Chapter 13: The Bael Clan's Banquet (3)
"Invitation, please."
At the butler's request, Alice handed over the two invitation cards she had received from the Bael Clan to him.
"Lady Alice, Lord Azrail, and Lady Latia..." After confirming that the Bael Clan's seal on the cards was legit, the butler placed his right hand on his chest and bowed respectfully. "Welcome to the Bael Clan's Banquet. May I have the honour of guiding you to the dining area?"
"Very well."
The butler guided us towards the main hall, where the banquet would happen.
From her reaction, it seemed like Latia was impressed by how luxurious the Bael Clan's Castle was, both internally and externally.
But it was understandable.
The Bael Clan still followed the traditional architectural patterns from thousands of years ago, contrary to the Astaroth Clan's modern interior design, so it was a new experience for Latia.
"The Bael Clan's Castle is something else..."
"Well, they must show off at least this much to maintain their image as the first-ranked Pillar Clan."
"You don't seem all that impressed, Azrail."
"From how things are, it feels like the Bael Clan's sense of self-worth is directly proportional to their wealth, so I'm not impressed, honestly..."
Not to mention, the fact that I had already visited this place with my mother once didn't help much.
"Hey, the butler can hear you…"
Latia tried to warn me, but the only thing she got in return was a casual shrug.
"There's a barrier around us that won't let any sounds escape… The butler won't hear anything even if we start singing a song."
"But I can't sense [Sound Barriers]…"
"It's not necessarily the usual sound barrier… A better way to put it would be that I'm simply controlling the vibrations around us."
Latia blinked at me, somewhat dumbfounded. "You can do that?"
"You don't know about [Sound Magic]?"
"I certainly don't…"
"It's another one of my self-created magic, similar to [Gravity Magic]… But with my current mastery, my control over sound is very little."
[Gravity Magic] and [Sound Magic] were party tricks I created when there was nothing better for me to do as a child.
While Great Sage was busy researching important spells and demonic power, I created them to pass some time.
My original goal was a spell called [Hypnotic Voice], but somehow, I ended up with [Sound Magic] coming into existence instead.
After I mastered [Sound Magic] and [Gravity Magic] to greater heights, I planned to recreate the heartbeat attack that Anos used to bully an opponent or replicate the abilities of C-Moon.
Although, that was still far into the future.
Creating magic types wasn't difficult with some basic knowledge, but improving them through research was time-consuming.
"Hold on… We didn't bring any gifts!"
"That's what you're worried about, Latia?"
"The congratulatory gifts have already been delivered to the Bael Clan by the Astaroth Clan's servants."
As we discussed the most random topics that came to our mind, we arrived at the main hall, only to find that the banquet had already started.
"Azrail, Latia!"
The first one to notice us was none other than Rias, who was about to run towards us, but before she could, she was promptly stopped by Grayfia, who stood behind her in a maid outfit.
"Hey, I've been waiting for you guys. What took you so long?"
"Well, something came up..."
After hearing those words, Rias turned towards Latia.
"Your dress is so pretty…!"
"Yours too… The colour goes so well with your red hair."
"My mother chose it for me!"
While Latia and Rias chatted, Grayfia and Alice also 'greeted' each other.
"Seriously, Grayfia… A maid outfit at a banquet? How far do you wish to take this fetish of yours?"
"I fail to see how that is any of your business, Alice, as I am only here to accompany Lady Rias."
Unlike how they always acted politely to everyone, Alice and Grayfia were at each other's throats whenever they met. Maybe it was a friendly rivalry of sorts?
The Strongest [Queen] vs. The Strongest [Knight].
"You know, it's boring to meet you when you're acting like this… I'll see you on your day off."
By the time Alice and Grayfia finished, Sona arrived and greeted us.
Surprisingly enough, Serafall wasn't the one accompanying her little chess nerd, but someone I was unfamiliar with.
"How long will it take for Lord Bael to make his speech and introduce the new heir?"
Thanks to [Sound Magic], only Alice could hear my question.
It was a convenient power to have.
"It'll take a while. Since this banquet is for the young ones to get to know each other, they will give everyone time to socialise… On that note, you should prepare yourself, Azrail."
"For what?"
Alice gave me a mischievous smile, and soon, it began.
"I am Eneely Vassago, the heiress of the House of Vassago. A pleasure to meet you..."
"I'm Iolava Amon, the second son of the House of Amon and Eneely's fiancee. A pleasure to meet you..."
"I am Kuisha Abaddon, the daughter of the Extra Demon clan, Abaddon. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"My name is Ravel Phenex, the daughter of the Phenex Clan… Lord Azrail, it's very nice to meet you. And this here is my brother, Riser Phenex..."
"I am Iryuka Glasya-Labolas, the daughter of Lord Glasya-Labolas. Nice to meet you."
