"Kay-chan, it's interrogation time!"
Serafall shouted as she burst back into the room.
She and Ajuka had been outside the door for the last couple of minutes discussing something whilst I conversed with Lillian during the wait.
She had asked me if we were going to go and live with Serafall. In response, I explained that was what I was hoping since Serafall was very strong and in a position of authority so she would be able to protect us whilst we grow up and get stronger.
"In the name of Miracle Levia-tan✭, tell me all your secrets Kay-chan."
I had anticipated this since Rafael was unable to block Ajuka's magic scan. If Raphael could detect the problem with Lillian's soul then Ajuka, who has much more experience with souls due to his evil pieces, should notice the difference between my soul age and physical age.
He should have also noticed that I didn't act like a child.
I had pondered over what to tell them if they asked and eventually decided to just tell the truth.
It would benefit me at the moment by perhaps gaining Ajuka's protection due to being something interesting for him to study.
With the way Serafall's been acting, she won't let him use me as a lab rat and I could make a deal to participate in his investigation in exchange for high-end magic knowledge.
Devils like making deals after all.
I also wouldn't be giving up much of an advantage even if I explained my knowledge of DxD considering this world is a crossover so there's a minuscule chance the plot would naturally be followed.
Even if there was some fixed fate or something that forced the events of DxD Cannon to take place, the details wouldn't be the same. In fanfics I read in the past, the butterfly effect from even a single transmigrator/reincarnator can significantly shift the details of the plot even if there is a fixed fate.
In this case, it's more like a volcanic eruption changing the weather than a butterfly given the addition of so many beings that don't exist in the DxD story.
Additionally, having Ajuka and Serafall take an interest in the plot would make it easier to bend to my advantage due to their strength. Considering they are both leaders of a faction they couldn't make any overt moves except in an emergency.
Thus they would use an agent to influence the plot and naturally, that would be me.
Having knowledge of the plot is like having a glimpse into the future but you would inevitably begin changing the future once you know it and, unlike abilities that involve foresight, you would not be able to see the new future as you change it.
Thus people who know the plot or a specific future would try to keep it to themselves as the fewer people know the easier it would be to control the eventual outcome.
In my case, it was better to share with Serafall and Ajuka firstly to gain their trust and secondly, I didn't put much value on the knowledge of the plot of DxD.
I would keep some of the details hidden though such as the identity of Longinus wielders, but I would also make sure to explain some of the details about things I didn't like in DxD like what happens to Kuroka.
-----
"You're asking about my soul age right?" I asked once the two Maous had sat down.
"That's right you catch on quick Kay-chan."
"I was already expecting you to ask."
"Are you a spirit inheritor Kay-chan?"
Serafall was talking about the situation of the people who joined the Hero Group of the Khaos Brigade in the original DxD.
It was a type of reincarnation in which someone was born with the soul of one of humanity's heroes. The soul would not retain any memories but would retain the hero's innate abilities and sometimes a portion of their personality.
Despite inheriting a hero's base abilities, spirit inheritors almost never reach the same heights the hero did in the past.
"No I'm not a spirit inheritor, I'm a reincarnator with a complete set of memories."
"Interesting, who were you in your past life?" Ajuka asked, his eyes sharpening a bit.
"I was a powerless human, in fact, I was dying from an illness and I was only eighteen before I woke up in this body."
"Huh, so you don't know the ancient demons' reincarnation spell." Ajuka's eyes dimmed a bit as he hunched slightly in disappointment.
I realized where his excitement came from.
In DxD complete reincarnation wasn't a thing as far as I could remember but the demons of Anos' time in Misfit of Demon King Academy did have reincarnation.
In fact, the reason the war was so vicious in Anos' time was that any decently powerful hero or demon could use the reincarnation spell and the gods and spirits would just reform so long as their order/legend wasn't destroyed/forgotten.
Combining the reincarnation with their other spells like growth would theoretically allow powerful reincarnators to get back into the battle within a month or two after their strength recovered.
A war in which the top combat power would come back no matter how many times you killed them was terrifying.
It was understandable that Anos decided to split the world into four, anyone would want to end such a war after being part of it.
Ajuka was perhaps hoping, considering I reincarnated, that I would know the ancient demons' reincarnation spell considering that was likely lost to time as the ancient demons and heroes died out.
