[Riser POV]
After returning home in the flying carriage, Erza immediately sprinted to her room to put away her new clothes.
Her Requip only had so much room, and though she kept a few clothes for emergencies, wasting more of her limited space on clothes she might wear once a month was... impractical, to say the least.
It was also thanks to her Requip that Erza didn't need to use a storage spell for her peerage piece like every other devil. The spell was designed by Ajuka, who understood it best to keep the pieces on you at all times, yet make them untouchable by thieves.
The spell essentially stretches space with our magic, locking the relative positions of that spatial pocket to us. While it could be used to store other valuables, the spell takes a constant supply of magic to keep things functioning.
Erza's Requip functioned more like a pocket in her magic, and pockets can only have so much space.
While Erza was putting away her clothes, I ran into my mother on the way to my bedroom.
"Riser, dear, how did Erza do with her match? Unfortunately, your father and I were busy and couldn't watch, but I do hope she won," Rae said. As the matriarch of the Phenex clan, news like this wasn't hard to get, especially since such bets are rare and reported on almost immediately.
"She won, Mom," I said, "And now she has her own bishop piece."
She nodded, hearing the good news.
"Excellent. Now, Riser, you should hurry and clean yourself up. Your father is having dinner guests over; even your brothers are attending. Also, remember to bring your knight. Your father has been quite curious since I first mentioned her."
As she spoke, I became curious.
There weren't many people my father hung around with. Despite his more neutral attitude, he tended to lean toward the New Satan faction. He was less progressive than those from clans like the Gremory or Sitri, but when compared to those of the Great King or Old Satan factions, he would seem more progressive.
I guessed that my father might be inviting the Gremory clan over, possibly discussing my future, but I'd have to wait until dinner to find out.
As for my father wanting to meet Erza, it wasn't surprising at all. After all, she'll be a member of my peerage in the future, and he has to meet her eventually.
Heading back to my room, I changed into fancier attire for dinner. Since I wasn't the biggest fan of such clothes, I wore a simple white button-up shirt and black cotton trousers, the most basic fancy outfit there was.
Once I got dressed, I went over to Erza's room and knocked on the door.
*Knock knock knock*
"Yes?" Erza called out from inside.
"It's me. My father is hosting guests for dinner. Since you'll be eating with us, you should wear something nice," I informed her.
"Got it, Riser!"
I waited outside her door while she changed, since I figured my knight should arrive with me.
Opening the door, Erza wore the purple dress she had tried on in the store earlier.
"Ready?" I asked. Erza confidently nodded.
As Erza and I walked to the dining room, we talked about potential candidates for her bishop piece that I could summon, mostly people from her world. I could always get a competent mage for her. I had a few ideas for wizards I could summon from Harry Potter, but as we talked, it gave me the idea of buying more pieces from the system.
Sure enough, when I checked, I found out I could buy pieces, even ones that change the race into something other than a devil. Unfortunately, the cost of the pieces was quite high, more than Erza was.
It wasn't surprising since changing races and the piece's natural boosts were quite valuable. After all, a talented human turned devil would have centuries to practice their abilities and grow stronger. Any other race was similar, but with other advantages, like yokai's youjutsu.
Still, I wouldn't be buying them anytime soon. I don't even have my own pieces, nor do I have anyone to add to my peerage apart from Erza, so I wasn't going to spend over a thousand tears for something I can't use now.
We finally arrived at the dining room.
Opening the door, I saw my father at the head of the table, and my oldest brother, Ruval, sat to his right. On his left was my mother, with Ravel's high chair between them.
I took a seat beside my mother, with Erza beside me.
"Riser, good to see you made it!" Ruval cheerily greeted me. "Mind introducing me to your friend?"
"Hi, Ruval. This is Erza Scarlet," I said, gesturing to the redhead to my left. "She'll be my knight when I get my peerage."
"And is she capable?" My father, Roland Phenex, asked curiously. He had heard my mother talk about Erza, but that didn't tell him much. All my mother told him was that she was promising.
"Do you know who Bekk Oris is?" I asked, hoping they knew to make things easier.
"The name is familiar," Roland replied.
"I met him earlier today with Erza. Apparently, he recently became a high-class devil."
"Oh him!" Roland said with realization. "I remember seeing him at the high-class promotion exams. He passed, though he was basically the worst of those that did."
"Yeah, well, he tried to recruit Erza to his peerage and bet one of his pieces on it. Then she kicked his butt in less than a minute." I briefly described his quick defeat.
Turning to Erza, she understood and pulled out the bishop piece, displaying it on her open palm so everyone could see.
After leaving it there for a few seconds, Erza put the bishop away.
Moments after, the dining room door opened widely, and my second brother, Rory, entered.
"Sorry, I'm late, got a bit held up at the meeting," Rory said with a smug grin on his face.
Ruval shook his head, sighing in disappointment, while my father had an inscrutable look on his face.
"Rory, we are having guests soon. Be on your best behavior," father said succinctly.
"No problem, pops," Rory said, causing my father's eyebrow to twitch.
__________
Author's Note:
I'm sure you can all see my genius by the fact that having Erza shop for clothes was 100% planned in advance and definitely not a complete coincidence.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!