The ORC with the exception of Rias, Gasper, and Azazel, are being guided by a maid to the underground room.
Rias and Gasper are taken to the throne room because Valerie wants to see them while Azazel followed a Vampire with a high social status who seems to be someone under Marcus.
“This is the guest room where the Head of the House of Vladi is staying.”
The maid knocks on the door and informs the person inside by saying, “There are guests here to see you”. She opens the locked door and urges the members to go inside.
The interior of the room is much more gorgeous than the group imagined. There is an expensive looking chandelier hanging from the ceiling and all of the furniture looks expensive.
The person sitting on the sofa inside the room stands up after seeing the group. He is a young man with blond hair and he seems to be in his 30’s.
Akeno takes a step forward and greets him.
“How do you do, we are the servant Devils of Rias Gremory-sama. I am Rias Gremory-sama’s 'Queen' and my name is Himejima Akeno. I thought I should give our greetings to you today, so we came here to see you.”
The man nods his head once and urges her to sit on the sofa.
“Please sit down. –That, no, you came to discuss about Gasper, correct?”
Akeno sits on the sofa, and the rest stood in a line behind her.
“I have spoken to Rias-sama already. We exchanged information regarding that. I was summoned to this castle while we were discussing how the Gremory and the Vladi should handle that thing……and it’s quite a pathetic thing to say, but I ended up getting locked into this room. I never imagined a coup d’état to happen this quietly and for King Tepes to retreat. It seems like his highness Marius’s group gave an order to bring Rias-sama here by using my son.”
"His voice is quite calm despite explaining what had happened here. He doesn’t seem like he’s that agitated by it." Rossweisse remarked.
"Yes. I can even accept the impression
that he has come to accept this situation he is in." agreed Kiba.
"There’s something which has been bothering me since before." Erin made a thinking expression. "About the word 'that' he has been using from before."
“That, as in?”
“That……it seems like Gasper is functioning as a Devil. I was shocked when I heard that from Rias-sama to be honest.”
"……That’s horrible. Even if there is discrimination between a pure-blood
Vampires and half-blood Vampires, for him to call his son in such a way
is……" Irina said.
“As we thought, Gasper-kun’s mother is……”
When Akeno asks him in such a way, Gasper’s dad shakes his head.
“Yes, she has already passed away. Right after giving birth to that.”
“Are you saying that it was a difficult childbirth?”
The Head of the House of Vladi changes his expression for the first time at Akeno's question. He narrows his eyes and brings his eyebrows closer.
“……No, she died due to the shock.”
While the ORC is finding the answer suspicious, Gasper’s dad puts his hands together and speaks in fear.
“What was given birth from inside her was—something enveloped in a frightening aura.”
“Something?”
“When that was born……it didn’t have the shape of a person. Something black and creepy that was squirming came out from his mother’s womb. Something that you can’t describe with words came out from the womb. Something that wasn’t a human or a Vampire or even a monster. His mother saw that with her own eyes and went insane, leading to her death.”
"………….........................."
"……H-Hold on a sec. What was that? Was that……really about Gasper……? And a black squirming thing…… It feels like he’s sharing a story about how he witnessed the birth of a monster." Issei remarked.
Gasper's father continues speaking
“The nurses and several servants who were present in that scene started to die one by one in a strange way. They must have been cursed to death...”
“Gasper did? A curse?”
Erin couldn’t resist asking the man. The latter answers the Goddess without being concerned about it that much.
“Yes, it must be a curse he used unconsciously. He turned into a form of a normal baby several hours after his birth, but by then, his mother had already died due to the shock.”
"……Oi, are you serious?" Tsubaki said in disbelief.
“Does Gasper-kun know about this?”
The Head shakes his head to the side at Akeno’s question.
“No, he wasn’t told about this. We don’t know what will trigger him into returning into his true form after all. I don’t want to carelessly stimulate him. ……Close relatives of mine who didn’t know about that incident found his time stopping Sacred Gear something uncomfortable to be near with. But for us who know about his true form, it is more terrifying than his ability to stop time.”
The man speaks in a heavy tone while hiding his mouth with his hands.
“Devils of Gremory, we can’t consider that as a Vampire nor a human…... We can only group him as a different being. We did treat him like a half-blood……but we don’t know whether that was the right decision. And we made him go to the outside world while we didn’t know about his true identity……”
“I don’t know how he was in the past. But Gasper is a Devil right now. He is our junior. Even if he were to have his body tainted in darkness—he is still our comrade.” Erin replied.
Koneko also takes a step forward.
“……Gya-kun is my precious friend. He is the first friend I ever made who happens to be the same age as me.”
“Didn’t all of you witness that true form?”
All of the members nod their head at the question. Gasper's father smiles after seeing this.
“……Like I thought, you people are the Gremory group. Rias-sama also said
the same thing when I asked the same question.”
*(Flash!)*
"If he isn’t a human or a Vampire, then Gasper is a Devil. After all, I reincarnated him as a Devil with my own hands. No matter what his true form is, he is no doubt a Devil of the Gremory group."
The members became emotional as Gasper's father explained Rias’ words.
“That’s an emotion which is difficult for me to understand, but I see. If all of you are able to say that after witnessing that power, it means that I can come to the conclusion that he was saved by all of you if even just a bit.”
The conversation continues a bit after that, but the ORC can’t find out anything about Gasper’s true form. The only thing which is clear is that they, the House of Vladi, aren’t pleased about Gasper’s existence.
The Head also talked to Rias about a certain topic and it appears that the "Gremory side will officially take full responsibility of Gasper." In other words, it means that there is no longer a place in the Tepes territory in which Gasper can call his home.
The discussion ends, and the maid bows and reports to the ORC as they exit the underground.
“Vermillion Erin-sama and Toujou Koneko-sama, her highness Valerie has requested for you.”
Koneko and Erin look at each other. After a pause, they nodded at the maid.
- End of Chapter -
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The Knight Goddess 2: Prophecy
FanfictionThings are getting brighter for Erin especially when she settled on her new life. The new life which is next to her treasured comrades and loved ones. However, she soon discovers that it was the just the start of more a dangerous road, and a near pr...