"I don't know the spell."
Knowing the name of a spell and knowing the spell itself were two different things.
"How did you reincarnate then Kay-chan? A human soul, especially one with no power, shouldn't be able to reincarnate with memories."
"I didn't belong to this world. My world was also called Earth but as far-"
"Wait wait Kay-chan!" Serafall shouted her interruption leaning forward in her seat and waving her hand around.
Ajuka's reaction was more subdued but he was still staring at me like a hawk.
"What do you mean not from this world, how did you get past Great Red?" Ajuka asked.
I just quirked a brow at that.
In the DxD story it wasn't until the world of ExE invaded did people realized that Great Red didn't just stay in the gap because it liked it, it was also guarding against outside threats.
"It's not common knowledge Kay-chan but us faction leaders are aware that Great Red stays in the dimensional gap acting as a sentinel against whatever else might be out there," Serafall informed.
"Although if what you say is true then you are the first living being that's entered our world. We know there are other worlds out there as occasionally bits of debris reach our world. We even suspect some magic artifacts have reached our world but Great Red keeps them."
I had to take a second to process that as it was news to me.
Presumably, when they spoke about this world they also included the area of the gap Great Red had claimed.
The dimensional gap was like the magic version of space and it seemed this world already had proof of aliens.
"From what I understand," I began after having organized my thoughts, "I essentially reincarnated from beyond the dimensional gap."
I paused again before trying to clarify what I meant.
"If you consider the earth, its physical universe, and all its accompanying magic realms as one world and any other planet, its physical universe and accompanying magic realms in the dimensional gap as another world; then the entire space within the dimensional gap would be considered a multiverse. I came from outside that multiverse."
Despite the serious conversation, Serafall had magicked up herself swirly eyes like downed Pokémon; Lillian was just tilting her head in confusion, having not managed to follow the conversation; and Ajuka.
If he didn't have a noble façade to maintain, I suspect his researcher side would take over and be physically drooling at the implications.
"Let me give you the full story first. Then you can ask questions." I intercepted what I suspected was a full barrage of questions from Ajuka.
"My world was like Earth here except more populated, in fact from what little I know their histories are almost the same. The only difference being my world had no supernatural, or if there were they were much better at hiding it than here as there weren't many disasters explaining supernatural incidents to normal humans."
"At least that was the case until the turn of the 21st century in which an undetected meteorite impacted the planet exactly as the century turned. Some humans of my world began developing minor supernatural abilities like water manipulation or electricity generation."
"My situation was different. A small number of people born in the 21st century had abilities too strong for their body which slowly killed them. I was one of these people and I lived in a medical facility researching this illness during my teenage years, I lived in a medical ward with 7 other people."
I paused for a moment to let them digest my history, especially since the next part could give them an existential crisis but they should be mentally strong enough for it. However, I will ask them to take Lillian away.
"Kay-chan, it's ok you're here now." Serafall had leaped at me again to hug me whilst Ajuka fell deep into thought.
"It's fine don't worry," I reassured her quickly, "but can you let Lillian stay in another room I don't want her to hear this next bit."
She turned to look at me from where she had been sitting idly playing with her dress in boredom.
"Why can't I listen?" She pouted.
"Were you listening just now?"
"Yes, I was." She declared confidently but averted her eyes to the side indicating she hadn't.
"Well, this next bit is going to be super boring so you should stay somewhere else for a bit."
"Fineee."
During that exchange, Ajuka had conjured a communication magic circle and must have summoned some staff member of the facility as a woman in a suite showed up after knocking on the door.
"Lord Beelzebub, Lady Leviathan, how may I be of service." She bowed.
"Can you take Lilly-chan," Serafall waved her hand at Lillian, "to another room and entertain her for a bit please, k, thanks."
The woman bowed before stepping back and holding the door open. After a few prods from me, Lillian left with the woman in a huff.
-----
"Now Kay-chan, tell us why you wanted Lilly-chan to leave." Serafall restarted the conversation.
"What I'm about to say might give you an existential crisis, you're both mentally strong enough to hear it but she definitely isn't."
"Oh, what might that be?" Ajuka asked interested.
"First let me just make sure, you're aware of the game Dungeons & Dragons right?"
