Dungeons and Devils (Chapter 21) (Patreon)

I let out a low hum as I sit in the middle of library, calmly flicking through a book while lounging in a comfortable chair with my feet up, I am alone at the moment, Ravel returned to the underworld to visit her mother, presumably to tell her about her first day of human school, Meredith and Le Fay are who knows where, then Artoria and Arthur- after Artoria returned to her 'happy' form- went to the training field after our conversation.

I'm a little bored, to be completely honest... but I don't exactly have enough time to hop on a devil train to Poland and seek out the remains of Caledfwlch. Nor do I have the time to go to Germany to regain Arthur's spear, so I've decided reading is a good pastime.

The Knife, Shield, and Ruler are already in my grasp, however.

The knife is pretty cool since it can weakly control shadows, it's like a gimped Excalibur Nightmare, then the shield is basically a pocket bard, giving your nearby allies moral bonuses and immunity to fear. It's weaker than it should be, however, due to the painting of the holy virgin Mary being faded and cracked.

Ruler itself is pretty good, because it's basically just a dominate monster on whatever it hit, then it can simultaneously deflect spells and animate large mounds of earth to do your bidding- with mastery, of course.

I thought the sword I gave Arthur was strong? Pfft- fuck no. That's like, just a slightly above average magic sword, it holds no candle to weapons of legend. Even weapons rarely mentioned in legends are more powerful than it.

I hear the door down below click open, the library in this mansion is quite simple, it's a circular room with bookshelves lining the walls, there's a second floor that holds more books along the walls with a large balcony in the center of the room.

"U-Uh, Gaius?" I hear a voice meekly call out. "Are you in here?"

"Yes." I respond. "What do you need, Meredith?"

I close the book I was reading with a quiet 'thunk' of the pages slamming together and lean over the edge, down on the first floor I see the brown-haired girl in question, stood beside her is the blonde witch with a large blue wizard hat, they both lock eyes with me and swiftly approach the stairs.

They walk up the spiral stair case and make their way around the outside of the rim before reaching me, they both bow their heads as Le Fay begins. "G-Gaius... I wanted to thank you."

"Think nothing of it." I wave off with a small smile. "I can't say I did it out of the goodness of my heart, as I am having your brother train my rook, but you two were my first- and only- contractors, so I can't have you dying on me, hm?"

"B-But... you used a Phoenix tear on me... and those are really expensive." Le fay mutters with her head down. "S-surely that's worth more than training?"

"I mean, it is." I shrug. "But you forget three things... one, I am Engaged to a Phenex, thus I can get them for a lower price instead of the inflated bullshit that they appear to be, secondly, I can make Phoenix tears, and in fact, it was one of my own that I used on you, and three... I'm rich. Why should I care about a mere million of lillum here or there? I'm personally just glad you two are safe."

"What if... we became your servants?" Meridith mutters.

I give her a slow blink. "Huh?"

"What if we become your servants to pay off the debt." Meridith continues while looking away.

"The debt has been paid for by Arthur training Artoria." I state with a half-lidded expression. "You owe me nothing. This is coming out of literally nowhere."

The two girls look down slowly as I continue.

"Besides. Do you really want to become devils? There's no going back. I get that your sudden attack by the fallen angels might have shaken you, but you both shouldn’t leap at the first opportunity to jump into a race that gets flack by practically all of the other ones... then there's the fact that YOU DON'T KNOW ME! I could be an absolute psycho! I could only be acting nice to lure you into a false sense of security! You legitimately couldn't know! We've only met like thrice and have barely spoken or gotten to know each other."

"I-" Le Fay begins, but I cut her off.

"Have you even told your brother what you are thinking? Don't you think you should tell your family before you dive head first into something like that? How hurt would your brother be if he found out you did something like that without even telling him? How dead would I be if he turned around, annoyed that I turned his little sister into a devil, and stabbed me!"

The two girls fall silent and look down at the floor ashamed as I rub my forehead.

