"What?!" Issei panicked.
Which is a normal reaction, because Gorou isn't Rias Gremory and doesn't have huge chunks of flesh on his chest.
How could Issei look favorably on being a slave?
"Honey!! Is there a solution?!"
Miki also didn't appreciate the news, but Gorou showed no signs of panic.
"I'm not an expert in magic or spiritual arts," he said honestly.
Stanford Pines has exorcism knowledge, but that's against ghosts.
He has nothing about turning a devil into a human or vice versa.
Miki's eyes seemed to lose their shine at Gorou's words, and this forced him to talk about a project of his.
An element he would have preferred to keep secret.
"However, I could clone Issei and transfer his consciousness into this new body..."
He stopped before continuing his remarks, but his eyes instinctively turned toward his son's arm.
'Originally, I wanted to clone Ddraig himself and not Issei.'
Unfortunately, the genetic material obtained from his son is that of a devil...
There's nothing from another creature or draconic, to put it simply.
'I have to wait for Issei to make a contract with that damn dragon for his Balance Break.'
That's the only conclusion Gorou had.
Thus, he had decided to postpone his cloning project until recently.
"Huh? You can make people change bodies?"
Issei and Miki looked at him like an alien creature or some kind of anomaly.
"Yes, but it's a purely scientific phenomenon, because I literally transfer neural activity from one body to another."
In short, he has no idea about the details of the phenomenon.
Even Stanford Pines hadn't studied his electric carpet at Gravity Falls in detail.
Is the soul transferred?
Is it just biological data, which is transferred thanks to the particular electrical activity of the carpet?
Did the two individuals just not transfer their knowledge without their soul?
Several questions, which require... unethical and morally questionable experiments.
This pushed Gorou not to take this path to rejuvenate himself completely thanks to a younger clone of himself.
'Hence, I need to have an assistant skilled in magic and learn a bit.'
"I see..."
Miki seemed to understand that this isn't just an exchange of clothes between two individuals.
"Don't worry, I'll find a solution if Issei doesn't want to remain a slave."
He always made sure to emphasize the word slave in his sentences, because he wanted to push Issei to despise his current condition.
"After all, I received genius intelligence."
He still tried to comfort his wife, who seems troubled.
Fortunately, she was reassured after hearing her husband's words.
"You talk as if I'd like to remain a slave..." Issei declared in a dejected tone.
'He really took the situation badly without Rias around... little pervert.'
But still, he's not in a position to judge Issei.
He always had this little obsession with fictional waifus in his past life.
"The devil who transformed you comes from a clan with a decent reputation regarding the treatment of slaves, and you'll be able to have some too one day."
Even if Gorou doesn't like this part of the conversation, he can't hide it from Issei.
"Rias will sooner or later end up explaining to Issei his role and the advantages behind it, so I'd better do it now."
Of course, he doesn't plan to sugarcoat it like Rias.
Gorou plans to express things bluntly, to avoid naive evolution in Issei's heart.
Unfortunately, he underestimated the perversion rooted in his son's heart.
At the mention of having his own slaves in the future, Issei's worried face had a 180-degree change.
Gorou just smiled, but the disappointment in his eyes wasn't hidden from Miki.
"I... it's okay, as long as he's happy, right?"
Gorou just patted his wife's head, who barely reaches his shoulders, and nodded.
Finally, the evening or family meeting ended with Issei fantasizing about his future harem of devil slaves.
Gorou just asked him to skip classes tomorrow, because he has to learn to use his Sacred Gear and his demonic energy.
Miki didn't see this favorably. But she was quickly convinced at the mention of an event similar to the encounter between Issei and Dohnaseek.
...
"Is it really okay that I skip classes?"
Currently, the Hyoudou family is all in a warehouse, or more precisely in its basement.
Miki and her son look all around them without hiding their curiosity, but Gorou didn't pay attention to it.
He had put the sensitive and morally questionable materials, like the capsules containing the remains of cryogenized stray devils, in another space.
"Do you want to avoid finding yourself hunted like prey at night?"
Gorou's question quickly chased away, in Issei's mind, all useless or stupid questions.
"There, I haven't finished this part of the warehouse yet, but... this will do," he said while moving to the unfinished underground training ground.
"You say that, but this whole base is impressive, dad."
Gorou just smiled at Issei's words, because he himself is still a little amazed by his work.
'Unfortunately, this isn't my permanent base.'
He needed help during the construction of this place without alerting the competent authorities.
Thus, this place is potentially findable by a person influential enough in the supernatural world.
This is also the reason that pushed him to bring Issei and Miki here.
'To deceive your enemies, you must deceive your friends.'
This place must and will remain a decoy base.
A case similar to his garage, which had served him in his beginnings before being abandoned later.
"Haha, thanks for the compliment Issei, but you'll also be able to do great things thanks to your Sacred Gear."
Despite his casual remarks, Gorou really appreciated the recognition of an individual for his work.
He searched for a moment for his training equipment, which he had never used except for tests, then put on his exoskeleton.
'It's surprisingly light now.'
Originally, he found it cumbersome and had judged it as a manufacturing defect.
Now, Gorou simply understands that his age had been a handicap in using the object.
"Well, it's time for you to use your Sacred Gear," he said in an extremely serious tone.
"O...okay, but how?"
After a small explanation about visualizing the strongest thing in his mind, Issei began to imitate Goku.
A visually funny action, but logical.
'Even in my past life, we always compare a new powerful fictional character to Goku.'
This guy is literally the unit of measurement for "powerful or not" in fiction.
"W...what is this?" Issei seemed confused seeing the thing that appeared on his arm.
"Congratulations son, you're now the new Red Dragon Emperor."
(Image)