Story 9: Chapter 8: The Party (Patreon)

Ace in the Hole

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: The Party

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- Ace -

I looked at the boy in front of me once more.

Lelouch Lamperouge.

I didn’t need to think deeply to remember the name of this guy.

Lelouch vi Britannia, the twelfth prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and one of the sharpest minds in all of anime history. His description did match Lelouch and a light probe told me that he wasn’t lying either.

Anime characters and real characters can be so different sometimes that it was hard to say.

I mean I remember Harry Potter from the movies and the actual one and they look quite different despite having similar features.

I would be honest, if I didn’t have the experience of living in an anime world myself, I would have been fanboying but….right now was not the time for it.

I repeated again, “So, why have you summoned me here? What do you desire?”

The boy seemed to have broken from his daze as he looked at me in shock. “W-what are you?”

“Me? Oh yes, I guess I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Ace. I am what you might know of as a Devil.” I brought my wings out and smiled, looking as his face paled at the revelation. “Don’t worry. I don’t take souls or anything. That’s outdated nowadays. I work for gold, precious metals and stones, rare knowledge, etc. They have to be of equal value though.”

“I….” Before he could say anything, there was a sound on the door and he quickly went and hid.

“Well isn’t that a bummer? Anyways, I don’t allow others to summon me without a price so be sure to pay up the next time, one by at most….or else….” I waved my hand and the guy felt a chill in his hiding place. “You will die from my curse.” I saw him pause and his eyes widen. “And, you can summon me anytime you want, for a price of course.”

With that said, I closed the portal and let out a breath.

“Really! You threatened him? Is that how you make deals?” Matsu asked but I didn’t sense any malice in her voice. She was actually curious.

Actually, in all these days, I have never seen anything but adoration from her for myself.

Because of this very reason, it was hard to even try to push her away from me. She was always trying her best for me.

Her feelings were so….so innocent….a different type of innocence than Lavy but yet I couldn’t deny that she would give her life for me even without me asking.

It made me grateful….and scared.

My new life has made me so distant from the normal things I used to enjoy.

Sigh.

“Eh! I didn’t mean it like that.” She apologised but I shook my head.

“I was thinking of something else. Also, I didn’t put any curse on him, just scared him a bit so that he pays in a week. I still don’t have a way to open the portals in any world at will.”

Suddenly I thought of something and looked at her and brought several of my summoning pamphlets and gave them to her.

“What is this?” She asked, looking at the paper confused.

“If someday I disappear without any warnings, you can use them. Make sure you use them when you are alone. If it doesn’t work once, do it everyday.”

She raised her eyebrow so I explained further.

“If any day I am in a danger I cannot avoid, I would escape to some random world. In that case I would only be summoned by these contracts. Use them for now. I will have a necklace or something similar made for you containing the same contract so that it will be convenient to keep.”

I hadn’t given this to Lavy yet because she was still young and I didn’t want to burden her right now. Maybe in a year or two.

“A ring.” She said quickly, her eyes lighting up.

“Huh?”

“I want a ring.” She jumped to my face and held my hand as she stared directly into my eyes. “I want a ring from you. You can make a ring with the contract. A ring which connects me to you….” And she was lost in her dreams.

“....alright.” I agreed.

“Yay!” She jumped and hugged me and this time I returned her hug too.

“Tomorrow, there is a party organised for my advancement to Ultimate Class Magician. Lavy, Akeno and Shuri will be there too. Would you like to come with me?”

“Yes.” She nodded without any second thoughts.

“Alright. We will get a dress for you tomorrow morning then.”

She nodded profusely.

“Also, you should try to see if you can learn some kind of magic. It would give you some manner of self protection in this world. Actually, even if you are in any danger, you can summon me. Just make sure you do it when you are alone or only as a last resort. I don’t want my ability to be exposed anywhere.”

“Hmm.” She nodded in understanding. “Can you teach me?”

“Huh?”

“Can you teach me magic?” She asked.

“I….I only know one or two types of magic which might or might not be compatible with you. If it is then I will, if not then you should check out different kinds of magic books at Grauzauberer’s Library. I will get you admitted as an apprentice if you can learn something. The magic used by the magicians of this world is derived from Devil Magic and requires a lot of mathematical calculations. I think it would be right up your alley.”

“Oh! Yes, I can do calculations. Alright, I will try and see what I can do.”

“Hmm.”

Right at that moment, I sensed another summoning.

- Lelouch -

He lay on his knees, thinking if his day could get any worse.

Maybe trying to go after the terrorist truck was not a good idea.

Everything went wrong from there.

First he got that damned paper and summoned a….

Yes.

It had to be the devil’s curse.

He didn’t even want to summon that damn guy, dammit….and he would have paid him anyway. Even if he was not a fool, then why curse him?

It was obviously because of the curse that he was in this situation.

