Back in the main party, Alcohol had already started seeping in. Tsunade and Albedo exchanged glances. At this stage, the former was already too expectant and desperate. Albedo was still sitting in the same spot where she had been initially, her countenance all flushed; one could tell she was sweating, her legs fidgety... she hadn't said too many words in a while.
Looking at Tsunade slightly, she shook her head once more as she had been doing for the last three hours.
Tsunade sighed, 'So it is a failure after all...'
Three hours had passed in which the second phase of their party should have already started, but the preparations weren't ready. She could almost laugh, thinking that her husband-to-be must be so eagerly fighting back to keep his sanity in a world of pleasure.
For a moment, she contemplated why she didn't feel jealous of this in the least, but seeing all the women around her, enjoying themselves, her friends and family, she shrugged that thought away.
A lot of things had been discussed in a whole day. The table was full, every single one of them, except for Kurumi, was present. Elysir sat in the middle and quickly became the centre of the conversation.
Shizune brought some refreshments and looked at this goddess with a keen eye. To be told there were Gods sitting at this table, it was difficult to believe. But among them, the one that perhaps looked more like a god aside from Yasaka was Elysir.
"Tsunade-sama, that lady... she looks a lot like Ray-sama".
"That's because she's Ray's mother".
"Eh? Is that so...?" Shizune said with surprise, she was under the impression that everyone in this meeting belonged to the 'imperial court', basically, they belonged to the harem. But no wonder that lady was so busy entertaining everyone. Turns out, she was the 'dowager'.
"She's Ray's woman too, his first one".
At that moment, the noise of a cup falling on the ground stopped everyone in their tracks. Shizune paled, then realised what she had done and apologised, picking up everything.
"Is your niece okay, Tsunade?" Elysir asked Tsunade, who was sweating a little bit.
"It's okay, she just made a little blunder, you can continue", Tsunade mustered while inwardly reproaching herself and her own skewed common sense. Turns out, Elysir being Ray's woman and mother is actually not something normal. Shizune's reaction was obvious.
"It is complicated, Shizune, don't think too much about it–".
"Do you approve that, Tsunade-sama?!" Shizune whispered next to her. She couldn't believe it. She felt her aunt had already made too many concessions in order to be Ray's wife; accepting this arrangement added yet another one.
"Let's just say Gods have a very particular lifestyle. It doesn't matter if I approve it or not, Elysir is Ray's Empress, she is the main wife, and she's the strongest among us too".
Tsunade once again found herself not only accepting Elysir's existence but also encouraging it. She knew she wasn't strong enough to control all the women in this place, but Elysir was. Although the woman didn't put much effort into it, she knew if someone were to come to her with a dispute or a complaint, Elysir was a very good mediator and would at least try to have things resolved peacefully.
In a harem that consisted not of princesses but instead, powerhouses... her existence was ideal.
...
"So, how should we have master spend more time at home-nya?" Kuroka mumbled, her legs shamelessly sitting on the table.
"I would like to propose something. Can't we move our main home? Although the moonlight mist is beautiful... it makes it quite difficult to express ourselves, so to say..." Anna Blair fidgeted. She found out that even though the house was beautiful, she also wanted to be able to walk out of her home and go to a park or supermarket with the girls.
"You want to walk out of home and stroll sometimes, right? I understand that" Rias sighed, she felt the same. In fact, she didn't spend nearly as much time in the moonlight mist compared to the house of her peerage in Kuoh.
"We usually just go from work straight home and then back to work... right now, the moonlight mist doesn't feel like a home, it is more like a base..." Nocturna said.
"Then should we move it to the heavens?" Gabriel giggled with enthusiasm.
"That wouldn't make any difference, even if the heavens are beautiful..." Azrael commented, "The purpose is to create an environment where we can all feel comfortable.
Anna-chan nodded while having some ramen; her mother, Sanae, sat next to her, feeling a bit anxious.
"Then what about the underworld?" Grayfia suggested.
The women all looked at one another before giving a collective flat: "... no".
"Elf Kingdom?~" Yuna smirked, "It has been months, and with the reconstruction in progress, the kingdom is starting to look quite beautiful".
"Ara... but the Elf Kingdom is still rather backwards technology-wise, wouldn't it be better to have it in Japan after all?" Akeno mumbled.
"I don't want it to be a city, it would be better... some sort of isolated home where we can be near the beach?~" Alana smiled and suggested that having a home near the beach was the best for her.
