Chapter 71: Ulrika Devegvar
Currently, Masaru and Sakura are travelling towards the designated northern town Dominic gave Masaru to investigate, the surroundings were mostly open plains along the way with occasional Forests followed by some farming towns they passed by.
It honestly appeared quite peaceful in this territory, Masaru even stopped from time to time to speak and trade with some of the farmers to get some information about the recent rebellion incident but he never heard a single moment anyone mentioning the word "Rebellion" as this could scare the hell out of the farmers and cause chaos.
When they finally were on the final road leading straight for the town they were originally heading for Masaru started to talk about Sacred Gears with Sakura in hopes he could perhaps gain enlightenment as for why he could not awaken his normally like others.
"Remember I told you about the power I sensed inside you called Sacred Gear?" Sakura nodded at Masaru's question so he continued.
"I'm not going to explain the whole thing since some of the words it contains gives a headache, sacred gear is simply a divine tool created as a miracle for Humans, giving powers to humans so they can combat against Devils, Angels and Gods... Most historical humans who were recorded in history had sacred gears"
"Well enough about the history about it, in order to awaken or stimulate ones sacred gear you need to have strong feelings, desire. Sacred Gears are driven with the power of desire and it also determines the power for it as well. The stronger you desire for it the stronger it will respond"
Sakura who heard this felt quite sceptical, "Why would they create such a thing if they promote 'Desire' if they label is as a sin?"
Masaru thought for a moment before he shrugged, "Who knows what went on in his head when he made that, when we reach the town I will help you awaken your sacred gear"
Sakura smiled a little thinking she will be able to see what has been a part of her life for so long
'I actually came to understand a few things about my own as well...' Masaru thought while looking out the window of the carriage, the view was filled with farms and several people working on it at different locations.
'If my sacred gear does not respond to my desire... Then I need to remember the feeling I held when Tiamat pressured me, before I could not tap into it because my soul was messed up but now that it was already being healing quite nicely it should be fine'
[Yes it should be boy, in fact I wondered why you never even used it after you got yourself a quick fix] Masaru wanted to glare at this shameless dragon, 'Don't make it sounds like it was a drug'
[But it was exciting right? Getting all high while learning combat techniques... It's only a different kind of drug]
'Ptui! Be glad I can't spit on you' Masaru normally felt calm but whenever this dragon starts with his nonsense he just can't find the calmness inside him anymore and starts to bicker with Drago.
Even now while they were travelling Masaru was actively casting several layers of detection magic but other than normal devils, beasts and a few weak demonic beasts there was nothing else in the vicinity so he relaxed a bit. "What do you think would cause the rebellion in the other territories?"
Masaru asked Sakura since he could come up with several reasons, however, none of them was applicable since his family do take care of their people quite well unlike others, "Well it can many people, even our own allies..."
Masaru nodded as he came to some sort of conclusion, "The question we should rather ask is Who benefits from this? It's like they are trying to attract attention at a variety of locations, from the looks of it they are trying to scatter the military power of each territory for a plan, maybe a direct one time assault? It could be something else as well, but the rebellion is definitely someone who wants to scatter military power of the devils or we are simply dealing with idiots that have nothing better to do in their lives"
"You're quite smart in these things, no wonder your a Demon Lord of our school" Hearing Sakura's compliment Masaru would normally feel proud and tease her but he shook his head as he felt his reasoning just now made too much sense that it made him wary of the situation.
"No, it's only easy to pull out a few theories when you ask yourself several questions when you look at the situation." Masaru sighed as he rubbed his forehead thinking hard, although he hated it but he had to...
"Besides, I have to suspect even our neighbours and surrounding devil lord as well. The reason is due to our Belial Family rise that was quite fast the past few years and all those who suppressed us in the past are feeling threatened" Sakura remembered Ingvild told her about this manner, how Masaru had to use the Devil Kings and Bael Family as his shield to develop his lands faster using his father's money while implementing businesses using the supporting funds Ajuka gave him.
"Since your still new to the Devil territory and the people don't know you that much yet, you will follow me around for the first day and then afterwards I want you to do a separate task for me" Masaru began to attract Sakura's attention about his plans, taking out a small map that displays the northern territory of the Belial lands.
"First we will visit the Town manager to hear his insight and any information. After that, we will then visit some of the busier shops and end the day. Tomorrow I will send you to a nearby village which is a bit towards the east near the forest which they named Chi no mori, I want you then to meet up with the Villagers and the chief to hear if there have been any problems with dealing with the Town Manager and how his attitude is"
"You suspect the Town Manager?"
