29 Chapter 28

"Thank you, Governor. I don't want to waste your time anymore so I shall take my leave." A middle-aged man bowed deeply toward a man seated behind the dark desk, with a huge amount of papers on it.

"It's alright, this is my job. If there would be further problems immediately report to me. Have a safe journey." Razjeel said a few last words and observed the man until he closed the doors after he left. Now alone, he got up and massaged his stiff neck. "Phew, that was the last one..." Stretching a bit, he said to himself.

Razjeel was inside his office for the whole day, taking care of the all administrative problems Grigori had. Contrary to what someone may imagine, being a leader doesn't mean you can lay flat on your belly all day. As the head of the faction, he had to look after every single department and control if and how they prosper, if there are no problems or if there are things that can be improved.

There is also the duty of being in charge of the whole army they had. Of course, he promoted Baraqiel to a Marshall, with 8 Division Commanders now known as Generals. But you may think, "There was 10 Division, so what happened with one?". The answer is nothing. Razjeel remained in command of the 1st Division, making something akin to "Royal Guards" or something like that. On the other hand, Kael and his unit, now officially known as "The Watchers", displayed a performance above his expectations. The growth and improvement rate since the creation of the unit was outstanding, with so far not a single failure.

The only thing that bothered Razjeel was the bottleneck in the form of Cadre-class. It turned out that some of the Fallens were completely stuck on that level for many years. Razjeel was thinking about the solution for some time, but there were many things he had to understand yet. His biggest question is whether the System somehow restrained their growth due to them falling off God's grace, or they just needed a slight push to move further forward. Excluding him, Azazel was the strongest Fallen Angel, with his past of being a former Seraph his power was above many. But there was also the case of experience, which in Razjeel's opinion was essential. Azazel was living for more than 9 thousand years, plenty of time to experience many things.

Back to the topic, the System was an obstacle in his opinion, a tool to restrain and control. Sure, it gave power to the humans but with God gone, the system was unpredictable with many glitches. Something at first reserved only for humans now can be possessed by practically anyone with appropriate measures. For example, the Devils with them bypassing the System with those chess pieces, or even Fallen Angels with the ritual to extract the Sacred Gear. He could only hope that Michael will do his best to at least try to keep the system in check.

And as he was thinking of Heaven, there was another matter. God's death. It was only a matter of time before the world get to know it. Well, the fact the God was someone today you would call a hermit, always locked inside the White Throne Room, The Library, or "Workshop", as Razjeel used to call his place for experiments and researchers, greatly aided in hiding his absence. It wasn't strange if he showed himself to others once every few hundred years. But it was unavoidable that sooner or later the world will know, and then, in the worst-case scenario, there is going to be a war.

Many had a grudge against God and Heaven, many desired the secrets and artifacts gathered by God and 1st generation of Angels, and many simply wanted both of them dead, The God and Razjeel. The memories of his past appeared in his head but tired of these thoughts he just sighed and ran his hand through his pitch-black hair. But one was sure if they were going to come for him, he won't back down, and if he had to, he'll bring them down with him, all of them.

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Sometime later the same day, Razjeel was coming back from a Government meeting. On his way back he stopped by 1st training ground, a place where Kael and The Watchers spend most of their time, to get an update on Vali's whereabouts. You may call him paranoid but for him, something like that wasn't a joke. He didn't know how much Vali knew, nor how he would use his knowledge, but it was better to be safe than sorry. In the end, Vali wasn't a moron, he sure liked to fight but that only makes him improve further, at the very alarming rate that is. But much to his disappointment, it was only a few days since he left, they didn't get any solid lead.

Now walking towards his room, he decided to stop thinking about all his problems and relax for the rest of the day. Stepping inside, he took off his coat, leaving him in a black shirt, and threw it at one of the chairs. He rolled up his sleeves and started brewing a coffee, something he started enjoying lately. It wasn't like he didn't drink a coffee before, he just didn't think of enjoying it, and thanks to the certain black-haired maid who berated him for drinking it too quickly and inappropriate, he started to appreciate its bitter taste. He didn't even know that you can drink a coffee inappropriately, but well, you learn your whole life. At the same memory of the few hours long lecture and presentation about "Coffee's Savoir Vivre," his head started to ache.

After a few minutes of drinking his coffee, Razjeel heard a knock on the door and someone walked into the room soon after.

