The night went by without incident, and John found himself walking back to the school the following morning feeling pretty good. He was thankfully wearing a dark grey suit he found in the closet and not that overly relaxed silk shirt and jeans he seems to wear in every world he enters.

Maybe I should spin the clothing gatcha…might get some extra options. 

Taking his time, he causally walked down the road. He nodded at several students and staff whom he met briefly yesterday, but otherwise kept to himself, enjoying the springtime air.

City or not, it smells better than that space station, and my ship wasn’t much better. Heck, it is even better than Meritoni…I need to introduce plumbing there…maybe I should study sanitation in one of these worlds as a side project and I could make it a goal there to introduce proper indoor plumbing to the guild. 

Thinking about ways he could improve conditions in his favorite world so far, John almost missed the two women he swore he suspended yesterday. Both Sona and Tsubaki were standing in front of the school gate, greeting people as they arrived. Apparently they missed the memo.

John sighed, his good start of a day already being sidetracked. He walked up to them.

“Miss Sitri, Miss Shinra. You both have been suspended for one week, what are you doing here?” He asked in a neutral tone.

“What are you talking about? You must be confused Principal, we have done nothing to deserve such punishment.” Sona said, using a cute innocent tone to hide the sarcasm coming off her in waves. 

“I filed the paperwork yesterday myself. Now go, you are not allowed here until next week, where we will sit down and have a conversation about your futures in this school going forward.” 

“I think you will find out that paperwork has gone missing Mr. Principal, and that you have a meeting you should be attending to in your office right about now. Now if you excuse us, we have students to greet. It is part of the job of the student council you know.” Sona finished, a victorious smile painted over her face like she just won a battle against a tricky foe.

“Right. Well you two are still suspended, so I better not see you on school grounds once classes are in.” John said. They were not technically on school property, so he couldn’t do anything more then warn them for now.

John moved towards his office, leaving the two smirking teenagers alone with their sense of victory. He stopped by the school office first, and checked their files. No record of their suspension could be found, and when he questioned the staff, no one remembered him filing anything yesterday. Curious.

Fuck me I know I did all that work yesterday…I…wait is my brain not working right? Am I imagining that I did all that?

He didn’t think so, it felt too real for something he made up in his mind…it had to be some sort of magic. He moved into his office then, contemplating what could be happening. He was partway to his desk when he realized he wasn’t alone. Six other people were in the room with him, all giving off a feeling of power. 

First, was the little middle school girl from yesterday, Serafall Leviathan. This time she was in a navy blue business suite, though it still had a pink tie. It did make her seem much older, like a woman in her 20s instead of a kid. She was seated on the couches with four others, two men and two women, who seemed to be couples. 

*One pair had black hair like Sona, with the woman having her purple eyes. They appeared to be in their late twenties, both fairly attractive people. They both wore business clothes as well. The other pair however were a little different. The man had shoulder length red hair and light blue eyes, a small beard under his chin. He had on a military style uniform of some sort. The woman beside him was a brunette with shoulder length hair, purple eyes and a rather impressive bust on display in a simple white and black sundress.

The final person was standing behind John’s desk. Tall, red hair similar to the other man, this guy was wearing a weird set of dark armour with excessively large shoulder guards. A massive dark grey cape framed his body, making the already impressive figure seem even larger. The only thing that broke his regal appearance was an absurd cowlick on his head.

They all looked at him, so he looked right back. 

“Good Morning. Can I help you with something?” he said, moving to his desk. If they thought having a bunch of people show up to intimidate him would work, they had another thing coming. He had already seen death before, what use was being scared of a few people?

Meeting the Zerg once fundamentally changed John in a few ways.

The big man in the armour continued to browse his bookshelves while the other five looked at each other, then back to John. John didn’t like being stared at but if they wanted to play a game instead of just answering, then fine. He opened up his day planner and started to get to work. “Fine whatever, I am a busy man, so if you want to play games, do it elsewhere.”

The big guy noticed this then smirked. “Hah, figured as much. Told you he wouldn’t be intimidated that easy.” He moved over to the front of the desk and sat down. It almost made John think he was acting like he owned the place.

