Story 2: Chapter 4: The Mother of All Misunderstandings (Patreon)

Story 2: Buné Farmer Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: The Mother of All Misunderstandings

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- Mathias -

A while has passed since the event where Tiamat became my Queen… and also didn’t become my queen.

Although the Dragon Form scared the shit out of the three of them and made Ingvild feel entranced by her beauty.

It did take some time but they calmed down and introduced themselves to Tiamat. They got along quite fine. Well, Gasper had fainted so he needed to wake up first before fainting again. It was both hilarious and worrying.

During this time, Valerie, Gasper and Ingvild decided to join my peerage. Lavinia needed some more time. The abandonment from her teacher had hit her hard and she wasn’t willing to trust anyone closely.

Valerie became my Bishop while Gasper and Ingvild became a Pawn which took two and four of my pieces respectively.

I had to upgrade my Magic to B+ level just to use my pieces more efficiently. Still it took more than one pawn piece for those two. It went on to show how scary their potentials were.

As they opened up more, I realized that Valerie is a natural prankster. Gasper is a really gullible kid who invokes sympathy from those around him. Ingvild is a shy girl who likes singing and taking care of plants. She wants to be a singer and perform someday. I totally support her decision and so do the others. In fact even Tiamat enjoys her singing.

When Armin came back the next day, he was in a frustrated mood. He never answered exactly what had happened, just that he wanted to increase our training. I gladly increased both the load and our food quality. He was actually quite surprised that I got these new members but Tiamat came to the rescue and said that she found them and brought them here.

She convinced me to keep Great Red a secret from anyone because I didn’t want to hide things from my buddy. Apparently, the fact that He will interfere in anything would just raise a lot of eyebrows and that’s not the kind of attention I want now.

Sai came back later on and gave me the news that he will be getting his Evil Pieces and that he has found potential recruits too, one of which include Ladora, my distant cousin.

He lives with his parents who had once offered to take me in but they were quite poor themselves and I didn’t want to impose on them. I also had my Farm to take care of. I did want to help them out but was advised to wait till the reveal or the money would be tracked back to me in case someone tried.

If Ladora joined Sai’s peerage I would be able to help him out properly.

The other one is Kuisha Abaddon who wanted to participate in the Rating Games but was not allowed to by her family.

Sai being the naive and lovable fool gave her a thumbs up and promised her a position in his peerage and she agreed.

And the thing I had been waiting for so long finally happened yesterday. I summoned a pet.

“Are you sure you want to make this into a Familiar?” Armin asked, looking at the creature in front of him.

“Pretty sure. This one is the best I can think of.” I replied as I caressed my adorable pet and it mewled into my chest.

“Is it because it has plants on its back?”

“One of the many points that just makes it all the more awesome.”

“Still… a deer? Even if it’s a bit odd, it’s still a deer.”

“A Sky Deer.” I corrected.

“Yes. A Sky Deer.”

“Trust me, this little guy will be a kickass partner in a few years. The best thing is that although eating food helps it grow faster. In a good enough environment, it can grow by photosynthesis too. It can live almost an infinite amount of time although its growth rate will be far slower if that happened.”

“With the amount of stuff you are feeding it, I seriously doubt it.”

“Hey, it’s not like you don’t like it. You are already making a portrait of us.” I pouted.

“I never said I didn’t like it. It’s adorable in its own way. I am just surprised that you would make it your familiar when you have a farm full of Dragons. Ones that I remind you, almost any devil in the underworld would kill to get as a familiar.” He replied as he put the last shades to the painting before taking a look at it from a distance.

“This young guy is stronger than my strongest creation and will only grow stronger in time. Aren’t you the strongest one?” I scratched the back of its ears and it rubbed its face on my palm.

Yes, this is the pet I choose. Sky Deer from Toriko.

Calm and peaceful unless provoked. One of the calmest types of creatures in Toriko. Still it didn't mean that they should be underestimated. A Sky Deer, the Deer King was one of the strongest beings of the Toriko world.

The reason why I choose this one is because it can control time. It can increase the flow of time in an area from hundreds to millions of times. The little guy can't do anything that extreme yet, but it can still increase the flow of time on a small area, a few times over. When it grows a bit, it will be able to do so, increasing the production of the entire farm by several times.

Not to mention the Deer King was someone who could match even Great Red in terms of power and mostly liked to just sleep in peace without a care in the world.

"So, anything happened back at home?" I asked, changing the topic.

He sighed as he sat down beside me and caressed the leafy mane of my Sky Deer, Leafa.

"The stress about the Rating Game debut. They asked me to recruit some peerage members. Until now I only have one peerage member and she studies under mother to learn about her duties. Moreover she is a pawn. They want me to get some numbers. Father however didn't bring this topic up since that sham of a fight against Edward."

"Still, you are pretty strong. I wonder how strong that Edward must be for him to hold back? Also, I thought that many House Heads didn't even participate in the Rating Games, so why is it so important all of a sudden."

"My house is focused on military and strategy departments. It is a way for us to show that our house is still in strong hands. It's mainly the politics of the houses. The Current Satans and the other factions." He sighed softly and laid down on the grass.

"You could take your Dragon from the Ranch, you know. The little guy is plenty strong."

I had gifted him a dragon hatchling on his birthday. He kept it on the ranch mostly so it could live among the other dragons and grow stronger. He did take care of the dragon all by himself though. Even hunted the food, cleaned it and fed it all by himself. The dragon on the other hand was almost on the level of a High Class Devil in terms of strength. It was just a year old though but the food it ate did wonders for it. Armin is mostly a defensive fighter so the Dragon I gave him was Adamantium Dragon hatchling. It cost me twenty thousand points.

"No. It will attract too much attention towards you if I do that. People can piece things together and connect it to you. It will be troublesome."

…

"I am getting kinda annoyed with the people. Don't they have better things to do?"

"Yeah, tell me about it."

I thought about something and remembered about something. Should I involve Armin with the mess though?

