The Pawn's Own Choice

By now, the basement no longer looked like the Frozen Land it had been that morning. It had returned to normal.

The crimson magic circle glowed red, then gradually formed two figures under Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita's watchful eyes.

Seeing them, Leo smiled far more openly than usual, while Yukino looked at the pair with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity.

They were two women who were striking in every sense of the word.

One stood in front, the other slightly behind her. Just like Leo and Yukino on their way to school that morning, it was obvious that one was the master and the other her servant.

The one in front was a petite, slender girl about the same size as Yukino. She had exceptionally refined features, wore glasses, and carried an air of cool severity. Her short hair fell to her shoulders.

The one behind her was a woman with long black hair and glasses. She was just as beautiful, but her figure was far more impressive than the other girl's: tall and curvy, with a mature allure.

Honestly, Yukino was quite surprised to see these two appear from the magic circle.

Both their looks and their bearing were top-notch. Even at Sobu High School, they would have been popular enough to rank among the four High Mountain Flowers.

And both of them were Devils?

Were the female Devils of the Underworld all this gorgeous?

While Yukino was thinking this over, the two women had already stepped out of the magic circle.

"At last, you've come over for a visit, Sona."

Leo went to meet them and teased the cool, composed girl at the front with a smile.

The girl, who had seemed so stern, smiled faintly.

"I've been waiting for you to finish taking care of things. I haven't kept you waiting, have I?"

Sona Shitori's smile was extremely subtle, almost impossible to notice. But anyone who knew her would understand that this was how she showed affection.

"If we're talking about waiting, I'm the one who kept you waiting." Leo shrugged, then turned to the woman behind Sona. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Tsubaki?"

"Yes, Lord Leo." The tall woman bowed to him with the utmost respect. "The last time we met was when I accompanied the Student Council President to the Underworld for your High-Class Devil promotion ceremony."

That had actually been quite recent. But compared to Sona Shitori, who kept in touch with Leo from time to time, she really hadn't seen him in a long while.

"Let me introduce you." Leo smiled and turned to Yukino, who was standing behind him. "This is my first servant, Yukino Yukinoshita. She's my Bishop."

Yukino nodded to the two women, seeming a little cold and giving a perfect display of how poor she was at socializing.

For a servant to act so coldly toward another High-Class Devil was a problem from any angle. It could make her seem rude and arrogant.

However, Sona Shitori seemed to have learned a little about Yukino through her own channels, and her expression remained unchanged.

"I'm Sona Shitori. My true name is Sona Sitri, and I'm a third-year student at Kuoh Academy. It's nice to meet you, Yukinoshita." Sona Shitori nodded to Yukino, then introduced her servant. "This is Tsubaki Shinra. She's both my Queen and my first servant. I hope you two get along."

Tsubaki Shinra gave Yukino a slight bow to show her respect.

"Kuoh Academy?"

Yukino looked at Leo.

"It's a private school in Kuoh Town. A few years ago, it was an all-girls' school, but it's since become co-ed. Sona and Tsubaki both go there, and Sona's the Student Council President."

Leo gave Yukino a brief explanation.

"Kuoh Town?"

Yukino recalled the place.

It was a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo. It wasn't particularly large, and it wasn't far from Chiba Prefecture—close enough to get there and back in a day by train.

There didn't seem to be any prominent old families there. At least, the Yukinoshita Family had never paid much attention to the place. She hadn't expected a pureblooded High-Class Devil to be stationed there.

"I'm not the only High-Class Devil stationed in Kuoh Town. My childhood friend is based there too, and she goes to Kuoh Academy, just like me. She was the one who convinced me to go there in the first place." Sona Shitori seemed to have guessed what Yukino was thinking. "You can come visit sometime. Rias and I would both be happy to welcome you."

There was another High-Class Devil stationed there?

Was Kuoh Town some particularly important place?

Yukino wondered to herself.

Normally, she would have asked these questions outright. She preferred to speak her mind.

But this involved things she had never encountered in her seventeen years of life, so she felt she had to be more cautious. She held back her questions, doing her best not to embarrass Leo.

Still, the feeling wasn't pleasant. For someone as competitive and proud as Yukino, being so ignorant was hard to bear.

I should spend more time reading from now on. At the very least, I need to learn the basics and get a grasp of common knowledge.

