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Chapter 26: Business

"In response to the events that occurred at the Sagan Reveal, we have decided to reach out to various unaffiliated individuals to act as referees, to ensure that tampering of that nature will not occur again, as well as solve disputes where they occur."

A hand went up, from a young Paimon who proceeded to ask, "One of the Referees is Tiamat, who has recently taken up residence on Sagan lands. How can we trust her to be neutral?"

Sirzechs nodded, before replying, "She has sworn to be impartial to Ajuka, who was the one who chose her to be a referee. As for any Rating Games that involve the Sagan, she will obviously have to recuse herself from refereeing those. Not that it will be relevant anytime soon."

Pulling out a piece of paper, he showed to the gathered audience and the cameras, allowing them to see the Sagan family seal on the bottom, "Lord Sagan has sent in a notification that all official Rating Games relating to the league are to end with his forfeit, He will not be participating in this season."

Whispers broke out at that, many of the young Devils either disappointed at not being able to face the powerful young Lord or wondering whether he was doubting the entire process entirely with what occurred at his reveal. Sirzechs cleared his throat, making them all fall silent and give him their attention again.

"The Rating Game League will respect his decision, which he made to focus on his business. We wish him the best of luck in his endeavours." It took a lot of experience for him to lie so fluidly.

He moved on, "I will now clarify the new rules for this season. Please pay close attention, as rule breaking will be treated very severely. First, the following items are prohibited…"

After listing off a long, exhaustive list of rules and regulations, he then ended with the following, "Additionally, we are making a Peerage specific rule." Whispers broke out at that, Peerage specific rules meaning that someone was either unique enough or strong enough that an entire separate rule was required for them.

"Should CC, the Sagan Queen, be in a Rating game, her touching an opponents forehead with her own will count as an elimination." The hall fell silent at that, taking in the implications of that statement.

The was only one reason to institute such a rule. They all saw the Rating game she participated in, so they knew the attack that was being targeted by the rule. However, this meant that whatever that attack was, the details of which had not been publicly released, it could not be either detected or reversed by the Wards.

Such an esoteric, unique attack was highly prized, for it's novelty if nothing else.

House Sagan could likely expect a lot of trade requests to start coming in rapidly for such a unique piece.

"Could Riser interest you in some relief?" Riser asked, regarding me with interest, "Given your Peerage, Riser would suggest you make use of Karlamine or Mihae, or maybe Li and Ni? The twins are more than happy to preform together."

"Thank you for the offer," I replied, looking around the club that he chose for this meeting, seeing his peerage scattered about mingling and 'entertaining' guests, "But I will have to refuse."

"Oh? Do you mind if we partake?" He raised an eyebrow and at the shake of my head he proceeded to guide Yubelluna underneath the table, the older woman gleefully starting to service her King with her mouth.

It seems that Riser truly was a libertine, huh. I could see why it would rub Rias up the wrong way, but to be fair to the Phenex none of his peerage looked to be forced into this lifestyle, they seemed to be enjoying it just as much as he did.

"May Riser ask why?" The Phenex Heir questioned, "You are obviously attracted to woman, seeing the beauties your Peerage is made up of. Is it performing in public?"

"Not at all." I replied, "It's just that no one here is Mine."

"Ah." He nodded in understanding, "A possessive lover. Riser can't say Riser understands, but Riser respects it."

The young Phenex had been true to his word, inviting me to a club owned by his family soon after the reveal. I admit, I was rather interested in getting to know him, seeing as he was Rias' hated fiance. The more I knew about him, the more I could pry that whole thing apart.

Speaking of, "Heir Phenex, I feel I must apologize." He raised an eyebrow in interest, before scowling as I continued, "Dancing with your Fiance at the reveal was in poor taste."

He waved away my concern, "Don't worry about it, Rias just did that to make Riser angry. Honestly, that girl is so exhausting."

"If I may, it seems neither of you are particularly enthused by the arrangement." I lightly pried.

"You could say that again." He scoffed, "She's spoiled and much too naive. No fun at all. However, marrying her is Riser's duty. My family needs this marriage."

"Anything for family."

"Indeed." He nodded, "But enough of boring topics. Riser originally just wanted to get to know you, but your announcement of trade with the Yokai… Well it gave Riser inspiration!"

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrow at him, taking a sip of my drink, "What kind?"

"One of the benefits of being the third son is Riser can pursue his own business, should Riser want to. Of course, such things are easier said than done, but this should show you more of what Riser has in mind."

He pulled out a folder, passing it over the table to me before putting his hands on the back of Yubelluna's head and groaning. Ignoring his debauchery, I flipped open the folder to be greeted by a very detailed diagram of an incredibly sexy set of fluffy lingerie. The diagram even had the material composition, including Kitsune fur and Tsuchigumo Silk. Turning the page, I was greeted by another diagram, this one a leotard with equally exotic materials, as well as a mask that had Tengu feathers.