"Yup yup, the tabletop roleplaying game right?" Serafall asked.
"Yeh. So the 8 of us who lived in that research facility would spend a lot of time reading stories, especially those about supernatural happenings in an Earth-based setting. We would sometimes then play a game like D&D where we would insert our characters into the story."
"The last night before I reincarnated we played the game based on a story called Highschool DxD."
That got a raised eyebrow from Serafall as Ajuka leaned back into his chair deeply and stared at the ceiling, presumably having already figured out where this was going.
"It followed the story of a boy born in the town of Kuoh Japan who was killed by a fallen angel due to owning a sacred gear only to be reincarnated as a devil by a girl named Rias Gremory."
"Wait! Pause! Time-out!" Serafall interrupted. "That's Zechs-chan little sister!"
"Yeh, Rias Gremory, heir to the Gremory devil family, daughter of Zoeticus Gremory and Venelana Gremory, nee Bael. Younger sister to Sirzechs Gremory who, after a civil war among the devils, took the title of Maou Lucifer with his friends taking the titles of Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus after overthrowing the descendants of the original Maous."
A silence settled over the room as Ajuka let out a sigh and Serafall just sat frozen.
It continued for a few minutes before Ajuka continued.
"So in your original world, there was a story that followed a reincarnated devil that was set in this world in about a decade's time."
"Yeah, although it's a bit more complex than that."
"Wait wait Kay-chan, this is super important, in that story was I also the Magical Girl Miracle Levia-tan✭?"
Serafall's childish question broke up the heavy atmosphere that had formed in the room as we all relaxed a bit.
"Yes, you were," I answered succinctly, as she did a fist pump.
"Anyway, when the 8 of us were playing this game to make it more interesting we made it a crossover with other stories we had read, splicing together the worlds of these stories. We included a total of four other stories besides Highschool DxD."
"One followed a demon king who reincarnates into a modern age in which demons have weakened significantly and forgotten his name. Another follows a demon-hero-god hybrid who gets involved with the daughter of the previous Demon Lord, who was unaware of her heritage, and gets dragged into the conflict between the three races."
"Both of those stories I have confirmed to exist in this world already."
"Then there was a story about someone who gets reincarnated from Earth into a medieval society where magic is used and ends up contracted to a spirit with amnesia. The last story is about 10 powerful spirits each based on a branch of the Sephirot who materialize in the human world and are the focus of various organizations either trying to aid or eliminate them."
"All 8 of us made characters that should fit into the world somewhere but we also gave our characters an ability that wouldn't exist in the combined world."
"Ahh, that's where your magic AI came from right?" Ajuka asked, having put the pieces together.
I nodded in response.
"Though so, it is definitely not possible for the Astaroth trait to become an AI even with the Zagan's Life Manipulation."
"Yeh, since I would be the one directing the story I made a character that would be easy to kill off, a test subject for Rizevim, since I wasn't intending to be a player."
"Kay-chan, do you think the other eight reincarnated with you?" Serafall asked a question I had been wondering for a while.
"Does Riser Phenex have a twin sister?" I asked about the character Roxanne Phenex who, depending on Serafall's answer, may not be a character anymore.
"Yes, yes he does. I presume that was a background one of the eight of you made?" Ajuka asked.
"That's right, though I have no way of knowing if she is a reincarnator or was a part of this world originally."
"Right, that brings us to the question of why and how you were reincarnated," Serafall stated getting serious now.
"I've had thought about that whilst I was staying in Kuoh. Either this is some cosmic coincidence which I highly doubt. Or, more likely some being reincarnated me." I explained.
"If your reincarnation was done intentionally then whatever being did it must be unfathomably powerful but the question is why would it reincarnate you and more importantly did it create our world in order to reincarnate you?" Serafall groaned at her own question, clearly not happy with this dread-inducing topic.
After a moment of silence, as we contemplated Serafall's question, Ajuka spoke up.
"I think I have an explanation for it."
"First we can assume this being did not create this world to reincarnate you in as it would have no reason to. If it is so powerful, we would all be beneath notice to it and I'm assuming you were never visited by such a powerful entity for it to owe you a favor. Thus there must be some purpose it wishes you to fulfill in this world it can't do directly."
"But Juka-chan, if it's so powerful why can't it just do as it pleases, none of us would be able to stop it anyway." Serafall expressed her doubt.
