Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Lucius POV.
"So, I guess it really did turn out as you thought." Ravel said as she checked the papers, and I laughed.
"Was there another way?" I scoffed, slamming my fist on the desk. "The Tepes Faction would obviously notice Valerie and the Sephiroth Graal were missing, and they wouldn't miss the chance to blame the Carmilla Faction. In fact, they probably believe it to some extent; they're not even capable of thinking of other supernatural factions."
"Even when Marius Tepes seized the moment to oust his father with the help of Khaos Brigade and take leadership of the Tepes faction ahead of schedule."
"But without the Sephiroth Grail to solidify his claim, his leadership may not last long enough to confront the Carmilla faction directly. So... pathetic." I scoffed as I set the papers aside.
"Has he already joined Khaos Brigade? Does that mean Rizevim is aware of the Sephiroth Graal?" Ravel asked with a grimace on her face. I did the same and nodded.
"Yes, he should be." I sighed wearily. "Luckily, Serena didn't leave any clues when she took Valerie out of the Tepes castle. The Khaos Brigade will find out that Valerie is under Rias Gremory's care in Kuoh sooner or later, but they won't be foolish enough to attack head-on in the short term."
"They shouldn't know that Valerie no longer has her Sacred Gear, but even if it's announced, they'll think it's some kind of trap or deception, so they'll ignore it. Sooner or later, Valerie will become a target for them to attack." I said, tapping the table lightly.
"So, do we put up some defenses in Kuoh?" Ravel asked with a hum. "Or do we just warn Rias and let them sort things out?" I considered both.
"Let's send Rias a discreet message, without them knowing it came from us, mentioning that Khaos Brigade is searching for the Grails, even if Valerie doesn't have them. Then let's see how they react."
"If even Rias isn't keeping up with her training and that of her Peerage, Sirzechs should put someone in place to defend them." I said with a hum. Ravel nodded, began to write on a small piece of paper, then handed it to me, and I read it.
Her handwriting had changed; it was unrecognizable from her usual style. The message was short and concise, even alluding to her having been the one to "steal" the Grails from her. That would do. I cast a small spell on the paper and teleported it to Kuoh in the sky.
My magical signature would be lost in the distance, and the paper would fly several kilometers before settling in a place where Rias would find it sooner or later, only after all the magic had dissipated, or at least enough so that they wouldn't be able to trace it back to me.
"Well, that puts an end to the vampires," I said wearily. "Thanks for the information, Maria. The succubi did a spectacular job," I said with a nod, looking ahead at where Maria Naruse had been waiting silently.
"It's a pleasure, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Phenex," Maria said with a small smile. "All for Lady Prince and Pentagram City," she added, her eyes closed. I chuckled.
"The ceremony isn't necessary, Maria." I said playfully. Maria just smiled and shrugged.
"Oh, but of course I do. As the spymaster of The Garden, in charge of the Succubi, it's my duty to show respect to my superiors," Maria said brazenly. I just snorted and shook my head in amusement.
"As you wish, Maria, anything else to add?" I asked Maria with a hum, and she just smiled and shook her head.
"No. The succubi at Distracted Globe are well-monitored, so I suppose they don't need me to tell them what they already know," Maria said easily. I nodded. After all, Distracted Globe had cameras and microphones everywhere, even in the private rooms.
Perhaps Serena didn't really care about secrets, or even information at all; in fact, she cared so little about our spy network that she barely dealt with them. Oh, she was in the know; in fact, she'd helped create the division, armed them, and placed the necessary enchantments to aid them and keep them safe enough.
There were enough curses to prevent them from speaking, even under the strongest compulsion, magic, or any other means of compelling someone to talk. And to prevent anyone from credibly seeing their memories, so everything was kept tightly secret.
Especially Maria; she was one of the first we asked if she wanted to work at The Garden, and she readily and enthusiastically accepted, submitting to all the curses without a second thought. She was the only reason we could speak freely in front of her about things like the Sephiroth Grail, though we still kept some things secret.
There were two divisions: The Garden and The Astrarium.
The majority of The Garden network consisted of succubi led by Maria, each using a flower as their code name. Was this really necessary? Not at all. The division didn't even need to exist.