“Private Kururugi, you are ordered to take them out.” The guy in the lead ordered Suzaku.

“But sir, they are just civilians. He is just a student.”

“You bastard, didn’t you swear your loyalty to the Holy Britannian Empire?”

This is bad.

He looked at the green haired girl in front of him.

They didn’t have any way to run.

“....I….I cannot kill them, sir.”

“Then die.” The soldier shot Suzaku in the back faster than he could react.

His eyes widened as he looked at the downed form of Suzaku.

The soldier raised the gun at him. “A fitting place to end a terrorist, isn’t it? Still you did good for a Britannian student.”

Again….it was because of Britannia….everything is because of them….always.

He felt a large range of emotions at this moment. Helplessness, sadness, regret but most of all….rage. He felt rage like he had never before.

Suddenly something happened which he was not expecting.

The paper in his pocket shone like it had done a moment ago and the soldiers stepped back. At the same time he heard a voice he had heard just an hour ago.

“Oh, it’s you again. And it looks like you are in a pinch this time.”

Baam.

One of the soldier’s shot at the voice but it continued without any interruptions.

“So, did you decide on what you want?”

He looked at the body of Suzaku, still laying on the ground and the soldiers around it.

One of them had even stepped over it.

“Yes….I know.”

“Very well then. Tell me what you want. I will fulfil it if I can….for a suitable price of course.”

“I….want them to die. I want all of them to die.” He shouted.

The soldiers were startled at his shout and one of them raised his gun to shoot at him but it was frozen before it could even fire. The gun, his hand, everything….just froze. The soldier shouted trying to move his hand as it broke and fell down on the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces.

“And the price….”

“You can have anything you want.”

“Very well. I accept your deal. I will give you their lives….I will even give you revenge against the Britannian Empire and in return I want….you. You….Lelouch, will serve me for the next twenty years. Not even your death will be able to drag you away from me. Do you accept?”

“Yes.”

The very next instant, all the soldiers turned into frozen statues.

“Then….we have a deal. Welcome to the team….Lelouch vi Britannia.”

- Ace -

I looked at the guy still down on his knees as he looked at me in shock.

Getting Lelouch as a subordinate….

Yeah, if I can get him to be loyal to me, it would be a massive win. As for how to do so….I had an idea.

“What? Did you think I didn’t know? I know more about this world than you can even think, kid. But don’t worry. Your name….your lineage….doesn’t matter to me. The only thing I want….is your loyalty.”

His eyes steeled as he got up.

I saw him taking a look at the body of Suzaku.

“He’s still alive.” I said, shaking him from his stupor.

“Huh?”

“That boy….he’s still alive.” I threw him a red potion from Kazuma’s world.

“Feed him this and he will be alright. I do expect a payment for this though.”

He looked at me and then the potion before going picking it up. “You will be paid.”

“Great. Five kilograms of gold. Thank you very much.”

I saw a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “That’s a discounted price, ya know. You don’t have to look so down. I treat my subordinates well. As long as you serve me loyally, I will make sure you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.”

I saw him look at me with surprise. “Yes. I will make sure that your sister is healed. I will even tell you who did it and let you have a go at the one responsible for her condition….all for a price.”

“Name your price.” He said immediately.

“Nuh uh. Pay for the last deals first.”

“You will get paid. Name your price for Nunnaly’s cure.”

“Well….I will have to think after I see her injuries.” I made an excuse. I already knew what needed to be done.

Aqua’s healing could do the work. But if I said it now, I would lose a potential bait for him to summon me again.

“Now that we are done with you, let’s see if Miss White Dress needs something from me?” I looked at the green haired girl laying on the ground, completely forgotten in the mess. “Hello, Miss. C.C. My name is Ace. I am a Devil….a real one.” I showed her my wings as I saw her eyes widened. “And I can fulfil your wish….for a price obviously.”

With a flick of my wand, the piece of cloth on her mouth disappeared as she stared at me.

“Oh come on. Him, I understand but you….you of all people shouldn’t be that surprised. But I am getting late for dinner so I will make this quick. I know what you are. I know what you want. And I can give it to you. In return you will have to do a few things for me. Do you agree?”

She looked at me again before nodding slightly.

“Say it. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes.” She whispered

“Great.” I smiled as I used a flick of my wand to free her. “You were condemned to this fate by a nun, a follower of God and now you are being freed from it by a devil….don’t you think the situation is full of irony?”

She didn’t say anything but kept staring at me.

“Awesome, I am making a killing today.” I turned towards Lelouch again. “You know what? I propose a deal for you. Wanna hear?”

He raised an eyebrow in thought.

“Great. So I know that you want revenge against the Britannian Empire but let’s face it….you’re weak.”

He gritted his teeth at that but didn’t refute my words.

“So I can give you a power….a power with the potential to overthrow the Britannian Empire….and you know how it goes, for a price obviously.”

