure about all Devils, but what I do know, is that canon explicitly states that every Devil killed by Holy Light (Fallen, excorcist weaponry and some SG count mind you) gets his soul literally eradicated.

 

[Chaosfox13]

I don't know for sure about all Devils, but what I do know, is that canon explicitly states that every Devil killed by Holy Light (Fallen, excorcist weaponry and some SG count mind you) gets his soul literally eradicated.

Click to shrink...

Which rather seems to be evidence that annihilation is not the normal result of death. As otherwise, that wouldn't be a notable specific power of Holy Light.

More broadly, xianxia isn't exactly a stranger to that sort of thing. Past a certain level, everyone's tossing around junk like "soul rending fist" or "Hun-Po scattering kick" or "wheel removing destruction blast".

I wouldn't be surprised if someone has used that sort of thing on him, and whatever ooc mechanism opperates his reincarnation just didn't care.

 

[Vyraco]

Which rather seems to be evidence that annihilation is not the normal result of death. As otherwise, that wouldn't be a notable specific power of Holy Light.

More broadly, xianxia isn't exactly a stranger to that sort of thing. Past a certain level, everyone's tossing around junk like "soul rending fist" or "Hun-Po scattering kick" or "wheel removing destruction blast".

I wouldn't be surprised if someone has used that sort of thing on him, and whatever ooc mechanism opperates his reincarnation just didn't care.

Click to shrink...

Yeah maybe, but there are still way too many uncertainties for my taste in this whole thing

 

[FTR2017]

This is how I know this is fiction: parents who have enough time to be lovey-dovey with one another instead of one burnt-out husk of a man and one neglected lady from black company bullshit.

Suspension of disbelief broken! /jk

Jokes aside, this was one cute chapter, kudos to the author and to you, the translator, for doing such a fine job!

 

[Spelloyal]

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

Click to shrink...

Do you have the author's permission to translate this? This site has rules regarding translations, so I recommend you check them to avoid having your thread blocked.

 

[Boroda Orka]

Do you have the author's permission to translate this? This site has rules regarding translations, so I recommend you check them to avoid having your thread blocked.

Click to shrink...

The Foldable Cultivator [High School DxD]

Yes. I sleep with him (he is my husband 😅)

forum.questionablequesting.com

 

[Boroda Orka]

Just as I'd predicted, my homeroom teacher was over the moon. Sure, having one of her students join the prestigious student council reflected well on her as a teacher, but she was far happier that I was finally socializing. A good teacher and a good person.

I didn't have to tell her in person; the council would have notified her anyway. But it felt like the right thing to do. Besides, it was nice to give her something to smile about. She'd always been kind to me and really worried about my lack of friends.

The Japanese are a very social people—almost as though it's an official requirement. Introverts quickly earn a reputation as oddballs here, and having no friends at school is a common cause of depression and psychological trauma. Personally, I didn't give a damn. Keeping friends around just for appearances would only get in my way.

It's just… what am I supposed to talk about with kids my physical age who don't share my interests? Manga and anime, maybe, but why the hell would I bother? A complete waste of time.

My parents know more about that stuff than most of my peers. The last time Dad and I discussed Evangelion, for instance, he came out with such a mind-bending theory about what the anime was trying to say that I started looking at Ikari Shinji differently. And the entire family wholeheartedly agreed that Ikari Gendo was a four-eyed dickhead. So no, I don't need my peers for discussions of Japanese "folk art."

The student council and its members, though, were another matter entirely. First, they were demons who knew more than I did about a world that was still new to me. Second, they were strong fighters, and I could pick up some useful skills from them. Third, they were all mages, able to wield demonic power to varying degrees. Fourth, they were people I could speak to far more freely than anyone else.

That alone made socializing with the student council worth my time.

"Good morning." Shinra Tsubaki greeted me with a measured nod and a hint of a smile as we crossed paths on my way to the student council offices.

"Good morning, Shinra-san." I returned her nod.

