Chapter 15: The Overseer of Bucharest (2)
I was asleep.
However, I could feel a heavy sensation weighing down my body.
Were they my worries? Or the expectations placed on me? Could it be the test subjects that died at my hands?
No. I wasn't someone who held such useless worries.
How weird.
"Azrail! Wake Up! It's almost afternoon."
My eyes slowly opened, noticing that Latia was glaring at me with an unnatural frown on her childish face.
Forget it.
"Hey, don't go back to sleep!"
"Mmh… Don't you remember the rules for sleeping with me? Never wake me up."
"That was four years ago! Get up! We have a party to attend!"
What happened to the sweet and obedient little girl I was familiar with? The Latia who asked for permission before sleeping in my room.
"Bring the previous Latia back, you demon..."
"D-Demon? Who are you calling a Demon? Shouldn't you be grateful that such a beautiful lady comes to wake you up every morning?"
Latia, who was sitting on my stomach, bounced up and down.
'Lady? You barely turned ten last month…'
The amount of energy I had didn't meet the amount required to tease her.
'What the…'
Out of nowhere, it felt like Latia was heavier than usual, to the point where I could feel her weight crushing me down.
"Hey! Don't use [Gravity Magic] that I taught you to ruin my sleep!"
After instinctively reducing Latia's weight by applying [Gravity Magic] on her, I flicked her away with a light swing.
She could've easily resisted such a lacklustre attempt by surging her Demonic Power, but she didn't.
"Whoa! A perfect landing!"
With an unnecessarily grand backflip, the blonde landed on the other side of the room, imitating a gymnast.
'Good, my sleep is in shambles now…' I sat up on the bed with a loud yawn. "So, what did you mean by we have a party to attend?"
Latia started at me for a few seconds to see if I was messing with her, and when she confirmed that it wasn't the case, she commented.
"It's your 10th birthday today, silly."
"Ah…"
It had completely slipped my mind.
"So that's why you woke me up so early…"
Up until now, I always rejected my parents' requests to hold a party for my birthdays, but after they insisted this year, we agreed to host a small party.
I was thankful that no one bothered my sleep in the middle of the night to wish me.
"Happy birthday, Azrail."
"Thank you."
"You should get ready… I'll ask Amy to bring your breakfast to our room."
"But it's my room."
My words were left unanswered as Latia had already teleported away from 'our' room.
I got up from the bed and undressed before placing my right hand on my chest.
"[Clean.]"
I was too lazy to take a bath or brush my teeth and decided to survive another day using the [Clean] spell.
After some modifications, the spell not only cleaned the outside of a person's body, but it also took care of their basic hygiene.
Thank you for this spell, Alice.
"Should I wear something nice today?"
After thinking about it for a few seconds, I shook my head, deciding to wear my casual clothes.
My family would freak out if I started paying attention to my clothes out of nowhere.
It took me a few minutes to slip into my clothes.
Knock!* Knock!*
Thanks to Latia's non-existent concept of personal space, I almost forgot that people were supposed to knock before entering my room.
"What is it?"
"It's your breakfast, Lord Azrail."
It was a familiar voice.
"Alright, come in."
A maid slowly opened the door and walked inside before placing my breakfast on the table.
"Good Morning, Lord Azrail."
"It's almost afternoon, Amy."
"Then…" Amy paused for a second before she bowed. "Happy birthday, Lord Azrail."
"Thank you."
I smiled at the maid, which caused her to smile back.
The maid was none other than Amy Valmra, the one who helped me dress up for the Bael Clan's banquet four years ago.
As for how I remembered a maid like her?
After the banquet was over, my father, for some reason, assigned Amy to take care of me in my daily life, so of course, we were very familiar with each other.
But honestly, that wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
To begin with, the Valmra Clan was a clan that had served the Astaroth Clan for generations, so it meant that my father placed her with me because she was trustworthy enough. Her being beautiful was simply the cherry on top.
"Are the preparations for the party completed?"
"Yes. Everything has already been finished."
"What about Sebas and Ajuka? Will they attend the party as well?"
"Lord Sebas said he will surely attend the party, but I am not sure about Lord Beelzebub..."
"Is that so?" Well, that sounded like something Ajuka would do. "You may leave."
"Yes."
Amy bowed before taking her leave.
After finishing my breakfast, I decided to visit the hall in which the party would be held, and a teleportation magic circle appeared under my feet.
