True Magician

Chapter 11

Kuoh Academy. Student Council Room.

The Student Council room was bustling with activity as usual, with papers being passed from one member to another and the light smell of ink tickling my sense of smell. A cup of coffee was smoking in my hand, creating a pleasant feeling of warmth, and my gaze was fixed on my chess opponent, who was staring intently at the board and thinking about his next move.

- Still, why are we playing now, Sona-san? Don't you have to work like the rest of the Student Council? Even Tsubaki-san is busy," I asked the demon across from me, taking a sip from my cup.

- Don't stop me from thinking, sensei," she replied, not taking her eyes off the chessboard.

Yeah. This isn't what I expected when I came here. As soon as Sona saw me, she immediately sat me down at the table and took out a chess game. Of course, the demon Sitri had volunteered to see if she had improved since last time. And it all came out to this.

Maybe we should enhance not only the protagonist himself, but also his surroundings? It would add incentive for him to grow faster. And Sona and her entourage are a great start in this. Though they don't have the same wild power potential as Rias' group. They have tenacity and a more competent King.

Objectively, Sona is better than Rias. This can be understood with even minimal knowledge of DxD canon. Where Sona wrested her freedom from her parents' imposed marriage with her own hands and mind, Rias just sat and waited for her salvation: no training, no attempts to study the marriage contract, nothing.

Though... Though that too can be explained. Alaya just doesn't let it happen. And that doesn't just apply to Rias and her thoughts, but to all natives of this world in general. Before Issei's entrance into the supernatural world, he was... stagnant. It was as if he was waiting for this very event.

That's why the Nasuverse is so popular. He doesn't limit his natives in sanity and height like DxD does. He CONSIDERED himself to move forward regardless of whether the events recorded in Root happened or not.

Think about it. Take Emiya Shirou, the main character of the Nasuverse, out of the story and the world will continue to exist. It will adjust to this change and move on. The fifth Holy Grail War will still happen. And the Grail will just pick a random bystander from the masses and make him Master Saber, just like it happened to Master Caster in the Fourth War.

Like Archer Emiya said, he had been to many versions of the War, and each one was different. There were even ones where his younger version didn't exist, though it would seem that in that case he should cease to exist as well. A paradox? Paradox.

And people who read fanfics on Nasuverse are interested not in the character himself, on whose behalf the story is told, but in the reaction of the local inhabitants to the changes that this character brings with him. And it doesn't matter whether he originally existed in this world or not. After all, as I said earlier, ALL there have adequate common sense and are not limited in their growth. Oh, and the story is richer.

But in DxD... Everything revolves around the protagonist or Ddraig, at least one of them MUST exist. They are the force driving the world forward. Without them, there is stagnation and slow extinction. Why did Azazel let the Kokabiel incident happen? Why didn't Rias make any effort to break her engagement? Why was Ophis so innocent, even though she's an uncountable number of years old? It all boils down to the limitations mentioned above.

And the reason for the popularity of the fandom? Women and harem, obviously. Which is too corny for my taste.

- So what are you planning now, Romani? - Goetia asked mentally. - When you came here, your thoughts were only to make a joke of these demons, but now you're contemplating helping them. What has changed?