"Just Tsubaki, Taro-kun." An almost imperceptible smile touched her stern face as my eyebrows rose in surprise. "You're part of House Sitri now. That means a great deal to those of us who serve Sitri Sona-san. We call each other by our given names, so if you don't mind…"

"Of course, Tsubaki-san. I understand. That's fine with me."

"Some of us are closer to House Sitri than to our own families." Walking beside me, she looked me straight in the eye, her smile gone. "Some have no loved ones left in the mortal world at all. In time, you'll hear some of your new companions' stories, but please, Taro-kun, don't press them. For some, the past is painful to remember. Just… be tactful."

"I'm the very soul of tact, Tsubaki-san." I allowed myself a slight smile. "Ask anyone—Chiba Taro has never once been caught prying into anyone's private life."

"Of course." She gave a quiet, disapproving snort. "The great Chiba Taro-san wouldn't concern himself with the private lives of mere trash, would he?"

"Our Lady's Queen is remarkably perceptive," I acknowledged with a perfectly straight face. "As your enemies in the Orthodox Church might put it, I'm not looking for godparents for my kids. Give it another couple of years, and I'll have forgotten most of the people around me. Anyone I happen to run into later in life will remember me as that serious, reliable, polite but unsociable student from Kuoh Academy."

"Our enemies, Taro-kun. Get used to it." She gave me an unreadable look over her glasses.

"Ours," I agreed. "By the way, Tsubaki-san, why do you wear glasses? Do you have poor eyesight?"

"Hmm…" Demon or not, a girl was still a girl. Shinra Tsubaki looked away, a flicker of embarrassment crossing her face. It was subtle, but rather cute. "My eyesight is perfectly fine. The glasses are just an accessory. And before you ask, Sona-san's glasses are just for looks too."

"They really suit you both," I said, and meant it. Girls in glasses look absolutely gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned. Provided the glasses actually suit them, of course, and don't look utterly ridiculous.

"We know." She lifted her chin proudly, then gave me a small nod of thanks as I opened the door to the student council's reception area for her.

The reception area was fairly small: a little sofa, a couple of armchairs, a coffee table for visitors, and a secretary's desk. The secretary was a blond guy my age—Saji Genshiro. Aside from his name and age, all I knew was that he'd joined the student council just a couple of days earlier.

"Good morning, Tsubaki-san." He half rose from his chair, smiling politely at Shinra-san before looking at me in mild surprise.

"Good morning." The vice-president's expression remained stern, but her eyes were warm. "Genshiro-kun, meet Chiba Taro, Sitri-sama's newest servant, a Rook. Taro-kun, this is Saji Genshiro, a Pawn. He joined House Sitri only a couple of days ago, a little before you did, so you'll be learning a great deal together about the world that's just opened up to you. I hope you'll become good friends and comrades."

We exchanged polite bows, and I followed the vice-president, smiling to myself. Genshiro looked a little shell-shocked after our introduction. I could hardly blame him. An ordinary, perfectly normal morning—pardon the redundancy—and suddenly gloomy Chiba was his new teammate.

Sure, I wasn't as well known at Kuoh Academy as the Perverted Trio, let alone the resident heartthrob, Kiba Yuuto, but my antisocial streak did make me stand out a little.

For all my reputation as a withdrawn introvert, a few local punks had taken some hard hits to the kidneys and faces after trying to impress the girls by picking on the quiet kid. The usual little shits who need to bully someone weaker to feel strong. Image or no image, I wasn't about to let every piece of trash walk all over me.

The adjoining room held the president's desk, a large table apparently used for council meetings, and several desks for the other members. Only one girl was there: a rather cute servant of House Sitri with white hair, sorting through some papers with a thoughtful expression.

"Good morning, Momo," the vice-president said warmly, and the girl responded in kind. "Meet our newest member—Chiba Taro, a Rook. Taro-kun, this is Hanakai Momo. She's a Bishop. She's kind, sensible, and always happy to help. If you have any questions or run into trouble when I'm not around, don't hesitate to ask her."

