"Hmph."
"Azazel, if you want to research Akuto-kun's Sacred Gear, aren't you thinking a bit too highly of yourself?"
After Azazel, Rias Gremory also gave him a sharp jab like that before finally leaving.
...
After Azazel, Sai Akuto went on to greet a few more people.
For example, Maou Alice, who was all smiles; Grayfia, whose face was full of resentment; Michael, whose gentle expression carried a hint of reverence; and Gabriel, who was stunningly beautiful in her extreme holiness.
In the end, Akuto arrived at his own designated waiting area.
At the very moment the conference was about to begin, Akuto took his leave from Rias and stepped into the conference room.
For this meeting, the leaders of the three factions were seated at three different sides, while the remaining participants sat close to their own faction leaders. The dividing lines were very clear.
Strictly speaking, given his true identity, Akuto should have been sitting at the head seat of the angel faction.
However, for the sake of the three factions' bright future, he still chose to sit at Maou Alice's side, taking a seat next to Serafall.
Very soon, once everyone had arrived, the three-way conference proceeded step by step according to the established program.
On the surface, the agenda was about resolving various recent disputes among the three factions: whether a certain incident over here was the devils' fault, or whether that situation over there was caused by the Fallen Angels doing something wrong, and so on.
However, everyone present knew that this "conference" was just a formality. The truly important matters had already been decided before they even sat down.
"…That concludes Rias Gremory's report regarding the Kokabiel assault incident."
After finishing her report, Rias blinked at Akuto several times before stepping down from the podium.
...…
"No matter how you look at it, the biggest problem this time is still Kokabiel's theft of the holy swords from the Church."
"Governor Azazel, just how exactly are you managing your subordinates?"
She really could not imagine what the situation would have turned into if Akuto had not been there. It was entirely possible that she really would have started a war against the entire Fallen Angel race together with Serafall.
At this point, her power had already reached the upper limit of Chief God-class and could break through to sub Dragon God-class at any time. Even if only the reformist Maou and devils sided with her, it would still be more than enough to wipe out the Fallen Angels.
On Azazel's side, the moment this incident was brought up, he immediately made a gesture of surrender.
After all, he genuinely was in the wrong here.
"All right, I admit it. I'm trash, I didn't manage my subordinates properly. I deserve punishment, and the Fallen Angel sub-faction should compensate both the devils and the angels."
"Good. Knowing you're wrong and being willing to correct yourself is what matters. I simply ask that Governor Azazel be more serious in managing his people from now on," Michael said with a smile.
As his former colleague, he was quite pleased to see Azazel looking so deflated.
...…
In order to bring this whole "everyone taking turns putting him on trial" situation to an end as quickly as possible, Azazel let out a long sigh.
"In any case, I just want to lie flat and quietly study Sacred Gears. Can we please stop getting dragged into these completely pointless messes in the future?"
"What are we even waiting for? Let's just sign the peace treaty already~~~ Isn't that the whole reason everyone came here today?"
"..."
"Mm, that's true," Maou Alice nodded deeply.
"If God-sama were still alive, He would definitely approve of all of you walking a path that leads toward peace," Michael added, bringing his hands together in a gesture of prayer.
"God-sama? Right, speaking of God-sama, there's something I wanted to ask you. I heard that at some point, ten 'Holy Sons' suddenly popped out of nowhere. Is that information true?"
Although Azazel did not know this person's true identity, he did at least know that someone known as the "Holy Son" existed.
"..."
Michael did not answer. He simply responded with a gentle smile.
The Church had extremely strict prohibitions regarding Saints and nuns. Because of those restrictions, Saints and nuns could not have any dealings with wicked beings such as devils and Fallen Angels.
That already mature system of prohibitions could not only be used to maintain faith of very high purity; naturally, it could also be used to block the flow of information.
At present, all believers who knew Akuto's true identity had undergone trials by the Holy Spear. Under the dual safeguards of their own unwavering faith and physical prohibitions, there was naturally no way for news of the Holy Son to leak out.
"All right, let's put that matter aside for now. There is another, even more important issue that I need to discuss with you all."
Azazel quickly shifted to the main subject.
Aside from signing the peace treaty, his coming to this conference also had another very important purpose: to request aid from the devils and angels.
Ordinarily, a faction currently embroiled in conflict would have no right to sign a peace treaty with other factions.
However, Maou Alice and Michael had still agreed to form an alliance with the Fallen Angels.
Michael agreed because this was the will of the Holy Son-sama.
As for Alice, her agreement came entirely from her own will.
In fact, considering how rampant recent acts of terrorism had become, Alice was not planning to "wait for the right opportunity" three separate times just to finally sign the alliance treaty.
Otherwise, people really would start treating her as if she were like the original Lucifer, that so-called "true Maou" who only barely scraped into Chief God-class by relying on the Maou throne and the Underworld's blessings. She would find that extremely troublesome.
It was normal for Maou Alice to think this way. Many organizations were convinced that a Maou could only display truly impressive combat power in the Underworld, and that was precisely why they dared to cause trouble in the human world.
...…
"Ahem."
Clearing his throat, Azazel formally presented his request.
