"I am saying it as it is." I replied back while shrugging. It was somewhat problematic trying to maintain the appearance of a young teenager when the mind is that of an adult who has experienced the harshness of reality, doubly so for me since I traveled to other dimensions.
Damn I was getting old.
...
"Cough~ Oh yes, I almost forgot!" Rias tried to dispel the mood by taking an envelope out of her bag. "Here's your pay from our last hunt."
"Thanks." I took the envelope and checked the amount inside. "With this, I can now pay off the hospital bills for good."
"Has it been that long?" Tsubaki blinked her eyes as she checked her calendar. "Whoa, it is. It took you at least eight months to get that money for your bill huh?" She turned back to me while looking up and down. "Seriously, how injured were you to have that much of a bill to pay?"
"Erm~ a lot." I looked away to the side while remembering all of my scars, both old and new. I remembered the look of the nurses who were dealing with my bandages; half of them actually passed out from the number of scars I had and at least a quarter went to puke their meals out. Even the doctor who was in charge paled at the sight.
Then again, how would one describe the sight of wounds made by Death Apostles, crazy magus, the occasional nightmarish creatures and one courtesy of Lancer?
"Hmm… Now I am really curious what's underneath that set of clothes." Akeno remarked as she looked, smiling knowingly at the double entendre she made as she watched the others blush a bright red at her words. I merely rolled my eyes, having been mostly annulled by her thinking patterns. After all, Rin was the queen of innuendoes.
Seriously, what was with teenagers these days?
"You know Shirou, not that I am questioning anything or following stereotypes, but wouldn't you be asking for items like potions or something?" Ise asked as he scratched his head. "I mean, the ones in the games tend to ask for jewels, potions and stuff."
"Come to think of it, he has a point there." Sona remarked as she looked at me. "Granted there are some who ask for money, but you are the first one I know who asks solely for monetary rewards. Are you sure you don't need anything else?"
"It is only due to my bills that I ask for cash, most of the time I don't even bother with much items." I replied as I made sure to secure my payment in one of the dimensional pockets.
"But isn't there anything else you would want?" Momo asked as she looked at the dimensional pocket, likely trying to decipher its workings to get her own. "Granted you will still get paid, but I doubt you need more cash for your bills anymore, or rent if I calculated properly."
I opened my mouth only to pause for a moment, then close it as I pondered on her words. It was true that I would now be able pay off my debt to the hospital and the police officers, and that I don't necessary need more cash. Granted I could use the cash to pay my rent, but that didn't really help my situation with getting back home. Not to mention with all the recent creatures I had to face, I needed an edge.
Maybe…
"Actually, there may be something else I could ask for." I maintained a neutral tone as I watched the others adopt curious expressions with the exception of Sona and Rias whom have the looks of one smelling a potential bargain in play. "As you probably know, I was not given proper education in the arts of magecraft, whatever I have is just a bunch of spells that I had to learn on the road to fight with. I would like to study more on the proper arts and perhaps get some materials to experiment but I don't have access, so…"
"You would like to attain some books regarding certain types of practices?" Sona surmised my idea. "If I recalled, your style is more instinctive as opposed to the more-known calculations. Unusual but perhaps suitable considering your brand of fighting."
"Right."
"That can be done, but what would you give in return?" That ever present glint in her Rias's eyes was really disturbing, then again she was a creature older than me, but coupled that with her current appearance of a beautiful teenage girl, and it was a rather disturbing look of interest and lust mixed together in a seductive package. My concern seemed to be shared with the ex-exorcists as they made to move by my sides and watch her intendedly, Xenovia looking for an excuse for [Durandal] to make an appearance.
… And now my mind suddenly created an image of me in some mafia clothing with dark glasses and smoking a cigar in a chair while Xenovia and Irina were on my legs wearing revealing cocktail dresses.
Damn my teenage hormones!
"Did you not ask about some charms before?" I made to change the target from my soul to something they had discussed beforehand. "Something along the lines of shield and detection charms?"
"Those and offensive type charms." Sona nodded her head. "I noted some of your charms and runes are quite detailed and some of which are something which could be helpful in a lot of things. That was proven after the Regeis incident."
I would agree, even if some of said charms were used in manners not intended for their purposes. I should know, because a certain Chicago magus decided to use a heat spell as a cooling item for his duster of all things.
"I believe I have the ideal deal for you, Emiya-kun." Sona declared while adjusting her glasses, now firmly in negotiation mode. "How would you like to be schooled in the proper art of magic? This will tie in with your request of tomes and items."
"Really?" I blinked at her question, but that got taken over by Rias.
"Sona, you dare to take such a valuable target away from me!" Rias rounded on Sona with an incredulous tone. "I have yet to make an offer!"
"I dare say he won't be taking your offer at all." Sona gave a smile that seemed ever so smug before turning back. "Aside from the proper teachings, you wanted materials correct?"
"Provided these can be found." Good thing I prepared one list of such items in the event I made a deal with Sona. Granted these should be the more common items in the use of alchemy, but I dared not put in the more esoteric items in the list in case someone found the list and tried to research on them. I pulled out my notebook and pulled out the slip to hand over to her.
"These are… rather specific items…" Sona hummed as she look through the list, with Rias, Tsubaki and Akeno looking over her shoulders to view.
"No kidding." Rias whistled as she looked at the names. "Some of this is pretty rare even amongst the magic circles and the higher devils. Furthermore these aren't items you would mess with in any sort of ritual." She turned to me, her curiosity now very evident on her face. "What are you planning to do with these?"
"My own work." I gave that simple reply. "So is it possible?"
"Hmm…" Sona looked at the list carefully before looking up. "Do you have a list of the books you wish to view?" With a flourish, I produced another slip of paper, this time a list of books I would not mind having while ensuring I keep the more important ones in my head. She took that and studied it too, before turning to her group. "Momo, Reya, I need your help."
"What do you need, Kaichou?" Momo asked as they got to her.
"I would need you two to hunt down some of these items on these lists." Sona handed them the lists and pointed out the ones I needed. "I believe these are ones you are more familiar compared to me."
"This is quite a range of items to be asking for." Momo commented as she looked through on her side.
"Indeed, this is going to be quite a quest to find, let alone pay." Reya nodded as she read the titles.
"If it is cost, I should be able to afford some of it." I said while thinking about the valuables in my dimensional pockets. Some would be valuable as ingredients for potions while others are rare enough to make Rin consider exchanging some of her work with me just to get them.
"I don't think it would be that much of an issue." Sona replied as she considered the offer. "And in some ways, this would also help to cover the training you are giving us."
"Right. When are we doing that exactly?" I smirked lightly as I watched some of the members blanched at the reminder while the Occult Club gave them sympathetic expressions.
"Soon." Sona coughed into her hand before looking at all of us. "Okay I think we have discussed long enough, you guys should head back to class now." We nodded and started to leave the room one by one, giving me time to consider my options. It was a risk to be asking from them, but so far my working relationship with them has been helpful and it was about time for me to start finding some of the materials to fix the Kaleidou-Amulet.
I should not be sticking around too long in one world. This was the warning given by Rin, Luvia and in a rare moment of seriousness, Zelretch. Something about 'interfering with the natural flow of events in that world'? It was like introducing a new species into an environment that had no natural enemies, it would flourish and if not kept in check, would destroy the environment.
I had to make sure to hold back on my spells.
...
A/N : The Story Needs More Power Stones ;)
PS : if we can reach 400 Stones by the end of the week, I will throw you an extra chapter
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if you want to read ahead of the public release you can go to my p atreon :
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