Hearing her suggestion, many of the women gave it deep thought, and they liked the idea. However, some of them shook their heads.
"But if we are going to be isolated, what is the point of leaving the moonlight mist? If we all want to reach a compromise... then we should realise not everyone's desires will be met," Aqua said.
"First time Aqua actually speaks rationally," Amaterasu joked with a fan covering her mouth.
"Hmph, that's because I am not drunk yet".
"... you're actually aware you speak nonsense when you're drunk-nya?"
A group started bullying Aqua as always, while the conversation continued.
"I approve whatever notion and do not mind where we live, but I still think we should ask master his opinion in this regard rather than decide by ourselves" Shaltear said. Solution agreed they both looked at Albedo, who was blushing and clearly not paying attention to the conversation. If not for the fact that both of the woman's hands were on the table, they'd think she was masturbating or something...
"Albedo, what is wrong with you?".
"N-Nothing..."
"Master would approve; it would motivate him to spend a lot more time at home", Haku mumbled, then looked at Yasaka, who also nodded, "The main purpose of this, aside from our own comfort, is to have Ray-sama spend more time at home with us".
She rubbed her belly with a smile, "Soon our kids will be coming, we should settle once and for all where is the place where we are all going to be happy together".
The girls stared at each other solemnly.
"But Ray still has to work as our teacher, why can't we just have a home in Kuoh...?" Rias said.
"Rias, we can't be selfish like that–" Akeno interjected.
"I want to be selfish!" Rias stood up, astonishing everyone, "It is not fair. We from the sweetheart group get no time with him at all! Y-You're all pregnant and we–"
"But you are still too young, Rias", Elysir finally spoke, "That is the reason why Ray has constrained with you".
Haku giggled and crossed her arms, "Then what do you propose, Rias-chan?~ if you want to have more time with him, just get good and grow up~".
Rias frowned immediately, but she knew better than to mess with Hasshaku-sama.
"We have been having a peaceful conversation so far, please don't mess it up, Haku", Elysir groaned.
"Hai hai~".
"What Rias says is valid. In fact, I was thinking... Ray should be allowed to focus more on his job and passion until any of us gives birth. After all, once our babies start coming, he's going to be very busy with very little time for himself. The same can be said about all of us" Amaterasu mumbled
"..."
Silence fell, a silence of understanding.
"Who is going to give birth first?".
Someone's hand raised, a lady who hadn't so much as said a word until now. Shizune looked at her in shock. When did that woman even arrive?!
"As expected is Ophis-chan, but you're just going to lay your egg... how long until your egg hatches?" Anna Blair asked her.
The dragoness sighed, "I don't know, I have never laid an egg before... but soon, maybe this month... I will lay my egg. I won't go back to Baka-ray's body until I go back with our child".
"Oh my, congratulations~".
"Then as expected... the next one would be..." Everyone looked at Tsunade, who shook her head, "When Ray and I started engaging in intercourse, I did not have the crest on me. It is true that I have a baby bump, but... I doubt I will give birth first. Rather, Amaterasu or Yasaka..."
Both ladies giggled and looked at one another, much to the rest of the room's chagrin.
"Even for those of us who are not pregnant. That doesn't matter... we are all going to be mothers, and I expect all our cooperation. Whatever conquest, political position, war or anything you're involved in... I hope you can finish it in less than a year so that we can invest all our time into this family," Elysir declared.
It was not a request.
"What about 'her'? What are our preparations against her?" Azrael asked Elysir, obviously regarding the true Elysir.
"You do not need to mind that. There is no rush in that regard".
"So, if she decided to come today... what could we do? Do we have the means?".
"We have the means to send her away, we don't have the means to defeat her" Elysir sighed in resignation, "Not until Ray becomes a Multiversal God... Right now, he and I together can only somehow brush her away".
"And if we join–"
"You all can't join. At most, Ophis may be able to help... but you all are powerless to help us against her. So, don't think too much about it and leave it to us," She said so, but then stared at Albedo, at Hannah, who was being cuddled by Galadriel and then thought of Kurumi.
'If we all join hands, maybe...'
As for the others, it is not that they weren't powerful enough. But so long as they couldn't guarantee their safety, neither she nor Ray wanted to involve them in that fight. Aside from them, she also looked at Anna-chan, who was still relatively weak, but she had something.
'Curse of the Sarcophagus... so long as Anna-chan has that, she could help us as well. Yasaka has it too and Haku...'
Her Frankness pissed them off, but they understood what she was saying wasn't false. A Multiversal God was not something they could even comprehend.
