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Duanmu Huai always acted vigorously and resolutely, and it could be said that he was too lazy to think about it. It didn't take long for Naruse Mio and Wanria to enter Kuoh Academy as transfer students.

Their appearance naturally attracted the attention of many boys in Kuoh Academy. After all, Naruse Mio was beautiful and had a good figure. Although Maria was petite, she also attracted the attention of some boys with potential criminal tendencies. Moreover, she is naughty and cute, which makes many boys excited.

Of course, they were excited. When they learned that these two girls were relatives of Duanmu Huai, everyone had to stay away... Duanmu Huai was famous in this school, and no boy dared to feel uncomfortable in front of him. of. Because of this, Naruse Mio and Maria didn't encounter much trouble on the first day they transferred to another school.

However, for them, the next step is the real test.

"Hello, my name is Mio Naruse. It's our first time meeting you. Please give me some advice, Rias-senpai."

Standing in front of Rias, Naruse Mio bowed her head respectfully - her statement is not wrong. After all, whether it is from the grade in school or the time that both parties have lived as devils, Ria Ito is considered Mio Naruse's senior.

But...the two people are really similar.

Duanmu Huai, who was standing nearby, was carefully looking at Naruse Mio and Rias, and had to admit that there were similarities between the two. For example, both of them have red hair, but Rias has long, loose hair, while Naruse Mio has twin tails, and in terms of temperament, Rias is more mature and stable.

In contrast, Naruse Mio still can't hide her childish young girl temperament - how should I put it, Rias feels a bit like the adult version of Naruse Mio.

But I have to say that both of them have good figures, and I don’t know who is bigger. Logically speaking, it should be Rias—or maybe Naruse Mio? Hmm... you have to compare and contrast to find out.

"My name is Marija Naruse, and I am meeting you for the first time, Lady Rias Gremory. I have heard the name of the red-haired Killer Princess for a long time, and it is like thunder in my ears. When I meet her today, she is indeed well-deserved."

Maria also bowed her head respectfully to Rias, and her little face that usually had a sly and playful smile was tight and serious now - it seemed that she also knew how to suit the occasion.

"I already know your situation from Teacher Duanmu."

Rias also had a different expression than when she was talking to Duanmu Huai. Her whole person was filled with a coercive aura. She was seen sitting behind the table, staring at the two of them, exuding strong pressure and power.

"Woo..."

Feeling the coercion emerging from Rias, Naruse Mio gritted her teeth, and Maria also showed an uneasy expression. However, just when Rias was about to say something, Duanmu Huai stretched out her arms. He reached out and held Mio Naruse's shoulders while looking at Rias.

"Minister Rias, I'm afraid it's not good for you to threaten new club members like this."

"………………"

As Duanmuhuai's words emerged, the pressure emanating from Rias's body was instantly released like a burst balloon, and she looked helplessly at Duanmuhuai and sighed.

"Indeed, Mr. Duanmu, as the head of the Occult Research Club, I shouldn't bully the new members... I'm sorry, Naruse-san, I just want to give it a try."

"No, it's nothing, I don't care."

Naruse Mio shook her head and spoke in a low voice. To be honest, facing Rias just now did make Naruse Mio feel a little inferior. You must know that before coming here, she had heard Maria introduce Rias and learned that she and she were actually equal in terms of status. But after actually facing each other, Naruse Mio discovered that the pressure the other party brought to her was beyond imagination.

Obviously the other person is only one year older than herself, but Naruse Mio feels as if there is a completely unbridgeable gap between herself and Rias.

Fortunately, just when Naruse Mio was almost unable to bear it anymore, she felt Duanmu Huai's heavy palm - like a mountain, which calmed Naruse Mio's mood.

Seeing Naruse Mio calm down, Rias coughed slightly, then she held her hands seriously and stared at Duanmu Huai.

"Teacher Duanmu, in principle, I can agree to your request. But... I think you should also understand that as a member of the Gremory family, I want to protect you who killed Marquis Zolki, and Will The heir to the Bate family has taken a risk, therefore, I believe I have the right to demand remuneration.”

"Say it."

Of course Duanmuhuai knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and Rias was right. She had to take risks when she wanted to protect Naruse Mio and Duanmuhuai.

"First of all, I want to know your true identity, Teacher Duanmu."

Speaking of this, Rias's eyes showed a sharp light.

"At the beginning, I thought you were just a lucky artifact host, but I don't think that an ordinary artifact host can easily kill a being of the level of Marquis Zolgi... So, I I can protect you, but I want to know your true identity."

Before Zorji's incident, Rias had vague doubts about Duanmu Huai's identity. After all, even though he is the host of the artifact, his attitude is too indifferent. And that's not out of innocence of knowing nothing about the demon world, but more like a strong confidence in one's own strength. For example, Zorji, Duanmuhuai said he would kill him, and he didn't worry at all about whether he would be in danger later.

It seems that in his opinion, demons as powerful as Zolgi are as unworthy of mention as weeds on the roadside.

So the question becomes, can a person with such a big heart be an ordinary person?

"So that's the question. If you had asked me earlier, it would have been fine."

Under Rias' gaze, Duanmuhuai seemed very calm.

"Then, let me introduce myself again - I am Duanmu Huai, the Grand Inquisitor from the Tribunal... Well, please remember it."

"The Tribunal..."

