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Chapter 403: Minor Schemes in the Face of a Grand Player
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About half an hour after Neji had left the school, Rias was sitting back in the club with a panicked look on her face. Had this ruined her friendship with Sona? She would hate it if it did, she felt too guilty.
Yet, five minutes later all that guilt was gone. It hadn't vanished, but a larger panic had shadowed that feeling when Riser Phenex visited the club with his disgusting peerage, and announced that the Rating Game would happen in just three more days. What the fuck was going on all of a sudden?
In the end, Rias only saw one hope. That hope had disappointed her before, but now that she had a clearer wish in mind – she thought maybe it would work, maybe her brother would intervene a little.
Rias teleported right into her brother's abode. Her eyes were teary, her nose runny, as she ran through the hallways and pushed into his office.
"Onii-sama!"
She deliberately yelled in Japanese, she knew he liked it. It nearly startled the man busy on his desk, singing some papers. He frowned at first, probably about to ask her why she was here when he was working – an act, she knew, as he was happy to see her. However, his frown melted like snow on a sunny day when he caught the state her face was in. He stood up in his chair.
"Rias?! What happened?!"
"Onii-sama! Waa-!"
Her teary eyes finally burst into a fountain, and for once it wasn't fake when she cried to her brother. She jumped at his arms, pushing her chest against him, and cried harder.
No, this wasn't just about the Rating Game. She knew she would lose as things were right now, but that wasn't all that it was about. If that man was by her side, that Dragon, then she was sure winning the Rating Game would be the least of her worries. When he had released his aura earlier… she had seen it, she had felt it, he was special.
Power, charisma, looks, she liked everything about him. At this point, she just wanted to be lost in his dreamy eyes… So sadly, even if this might make Sona hate her, she had no other choice but to beg her big brother to gift her this dragon's attention.
* * *
"That sounds stupid."
["Grayfia."]
"Haah."
The hallway right outside Satan Leviathan's office trembled with the long sigh of a tired maid. Grinding her teeth, she nearly addressed her husband on the other side of the phone in a way that may actually enrage him. Of course, she knew better than that, centuries of serving him had taught her how to control her emotions.
Sadly, things were getting more annoying to bear than the centuries behind her. His selfless antics were bearable in the past, but recently that had changed; his obsession with his younger sister made Grayfia tick off slightly. However, she knew better than to bring it up, even if she found it particularly annoying.
Grayfia Lucifuge was a war criminal, whom the Super-Devil Sirzechs somehow fell for. Now she was his wife and maid, and Grayfia had always viewed herself as his maid first, and wife later – if at all. So she would have never minded if he got himself a harem, very common for devils, or took his own sister as his bride. They were devils, incest wasn't really a taboo for them, and Grayfia wouldn't have minded if Sirzechs openly wanted that spoiled Rias on his bed.
Until he, for some reason, decided to bear a child with herself. Millicas was a byproduct of their love, and his birth was what made Grayfia actually believe in the "wife" role she had been given. Of course, if Sirzechs suddenly wanted a harem now, Grayfia wouldn't protest, but she would mind a little. More than before, anyway. If he wanted his sister, she would still not protest, but mind more than usual – since she didn't want her son to think incest was that common, even if he was a devil. Sure, it wasn't taboo, but Grayfia didn't like it.
The point was, Sirzechs could take whomever he wanted, and the most Grayfia would do was be a little grumpy, but never oppose his decision. She wouldn't hate any of that. However, what she did come to hate was this situation – where the century-old man acted like a teen, not accepting his feelings for his sister as he was worried about being judged, and just secretly desired her. Well, the term 'secretly' was subjective, because Grayfia was sure everyone in the family and a couple of others had noticed it, even if Sirzechs himself may be unaware.
For such a strong devil having lived for so long, it was a thing to wonder how he was so stupid, and infuriating.
That's what brought them to this situation, as Grayfia was talking to him over the phone. She was irritated, as Rias had apparently come to him last night, and bawled out her eyes, and like the push-over he was, he had just given in and agreed to her request.
Seriously, why couldn't that girl just accept being married off? It wasn't that bad. Grayfia loved Rias, she was cute and all, but sometimes that girl was so infuriating. Even after getting her hands on the current Red Dragon Emperor, she now wanted another dragon toy.
["Listen, he isn't affiliated with any faction, this is a big deal. Not only will his joining Rias help her with the marriage, but it will also increase the Devil faction's power. Grayfia, it's not just for Rias, it's for our entire kind."]
Well, that was a fucking lie if she had heard one. No, she agreed with his points, but what she didn't agree with was his caring about the entire faction over his sister. She was pretty sure on marriage day if things really went so far, Sirzechs would intervene no matter what. He was just very hesitant to do it right now, and wouldn't mind choosing the wildest of alternatives if he could not get involved personally.
