Since opening shop, our store in Lucifaad had been packed most days. Almost everything we put out was sold within the hour. It had gotten to the point where we rarely even put anything on the shelves these days. People would send in a custom order and Medea would get to it when she got to it. It was an obscene turnover rate, but that's what happens when you have the Witch of Colchis making most of your goods. The storefront had gradually become more of an office than a store, a place for people to submit their orders.

The building was not small, but it was still insufficient to handle the crowds we typically saw. The Dragon Tooth Warriors were unable to keep up with everyone. They were, however, a point of interest. Most magical constructs in DXD were either less complex or more complex but far more rare. Medea's soldiers were new, a novelty. People tended to lose interest when they realized how weak the constructs were, but it still gave our business some character to have creepy purple skeletons working in them. It added to the atmosphere.

Currently, the office was closed down. The only occupants were myself and several skeletons walking about. Magdaran and I were set to meet with Latia here in about an hour, and I wanted to get here early to get some work done.

I sat at my desk, flipping through requests submitted for items to be made. I stamped the ones asking for potent weapons or armor with a big red 'DENIED'. I wasn't looking to arm anyone. We had intentionally given out mostly household items or enchanted umbrellas with the only exceptions to that rule being small daggers and small armor pieces. I didn't need anyone stockpiling magical weapons made in my store and staging a revolt or anything equally dramatic. Once the buzz of our entrance into the market died down, we'd slowly start to send out some very minor enchanted items that could be used in combat. None of them would be anywhere near the strength of Aqua's armor or sword. We were already drawing a bunch of attention, I didn't need to add gunpowder onto the fire.

A knock came from the window behind me.

I spun around in my chair, blinking in surprise at what I saw. A dark-haired woman in a skirt suit waved at me enthusiastically, hovering in the air on her wings. We were closed, but telling the Leviathan to go away was probably not a good move.

I stood and pointed down. Serafall gave me a thumbs up and floated down out of sight. I started heading towards the stairs to the first level, sending a pulse of magic to the skeletons as I did.

I reached the ground floor just as a skeleton locked the door behind Serafall. The Satan was looking around with an appreciative eye. All of the shelves were empty, so she must have been looking at something else.

"You've got some nasty protections on this place." she commented.

"My Queen's work. She is very skilled." Medea had laid protections into each of our storefronts. They weren't as extensive as the ones on the house and paled before what she was doing to the castle we were building, but they were sufficient.

I stopped a few paces in front of Serafall and bowed shallowly. "Lady Leviathan, it is good to see you again."

She gave an over-exaggerated bow. "Baron Abaddon, such a pleasure to see you again. There. Can we cut with all the protocol now?"

"By all means. I don't care much for it."

"That makes two of us. It gets tedious when it's all you do day-in and day-out."

"I'm sure. There's couches upstairs if you want to sit? I can have the skeletons bring you some tea and snacks as well." I wasn't sure why she was here, but I was willing to bet it would take more than a minute.

"That sounds good." As Serafall followed me up the stairs, she stole several glances over her shoulder at the skeletons wandering around the first floor dusting shelves and sweeping the floor. "What are those things? They're pretty impressive as far as simple servants go. They'd kinda suck as shock-troops in the supernatural, but they could probably deal with normal humans just fine."

"Another creation of my Queen. Forgive me, but that is all I am at liberty to say."

"Fair enough."

I led Serafall into our break room with opposing couches separated by a coffee table. We sat opposite each other. Skeletons came in with trays filled with tea and cookies.

"How is Issei acclimating to your sister's peerage?"

Serafall let out a long sigh, fixing me with a pointed frown. "You could have warned me, you know?"

"Are things not going well?"

Serafall shook her head. "No. Sona has him well in hand, and he knows not to step out of line with her. When he is able to focus for a full five minutes he can actually get a lot of work done. It's getting him to focus, that's the issue."

"I'm sure." I took the tea and plate of cookies offered by the skeletons and set them on the table in front of me. "So what brings you here?"

"I brought you a present! And…I'm here to ask a favor."

"Is the present contingent on the completion of the favor?"

"Wouldn't be much of a present if it was."

"Well since you're going to ask for a favor, I have one to ask as well."

Serafall leaned back in her seat, a cookie in hand. "What do you need?"

"My Queen has expressed a desire to start building her own peerage. I know the last High Class Test was fairly recent considering I participated in it, but I was wondering if there was any way she could get a set of peerage pieces?"

