The Red Hand

Chapter 135 – The Council of Fools.

The three chatted for a bit more over dinner before parting ways for the night. Mizumi would come to gather the two sisters in the morning, and bring them to the Council chamber for the meeting. This was done not just as a formality, but to also drive home the point that Akagi was an important guest who should be treated well. Though both Akagi and Mizumi suspected that things would not go well and that conflict might erupt over the Council's attitude.

Akagi and Kana returned to their inn and went straight to bed after washing up, as Kana was tired from the day's events, and her full stomach only exacerbated her sleepiness. Akagi was on alert throughout the night, believing that some sort of attack might occur, though nothing happened.

The next morning, Akagi woke Kana bright and early so they could speak with the Council. She wanted to get this meeting out of the way, and then spend the day relaxing and enjoying themselves before to returning to Earth later that night after the play.

"Hold still." Akagi was busy tying Kana's obi. "If you keep wiggling, I'm going to bonk you on the head.” Kana was having a hard time remaining still while her sister dressed her. She was never one to wear this kind of clothing and struggled a bit.

"Is it really necessary for me to wear this?" Kana sighed. "I know it's technically formal wear but..."

{I'd wager that your insistence is just because you want to see me wearing a kimono...} Kana sighed. {Is this payback for my attempts to dress you up when we were kids?}

"I want you to look nice in front of these idiots. Besides, it looks good on you." Akagi smiled as she finished up. "See." She summoned a full-length mirror from her inventory. Kana inspected herself, blushing slightly.

"I guess..." She couldn't take the compliment well.

{I mean, it guess I do look nice, but you're the one built for this style of clothes, not me.} (Kana)

"Now stand still. I'm going to do your hair, and if you move too much, I might pull out some hair." Akagi got a brush and began straightening and fixing up Kana's hair. Normally, this wasn't something she did for her sister, but the Demon seemed to be enjoying herself.

{Eat your heart out dragon!} Akagi thought to herself.

Kana thought it a bit strange to have Akagi all over her like this, but she wasn't going to complain. She almost never spent this kind of time with her sister, and she could count on one hand the number of times they'd dressed up together.

{I'll admit, its nice to do something like this with her though. She was never this happy or enthusiastic before, so it makes me happy to spend time together as sisters. Even if this outfit is a bit embarrassing.} (Kana)

Akagi stood behind her sister and slowly and gently brushed her hair. She was surprisingly good at this, considering she never actually had to style anything herself. A fact that she was very happy with considering she hated dealing with her hair. Having a body you had total control over was nice, and she appreciated the lack of maintenance in her style, due to simply needing to think her look together. After nearly twenty minutes, and a few pulled knots, Akagi was finished and showed Kana the mirror again.

"Ta-dah!" Akagi said after finished fixing Kana's hair. "All done! Let me take a picture for Mika and Naomi." She pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures. "Nice." She smiled. One of these would definitely go in a frame in her room.

{And she tries telling us she can't dress up nicely.} (Akagi)

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them the Demon Lord just dressed me and styled my hair." Kana giggled. "Where did you learn all that anyway? You never dressed up before, and you hated when I tried doing this to you as a kid."

{I remember well the laundry basket you trapped me in when I tried to make you wear that pink dress.} (Kana)

"I spent a ton of time with nobles during my time in FWO. So, I got used to their dress and formalities. My technique and style are not perfect, but they're good enough to get by when I need to." Akagi explained. "Though I admit, I more cared about the etiquette rather than the fashion. I'm even less girly than I was before, and that's saying something." She laughed.

{That's an understatement...} (Kana)

"Yeah. Back home, you used to wear nothing but baggy clothes, and your hair was always a mess." Kana sighed. "Even now, it's kind of the same. Though instead of sweatpants, you just wear a kimono all the time. I guess that's an improvement?" She shrugged.

"What can I say, kimono are awesome." Akagi gave a toothy smile. "And I've tried to mix up what I wear around the house. Lest Mika and Naomi start thinking I have one pair of clothes again." She'd been making a conscious effort to dress more casually when they visited.