"We may not but perhaps other beings on its level could restrain it. It's like how we faction leaders can't get directly involved in minor matters as other faction leaders restrict us from moving directly. Instead, we can let our subordinates or weaker faction members handle it."
"Aha, so Kay-chan is a subordinate of this super-being."
"No, I'm not, at least I don't think I am?" I questioned.
"Maybe not its subordinate but you are perhaps in a contract with it," Ajuka suggested.
"When I was scanning your soul I noticed an extremely powerful soul contract you had made but there was no connection to the other member of the contract, only a 3rd party connection to Lillian."
"So I entered a contract with this being and it involves Lillian somehow? I don't remember doing that." I questioned, wracking my brain to try and remember if I'd ever formed a contract with anyone.
"Perhaps part of the contract stipulated you wouldn't remember it or a being that powerful could just force you into it." Serafall pointed out.
"I can't do anything about it anyway can I?" I asked, mostly rhetorically.
"Not really no, you're far too weak, in fact, you'd probably need to reach Great Reds strength to do anything at all with it."
I just sighed.
At least whatever this contract was, it was comparable in strength to a being of this universe.
Presumably, if this theoretical being made it with its full strength it would be absolutely impossible to do anything about.
Issei managed to reach Great Red level strength, although he used an obscene amount of luck, coincidence, and protagonist cheats to do it, it was at least possible.
"Ok, to sum it up, this world already existed, that being wants something done in this world involving Lillian, so it reincarnated me here and bound me in a contract." I summarized the outcome of the discussion.
"Ok but how did Kay-chan and his friends know which stories to mix to make this world and why were there stories of bits of this world in their old one?" Serafall asked.
"That's easily explainable," Ajuka stated.
"The being that reincarnated Cain should have fed the stories to authors in your world so you would read them and have an advantage once reincarnated. Then when you and your friends were playing your game it must have subtly manipulated you into using the correct stories as a background."
"Then it gave you knowledge of who you would reincarnate as to base your character on. Additionally, the special abilities you gave your characters could be a bonus of sorts from the being to help you accomplish its purpose."
"Instead of creating the character you came up with in this world, which would be direct intervention, something we assume this being can not do. The being instead told you who you would reincarnate as through your character creation. It just seemed the other way around to you, as you had no knowledge of this manipulation."
Ajuka finished his explanation and it made sense.
At least with the premise we were working with.
There was one inconsistency though and Serafall spotted it and pointed it out.
"But we were assuming the being couldn't intervene directly right, wouldn't manipulating Kay-chan and his friends count."
Ajuka had already thought of that.
"Right, but we were assuming it couldn't interfere in this world, which we can extend to every world within the dimensional gap. We never said it couldn't interfere in worlds outside the gap. In fact that meteor that gave Cain's world superpowers sounds like divine intervention to me."
"You're right, loads of people assumed it was some gift from a higher power as the scientists couldn't detect it then everyone started gaining special abilities." I was now putting a bit more weight behind Ajuka's theory.
It really made sense.
If this being could intervene directly there would be no reason to reincarnate anyone.
The contract Ajuka mentioned was direct evidence of some being causing my reincarnation.
The world and person I reincarnated into were the same as the ones I set up for the game.
There was no reason for this being to create a world just to reincarnate me so there must be some purpose to my reincarnation: the contract.
Thus, to give me information about this world and my reincarnation, our game creation process was manipulated.
'Raphael, attempt to find that contract, but don't mess with it.' I ordered, hoping to get some more information, though I wasn't hopeful considering Raphael didn't find it before.
One more question remained though.
"Why me though? Assuming I was the only one reincarnated."
"I don't know," Ajuka just shrugged his shoulders in helplessness.
"It must mean you're super special Kay-chan!" Serafall shouted, returning back to her cheerful persona, seemingly just accepting Ajuka's theory.
Since nothing could be done by worrying about it now, I just assumed Ajuka's explanation was right, it at least made sense.
"Now you tell us about those stories in more detail, especially Highschool DxD," Ajuka ordered.
"That's right, even if we can't trust their accuracy it would still be super helpful Kay-chan," Serafall stated the obvious.
"Story time!" She then shouted in a childish tone crossing her legs like young children do in school.