God Succession System 285 The Ball

After spending the majority of his time in the s.p.a.ce-time orb working on and getting accustomed to his weapons, Alex spent the last day with the girls as promised before leaving to have breakfast, and then to Horlad. Once he arrived the usually quiet town was alive with noise as everyone tried to finish preparations for the upcoming ball later that night, and the peace conference to follow. The purpose of the ball was so that all the national leaders would get a chance to actually meet and interact with each other for the first time before sitting down to discuss the future of the world, as for the actual place it would be held though, it was of course going to be in the newly constructed castle that didn't even exist a week ago. It stood towards the edge of town and towered over everything else in its majestic glory, and it was where Alex found an awestruck Liliana as he arrived to make sure there was no hiccups in the preparations.

"Even when I think there's nothing you can do to surprise me anymore, you put up such a ma.s.sive and amazing castle overnight.... Is there any limits to what Devils can do?" Alex smirked and replied,

"Of course, our limits are just different than yours." Liliana looked thoughtful at what he said before nodding her with a resolute look on her face, and saying,

"Then I'm even more certain that I'm making the right choice." Alex looked at her with some mild confusion, before asking,

"And what choice is this?" Liliana looked at him directly and said,

"I need to talk to you about something."

***

Several hours later as night started falling and the majority of the guests had gathered for the ball, Akeno had a professional smile on her face as she walked around with a serving platter full of wine gla.s.ses, asking if anyone needed a gla.s.s. She, along with the rest of Rias, Sona, and Ravel's peerages(minus Endou, Suzu, and Ryutarou) were responsible for serving the guests during the ball as they were of course "servants". None of them felt any resentment at this though as it was in fact their official status, and they were also there in the event that there was some kind of falling out between the guests. As she walked around Akeno was unaware that one of the young local lords was eyeing her from behind, before muttering to his friend,

"This champion guy sure knows how to throw a party, just look at the a.s.s on the servants." His friend looked at him as if he said something ridiculous, and replied,

"I wouldn't even think about it if I were you, you never know which girls might be too close to the champion, and I've seen firsthand that he can be completely ruthless to those who offend him." The young lord sneered and answered,

"They're only servants, so what does it matter? They should be proud to spend some time with a "real" lord anyways, I'm going to make my move." As the lord strutted forward his friend could only look away and pretend that he had nothing to do with him, while also hoping he didn't create too much of a scene. As he approached Akeno the young lord had a silly grin on his face as he looked the beautiful woman up and down, his gaze lingering on her ma.s.sive b.r.e.a.s.t.s and amazing a.s.s. He then reached out to grab her a.s.s without worrying about how she'd react, as their difference in status was too distant anyways, when suddenly a hand grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back while something sharp and cold was pressed against his neck.

"I wouldn't if I were you." A cool yet feminine voice hissed in his ear, while the lord looked around desperately for someone to help him, before realizing that no one seemed to even see them and saying,

"I should be telling you that, don't you know who I am?" The mysterious figure was silent for a moment before answering,

"No I don't, is there any particular reason why I should care? Are you supposed to be a prince or something? All I see is a dumba.s.s who tried to lay hand on the boss's property, and needs to be taught a lesson." The young lord started sweating at her words as he realized that status didn't mean anything to this champion and those who worked for him, if you offended him you paid the price for it. As he tried to find some reason for them to let him go the voice whispered,

"Dealing with a corpse in the middle of this ball would be annoying, consider this your first and final warning, step a toe out of line again and you won't even realize you died, understood?" The young lord nodded desperately at her, before he suddenly felt the knife and grip on his arm disappear. He then turned around suddenly as if trying to catch a glimpse of his attacker, but didn't see anything as they already disappeared, before slowly and unsteadily making his way back to his fried. When he saw how pale the young lord was his friend asked even though he already knew the answer,

"So how'd it go?" Th young lord was silent for a second before saying,

"She was more trouble than I was willing to go through, let's drink..." Not even considering trying to pick up any girls at the ball in case they were "marked", the young lord then went to get his own drink instead of going near any of the wait staff to get drunk. Meanwhile Rana had returned to the rafters above the ballroom where the rest of the Haulia that were a.s.signed to the ball were stationed, as they stayed on the lookout for any more troubling situations to handle silently. By this point the ball was nearly in full swing, and every guest except for the dragon race and Alex with his dates had arrived. Though there was a distinct divide between the different groups of humans, demons, and demihumans; the ones they all seemed to gravitate towards were those who had come to attend from Asora, such as Sairaorg and Seekvaira, Arthur and Elaine, Lavinia Reni, Bikou, Bova, surprisingly Barakiel, and even more surprisingly was Vali. With the obvious exception of Bova, the people of Tortus were trying to get close to and socialize with these people as they thought it would help them earn a ticket into Alex's good books, even though they were mistaken.