"Did you design these?" I asked, flipping through the folder, impressed at the detail and care put into the outfits.

"Riser did. The materials that you are bringing in are exotic, exciting. Using them to bring some spice into sex will be very attractive."

"You do know that some of these materials are still very scarce? Kitsune fur in particular is not going to be cheap to acquire." I asked, intrigued but making sure to cover my bases.

"Riser knows. However that's even better. Riser is very interested in people's desires, you see. The only thing that excites them more than the exotic, is the exotic and exclusive."

"True." I laughed, "You have my interest, I must admit. However, there is a personal issue to us entering into business like this."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I am friends with Rias." I smiled, "Good friends. Having you as a business partner, given her dislike of you…"

"Don't beat around the bush, Lord Sagan, state your desire."

"I want you to work with me to end your engagement to her. You don't like her, your marriage will be a deeply unhappy one. Wouldn't you rather want to marry someone of your choice?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Are you looking to take up the contract in Riser's stead? Is that your goal here?"

"No." I shook my head, "I merely want it dissolved, for her sake. Let her decide who she wants to marry."

He laughed lowly at that, "You truly do understand her well. Unfortunately, Riser cannot agree to that. The Phenex stand to gain too much with this marriage, Unless something more valuable is offered…"

"Be honest, Riser. Do you really want to marry her? Is that your honest desire?" He narrowed his eyes, but I continued, "I'm not asking you to go against your family. Within the next three years, I will approach your family with an offer to dissolve the contract. All I want from you is to not protest against it. The Phenex will benefit from it and if I am unsuccessful in my plan then your contract will just go through regardless. What do you say?"

"If what you say is true and Riser's parents agree… Riser will do as you say."

I nodded in thanks, "Thank you. As for your business proposition…"

I looked at the designs again. He was right, there would be Devils that would pay hand over fist to own something like this. I will admit, I'm one of them. An image floated to my mind, looking at the sheer silk lingerie, imagining Yasaka dressed in something so alluring made out of her own fur. The sinful image was titillating. And very, very far away as it stood.

Still, there is something to be said for unrealistic goals. I smiled, "I think this could be something big, Riser. Do you have seamstresses that can work with these materials? We also need to discuss royalties, investments, the price of the material…"

Riser sighed, bringing Yubelluna up from under the table, who smirked at me as she visibly swallowed his release. He looked towards her and spanked her on her ass, "Go find something fun to do, Yube. Riser has to focus on business."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek, "Have fun, dear."

She sent me a wink as she walked off, deliberately swaying her hips as she prowled around the club. I sent a considering glance at her, before internally smirking. She had a great ass I admit, but when it came to that my Queen had yet to be beaten.

Naomi took a fortifying breath. She was busy negotiating for selling some of the stock that Damocles had brought back from the Yokai. Unfortunately, The traders she was working with in the underworld were absolutely ruthless, doing all they could squeeze out every single drop from the agreement.

She looked to her sister, her imposing figure besides her at least ensuring that they would not try anything to physically coerce her. She was glad she got to work with Kasane on this, her presence was comforting considering all that had happened recently.

She was still a bit rattled at all that Damocles had confessed to her, but she took solace in the fact that no matter what she asked, he had answered truthfully. What ever else he may be, she could at least trust him to be honest. Did that include the necessity of what he did with the Sacred gear Extractor? She didn't know, but all she could to is trust that it did.

Watching the massive five headed dragon settle in to the Manor grounds did give some validity to his claims that it would help protect them. She would have to talk with him about it some more, to ensure that the kind caring boy that she was… fond of… was still there. She knew she was being silly, this being rather tame compared to all the dark things that went on in the underworld, but her morality still needled at her.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and refocused on the negotiations, using her power to look forwards a few moments in time. Opening them, she regarded the sharply dressed man across from her and smiled.

"Now, I know what you are going to say, however..."

The negotiations were long, but in the end, she was satisfied in what was achieved. Idly, she thought it was kinda fun to keep her advantage in these sorts of meetings hidden, almost like she was playing a joke on the other party.

Walking back home, arm in arm with Kasane, Naomi smiled to herself, feeling proud at what she managed to accomplish, against someone with far more experience.

"Lord Sagan. This is the first time we've met." The statement was followed by the scratching of Falbium's pen, the Satan methodically working through a stack of paperwork, with all the air of someone who was being forced to construct their own gallows.

"It is, Satan Asmodeus." I replied, looking around the surprisingly sparse office. The only oddity in the room was a well kept bed off to the side.
"Mhm." Falbium grunted, before finishing up the form and putting his pen down, fixing me with a serious stare, "This is an official interview. My job is handle threats to the Underworld, I need to make sure you aren't one."