The succubi themselves would come looking for us with 'information' they thought was important. Oh, they idolized Serena in ways Serena herself had no idea about, and they wanted to keep Pentagram City safe at all costs. And if the only way to help were by sleeping with people and discreetly extracting their secrets, they would do it; it was their profession for centuries, and they did it spectacularly.
So we had to create The Garden, give them a sense of belonging, that they were part of something bigger; it was really important for the Succubi, and each of the succubi who made up The Garden was genuinely happy and honored to be part of the group.
And to my surprise, it had yielded quite a few positive results; we had obtained a considerable amount of information about various supernatural groups that visited Wallachia, and now Distracted Globe for succubi.
Maria had already been in charge of the succubi who went to Wallachia, so giving her a more administrative role at The Garden worked out wonderfully. She was truly excellent for the position.
And then there was The Astrarium. This group was made up of everyone else; if The Garden focused on seduction, espionage, manipulation, and the acquisition of secrets, The Astrarium was everything else.
Counterintelligence, investigation, surveillance, special operations, and everything in between. This… was still a growing department. Since Pentagram City didn't have any truly powerful devils at the moment, there wasn't much we could do. So for now, it was just a spy and surveillance network, and each member had a celebrity name to differentiate them from The Garden.
We had some strong people to defend us—well, not us, but the other members of The Garden. Like Maria, she had some high-class bodyguards, but they were Bellatrix's relatives. Devil souls, adventurers, or people strong enough, whom she had absorbed and set free to follow Maria, and many others stationed in Wallachia as a form of defense.
So, actually, Bellatrix was more involved in the Astrarium and the Garden than Serena herself. But that doesn't mean she disapproved; she gave us all the tools we needed without question.
She simply…didn't care. As always, she was more interested in making us, her Peerage and companions, happy, followed by her magical research, and in a distant third place, keeping up with managing everything under her purview. However, since Ravel and I did most of the work, that was a very minor task for Serena.
And honestly, I wouldn't have preferred it any other way; this job was really enjoyable, and simply having free control of the whole operation made it more entertaining.
"You're right, we don't need the Distracted Globe information," I said easily as I flipped through the collected pages. Most of it was completely useless, and there was so much of it. I was truly grateful for speed-reading glasses, or I'd be stuck reading utterly pointless content for months, and it would just keep piling up. "Speaking of DG, have we reached a point of equilibrium yet?" I asked Ravel. She started reviewing the papers and hummed.
"As you know, the first day was the lowest profit day, despite being opening day. Many people didn't want to risk losing their money there, but as the days go by and the Globe's reputation in the supernatural world grows, profits keep increasing."
"On the first day, we only had traffic equivalent to one billion US dollars. Now, we are on the sixth day, and the exchange has increased to four billion; it is expected to stop and normalize between 5-6."
"Although it will surely receive an increase when Sera creates more Arenas for more competitors, surprisingly, a large amount of money comes from Arena betting."
"And since we keep 5-10% of the total profits, we're making a lot of money," Ravel said with a proud smile. And rightly so; the Distracted Globe had been a resounding success. I heard Maria whistle, genuinely impressed.
"Damn, that thing is really making a lot of money, huh?" Maria said, impressed. "I know it's none of my business, but does Lady Prince plan to spend it on something?" Maria asked, puzzled. Ravel and I sighed heavily.
"Of course not." Ravel scoffed as she sighed and massaged her temple, and I laughed amusedly.
"Serena doesn't care about money, not really. As long as she has everything she needs for her research and experiments with magic, she doesn't need anything else, so money just gathers dust."
"She just throws her money away on improving Pentagram City and trade with other cities and all that, but the point is, we keep making more than we spend, even if we're really generous, so Serena has a lot of money she's not using." I said, shaking my head. Maria blinked.
"Wow... I really didn't expect to see someone who had so much money that they were drowning in it." Maria snorted, and I chuckled.
"It's like watching someone drowning in water mocking someone who's thirsty." I scoffed. "Believe me, she's complained about having too much money, or too much territory, or too many people under her, but that's just how she is." I shrugged. "Though she does care about the latter, money... not so much." I added with a hum.
