Chapter 12: Mountain Air, Mashed Potatoes, and the Bishop's Burden
The Gremory summer training camp began not with a grand strategy meeting, but with the sound of Lucian Gremory's soul leaving his body.
The sun beat down on a jagged mountain peak. Rias, Akeno, and Asia stood at the summit, looking pristine and cool. Below them, Issei, Kiba, Koneko, and Lucian were struggling up the incline, each burdened with a massive, magically weighted pack.
"Rias!" Lucian wheezed, his face a shade of red that almost matched his hair. "I'm a Bishop! Why am I carrying enough iron to build a bridge? This is a violation of my role! I'm a man of the cloth... or at least the magic circle!"
Rias didn't even look back. She simply adjusted her sun hat. "You're being punished, Lucian. I told you I wasn't talking to you until you apologized for that ridiculous wager."
"Punished?" Lucian gasped, nearly tripping. "For trying to save your freedom?"
"For doing it without asking!" Rias snapped, finally turning around, though her pout was more cute than intimidating. "Now, keep climbing. If you fall behind, I'm adding another fifty kilos."
Kiba, who was handling his pack with annoying grace, chuckled. "You really stepped in it this time, Lucian. She's been fuming since we left the mansion."
"I'm doing it for her!" Lucian grumbled. "And my reward is a slipped disc."
The Art of Temptation and Explosion
Once they reached the lodge, the real chaos began.
Issei was placed in the center of the living room for "Concentration Training." His task was simple: maintain the Boosted Gear's output without letting his perverted thoughts cause a magical meltdown. To make it harder, Asia and a very reluctant Koneko were tasked with "tempting" him.
"Issei-san, you can do it!" Asia cheered, leaning in a bit too close.
"Pervert," Koneko added flatly, holding up a pair of cat-ear headbands.
Issei's face turned bright red. The green jewel on his hand began to scream. [BOOST-BOOST-BOOST-BOO—!]
BOOM.
A miniature emerald explosion rocked the lodge, blowing out the windows and soot-staining everyone in the room.
"Spectacular failure," Lucian noted from the corner, where he was trying to practice binding spells with his fox familiar. Tamamo was currently in her small form, batting at his mana threads like a bored kitten.
Rias, despite her "silent treatment," couldn't keep her eyes off Lucian. Her attention was split between Issei's explosive progress and the way Lucian was meticulously weaving complex, dark-purple chains of mana.
Akeno joined Lucian in the corner, her expression shifting from her usual teasing mask to something more somber. She had been the one to procure the rare magical resources for his "dirty play" strategy.
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Akeno whispered. "Lucian-kun, if you use the Power of Destruction to bridge the gaps in these seals... you'll have to sustain it for more than forty seconds. That could burn your circuits out permanently."
"Then I'll just have to be fast," Lucian replied, his eyes glowing with a faint, tired red. "Riser thinks he's playing a game. I'm playing for keeps."
The Potato War
The evening brought a different kind of torture: Kitchen Duty.
Rias had ordered Lucian, Issei, and Asia to prepare dinner for the entire group. It was meant to be a bonding exercise. It turned into a disaster.
Lucian stood at a cutting board, his hands trembling slightly from the day's training. He was trying to slice potatoes with precision, but his fingers were numb, and he kept nicking his knuckles.
"Ouch," he muttered, sucking on a cut.
Tamamo, shifting into her adult form for a moment to help, leaned over his shoulder. "Master, you look pathetic. You can slay a rogue priest but you can't handle a tuber?" Yet, despite her words, she watched him with an unfairly fond expression.
Beside them, Issei was having a mental breakdown. "If I think about... if I think about Rias-senpai's... then the peel will just...!"
Issei's hand blurred. Driven by "Oppai Power," he began peeling potatoes at supersonic speeds. Within seconds, a mountain of peeled potatoes buried Asia, who was trying to use healing magic to "freshen" the vegetables.
"Issei-san! I can't see!" Asia cried out from beneath the pile.
"Dinner is served! Mostly raw!" Issei shouted triumphantly.
The Feeding of the Bishop
Just as the group sat down to their haphazardly cooked meal, a magic circle appeared. Grayfia Lucifuge stepped out, carrying a tray of high-class Underworld delicacies and the official rules for the upcoming Rating Game.
She sat down next to Lucian, ignoring Rias's startled look. Without a word, she began hand-feeding Lucian pieces of premium beef.
"Grayfia-san?" Rias blinked. "What are you doing here?"
"The Bishop is a growing boy," Grayfia said, her face an unreadable mask of maid-like perfection. "He needs proper nutrition before a battle of this magnitude. Rias-sama, you should be more mindful of his health."
Issei looked at his bowl of half-peeled potato mush, then at Lucian being doted on by the strongest Queen in the Underworld. "It's just not fair! Why does he get the silver-haired goddess treatment while I get... this?"
"I think he's under more pressure than any of us, Issei," Akeno said softly, her eyes lingering on the bandages peeking out from Lucian's sleeves.
The Night Visitor
Later that night, Lucian lay in his room at the lodge, clutching a pillow and staring at the ceiling. His body ached in places he didn't know existed. He was almost asleep when the door creaked open.
A familiar scent of roses and destruction filled the room. Rias climbed onto the bed, sliding under the covers next to him.
"Rias?" Lucian groaned, not even moving. "If this is about the potatoes, I apologized."
"It's not about the potatoes," she whispered, her voice teasing as she traced a line down his arm with her finger. "I just wanted to see if my reckless Bishop was still awake."
She pressed closer, her warmth radiating through his thin shirt. For a second, the air grew heavy with a different kind of tension. Lucian felt his heart hammer against his ribs.
Wait, he thought. Is this it? The fan-service scene?
He felt her hand move to his cheek, her eyes searching his in the moonlight. She looked like she was about to say something—or do something—that would change everything.
But Lucian took a deep breath and gently caught her hand. "Rias... stop."
She blinked, startled. "Lucian?"
"You're still an engaged woman," he said, his voice steady despite his exhaustion. "And we have a war to win in forty-eight hours. Behave like a King, and let your Bishop sleep."
Rias stared at him for a long beat. Then, a small, genuine smile touched her lips. "You're a surprisingly stubborn gentleman, Lucian Gremory."
She leaned in and kissed the crown of his head. "You're an idiot for wagering your freedom. But... thank you."
She slipped out of the bed as quickly as she had arrived. Lucian didn't even have the energy to watch her leave; he fell into a dreamless sleep the moment the door clicked shut.
A moment later, Tamamo appeared in her adult form. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Lucian's head into her lap, her fingers gently combing through his crimson hair.
"My Master is always overworking himself," she sighed to the quiet room. "Rest, you foolish human. The Phoenix is coming, and you'll need every ounce of that stubbornness to survive."