Chương 67: Ch67. Meeting with Sarael and...
Tom and Natasha's magical date in the Diagon Alley went fine. They tried the local cuisine, looked through a lot of stores, haggled, snarled, and threatened a few shopkeepers into giving them a discount, but most importantly, they had a lot of fun together.
They even briefly visited the Knockturn Alley... and instantly got a few poor schmucks trying to mug them... but Natasha channeled her old self and when they left the Knockturn Alley the Wizarding World was three wizards, two hags, and one werewolf shorter.
The wonders his woman could do with a rusty knife...
Hermione also got what she needed, all the while using a whopping eight hundred Galleons on additional books. The little nerd had to buy a completely new trunk capable of shrinking itself to be able to carry all her books.
There went her thousand Galleons for this month...
'Not wanting them, my ass.' Tom exasperatedly thought.
Speaking of Hermione, she was currently locked in her room, memorizing her entire next year's course books from beginning to end. Tom didn't understand this fetish of hers but he decided to let her to her own devices as he had his own things to do.
For one, Sarael requested a meeting and Tom was currently waiting for him in his office while Natasha busied herself with... Tom actually had no idea what she was doing. He only knew she was not at home.
Idly stating that he was interested in acquiring more wizarding wands for experiments when she was clinging to his arm might not have been the smartest idea...
Oh, well. Tom was sure the problem would eventually resolve itself.
Ten minutes passed and the familiar blue magical teleportation circle appeared in the middle of Tom's office, leaving behind Sarael when the shine from it finally disappeared.
The very first thing Tom had noticed, however, was that Sarael was not his usual proud and outgoing self. The man had his head in his hands and silently rubbed his forehead while being slouched a bit.
Something Sarael always said he thought inappropriate while talking to a client since he had a reputation to uphold and shit.
It didn't take long for Tom to notice the cause of Sarael's odd behavior.
From behind the old devil, suddenly a new face timidly and curiously peeked out...
And Tom's welcoming gaze turned into a frosty deadpan.
Sarael must have felt Tom's gaze trying to burn a hole into him because with one last groan the man lifted his head and apologetically smiled at Tom, "In my defense, she snuck into my teleportation circle when it was completed."
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Why do I have a secrecy agreement going on with you if this can happen?" Tom dryly asked in an even tone, before he turned towards the newcomer and his tone became even drier and more deadpan, "Welcome, Satan Leviathan. What an... unpleasant surprise."
Tom could have been more accommodating but the woman had just broken one of the fundamental rules of her own race while also trespassing on his property. Her being strong enough to destroy the British Isles in one fell swoop aside, Tom felt too irritated to think about that right now.
Plus, breaking a secrecy agreement of Sarael's deal like this was a big deal. It was like an angel breaking God's rules and having an orgy in heaven.
While devils could not 'fall', the social stigma that would stick to Serafall if this little escapade of hers was known would be very uncomfortable. Well, as a Satan, she could shrug off most of the consequences anyway but her reputation would have taken a hit, and considering she was The Diplomat of the devil race, her good reputation was kinda extremely important.
Because of this, Tom believed she had a proper reason to risk it and secretly tag along with her father. A little bit of rudeness would not amount to anything and Tom just needed to vent a little.
"Muu~! It's because daddy was being a jerk-jerk! He wouldn't tell Sera-tan who his secret business partner was so Sera-tan had to play detective herself! Meeting you personally is harder than dealing with the messes the idiots of my own race make regularly, Mr. Healer." Serafall pouted, making big tearful eyes that screamed 'pity me!' at the flabbergasted Tom who had definitely felt the slight undertone of seething irritation when she mentioned the so-called 'idiots'.
It was very subtle and very well hidden in all that boisterous cheerfulness but Tom wasn't meeting with Sarael regularly for nothing. They might have had a different way of distracting the others, Sarael choosing word plays while Serafall went for the childish guise, but the core principle was the same.
Tom looked at Sarael, his eyes conveying he was slightly impressed, "Damn, she really is your daughter, isn't she? If I didn't know you, I would have totally eaten up her bullshit cheerfully-childish personality too."
"I am proud of her!" Sarael happily nodded.
"I am sure you are." Tom chuckled, returning the man's nod as if they came to a silent understanding.
Serafall didn't appreciate their small mute exchange, making her pout at Tom even more. Her magic slightly fluctuated... before she froze, giving Tom a subtle appraising gaze when she felt the wards lock on her.