"There is someone I heard about from Tiamat. He is thought to have a very strong Sacred Gear, although nothing is verified. It's just that the background of the guy is a bit problematic depending on the way you look at it."

"How strong are we talking about?" He asked, without looking at me.

"Longinus."

He snapped in my direction almost instantly. "Are you insane, Matty?"

"Hey! Why is it that every time I try to help someone, they either call me insane or a fool. You are my friend. You are in a pinch and I am helping you. How is that me being crazy or stupid?"

"Do you not understand what a Longinus means? Houses would go on a war just for a chance to gain them. No, entire factions start wars for those and you are talking about them without any care in the world. that! is indeed stupid."

"A Longinus is strong… But it doesn't make someone invincible. Stop worrying about it."

"You are impossible…"

"Thanks. Now, listen. In Ryoukou High School, Japan. There are several top class Sacred Gear users. Tobio Ikuse, Shigune Nanadaru, Natsume Minagawa, Kouki Samejima and Hyousuke Koga all wield extremely powerful Sacred Gears." I told him the location of the school in general. It was a year before I remembered the ship being crashed and assuming Ingvild, Valerie and Lavinia had the same Sacred Gears, it was a valid guess. If it's the same, well and good. If not, well no skin off my back.

To be honest, they would at best be at the Dragon King level when trained properly and while strong for the world… it's a bit average by my Farm's standards.

In a few years, I would be able to create minions of that level so, them helping out Armin would be much better.

"Are you sure about it?"

"Quite."

"You are very troublesome, you know that, right?"

"So, that's how people say thank you nowadays? You're welcome, I guess?"

We bickered a bit and then I told him everything I recalled about the background information of the people in the Slash Dog novels that I could remember.

I hope they will be able to help him out. I would simply give him enough of my creations to fill up his peerage but the guy was quite stubborn and wouldn’t accept it.

Honourable devils are a rarity.

As we were talking, I felt a teleportation circle near us. Assuming they were teleporting right into my territory, the identities were easy to narrow down.

And just as I thought, a crimson Magic Circle lit up and out came Mathers and Rias.

Armin and I got up and Leafa looked at the new arrivals in curiosity.

“Matty. Heir Glasya-Labolas.” Rias called us as Mathers followed him.

Armin looked at me. “Why are you Matty and me, Heir Glasya-Labolas?”

“I am more likeable, I guess. Maybe I have better ‘People Skills’.” I shrugged.

He rolled his eyes at my reply. “I am surprised you even know that word.” He snorted.

“Rias. Welcome. Teacher Mathers.” I greeted the girl and nodded towards my magic teacher.

“Mathias. Heir Glasya-Labolas.” He greeted me back and I stifled a snort at the face Armin made.

“Matty, I have come to invite you to my birthday party. Oh! Is this a new demonic beast?” She asked, looking at my Leafa.

“This is my Familiar. Isn’t she pretty?”

She slowly caressed the Sky Deer’s head and it mewled, making the girl squeal.

“It’s so cute. What’s it called?” She asked, now playing with the deer already and feeding it some veggies we had with us.

“It’s a Sky Deer. So, what was it about a birthday?”

“Oh! Yes. My Birthday is two weeks from now and I wanted to invite you to it. You can come and bring a peerage member or friend with you if you want. I was going to Sona’s place after this but I needed to invite Sai too so I came here first.”

“Sai is… asleep. He just went to take a rest an hour ago after working out. I will inform him to have a talk with you, if you are in a hurry.” I offered.

“Then I won’t wake him up. Thanks for that, Matty.” Leafa was already playing with her by now and she was totally engrossed in it too.

“So, this will be your sixteenth birthday. Your debut. Feeling pressured?” I asked.

“Mother has been pushing me to take the etiquette lessons and making me memorise all the names of the House Heads and Heirs as well as the Ultimate Class Devils. It’s boring.”

“I am bored even thinking of it so I can imagine your pain.” I contacted Ingvild to bring us something to eat. The C Ranked Produce was quite tasty and I saved a large amount for myself. The fruits especially. The ones from the Toriko world are just a delight. I continued the conversation till then. “Any ideas about your peerage members?"

"I mean Akeno is a sure thing by now. She will be my queen. I haven't looked for anyone else yet. What about you? Anyone you got in your peerage?"

"Hmm. I got a few members recently. They are a fun bunch. Most of them are taking care of the farm. I will introduce you to them when you are not in a rush.”

As we were talking, Ingvild appeared with plates of food floating around her.

“Is she your peerage member?” Mathers asked, looking at her.

“Umu. Her name is Ingvild. Tia brought some people who wanted a place to live and I recruited them. She is my new pawn.” I introduced them as we started on the food before us.

The dishes were surprise apples, cuticle berry and appudding.

“What are these fruits, Mathias?”

“The berry is called Cuticle Berry. It makes people’s hair shinier and healthier. Sometimes  even bald people can grow hair from eating them. The other one is a surprise apple. They get tastier depending on how much you can surprise the apple and believe me, they are hard to scare. The last one is called Appudding. They are custard pudding flavoured apples. Nutritious and delicious. These are some of the things I just produced.”

Enough to say, no one else was paying attention, already too busy to clean the plates of their contents. Rias was eating some and feeding some to Leafa.

“Ahh… I wish I could eat this everyday. The fruits of your farm are just too good.”

“Hmm, I will think of something then. Maybe in the future, you can.”

“Really? Promise?” She looked brightly at me and I smiled.

“Promise. But only if you want it.”

“Agreed. I want it then.”

And just like that I had an idea about what to give her for her birthday.

- Sirzechs Lucifer -

“So that’s the report about the meeting with the Shinto.” Serafall completed her report as he looked around the room.

“And that’s basically everything for the official business.” He concluded.

“You are just in a hurry to plan for your sister’s birthday, aren’t you?” Serafall teased.

“As if you aren’t the same. Unlike me you started the work six months earlier.” He replied.

“You both have serious sister issues.” Falbium yawned.