"Ah, here you are. You finished pretty early." Raynare said surprised as it was unusual for him to get there before her. "Sorry, but I didn't make anything to eat yet. I thought I would have two more hours or something, haaaa." She sighed and walked towards him.

"It's fine, don't sweat it. I'm not five, if I would be hungry I would cook something." He took a sip and glanced at her while pulling one of the chairs signaling for her to sit.

"Sometimes you are worse than five..." Mumbled black-haired girl.

"You said something?"

"Nope, nothing. How was your day? Another boring day in the office?" Asked Raynare, trying to change the topic and also being honestly curious as it was one of those days when they didn't see each other for the whole day.

"Yeah. But it went faster than usual. And I get used to it that they usually come with trivial things so it's going quicker than before. How about you? It's your free day but I guess you spend it in the library again." Said Razjeel looking at her with a wry smile.

"S-So what? Everyone spends their time differently." She responded and glared at him, thinking he was mocking her.

"Haha, don't look at me like that. It's just... you don't look like the typical bookworm. More like... I don't know." He tried to explain himself but soon realized he couldn't speak up for his mind.

Raynare hearing that raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "Oooh? More like what? Come on, say it." She stared at him with unwavering eyes.

Not stunned by her sudden change in attitude, he calmly put his cup on the table and massaged the bridge of his nose. A deep sigh escaped his mouth. "I shouldn't have said anything, you are always like that..." Hearing that she fake coughed to bring back his attention to the topic. "Doesn't matter, you want a cup too?" He asked.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. 'We will come back to that later' thought Raynare. "Yeah, sure. But I want-"

"Extra sugar because you don't like bitter things, I know princess" He finished her sentence and laughed as he stood up and started preparing coffee for the both of them.

Unknowingly to her, a smile appeared on her face as she observed him from behind. A warm and nice feeling started spreading from her chest and soon she got lost in her thoughts, still looking at him. She went back with her thoughts to the time they first met. How he threw her on the bed and how scared she was, how scary his eyes were. Now after several months, she couldn't believe how he turned out to be kind, sometimes goofy, and even lovely.

Sure, she heard lots of stories from around about him. About "The Monster from Heaven" or "The Greatest Traitor", she heard how people referred to him as some cruel beast, even though none of them knew him personally and none of them ever witnessed the things they were talking about. She just couldn't believe it after spending so much time with him. Raynare knew that she could always ask Azazel or Razjeel himself, but to be honest, she was too embarrassed and afraid that things could change if she brings back the past. So it was better for everyone as it is. If he'd like to talk, then she will gladly listen to him, but she won't pester him about it. Though she was quite curious.

'Hold up... Now that I think about it, we basically landed in a bed the moment we met... Nononononono!!! Don't think about it! Nooooo! I can feel my face getting red!' And exactly as she thought, her face started changing color from light pink to dark, from red to crimson red, all the way from her neck to the ears.

" Here you go... What are you doing?" Razjeel came back to the table with a second cup of coffee, only to see Raynare with her head and elbows on the table, her hands clasped at the back of her neck, trying to hide her blush.

"Nothing, I'm just feeling tired all of sudden..." She said in a meek voice, sounding like she was trying to convince him and herself that it was true.

"Oh... I see." Razjeel smiled immediately realizing that she was trying to hide her expression, though not aware of the reason she was blushing so hard. Suddenly an idea popped inside his head.

"Hey, if you that tired you can hop up in the bed-"

"In your dreams! Who would like to sleep with you!?" Hearing his idea she snapped her head right at him, cutting him off and staring at him with a red face. 'Wait, no!'

They both stared at each other for a few moments, both with wide eyes. He, startled by her sudden outburst, she, realizing that she stopped covering her face. Raynare instantly covered her face once again, going back to the position she had before. Seeing that Razjeel laughed a moment after.

"Hahaha! I never said anything about me sleeping with you. I understand I understand. Women in your age have their needs. But if you want then just say it~." He started teasing her as he always did whenever he gets the opportunity to.

"Shut up..." That was the only thing she said. Her voice was even weaker than before. He glanced at her hands and saw that she was clenching them to the point they were turning white. She was feeling so embarrassed that she wanted to calm herself down that way.

Feeling a little guilty he sighed and started stroking her head. "Hey, it was just a joke. You know I wouldn't do something like that."

Slowly stroking her black, silky hair, he could swear he felt her flick under his hand. But she didn't move away nor tell him to stop. Surprisingly she moved slightly closer to him and relaxed as if she was enjoying his touch, and she truly did.

