AN: If you like my writing, consider supporting me on ! The monthly prompt poll closes in a day.
Chapter 25: Advances
It's amazing what a difference a little bit of combat experience can make. The Labyrinth of Orcus was an amazing font of power for me, the constant struggle against my Demonic Power being drained while having to fight off ambushes and gangs of roaming monsters doing wonders for my reserves.
24 hours and 10 floors of the fake labyrinth later, and I could already feel a difference in my Demonic Power. That would likely only accelerate once I reached a level where I could eat the enemies I defeated, but before then I need a way to heal the damage the monster meat would do to me, being as toxic as it was.
Spending that long in almost constant combat refined my skills, allowing me to notice inefficiencies in my spells and movements. As the time went on, I became smoother, sharper, started to react faster. I couldn't wait until I found that healing rock and started to incorporate the various monster's strength into mine. That would require getting through the Fake labyrinth first, of course, which at this rate would take a while.
To be honest, I would have made more progress if I paced myself more. I had fallen into the habit of using overwhelming force to solve most of my issues, as shown with my unique spell, Spatial Rend. Learning to use only the necessary amount of power for each enemy was a good lesson, but by the time I had learnt it I was already on the 8th floor. My pace slowed a lot then, the combination of the long fighting and the nature of the world wearing me down.
Still, the constant strain had been great, the combat forcing my Demonic Power to struggle against it. I was definitely stronger, even with that one trip. Tiamat had brought me time, Now I just needed to use it.
A knock suddenly sounded on my door, causing me to snap my head towards it before forcibly calming myself down. Spending so long in a dangerous environment had knock on effects, it seemed.
"Who is it?" I called, rising from where I was resting on the bed.
"It's me, Nii-san." Came Shiro's voice, "Can I come in?"
"Of course you can, Shiro." The door opened and a proud looking girl walked through, handing me a box as if a cat returning a kill to it's owner.
"What's this?" I asked as I flicked on the phone, eyes drawn to the conversation displayed on the screen.
"I wanted to help." Shiro explained as my eyes moved quickly through the messages.
Shiro: I have a question.
Rias: Oh, Shiro-tan! What is your question? It's good to hear from you!
Shiro: Why are you engaged?
Rias: What do you mean? What brought this on?
Shiro: You danced with Nii-san, and looked happy. Your fiance was there but you didn't dance with him. It doesn't make sense to me.
Rias: I don't like Riser, Shiro, that's why I didn't dance with him.
Shiro: Then why are you engaged to him? Didn't you tell your brother that you didn't want to marry him?
Rias: Of course I did!
Shiro: If I told Nii-san that I didn't want to marry someone, he would end the engagement instantly, not that he would ever agree to something like that in the first place.
Rias: That's different Shiro, my brother can't play favourites. He told me that he can't be seen interfering in the Pillar Houses' business, the Satans need to look neutral.
Shiro: But he was interfering though?
Rias: What do you mean?
Shiro: He was trying to take Big Sister CC from us. Nii-san told us so.
Rias: He was just mediating. It's his duty as the Satan of Internal Affairs.
Shiro: Nii-san wouldn't lie to me. Have you asked your brother if that is what he was doing?
Rias: No I haven't. In fact, I'll go do that right now.
My adopted little sister looked up at me with eager eyes, heedless of the live grenade she had just thrown into a Satans family. Or maybe, that is what her intention was? Regardless, this girl was terrifying.
My mind spun through various scenarios, before eventually coming to a conclusion.
"Good Work, Shiro." I reached out to pat her head, "I can work with this. But if you want to be useful in the future, be sure to ask me, alright? Doing things like this can go very badly."
"I understand, Nii-san." Was the response, as she snuggled into my palm.
Indeed, especially considering that I was meeting Ladies Sitri and Gremory within a few hours, I could definitely work with this.
"Thank you to agreeing to meet with us, considering…" Lady Sitri finished as I took a sip of the coffee in front of me, maintaining eye contact with her.
She seemed uncomfortable by my silence, my refusing to acknowledge her attempt to open the conversation obviously not expected.
"Yes, Thank you for attending. We would like to discuss your announcement at the Reveal, that you have banned our families from your businesses." Lady Gremory, on the other hand, was less perturbed.
"I am aware." Was my droll response, which got a muffled snort from my Queen.
"Yes, well the Sitri Foundation is very interested in the reagents available from the Yokai, due to their medicinal properties." Lady Sitri admirably ignored the disrespect.
"And the Gremory, being a trading Family, would obviously love to help facilitate deals between your new company and the rest of the underworld." Lady Gremory pitched.
"With your announcement, that became rather difficult for us as you could guess." Lady Sitri put down her own cup, "We would like to discuss the reasons behind that announcement and help clear up any misunderstandings that could have contributed to it."
I finally decided to engage, "The most fundamental component in any agreement is trust. If you cannot trust the other party to hold to their word, the agreement becomes worthless."
