Peerage's Activity Room

Sobu High School, school corridor.

Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita were walking together, one in front, the other just a single step behind, heading toward the Service Club activity room.

Leo was clearly in a great mood, humming a little tune as he walked, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Yukino Yukinoshita was the exact opposite; she looked utterly depressed, even questioning her own existence.

How did I end up becoming a devil?

Yukino Yukinoshita had been pondering this question the entire way, and the more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt.

Not only had she faced a brush with death, but upon waking up the next day, she had been stripped of her humanity and transformed from a wealthy young lady into someone else's servant. If this weren't all plain to see, Yukino Yukinoshita would have been certain she was still trapped in a nightmare from which she had yet to wake.

The people at Sobu High School were unaware of how depressed Yukino Yukinoshita felt at that moment. They simply watched the pair walking together with surprise, beginning to whisper and gossip among themselves.

"Isn't that Eligos-senpai from the third year and Yukinoshita from the second year?"

"Why are those two walking together?"

"Could it be... are they dating?"

"No way, right?"

The murmurs weren't very loud, but Yukino Yukinoshita heard them nonetheless, which only deepened her gloom.

"Ugh..."

Just then, sunlight streamed in through a nearby window, hitting Yukino Yukinoshita and making her feel uncomfortable once again.

"...Are you sure I turned into a devil and not a vampire?"

Yukino Yukinoshita voiced her dissatisfaction in a low voice.

"Who said only vampires hate sunlight?" Leo said without turning his head. "Devils are also creatures that are active at night and can exert more power after dark. You'll see once night falls; you'll clearly feel power surging within your body. That is the power of a devil."

"What about you?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, looking at Leo, who remained unfazed under the sun. "Why do you look like you don't find the daytime difficult at all?"

"Because I'm already used to it," Leo said, still not looking back. "You're only feeling this way because you just reincarnated as a devil. After a while, you'll adapt completely, and you won't feel uncomfortable anymore."

"However, I must remind you that devils are, at their core, creatures that despise light. The stronger the light, the worse it is for our bodies."

"Light is poison, at least for us. Angels and fallen angels are races that use light as a weapon; they are our natural enemies. If you ever run into one, remember not to face them head-on, okay?"

Leo's words reminded Yukino Yukinoshita of the fallen angel from yesterday.

At that time, the other party had condensed dim light and transformed it into a spear, piercing through her body.

"Are angels and fallen angels beings capable of manipulating light?"

Yukino Yukinoshita had a moment of realization.

"That's right," Leo said leisurely. "The power of devils is demonic power, while the power of angels and fallen angels is light power. We can manipulate demonic power to manifest supernatural phenomena, while angels and fallen angels can condense light power into various forms to fight."

"By the way, the exorcists of the church also use light weapons. They receive blessings from God while utilizing the light power possessed by angels and the physical strength gained from years of training to eliminate devils. That is why they are also our natural enemies."

Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but blurt out.

"Doesn't that mean everyone is a natural enemy of devils? Do devils really have that many weaknesses?"

Devils, angels, fallen angels... these were all the supernatural beings Yukino Yukinoshita knew to exist in the underworld society. As it turned out, the other two factions both countered devils, and even the church forces under the angels countered them. What was this?

Was everyone a natural enemy? Or was she surrounded by weaknesses?

One had to remember that she, Yukino Yukinoshita, had founded the Service Club with the goal of "changing people's weak sides to change the world." Now, being told that she had reincarnated into a race riddled with weaknesses, how could she accept that?

In response, Leo couldn't help but laugh.

"What you said is truly interesting. Could devils possibly have more weaknesses than humans?" Leo said, sounding annoyed. "Look at humans. They die if they get slashed in a vital spot by a blade, they die if they get shot in a vital spot by a gun, and they can even die from accidental bumps and bruises, not to mention all sorts of diseases and terminal illnesses."

"And what about devils? We have long lifespans, rarely get sick, have strong bodies, and most human weapons can't kill us. We can even do what I did: if someone dies, we can save them by reincarnating them as a devil."

"Compared to humans, devils only fear light—and it has to be high-concentration light power released by angels or fallen angels. Our weaknesses are pitifully few, aren't they?"

Yukino Yukinoshita was rendered speechless, though she was still somewhat unconvinced.

"That's only compared to humans. What about compared to angels and fallen angels?"

Yukino Yukinoshita posed this sharp question.

