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"You don't know?" Rias exclaimed, even Sona blinking in astonishment at the redhead's ignorance "I admit we suspected it may be the case, but could it truly be you enrolled here without knowing anything?"
"If you're referring to the fact I'm the only human in the room then I pretty much sussed that out my first day here." Shirou assured her, earning a round of flinches from the others "Though if it's any consolation, I haven't really looked into figuring out what you all are since it was clear you were content to play human until now."
"That's not…entirely incorrect." Sona opined, her reserved expression returning as she adjusted her glasses before striking a pose similar to Rin's lecturing pose "With the exception of Rias, Koneko, Akeno and myself, everyone in this room was human at one point."
Shirou frowned but said nothing, the redhead Faker merely letting his eyes roam over the assembled crowd impassively. Some of them, mostly the Student Council members, flinched back from his stare as if expecting to be judged unworthy, whereas the ORC were torn between amusement, Akeno, nervousness, Asia, challenging, Issei, or outright ignoring him like Koneko, whose eyes remained locked on the tray of Daifuku.
"I see…" he muttered at length, his eyes lingering on Issei and Asia for a moment, as the scent of change was most recent on them, before turning back to the pair "I take it this isn't just some initiation ritual you people do."
"In ideal circumstances we'd actually prefer if it could be that way." Rias admitted with a sad smile towards her club members "Indeed, Sona's Peerage is all composed entirely of volunteers. Whereas mine…"
"Buchou saved our lives." Issei cut in, his expression heated as he glared at the Faker "Asia, Kiba and I would be dead if it weren't for her, so don't you dare accuse her of anything!"
"Well put, Issei-kun." Akeno concurred, smiling coyly at the youth, though there was something off about her expression as she turned back to Shirou "Rest assured, Emiya-kun, while the circumstances may not have been ideal, all of us made the choice to join Rias' Peerage.'
"You all keep saying that word like you expect me to know what it means." Shirou noted, earning a coy smile from the pigtailed girl as he glanced at Sona and Rias "I take it that it's something to do with your species?"
"Not originally, no." Sona admitted, removing her glasses briefly to polish them, her eyes never leaving Shirou's own as she spoke "Tell me, Emiya-kun; What do you know of Devils?"
Now there was a loaded question if there ever was one.
Shirou would be the first to admit that, as a Magus, his education had been sub-par. Between Kiritsugu's deliberately lacklustre tutelage and his own botched efforts, it was a small wonder he'd even manage to qualify as a Master for the Grail War, and even after partnering with Rin and gaining Archer's arm, there hadn't been much time for improving his background knowledge, instead choosing to focus on not killing himself every time he tapped into the Artificial Phantasm's power.
Still, it wasn't as if all that effort had gone to waste. While Emiya Shirou's tutelage had been flawed, it hadn't stopped the man who would become the Counter Guardian EMIYA from purposefully hurling himself into conflict after conflict, improving his skills and knowledge on the battlefield as he struggled to uphold their borrowed ideals.
And that wasn't even factoring in the 'World Knowledge' that the Holy Grail granted the Servants upon their summoning, allowing even warriors from bygone eras to understand the operation of modern conveniences and weapons, provided they had skills and adaptability to do so.
As such, the moment the word 'Devil' left the reserved Student Council President's lips, Shirou subconsciously lowered the barrier between his circuits and the Artificial Phantasm, wincing slightly as information surged into his brain like a flood.
Devils/悪魔/Akuma: Passive, imaginary beings called forth and moulded by human desires, similarly to Heroic Spirits, yet more akin to a curse that acquired material form and a psyche than living creatures. Despite this, they are potentially beneficial to mankind due to understanding human suffering and can take said suffering upon themselves via a contract under the terms of equivalent exchange. In short, in exchange for a Devil granting a human's wish, that human must pay with pain.
He cut off the connection in the middle of a list of various notable 'Demon Contractor' EMIYA had encountered, and killed, over the years, grunting as the sudden halt of information made his head spin.
"Emiya-kun?" Rias called out tentatively, the Faker blinking sharply, looking up to see everyone, even Koneko, eyeing him with the same concern one would give a lit fuse, or a cornered animal "Are you alright?"
"Ah, don't worry." Shirou assured her, taking a breath to settle himself "As for what I know of Devils, unfortunately, my Mentors were all atheists, so my knowledge is patchwork at best." Which was technically true; Kiritsugu had never truly believed in Gods and while the Tohsaka were descended from Hidden Christians the time spent under Kirei hadn't really endeared Rin to the Church. Ironic naming sense aside, the less said about the Einzbern's relation with The Almighty, the better. "Unless you're trying to tell me you're incorporeal spirits possessing the bodies of two schoolgirls who grant people's wishes at a cost."
"Well, the part about granting wishes is right." Rias admitted with a chuckle, a sentiment shared by the rest of the room, the atmosphere in the room relaxing somewhat as the redhead leant back, causing her breasts to bounce pertly "Though I can assure you, this body is all mine."
"Quite." Sona muttered, levelling a disapproving look at her friend, though Shirou swore he saw a hint of envy in her normally reserved features "Indeed, entering into contracts with humans is not only a way of life for Devils, it's actually a mark of status. The more contractors a Devil has, the more influence they are said to possess among their peers."
"Though rest assured that there are certain wishes we cannot grant." Rias cut in at the Faker's troubled frown "More specifically, wishes to kill or otherwise permanently harm humans are strictly forbidden by Devil Law."
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