Serafall pursed her lips. "I don't know as much as I would like about your Queen. Would she be able to pass the test? I know she's a strong negotiator, but there's a difference between talking and fighting."

"She would have destroyed every graduate of the last test. I'm the only one who could maybe give her a fight, and even that is dependent on circumstances." I'd watched the recordings from the other graduates out of boredom. None of them were all that impressive. Medea would annihilate them. Between Medea and I, I wasn't sure who would win if we fought. I had plenty of tricks to outmaneuver her, but I was willing to bet she had more to use against me. She probably couldn't pin me down when I could just use Hole to flee, so a fight might end in a stalemate. It would be interesting if nothing else.

"I had assumed as much after meeting her, but I didn't know for sure. I'll talk to Ajuka and see what we can do. He'll likely be more willing to help if the rest of this talk goes well, but before all that. I need to give you your present before I forget. Catch." She pulled something out of her coat and tossed it to me.

I caught the object, turning it over in my hands to inspect it; a small bronze key.

"Congratulations!" Serafall said. "You are now the proud owner of a rather sizable building a few streets down from here."

I carefully controlled my reaction as I looked up to meet Serafall's eyes. "You bought me a building in downtown Lucifaad?"

"I've been keeping tabs on you. I know this place isn't big enough and that it was only a matter of time before you upgraded. I thought I'd help you out a bit."

"Where exactly is this building?"

"A couple streets over from where I work."

Ah. There was the detail I was missing. The largest reason we practically gave Boosted Gear to Serafall for free was to buy us her protection. Whether she liked us or not, she'd realize we were not people she wanted as enemies. We knew that would only multiply when we started selling things in earnest. Serafall was bringing us physically closer to her. That was likely as much to show everyone that we were on her side as it was to offer us protection. Rejecting this 'present' would needlessly alienate Serafall, and we did need to find a bigger space.

"I appreciate it, but we can't just drop everything and move. I need to talk to Magdaran and Caster first."

Serafall shrugged, not seeming to care. "It's your building. Move when you want. Once you're ready to set up, I'll bring all of the paperwork over. Just let me know."

"Should I schedule another meeting?"

"I'll give you my phone number. You can contact me that way."

Satan just offered to give me her phone number. One of the busiest, most powerful, most influential people in the Underworld just offered to give me a direct line of communication. Neat. I'd need to get a phone now.

"What's the number?"

Serafall looked at me strangely when I pulled out a pen and paper. "Do you not have a phone?"

I held up a hand, creating a Hole over it. A second Hole opened above my head. "I've never needed one." I said into the Hole, the sound traveling to the one above me.

Serafall pursed her lips as she watched the display. "That's an interesting trick. I didn't know Hole could do that."

"Most people only see what Bedeze uses them for in his Rating Games. You didn't hear this from me, but he's kind of an idiot. There's more applications than, 'Fill Hole with power. Make Hole go boom'."

Serafall snorted, an amused smile on her face. I hadn't expected to evoke such a reaction from her.

"That certainly does sound like him." Serafall said. She rattled off her phone number quickly while I noted it down.

"Alright. I will send you a text once I have a phone." I said, tucking her number away in my coat pocket. "Now, I believe you said something about asking for a favor?"

Serafall took a sip of tea. "You've been selling a lot of items with mithril. I've seen some of the knives that have come out of your shop."

"We won't be moving into larger weapons for a while. Even then, there won't be anything that could cause major problems."

Serafall raised an eyebrow. "It's already causing problems, but that wasn't what I was asking for."

"What kinds of problems?"

"Everyone can see you're holding back. They know you can make things that are a lot better than what you're selling. It's making a lot of people very uncomfortable. A craftsman of that caliber is rare, let alone one who can produce items at the speed you're moving. The only one I can think of who might be comparable is Nimue, but she hasn't been seen since Excalibur was fractured."

"The Lady of the Lake?"

"The same."

"Am I in danger?" I asked her point blank. I knew we'd be causing waves, but maybe I'd underestimated just how scarce capable craftsmen were in DXD.

"No." Serafall said seriously. "People were poking around for sure, but I've made it clear you're off limits. If anyone approaches you that you feel is threatening you or trying to coerce you into doing anything, call me. I'll deal with it."

Did Satan herself just offer to scare away anyone trying to fuck with me? "…Thank you. That's a lot of protection you're offering me."

