'What a bunch of two faced bastards.' Damian thought to himself, disgust welling up within him as he saw the greed that replaced the disdain in each of the crowd's eyes. Well, there was a single exception.
Riser Phenex stood alone, a subtle heat escaping his body as he clenched his fists and glared at Damian as though he had killed the chicken's firstborn son. Damian wasn't sure what he would rather see, murderous intent or horribly hidden greed.
"Three mutation pieces… how impressive." Ajuka muttered, his hand covering his mouth to hide the wide grin that the lustful scientist would obviously be sporting. While most devils wouldn't mind such a clear showing of his sin it would raise a bad image for the devils to the other factions. So, as much as he wanted to examine Damian right then and there he had to hide it.
"Thank you, Lord Beelzebub." Damian spoke respectfully, clearly understanding Ajuka's desire to see him after this even without a word being spoken. How could he not when the scientist's eyes were burning so brightly? There was practically an inferno of desire in his eyes.
"Today has been a wonderful day that showed the potential of the new generation however I believe it is time for the children to rest don't you think?" Sirzechs spoke up, his voice echoing throughout the silent hall even without demonic energy empowering it.
Ending it here wasn't part of the schedule, it was actually supposed to go for another hour or two, but it was obvious what would happen to Damian who had gotten three mutation pieces when subjected to the greed of the nobility.
While it wasn't possible to take an Evil Piece and use it for themselves that didn't mean that people wouldn't want it as a decoration, blackmail, or as a subject of experimentation. Of course, there were some that just wanted to hide under Damian's banner, a child society believed would quickly rise in prominence.
'I wonder how many of them would try it?' Damian thought to himself blandly as he waited for his parents to reach him at a respectable distance from Ajuka. The reason he injected more of his demonic energy wasn't to make it easier to examine the crystal, rather a denser energy would make it harder to examine it closely.
He had done it purely because the next generation would. It didn't have any negative effects but it would certainly tire them out and some may pass out. It was really only a bit of cruel fun intended to tease the idealistic parents and their naive children.
Glancing toward Sona he locked eyes with her, clear intention to meet him in her eyes. Whether she wanted to break their 'contract' or fulfill her side of the bargain despite the risk would soon be revealed. In the end, it was only a matter of when anyway.
Damian was confident that Ajuka knew he wasn't a normal child, rather it would be strange if he didn't know. While it was doubtful that he knew the exact truth since it was quite hard to believe it would be odd if Ajuka wasn't at least close.
"Congratulations Damian." Was all his father said however it was clear that he was extraordinarily proud, even his serenity disturbed by pure joy. Naturally, his mother was in a similar state. If they weren't in a public place then she would surely embrace him in an instant.
"Thank you." Damian thanked his parents sincerely, a soft smile on his face as he dismissed his evil pieces in a spatial storage, a lesser form of the teleportation magic he had learned in recent months.
However, their time together was exceedingly short. Mere moments after they were reunited after such a short time they were swarmed by a swarm of powerful pests. There was nothing they could do but separate, his parents acting as a distraction as he escaped. In a way, they were a martyr for his success.
'She sure found me fast.' Damian thought to himself calmly, absentmindedly following the trail of demonic energy spread just for him. It reminded him of that old fairy tale Hansel and Gretel in a way though it was obviously different.
Nobody in attendance really bothered to hide their demonic energy so Sona had merely locked onto his to track him as long as he was within her range. Her energy detection ability probably wasn't able to track him all throughout a building as large as the Gremory estate so she probably used water sources as intermediaries.
She left traces of her demonic energy in the water sources to control them from such a large distance in order to use them as a second pair of eyes. It was an impressive feat though since he could sense both her and her energy it was clear she had quite a bit to learn.
Stepping through the door that contained the famed Sitri heiress whose brain had defeated all her suitors Damian couldn't help but look on at her in amusement, eight blue pawn pieces on the table.
'She's trying to get the upper hand.' Damian noted in amusement. Sona wasn't one to clearly show her intentions like that, she would rather play coy to learn as much as she possibly could without having to actually agree. That way, if she learned what she wanted she could just break the deal.
Hence, her clearly showing her 'intentions' meant that she didn't truly mean it. Essentially, she was reversing her usual strategy in the hopes that he fell for it. At least, that's what most would assume. Damian had too much confidence in Sona to believe such a thing.
'She's doing it on purpose huh?' Damian noted, taking a seat across from her without bothering with etiquette since they had already forgone such a thing. He didn't know why she was doing what she was doing, he wasn't a mind reader after all, but he had an idea of how the conversation would go.
She would try to get the information from him, he would deny her, she would say it was expected, she would admit that she didn't want to follow through on the contract, she would tell him the location of Ingvild, and then they would go their separate ways.
Well, that's what he assumed would happen. With how strangely she was acting he had no real way of knowing what actions she would take. Perhaps that was what she was going for? She abandoned her usual controlled elegance in order to confuse him with her ambiguous actions and unclear ambitions.
But that was fine. It was small changes like these that made normally boring events such as things more fun. The added challenge would make him use his brain more, make him really strain himself to control the situation as he usually did. The challenge would make it fun.
And in this world, fun was a bit of a rare commodity.