Demon Among Devils

Chapter 4: "She can stay"

Rias had offered him peerage.

He had dismissed Orpheus and almost immediately after the red-haired devil had offered him a place by her side. He had refused. From what they had told him about peerages, it was an unattractive prospect. It almost resembled feudalism in a way, with lesser nobles supporting a higher noble or a king. Despite what they may have thought, he was not unfamiliar with the concept. The ruler gave the nobles titles and land, and in return they brought themselves and their retinues to serve in his army. It was much the same with peerages. Perhaps that was why a second name for them was dukedom.

He had no wish to be bound to a king or ruler. Rias treated her servants well, he was sure of that, but nonetheless he had no desire to serve under her. So he had refused, and shortly after he had refused, Sona had offered him peerage as well.

The look of betrayal on Rias's face when her rival proposed the exact same conditions she did mere seconds ago had almost been worth it. Almost.

He had declined Sona's offer as well, of course. With Rias, at least he knew her to some extent. Sona had been a stranger barely hours ago, and had come only to explain what they were. If he would not join Rias's peerage, then he certainly wouldn't join Sona's.

He had refused both of them politely, but somehow, he knew it would not be last time this subject was brought up.

He was proven correct when the next day Akeno and Rias met him at the academy gates wearing dazzling smiles. The sudden feeling of doom that welled up within him was only exacerbated when both girls promptly took one of his arms in theirs and forcibly guided him into the school.

He had received a fair share of death glares before when he was seen with Yukari in Gekkoukan High, and later when he was rumoured to be close to Mitsuru. He had thought he was well-versed in dealing with negative attention.

Oh how wrong he was.

The amount of ominous stares he was being given as the two great beauties of the school dragged him reluctantly across the courtyard was a magnitude higher than what he thought possible. If looks could kill, he would have been dead and buried a hundred times over.

At least Thanatos had been happy. The aspect of Death reveled in all things that had to do with its calling, stares that radiated premeditated murder included. Where others would have shriveled or clamped up at the glares they were being given, the Persona that represented Death positively preened under the attention.

And that had not been the worst. Not by far. After the two had deposited him in his classroom, had promised they would be back later at lunch to retrieve him, completely ignoring the look of horror he was giving them.

It had been an interesting lesson, he was forced to admit. Who knew calculus could be so exciting with half the class's population staring daggers into his back?

They were actively recruiting him, he knew. Rias had mentioned that devils often sought out humans with the most powerful Sacred Gears and recruited them into their own peerages. Sona had affirmed the same thing, and further expanded on the correlation between the power of a devil's peerage and its place in a Ranking Game. The more Sacred Gears a devil could count upon in its peerage, the better chance it had of placing high in the Ranking Game ladder. It made sense. A king's power was only as strong as his follower's after all, and history, human history, was rife with examples of great kings and the powerful nobles that supported them.