{Maybe my lack of femininity is because I'm the Demon Lord? We don't have a concept of male and female, so that might be why my personality is an amalgamation of both sexes. That would explain my partially female mindset and feminine traits, as well as other aspects of my personality that don't line up with how most women behave. Though in fairness, Kana, Mika and Naomi don't exactly behave how one would expect a stereotypical Japanese girl to act, so who knows. Regardless, I'm me, and whatever label one puts on what I am is irrelevant.} (Akagi)

"Speaking of clothes. What are you wearing? Your normal outfit?" Kana asked.

"Nope." Akagi snapped her fingers and dawned her Demon Lord outfit. "I'd say this is more fitting. They're meeting the Demon Lord, so I need to look the part." She smiled.

"And she's doing the voice thing again." Kana shook her head.

"I can do other voices. Would you prefer something annoying? Or perhaps I distort it so bad it sounds like something out of a horror movie." Akagi laughed.

"Onee-chan, your distorted voice already sounds like something from a horror movie, so it's too late for that." Kana sighed. Akagi's distorted voice was already unsettling enough. It sounded similar to her normal voice except if you ran it through a Demon filter. Kana was already used to it, but ordinary people would find it horrifying.

{Maybe I should do a prank while she sleeps? That might be funny, just sprinkle some unimaginable horrors during the night to scare the daylights out of her! Even if she knows its me, the human mind isn't rational and I can imagine the reaction she'd get from hearing some eldritch abomination's voice from her closet would be priceless!} (Akagi)

"Are you ready? Mizumi should be here shortly." Just as Akagi said that, someone knocked on the door.

"May I come in?" Mizumi asked.

"Yeah." Akagi replied, and Mizumi entered.

"Are the two of you ready to go?" Mizumi asked, her eyes briefly shifting to Akagi and then Kana. "In this one instance, I'm glad to see you looking like that. Also, Kana you look lovely." She sighed. "As for you Akagi, if possible, please restrain your aura. As it is now, you'll probably cause some Spirits to feint."

"I'll see what I can do." Akagi laughed.

"I'm good to go." Kana said. “And thank you.”

"Excellent, I'll transport the three of us into the main hall. The Council should be there when we arrive, they were heading in when I left." Mizumi waved her hand, and the three of them teleported into a long hallway with a red carpet running down it. This was the main hall where the government met, and it was quite a bit more extravagant than anything else within Omara. The windows were made of high-quality glass, and the ceiling was easily twenty feet high.

{Well, if this isn't a case of political opulence, then I don't know what is.} (Akagi)

"But seriously, rolling out the literal red carpet for me?" Akagi looked at her feet. "How nice."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is here every day." Mizumi rolled her eyes. "Follow me, please." She asked as the three of them walked down the long hallway towards a massive set of wooden double doors. It didn't take more than a minute to reach them, and Mizumi asked the two girls to wait outside so she could inform the Council of their arrival.

"Onee-chan, please don't do anything crazy." Kana glared at her. Last night's conversation had made her worry that Akagi might kill the Council for their arrogance.

"Define crazy." Akagi said without looking at her.

Kana wanted to say more, but before she had the chance, the double doors opened, and Mizumi waved them in. Kana and Akagi walked forward into the large chamber. Toward the back wall sat four people of different races on raised chairs behind a wooden counter similar to a judge's bench. Kana looked around and noticed the large glass dome atop the rotunda and saw that each of the four windows in the room were stained glass paintings of various individuals.

Mizumi escorted the two sisters up to the four Council members and introduced them. She used a very formal tone of voice, and Kana was momentarily surprised to hear just how official sounding the usually casual Spirit girl was.

"Members of the Supreme Council of Spirits, please allow me to introduce my guests. Demon Lord Akagi Dumetor and her sister Lady Kana Tomogawa." She bowed and stepped off to the side.

{L-lady?} (Kana)

"I see, so this is the Demon you've been ranting about." An older man with a very long gray beard spoke. "My name is Onmiyame, and I am a senior member of this Council. These are my fellow councilors, Daruma, Shinlua, and Sizix." He pointed to the three other spirits to his left and right. "Forgive me for not providing pleasantries, as your kind are not exactly welcome here, Demon." Akagi could these Spirits wanted her to leave ASAP.

