"I hope your visit to Japan has been pleasant, Altair-kun," greeted Sona Sitri, or Souna Shitori as she was called in the mundane world.
She had summoned him to the Kuoh Academy, more specifically to the student council room. There were many beautiful women there, among whom Altair noticed a white-haired girl.
There was also a blond young man who looked at him as if he had killed his dog. Altair ignored the other members, except for giving a small nod to the white-haired girl, who looked at him, confused.
"It's been quite interesting to learn about another culture. Several of the girls are even impressed with the Muggle world," Daphne and Pansy were unfamiliar with many non-magical things.
"Rias and I are quite attached to things outside the underworld," she nodded. "Leviatan-sama has asked me to fulfill your demands and, if possible, sign more contracts," she continued, getting down to business.
"You're quite honest, Sona-san." It was still a little difficult for him to use Japanese suffixes.
"They say you're quite intelligent. Why pretend?" The girl stood up and picked up a chess set. "Do you know how to play?" she asked. She continued after seeing him nod. "Would you like to play while we talk?"
"That would be interesting," he agreed. Sona let him play with the white pieces. "No clock?" he asked.
"I don't mean for this to be a competition," she said politely, although she internally thought differently. His sister said that if the man in front of her was capable of creating more objects like the potion, he would be an excellent prospect for a husband.
Sona hoped her sister hadn't exaggerated his intelligence.
Altair started with a simple e4.
"Are you sure the formula for my potion won't be leaked?" he asked as he opened the board.
"We take plenty of precautions. This business is good for us, it opens up trade with the magical world," she countered his move with e5, facing the pawns.
"With the magical world or with me?" he asked, knowing her worth.
He moved his knight to f3.
"Both," she admitted, moving her knight to c6. "The magical world is more... refined," she said. "And you are even better. That's what Maou Leviatan said"
"It's a bad idea to say how much you value me," he said, taking the opportunity to move his bishop to c4.
"I want there to be honesty between us," she said, blushing slightly. Perhaps her sister would disagree with her methods, but she needed to know him. She wasn't just looking for business. "I don't think I need tricks to get a good deal," she said, moving her bishop to c5.
Altair moved his pawn to b4, leaving it exposed to the bishop.
"The potion is just one of the little things I can do. It's pretty impressive, yes, but not even close to my best creation," his eyes looked at her expectantly. "Dumbledore allowed me to study the Phoenix Tears," he said clearly. "They have a wonderful active ingredient, one that I was able to synthesize artificially," there was no boastfulness.
As expected, Sona ate the sacrifice without hesitation.
"What's stopping us from looking for it ourselves?" she asked.
"Didn't you say you'd do it without tricks?" His pawn moved to c3, chasing away her bishop.
"It's not a trick. I just want to know what you can offer us that we can't get for ourselves. Ajuka Beelzebub could get the same results." She moved her bishop to a5.
"And why hasn't he done so?" He knew the answer, without hesitation; not even the most brilliant mind could have come up with it. He moved his pawn to d4, offering an exchange.
Altair had researched a compound; a pure-blooded demon could not have done so.
He needed to be a wizard; the magic of that component reacted violently to the magic of devils. He had needed Harley and Lily to do it, following his protocol. During synthesis, the compound degraded if exposed to devil magic. The final product was just as weak, but Altair found a way to stabilize it. He still needs to prove it in other devils.
Sona looked at the board with narrowed eyes. Despite Altair's mistake in giving him a pawn, he had played perfectly. She decided to switch the pawns on d4.
"You're right, they haven't. How long will it stay like that?"
"Days, weeks, years, decades, centuries, millennia... does it matter?" Altair asked, curling his fingers into a fist. "You can risk taking it now or never taking it. Unless you plan to kidnap me and extract everything from my brain." The members around them frowned at his words.
All the girls frowned, but no one uttered a word.
"You shouldn't slander our president like that!" Only one fool dared to interrupt.
"Saji-kun, please leave," Sona said in a calm but unwavering voice. She had been clear that she did not want to be interrupted during negotiations.
"But—but—"
"Tsubaki,"
"Hai, Kaichou," said the young woman, dragging the young man away.
"Quite... energetic," Altair joked.