“You would know if you had a sister.” He retorted. But then again, knowing the guy, he wouldn’t really care. Also didn’t he have a cousin sister?

“I have my hands full with just a brother.” He sighed.

“Did Zephyrdos do something again?” He asked, relaxing a bit in his chair.

“Oh no. It was Armin. But again I guess it was due to Zephyrdos, so I guess you could also say that.”

“Heh. Even Armin has a rebellious phase? I never thought I would see that cute little boy go through something like that.” Serafall smiled and he agreed. Armin was always too soft spoken and a true gentleman.

“It was something else. Armin is still the obedient boy as always. Sigh Let me explain it from the beginning. It all started with Zephyrdos tattling to Father about Armin disappearing for long periods of time and missing training.”

“Hmm. Mathers and Sai both told me that Armin often visits the Buné territory to meet Mathias and they spar together. Those two hit it off quite well.” He was actually happy that Mathias got a good friend in someone like Armin instead of someone else with a less… pleasant personality. Then again, knowing the boy, he would never get along with that sort of person.

“They do. I had a talk with Armin about Mathias and they keep everything that happens in the farm a secret. I have no idea what kind of training they do or what but he’s been eating and training there almost everyday he’s free. So, coming back to the topic at hand. Father was worried and asked him to show the results of his training for the past year in a spar against Edward.”

“Your father’s butler? He was a pretty competent fighter and Armin’s teacher if I remember correctly? Armin must have had a tough time?”

“He was but no… Armin didn’t have a tough time. In fact he didn’t take any time at all. He ended the fight with one punch.”

….

….

“Huh?”

“The little brat punched through a defence circle and broke fourteen of Edward’s bones and blasted him into unconsciousness with a single punch. That’s not even the end of it all. Somehow Armin has the idea that Edward was holding back and giving him an easy win so he’s engrossed himself even more into training. We hardly ever see him at home. Father on the other hand is over the moon and has completely forbidden anyone from telling Armin the truth when he found out about the misunderstanding. He even had me test him and he was an Ultimate Class with just his ridiculous physique. Just what kind of training do they do in that place because if I can, I want to get my soldiers that!”

“I have heard that he is experimenting with different types of crops and he sometimes sends something with Sai but nothing overly outrageous for the fear of leaking the information. Do you know of anything, Ajuka? What about the talks of him being engaged to your niece?” He asked Ajuka.

“My sister doesn’t ask him about any of his work until he himself speaks of it. As for the engagement talks, she is waiting for him to become sixteen which is in about a month. She will talk to him about it then. She’s just letting him and Latia get to know each other so that none of them freak out at the news.” Ajuka replied.

“Do you think it’s something better than what he started making at the start? I mean it was understandable considering the initial products but still… I don’t think even the Original Zagan had this kind of power… because that would be…” said Serafall.

“In these years, I managed to unearth some books about the Zagan and none of them have any mentions of this. I mean sure, he could have hidden his real abilities as every house does but…”

“It’s no use worrying about what we don’t know. What we know however is that Mathias is a good natured boy who has no political agendas, is close to all our siblings and is someone who can single-handedly change the entire food industry and even more in the Underworld in the coming years. His friendship with Armin and the effect he has had on both Armin and Sairaorg are proof that what we have been doing until now is fine. Let him do whatever he wants. We just need to prepare for when his identity is revealed. I can already feel the headache thinking about the argument with Zekram when this comes out.”

"I have heard that he got some peerage members brought to him by Tiamat. I didn't think she would take such a liking to him."

"It's good news anyways."

“By the way, you said that Armin always spars with Mathias. Who wins?” Ajuka asked.

Falbium looked in though for a moment. “No idea. Armin didn’t speak about it. Still if my guess is correct, they must be more or less equal in strength.”

“Hmm… so an Ultimate Class in strength. If he keeps training for the next few years and maintains the same kind of progress, we can be secure about his safety.”

“Still… Ultimate Class at sixteen and seventeen is quite an achievement. Apart from you two and him, I cannot think of anyone else who was similar. I mean even I was at the Peak of High Class strength when I was sixteen.” Serafall commented and he had to agree. At the same time, another thought popped up in his mind. The one Ajuka had said a long time ago.

Another one like them.

Ughh… if that was the case, then the headache in the meeting with Zekram would be even worse.

He will deal with it when it’s time.

Right now, he had to prepare for his Ria-tan’s birthday.

- Mathias -

Another Birthday party. Another relative of a Satan, the same situation as before.

This time however I had friends with me.

Not to mention, the little pieces of shit were keeping a distance from me due to Zephyrdos being scared of Armin. It was a welcome change.

"Did you finally get around to choosing a gift? Also, I hope you didn't just bring a basket of fruits from your farm." Armin asked while taking a look over the food but not picking anything up.

"Hey, what's wrong with my fruits? I am sure they will cost more than an average Middle Class Devil's yearly income should I place them on the market."

"But you can't and people will be quick to mock you and we don't need that now, do we?"

"You know, the more I hear about these people, the more annoyed I get. Sometimes I wonder if they live on food or vanity?"

"Vanity, obviously."

"Ah, then my farm business is ruined before it even starts."

"So, what did you get?"

"A basket of fruits."

… 

… 

"Matty, you…"

"Trust me, it won't be mocked. Remember the ones I showed you which took me three years to grow?"

"Those?" He paused his tirade at the mention of the fruit

"A few of those and a Rainbow Fruit."

"I thought the Rainbow Fruits needed some more time to mature? Also a few of those?"

"They are just fruits. I have plenty of them and can always grow more. As for the Rainbow Fruits, I managed a last second miracle."

"But still…"

"So, would they mock this?"

"Not really. It might get troublesome for completely different reasons."

"Then I couldn’t care less."

"Since when did you start to care to actually care less?"

"Touché."

The evening progressed and I met my teacher and Latia too.

She asked me the same thing about the gift.

"I gave it to my new peerage members to pack. I couldn't trust myself with the aesthetics of the packaging. They would know better as three of them are girls."

"I never got to meet your peerage members. I heard they were introduced to you by Tiamat so their credibility should not be in question but they need to be trained in etiquette too. Do they have proper training?" She asked me and I winced remembering the situation.

Tiamat wouldn't give a fuck about etiquette. She never did before and she most certainly wouldn't do so now. Lavinia is mostly ignorant about the world. Valerie and Gasper, the less we talk about them, the better. Those poor children were raised in a dungeon cell.

The only one who has any semblance of training is Ingvild and she is not up to date with the current situation either. So, all in all, my peerage members need serious education.

"I might need a teacher for them. Each one of them has serious issues and needs help."

"Is it something serious?" She asked a little concerned.

"Nothing too serious. They have just had troubled childhoods. Two of them are Dhamphirs who were raised in a dungeon cellar. They are really good people though but they are mostly ignorant about the world in general. I am teaching them the basics first before I go into anything else. On that matter, you all haven't visited much for the last few months."

"Like Master, like subordinate." Latia smirked and I roughed her hair making her bristle.

We have gotten quite close in the last one and a half years. It started with her asking me about her dragon and how to take care of it and then just the general information about my farm. Her parents brought her over most of the time and she enjoyed playing in the farm.

"I was mostly in the Human World for a few months to set up a business and Latia was travelling with me."

We talked a bit and finally it was time to present the gifts to the birthday girl.

Armin presented her with the same gift he gave Latia. Dammit. I wish I could have done it too.

Latia presented her gift, an ornamental hairpin.

It was again my turn and I presented Rias with the box wrapped by my peerage members.

She took it with a smile and opened it.

- Venelana Gremory -

She saw her daughter accepting the gifts and remembered that it is her formal entry into the hellhole known as the Underworld's Politics.

Most of the devil's of her generation were either friendly with her, mainly the girls or were too immature, the boys. There were some who were different, her nephew, Sairaorg.

She had noticed the change in the boy just a few months after he ran away from home. Also, to think he would run to the infamous Buné of all people.

Then she remembered the conversation between the two back at Latia's birthday party and understood the reason. The young Buné Heir was the only one who didn't shun him, when he had started to shun himself too. The boy had given him hope when nothing was going in his favour and he had latched on to it.

She knew how disgusting the insides of the Bael Clan can be and how much of an insecure little shit her half-brother, the current Lord Bael is. She had experienced it herself as being more talented but the daughter of a concubine instead of the wife. It was the reason why she had maintained only formal relations with the Bael House.

But still, to think her nephew would run to a teenager instead of her in times of trouble. It did make her feel guilty about the situation. It was for this reason that she covered for Sairaorg.

The other one was the normally shy and soft-spoken heir of the Glasya-Labolas, who seemed like he had grown up a lot since she last saw him. He seemed a lot more… relaxed than before, which was a good thing for him. While the boy was unaware of it, he had a very significant fan-following in the underworld. He would be a lot more famous if only he opened up a bit more.

And finally, the one who was at the centre of it all, the infamous Farmer Noble, Mathias Buné who looked like he wanted nothing more than to get rid of his necktie but was only holding back due to Leila's glare. She found the child truly refreshing in this place where everyone does something to push an agenda of their own, he didn’t care about wealth or power.

She had talked to Sairaorg and he couldn’t stop gushing about his ‘Big Brother’. Their talks had given her a good idea about the boy and she liked it quite a lot. Now… if only it was just that.

Her son was a terrible liar… at least to his family, even more to her who had raised him since he needed someone to change his diapers. He was hiding something about the Buné Heir, something so important that he would lie to his family about it and judging by the way he was supporting the boy it didn’t seem to be a bad thing, just something that needed to be hidden.

Leila’s attitude and the hints she could get about her trying to pair him with her own daughter is very telling too.

She didn’t call him out for it because it was a part of his Satan job but it did clue out on something else. The Buné Heir, Mathias Buné was special in some good ways and it was not just his friendly nature. She couldn’t ask Sirzechs about it and her own student Leila, would never slip like her son, so the only thing she could do to satiate her curiosity was to take a look by herself.

And it was now Rias’ turn to open the same boy’s gift.

The ornate box looked well-made. She opened the box and suddenly the entire hall was covered in a sweet scent of Vanilla so strong that even she felt her mouth salivate. She looked at the boy and he looked stunned for a moment as he looked at Armin Glasya-Labolas who looked just as stunned.

Rias lifted the content of the box and it was the most incredible type of fruit she had ever seen.

A Pink Heart shaped fruit the size of an adult’s head.

The scent became even more prominent and she couldn’t help but go forward. She looked in the box to check if there was something in the box giving out the smell but soon realised that it was coming from the fruit. Although, it did seem that there was something else in the box. “Rias, remove the velvet cover in the box.”

Rias seemed to have been broken out of her daze and did as she was told and the entire vicinity gasped. Inside it were five fruits placed in what seemed like oval diamond goblets.

The love of diamonds was not restricted to human females. Even devils were fond of the diamonds just as much if not even more due to their sins.

Rias however was more concentrated on the fruit in her hand and placed the box aside to take a bite of the fruit when a voice interfered.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Heiress Gremory? That fruit looks awfully suspicious. Who knows what it has?”

The speaker was… Diodora Astaroth and she saw Leila and Ajuka both narrow their eyes and to her surprise even little Latia was the same.

Rias got a moment of scowl on her face but collected herself and replied calmly. “It’s fine. I trust Mathias…. Heir Buné.”

“You shouldn’t trust people so easily. You are the sibling of a Satan. I don’t think I should say this but, I being in the same position feel like you should take more care of whom you trust so easily. Some people try to shoot way above their leagues and won’t be resistant to using some… questionable means. I mean a small taste-test won’t hurt anyone and even you will be relieved in your heart.”

The people in the hall started murmuring and by now she could feel a few people even throwing suspicious looks at the Buné.

