An old project he was involved with! And Raynare might have caught a break!

Raynare, having slipped out a little after Asia, decided to follow Kiba for the time being. She wasn't getting any closer to answers regarding what she was actually looking for, so she might as well keep tabs on what the more interesting things going on in the Peerage were. It was a long shot, but something else might be connected to what she was supposed to be learning about. If nothing else, she might get her hands on entirely different info that was still of interest to Azazel. She waited until Issei and Asia rendevoused with Rias, and headed home before slipping off in the direction that Kiba had gone.

Kiba meanwhile, was walking sullenly in the rain, looking at his hand, and dwelling on the past. Then, he felt a presence, and immediately formed a sword, blocking another blade aimed right at him. "...you!" he grunted as his assailant jumped back.

"Yo, it's been a while!" Freed snorted as he landed.

"So you were still hiding out in this city, huh?" Kiba asked Freed, readying his own blade, before stiffening at the weapon Freed was carrying. "That sword is..."

"Huh? You don't seem happy to see me," Freed smirked. "And here I am, about to send you to face God... let's see how your swordsmanship fares against my Excalibur, shall we?" he sneered, licking his blade.

Raynare spotted them, and her heart leapt. Finally, she could pursue that lead, tenuous as it was! Without hesitation, she flared out her wings, and launched herself forward. Before Freed and Kiba could start dueling, Raynare shot by them both, grabbing the back of Freed's coat as she passed, and flying off with him. "Sorry Kiba, got business with this idiot!" she shouted to the absolutely bewildered Knight.

"Eh!?" Freed protested. "Raynare, what's the big idea!? Put me down!" he demanded, thrashing comically, but not having much leverage as Raynare carried him a good distance from his quarry.

"Oh, shut it! I got questions for you, and I don't care what you do after, but for now, I'm investigating something for Azazel, and you have some information that might pertain to it!" Raynare huffed, before depositing him in an alleyway, and landing a decent distance away to keep him from lashing out at her.

...

"The Holy Sword project?" Issei was asking Rias at the table in Issei's room, Asia also seated with them, each of them having some tea Issei had prepared.

"Yes. Until a few years ago, the church was engaged in a project to raise children into warriors cabable of wielding Excalibur," Rias explained. "Or rather, one of the seven Excaliburs. The original was broken into seven pieces, and the fragments, with the help of alchemy, were reforged into their own lesser, but still very potent, Holy Sword, each of them carrying the name."

"I've never heard of such a project..." Asia noted quietly.

"And Kiba was a part of this project?" Issei asked Rias, who nodded solemnly.

"Yes... as a matter of fact, he was the sole "survivor,"" Rias added. "Or rather, the one among those disposed of I ended up using one of my pieces to reincarnate."

"Wait, what? Just... what happened to him there?" Issei questioned and Rias sighed.