He looked in thought before asking. “Why?”

“Obviously because I can profit from it. You get your revenge and I get awesome payment. Isn’t this a win-win payment.”

“You are a devil.”

“Now you are being plain racist. So what if I am a Devil? How are most of the humans in your family any better?”

He winced at my quip.

“So, what will it be?” I asked again.

“At what price?”

“Hmm….let’s see….100 Knightframes and 100 tones of Sakuradite.”

“You are crazy!” He shouted.

“Heh….yeah, maybe I am. How about 200 Knightframes and 200 tonnes of Sakuradite? After all, I am giving you a power to potentially take over the entire Holy Britannian Empire.”

“Only with a potential. You could hand me a knife and I could potentially kill everyone above me with it. That’s not a very clear indication.”

“A smart cookie, alright but no….I will give you a supernatural power, something which will make your path to the throne much easier?”

“What power?”

“Hmm….how about a mind control ability? You could temporarily control someone’s mind….or something of that level.” I asked and saw him pause.

“You….you are lying.”

“Hey there….what reason would I need to lie to you? I mean what even would be the point? If you don’t get something like that you would know and you can back out on the payment. It’s bad for my business, ya know.”

The guy looked in deep thought for a while. It was at this time that we heard a loud explosion outside and he quickly fell to the ground.

“Oh! It looks like people are coming to look for her. You don’t have much time so better hurry up.”

“Alright, fine! Give me the power.”

“Great. So one supernatural power in return of two hundred knight frames and two hundred tonnes of Sakuradite.”

“You said hundred.”

“And you corrected me on that. Thank you for that.” I smiled. “Do we have a deal?”

He looked angry but nodded nonetheless. “Deal.”

“Superb. I am on a roll today. So many deals.” I turned towards C.C. “Can you make a contract with him? Give him a geass. That will be a part of your payment.”

Both of them were caught off guard at this.

C.C was the first to regain her bearings and looked at him as she started the process.

While she was doing this, I bolstered my Occlumency shields while keeping a lookout at him using my Legilimency skills.

A few seconds later she backed away and at the same moment I verified that he did indeed get the same ability.

I didn’t know how strong his ability was but I knew it was connected to his world and would be useless in other worlds….still, I’d rather not risk it.

I didn’t give them a chance to react. “Imperio.”

Learning from the Black Library was helpful although this ability is quite useless in this world.

In fact, even the Cruciatus Curse was useless while the Killing Curse didn’t even work in this world.

After thinking and experimenting for a while I came to a conclusion that the internal magic in the body of people and supernatural creatures in this world made it nigh impossible to control them. One has to be stronger than them to pull something like this off.

In a way, Devil magic is far stronger in this aspect than just Imperio.

Even Cruciatus was the same.

The Killing Curse on the other hand….it just didn’t work.

Maybe it had something to do with other worlds. I mean I don’t even know what this curse was and how it functioned.

Anyways, The DxD world is one where stronger beings can resist time stops used by God Killing weapons….such things were understandable.

“Use your Geass to order to me clap once.” I ordered.

He did exactly that. “I Lelouch vi Britannia command you, clap once.”

As soon as he said this, I felt a force slamming my Occlumency Shields but was pushed away.

“Huh….do it once more. Order me to clap one time.”

He repeated but this time I didn’t even feel it.

I looked at Matsu. “Can you help me with a small experiment?”

“Yes!” She jumped up instantly.

“One second. Try resisting it.”

I looked at Lelouch and ordered once more. “Try ordering her to clap once.”

He did and I saw Matsu narrow her eyes and then shake her head.

“It was like a buzzing in my head. Annoying but I can shake it off.”

“Good.” I turned to Lelouch. “Do it once more.”

He repeated and this time there was no reaction.

“Nothing?” I asked and she shook her head.

Alright this confirms it.

I released my spell on him and he gasped for breath before glaring at me. “What was that?”

“Just testing if the deal was successful. It is.”

“It didn’t work.” He said bitingly.

“Oh trust me, it did. You are just too weak to command someone like me. Also, so that you don’t go and get yourself killed before repaying me, let me remind you. You can only order someone once. After that they will gain immunity to your power.”

I left the kid murmuring and turned to the green haired witch and put my hand forward while expanding the size of the portal. “Come on.”

She took one last look at Lelouch before stepping towards me and I pulled her into the portal before waving a goodbye at the kid and closed the portal.

….

“So….what do we do now?” Matsu asked, looking at the girl.

I already had a use for her in mind.

“You must have noticed the changes in your code by now. You are not in your world anymore.” I spoke directly to her.

She didn’t speak anything as she looked at her hand which had been scraped earlier but was not healing now.

She was almost in a trance before a teardrop fell from her eyes. “Thank you.” She whispered.