As for the boy himself, he had an emotionless look on his face as he looked at the Astaroth. It was understandable. This was a direct insult that many adults would be enraged about, and calm the boy may be, he was still a teenager. And sure enough he spoke , “Heir Astaroth.”

The hall quieted down as they watched the drama unfold.

“Yes? Do you have anything to say, Heir Buné. Please don’t misunderstand me. I was not pointing to you in general. It was just a general suggestion. I hope you didn’t mind.”

Ah… a good tactic. This boy learned a bit since the last time she had seen him. Now, how would you reply to this, Mathias?

The Buné Heir however looked unphased by the comment and maintained the same look on his face before continuing. “You are drooling.”

…

…

She was sure she had seen a few people do spit-takes at the reply because she would have done the same thing and then she saw his stoic face change into a smile and the stunned Astaroth suddenly realised the situation and wiped his mouth… And that was it.

“You know, Heir Astaroth. If you wanted one of the fruits, you could have just told me. Pulling all this drama just to get a slice of it… is a little cheap to do. I mean I have seen you sneaking that last piece of cake from the dining table more than once during my visits to the Astaroth castle but. You shouldn’t do this in such public gatherings. After all, you are the cousin of a Satan. You should keep a minimum level of etiquette to present an example for others. This… I am sorry to say but this behaviour is a bit, hmm what’s that word… ah , yes, unbecoming of you.”

The red-faced and spluttering Astaroth didn’t get a chance to put forward a reply at all as he was drowned by the chuckles of the rest of the crowd.

“Yeah, nice diversion.” The one to speak this time was Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas and her eyes inevitably went towards the Glasya-Labolas Heir who looked like he would tear a hole through his cousin with the glare he was throwing at him.

“Zephyrdos….behave.” He spoke in an even tone but the message was clear and the younger of the boys shut his jaw when he realised the glare. The Glasya-Labolas Heir wasn’t done however. He bowed towards everyone before continuing, “I apologise to everyone about my cousin’s behaviour. As for the taste-test. I will not deny that while mildly insulting, it can be said to be a valid concern in case there is not enough trust between the two parties….”

She had to raise an eyebrow at the boy’s words because she knew how close he was with the Buné Heir.

 “So…. let me be the one to do it. I will not deny that there is some selfishness involved in my offer. The fruit that Heiress Gremory is holding in her hand is named by my close friend, Mathias, as the ‘Vanilove Fruit’ for Vanilla lovers. The previous Lord Buné, Mathias’ father, brought the seeds of these plants from the Pits, as we already know that the Pit number eight is under the care of the Buné House. The speciality of this plant is that the tree takes two years to grow and another three years to bear fruit after which it withers away completely. All in the meantime, each tree only yields a single fruit and it’s a delicacy rarely tasted by even royalty. I only found out about it from some old documents in my family’s library. The last one was gifted by my own ancestor to Satan Leviathan and hadn’t been seen since then. She had described it as the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. I could only identify the fruit because of its description because not even a picture of the fruit was left. There are twenty of these fruits, well nineteen now and is extremely beneficial to someone with a Demonic Beast heritage, as we all already know Satan Leviathan had and was called the Sea Serpent of the End. Unfortunately, no matter how much my ancestor searched for it, he couldn’t find another one and we never figured out a way to grow more of them. So, if Heiress Gremory is willing to do a taste-test for this, I would offer my assistance.”

She was pretty sure she had her mouth open at the reveal and so did many others who were now looking at the same fruit they were mocking with envious eyes.

Rias too stared at the fruit in her hand in amazement before clutching it close to her chest. “It is fine, Heir Glasya-Labolas but, I trust Heir Buné. We have been friends for the last four years and I have eaten things from his farm more times than I can count. I am pretty sure that if he wanted to do something, he would have used those chances instead of being in front of everyone here. I think this particular bit of information was missed by Heir Astaroth. Be that as it may, I apologise for denying your request.”

“Ah, it’s quite understandable Heiress Gremory.” Armin Glasya-Labolas smiled while Rias thanked the Buné Heir with a proper bow. She saw Leila taking him away with her and knew it was because other nobles were looking at the poor boy with hawk-like gazes.

She however looked back at the other gifts which were forgotten in the drama of the fruit.

Fruits encased in diamonds.

Was this a proposal from the Buné Heir?

- Mathias -

“You should totally be a writer, Armin. How did you even think of such a story on the fly?” I asked, amazed at the bullshit he had just spewed in front of everyone.

“I had thought of something beforehand in case you messed up… and you did. That was not a Rainbow Fruit, but I take it from your reaction that you didn’t know that either.” He asked instead of replying to my question.

“I didn’t, although I might know how it got changed or rather who changed the fruits.”

“Valerie?”

“Most probably. So, what was it about the fruit?”

“I did read about a fruit like that in one of the notes. Some of the details were exactly as I had said but everything else was different. Even if they find the record, they wouldn’t be able to tell anything because the details of the plants are known only by you. Anyways, do you realise the amount of misunderstanding it might cause?”

“I don’t think he realises any of that.” My teacher took this opportunity to enter the conversation.

I looked back and saw her with Latia who was pouting at me.

“Armin was very clever to put down any chances of other nobles hounding you for the fruits in the future but you should be careful about what you reveal in the future, at least till you come of age.”

“I will pay attention to it.”

It was at this moment that Latia tugged at my sleeve, “I want one too.”

“Hmm?”

“I want one of those too.” She pouted.

I couldn’t help but smile at her. It was probably the first time she asked me for something.

“Okay. You are welcome to come to my farm and I will arrange an entire feast for you.” I ruffled her hair and she nodded with a smile.

“Oh! Can I join you two too?” Another voice was heard and I turned my head to see a pink clad Serafall Leviathan joining the private meeting followed by a silver haired man.

“Serafall. Euclid.” My teacher nodded at her while the rest of us bowed slightly.

