"So it's okay, Ajuka-chan?" Serafall asked her companion.
The green-haired man nodded with a tired and distant look, as if he wanted to be anywhere but in that mansion.
"Yes, it's safe, Serafall," said the man. "There's nothing harmful here," he looked suspiciously at the paintings that adorned the mansion, but said nothing about them—dismissing them as dangerous.
Ajuka had arrived several minutes earlier and given a tour of the mansion. At first, he gazed at the walls with a mix of nostalgia and curiosity, but that feeling soon evaporated as he moved on. He had initially arrived interested in a possible curse, but he couldn't detect anything.
Altair watched from the side. The man had only given him a glance when he entered and then proceeded to act as if he didn't exist. Altair didn't know if he wanted to talk to him; he didn't have a specific topic in mind. Sure, he would like to ask him about the evil pieces, but it was a secret of the devils, one that only an idiot would divulge so easily.
Ajuka didn't seem like an idiot.
"Can't you feel anything, Altair-kun?" For the first time, the man met his gaze directly.
"No. I don't feel anything in the mansion besides residual fire magic," he replied with a truncated truth.
He had spoken with the devil, Marchosias, the original, the creator of the house, who died during the devil's civil war. They had reached a rather enjoyable agreement for Altair. One that would be better not to tell the Maou. Much less Serafall.
Ajuka looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing. He looked up at the ceiling, which was high, with a chandelier hanging above their heads.
"Well, it's safe to live in. Do you need anything else, Serafall?" he asked his companion, who shook her head.
"No. Thank you, Ajuka," said the devil. However, she was still half convinced that there was something wrong with the house. "I will hand over the territory to Altair and show him the boundaries of his lands," said Serafall, saying goodbye to Ajuka.
"Well, then. Altair Black, I hope we can work together in the future," he said as he extended his hand in his direction.
Altair shook his hand, suddenly feeling a strange energy trying to run through his body. He barely managed to stop it.
"I'm sorry," Ajuka apologized, but he didn't seem embarrassed at all.
Altair watched the man walk away without another word.
Ajuka had tried to scan his body. He didn't know what the Maou was looking for, but he hadn't found it. At least not in the short time he had. Altair had managed to stop his magic, although he knew that if the devil had wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to stop him.
"Are you okay, Altair-chan?" Serafall called to him from one side.
"Yes, Serafall, I'm fine," he said, a little confused about Ajuka's actions.
The man was probably looking for any signs of possession in his body. Still, it was pretty fucked up of him.
'Holding a grudge against everyone you meet won't get you anywhere,' he told himself to calm down. Ajuka looked like an autistic kid.
Altair had to defeat Riser in a few days, and there was a massive difference between Riser and a Maou.
"Come on, Altair-chan," he heard Serafall call him.
Altair wondered how a devil as busy as Serafall managed to find time in her schedule to act as a real estate agent. In any case, shouldn't it be Lord Sitri who was there? The mansion and the territory were going to be paid for by him.
Although without a doubt, what they gave him was worth much more than the price of the Phoenix Powder he gave them.
"Wait a minute," Altair called to the elves of the Malfoy house.
Two small, petite creatures appeared with a pop!
"Clean the mansion. If you find any suspicious artifacts, don't touch them, search the place where you found them," he ordered them. He wished Dobby hadn't been freed by Harley years ago, so that he would have a rather eccentric elf.
"I haven't heard much about domestic elves. Most domestic employees in the underworld are low-class devils," Serafall commented as they left the house.
"They are creatures that bond with wizards. It's like a symbiosis, the elves receive magic from the wizard and the wizards receive a service from the elves," Altair said, explaining the wizard-elf relationship.
"That doesn't seem entirely fair," Serafall said.
"It's not," Altair agreed. "A wizard can live without an elf, but an elf cannot live properly without a wizard; it needs an anchor to tie itself to. There are special cases, such as the elves at Hogwarts, who are bound to the castle," he explained. "This dependence leads to wizards having greater control over elves," he concluded, looking out over their territory.
The Marchosias' territory was largely devoid of flora and fauna. The Rocky Mountains stretched from one place to another. Volcanoes were scattered throughout the terrain. It was a hot place and would have been quite uncomfortable if it weren't for the existence of magic.
He wasn't deprived of green spaces; there was a forest in the area, a little way from the main mansion, but he could work to create a forest near his home.
He wished he could clap his hands and have a forest appear automatically, but he didn't have that privilege yet.
His land was rich in minerals, which would be an advantage if he wanted to participate in business in the underworld. He could export metals for the devils to use, and he could even sell them in the magical world. Over time, he hoped that relations between magicians and devils would improve, although he couldn't say how either would behave, given the enormous difference in power between them.
In the end, Serafall gave him a document that made him the legitimate owner of the mansion and a substantial amount of surrounding land.
"There will always be the option of living more safely in the Sitri mansion," said Serafall, trying for the umpteenth time to change his mind.
"I'll make the mansion quite safe, I promise, Serafall."
"It's Sera-chan!" the woman corrected him with feigned annoyance.
"Sure, sure," he said, dismissing her anger.
"Mhph," the woman pouted. "I'm leaving now," she said as she kicked a stone she found on the ground.
"I see, it looks like Sona will be coming to the mansion later," Altair said as he looked at his W-phone. "I'll prepare a small dinner, I guess," he hoped it wouldn't be another orgy like that dinner.
Serafall didn't respond as she quickly left, her flushed face probably due to their interaction a few hours ago.
As Altair walked to the mansion, he found his sister looking at the structure from outside. Her frown confused him; he didn't know if it was because she was impressed by the mansion or because she thought it looked like trash.
"Do you dislike it?" he asked as he stood beside her, but she showed no sign of having heard him.
"The purple sky is strange, but charming," she replied. Altair noticed how her skin began to glow, as if she were doing a strenuous activity that made her sweat.
"Is something bothering you?" he asked.
"The atmosphere... It's different from Earth," his sister said with difficulty. Altair hadn't noticed any significant difference between one environment and another. However, it was possible that weaker beings, such as his sister, might see a sudden change.
The man closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling his surroundings. His senses detected slight changes compared to those on Earth. Gravity was heavier, fifty percent more than on Earth. And the air had a higher magic content; the entire underworld had magic similar to that of Hogwarts, not in quality but in intensity.
Lyra should be able to control the magic quite well, but the gravity might bother her a little.
Altair modified the Leviosa spell slightly as he cast it on his sister. He felt her breathe better as soon as the spell took effect. He had to apply a relatively weak version of the spell; he didn't want his sister to fly through the air.
"Is that better?" he asked.
"Yes, it's better... but..." she bit her lip.
"But?" Altair turned to look at her.
"Tell me, could I become part of your peerage, like Harley or Lavender?" Her face flushed a little, although she tried to remain stoic.
Altair hadn't thought about making his sister part of his nobility again. After all, he considered the people there to be part of his coven, which is why he hadn't included Lyra or his mother, Bellatrix.
The relationship between the two was quite distant; not even those vacations together had brought them closer. After dinner, interactions between the two became quite scarce, as if they were both afraid to speak.
"Have you thought this through completely?" Altair asked.
"The only disadvantage is not being able to pray and being weak to certain types of magic," she said lightly.
"There's also the fact that you'll be my servant," said Altair, watching his sister's face frown as she seemed to steel herself.
"All right... the power will be worth it," she said, as if convincing herself.