78 Chapter 78: Conscript them as a construction crew

"Pwahahaaha!"

"I'm being serious."

"Huehue… Really?"

"Yes."

"For realsies though?"

"Indeed."

Serafall finally yanked her head out of the table after laughing against it in a hysteria-like state. "You're saying that Mo-kun is-"

"Please don't say the name." Sirzehchs sighed as the two sat in a conference room in Gremory territory with a pair of teacups in front of them, courtesy of Grayfia who in turn stood beside the shady, warded room's entrance. "I've already pushed the limits by naming Him to you."

"Yeah, but… No way! Who told you that?" Serafall was unconvinced, however.

"Odin. The Norse gods have had the most interactions with them, as some of their realms reach to touch even the eldritch…" Sirzechs told her, albeit the Maou looked just slightly unconvinced himself. "If his theory is true then we need to be careful. If not, then we don't lose much by being careful."

"Muuuh… That's…" Serafall looked a bit upset as Sirzechs wasn't joking after all. "I'm like a hundred and two percent sure you're wrong though… I mean, Mo-kun is a netori harem protagonist guy who is actually a pervert black knight who is actually a pervert evil mastermind who is actually the fallen god-ow, so I don't know where I should fit this Hastu-mmmph?"

Sirzechs put his finger on Serafall's lips. "Names have power."

Serafall sighed. "I get it, I get it… Did you have anything else to tell me? I got to go chat up with So-tan… she got engaged!"

"Yes, I was present in her engagement ceremony…" Sirzechs flinched a bit from Serafall's glare.

"Unfair! I wanted to go!"

"Well, you were unconscious and it was my sister's engagement ceremony as well…" Sirzechs sighed. "But if we get back on track… The possibility of Momon being Himis quite disastrous if true, but when it is combined with the fact he's my sister's fiance… I ask you to show the same restraint and calmness as I do when it comes to Momon and your sister. In other words, please don't go ballistic if something happens since even if the four of us combine our forces we wouldn't have a good chance against Him. Diplomacy, restraint and careful manipulation is our weapon right now."

"Huh, that's… actually… hey! Can I call you brother-in-law now?" Serafall perked up, causing Sirzechs to groan as Serafall had focused on the wrong things. "I'm joking, I'm joking Sirzechs oniii-chaaan… I get it. I won't bully Mo-kun. But if he bullies So-tan then I won't hold back, even against Him!"

Grayfia shivered.

Sirzechs looked defeated.

Serafall giggled… and then calmed down and adopted more regal posture fitting of a Maou. "But if we move onto more concerning matters…"

Sirzechs muttered something under his breath about 'what constituted as concerning matters and not', but nodded nonetheless. "The peace council. I've already arranged it to be held in Kuoh, which seems fitting considering it's been the ground zero of recent incidents."

"Where exactly?" Serafall looked a bit guilty as she tapped her forefingers together. "I might have leveled most of Kuoh's public infrastructure by accident…"

"I originally intended it to be held in Kuoh Academy, considering it had the space and was quite central to our presence there... but considering that it's currently under reconstruction after your rampage, we had to go for an alternate location." Sirzechs pushed a button on the table, causing a projector to pop out from the ceiling and project an image of a ruin with a school bus on top. He then pushed it the second time.

"Oh my!" Serafall giggled a bit as she saw the building in question. "Have you told him?"

"As the underworld's political representative in foreign affairs, that responsibility falls to you." Sirzechs looked serious as she motioned towards the image of Momon Phenix's manor.

Serafall resisted the urge to poke her tongue out at him with visible effort. "You want me to go and strongarm him! That's so underhanded!"

"Yes."

"Muuuuuhh…. Alright. I'll go." Serafall sighed.

Sirzechs nodded as the plan he had made with Beelzebub in secret proceeded as planned.

.

.

Momonga felt refreshed as he woke up. Or rather, woke his physical body up as his mind had been up the whole night while his body had entered its hibernation stage.