The hall wasn't that big, only enough for a hundred or so people to enjoy a banquet.
However, the number of guests wasn't even half of that, so a small hall like this was more than enough.
"Time sure passes by quickly… I can hardly believe you're already ten years old."
The first one to greet me was my mother, who came to hug me, burying my face in her bosom. My immunity to situations like these had reached its peak long ago, and her hugs could no longer choke the life out of me.
It was how she greeted me whenever it was a special occasion.
From what Sebas said, the reason she hadn't stopped doing this to me was because, unlike my brothers, I never asked her to stop or shooed her away out of annoyance.
But then again, I had no intention of stopping her. It wasn't like I'd be in the Underworld for that long, to begin with.
After a minute, my father helped me escape from my mother's embrace before wishing me a happy birthday.
"Thank you, Father."
"The guests will start arriving soon, so I need to take care of some final preparations."
"What about my gift, though?"
Father told me it was something special around a week ago, but he refused to tell me what it was.
Naturally, I tried to find what my gift could be, but no one except my parents knew, not even Sebas and Vanessa.
Alice was the same. She said she had already prepared a gift for me, but despite my numerous efforts to inquire about what it was, she kept it a secret.
Apart from that, it was easy to find out what Sebas and Vanessa planned on giving me, which made me feel a little better.
---
Apart from the few servants moving around, only Latia and I stood inside the hall to welcome guests.
From what they said, the adults were busy giving their gifts some final touches, and they banned us from visiting them.
"So, where's my gift?"
"I'll give it to you after the party is over."
"Hmm…"
At this point, I had a decent idea what Latia's gift was, but before I could ask anything further, a Magic Circle appeared on the ground ahead of us.
"Well, if it isn't the Heir of the Bael Clan."
With a bright smile, Sairaorg shook my hand.
"Happy birthday, Azrail."
"Thanks."
The first to arrive were none other than Sairaorg and Kuisha.
"Although I'm a bit late, congratulations on becoming the new heir."
It had been a week since Sairaorg defeated his younger half-brother, Magdaran Bael, and became the next heir of the Bael Clan.
At first, he wasn't sure about challenging his brother for at least a few years, but after a small conversation with me, he did so without much thought.
{I don't know, Azrail… It's too soon for me to return to the Bael Castle.}
{No balls, huh?}
That was all it took, and within a week, I received the news of him becoming the new heir.
"Thank you..."
After his mother fell into a coma, Sairaorg and I became friends, and honestly, we got along pretty well.
My opinion of him had changed, too.
My expectations of him weren't all that high when we first met, but he was the second strongest in our generation right now, only behind me.
He was the Rock Lee of DxD.
Publically, we were also known as rivals.
"Here, I'll show you around."
"Let's go."
With that, Latia left with Kuisha, and looking at them, I couldn't help but cross my arms in some surprise.
"Were those two always this close?"
"No idea."
It seemed like Sairaorg was just as clueless as me.
"So, how does it feel to be the heir of the Bael Clan?"
"It's a lot more troublesome than it looks. The higher-ups of the clan are all over the place…" Sairaorg held back a groan. "But why aren't you the heir of the Astaroth Clan?"
"We already have Diodora, don't we?"
"Don't give me that crap. You can beat Diodora into a pulp within five minutes."
"Three minutes..." I corrected Sairaorg. "But I don't wanna become the heir. If I did, I'd need to go to banquets more often. Right now, I can avoid most social gatherings. And getting involved with adults is troublesome."
And I'd prefer to save my right to challenge Diodora for the position of the heir in case I ever wanted to beat him up badly, and then, it'd be possible to do it under the pretext of the competition.
"That's your reason?"
Sairaorg rolled his eyes, only for me to shrug my shoulders.
"We have different priorities… Unlike you, I don't have some grand goal like becoming a Satan and changing the Underworld. Hell, I don't even have a goal at all."
Sairaorg chuckled at those words.
"How will the Underworld react after realising that the Strongest Devil in our generation is that lazy and unmotivated."
"You can have that title if you want. I'm more than willing to announce that I lost to you."
Although it was meant to be a joke, Sairaorg frowned and banged his chest with a fist.
"I would rather beat you with my strength and gain that title. Doing something like that will be an insult to my pride and training—!"
Before Sairaorg could go on for a speech about pride and compassion, I interrupted.