"I won't ever accept just standing on the sidelines. If I have to get more massages to be by my master's side when the time comes, I will," Shaltear uttered.
"I agree with Shaltear-san, if we are too weak, then we just have to become stronger. Hubby has the means" Leone followed.
"Very well, I love to see you all very enthusiastic, but you have best no forget these children are our priority, not her".
"Of course~".
"Since that is decided, then we should make our home in Kuoh for the time being. That is a relatively peaceful town after all, we can go and come as we please while also having a well-developed society to be in, are there any objections?"
No one objected.
"There is also the matter of how many angels we are going to accept in our household. As per the treatment, there should be an equal number of lovers that master has from each respective race. Otherwise, it will be unfair" Hasshaku-sama smirked, deciding to add some spice to the get-together.
Just hearing her, everyone felt a headache.
"Why are we discussing this again-nya? It is not like I mind sharing master, but aren't we too many already? Why does it sound like you all are very much trying to keep adding people to this family-nya?".
"You have no right to say that when you are encouraging Ray and Shirone to get together" Rias chukled.
"That's right, Kuroka, shut up", Albedo spoke amidst her moans just to add more fire.
"Nya!? You see!? You are all crazy! Master barely has enough time for all of us!"
"Although I do admit, this suggestion was for the sake of equity between races, it has come to a point where we should all stop trying to add more numbers", Haku said, glaring at Albedo, who smiled awkwardly and said nothing else.
"I agree. I feel like I can work out with all of you. But we can't say the same about just anyone who may join this household. Since we have all already created bonds with one another, let's enclose this space once and for all".
For some reason, hearing them, Elysir drank her tea while sweating a bit. Amaterasu noticed that and shifted her seat to the side, leaning against her.
"Do you have something to say?~"
"..."
"You have been travelling to different worlds. Surely you didn't find candidates there that you haven't spoken about, have you?".
"... there is at least one, but I will speak about this with Ray directly. In regard to the angels... we should have settled this already? There are three more Star Angels that Michael said there would be a tournament to choose from, isn't that right, Gabriel?"
"That is true. Although those three ladies are being chosen not only amongst angels but also among exorcists and brave saints. They have not been chosen yet".
"Shouldn't they be women that master fancies?"
"There is no woman that master doesn't fancy~" Haku giggled, "Master's love is boundless and accepts anyone".
"Is that another way of saying he's a pervert that lusts after anyone-nya?~"
"Kuroka, please respect our dear lord high above" Azrael frowned with a slight threat.
"Three angels. That is good and all, but... if there are three angels, what about devils?~"
Everyone made silence and looked towards Venelana, who had been giggling up until she became the centre of attention, then she realised she had spouted some heavy words. In front of all these monsters, she had to hold her ground.
"Mother!?" Rias yelled.
"Venelana-sama?" Grayfia stared at her mother-in-law, confused. Since when is this a notion?
"I understand that there is Grayfia, then there is Rias... so... who is going to be the third devil?~" Having come this far, Venelana wasn't about to back off.
"There is Akeno–" Rias mumbled, only to be cut off by her mother.
"Akeno is a half devil, half fallen, surely she doesn't count, right?"
"Hmn, Venelana-sama... you are acting a bit suspicious–" Akeno began, also getting cut off.
"I am just stating facts. Angels and Devils were both created by the Biblical God, being that the case... shouldn't we also belong to Ray-sama?".
There was silence even from Gabriel and Azrael, somehow... they couldn't refute Venelana's arguments because they were the truth. However, that didn't mean they agreed. But Ray already had Grayfia and Rias, so her arguments gained even more strength.
Angels and Devils could no longer be considered enemies.
"Venelana..." Amaterasu sighed, rubbing her forehead and suffering profusely from these moral arguments. After all, it had reached a point at which none of them seemed to care who joined this family as long as whoever joined was not an enemy, and was someone whose feelings for Ray were passionate and intense.
"Lady Amaterasu, I am just trying to be fair here. For what I understand..." She looked around, "There are five Star and Moon Elves: Anna Blair, Alana Blair, Yuna Clay, Merluna Clay, Nocturna Clay".
Then she looked to the other side, "There are five Star Angels: Azrael-san, Gabriel-san, as well as three more to be chosen".
"As for us devils..."
"Master is not genetically or spiritually associated with Devils or fallen angels. That treaty was originally between master's races that have genetic descent to him: The Star Angels, the Moon Elves and the Star Elves" Solution said resolutely. However, within that same argument she paved her fall.
