13 Externum Concilium

After his conversation with Griselda, life in the hotel changed a lot, the other members of the church began to treat him with more kindness and to be more open with him, especially the exorcists. It became common that every time he went down to the restaurant several exorcists invited him to eat with them, during meals they entertained him with a thousand stories about their adventures.

Dulio was pleasantly surprised by how warm his colleagues were with his protégé, but after a while that surprise turned into jealousy as the meals that used to be a bonding moment between him and Luka turned into some kind of social event with a bunch of exorcists wanting to talk to his protégé.

Dulio insisted they should spend more time together to strengthen the father-son bond, when Luka looked at him with exasperation and told him that he did not accept being his son, Dulio shrugged his shoulders and ignored those words, muttering that it is only a matter of time. Walking around the city, going to the movies, to the arcades, to the zoo... All these activities became a daily routine.

Despite Luka's pouting and how much he tried to keep a distance between him and Dulio, he really enjoyed those activities, especially when they went to the skating rink together. Skating felt like wrapping up in a warm blanket after spending a winter afternoon walking around the city, it's such a warm and comforting feeling that Luka couldn't help but let his guard down during the hours he's at the skating rink.

Griselda also joined in some of these activities and her presence served as a buffer between the stubborn duo. Luka appreciated her presence while Dulio saw her as another obstacle in their father-son bonding time, of course the blonde is too kind and considerate to say that to Griselda's face but it didn't stop him from pouting continuously and staring at her every time she monopolized Luka's attention.

This new routine made time go by faster and before Luka knew it the exorcists' mission in Stuttgart came to an end.

On August 15, the Externum Concilium, a supernatural council made up of representatives of all factions that has a role somewhat similar to that of the United Nations, namely to prevent war and maintain relations between factions at least neutral, met. During the meeting it was decided that the Clan Amon does not meet the requirements to claim Stuttgart as their territory.

But that was not all...

***(Flashback: Externum Concilium reunion room -Temporary Sub Dimension-)***

The meeting room for representatives of all factions is a huge room with hundreds of chairs resembling thrones arranged in a circle around a marble stage.

"Clan Amon does not meet the requirements to claim Stuttgart as Devil Faction territory." Michael, Leader of Angels, said out loud.

"The council decided twelve centuries ago that in order for a Devil Clan to claim territory as their own, at least 20% of the population must have engaged the services of a devil at some point in the twelve moon turns prior to the meeting of the Externum Concilium." Said Penemue, a beautiful woman with strong looking eyes and long purple hair pulled back in a high ponytail.

She is the Chief Secretary of the Grigori, a Catre rank fallen angel and one of the former leaders of the Order of Angels called Labbim. Labbim is an organization specialized in the healing arts, its members are pioneers in this subject as well as the creators of various types of medicine. The competence of some of its members equals and even surpasses some Gods of Medicine, and Penemue is one of these angels.

A serious and very professional woman, she is the kind of person you can always count on no matter the situation, she is a highly respected individual in the Moonlit World and for this reason Penemue is usually the representative of the Grigori at council meetings.

"According to the reports presented by Lord Amon and Satan Leviathan the number of completed contracts barely reaches 10 000, the population exceeds half a million ergo the Devil Faction did not even come close to the required number." Penemue looks at Serafall Leviathan, representative of the Devil Faction.

Satan Leviathan just smiles with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Pen-tan, I told you a thousand times to call me Levi." She responded with a pout.

"Satan Leviathan this is no time for your usual nonsense. Please address the members of this council appropriately." Enki scolds her, he is better known as Ea, god of wisdom and one of the representatives of the Mesopotamian faction. Enki is a tall man built like an Olympic swimmer with bright golden eyes and white hair that contrasts with his tanned complexion.

Given the impact that the Sumerians had in the Mesopotamian region, many Sumerian gods also became the gods of other civilizations religions such as the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians,... When the council was formed, there was a great debate about the gods that are part of more than one religion. Many suggested they choose one god to represent all the religions they are a part of, meaning the Greco-Roman gods choose one god to represent both pantheons and so on.

That didn't sit well with many gods for a variety of reasons, one being that the role a god plays in one religion is not the same he/she plays in another. For example Athena is the goddess of war, wisdom, crafts, ... in Greek mythology but her Roman counterpart, Minerva, lost many of her original domains. After many discussions it was agreed to increase the number of representatives of each faction.

"Young people nowadays do not know how to respect the protocols of conduct." Indra, King of the Gods and Lord of Heaven, shook his head. He looked disapprovingly at Serafall, who ignored his gaze and continued to smile nonchalantly.