"You're right..." Le Fay mutters. "But... the fact you are getting so worked up over this just proves that we were right in judging you as kind."

"Kind?! I just said that I didn't want to deal with your brother stabbing me!" I reply.

"But you had so many other points." Le Fay continues, a small gleam appearing in her eye. "I think the last point was just tacked on to make it seem like you don't care."

"He's a tsundere!" The other girl gasps.

"I'm not a tsundere." I deadpan.

The brown-haired girl's smile grows. "That's what a tsundere would say!"

"Tch." I growl while crossing my arm, eyebrow twitching slightly.

"As nice as I may be, I am still a devil." I mutter. "So, if you two still really want to join my peerage, I'll accept you both. However. There will be conditions to this. Firstly..."

I suddenly point at Le Fay. "Talk to your brother, Damn it!"

Then I look to Meredith. "Then you both need to ACTUALLY get to know me instead of leaping at the first devil you see and pleading to be reincarnated. That's sad, and I'm frankly a little disappointed in the both of you for taking the easy way out without any thoughts for the consequences."

"Of course." I quickly add in. "it would be hypocritical for me to reprimand you for taking the easy way out, considering how often I do it, but I at least think of the consequences first."

"O-Okay." Le Fay mutters while Meredith looks away.

"Now that my shouting at you has finished, could you please indulge my curiosity, why exactly were all of you being attacked by fallen in the forest?"

Both of the girls immediately frown.

"We... were kicked out of Golden Dawn." Le Fay whispers.

Meridith looks over to the blonde. "No, I was kicked out of Golden Dawn, you just followed along because you hated how they were only kicking me out for something we both did."

"Wait what?" I blink slowly. "Why?"

"We aren't allowed to summon devils." Meridith replies while staring at the floor.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense." I mutter as I cup my chin. "One of the founders of the golden dawn is actually Sirzech Lucifer's bishop pieces."

The two girls freeze, eyes wide.

"They... just wanted to kick me out?" Meredith seethes.

"Seems that way." I shrug. "I don't know why they'd randomly want to kick out a student with a sacred gear, but it's sort of foolish."

Meredith's shoulders slump as she lets out a bitter laugh. "It was probably my family that paid them off. They didn't want some bastard child accomplishing more than they ever could. They want to control me."

She bites her lip slightly as I gesture to a sofa nearby. "Would you like to talk about it?"

She shakily inhales, then takes a seat. "You... wanted to know more about us, right? My name is Meredith Ordinton, a bastard child of the British royal family... a-and well, they never really took notice of me. The only reason I wasn't shipped off to some orphanage is because I had a sacred gear."

She sighs. "I finally had something in the Golden dawn, but it looks like they had to ruin that as well."

"You can have something here." I shrug. "You can stay as long as you like, I don't really care."

Her eyes widen for a moment before she looks away, Le Fay sits next to her and gives her a sad look, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I- yeah... okay... I'll stay here then." The girl replies.

"The only advice I can give you, is to completely and totally forget the British royal family. They may have contacts, but they are all just a bunch of posers. Most forms of human government are. You just have to find a reason to be happy with your life, don't let those snobs hold you back."

"You're... You're right!" She exclaims. "Why should I care about them! I'll become so great that they'll WISH they never ostracized me!"

She seems a little more resolute now.

I look to Le Fay. "So what about you, Le Fay?"

"Er... there's not much to say about myself. I-I don't have many friends I guess? I was always sheltered because I could easily be used to blackmail my family, and, well, that didn't lead to much social interaction with people outside of the estate."

We fall into silence.

"That's... about all I have to say." The wizard hat wearing girl whispers.

"Ah. I see. Well, I am Gaius Decarabia-Malthus, lord of both the Decarabia and Malthus clans, five hundred years ago, my Fiancée's father joined a collective to try and assassinate me, while the old satan faction targeted my parents due to my mother's ability to raise moral, and my father's ability to craft weapons, he targeted me purely because he lusted after his own sister. I got put in a coma for roughly five hundred years, the civil war came to a close, and I find that all of my land has been absorbed into other families, I have no political strength, and no place to call home."