Suddenly the chatter and background noise in the ballroom was shattered as an ear piercing scream rang out from the gardens that were connected. Everyone looked in surprise towards the scream, only to see a swarm of dragons flying right towards them. Even though everyone in attendance knew the dragon race was due to attend as guests, this didn't stop a small panic from breaking out as their first instincts when seeing a dragon was either fight or flight, prompting several of the men to instinctively reach for their absent weapons. As Akeno and the others tried to get everyone to calm down, the dragons with a brilliant scarlet dragon in the lead swooped down and circled the castle once, before gently coming down to land in the gardens. As they neared the ground each dragon was surrounded by a swirl of magic power, that vanished to reveal several dozen good looking men and women with hair similar in color to their previous scales. With the elderly scarlet haired man at the lead, Kiba stepped forward and announced,

"Now presenting the leader of the dragon race, Adul Klarus!" Though it was silent for a second as he majority of the attendees were in shock at seeing the legendary dragon race firsthand, with those making up the wait staff leading the way, respective applause soon rang throughout the ballroom before the rest of the dragon elders were introduce. After the introductions were over and the applause died down, Adul stepped forward and stated to everyone gathered,

"It is my pleasure to see everyone here today, gathered for the very peace that my people have so long sought. I hope that the festivities tonight are the first of many in the years to come." As he finished speaking applause once more filled the hall as the dragon race people behind him spread out to mingle and talk to people of the current Tortus for the first time in over five hundred years. By this point the only one who hadn't arrived yet was Alex, but he didn't keep everyone waiting long after Adul arrived with his entourage, with Kiba finally announcing,

"Now presenting the champion of the G.o.ddess, and his escorts!" Everyone's backs straightened slightly as they turned towards the great double doors expectantly, just in time for them to open. As the sound of clacking shoes filled everyones ears, Kiba announced,

"Introducing the heiress of the dukedom of Gremory, Rias Gremory!" As he finished introducing her Rias walked out into the light of ballroom where everyone could see her, and was greeted by the "oohs" and "ahs" along with the light applause. She was wearing a long formal blackish-red gown that had a slit reaching down her back, along with two up the sides to display her slender legs and a V that just showed the tops of her cleavage. As she pa.s.sed Kiba, Rias smiled at the attendees who were so awestruck by her beauty, they nearly missed kiba's next announcement.

"Next we are presenting a daughter of the marquis house of Pheonix, Ravel Pheonix!" As he finished speaking everyone quieted down once more, and turned to see Ravel walk in while wearing a gown that fanned out from the waist down, and s.h.i.+fted between yellow, orange, and red in a way that looked as if she was actually wearing fire itself. After making her entrance Ravel made her way to the side and stood opposite of Rias as Kiba announced the next girl.

"Introducing the heiress of the prince house of Sitri, Sona Sitri!" As she entered the ballroom, Sona earned several "oohs" and "ahs" herself as compared to the previous twos peerless beauty, she seemed cold and aloof, yet still possessing a beautiful 'sharp' appearance that was accented by the dress she wore. It was similar yet contrasting to Ravel's as Sona's appeared to be made of living water that flowed endlessly around her body.

Even after these three amazing women made their appearance, the list of arrivals didn't seem to be shortening any time soon. They were quickly followed by Ingvild, Roygun, Grayfia who was given the night off, Yue, Tio, s.h.i.+zuku, and Yasaka, who's appearance made even the foxman tribe elder Lua go smacked; the purpose of them being Alex's official dates was to essentially show off how much influence Alex actually had in their home world from having so many high cla.s.s women dedicated to him, though the biggest surprise was the group that followed. After Yasaka was introduced the next woman to walk out was one that drew several gasps and exclamations of surprise as even Gahard looked shocked at the outcome, as his daughter entered the hall.