Yet, he noted that he felt 'refreshed' after his body woke up from the sleep, which when combined with the ever-stronger feelings he got through the host-flesh started to worry Momonga. 'Does this mean I'm starting to fuse with this body? It's already starting to transfer feelings like how I felt them when I was Suzuki Satoru…'

"Is this your first time? I thought you did the same with this 'Suzuki Satoru' you keep mentioning." Ddraig seemed to stretch in Momonga's head and rolled on its stomach to talk. "I figured that I had just pulled you into this world, back when Issei died, because you were about to re-possess this Suzuki Satoru or something and instead accidentally traced my pull back to Issei?"

'Something like that.' Momonga dismissed the dragon. 'Hm… [Time Stop]'

The world stilled, alongside Momonga's constant stalker in his head. '...I'll need to talk to Ddraig soon about YGGDRASIL's… core function. Or rather, that it was just a game. It has read through my notes and messages when it was in my inventory and thinks that I'm what the notes said was true, the 'raids' were real, and Suzuki Satory is just a body I occupied like how I occupy this 'Issei's body… That said, I think Ddraig would probably lose all respect and fear for me and would become more difficult to control if he knew that I was actually just 'Suzuki', and 'Momonga' was a mere game avatar and not the sorcerer he thought me to be… Even more so now as I can't use [True Death] on him to control him, since he's in my head and not in my inventory...'

He sighed. 'That being said, I wonder if I'm becoming more like 'Issei' and less like I used to be… I wasn't asexual or anything, but I never really had any luck with girls, but it seems that Issei practically vacuumed girls to his presence before he died… Although, 'Suzuki Satoru' was just a regular salaryman obsessed with a deep-dive game, and there wasn't anything attractive about that… In comparison 'Momon' would be quite a powerful being, at least compared to baseline Devils if the Peerages and Maous are anything to go by, and it looks like power draws attention in this ero-world… I'll just have to keep an eye out if the process continues or if there are more indicators of that kind of moral corruption.'

Momonga shook his head before he could get deeper into his thoughts. 'I'll just have to keep going. Since I can gain experience and lose it through healing tears I could start re-leveling myself to some other specialization than necromancer, as the whole 'Supreme Being' debacle more or less burnt the usefulness of my main specialization… However since it looks like I can't assign the free 'level slots' by myself, if the 'Actor' and 'Lover' levels are anything to go by, I should keep that as a last-ditch resort.'

The [Time Stop] came to an end, re-inviting the voice of Momonga's constant stalker to his head.

"Well, if you say s- uh?" Ddraig blinked as the position of Momonga's internal representations had shifted just minutely during the stopped time. "Erm… That's creepy…"

Momonga ignored the dragon as a pair of flesh mounds squished against his chest in the real world.

"Mmmmh…" Rias mumbled in her sleep as she started to slowly wake up alongside the two other occupants of Momonga's bed, those being Ravel and Sona.

Momonga and Sona had gone off to have supper after the two had their heart-to-heart, which to his surprise had somehow allowed Sona to relax in his presence. After that Rias and Ravel had entered the quarters as well, since it had grown late, and the four of them had gone to sleep. 'Girls are so complicated… I just talked a bit with Sona and she seemed to calm down somehow… Haa...'

"Aaah…." Ravel let out a sigh as she seemed to wake up first. "Hm? Ah, you're awake, my lord…"

Momonga put his finger on the girl's lips as he still felt quite awkward being called 'lord', but once again Ravel turned the innocent action into something far less innocent as she took the finger into her mouth and began suckling on it.

However, Momonga had been long since hardened against such simple teases so instead of blushing or freezing up he took the girl's tongue between his fingers and stroked it in turn.

"M-hlord… Ish…" Ravel seemed quite surprised but nonetheless went with the flow… until Rias woke up properly.

"Cuddle-sleep is the best... " Rias moaned as she woke up and stretched, which caused the soft bags of flesh resting on top of Momonga's chest and shoulder to shudder and rub pleasantly. "Eh? Ravel-chan?"

"Mhm… slurp…" Ravel seemed to be in her own world, however, and couldn't answer Rias's surprised yelp.

