Chapter 17: ...Sinks Ships
"Do you know who I am?!" The boy snarled at CC.
Her expression remained unimpressed, "Does it matter? A name does not give one permission to reach beyond their means."
"You little bi..." His response was cut off by me finally reaching the scene of the confrontation.
"What seems to be the problem here?" I could guess, especially seeing who was involved.
Diodora Astaroth looked at me, having excused myself from my dance to resolve this issue, and stated, "Your Queen assaulted me, that's what happened. Is this how the Sagan treat their guests?"
I turned to CC, who on the outside seemed completely calm, but looking into her eyes I could see the irritation she was with-holding, "CC, can you tell me why you slapped him?"
She sniffed, "He attempted to hound me for a dance. When I refused, he pursued me and attempted to grab at me like an animal."
Diodora snarled, "Lies! I won't stand for this slander!"
I turned to him, "It appears that you have not acted in a manner befitting of a guest. I would ask you to leave."
Diodora actually seemed surprised at that, probably expecting me to be more conciliatory, "You would just accept her at her word and risk insulting me?"
"Yes." My reply was curt. I had no time for these petty courtly games, my patience having been worn very thin, "Leave, or I will make you."
Diodora's face grew red with anger, "How dare you! I will not stand for this! You have insulted me, and I demand compensation. I challenge you to a Rating Game!"
"I refuse." I was feeling the flames of my anger start to rise but ruthlessly crushed it, redirecting it into pissing him off.
His attempt to court my Queen was irking, but what overrode it was the sheer amateurish nature of this play. Are the Satans really this desperate? Accepting a Rating Game and beating him would grant me a boost in my image, but the costs outweighed the benefits.
It was the same reason I planned to forfeit every single Rating Game I was organized to take part in as a Young Devil. Showing your prowess was all well and good, but you were also showing your abilities off as well. The longer I could keep people in the dark about how my Peerage and I fought, the longer it would take for people to devise counters and contingencies for us.
"Oh, are you scared? I don't blame you, seeing as I am clearly the stronger between us. I guess that is all the 'Mighty Sagan' amount to." Diodora goaded.
"Believe what you will, call it what you will, I don't care. I hereby revoke your welcome to this Manor." As I finished my sentence, I felt the wards of the manor react, preparing to attempt to eject him should he not leave willingly.
It likely would not succeed, but directly fighting the wards of another family would escalate this incident to be much more serious than he likely was comfortable with, not to mention the Satans who I could see making their way through the crowd.
"Have you no pride?" He snarled to which I shrugged, uncaring. His hand twitched, and I was filled with a sudden burst of excitement.
Do it, I dare you. Make it self defence.
"What is going on here?" A voice interrupted the rising tension between us. I noticed that I had been tensing up in preparation for a fight, my gravity magic making the air around me seem heavier.
I relaxed my body, my magic ramping down as I turned to address Serafall, "Heir Astaroth made unwanted advances on my Queen. I have revoked his rights to access Sagan property and was in the process of removing him."
"That's not true!" Diodora interjected, also turning to the Satan, "I was merely talking to her when she assaulted me!"
A blank faced woman with empty eyes next walked from the crowd to stand next to the him, "My Lord is correct. He was merely talking to the Sagan Queen when she slapped him and insulted him."
Naomi wiggled her way through the crowd, "I saw what happened! CC was trying to get away but then he grabbed her and put his hand..." She blushed, stammering out, "P-p-put his hand on her rear."
"All this is hearsay." Serafall put her fingers on the bridge of her nose, acting stressed over this whole ordeal.
"That doesn't matter, as it's already resolved. Heir Astaroth, remove yourself." My voice was firm, making Diodora whirl back to me with indignation.
"A wound left unaddressed," A deep, familiar voice sounded out from the audience watching the confrontation, "Eventually starts to fester."
Zekram Bael stepped forth from the crowd, "Having two of our Pillar House members remain with bad blood between them would not be wise. Settling this here and now would be for the best."
I stared at the old Devil, who was looking at me with an interested look in his eyes. He had quite successfully put me in a bind. With him appearing to be acting impartially, me disagreeing with him would be seen as unreasonable. At the same time, caving from my stated position as soon as he asked would make it seem as I was either weak or that he had some form of influence over me. Both of which could be a problem for me going forwards.
Thankfully, there was someone in the crowd who also realised the trick Zekram was pulling. "I agree. As the Satan of Domestic Affairs, letting this bad blood linger does no good."
Unfortunately, is was someone who also wanted to influence me. I considered the Old King and The Satan, idly wondering if it would be easier to just disappear from the Underworld and come back when I was strong enough to conquer it by force.
It would certainly be less annoying.
"Very well." I eventually conceded, "I see I am out numbered here. If the Great King and The Satan's themselves are in agreement, I obviously have no choice but to obey."
Sirzechs' genial smile dimmed slightly at how I phrased that, but Zekram pounced on the opportunity before he could clarify, "Excellent. Heir Astaroth, as the aggreived party you can decide the rule set. Unless the Lady Leviathan disagrees?"
Serafall, who looked like she sucked on a lemon for some reason, bit out, "No, of course not. This amazing Sera-tan will set it up."
"Ha, finally." Diodora postured, puffing himself up, "Seeing as it was the Sagan's Peerage that assaulted and slandered me, they are the ones that should be punished. I choose a Kingless Game!"
Smarter than I expected. Unlike a regular Rating Game, a Kingless game was, as the name implied, a game fought without the Peerage's respective Kings. It was fought in a series of matches, Bishops against Bishops, Knights against Knights, etc. The scoring followed the same rules as Chess.