Masaru shook his head with a wry smile, "Before we start to investigate the possibility of a rebellion, what we need to determine is what makes the commoners anxious? Are they being suppressed by the nearby town that they rebel? Or is it they get scammed by officials? There are many things, but the most important thing we need to know is the relationship between the town and the villages first. Once we have the answer we can start working towards the outside direction, our neighbours"
Sakura nodded thinking that it made quite a sense to first check their own backyard before looking over the wall of their neighbours. "Well, none of this happened in our territory before, but since this happened in other territories. It's best we find out these details as soon as possible and deal with it immediately, that way there should be no obstacles for when we start our official investigation"
With the difficult talks over the time flew faster, the border town was more old fashioned compared to the towns deeper in the territories, the buildings were not painted and built with mostly wood planks.
Only the richer stores were painted to stand out above the rest, when Masaru and they entered the town, the road led them to the centre where there is a plaza was a platform built for when the Town Manager or perhaps Mayor humans would call it to announce new rules or changes depending on the situation.
Behind the platform is a ancient building that resembles a smaller version of the Pantheon which was the Mayor's offices, when the Carriage stopped the Mayor was already out, a beautiful jade green hair lady in her late teens, blue eyes and a curvaceous body wearing an off-shoulder formal dress with a slit at the sides revealing her long beautiful white legs, standing outside together with her staff to welcome Masaru.
"We welcome Young Master Belial to North Sworlooelen, I am Ulrika Devegvar the current Mayor of the town." Ulrika bowed respectfully revealing her peaks which were quite revealing in her dress.
If Masaru was not continuously harassed by his girls in the bath or when they are sleeping together. Hee might have felt a bit flustered at such a tempting sight but unfortunate for the Mayor he was not shaken as he nodded his head keeping his expression stoic.
"Thank you for welcoming us, as you know I'm Masaru Belial, the current heir to the Belial Family and this is one of my pawns Sakura Tsukuba who came together with me as my support" They exchanged a few more formalities with one another before Ulrika led Masaru and Sakura inside feeling a bit disappointing that her seduction did not work.
Ulrika is extremely loyal to the Belial Family and it is because she is loyal she hoped to get closer to the current heir, perhaps join his peerage where she can display her administration and magical skills for him but she too already received information that the girls surrounding Masaru were by no means incompetent, in fact, they are abnormal.
From the latest information that was recently discovered around the Belial Manor was the fact Masaru was playing ball games with the girls which appeared to look like they were playing, but some of the experienced agents managed to find out that Masaru was training his girls and himself mostly in gaining control over their abilities instead of simply powering them up.
This is another reason Ulrika wanted to follow this competent man who trains his team in variety means without being fixated on a single path, 'Should I make myself appear a bit younger? Guess I can't categorize this young master along with regular boys his age' She thought
Masaru, however, could more or less deduce there should be no problem on the Town side from how the people were working. Then again it could be they are performing like this because he is here, He naturally did not notice the change in Ulrika since she was quite proficient in hiding her feelings after all.
Passing through the reception area towards the dual glass doors, they entered the hallway and went into the first room on the right side. It was a smaller meeting room with a long oval table surrounded by chairs, each person took their seats.
"The reason for my visit is to hear about the situation in the town and the surrounding from your point of view, as you may know, some territories are in chaos because of a rebellion. From what I believe is that someone is inciting the commoners. Such a thing won't happen if the commoners are happy and satisfied with their lives, naturally, I am not telling you to treat them like kinds" Masaru started off from the beginning since this was an important mission it was best to start immediately.
Ulrika nodded feeling that this young master was truly well deserving his fame in these lands, she started to briefly explain the situation "So far there have been no signs of unrest among the people thus far, we have been already implementing the plans you have sent for us to carry out especially since we are at the border town.
"The trading with the surrounding villages are going far better thanks to the construction of routes including resting spots at the side of the roads that are equipped with these alarm devices, not to mention there has been several reports of devils that came to try and instil the idea of Belial suppressing their people but the citizens simply laughed it off calling him an idiot. I can only say this was thanks to Young Master's ideas to uplift the lives of us people"
Hearing the previous satan faction being mentioned the room was quite tense since this subject is a black history of the Devils but also the object of something they should not become, Masar instead was quite interested since he did not expect to hear such a detailed report.