"Noisy…" Sona groaned as she woke up, having slept a bit separate from Momonga as opposed to the two other girls who had practically crawled all over him. "Quiet down…"

"Ah, good morning, everyone." Momonga told the trio as he pulled his fingers out of Ravel's mouth, allowing the girl to breathe freely. "Um, we should probably look for breakfast and then get to today's training…"

"Yesh, train me…"

"Ahem, I meant regular training, Ravel-san." Momonga sweated a bit as he looked at Ravel's expectant and more than a little lewd expression. "Sona-san?"

"Of course. I imagine that we'll do better today as opposed to yesterday's… hm, I think calling it a sheer, absolute failure would suffice." Sona reached to the bedside table and put her glasses back on.

"Ho? Sona-chan! You're stable again!" Rias seemed overjoyed by Sona's level tone.

"...Haa, somehow your words don't make me happy, Rias-san." Sona sighed at Rias's joy. And then groaned as Rias went to hug Sona. "Rias, might I remind you that you're naked?"

"Sona is sane again, yah!" Rias, however, didn't seem to care much that she was completely naked. Although luckily Sona was clad in a comfy gown Momonga had created for her, and thus the interaction was a lot less lewd than it could have been.

"...Are you sure you didn't go to my sister to get pointers on how to behave?" Sona seemed exasperated but nonetheless pat Rias's head.

The patting seemed to break Rias out of her joyful stupor and she blushed. "Ah- Well, since… Y-you know, let's just put this behind us, yes? You're sane, and all is well?"

"Yes, I'm fine…" Sona didn't stop patting Rias's head like if she was a beloved but recently-scolded little sister. "Now, get off me, please."

Momonga lifted himself off the bed, causing the dress gown he had created for himself to billow a bit. "Alright. I'll go and see about getting us some breakfast. Please get dressed in the meantime and join me."

The girls made affirmative sounds and Momonga left the room.

.

.

Lady Phenix woke up in cold sweat.

She had slept in a guest room, which was a lavish room decorated with fairly neutral colours and furniture but had phenix family's sigils in the sheets and banners, as she was feeling more than a little wary of resting in her 'assigned' quarters- Those being her old quarters which were now shared by her and Momon, and Momon's fiancees.

After all, she was no longer the lady of the family officially, but rather a mere mistress of an adopted son of the family. Not to mention that she didn't have her own family to back her up as she had married into the Phenix family, and her original family had long since died in the civil war as one of the lost families of the seventy-two Pillars. Moreover Lady Phenix's original family's lands had been absorbed into Phenix's after the war.

Which, due to the laws regarding noble families of the Underworld and the fact divorce between noble family members wouldn't include property-splitting, meant that Lady Phenix had very little wealth of her own after the divorce.

In other words, her 'rank' in the family had gone from top of the mountain to the flatlands in mere moments.

However she soldered on, knowing that her husband was alive once more. Or as close to alive as one could be, after the horrifying death he had suffered and had been brought back. Or rather, her ex-husband was alive once more, as he had delivered her the written divorce notification.

'Haa…' The woman lying in the bed was feeling powerless and quite miserable, even though she knew she couldn't afford being either of those in her present circumstances. 'I know hubby loves me still, and I love him. This is just a temporary solution… He told me that the mistress contract I made with Momon on technicality is legal, and he refuses to let the family name be marred… Which I understand. After all, if Ravel went and contracted herself as a mistress and then broke the pact when her client delivered their part of the contract, I'd be quite crass with her as it'd easily soil the reputation of Phenix family, marking us as contract-breakers… And if I did the same, as the lady of the house, it'd effectively ruin the whole name of Phenix and might even endanger our title as a noble family... '

She rolled over to her side. 'There aren't too many noble families left, so the council of Pillars might hesitate over such drastic action, but we are supposed to be the guides and model figures that lower-level devils follow, so seeing one of us break their contract so easily and frivolously could start a landslide of deviancy which could in turn lead to a riots and revolution... However, if I am just a mere mistress, divorced from the main family, and break my contract then the impact should just land on me solely and won't mar the family's name. I'm fairly sure hubby was aiming for that with the divorce… And I'm sure he's feeling the shame of being forced to do so and is thus unwilling to speak to me about it in depth… That old worrywart...'

