Tale of Discovery

Chapter 107: Arriving at the Underworld ; Gathering

"Hello!" a voice greets us from behind me.

Turning around, I see Azazel standing there with a stupid smile on his face.

"Get inside and sit somewhere stupid-son," I say after turning around so that my back is facing him.

Using my senses, I see that Azazel is a little stunned by the way I called him before he regains clarity in two seconds.

He walks over and takes a seat near us.

"This is the Gremory House's train," Rias explains to me respectfully, "It's mainly used by Gremory House members, but there are exceptions."

Toward the end of her sentence, Rias glances at Azazel once before turning her attention back to me and saying,

"Is there anything you'd like to know about?"

"No, thanks," I respond.

Rias has gotten significantly more polite compared to when I first met her. She has grown both physically mentally during this short period.

Nevertheless, her pride is still high. That can be seen from the way she's acting whenever the matter at hand is related to her family or something.

During one of the training sessions that I held, Akeno informed me of the reason that Rias isn't living in the Underworld.

Apparently, she wanted to prove herself to be important, rather than be known as "daughter of the Gremory House".

Honestly, I find this to be petty and time-consuming as it has no use other than boosting her social status.

"Say," Azazel's voice suddenly resounds within my ears.

I turn to face him and wait for him to say whatever is on his mind.

"Are you truly him?" he continues after a few seconds.

"Well, you could say so. However, rather than your father, it's more accurate to say that I'm your grandfather," I respond with a small grin on my face.

"Grand...", he mutters before shifting his sight to outside the window.

Leaving that matter aside, I wonder if Sirzechs or Zeoticus has informed the other Devils about my identity.

I'm hoping that they haven't, as it will essentially grant me a great opportunity to investigate matters.

I shift my focus back to reality. Sitting opposite to me, Kuroka is attempting to start a conversation with Koneko who's comfortably sitting on my lap.

"It's surprising," I say, "No one has come to rescue you yet."

Knowing that my words are directed at her, Kuroka looks me in the eye and responds,

"They're just preparing."

Chuckling at her response, I say tauntingly,

"As if that would be of any use."

---

We finally reached our destination - The Gremory Household.

Getting off the train, my eyes are met with the site of several maids and butlers lined outside the house.

A moment later, some fireworks are set off into the sky.

How fancy.

Now then, since I will be disguising as a Low-Class Devil, I will act like one from the get-go.

"Don't say anything about me other than the fact that I'm a 'pawn' and have the Boosted Gear."

After confirming my intentions, all of us begin to walk toward Rias's family home.

At the entrance, we are greeted by Grayfia who welcomes us inside. However, I notice her giving a strange look to Kuroka.

--

It takes us a short while to walk across a long corridor to, what I assume, is the living room.

There I find a fine-looking woman with yellowish-gray hair and violet eyes sitting on a couch and sipping on a drink.

The way she handles herself reminds me of Yasaka. In other words, she gives off a motherly aura.

Upon noticing our presence, the woman smiles before getting up and approaching us.

"You've finally arrived, Rias," she says.

Then, she looks over at everyone before stopping her sight on Kuroka for a few seconds before shifting it to me as mild shock appears on her face before her complexion goes back to normal.

Zeoticus has told her about me, alright.

Well, this means that I don't need to put on a facade here.

"Greetings," I say, "I'm Theos."

It's better to not make use of my real name here. Having several 'identities' will surely confuse any foes that wish to investigate me. Since I've already introduced myself as Theos, I'll go along with that.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Theos. I'm Venelena Gremory. Wife of Zeoticus Gremory."

After this, I don't converse with her anymore, as she goes ahead and chats with Rias before welcoming all of us to the dining room.

Upon arriving there, we all take a seat at the rather long dining table.

Well, I expected no less from a 'noble' household.

It doesn't take long before the head of the family, Zeoticus, arrives in the room.

He takes a seat at the dining table as well, not looking in my direction even once.

It seems like I'm unwelcome here. How sad...

As if sensing my thoughts, Zeoticus looks over at me and offers a polite bow.