"Geez, has someone ever told you that your sense of humour is lacking? Forget about someone, I've said it plenty of times already."
Sairaorg's behaviour sometimes made me wonder if Zekram forgot to pass on his intelligence to his descendants.
"Anyway, it looks like Rias and Sona are here."
The moment those words left my mouth, two Magic Circles belonging to the Sitri and Gremory Clan appeared on the ground, and soon, Rias and Sona teleported inside along with their mothers, Venelana and Florica.
After we exchanged greetings, I noticed that Venelana and Florica were looking around, and the former turned towards me.
"Azrail, where is your mother?"
"She will be here soon with Sebas and Vanessa. You can visit them if you want, Aunt Venelana. Alice is with them as well."
Now that I mentioned Vanessa, Seekvaira was nowhere to be found, which caused me to continue.
"Is the Mecha Nerd not coming? I'm pretty sure she was invited."
"Hey, don't call Seek that… You know how much she hates it, right?"
I wouldn't be so sure about that, Rias.
"It's fun, though. And it's not like I'm lying."
"Forget it, Rias. It'll be easier for you to ride a camel than correct this guy."
"Sairaorg!"
Rias was embarrassed by Sairaorg's comment. Much like Seekvaira, who didn't like it when others talked about her Mecha obsession, Rias hated it when someone brought up her fear of camels.
"Seriously, have some decency."
"Azrail, be nice to girls."
Kuisha and Latia were teaming up against Sairaorg and me.
Sona, on the other hand, didn't say anything, knowing that the amount of dirt I had on her far surpassed Rias and Seekvaira.
For example, the video of her crying her eyes out and throwing a tantrum after losing in a game of chess, or a picture of her owning a limited-edition custom-made Serafall body pillow.
The best one was when she secretly wore a Magical Girl outfit by herself and decided to ask me how it looked.
She had trust issues ever since.
"Ah, right, Sairaorg."
At my callout, everyone around turned towards us.
"What's up?"
"It's a gift for becoming the new Heir..." I summoned a wooden box from my Dimensional Storage and tossed it towards him. "I forgot to send it previously."
"I'd rather have you fight me."
He probably meant exactly what he said, but I wasn't interested in a fight, especially when there was nothing for me to gain.
"Just open the box."
"Hm?" Sairaorg opened the box, and inside, there were four silver bracelets. "I don't wear accessories, you know that, right?"
"These aren't for you to look pretty. Just wear them on your arms."
"Fine…"
Although reluctant, he still complied.
After he placed them on his arms, I turned towards Kuisha.
"Kuisha, can you pour some of your Demonic Power into these bracelets? The more you pour in, the better."
"Pour my Demonic Power in them? Okay..."
Sairaorg brought his fists together, and Kuisha placed her right hand over the bracelets.
"They became heavier?"
Sairaorg was visibly surprised.
"They are enchanted with [Gravity Magic]. The more Demonic Power you pour into them, the heavier they'll become."
It wasn't hard to learn how to enchant items with magic after ripping apart some magic tools and items, although I was still a beginner at them due to lack of practice.
"You made these?"
"Of course not. I asked a blacksmith to help me enchant them with [Gravity Magic]..."
There was no need for anyone to know who made these. After all, the resources I learned enchanting from weren't exactly the best.
"I see…"
"I'm sure it's getting harder and harder for you to find the appropriate equipment for increasing your strength, so I'm sure they'll come in handy. Now, try punching while wearing them."
Interested, Sairaorg took a stance.
"Don't punch me, genius... Turn around and punch the air. Right, don't stop before ten punches."
Slightly embarrassed, the Bael Clan's heir turned around and started punching the air.
[MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!]
Yup.
Every time Sairaorg punched while wearing those bracelets, they'd shout [MUDA] in Dio's voice.
In a sense, these bracelets were enchanted with both [Gravity Magic] and [Sound Magic], and even a Devil's translation spell wouldn't be able to translate them, so the only thing everybody could hear was the purest form of [MUDA].
It was a trick copied from Serafall, who used it to bypass everyone's translation spells and use Japanese honorifics.
"How childish."
"What does [MUDA] even mean?"
"Will it make this sound every time he punches?"
There were all sorts of comments, but only one person could understand the epitome of culture here.
"Sairaorg Brando!"
That was exactly why Rias was my favourite after Latia.