'I fled to this guest room to try to avoid being in Momon's presence just in case he demanded my body, as would be his right due to the contract…' Lady Phenix sat up on the bed, shaking her head in despair. 'But it seems that Momon is not too interested in me as he hasn't sent a messenger to summon me to his bed... Perhaps there's a chance that I can convince him to break my contract as the power to do so lies in him, and afterwards I can talk to hubby and get us re-married… It'd be difficult to re-marry a noble lord if I had the stigma of a contract-breaker on me.'

Lady Phenix found new strength in the thought. 'I'm guessing that's why hubby gave our quarters to Momon as well… He's currying favor from Momon, so that he can ask him to break the contract with me when he gets to Momon's good side. I'll just have to play the role I've been forced into until hubby can convince Momon to give me back to him… I should talk to Momon, perhaps try to convince him as well. Ravel seems to like him and he doesn't seem to be an overly cruel person...'

A growl came from the woman's stomach, causing her to blush a bit. 'That being said… I should probably look for breakfast… Although my old quarters belong to Momon, I still have them by proxy as his mistress. And all of my clothes are still there, hubby didn't have a servant move my belongings out… Haa, I have to find a chance to talk to hubby as well and plan things out… But apparently he left to go and see Ruval and our youngest…'

She clad herself in a simple crimson robe through [Power of Imagination] and walked out of one of the guest rooms of Phenix manor-castle.

Thanks to the castle-manor's size and almost labyrinthian corridors it took her quite a bit of time to walk to her old quarters and found out that Momon and his new fiancees had left the quarters already, leaving a sizable breakfast on the table after eating their full.

Lady Phenix felt a twinge of annoyance at herself and her current situation as she was effectively eating leftovers, but figured that beggars couldn't be choosers and the situation would pass eventually.

The door to the bedroom opened as Lady Phenix was spreading marmalade on a piece of toast and a boy stepped out of the bedroom. Only, it wasn't the owner of the said bedroom, nor was the man a part of service staff.

Lady Phenix scrunched her eyebrows as she tried to recall who the mysterious intruder was and then recalled the incident back in the engagement ceremony. "You're… Saji Genshirou, correct?"

The now-identified intruder jumped as it was clear he hadn't expected Lady Phenix to be present. "A-e-who- Yes! I am!"

Lady Phenix narrowed her eyes at the bedroom door behind the boy. "And what, I wonder, were you doing in Momon's bedroom?"

"I was… ahem… room service?" The boy looked awkward and guilty as if he had been caught mid-misdeed, which he had been.

"I hope you do not expect me to believe that." Lady Phenix put the toast aside and took a more severe and scrutinizing posture, which she had ample experience with thanks to her many children. "I do not tolerate thieves under my roof. Lie to me again and the dogs will gnaw on your bones."

"Eeh?!" Saji seemed to be quite frightened by the threat. "P-please! Not again! I was- um- I- um, S-Sona-sama, well… I was... Issei, no, Momon-sama asked me to, uh, I was just, in the side room… You know. It's a bit awkward, but I had a legit reason..."

Lady Phenix sighed. "...That side room, huh…"

Saji shut up and was shuddering on the spot, clearly frightened but nonetheless defiant of his fate. "I won't apologize! I did what was needed of me!"

"I understand. Your position, that is." Lady Phenix waved her hand. "I'm in the same position, so I can sympathize… Still, I didn't know Momon-san was, well, like that."

"...I see. Thank you. And I knew. From the start. But… Thank you for understanding." The one-handed boy seemed to relax as well as Lady Phenix relaxed her posture. "Ahem, there is a person I need to talk to. So, um, please excuse me?"