“Don’t worry. I was just completing my side of the deal. As you have already noticed, you are a mortal now. But before you fulfil your wish, I want you to live for a while. I won’t ask you to do the impossible. Just a few things. I want you to teach a few people about armed combat, knowledge of firearms, modern knowledge and operating Knightmare frames. You can do whatever you want after at least five batches of students have completed their studies. However if you try to back out from the deal….I will drag your soul out of hell and throw you back to your world.” I narrowed my eyes and said.

She just nodded silently. “Thank you.”

“Matsu, can you take her to your room and create an identity for her? Explain everything to her and tell everyone that she is your friend. She will be leaving in a week at best.”

I want to send her to the Empire and teach my team about modern firearms and knowledge and knightmare frames.

C.C has literal centuries worth of experience. It would be a waste to not use it. Moreover, I need someone to teach people of that world.

“Okay~” Matsu jumped from her seat and led the girl out to her room while I sat down on my bed.

Sigh….what a day.

_________________________________x____________________________________

Settling C.C was easier than I had expected. She didn’t talk much with others except Matsu and me. She mostly lived in the new building we had bought for our company. Even providing food was easy as she was always in a mood to eat pizza. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt if someone told me that she could live her entire life on pizza alone.

I really thought that the show was exaggerating about her obsession with pizza….it didn’t.

Others didn’t doubt her when Matsu said that she was someone we were planning to hire for our new company.

Today however was different.

“Ohh! This looks great on you, Ace-kun.” Shuri said as she fixed the collar of my new robes.

I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the white robes I was wearing. It had a golden chain at the waist with an ornamental sword and staff-like jewellery hanging from them.

For a magician, their clothes could tell someone of their ranks.

Low Class Magicians wore simple robes.

Mid Class Magicians had a belt around their waist area.

High Class Magicians had golden highlights and ribbons in their robles while Ultimate Class had uniforms similar to mine.

Mephisto had sent these this morning as a gift.

Each organisation had uniforms.

Generally Ultimate Class Magicians didn’t wear them as they were the very top of the pyramid, today was a formal occasion so I was required to dress up as this.

In front of me, Lavy, Akeno and Matsu were dressed in a similar manner.

I had asked Mephisto to admit Matsu to the Grauzauberer organisation last night and….he asked me to do it myself. Apparently, I could do that now due to my position.

In fact, I could even promote her to a Middle Class Magician with my authority alone. I didn’t though, as she was not even Low Class level yet.

What I did however was promote Lavinia who was now a genuine Middle Class Magician.

She has been over the moon since then.

In fact, I had asked her to be my apprentice along with Akeno and Matsu so that they would get some backing at the organisation due to my name.

And all of this had led to this situation.

They had to follow me to the party as my apprentices now.

All the girls looked pretty happy about this….especially Matsu who thought this was some kind of a roleplay.

“How do I look….Master~” She asked, with a wide grin as she twirled in front of me to show off her robes.

My eyes twitched at her question. Yes. She was enjoying this a bit too much.

And she was not the only one who did so.

Shuri was covering her mouth and giggling at my situation.

“Master?” Lavy asked in confusion.

“Ara ara, you don’t know? You are now Ace-kun’s apprentice. So of course he is your master. If you call him by his name in public, people would make fun of him.” Shuri explained to Lavy.

And while there was nothing wrong in what she said, she was too enthusiastic about it.

“Really?”

“Yes yes Lavy. We must call him Master in public from now on.” Matsu nodded sagely.

“Oh….okay, Master.” She looked at me and blinked adorably.

“You can call me teacher or sensei if you want.”

“No no. That won’t do. Master sounds better.” Matsu cut in and Shuri nodded as well, further explaining whatever bullshit they came up with to the two gullible girls. And isn’t Akeno her own daughter?

Seriously….even Akeno was getting fooled. Was this the same girl who would have become….that Akeno?

It was astonishing to see how some changes affect the entire personality of some people.

….

“Whatever.” I raised my hand in surrender. 

The more I argue the more they will tease me.

At this time there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll check.” Shuri said as she walked to the door.

It was one of the maids.

“Lord Mephisto is waiting for you all.” She bowed and said.

“I see. Very well. We will be there soon.” Shuri answered and closed the door after the maid left. She then turned towards us. “Let’s go. It is time.” 

_________________________________x____________________________________

Parties like these can only be described in one word - ostentatious.

Then again, the entire purpose of such parties was to show off. Be it the emergence of a new Ultimate Class Magician among their ranks or attract potential clients to make contracts and business with the organisation. This much was to be expected.

Thankfully, Mephisto was thoughtful enough to keep much of the crowd away from me. But even he couldn’t draw away the big guns.

Today’s party was special as I was the youngest magician ever to hold the title of an Ultimate Class.

Fun fact, even among devils, I was only the fourth person to have such a level of power at such a young age. It was something Mephisto told me about.