“Now, I think we got off on the wrong foot Mr. Wayne. I am Lord Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the patrons of this school. With me are the other major patrons of the school, including the parents and sister of Sona Sitri. You already met Lady Serafall Leviathan yesterday, so beside her are her mother and father, Lord and Lady Sitri. Across from them are Lord and Lady Gremory, who are also major patrons of the school, and my parents.”

Parents? They look the same age? Is this world full of eternal twenty year olds? And Lords and Ladies? Is this a prank? They are obviously too young to be the parents of Sona. College aged friends maybe? And that one still looks like a kid.

“I see. And why have you graced my presence today then? Do you plan to attack me with magic like the girls did yesterday as well?”

“No no, not in the slightest. In fact, the story intrigued me so much I interrupted my schedule to come see this in person.” said Sirzechs, laughing now. The other five appeared to be a bit glum, like they had planned on handling this without his input.

“Well I don’t see what is so amusing. I was attacked by them yesterday, so I have suspended the students, and if she continues to show up, I will have the local authorities put a restraining order on her, or whatever the local equivalent is.” John said, gesturing towards Serafall.

Sirzechs continued to laugh for a moment, then looked at John with a serious expression. “Do you have any idea who you are threatening with a human restraining order of all things?” He then stood up, and four pairs of bat wings extended out from his body. The rest of the people in the room also stood, wings extended, though most only had two sets, while Serafall had three.

John stood up too, his camera activating on its own, like it sensed a threat incoming. “So you guys have wings? That is cool, I just have this random camera. Now, why are you here?” He had no idea why his camera activated then, but for some reason he felt safe when it was out. He thumbed the recording button so he would have a record of what happened here.

Seeing as his intimidation tactic didn’t seem to work on John, Sirzechs frowned. “We are devils Mr. Wayne. Does that not surprise you?”

“Not particularly. Can’t say I have ever seen a devil before, but with some of the other things I have seen, it is hardly surprising. Now, why are you here?”

“Are you aware of the underworld? The heavens? The war between devils, angels and fallen angels?”

“No I am not, and unless it is relevant to the fact I have a school to run, I would prefer to stay ignorant for now.”

“It is very relevant to you John, since before you stands the leader of the devils, plus two of the four great satans. Both of our sisters are attending this academy, along with their peerages. We would be grateful if you would continue what the previous principal did, and let them run the place.”

So he is some sort of devil-king? Why are these people at a human school then?  

“No I will not. After looking through the records yesterday, she apparently cannot be trusted to run a school. Discipline has been lacking in many aspects and she has allowed an environment where there are no repercussions for poor behavior.  I don’t know what that hand waving crap was they tried to pull on me yesterday, but if they have been using magic to brainwash people into thinking things are okay when they are clearly not, it’s just going to enable the perpetrators to continue doing bad things.” John said, ad libing a few of the lines he practiced last night when he thought he was going to be held accountable for his actions yesterday.

At this point, John still had no idea magic wasn’t really known to the human populace in general, so he just assumed magic was commonplace, and these devils were just abusing an unsuspecting school with it. Which, wasn’t far from the actual truth.

 A great torrent of magic washed over him then, Sirzechs power trying to affect his mind. When this didn’t work, a black ball formed on one of his fingers. “Well I tried. Apparently you can’t be reasoned with. Good bye Mr. Wayne.” he said, then threw the ball at John. The explosion ripped across the room, engulfing the desk and wall behind John in black flames.

John could feel something trying to rip his skin off, but another power was fighting it inside him, preventing him from taking any damage. His clothing however, did not survive the assault.

As the smoke and dust cleared, John’s visitors were all standing on the other side of the room, a look of shock on their faces. There John stood in the ruins of the other half of the office, naked except for a charred set of shoes and an old camera on his shoulder. His skin had turned an unhealthy shade of red, like he just had too much sun.

“I see. So you planned on attacking me anyways as well. Do you people have a hard time with talking like adults, or is it just your way to throw tantrums anytime someone tells you no?” He snidely remarked. 

