"Good afternoon Basara-sama."

'Who!?'

Even though he was surprised at the sudden voice that appeared out of nowhere, Basara's reaction did not slow down. He jumped away in order to get a better view of the situation around him.

At the same time-

<<Gravity Magic: Two Fold Increase>>

"Oh!?"

He could hear a cry of surprise and was finally able to see the source of the voice.

"A maid?"

Basara was so surprised that his momentum came crashing down and he fell to the floor. 

The maid, acting as if the increased gravity was of no inconvenience to her, gave a graceful curtsey.

"I am sorry for startling you. My name is Lucia. I have been called by Sapphire-sama to take care of you in her absence."

Basara narrowed his eyes and took another look at the maid. Short silver hair, pointed horns on either side of her head, and elf-like long ears. She had a short stature and was wearing a rather conservative maid uniform.

Any human who saw her would be seized by her beauty and her inhumane appearance. They would even wonder whether she was wearing a cosplay or not.

But Basara knew, this was no cosplay.

'A devil.'

The woman in front of him was undoubtedly a devil and so was his mother.

Sighing, he cut the flow of his magic and faced the woman.

"Your name's Lucia, right? I wonder, why did mom suddenly ask you to take care of me?"

Even though she seemed to be telling the truth, Basara was not naive enough to fully believe the words of a stranger he just met.

Lucia, far from being outraged, nodded in approval.

When Sapphire had called for her this morning, Lucia had been extremely surprised.

After all, back then, she had relinquished all rights to her rightful succession to the throne and even her name in order to marry Jin Toujou.

She had been wondering what kind of child would be born between the greatest exorcist to ever exist and the strongest female devil of the underworld and she had to say that she wasn't disappointed in the least.

'He has an edge that is lacking in Rias and Mio-sama.'

Thinking of her two half-sisters and step-sister, Lucia sighed before focusing again on Basara's form.

"Your father had anticipated that something like this would happen."

Moving her hand, she showed a series of signs that Jin had taught to Basara when he was younger, these signs were a token of trust. 

This allowed Basara to relax a little more. He would have to contact his father later to confirm, but at least it was safe to assume that Lucia wasn't an enemy for now.

Clapping her hand, Lucia swept the previous tense atmosphere between them as she asked with an impassive face.

"For the remainder of the year, I will work for you as your maid. Even though Sapphire-sama is officially not a noble anymore, you are still considered a high class devil and as such, you have the right to receive your Evil Pieces."

All supernatural beings in this world were divided into Low class, Mid class, High class, and the Ultimate class. Anything higher than that fell into a completely different system that was too complex to explain.

What Lucia was telling him though, was different. She wasn't talking about his power rank but rather his social rank in the devil society.

The hierarchy there was extremely strict and lower classed devils could not defy the higher-ranked ones.

'It seems like mom was quite an influential noble of the underworld aristocracy.'

He knew that his mother was extremely powerful. But, he had never tried to inquire about her identity and status in the underworld. 

Basara also knew about the evil piece system and as such he couldn't help but frown a little at its mention.

"I don't want them. I am not interested in creating more devils."

Because of the Great War where the three factions fought against each other followed by the Civil War that gave birth to the new Maous, also known as Satan class devils, the population of devils was at an all-time low.

It was during such a time that Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the four Maou, created the evil pieces. 

A system that could change people of any race aside from gods and pure angels into devils — reincarnated devils.

Basara did not discriminate against devils since he was partially one himself and knew that not all devils were evil.

Still, as a former exorcist in training, he had no interest in increasing and empowering those he was trained to fight against.

At those words, Lucia smiled a small smile.

"Your parents really know you well."

Walking towards the chessboard where the pieces were displayed, she gently caressed them and continued.

"Before continuing, should I make dinner for you? It will be a long discussion. I already prepared the bath, so you can wash the fatigue away"

Basara hesitated a little. He wasn't used to being served by anyone like this. But… 

*Growl!*

"I guess I already got my answer."

'Betrayed by my stomach.'

Basara was a little embarrassed but didn't try to retort back. Either way, even if she poisoned the food, it would have no effect on him. His body was fully immune to poison.