"I am..."
"My name is..."
"Would you like to join us for..."
"I'd like to invite you..."
"If possible..."
.
.
.
"So damn tired."
"Good work out there…" Alice handed me a drink, something I appreciated a lot. "You managed to greet everyone politely with a smile..."
Of course, there was no alcohol in the drink.
It was weird how Devils have a legal drinking age, but well, it didn't matter much since I had never tasted alcohol, even in my last life.
"After today, I'll find your lessons much more entertaining..."
"That's a rude thing to say." Alice frowned slightly at that comment, and I smiled. "Rias and Sona were in a similar situation, you know..."
"Maybe that's what it means to be Satan's younger sibling? I am a bit jealous of Latia. Since everyone's attention was on me, she had it easy…"
Alice giggled.
"I am sure you'll get used to it."
"By the way, where is Latia?"
The two of us separated when we were being held by people we had no interest in dealing with.
"She's with Rias. I asked Grayfia to look after her."
After answering my question, Alice looked around the banquet hall as if looking for someone.
"What's up?"
"Nothing… I was wondering if the Vritra Clan's Heiress isn't here..."
Vritra?
That clan was named after the Dragon King Vritra, similar to the Phenex Clan, which took its name from the mythical bird Phoenix.
"Ah… You mean the Extra Demon Clan with the clan trait called [Soul Fire]?"
"Indeed."
'No matter what, Lucifer's abilities were remarkable… Not only did he replicate the Phoenix's regeneration as the Phenex Clan's [Immortality], but also the Dragon King Vritra's black flames in the form of [Soul Fire]…'
Soul Fire was one of the abilities that interested me a lot. After all, it was one of the, if not the most, versatile abilities within any Devil Clan Traits.
But even within the Vritra Clan, only a handful of individuals could inherit the ability.
One of the few devils who possessed the clan trait was Lady Vritra, the clan's matriarch.
It was a shame, honestly.
"But why are you looking for their Heiress?"
"Well, the rumours say that she's an extremely skilled swordsman, so I was interested in her… Not only that, but she publically stated that she'd surpass me in swordsmanship."
Surpass Alice in pure swordsmanship?
That was a nice dream to have.
"How old is she again?"
"She should be around two years older than you… If you managed to recruit her as your [Knight], it'd be a good deal."
"I don't care much about that, so..."
"Hmmm…" Alice raised an eyebrow, somewhat sceptical about something. "Could it be that you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"That the current Heiress has also inherited [Soul Fire]…"
That was interesting.
The idea of recruiting her as my [Knight] suddenly sounded more promising.
"But if she has inherited [Soul Fire], the Vritra Clan would never let her go, even if I managed to convince her..."
"That's the point." Alice leaned forward a bit. "Even though she inherited [Soul Fire], her Demonic Power reserves are average at best, so she can't maintain it for long…"
"So she isn't valued much by the Vritra Clan, who tend to rely heavily on their Demonic Power Reserves?"
My conclusion didn't seem far from the truth, and Alice nodded.
"However, if she trained properly, I'm sure she can become fairly strong..."
Hmm.
Her Demonic Power didn't matter. As long as she had the [Soul Fire], she'd be worth looking into.
"What was her name again?"
"Her name is—!"
"Lady Alice."
Before Alice could properly reply, a butler approached her from the side, and after talking to him for a few seconds, she turned back towards me.
"I need to go meet someone… Can you please wait here?"
"Can I tag along?"
I was already bored with this banquet.
Not to mention, after I tagged along with my mother to meet Misla, I saw something interesting, so maybe I'd see something good this time, too.
Alice pondered for a few seconds.
"Why not?" She then turned towards the butler. "It's alright, isn't it?"
"I'll leave that decision up to you, Lady Alice."
"Then, let's go."
The butler guided us out of the banquet hall, and soon, we reached the innermost sections of the Bael Castle.
On our way, we passed by the palace used by Lord Bael and his family, which surprised me a bit.
Was the person we were visiting of higher status than Lord Bael, the leader of the Great King Faction?
After a while, we arrived at a small palace guarded by only two Devils, who stood in front of the gate.
The butler took his leave before one of the guards guided us inside the palace, and after a few minutes, we stood inside a room much simpler than the rest of the Bael Clan.
The only thing that looked fancy inside the room was the portrait of a man, someone that most devils familiar with the Underworld's history would instantly recognise.
It was a portrait of the former King of Devils, the leader of the Original Four Great Satans, and the man some hailed as the greatest creation of God, Lucifer.
Three chairs were neatly placed under the portrait around a round table, with a black-haired man sitting on one of them.
The man smiled at Alice.
"It's been a while, Ms. Alice."