"It's nice to meet you, Taro-kun." Momo gave me a small, friendly smile and bowed in greeting. "I hope we can be friends."

"I'm sure we will, senpai." I returned her bow, wondering how someone so beautiful, with such distinctive looks, had escaped my notice until now. "Please take good care of me."

Then came a bit of paperwork to make me an official member of the student council's disciplinary committee, under the supervision of Sona-san's other Rook.

While we dealt with the bureaucratic formalities, Momo-san told us that our lady had gone to the Occult Research Club to meet with Rias-senpai and wouldn't be back at the student council offices before classes started.

"Sitri-san seemed upset and preoccupied," Momo told us. "She didn't even have any tea. Speaking of which, Tsubaki-san, Taro-kun, would you like some? There's still time…"

"I'd love some, Momo." The vice-president nodded.

"Momo-san." I stopped her as she headed for the electric kettle in the corner and pulled a small metal tin from my blazer pocket. "Allow me to treat you to a rather unusual tea."

"We have the finest tea there is!" Shinra-san's lips twitched in amusement. "You'll have a hard time impressing anyone here."

"Oooh." I gave her an enigmatic smile in return. "Believe me, Tsubaki-san, you've never tried tea like this, and I doubt you'll ever find it anywhere else."

"Hmm, hmm. All right! Challenge accepted, Taro-kun! Momo, let's taste it and deliver our verdict!" The vice-president's mood had definitely improved, though you'd have been hard-pressed to notice. "Just remember, kohai: Momo and I take our tea very seriously, so don't expect us to go easy on you!"

The tea was ready in no time, and we sat down at the meeting table to partake of this fine beverage. Well, I just wanted a cup of tea before class, while the girls were clearly looking forward to a laugh at my expense for being so full of myself. Tsubaki, who knew me a little better, apparently planned to take me down a peg, while Momo seemed more interested in smoothing things over. At least, she kept giving me sympathetic looks and shooting pleading glances at the vice-president.

"Mmm…" Shinra Tsubaki murmured thoughtfully. "Actually, this is quite good!"

Hanakai said nothing, but her eyes, half-closed in bliss, spoke for themselves. I just snorted softly into my cup, glancing at the Queen.

"All right, all right." She adjusted her glasses. "I admit it. The tea's wonderful. But you know what's coming next, don't you?"

"A thank-you?" I raised my right eyebrow, deadpan.

"Yes, Taro-kun, thank you so much!" Momo snapped out of her reverie. "Where did you get this amazing tea? The flavor is incredible. Bold, refreshing, with just the right amount of bite. And it perks you up after just a couple of sips! My morning coffee doesn't wake me up this well!"

"An interrogation," Tsubaki said, glancing sideways at Momo. "You've just served two devoted tea drinkers a brew they find more than acceptable. Hand over your supplier's contact details."

"Yes, yes!" Momo chimed in with a cute giggle. "Give us your dealer's number!"

"My dear ladies." I steepled my fingers and leaned forward over the table, hiding the lower half of my face behind my hands. I met each girl's eyes in turn, perfectly serious. "Believe it or not, I produce it myself."

"What do you mean?" The white-haired girl raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You have your own tea business?"

"Of course." I kept a perfectly straight face. "The Chiba family owns extensive tea plantations… covering a few square meters of our yard. You might call us moderately big players in the industry."

"You're kidding, right?" Tsubaki adjusted her glasses in disbelief. "You grow this wonderful stuff in your yard?"

"That's right, Tsubaki-san." I dropped the act and smiled at the girls before taking a sip of tea. "No chemicals. I grow it and process it myself. As for the variety… you could say I developed that myself too. You won't find tea like this anywhere else. I only make it for us at home and for my grandfather. I suspect my father sneaks some out as gifts for his bosses, but to my shame, I've never managed to catch him in the act."

