Yes, he was strong and there was no denying that. But it was still a risky move to put her future in someone else's hands, and many would believe it to be a reckless thing to do. But Rias wanted to trust Haruto, she wanted to be the one to introduce Haruto to the underworld, she wanted to be the person who Haruto would rely upon.
It wasn't a risky move, it was a selfish one. A greedy one.
"First would be to say that we love each other and so I am fighting to free my lover," Rias never felt her heart beating so fast before, "But I don't believe anyone will buy such a cheesy story." And with that, the beating stopped altogether.
"I think that is a great cover-up story," Rias whined making Haruto chuckle at her.
"Even if we go with that story and act our parts, there are just too many holes. First is that I appeared only two months ago, too fast to fall in love with." Haruto missed Rias's internal blank stare as he continued, "Second will be my questionable background that might make your parents think that the douchebag is a better choice. So no, instead of a cheesy romantic approach, we will approach this a bit more business-like."
"How so?" Rias was intrigued.
"This town belonged to my mother. So I will fight and win for you and in return, you will share the administration of the town with me. How does it sound?" Haruto relaxed and looked at Rias who had an enlightening look on her face.
But before Rias could reply a red circle appeared in front of them and slowly from there a devil emerged.
Both the lady, who was wearing maid clothes and Rias were surprised at what happened next. Grayfia was at the same position like Dohnaseek and Tsubaki, her head was inside the circle close to the top edge of that peculiar sword. Rias didn't even see him move let alone taking out the sword.
Grayfia was surprised but just for a second. She just blew a small breath and immediately the sword started to freeze and quite soon it became nothing but a block of ice. And now she was surprised once again to see Haruto still holding the frozen sword, he didn't even shake an inch considering that the frozen sword had now gained a lot of extra weights and he was holding the sword with one hand.
"There is a door and last time I checked my doorbell still works." Haruto's voice was cold now and so was his gaze.
"Haruto-kun, she is Grayfia-san, she is from the Gremory household." Rias didn't want to tell Haruto that he just held his sword against her brother's wife, though he had the right to do so.
Haruto snapped his fingers with the other hand and the sword disappeared. He looked at Rias, "Time's up?"
Rias smiled softly, "Time's up."
Grayfia wanted to ask quite a few things but at least she didn't found Rias in a compromising position like what she feared for. So, for now, she would just wait for Rias to come with her.
Rias got up and went to Grayfia, "Let's go back Grayfia-san."
Grayfia nodded and under their feet, the same red circle appeared again. But before completely disappearing, Rias held out two fingers and then they were gone.
Haruto chuckled,
"Guess I have to make some calls."
Haruto knew that the club room would be tense but he didn't expect it to be this much.
"I hope I am on time." Haruto chuckled as he entered the room.
"For once you are." Rias smiled and motioned him to a seat.
"Is he the special guest you were talking about, Rias-sama?" Grayfia asked politely.
"Yes, he is," Rias replied back with a bit relaxed tone. Grayfia noticed that Rias became a lot less tensed when Haruto arrived and with her tension lessening each club members' moods improved as well.
"Haruto-kun, this is Grayfia, my brother's queen and the head maid of the Gremory clan. Grayfia-san, this is Namikaze Haruto, the one I was talking about."
Both bowed slightly at each other.
But before more pleasantries could be exchanged, the last guest chose that time to come. When the large orange magical circle with the symbol of a phoenix appeared in the middle of the room, the temperature spiked. The magic circle then burst into intense hot flames, making almost everyone to be awed at the power.
"You didn't tell me he would be a showoff," Haruto whispered to Rias as he was standing close to her.
"Think of the most arrogant perverted scumbag you have ever met and even he, I am pretty sure, would be better than this guy." Rias didn't bother to keep her voice low.
Haruto could finally see the guy when the fire died down. He was a tall and handsome young man in his early twenties with short blonde hair and dark blue eyes.