And due to this, many people had come to today’s meeting to solicit my services for themselves.

But even among these people, not everyone was approaching me. This was due to the dragon plush toy floating beside me.

Tannin.

The former Dragon King and one of the very few Satan Class beings of the Underworld as well as the Queen of Mephisto.

He was with me to make sure no one was causing trouble….and believe me, even with such an appearance, no one dared to underestimate the guy.

Lavy for one was very happy and was playing with the dragon even knowing who he was while Akeno looked curious but far more restrained.

I saw a group of people led by Mephisto coming towards me.

“They are from the Golden Dawn.” Tannin informed.

I nodded.

The group consisted of four people apart from Mephisto. A dark haired man followed by two blonde kids, one boy and two girls. The boy looked around eleven or twelve years old while the girl looked seven or eight years old.

“Ace. Meet him. He is Septimus Cage, the current leader of the Golden Dawn, and these two kids are Arthur Pendragon, the heir to the Pendragon Family and his daughter Ley Fay Pendragon.”

Arthur Pendragon and Ley Fay Pendragon.

They were the members of team Vali if I remember correctly….although knowing this messed up world, I wouldn’t be surprised if things were completely different in this world.

Still, this guy was one of the best swordsmen in the series.

I remember him holding his own against Vasco Strada, although the latter was old and way past his prime, it still showed his talent.

And the cute little girl beside him was someone who was leading Fenrir of all things around as a pet. She was probably the most prodigious human magician in the entire series.

“Hello Lord Septimus, Heir Pendragon, Miss Pendragon.” I greeted. I still had the memories of etiquette lessons which wouldn’t make me look out of place even among nobility.

The other party bowed as well. “Nice to meet you too, Lord Ace.”

….Lord.

Yeah….I wasn’t used to it.

Technically there was nothing wrong in their greeting due to my rank but….damn if it didn’t feel out of place.

“Hahahaha don’t worry about it. Ace is not one for formalities. You should just call him by his name. He isn’t that much older than you.” Mephisto laughed.

“Fourteen years and an Ultimate Class Magician. Yeah….that’s young alright.” Septimus said as he took a look at me. “I have heard a lot about your Transfiguration Magic. It is a real treat to see something new being invented and added to our field. For that”, he bowed. “I thank you from the side of all the magicians of the world.”

….

I looked at the man shocked.

He was so sincere.

“Please! You don’t have to bow. I….wasn’t really thinking much when I did all that.” In fact I only began teaching here because I was repaying my deal with Mephisto.

“And yet your contribution will help many Magicians rise up in the future. This is a fact that cannot be denied.” He repeated.

“You should give up and accept his thanks, Ace. This guy is very stubborn like that.” Mephisto shook his head with a smile.

I looked at Mephisto and then back at the man and nodded.

He smiled. “While I would like nothing more than to discuss magic with you for hours, it would be extremely uncouth of me to occupy you all for myself so I will excuse myself today but before I leave, I, Septimus Cage, representing the entire Golden Dawn Magician Organisation would like to invite you as a guest lecturer at our Magician Organisation.”

“Huh?”

He smiled. “Mephisto told me that you have been studying Enchantment and Alchemy recently and that even your Transfiguration Magic is inspired by Alchemy. I won’t brag but our Golden Dawn has the best collection of texts in Alchemy and Enchantment among all other Magician Organisations. As a Guest Lecturer, you will be able to peruse all these at your own leisure. I am sure it will also help your studies. A mutually beneficial agreement. In fact, this offer is also applicable to your apprentices. Of course if you were to join us….”

“Oi oi, I only talked about a guest lecture at your place and now you are trying to steal my Ace.” Mephisto interrupted.

The man smiled unabashed. “Can you blame me for trying?”

“Hmph.”

I looked at the two and saw that Mephisto actually agreed to it.

“You should agree. While I don’t want to, I will have to agree that their collection of books are among the best in the entire Magician Community. You would benefit greatly from it.”

I nodded and bowed lightly. “I would be honoured to.”

“Hahahaha no need to bow. While you are young, both of us are at the same rank.”

The man shook my hand, followed by Arthur Pendragon.

“I have heard alot about you. I hope we can spar sometimes.” He said quite seriously.

“I would love to. It might not look like it but I did wield a sword for some time. I would love to get some advice from you.” I smiled. I wasn’t even lying either.

I was only taught bits of swordsmanship by Dave but I made sure to practise it everyday. I also had Gram and the swords from other worlds. It would be a waste if I didn’t learn swordsmanship to take full advantage of the situation.

As expected, his eyes lit up at my words but he kept his excitement hidden under the mask of composure. “I look forward to it.

Finally the little girl shook hands with me. “Umm….your magic….it’s amazing.” She said cutely. I suddenly had the urge to pat her head.

I smiled and brought out my wand and brought out my handkerchief and with a slight flick, I transformed it into a rabbit.

