Sona Shitori, real name Sitri, read through the reports with a frown before handing them over to her friend.
"Tell me what you see."
"Hm. Another dip in the Stray Devils population? This month, it seems far more sparse compared to last month."
Sona nodded at Rias Gremory's words.
"That is because there are fewer Stray Devils left in the town."
"I see. But, isn't that a good thing? Since there are fewer Stray Devils, we don't have too much workload anymore, so we can concentrate on other things, right?"
Sona could not help but give her lazy friend an annoyed look.
"The problem, as you put it, is that something, or someone, is out there, on our land, killing stray devils. This means that there is someone who is at least in the upper Low-Class range operating without our permission in our territory."
Rias simply leaned back in her chair.
"Again. I don't see the problem here, Sona. Someone that low on the totem pole is hardly a threat to us, and given that whoever it is, they are concentrating on eliminating Stray Devils, which is a good thing for our record. Now, while it is indeed a problem that we are ignorant of who it is and that they are breaking the status quo with their actions, these are problems that can be easily solved if we put our minds to it."
"....Rias. Can you take this seriously already?"
Rias grinned at her friend and finally dropped the act.
"Fine, fine. I've had my fun ribbing you. But I meant what I said. We really don't need to think too much about someone that low on the powerscale. Besides, you and I both know that you are not the kind of person to leave such a mystery be, so I am sure that you've already sent out your familiars to scout the city for any unfamiliar magical signatures, yes?"
Sona sighed and nodded her head.
As her best friend, Rias knew Sona's way of doing things quite well, so much so that she could predict what kind of actions Sona would take in most situations, just like Sona could predict Rias's thought process most of the time.
It was also because of how well they knew each other that they knew each other's flaws as well.
Sona knew that Rias was someone who did not believe in future planning, 'letting chips fall where they may' as she says. She is someone who believed in fate and someone who acted spontaneously rather than with a proper plan. A fatal flaw that was only mitigated somewhat by Rias's ability to think on her feet during danger and her ability to pull through most situations thanks to her ridiculous luck.
Rias also knows that Sona was someone who often overthinks most of the time, overanalyzing things and building patterns when there are none, feeding her paranoia even more. She also knew that Sona did not like anything that fell outside her plans. That she prides herself on her ability to look at the 'big picture' as she calls it and make strategies for long-term goals, often times forgetting that random variables are a thing and can throw off her predictions.
It is why Rias loves messing with Sona by acting even more carefree than she usually is, just to annoy her friend.
Sona took out a rather large file from her desk and placed it in front of Rias, prompting the Gremory heiress to read through it.
Intrigued with what new stuff her friend found, Rias flipped through the pages while Sona explained her side of things.
"This file contains everything that we know about the supernatural side of this town. From the Leylines under the abandoned Ryuudou Temple that the Shinto refuse to sell, all the way to the former owners of this town, the Tohsaka and the Matou family. We have everything here."
Rias hummed as she went through the details and stopped on one particular page.
"...Is that..?"
"Emiya? Yes. While he and his sister don't show any indication of their awareness of the supernatural, their parents are rather infamous in certain circles."
Rias's eyes glinted at that information as she read through the file.
"Oh~ how interesting. So the Einzbern incident actually left behind survivors? And three at that? Why didn't your sister snatch them up back then? I remember she was quite interested in acquiring one of them as part of her peerage, right?"
Sona's expression twisted when Rias mentioned her sister before she regained her calm.
"You are still asking that question after seeing the name of the man the heiress of the Einzberns married?"
"Emiya Kiritsugu? What of it? I don't recognize the name."
".....You are hopeless. Did you spend all the time during our lessons back home dozing off or something?"
"Hey! That's uncalled for!!"
Sona massaged her temples in annoyance as Rias pouted at her friend's words.
"Do you at least remember the name, Supernatural Killer?"
Rias gave her friend a confused look.
"Of course, I remember that name. But wasn't that just a tale that our siblings told us back when we were kids? There is no way a human like that exists, right?"
Sona simply pointed at Emiya Kiritsugu's photo with a flat look.
It only took a second for Rias to realize what Sona was saying.
