"Welcome to the human world, lovely demons."
When Rias opened her eyes, a mature, intellectual woman's voice reached her.
The moment the voice sounded, Rias' pupils contracted slightly before she quickly focused on the girl standing before her, dressed in a black uniform with a white hairband.
As her companions Sona, Akeno Himejima and Koneko Toujou all became alert, Rias immediately adopted a diplomatic smile:
"First meeting, friends from the Hidden Management Department."
"I am Rias Gremory, representative for this meeting."
"Utaha Kasumigaoka."
Utaha Kasumigaoka introduced herself, then glanced sideways at Aya Tokoyogi, who was openly reaching to play with Rias' hair - even plucking out a single red strand.
This woman... had she analysed Kato's Presence Elimination technique and was now openly collecting experimental materials?
Watching Aya Tokoyogi unceremoniously begin one-on-one sample collection - plucking hairs and scraping nail fragments - Utaha Kasumigaoka's expression nearly cracked.
Still, out of professional solidarity as fellow Familia members, Utaha stepped in to provide cover. Smiling at Rias, she gestured to the three behind her and asked:
"Might I know how to address these ladies?"
"Akeno Himejima. Just Himejima is fine." Akeno raised a hand to partially cover her lips, though for some reason her fingers felt oddly itchy.
"Koneko." Toujou Koneko responded expressionlessly.
The last introduction came from Sona Sitri, whose voice carried undisguised distaste as she muttered:
"Sona Sitri."
"Sona?" Utaha blinked in mild surprise. "Would you happen to be Serafall's younger sister?"
At this, Sona's previously sullen face flushed crimson as she asked nervously:
"My sister... she didn't do anything terrible to you, did she?"
"Not exactly." Utaha shook her head, then added after Sona sighed in relief: "She only froze two wards of Tokyo, nearly rendering a million people homeless."
"Uh..." x4
The collective reaction from the assembled demons was pure paralysis.
That's worse than just doing something bad!!
Sona's expression darkened considerably as she bowed slightly to Utaha:
"My deepest apologies for my sister's actions."
"No need for such formality. Her Excellency Serafall did implement proper remedial measures afterwards."
Utaha smiled while salvaging Serafall's dignity, simultaneously side-eyeing Aya, who'd just finished gathering her specimens. Considering Aya - the prime instigator who'd chased Serafall into desperate measures - emerged unscathed, Serafall's mishap seemed trivial by comparison.
"Remedial measures..." Sona clearly took this as polite consolation. Her sister wasn't the type for proper damage control - any attempts would likely miss the mark entirely. Years of experience let Sona predict Serafall's behaviour without conscious thought.
Meanwhile, having processed the Tokyo incident, Rias remarked with curiosity:
"Incidentally, this world has a Tokyo Metropolis too?"
Utaha nodded in explanation:
"Yes, broadly similar to the Tokyo in your human world. Minor technological differences at most."
"Naturally, other nations align too, though we've several additional countries here."
Like the Aldegia Kingdom in Northern Europe, which didn't exist in DxD's world. Numerous nations across Scandinavia and the Americas were likewise absent there. To Utaha, while the worlds shared similarities, their divergences - especially technologically - remained stark.
Where DxD still used Nokia bricks, this world's smartphones approached their twentieth iteration.
As Utaha's explanation concluded, Rias nodded in dawning comprehension:
"No wonder the document called it the Second World. So that's how it is."
While Rias was curious about both worlds, Sona only cared about one thing at the moment:
"Excuse me, may I ask where my sister is now?"
Hearing this, Utaha Kasumigaoka immediately explained:
"Lady Serafall and our Director are waiting for you all in the reception room."
Utaha glanced at Aya Tokoyogi, who had lost interest in the demon girls after collecting her material, and smiled wryly:
"It's getting late. Please follow me."
...
In the reception room.
Serafall, who was applying lip gloss, turned her head with a smile and asked Luo Shu, who was sitting on the single sofa to her right:
"Well? How about this colour? Does it look good?"
Luo Shu examined the pink lips of the Satan girl and nodded:
"Not bad. It suits you."
"Then..." Serafall propped herself up on the armrest, as if about to climb over and kiss Luo Shu. "Shall we test how this colour tastes?"
Luo Shu looked at the troublemaker speechlessly and retorted:
"Do you want me to meet your sister with your lipstick mark on me?"
"What's wrong with that?"
Serafall stared at Luo Shu with a puzzled expression, whether genuinely or pretending to be clueless:
"Luo Shu meeting Sona-chan should leave a deep impression!"
Meeting while bearing her elder sister's lipstick mark would certainly be memorable... Luo Shu's mouth twitched as he raised a hand to block Serafall's approaching face:
"Sorry, but I don't want that kind of impression!"
"How mean!!"
Serafall struggled briefly before planting a kiss on Luo Shu's palm instead, startling him into jerking his hand back. He stared exasperatedly at the giggling Serafall:
"You... Weren't you supposed to introduce me to your sister? Why must you cause trouble?"
Hearing this, Serafall declared matter-of-factly:
"Because directly telling little Sona 'this is the brother-in-law I picked for you' would be too embarrassing!"
"Eh?"
Luo Shu paused, suddenly realising something. He glanced at the door, made a small gesture to block Serafall's perception, and added:
"So you actually want to tell Sona that I'm your lover?"
"Not just that!" Serafall leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs. "When I became Satan, I told our family elders that I'd never marry without taking Sona with me!"
"Hmm, little Sona even promised our ancestors she'd stay with her sister forever back then."
Luo Shu couldn't help interjecting: "Are you sure you didn't trick a child into saying that?"
Serafall pretended not to hear him and continued:
"But now that I've decided to marry, I'll obviously take Sona along too!"
"Though given Sona's personality, she probably won't accept marrying you together with me."
Serafall frowned cutely, seemingly pondering solutions.
Finally, she grinned: "How about we get Sona drunk and deliver her to your room, Luo Shu~"
"I see, so that's what you think!"
Luo Shu nodded, then glanced at the group standing by the door before calmly picking up the cup of tea in front of him:
"It seems the parties involved already understand the situation. I suppose there's no need for further explanation."
"Huh?" Serafall blinked, clearly baffled by Luo Shu's words.
Just then, a voice dripping with resentment echoed through the room:
"So, Sister, the reason you specifically called me here was to get me drunk and hand me over to someone?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Serafall blinked again, her expression utterly guileless as she said:
"Oh dear!"
"It seems my flawless plan might have failed!"