The most likely reason that Diodora chose this type of Rating Game was likely the unknown abilities of my peerage. If I had a Sniper type, I could just aim for him and win by taking him out, invalidating his numbers advantage. I could likely argue that due to the size discrepancy, his Pawns and Rooks should not be allowed to compete.
But if I am being forced into this, I will make the most of it.
"I agree. I reserve the right as the owner of the Smaller Peerage to decide the match ups." My confidence seemed to surprise the other Devils, obviously thinking that I was worried about the strength of my Peerage, which is why I originally refused.
That was a rule to even out any size discrepancies, allowing the smaller peerage to arrange favourable macth ups by rearranging the extra pieces.
"As the smaller Peerage, it would be more fair we asked the Astaroth Pawns and Rooks to sit this out, right? Sera-tan would not want to be accused of being unfair after all!"
Why are you suddenly trying to help me? Also drop the cutesy act, the whiplash from how you usually treat me is making my skin crawl.
Something of my inner thoughts must have shown in my eyes, as Serafall seemed to wilt slightly from my stare, "No. I don't want to leave him any excuses."
"I see no problem with it." The Great King was audibly amused, "If Lord Sagan is so confident, he should be able to back it up."
"I look forward to crushing that arrogance, Lord Sagan." Diodora smarmed, "I'll be sure to remember this when I claim my prize."
The salacious look he sent CC after that sentence made the rage to surge within me, only just barely caught and restrained. I took in a deep breath, before turning my back on him, not even dignifying him with a response.
I walked out of the circle that had formed, the crowd parting for me. I spoke to my Peerage as I moved, "Come, we need to discuss our strategy." My peerage followed me, not even waiting to be dismissed by the officials present. The snub went unremarked, though it did leave Diodora seething.
"I won't apologise." Was the first thing my Queen said in the meeting.
"I don't expect you to. Honestly, I was close to killing him myself, I admire your restraint." My reply diffused the tension in the small antechamber, "I'm not upset with you, we expected someone to pull something. A Reveal without at least one honour duel is considered a dull affair."
That got some smiles, but not from Naomi, who was the most outwardly upset out of all of us, "Honestly, many people in the crowd also saw what happened. Why didn't they speak up?"
"Amusement." The dry response got me a death glare, but I just allowed my wings to show, proving my point. Naomi deflated, a muttered, bitter word escaping her lips, "Devils..."
"Devils." I nodded, "Now, I had hoped to avoid any rating games, but at least the format they chose gives us some wiggle room. CC will beat his Queen, I am absolutely certain."
The green haired woman was pleased with the praise, but tried not to show it.
"Shiro and Naomi will easily beat his Bishops. Out of the entire Peerage, the only ones with any significant combat potential are his Queen and one of the Knights. Naomi, Shiro, if you can, end it quickly without showing off too much. But if they prove stronger than they seem, use everything to win. I would rather reveal our abilities than get either of you hurt."
The girls I spoke to nodded, resolute looks on their faces. I turned to the last member of my little family, who was staring back at me with a resolute look on her face, "Kasane, your round will be the most scrutinised. Crush them. I want you to make anyone who thinks of trying to fuck with us after this think twice."
She nodded, accepting my orders professionally. After so long interacting with her though, I could see the pride in her stature. She was glad that I had so much faith in her, that I trusted her ability to do what I asked.
Even when so heavily out numbered.
I gave them a brief rundown of the members of the Astaroth Peerage that I had found from their Rating Games, allowing them to know who they were facing. After ending the meeting, they moved off to the waiting room that had been prepped with teleporters to take them to the arena.
I, meanwhile, had to hand the list of who was facing who to Serafall. The look of utter shock on her face when she saw what I wrote for my knight was one that would bring a smile to my face every time I thought back to that moment for years to come.
Shiro was angry. She didn't want her Nii-san to worry, so she tried to hide it, but she was sure that he knew something was up. Still, he didn't say anything to her, making her even more glad for his trust in her.
She put her hand over the mark on her stomach, anticipating the warm feelings that would follow her thoughts. Right on schedule, the rush of warmth arrived. She had figured our in the last moth, as the mark became more and more obvious, that it was obviously some sort of conditioning tool.
Every time she though something that Nii-san would approve of, or though of doing something Nii-san would like, the mark rewarded her with the warm feelings. She had experimented with many different activities and thoughts and proved that her hypothesis was correct.
She was so grateful for the gift.
Her Nii-san had saved her from her loneliness, played with her whenever she asked and did his best to teach her the social things she didn't understand. She knew she was smarter than him, but her Nii-san was much better at explaining things and making plans. Whenever she was with him she felt safe and happy.
The mark allowed her to know how to pay him back for everything. All she had to do was follow the feelings the mark gave her, and she could be the perfect little sister that her brother deserved. She didn't have to understand why he would enjoy something, it was enough that the mark told her that he would. It was so beautifully simple.
Which is why she was so angry.
People kept getting in the way, making her Nii-san stress out and worry. They interfered with his life, did stupid things and made him have to use his time to deal with them. Time he could be spending with her and their family instead.
More importantly than any of that, however, they tried to hurt him.
Unforgivable.
Unforgivable.
As the flash of the teleportation faded away and she saw the red headed nun that was to be her opponent, she made a promise to herself. This hussy in front of her was the only one she could reach right now, but she would get better. Grow stronger. Eventually, she would be strong enough to even reach those who thought they could mess with her Nii-san.
Then they would suffer.
She smiled at the rush of vindictive warmth that filled her at the thought.