Rias' face tensed up when she heard this word.

"You are from the church..."

"I can almost guess what you are thinking, but I want to tell you that the Tribunal has nothing to do with the church you think of."

Of course Duanmuhuai could guess what Rias was thinking. He had already learned from Renali's shadow that there were currently three forces in the world, namely angels, fallen angels and demons.

As for humans, they are more like a subsidiary force.

"The duty of the Inquisition is to protect mankind and eliminate all entities that try to harm mankind."

Duanmuhuai looked at Rias and said.

"As I said before, the only goal of the Tribunal is to protect mankind. Therefore, whether it is angels, fallen angels, demons, gods or demon kings - as long as they dare to harm mankind, the Tribunal will not hesitate They will be completely destroyed. Yes, in the view of the Tribunal, humans do not need to sacrifice for gods or demons. On the contrary, if gods or demons dare to harm humans, then our Tribunal will completely eliminate them."

Having said this, Duanmu Huai's body once again revealed a strong murderous intent. Feeling this cold murderous intent, everyone's hair stood on end - as if they were standing on the edge of an abyss. As long as they One step would lead to a complete fall into a bottomless abyss.

"So, are we demons also the targets you want to destroy, teacher?"

Kiba Yuto, who was standing next to Rias, was also tense at the moment. He stared at Duanmuhuai and asked, while Duanmuhuai glanced at him.

"Hmm... How should I put it? The Tribunal's standards for judging humans are different from what you think."

"Not the same?"

"That's right."

As Duanmuhuai spoke, he took out the rosette from his arms and unfolded it towards everyone.

"This is the Inquisitor's Rose Knot. Did you find anything?"

"Why is there a skull on it?"

Naruse Mio looked at the rosette in Duanmuhuai's hand and immediately complained. Generally speaking, shouldn't rosettes be hung with crosses or statues of the Virgin? Making a skull made Naruse Mio feel a bit like those middle school decorations that the boys in her class played with...

"That's right."

Duanmu Huai fiddled with it.

"This is the standard for the Tribunal to judge humans. For us, as long as the skull is human, then it is a human. So in the eyes of the Tribunal, no matter angels, fallen angels or demons, as long as your skull is consistent with that of a human, then the Tribunal They will treat you as a sub-race."

"This is really......"

Hearing Duanmuhuai's explanation, Rias was a little dumbfounded. You must know that all angels, fallen angels and demons have always considered themselves to be a nobler race than humans. As a result, Duanmuhuai said as soon as he came up that they could be treated as a sub-human race...

Well, if some radicals listen to Duanmuhuai, they may start fighting on the spot. To them, it's as outright offensive as monkeys think humans are just mutant monkeys without hair.

Duanmu Huai doesn't care about this. Is the human supremacy of the Tribunal fake?

Not convinced? Are you convinced by the fist as big as a casserole?

"That is to say...don't you regard demons as targets that must be destroyed like the church does?"

"Frankly speaking? We treat angels, fallen angels and demons equally. As long as you don't harm humans, then everything will be fine."

Duanmu Huai didn't say the rest of his sentence, but he believed that someone as smart as Rias would understand what he meant.

"If that's the case, then that's OK."

Rias rolled her eyes and made a quick decision.

"Then, here's the reward I'm asking for - I hope a few of you can join me."

"I said, I will not be reincarnated into a demon."

Duanmuhuai once again rejected Rias' request, but this time, Rias just shook her head.

"No, it's not reincarnation, but a temporary contract."

"Temporary contract?"

"That's right."

Looking at Duanmu Huai, Rias nodded vigorously.

"I can help Naruse-san adapt to her power, teach her how to fight and some common sense about demons, but my request is that I hope the three of you can join my force and fight for me!"

Next, Rias also explained the situation to Duanmu Huai, Naruse Mio and others.

The reason why she made such a request was related to the "ranking game".

The so-called ranking game is a game where demons with noble titles command their servants to fight and compete. Only mature demons can participate in official ranked games, so Rias has not participated in ranked games so far. But she is about to reach this stage, so Rias hopes to increase the number of chess pieces in her hand to prepare for the next ranking game.

This is also the reason why she has been looking for Duanmuhuai again and again - in Rias's view, if Duanmuhuai can join her camp, then she will be almost invincible in the ranking game.

Generally speaking, the subordinates in this ranking game are basically demons reincarnated from chess pieces. But there is also a special situation where you can make a temporary contract, that is, you do not reincarnate as a demon, but you only temporarily gain the bonus of the chess piece to fight. Of course, almost no superior demons would use this method, after all, they are equivalent to mercenaries. As for the superior demons, they still value subordinates who are loyal to them more than mercenaries.

This is just like how even if nobles hire mercenaries to fight in the front line, they still trust their own private soldiers the most. Therefore, generally speaking, temporary contracts rarely occur.

But since Duanmuhuai firmly disagrees with reincarnation as a demon, Rias has no choice but to settle for the next best thing.

"Um……………"

Facing Rias's proposal, Duanmuhuai was silent for a moment. Then he turned to look at Naruse Mio and Wan Liya. When he noticed Duan Muhuai's gaze, Wan Liya didn't speak, while Naruse Mio gritted her teeth and said nothing. However, from her eyes and expression, Duanmu Huai already got the answer.

"All right."

Duanmuhuai retracted his gaze and looked at Rias.

"Then it's settled."