A small smile pulled at her lips. "You did give my sister a really nice gift, even if he's a bit of a fixer upper. But that's not all. We, devilkind, needed an advantage like this. Ajuka is good, but he gets too lost in conceptual projects and things too big to help most devils. Whatever it is you're doing has the potential to lift us all up."

"Since that's the case, I assume you don't want me to sell to other factions?" We'd been preparing to do so, but losing Serafall's protection wasn't worth it.

"Oh, no. It's better if you do. They won't be able to claim we're arming ourselves if you're impartial with your clientele. Just don't give anyone clearly wanting to stir up trouble a big stick."

"Easy enough."

"Good. Now to the actual favor I wanted. Would you be willing to sell raw materials to us? 'Us' being the Satans. Ajuka is practically salivating at the thought of getting his hands on a large supply of mithril."

I hadn't expected that, but I suppose I should have. From an outside perspective, I had access to a large quantity of a very rare material that would likely dry up soon. They wanted to stockpile as much as they could before my resource ran out. They didn't know I could just go find another one.

"I haven't been selling materials mainly because I didn't want anyone to use them against me, but I'd be willing to sell it to you. How much of what does he want?"

"Well, he told me…" Serafall trailed off, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean, 'of what'?"

I grinned, waving my hand to open several Holes over the coffee table. Lumps of unrefined ores of various colors clattered onto the table. I banished the Holes once the samples were present.

Frowning, Serafall reached out, picking up a dull silver metal and turning it over in her hands. "I'm not a blacksmith. What are these?"

"Mithril, orichalcum, diamond, platinum, and what you're holding is adamantium." I pointed to each metal as I named it.

Serafall sighed, dropping the metal back onto the table and rubbing her forehead. "Are you hiding anything else with the potential to give me a headache?"

"Probably."

"Figured. Keep the platinum and the diamond. How much for the rest of them?"

"Take them as a sample. Let me know what Lord Beelzebub wants more of and I'll get him more of it. We've been focusing our resources on mithril for now, so if he wants something else I need to know so I can divert some manpower into retrieving it. We'll work out pricing once he knows what he wants."

"Thanks, Balthazar," She picked up the small chunks of orichalcum, mithril and adamantium, disappearing them into her coat. "Get a phone soon. I'll call you once you give me your number."

She stood, and I followed her to my feet.

She nodded. "We'll talk soon." A magic circle started to spread out from her feet before shattering. Her eyes were wide in surprise.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She slowly shook her head, lips pursed as she looked down at the magic seeping back into the floor from where it rose to shatter her circle, a reactive defense to foreign teleportation. "No. Would you mind walking me out?"

"Of course." I led her out of the room and down the hall. Her gaze dragged on the skeletons and various parts of the wall as we walked, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"It was good to see you again, Lady Leviathan." I said, bowing shallowly when we reached the door.

"Call me Serafall. And you don't have to bow." she said distractedly. "Balthazar, is your Queen Greek?"

I carefully controlled my expression. "Caster enjoys her privacy. I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to say."

Serafall nodded. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you soon." She left the shop, teleporting away moments after she reached the street.

I frowned, staring out the window at the space she just disappeared from. A Hole opened next to my mouth. "Caster, are you busy?"

"Nothing I can't put aside." the voice of my Queen replied immediately. "Do you need my help? Are Latia and Magdaran there?"

"No. The meeting hasn't started yet. Serafall Leviathan dropped by. She gave us a new headquarters and wanted some raw metal for Ajuka Beelzebub."

"You would have waited to tell me that. What else happened?"

"She tried to teleport out of the office. When your protections stopped her, she asked me if you were Greek."

There was a beat of silence before Medea responded. "We couldn't keep my identity hidden forever, master. I'll admit, I would have enjoyed a longer stay in anonymity, but there's nothing to be done now. If the Leviathan has determined who I am, I believe she will keep it to herself, but it is inevitable the secret will spill."

"I know. Just take care of yourself. She told me that even the minor items you've put out make you comparable to the Nimue of this world. People learning who you are is only going to make it that much worse."

"Thank you for the warning, master. I'll make some preparations, but this won't change things too much. As I said, it was inevitable the world would know of me. I've been preparing since I arrived."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll let you know how the meeting with Magdaran and Latia goes."

"Until then, master."

I closed the Hole.

I'd warned Medea. That was all I could do. She was right. It was only a matter of time before people figured out who she was, and I'd rather Serafall, an ally, be the first to put it together than a potential enemy.

