Introduce a Sword Master?

Yukino Yukinoshita left with a silent Asuna Yuuki.

Watching the two depart, Leo knew that Asuna Yuuki was perhaps still a bit lost and unsure of what to do next, which was why she hadn't particularly resisted his arrangements.

It seems I'll still need to put in some effort to guide her.

Leo felt that leaving her to her own devices might not be a good thing.

Although she could accept the current situation, Asuna Yuuki was ultimately different from Yukino Yukinoshita. She might not necessarily be able to convince herself and adapt to her identity as a devil as quickly as Yukino had back then.

Yukino Yukinoshita was solitary and aloof, but she had always possessed clear goals. Her style of doing things leaned toward being decisive and efficient; she disliked dragging things out or being hesitant. Therefore, even if left alone, she would urge herself forward without needing anyone to push her.

Asuna Yuuki was different. She had lived under the control of a domineering mother since she was a child, always living according to others' arrangements. Now that she had suddenly veered off her original life path, if no one gave her a push, she might very well end up imprisoned in a cage of her own making, struggling to find a way out.

Leo had checked not long ago; this world possessed neither full-dive virtual reality technology nor a quantum physicist and genius game designer named Akihiko Kayaba. Therefore, Asuna Yuuki would not be trapped in a death game, nor would she undergo that transformation of the soul there.

Without the threat of death, whether this young girl would transform into the Lightning Flash Asuna who was so famous among the masses in his previous life was truly an unknown.

Leo made a mental note of this, then unfolded a magic circle on his hand for communication and contacted Sona Shitori.

"Good morning, Leo."

A small projection of Sona Shitori quickly appeared above the magic circle, her cool, clear voice ringing out.

"Good morning, Sona." Leo held up the magic circle and smiled. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?"

"Of course not. It's the weekend, and it's not class time, so you can contact me whenever you like." Sona Shitori returned a faint smile. "How was it? Was the subjugation mission completed?"

"It's completed, alright." Leo shrugged. "But I have a situation here, and I might need your help."

As he spoke, Leo recounted the entire process of hunting down the stray devil last night to Sona Shitori.

Upon learning that Leo had successfully subjugated the stray devil, Sona Shitori was not surprised.

That was a task she had handed over to Leo in the first place. She had possessed intelligence regarding that stray devil and knew that before betraying its master, it had been nothing more than a low-class devil. At most, it now possessed the strength of a middle-class devil; it could never have been a match for Leo.

Therefore, Sona Shitori had never worried that anything would happen to Leo on this mission.

However, when Leo mentioned that he had encountered a victim and reincarnated her into his peerage, she was surprised.

"Sword Birth?" Sona Shitori said, quite taken aback. "The peerage member you just recruited is actually the wielder of that kind of sacred gear?"

"Yes." Leo smiled wryly. "You could call it an unexpected bonus."

"It is indeed an unexpected bonus. A devil in your peerage actually possesses a sacred gear capable of creating holy swords. If the church gets wind of this, they'll probably feel quite helpless, won't they?" Sona Shitori adjusted her glasses. "And Rias—if she finds out that someone in your peerage holds this sacred gear, she'll likely have quite a reaction."

"Oh?" Leo blinked. "What makes you say that?"

"She has a peerage member under her command who, just like the one you recently recruited, holds the rank of Knight," Sona Shitori explained. "That peerage member is also a wielder of a Sacred Gear, and it is a counterpart to your peerage member's Sacred Gear—Sword Birth."

Sword Birth, as the name implies, is a Sacred Gear capable of creating demonic swords.

Demonic swords are the exact opposite of holy swords; they are weapons filled with demonic nature and curses.

Just like holy swords, demonic swords have appeared in various legends.

Gram, Balmung, Notung, Tyrfing, Dainsleif... these renowned weapons are all demonic swords. Each one possesses immense power and unique abilities. Unlike holy swords, they are not picky about their users and do not require decades for a compatible wielder to appear. However, anyone who uses them will be afflicted by the curse upon the blade. Without a way to resist that curse, they will sooner or later lose their life.

Sword Birth is the Sacred Gear used to create such weapons. It is the same type of power as Sword Birth (Holy), yet completely opposite.

Sword Birth (Holy) is a holy-attribute Sacred Gear, while Sword Birth (Demonic) is a demonic-attribute Sacred Gear. Although they aren't like the legendary Red Dragon Emperor and White Dragon Emperor, who fight to the death every time they appear together, in terms of their nature, they can certainly be considered natural rivals.