The girl looked in amazement.

I handed it to her. “Thank you for the compliment, Miss. Here, something from me.”

She blushed but bowed deeply before taking the rabbit with a smile.

“Hahahaha it’s nice to see young people getting along.” Septimus laughed as he patted my shoulder enthusiastically. before looking at the three girls behind me. “Are they your students?” He asked.

“Yes. Two of them have just started learning magic while Lavinia has been studying here for a while and I just took her as an apprentice today.”

“Well great to see such budding talents. I hope to see you all rise.”

After he left I turned towards Mephisto who had stayed back. Tannin took this opportunity to roam around the party

“You did say that you wanted to learn more about those two fields of magic.” He shrugged.

I let out a sigh.

I guess this is how a devil acted. Giving someone something but with a catch. And this guy was a devil even before The Devil himself was one.

“You don’t have to worry. Septimus….he is a genuinely good person. That guy wants nothing more than to see the world progress in the field of magic and holds no discrimination against other races. I won’t say there are no bad apples in the Golden Dawn….believe me, there are plenty of those, but which organisation doesn’t have those kinds of people? You will have to handle that yourself.”

“Thanks.” I said after a thought. He….did help me after all.

While we were discussing this, several new guests had arrived.

A few familiar faces among the group.

Rudiger Rozenkreutz and McGregor Mathews had arrived followed by a few faces I wasn’t expecting.

As I saw the last two people in the group my head snapped towards Mephisto. “What is the meaning of this?” I hissed, my tone scaring the girls behind me by the sheer hatred in my voice.

“They have contracts with several High Class Magicians and they can bring an extra. There was nothing I could do without making it obvious.” Mephisto replied calmly, showing no extra emotion on his face.

“You could have told me.”

“Would you have come if I did?”

….

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

I really didn’t think it would have this much effect on me.

After all, everything I knew about them till now was from the memories.

My own memories of my previous life were the dominant force when compared to the memories of this life. Still….

This was the first time I had seen them personally….and the hate I felt….was far more than I was expecting.

I had often wondered if I had taken over the body of the dead Acelin or if I had just regained my memories of the previous life at that moment and I had always preferred the first version….maybe to separate myself from this….burden….and yet now….when I see that blonde bastard walking towards me….I was doubting my theories.

I guess a second chance at life doesn’t come so easily.

I took a deep breath and used my Occlumency to push away any stray thoughts and calm my mind down.

My life was getting better after a long time. I didn’t need this fucking drama making a mess of things.

“You don’t have to worry. I doubt they would even recognise your spell. Honestly I can’t even tell that you are under a spell right now.” Mephisto said.

Obviously.

I had changed the way I was disguising myself.

Instead of using Gaea Foundation, I was using human transfiguration to change my looks. This type of disguise actually changes my looks so it cannot be felt by others.

I had been working on this since the first time I found out that Mephisto had figured out that I was under a disguise. 

“Ace?” I heard Matsu’s voice behind me and looked back.

Apart from Mephisto and Lavy, she was the only one who knew about me.

“It’s fine. This is nothing. Just act normal.”

We didn’t get much time to talk as the group had arrived in front of us.

Mephisto stepped in front of me. “Welcome. I didn’t think all of us would be able to come here today.”

The grey haired guy at the lead spoke first. “It was hard not to, especially after hearing about something like this.” He looked at me. “I assume this is him?”

Mephisto smiled. “Yes. This is Ace. But I guess you have already heard about him and Ace, this is Diehauser Belial, the Champion of the Rating Games, the Emperor.” Mephisto introduced.

I looked at the man in front of me who was looking at me with an appraising look and bowed slightly. “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

Diehauser Belial was a man….I could actually respect.

He worked his way up from the heir of an almost bankrupt noble house to become the champion of the Rating Games, without any kind of cheating even when almost all others were cheating, through nothing but hard work….this was something which deserved respect.

“The youngest Ultimate Class Magician in all of history. I honestly didn’t even know they could be this young.” The pink haired woman….my so-called aunt, said.

This was actually the first time I had seen her directly, be it in real life or in my memories.

All I had about her are memories of her sister speaking about her.

My emotions about her were not that intense apart from slight anger.

“Don’t let his age fool you. Ace and his Transfiguration Magic would be a thing of terror in the Rating Games. I am both anticipating and dreading the day he joins the Rating Games himself.” Rudiger said with a smile.

I pushed my stray thoughts aside and gave the man a slight bow. “You are praising me too much, Sir.”

He then looked behind me. “Are they with you?” He asked, looking at the girls.

“Yes. They are my apprentices.” I answered, trying to concentrate more on the conversation than the people around me.

He smiled. “I guess they must be quite good for you to take a liking to them.”

“They are all quite talented and dedicated to learning.” I nodded.