Damn it! I liked that suit! 

Oddly enough, the brunette, Lady Gremory spoke up then. “We are not used to humans having a backbone Mr. Wayne. Usually, when one senses our power they get scared, and we can just use magic to change memories as needed. You, you have the potential to become a powerful ally for us with that Sacred Gear. Sirzechs, did you see how it deflected your Power of Destruction? He is worthy of our respect, not our normal disdain for humans.”

She turned back to John then “I am Lady Venelana Gremory. It seems we underestimated you Mr. Wayne. Please, can we start over from the beginning? 

John blinked at her…then looked down at his naked body, his shoes still smoking slightly. “You’re kidding right? Get the fuck out of my office! Take your kids and your funding, I don’t care about you devils or whatever is happening. You people have assaulted me multiple times now instead of having a god damn conversation about the issues of two students.” He took a moment and cast heal on himself, his redden skin turning back to normal. “Seriously, this all could have been avoided if someone taught their children to knock on a door first. By the sounds of it, you are nobles of some sort, why even send your kids to a human school?”

“You can use healing magic? Are you part of the Church?” Said Venelana, ignoring his question.

“No I am not. Now get out!” John roared, and started pushing them out of the room. He could tell that they were all physically stronger than him, by a large margin, but they didn’t put up a fight as he pushed them all into the hall, a flabbergasted look on their faces.

He slammed the door behind them, then sat down on a nearby couch. His office was ruined, that spell of Sirzechs demolishing his desk. He had no idea how he was going to explain that one to accounting when he needed to get things repaired.

“When I went to school, parents usually supported the teachers when their children messed up. This is ridiculous, kids mess up and then bring in family for back up to mess stuff up even more? Who would ever want to be a teacher then?”

He had no idea what just happened, only that he was attacked once again in his office, by people calling themselves devils. His camera chose that time to dissolve back into his body, and a bone deep weariness spread throughout his body.

“I’ll deal with this, after I have a nap…Zzz” he said, yawning and passing out almost immediately.   

In the Occult Research Clubroom…

(Not really describing people unless it is John meeting them…you all should know Rias and Akeno by now.)

The six visitors of John’s were now in a different room in the school. A repurposed classroom that was setup like an old office, similar to the principal’s one. All six of them were sitting on the couches in the center of the room, with a gaggle of students surrounding the edges of the room, the members of Sona’s and Rias’s peerages. 

Sona and Rias were sitting on folding chairs brought in, while Rias’s queen, Akeno served tea. 

“You felt his power didn’t you Sirzechs? That power nullification magic of his was quite impressive. Not to mention he seems to have limited healing magic too.” Venelana said, looking over to her son.

“Indeed, that Sacred Gear was on par with some of the thirteen longinuses. Damage nullification that could defeat my power of destruction. I was holding back, but I think it would have blocked it even at full power.” He said, his tone thoughtful as he considered the potential applications of such a Sacred Gear.

“I told you! I noticed it yesterday when I tried to cast my mind erasure magic, but it just washed over him. My Imouto and her queen hit him with water magic, and it only made him wet.” Serafall said patting Sona on the thigh, reassuring her little sister that it wasn’t her fault, but this ended up embarrassing her instead.

Lord Sitri, quiet until this moment, spoke up. “I think we should consider trying to recruit that man into either of Sona’s or Rias’s peerages. He could make a good Rook or Bishop with either of those skills.”

“Are you insane? Let’s just get him transferred back where he came from.” His wife said, clearly done with this new principal.  “He needs to know his place! Suspending our daughter and her queen. HRMP!”

“Hmmm.” Lord Gremory said then looked at his son and wife. “He seems quite the disciplined man as well.”

All three shared a look, then looked over at the third red head in the room. The woman was sitting on her folding chair, sipping on her tea like it was normal for hers and Sona’s family’s to barge into her office out of the blue.

Rias noticed them watching her with a predatory gleam in their eyes. “What? Is something on my face?”

*Sona’s parents don’t have a description or images on the fandom page, so I was just being generic with them. I never read the manga to see if they appeared in there, just the anime.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep