Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.
Oppai Club
–Magdaran Bael–
Ah. So, that’s the reason Odin gave him a connection to the Club. After all, he was quite the blank slate to the Underworld as well as the supernatural world. With his prowess and mind being what it is, Odin likely knew about the new Bael heir but, just like the rest of the world, knew very little about him.
The New Satans knew the most about him, but they likely held the more juicier details under lock and key. Ajuka’s encryption, no doubt, is much harder to crack.
Even so, with that relative void in information gathering, Odin only had the things he saw, which was him liking the Club and what it offered. There was likely not a single place in the Club that Odin could not spy on, and the alcohol, strong and tasty as it was, must have made him display his emotions even clearer than usual.
The first thing, he vowed to himself, that he was going to do when he went back to the underworld was get training in all of this. Poker face. Bluffing. Politics. Talking in circles. Looking for the meaning behind the words and more.
Ugh.
As for Odin’s question, he had to answer, and after the things he had seen here, he found himself a bit more amenable to answering, “I want to secure my Garden.”
“Huh?”
The confused look on Azazel was pleasing, but Odin only gestured for him to go on.
“I want to move it out of the Underworld, likely in a Pocket Dimension. I was looking for Mephisto Pheles for that.”
“What? He can’t create a self-sustaining pocket dimension enough for your Garden, if its size and tree density is anything to go by,” Azazel rattled off more knowledge about his garden.
“Why didn’t you go to your own people? That brat Ajuka can likely create one with ease.”
Yeah, that option seemed downright rational when compared to exposing his goal to the Governor General of the Fallen and Odin, but did these two forget that he was here to get the location of a Sacred Gear wielder, and nothing more? That way, he would have been able to keep his goals secret, see if a young Georg could be amenable towards his goals, and when Georg predictably rejected him, he could move on to more risky and far slower methods of moving his garden.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to tell his reason to these people, as this was far worse than just going to the Satans and making a deal with them in exchange for taking their side if anything happened. That option also had risks, but he could have minimised them by showcasing his power, which would have taken years, but it was possible and a straightforward option.
The Satans were not stupid enough to needlessly provoke a Super Devil with something as banal as his Garden, but for some reason, he didn’t want to approach them. Sirzechs’ high handed approach when they first met continued to resonate in his mind as he tried to get away from that option.
And where did that lead him? Right here.
Odin took his silence for an answer, muttering something about Serafall and her incompetence.
“Fine. That is your problem to deal with. Just know that if you get stupid ideas in your head, like inducting a Longinus User in your peerage, know that Michael will not stay still. If it looks like the balance is tilting too much in your favour, he has cards that he hasn’t played yet.”
He took the warning and then asked the question that had been bugging him here, “Why are you doing this? Why help me?”
“Eh,” Odin shrugged, “That’s not really helping. Just an advanced investment in a clearly interesting character. I’m sure my son would be more than happy to meet you.”
He coughed, the prospect of fighting the God of Thunder daunting as he thanked the man with an awkward smile, “No. Thank you, really. I…will be back, soon.”
Odin waved him off, “Do as you wish. Do remember to bring money the next time you come here.”
And then, before he could say anything, he shivered as he felt an overwhelming flow of energy cover him, instantly transporting him back to the same booth, along with Azazel.
What the fuck?
The teleportation was not what interested him. No, Odin could do far worse with his control over the space. He was like a God, more than he already was, in this pocket dimension. No, what made him excited was the method of transportation.
See, no matter how skilled one was with teleportation, there were some issues, especially if someone wanted to transport completely mundane Underworld plants with the same teleportation spell.
There was a disturbance, the magical kind, that was negligible for most devils or any supernatural race, because there was this innate magic that defended them. His trees, even his Mother Tree, did not have that innate defense. And to give them that defense, he would have to move them to a secure place.
A vicious circle, if you will.
There were certainly people out there who could do lossless teleportation. Ajuka, for one, certainly could do that. Gods of Magic or Gods of space around the world could help. Just like a Longinus Sacred Gear that dealt with space and pocket dimensions could help him, but the problem was that he didn’t know of any of them.
The other problem was that such a spell meant the caster would have total control over the spell. Changing the destination of the teleportation spell was very easy for beings with such a high level of mastery over teleportation magic.
