Chương 271: Buy One Get One Free

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

After Grayfia left the living room to answer the front door, she returned a couple of minutes later with the Shiba siblings trailing behind her. Naturally, everyone noticed Tatsuya and Miyuki's arrival and greeted them warmly, with Mizore talking animatedly with Miyuki about the use of ice in battle.

At the same time, while talking with Miyuki, Mizore stealthily winked at James, an action that no one missed. So, in conclusion, it was not all that stealthy. On the other hand, James could only smile wryly at Mizore's attempt.

'At least she's trying.' James thought to himself. 'It's actually quite cute. In the end it's not all that useful, though. As long as I can convince Tatsuya to join my second peerage, Miyuki will follow without fail.'

While Mizore pulled Miyuki along with her to chat with the other girls, James approached Tatsuya with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for coming, Tatsuya." James said with a smile. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Well, I'm sure Miyuki would enjoy coming here moer than spending today at the main house." Tatsuya said in an emotionless tone. "Either way, thanks for the invitation."

"No problem." James replied. "Anyway, there's a few hours before I have to start preparing for dinner. Wanna get a spar in before then?"

"Sure, why not?" Tatsuya replied without changing his expression.

Although there were no changes on Tatsuya's face, James could see the competitive glint that appeared in his eyes.

'Not being able to beat me yet is still waying on him, huh?' James thought to himself as he walked toward the elevator.

Naturally, Miyuki, who always had at least part of her attention on Tatsuya, was the first to notice James and Tatsuya heading for the elevator.

'Are they going to spar?' Miyuki thought to herself. 'I hope Onii-Sama will win this time.'

"Hey, Mizore, I think Onii-Sama and James-San are going to spar." Miyuki said with a gentle smile on her face. "Do you wanna go watch?"

Hearing that James would be sparring, all the chatting girls agreed to go and watch. This led to a chain reaction in the living room. Eventually, everyone in the living room made their way down to the training room to see the spar between James and Tatsuya.

Meanwhile in the training room, while Scathach was still teaching Kunou the basics of the spear, Cu Chulainn and Tsubaki looked at them in utter disbelief.

"Who is that woman, and what did she do with Master?" Cu Chulainn asked in a whisper.

"This is a bit... different from the way she usually trains us... isn't it?" Tsubaki replied.

"No matter what you say, I won't believe that woman is Master." Cu Chulainn retorted.

"Are the two of you here to train, or to spectate?" Scathach asked in a harsh tone, a sharp contrast to the tone she was using to instruct Kunou. "If you are only here to slack off, I will help you make up for the lost time during our next training session."

"Never mind." Cu Chulainn said as he began training properly. "That is definitely Master."

Nodding in agreement, Tsubaki began swinging her naginata.

At that moment, James and Tatsuya exited the elevator. When Kunou noticed the new arrivals, she smiled in James' direction.

"Otou-San!" Kunou shouted. "Learning from Scathach-Basan is so much fun!"

Hearing that, the smile James was wearing while he spoke with Tatsuya cramped visibly. Then, he looked at Scathach questioningly. To his surprise, she turned her head away, not making eye contact with him. Seeing Scathach's reaction, James could not help but smile.

'Cute really is justice, huh?' James thought. 'Even Master can't bear to be harsh with Kunou.'

Seemingly hearing James' thoughts, Scathach turned her head back in James direction with a fierce expression on her face.

"Why have you come here, my disciple?" Scathach asked in a colder tone than usual.

"Tatsuya and I decided to have a little spar before I have to cook dinner." James replied with a shrug.

"I see." Scathach replied with a nod.

"Otou-San, you can cook?" Kunou asked with her eyes shining.

"Usually, no." James said with a smile. "But I'm pretty good when I use a grill. You should look forward to it."

"I will!" Kunou said while excitedly nodding her head. Then, once she realized that James was walking with someone she had never met, she spoke once again. "Oh, who is that?"

"Oh, this is my friend and the one I made a magician pact with, Shiba Tatsuya." James said with a smile while gesturing towards Tatsuya. Then, he gestured towards Kunou. "And Tatsuya, this is my stepdaughter, Kunou."

"It's nice to meet you, Shiba-San." Kunou said while bowing her head politely.

"It's nice to meet you, too." Tatsuya said in his usual tone. "And it's fine to call me Tatsuya. Since my little sister is here, too."

"Yes, Tatsuya-San." Kunou replied with a smile.

"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way." James said while turning his attention to Scathach. "Do you think you could put a seal on me to limit my abilities to the same as Tatsuya's?"

"I can." Scathach replied with a nod while her right index finger lit up with demonic energy.

In the next moment, Scathach began drawing runes around James' wrists, ankles, and finally on his chest over his heart. Once all the runes were drawn, Scathach's palm lit up before she slapped it on the runes over James heart. Then, all the runes she had previously drawn sank into James' body.

"Yeah, even though I wore seals like this one for, like, seven years, this is a feeling I will never get used to." James said while moving his arms and legs around to get used to the restrictions.

While James adjusted to his new level of strength, the other people in the house began trickling into the training room. Around the time James and Tatsuya were ready to begin their spar, everyone who was currently in the house had made their way into the training room.

Once everyone was settled and the two young men were in the sparring ring, the spar between James and Tatsuya began without delay. Taking the initiative, Tatsuya dashed forward towards James. Once in range, he threw a right palm strike at James' solar plexus, which James deflected downward with his right hand. Then, he followed up with a right elbow strike aimed at Tatsuya's chin.

Leaning back to avoid the strike, Tatsuya used the momentum from throwing his head back to perform a back hand spring, forcing James to avoid his feet that were flying up toward James' chin. However, James recovered quickly, stepping forward as Tatsuya straightened up and clenched his hands around the back of Tatsuya's head.

Before James could control Tatsuya's movements, however, Tatsuya threw both his hands forward, landing two palm strikes on James' chest. Unfortunately, that did not force James to release his hold. Instead, James jerked Tatsuya's head downward and raised his left knee towards Tatsuya's face.

Retracting his hands quickly, Tatsuya managed to place his hands between James' knee and his face. Unfortunately, his own hands were smashed into his face. Before James could lower his leg, however, Tatsuya wrapped his left arm around James' leg. Then, he threw an uppercut at James' chin.

To avoid Tatsuya's uppercut, James released his clinch. Then, he leaned back as far as he could with his left leg still in Tatsuya's grasp. The instant Tatsuya's fist passed by his chin, James jumped with his right leg and flung it at the side of Tatsuya's head. Due to the timing, Tatsuya was unable to pull his right arm back to guard and took the kick squarely.

Although he did not lose consciousness, it was clear to everyone with some fighting experience that Tatsuya had received a concussion. Because of that, Scathach called an end to the spar.

"Damn, those palm strikes really fucking hurt." James muttered as he rubbed his chest.

*Swoosh!*

As soon as he finished speaking, James leaned his head forward, avoiding a smack upside the head from his mother. Then, smiling wryly, he looked at Leona.

"Sorry, Mom." James said. "But that really did hurt."

"Well, it should have." Leona said while shaking her head. "There's no way getting hit with that much force in the chest wouldn't hurt. And if Tatsuya had the physique of a supernatural race, that spar would not have ended so quickly."

"I know." James replied with a knowing smile on his face. "We might be able to do something about that sometime soon, though."

At the same time, while James was chatting with Leona, Asia was healing Tatsuya. Luckily, it did not take much effort to heal a concussion. While he was being healed, Miyuki was standing next to Tatsuya while glaring at James.

"Miyuki, there's no reason to be mad at James." Tatsuya said. "He beat me fair and square. He even had a seal placed on himself so that he couldn't surpass a certain threshold of power."

"But Onii-Sama, he already had an unfair advantage as a supernatural race." Miyuki argued. "If you had a physique like his, you wouldn't have lost."

"Maybe, maybe not." Tatsuay replied in a noncommittal manner. "We would only know if that were true if I were of a supernatural race."

"Well, if you wanted to find out if that were true, all you would have to do is ask James." Irene said, appearing next to Tatsuya and Miyuki. "But the process would be permanent."

"When did she...?" Miyuki asked as she flinched at the unexpected voice.

Though Tatsuya did not flinch, he was surprised at how close Irene was able to get before he noticed her.

"I assume you mean by joining his peerage, right?" Tatsuya asked.

"That's right." Irene replied with a smile.

"But I thought is peerage was full." Tatsuya said in a skeptical tone.

"I guess it has been a little while since you visited." Ireen said. "Due to his feat of defeating the Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom Cruach and capturing a fugitive of the Underworld, James was granted a second peerage."

"I see." Tatsuya said before falling into a state of contemplation.

'If I joined James' peerage, I would be free from the Yotsuba Clan and my aunt.' Tatsuya thought to himself. Then, he looked at Miyuki with concern in his eyes. 'But what about Miyuki? She would be left all alone.'

Understanding what her brother was thinking, Miyuki looked at him in return and smiled.

"Onii-Sama, wherever you go, Miyuki will always follow." Miyuki said.

With that, a glint of determination appeared in Tatsuya's eyes. At the same time, Irene stealthily raised a thumbs up towards James, who smiled in return. A moment later, Tatsuya thanked Asia for the healing. Then, he began walking toward James with a purposeful gate.

"Hey, good spar." James said as Tatsuya approached. "But are you alright after that kick?"

"I'm fine." Tatsuya replied. "Argento-San's healing took care of it."

"Good." James said with a nod.

"James, I just heard that you were granted a second peerage."

"Yeah." James said, pretending to be unsure of what Tatsuya was getting at.

"Could I join your peerage?" Tatsuya asked straightforwardly.

"I would like to join, as well." Miyuki said after her brother.

'Just like I thought, BOGO for the win.' James thought to himself.

"I don't mind. In fact, I would be happy to have you." James said with a smile. Then, his expression turned reluctant. "But will that cause conflict with your family?"

"It might." Tatsuya nodded in acknowledgment. "Especially since Miyuki was chosen to be the next Clan head."

"That doesn't matter." Miyuki said. "If Onii-Sama is going to leave the family, then so will I."

Instead of responding, Tatsuya simply patted Miyuki's head gently. Then, he looked at James with resolve.

"We can deal with that when it becomes an issue." Tatsuya said.

"If you're sure." James replied with a shrug.

After shrugging, James held up his hands in front of the Shiba siblings. Then, floating above his right hand, which was in front of Tatsuya, a pair of [Pawn Pieces] appeared. Meanwhile, floating above his left hand were a pair of [Pawn Pieces] and a [Bishop Piece].

With his right hand, James grasped the two [Pawns], while he grabbed the [Bishop] with is left. Then, he pressed the [Pieces] into the Shiba siblings reincarnating them as devils, making Tatsuya a [Pawn] and Miyuki a [Bishop]."

"It's rare to see someone add three members of a peerage in one day." Venelana said with a smile.

"Yeah, and yet we've seen James do it twice." Rhea said, also with a smile.

"Actually, this is the third time." Leona said with a smug smile. Then, she started counting with her fingers. "First was Mizore, lancer, and Moka. Then, it was Kahlua, Irene, and Eva. And last is Zest, Tatsuya, and Miyuki."

Meanwhile, while Tatsuya and Miyuki were undergoing their race change, Issa started approaching Serafall with trepidation.

'*Sigh* I want to be able to walk under the sun like my daughters.' Issa thought. 'Unfortunately, Cassiel doesn't have a strong enough [Piece] to reincarnate me. On top of that, he only has one Pawn] left. Whatever, I'm sure Lady Leviathan isn't as bad as the rumors make her out to be.'