We decided that she would stay with me for now.
I couldn't leave her alone with devils—not that I didn't trust them, but a nun left to fend for herself among devils didn't sound sensible at all, even if the devils in question are my friends.
We also asked Asia for her opinion.
At first, she hesitated, not wanting to impose on anyone, but after some convincing, she agreed to stay with us.
Then, quietly, she made her choice.
"Then I want to stay with Zevion… if… I'm not a burden to you," she murmured.
I sighed, sensing her lack of confidence.
"Look, Asia," I said gently, "you don't get to decide whether you're a burden to me. That's up to me alone. And I've decided—you're not a burden. So yes, you can stay."
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Koneko stumbled in, blood dripping from a shallow but bleeding slash across her back.
We all sprang to our feet and rushed to her side.
The wound wasn't life-threatening, but it was deep enough to bleed and make her look like she had been in danger.
Rias and the others immediately began questioning her about what had happened, but Asia stepped forward and started to heal Koneko's wound.
The other girls froze in surprise, though I didn't understand why at first.
Seeing my confused look, Rias spoke up first.
"It's nearly unheard of for a nun from the Church to have the ability to heal devils. She was banished from the Church, and now I think I understand why. With a power capable of healing even devils, it's no wonder they cast her out."
I think I finally understand.
The Church… they're paranoid.
A holy maiden capable of healing devils—their sworn enemies—was too much for them to tolerate.
So what did they do?
They banished her and labelled her a Witch.
Having lived a sheltered life, she was suddenly cast into a world that offered her no protection.
Now that she was marked as a witch, surviving would be even harder—no one would trust her, no one would help her, and danger lurked at every turn.
Many people will want to hunt someone with the title of Witch.
The perfect way to erase her without ever getting their hands dirty.
... Scums. That's all they were.
No, now wasn't the time to dwell on them.
"Hey, Koneko, what happened?" I asked.
Rias and Akeno urged her as well.
Taking a deep breath, Koneko began to recount the events.
Demons work by different rules than humans.
Of course expected, but I never asked before...
In the human world, a demon was only permitted to work within its defined territory.
Work meant getting summoned, forging pacts, granting wishes, and exacting payment.
Fees were paid in the form of money, goods, or, from time to time, the summoner's life.
That said, there weren't many people willing to go that far to make their wishes come true.
When it did come up, the pact was usually called off, as such a payment wasn't worth whatever incredible thing the demon was offering.
In general, a pact could only be forged at night, as demons were only permitted to work after dusk.
Daytime was reserved for angels and God, though I still didn't understand that part.
I mean, isn't that for vampires?
These girls don't burn under the sun, and I don't think god needs to worry about day or night, as they can just make day or night whenever they want, or pop up a sun just to fight in day, so... why?
Anyway, the main point is that nowadays, no one manually draws magic circles to summon a devil, so they just distribute pre-drawn magic circle papers to potential contractors.
The job goes like this:
First, they are summoned, and then they make a contract with them.
After that, they fulfill their wishes.
As a prize, they receive an award fitting for the particular wish the contractor made.
It can be money, an object, or even their life.
Well, lately, there aren't any contractors who would risk their lives to make a wish.
Even if there was a person like that, if the price they gave doesn't match up to the wish they wish for, then the wish won't be granted.
According to Rias, "People's values aren't equal".
So what demons get from a contract differ depending on the contract.
They can get anything, depending on the agreement.
Also, there is something about level up that doesn't need to worry about, as it's related to peerage and somewhat complicated.
I am not a part of it, so it doesn't matter.
The matter of Koneko's injury became clear soon enough.
While carrying out one of her daily contract jobs, she had been ambushed by a stray exorcist.
Thankfully, there wasn't too much to worry about—she had only been hurt in the initial surprise attack, and after that, she quickly overpowered him.
Unfortunately, he still managed to escape.
We all sighed in relief that it wasn't anything serious… but then I caught myself.
Relief? Not serious?
Since when was an ambush by an exorcist not serious?
Looks like my leftover common sense is starting to slip away.
Maybe I should start keeping a journal—something to track my morals and sanity, just in case I really do start going crazy.
Meanwhile, Rias and Sona were already discussing upgrading the security around the town.
Their talk quickly got buried in technical terms I didn't bother to follow.
Instead, I turned my attention back to Koneko, who was nearly finished being healed by Asia.
I gently patted Koneko's head as I spoke to her.
"Good job making it back alive. I'm relieved you're fine. Don't get yourself hurt like this again, you idiot. Now just rest here for a while."
Her face flushed red, but she only gave me a small, silent nod.
A few hours later, Asia and I were back at my house.
I had given her one of the spare rooms—this place was far too big for me alone anyway, so letting her use one was no problem.
After showing her around and helping her get familiar with the place, I let her settle in and rest.
Once she was comfortable, I made my way back to my own room, closing the door behind me and turning the lock.
"...Hey, Giratina," I called softly, "can you track down the one who hurt Koneko?"
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