"But, Serafall leviathan gave me a chance, showed me a small speck of infertile land which nobody claimed, and I dragged my family back into the limelight."

"Of course, there have been a few hiccups here and there, yet I simply roll with the punches."

"Your fiancee's father tried... to kill you?" Le Fay blinks. "Then why are you still... together?"

"I don't hold her responsible for what her father did." I shrug. "He messed up a few things five hundred years ago, so I threatened him for roughly fifteen percent of his family wealth. He decided to give me Ravel as seven percent of that. He practically sold his daughter to someone who up until that point had shown that he would do anything to cause him pain or annoyance. Luckily, I'm reasonable, otherwise he would have been selling his daughter into an abusive marriage all in exchange for seven percent of their wealth."

"That's... despicable." Le Fay gasps as she covers her mouth.

"It really is." I agree with a slow nod. "But... that turned out to be a blessing, because in the month or so that we have been together, I have found out that I legitimately care for Ravel. So, I'd say it has all worked out in the end-"

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket as it begins ringing.

I fall silent for a moment and pull out the phone. "One moment."

I accept the call after I see it is one of the servants I left in the underworld. "Yes, Virgo?"

"Master, Ajuka Beelzebub has requested a meeting at your earliest convenience."

"…"

"I'm finally important enough that people actually have to request meetings with me instead of barging in?" I mutter quietly.

"Ah." I blink. "If he's there right now, please tell him I'll be there in a moment."

"He is indeed here." She replies.

So much for people not barging in.

"Good." I state as I end the call and stand up.

"Well, Le Fay, Meredith, it appears that something has come up in the underworld... uh, I don't know when I'll be back, so this might be the last time I see you today. I'll see about getting you to into Kuoh academy sometime tomorrow- if that's what you want, of course- and I'll see you both another time."

"Don't worry." Meridith replies.

"That seems pretty important." Le Fay adds in. "You should probably take care of that."

I nod slowly and turn. "See you two tomorrow."

With a flash I teleport into the underworld.

**Linebreak**

I reappear in my foyer and brush off my shirt, I see Virgo standing before the green haired satan with her hands folded in front of her lap

"Ah, Satan Beelzebub." I smile as I swiftly approach. "It has been a while."

"It has." He agrees.

"May I ask the purpose of this meeting?" I ask while glancing around the room. it appears that Ravel and her mother are elsewhere.

"The last time we met, you had showed me your summoning magic, something that is both intriguing and should be utterly impossible. Since then I have been working on something yet I have run into a little roadblock."

He pulls a deck of cards out of his coat, draws a card, and with a little demonic power causes it to glow, he then throws the card, a large magic circle forming on the floor beneath the card.

In the next moment a squirrel appears from the frankly oversized magic circle.

I slowly look over to him. "Is... it supposed to do that?"

"Well, yes and no... I have developed a system that should theoretically allow them to grow stronger through battle, so realistically, that squirrel wouldn't stay the same for long, the main problem is... these cards are one time use, and the summons do not last forever."

I look to the squirrel, then back to Ajuka. "You're trying to make something like Monstermon?"

"I suppose." The scientist super devil nods.

"How long does it last?" I ask with a small frown.

"A little over a minute." He responds as I cup my chin.

"I see." I lowly mutter. "And you are looking for a way to increase this?"

"I am, yes." He nods slowly.

"I may have something that could extend this... if you didn't know, I had actually summoned my second bishop through this method. Evil pieces seem to extend the summoning indefinitely."

"Agaresite?" The Green haired satan mutters. "Hn... yes... yes that just may work."

He nods his head. "Thank you for your time, I'll transfer some money. I'll return if I have any other issues with the magic."

"Alright." I nod. "Tell me when it's done, I sort of want to see what my magic has allowed you to accomplish."

"Do not worry." The man nods. "I will."

With a flash he disappears from the room.

