The young succubus gave him a small shrug and an apologetic smile.
Naruto sighed.
This party was already pissing him off...
"Alright! So is everyone ready to go now? We won't be coming back to the mansion, so everyone make sure that you're not forgetting anything!" Rias reminded.
Issei raised his hand, trying to grab the devil's attention.
"Uh...Buchou? I just wanted to know, why can't Asia come with us again? I don't really like the idea that Asia will be alone in Kuoh Town by herself..." the brown-haired boy muttered uneasily.
Yuki glanced at Issei, looking a little annoyed.
"Are you saying that I can't protect Asia-san?" the hero asked quietly.
Issei shook his head at her rapidly. "No! Of course not! I just feel better if Asia's by my side is all."
Yuki's eyes softened, she could respect that.
"Sorry Issei, but no. Humans aren't really allowed into the Underworld at all. Onii-sama is already breaking convention by allowing Naruto to come, so it's best not to cause trouble." Rias responded to Issei's question.
The pawn sighed, visibly upset by the decision.
Naruto patted him on the shoulder. "It's alright Issei. Yuki can handle it."
The blond turned his attention back to Rias. "I think mostly everyone is ready, we're just waiting for Mio. So how are we going to get to the Underworld?"
Rias nodded and motioned towards the ground near her.
Magic circles.
"These magic circles will take us to our destinations. One for Kuoh Town, the other to the building where the party is taking place." the high-class devil explained patiently, before facing Naruto. "Gremory servants will come by and transport the luggage of my Peerage members to their homes. But unfortunately, I doubt that they are going to pick up the luggage of those who aren't of the Gremory clan."
Naruto nodded, that was fine. He already put his luggage into a storage seal and Mio's luggage was going with Maria.
After a long moment of waiting, Mio finally emerged from the bathroom, ready to go.
"Hey Mio! You're ready right?" Naruto called out to his 'sister'.
The red-head in question blinked as she realized that everyone was ready to go except her.
Ah...they were waiting on her.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go everyone." the half-devil said resolutely.
It was time to meet the current Maou Lucifer.
She hoped that he was friendly.
"...Why are all the buildings that devils own so...grandiose?" Naruto asked with squinted eyes.
"Well, they are devils I guess..." Mio muttered in reply, eyes scanning the large structure with slight worry.
They were here, the building that was housing the celebrations.
Except that it was a castle.
A legitimate castle.
"...We're used to it." Koneko said to the blond in response.
Ah...so it was an acquired taste sort of thing?
"Come on you two, stop gawking at the castle and let's get going. We're a little late and I don't want to get scolded." Rias reprimanded the group as she trudged on forward, intent on getting this function over with.
In accordance to her words, the group moved forward to the entrance of the castle.
The group had entered the magic circle earlier and had given their farewells to Yuki, Maria, and Asia. Hopefully they wouldn't have any trouble while they were gone.
The shinobi shook his head, it was game time and he had to concentrate now.
Both on the annoying high-class people...and with keeping up his henge.
Yep, he was going through with it, sue him.
"Hey...Naruto? I didn't ask earlier, but do you think that I look alright? I don't want to embarrass anyone."
The blond ended his thoughts before turning to Mio's inquisitive and slightly worried eyes.
He studied her dress for a split-second.
She was wearing one of Rias' dresses for the occasion, a red formal dress that held itself together with straps on her shoulders, giving a slight view of her breasts without showing off too much.
She was also letting her hair loose, forgoing her usual hair style for the occasion.
But Naruto didn't notice that.
"I think it looks alright." the blond responded with a grin and a thumbs up.
He thought that his words would reassure her.
If anything, she seemed to be crestfallen at his words, taking it as words that were meant to smooth over his bad opinion.
"Ah...I see...alright huh..." Mio mumbled quietly to herself.
Knowing instinctively that he screwed up somehow, Naruto attempted some damage control.
"Uh...I mean that it's really alright! As in amazing! Great! Two thumbs up!" the shinobi fumbled over his compliments, hoping that some of them would stick.
Apparently it worked, as Mio looked slightly comforted by his words by breathing a sigh of relief.
"...This is pretty painful to watch, huh Issei-kun?"
"For the first time, I think I can agree with you Kiba."
Naruto glared at his two fellow males.
"...Shut the fuck up."
"Alright...this is it. The moment of truth." Naruto muttered, staring at the large ornate doors which led to the main room.
The group was finally here, the celebrations were occurring right beyond these doors.
As well as all of the high-class devils which were invited.
Rias walked ahead and placed her hands on the door, pushing them open with a little bit of effort.
He watched as the red-head sent him a grin, before walking through the crack that the opening made, entering the party.
The blond then watched as Koneko walked past him, joining her king. But not before turning her head slightly and giving him an encouraging nod.
Yuuto came in after her, patting his back a little in support as he walked past.
Issei charged after them, giving Naruto a thumbs up before continuing.
Finally, Akeno offered him a smile as she passed, joining the rest of the Peerage to the main room.
Naruto was grateful for the small show of support, this was seriously new territory for him.
But it had to be done, not for his sake...but for...
He then felt Mio's arm snake their way around his own, hooking them together.
"...Scared?" the red-head asked quietly.
"...A little." Naruto eventually admitted, honestly feeling some butterflies in his stomach.
"Me too. I'm not used to these political arenas...kind of afraid that I will do something stupid and start a war, or something like that." Mio admitted with a self-mocking grin.
The shinobi grinned as well, nudging her slightly with his arm. "That's what I'm supposed to do, dattebayo. You can't take that from me...that'd leave me out of a job."
His 'sister' shrugged. "Like I said before. I've learned some things from you. I never said they were all good things, now did I?"
...Bleh, good point. He was a bad brother and a terrible role model.
"...We can't stay here forever. So how about we go ahead...and face this together?" Mio asked quietly, turning to face him with a bashful smile.
Naruto couldn't have agreed more.
So they walked in, together.
Naruto and Mio walked inside the large hall, silently gaping as they took in the sights of the main room.
It was massive, the hall itself was probably the size of a six-story apartment building in both height and width, it was ridiculous!
More importantly, the hall was filled with devils, all without a doubt from noble lineage.
Naruto shook his head, he had to concentrate. First things first...meet with the Maou.
"Mio, ready to meet the Maou?" the shinobi asked, looking towards the back of the room.
There was an elevated stairway, he had no doubt that Rias' older brother was there.
"As ready as I'll ever be I guess...let's go."
So the duo moved with purpose, past the many groups of devils cautiously, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.
At least they tried.
While the 'siblings' were making their way to the opposite side of the hall, Mio accidentally stepped on someone's cloak.
*SLAM*
The entire hall went silent as a devil fell flat on his face.
Then the chuckling began, stifled, but definitely present.
Mio's eyes were as wide as saucers, glancing at the man in question and her foot, seemingly blaming the appendage for the damage.
"...Damn it Mio." Naruto mumbled quietly.
She could do nothing but give him an apologetic look.
.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