When Toujou Koneko, in her role as a devil summoned to fulfill human wishes, asked the summoner what wish she wanted granted, she received an answer that left her stunned.
"My wish, at the time, was... to reduce that arrogant god to ashes!"
A malicious grin filled with loathing accompanied the tone, clearly not joking.
Toujou Koneko froze, utterly unprepared for Jeanne Alter's outrageous request.
"You're devils, right? Since devils and fallen angels exist, then gods should too, shouldn't they? Isn't this wish quite suitable for you devils? You must also secretly want to chop those arrogant gods into mincemeat, right?"
A wickedly charming smile spread across her delicate face as Jeanne Alter's piercing golden eyes locked onto Koneko's, causing the petite girl's body to tense slightly.
"Your wish...is something we cannot fulfill."
"As expected."
Angels, fallen angels, and devils—these three factions had been waging war with armies since ancient times. Ultimately, their endless struggle concluded without a victor, as continuing would only lead to mutual destruction.
If the devils truly possessed the power to obliterate gods, they would have done so long ago.
"Still…"
Jeanne Alter's tone suddenly shifted, and her wicked grin turned into a mocking smirk.
"With the world in such chaos, and devils brazenly walking around fulfilling human desires, that god of yours must have kicked the bucket long ago, right?"
Jeanne Alter's disdainful tone irritated Koneko deeply.
She implied that as long as god remained alive, devils would forever remain insignificant, unable to rise up and constantly oppressed.
Koneko could never tolerate such belittling words.
So, Koneko replied irritably:
"The god is still alive."
Meaning—your god isn't as impressive as you think.
But Jeanne Alter merely shrugged indifferently.
"Who knows?"
Observing Jeanne Alter's mocking expression, Koneko silently came to a conclusion.
This person...is really annoying.
"Honestly, whether god is alive or dead, I don't care at all."
Meeting Koneko's gaze, Jeanne Alter casually waved her hand, saying, "With the world so messed up and all those believers' prayers ignored, if he's dead, fine. But if he's still alive, I'll personally eradicate every last shred of him!"
Koneko found herself increasingly baffled by this woman.
She appeared completely ordinary—no demonic power, no divine blessing, and no aura of a Sacred Gear.
Moreover, her attitude toward god was especially strange. If she didn't believe in god, why would she insist gods were far superior to devils? If she did believe, why would she declare god dead and promise to kill him if he wasn't—blasphemous words that would drive anyone from the Church mad with fury.
"But this is troublesome…"
Jeanne Alter thoughtfully stroked her chin, glancing meaningfully at Koneko. "Aside from killing god, I really don't have any other wishes. So, did you make this trip for nothing?"
Hearing that, Koneko subtly furrowed her brow, seemingly troubled.
"If so, my devil performance rating will drop. That's troubling."
"And you said you're different from those restaurants outside? Even talking about performance ratings?"
Koneko shot Jeanne Alter an annoyed glance, clearly unhappy about the comparison.
She was a devil! How could Jeanne Alter compare her to restaurant chefs? Ridiculous!
"You don't have any other wishes?"
Koneko stubbornly pressed.
"Even if you ask…"
Jeanne Alter looked genuinely troubled. "Why don't you tell me what kinds of wishes you've fulfilled before? So I can get some inspiration."
After a moment of silence, Koneko slowly answered:
"Playing video games with people, chatting...and helping move heavy objects, since I'm good at physical tasks."
Devils holding noble ranks granted unique abilities to their servants through "Evil Pieces," patterned after chess. Koneko, as Rias's Rook, possessed outstanding strength and defense.
"That's it?"
Jeanne Alter stared incredulously at Koneko. "A cute creature like you hasn't been asked for hugs or warming beds? You may be small, but plenty of people adore your type—men and women alike."
Under Jeanne Alter's intense gaze, Koneko defensively hugged herself, glaring suspiciously.
"H-things...are forbidden."
She paused before adding firmly, "Even between girls, forbidden."
"What nonsense? Do you think I'd be interested in you? You're far from my type."
In truth, Jeanne Alter didn't believe Koneko at all.
After all, she initially quit watching High School DxD due to its explicit nature. Even without seeing later episodes, she bet five cents that Koneko was secretly a little pervert.
"Hmm?"
Koneko slightly furrowed her brow.
"It feels like you're thinking something very rude."
"You're imagining things."
Jeanne Alter lied smoothly with a straight face, making Koneko stare at her suspiciously for a long moment, unable to detect any deceit, leaving her increasingly confused.