From here on, the dinner proceeds normally, with Rias's family speaking to her about 'ordinary' matters.

---

Why am I here again? Right, something along the lines of gathering of young Devils.

We're currently in a room filled with Devils. Kuroka is here as well, but her appearance has changed thanks to my Rework. The reactions Grafiya and Venelena upon seeing her were noteworthy, so I decided to change her appearance for this gathering, just in case.

For the period we've been here for, I've been listening in for any interesting conversations regarding important matters, but it was up to no avail.

All of a sudden, I hear a crashing noise behind me.

Turning around, I see two Devils facing each other with pride practically oozing out of them.

One of them is a blue-haired Devil with pointy ears. He's wearing some weird yellow and gray attire.

Facing him is a woman that has green hair and wears glasses.

"It looks like you really want to die, Zephyrdor," the woman voices.

"You stink with virginity! What's wrong with saying the truth," responds Zephyrdor.

Just when it seems like the fight will get more annoying, a black-haired man enters the room and exclaims,

"Stop, you two!"

Then, he walks closer to them while facing the female Devil and saying,

"Princess of the Agares family, Seigvaira."

After that, he turns to face Zephyrdor and says,

"Problem child of the Glaysa-Labolas family, Zephyrdor."

Taking his words as an insult, Zephyrdor yells,

"Who are you calling a problem child?! If you keep talking like I will-"

Not letting him finish his words, the man cracks his fingers and says pridefully while grinning,

"This is your last warning. Anymore, and you will have to deal with me."

Seigvaira seems to cautiously get back a little, while Zephyrdor raises his arm and exclaims,

"You incompetent fool of the Bael family!"

Then, he attempts to punch him, but the man blocks his hit and counters it.

This results in Zephyrdor to be sent flying in our direction.

I subconsciously slap him to the side with enough force to shatter the ground several times.

Naturally, a few Devils were impacted by this.

"Hey, who is this little shit?!" A male Devil, who was hit by some debris with enough power to injure him, exclaims while looking in my direction.

He's got some guts to insult me.

Using telekinesis, I lift him from the ground before pulling him toward myself and punching his guts.

"Oonslos!" a female Devil exclaims while staring at the guy who's currently laying unconsciously on the ground with blow flowing out of his mouth.

The next moment, the female Devil rushes at me with demonic energy covering her arm.

In response to this, I move using my abnormal speed and appear above her.

Then, before she can make sense of what's happening, I kick the back of her head.

As expected, she's thrown face-first into the ground and shattering it.

The next moment, several other Devils seem like they want to rush at me, but before they can do so, the black-haired man from earlier exclaims,

"Stop!"

This seems to be effective as they all freeze in place.

Why are they so afraid of this guy? Could he be some kind of important figure?

"You, who are you?", the man inquires.

Shaking my head in exasperation, I say nonchalantly,

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking for someone's identity?"

Surprisingly, he doesn't attempt to challenge me and just replies civilly,

"You're right. My name is Sairaorg. I'm the direct heir of the Bael Family."

Since the guy isn't showing any hostility, I introduce myself as well,

"My name is Theos Angelus. A member of the Gremory House."

In response to my words, Sairaorg's expression turns into a small scowl before worsening upon hearing the latter part.

There are various reasons for introducing myself in this way.

Firstly, my name will give rise to several questions, as it is an unusual one. As I claim to be from the Gremory House, this will lead to some suspicion regarding their intentions in whatever they do.

This, in turn, will make the other important families cause trouble for the Gremories. Naturally, Zeoticus will attempt to get me to deal with them by claiming that I am supposed to take responsibility for my actions.

Secondly, the way I introduced myself makes it hard for others to figure out my relationship with the Gremories.

They could either think of me as a servant of Rias or a possible suitor that has been chosen for her.

Either way, it will attract the attention of certain individuals.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Theos (Theos-san)," Sairaorg says after having regained his composure.

"Likewise," I reply while grinning.

[Father, the task you assigned has been completed.]

That's good. Michael sure works fast.