Yukino left with a quiet Asuna in tow.
Watching the two walk away, Leo knew Asuna was still confused, unsure what to do next. That was probably why she hadn't pushed back against his arrangements.
"Looks like I really need to sit her down and talk things through."
Leaving her alone wasn't going to help.
She might accept her current situation, but Asuna wasn't like Yukino. She wouldn't necessarily convince herself and adapt to being a devil as quickly as Yukino had.
Yukino was aloof and distant, but she'd always had a clear goal. Her style was decisive—she hated dragging things out. Even if no one pushed her, she would push herself. She didn't need anyone nudging her forward.
Asuna, on the other hand, had grown up under her controlling mother's thumb. She'd always lived by someone else's plans. Now that she'd suddenly been shoved off her original life path, if no one guided her, she might lock herself inside a mental cage of her own making and never get out.
Leo had checked earlier: this world didn't have fully immersive VR tech, nor did it have a quantum physicist-slash-game-design genius named Kayaba Akihiko. So Asuna wouldn't be trapped inside a death game, undergo trauma, survive it, and emerge transformed.
Without death breathing down her neck, would this girl ever become the "Flash" Asuna who once shook the world in his previous life?
Leo privately made a note to watch over her. Then he opened a magic circle for communication and contacted Sona Sitri.
"Good morning, Leo."
Sona's small projection appeared above the magic circle, her cool voice crisp and clear.
"Morning, Sona." Leo lifted the circle and smiled. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"Of course not. It's the weekend and there's no class. You can contact me anytime." Sona gave a faint smile. "So? You finished the extermination mission?"
"It's done." Leo shrugged. "But I ran into something and might need your help."
He retold the entire incident from last night—the Stray Devil, the fight, and meeting the victim he had reincarnated as his servant.
Sona wasn't surprised he'd defeated the Stray Devil.
After all, the mission had originally been hers before she passed it on to him. She had all the intel. The Stray Devil had been a Low-Class Devil before betraying its master; at best it now had Mid-Class Devil strength. It never stood a chance against Leo.
But the moment Leo mentioned the victim he'd saved—and that he'd reincarnated her—Sona showed genuine surprise.
"Blade Blacksmith?" Sona blinked. "Your new servant actually has that Sacred Gear?"
"Yeah." Leo smiled. "A pretty unexpected bonus."
"It really is. A devil servant who can create Holy Swords—if the Church gets wind of this, they'll be miserable." Sona pushed her glasses up. "And Rias—learning one of your servants has that Sacred Gear will definitely get a reaction out of her."
"Oh?" Leo raised a brow. "Why her?"
"She has a servant with the same Knight piece as yours," Sona explained. "And that servant has a Sacred Gear that's the counterpart to your servant's—Sword Birth."
Sword Birth—literally, a Sacred Gear that creates Demon Swords.
Demon Swords were the opposite of Holy Swords—cursed weapons filled with malice.
Just like Holy Swords, Demon Swords appeared across countless myths.
Gram, Balmung, Nothung, Tyrfing, Dáinsleif… legendary weapons with immense power and unique abilities. Unlike Holy Swords, they didn't reject wielders or require decades before producing someone compatible. But they would curse their users, and anyone without a way to resist the curse would die sooner or later.
Sword Birth created weapons of that kind—same category as Blade Blacksmith, yet opposite in nature.
Blade Blacksmith was holy.
Sword Birth was demonic.
They weren't on the level of the Red Dragon Emperor and White Dragon Emperor—destined to fight when both appeared—but by nature, the two were still rivals.
Especially Rias Gremory's Knight. If Leo remembered right, that guy had a long-standing grudge against Holy Swords and wanted to destroy them. If he met Asuna…
Yeah. Things could get messy.
"I guess I should really push Asuna to grow fast, so some other Knight doesn't bully her."
Leo joked lightly.
"It won't come to that. Rias will handle her own people." Sona gave a soft laugh. "Anyway—I understand why you called. You want to train your Knight and need knowledge about swordsmanship, right?"
"Pretty much. The Eligos family is ancient—they barely have anything on sword techniques in their archives. Maybe they did once, but it wasn't among the books returned to me." Leo sighed. "So I can only ask you."
"This is easy. As long as you're not asking for Sitri House's hereditary secrets, I can authorize plenty of material." Sona paused. "But… are you sure knowledge is enough?"
"What else would there be?" Leo blinked. "Do you have something better?"
"…More or less." Sona hesitated—very rare for her—then sighed. "If you want, I can introduce you to a sword instructor."
Leo perked up.
A sword instructor?
Sona knew someone like that?
Then why the reluctant tone?
"If you're bringing it up yourself, this instructor must be impressive?"
Leo rubbed his chin.
Sona's reply erased all his doubts in a single sentence.
"She's my sister's Knight."
Leo froze.
Her sister…
Serafall Leviathan?
A Maou's servant?
And a Knight just like Asuna?
…Hiss.
"Wait—seriously?"
Leo felt a shameful flutter of excitement.
A Maou's servant!
The Knight of Serafall Leviathan—someone like that had to be an Ultimate-Class Devil at minimum, right?
Sona was really offering something that outrageous? Getting a top-tier devil to tutor his servant?
"It should be fine." Sona sounded slightly uneasy. "If I ask my sister, she probably won't refuse."
Of course she wouldn't—Serafall was notoriously sister-obsessed. She'd never say no to her beloved little sister.
Sona, however, would absolutely suffer for it. She despised being smothered by her sister's overwhelming affection.
Yet she was willing to brave that… for him and his servant.
Honestly? Touching.
But—
"Your sister won't… hate me for making you ask her for this, will she?"
Leo stiffened.
Everyone knew: sis-cons were unreasonable creatures. The moment a strange male seemed to be "taking their sister," they became hostile to absurd degrees.
Even if Sona only asked for a favor like borrowing a servant as an instructor, Serafall could still irrationally decide Leo was an enemy.
Leo had been on the receiving end before. When Sona first came to the human world as his supervisor and got along with him, Serafall had come after him in secret.
Sure, Sona verbally hammered her until she couldn't eat for three days, but Leo still occasionally received reminders that Serafall was keeping an eye on him.
If he ever made a move on Sona…
Leo shuddered.
"Don't worry. Supporting you is part of my assignment in the human world. Especially after your last report—my superiors already told me to fulfill any reasonable request you make so your growth isn't hindered."
Sona tried to reassure him… though she didn't sound entirely confident.
"My sister… shouldn't break the Underworld's upper-level directives over something this small. Probably."
…That "probably" needed to be a lot stronger to be reassuring.
Forget it. It was worth it for his servant's future.
A Maou? Once he unlocked the Balance Breaker for Zenith Tempest, who knew—maybe he could even fight one head-on.
"I'm counting on you, then."
Leo left the matter in her hands.
"No problem. I'll let you know when I get an answer."
And with that, Sona steeled herself. Even if she hated dealing with that embarrassing sister of hers—
for the sake of her friend, she would endure.