'As if sending your wife to seduce a man isn't personal enough.' Grayfia thought in spite.
In reality, he wasn't really sending her to seduce that man, the same man who had appeared in Serafall's room earlier coincidentally, but it was close enough for her to think so. When he told her the story of the Dragon Sage, and Grayfia told him that man happened to be with Serafall right now, Sirzechs had pleaded to go and sway him for Rias.
Specifically, he had said, "He is supposed to be a hermit, so he shouldn't have received the touch of pleasure before. Take him to a bar or something, make him drunk somehow, and maybe… do some subtle touches to change his mind about the joining ordeal."
Yeah right, who was she kidding – that was a seduction mission. Grayfia could see his logic, but it was one crazy logic that involved whoring out your own wife. Sure, he said subtle this and subtle that, but she didn't care about that at this point. Right, she was on her duty right now, and that was an order – she was going to fulfill it anyway, even if her other side, who was supposed to be his wife, didn't really enjoy the idea.
With a mental groan, she calmed her voice. "Alright, mission received. I will try my best."
Then, she cut the call while he was thanking her. That fool of a man. What the fuck was wrong with him?
* * *
When Grayfia returned to Serafall's office room, she found Neji Hado – apparently that was his name – sitting across the female Satan. They were having a civilized conversation, sipping on tea and laughing to themselves.
Grayfia had come to Serafall as an envoy from Sirzechs; nothing important, just to collect some papers. It was all simple stuff. Yet, to think the situation would turn out like this. She wondered what the outcome would have been if she hadn't told her husband… no, her 'lord' that the Dragon Sage was in the same room as her. Would that have changed anything?
'No point in wondering that now.' Grayfia let herself in, earning the gazes of the two inside, as she stopped behind the empty seat beside Neji. 'I have a job, and I have to finish it.'
At least he wasn't ugly, that was a boon. He was hotter than Sirzechs for sure, actually. She wondered, just for a moment, what would happen if the 'seduction' grew into more than that, and Sirzechs happened to learn about it. It was just a wandering thought of course, because as much as she hated this situation she wasn't going to cheat on her son's father.
"Oh, and this is Grayfia. You know Rias, right? She is Rias' sister-in-law, titled as the Strongest Queen, and the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation. You should be respectful."
"Ah, but yes. If she is my student's guardian, basically, it's natural I will be respectful."
Neji looked at Grayfia, making her feel a bit odd at his gaze. His gaze was… no, she couldn't explain it. It was a mixture of many emotions. What?
In the end, he sighed, shaking his head.
"Nice to meet you, I am Neji Hado."
"..." Grayfia frowned, feeling irritated just talking to him. Not because she hated him, he was a respectful young man but irritated at herself for pulling an unaffiliated person into this Gremory mess hole. "Nice to meet you as well. I am what Serafall said, though it seems she intended to make fun of me with those titles."
Serafall giggled, waving it off. Seeing that Grayfia wasn't taking a seat, the Satan spoke. "Are you about to leave? Mhm, I guess we will be leaving too then. I am a bit busy, but my guest here requires some attention, he needs to file some missing people. I will be launching a personal squad, but he wants to put in a public request anyway. Luckily I finished the work with you already, Grayfia, we can call it a day."
"No."
Grayfia suddenly said, catching the Satan off guard as she blinked.
"Huh?"
"I mean you can stay back and complete your work. I shall guide our guest to the HQ of the Nighthawk Guild, I can file the missing reports with him. It will also be less attention-catching than if a Satan came."
Grayfia was glad such an opportunity to go out with him was present. It would have been much more awkward if she had to invite him for a bottle of vodka.
Serafall just stared at her, and then shot a pointing finger at her.
"Haah! I see what you're doing! You are trying to steal him for Rias-tan, is that it?! No can do. He already rejected both Rias-tan and Sona-tan, but if Sirzechs is trying to intervene, then I will have to as well." Serafall said, and Grayfia barely managed to keep her expression still.
Acting goofy for so long, Grayfia had nearly forgotten why Serafall was in this position. This girl was extremely smart, and had seen through Grayfia so easily. She couldn't have spied on her conversation earlier, she was using Silence Magic, so that meant her guess was right.
Serafall stood up, and to Grayfia's horror she locked her arm with Neji who too stood up. What had happened in the time when she was gone?
"However, as I like you so much, Grayfia, I won't push you away if you want to tag along. You can choose not to, but I won't complain if you come." She tugged Neji's arm. "Let's go! I will show you around this place, it should be pretty cool for an isolated man like you!"
As she pulled the dragon away, with him not protesting at all, Grayfia clutched onto her clothes and grounded her teeth. This would be harder than she had anticipated, as had Sirzechs too. Releasing a long breath, she quickly ran behind the two, unwilling to lose.
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