He also didn't know the one devil that was closest to him, who could do that with ease, no matter any complications that might arise in the situation, and did not give a fuck about Zekram. Ajuka.
All of it boiled down to trust. He didn't even trust Odin, but this was certainly a start. He had an in with the Norse people now, even if the space couldn’t be used for overt political talks.
That was fine with him. He had spent years in a hostile environment, keeping his head down. He could do that for a few more years, if it meant he could move his Garden in a safe space. Even if Odin couldn’t make him a pocket dimension that could sustain life indefinitely, he could build better connections with one of the most powerful Pantheons in the whale world and then leverage that to make sure that no one was tempted to attack his Garden.
Even if he didn’t get a pocket dimension, which was the best option, the next best thing would be a hidden location, and the public knowledge of both his strength and the strength of his allies.
He was slowly coming around to actually having allies. The fact that there was a limit to how much he could accomplish on his own was something he knew intellectually, but it had never been thrown so hard in his face by a being so vastly superior to him.
“So,” He looked up as Azazel looked at him with an odd look on his face, “Conceptual Destruction, huh?”
Oh, yeah. That. He cursed his drunk self’s actions, but then again, if he hadn’t done that very stupid thing, he would not have been exposed to an actual chance that would help him get both his Garden secured and solve his eternal loneliness issue, the one that felt as if it was imposed by both Fate and his own mind.
“They don’t know, do they?” Azazel spoke up, with confidence that was surprising, only for a moment though, as he realised how he could have come to that conclusion. If they really was as important as he was, the New Satans would have never let him out of their sight, and would have all but tripped over themselves to fulfill the very trivial task of creating a life sustaining pocket dimension.
“Nope.” He said as he experimentally tapped on the table, and was surprised to see the entire menu thing come back online. Of course, Odin had repaired the whole thing, or the more likely option, that he had built the entire place with self reparations in mind. A prudent caution to take when the space housed the likes of Thor Odinson.
Huh. The menu had an integration with the Underworld bank, an option that was not desirable right now. There was no cash or Gold or platinum option. There was also an exotic payment method, but that was reserved for higher tier members.
They did not accept human bank interaction, which meant he would have to open an account in Zurich, a Swiss bank that was somehow famous for hosting neutral banks for both humans and for the supernatural world, enforced by the neutrality of the Scandinavian Gods.
“Makes sense. So, kid, what now?” Azazel nodded, sipping on the drink he ordered as soon as they were punted back to this booth.
He gave Azazel a confused look. He returned it with an exasperated look.
“What will you do now? Your secret is safe with me, I mean. I was talking about your goals. You are quite a blank slate, you know. I thought even that little bit about your Garden was obviously fake, but I can see that it’s true. Say,” Azazel’s eyes then lit up as he leaned forward, “Would you like to come with me to the Research facilities of the Grigori? You can have access to all the Botany stuff you want. I'll even bankroll all of your research.”
He gave the man a deadpan look, “As if I need money. Also, I was stupid enough to follow you in a shady portal when I thought you were some random Fallen. I am not stupid enough to follow you into the Grigori Schools. Pass.”
“Fine,” Azazel said as he snapped his finger, as a series of books materialised on top of the table. He looked at the book on top of the pile, labeled Vol.21, and gave the Fallen a dry look, “You just happen to carry around all 21 volumes of it?”
“Brat. I remember every single thing I write. It is trivial to materialise it. Make sure not to disintegrate it. That is the only copy outside of my own labs.”
“Thanks,” he nodded, grateful, as he pocketed the books, internally quite excited to go through all of them. Who knew what mad research Azazel had done on Botany, a subject ignored by most of the supernatural world?
Then, there was silence, where in Azazel took an annoyingly long time to finish his drink. He could barely contain himself, with the books resting peacefully in his pocket space.
“Say,” Azazel said in the middle of his very loud slurps, “I have recently come across a Devil whose situation is not too unfamiliar to yours. Very well hidden. Very oddball. High Potential. Powerful for their age. Very mistrusting of everyone. Capable of causing high level diplomatic incidents. Ticks all boxes. Care to meet them?