"Indeed it has, Lord Zekram."
Alice bowed slightly.
'Wait a minute… Zekram Bael?'
The Progenitor of the Bael Clan, the first Great King?
'To think I'd run into a final boss-type character when I was barely at level ten…'
Zekram's eyes slowly turned towards me, and for a moment, we made eye contact before I bowed respectfully.
"I am Azrail Astaroth, third in line for the succession of the Astaroth Clan. It's an honour to be in your presence, Lord Zekram."
With neither the status nor the strength to even be here, the best way was to use the most peaceful approach possible.
Zekram, for some reason, seemed oddly satisfied with my response and turned towards the seats in front of him.
"Why not have a seat?"
Alice and I complied, walking over and taking our seats.
"So, Lord Zekram, why did you invite me to this banquet?"
Alice was much more relaxed than expected, and she looked a lot more reliable than she was while observing Cleria and Mosaomi.
"I only wanted to see if you were staying true to your words or not..."
"Unlike those from the Great King Faction, who only pretend to have some self-worth, I tend to fulfil my promises and stay true to my words."
Alice was firm with her reply.
"As people age, they start worrying about things that one shouldn't worry about…" Rather than being frustrated over her openly insulting the Great King Faction, Zekram smiled instead. "If I hadn't put my name on the invitation, would you have accepted it?"
"No."
It was easy to tell that Alice didn't like Zekram, but he wasn't someone she could casually disrespect.
The two started discussing the friction between the Great King Faction and the Four Great Satans' supporters, and I quietly listened to their conversation, but it only took a few seconds for something to click in.
'Wait...'
Zekram invited Alice to this banquet, and she came as both a guest and our guardian.
However, from what I noticed, the adults at this banquet were accompanying the children, so they were people who were supposed to take care of them rather than actual guests invited by the Bael Clan.
While Alice and Zekram's conversation continued, several thoughts crossed my mind as the puzzle solved itself.
{Normally, a banquet for the younger generation would happen when most candidates are around the age of eight, so I was a bit sceptical as well. After all, they invited everyone to the banquet on such short notice, but it makes sense since the Bael Clan will also announce and introduce their new heir.} That was what Alice had said.
Indeed, the banquet was too sudden, and the participants weren't even old enough to go through things like this.
Except for a few naturally gifted, most children weren't even aware of what to do, only doing what their guardians asked them to.
But Zekram invited Alice, knowing she would've rejected the invitation if it weren't for his name or how she wouldn't have accompanied me and Latia as our guardian.
It was almost as if he wanted to ensure she was here so she wouldn't get in his way at some other place.
Some place where she could've intervened in Zekram's plans, and that she just happened to be there.
The Kuoh Town.
I remembered Cleria's weird expression at the mention of the Bael Clan, remembering the fact that this banquet had almost all of the Underworld's attention.
'So that's how it is…'
Zekram planned to eliminate Cleria.
'But even then, something doesn't add up…'
Killing a Pure-Blooded High-Class Devil over such an insignificant matter wasn't worth it, not when they could've forcefully summoned her back to the Underworld, and even I calculated that if it were to happen, it'd take at least a few years until the situation was beyond repair.
{They are not, but my brother won't oppose our relationship, I am sure... I planned to ask him for help if the situation calls for it and to also tell him about...} Those were Cleria's exact words.
Something she wanted to tell her brother, the Rating Game Emperor, Diehauser Belial, but couldn't since he was currently busy with the ongoing Rating Games.
Something that she didn't mention while talking to us.
Something that the Great King Bael didn't want Diehauser Belial to know.
'So the Great King Bael had no choice but to eliminate Cleria before something like that could happen, huh?'
Zekram couldn't wait any longer, but with Alice present at the Kuoh Town as an unpredictable variable that might foil his attack, he came up with this method to bring her back to the Underworld, holding a banquet under the pretext of announcing their new heir and asking her whether she was keeping her 'promise' or not.
Following that, he issued an invitation from the First Great King himself that Alice couldn't deny.
A plan so simple that I was sure even Alice could figure it out with all the pieces right in front of her.
But with Cleria already dead, there was no way to find out what she was trying to tell her brother, which was most likely why Zekram made such a painfully obvious move.
It was like Zekram saying, 'Even if you know about it, there's nothing you can do about it.' Even if Alice knew about it, it was but a baseless suspicion.
That was my conclusion, and my curiosity about what Cleria knew was growing to dangerous levels.
'It's almost time to test [A Corpse Never Lies]…'
This situation was perfect for the bits and pieces I knew about the plot of DxD.
To hide the factors about Cleria's death, they'd need to transfer the Kuoh Town under someone else's name, and who was a better candidate than Rias Gremory?
It wouldn't be suspicious since Kuoh Town was also the Gremory Clan's territory.
