Chapter 14: Tails and Deals
"Devils are duplicitous, devious charlatans. Every single deal with one of their kind is always a poisoned apple. Mark my words, this will only come back to bite us." Tetsuzaemon, a Gyuki (Ox Yokai) stated, causing some grumbles of agreement to sound throughout the gathered council.
"That may well be the case, however we are not entering into any deals with this Devil yet. This is merely us fulfilling our obligations." Mizusawa replied, the Tengu woman folding her hands atop her kimono clad legs.
Tetsuzaemon snorted at that, "So we are still going to let him insult us with his presence? Come in here and lord it over us like what happened never occurred?" The murmurs of agreement grew louder at that, a few muttered words of encouragement giving the Gyuki more confidence as he continued, "In fact, I say that such an insult shouldn't be taken lying down. I say we should show the Devils just what we think of their latest snub. Sending a child to treat with us..."
A sharp click sounded through the tea room. Tetsuzaemon fell silent, attention snapping to the figure at the position of prominence. The Kitsune who had just flicked shut her fan, causing the sudden noise, smiled gently.
"I hope," Yasaka, the leader of the Kyoto Yokai stated, "That no one was about to suggest doing something untoward to a guest of not only Amaterasu-No-Mikoto, but Inari-No-Mikoto as well?"
The Ox lowered his head chastised, but Yasaka was not finished, "I too, am not happy with having to deal with the spawn of Lilith. However, our patrons have only asked us to hear him out. If he acts like we expect from one of his ilk, we can merely ask him to leave. Nothing is lost except our time."
The gathered advisors did not seem to be mollified by this, but none seemed to have the courage to directly speak against the word of the Miko. Before they could gather it, the time for deliberation was ended with a servant moving through the door into the room.
"Excuse me, Masters. The Sagan heir has just arrived for the meeting." The Tengu had a look of distaste on her face, but hid it well by preforming a deep bow.
Yasaka flicked out her hand, opening back up her fan and covering her face with it, "Thank you, Mutsu. Please show him in."
The bow went deeper, "Of course my Lady."
The room was in silence after the servant left. The previous conversation had not reached a satisfying conclusion, but at this moment presenting a unified front was more important than any advisor's reservations. Often times, showing a cohesive whole was more beneficial than any political gains from these meetings, especially in front of outsiders.
Soon, the Sagan boy was shown in to the meeting room. Yasaka knew, of course, of his progenitor Remora. Of who she was made to resemble. But without that knowledge, she would swear that the youth in front of her was the son of Archangel Gabriel. Such a thing was impossible, of course, but that was how striking the resemblance was.
Behind him were two older girls. One with green hair and sharp, birdlike eyes that observed everyone in the room like she was dissecting everything about them. The other a more obvious white-haired bodyguard with an alert, guarded stance. Obviously on the watch for any aggressive moves towards her charge.
She watched, as the boy took in the gathered Yokai at the raised table on the far side of the room. She watched as his eyes raked up and down the notable members of Moonlight Kyoto, before his eyes came to rest back on hers. She was used to the looks of all kinds of people and his gaze seemed much more mature than it should be.
He bowed, gaze still locked to her, introducing himself, "Lady Yasaka, gathered Clan Representives of Kyoto. Thank you very much for agreeing to this meeting. My name is Damocles Sagan."
He looked down at the floor, "I have come with an offer of trade, to allow us both to prosper. However, before that, there is something that I need to make clear."
He set down the folder of files he was carrying on the floor, kneeling besides them. Then, to the shock of every non-Devil in the room, he leaned forwards, presenting the back of his neck to the gathered Yokai in a traditional Dogeza.
"My people have greatly wronged yours." Came his voice. "Although I know it is little consolation, please accept my deepest apologies."
The stunned silence of the room was broken by a snort from the muscle bound Yokai to the right of Yasaka. I was unable to see the reaction of the others at the table, due to my head being bowed, something I found myself slightly grateful for. When I first walked into the meeting room, I was not ready for the sight of Yasaka, sitting at the head of her table, her tails a rippling golden lake behind her.
Her beauty was equally distracting, my newly gained puberty coming through to show it's downsides.
I heard her soft, motherly voice sound out, "What is your age, Damocles Sagan?"
I spoke into the tatami, "12 years, Lady Yasaka."
"Raise your head." I did as she asked, raising up my body and sitting properly in front of the gathered yokai, "The incident between our people happened before your birth. Nonetheless, your apology was heard and appreciated."
Not accepted, I noted. But that's fine, this action of mine was never meant to mend bridges, only show a clear distinction between other Devils and myself in their eyes.