"A man of many talents." The vice-president shook her head. I couldn't tell whether she meant it or was being subtly sarcastic. "You play sports, get top grades, grow tea, and beat up Fallen by night. I'm almost afraid to ask what other surprises you have in store."

"I'm proficient with a wide range of melee, throwing, and ranged weapons, apart from modern ones. I can sew, make most of the weapons I use, and cook extremely well. I know a fair bit about medicine, exotic pharmacology, alchemy, and jewelry making. I play the guzheng, guqin, pipa…" I thought for a couple of seconds, then chuckled at the girls' astonished faces. "Anyway, I have quite a few skills, and listing them all is starting to sound an awful lot like bragging. I'll spare you my résumé, too. It would take up the entire table."

"To be honest, Taro-kun, I find all that a little hard to believe," Tsubaki said carefully. She clearly wanted to say something like "You're full of it," but good manners and her upbringing kept her in check.

"I don't blame you in the slightest, but I can demonstrate everything except the cooking." I hid another smile behind my teacup.

"Why not the cooking?" Momo asked before the vice-president could speak.

"I'll only cook for my wife."

---

"Starting out as a demon is just like being back in the good old sect," I grumbled, heading for the nearest sporting goods store to buy a bike. "Doing all sorts of crap for nothing."

No, these were definitely the wrong sort of demons. What self-respecting demon from a cultivation world would make his servant deliver advertising flyers? It's tradition, you see. Everyone's been through it, you see. Fine, they weren't exactly advertising flyers, more like single-use summoning rituals activated by a strong desire, but still! Hello, I'm an ancient cultivator with God knows how many lifetimes behind me, a demon, a servant to the heiress of a Great House… and a delivery boy for plain old junk mail. Just what I'd always dreamed of (not really). Honestly, it was so absurd I wasn't even angry. I just wanted to laugh my ass off. At least I'd only be stuck with this nonsense for a week.

My fellow demons are pretty much keeping up with the times, too. Sinister grimoires? Summoning rituals? Studying demonology? Fuck all that! They'll drop a slip of paper in your mailbox. Make a wish on it, and if you want it badly enough, a demon will show up to sign a contract.

"Casuals everywhere! Everywhere!" I shook my head. "Just think about it! Casual Satanists! This is surreal!"

"Chiba-san!" Issei called from behind me.

"Oh, Issei-kun. How's it going?" A quick look around confirmed that his buddies were nowhere nearby. "Off to deliver flyers too?"

"Yeah! I'm heading home for my bike, then I'll come back, set up the GPS, grab the flyers, and get going." He sighed. "I thought it would be something…"

"More exciting?"

"Yeah, I guess." Hyoudou scratched the back of his head. "Chiba-san, I never properly thanked you for yesterday. So much happened all at once, and this morning Matsuda…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Issei-kun." I waved off his thanks. "I helped you out, that's all. You can return the favor sometime, and we'll be even. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on. After all, Sitri-sama and Gremory-san are on good terms, from what I understand."

"I guess. It blew my mind finding out we've got actual demons at our school! And it turns out I was killed by a Fallen Angel! The guy you beat up was a Fallen too! And the club president, Rias-senpai, is a demon! And the student council president, Sona-senpai…"

"Sitri-senpai," I corrected him. This dimwit hadn't earned the privilege of calling my lady by her given name. I did make a mental note that someone had apparently managed to kill him, though.

"Right, right! Sitri-senpai's a demon too! And Koneko-chan, and Akeno-san, and that bastard Kiba! And the entire student council!!!"

"Issei-kun." I sighed, already getting tired of his company. "Shouldn't you be hurrying home to fetch your pedal-powered steed?"

"But I live that way," he said innocently, waving a hand straight ahead. "Where are you headed?"

"To the store for a bike." I sighed in resignation. Besides the cash Dad had given me that morning, I had my "junior" debit card. I hardly ever used it, so I'd saved up enough pocket money to buy a scooter. My folks were in for a surprise when they got the purchase notification for my new set of wheels. They'd definitely think I was planning to show off for the cute girl I liked.

