This time, Rias didn't need Souna Shitori's reminder. She flapped her slender, pitch-black bat wings and slowly flew to the edge of the barrier. The glasses, which had truly lost their transfer ability this time, lay in the grass, reflecting a blinding white light under the sun.
"It can even camouflage itself..." Rias felt a flash of irritation at being played by a Sacred Gear. "Since you're so disobedient, I won't force it." She was already quite repulsed by this Sacred Gear. Although Sacred Gears were rare, as the successor head of the Gremory family, she had seen plenty of God-Tier Sacred Gears. Even Issei Hyoudou's Boosted Gear hadn't stirred her greed; destroying this unknown glasses-type Sacred Gear was no loss.
A magic attack imbued with the power of destruction landed on the flat, narrow, rimless glasses. A crack appeared on the lens, which had remained intact in the cerulean flames. Rias quickly launched another deep-red magic attack, and the cracks on the lens grew more intricate. A third, fourth, and fifth strike followed. It took five attacks for the lens to completely shatter, turning into scattered light that dissipated into the air. With the main lens destroyed, the frame, temples, and other parts also turned into light particles and vanished with the wind.
Caleb and the others arrived at the scene when Rias launched her second attack. Witnessing the complete elimination of the culprit, Caleb felt a strange sense of relief, far greater than when he had incinerated Hajime Tanaka. In an instant, he seemed to understand something. If a similar situation arose in the future, he definitely wouldn't make the same mistake again, leading to an even more troublesome replacement.
"Buchou, thanks to you, otherwise I truly wouldn't have known what to do with those glasses," Caleb said with sincerity.
"It's not your fault. On the contrary, I should thank you." Rias pressed Caleb's face into her massive Bunnies, chuckling. "If you hadn't discovered it in advance, it would have been a real headache if we had found out and dealt with it later."
"You just joined the club. We should have taken you along for your first mission anyway." Rias smiled very happily, her exquisite face radiating beauty. "It's a shame Yuuto isn't here, or this could have been considered a welcoming club activity for your membership."
Souna Shitori pushed up her glasses. "If you want to call it a club activity, don't forget to report it to the Student Council beforehand."
Caleb's eyes were blocked by a field of pure white, so he could only lamentably rub harder into the cleavage, missing the rare sight of the usually serious Souna Shitori making a joke to lighten the mood. Rias's cheeks flushed. She reached out and pressed down on Caleb's restless head. He had already skewed her bra; she couldn't let him continue.
"Buchou, can we dismiss the barrier now?" Akeno Himejima showed a hint of fatigue. The magic power consumption was manageable, but it was primarily mental exhaustion. If a ready-made magic circle had been used for the barrier, she wouldn't have had to maintain her concentration constantly. This incident had been sudden, leaving no time for preparation.
"Thank you for your hard work, Akeno. You can dismiss it." Rias turned back to Mikoto An'in and Souna Shitori. "Thank you for your hard work, Mikoto-senpai and Souna."
Souna Shitori retracted her wings. "With chaos breaking out in Kuoh Town, I couldn't possibly continue to be Student Council President with peace of mind."
"Hey, hey, don't think you can wriggle out of the compensation just by saying thank you." Mikoto An'in shouted boisterously. "Also, is this boy a member of the Occult Research Club too? I kept seeing him run toward the Student Council, so I thought he was Souna-Kaichou's subordinate."
Caleb, buried in the surging waves, held his breath. Although he hadn't planned on keeping it a secret forever, being exposed on Rias's first day back, right after leaning on her for support, he hadn't even prepared an excuse...
He hadn't even prepared a decent explanation!
To Caleb's surprise, Rias and Souna Shitori exchanged a look, then tacitly skipped over the topic.
"Mikoto-senpai's compensation will naturally be delivered in full." Rias maintained the Gremory family's grace, nodding slightly. "However, in return, I'll have to trouble Mikoto-senpai to keep an eye on the situation here for the next few days. If you find anything amiss, resolve the hidden danger promptly with spirit magic."
