Chapter 53: Devilish Guests Part 1

"Remember what I said," Grayfia could already feel a headache coming on as the bright blue magic circle began to slowly fade away, a quick flick of the fingers slowly unraveled the isolation spell that would protect their voice from projecting outside," This isn't the Underworld. We're guests here."

"I got it," Rias puffed out her chest and suddenly that carefree girl vanished, leaving behind the heiress of House Gremory. One of the 72 Pillars, one of the most prestigious families of the Devil race," No recruiting, no snooping and stay out of trouble. We got it."

The red head had taken Akeno along with her and another much smaller figure. The small girl had incredibly pale skin, large yellow eyes flickered around the new environment they found themselves in, her pure white hair fluttered slightly in the breeze.

Grayfia could see her small hands ball into tight fists and honestly hoped her being here wouldn't be that big of a problem.

'Why did Rias think it was good idea to bring her here?'

Sometimes, the girl's thinking process was something strange to say the least.

"Thank you Grayfia-sama for allowing me to tag along." Sona bowed, forcing her two servants to follow in her stead. Shinra being the girl's Queen was a given and she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at the heiress's choice. It gratefully wasn't the swordsman who had a bone to pick with Yokai but instead the much more reasonable and polite blue haired tomboy of the group.

'At least she can read a room..' She sent a single red eye to the still Gremory heiress,' If only she would absorb that instead..'

Grayfia only nodded at the girl's gratitude, this trip had become a multitude more difficult with these two here but as long as they behaved themselves then nothing bad should happen.

"Welcome Gremory-sama!" An entire contingent of Yokai, each more unique in appearance as they were in her magical sense, she had always found them a strange race. Their aura felt..different from any-other race. They felt more vibrant but also more slippery in a way that only emphasize their mastery over illusions and other forms of trickery. The leading Yokai, both as tall and as wide a tree stood in ceremonial armor. Coppery plates covering her blue skin, with lines of fur trailing down the armor's back. How she could tell it was a female under all that armor? It was obvious with the giant cleavage that went along with her larger than life frame. A large horned poked out through a mop of thick, unruly black hair that framed her strangely pretty face. "My name is Tsuru of the Azure Oni Clan! Allow me and my men to act as your escort!"

Despite how gruff the Oni's voice was, she knew better. These Yokai in particular were known to be a little rough around the edges and a bit pushy at times, but didn't have a single deceitful bone in their bodies. If they didn't like you, they would make it known. If they meant to kill them, she didn't doubt it would that massive tree trunk sized tetsubo lined in teeth would be swinging for her head by now.

"O-of course!" Millicas's squeaky voice slightly faltered as he stepped out to meet the massive woman, his red eyes growing wider as he tried to keep his composure about him. He needed to learn how to speak to foreign people, so she figured this was the perfect time for him to do so. "Well met Tsuru of the Azure Oni Clan, I am Millicas of House Gremory! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

The Oni in question looked down at the child with confusion evident on her face, black eyes locking onto those older red orbs that silently stared ahead. A few tense moments passed before she just shrugged her massive shoulders and turned away from the group.

"We have a carriage awaiting you, follow us."

Then Tsuru lead them to a simple carriage pulled by a seemingly simple brown horse, that looked quite comical in comparison to her massive frame. She looked at the carriage and all the people present, before scratching her head.

"We didn't expect so many guests, so some of you will have to walk with us or just pile in together."

"We can walk."

Shinra pronounced before any of the other servants could say otherwise, opening the door for the nobles to slip into the simple carriage. As the nobles piled into the carriage, it was clear that it only just fit all four of them comfortably. Maybe such a set up would've been quite spacious for two people but definitely not four. If the other Peerage members had anything to say about the poor welcome, then they certainly saw it wise to keep their mouth shut.

Rias wasn't one to keep her mouth shut, just as the carriage door closed and Grayfia set up a small bubble of silence around them, the red head began her tirade.

"Wasn't that kind of rude?" She harrumphed, cross her arms and practically glaring out the window. "Making our servants walk? Really? Not even the Church would dare."

"We did come unexpectedly." Sona pressed those thin glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "They most likely only expected to escort Grayfia-sama and Millicas-sama, not an additional six people."

"Still!" The red head slumped back in her cushioned seat. "Shouldn't they at least get some horses? I don't want more my poor servants getting gross callous feet!"

"What horses?" Millicas helpfully asked, his eyes locked onto the passing forest that seem to reach far out into the horizon. "They're huge! I bet their walk is enough to keep up with some of our horses! Are all Yokai like this Mother?"

