Naruko watched Rias reprimanding her newest peerage member.
It seemed that the newly reincarnated devil started to like a nun that he recently met. And according to him, she was innocent and kind who was just in the wrong place. Although Rias forbade him before not to meet with her again, he still went out on a small date with the said nun today. But at the end, he clashed with his previous date who took the nun and left Issei with some nasty injuries.
"I really didn't see anyone screwing up so badly in two dates in a row." Naruko thought amusingly.
Seeing Rias slapping Issei, Naruko spoke up, "Rias-chan, if I may suggest something?"
Every club member looked at her since she was quiet the whole time. Rias sighed and nodded her head. Naruko didn't need to see because she could clearly feel the intense calculative gaze of Akeno's, who was just waiting for her to slip, "If I remember correctly, this town belongs to you, a devil clan heiress. And right inside your territory, some fallen angels attacked your subordinate, not once but a few times. I think you have the right to retaliate. But the best course of action would be letting someone else handle the matter. In that way, even if some complaints come up at a later time, you can point out that those small fries were creating problems which earned the ire of some unwanted people."
It wasn't hard to figure out who that 'someone' Naruko was referring to.
"So in a way, I am neither attacking them nor defending them." Rias grinned.
"Rias-bucho, why not we try a different approach? Let's send Issei along with Kiba and Koneko. Issei does need to face his fear, and this should be a perfect time. It will help him to grow both mentally and physically. If some complaints come up at a later time, we can blame it on the problems of newly reincarnated devils. Also, there is the fact that Issei was the one who got attacked." Akeno suggested.
Naruko looked at the thunder priestess and smiled, "I do not mind either way but I would suggest that both of you don't get involved directly. It would be easier to clean up the mess later."
Rias took a deep breath and looked at the dejected Issei, "Fine, we will go with that and if you don't mind, would you help them out, Naruko-kun?" Seeing Naruko nodding, Rias smiled, "But Akeno and I will be close by. If anything happens, we will come right away."
"Thank you, buchou."
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Issei didn't want to wait a bit so that's why they all had to rush.
According to him, something bad was going to happen to Asia, and they were running short on time.
"Why did you stop Naruko-san?" Yuuto asked.
Naruko looked at the forest behind the church, "You guys take the front door, and I will take the back one. We cover more grounds that way."
All three people in front of her nodded in agreement and slowly went toward the church.
Naruko took out a cigarette and lit it before going to the backside of the church. She chose this place specifically because she sensed the two fallen angels guarding the place. And she wanted to have some chat with them. She was short on time, so she went right where they were. It took a few minutes to reach her targets.
The two fallen angels were surprised and took a defensive stance the moment they saw her.
"I guess you girls know about me." Naruko looked at them with a bored expression.
"What do you want?" The blue haired one shouted but Naruko could see through her façade. She and the little one were scared of her.
"I want to talk with both of you."
"We have nothing ..."
"Kneel."
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Issei punched Raynare and sent her flying with his powered up sacred gear.
"That's gotta hurt."
Issei looked to his side and smiled tiredly, "Naruko-senpai!"
Naruko waved at Issei and then looked around to see the damage. And when her gaze fell on Asia, her eyes narrowed. Just at a glance, she could tell that the girl was alive but suffering. She quickly went beside the nun and put her hand on her forehead.
"Naruko-senpai, I couldn't do it. I couldn't protect her." Issei sobbed. Yuuto and Koneko arrived with Rias and Akeno.
"You guys are ok!" Issei shouted at his friends.
Yuuto smiled as he pointed at Rias and Akeno, "Thanks to our president and vice-president."
Rias wanted to say something but then she saw the gauntlet Issei had which surprised her, "Is that 'Boosted Gear'?"
Naruko didn't look at it since her eyes were closed and she was focusing on Asia, "It seems like it."
Naruko took her hand off and sighed, "Her sacred gear was damaged. I am guessing you stopped whatever they were doing the halfway, resulting this to happen."
"She can't be saved?" Issei grimaced.
Naruko didn't answer for some time. It was as if she was reluctant about something. For a brief moment, her eyes showed conflict, despair, need, and hope. She covered her face with one hand and took some deep breaths. She almost let out her real feelings, her real self. She calmed down quite fast and was glad no one was able to notice the little slip-up. She answered as she knew what to do, no, what she needed to do, "She can but I have to ask something to Rias first." Naruko then looked at Rias and asked directly, "Can I take her into my peerage?"
Rias was surprised but just for a bit, "I do not mind."
Nodding her head, Naruko took out a pawn piece and held it slightly above Asia. She made sure to hold the pawn piece in a way so no one could see it. Her chess pieces were unique and she wanted to keep that fact hidden as long as she could. When she let go of the piece, it slowly entered her body whose breathing started to become normal again though she didn't wake up. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Akeno was the only one who caught her intention.
When it was all done, Rias turned around and looked at the injured Raynare who was trying to get up, "Now what to do with you?"
"Detain her and send her to Grigori."
"Excuse me?" Rias asked surprised.
"Damn this girl got no tactics." Naruko sighed, "I already detained the other two fallen angels. You can detain her too and send her to Azazel. You have the right to ask for some compensation as these idiots caused quite a lot of troubles. Regardless, by doing this you will gain some political advantages toward 'Fallen Angel Faction' and at the same time, you should be gaining some good commendations from the 'Devil Faction' for handling this, how should I say, more professionally."
Naruko then looked at the cowering girl and shrugged, "Or you can just blast her along with her friends into oblivion."
Not only Rias but even Akeno looked at Naruko with wide eyes and as for the rest, they didn't understand properly what Naruko was implying.
The surprised state was soon replaced by admiration as Rias smiled fondly at the tomboy prince, "You truly are an enigma."