Yasaka nodded at me when I could see her once again, starting the proceedings, "We have granted you this audience to discuss your proposal of trade between House Sagan and the Yokai of Kyoto. As you obviously know me, let me introduce the gathered representatives of the Clans."
She indicated towards the muscled Yokai from before, who spoke in a graveled voice, "Tetsuzaemon, speaking for the Gyuki. I've never seen a Devil apologise like that. I thought your Pride would not allow it."
I nodded politely towards him, "Well met. I Pride myself on being unlike other Devils."
My joking response got a few small smiles from some of the gathered Yokai, but others seemed to be disapproving. Oh well, can't win them all.
Yasaka then introduced the rest of the Yokai Clan Leaders, Mizusawa of the Tengu, Yumako of the Yuki-onna, Susumu of the Nekomata, Chihomi of the Tsuchigumo and many others. I took care to commit each name to memory and in turn introduced C.C. my Queen and Kasane as my Knight.
That was met with some consternation, considering their history with the Peerage system of the Devils, but soon enough we moved to the actual reasoning for this meeting. I presented the gathered clan heads with several copies of my planned trade agreement.
The basic premise was simple, they could sell me various reagents, for which I would give them a credit score. They could then use this credit to purchase supplies from the underworld through my company, which would neatly side-step the issue of the two factions using a completely different currency.
I could order reagents from them too, which came with a small price hike due to the difficulty of them obtaining any specific goods in a meaningful number. Most of the things they would be selling to me were the various by products of evil Yokai that they executed, or that manifested in Kyoto. That's not including easily replenished resources, like Tengu feathers or Tsuchigumo silk. I made the initial pricing for each reagent with the help of CC and Shiro, determining a fair price based on the relative rarity and the current going rate on the black market in the underworld.
Of course, fur from a one-tailed Kitsune was no where near as potent as from a nine-tailed one, so that was factored in too.
There was trick to ensuring the longevity of this deal however, which the Tengu clan head noticed pretty quickly, "The prices for the materials we could buy from you... why are they so low?"
I grinned, happy to be able to explain, "Insurance. Should you agree to this deal, I will operate a near total monopoly on both sides of this deal, at least in their respective markets. Now, while I could charge both sides highly, that does not engender positive feelings. By making your purchases cheaper and moving the cost of that to the underworld side, not only does that make the deal more attractive, it helps ensure that the deal lasts. After all, you are getting a bargain, why would you end it?"
"Devious. Just what I would expect." Came the reply from Chihomi, the spider yokai arching a brow at me, "After that apology, you would not drop you prices as a show of contrition?"
Ah, the negotiations begin.
"Ah, you see the is a matter of sustainability..."
Shiro took a sip from the tea cup in front of her, projecting the air of someone who was completely at peace, almost looking bored.
"Aren't you at all worried?" Came the curious question from the other small girl at the table.
Shiro looked at the young Kitsune, tilting her head and only replying with, "Why?"
"Mother told me that negotiations are a battle. Your brother is going into negotiations with my mother. He can't win."
Shiro considered that briefly, before nodding and stating with such utter certainty that it seemed like nothing else could possibly be the truth, "Nii-san will not lose."
Kunou's eyes widened at that, "How could you say that? My mother is older than him, and stronger than him! She's been running Kyoto since long before he was born!"
Shiro took in that information, before repeating, "Nii-san will not lose."
Kunou's brows furrowed, her tails lashing out in irritation behind her, "Mama has more experience, better advisers, every advantage! How could he not lose?"
Shiro frowned, how could this girl not understand something so simple? She didn't know how to explain it better than she already had. Nii-san will not lose, he might run away, he might not win, but he will never lose.
She suddenly remembered something her Nii-san told her, how if she found something in a book that she knew wasn't true or was contradicted by a different book, what that meant.
Nodding to herself, internally thanking Nii for always explaining things to her. She pointed a finger in the direction of the fox, declaring what she now realised, "Biased source."
Kunou's mouth popped open in shock, completely stumped by the sudden declaration.
Over the shoulders of the two girls, Naomi and a Tengu maid made eye contact.
Both of them broke it to giggle into their hands.
Damn.
This is not good.
I thought I had more control over myself than this.
To be fair to myself, hiding a weakness this large from someone so experienced would always have been an uphill battle.
The negotiations have been long and tedious, with the Yokai side employing a variety of differing techniques and tricks.
For example, Tetsuzaemon, the Gyuki, was used as a front to express negative opinions and push for greater concessions. Depending on how well I argued against them or rebutted his points, the others would then either agree with the Ox and atttempt to push forwards their agenda, or politely disagree with him and allow us to move on to the next point of contention.