In particular, that Knight of Rias Gremory—if Leo remembered correctly, the person seemed to have an inextricable connection to holy swords, viewing them as enemies and seeking to destroy them.

If that person were to run into Asuna Yuuki, they might end up hostile toward her simply by association, right?

"Then I'll have to properly supervise Asuna and help her grow quickly, so she doesn't get bullied by peerage devils of her own generation."

Leo cracked a joke with Sona Shitori.

"That won't be necessary; Rias will handle such matters," Sona Shitori chuckled, then continued, "I understand the reason for your visit. You want to cultivate your own Knight, so you're looking for knowledge related to swordsmanship and sword techniques, correct?"

"It can't be helped. The Eligos clan are old fossils. I can't find that kind of knowledge in the family archives, or perhaps it existed once but wasn't included in the materials sent to me," Leo said helplessly. "I have no choice but to ask for your help."

"That is a minor matter. As long as you aren't asking for the secrets passed down through the Sitri clan, I can make the decision myself to provide you with the relevant knowledge," Sona Shitori said. "However, are you sure that just having the knowledge is enough?"

"What else would there be?" Leo was slightly taken aback. "Do you have a better method?"

"...More or less." Sona Shitori hesitated, a rare occurrence for her, before sighing and saying, "If you need it, I can introduce you to a sword instructor."

This piqued Leo's interest immediately.

What kind of sword instructor?

Sona Shitori actually knew someone like that?

And why did she have that reaction when bringing it up?

"To be specifically mentioned by you, this so-called sword instructor must be someone extraordinary, right?"

Leo stroked his chin as he spoke.

Then, Sona Shitori dismissed all of Leo's doubts with a single sentence.

"That is my sister's Knight."

Sona Shitori's airy remark left Leo stunned.

Sona Shitori's sister... the current Demon King Leviathan?

A Demon King's peerage member? And a knight, just like Asuna Yuuki...?

Hiss...

"Is this... really okay?"

Leo felt a shameful surge of excitement.

That was a member of a Demon King's peerage!

A member of the current Demon King Leviathan's peerage had to be at least an ultimate-class devil, right?

Was Sona Shitori really being this generous? Directly finding an ultimate-class devil to be a teacher for her own peerage member?

"It should be fine," Sona Shitori said, looking a bit unnatural. "As long as I ask my sister, she shouldn't refuse."

That was true. After all, she was a sister-complex Demon King; how could she possibly refuse a request from her adorable younger sister?

It was just that Sona Shitori would likely have to deal with her sister pestering her for a while. She was the type of person who felt the most shame and repulsion toward her sister's doting and indulgence.

To think she was now willing to make such a huge sacrifice for her own peerage member... she really, I'm crying.

However...

"Won't your sister hold a grudge against me because you went out of your way to ask her for my sake?"

Leo became somewhat vigilant.

As everyone knew, those with a sister complex were unreasonable creatures. Once there was any possibility of their younger sister being snatched away by a member of the opposite sex, these unreasonable creatures would stop at nothing to eliminate the threat.

Even if Sona Shitori was just speaking up for him and asking to borrow a peerage member as a teacher, the other party might still unreasonably resent him.

It wasn't as if Leo hadn't suffered because of this before. Back when Sona Shitori first came to the human world to be his supervisor and they accidentally developed a good relationship, that person had secretly tried to find fault with him.

Although she was later angrily scolded over and over by a mortified Sona Shitori—to the point where she couldn't eat for three days—Leo still received news from time to time over these three years, knowing that she had been keeping a close eye on him.

If he ever made a move on her sister...

Leo couldn't help but shiver.

"Rest assured, supporting you is one of my missions in the human world. Especially after I submitted your last report, the higher-ups already instructed me: as long as you have a need, I must satisfy it as much as possible to ensure your growth is not hindered."

Sona Shitori offered Leo some comfort, though she still seemed a bit uncertain.

"My sister... she shouldn't go so far as to openly break the operational guidelines set by the upper echelons of the underworld just for a small matter like this, right?"

...Perhaps. But if you could say that with more conviction instead of sounding so unsure, it would be a lot more convincing.

Forget it, I'll just consider it a necessary price to pay for the future of my peerage.

So what if it's a Maou? Once I develop the Balance Breaker for Zenith Tempest, it's not like I won't be able to go head-to-head with one.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Leo entrusted the matter to Sona Shitori and settled the decision.

"No problem, wait for my word."

Sona Shitori was going all out as well. Although she wasn't particularly keen on dealing with that embarrassing sister of hers, for the sake of her good friend... she would give it her all!