he carriage was wide and lounge-like, with several private booth areas along the sides. Each booth had curved green sofas, small wooden tables, and short divider walls for privacy.
Adrien, Akeno, Rias, Issei, Mary, and Xenovia sat together in one booth, while the others spread out and mixed into different booths. Azazel claimed an entire booth for himself and was already asleep.
The train continued moving for a few minutes. Outside the windows, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness. The locomotive was powered by a special kind of fuel that couldn't be found in the human world.
Issei looked out the window, then turned to Rias. "How long does it take to reach the Underworld?"
"We should arrive in about an hour," Rias answered calmly. "This train is made to pass through the dimensional barrier while following the proper procedures."
Issei tilted his head. "I thought we could just use a magic circle and teleport straight there."
"Normally, yes," Rias said. "But for new Familia members like you, your first entry into the Underworld has to be done through an official port. Otherwise, it would be treated as illegal entry."
"Illegal entry? Seriously?"
Rias nodded. "Yes. And it comes with punishment, so this way is safer."
Akeno, who was sitting beside Adrien, leaned closer to him with a sweet smile.
"Ara, Adrien…" she said softly. "Why don't we move to that booth over there? It looks much quieter."
Before Adrien could answer, Mary calmly took his free arm and pressed it against her chest. "Unfortunately, I do not handle trains and boats well," Mary said with a perfectly serious face. "So I want my master to stay close to me."
Akeno's smile sharpened slightly. "Ara ara~ but you look perfectly fine to me."
"My condition just worsened." she suddenly acted as if she was dizzy and rested her head on his lap. Adrien looked down at her for a moment, then started lightly playing with a strand of her long silver hair. Out of all the girls around him, Mary's soft, wavy silver hair was probably his favorite.
Then a figure appeared beside their booth. It was an elderly man wearing a conductor's uniform. He had a neat, white, dandy-like beard and carried himself with the dignity of a veteran servant.
"Greetings," the man said with a polite bow. "It is a pleasure to meet the newest members of Princess Rias's Familia."
Then he turned toward Adrien and bowed a little deeper. "It is also an honor to have Prince Agares aboard this train. My name is Reynald, and I am the conductor of the Gremory family's private train."
Everyone rose to their feet, except for Adrien and Rias, and bowed politely in return.
"I-it's nice to meet you, too! I'm Issei Hyoudou, the prez's—Rias Gremory's Pawn!"
Xenovia stepped forward with a serious expression. "Xenovia Quarta. Adrien's Knight."
Mary bowed calmly, her silver hair falling over her shoulder. "Mary Leroy. I serve Lord Adrien as his Knight. It is a pleasure to meet you."
With the introductions finished, Reynald took out a piece of specialized equipment and set a monitor beside it.
"We use this device in the demon world to confirm each passenger's identity," Reynald explained politely. "All vehicles entering through official channels, like this train, must be inspected. Forged identities and illegal entries are serious crimes. And with the current times, we must also be careful of possible hijackings."
Everyone in the carriage turned their attention to the elderly conductor.
Rias gave them a small mischievous smile. "Don't worry. All of you were registered in the system when I used my Evil Pieces to reincarnate you. It should be the same for Adrien's side as well. This machine simply checks your identities against that data. So relax. You're all exactly who you're supposed to be."
The device checked everyone without any problems.
Reynald gave a satisfied nod and smiled pleasantly.
"Entry procedures have been completed. The identities of your new Familia members have all been confirmed, Lady Rias and Lord Agares. You may relax until we arrive at our destination. We have beds in the sleeping carriage and a dining hall for meals, so please feel free to use the train's facilities."
Adrien glanced at him. "You can just call me Adrien, Reynald. Lord Agares makes it sound like you're talking to my father."
"As you wish, Lord Adrien." Reynald bowed politely.
Adrien stared at him for a second. "That's basically the same thing."
Rias smiled faintly, then glanced toward Azazel, who was still sleeping peacefully in his booth. "Thank you, Reynald. The only person left is Azazel, right?"
"Oh-ho-ho," Reynald chuckled softly. "The governor of the fallen angels looks quite at peace."
After Reynald left, everyone returned to their conversations.
Xenovia looked at Rias with a serious expression. "How long have you known Adrien?"
Rias leaned back slightly, thinking. "Well, I knew his sister, Seekvaira, quite well. I also knew she had a brother, but I never actually met him until we were around eleven."
She smiled a little, as if remembering something amusing.
"It was quite the first meeting. I had gone into the forest near our castle with one of my father's Pawns. Then we were attacked by a demonic bear. Yes. Just as my guide was about to deal with it, Adrien appeared out of nowhere and killed it with his sword."
Xenovia looked impressed. "That sounds like him."
"At the time, Adrien was still being hidden by his family and the Four Great Satans, so I had to keep our meeting a secret."
Akeno turned her gaze to Adrien. "Ara, then why were you in the Gremory territory in the first place?"
Adrien shrugged casually. "I was bored and wanted to swing my sword around, so I escaped Agreas and wandered off without any real direction. I just ended up there by chance."
"Wait," Mary said, looking at Adrien. "Didn't you meet Celia in a similar way?"
"Yeah, he did," Celia said from another booth, making it obvious that the others had been listening in. "My village was being massacred by a demonic beast, then Adrien suddenly appeared and killed the monster."
"That was a coincidence. It's not like I can see the future," Adrien said lazily. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."
"Is that so~?" Akeno said with a soft chuckle. "That sounds a little suspicious."
Rias smiled and continued. "After that, I saw him a few more times. Sometimes he would come to play chess with Sona. He was the only one who could beat her back then. And when I moved to Kuoh, he visited a few times too. He always said he came because he wanted peace."
"Hmm…" Celia said teasingly from her booth. "Sounds like you were chasing Rias around."
Adrien gave her a flat look. "If I really wanted that, I could've gotten engaged to her a long time ago."
Rias got slightly embarrassed as she heard what Adrien said, "what are you talking about?" she asked
Adrien leaned back and continued casually, "Do you know how many times Sirzechs bothered me about getting engaged to her? Both before and after the Riser mess?"
Issei shot up from his seat, his face twisting in panic. "Wait, you're joking, right?"
Adrien waved him off. "Relax. Rias is just a friend. She's basically my homegirl, if that makes sense."
Issei pointed at Adrien like he had just found his greatest enemy. "Never trust the guy best friend!"
Everyone chuckled at Issei's panicked expression.
From another booth, Kiba smiled and decided to tease him too. "If Adrien went after the president, you might as well give up, Issei. There's no way we could beat him in a Rating Game to cancel the engagement."
Issei gulped. His eyes moved between Kiba and Adrien Adrien saw his reaction and immediately joined in.
"Relax. I'm not the type to cuck" he said casually. "But if she comes to me on her own, what am I supposed to do?"
Issei's soul almost left his body, his eyes snapped toward Rias, who was watching him with a small smirk. She finally let out a soft laugh. "They're only messing with you, Issei. You believe things far too easily."
Issei slowly sank back into his seat. "That was not funny…"
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Yo, if we can reach 130 power stones today I'll drop another chapter. Enjoy!