"I haven't been to this place for a while, although I can't say I miss this pitiful place." Then he slowly walked forward as he didn't look at anyone except Rias, "I have come for you, Rias, my love."
"Who is this?" Issei asked surprised, so was almost everyone.
"This is Riser Phenex-sama. He is a pure blooded upper-class devil and the third son of the Phenex clan." Grayfia stopped so everyone new could digest the information, then she dropped the bomb, "He is also the fiancé of the Gremory family's heiress."
"Wait, does that mean?" Asia slowly looked at Rias.
"Yes, he is engaged to Rias-sama."
Riser expected Rias to lash out or frown but he clearly didn't expect Rias to act all calm and confident, as she clapped her hands and spoke up, "Why not we sit down properly?"
"Before that, are these your new members?" Riser asked, though his gaze was focused on Haruto who had his eyes closed.
"Most of them, yes, but he," Pointing at Haruto, Rias continued, "Is my special guest and you will see why. So please sit down." She motioned to the sofa to her left.
Riser just scoffed and sat down on the sofa. "Haruto," Rias motioned to the sofa opposite of Riser. After Haruto took his seat, Rias sat down on the sofa that was beside theirs.
"Rias, I expected you to sit beside me." Riser said with an arrogant tone.
"Why is that? I did tell you that I have no intention of marrying you, Riser." Rias replied in a calm tone.
"Rias, you know about our family circumstances. So don't act so spoiled and selfish." Riser chuckled, ever his laughter had a conceited sound to it, "It might bring down the name of your family."
"Who said I will bring my family down? I will marry but it will be under my own term." Rias said in a composed manner. Even Akeno was surprised to see Rias this calm because she knew when it would come to Riser, Rias could never be calm and composed.
Riser narrowed his eyes, usually, he could play with Rias's emotions and it was fun to see her struggle. It boosted his ego to see the sister of one of the greatest Maou was helpless against him. But now seeing Rias all cool and confident, it irked him, "The entire devil world is struggling to preserve the lineages of pure-blooded devils, and you know the reason. Our fathers arranged this marriage for the common good. So don't cause too much trouble for everyone."
"Even now I fail to see how choosing my life-partner can trouble anyone but me. And also it is not like the fate of entire devil world actually rests on our marriage." Rias asked in a challenging manner.
"Rias," Fires started to flick around Riser as he stood up, "I can't have you sully my honor. I will take you to the underworld even if I have to burn all of your servants in front of you."
"Wow, you really are a douchebag."
Silence,
It was as if the entire room came to a sudden stop. Riser slowly looked at Haruto with enraged eyes, "What did you say, you lowly trash?"
"I will be honest with you," Haruto wasn't even slightly fazed by the sudden rise of power or the tone of Riser's voice, "When Rias told me about you, I didn't believe anyone can be that much of a scumbag but guess I was wrong." Haruto closed his eyes and gave a bright grin, "She really hates your guts and now I can see why."
Riser closed his eyes. The flickering flames stopped, but when everyone calmed down he snapped his fingers. The entire sofa that Haruto was sitting on was lit on fire immediately, intending to turn him to ash. But the second surprise came immediately when the fire as soon as it formed started to spin around and then rapidly gathered into a sword, which was buried tip first into the floor. The sword, that appeared right beside Haruto out of nowhere, had a unique shape. It had a wide, flat blade with two curved indentations near its base, creating a sort of cross-guard and its two handles were connected to one another by a short length of cord. The sliver blade of the sword absorbed Riser's flames and turned to orange colored steel.
And Haruto was completely unharmed, although the sofa was not so lucky as it had some burn marks. It happened so fast that the most only had the time to open their mouth, to cry out for Haruto.
Riser was surprised but it was soon replaced with pure anger but before he could retort the temperature of the room rapidly dropped.
Grayfia stepped forward. Her body was surrounded by an icy mist and she looked at Riser coldly, "Riser-sama, that was a foolish move and if you don't calm down, I will have to interfere."
Riser gulped as he backed off, "Well, if the strongest queen says something … like…"
Everyone knew why Riser stopped. The sword that absorbed the Riser's fire was now absorbing the mist that was around Grayfia, causing it to change its color again and this time it took an icy blue color. The absorption was a lot slower than the last time, but still.
"Ahh," Haruto smiled sheepishly, "My bad." Then he snapped his fingers and the sword disappeared. Then he looked around with an innocent expression, "So where were we again?"
Rias was the first to react, and her giggle made everyone to break out from their stupor. With a radiant smile she looked at her fiancé, "Riser, I want to settle this issue through a rating game."
"Oh-ho, are you sure you want to go against me with your newly reincarnated fragile members? I am a seasoned player Rias and I have played numerous games and won most of them." Riser's arrogance was back with full force. This time his comment did make Rias scowl and noticing this Riser's smirk increased.
"I think you are misunderstanding something here, I want to settle this issue through a rating game but Haruto-kun here will be fighting you on my behalf." And just like that his arrogance diminished, only a bit though.
"So this imbecile will be representing you?" Riser snorted as he turned to Haruto, "Oi, Who are you? And which family are you from?" Riser asked Haruto in a very belittling tone, although his gaze was slightly shaky.
"The name's Namikaze Haruto, though Namikaze is not my real family name and unfortunately I have to talk to Lucifer-sama before announcing my real family name." Haruto shrugged.
"What? Your sorry excuse for parents did something so stupid that you aren't allowed to take the family name." Riser smirked viciously.
That comment made Rias become extremely worried because she knew that this was a sensitive subject for Haruto, even Akeno became tensed. But to their surprise, Haruto just shook his head and sighed, "Is that the best insult you can come up with, chicken-head?"
It was really hard for Rias and her peerage members not to laugh at Riser's face, who looked threateningly at Haruto with fire in his eyes. But he didn't do anything as he saw Grayfia moving slightly to convey her silent message.
Riser stood up and looked at Rias furiously, "If you want to put your future in this trash's hand, then so be it. A week from now, a party will be held in honor of our engagement. I will defeat your lowly representative there and after that, you are to agree on our marriage in front of everyone."
Suddenly Riser grinned fiercely, "Why delay the inevitable. I will have you that night. A perfect prize for my victory, wouldn't you say?" With that, he left through his family magic circle, not even bothering to wait for their responses.
The room was filled with anger and desires of too many people to bash certain someone's head. Haruto shook his head again and looked at Grayfia, "Do Rias's brother and family really want her to marry someone like him?"
"Desperate situation called for desperate decisions," Grayfia answered emotionlessly.
Haruto gave the maid a blank stare before looking at Rias, "Rias, I have to meet your brother if this has to work. So when do you think will be the best time?"
"How about tomorrow?" Rias asked.
"If so, then can I leave for today? I have to makes some calls." Haruto finally stood up.
"To gather your peerage members?" Rias asked as she stood up as well.
"Precisely," Haruto answered. He took out his cell and sent a quick message, to whom? No one knew. But before he could leave Rias came in front of him. She was carrying a small bag.
"All of Riser's match and data about his peerage members are here," Rias said as she held out the bag.
Haruto didn't expect that and it clearly showed on his face. But he refused, "I think I will pass, let's see what he can do with his members. Just one question though, how many members does he have again?"
Rias was surprised and so was the rest. She giggled quietly before answering, "If that's how you want it to be. And about the number, he has a full set," Her answer made Haruto smile as well, but, "And all of them are females."
And with that, his smile dropped, "Are they actual fighters or the douchebag is just showing off his playmates?"
Rias averted her gaze for a moment before looking at Haruto. Even Akeno and Grayfia couldn't help but sigh as they knew about Riser's notorious reputation as a devil of lust. Rias awkwardly replied, "Maybe?"
Haruto looked at the bag for some time and then sighed, "On second thought, I will take it. I just need to confirm one thing before I call my peerages."
Rias titled her head and made a curious expression, "And that would be?"
"Does he fight for real, or all of this is just a game to him?"