I headed back upstairs. I still had a meeting with Latia and Magdaran to prepare for.

X

Medea had a small frown on her face as the Hole closed in front of her. She hadn't expected to be revealed to the world so soon, but she would not hide herself away. Like she'd told Balthazar, it was inevitable that her identity would become common knowledge. She was not looking forward to dealing with a pantheon filled with living Greek gods, but she would adapt.

"How much longer?"

Medea narrowed her eyes at the man sitting cross-legged across from her. Sweat was pouring down his face, gliding past the glowing rune emblazoned on his forehead.

Medea shook her head disapprovingly. "When Balthazar was a child, he endured four times the strain you are currently under every day. You are weak, so I am allowing you to progress slower, but you will not improve if you whine at every opportunity."

"I fail to see…how this will…help me." Shang Tsung said in between breaths. The rune on his forehead was sapping away his demonic power, storing it in several gems orbiting his body in the air.

"The more exhausted you are, the more rapidly you will grow in strength. Now, continue."

The man growled, but complied. His arms rose at his side. Orange energy gathered in his palms. Orbs of fire slowly levitated above his hands. The man had a talent for elemental magic, but Medea wanted more from him. Balthazar had told her of this man's potential. She would bring it out of him kicking and screaming if she had to.

"Focus, apprentice." Medea said, taking the offered brick from a Dragon Tooth Warrior and beginning to scribe enchantments into it. She really was enjoying building her castle. Yes, her master commissioned it and it was on his lands, but who was actually building it? Whose skeletal constructs served as its builders and would serve as its future servant staff? Who was editing the plans drawn up by those contractors to hide away several fun secrets and make it more grand and comfortable?

It was her castle. But Balthazar could think it was his. Medea didn't mind. They'd both be living in it after all.

The orbs of fire above Shang Tsung's hands flickered.

"Focus." Medea chided. She handed off the finished brick to a waiting skeleton, taking the next one and continuing her work.

"I…can't–"

"If you lose focus again, I will intensify the rune's effect twofold." Medea said coldly, carefully etching runes into the brick in her hand.

"AaaaAAAAAHHHH!" Shang Tsung's growl turned to a roar of exertion. The fire above his hands flickered a sickly green.

Medea's hands paused, the brick in her hands forgotten as she focused on the energy saturating the air around Shang Tsung. "That is enough."

Shang Tsung's body went slack. The fire winked out and the glowing rune on his forehead faded to nothing as Medea dispelled it. He sat there, breathing deeply.

Medea watched him intently. "Did you feel that?"

"Did I feel what?"

Medea snatched his hand, holding it up. "Call the fire back."

"You said–" he gritted his teeth as Medea's hand crushed down on his own.

"Call the fire back." Medea repeated.

Shang Tsung huffed. He curled his fingers. Medea felt a flicker of the same energy from before.

Shang Tsung flinched, startled as Medea clasped her hand over his, feeding the ravenous energy emitting from Shang Tsung, threatening to wink out. His eyes widened in awe as she removed her hand. An orb of pale green energy floated above his palm, spilling sickly green mist into the air.

"What is this?" Shang Tsung asked. He could feel the power he held, but he didn't know how to direct it. He didn't even know how it had come to be.

"This is why my master reincarnated you." Medea said. "He knew your potential. He knew you could achieve great heights with this magic."

"Yes, and I will never betray him or you will destroy me. I am aware of the arrangement, master." Shang Tsung said, rolling his eyes.

Medea pursed her lips as she looked at the man. "I have told you much of this world, apprentice. I have yet to tell you everything. Do you know how one makes a peerage?"

"They use their chess pieces to reincarnate others." Shang Tsung said distractedly, fascinated by the green energy he held. He didn't dare look away. If this was why Baron Abaddon had reincarnated him, then there must be something unique or special about it.

"Yes, but how does one acquire those pieces?"

"I had assumed the nobility used them to reincarnate their servants."

"They do, but nobles are not the only ones who may use them. I plan to acquire my own set soon."

Now Shang Tsung's eyes snapped up to meet hers. She had his attention.

"A devil of sufficient strength may pass an examination and be granted the ability to make their own peerage." Medea continued. "I will still be Balthazar's Queen, but I may simultaneously be King of my own peerage. Tell me, apprentice, do you know how a devil's prestige is determined?"

"I do not."

