[Third Person POV]
Sirzechs was sitting in his office, busy with paperwork as usual.
Had he known how much he'd be sitting behind his desk all those years ago, forced to sign paper after paper, he would have told those nobles to shove it.
He was the Satan-damned Lucifer! One of the strongest beings in existence and one of the few Super Devils that existed!
And yet, he was somehow the one title that had restricted him for centuries.
Standing next to him was his wife and queen, Grayfia. She had defected to their side during the civil war. Afterward, the two of them got together for political reasons, mainly because 'every Lucifer needs a Lucifuge'. Not that either minded. They had fought side-by-side for over a decade at that point.
Grayfia had the potential to become Satan Leviathan with her power, but some of their more traditional allies were against her gaining more power, given her previous loyalties. In the end, Grayfia, who wasn't politically inclined, acquiesced, ceding the position to Serafall, extracting a few benefits from those old-timers.
Over the last few centuries, he and Serafall had been the ones run ragged the most of their group. Grayfia and Ajuka were both workaholics, while Falbium was asleep most of the time, just needing to keep the army in shape.
Unfortunately for him and his fellow sis-con, their jobs were to quite literally clean whatever fuckups other devils caused. Just thinking about it was ridiculous.
Those old bastards constantly caused him headaches whenever he tried to push reforms through, yet the moment they or their descendants fucked up, they came crying, hiding behind him or Serafall, who would then have to fix things, only for the cycle to repeat.
Still, they persevered. Not like there was anyone he could trust with the position. One of the few people capable of the position was Zekram Bael, his mother's ancestor, but that guy was as untrustworthy as, well, a devil. He truly embodied every negative stereotype and then some.
As he was filling out the next form, his gaze drifted to the television that was on in the corner.
It took forever for him to get it there to help kill the boredom. If not for convincing Grayfia that having a live news source running in the background was a good thing, she'd have let him be the first devil to die of boredom.
The news was talking about the typical stuff. Rather than normal sports, they talked about rating games. Who won the last one with which strategy, whose was the next, and how they thought things would go. As he was reading the score off the news crawl, the entire image changed to show Crawforde Nebiros.
Despite being Satan, Sirzechs had little impression of the lord. He knew Crawforde was loyal to the old regime, but was also pragmatic enough to switch sides when Rizevim didn't intervene back then. Some had called for his execution, intending to place a puppet in his place, but given how many pillars were left, it was decided against.
Serafall seemed to find him creepy. Some women's intuition, she never elaborated on.
As Crawforde got up to the podium, many reporters were already trying to get the first question out before he silenced them with a single gesture. Seeing the impromptu press conference, Grayfia allowed him to turn up the volume, also curious about what the man had to say.
"I know most of you have questions for me, but unfortunately, I am here for more pressing matters.
Earlier today, one of my family's research facilities was attacked by a group of unknown size and power. I barely managed to make it out alive.
The facility was performing illegal research into artificially creating Super Devils. I was not alone in this endeavor..."
The longer the man talked, the darker Sirzechs' face got. They were devils, and even he would admit to doing some cruel things during the wars back then, but this was something else.
For a moment, he wondered whether Crawforde was under mind control. I mean, to admit your crimes on live television. Did he have a death wish?!
Truthfully, they already suspected him of illegal experimentation, but with no clues to his research base's location, nor anything overtly illegal happening, his hands were tied.
The chaos, unfortunately, didn't end there. While Grayfia was already adding to a list of things he'd have to inspect later, thanks to this reveal, everyone watching, both in person and behind a TV screen, was stunned as the lord brought out a magic pistol, placed it against his temple, and fired.
The channel switched off as soon as they could, but it was already too late. It was unknown how many had seen the broadcast, but Sirzechs could already feel a headache coming on.
As the Satan of Internal Affairs, he'd have tons of work piled on to him for the coming weeks, provided, of course, they found nothing and nothing new came up, but with his luck? He doubted things would be that easy.