The redhead knew what culture was, and we also did a monthly cultural exchange at her house.
"Hey!" Sairaorg turned towards me. "Can't I turn this function off?"
"You can. Just hit the bracelets together, and it'll turn off."
Clang!*
Sairaorg did what he was told before he punched the air again, and surprisingly, no sound came from the bracelets.
'Huh? Maybe I messed up while creating them, but they were supposed to shout [ORA!] after this...'
In reality, there was no silent option. It was either [MUDA!] or [ORA!], but from the looks of it, there was some manufacturing defect.
Sairaorg, you got lucky this time.
On the other hand, Rias seemed disappointed that she couldn't shout Sairaorg Joestar now. It was a shame, truly.
"Thank you." Sairaorg seemed satisfied with his gift. "Now, if we can fight—!"
"Go home."
There was no need for me to even let him continue, which made his mouth twitch in response while everyone laughed.
It didn't take long before Seekvaira arrived, as well, followed by my family and Alice.
The party went on, and soon, it was time to open the gifts given to me by my family.
The gifts I received from everyone else were already transferred to my room by the servants, but my mother decided that she wanted everyone to see my reaction to my family's gifts.
"Well, son, this is what you wanted, right?"
With a small smile, Celis handed me a piece of paper, which confused me a little.
Was this a scam?
"Read it."
After nodding at Sebastian, I started reading the document.
As time passed, my eyes widened slightly.
This piece of paper was precisely what I needed the most right now.
"Thank you, Mother, Father."
"Hey, Azrail, what is it?"
"Is it something good?"
At Rias and Latia's questions, a smile appeared on my face.
"It's a letter confirming that I got selected as the next Overseer of Bucharest City, the capital of Romania and that I can move there after three days, taking over the place of the new overseer..."
"Wow! That's amazing!"
"An overseer? Then, does that mean you'll be in charge of your territory?"
With this, there wouldn't be a need to sneak in and out of the Underworld whenever I had some free time.
Honestly, it had been quite a hassle for the past few years.
"Then, it's time for my gift."
Alice crouched down in front of me, and moments later, a Magic Circle appeared on the ground, slowly expelling a pitch-black sword that started floating mid-air in front of me.
It was Demon Sword, but that wasn't all.
Underneath that [Demonic Aura], there were traces of [Holy Aura] as well, but they weren't strong enough to affect anyone here, but it still made them somewhat uncomfortable.
Alice snapped her fingers, creating a barrier around the sword as everyone relaxed.
"Alice, is that..."
"Indeed..." Alice smiled at my words. "That's Arondight, the Holy Sword which converted into a Demon Sword after its user, Lancelot from the Knights of Round Table, went into madness."
That was one hell of a gift.
"But Alice, isn't it dangerous for Azrail to have such a weapon?"
"No matter what, he is still a child."
My parents stated their worries.
"It's alright... Azrail will need a proper weapon to fight against those who use stronger weapons as well. I've been using Arondight for almost a century, and I believe he can use it well after he grows up."
"Does it have any special abilities?"
"It doesn't..." Alice shook her head. "The only ability it has is [Demonic Aura], which works on Angels and Fallen Angels like [Holy Aura] works on Devils. However, before becoming a Demon Sword, it had some abilities, but they are no longer usable."
'Doesn't that make Arondight a perfect toy to play around with?'
Talk about a nice gift.
"Be careful, baby."
My mother watched as I raised my hand towards Arondight's hilt, grabbing it, and after a few seconds, a smile appeared on Alice's face.
"Zero rejection."
There was no need for me to use it in an actual battle unless I was fighting seriously or if the opponent was an Angel, a Fallen Angel, or someone who used a weapon.
Although, it'd be plenty useful to flex my swordsmanship.
Not to mention, it was practically useless against beings of Darkness like Devils, Youkai, or Vampires who were stronger than me, as [Demonic Aura] would not affect them.
But it would be fun if I could balance out the Holy Power and Demonic Power in it, creating something like a Holy Demonic Sword.
If God was truly dead as I theorised, something like that should be possible.
Indeed, it'd be incredibly fun to play around with Arondight.
Alice once told me that weapons were good as long as they complimented the user's fighting style, but they became useless when the user centred their fighting style around certain weapons or tools.