"But then, that being the case, shouldn't there be five-star elves, and five moon elves?~"
"Ugh"
Solution groaned, earning a small giggle from Shaltear, who was by her side, "You were never one clever with words, Solution~".
The elf group flinched, "Hmn, Venelana-san is right".
"Don't give her reason, Anna!" The girls all sweatdropped when the Elf Queen agreed.
"But it is true, though. If we go by this... then there should be one more moon elf, as well as four more star elves–".
"That's impossible, w-we would be too many" Merluna started biting her nails, "I believe this woman, Lady Venelana, is being rather ill-intentioned".
"Oh?" Venelana stared at the Dark Elf whom she had never met, but she didn't underestimate her. If she were sitting here, her status would be already higher than hers.
In this table, there were two individuals whose statuses were beneath everyone else: Venelana, Rias' mother and Sanae, Anna's mother. They could be witnesses, but it would be difficult to make suggestions.
She could only support herself and her arguments for so long.
"We are already too many?~ I do not mind at all" Haku added fuel to the fire, "Master is more than capable of handling all of us".
"Besides, since Ray-chan is the Biblical God, we devils also belong to him. You may not know this, but the pillars have already reunited several times to discuss this matter, wondering when exactly Lord Biblical God is going to descend to the Underworld to give us Devils his blessing. When are we going to evolve into Star Devils?~" Venelana clung to Hasshaku-sama's support.
'If I am successful, then I...'
"That is not going to happen", Elysir said straight away, much to Venelana's dismay.
"Your devils were once at war with the previous Biblical God. Do you think just because you changed your ways, you suddenly are the allies of the heavens?" The Sun Goddess sighed and stared at Amaterasu, who had been silent so far.
"Shouldn't you be countering this...?"
"Why?~"
"I thought you were the jealous type".
"We have a good relationship with the devils. Why should I deny her?~ besides, as you can see, there are already two devils in hubby's harem, what is just three more? I only hope we choose ladies whom he has feelings for" Amaterasu looked around, and her eyes stopped at Sona, who had been watching everything without saying a word.
The Goddess smirked, and Sona hid her face... usually she'd face the goddess with honour, but knowing the conversation that was being had... she didn't know what to say.
"The past is the past, and the current devils highly respect the current Biblical God. It is only that Ray-chan seems to be biased and hasn't even bothered to spend some time in the underworld so that we can properly worship him, it is a bit sad and disgruntling to be honest" Venelana made a pitiful expression.
Ray had only gone once to the underworld, and that was when he was a kid, only for one day. Back then, he wasn't even the Biblical God yet.
"Were you sent as a delegate?" Elysir asked with a frown, seeing Venelana advocate so much for the devils, she had to ask.
"Not at all. I am just giving my personal opinion as Ray-chan's mother-in-law~ I believe there is all benefit and no loss by integrating us devils into this equation. Soon, the Fallen Angels are going to return to their home, the rules will change, once they become angels, they will also be allowed to stay in the world, pair with humans and so on... this way, the faction of fallen angels is going to disappear. Wouldn't that leave all of us devils stranded from Ray-chan's love?~ Isn't that unfair to us?"
"..."
"Also, Star Angels are categorically more powerful than us devils. Don't you think this is even more unfair? Ever since Ray-chan was a kid, we in the Gremory Household have sided with him–".
"Venelana, this is something you should raise in front of Ray. This get-together has the purpose of discussing matters regarding our household, not politics. Please refrain from touching this subject here. Elysir saw that there was no way to refute Venelana's arguments and decided to leave them for Ray to deal with... at the end of the day, he was the Biblical God; he should sort out his people... as his women, they had no authority to decide any of this.
"Then I will apologise for being impertinent. But this subject is related to our early conversation~ I believe, Ray-chan should also have five devils in his household".
"And who do you suggest should be there aside from Rias and Grayfia?" Elysir asked.
"That's naturally Sona-chan, Serafall-sama and me~".
!!!
"Pft! Nyahahahahaha!! How come I expected that-nya!?" Kuroka burst out laughing and just like her, several of the girls giggled slightly. From the moment Venelana stared to speak, they already knew what she wanted.
Rias' mother blushed embarrassingly then avoided her daughter's reaproching frown.
"To actually postulate yourself, quite shameless, aren't you?" Shaltear smirked.
"MOTHER?!" Rias couldn't hold back.