"Introducing the princess of the Hoelscher empire, Tracy D. Hoelscher!" As kiba's voice rang out there was a series of mutters as the n.o.bles discussed the new information, that Alex had accepted the princess of the empire, and was now more distinctively tied with them. To the majority of n.o.bles daughters were used as high valued bargaining chips for the betterment of their standing, or to forge alliances, they never would have imagined that Tracy had actually gained Alex's acceptance without any ulterior olives regarding her fathers empire, having done so for her own personal reasons. Their whispering was brought to and end when Kiba then announced,

"Introducing the elven princess of the demihuman people, Altina Heipyst!" As he finished announcing her an elven beauty walked out to the stunned crowd, her face a deep Crimson as all eyes gathered on her. Truthfully she was only considered Alex's because Tracy dragged her along in her attempts to gain his approval, the two becoming fairly good friends even if Tracy could be a bit overbearing at times. It was actually because of this that Altina had not developed the rather dangerous interests she had due to s.h.i.+a's rough treatment of her in the original novel. Her appearance in Alex's entourage had caused even more of a stir than Tracy's did as with Tio and Yue, it meant that Alex had "collected" a princess from almost every race in Tortus, with the sole exception of the demon race. This made the king of the demon race start sweating a little as he noticed it, and he glanced towards his own daughter nervously as if worried Alex may come for her eventually, making him think he might have to talk with her about going to Alex's side before he himself came looking for her. Unaware of the giant misunderstanding the demon race King was having, Kiba then dropped the biggest bombsh.e.l.l of the evening as he announced,

"Introducing the princess of the Heiligh kingdom, Liliana S. B. Heiligh!" There was stunned silence as Liliana entered the ballroom, and several people glanced towards the people from the empire nervously as she did. It was no secret that there had been intentions between the late King and the emperor to have Liliana and the empires crown prince Bias marry however, with the event situation of the empire after Hajime dealt with them, Gahard had decided that it was no good to have the princess of another nation marry into their family due to the necklaces they had been forced to wear. They were enchanted by Hajime to ensure that the royal family and the other various n.o.bles of the empire kept their word about not enslaving the members of the demihuman race, and if they ever went back on their word or tried to remove them, only death awaited them. Even though Gahard smiled and clapped politely at the princess's new station, his son next to him glowered at her threateningly for "escaping" her fate as his future wife, something he'd been looking forward to ever since they first met before Liliana was even ten years old. With Alex's entire entourage introduced, Kiba finally announced,

"Now introducing the champion of Gabriel, the G.o.dslaying Dragon Emperor Alex! And his first wife, the woman revered as a G.o.ddess in another world, Anne!" As he finished speaking Alex walked out into the ballroom with Anne, their arms linked together intimately. Anne was noticeably fl.u.s.tered as they entered the ballroom as she had never been in such a high societal situation before, and with every eye on her she felt a little dizzy and might have tripped, if not for Alex holding her up. As for why she was being considered his "official" wife, this was the result of a long and heated argument between the women behind his back for the t.i.tle of the "official" wife. Due to Alex's status as the ruler of Asora, even if he didn't have an official t.i.tle yet, this had been quite the argument as it essentially meant deciding his "Queen"; with them quickly eliminating anyone in a peerage, including Alex's, as well as anyone belonging strictly to a certain faction such as the Angels, youkai, or Devils, Anne had quickly been the natural choice as she was also the only one with the same status as Alex himself, both being reincarnators. It was a decision that hadn't quite sunk into the poor girl, until she suddenly found herself in the current situation where she was being lifted to the same status as Alex, and above the very women she had grown close to recently. Alex meanwhile made sure to keep supporting his wife while she seemed unsteady, and said to the gathered people,

"Greetings and welcome everyone. I hope you have been enjoying the food and company, and that after this night the idea of peace and cooperation will seem more feasible after having eaten and danced together. With that being said, let's dance!" As he finished speaking the musicians took that as their cue, and started playing an upbeat song while the majority of the guests cleared away from the dance floor to allow those who were dancing more s.p.a.ce. Of course Alex was the first on the dance floor with Anne, as he displayed the skills that had been hammered into him by Rias's mother during his time in the DXD world.