"No problem." Mikoto An'in was quite confident in her abilities, especially in mental control. Even if a few people were highly suspicious, she could simply work a little harder and completely rewrite their memories.
At the Occult Research Club, Caleb's left hand was cradled in Rias's embrace, and a complex, strange pattern was gradually forming on the back of his hand. He didn't know why Rias and Souna Shitori hadn't brought up the subject of the Evil Pieces, but he wasn't reckless enough to bring it up himself.
After completely destroying the glasses Sacred Gear, Rias made a phone call, and then they used spatial magic to return to Kuoh Academy. The Occult Research Club was only responsible for dealing with the perpetrators; the aftermath was handled by a different group of people. As for how that group would explain the missing hour for all the teachers and students at Aiho Academy, and why everyone simultaneously had the same dream... that was no longer Caleb's problem. Mikoto An'in had already helped lift the hypnosis and confused their memories. If the remaining problems couldn't be resolved by the clean-up crew, they might as well resign on the spot.
"Alright, from now on, showing this mark will save you a lot of trouble." Rias released Caleb's hand and said, "Of course, it might also bring you greater peril." Caleb was already prepared for this, knowing that for every person who respected the Gremory family, there would be those who resented them. Feeling Rias's aura continuously emanating from the back of his left hand, he asked curiously, "Buchou, does this mark only become visible automatically when I channel magic power?"
"For now, yes. Once you are more proficient, you can control it actively." Caleb channeled his magic power, and a strange, incomplete circular shape radiated a faint red glow on the back of his hand. It's pretty cool. He had wanted to try a tattoo in his past life but never had the chance. This felt like fulfilling that dream. Caleb thought happily, admiring the pattern on his hand.
Rias returned to her mahogany desk and sat down, clasping her hands beneath her chin. "Originally, I had planned to give you the mark after my return, then take you on a stray Devil subjugation mission to familiarize you with the process, and then send you on solo missions. I didn't expect that Akeno had already given you a mission while I was away, and such a dangerous one at that..."
Akeno Himejima complained, "Ara ara~ The mission I gave Akira was very simple, completely safe. This incident was entirely his own doing and has nothing to do with me." Fearing Rias wouldn't believe her, she turned to Caleb and asked, "Akira, wasn't the mission I gave you very simple?"
Caleb curled his lips. Yūma Amano's danger level was incomparably higher than the glasses Sacred Gear. At least against the glasses Sacred Gear, he wasn't in any life-threatening danger. "Mhm, Akeno-senpai only gave me one mission. It was solved the same afternoon, and the client was very satisfied." He secretly swallowed his complaints, agreeing with Akeno Himejima. The Yūma Amano incident was difficult to explain, and he didn't plan to tell Rias and the others for now. Additionally, he wanted to see if he could gather information from Yūma Amano on methods for detecting Sacred Gears, and how to strip them away. Whether he used it or not was another matter, but mastering the knowledge couldn't hurt.
Rias nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Then it seems there's no need to specially organize another club activity for you." Caleb was still interested in seeing how Rias and the others conducted their missions, but considering his own pile of concerns, he agreed with her. "Buchou, my current strength is sufficient for ordinary missions. I've also witnessed the power of both you and Akeno-senpai in this incident. There's no need to organize another club activity." In general, the Occult Research Club wouldn't mobilize everyone. The members could usually handle missions individually. Caleb was a newcomer, but also not a newcomer. In terms of combat strength, he was already on par with Koneko Toujou in her normal state. Missions that required the white-haired loli to use her Nekomata form had only occurred a few times so far.
Seeing Caleb agree, Rias finally decided to treat the resolution of the glasses Sacred Gear incident as Caleb's induction activity. With the crest granted and Caleb's induction settled, Rias asked about the other male member of the club.
"Akeno, what has Yuuto Kiba been busy with? He didn't even respond to the emergency support scroll earlier." Caleb still harbored doubts about Yuuto Kiba's actual gender. Setting aside the official illustration of Yuuko Kiba as a large-breasted older woman, ever since he started interacting with Rias, in the few times he had seen Yuuto Kiba, he felt no trace of a masculine aura from him...