The Gremory heiress's eyes widened with shock as she leaped to her feet.
"Wait! That story is real!?"
".....Again, Devil Education has failed you, Rias-"
"Enough with the education stuff already! Just answer me!!"
"Yes, it is real, and yes, Emiya Kiritsugu is the boogeyman of the Supernatural World, the only human aside from Vasco Strada that most people genuinely fear."
Rias felt a chill go down her spine at those words.
There was a good reason why she was reacting like this. Most people of the supernatural world would react in the same way if they heard this information.
In the supernatural world, power is everything.
Whether it be unique spells, bloodline abilities, sacred gears, or raw magical or touki power, it did not matter. All that mattered was that one was strong. If one was strong enough, they were respected. That was how things worked in the supernatural world.
It is the reason why Vasco Strada, despite being a mere human, is so respected and feared across the pantheons of the world.
But Emiya Kiritsugu, or as he is better known, The Supernatural Killer, earned his infamy in a completely different way.
He earned his place and legend through sheer ruthlessness.
No method was too beneath him. If a method allowed him to reach his goal, he would take it in a heartbeat regardless of the price.
Worse yet, this ruthlessness extends even to himself.
The legend where he willingly tore out one of his own ribs mid-battle after running out of ammunition, imbued it with his self-created magic spell, and then used those pieces of his ribs as pseudo-magical bullets to kill a renowned High-Class devil of the Amon family was what cemented his legend among the devil race in the first place.
Such a person who treats himself so ruthlessly, imagine what he will do to his enemies?
Worse yet, this was not even the beginning of the many scary tales told about him across the supernatural world, not to mention his body count and the power of his victims, which went to show how dangerous he was. This was the reason why the legends about him came to be considered just that, mere legends.
It was simply unthinkable for most supernatural races to imagine that such a monstrous human existed in this world.
Remembering the various tales she heard about him sends shivers down Rias's spine.
She stared at the warmly smiling man with black hair and eyes in the picture, trying to reconcile that image with the monster that she remembered from the stories of her childhood.
Then she stared at the two children in the photo that was taken long ago, recognizing them without any effort since one of them was her classmate and the other was the child that her beloved peerage member, Koneko, had taken under her wing in the Junior High division.
"...Do you think Shirou-kun knows about this?"
"...Highly unlikely. In fact, I don't think he has any potential for the supernatural world, given how low his magical energy capacity is. If anything, I think Illya-san would be the one between the two siblings to know more about the supernatural world, given her absurd magical potential. And given that she has no knowledge based on my investigations, I don't think the siblings knew about us."
Rias sighed, partly in relief and partly in worry.
"That's good. I don't want Koneko to be heartbroken should her precious kohai distance herself from her because of her nature."
"Hm. Let's get back to the topic. As you saw, I have already gone through all the data in that file, but I still came up empty-handed on who could be the mysterious person dealing with the Stray Devils, which means we have an outsider in this town."
Rias continued staring at the page with the Emiya-Einzbern family data.
"....Do you think Emiya Kiritsugu took care of them?"
"No. Based on the information I got from our contacts in the Underworld, Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern are halfway around the Earth right now. As for the other two Homonculous in their household, they do not have much combat potential, with the only advantage being their deep magical energy reserves. And even if they had combat potential, my familiars would have spotted them thanks to their unique energy signatures, should they ever make a move."
"I see. Then, what is your plan?"
Sona leaned back into her seat and held a lost look, a rare expression that Rias hardly ever saw on her best friend.
"I don't know. I have no leads for now, so all we can do is to be on the defensive and keep an eye on the situation."
"...Alright. I'll send my familiars out as well, and ask Koneko to keep an eye on anything suspicious."
Sona nodded her head at those words, still looking lost.
Watching her friend's mood, Rias took out a chessboard and placed it on the table.
"How about a round to get rid of your emo phase?"
"...I am not emo."
Despite her words, Sona still smiled at her friend's actions.
The two Devil heiresses played late into the night, unaware that the target of their conversation was struggling with a similar information crisis as they.
And that something otherworldly was stirring in the heart of Mount Enzou, right below the ruins of Ryuudou Temple.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1