Was it really her imagination?
While Koneko pondered this, Jeanne Alter searched for another suitable wish. Her gaze swept across the room, landing on the surrounding furniture, and she suddenly had an idea.
"Come to think of it…"
Jeanne Alter turned to Koneko. "I just moved to Kuoh Town recently. This house is new, and even the furniture was left behind by the previous owner. I wanted to buy new furniture, but I'm unfamiliar with the area. Could you help me with that?"
"Also, didn't you say you're good at physical tasks? When the furniture arrives, can you help me move it?"
After a brief silence, Koneko nodded.
"Then, the contract is established."
...
The next morning, Jeanne Alter left home early, walking toward Kuoh Academy.
Her home wasn't far from Kuoh Academy, just a twenty-minute walk. Such distance was hardly a warm-up for her current physique, so she wasn't troubled at all.
Thinking back, she once chased after buses every morning, transferring multiple times and eating breakfast on board, terrified of being late.
Now, she didn't need to worry about punctuality. With her enhanced physical condition, she could outrun vehicles if she chose to, and she attended school simply for the experience, not academics.
Her future suddenly felt bright. She had never experienced such a relaxed and pleasant journey to school, enough to make her hum a cheerful tune.
As she approached the academy gates, she noticed more students wearing Kuoh uniforms, almost entirely female—typical for this overwhelmingly girl-dominated school.
Any typical boy surrounded by attractive girls would be ecstatic—but not her. Even chatting with pretty girls made her previously anxious self nervous.
"I spent so long choosing furniture with Koneko yesterday. The new items should arrive soon. I'll have her help move them… though I could easily do it myself. Wonder how she'll react upon learning that truth? She won't hate me, right?"
Jeanne Alter wasn't certain, but she had no choice.
Many powerful entities lurked in this world. She wasn't ready to reveal her full strength just yet.
She still wanted to savor this peaceful, enjoyable daily life before the supernatural factions discovered her existence, inevitably disrupting everything.
Walking through campus, Jeanne Alter gradually felt something unusual.
Her keen senses detected numerous gazes converging on her, and she overheard whispers about herself.
"Is that her?"
"Seriously? Doesn't seem like it…"
"It's true! I saw it yesterday…"
"She's new here, right?"
"Wait, isn't she actually kind of handsome?"
"Now that you mention it...yeah! I didn't notice yesterday, but she's charming…"
Sometimes overly sensitive hearing was problematic, as conversations about her reached her clearly from afar.
Mentions of "yesterday" meant they discussed her blocking a flying soccer ball for a girl after class.
Had that single event spread overnight? Wasn't that a bit fast?
Entering her classroom, Jeanne Alter sensed nearly everyone's gaze snap to her, momentarily feeling like a celebrity.
Yet, even a classroom full of attention didn't faze her. After all, she once sang as Nero, experiencing genuine spotlight...even if the attention vanished immediately afterward.
"Jeanne-san! Did you know? You've become famous!"
She'd barely sat down when a brown-haired girl approached enthusiastically.
Jeanne Alter stared silently with golden eyes, offering no reply.
"Jeanne-san, don't tell me you've forgotten me?"
"Not completely. You're the girl who showed me around yesterday, but your name…I forgot. I'm bad with names."
As a transfer student, someone introduced Jeanne Alter to the campus facilities on her first day. This helpful tradition reminded her of past embarrassments, like going without food for a whole day because she couldn't find the cafeteria and was too shy to ask.
And the cheerful brown-haired girl in front of her had taken on that task yesterday.
"I'm Fujita Eimi! Fujita Eimi! Fujita Eimi! There, repeated three times, don't forget again! If you do, I'll repeat it three more times!"
Hands on her hips, Eimi flashed a bright smile. Every class seemed to have a lively student like her.
Even Jeanne Alter felt some warmth from Eimi's kindness, momentarily calming her inner flames of hatred. This indicated a slight shift from [Jeanne Alter] toward her gentler aspects.
After all, Jeanne Alter never handled kindness very gracefully.
"Still, Jeanne-san, you're amazing! First day at school, and already the talk of the whole campus!"
Sure enough, Eimi spoke about the soccer incident yesterday.
Although Jeanne Alter appeared somewhat cold, Eimi became even more animated, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Training? Well, partly natural talent… I can't really teach it."
She could hardly recommend dungeon-crawling to a delicate girl like Eimi.