"I think we've already passed the Phenex's wealth; she simply doesn't care anymore." Ravel sighed with a small smile.
"Only Lady Prince," Maria said, shaking her head. I nodded, amused. "If that's all, should I take my leave?" Maria asked politely. I nodded.
"For now, yes, if the succubi hear anything about the vampires, they should pass on the information urgently. We don't want a civil war in our backyard, especially if it involves people like Khaos Brigade." I said easily. Maria nodded and said her goodbyes before leaving. I watched Maria walk away and simply nodded.
"Okay, everything in this world is under control. What about the others?" I asked Ravel immediately. "Shall we start with... Cyberpunk?" I asked while looking at my papers. Ravel scoffed.
"We're earning even more than with Distracted Globe," Ravel scoffed. I blinked as I took the papers she handed me. "Since we practically supplanted Arasaka and took over all the voids its destruction left, and expanded even further, the profits are immense."
"Even selling everything at a reduced price as Serena wanted and paying the Aperture workers properly, the profits are immense, in fact, for that very reason."
"The distrust about destroying Arasaka basically vanished after the first month of people starting to work, and word got around. GLaDOS was practically flooded with job applications after the labor laws Aperture worked under became public," Ravel said amusedly. I snorted.
"Who would have thought that offering respectable labor laws and healthcare, in a world where you literally kill yourself working for a corporation, would make so many people come to work for you?" I scoffed. Ravel chuckled slightly.
"The same thing happened with the sale of our products. Although there was high distrust at first, the low price made them indispensable for a large part of the population, and once they realized that the products were not a lie, and in fact, were of better quality than those of other corporations, most people switched to consuming Aperture."
"So after only a few months, practically no one missed Arasaka, and we became the ultimate Mega-Company in the world. Together with Project Zero Dawn and the ever-increasing global internet, Aperture practically has a worldwide presence."
"To the point that we've started having skirmishes with other megacorporations, Biotechnica is the worst. Sasha is really doing an excellent job with the medical division. Thanks to GLaDOS, we were able to publicize more cases of Biotechnica's questionable medicines, like Securicine, which is why Biotechnica's stock and customer base are plummeting."
"If they keep going at this rate, Biotechnica will have no choice but to declare bankruptcy within a decade, being generous. And the worse they do, the better we do. Without Biotechnica keeping up, we practically have no other competition," Ravel said petulantly. I nodded as I looked at the numbers.
"Then we have nothing to worry about. It seems that GLaDOS's involvement is minimal, aside from implementing more technology at Aperture and maintaining everything as Serena has ordered; she's not very involved."
"She has practically delegated almost everything to the Board of Directors, and the other Chiefs, luckily, we had selected those who align with what we need, so everything is going wonderfully."
"Meanwhile, GLaDOS has more time for her own things, especially with the Zenith Arena. She's having a lot of fun generating and testing the contestants," I said playfully. Ravel nodded.
"So... basically we have two world economies in the palm of our hand with Distracted Globe and Aperture Science... and Serena has no expenses." Ravel said dryly, and I burst out laughing.
"Exactly!" I said playfully, my eyes sparkling with amusement. This... this was truly something I would have thought impossible a year ago. To be in charge of so much power, to be able to manage what practically several worlds held? It's truly something completely unimaginable.
But it was a pleasant challenge, and the difficulty was really entertaining.
"Serena won't have any more expenses, especially since she can create everything she needs, so instead of wasting her time, let's continue spending her money in their respective worlds. Although The Company could be used to move money from one world to another 'legally,' it's not necessary." I said, shrugging. Ravel just sighed and nodded.
"Very well, we will be able to approve some research projects in both worlds and fund them. Although Serena and GLaDOS like to make advances in their respective fields, they cannot involve other people in everything."
"So we'll let them do it themselves, and if they find something interesting that catches Serena and GLaDOS's attention, that would be great too." Ravel shrugged, and I just nodded. "I think we should fund a full space race in Cyberpunk. GLaDOS will give it the initial push, and we'll see how it develops, so... approved." Ravel said several things while writing, and I hummed in confirmation. "So... the magical world and Orario?" Ravel finally asked when she finished. I hummed.