“All that is good and all but why is there a filthy crow among them.” The voice of the blonde bastard ruined the entire moment.

Frowns appeared on the faces of several people and even Mephisto while Akeno shrunk back behind me.

He was however unbothered by this and continued. “Having different tastes is fine but you shouldn’t associate yourself with such things. They would only drag you down.”

“Bedeze, shut up!” Roygun said with a venomous tone.

He snorted as he looked at her provokingly. “Oh! How am I wrong? Tell me why else would he keep something like that around? Do you really think she has other uses?”

And just like that my efforts to reign my temper went down to hell.

With this much insult towards my student, I would have been enraged even if I had met him for the first time.

This guy, Bedeze Abaddon….was the worst kind of filth there is.

I looked back at Akeno who was clenching her hand and looking down towards the ground.

This was an eleven year old child dammit.

I patted her head and she looked up at me. Her eyes were slightly wet but she was holding back from crying. I caressed her head lightly before turning back at the bastard.

“I took her in as my student because….she is far more talented than a talentless nobody like you can ever dream of being.”

….

….

….

….

There was a period of silence in the place before the guy burst out in a storm of demonic power.

I answered with my own, albeit far lower reserves but enough to withstand his pressure without backing away.

“What did you say?” He asked slowly, his eyes narrowing.

“Oh! I guess you are deaf too apart from being a talentless piece of shit. Very well, I will repeat it again. I said you are a talentless nobody.”

“You brat!” He shouted before a hand descended on his shoulder.

Diehauser Belial stepped forward. “You were out of line, Bedeze.” He spoke in a calm tone.

Mephisto stepped forward next. “Indeed. This place is my territory. Who I take in as a part of my organisation is my decision alone. Akeno Himejima is the daughter of my new pawn, Shuri Himejima, a part of my household. You insulted a member of my household and by extension, my decision and choice. Leave.”

“What?!” He looked shocked at Mephisto.

“You are no longer invited here. You may leave.” Mephisto said with a serious look.

I didn’t need deep Legilimency probing to see that the old devil was actually angry this time.

In fact, this was the first time I had seen him being angry.

“You are removing me for….this….for this….cro….”

“Leave!”

“Very well. I will remember this.” He snarled.

“I sincerely wish that you do because next time I will have you thrown out.” Mephisto spoke as Tannin had appeared behind him.

The man glared at everyone, especially me one last time and left the hall in anger.

The entire fiasco had attracted many eyes so Mephisto came forward and clapped his hands and spoke. “It was just a minor hiccup. Please enjoy the party.”

Diehauser on the other hand looked at me. “Don’t mind him. He….doesn’t have the best personality.”

Oh, you don’t have to tell me that.

I nodded. “I didn’t mind. As I said, he is a nobody. I don’t mind.”

“Despite his unpleasant attitude, he is not a nobody. As the third Ranked Rating Game player and an Ultimate Class devil, he wields a lot of influence in the Underworld. And now that he has been pushed like this he will….”

“Do nothing….because he can do nothing. He will try….but he won’t succeed.” Tannin interrupted with a tone of finality.

“Well if you say so. He is still a petty bastard so you would do well to keep your guard up.” Roygun said and her disgust for the man was clear to hear.

“The most he would do is pull back his contracts. He and his associates only account for less than one percent of the total contracts of Grauzauberer. Ace on the other hand, despite his recent arrival has pulled several times more contracts than him and this number will only increase more. That fool should have known when to put aside his arrogance. If he goes anywhere beyond words….” He left the words hanging.

“Well, if you are fine with it then I guess it should be fine. Anyways, let me get to the matter we have all come here for.”

“You are cutting in line again.” Roygun said while the man rolled his eyes.

“There is no line.” He then turned towards me. “Ace, would you like to join my peerage?” He asked.

I looked at the group, already aware that I was going to be asked this question by many and bowed slightly.

“I thank you for the opportunity but I don’t wish to join any peerages.” I replied.

“I told you.” Rudiger shrugged.

“I guess I tried. Very well then. I wish you luck for your future endeavours.” He shook hands with me and left.

Others did the same. 

I suddenly remembered something and looked at Rudiger Rosenkreutz.

“Lord Rozenkreutz. If you don’t mind, could I have a word with you in private? It won’t take much of your time.”

The man looked surprised at my request and I took this opportunity to excuse myself from the group but not before telling the three girls to stay with Tannin.

On a nearby balcony, I quickly threw a small charm to hide our words as I wondered for a moment how I should articulate this properly.

“First of all, I would like to apologise if I say something out of line. I really don’t mean to be insulting in this case.”

He raised an eyebrow and just laughed. “Don’t worry. I am not the kind to take offence so easily.”

I nodded. “I….heard about your son’s condition after my exam.”

His face changed slightly at this.

“I….would you like to hear a story first?”

His expression didn’t change but he nodded briefly.