I leaned forwards, staring at the two matriarchs intently, "The problem that lies before us is that your families have given me absolutely no reason to trust you. Every move that your families have made toward me have been hostile."
"Our families have not moved towards you, though." Lady Gremory started, "The Satans are politically isolated, and do not speak for us…"
"I'm young." I dead-panned, "Not stupid. Please do not insult my intelligence. As I said at the Reveal, Looking after your families' interests is not shameful. It is the correct thing to do. Masking it behind this charade of neutrality is what infuriates me."
"Let us dispense with the pretenses." I decided to be direct, "The trade with the Yokai, while possibly lucrative, is not going to make any meaningful difference to either of your clan's finances. The issue at hand here is status. Everyone else getting in on the restarted trade while you are excluded is insulting."
The two of them looked at each other, obviously reassessing how to handle this conversation, seeing as I was not allowing them to even pretend to control it. Eventually, Lady Sitri turned back towards me.
"You are correct of course. Having division within the Pillar Houses being so blatant and visible is highly embarrassing. You are indeed a smart man, so you should understand that us that belong to the older houses need to show a united front, for appearances sake if nothing else."
"I can understand that, from your point of view. However, I care nothing for Underworld politics." My reply seemed to surprise them, "I only have a singular loyalty, and that is to my family. I am forced to deal with these inane games due to my position, but they are annoyances rather than anything I find enjoyable. I will be perfectly honest, you have nothing to offer me that I want."
"How can you say that? House Sitri owns a large swath of the old Sagan lands, don't you wish to reclaim any of your inheritance?"
I stared into the Sitri Matriarch's eyes, my response flat, "No. I do not care for lands and resources lost through rightful conquest. You won. They are yours. The only thing of value that is not replaceable was the Sagan Library, which remains in my possession."
"What do you want then?" Lady Gremory narrowed her eyes at me, "You would not have accepted this meeting just to rub into our faces that there is nothing you want."
"Assurances." CC answered for me, "We do a song and dance about how through thorough negotiation a compromise was reached, with the Astaroth and Glasya-Labolas included of course, displaying the unity of the Pillar Houses once again etc. etc. In return, you two make sure that your son and daughter leave us alone."
Yes, that was my goal here. The ban was leverage, lifting it too early or cheaply would be foolish. But truthfully, there was only really one thing that these families could provide me that would be useful: A leash on the Satans. After all, the most important thing I could accrue at this moment was time. Every scrap of it I could buy was precious beyond measure.
"So a state of non-aggression? That's what you're aiming for?" Lady Sitri tilted her head, "Why? Has all possibility of a working relationship been exhausted?"
"It has." I shrugged, "I simply cannot trust you to act in good faith, from the actions of Sirzechs and Serafall. If you have a personal stake in my business being fruitful, however small that stake is, I can at least trust that will be a deterrent for sabotaging me that way."
"You are acting like our families are at war."
"Are we not? Your blood has harmed me, and made their hostile intentions clear. Just because it has not come to blows yet, does not mean that it is not a conflict."
Lady Sitri chewed her lip, looking frustrated, "It does not have to be this way, however. Mistakes were made, but they do not need to colour our interactions forever. There is ample opportunity for us to learn to trust each other. You are already friends with Rias and have met my Sona, yes? Surely you wouldn't want this to be the situation when they become the Heads of the family?"
"Indeed. I noticed you have already applied for the promotion to Viscount. For all your saying you do not care for underworld politics, you clearly wish to reclaim your Family's previous glory. Sona is currently not engaged…" Lady Sitri shot her Gremory counterpart a glare at this, but the latter continued, "Should you have a friendly relationship with us, it could eventually…"
She was cut off by laughter, all of us turning towards CC from who it was emanating. I also had an amused smile on my face as well from that obvious ploy.
"If I wished to commit suicide." Both of the Ladies snapped back to look at me, "I would find a less painful way than breaking an agreement with the Leviathan."
"What do you mean?" Lady Sitri asked.
"The contract you forced me to sign when Serafall found me? The one saying that I gave up all claim to the Lands that the Sitri took? Marrying Sona could be interpreted as staking my claim over those lands through her."
I took in the reactions to that statement, the uncomfortable shifting and the blinks of surprise.
"Unless, of course, Serafall didn't tell you she had me sign that?" My tone was teasing.
"This is the first I've heard of it." came the reply through clenched teeth, Lady Gremory turning to her counterpart, "Juliana?"
"Oh, there's no need to ask her." CC said, pulling out a stack of paper, "I brought a copy."
Lady Gremory grabbed the contract and started to read through it, as Juliana Sitri merely shook her head, her eyes looking off into the distance. Her blue eyes soon snapped to mine, anger in their depths.
"Lord Sagan." She began formally, "I believe we are acting on incomplete information on each others intentions. Would you be amenable to explaining to us exactly what actions Serafall and Sirzechs took to alienate you so?"
"Oh. I would love to. But I doubt we would have the time to discuss all that needs to be said. After all…" I looked to where Venelana Gremory was balling her fists in fury over what she was reading, "It appears as if you have plenty to talk about between each other, and I do have an appointment scheduled shortly."