"We shouldn't expect money from either of them," I finally said. "The only profit we get from Orario comes from Bellatrix. We still make some money trading magic items with the guild, but it's not significant. Most of it is traded for other magic items for Serena, so it's not really important." I shrugged. "And the magic world is the same."
"That will be a long-term thing. The announcement of the magic recovery potions was made public, and we've received thousands of offers from all over the world, including marriage or cohabitation offers just to have a piece of the pie that Serena is right now, even after the Rite of Union with Bellatrix."
"We will still use the excuse of a really long honeymoon to escape the public eye, but we already have everything prepared to work on their own. It will take weeks or months for them to become self-sufficient and start producing on their own."
"So, unless Serena starts bringing in new things, the magical world's profits won't be relevant in the short term." I hummed as I reviewed the papers.
"Okay, then we'll leave that aside," Ravel said, arranging some papers. "Did Serena mention the next world we're going to?" Ravel asked curiously. I shook my head.
"No, nothing yet. She was too focused on her wedding, so she didn't really think about anything beyond that, except for the meeting with the young devil pillars coming up soon." I said easily, and Ravel nodded.
"Then I'll ask her when she gets back. I'm sure we'll all need time to decide where to go. And ignore GLaDOS to go to a remote place and let her transform planets into machine worlds." Ravel said dryly. I sighed in exasperation.
"Sera won't be able to deny it forever, or GLaDOS will do it herself behind her back," I teased playfully. "But very well, let's leave that aside for now. Serena will call a meeting about it when the time is right," I said easily, and Ravel nodded. "Now, putting aside the different worlds, we have…" I said, shuffling through the papers. "A message from Seekvaira Agares." I said with a hum.
"Seekvaira?" Ravel asked curiously, turning in her chair to look at me. I handed her the message I had just finished reading and chuckled. Ravel took it, blinked, and read it several times before sighing and shaking her head.
"I knew Seekvaira was a mecha fanatic, but not that she bordered on obsession," Ravel said with a sigh. I chuckled.
"One must admire her enthusiasm," I said playfully. Ravel snorted.
"She practically said she'd give her body to Serena in exchange for being able to learn about GLaDOS's robots and mechs displayed in the Distracted Globe Arena," Ravel said dryly. I snorted and raised an eyebrow at her.
"And you object?" I asked playfully. Ravel shrugged.
"Not really." Ravel snorted. "But Sera just got married, I don't think she'll choose to add anyone new, at least not for the next few weeks, still... let's leave it up to her." Ravel said simply, putting the letter aside. I nodded.
"Even so, we could prepare an agreement, although I doubt Sera would accept it; she'll surely want to negotiate. She was looking to experiment with the crystals used for the Evil Pieces. While the Agares allocate most of them to create the Pieces, they still keep a portion for themselves."
"I'm sure Seekvaira parts with some samples in exchange for something like the Dragoon frame or the cyberskeleton." I said easily, Ravel stopped and nodded.
"She will. Although perhaps it would be better to give them the self-piloted versions, I don't think Seekvaira would want to have most of her body removed to pilot one of them, no matter how obsessed she is with mechas."
"GLaDOS hasn't designed armor versions yet, and Seekvaira didn't do anything to me that would make me want to leave her in GLaDOS's sweet care as a guinea pig to help her design them." Ravel snorted dryly; I grimaced.
"Yes, we'll let Sera handle it." I said dryly. Ravel laughed before humming.
"Do you know what experiments Sera wanted to do with the Evil Pieces crystals?" she asked curiously. I snorted.
"Her thoughts when she starts thinking about magic are a headache to keep up with, so I try not to follow her lead." I sighed heavily. "But from what I understand, if the Evil Pieces are capable of changing a person's soul race, regardless of their previous race, to a devil, or even to angels with the Brave Saints, then according to her, they should be able to change to any other race with enough manipulation."
"And since she practically has dozens of races inside her..." I said, shrugging. Ravel blinked.
"Oh, that could be something very incredible... or very dangerous." Ravel said. I shrugged.
"Sera can take care of herself," I said easily, and Ravel nodded.
"Very well, let's continue..."
And so we continue, just another day of managing everything our family needs.