"What's that strange smell… is anyone else noticing it?" Rias asked, sniffing the air. For some reason, the scent didn't bother her. In fact, the more she inhaled, the more she wanted to keep smelling it.
"I don't smell anything. Must be your imagination," Akeno said with a smile — part of the scent was actually coming from her.
"Well, whatever. Anyway, we need to talk about the contracts…" Rias said, looking toward her servants
In the room were Issei, Akeno, Yuuto, Koneko, and Asia — all sitting casually on the couch.
"Especially your contracts, Issei." She fixed him with a stern look. "Or rather, the lack of them." She sighed deeply.
"You don't need to worry about that, President. I'll get hundreds soon — just trust me!" Issei said with a confident, genuine smile. However, Rias didn't seem moved and simply sighed again.
"You said that the last few times too. I think it's better if we start teaching you again — from absolute zero." She then turned her gaze toward Koneko, who was eating her snacks lazily.
"Koneko, could you handle that for me?" The cat girl lifted her head and turned toward Rias.
"Sure…" she said, taking another bite. "I just hope he's not as degenerate as usual. I recommend re-educating him from zero in proper manners too. Maybe it'd be a good idea to shock him every time he acts like a pervert."
"Koneko-chan, don't be so mean—" Rias was interrupted by Issei's cough.
"I actually think that's a good idea," he suddenly said, shocking everyone in the room, who immediately looked him up and down. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that? It's just a well-intentioned shock."
"Issei… I knew you were a pervert, but that kind?" Rias hadn't realized he might be a masochist and was briefly taken aback.
Meanwhile, Akeno thought about her lightning powers… at another time, she could make excellent use of them. Issei would definitely love it!
"You really are the worst…" Koneko said with clear disgust. "There's really no saving you." She turned to Rias.
"Forget my earlier suggestion. I think it's better to just send him to a maximum-security prison for life and be done with him." Rias sighed heavily.
"Koneko, he's not a criminal."
"Not yet, only not yet," Koneko replied, shaking her head. "Soon he'll be the official enemy of all women in the world. Future generations will either thank us for this moment or blame us if we don't act. Just like they do with that mustached German guy."
Rias pressed her hand to her forehead and took a deep breath.
Issei watched the whole exchange with amusement despite everything. He simply wanted to strengthen his lightning magic, and taking shocks might help with that.
It was odd for someone who wanted to be a strong and fast duelist to be so interested in magic — but truth be told, magic was amazing.
He coughed again, drawing everyone's attention.
"I've been training a lot lately," he began, and everyone listened closely. "I know I don't have the best reputation, but the truth is, on Ddraig's recommendation, I've been putting myself through painful situations to become stronger. The shocks might help with that."
"Ohh…" Rias looked surprised and then smiled. "I see. So you're not just a perverted masochist."
'I never said that…' Issei thought but didn't say aloud.
"In any case, you two are my precious servants, and I'm sure you'll get along. Right?" Rias said with a slightly intimidating smile.
"Yes," they both said in unison.
"But I still want a shock collar," Koneko added. "Just in case."
"Akeno, handle that," Rias ordered, then turned to the others. "The rest of you, keep up the good work. You're dismissed."
They all waved casually while Issei sat there, embarrassed. The whole meeting had been just about him… he was the black sheep holding the group back — a complete nuisance.
He sighed deeply.
It wasn't enough to be strong; one had to be useful.
While he was lost in thought, Akeno approached him silently and slowly pointed her fingertip at the back of his neck. She wanted to know how much shock he could handle.
bz bz bz
She released a small electric shock that struck him with a mischievous smile. That was enough to make most demons jump out of their chairs screaming.
'Ara?' she thought, surprised — he didn't react at all. She tilted her head in confusion, then decided to increase the power.
BZ BZ BZ
A direct attack like that was enough to knock out demons easily. No sane person would try to endure such a thing; the only sensible response was to flee.
'Arara?' She looked more and more astonished, her eyes widening as she kept increasing the voltage.
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ!
The shock was now strong enough to kill a demon easily — even powerful ones would be severely injured. At this point, everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing to watch the scene.
Her magic lit up the room as Issei continued pondering his failures.
Akeno kept intensifying the current, now feeling challenged.
"Akeno-san." He suddenly turned around. "What was that? Why are you tickling me?"
"..."
"Tickling?" Akeno stood frozen, mouth open.
"Yes, tickling," he repeated.
"What kind of training have you been doing exactly?"
Issei grinned widely.
"Nothing special, just getting struck by lightning in storms"