“That was a very cute gift, Mathias. I can guess the story behind the fruit, the real one, still it was a good save, Armin. Anyways, I guess this is my first time meeting you so let me introduce myself. I am Magical Girl Levia-tan.” She spun around with a wand that she had summoned from somewhere and sparkles flew around in the place.

I for one was frozen in place and then I burst out in a laugh. “That was quite cool.”

“Heh, it was, wasn’t it?” She appeared in front of my face with sparkling eyes.

“Please don’t encourage her. I am the one who has to bear it afterwards.” The man, Euclid sighed but there was a smile on his face too. “Hello, my name is Euclid Lucifuge. I have heard a lot about you and it’s nice to finally meet you. I wonder if you would be interested in some talks in your freetime?” He offered me a hand and I shook it.

“Nice to meet you too. And sure, anything. I mean apart from my farmwork, I am quite free.”

The statement caused Serafall and Euclid to smile before the man explained. “I had heard about your… attachment with your farm and it seems to be quite true.”

“Attachment is a very mild word. Call it what it is, an obsession.” Leila rolled her eyes.

“I prefer calling it ‘my way of life’, but whatever fits your bill.” I pouted.

“Hahah true. My wife calls my attachment to my lab the same.” Euclid laughed.

“Because it is. Sometimes I think you are the Vice President and Ajuka the President of the Devil’s Scientific Research and Development Department only because you give some time to your wife while Ajuka is married to his lab alone.” Leila snipped, making the man scratch his head looking mildly embarrassed.

I on the other hand was comparing this friendly and humble guy with the one from my knowledge of the Light Novels. It was like two different worlds entirely.

“So, what was it with the fruit? You looked a bit surprised when the gift was opened.” Serafall asked.

Obviously she would be able to see through it.

“My peerage members were packing the gift and made a mistake.”

“So, you were planning to give something else, not this and the diamond fruits?” She asked.

“What diamond fruit?” Leila asked.

“Ah, you were not standing close to Rias so you didn’t see. There were five fruits encased in diamond-like goblets. They might be crystals though, now that I think about their size, but they looked extremely beautiful.”

“Oh, they are called Diamond Figcrystals. Those were one hundred percent diamonds, I assure you. But no, those were there so that people don’t mock the gift as a bunch of fruits. It was the other fruit that was different. I was planning to give Rias a Rainbow Fruit, which is slightly better than this one. They look like rainbow coloured peaches and take a long time to mature.”

…

…

“Mathias, you will be returning back for lessons. I think I need to teach you about economics in the underworld so that you don’t accidentally crash it somehow.” Leila said while massaging her head.

Leila had put up a barrier when she had come here so our discussions were safe.

“So the diamonds grow on trees naturally?” Euclid asked me and I nodded. “Fascinating. I wonder how that happens?”

“Well… at the core of it all, diamond is also carbon which is the main part of all organic molecules. It’s just a variation of the crystal structure, so it’s not completely out of understanding that some plants can manipulate carbon and change its crystalline structure. Although, my diamonds shine brightly when heat  is applied on them, still…. I mean entire living beings can be born from a single cell. What is this compared to that kind of a miracle?” The real miracle is the miracle of life.

“So true. Are you interested in science?” He asked me with shining eyes.

“I have read some things.” Basically my Bachelor's Degree from my previous life. “I have to read a lot about biology to learn more about life. It helps with my work.”

“You wouldn’t realise it with his brutish looks but this guy is quite knowledgeable when it comes to books.” Armin commented, making me pout slightly.

“Sissy.” I whispered under my breath which was still loud enough to be heard by everyone.

As for me being knowledgeable, obviously I am. I was preparing for my Masters when I died and was transmigrated. Basically four years ago.

“My research is also dealing with life and cell manipulation. I won’t bore you with the delatils now or Serafall will freeze me into a popsicle but let’s find some time after today. I believe we can help each other in this regard.” He smiled while looking at Serafall and I nodded back.

“Yes yes, no boring us with the stuffy science stuff.” Serafall protested, waving her arms around. “Tell me more about the other fruit, that Rainbow one. Do you still have those? I actually wanted to buy some things from you to serve at my So-tan’s birthday party soon. Can you offer any suggestions?”

“Food for the birthday? Hmm, you can come to my farm and select the things you like. I can explain things but I don’t think it would be as good as showing them personally. Mr. Lucifuge, you are welcome too.”

“Oh, just call me Euclid.” He smiled back.

“Really! Thank you Matty-kun. You are such a sweetie. Know what, if anyone bothers you for the love-love fruit thing, just tell them that you sold every last one of them to me. I will take care of it.” She ruffled my hair and said with a smile. Although her, lifting her hand above her own head to ruffle my hair did look a bit funny.

We talked for a while after that and returned to the party.

As expected I got surrounded by requests for the fruits. Some even tried to bid on it but stopped when I used my Serafall Card.

I got to see Sirzechs’ son, Millicas Gremory who looked like a ball of cuteness, especially when followed by his little dog, which I had made. I wonder what he would do if he found that I had made it look like the miniature version of Beast Four(without powers, obviously). Then again, who doesn’t love Fou. It’s an adorable fluff-ball who can kill the entire Human Race if left out.

Finally, I met Rias and her mother. She thanked me for the fruit, which she had locked away after everyone was eying it covetously since Armin’s reveal. She thanked me for the gift and I suggested feeding some of it to her bunny. At least the figs.

I also found out on this day that Venelana Gremory was my teacher’s teacher. We talked about various topics and she liked listening to me talk about my farm. She liked playing the piano and had even tutored Sirzechs in it. I think I had heard that the guy wanted to become a musician before, and now I know why.

Rias on the other hand didn’t have the patience for learning the piano. Also, in her defence, there weren’t so many means of entertainment five hundred years ago.

Apparently the old satan descendants, or at least most of them, abhorred human stuff and looked down on anyone using them. Not that there were many interesting things back then. Compared to today, that era was certainly lacking.

The rest of the party ended on a good note overall.

