229 Hereditary Skill

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

After the open house ended, James, Rias, Sona, and all the members of their peerages cleaned up the area of the school they used during the tours. Then, they called it a day and returned to the mansion in Kuoh. Not before James and Scathach stored Grendel's corpse, though.

"So, what are your plans for this dragon?" Scathach asked as she looked at the pendant James had wrapped around his wrist.

Using a number of runes, Scathach turned a simple pendant she was carrying into a storage device that could carry nonliving objects equal to a volume of a little over sixty feet cubed (approx. 20 m cubed).

"If possible, I'd like to process the scales and flesh." James replied with a smile while also looking at the pendant fondly. "Then, I'll work with Shuna to create some battle gear for the peerage."

"I'll do my best." Shuna said while clinching her fists in front of her chest with the flames of determination burning in her eyes.

"Just for your peerage?" Rias whined as she gripped James arm. "That's not fair."

"Talk to him again when you kill a dragon of your own." Sona said while adjusting her glasses.

"Sona! Whose side are you on!?" Rias shouted as she let go of James' arm and glared at Sona.

"The side that makes reasonable requests." Sona replied nonchalantly.

While Rias and Sona began to bicker as they commonly do, James finally reached the front door of his mansion. After unlocking the door, he walked inside. Then, in a voice that could reach every corner of the mansion, he announced himself.

"Honey, 'm home!"

"You've been watching I Love Lucy again, huh?" Rias asked while shaking her head with a smile.

"So, what? It's a classic." James said as he began to take off his shoes.

However, it did not take long for everyone to realize that no one responded to James' call, which they found weird. At the very least, Leona would say something outrageous to let everyone know that she heard them.

Frowning slightly, James spread his perception through the entire mansion. Then, with his soul sight active, he was able to find and identify every presence in the house.

"Hmm... Kuroka, Issa, and Kokoa aren't here." James said while stroking his chin. "Let's see... Let's see... Mom, Auntie Venelana, Auntie Rhea, Grayfia, Irene, Evangeline, Akua, Kahlua, and... Yasaka? Are asleep in the bar."

"In the bar?" Sona asked with a smile. "They must have had one of their 'girls' days'."

"If my mom was the one bartending, they must have all gotten smashed." Rias added with a wry smile.

"Even so, how is Yasaka-San here?" Akeno asked. "I thought she couldn't leave Kyoto."

"That is a good question." James said, with mischief in his eyes, after changing his shoes. "And I intend to go and find out."

"I think you should go alone." Flora said with a smile. "That way we won't be witnesses to whatever you're about to do."

"Oh, whatever do you mean, my dear Flora?" James asked with a smile.

"That mischievous glint in your eye says it all." Koneko said while pointing at James face.

Instead of replying, James simply allowed the mischief to spread from his eyes to his entire smile. Then, after taking a step, he disappeared.

"Really? Did he really just use the [Flash Step] because he wanted to play a prank?" Mizore asked. "And he always complains that Auntie Leona never uses it for its intended purpose."

"Well, they are mother and son." Moka replied with a shrug.

While the rest of his group went to their respective rooms or the baths to get cleaned up after a long day of work, James made his way directly to the bar on the mansion's ground floor. When he arrived, just like he saw/felt through his perception, the bar was covered in women who drank themselves into unconsciousness. However, there was someone who he did not sense originally laying on top of the bar with her hands resting on her abdomen and staring at him with her eyes wide open.

When James saw those eyes, his movements came to a screeching halt, for two reasons. First, he did not expect her to be in the room, since he couldn't sense her with his perception and/or soul sight. Second, he was not expecting anyone to be awake. When his mind finally rebooted after the surprise, however, he began moving once again. His plans unhindered.

"Ophis, I didn't expect you to be drinking with them." James said as he made his way toward his mother.

"Leona said... It would be fun." Ophis replied while following James movements with her eyes.

"And did you have fun?" James asked while materializing a set of colored permanent markers in his hands.

"Watching them... was fun." Ophis said, answering James question. "Alcohol... Does not taste good."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." James said as he uncapped one of the markers. He began speaking again once he started drawing on Leona's face. "You're too powerful to be affected by the alcohol, most likely. And without the feeling of getting inebriated, alcohol is just a disgusting liquid, for the most part."

After that statement, James and Ophis fell silent. While Ophis simply watched James, James, with a huge smile on his face, drew a full goatee, much like his father wears, a monocle, and tear drops on his mother's face in the brightest colors he could.

After he finished, he stepped back to admire his handy work for a moment. Then, after nodding in satisfaction, he moved on to drawing random things on each of the other women's faces.

"Why draw on their faces?" Ophis asked in a flat tone. However, the curiosity in her eyes could not be hidden.

"It's to teach them a lesson." james said with a smile as he put the finishing touches on Yasaka's face. "Getting so drunk that you pass out like this can be dangerous."

After he finished, James took one more look at all the pieces of art he created, nodded in satisfaction once again, and dematerialized the markers. Then, he looked at Ophis.

"Come on, I'm hungry." James said with a smile. "After I get cleaned up, I'll grill some steak."

Hearing that James would grill steak again, Ophis eyes lit up. Then, in the next instant, she was sitting on James shoulders with her hands resting on the top of his head.

