Under the clear sky, a boy with Devil Wings looked down from above, a flash of dark Meteor Fire seeming to flicker in his eyes. A faint smile played on his lips.
"School looks better from this angle."
Leo murmured to himself, quite contentedly.
Sobu High School was a municipal high school in Chiba City, and the city's top school in terms of entrance-exam scores.
The school buildings had a somewhat unusual layout. From above, the campus looked a little like the character for "mouth." Add another building a little farther down, and you had the full aerial view of the school.
The classroom building stood beside the road, and the special-use building faced it. On the second floor, corridors connected the two buildings, forming a square. The space enclosed by these four buildings was the courtyard of Sobu High School.
It was afternoon, and many students in their uniforms were milling about in the courtyard. Some sat on the grass or benches, chatting merrily, while others chased one another around. The whole scene was harmonious, a pleasant picture of everyday life.
Leo himself, however, was the most incongruous feature in this peaceful scene.
"Do you believe in the existence of Devils?"
The question he had put to Sobu High's celebrity, the Second Young Lady of the Yukinoshita Family, not long ago was now being answered in the most direct way possible.
Leo Eligos, a third-year student at Sobu High, was, in fact, a Devil.
Once, he had been just another ordinary person among the masses. But after arriving in this world eighteen years ago, his life had ceased to be ordinary.
He hadn't learned the truth until he was three: his father in this life had been an exorcist, and his mother a Devil. They had met in Chiba City about nineteen years ago, then fallen in love in a ridiculously melodramatic fashion, beginning a romance that had never been blessed.
Their romance was destined to end in tragedy. They had once been enemies who fought each other to the death, and even after hatred had turned to love, the scars of the past still remained.
And so, at the age of three, Leo lost both his parents, who died one after another from their grievous wounds, and became an orphan with no one in the world.
Even if he was a Devil, what could a three-year-old Devil do?
At any rate, fifteen years ago, Leo had thought he was quite likely to die on the roadside.
Until... Leo met another Devil.
"Long, long ago, Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels fought one another without end, inflicting terrible losses on all sides."
"It was a horrifying war that lasted for thousands of years and nearly wiped out all Three Factions."
"Even today, the Three Factions still despise and oppose one another, and their fighting has never stopped. Yet they've all fallen to the point where they can't survive without humanity."
"The Angels need the Church, built by humans, to help them hunt Devils and Fallen Angels. The Fallen Angels have always tried to manipulate humans into fighting Angels and Devils. Devils, meanwhile, make contracts with humans and demand payment, using it to build their strength. That's the state of things now."
"Even so, we still haven't given up on finding our long-lost kin."
The other Devil told Leo that in ancient times, Devils had not only the Four Great Satans, but also seventy-two noble Devil families: the legendary 72 Pillars of Solomon.
Each of these seventy-two families had once led dozens of Devil legions. They were the original and purest Devils, but many of the families had died out during the thousands of years of war.
Still, some descendants of these once-prominent families had survived by chance, scattering across the world and even going into hiding in the Human World, beyond humanity's knowledge. The Devils had continued searching for the descendants of these extinct families, and had entrusted High-Class Devils living in the Human World with protecting and even raising them.
And, whether by good fortune or bad, Leo was a descendant of one of those extinct Pure-blood Devil families.
"Eligos, the fifteenth-ranked family among the 72 Pillars, is also known as Abigor. It's an ancient Devil family that held the rank of duke and once commanded sixty Devil legions."
"Your mother was one of the Eligos Clan's bloodlines that had strayed into the Human World, and the last surviving member of the family. Unfortunately, she too has passed away."
"Though you're a hybrid of a Pure-blood Devil and a human exorcist, you're still entitled to inherit the surname 'Eligos.' If you become a High-Class Devil one day, we'll restore the Eligos Clan's standing and return everything it once possessed to you, including its noble title and territory."
And so, Leo received aid from the Underworld. Under the arrangements of the Devil government, he was placed under the protection of a Pure-blood Devil living in the Human World, and was also given a way to train his powers.
After learning what kind of world he had come to, Leo worked especially hard. He constantly studied his powers as a Devil and strengthened himself. In the end, it took him a full fifteen years to rise to the rank of High-Class Devil. The Underworld then granted him a precious treasure he could use to recruit servants: an Evil Piece.