It was funny, coming from a sword fanatic like Alice, but it was also one of the reasons I had no interest in using either Sacred Gears or King Piece myself.
"Thank you, Alice."
"Hey! Don't swing that dangerously sharp thing around! It's not a toy!"
"Use it in your training room with only Alice around."
My parents scolded me immediately when I started to swing the Demon Sword around.
But my mother was wrong about one thing. This Demon Sword was indeed a marvellous toy.
"You know the spell I taught you to store Magic Swords in your dimensional storage, right?"
At Alice's words, I nodded.
Soon, Arondight disappeared from my hand as the Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle swallowed it whole.
I was about to say something, but she continued.
"There's one more gift for you."
Wasn't she spoiling me a bit too much?
"Another gift? I'm quite satisfied with Arondight."
"It's from your brother, Lord Beelzebub."
Alice summoned one single document and handed it over to me.
"Oh!"
After reading through it, I exclaimed.
"What's that?"
"My right to receive Evil Pieces… I'm supposed to go to Ajuka's territory tomorrow and get my set of Evil Pieces."
The adults around us just smiled, but the kids were quite excited after hearing that.
"Damn, I wish I could've gotten my set so soon, too, but good for you, Azrail."
Sairaorg seemed happy for me.
"My birthday is next month. I will ask Big Brother for Evil Pieces as well."
"Rias, that's not how it works."
"Why?"
"It just doesn't."
While Rias and Sona were bickering back and forth, I quietly leaned towards Latia.
"So, you still want me to wait for your gift?"
"I do. Now, you'll need to wait till midnight."
"Hey, that's straight-up unfair. You said it'll be after the banquet."
Latia didn't reply to my question, turning towards Sebas, who was walking towards me.
Crouching down, my brother summoned a small wooden box and handed it to me.
I knew what was inside the box, but I couldn't help but smile the moment my hands opened the box.
Two drops of Phoenix Tears.
"I hope you won't need to use them, but if the need arises, don't be stingy to use them. After all, regret is a bitter feeling."
Fret not, brother. I'd use the Phoenix Tears when the need arises.
While Phoenix Tears were expensive, purchasing two wasn't much for Sebas since, considering how rich he was, buying a dozen or so wouldn't affect his finances. The main issue was how difficult it was to order them. The number of Phoenix Tears available in the market was limited, even though they were always in demand.
"Thank you, brother, Vanessa."
Sebas patted my head with a smile before getting up, and the Phoenix Tears disappeared into my dimensional storage.
After that, the party continued for a few hours before everyone left.
.
.
.
"That's a mess."
I looked around my room, and honestly, it'd be a pain for the servants to clean it, but then again, it wasn't my problem.
At least my bed was clean.
"We're finally done opening all your gifts."
Latia stretched her arms, standing up.
"Except for yours."
I sat at the edge of my bed, and she stood in front of me.
"Right."
Latia seemed somewhat hesitant, but after a few seconds, she asked.
"Do you still want me as your [Queen]? Even though I'll be more suited for the role of a [Bishop]?"
'So that's what she's worried about, huh?'
Latia's thoughts weren't wrong.
Logically speaking, she was a much better [Bishop] candidate than a [Queen] with how much she relied on Magic.
But well, that didn't matter much.
Latia's potential wasn't low, not after I observed her train for the past four years, but it didn't meet the criteria I had in mind for a [Bishop].
"It's impossible for me to find a better candidate than you."
At my words, Latia smiled brightly.
"Then, I'll be your [Queen]."
While finding someone stronger should be possible, Latia's ability to manage people would be better for me, and she was more trustworthy than anyone else.
There was a difference between Chess and Rating Games. In Rating Games, [Queen] wasn't always meant to be the strongest.
The [Queen] was a loyal second in command who could manage the peerage in the [King]'s absence.
"That's the best gift I received today. Thank you, Latia."
That wasn't a lie.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah."
I got up and patted her head lightly.
"In the future, I'll be counting on you."
"Leave it to me."
Latia smiled confidently.
Indeed, my [Queen] was adorable.
"Since it's already decided, how about tagging along with me to receive my set of Evil Pieces tomorrow?"
"Sure."
After talking about some random things, Latia and I went to sleep.
'In three days, I'll have enough time to properly work on that…'
Strangely enough, I felt a bit excited.
---
Words: 4,232
A/N:
Just finished Steins Gate. Recommended.
Makise best girl.