"Lord Indra you should learn from the youngsters and loosen up as they say nowadays." Odin, the Allfather, speaks in a lazy tone. The old god looked around the room and lingered his eye on the beautiful women present for a second longer than necessary. "There is no need to continue using the old mannerisms and forms of speech, we are in the 21st century my dear friends."

Indra snorts and looks irritably at the old god who is sitting on his throne as if it were a sofa.

"Mah mah, Indra-dono, even gods have to learn to relax." Susanoo, the god of the sea, storms and battles, spoke with a conciliatory tone. "Leviathan-dono and Odin-dono are just adjusting to the new century, something we should all do. The world has changed a lot in the last centuries, especially in the last two hundred years, and we should change with it."

"Lord Susanoo spoke truly." Apollo, God of the Sun, intervenes before Indra can refute the words of the representative of the Shinto Faction. "The world is not the same as it was a thousand years ago, that is something we cannot ignore."

"I agree with your words, Lord Apollo, but we have strayed from the subject again." Penemue looks at them with a raised eyebrow and reminds them again of the reason for this meeting.

In truth, this is something that happens very often, straying from the topic and spending hours arguing about this or that is common for this group of immortal beings.

"Clan Amon does not meet the requirements to claim Stuttgart as their territory therefore they must desist from their attempts to do so and withdraw from Stuttgart. As stated in Article DCCCXCIX, Paragraph 4, after an unsuccessful attempt to claim a territory a Devil Clan will not be able to make another attempt for ten years. Satan Leviathan, I hope the Devil Faction abides inter faction law." Penemue looked at the satan who still seemed disinterested.

"Of course, Pen-tan. We always obey the law!"

The incredulous looks that hundreds of beings gave her were ignored and Serafall began to hum to herself.

"If there is no other business to discuss, I would like to end this meeting. Everyone agrees?" Almost all representatives raise their right hand.

"Two hours to deal with such an insignificant subject... Why did I agree to represent my faction? I could have spent the day doing something useful..." Horus, Egyptian god of war, the sky and kingship, complained.

"Something like finishing the endless paperwork." muttered Ereshkigal, Goddess of the Underworld. "In the last week alone more than fifty thousand humans died. Every time the world's population increases, my work multiplies..." The goddess with golden hair and red eyes lowers her head in depression. Dozens of gods of death and the underworld of other religions look at her with sympathy, only they know the endless amount of paperwork they have to deal with.

`And there are idiots who still think more deaths benefit us...` Hades shook his head.

"EHEM!" Serafall rose from her throne and cleared her throat. "There's still a matter to attend to!"

Upon hearing that, several groans were heard in the room.

"Seriously?"

"Now what?

"Did she really have to wait to say that just as we were leaving?"

"Devils are truly evil."

The gods sat back down and glared at Serafall with irritation. She smiled innocently and sat back down on her throne.

"As Lady Penemue and Lord Michael said, clan Amon does not meet the requirements to claim Stuttgart." Serafall's serious and formal tone alerted all the other representatives. They saw the predatory glint in her eyes and realized the devils had been up to something, and now they would see the results of their scheming. "But the clan Belial does meet the requirements to claim Kuoh in Japan as part of the Devil Faction's territory."

Serafall waved a hand and hundreds of magic circles formed in the room, one in front of each representative, and several folders came out of them. The representatives take the folders and quickly inspect the documents.

"Under Article MXCII, the requirements for a Devil Clan to claim a territory were altered to include the following: Completing contracts with 20% of the population can be substituted with completing in a city a number of contracts that equals 20% of the population."

That is, instead of completing, for example, one contract with each person, devils can complete ten contracts with one person. The important thing is to complete a certain number of contracts, a thousand contracts with different people is the same as a thousand contracts with the same person.

"As you can see the population of Kuoh is 92 321 and the clan Belial completed exactly 33 666 contracts in the last two months." Serafall's blue eyes gleam like those of a cat that has its prey cornered. "My dear lords and ladies, in your hands you have all the necessary evidence to verify the veracity of my words."

"By Gaia's saggy tits." Hades reviews the documents and looks with exasperation at the Satan. "You used clan Amon and Stuttgart as a feint to divert attention."

"Brilliant, devilish but brilliant." Enki looks at Serafall with respect.

***(End Flashback)***

`So that is how Kuoh was claimed as Devil territory, devils are very cunning just as expected. Their biggest deception was to make humans believe that there is only one devil.`

***

NOTE: There are advanced chapter in my p@ tre on if you want to support me and read some chapters earlier. Patrons can suggest girls for the harem and I will make a poll in patre on and the most voted one will be added to the harem.

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