"I can understand that." I nodded, used to the suspicion by now.

"Good. I will make you a Deal. Promise to answer my questions truthfully and I promise to judge the answers fairly." The unspoken implication being that if I did not accept the deal, his conclusion would not be fair at all.

Still, it lost me nothing to be accommodating here, so long as the questions did not get too probing. Besides, 'answering truthfully' is not the same as 'answering thoroughly'. He reached out a hand, which I took, sealing our deal. I felt the familiar feeling of a pact settle around me, now knowing what to look out for.

"Good." He nodded to himself, "First question. Are you working with, or plan to work with, the Old Satan Faction?"

Ah, this one I had no trouble answering, "No. I don't plan to work with the suicidal idiots that want to bring the wrath of the entire world down on our heads."

"Smart. Are you planning to join the Old King Faction?"

I decided to cut to the root of his questioning, "I plan to keep House Sagan independent and neutral in politics."

He blinked at that, surprised, "That's very dangerous. You would have few friends."

I shrugged, "Better no friends then bad ones."

His eyes narrowed at the insinuation, before sighing. "If you want to be stupid, it's not my problem. Fine, I'll move on. What did you promise the Yokai to get them to trade with you and does it pose a threat to the Underworld?"

"I promised them a fair deal and no, my agreement with them is purely financial."

He moved on, "How do you plan to vote in the Senate?"

"I don't." At his inquiring glance, I shrugged, "House Sagan will abstain from all votes unless the outcome will specifically affect us or our businesses."

"I see. Purely self interested? I can work with that. There is a vote coming up soon to reform the working permissions for reincarnated Devils, do you intend to vote on it?"

"I do. I will vote in favour." He looked surprised at that, so I explained, "The relaxation of the restrictions will open up the workforce, allowing me to recruit more people to work for my company and not have to go through so many hoops if the ones who make the cut are Reincarnated."

He chuckled, "And here I was prepared to convince you away from voting against it. You do know who proposed the changes?"

"I don't care that the bill was drafted by Sirzechs. It is towards my benefit." I kept calm as I explained my rationale.

"Well at least you aren't letting your personal emotions interfere." He sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring at the paperwork in front of him. He then looked up into my eyes, "I won't beat around the bush. Are you an enemy to the New Satans?"

I met his gaze, my voice firm, "No. But I am not your friend either. I merely want to stop Sirzechs and Serafall interfering with the internal workings of my family."

"I see. I have a proposition, Sagan." He pulled another form off the top of the pile in front of him, sighed before starting to write, "I will assign an adjutant to write up an argument in favour of any Bills that we want passed, specifically tailored towards the benefits it will bring to your business. If you promise me to give the Bills proper consideration, I will keep the others off your back."

"I will not be voting often, I will warn you now. Devils voting on laws… The whole thing seems backwards to me. I reiterate, I will likely abstain more often then not."

"That's fine." He replied, unbothered, "So long as you aren't voting against us out of spite, your abstention just leaves us back to where we were before you woke up."

He continued filling out the form, finishing it quickly before putting it on the other pile and turning his attention back to me, "I heard an interesting rumour that you might find pertinent."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden shift, "What would that be?"

"Diodora Astaroth is no longer the Heir to the Astaroth family. Apparently his defeat brought much shame to the house and his parents decided to move him down the line of succession."

"Interesting." I said, not quite getting where he was going with this, "Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason. I just thought you should know, with your declaring him an enemy of your house and all."

Ah. That was his game here. He was basically telling me that the Astaroth had already written Diodora off, meaning that should something unfortunate happen to him, the family as a whole would not be too deeply affected. They were distancing themselves from reprisal. Did the Game force them to look into his peerage more closely, or was it maybe to prevent escalation amongst Pillar Houses? Whatever the reason, that was a clear invitation delivered by the Satan.

Pretty cold. Didn't really affect my plans, though, but it was odd that Falbium was being so… accomadating.

I could ask him why, but I doubt he would tell me.

"Thank you for the information, Satan Asmodeus. I will take it into consideration." I inclined my head to him, acknowledging the message.

"Good." He huffed, pulling out another form, "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting Lord Sagan, that will be all."

I nodded to him and stood up to leave the office, only to be stopped by him calling out, "My job is to deal with the enemies of the Underworld, Sagan."

I turned back, beholding his serious stare as he finished, "Don't make me do my job. I would much rather be sleeping."

I nodded, "I understand, Satan Asmodeus."

He nodded back, "If you like coffee, the machine third from the right in the mess hall makes the best one. Enjoy your day."

He went back to his forms, starting to work through them solemnly and leaving me blinking in befuddlement.