"Mou~! Could you turn off the wards, please, Mr. Healer? Sera-tan would not like to set them off just because she is annoyed at how you meanies ignore her." Serafall sullenly complained.
Tom knew the wards would not harm her even if they all bombarded her with all they got. His wards were good enough to stop a high-ranking being, not a Satan-rank one.
Then again, even that was already very impressive in Serafall's opinion. After all, he was supposed to be a healer, not a warder.
She had orchestrated this visit because the man was 'waking up' many old and important devils and as the highest authority for diplomatic issues, Serafall had to be aware of his identity. Even if he didn't demand favors from the Pillar Families and his services were provided at a cost, many families had a code of honor and still felt grateful and indebted to him while other... political parties started to feel threatened by a non-devil starting to hold so much political favor.
It wasn't a big deal... yet.
But there was no way that Serafall could let this kind of person go under the radar. Even if she had to deceive her father to get this meeting.
"I am Thomas Prest. Feel free to call me Tom, Miss Leviathan." Tom turned to the busty loli-baba with a small smile. "I will make the wards stop targeting you if you stop with that childish act of yours Deal?"
Serafall's childish smile faltered a bit and her eyebrow twitched but...
"As you wish. You can call me Serafall, then." Her tone lost its high pitch as she straightened out, her expression turning serious in an instant as all childishness of hers evaporated.
"I must say," She confidently strutted forward, coming close to Tom, and gave him an amused smirk, "It is rare to speak with people who are not intimidated by my power." She reached toward him with the intention of caressing his cheek.
Tom caught her hand mid-way, giving her an unamused look, "Unfortunately, I already have a woman in my life."
Serafall clicked her tongue and pulled her hand back while Sarael boisterously laughed at his daughter's misfortune while also coming closer and seating himself in the chair for guests.
"And here I thought I would give you myself in exchange for tying you to our race. Why must all good males be already taken?" Serafall huffed as a majestic throne made of ice suddenly solidified behind her and she sullenly flopped into it.
Alas, neither Tom nor Sarael had enough balls to tell her that her seduction attempt sucked too much.
"So? What do you two want?" Tom bluntly asked, knowing well the Sitris preferred efficiency. He doubted Sarael and Serafall had enough free time to stretch this meeting for long.
Sarael and Serafall glanced at each other, Sarael gesturing Serafall to go on, and she sighed before helplessly smiling.
Well, she was the Satan here. She was the busier one of the two.
"I just wanted to get to know your identity. Whether it is the new healing potions or waking the people suffering from the Sleeping Sickness, you already had a huge impact on our race. Do expect me to pop up from time to time in the name of good relationship-building." Serafall casually shrugged and Tom nodded, signaling she didn't need to explain more.
He got the gist of it. With that big of an impact and nobody knowing his identity, the Council and the Satans were getting twitchy. Having contact with at least one Satan would assuage their worries. Not to mention, she could also be a sort of aegis from political maneuvering of the devils for Tom so he didn't mind overly much.
"That and I really wanted to say this." Serafall continued in a sincere tone, "Thank you for all you have done for us." She gave Tom a bright genuine smile.
Tom raised his eyebrow but slowly nodded in acceptance.
Sarael, however, was taken completely off guard by this, looking at Serafall with an utter shock on his face. If he didn't count her time with Sona, he could count on one hand the occasions where Serafall genuinely smiled nowadays.
"Are you sure you don't want her to be your mistress? She is still a virgin, you know?" Sarael abruptly asked, causing Serafall to blush.
"Father!" She indignantly exclaimed and weakly swatted Sarael's shoulder, glaring at his unrepentant self.
"Just tell me what you came here for, Sarael." Tom exasperatedly shook his head.
"Oh, well, there is still a chance in the future." Sarael nonchalantly quipped, earning himself two deadpan looks. "Anyway," He awkwardly cleared his throat, "I need you to start curing the Sleeping Sickness again. I know your week of vacation is only half over but the requests for healing seem to multiply fivefold since you took a break!"
Sarael didn't even care how... pleading his tone sounded. These last two days were a literal hell with so many families bothering him, constantly asking when Tom would be available.
Everyone got spooked when Tom abruptly took a break and even those families that chose the wait-and-see approach were now scrambling to get an appointment. Tom better start doing his hocus-pocus again or Sarael would go crazy!
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