That was why Leo had set his sights on the celebrity at his school, Yukino Yukinoshita.
"What choice will you make?"
Looking down at the school buildings, Leo toyed with a blood-red Evil Piece in his hand. The smile on his lips grew wider and wider.
"I hope the result won't disappoint me."
As a hybrid Devil who had only recently and with great difficulty risen to the rank of High-Class Devil, Leo was looking forward to his first servant.
It wasn't only a matter of whether he'd gain an attractive and capable servant; it also had a bearing on his future prospects.
Remembering what set him apart from other Devils, Leo smiled faintly and put away the Evil Piece in his hand.
Then his Devil Wings beat behind him, and he flew swiftly toward another part of the school buildings.
Chiba Prefecture was surrounded by the sea on three sides, with warm winters and cool summers.
Nestled in the embrace of the vast Pacific Ocean, the prefecture had broad, lush, and fertile natural landscapes. It was also close to the capital, Tokyo, making its location advantageous and transportation especially convenient. It ranked among the country's most prominent prefectures.
Leo currently lived in a corner of Chuo Ward, Chiba City.
It was a manor that looked somewhat old-fashioned from the outside, like a small castle.
The manor wasn't especially large, but it had a mansion like a villa. A garden stretched out in front of it, filled with flowers and greenery. A number of men and women dressed as servants could be seen moving about, pruning plants and tending to the flowers. The place had all the air of a wealthy household.
Leo suddenly dropped from the sky, landing in the garden in full view of everyone there. As his toes touched the ground, he folded away his Devil Wings. The servants around him turned and bowed.
Leo didn't bother greeting them. He walked straight to the Western-style Mansion and went inside.
He headed for the dining room. It was a little too luxurious for one person, but he was used to it by now.
Compared with eating a bento at Sobu High or grabbing fast food in the cafeteria, Leo unquestionably preferred the delicious meals prepared by the cooks at home. At least they didn't contain seasonings and ingredients he wasn't used to eating.
"Bring me a Chinese meal, same as the day before yesterday."
Leo took his seat in the dining room and gave a casual order. A cook who had appeared beside him without his noticing bowed respectfully, then withdrew to prepare lunch.
A girl dressed as a maid silently appeared, pushing a tea cart. She brewed and poured tea for him, then helped him wash and dry his hands and face. She served him impeccably, yet never spoke to him.
There was no helping it. The cooks, the maids, and all the servants outside were not human. They were all familiars who had been given to Leo along with the manor.
The familiars' job was to keep the manor running and take care of Leo's daily needs. They had no other purpose, and were barely capable of conversation. They would carry out their duties faithfully until they disappeared.
There was even a chauffeur in the manor to drive Leo to and from school, though Leo generally preferred to fly home himself and rarely used the car.
Naturally, Leo hadn't bought a manor and all its lavish amenities by working hard to earn the money himself.
It wasn't that he couldn't have done it. He'd simply been devoting all his efforts to becoming a High-Class Devil and hadn't spent any time thinking about making money. Before this, he'd actually lived in an ordinary house. Only after he became a High-Class Devil had the Devil in charge of liaising with him presented the manor as a gift.
Speak of the devil, and she would appear. While Leo was still waiting for lunch, a palm-sized magic circle suddenly appeared beside him.
"Good afternoon, Leo."
A girl's figure appeared above the magic circle, her voice cool and clear.
At the sight of her, Leo smiled too.
"Good afternoon, Sona."
Sona Shitori, whose real name was Sona Sitri, was the next Clan Head of the Sitri Clan, ranked twelfth among the 72 Pillars. She was also the younger sister of the current Satan, Leviathan.
That's right. The Devil who had been providing for Leo all along belonged to the Sitri Clan.
Sona Shitori was a young Devil who had only come to the Human World a few years ago, but after arriving, she had taken over part of the Sitri Clan's work there, including the duty of supporting and protecting Leo, the descendant of an extinct Pure-blood Devil family.
Not long ago, when Leo rose to the rank of High-Class Devil, she had taken him to the Underworld and given him the manor as a gift.
That was why the smile on Leo's face was far more genuine than the playful one he'd worn when facing Yukino Yukinoshita.
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