"I see, so you also investigated this?" Masaru was quite intrigued by Ulrika's competence, to actually investigate her surroundings meant she was taking the job to lead the town Seriously.
"If I may be blunt, but I can't help but smell those Old Satan factions all over these rebellions. From the past few decades the people have never once thought of rebelling, not to mention although suppression, extortion, and such are still prominent all over the devil lands it was much less compared to when the previous leaders were running it.
"Our surrounding neighbours are unhappy about Belial's uprise but they would not do anything foolish that could cause another internal war unless they have support from the outside which is safe to say our immediate surroundings don't have such problems. Not to mention not many desire to become enemies with young master, the fear for the four Devil Kings being young master's backers is truly dreadful"
"Amazing, the Belial family is quite fortunate to have a competent Mayor such as you Ulrika-san" Masaru complimented and praised Ulrika's competence, although he also came to this conclusion he did not have to prove nor intelligence. The fact that Ulrika had it, means she was truly a professional in this task.
"I appreciate the compliment, but the thanks should go to all those who aid me as they made everything possible after all" Masaru nodded appreciating Ulrika's character even more, she knew how to manage her team and get them to perform to their best abilities
'If I was not busy dealing with other things I would like to talk a bit more with her in the future' He thought for a moment thinking of a few more scenarios and there was one he could not wave off so he continued.
"Now then if I was the enemy and had trouble inciting the people to rebel but fail the next thing I can imagine them is to strike at our resources such as Farms, Factories and such. So I would like to ask you all to arrange some scouts and soldiers to patrol the farms regularly, I will have my grandfather send over some reinforcements since this is the border town we can't give our neighbours an excuse to attack us nor demand compensations"
Masaru spoke a few more plans together with him to cover the other possible scenarios before everyone left the room except for Ulrika, Sakura and Masaru.
"I really am amazed, if grandfather were to know what I know. He would move you to our Capital city of our territory since we are looking for someone as competent as you. Are you interested?" Ulrika smiled at Masaru's tempting offer since it was something she also aimed for after all but did not immediately accept it.
"What would you gain from that? Or better yet, what would you request of me?" Masaru smiled, he just came to a decision since he really valued her talent.
"Your undying loyalty to me and me alone, the reason being is I need someone who can monitor at every single person for me including my family"
Ulrika could not help but frown, as she never expected to hear such a request especially from the Heir of the Belial Family "Do you suspect your family as traitors?"
Masaru shook his head while tapping the table with his finger once. "No, you see we live in a world where everything is possible... including mind control"
Hearing this made Ulrika visibly since she knew this is mostly possible but the chances of this happening was not high, not to mention that most people would simply shrug it off but only a few would take this seriously.
"I want you in a high enough position to detect if there are strange movements inside the family and report it to me and me alone, I don't want to take chances and want to know about these events immediately so I can dispel it before we suffer losses. You should know I am currently going to school in the human world so I can't always be around my family which is where you come in"
"And how will you assure my loyalty?" Masaru took out a pawn piece with a smile, although it was against his principles to force someone. But right now he found a talent he can't let it slip from his hand and more than that he required her loyalty as soon as possible.
"I will not restrict you, nor do I demand you to have a relationship with me like my other girls which is what most people misunderstand, since I want you to work in the administration and information department for me there will be no need for you to participate in every Rating game unless you have free time" Ulrika touched her lips feeling quite excited which was hard to contain, her eyes narrow slightly
"And if I wish to pursue you?" Masaru was taken a back at her question, unlike Akeno who was similar age as him the current Ulrika was older than him even if not by much. He smiled as he found her quite interesting,
"The requirement is to be willing to share, I'm not aiming for a massive harem like some fire chicken so I won't mind if my peerage is all my women but I only intend to marry one woman outside my peerage due to my noble obligation. But then again I don't have any intentions to force my peerage to love me, this is just one of the things I resolved myself for long ago"
"I will accept your proposal, however, I would like you to treat me similar to the girls" Masaru who heard this smile realizing this woman probably wanted this and already investigated him, he already has the kiss prayer which is his trump card.
"Sakura, sorry but could I ask you to leave for a moment?" Sakura felt a bit conflicted thinking Masaru was about to do something indecent, she still trusted him from the bottom of her heart that he will not bring any harm in any way so she left quite quickly,
"By your words, treating the girls like you, you must have heard about my kiss prayer right?"
"Yes" Masaru looked at the lady who made quite the resolve to make this decision but from the looks of it she thought about it for long.