Seconds later, a magic circle appeared next to his head, a communication spell sent by Serafall. They had phones, but the spell was faster and more private, perfect for situations like this.
"Sir-chan! Are you seeing this!?" Serafall's frantic voice asked.
"Unfortunately, I am." If Grayfia hadn't been in the room with him, watching it at the very same time, maybe he could've played dumb and put it off for a bit. But no, he was stuck with more work. If Crawforde weren't dead, he'd strangle the man himself. "Sorry, Serafall, as much as I love to talk, I think you can tell I'll be extremely busy for the next few weeks."
"And you think I'm not?! Do you know how difficult it's going to be to keep the other factions from trying anything? Not to mention the yokai will be pissed if they find out how many of their own he was experimenting on!"
"I do, unfortunately, I need to hurry and start the investigation before the people Crawforde mentioned cover their tracks. Grayfia's already sent my peerage to head over to their territories and keep watch."
"I can send some help if you need. I'm sure Ajuka and Falbium would help too."
"I'd appreciate it, Serafall," Sirzechs said while sighing, already feeling the weight of everything.
Sometimes it truly sucked to be the devil himself.
-----
It was four days after the fiasco that he had orchestrated, and Hajime was finally leaving for, funnily enough, Gremory territory. It was ironic that Hajime was headed toward Rias and the rest of Sirzechs's family when he was the Satan's biggest headache, but that was also why he chose this as the last stop on his route.
Who would expect the man who triggered a crisis among devils to head to the stomping grounds of the strongest one?
As expected, travel outside the city had been temporarily banned, with those trying to leave that day being the most suspect. Hajime felt bad, but it also gave him the cover he needed after the raid.
Speaking of which, the prisoners were starting to get restless after spending over half a week stuck in the suitcase, but given how much room there was, it was more about them wanting to regain their freedom and go where they wanted. Luckily, they were all very understanding and didn't push him to hurry. After all, if Hajime got caught, they'd be screwed. Thankfully, it never came to that.
After checking out of the hotel, Hajime, Monet, and Jenny made their way to the train station. They bought their tickets and hopped onto the train, which was a 3-hour ride to Gremory territory.
By the time they arrived, it was noon.
The trio stopped at a restaurant to order lunch. While Monet and Jenny talked about research and fashion, Hajime just listened, paying attention to the conversations of everyone around them.
Talk of Crawforde's scandal was still on everyone's tongues, with theories getting crazier as time passed.
Some believed he had been bought off by another faction decades ago, then began using devils to fund his illegal research and was betrayed, so he exposed everyone before ending his own life to avoid consequences.
Others believed he was a plant by one of the major devil factions (New Satan, Old Satan, and Great King) to get rid of political adversaries.
One guy even thought that the man had discovered something eldritch in his research that caused a psychotic break, leading him to incriminate himself and others before committing suicide to put an end to the voices.
As wrong as everyone was, it was still interesting gossip.
Hajime turned to the TV in the restaurant, which suddenly shifted to the news channel.
They recapped the story, which so far had been Crawforde's reveal and an investigation of his manor, finding the destroyed research lab that Hajime left behind. Today, they were updating the story about the arrest of one of the nobles connected to the Nebiros clan, who were discovered buying materials that were then shipped to Nebiros manor, where they were left after that. Sirzechs's knight, Okita Souji, had personally gone to take the man in for questioning, only for the noble to attack, all but confirming his guilt.
Though the political chaos had only just begun, this arrest indicated that Nebiros was guilty and that those who associated with him were in trouble. Apparently, the news had even started spreading outside the underworld, with the news report saying that Yasaka had called the leaders of several yokai clans to discuss how they'd handle this incident.
Over the next week, while in Gremory territory, the trio visited several tourist attractions, such as Lucifer Tower, reminiscent of the Leaning Tower of Pisa but twice as tall and much more ornate, decorated with gold trim everywhere. It was constructed as a monument for Sirzechs becoming the Maou Lucifer centuries ago.