{Not a great start. Dammit Onmiyame!} (Mizumi)

"It doesn't really matter." Akagi shrugged, her voice causing the Spirits to flinch. "What you think of me is irrelevant, and I'm only here as a gesture of goodwill and cooperation."

"I'm failing to see why we're wasting our time with this Demon. She seems no different than the other vile creatures we've seen in our world." The flame-haired man named Daruma said. “Just because she's a guest of Lady Mizumi, doesn't mean we should deal with such a creature.”

"She is not just some Demon, Daruma!" Mizumi interjected. "She is a Demon Lord, and you know very well what that title means. Your words are supremely disrespectful, and I demand you treat my guest with respect!" Mizumi was worried he and the Council's words might anger Akagi. Though funny enough, Akagi found their dismissive attitude more amusing than insulting.

{So this is going about as well as I expected. Let's see what else they've to say for themselves, this should be fun.} (Akagi)

"So you say, but you've failed to produce any real evidence that she's anything other than a simple Demon." The blond-haired elf woman Shinlua spoke up. "Your claims have been based on ancient texts of dubious validity, texts you've yet to provide for my review I might add. On top of that, you've stated this Demon was one of the humans who took part in the game which facilitated our transport to this world. Does that not undermine your claim?" She seemed to be less hostile toward Akagi than the other two, and was trying to analyze the situation objectively.

{She's not a Spirit. I think she might be a genuine Elf.} Akagi noted that this member seemed different than the other three.

"Akagi was indeed a player within the game, but she was never a human." Mizumi shook her head. "She was always a Demon and, in fact, her being a Demon Lord explains why she was able to help me facilitate a cross-over point between the two worlds. She's already a type of Demon. Thus it made joining her soul with that of a Shadow Demon easy."

"But what has you so sure that she is a Demon Lord?" The green-haired elemental woman Sizix asked. "You base everything on her word and the connection between language. But that alone is not enough for us to classify her as a Demon Lord. On top of that, the Demon Lord of legend had no desire for dialogue." She pointed to Akagi. "Which makes me lean toward her being a regular Demon, as while they are disgusting creatures, they are willing and able to deal with us diplomatically."

Akagi laughed. "If you'd like, I can stop being so cooperative. I'm always up for some good old-fashioned genocide."

The four council members glared at her, and Mizumi started sweating.

"I'm giving you all a great kindness by letting you live. So I'd advise you not to test my patience." Akagi smiled, but it was very obviously fake.

{These idiots are just as bad as Excel and the others. Do you really not understand just how much I'm conceding by not murdering or enslaving you?} Akagi sighed internally. {No appreciation for my generosity. I swear, sometimes it makes me think that just enslaving all life would be a much better path. At least then people won't bother me and I can just enjoy Yumi snuggles without any issue.}

"We do not take threats to our people lightly, Demon." Onmiyame glared at her. "Hold your tongue. I do not care what Lady Mizumi says about you, or that you are her guest. I will not permit you to act so brazenly."

{Permit? You don't PERMIT me to do anything old man.} (Akagi)

{Ohhh hell.} Mizumi's face paled at Onmiyame's words.

{Not the best choice of words old man.} (Kana)

After shifting her jaw around for a moment, Akagi turned to four Councilors and was about to say something, before turning to Mizumi with a nasty smile on her lips.

"Mizumi, would you please remind me how many people live within this city?" Akagi said in a monotone voice, she was angry.

"U-um. A-around t-thirty thousand." Mizumi was quite nervous as she spoke. She could tell Akagi was not in a great mood after Onmiyame's comment.

"Thirty thousand, huh?" Akagi nodded to herself. "I think half of that should suffice. What do you think?" She looked at Onmiyame.

"Half?" He was confused. "What?"

"Is that too little? I can consume more of them if you'd like." Akagi gave a serious expression, and the entire room went silent.