As everyone entered the church, several members of the group unconsciously slowed down as a faint sense of discomfort settled over them.
Saji rubbed the back of his neck.
"Does this place always feel like this?"
"Yes," Rias replied. "While the church was abandoned for years, some traces still remain."
The crimson-haired devil seemed far less affected than she had been during her first visit, but the sensation was still present.
Akeno glanced around the church curiously.
"It looks much better than the last time I was here. At least now it actually looks like a place where people can come to pray instead of doing other things."
Meanwhile, Ethan looked around at the various reactions.
"You know, seeing devils complain about being inside a church is probably the most devil-like thing I've seen from any of you."
That immediately earned him several looks.
"I'm not complaining," Saji said.
"Oh? Do you want me to find a priest's uniform, put it on, and give you a holy blessing instead?" Ethan asked.
Hearing that, Saji immediately stopped talking.
While the others settled onto the wooden benches, Sona ignored the conversation entirely and sat down near the center of the church.
"We're getting distracted," she said as she adjusted her glasses. Her gaze settled firmly on Ethan. "We're not here to discuss churches, blessings, or Saji's spiritual well-being. We're here to discuss what happened last night."
Ethan looked at Sona for a moment before taking a seat on the bench opposite her. Leaning back comfortably against the wood, he folded his arms and looked at the assembled group.
"So what exactly happened last night? Did somebody declare himself a new god?"
Sona didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she pulled out her phone and placed it on the bench between them.
"You can start by watching this. It should answer most of your questions."
Ethan picked up the device and pressed play.
The first video showed a familiar figure riding through the city streets surrounded by hellfire. The second came from another angle. The third showed damaged sections of pavement while city workers inspected the area. By the fourth video, local reporters had become involved, discussing the incident while displaying footage recorded by witnesses.
The church gradually grew quieter as everyone watched.
By the time the final recording ended, there was little doubt that a considerable number of people had seen what happened.
After several minutes, Ethan handed the phone back.
For a few moments, he remained silent while Sona waited for a reaction.
Eventually, he nodded thoughtfully.
"I honestly didn't think the scooter would look this good after the enchantment. The flames are doing most of the work."
Sona stared at him.
"After everything you just watched, that is somehow your conclusion?"
"It's one of them," Ethan replied. "The flames definitely improved the presentation. The scooter itself is still garbage. If anything, this just convinced me that I need a proper motorcycle as soon as possible."
Sona's patience visibly suffered.
"Mr. Ethan, do you actually understand why this is a problem?"
Ethan considered the question for several seconds before answering.
"Not really. I understand that people saw me, and I understand that everyone here seems unusually concerned about it, but beyond that, I feel like I'm missing part of the explanation."
Before anyone could respond, Ethan continued.
"I mean, eventually somebody is going to see something. There are devils, angels, fallen angels, monsters, magic, and whatever else is running around this city. Unless all of you plan to remain hidden forever, somebody was bound to notice something eventually."
The room remained quiet as Ethan continued explaining his reasoning.
"The best part about this is that if aliens showed up tomorrow, at least people wouldn't be completely surprised. And more importantly, if supernatural factions ever end up fighting openly, humanity won't spend three days trying to convince themselves they're hallucinating. They'll already know the world is far stranger than they thought."
Across the room, everyone looked confused as they tried to follow the logic behind his argument.
Even Issei looked uncertain about what point Ethan was trying to make.
Meanwhile, Sona rubbed her forehead as another headache began forming.
At that point, she gave up trying to understand Ethan's logic.
Whether she agreed with it or not wasn't important. The damage had already been done, and arguing about hypothetical alien invasions was unlikely to solve anything.
Instead, she decided to ask a much simpler question.
"Fine. Let's approach this from a different angle."
The room gradually quieted again.
Sona lowered her hand and looked directly at Ethan.
"If you wanted to test that scooter so badly, why didn't you use magic to hide yourself? Or why not go somewhere outside the city where nobody would be around to see you?"
Ethan blinked.
For the first time since the conversation started, he looked genuinely confused.
"Magic?"
"Yes. Magic."
Sona resisted the urge to sigh.
"Concealment spells. Illusions. Barriers. There are dozens of ways to avoid being seen."
Ethan stared at her for several seconds.
"I don't have any of those."
That answer immediately caught her off guard.
"You don't?"
Ethan shook his head.
"I can turn into a flaming skeleton, set things on fire, and kill people with a look. But invisible magic was never included in my gift package."
Several members of the room exchanged looks.
When he put it that way, it sounded surprisingly reasonable.
Sona frowned slightly.
"Then why didn't you leave the city?"
Ethan leaned back against the bench.
"Because it never occurred to me that it would become a problem."
Now it was Sona's turn to look confused.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan pointed vaguely toward himself.
"All Ghost Riders have done things similar to this all the time."
The room became silent.
"Are there more people like you?" Rias asked immediately.
Unlike everyone else, she leaned forward slightly, her curiosity immediately captured by the unfamiliar term.
"Of course there are more like me. Not as good as me, and they're probably dead or hiding somewhere."
Ethan answered as though it were obvious.
"But they drove through cities, fought people in public, transformed in front of witnesses, and generally caused far more damage than I did. Nobody seemed particularly concerned."
Rias frowned thoughtfully.
"Then why haven't I heard about them?"
"Maybe because the people who knew them didn't talk about it. Or maybe it's just my imagination."
That only made her more confused. At that point, she couldn't tell whether he was joking or telling the truth.
For someone with decent knowledge of Sacred Gears, reincarnated devils, and unusual supernatural abilities, the idea that Ethan belonged to some larger group was difficult to accept.
Across the room, Issei noticed the exchange.
Even if it wasn't anything dramatic, the simple fact that Rias kept paying attention to another boy was enough to send warning bells ringing inside his head.
Meanwhile, Sona stared at Ethan.
Even now, she had absolutely no idea what a Ghost Rider was, and judging from the expressions around the room, everyone else was equally confused.
Eventually, she let out a quiet sigh.
"Regardless of your reasoning, let's make one thing clear."
Her tone became noticeably firmer.
"Please don't do something like that again."
Ethan shrugged.
"I can try, but no guarantees."
Sona nodded.
"As for the concealment issue, I'll see if there is a way to solve it. If you can give me some time, I can look into alternatives."
"That would probably make everything easier," Ethan admitted.
"It would also prevent half the city from recording you and accidentally starting a new war," Sona replied.
Before Ethan could respond, Rias spoke.
"It would probably be useful regardless. If he plans to remain in Kuoh, having him around would increase security in the area once we solve this problem."
Sona nodded in agreement.
Across the room, Issei felt his irritation increase.
The discussion had somehow shifted from dealing with Ethan's mistake to helping him avoid making the same mistake again.
Nobody was discussing punishment.
Combined with the way Rias kept showing interest whenever Ethan revealed something unusual, the situation became increasingly difficult to ignore.
Eventually, he couldn't remain silent.
"I think we're handling this too lightly."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Everyone's attention immediately turned toward him.
After only a brief hesitation, Issei continued.
"I mean, aren't rogue devils arrested for causing problems?"
The atmosphere noticeably changed.
"If somebody causes trouble, there are usually consequences, right?" Issei said. "Because from where I'm sitting, it feels like everyone is trying to help him instead."
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Ethan simply looked at him for a second before glancing toward Rias.
"Is he always this eager to pick a fight?"
The question only made Issei more irritated.
author note with spoiler :
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Okay, so I've been thinking about the direction of the story.
Right now, I'm leaning toward using this incident as a way to create conflict with the Phoenix faction. Whether that eventually leads to a direct fight between Issei and Ethan is something I still haven't decided.
What I'm struggling with the most is how to handle the girls in the story. I don't really like the idea of Ethan simply ending up with every girl he meets but if it's not handle properly then that plot might hijack the story.
One possibility is that he could gradually build closer relationships with a group that includes nuns and angels, but even then, I don't want to add characters to his relationships randomly. Any relationship should have enough interaction, and emotional foundation behind.
Of course, certain gifts like somebody giving him a beautiful girl that's different matter, but when it comes to actual relationships, I want them to develop naturally.
If you have ideas for money or idea just give it to me so I can speed up my work 😎