"Hn." I hum.

I look to Virgo.

"Is it punishment time master?!" She asks with wide eyes.

"No. Not right now." I deadpan.

"Oh. I see." She mutters while dejectedly looking to the side.

"You could see me denying your fetish as a punishment in and of itself." I shrug.

She pauses for a moment, then a blush crosses her face and she lets out a shaky gasp. "I-I see hnnn"

I give her a long blank stare for a moment before eventually speaking. "Do you know where Ravel and her mother are?"

"They are speaking in the dining room." The maid answers.

"I see. Thank you, Virgo."

I turn and calmly walk away, making my way to the kitchen.

I see the two blonde women quietly gossiping at the large dining table, Ravel's mother notices me almost instantly and smiles at my approach, Ravel turns around smiling briefly before she seems to remember my disappointment in her from earlier today and looks at the floor dejectedly.

Her mother takes the initiative and greets me with a smile. "Ah, Gaius, how good to see you. Ravel and I were just speaking about how her first day of human school went, how was yours?"

"It was a new experience certainly, one that was enjoyable, however, if I were to go as often as I am supposed to, I feel it would be more annoying than fun."

I look to Ravel. "Ravel would you like to see the garden and meet my queen piece?"

"Wh- oh right, the garden." The blonde girl blinks, still refusing to meet my eyes. "And yes, I would like to meet your queen piece, you haven't spoken much about her."

"I sort of want her to be a surprise." I shrug with a small smile.

"Alright." The girl mutters. "Shall we go, then?"

"After I take a bath, I haven't really had a chance after school with my contract and all."

"I see." The girl nods. "I will be waiting here, then."

I turn and leave, Rosaline whispers something to her daughter, causing the girl to turn blood red and shriek "M-Mother!"

**Linebreak**

I stare up at the ceiling of the lavish bathroom with a frown on my face as I soak in the large tub that looks more like a hot tub than a bath tub.

'hn. Getting Caledfwlch's fragments is going to be annoying.'

Caledfwlch, the precursor to excalibur forged by the lady of the lake, it broke sometime in the early stages of the great war, before Arthur was even made king of the Britons... and it wasn't just a simple 'snap in half' either, that sword was absolutely eviscerated. The only thing that remains of it in a semi-undamaged state would be the hilt. The blade itself shattered into dozens of pieces.

It is utterly impossible to fix that blade. Which is why I am going to reforge it. Using the old hilt, and the metal as components to smith an entirely new blade.

The main problem is just where the hilt and a majority of the blade fragments are.

A dragon's hoard.

So, basically, I'm going to walk into Poland, walk into a dragon's den, negotiate with said dragon, then return home.

There are two ways this plays out, I give the dragon some cool items, then leave with my sword... the other? The dragon tries to pull a 'if I kill you I get to keep both' in which case I'll murder him and steal everything they have. Hell, I might even rip their soul out.

'if they are foolish enough to lash out like that without ever considering the consequences like a rabid animal, they deserve to be put down like one.'

'that's true.'

I allow myself to sink in the circular tub and scratch my temple.

After Caledfwlch, it's off to Germany to collect... the spear with a ridiculous name, and after that? I'd have gotten practically all the items I can without interacting with supernatural creatures- correction- Factions. Supernatural factions.

I blink slowly as I hear the bathroom door open.

I glance over to see Ravel with an absolutely massive crimson blush, she has a towel wrapped around her body as she shakily looks around the bathroom. "H-H-Hey, Gaius... u-u-uh do you care if I w-wash your back?"

"Do what you want." I shrug as I peer past her, seeing her mother, seemingly not caring about hiding her... assets.

The girl shakily steps over to the tub and looks like she is about to step in, but her mother steps behind her and lets out a huff of amusement. "Silly girl, you'll get your towel wet!"

With a flick she rips the towel off her daughter, causing the small drill-haired girl to freeze in shock, body on full display.

She suddenly lets out a horrified gasp and cover herself with her hands

"Hn. Nice." I smirk