Occult Research Club, ORC for short, the headquarters of the Gremory peerage that would have taken the world by a storm in another timeline.
Tenma found it to be epitome of chuuni headquarters.
Low lights around the scary furniture, the chair and desk that had taken quite a bit of space, all of the furniture in the room was designed to look 'cool' and made the young Belial realize that Rias Gremory was a child in mentality.
Something that made him somewhat guilty for taking advantage of her.
Not thatmuch though.
"This tea, it's quite nice." Tenma hummed as he brought the tea cup to his lips once more, it was indeed delicious.
"Thank you." The daughter of Baraqiel said with a smile as she walked back to the side of her king with the tray she carried the tea cups with in front of her skirt. On opposite of them was Tenma's own humble self and Valerie, who was looking at the devils with little to no care. They were barely worth noticing in her eyes.
"Now then, I believe introductions are in order." Tenma said with a smile as he placed a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "My name is Tenma, and this here is Valerie; my queen."
"Queen?" Rias asked with wide eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry if I'm rude but is that a nickname or…"
"It isn't. It's her position in my peerage." Tenma said with a chuckle, understanding why exactly the Gremory and her Queen were shocked. "I understand your concern, but there is a simple explanation for this."
"You see, it is not actually illegal for a non-high class devil to possess their own Evil Pieces. The law merely dictates that every high class devil has the right to make a request for a set, but nothing against for those without status owning them."
"I… I see." The redheaded devil said with an uncertain tone. "Then the set you have?"
"It belonged to my mother before." Tenma said with a sad smile. "She is sadly no longer among us."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's been years since then." Tenma sighed. "It's also not the reason for our meeting."
He then clasped his hands together and placed them under his knee. "For a lack of better term, miss Gremory, I would like to make a contract with you where I help you with several of your problems in exchange of you putting a good word with your brother for me in order to integrate into devil society easier."
As he expected, Rias' expression turned colder the moment his words left his mouth. Her dislike of being seen as little more than an easy way to butter up to her brother mixed with the reluctant gratitude and respect towards him due to being so open about his intentions.
"An... interesting offer. But I don't currently have any particular problems at the moment."
"Please don't act coy, miss Gremory." Tenma said with a chuckle. "The contract your family has made for your union with the third son of Phenex family and your vocal dislike for it is rather well known to anyone willing to pay attention to the Underworld."
"Not to mention that your territory had a substantial gathering of stray exorcists under a quartet of fallen before they suddenly left. Like it or not miss Gremory, but your and miss Sitri's statuses as the younger sisters of Satans is causing some very unfriendly eyes to look into this town."
"And do you know of any such eyes?" Rias asked with a raised eyebrow, her voice cold and her fingers visibly squeezing her arms.
"Just from the top of my head, I would say Katerea Leviathan would be looking for a chance at attacking you two. If there was a sudden change in Underworld's political scenes anyway." Tenma said with a smirk. "Jokes aside, I'm not trying to threaten you miss Gremory; or trying to make you jump at the shadows. Just trying to make myself a bit more valuable than I actually am."
"You are… very honest." Rias said with a tilt of her head, unsure whether she should be impressed or unimpressed by his words.
"I'm told that it's a good quality to have. Not to mention that you have the resources to search my history, no meaning in lying."
"I see. Then please answer this. You asked to meet me specifically instead of Sona, despite the fact that every reason you gave for wanting my help applies to her as well. So why me?" The Gremory heiress asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmm, I guess you wouldn't believe me if I were to say that I wished to see your beautiful visage." Tenma said with a chuckle, seeing the light blush of the frowning redhead.
"Unfortunately, my reason is not about pleasantries. You see, miss Gremory, there is something else we need to ask of you before this whole deal can be properly agreed upon and it's not something miss Sitri can grant."
"And what is that?"
"My brother." Valerie said, her voice sharp and her eyes narrowed. Looking like she was contemplating the merits of simply attacking the Gremory heiress in order to get what she wanted. "I know that you have Gasper Vladi in your peerage. I want to see him."
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