[Notice. Master should pursue the occupation of a detective rather than a doctor.]
Great Sage wasn't wrong.
"Is something the matter?"
Zekram turned towards me out of nowhere.
"No… I am just a bit nervous. Please don't mind me."
The First Great King looked at me for a few seconds, and his smile widened ever so slightly.
"What a sharp individual... I would expect nothing less from Sir Ajuka Astaroth's younger brother."
That praise sounded as genuine as it could be.
One thing to note was that he referred to Ajuka as a member of the Astaroth Clan rather than Satan Beelzebub, but that didn't surprise me much.
"There is no need to be so tense, Azrail. An informal meeting like this isn't of much importance."
Alice, thank you, but I like the normal you better.
"I was wondering if it's alright for us to be here, missing out on Lord Bael's speech and the announcement of the new heir."
By now, both of those main events for the banquet should've ended.
Although, I wasn't much concerned about that, and the question was nothing but empty words.
"We don't need to worry about that, right, Lord Zekram?"
Alice looked at Zekram with a knowing smile, and he nodded in return.
"Indeed."
Zekram and Alice continued to talk for about half an hour, but it felt like the former was waiting for something to happen.
And soon enough, something did happen.
When a guard approached Zekram mid-conversation, he said that there was something he must do, so the meeting would need to end there.
"Please give Sir Ajuka and Duke Astaroth my regards..."
Alice and I got up, and after saying our goodbyes, the guards guided us out of the palace.
"Damm, that old man puts me on the edge!" Alice exclaimed, walking back towards the banquet hall.
"Is he that strong?"
"Not really, he's weaker than me… But his influence in the Underworld is even greater than the Four Great Satans. After all, he has been looking after the Devils since the time of the Original Four Great Satans."
I still didn't get how Ajuka and Sirzechs weren't the leaders of the Underworld with the strength to wipe out our entire species if they felt like it.
No matter how much influence Zekram had, what could influence even do in front of unrivalled strength?
But then again, Ajuka might just be too lazy to go through the trouble, and he'd rather spend his time inside a lab. As for Sirzechs, I had no idea since we weren't that close. Maybe he was a pacifist?
Considering he was well known as the 'Incarnation of Destruction,' being a pacifist was rather funny.
"Azrail, Alice, where were you guys?"
"I thought you guys were lost!"
Latia and Rias ran towards us, followed by Grayfia.
"We were just getting some fresh air."
Alice waved it off.
After a while, we left the banquet, which ended without any problems, and we returned to the Astaroth Clan after bidding farewell to Rias and Sona, who said they'd come to play soon.
The moment we returned home, Latia ran off to change into her regular clothes, and as Alice was about to do the same, I stopped her.
"Hey, Alice… Can you take me to Kuoh for a while?"
"We just returned from Kuoh not too long ago."
So Alice hadn't yet figured out what happened at the banquet, huh? However, I was sure she'd figure it out after seeing Cleria's dead body.
"Please…?"
I looked at her with my ultimate weapon that always worked on my mother—a pleading face.
"Fine, but I need to change first. Although I'm used to wearing such things, it doesn't mean I like them."
"Then, can you send me there ahead of you?"
The only thing I wanted to do was use [A Corpse Never Lies] on Cleria's body if it hadn't been destroyed, so it wouldn't take long.
"Just to be safe, I'll teleport you inside Cleria's house, alright?"
That was even better.
"Okay."
And soon, a teleportation magic circle appeared under my feet.
The assassins must've left after finishing Cleria off, so her body should be alone right now.
At least, that was what I thought.
.
.
.
"Huh?"
Before I could register my surroundings after being teleported, someone held me by my neck, gripping their hand around my neck while pinning me against a wall.
'To think he already found out about her death…'
I looked at the man with grey eyes and hair, who stared at me with anger apparent in his eyes.
Other than anger, there were a lot of emotions, like regret, anguish, and grief, with the most prominent emotion being sadness.
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
The familiar stench of blood was enough to tell me that the things were exactly how I concluded them to be, which made me want to pat my back.
"Uh… Is it okay for someone of your status to hold a child hostage like this, Lord Belial?"
The man in front of me was none other than Diehauser Belial, the current head of the Belial Clan and the Ranked 1 participant in Rating Games.
The 'Emperor' Diehauser Belial.
'Great Sage, is there a barrier around us?'
[Answer. No barriers detected.]
'So the spell Alice placed on me must still be working…'
[Answer. Yes.]
The spell Alice placed on me was simple. If I were to get injured, even if it was just a scratch, she would instantly know about it.
Alice wasn't simply my babysitter, but she was my guardian, as well.
Just to be on the safe side, I placed my tongue between my teeth and bit it hard enough to extract some blood before things went south.
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