"Fine. Go." Lady Phenix waved towards the exit and the boy practically teleported out of the room in his hurry. 'Haa… So Momon took that boy as his lover as well, if he was asked to sleep in the concubine's room? I didn't think he'd be into boys, but I suppose it explains why he hasn't taken me to his bed… And come to think of it, all of his fiancees were more or less forced to him… I suppose I know now why he was so against the idea of bedding Rias when he was engaged to her…'

She sighed half in relief, half in exasperation at the revelation. And then turned back to her breakfast. 'I can't postpone this much more... I'll need to talk to him soon about our arrangement…'

.

.

"Ha- haa… Too close, that was too close…" Saji felt his heart beat like a six-cylinder engine as he tried to calm himself down after running from Momon's ill-gained quarters. "What- what the hell? Why was she here? Wasn't that woman Lord Phenix's wife or something? What was she doing in Momon's quarters- Unless… What if Momon… Ah… Momon must be forcing himself on her, or is blackmailing her somehow."

He nodded as the depths of Momon's despicable behaviour revealed itself to Saji. 'I need to talk to Lord Phenix, tell him that Momon is blackmailing Lady Phenix… I heard the two of them divorced, it was in the news that a noble family's head divorced his wife... Momon must have forced Lady Phenix to divorce her husband through blackmail or something.'

Saji shook his head. 'I need to save Sona first, though… Serafall-sama. I need to find Serafall-sama and- oh?'

His phone started ringing, and he answered it. "Saji here."

"...Where are you?" A dry voice belonging to Saji's true and only master came through the phone.

"Sona-kaichou! I was just, um, taking a walk."

"...I came to collect my Peerage from the quarters you were assigned. But I found from Tsubaki that you were gone the entire night?" Sona's voice was a bit suspicious. "Were you doing something idiotic once again?"

"No, I was… I was doing my duty as your Pawn, Sona-kaichou." Saji's voice was full of confidence, which was crushed as he heard a long sigh through the phone.

"...So you were doing something idiotic. Explain yourself. No- before that, report to the teleporter courtyard with your combat-gear and whatever supplies you need for training." Sona's voice was exasperated. "We'll be going for day two of training with Momon-sama and his Peerage. We'll meet you there."

"We'll… I see. Yes, Sona-kaichou." Saji steeled his heart, knowing that Sona was forced to endure yet more pain to amuse Momon. So, he ran towards the courtyard in order to beat Sona and Momon there so the tyrant couldn't use Saji's laxness as an excuse to torment her further. 'Just hold on for a little while longer, I'll save you… Oh?'

The teleporter in the yard blinked and spat out a pink-clad girl, who landed with a childish bounce, bounced again, and then landed in a magical girl pose complete with starry eyes and staff. Only, the courtyard was empty so Saji suspected that the girl was doing the poses out of habit.

Saji broke himself out of the stupor that the Leviathan's approach had left him in and ran to the courtyard before his chance could slip away. Literally, in this case.

"And I'm here! Now, So-tan… Time for big sis-talk! Magical girl wings are a go- huh?" Serafall did a pirouette, pointed her staff in the air, and materialized her devil-wings in preparation of flying off… but paused in the pose as Saji ran to her as if his life depended on it.

"Please wait, Serafall-sama! I carry important information concerning Sona-kaic- ow?!" Saji was knocked on his back as Serafall teleported from her position into Saji and knelt down while standing on the downed boy's chest.

"Speak! Quickly now!" Serafall pointed her magical-girl staff at Saji. "What was that about So-tan?"

"I have evidence that Momon is abusing Sona!" Saji got out and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "He's forcing himself on Sona and torturing her both verbally and physically!"

"You better have good evidence, rival-kun, or you'll end up as a pile of glitter-covered slush…" Serafall seemed to be quite upset by the accusation but nonetheless looked into the phone as Saji began playing the recording. "..."

The recording played itself out to Serafall who had frozen still.

Saji felt victorious as Serafall snatched the phone from his hands and stared at the recording while beginning to shake, and the Maou's eyes had a dangerous glint and her face was dreadfully pale.