Yukino made up her mind.

She had no idea that Sona Shitori was already keeping an eye on her, observing her closely.

Sona had noticed that although Yukino had only just been reincarnated as a Devil, the Demonic Power she gave off was by no means weak. It far surpassed the level of a Low-Class Devil and was almost touching the realm of a High-Class Devil.

What's more, Sona Shitori could clearly sense an unusually strong Sacred Gear aura from Yukino.

It was the strongest Sacred Gear aura Sona had ever encountered. Even the future Clan Head of the Sitri Clan, who never lost her composure in a crisis, felt a weight settle over her.

"Looks like Yukinoshita is a Longinus wielder, just as you suspected."

Sona Shitori pushed up her glasses and said this.

"Student Council President Shitori, you know about my Sacred Gear?"

Yukino finally couldn't hold back her question.

"Of course." Sona Shitori glanced at Leo, who was watching her with a grin. "Your master had his eye on you from the start. As soon as he received his Evil Piece, he told me he intended to make you his first servant, so he wouldn't let a rare Longinus wielder slip away right in front of him."

"I'm not the only one who knows. Every Devil who's been keeping an eye on your master and knows you showed signs of losing control of your Sacred Gear is aware of it."

"If Devils didn't have rules against casually trespassing on someone else's territory to recruit people, a lot of them—including me—would probably have been drawn to you and tried to make you their servant."

She was a wielder of one of the thirteen Longinus.

If her power developed smoothly, she was said to be capable of destroying both God and the Demon Kings.

Who wouldn't want a servant with such limitless potential?

Unfortunately, Leo had claimed the perfect time, place, and circumstances. No one could really compete with him, so he was the only one who could claim this enormous prize.

But...

"I thought he'd give you the Queen position. I didn't expect him to make you a Bishop instead."

Sona Shitori was genuinely surprised.

It wasn't just Sona Shitori. Tsubaki Shinra was surprised too.

She was a Longinus wielder. Wasn't making her a Bishop a waste of her talents?

Normally, as long as the Queen position remained available, it would only be natural to give it to Yukino, wouldn't it?

And Yukino was Leo's first servant, which made it all the more obvious that she should become his Queen, didn't it?

The Queen was not only the King's strongest servant, but also his most capable aide. She usually accompanied the King everywhere. Naturally, such an important position should go to the most exceptional person. So anyone who knew Leo had his eye on a Longinus wielder assumed he would give her the Queen position.

Who could have guessed she would end up as a Bishop instead?

"It's not that I'm stingy or unwilling to give her the Queen piece."

With all the women looking at him, Leo quickly explained.

"It was the piece's own choice."

Everyone was taken aback.

"The piece's own choice?" Sona Shitori's expression shifted slightly. "Do you mean that your Mutation Trait caused the Evil Piece to change when it connected with you?"

Yes, Sona Shitori knew what kind of Trait Leo had awakened.

She wasn't the only one. Almost everyone who was keeping an eye on Leo knew about it.

The reason was simple: Leo had never planned to hide it.

When he received his Evil Piece and awakened his Trait, many people had been there to watch. They had seen the strange phenomenon that occurred as the Evil Piece in his hand connected with him.

At the time, the Evil Piece in his hand had reacted strongly. Afterward, it even attracted the attention of Beelzebub, the current Demon King.

After examining Leo's Evil Piece, Beelzebub concluded that it had undergone a mysterious change unknown to outsiders.

That was why Sona had said, when she contacted Leo yesterday, that both his origins and he himself were unusual, and that many people were secretly watching him.

Among the upper ranks of the Devils, Leo's unusual nature was no longer a secret.

Thanks to that, Leo hadn't bothered to hide the mutation in his Trait. There was no point when he couldn't conceal it anyway. He had simply made it a bargaining chip, using it to leave a stronger impression on the upper ranks, gain more attention and respect, and secure more support.

Many of the precious books in his study had only come into his hands after that. It was clear that Leo had managed to gain quite a few benefits from it.

Leo knew that one of the main reasons Sona Shitori had come this time was to find out exactly what changes his Trait and Evil Piece had brought about.

"This isn't the place to talk."

Leo winked at Sona Shitori.

"Let's have some tea while we talk."