"There are many contributing factors, but the most important to my eyes are three. First, the devil's strength. No matter who you are, if you are stronger than all others your will is law. Second, lineage. You do not have a great devil ancestor, so this will not help you. Finally, one's allies, most commonly their peerage. When it is revealed that Balthazar has not only Medea of Colchis but the Colchian Dragon in his peerage, he will immediately be regarded with respect and caution. People will then look at Aqua and wonder what secrets she hides. People will look at you and wonder how you could compare to an ancient dragon and the woman who battled it."

Shang Tsung looked back at the energy gathered above his hand. "They will expect me to be strong."

"Yes. If you prove them right, you will have prestige all your own. Being the Pawn of the Underworld's rising star will elevate you even as it elevates Balthazar."

"So my fate is tied to his by more than the Pawn he used to reincarnate me." He was silent for a moment. "You are insinuating that it is in my best interest that he succeeds. If for no other reason than my own success. Would you not be worried that I was driven by such selfish motivations?"

"I don't care about your reasons, only the actions resulting from them. But they would not be selfish motivations. Balthazar gave you what you always wanted. He will never act against you unless you turn on him first. He has the potential to be your greatest ally, and I do not believe you are stupid enough to squander that opportunity. Now, summon more of that power and begin trying to manipulate it."

Medea picked up her brick, once more scribing runes into it. She kept an eye on Shang Tsung, ensuring he didn't hurt himself while he began experimenting with the green magic. Balthazar was right. Medea could feel the power behind Shang Tsung's magic, untrained and meek though it currently was. Once she was done with him, Shang Tsung would be a terror to be reckoned with.

X

Magdaran arrived twenty minutes prior to the meeting. We sat in the break room eating cookies while I told him about Serafall's gift of a new building and asked his thoughts.

"I won't complain about a larger space, but we don't have enough things to fill it."

I nodded. "Manual labor isn't really an issue with the skeletons, but we don't have enough items to use it as a storefront. It would probably be better as a headquarters, but we will need to hire more people in the future because the skeletons can't think for themselves. That building will have more space for devil workers, so it can be where we operate out of."

Magdaran shrugged. "Works for me."

A skeleton walked into the room. "Hissssss."

"Thank you," I said to the mindless construct. "Latia's here." I told Magdaran.

He stood up. "Let's go meet her."

We walked downstairs. The skeletons were in the process of taking Latia's coat when we entered the room. She seemed both perturbed and intrigued by the shambling skeletons.

"Latia," Magdaran greeted. "It's good to see you again."

Latia turned and curtsied. "Heir Bael, thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"Please, just call me Magdaran."

Latia turned to me. "Lord Abaddon," she greeted.

"Call me Balthazar."

Magdaran shook her hand. "I've been looking forward to meeting with you. Come on upstairs. We've set the conference room up with refreshments."

We led Latia up to a conference room with an oval table and several chairs around it. Magdaran and I sat next to each other on one side while the skeletons helped Latia into her seat across from us, offering tea and snacks.

"You have unique servants." Latia commented as a skeleton handed her a cup of tea. "I can't say that I have ever seen anything like them. Is this some form of necromancy?"

"Not exactly." I said. "They're magical constructs made to look like skeletons. No graves were robbed in their creation, but there are some similarities to some forms of necromancy."

"Thank you for indulging my curiosity."

"You're welcome."

"Far be it from me to break up the small talk, but we are here for a reason." Magdaran said. "Bal told me you had a business proposal for us?"

Latia nodded. "I do. It shouldn't surprise you that the two of you have attracted a large amount of attention recently. Everyone is trying to figure out how this company you've built sprang from nothing to suddenly being the titan it is."

Magdaran frowned. "Yes. Many people have tried to take advantage of us too."

Latia shook her head quickly. "That isn't my intent. I'm not here to try to muscle my way into your business. I would like to work for the two of you, but I don't come empty-handed."

"What exactly is your goal?" I asked. "You want to work for us, but in what capacity?" If she was trying to join us as a partner, I'd be tempted to tell her to leave immediately. That's what most of the lords who'd reached out to us for 'collaboration' had done. They'd seen we were successful and wanted their name attached to us for no work on their end.

"I wasn't sure exactly what positions you needed to be filled, but I thought I could start as a secretary of sorts. I'm good with numbers, and I have several connections despite my age. I'm only a branch member of the Astaroth Pillar. I realized when I was younger that I would need to make friends if I wanted to make something of myself because I wouldn't be inheriting the house."

