Grayfia and Alex continued to face off against each other. After settling his bet with Surtr, Macgregor started writing the details of everything he was witnessing down to tell the rest of the lucifer group later. Rias was looking between the he two of them, not sure what to do, when Alex started standing up from the sieza he was in. As he finished standing, Grayfia now had to look up slightly to look him in the eyes, and her glare intensified further. He then said,"So Grayfia, if we "muscle heads" can"t have an actual fight, and we can"t simply arm wrestle, what alternative would you recommend for a compet.i.tion of strength?" Though it was a simple question, it was obvious he was directly challenging Grayfia"s authority. She then said,
"I"ll not repeat myself, you are in a position of great importance to the Gremory family. It would tarnish the family"s reputation if you continued to act in such a self destructive way, such as drinking and getting into fights, or "compet.i.tions" with others of importance. That is what the rating games are for."
Alex smirked at her words, he wasn"t sure if she forgot, or was just playing ignorant, but the Maou groups were unable to compete in games. Because of this, if Alex and Surtr wanted to fight they would have to make it an official duel. Neither cared for all the formalities, cause it was just a pain. As for the drinking, he secretly thought that she of all people didn"t have any right to say anything, but didn"t say it because it would cause much more harm than good in this situation.
It appeared his thoughts got across to her though, as her glared slightly faltered, and a red tinge appeared on her cheeks, before it instantly vanished not even a second later. Seeing an opening, Alex started using a slight amount of his intimidation skill. He wouldn"t use skills in a contest of strength, but it was another story to prove dominance to someone else.
Seeing Alex wasn"t backing down, and feeling a sudden pressure from him, Grayfia took a small step back. There was suddenly a small clatter, as the pen Macgregor was using hit the floor as he gaped in astonishment at what he just witnessed. It was this moment that Surtr acknowledged Alex as a greater man than him, as he himself wouldn"t have the guts to look Grayfia in the eyes during a lecture, let alone challenge her. Grayfia cleared her throat awkwardly, and said,
"Just keep in mind what i have said, and most of all don"t make my sister in law sad." Rias was shocked to hear Grayfia"s words, as it seemed she not only conceded defeat to Alex, but also acknowledged her as her sister even while doing her job. When Grayfia was in "maid mode", she was always treated as the lady of Gremory, not as a sister.
Grayfia kept her emotionless face, as she then approached the other two and grabbed them by their ears. Surtr and Macgregor winced in pain, but she didn"t mind them, and started dragging them away. Alex was sure he didn"t imagine Macgregor secretly pa.s.sing some money to Surtr with a sour face though. As they left, Alex was joined by Rias and the others, and he wasn"t sure this time if Rias actually looked like he was just closer to death than the time she actually through the died.
"Don"t try to challenge big sis again, ok? I don"t want to risk losing you." It appeared Rias seriously thought Grayfia was about to kill him, and Alex couldn"t help but crack a smile at her worries.
"Don"t worry, she isn"t that mean you know." Rias rolled her eyes and said,
"Obviously, but it is true I don"t want the people I care about against each other." Alex smiled at her, and they all went back to the dorms.
After returning, Alex was sitting in the living room with the Skithblathnir floating in front of him. To the side, Rias and Akeno were talking him through making a pact with his new familiar. A few minutes later, the pact was done, and he was now in a master and servant pact with it. Alex then sat in contemplation, as he muttered,
"Now what to call you?"
(A.N. Once more regarding the previous problems I"ve been having, I used the word counter on inkstone to tell how many words there were per chapter while I usually tried to get at least a thousand, and now I"m just guessing so if some chapters are short then I apologize.
And once again, please add name suggestions for the Skithblathnir, and also Asia"s Sprite dragon. In the series she named it after issei, so it seems weird to give it the same name here. Plus the ship is alive, so names like tardis, Flying Dutchman, and black pearl are somewhat off. For lack of any better suggestions then I"ll probably use one.