"Do you think they don't have weaknesses?" Leo smiled and said, "Angels generally cannot have selfish desires; otherwise, they will fall, losing everything they originally possessed. Therefore, they are easily influenced by the outside world and can only maintain their sense of self if their faith is firm."

"Fallen angels don't have obvious weaknesses, but their population is the smallest among the three factions. They generally can only increase their numbers when angels fall, and their rate of self-reproduction is very slow. They are the faction closest to extinction among the three."

"Nowadays, all three factions have been reduced to needing the power of humans to continue, so no one is in a position to laugh at anyone else."

As he spoke, Leo reached out and flicked Yukino Yukinoshita on the forehead.

"Besides, even if light is a weakness for devils, you just have to make sure you don't get hit. If you want to overcome this weakness, work harder in the future instead of complaining here."

While they were talking, the two had already arrived at the Service Club's activity room and pushed the door open to enter.

Rubbing her forehead, Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the familiar activity room, and for some reason, her mood became complicated once again.

This club... was there still any need for it to exist?

In the past, Yukino Yukinoshita had always carried out club activities with the goal of changing others and the world. But now, having seen the real world, she could no longer continue with that mindset.

She had turned into a devil herself and was no longer human. Was there still any need to help humans and solve the problems of her classmates?

Yukino Yukinoshita thought, feeling somewhat dazed.

In contrast, Leo walked around the clubroom as if he were inspecting his own territory, nodding as he circled the room.

"This place isn't bad. Although it doesn't compare to Sona Sitri's student council office, it's sufficient as a base for us at Sobu High School."

Leo crouched down, pressed his fingers together, and began to draw on the floor.

Demonic power flickered at his fingertips. As he moved his hand, mysterious runes and patterns were etched into the floor, causing bright red lines to gradually appear on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

Yukino Yukinoshita snapped out of it, drawn in by Leo's actions.

"Drawing a magic circle," Leo said without looking up. "As long as I carve the magic circle belonging to our Eligos clan here, we can consume our internal demonic power to perform long-distance jumps, instantly arriving at the location of another magic circle."

"There is one such magic circle in my manor, and the flyer I gave you earlier has the same thing drawn on it."

"I've wanted to set one up at Sobu High School for a long time, but I wasn't interested in starting a club before. Without a base of my own, I naturally couldn't just do whatever I wanted."

Yukino Yukinoshita immediately recalled the parchment Leo had given her earlier.

"That was a flyer?"

Yukino Yukinoshita expressed her reasonable doubt.

"Don't doubt it, it's just a flyer." Leo glanced at the young girl and said, "Devils living in the human world don't just idle their time away; they all have their own jobs."

"Just as the legends everyone knows suggest, a devil's job is to be summoned by those with desires, sign a contract with them, and collect a corresponding reward for fulfilling their wishes."

"Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's items, and occasionally it's their life. This is the work of devils in the human world. It's not much different from what your Service Club does, only the scope of activity expands from the school to the territory assigned to you."

"Once you adapt to your current status and abilities, you will also be able to start doing this work as a devil of the Eligos clan's peerage."

The magic circle existed for this very purpose.

In modern times, almost no one believes in the existence of devils, nor do they follow ancient texts to draw magic circles or hold bizarre rituals to summon them. Therefore, to complete their work smoothly, modern devils draw magic circles on portable parchment and distribute them as flyers.

Once a human comes into contact with a flyer, as long as they harbor some kind of intense desire, the magic circle on the flyer will be automatically triggered.

At that point, Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita would be able to teleport directly to the person's side using the magic circle here or the one at the manor.

Furthermore...

"If we open the magic circle to the outside, other devils can also teleport to us through their own magic circles," Leo said, focusing on carving the magic circle. "Within these next two days, another high-class devil who has always represented the Underworld in providing me with aid and coordinating with me will be coming over."

"I have just been promoted to a high-class devil and have recruited my first peerage member; it is only reasonable for them to come and take a look."

"Make sure you're prepared."

As the words fell, the magic circle Leo had been inscribing was finally complete.

It was a standard circular array, crimson in color and roughly six to seven meters in diameter, occupying a significant portion of the floor space in the Service Club activity room.

"By the way, do you want to keep the Service Club as it is, or would you like to give this club a new name?"

Leo clapped his hands together and smiled at Yukino Yukinoshita.

"From now on, this place will be the activity room for the entire Eligos peerage."