"He's late." Rias said with a frown as she kept tapping her desk.
The last few days had been a mass of stress inducing events. Everything that involved Tenma at the beginning, followed by the news that her arrangement with Riser was being pushed for earlier despite the promise of her having until the end of her education on earth till such a thing happened and finally the news from her sister in law Grayfia that there was going to be a meeting between her and Riser, supervised by the Queen of Satan Lucifer.
She had immediately contacted Tenma about the last one as her new… friend, could she fully count Tenma as a friend now, had told her that he could deal with the Riser situation when the third son of Phenex family decided to make a nuisance of himself.
And yet Tenma was nowhere to be seen and her communication magic could not reach him, neither could her phone.
"Please calm down, president." Kiba said with a smile as he brought a cup of tea. Made by Akeno, as she had learned that Kiba should not be allowed in kitchen for anything other than cutting ingredients a long time ago. "I am sure that he will arrive any moment."
Kiba's words were mostly true. Unfortunately, that 'mostly' was because he got the who wrong. As proven by the rising heat in the room and the bright orange teleportation circle with the Phenex sigil that appeared on the floor.
"Hmph, the air of the human world smells as foul as I remember it." Riser Phenex, the third son of Phenex household, said as he turned his nose up before his eyes landed on Rias and a glint appeared in his eyes and a huge smile blossomed on his face. "I have no idea how you can bear with it, my beautiful Rias."
"I am not yours." Rias said with a glare as she held out a hand to stop Riser from getting closer, likely to try to put his arm around her shoulders or something similar.
"Come now, don't be so cold. That is no way for one to treat their future husband." Riser said with a smirk, but also thankfully did pull his hand back. "Isn't it about time you stopped playing human school girl anyway? You are the heiress of the Gremory household, you should be taking your responsibilities more seriously even if the pureblood families situation is not the way it is."
"I am well aware of my responsibilities." She gritted out. She could admit that she probably wasn't the best heir she could be but she wasn't going to be lectured about responsibilities of heirship from a third son. "I simply do not see it any reason to give away my freedom of choice. I can fulfill my responsibilities without giving them up."
Riser simply snorted at her words, his disbelief clear.
"The old houses are weakening and the number of pure blooded devils get smaller every year. And the appearance of bloodline traits become rarer as well. This engagement is not simply an alliance between our houses but also a show of unity towards the whole Underworld, to let them know that Gremory and Phenex households have yet to give up on the old ways."
Rias had to begrudgingly admit that Riser was good at dressing selfish interests in political language. Most of what he said was not untrue as there were many in Underworld who was wary of the situation he was talking about. Except about at least a quarter of those were sympathizers of Old Satan faction and the whole 'old ways' thing was worth as much as a used condom. They were a part of the New Satan faction, her brother had literally killed the heirs of houses of Asmodeus and Beelzebub because they had wanted to keep the 'old ways' and go to war with Heaven.
Before she could make her opinion on his words clear, a second teleportation circle appeared in the room. This one a bluish silver with a very familiar sigil on it.
"Lord Riser." Grayfia regarded him with her usual impassive expression. "You were informed of the meeting's scheduled time. Why did you choose to disregard it?"
Riser's smile lost a fraction of its confidence. "My apologies, lady Grayfia. I allowed my enthusiasm to get the better of me."
"...make sure that there are no repeats." Grayfia said coldly, though Rias could only tell that it was 'coldly' by the strongest Queen's standards due to years of proximity to her.
"Since everyone is here, I shall explain the purpose of today's meeting." Both Rias and Riser straightened.
"This gathering was approved by lords of Gremory and Phenex households as an informal mediation between the two of you in regards to your engagement and reach a resolution." She said as she gazed at every occupant of the room for a moment each before continuing. "If a mutual resolution can not be reached, then as the contract between the lords has agreed upon; the conflict shall be resolved through a Rating Game."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three knocks came from the door as the final words left Grayfia's lips and every occupant in the room looked towards the opening door. Where, much to Rias' relief, a black haired young man was standing.
"I'm hoping I'm not too late." Tenma said as he walked into the room, showing no care for Riser's glare or Grayfia's questioning gaze.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Riser gritted out, looking furious as his glare met Tenma's amused gaze. "Who do you think you are?!"
"Oh, my apologies." Tenma said as he gave a small bow. "My name is Yaegaki Tenma. And I am here in order to proclaim my intention to fight as Rias Gremory's representative for this Rating Game."
"..."
"..."
"WHAT?!" Riser roared out, the tips of his hair catching fire and his flaming devil wings, a special characteristic of Phenex family, bursting out of his back. "What is the meaning of this, Rias?!"
"Section seven of the contract states that in case of a Rating Game, if one side has more than twice as pieces as the other than the disadvantaged side is allowed to choose a representative to act in their stead." Rias said with a smile, trying to project more confidence than she was feeling. This was the loophole that Tenma had pointed out to Rias, which she had dismissed before due to several rules around it but Tenma had claimed he had a way to deal with them.
"Lady Rias." Grayfia called out, looking far more serious than before. "The clause also states that the representative must have a set of their own Evil Pieces."
"That's right!" Riser immediately jumped at the opportunity. "I have no idea who this commoner is and I know of every High class and above devil in the Underworld, he does not have Evil Pieces of his own."
"As a matter of fact I do." Tenma said with a smile, once more getting the attention on himself. "The law merely states that one has to be a High class devil in order to request their own set of Evil Pieces. There are no laws against those without the rank having a set of their own."
"That's..."
"True." Grayfia said with a nod, cutting Riser off. "But lady Rias, you also know that the representative must also have sponsorship of either at least three High class devils or one Ultimate class devil, who can not be affiliated with Gremory or Phenex households."
"That is no issue either." Tenma said with a smile as he clapped his hands and a burst of flame between them later, he was holding a parchment that levitated towards Grayfia who took it and read it.
"...this document has been authenticated by a sponsor who meets the requirements.." Grayfia said and there was actually a small tremor in her tone. "The sponsor is..." She looked up with wide eyes.
"...Diehauser Belial."
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