- Great Red -

He looked at the being in front of him, training endlessly to hone its skills, to further its power by just a bit, with each passing day, trying to inch forward to the next level bit by bit.

Dragons were proud creatures. Training was not something any of them did. They grew through fights. Any of them who did train, did so because they were driven by something. Like Tiamat was driven by the goal to chase after her mother.

This one however was different.

He didn’t train because he was driven by something. He trained to find something to drive him further. However, dragons of his strength were either dead or sealed….or in the recent case, unknown to him.

Tiamat still needed the push to stabilise her power. A place to let it all out in a fight and this guy was looking for such a fight. If this wasn’t calling for a helping hand, he didn’t know what was.

And maybe….just maybe, even his new friend could get something out of it.

After all, Crom Crauch was looking for the future path of the Dragon Race.

Mathias Buné, might very well be such a future.

He was just lending them a helping hand….like the friendly neighbourhood, True Dragon.

- Zeoticus Gremory -

He sat with his dear wife when Sirzechs entered the room.

“Mother, Father. You called for me?” He asked.

“Yes. Take a seat first.” His wife ordered.

He took the seat and Venelana set up a barrier around the room.

Sirzechs became serious at this measure of precaution.

“What is this about?” He asked while they waited until the barrier was set.

“First of all let me make something clear to you. If you cannot speak about anything as a Satan, we are not going to force you to. We know our bounds and respect your privacy.” Venelana started off.

“What are you talking about, Mother?” Sirzechs asked seriously this time.

“Mathias Buné.”

“What about Mathias, Mother?” He asked, looking confused. Venelana was however not in a mood of these diversions, considering the topic they had to discuss.

“Sirzechs. I am your Mother. I have raised you since you wet your bed. Do you think I wouldn’t know when you lie or hide things? Your left eyebrow twitched just now. What are you hiding?”

He watched Sirzechs’ eyes widen slightly before he realised his mistake and corrected it. Oh, he was still young. Venelana had mastered the art of reading people she knew like a book long ago. Even he had suffered from it….several times.

“Sirzechs, again. If you cannot speak. We will not force you but….this is important.”

“What is this about, Father?”

He looked at Venelana who nodded and he continued, “We are considering future prospects for Rias’ husband. I was going to talk to Lord Phenex who had shown interest in marrying his youngest son, Riser into the Gremory family but….today’s birthday party and Rias’ own reactions made us reconsider some decisions.”

Sirzechs’ mouth opened slightly as he processed the information.

“And you are considering Mathias? But he is going to be the Lord of his house and Rias is the Heiress….”

“The Gremory House doesn’t lack people, Sirzechs. We still have Millicas or any other children you may have in the future. I am still alive. Mother is alive and so are many others. A few years is nothing but a marriage will last a lifetime….and we devils have a very long lifetime. I don’t want to make a decision because once things are finalised, things become difficult to change. Not to mention, there is the risk of offending the other party. If Rias gets a better life as the Lady of a different house, I would not deny her of it.”

“Is this because of the gift? The fruit was good but to go so far just for that....”

“It was for the fruit, yes, but not for the one you might be talking about. It’s about the other five fruits. They were encased in Diamonds. Pure natural diamond. I had Henriech test them. Do you know how much their estimated value is?” He looked at the blank look on his son’s face and continued. “A billion Liliums. One Billion Liliums. That’s a quarter of the entire Gremory Family’s yearly turnover and he gave it just like that. I might not have met the boy, but from what your mother tells me, he is not a fool. So, why would the Buné House, someone that is known for its poverty in the past few centuries, give such a gift. Or rather, how would they give such a gift?” He asked, making Sirzechs shut his mouth again.

“Also, you might not have noticed it but, your little sister has developed somewhat of a crush on him due to the ‘Vanilove Fruit’. We did check her and the fruit, just in case, and it wasn’t anything magical. If we tried to engage her to someone despite this, without even considering her wish, it would be incredibly cruel to her. So, if I am going to consider Mathias Buné for a choice, I need to know of everything I possibly can. I know for certain that he is not a bad sort of boy with my interaction with him. Leila wouldn’t be trying to push her daughter to him if that were the case.”

“You know that!” Sirzechs called out and he smirked.

“Please son. I have taught you both and while Leila is certainly better at being subtle, she isn’t untraceable. Leila wouldn’t match her daughter with someone who wasn’t a good enough match in every way possible. Her standards are way higher than normal Devil’s and I, being her teacher, approve of her choice.” Venelana replied in a bored tone.

“If you know that, then why would you….”

“Ask to get Rias married?” Venelana sighed. “Just because you don’t have a harem, doesn’t mean it’s not common. Your father has one and we are still happily married. Some of them are even my close friends. Several devils have multiple marriages and are happy with it. We will leave such a choice to the ones concerned. It is their lives. So, tell us about Mathias Buné.”

Sirzechs sighed deeply and then looked up. “Am I really that bad at lying?”

“Only to family, my dear.” Venelana consoled softly.

“If it makes you feel any better, I always get caught too.” He did his part too.

“Alright. The other three are going to chew me out because of this, especially considering how much we did to keep him and his work hidden all this time. Most of it was my work though. So, if we are talking about this, it stays here. Mathias Buné, in my and other three Satan’s honest and humble opinions, is someone who can and will change the underworld and we….as a race, will lose a lot if something happens to him before he can reach his full potential.” The tone of his voice and the last words did make them raise their eyebrows.

“Hiding him from whom? Inside or outside?” He asked.

“Both.” Sirzechs sighed. “To tell you the truth, I had considered you as a potential teacher for Mathias, when I met him the first time. I had to shift to Lady Sitri and Leila later on because of our house having a connection with Zekram and the Great King faction. Thus, the only choices we had were Lady Sitri and Leila of which we chose Leila later on because….we needed someone who could do a complete and thorough psych test for Mathias. His powers, we just couldn’t afford someone like him to be against the underworld and the situations I had encountered him in, made me take this action. Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. I should have started with the basics first. Mathias’ full name is Mathias Buné… Zagan, the current Lord of both Buné and Zagan houses.”