Raynare closed her eyes and completely lost herself in that feeling. Just a simple touch from him made her like that, normally she would be embarrassed, but somehow she didn't care right now. She just wanted to enjoy it. 'Why it has to be him...' Then out of nowhere, she suddenly felt sleepy and soon after floated away to the land of dreams.

What surprised Razjeel though, was the fact that he himself couldn't stop moving his hand. He didn't realize when but he get used to having her around.

He liked her company, he liked how she was laughing, he liked her voice, he liked the expressions she made when he was teasing her, he liked her scent, he liked her silk black hair and violet eyes, he liked that little glint she had in them. He liked when she cooked him something and the way she smiled when he said it was delicious, he liked how she was with him and how she treated him like someone normal, even though she must have heard different sorts of rumors about him. He just... liked her, her whole person.

But then, his body stiffened, as if he was hit by lightning. Suddenly they came back, the memories with him and Eve. Their happy time together, and their last moments together... 'What I'm even doing... I can't... I just... can't...'

His hand started to tremble, he began to curse himself once again, for everything he did and didn't.

"Mmnhh!" Suddenly a muffled groan escaped through Raynare's lips, bringing Razjeel back to reality. He glanced at her and realized that she must have felt uncomfortable when he stopped stroking her.

He chuckled after the moment of staring at her. 'What a silly girl.' Razjeel thought with a heartwarming smile. "I am hopeless, am I not?" He said aloud to no one in particular, mocking himself. His hand started moving again, accompanied by satisfying murmurs of Raynare.

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*knock!*

*knock!*

*knock!*

Almost an hour later, Razjeel heard a hasty knocking on his door. A second later, without waiting for the response, the door swung open and the young man run inside Razjeel's room.

The youngster was about to speak, but when he was met with a stern gaze sent by Razjeel his mind froze, as well as his body. He noticed that his Governor was caressing a head of a sleeping woman, who seemed to be enjoying it. Connecting the dots, the youngster's eyes went wide when he realized who that woman was. 'No way... So the rumors were true!'

"Ahem!"

His eyes went back to Razjeel and almost immediately we're filled with tears. Yes, the young man felt like crying when his eyes met with Razjeel's icy glare. 'I'm so screwed!'

"If it's not something important, better have a good excuse or you will be sent to help in Azazel's experiments." His voice wasn't loud, because he didn't want to wake up Raynare, but for the young man, it was booming inside his head.

"I-I-It is important, Governor-"

"Tone your voice down." Said Razjeel after he felt Raynare moving under his hand, clearly disturbed by their conversation.

"Ye-Yes, I'm very sorry." He took a very deep breath and started speaking. "I have a message from the Intelligence Department: The Ouroboros Dragon appeared in the Devil territory along with the members of Old Satan Faction."

Razjeel's eyes grew slightly wider and he immediately get up, much to the protest of sleeping Raynare. He grabbed his coat and as he was about to leave, he glanced at the sleeping woman and a coat in his hand. He gently put his black coat around her shoulders and gestured to the youngsters that they are leaving.

Now outside Razjeel's room, Razjeel turned toward the young messenger. "Go and tell Azazel to keep an eye on everything." He immediately started walking toward the exit.

"Yes! But sir! What should I say to Mr. Tamiel?"

"Tell him that I'm heading there myself." He said without looking back at him, but then he remembered something. "And boy! You haven't seen anything today, right?"

Seeing Razjeel's fake smiles, he felt chills down his spine. "Haha, I have no idea what are you talking about, sir." The boy laughed awkwardly and bowed at the end.

Razjeel smirked and continued walking down the corridor.

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Note!

I'm back! And I don't have any excuse! I was just lazy and whenever I sat down to write something I just got distracted by something else. Two games called New World and Warframe to be precise.

Also, I had to write a FanFic I had on my mind for a very long time now, a GATE FF, and to be honest, when I wrote whatever was on my mind it was a lot easier to focus and come up with a new chapter for this FanFic.

Third thing, I apologize for the cringy interaction between MC and Raynare, I have 0 experience in romance, one big and round zero! So please tell me, is it really that bad or I'm just overreacting?

Fourth thing, I wanted to revise the content of the plot of Highschool DxD, meaning I wanted to re-watch the anime, but I just can't bring myself up to it, so be prepared for a massive load of bullshit and changes in the plot in the next chapters!

I hope you were enjoying reading this chapter! ^^