“A kid was born with a Sacred Gear, a very very strong Sacred Gear….” I noticed his expression change as he understood my insinuation. “In a Balance Breaker. Obviously such a thing would have led to the death of any normal child, let alone a human, but he is still alive….without any kind of side effects.”

His expressions changed. “How?!”

“His grandmother is a magician who practised Buddhist methods. She was able to seal the Sacred Gear inside his body through some kind of spell.”

“Who are they? Where can I find them?” He asked desperately. I was actually taken aback at the man’s pleading tone.

Seriously, he must have been at his wit’s ends.

“Please let me clarify a few things first. First, I am not one hundred percent sure about this news. I am not in a place to verify this.”

“It’s fine as long as there is even a one percent chance.” He quickly replied.

“Alright but you need to promise me something first.”

“What do you need? You don’t need to worry about the price.” The man said almost immediately.

“I don’t need anything that big. Just a few promises. First, you will tell no one about this and leave the family alone apart from any help they might ask. This includes not trying to bring the kid to your or anyone’s peerages. As far as I know, they desire a simple life and I don’t want their family to be implicated because of my interference.”

“Agreed. You don’t need to worry. If they can really help my son, I will protect them at any costs.”

I nodded. “Second, you will not reveal my name anywhere and by that I mean not even to Mephisto.”

He nodded.

“Third, I would like three favours, nothing big really and nothing illegal. Just small helps. You can do this after the process is successful.”

“If the information turns out to be true, you will always have my friendship. It doesn’t matter if the process is successful.”

“Okay.” I then went on to tell them about Tobio Ikuse and his situation. “Apart from this, you can ask Azazel for help. He knows a lot about Sacred Gears and can help you. I think you can manage that easily.” I remembered that this guy had managed to convince the Satans to invite Dulio Gesualdo of all people to the Underworld. Contacting someone like Azazel who would probably jump at such a chance would be easier.

“If it helps, my student Akeno is the daughter of the Fallen Angel Cadre, Baraqiel and I can ask her mother for help. Oh and Akeno is also the cousin of Tobio Ikuse and the grandniece of Ageha Ikuse.”

“I thank you.” He bowed deeply.

“You don’t need to thank me. If anything, I am actually pleased to help someone like you who is doing so much for your son.”

We talked about a few more things and he said that he was going to talk to Mephisto and Shuri before going to meet Ageha Ikuse and if that didn’t work, he would contact other people with expertise in Buddhist methods who can help him.

By the end of the conversation, I saw a hint of light return to the man’s eyes.

When it was time for us to leave, he spoke again. “By the way you should be careful too. Bedeze is a very petty man. I don’t doubt that he will come for you. Although I doubt he would be able to do anything with Mephisto being there like those other Magician organisations, it still doesn’t stop him from sullying your name with rumours. You shouldn’t give into his provocations.”

“Trust me, I know exactly how low he can fall.” In fact, I doubt there would be anyone else in the world who knew better than me. And then something struck my mind. “What did you say about those other magician organisations?”

He looked at me oddly. “The Magician Organisations who have been sending people to kidnap and kill you since you appeared. Mephisto has stopped over two dozen such attacks and then Tannin finally destroyed several branches of those organisations to send a warning before they stopped.” he must have noticed the stunned look on my face. “You….didn’t know?”

“I….”

What the fuck has been happening in the world?

He left after explaining the matter to me and I won’t lie but it increased my respect for Mephisto a bit.

The rest of the party was without any incidents and we returned back home.

Shuri came and thanked me personally for standing up for Akeno while the girl gave me a hug.

“Ace, are you alright?” Matsu asked. She has been worried since that incident.

“Yes. Don’t worry. He won’t be able to do anything.”

“I am not worried about what he will do. I am more worried about you.”

“I….am fine. I just wasn’t expecting that and lost control of my emotions for a while. Fucking hormones.”

I thought of something and decided that I had been putting it off for a while now and decided to do it today.

And sure enough, after my class with Dumbledore, I got ready to leave.

“Matsu, you and Lavy sleep early today. I have something to do today.”

“Hmm? Will you be returning late?”

“I will be back by tomorrow morning.”

“Alright. Take care.” She nodded.

I brought out my Teigu, the Dimensional Formation Shambala and teleported to the previously marked location, the Underworld.

It had been a while since I met Dave. I missed him.

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of Ace in the Hole.

A few things happened in this chapter.

Ace fooled Lelouch and got a deal….well several deals out of him.

Their relationship is going to be interesting in the future.

We also got C.C. so the entire thing was already a win for Ace.

Things happened at the party.

Even when actively being ignored, Bedeze managed to piss Ace off. Still not everything was bad as Ace managed to get friendly with Rudiger and possibly save his son’s life so….

Finally, Ace is going to meet with Dave again.

We will see what happens in the next chapter.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.