The one-armed Pawn managed to grab Serafall's ankle as the Maou pulled a pink fairy from between her breasts and materialized a pair of wings.

The fairy flew off to a direction and Serafall took to the air while Saji clung to the woman's ankle with all his might like a stubborn piece of grass stuck to a sole.

Saji resisted the urge to look up as it'd give him a good eyeful of the Maou's underskirt… But before he could give to the urge the pair crashed through a huge cathedral-like window in a shower of glass and steel.

"Ow!" Saji rolled a few times as he bounced on the glass-shard covered floor, cutting himself in dozen places in the process and sliding off to crash against a chair leg.

He looked around to see that he was in a living room of sorts where Momon's and Sona's Peerages had gathered and had their supplies and weapons, readying themselves for training.

Serafall had landed on top of Momon and knocked him over, but unlike with Saji she wasn't standing on Momon's chest but was sitting on it. Moreover, the Maou was rubbing Saji's phone's screen on Momon's face.

"Mo-mon-kun…" Serafall's voice was more like a growl than speech, causing Saji's spirits to rise.

'Thank you, Yuuto-kun… Your advice worked…' Saji crawled back on his feet and moved so that his body was between shocked-looking Sona and Momon, just in case Momon decided to go down fighting and take Sona with him after getting exposed as the rapist and monster he was.

"Ahem… Serafall-san? Would that be…" Momon sweated visibly as he looked at the recording.

"Where. Are. My. Cuddles." Serafall's growl caused the faces of everyone present to run with sweat. "Sona got cuddles! I demand my cuddles! This is an outrage Mo-kun! You're supposed to corrupt the magical girl first! It's stipulated in the 'bad guy contract' on page number four! First corrupt the magical girl and then corrupt the girl she was protecting, and then show the corrupted girl to the magical girl to break her final resistances and utterly mind-break her! You're going against the script! Super uncool!"

"I… see." Momon seemed to realize something, sighed, and struck a cringy pose under Serafall. "Ha! But little did you know, I corrupted Sona-chan in order to corrupt you, Sera-tan! I knew you wouldn't bend nor break when Sona-tan was behind you and was your strength! You thought I was going against the narrative, but it was my strategy! In other words, you fell right into my trap! You thought it was a mistake, but it was a plan by I, Momon!"

"Oh noooo! My only weakness!" "NO!" The scream came from two mouths, one from Serafall and one from Saji. But while one was faux-terrified, the other was screaming in despair.

Sona merely sighed while adjusting her glasses. "Serafall-neesan… What are you doing?"

"Kukuku… Momon-sama..." Ravel chuckled.

"Momon-kun… Ugh, Serafall-sama has infected you with her manners…" Rias, in turn, seemed quite resigned and sighed while holding to her temple as if she had popped a migraine. "You're acting cringy again..."

The two respective Peerages in the room were somewhere between shocked and resigned as well.

"Ahem. But enough of that. I'm glad to see that you've recovered alright, Serafall-san." Momon seemed to snap out of his cringy speech with a cough. "And about last night, well… You should probably talk with Sona if that's bothering you."

"Please don't worry about my bedroom-life, Serafall-neesan." Sona voiced her opinion as she looked at the recording past Saji's shoulder. "Although… How exactly did you come across this video?"

Serafall pointed at Saji.

Sona turned her head slowly to look at Saji who felt as if he had found a footing after falling off a ship, but it had turned out to be the fin of a shark.

"Sona-kaichou, I… I understand you're upset. But I did it for your sake." Without the option to retreat, Saji doubled down on his determination. "Sona-kaichou. Please be honest- Is Momon blackmai-"

"You're a despicable pervert." Sona's voice was flat and pierced through Saji like a spear. "You snuck into my quarters to spy on me and Momon loving each other? And then spying on Rias, Ravel and me?"

"I... I did it for your sake, Sona-kaichou!" Saji explained. "I know you're hurting, we all know Momon is a monster. Serafall-sama… Just tell her the truth, Sona-kaichou! She can help you, she can help all of us!"