"Even so. No one in the underworld intends to harm you. As I said, we want to negotiate with you. " Sona was very interested in obtaining artificial phoenix tears. However, she was a little worried about facing the Phoenix family directly.
"You haven't moved," he said, pointing to the board.
Sona advanced her pawn to d3. Altair said nothing, just raised his eyebrows.
"What you're offering... could put a target on your back. The Phoenix would come looking for you."
"Looking for us," said Altair. He moved his queen to b3, preparing to attack.
"What do you mean?" She ended up moving her queen to f6.
"You're not talking to the representative of the magical world," he said, threatening her queen with a pawn on e5.
She moved her queen to g6 as she spoke: "So you want to talk, not to a representative of the devils, but to the House Sitri." It was not a question, but a simple statement.
"That is correct. If I made that deal directly with Leviatan-sama, I would have her backing, yes, but she would risk offending the Phoenixes. Risking the tenuous balance in the underworld," Altair moved his rook to e1.
"And you think the House Sitri would take that risk?" She moved her inactive knight to g7.
"You don't want to improve your hospitals?" Altair attacked her knight with his bishop on a3.
"A war with the Phoenix would only fill their coffers," Sona sacrificed a pawn on b5.
"Would they dare go to war against Serafall Sitri?" Altair asked, taking advantage of the careless pawn and eating it with his queen.
"My sister and Leviatan-sama are the same devil," she looked at him, confused as she attacked his queen with her rook on b8.
"They are not," his queen moved to a4.
"Why do you say that?" she asked. Her bishop moved to b6.
"Leviathan-sama will maintain order in the devil faction. Serafall Sitri will ensure her sister's safety," he replied. He activated his knight on d2.
Sona looked at the board. Feeling unsure about what to do, she ended up moving her bishop to b7.
"Why do you want to get involved in the supernatural world?" she asked, changing the subject, still not accepting his proposal.
"I want influence among the devils," he said. 'I couldn't tell her I wanted to farm stat points with female devils, could I? Actually, I could,' he thought. He moved his knight to e4.
"What for?" she asked curiously, wondering if this man wanted to change the world with her, or if he just wanted material resources.
She moved her queen to f5. 'A useless move,' Altair thought.
"Women," Sona's face fell. And her nobility looked at him strangely after that.
The girl watched his hand move, using the bishop to take the pawn on d3 that Sona had left.
"I see," she tried not to sound disappointed. She moved her queen to h5.
"You're not convinced?" Altair sacrificed his knight on f6. Sona took it with her pawn on g, moving to f6.
"Even if my sister helps me, what makes you think she would go against what the other three Maou say?"
"Perhaps Maou Lucifer-sama is as close to his sister as Leviatan-sama is," he said, recapturing with his pawn on f6.
"I need to talk to Rias," she said distractedly, moving her rook to g8.
Altair nodded. The next moves passed in silence. He moved his rook from a to d1. His opponent moved her queen to f3.
He moved his rook to e7, eating the pawn and putting her king in check. Sona defended with her knight on f3, and Altair moved his queen to d7. She took it with her king. It took her a few seconds to see the mistake in her moves. Altair had set a trap, and she fell into it without resistance.
"My mistake, Sitri-san," he said, making her open her eyes wide. "You beat me," he said, standing up with a smile. "I hope we meet again to finalize the details of our agreement," he said as he walked to the exit.
"I haven't said yes," the girl blushed.
"You won't?" he asked, knowing her answer. "May I ask your name?" he said to the white-haired girl.
"Hanakai Momo, Altair-sama," she replied with a serious face.
"A beautiful name," he flattered her before leaving.
There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at their queen, who looked like a living beetroot at that moment.
"Are you okay, Kaichou?" asked Momo Hanakai, her bishop.
"I lost," she admitted in a low voice.
"But he lost the queen and gave up," interjected Tsubaki, who returned after letting Saji out.
"Bishop f5 check, king e8, bishop d7 check, king f8, bishop e7 checkmate."
"Oh, so there'll be a wedding soon?" asked her queen.
"Tsubaki Shinra!" The girl's face turned even redder.
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Chess match:
Evergreen Game: https://www.chess.com/terms/evergreen-game-chess