"Why?" Ulrika stood up from her chair and took a seat next to Masaru, she knows he is not the kind who like to rush things so even if she feels a bit hot and excited she instead chose to follow his way of taking it slow and getting to know each other first.
"I have been investigating you for a long time, I have a high standard of choosing a man you know. Competent, Responsible, someone who cherishes those he loves, strong. At first, I only investigated you to see if the Belial would have a future but the more I investigate you the more interesting you became for me, it didn't take that long for me to think that becoming a part of your peerage might be wonderful"
"It was only a few days back I got a report about the Kyoto incident and including your talks with Adramelech family where you explained the Kissing Prayer as a means to have them give up on Stephani so I knew if I ever were to talk with you and you will ask for my loyalty I intend to use this ability of yours to prove it to you. My resolve"
Masaru sighed feeling a bit complicated to be told such things bluntly, this woman was competent enough to have her in his peerages, but the situation was actually been in her hands so being played like this made it a bit frustrating but then again. Since she resolved to the Kissing prayer it means she had zero intentions to betray him and he could come to love her with time.
Masaru took the Pawn piece before pulling Ulrika onto his lap. "Your resolve is commendable, and to think you would trick your new master to play with me in your hands will need some punishment"
Masaru simply felt like speaking his mind since he was a bit frustrated being played like this, Ulrika giggled a bit feeling happy. Suddenly Masaru pulled her closer without waiting for her permission placing her soft lips on top of his own.
Ulrika never once kissed a man nor even had such a deep kiss like this, because of the unfamiliar feeling that was rushing throughout her body she felt lack of air assaulting her but deep within her she could feel something binding her and she could feel a deeper connection towards the boy who held her in her arms.
'So this is what the girls experienced? I'm quite lucky but envious as well... That they could experience this so much'
When the kiss was over Masaru chatted a bit with Ulrika, the relationship between him and her will be kept hidden for a while so she could establish an information-gathering team for Masaru's sake of knowing everything he can within each territory of the devil world.
Masaru knew the number of traitors did go down in the past but there is still more of them around so he needed someone who can walk in his shadows for him, so once everything was shared and agreed with Masaru left the room while Ulrika was still touching her lips with a smile.
'To think my master is this skilled... I look forward to his future'
"So you made her your pawn?" Hearing Sakura's question Masaru shook his head.
"Not yet, there are a few things I need to confirm before I do make her a part of our team. I will first get grandfather to move her post to the Capital City of our Territory where I can closely monitor her"
Masaru lied to Sakura as he was not certain about people in the surroundings being traitors or not, especially spies from other territories. It was not that he didn't trust the girls, however, he needed to also be on guard for memory and mind control enemies. He knew he and his girls were not invincible, so it was necessary to take many things into account.
'I will tell the girls about this when we are back in the human world' He thought as he and Sakura started to visit the nearest Blacksmithing shop most people patron at for his abilities to craft decent farmer equipment. Masaru made sure to change his appearance before he entered the shop without being noticed.
"Welcome to Simba's Blacksmithing shop" Masaru who heard the middle age man speak with a strong vigorous voice but the name was strangely tingling Masaru's heart like when he heard the other old man who was called Sebastian who was a butler.
'Why am I getting De Ja Vu vibes here' Masaru thought as he walked over to the old man, he greeted him casually
"Afternoon Uncle Simba, sorry to bother, I have just arrived to live in this town however I heard someone was saying some people are not happy? Could it be something will be happening in this town or surroundings?"
Hearing this Simba's face turned serious, "I am not sure what fool said such nonsense but us people feel living under the rule of the Belial family to be a paradise compared to what I heard happening in other places, I am not sure what these people are doing spreading such blatant crap I would like to beat them up myself"
Masaru was taken aback at Simba's loyalty but he still felt pride being one of the Belial Family to hear such a positive response, he nodded, "I see, thanks. I was just worried about the rumours when I came to visit this town so I thought of asking from a famous shop owner like you"
Simba laughed heartily feeling relieved that he managed to convince this boy before this boy might go on the wrong road and wound up dead in the future "Hoho, You sure know how to flatter young lad. I'm glad to be of assistance"
Masaru waved at the shop owner leaving for the next shop.
"How was it?" Sakura asked Masaru when he exits the shop, thinking back at Simba's furious face he could not help but chuckle finding it quite amusing.
"People are happy with us which brings us to the next phase our work, tomorrow we will go to the villages as planned and stay the night there just to be sure if there are any attacks or not"
Masaru and Sakura began talking about their plans for tomorrow.
