Chapter 30

The specifics of the deal were complicated, and it took quite a long time to go through but eventually, they finished the more complicated matters. In essence, the deal boiled down to six main clauses.

𝟏: 𝘐𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

𝟐: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥.

𝟑: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.

𝟒: 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢…

𝟓: 𝘐𝘧 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝙤𝙧 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝟔: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.

'It's a good deal.' Damian thought to himself upon hearing the specifics of it. While the deal was overall equal to both sides it did cover all the necessary bases, specifically clause 5. While it may sound like a bad thing it is actually a requirement.

Currently, the Thaumiel clan has a connection to house Astaroth and therefore Ajuka Beelzebub and now they would have a connection to the Gremory clan and Sirzechs Lucifer as well. With such strong backers, they were obviously going to be the object of many people's attention.

Some would look at them in fear, some in envy, some in disdain, and the rare few may not care about them at all. Regardless, the Thaumiel clan would soon have a target painted on their back in the devil society and would most likely be destroyed either physically or economically.

For that reason, the fifth clause was created. When the one causing the issue to begin with, the Thaumiel clan wouldn't be able to rely on the Gremory clan or Sirzechs. Of course, they could still rely on Ajuka if necessary but one Satan was a better opponent than two.

Naturally, it wouldn't make much sense if neither side could help one another even after being connected by marriage so they implemented a failsafe of sorts. If all four satans agree or eight people of the twelve man council agree they could assist one another.

By far receiving the unanimous vote of the four Satans was the easiest however it was also the most limited. They only had a certain level of times the four could assist them before they would be put under the scrutiny of the public and questioned by the devil nobility for being biased when they promised impartiality.

'The council isn't really viable though.' Damian thought to himself with a small frown. The council was made up of the heads of the twelve highest ranking pillars and while they weren't exactly evil they were quite close.

To put into perspective, Diodora would be a member of the council if and when he takes the position of head of the Astaroth clan. Besides him, there was also the corrupt head of Bael who believed in blood purity to the point of ruthlessly abounding his first wife and son.

The head of Bael was the largest issue as well. Because of his position as the Great King and the powerful and secure political power built up by the former head, the current head had the support of over half the council and if he wanted to he could forcefully push the others around.

Of course, not everyone in the council was bad. Zeoticus and Sona and Seekviarai's fathers held positions on the council but that was three among twelve and those votes weren't even guaranteed.

Damian would most likely receive Zeoticus' support but merely being the acquaintance of Sona and Seekvaira didn't mean he'd receive the votes of their respective parents. If the Thaumiel family was ever put in a position where their votes were required Damian would like to believe they'd have the moral high ground and receive the votes but hope wasn't quite enough.

Naturally, the situation where such a vote would be required was unlikely and may never even happen in Damian's life. However, there was always a chance and Damian would rather overprepare than be caught off guard.

"So, what do you think?" Zeoticus asked Damian seriously breaking the latter from his wandering thoughts. Zeoticus' words were a challenge of sorts, a minor test to determine how skilled Damian was when it came to politics.

While the result of this small test wouldn't change anything it would affect how the adults of the family thought of him and the degree of trust they placed on him. At most, it would change the level of investment he received but that was unlikely.

"I think that it's quite the risk you're taking. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Damian inquired seriously. The Gremory family was taking a dangerous risk by picking him over the Phenex clan.

While Damian wasn't sure what the agreement the two families were under but the Gremory clan most likely received the right to buy Pheonix tears either earlier or for less. For most that was an unbelievably generous deal but it was especially important to the Gremory and Bael clans.

The Power of Destruction was incredibly dangerous and the chance of a user being injured during training was extremely high regardless of the precautions taken. As a result, those who utilize it have two 'paths' they could take.

They either don't train the power or they utilize rare and expensive materials to deal with any injuries that they face. While the Gremory clan could purchase other healing items from other mythologies that mean they should when such a convenient option was in front of them.

"How dare you say that after seduce-" Zeoticus began with gritted teeth before he was once again struck in the back of the head by his wife. "Ahem. As I was saying, we wouldn't have even brought it up if we didn't agree." Zeoticus declared after a fake cough.

'Seduce? When did I do that?' Damian thought to himself in bewilderment. After hearing Zeoticus' words the final piece of the puzzle revealed itself to Damian. The reason Rias was blushing, the reason the marriage was going through, and the reason Zeoticus was so angry with him all suddenly made sense.

At some point, without meaning to, Damian managed to seduce Rias Gremory. How he had done so was a mystery even to him but in general, children fell in love randomly and irregularly so while a surprise it sort of made sense.

'I don't think I'm that good looking though.' Damian thought to himself in confusion. Most instances of 'puppy love' were born from outward appearances and while he was far from ugly Damian wasn't the most handsome being in the world or anything. At least, he wasn't to his knowledge.

Then again, Rias did fall in love with Issei who was said to only be average in the 'canon' so it did sort of make sense. Regardless, while it would be a lie to say Damian wasn't interested in the cause he had a conversation to continue.

"I see. If you have no problems with it, then who am I to say no?" Damian declared simply. He phrased it respectfully but really jumping from joy wouldn't be too out there. While both sides benefited by the deal the Thaumiel clan gained an extremely important backer.

"Yes!" Rias abruptly shouted before covering her lower face, a dark crimson appearing on her cheeks as she was suddenly aware of all the eyes on her. Looking down at the ground in embarrassment Rias' blush increased threefold.

"I look forward to our life together lady Rias." Damian proclaimed softly, a gentle and fond smile on his face.