Beyond that, they visited several Japanese-style stores throughout Crimson Keep, the Gremory Capital, named after their famous hair color.
Hajime was somewhat hoping that he might see Rias and establish a connection.
Though he wasn't a fan of devils, he also knew that children were impressionable, and Rias, a Japanophile, would be extremely impressionable if he were the one talking. She loved Japan so much that her family funded a few stores in Crimson Keep. The rest popped up after people found out, leading them to try to sell products that would draw her attention and get her to spend big, unintentionally creating a small group of devils who also became fans of Japanese culture.
He was hoping that, by creating a connection, he could subtly influence the next generation of devils, who, if things went similarly to canon, would become the ones holding a lot of power in a few years.
Eventually, though, the 'vacation' ended.
The trio took a train straight to Lilith, passing through two devil territories before arriving. Hopping on the train back to Earth, the trio, exhausted from the last week, having kept their vigilance up the whole time, finally relaxed. Monet and Jenny both fell asleep, while Hajime stayed up, refilling the clones in the suitcase, who were helping keep things orderly.
-----
Once news broke out of the underworld, the entire supernatural world was in an uproar. It had been agreed upon that research into artificially boosting power was banned both because of the cost and the consequences.
Ajuka's evil pieces straddled the line, but since the boost was only a side effect of changing race, it was barely allowed.
That didn't mean everyone had stopped the research. They just hid it better. The knowledge that succeeding would mean an army of supreme- and transcendent-class fighters was too big a reward to pass up on.
Over the centuries, a few similar incidents had popped up, but they were usually quite easily dealt with. News was slower to travel and evidence easier to forge, so most factions could just kill the ringleader, usually a scapegoat prepared in advance, and send the scientists elsewhere to continue.
However, with the broadcast of admissions of crimes and accomplices, things became much more difficult. Pressure was coming from all sides. Some were disgusted by the research, others encouraged it, thinking Crawforde was a fool for saying anything.
It was so chaotic that every faction was working overtime, trying to benefit from the fallout, but the busiest faction was, by far, the yokai. Crawforde's admission stated that he'd kidnapped yokai for his research, trying to see if he could fuse some of their aspects into devils.
Now, needing to maintain the dignity of their faction, they had to come up with demands and compensation requests sufficient to placate their citizens without being rejected by the devils. This monumental task would cause Yasaka to smack Hajime into the floor the moment he admitted what he did to her.
__________
Author's Note:
Not sure if this counts as a retcon, since I barely went into the subject in earlier chapters, but when I started Telos Karma Meta Gacha, I originally wanted all factions to be somewhat opposed to yokai. However, as chapters have gone on, I've realized I started to drift away from the thought to some degree. I'm not the most skilled writer, and honestly, I've learned it's impractical for me to write that kind of story without drastically altering how some characters act. Like Rias and Sona, for example, might not be the most moral individuals, but I wouldn't say either is evil, just raised with the values most devils have.
However, I've already brought that up in the story, so I don't exactly want to be the kind of person who changes something and never addresses it. That's why this is probably considered a retcon of sorts.
Anyway, here it is:
Yokai provide spirit fruits, something that only grows thanks to the ley lines, combined with their innate magic.
In the past, the yokai were pressured by a few factions for those fruits at a nearly-free price, leading to those who weren't joining in to avoid being 'overcharged', even if they wouldn't have otherwise done such a thing (like Heaven).
Now, the world has become more peaceful, with more leaders (like Sirzechs and Odin) seeking peace, yet the 'deal' still stands. So now, even if they want better relations with the Yokai, they need to break the 'deal' willingly, but doing so means they'll pay more than others unless everyone pays the higher price.
I know retconning of any kind sucks, especially since I'm basically doing that in the postscriptum. Still, I figured I needed to do it now since I'm finally having Hajime interact with members of the Three Factions.
Also, the next few chapters will be an interlude while I work on the next arc, which I'm still thinking about—just a heads up.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!