The second time it happened, I realised what was going on and decided to employ the tactic against them, with a glance at CC who thankfully realised what I was asking and started to act as my more disagreeable partner in the negotiations.
That had gained us some respect, grudging though it was. There were several such episodes, the whole thing like navigating through a linguistic labyrinth. Eventually, the clan leaders started to leave one by one, citing duties that needed attending to, stopping with just Yasaka being the last one still in talks with me.
It was then she displayed that I was not as careful as I had thought.
"Hmm," The fox hummed, waving the golden fluff of her tails teasingly behind her. I gathered my willpower and kept my gaze locked onto her face, but something must have shown in my expression because she smiled slyly anyway.
She had noticed that my eyes had strayed to her tails more than once during the meeting, and had used that to start trying to distract me with them. In my defence, I was very tired out from the hours long negotiations, and the soft, silky fur looked eminently pettable.
I was already planning it, but internally I made myself a promise. One day, I would get my hands on that fluff!
I might have been more tired than I thought.
As if she could read my thoughts, she grinned smugly, before letting out a little sigh and stating, "Yes, I think the current agreement will work well for us both. Thank you for your patience."
I tried to not outwardly react, but I could feel the stress leaving my shoulders. I heard Kasane heave a relieved sigh behind me and sent her my silent apologies for putting her through this. CC on the other hand, was as stoic as ever.
As Yasaka and I agreed to the final wording and put down our signatures on the document of the trade agreement, I allowed my mind to wonder. The agreement we've landed on, despite the bickering over pricing and such, could be summed up as follows:
The Yokai were responsible for the storage of the alchemical reagents on the Kyoto side, as well as having the responsibility to prevent secondary streams of such material finding it way into the Underworld, through the Black Market and other such illicit means.
We, the Sagan family, were responsible for the selling of the reagents, the storage of the materials that the Yokai wanted on the underworld side, as well as the security of our warehouses and store fronts.
I wasn't that worried over the security for the Kyoto side, the Yokai were fairly honourable when it came to agreements like this, but this would be stepping on several toes in the Underworld. I could already feel the headache from the next few months coming on. I saw a faint outline of the coming paperwork and fought off the urge to shudder.
Even hiring was going to be an uphill battle...
The Kitsune broke me out of my thoughts, "If I may, what are you planning to do now?"
I blinked, "Ah, I was planning to pick up Shiro and head back home. There are several things I need to set up in the Underworld and the sooner I start the better."
Yasaka nodded and waved a hand. Several Tengu maids walked into the room, carrying a tea set that she started using on the table in front of me.
"It is late, please allow us to extend some hospitality. Now that we have a deal between us, you are an honoured guest." I noticed the implication that I was not an 'honoured guest' before, but let it pass unmarked, "The little ones have already been shown to a room, you can leave in the morning."
As I nodded my thanks, CC and Kasane sat down to my sides as they were also served the tea. The fox, still in the positions of prominence in the room, cheekily waved her tails as she looked down at me and said, "After all, as trade partners, we should learn more about each other, no?"
I groaned internally as I felt an interrogation coming on, one that it seemed would include my two companions as well. I had to wonder, how the hell did Yasaka still have the energy for this?
Sensing my exasperated gaze, the Yokai merely wiggled her ears at me as she smiled cheekily.
Serafall groaned as she stretched, putting down her pen. Being a Satan wasn't all intrigue and verbal battles, it also had its own share of busywork. She was running low on energy, having to constantly keep a ton of plates spinning without letting any of them fall.
She decided that seeing her adorable little sister was just the thing she needed!~
She picked up her phone, calling her mother to let her know she would be home for dinner. The Sitri matriarch answered promptly, "Serafall, how fortunate. I was just thinking that we needed to have a little chat."
"That's perfect! I'm running low on Sonaium, I'm swinging by the manor for a refill!"
Ignoring the sigh on the other end of the line, she continued, "What did you want to speak about?"
"I just had a very... interesting chat with Venelana about what you and Sirzechs have been up to."
Serafall tilted her head, wondering why her mom sounded angry.
The older Sitri elaborated, "This isn't something to talk about over the phone. Come home for dinner and we'll talk afterwards."
Dinner meant the whole family would be there, meaning she could gobble up Sona to her heart's content!
"Sure, I'll definitely be there!"
She hung up, happy that her day was looking up.
Some distance away, in a quite opulent living room, an older devil put down her phone and sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Honestly Serafall, you and I have very different idea's of 'Handling it'."
AN to follow.