"Steak... Steak..." Ophis repeated melodically while swaying her head side to side, to a rhythm that only she could hear.

Finding Ophis' actions cute, James smiled. Then, he turned and left the bar.

The next morning, while James, Scathach, Mizore, Moka, Flora, Shuna, Mio, and Maria were eating breakfast and preparing to leave for the MMA Club, a set of earth shattering screams, followed by a symphony of voices cursing James, originating from the bar, could be heard throughout the house.

"I guess they're awake." James said with a smile. "I think we should hurry and get going, or we won't get our full workout in before school."

Naturally, those screams were from the women in the bar after realizing what had happened to their faces. The only one who didn't scream however was Leona. Instead of screaming, she looked at the doodles on her face and smiled brightly.

"Well played, James. Well played." Leona said while thinking about how she could get James back for this little prank.

After that, several days passed uneventfully. Going to school, training with their contractors, surviving Scathach's increasingly hellish training, etc. Basically, nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. At least until Grayfia returned to the mansion with news.

When Grayfia first arrived, it was clear that she was there in her official role as the secretary of the Satans. However, that did not stop her from glaring at James for a moment. In return, James only smiled at her sweetly, causing her to roll her eyes at him.

"Is the ability to break Grayfia's stoic mask hereditary, or something?" Rias whispered to Sona.

"Maybe... I mean, Auntie Leona and James are the only ones who can do it." Sona replied.

"James Alaverus, I have come to inform you of two matters." Grayfia began. Then, as she spoke of the first matter, her eyebrows constantly twitched. "First, you will be granted a territory in the Underworld. As I am sure you are aware, this should have happened when you were promoted to High-Class. However, due to certain circumstances, it has been postponed until now."

"Uh huh, sure." James replied nonchalantly.

"Second, the rewards for not only capturing Euclid Lucifuge, but also killing the Evil Dragon, Grendel, the Crime Force Dragon, and protecting the youths of the Underworld have been decided. The award ceremony will be held in the plaza with the [King Stone]."

"Understood and thank you for informing me." James replied with a polite bow, as etiquette would dictate.

"Good." Grayfia said with a nod. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have much work to attend to in the Underworld."

Then, a teleportation circle appeared under Grayfia. And an instant later, she was gone.

"Looks like I won't have to accidentally assassinate anyone." Leona began to mutter after Grayfia left.

Deciding that it was better for their mental health, everyone who was not present for the day drinking session the ladies had over the weekend ignored Leona's slightly psychotic ramblings.

"Hey, James." Kahlua said excitedly as she clung to James back. "Can I come to your award ceremony?"

"I don't see why you can't." James replied. "We'll just have to go to the Underworld through the official channels as it will be your first visit to the Underworld as a guest, right?"

"Right!" Kahlua said excitedly. "Thank you."

Then, Kahlua hopped up and planted a kiss on James cheek. After that, she skipped away while thinking of what she should wear for the ceremony.

"It looks like one of your sisters is going to become one of our sisters." Flora said while poking Moka's cheek with her index finger.

"Whatever." Moka said while swatting away Flora's hand. "If they're both happy about it, then I don't have any complaints."

"You're more open minded than I thought you'd be about this." Evangeline said as she sat next to Moka.

"If there were a better man out there, I would tell her to go find her own." Moka replied with a shrug. "But since James is so head and shoulders above the rest, I don't know how to tell her to find someone else."

"How could you suggest that brat is better than I, your father?" Issa said as he also made his way over to Moka.

"Oh yeah, what a great man you are, Dad." Moka said while rolling her eyes. "It takes a real great man to scare his daughter into thinking that he was going to sacrifice her so that the progenitor could be reinvigorated."

Issa winced when he heard the sardonic tone Moka spoke in. On the other hand, Mizore spoke.

"Speaking of that, what ended up happening to that Alucard guy?" Mizore asked while looking at Issa with her eyes open wide.

However, since Issa was still reeling from Moka's statement, it was Evangeline who answered.

"When the Son of Lucifer showed up, the first thing he did was kill Alucard." Evangeline said with a shrug. "He probably would not have been able to if Alucard was at his full power. However, because he was still recovering, it didn't take much effort."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about that mess anymore." Shuna said in reply.

"More important than that." Rias said, interrupting the conversation. "What do you think James' reward will be?"

"I don't know, but what could they possibly give him?" Sona asked. "As an Ultimate-Class devil, what can't he get on his own."

"I'm not sure either." James chipped in. "In fact, I'm not even sure if I'm looking forward to the reward. I mean, it's not like the higher ups have never tried to screw me over before."

"Well, all we can do is wait and see, I guess." Rias said while tapping her chin with an index finger. "I guess the next most important thing is to figure out what to wear at the ceremony."

"Oh, my peerage and I won't have to worry about that. Right, Shuna?" James said with a smile.

"That's right, James-Sama." Shuna replied with a similar smile. "Thanks to you and Master Scathach helping me, the outfits made from Grendel's scales and leather should be complete by the weekend."

With that, the room began to buzz with excitement. Everyone was curious about what clothing made from an Evil Dragon would look like and if it would have any special features. However, James, Scathach and Shuna kept a lid on the information. No one other than the three of them would know before the day of the award ceremony.