---

After waving goodbye to Issei… Ise, right. He'd asked me to just call him Ise. I'd saved his life, after all, so that made me a real friend. Ah, well…

Anyway, once I'd waved goodbye to my new buddy—Leviathan-sama spare me another one like him—I breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been chattering away… like Mom on the phone with a friend. Nonstop, raving about Rias-senpai and her "huuuge boobs" (each time, I bowed to passersby and apologized for my classmate). About Akeno-san, the ideal Japanese woman, whose breasts were smaller than the Occult Research Club president's, of course, but still absolutely magnificent (another bow, another apology). About Koneko-chan, so petite and kawaii, but stern and quiet. Still, she was just—wow! Then came a crude remark about her body (this time I apologized and smacked him on the back of the head, because Koneko-chan was far too sweet for him to talk about her like that). As for Kiba-kun, though, Hyoudou kept it short and eloquent: "Asshole."

But I endured it all. In the name of Sitri-sama, yes. And no, I hadn't turned into some idiot drooling over her like a doggo eyeing a marrow bone. This was just… part of my "default settings."

Who could a Great Man like me possibly serve? Only a Great Lady. I didn't feel demeaned, because Sitri Sona was first in line to inherit a Great House. A princess, you might say. Her own older sister was Leviathan. One of the Satans—the Kings of the Underworld. Yes, I needed her House's resources, and yes, I would serve in return. Serve faithfully and honorably. Besides, the others on the student council were very fond of our lady. In cultivation worlds, you often got hypocrisy along the lines of "The Great Senior Master puts the gods to shame with his wisdom!" when the master could hear, and "Lucky piece of trash, the fucking bastard" when he wasn't around.

There was none of that here. Sitri-san herself was calm and courteous with us. She met each person's gaze warmly, her beautiful eyes a little sad and tired. The girls responded in kind, speaking to her with genuine respect and readily taking on whatever tasks she gave them. I liked the atmosphere in our little clan.

And I liked the challenge. Yes, the challenge. Hmm… a test of sorts, perhaps? Pfft… Who was I kidding? Pride. The plain old pride of an ancient Practitioner. I cannot be a bad servant! I can't do a bad job of anything I take on. I am the Best. And the woman I serve must be Great. Her House must be the Strongest. And so it shall be.

When I reach the highest ranks of the demon world, people will speak of me as the Greatest—a man who came from the Greatest House, where he served the Greatest Lady. And so it shall be.

My pride won't let me bow to Sitri-sama and then badmouth her behind her back. Anyone who insults his Master out of mindless pride is trash. Because he doesn't understand that by belittling his lord, he diminishes himself.

People here understand that. In Japan, I mean. Many people, my parents included, give their work everything they've got, with enthusiasm and faith in its value. They take pride in what they achieve together and in their own part in it. For instance, I've never once heard Dad badmouth his company or Mom complain about housework. After nearly twenty years with the company, Dad has become a respected man whose words carry weight. Mom wouldn't even think of complaining: Dad and I both treat her with respect, and we've never taken all she does to keep our home running for granted. Her home is where she fights her endless battle, just as Dad wages his daily battles at work.

Yes, they're ordinary people, but decent and proud. In their own way. Their pride has a touch of old Japan about it—the romantic image people have when they don't know about… the less pleasant side of that era. Legendary loyalty unto death, brave warriors, the noblest and wisest of lords.

Yeah, yeah, of course—if I posted anything like that on a forum, it'd start a flame war. The experts would come crawling out of the woodwork. Foreign ones eager to open my eyes to the horrors of the nation I belong to in this life, and locals who, for some reason, hate their own country with all their hearts. I could explain a thousand times that I meant the romanticized image, but would people who can't stop spewing bile at everyone around them give a damn?

Besides, it's easy to draw parallels between feudal Japan and modern businesses. Employer–employee relations here are still… rather interesting. For all the advanced technology, this whole "loyalty to the corporation" thing still smacks of feudalism. Some employees spend their entire working lives at the same company. Then again… I'm used to that sort of thing. I've taken entire dynasties under my wing, and in my early lives I served sects or noble houses until the day I died. So, nothing out of the ordinary.