>\/<
"Lady Ulrika, how was he? Can we really place our hopes in this young boy for the future?" Hearing her subordinates being a bit worried as they did not expect Masaru Belial to be this young.
Ulrika was close to his age too which makes it look like they could not entirely believe her either. 'If it was not for the fact I had to keep my relationship with my master secret I would have you all beheaded for this but Master will feel sad if I do this... Sigh...'
Ulrika smiled although it was a false one, as the leader of this team she had to appear confident and authoritative to keep them all in line. "You all read the policies this boy sent which were able to help us transform the slums so you should know just how competent he really is"
"But his age? He could fall for woman temptations" Hearing this Ulrika laughed, she too thought that was the case but Masaru truly blew such thoughts out of the window upon the very first moment they met.
"You all saw me how I acted today, you think he would fall for a woman that easily?" She could not help but feel a bit frustrated inside.
'He did not demand my body either, instead, he wanted me as his subordinate but luckily I can pursue him... I better not lose to my junior's' she thought while firing herself up so she can win Masaru's heart.
Looking at the men who were thinking about what went through today and realised what she said was indeed true since they all personally witnessed her ability to seduce despite being a virgin which they would never mention even if they are threatened at gunpoint. As such matters, would bring death faster than Saitama can shoot a booger from his nose.
"So for now let's start planning our troops, patrol routes and everything. We must not appear to be incompetent! Our people and family's safety rest in our hands!" Ulrika ordered and the men said nothing.
They all moved to complete the task since now was not the time to talk about who is boss or not but who can perform the best for promotion, they knew the situation was tense due to the uprising rebellions from other territories so they had to display their achievements.
>\/< an Hour before Masaru arrived at the Town (Semi - Flash Back)
"Now that we have arrived at the northern border town of Belial territory" The commander of the devils spread a map across the table which is the layout of the town and the two nearby villages, it included some routine patrols they have taken note of and every possible escape routes they can take should the operation fail.
"Later the two of you will split up from me and my group, go to the farm I told you to attack and make sure you wear those uniforms before you do. Strike fast and hard, then escape immediately once you made sure the people saw you all" The two leaders both nodded indicating they have received their orders and left.
The Commander looked at the map one last time with a sigh. "If this fails then we are dead anyway, that representative will probably kill us who are at the top of the group in order to take it over without anyone resisting"
>\/<
"Ulrika Devegvar? Do you mean that daughter of the previous Mayor who was a Realist? That Devegvar?" Dominic who was currently talking with Masaru in his office through magic circle communication was surprised to hear this family again which was his contact in the Northern border.
"Yes, I would her to replace our Capital City's Mayor" Dominic who heard this naturally knew they already were seeking for a replacement for that little fatty that was stealing money from the family,
"How much can you trust this girl? From what I heard she was trained by her mother to be a realist as well, this naturally includes in the relationship department as she will never be interested in a man who can't guarantee her safety against lecherous nobles and men in power"
'Could it be my grandfather thinks I like her? Well, we did start and she is my pawn now... But I can't have this idea in his mind' Masaru thought as he chuckled, he really wanted to see how much of a shock his grandfather would be when he mention this realist girl was already part of his harem.
"I have no intentions to start a relationship with her, this lady is competent and I mean it is really competent. I barely arrived in the town and I got almost all the information I needed about the town and surroundings plus she herself also investigated the rebellion source and included facts along with her own speculations... I want her in the Capital City if we are to continue our current pace, we need someone like her who can adapt and maintain our centre of operations"
"I see, sorry that I misunderstood you, my boy. it's just that I heard that she was extremely beautiful and cunning" Dominic did not suspect a thing because of his absolute trust in Masaru, naturally, Masaru only needed to hide this little thing to make sure their territory is clean before he announces it.
"But Masaru, we have to investigate her ourselves so don't take this the wrong way. Even the elder court will support your choices but we need to make sure your not being deceived is that okay?" Dominic reminded Masaru of the procedures which were required, Masaru was already prepared for that so he was not that much bothered.
"That's perfectly fine with me Grandfather" Masaru naturally knew there will be no problem, with this he will sneak in his pawn at the highest position and slowly spread out towards the other towns having his true subordinates work in the shadows where no one knows which one of them is his subordinates except for Masaru and Ulrika.
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CompleteNoob
CompleteNoob 08/08/2020 - changes made
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