Ranking System

"Mom, this is Charles, the person I mentioned before. Charles, this is my mother."

"Charles~. I'm Helen~. It's a pleasure to meet you~. My daughter has been telling me many wonderful details about you~."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Looking at Helen, it was unsettling how she was trying to eat me up upon our first meeting. Claire's expression did a one-eighty once she saw how her mother acted.

"MOM!!!"

"Don't worry. I won't take him from you~."

Watching the two, they got along well. Helen was teasing Claire like it was something natural. Seeing them get along, a voice interrupted their moment.

"Helen, we will be taking our leave."

"We will talk later."

After telling Helen what they were doing, she told them they would leave. After they left, Claire and her mother continued to talk to me.

"Charles~. You've slept with my daughter, haven't you~? How was she~?"

"MOM!!!"

"She was doing well. A bit too well."

"Charles..."

To talk about this at a party was wild. Claire's high-pitched scream brought attention to those nearby. Attention was something I had been getting too much of lately. Nevertheless, Claire's expression was cute when she became quiet with me.

"How can you say that? And how did you know???"

"You smell like you have matured~."

Smell? Claire didn't seem any different than her usual smell. Was there something else about their race that I didn't know?

"Smell???"

"You should know that I work with perfumes."

She had cleared up what she had meant and continued to tease Claire. Should I answer the question she asked earlier?

"So~? How was it~? I was happy to see my daughter leave the house, but I want to make sure she is doing well~."

"Claire's doing good. We have been together for only a week, and we're hitting it off pretty well."

All we did together was a lot of adult activities. I could see Helen giving a smile different from most as she had caught on to what I had said.

"I didn't expect you to be lucky, Claire~."

"Lucky? I guess I did."

Claire didn't understand her mother's meaning and just nodded. Her mother had realized it but didn't correct her.

"Everyone! May I have a word?"

It wasn't long before the host arrived. Agnus stood up at the podium and had all eyes on him. His presence attracted the attention of everyone, which was something normal for him.

"For everyone that hadn't heard about the news. We were at war with Zephyr's Trading Firm."

I was surprised that some people hadn't realized what had happened in the past few weeks. Were the others living under a rock or something? They could have ignored the news, but ignoring it would have been too much.

"Thanks to a special someone, the war had ended with our side winning."

Hearing Agnus's words, I knew I would have to come soon. Those who were interested wondered who this extraordinary person was. From his words alone, I knew I would be coming up later for a speech. Agnus had told me this a week ago.

"Let's give it up for Charles!"

Claire's mother looked at me and was surprised by Agnus' announcement. Blaine and those that recognized me but didn't know my strength was in disbelief by what they heard. As for those who knew, it was something like old news.

"I will be back soon."

After saying goodbye to Claire's mother and Claire, I left them and went to the stage. Agnus stared at me and handed me a microphone. He had expected me to say something good.

"How is the party, everyone?"

Before I talked, I asked the crowd how the party was. Seeing some people answer with excitement changed the silent mood.

"That's good. Now about my speech. As those who had participated in the war between the IUC and ZTF, it wasn't that hard to see our side being in the disadvantage."

My words had shifted the mood again, immersing some people in what I had to say. Those who knew this nodded and continued to listen.

"Despite all odds, our side had won, but at a sacrifice. Those sacrifices will be forever remembered, and we will continue to move on to the best of our abilities. As long as I have my role to play in the IUC, I will never let this company down."

Those who knew me gave me a strange look when I made my speech. The last part of my speech was actual. With me here, the company shouldn't be worried about enemies that could be killed.

As for those who didn't, they clapped for me, and their opinions of me grew in a heartbeat. The first part was entirely bullshit. I didn't say anything else and handed the microphone back to Agnus.

I returned to where Claire and her mother, Helen, were. The two of them didn't expect me to make such a speech, which had increased their image of me.

With me returning, the five other girls had returned to my side, which had forced the meeting between the six. The five girls and Claire's mother greeted each other and had a friendly conversation. I didn't expect them to get along so easily. Hellen's taste was weird when I felt her increase in likability, knowing these girls were part of my harem.

"Before I finish talking, let's start the main event!"

Main event? Agnus still wasn't finished with his speech. I remembered that Agnus mentioned that someone wanted to fight me. Was that the main event? The main event was something anyone would look forward to at a party--especially at a party like this. But do I have to leave everyone if I were to fight? That would be a pain in the ass.

"Charles! You're back up!"

Repeating what I had thought, Agnus said something that would be a pain. I had left Claire and Helen for the second time and returned to the stage. Once they saw my face, they could understand my pain.

Nevertheless, I returned to the stage, where most party members had cheered for my arrival. It looks like my speech has given me some popularity.

"For our next guest, we have Serena!"

Serena? Following Agnus' words, a woman named Serena appeared. An angel? I didn't expect someone from the angel race to appear. Like a dragon, an angel's world ranking is higher than your average rank. The woman's popularity was much higher than mine, with most people cheering for her.

Serena had bright platinum blond hair and bright golden eyes. For an angel, her body was pretty modest. It was a shame she didn't have her wings out.

"These two younger generations will have a battle to set the standard for our group!"

Using the two of us, Agnus would set motivations for everyone. It was good and bad for some to watch this fight. Even if there were some people motivated to catch up to us, there would be some that would lose their motivation.

As for the others, they cheered, knowing something in this party would have something exciting: a war hero and an angel.

"So you're Charles. Agnus has been giving you a lot of praise."

Talking to her for the first time, Serena spoke with confidence. There was a tint of jealousy in Serena's voice. It looked like Agnus had often made her listen to me. Being too talented is a sin.

"Is there something wrong with praising my talent? You seem awfully mad about that."

I had intended to anger Serena by seeing her power to its full extent. To my surprise, Serena wasn't angry about my statement.

It was rare for someone to have so much control over their emotions. I just hope Serena won't be a disappointment in our battle.

"Provoking me won't work."

I wouldn't be surprised if he drilled that into her head if she had met Agnus many times. Before we fought, we would need the stage to fight.

With the two of us fighting, bets came from the guest, with the odds being 3 to 1, with me being the three. Even as a war hero, I was on the lower end, with Serena being an angel.

"You have more self-control than I thought. Agnus also holds you to high standards for him to call this match."

Since he gave Serena a chance to challenge me, he has to hold Serena in high regard. The stage was set up as we talked, and we would battle in a different dimension.

"Get on in. You two have a guest to entertain."

Agnus was much different in a place like this. He was usually straight-laced but was much more ongoing in a party like this.

Upon entering the battle stage, we were in the middle of a white room where you could see a video game. Before we fought, we glared at each other and waited for the signal to start. With a loud beeping noise happening, we made our first move.