"You should also know that right now, the Fallen Angel side is simultaneously facing both the Void Cicada Organization and the witches of the Kingdom of Oz. Even if it isn't the full Kingdom of Oz but only East Oz, it is still quite a headache."
"In order to avoid the Fallen Angel side being dragged into a de facto long-term war, I would like to request that the devil and angel factions dispatch reinforcements to aid the Fallen Angels."
"Of course, in the current situation, directly sending reinforcements would cause massive upheaval within all three factions."
"So, my proposal is to create a high-level supervisory agency composed of senior officials and combat personnel from all three factions. It would circumvent the existing rules and be granted independent enforcement authority."
"What do you think?"
Azazel looked over at the other two.
"Mm, I think Governor Azazel's proposal makes a lot of sense," Serafall was the first to speak up in support.
"That's right~ In that case, a lot of things would become much easier to handle~" Gabriel brought her hands together and nodded with a smile.
After the two of them, Maou Alice and the Seraph Michael also stated their support.
And so, through consultation among the three forces, the supervisory agency known as the "DXD Agency" completed its initial framework.
...…
Akuto quietly watched the conference follow the predetermined process.
He knew that once Azazel had asked him those questions earlier and received satisfactory answers, it was already settled that he would become the head of this independent supervisory agency.
Very soon, through joint deliberation among the three factions, the DXD Agency finished drafting its initial organizational structure.
The personnel arrangements were as follows:
Highest Decision-Making Level:
Grand Speaker: Akuto Leviathan (Sai Akuto).
Honorary Speakers:
Maou Lucifer (Devils);
Fallen Angel Governor Azazel (Fallen Angels);
Seraph Michael (Angels).
Vice Speakers:
Maou Serafall (Devils);
Fallen Angel Vice Governor Shemhaza (Fallen Angels);
Seraph Gabriel (Angels).
Basic Decision-Making Level:
Councilors:
Devil faction (3 seats):
One seat for the old retainers of the reformists;
One seat for the old-guard devils who have accepted the reformists;
One seat for the stubborn old-guard devils who still refuse to accept the reforms.
Fallen Angel faction (3 seats):
One seat for the pro-Azazel faction;
One seat for the strongest Sacred Gear wielder;
One seat for the anti-Azazel faction.
Angel faction (3 seats):
One seat for the Seraph;
One seat for the reincarnated angels;
One seat for the Church's representative.
Executive Level:
High-class combatants from all three factions.
...…
The DXD Agency's highest decision-making level was modeled after the upper house of Western legal systems and possessed the legislative authority to "review" and "pass" bills.
The basic decision-making level was modeled after the lower house of Western legal systems and possessed the legislative authority to "propose" bills.
The executive level was the simplest to understand: it possessed judicial authority, exercised under the constraints and orders of Grand Speaker Akuto.
...…
When it came to voting, Grand Speaker Akuto wielded three votes on his own and possessed the ultimate veto and judicial authority over any bill.
Each Vice Speaker had one vote, possessed legislative authority to propose bills, and also had the right to cast votes.
Each councilor had one vote and possessed both voting rights and the right to interpellate (question) others.
The three Honorary Speakers, who were the leaders of each faction, held no direct executive power, but they possessed the authority to impeach the Vice Speakers and the Grand Speaker.
Each race's own Honorary Speaker (its faction leader) could impeach the Vice Speaker representing that race.
If all three Honorary Speakers voted together, they could impeach the Grand Speaker as well.
...…
For any vote that did not involve the sovereignty of a given race, a bill would be considered passed once support exceeded 50%.
For matters involving the basic constitutions of the races, the bill would only be considered passed if support exceeded 66%.
...…
Because many aspects of the organizational structure and rule-setting drew on both the customs of the human world and those of the three major factions, the discussions proceeded very quickly.
At the present stage, although the specific legal code of the DXD Agency was still being drafted, Fallen Angel Governor Azazel, even before the institution was fully complete, had already proposed a plan to carry out a "Special Operation."
"Ahem."
"According to Article 4.5 of the DXD Agency Basic Law, when facing an enemy that does not belong to the three major factions, the Grand Speaker may initiate a 'Special Operation' to eliminate threats to the stability of the allied factions."
"—Proposed by: DXD Agency Honorary Speaker, Fallen Angel Governor, Azazel."
By this point, Akuto was no longer seated with the devils. Instead, he had moved to sit in the very center of the room to signify his position of absolute neutrality.
"Now, we'll begin counting the votes."
At Akuto's side, Grayfia spoke without even bothering to look.
Just moments ago, she had been appointed as the special liaison between the devils' Honorary Speaker and Grand Speaker Akuto.
Each race had one such liaison.
Grayfia knew very well that once she took on this position, it would probably become almost impossible for her to get away from Akuto ever again.
...…
Still, dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction. Even so, alongside that displeasure, Grayfia could not help feeling a faint, indescribable sense of anticipation in her heart.
Would Akuto take this opportunity to do something to her?
If Akuto really did try to flirt with her, she would be furious.
But if Akuto did nothing at all, although she herself was unwilling to admit it, the odds were high that she would be even more upset.
(End of Chapter)
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