"Is that what you're offering us?" Magdaran asked, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Your expertise and contacts?"

"In part," Latia said. "But that isn't all. I've seen that you are selling herbs and medicines Magdaran. I remember you telling me once that you enjoyed botany. I'd assume you're growing everything yourself?"

"I am." he said.

Latia smiled. She withdrew something from an unseen pocket in her dress, showing it to us. It was a small coin I didn't recognize. She flipped the coin into the air and dramatically snapped her fingers.

The rapidly spinning coin slowed to a crawl, barely making any progress further into the air, flipping end over end so slow as if it was hovering.

"I am not sure whether Magdaran told you or not, Balthazar, but I am able to use the Agares Pillar's power of Time. My mother originally was a member of the Agares Pillar before marrying into the Astaroth Pillar. As a result…" She snapped her fingers again. The coin positively flew through the air, moving many times faster than should've been possible. The flipping sides moved so fast as to appear to be a solid sphere to the eye. Latia caught the coin out of the air, smiling proudly. "I can locally speed or slow down time. I can use this to help you grow your plants faster, Magdaran. I can speed up the time around them to as much as one hour for every minute."

"That's definitely appealing." I heard Magdaran mutter under his breath. By the way Latia smiled, she likely heard him as well.

"An hour for a minute? Impressive." I said, reevaluating the woman across from me. I wasn't sure if it was common for someone who could use Time or if Latia was exceptionally good with it. I hadn't expected Latia to be able to use Time or for her to so casually demonstrate it during this meeting or I would have done some research beforehand. That coin trick of hers was certainly dramatic. All I really knew about Time was that it was an Agares Pillar power.

I knew nothing about the lower or upper limits of Time, but a minute for an hour was absurd time slippage. Every second could be made into a minute and vice versa. There had to be other limiting factors to the ability that prevented it from being used in certain situations because that was just insane. Then again, the Agares Pillar was the Archduke Pillar, second in power only to the Baels themselves with their ability to destroy concepts. If someone capable of using Time, who appeared to be roughly my age, could do this much… There was a reason the Agares Pillar was ranked so highly.

"Thank you." Latia said, pleased. "I've worked hard to be able to accomplish this. Of course, the larger the area I have to cover and the longer I have to maintain the effect, the sooner I will tire, so I would recommend creating a small area with projects you would want me to focus on more than others."

"Would a small greenhouse work? Something a little bigger than the size of this room?" Magdaran asked, sounding very excited about the idea.

Latia pursed her lips, looking around to gauge the space. "I could make that work. I'd likely only be able to hold the effect for twenty seconds or so before losing my hold on it. I'd need to rest before starting again to keep from overexerting myself."

"Nearly a day's worth of growth in half an hour? I'll take it." Magdaran said. If my guess was right, Magdaran already wanted to leave this meeting with a new, time-controlling secretary. There were some points I still wanted to cover though.

"Latia," I began. "If you came to work for us, would you be representing yourself, or would you be representing the Astaroth family?" It was a very important distinction. If she was a free agent, then I'd be more willing to work with her. If she were working on behalf of her family, letting her into our business would let them into our business. I'd stonewall her to keep the Astaroths out. I'd find a way to make it up to Magdaran if necessary, but I didn't want Dioroda's hands anywhere near my holdings.

Latia's confidence faltered a moment. "I am…working on my own. I broached the topic of cooperation to my family, but they didn't see the same potential that I did. However, I would be willing to continue negotiating with them on your behalf."

She thought I'd turn her away because she had no Pillar backing? Actually, that was an entirely logical fear. A Pillar's support was worth far more than a single member of said Pillar. From the outside looking in, people probably thought I would prefer the Pillar's strength to Latia personally. She wouldn't have known that I was asking specifically because I wanted to keep the rest of her family out.

"That's no major issue. I just wanted it to be clear." I said.

Latia seemed to relax a bit, perking back up. "I may not be able to offer the Astaroth's support, but I might still be able to offer the support of one member of my family. My uncle and I were talking recently. He confided in me that he wanted to approach you to see about procuring materials."

Magdaran seemed intrigued. "Lord Beelzebub?"

I blinked, looking between Magdaran and Latia.

You know, I knew there was a reason I let Medea handle all of this negotiating stuff. I fucking sucked at it. Why didn't I think to research this woman before sitting at the table across from her? I should've known about Time before coming into this meeting. And I definitely should have known that her uncle was Ajuka fucking Beelzebub. It made sense in hindsight. Ajuka was an Astaroth before renouncing his name when he became a devil. Latia was an Astaroth. I hadn't expected much to come from this meeting. I'd made it mostly because Magdaran had seemed to want to so I hadn't done any due diligence.

