Demon Among Devils

Chapter 21: Different

As Sona had stated, the ceremony preceding the Young Devil's Gathering was always going to be a grand affair. Just how much though had escaped him and that was when he considered himself relatively well-versed in things that were fine and lavish from his association with Mitsuru.

The hallway he was currently standing in belonged to a mansion that had been donated to the city by a wealthy family head whose name was long lost to history. The devils used it as a gathering place of sorts, the same way humans would throng a convention center or crowd a city stadium. Whoever had donated the manor had built it to be a grandiose place and the occasion that was to be held within its halls served only to magnify that grand opulence.

Golden light shone down on him from crystal chandeliers hanging on intricate links of ornate silver. The light itself was dim but warm and the ambient atmosphere it cast over the crowds below provided both the limelight to those who wanted it and areas of seclusion for those who wished to converse in secrecy. And there were crowds.

A great many of them. Girls in elaborate dresses swayed gracefully past maroon tables laden with expensive food and extravagant delicacies. Tall boys in perfectly-tailored suits stepped regally past stained glass windows half-obscured by drapes of the finest silk.

Heirs from proud but poor families intermingled freely with the offspring of Pillar Heads, seeking to establish themselves among the vaunted aristocracy. This was perhaps their best chance to make a name for both themselves and their clans and the majority were loath to let this opportunity slip by.

To those fortunate enough to be born to a powerful family, this was the perfect time to start the beginnings of their own peerage. The selection of candidates to choose from was immense and would never be gathered in such numbers again until the next year's gathering.

Yet for all the splendor of the occasion, for all the Victorian finery that decorated the mansion's walls, it did not change the fact that the ones who were currently mingling among its halls were still youths in a transitional phase in their lives.

Indeed, the sessions of embarrassed conversation he overheard and simultaneous bouts of nervous giggling he passed would not have been out of place on the floor of a high school dance.

Teenage awkwardness, it seemed, transcended such simple things as species and race.

For himself, he was both shielded from said bouts of awkwardness as well as the unwanted attention came along with it. The plain, unadorned mask covering his face saw to that.

Prior to the Young Devil's Gathering, Sirzechs had made sure to change the nature of a specific part of the event. The awards ceremony that was the focus of the occasion was now preceded by a ball and a masked ball at that. Participants were free to bring face adornments of their choosing and encouraged to decorate to their heart's content.

The faction leader had explained when asked that it would add an aura of mystery to the atmosphere but he was sure that there was an ulterior motive involved. Rias had most likely informed her brother of the reservations he had in attending such a well-celebrated affair, namely his uncomfortableness around crowds and his aversion to being the center of attention.

Sirzechs's solution effectively resolved both problems. He could now navigate through the throngs of chatting devils without being noticed which suited him just fine. He was here to support Rias and her peerage, not be the source of peerage requests himself.