"Ooohh! Rival-kun is attempting to smear Mo-kun! This is so cool!" Serafall's voice, however, didn't help Saji's desperation. "Rival-kun got cucked and then tried to turn a sister against another in an attempt to claim So-tan's heart!"

"What is this commotion…" A tired voice came from nearby and Saji glanced over to see that the door to the living room opened, allowing Lady Phenix to step inside. "Ah… Momon-san. I hoped to find you. Serafall-sama? I wasn't informed that you had arrived… Then again, I suppose I wouldn't be informed of such happenings now… My apologies for intruding."

"Whoa, you sound super tired!" Serafall materialized in front of Lady Phenix, allowing Momon to stand up. "Are you eating well? You sound like you're two naps away from sleeping sickness!"

"I'm well, Serafall-sama, although the recent events have left their mark." Lady Phenix told the energetic Maou. "I find myself exhausted faster than ever… I'm guessing that fighting in that swamp must have drained both my body and my spirit more than I realized. After all, I had to fight the undead body of my very own son and the mutated body of my husband..."

"Stay strong, you'll get over this. You've survived the civil war, and so many other conflicts before that…'' Serafall put her hands on Lady Phenix's shoulders and patted them while her face had an unusually serious expression. "I haven't actually talked to your hubby, er, ex-husband about this whole situation. He must be hurting as well, and it's my responsibility as a Maou to help the Pillars. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Gone to see our two remaining sons." Lady Phenix sighed. "Thank you for your concern, Serafall-sama."

"You'd do the same in my place, eh?" Serafall pat Lady Phenix one last time and then turned back towards the room. "Anyway! I came to have a chat with So-tan! So your training is postponed for now, Mo-kun!"

"It's alright." Momon didn't seem to mind, causing Saji to almost boil over in rage as the monster and rapist had managed to somehow handwave both accusations and turned them on Saji. "Although, I'd like to speak with Saji-kun. Alone."

"Hm… Oh. I understand." Lady Phenix seemed to realize something. "I would have preferred to talk with you privately, Momon-san, but I suppose I shouldn't go between two young men in love. I'll speak with you later."

"Two- what now?" Momon blinked.

Absolute silence descended on the room.

"I… Figured that since you had taken Saji as your lover…" Lady Phenix seemed to be taken aback by the sudden change in the room.

"I most certainly did not." Momon's tone left no wiggle-room on the matter. "Where did you hear this rumor, my lady?"

"From him." Lady Phenix turned her gaze on Saji who suddenly felt as if he was an insect pinned to a wall.

"Ahem…"

"No way!" Serafall seemed to realize something. "Could it be… Ooooooh! I've got it! I've cracked the code!"

"Serafall-neesan…" Sona's tone was apprehensive.

"Rival-kun went to Mo-kun's bedroom to spy on him, not to get cucked but… To create friction and drive So-tan and others away from Momon, so he could take him instead!" Serafall announced while pointing at Saji. "Dramatic! Striking! The mirror has been flipped, and it was Momon-kun who Saji-kun was after! So-tan, Ri-tan, Ra-tan! Beware! You have a new rival in love!"

"..." Saji opened his mouth and closed it.

"...I suppose that makes sense. You challenged the engagement ceremony as well, after all… I thought it was just for my sake, but… It seems you had an ulterior motive as well, Saji-san." Sona sighed as if everything had started to clear up. "And come to think of it, I heard multiple girls had confessed to you in Kuoh but you hadn't accepted any of them. And you must have known that chasing me was a fool's errand, given our respective social circumstances… Was that just you trying to keep the rumor from getting out while you looked for a boyfriend, Saji-san? Was I just your shield against scrutiny?"

"Don't worry, Saji. We aren't so petty that we'd judge or abandon you for your preferences… But you should really look for other men than Momon-sama. Those that aren't taken." Tsubaki placed her hand on Saji's shoulder. "Like Yuuto-kun over there. Or Gasper-kun."