Zagan!

His mind raced and he recalled the details of the Zagan House and his eyes widened as he understood the implication of the name. “Did he?”

“Yes. he inherited both the Clan Traits.” Sirzechs answered his question.

“Oh Satan!”

Venelana seemed to have reached the same conclusion but still said. “Explain.”

And Sirzechs did explain things.

The meeting, the scandal, the boy surviving in the wild alone since then and everything about him from the very start.

“I can understand why you hid the information and are still hiding it now. If he had been discovered, he would have either been brainwashed by the Great King faction into their puppet or encountered an ‘accident’ somewhere. For them, only the underworld they control is worthy of existing. Knowing the boy’s personality, the accident seems like the most likely end. Not to mention, the other factions would become tense once more. It was a story I had heard from Mother once but apparently father had mumbled it out once when drunk. In the Great War, Archangel Uriel had once faced against Zekram and his legions in battle and Zekram had asked him if he was there to take him down in a suicidal misson too. Archangel Uriel had just laughed and replied and I quote, ‘You are not worthy.’ He then proceeded to burn the entire legion to ashes with his famed Holy Flames. Probably burned a healthy amount of pride with it too. The scarier thing is that Archangel Saraqael was stronger than Archangel Uriel. The other factions will certainly target him.”

“How strong is he?” After all, it wouldn’t do if his daughter became a widow, soon after marriage. Thinking of this, he asked Sirzechs, making his son sigh again.

“Mathias, although not confirmed accurately, is at the very least an Ultimate Class in terms of strength.”

“How old is he again?” Venelana asked.

“Sixteen in two weeks.”

“Is he like….” He tried asking but Sirzechs shook his head.

“We don’t know. From what we know and guess, Mathias’ Zagan Trait is a mutation because there are no such records of King Zagan using these, but then again, it could also be him hiding things like all the other houses. We don’t have any solid information that would tell us and those who are in the know-how, cannot be contacted. The food created and grown by Mathias boosts certain aspects of living beings. Even Armin became an Ultimate Class after training with Mathias for a year. We have no idea about his exact power and are only guessing because Armin always spars with Mathias, so they should probably be around the same level of strength.”

“A sixteen year old Ultimate Class, potential Super Devil with two lordships and one of them being the Zagan. I can see why Leila would do such a thing.”

“It is also her husband’s decision because the Agares Trait can be used to age wine made from fruits from Mathias’ farm. He wishes to start those and has already started working for it.”

“Indeed. Septus Agares is indeed a shrewd businessman.” That said, the business opportunities didn’t end just there. There was also the option of getting materials for different fibres and animal skins from the Farm to further the Gremory Family’s main textile business. Even a simple contract with such a House would be lucrative.

The Gremory Family’s business mainly dealt with Textiles and Clothing lines. They also expanded in the Hotel and Real Estate Sectors but the Textiles were still their main line of work in the Underworld and the Human World both. It accounted for the majority of the House’s annual turnover.

In a way, this was even better than a partnership with the Phenex House.

While the Phenex might have the largest amount of wealth among the families of the Underworld, the Buné had the highest earning potential. After all, food was something everyone required. That said, how would someone compete with a guy who can just grow gemstones? Not to mention, his strength and the power to make others strong too. Heaven and the Fallen Angels don’t have the capital to sacrifice an Archangel for a fight anymore. He was pretty sure that if he let this opportunity pass away, Mother would never let him hear the end of it. The opportunity was just that good and Rias liked him so he wouldn’t be forcing her either. A win-win situation if there ever was one.

“In that case, I wish to meet him more to know him a bit more and get Rias and him to know each other.” Venelana’s words broke his train of thoughts.

“Alright. We will be taking a tour of his farm for the first time because Serafall wanted to pick things up for Sona’s birthday. You all can join in too. But, even if you finalise the things, we cannot announce anything to the public until Mathias comes of age. You will have to wait for two more years for the announcement.”

“That part is quite understandable and goes without saying.” He looked at his wife and both of them nodded.

The future was certainly unexpected. He was planning to surprise the world with the engagement between the Gremory and Phenex Houses but the world threw an even greater surprise back at him.

A good and welcome surprise but a surprise nonetheless.

__________________________________x__________________________________________________________________x________________________________

Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Authors Note:

Another chapter of fresh goodness from the Farm.

As we can see, Mathias is chilling out in his farm without a care about the rest of the world, while the entire world plots to bring Mathias’ out of his farm.

In this chapter, I tried writing something about his friendship with Armin. I have never written about good bro characters. DxD doesn’t have good bro characters in the younger generation. So….I just Daphne Greengrass’d a character [For those who don’t understand this reference, Daphne Greengrass is a character who was mentioned just two times in the entire seven books. She was mentioned two times in the passing….that’s it and she somehow became a lead in most of the HP fics where the Author needs an OC of his choice but doesn’t dare to introduce new characters and just uses the name to write whatever comes to his mind. So, yes to all those Daphne lovers, she’s just a potato with a name. Sue me.]

I did just that. I took a character that was mentioned in the passing and made a bro out of him.

Hope you all like it.

As for prankster Valerie. It was kinda implied because she had convinced Gasper to wear girl’s clothing when he was a kid. I liked the idea too.

Lavinia is having a massive existential crisis and she will need something to become a part of Mathias’ peerage.

So, we have Mama Gremory catching up the hints.

Diodora who grew up a bit and was still short.

Sirzechs being a bad liar.

Zeo being a businessman dad.

Rias having a crush due to a misunderstanding.

And Latia having her first case of jealousy. Ah, the wonders of puberty.

Euclid finally being introduced. The Vice president of the Devil’s R&D. As a guy who replicated the Boosted Gear and cloned Phenexs, I think this role suited him perfectly.

Oh, and Armin’s father being a massive troll.

So, a lot of things happened in this chapter. I hope you all liked it.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.