Surprisingly, the Sitri Familia’s long-cherished dream—their Rating Game school that anyone in the underworld could attend—was located in the Agares territory.
As might have been expected, the original plan had been to build it in the Sitri territory. Politics, however, ended up complicating the situation.
Apparently, the fact that Sona Sitri was building a new school led to speculation that her sister, Serafall Leviathan, was involved in some way.
Naturally, Leviathan was all for the school’s construction. However, that stirred up discontent among aristocratic politicians belonging to old bloodlines. As far as they were concerned, a Rating Game school anyone could attend regardless of class or background was far from a thrilling idea. Dissent and opposition began to pile in, and Leviathan realized if she dug in her heels, critics would start labeling it her own political agenda.
That was also why Rias couldn’t step in and lend a hand. If it looked like the House of Gremory—in other words, Sirzechs Lucifer’s family—was involved, it risked causing a factional war among the Four Great Demon Kings.
In the end, Rias was only able to offer discreet assistance…
For a time, Chairwoman Sona had seriously considered abandoning her dream. It would be a mistake, she insisted, for the heir to the House of Sitri to interfere in her sister’s politics.
Fortunately, a savior revealed himself.
“In that case, why not build it on my territory? We can take it slow and keep an eye on the political situation as you go.”
This suggestion had come from the current head of the House of Agares—a perfect middle manager. Archduke Agares had the trust of politicians affiliated with each Demon King, and so after winning the support of the Bael family as well, the plans for the first school were finally set in motion.
Now, we members of the Occult Research Club (the Gremory Familia along with Irina and Ravel) had made the jump down to the underworld to help out over the weekend. After a few more jumps from the Gremory castle, we set foot in the Agares territory. We had a tight schedule.
The school was built in a town just a stone’s throw away from the floating Agares city where our Familia had faced off against Sairaorg’s.
Auros—that was the town’s name. It was said to be one of the Agares territory’s standout settlements, an exemplar of the underworld’s agricultural industry.
The population itself wasn’t large, and most of its residents made their living through farming. Being as close as it was to the floating city of Agreas, a Holy Ground for Rating Games, it wouldn’t have been surprising if it had developed into a tourist stopover—but unfortunately, most sightseeing spots were on the other side of city. That being said, Agreas itself had so much to offer that few tourists left the city at all.
As a result, Auros was a peaceful, quiet town despite the proximity to its famous neighbor.
We made the jump to the top floor of a watchtower in the center of the town. From the window, we could take in the vast landscape outside and the floating city of Agreas in the distance. The town was filled with fields for growing crops, along with a great many windmills. It wasn’t flashy, but it had a calm and tranquil atmosphere.
It certainly looked like a nice place to build a school.
A town official was waiting for us at the watchtower when we arrived. He showed us to the ground below, when—
“Hey, Hyoudou!” Saji called out.
With Rias, the heir to the House of Gremory, paying a visit, one might have expected the town’s mayor to come out to greet her. It turned out that he, however, was off at the mage gathering and would be unable to make it. Moreover, we weren’t here on official business, so she had informed the town’s authorities ahead of time that there was no need for a grand welcome.
The official who met us at the watchtower passed the baton to Saji—and with that, we set off through the town.
It truly was a peaceful settlement, its fields, windmills, and European-style stone houses free of the hustle and bustle of urban areas.
“Nice place, don’t you think?” Saji asked. “A rural underworld town, but not an obscure one! They apparently hold all sorts of symposiums and presentations here, like the mage gathering this weekend. The story is the first mayor loved holding academia-related events, so they’ve become one of the town’s hidden gems. Plus, you can get great views of the Rating Game stage at Agreas from here, too. It’s the perfect location!”
The bounce to Saji’s voice spoke to just how much he liked it. And it was a nice place—peaceful, free from conflict.
“I’d love to try working at a farm like that one day,” Asia said, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the nearest farmstead.
Living in the countryside was one of her most cherished dreams. Heck, I was beginning to dream about living in a place like this one day, tinkering in the fields alongside her.
“I’d like to get into farming with you, Asia,” Xenovia added. “Demons live long lives. It would be nice to forget about swordsmanship for a while and focus on something else. Besides, Issei will probably want to live here with you, so I might as well tag along.”
So it was being taken as a given that I would stay with Asia?! Well, I did want to live in the countryside with her!
“I wonder if I should give it a shot, too?” Irina wondered, staring up into the sky. “But life in the underworld sounds difficult for an angel, so maybe I should just help out with Issei and Asia while on business trips?”
Our Church Trio, it seemed, was completely taken by this idea.
Rias and Akeno let out soft chuckles.
“It’s a little early to be thinking about retirement, don’t you think?”
Exactly. There was no point making plans that far into the future. No doubt we were all just captivated by the idyllic countryside.