Sona's Queen pointed at the two boys on the other Peerage, and Yuuto made a hand-gesture that roughly meant 'I'm good, thank you.' while Gasper disappeared into a spot of black slurry and re-materialized as a busty elf-like girl, much to the surprise of the two Peerages.

'Ha… Ha?! What the hell?!' Saji felt true despair as he fell on his knees. 'Is this what you planned? Is this how you caused Sona so much despair? You… You are a monster, Momon!'

"Saji-san. I won't exile you from my Peerage… Just this once. But make a scene like this and I will do so." Sona told Saji with sharp, pointed words. "Haa… But I suppose I should let you speak for yourself. What were you thinking? Why did you do what you did? Is Serafall-neesan correct?"

"Ah…" Saji realized that he had no options. 'Momon has his claws so deep in Sona that she protects him… Despite what he did to her… I'll have to be more covert. And now, he's pushed me into a corner, despite the evidence I gathered against him… If I go against Serafall-sama's theory, and since neither she or Sona believe me, I'll be forced to bear the full weight of responsibility for my peeping… And of the false accusations. And Serafall-sama won't let my slight against Sona go with just a slap on the wrist... Grrr… Momon! Fine! I'll dance to your tune this time, but I'll get my vengeance!'

"It's true. I love Momon-sama." Saji announced.

Sona sighed.

Lady Phenix looked a bit resigned, slightly outraged, yet somehow apprehensive at the same time.

Serafall looked victorious. In fact, she made a mischievous 'magical girl victory' pose complete with a 'victory' hand symbol over her eye which had a pink star in the center.

"Ah… I'm glad to know, and I congratulate you for finally being honest with yourself, but I must turn you down because I don't swing that way. My apologies, Saji-san." Momon nodded his head just minutely towards Saji. "I'm willing to let this incident slide, but I'd prefer if you didn't try to break my bond with my fiancees or my lovers. I would be forced to take action if you try this again."

'And in the end, you come across as the forgiving saviour and make me sound like the insane rambling deviant…' Saji had never felt as much anger as he felt now, but did his best to keep it from surfacing for the sake of himself and for sake of Sona- After all he knew that Momon would take Saji's insubordination as an excuse and punish Sona when the two were alone. '...I have one more lifeline. Lady Phenix.'

Saji resisted the urge to glance at the woman in question because it might reveal his plan to Momon. 'I'll have to go for the throat… Serafall won't budge as long as Sona defends Momon… But if I manage to tell Lord Phenix about Momon blackmailing Lady Phenix, perhaps get evidence of it to support my claims… And since Sona deduced that Momon might be the Supreme Being, I should be able to convince Lord Phenix of that fact as well if I get evidence of his wife being blackmailed…'

"You're thinking of doing something idiotic again." Sona smacked Saji in the center of his temple with a flick of her finger, a motion which the girl had mastered to an artform and to the point such a simple flick felt like a hammer-strike. "Quit it. Tsubaki-san, watch after Saji-san and make sure he won't do anything foolish."

"Of course, Sona-sama." Tsubaki bowed minutely and then chuckled a bit. "...I'm glad that you're in high spirits again, Sona-sama. You had me worried."

"Ahem. Since the situation seems to have resolved itself… Momon-san? May I have a word with you." Lady Phenix looked almost scared as she approached the boy who nodded in turn.

"Of course, my lady." Momon bowed and led the woman off, pausing for just a moment to turn back towards the two Peerages. "Ah, Sona-san? Serafall-san? If you two wish to talk in private then my quarters are open to you. Um, I had planned for our Peerages to train for the rest of the day but I suppose we'll have to postpone it, so feel free to relax for now. Ah, although, if you two have the energy, Xenovia-san and Irina-san, it might be best if you two saw to the church affairs."

The two groups of devils agreed, albeit Momon had to shoo Ravel off as the girl tried to sneak away with Momon and Lady Phenix.

Saji sighed in order to keep himself from falling on his knees and screaming in rage as the devils dispersed from the living room to various activities. 'I'll get you, Momon! Just you wait!'

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