My idle musings vanished as the discomfort from the sun seemed to intensify. But that couldn't be right. The sunset was painting the horizon orange, and the sensation was… hmm… something like spiritual pressure? Where was it coming from?

"No, it can't be!" A man's panicked voice caught my attention from about thirty meters away. I spotted a figure in a coat and a stylish hat… Well, if it wasn't Black Rooster-san! And his mug was positively glowing with health, as if I hadn't beaten it black and blue just yesterday.

Hmm… This was House Gremory's territory, so throwing my weight around here wasn't a good idea. Besides, there was an unwritten rule against starting fights unless an enemy set foot on the grounds of your headquarters. Issei could easily have avoided this guy's attack by saying which House he belonged to. Sitri-sama had explained that he simply hadn't known he'd been reincarnated, and the Fallen might have mistaken his confusion for the fear of an exile with no House to back him up. And there were too many people around… Hmm… But a little joke was fair game!

"ORA!" I called out to the bird in the stylish hat, beaming and waving as if greeting an old friend.

Heh… I hadn't seen an "About-face!" executed that crisply or that quickly in ages. The Fallen beat a hasty retreat, and I strained my ears to catch his muttering: "He's a demon now, too. Nooo, Raynare, you're on your own. I'm out of here!" Interesting. Who was this Raynare guy? Or girl? Ah, never mind. One little act of spite, and I'd paid the world back for saddling me with that motormouth Issei. I felt better already.

---

Original Russian story

You can find more chapters on my Patreon.

The translation of new chapters will also be published here—but with a bit of a delay.

 

[Starman25]

The fact that the MC traumatizes a fallen angel makes me wonder what the fallen angels in this story will be like—will it be a blend of their iterations from *Slash/Dog* and *High School DxD*, or will it also incorporate elements from the *High School DxD* light novels (where the fallen angels loyal to Azazel conduct experiments on Sacred Gear users)?
Furthermore, it would be a huge waste if Raynare were to steal Asia's Sacred Gear (from the perspective of the fallen angels), given that Asia is one of the best users of that particular Sacred Gear—she can heal wounds much faster than other users (as noted on the wiki).

Which is the best place for Sacred Gear users in Japan: the Fallen Angels or the 5 Major Clans?
In Slash/Dog, the Fallen Angels are better.
Fallen Angels: They have a school for Sacred Gear users.
5 Major Clans: You get kicked out upon awakening your Sacred Gear.

In DxD, the 5 Major Clans are better.
Fallen Angels: Do you want to die or be experimented on? (In the DxD novel, Devil-Issei talks to a Fallen Angel while, in the background, Fallen Angels conduct experiments on Sacred Gear users.)
5 Major Clans: Do you have a Sacred Gear? Stay in the corner if you can't control it!

Click to shrink...

 

[FTR2017]

I am very curious to see if he can still produce his tea, as he inserted his own chi into the tea bushes and soil.

He no longer produces human chi, but the demonic sort that isn't so friendly with life-sustaining operations!

Heh… I hadn't seen an "About-face!" executed that crisply or that quickly in ages. The Fallen beat a hasty retreat, and I strained my ears to catch his muttering: "He's a demon now, too. Nooo, Raynare, you're on your own. I'm out of here!" Interesting. Who was this Raynare guy? Or girl? Ah, never mind. One little act of spite, and I'd paid the world back for saddling me with that motormouth Issei. I felt better already.

Click to shrink...

Lmao, peak 'screw this, I'm out' vibe coming from Rooster-san the moment he got his sights on MC!

Methinks MC will get a new pet crow out of Raynare once shit hits the fan, I doubt he'd let Rias kill such a fascinating subject to mindbreak.

Between her and the other two stooges, he'll have a birdhouse to grace Sona-sama's house with!