"No." Her own crimson gaze locked onto the slow gate of the surrounding Oni, despite them not trying hard at all they were capable of keeping up with trotting horse without much issue. "Yokai are a race of shape shifters, in some way or fashion. Onis, for instance, can control their own height. To a certain extent anyway. This size is probably what their most comfortable with, but you should see them start to shrink as we get closer to the city. They're a lot of very powerful Youjutsu users there, so most of them won't want to risk offending them."

"Youjutsu?" Rias scrunched her brows together," That's the magic of the Yokai? It involved illusions, poison and other elemental effects?"

"Yes." Sona nodded. "But they also all show an increased physical might despite what some of their appearances might suggest."

"Are you stronger than them Mother?" Millicas asked innocently and Grayfia had to make sure the isolation bubble was still active before answering.

"Most of them, yes." She replied carefully," But even I would be hard-pressed to do anything but flee if Yasaka involved herself."

"Who's she?"

"Yasaka is the leader of the Yokai. She's a nine tailed Kitsune, a race known for their longevity and natural power. They say that she has infinite amounts of energy, so it's for everyone's best interests that we don't do anything to force that particular fight." While her intentions were to further open her son's eyes to the wider world, it also was a clear cut warning to the spirited teen across from her. Grayfia truly meant it, she truly could not protect the girl if she tried something stupid.

She got it, she had been in that exact position at one point in time. Rias wanted agency in who she got to marry, and not be used as just another chess piece in the grand games of inter Pillar politics. With the window closing on her twenty birthday in just a couple of years, it was clear the girl was getting desperate.

But despite her understanding, her warning was meant to cut in deep. She would only be able to get her son, Sona and Rias out if anything happened. Meaning both of them would be leaving their most important servants in the heart of Yokai territory. If the girl fucked up bad enough, she would be lucky to get just her son out.

'While I would rather see him grow up myself, just seeing him out alive would be enough for me.'

"It's safe to say they're escorting us to this Yasaka?" Sona asked. "Is there anything else we need to know? Etiquette or just basic topics to avoid?"

"We aren't meeting the Yokai Council," Thank Satan for small favors," So it should be something less informal. As long as you don't mention recruiting, then everything else should be fine."

"Why not?" Rias, obviously growing more annoyed with that little bits of information asked a bit petulantly. Being told not to recruit from Grayfia was one thing but for not even the leader be willing to look the other way was something else entirely.

"Yokai are a proud people." Grayfia intoned, hoping that this little lesson would stick in that stick skull of her sister in-law. "In ancient times, humans worshiped them like….deities. They're fast, strong and elusive as can be. They usually only lose out to raw magical output, besides Yasaka of course."

"That doesn't answer my question," The red head huffed, acting like a child Millicas's age. If she thought that would work on the maid, then she would be greatly disappointed. Her brother wasn't here to grant her every whim," I get it, they're a strong race. But that doesn't explain why becoming a Devil wouldn't benefit them, their pride would actually make them really great ones to begin with!"

"...If I may?" Sona piped up, pink eyes locked onto those aged crimson eyes with a request. With a nob of acknowledgment, the slender girl continued. "Rias, I think what Lady Grayfia is telling us is that they don't see becoming a Devil as a benefit to them. They already have long lifespans, they're own techniques and progression system that is completely foreign to us. And from my research, there's been very few Yokai who accepted an Evil Piece voluntarily. In fact, I'm sure many of them sees it as an insult….Especially given the previous treaty."

"Lady Sitri is indeed correct." Grayfia nodded, approval evident in her eyes. She was glad that the young heiress had done her research before coming here, it was good to show Millicas what it meant to be prepared. Not the hair-brain scheme that Rias had cobbled together to acquire an extremely powerful Yokai to solve her problems. What she needed wasn't more powerful servants, the one's she had were already enough to make a majority of her Devilish peers green with envy. "At most, you could ask them to provide Senjutsu tips for your two servants."

'Or Youjutsu to Koneko.'

But despite how powerful Rias's servants were, they all had their own hangups that only held them back from their full potential. If the heiress couldn't help get them through their mental blocks, then it didn't matter what scheme she has cooked up to get out of that engagement. She would fail. That was a given fact.

"…." The girl didn't answer either of them, only letting out a huff of annoyance and stared out at the humongous tree trunks they passed in a blur. Grayfia could only sigh internally at that action, knowing all to well what her silence meant. Hopefully the red head didn't cause too much trouble for them.