"Well, listen to my reasoning first, dear. I believe with my status and Lady Serafall's, we would be capable of easing the relationships within the three factions, or the two factions as it is going to become. We devils love Ray-chan, but that doesn't mean we like the angels," Venelana said frankly, her words had no reaction on Gabriel or Azrael.
They already knew that.
"But the three of us naturally do not resent angels; in fact, we love angels~ how could we reject Ray-chan's nature? That's why, if we become his women, erasing that lifelong resent would become our task".
"Do you love Ray?" Elysir asked, staring straight at Venelana's soul.
"Of course, I absolutely love my son-in-law~" Venelana stared back deeply, no lies, just truth, "Thanks to him, Rias has become such a powerful devil, she can rule off her engagement on her own, this is something I will be eternally grateful for... so grateful... that I don't mind giving myself away~".
"Do you understand what you're saying, mother...? If you have political purposes to join this family, you can forget–"
"I have no interest whatsoever in politics. I have been interested in Ray-chan for a long time. I wouldn't mind divorcing Zeoticus to become his woman at the very least. Don't you think so, Sanae-san?".
!!!
"E-Eh?! Why are you asking me?!".
The Yuki-onna immediately concealed herself. Anna looked at her with a tilted head, wondering why her mom was so flustered.
"Okasan?"
"Don't say one word, Anna!"
"H-Hai!".
"Shameless..." Yuna smiled and laughed, earning a scowl from everyone in the room. After all, she too was a mother-in-law.
"She's a devil, that's how they are".
"As a devil, she doesn't represent me!" Rias screamed.
"Oh my, please don't say that, it is racist~" Venelana giggled, placing a hand on her cheek softly, patting her own efforts. The way she saw it, there were high chances that she would have it her way once she met Ray.
"Mother, why are you doing this?".
"Rias-chan. Please do not object to my happiness".
"But dad–"
"Rias, we will talk later about this".
"..."
She saw her chance, and she wasn't going to let it go.
"Since we're done with this topic? Any other input? It is about time to finish this gathering, we have to get ready for tomorrow," Tsunade said, looking towards Albedo who bit her lips and nodded reluctantly.
'Finally~'.
"I have a proposal-nya! In our new house, except for when we're going out, and until our children are born, everyone must be naked at all times-nya!~"
"Ugh" Shizune and the maids all blushed when they heard the shameless cat. So far they had been listening, incredulous. As expected, a royal court is very complicated.
"Kuroka-san is just unruly~" Shaltear giggled.
All the women looked at one another, to everyone's shock, no one had denied this.
"I agree, I wouldn't mind that setup", Amaterasu coughed, shocking everyone.
"A-Amaterasu-sama...?" Yasaka's brows twitched.
"I am originally someone who is naked most of the time in my chambers in Takamagahara, having to use garments at home with my husbands feels wrong. If anything, I have been expecting this for a while".
"I also don't mind" Elysir said.
"That would be excellent? Why didn't we propose this before?" Aqua drank some wine and smiled, "Any rule for lust and chaos, I am in!~"
"What do you think, Galadriel? You have been awfully quiet" Amaterasu asked the other Goddess, whom she respected, whose opinion was way more important than Aqua's.
The Midnight Elf blushed, "If I have the chance to display myself in front of husband at all times, that is naturally something I'd be proud of".
"It is decided then".
"I wonder how master is going to react-nya, he may not step out of home at this stage".
"That's for the better".
With that, both of the most powerful goddesses had already agreed, making Kuroka jump in joy.
"That is, of course, until our babies are born. I believe husband will be very happy to see our baby bumps at all times. What do you all think?" Tsunade asked, surprised at her own excitement with this new rule.
"Hmn, until they are born... I don't want to expose our kids to indecent behaviour, but... until then, we should enjoy ourselves, shouldn't we?".
"Very well, we have a deal~".
The party continued for only one more hour until the girls stared to disperse. The younger group, believing the party was already 'over', left to sightsee the village. A brand new world, they could wait to experience it.
As for the other group of pets and wives. They stared at one another solemnly, then smiled, then looked at Albedo.
"So... the second phase?~"
"We should just go now. Albedo, lead the way~".
"Yes, I would be ready if I were you... things didn't go quite as planned".
"... they didn't?" Tsunade frowned together with Yasaka and Haku. If they didn't get what they were promised, they'd be quite pissed.
Albedo opened a pitch-black portal in front of them, licked her lips and turned around, "I believe master is ready to give us something more interesting~".