I stood from the table, "Would you agree to meeting up again soon over this matter?"
Juliana chewed the inside of her cheek again, looking over to her friend, "That would probably be for the best." She eventually sighed.
As I helped CC up from the table and walked from the restaurant, I felt that the meeting had gone well for me. Springing the contract on them like this and then leaving could backfire, but the more likely option is that they would preform what I wanted incidentally. Preventing Serafall and Sirzechs from interfering any further just so that they could fix the mess that they had left behind them.
"I must admit, Sagan, I did not expect you to actually deliver." The Kitsune's words were cold, but the way she was looking at the materials in the warehouse behind me betrayed her satisfaction.
"I made a deal, Lady Yasaka." I said, "Deals have power, as little as it is. My word is something that I am reluctant to tarnish."
"Evidently." Her animalistic eyes moved to look into my own, "I was informed about what happened at that party. Will that interfere in our arrangement?"
"I have taken steps to ensure it does not. This first shipment should prove my sincerity, once I have transported the one you have prepared and sold it, the second should remove all doubt."
"And you will do all this in a month?" Her tone was playful, "Very impressive for one so young."
"I Pride myself on thwarting expectations." Was my response, "I'm sure you would like to inspect the goods personally? Successful delivery is one thing, quality, however..."
She laughed, "I will do that. For some strange reason though, I do not expect to be disappointed by what I find."
Her eyes slid past me to the green haired woman on my right, "It seems you have other plans for the night. Will you be leaving soon?"
"We will." I replied, "The goods have been delivered into your care, therefore are your responsibility. I will come back in the morning for the return shipment."
"Very well then." The fox sighed, "Run along. Have fun on your date."
"I intend to."
"I would have thought that a date organized by you would have been more elaborate." CC stated, leaning back on the blanket.
I stared out over the view, twinkling city lights leading to the deep darkness of the Sea, "You've had noble paramours before. I would think that you've had your full of the elaborate and the gaudy."
She merely hummed, staring out at the breathtaking view.
"Did you manage to visit Fuji before the Sakuradite discovery?" I asked, curious.
"No. Seeing it like this, I can understand the Japanese anger over what happened to it a bit more, I suppose." She sighed and laid back, looking up at the night sky.
I twirled my hand, a small spell circle flaring to life, a lens appearing over where we were and filtering out the light pollution of the nearby city. She let out a slight gasp as the stars shimmered and bloomed, the full majesty of the night sky revealing itself. Her amber eyes shined from the light, as she looked up and down the inky vista, the sight probably unfamiliar to her considering how advanced her world was.
She soon laughed, "You are so cliché, a moonlit picnic, a wonderful view, stargazing? Where did you get these ideas, an old romance novel?"
"I'm fine with being cliché." I shrugged, "So long as it works."
"Ever the utilitarian. Means only matter to you so long as they get to the desired ends, don't they?"
I remained silent at that, not sure how to respond. She didn't mind though, merely staring up at the stars. Eventually, she broke the silence.
"I do wonder something." She started, before falling silent.
"Oh, what's that?" I asked.
"You made a promise to court me. So why is this the first outing with that goal we've been on?"
I considered her words, before eventually replying, "You weren't ready to accept any attempts I made. I had a hundred years, I was content to wait until you were more receptive before beginning."
"There is something to be said for your confidence. Perhaps the over-abundance of it?" I merely raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to get to the point. She huffed, "How are you so sure I'm receptive now?"
"The kiss was a big clue." I smiled, "I may be a dense man, but that was a pretty clear sign."
"A thing that only occurred in the heat of the moment. Don't think too much of it." She looked off to the side, away from me.
"But not a mistake, I notice."
"Pick apart my wording all you want." She replied petulantly, "Do not be swept away by flights of fancy."
"Oh, there is no danger of that. I am firmly here in this moment." I said, leaning over to look her in the eyes.
Her blushing was cute.
"Stop that." She snapped
"Stop what?" Was my teasing reply.
"Stop being so… soft. You're a cold blooded murderer, act like it."
"Is my romantic side too much for you, witch?"
"Romantic!? Pah! More like sicken…" He tirade was stopped by my lips.
As I parted from her surprised face, I whispered closely, "I am glad you decided to come with me, Cecelia."
"Fool. Lecher. Your greed…"
I kissed her again. This one went on for longer, but eventually the awkward position forced me to pull back and resume my seated pose.
"What about that one?" I asked, smirking, "Was you allowing me that also in the heat of the moment?"
It took her a few moments to reply, "That was merely… a reward. You put in a lot of effort, so you should be commended."
"Hah." I sighed, "You truly are a difficult woman."
I reached down and lifted her up, ignoring her squawk of surprise as I deposited her in my lap, "That's fine though. I would not want you any other way."
She turned away from me, looking out over the Pacific Ocean that was reflecting the brilliant light of the stars still thanks to my spell.
"You truly do fight unfairly." She whispered.