Lesson learned. I was never going to let myself be needlessly blindsided like this again.

"Yes," Latia said. "I can potentially negotiate a deal with him on your behalf. Having a Satan on your side would be a great boon." She was grinning triumphantly. Her smile faded slightly when she saw I wasn't awed by her offer.

This hadn't been her trump card had it? That was awkward.

"Um… We already set up a similar deal." I said.

Latia blinked. "What?"

"Serafall Leviathan stopped by about thirty minutes before you got here. She gave us a new building to use for our headquarters as a token of goodwill and left with some samples to give to your uncle. They're going to figure out what all they want then get back to me so we can figure out payment."

Latia blinked again. "The Leviathan was here? She gave you the same offer?"

"Yes."

"Thirty minutes ago?"

"Yes."

"She gave you a building?"

"She did."

Latia deflated, her shoulders slumping down. "Well there goes my dramatic proposal. I don't have any buildings lying around to top her bribe."

"If it helps," Magdaran said. "I'm still very interested in hiring you. Time could really help me cut down on how long it takes to figure things out." His eyes flicked to me. "It would also really help to have someone else to deal with clerical work. Bal doesn't really care for it."

Latia perked back up slightly, looking at me hopefully.

I pursed my lips as I considered the woman across from me. "Would you mind if I ask why you want to work for us? You've told us what you can offer, but I want to know your reasons for approaching us." I didn't want to let her in if she just wanted to use us to elevate her own status.

Latia thought for a moment before speaking. "I already told you that I won't inherit the family. I have no issues with that, but it puts me in a position that leaves my future somewhat uncertain. I could live off of my family's wealth and live comfortably, but I don't want that. I want to build something, to do something that has an impact. The two of you have barely started and you've already done that. I want to help you. I want to be a part of whatever this is going to turn into. It'll make for a much more interesting life than to be used as a political pawn hosting tea parties and gossiping all day."

"Well I'm convinced." Magdaran said. He looked at me. "You said yourself that we'd need to hire more people soon because the skeletons can't think." He motioned to Latia. "She might be the best candidate we get, and she approached us on her own initiative. I say we should take her on."

Latia looked like she was trying to control her reaction. Her eyes were intently fixed on me.

I chuckled, looking at Magdaran. "You just want Time for your plants."

"You don't understand how useful that'll be!" he said as if he'd been waiting for me to comment on it. "A lot of smaller stuff can show legitimate progress in a short time. I could do so much more with her help."

I looked back at Latia. "Most of your job will likely be helping Magdaran and writing polite refusals to powerful nobles. We're getting too many requests and we don't have the time to fill them all. You'll probably make a lot of people angry."

"I am willing to write whatever letters you want me to." Latia responded.

I shrugged. "Alright. Let's give it a shot. We'll meet back in a month to see how things are going and determine if we want to make any changes."

Latia visibly relaxed, a happy smile on her face. "You won't regret this. When should I start?"

"Well, we've got a new building to set up. Let's grab some skeletons and go scout out our new headquarters. We can work out a salary, benefits and all that while we're exploring. We don't exactly have a new hire contract lying around, but we can figure something out."

"That is agreeable."

The three of us stood, leaving the shop together. We walked down the street towards where Serafall had told me the new building would be. It took us a bit to find it because none of us had been there before. The streets weren't packed, but there was a fair number of other people out and about. The three of us drew several pairs of eyes as we wandered around together. I guess it wasn't every day that you saw three young nobles wandering lost in Lucifaad.

We eventually found the building and I let us in. It was tall, four stories with a sub-level. There were too many offices for me to know what to do with at present, but if we were going to keep expanding we would need a location like this.

I opened a Hole to bring some skeletons in to start cleaning things up while we looked around. Magdaran, Latia and I went over the details of how we'd work together. Latia would have a month-long trial period to see if she was a good fit where she would help Magdaran with the clerical side of the business. After that time if we wanted to keep her around, she'd mostly take it over from Magdaran who would devote more of his time to his plants.

I was happy with the arrangement. It wasn't like we were turning over the keys to all of our secrets, and we would need to start hiring other devils eventually. This was a trial run to see how it worked out.

We'll see how it goes.