"Keep calm and follow my lead." Alex whispered to Anne, as she was still nervous from how every eye seemed to be scrutinizing them. After she took a deep breath though she felt calmer, and let Alex lead her as he started their dance. There was a series of gasps and exclamations of amazement as they started dancing, as with her vocation of 'Dancer' in the Arifureta world, none could tell it was Anne's first time as Alex led her around the ballroom. This was only part of the audiences amazement though, as Anne's relatively plain golden dress(at least compared to everyone else's) started s.h.i.+mmering and s.h.i.+ning a myriad of colors as the light caught it, making it seem as if the smooth fabric was instead br.i.m.m.i.n.g with gemstones. As this was due to a bit of magic courtesy of Grayfia, Anne couldn't help but whisper to Alex,

"This dress isn't going to disappear at midnight or something, is it?" Alex smirked and replied,

"Aren't you forgetting that we're Devils, not fairy G.o.d mothers Cinderella." Anne smiled at the reference, which made her seem even more beautiful to the gathered spectators as several other people tried to work up the nerve to join the dance, not wanting to interrupt the two. After several minutes the song finally ended, and as Alex bowed to his partner and Anne curtsied to him, they were met with the sound of applause at their performance along with several compliments. With a few minutes until the next dance started, the reverence that seemed to be holding everyone back appeared to vanish, and Alex and his companions found themselves surrounded by a crowd of people. They then spent the next several minutes talking to various supposedly important people while several guys tried to solicit the girls for a dance, and several daughters of various lords tried to do the same with Alex. Without exception each and every one of them were rejected, and when the next song started Alex instead took the hand of Rias and the duo made their way to the dance floor, this time along with several other couples that paired up. As they started dancing Rias stated,

"I'm somewhat surprised you didn't accept those girls requests, you never seem to turn down the chance to get to know a new woman." Alex smiled bitterly, and replied,

"Maybe, but I don't really care for women who only seem to approach me for the sake of potential benefits." Rias c.o.c.ked an eyebrow, and asked,

"What about Lili then?" Alex smiled and replied,

"Situations such as hers are a little different. I'm not sure you felt it, but when she was announced there was even a bit of killing intent directed my way by her former fiancé, even if I'm possessive towards my women I would never treat them the way he does." As he finished speaking Rias was silent as she thought on his and Tracy's words. When they stayed in Verbergen after conquering the labyrinth she talked a bit with the imperial princess, and was told a few stories about her brother who was the crown prince, and his infamy with women. Rias didn't say anything else about it and seemed to be thoughtful during their dance until it ended, then when it was time for him to get a new partner she surprisingly pushed Liliana towards him and said,

"Here, you two spend some time together and talk a bit." Both Alex and Liliana were surprised, but neither argued as Alex led her out onto the dance floor. As the dance started Liliana was silent for several seconds as she instinctively followed his movements, before finally saying,

"Thank you, truly." Alex smirked and said,

"It was nothing, really. What's a few disgruntled princes and lords compared to a beautiful young woman who needs help?" Lilian smiled at the compliment, causing several people to stare at her with admiration, and more than a few guys longingly while lamenting their own bad luck. After it was decided that Bias was no longer suitable to be her husband due to the threat from the necklaces, there had been a small surge of people vying for hand in marriage ranging from fattened perverted old men, to young heirs only a few years old with their parents insisting upon marriage when they were of age. The reason was that each and every one of these people wanted the prestige of having an actual connection to the royal family, while the more perverted of them wanted her for their own pleasure. Even if she seriously considered them as potential matches without regard for her own personal future, it didn't take long for Liliana to realize that she internally comparing them to Alex both as a person, and(politically speaking) for benefits. With each and every one of her suitors lacking in some aspect, she found herself seriously considering what her mother said when she offered her to him, and was even feeling slightly regretful that Alex refused her. This led to her ultimately asking Alex to take her as his own just that morning before the ball, even though he annoyingly told her that he'd wait until she was older even though she was already considered to be of marriageable age. As they danced she considered her decision to be the correct one as she felt natural in his arms, and slightly regretful when the song ended.

"Thank you for the wonderful dance." Liliana said while smiling brilliantly, to which Alex said,

"Anytime, remember we now have practically an eternity for as many dances as you want." Lilliana's smile widened at his words and, surprising everyone, she quickly got onto her tiptoes and planted a quick peck on Alex's lips. She turned around and ran off to the bathrooms to cool off a bit before Alex could say anything, earning a wry smile in return. He then started to make his way back to the waiting girls, but found his way blocked by someone familiar along with several new faces.

"h.e.l.lo Cattleya, long time no see." Alex said as he saw the demon race woman for the first time since before she was sent home to help negotiate with her people. Cattleya bowed her head slightly and replied,

"Indeed it has been a while. I wanted to introduce you to some people." She then gestured to the people at her side, one of which was a demon race man that appeared to be nearing his Middle Ages, who held out his hand while saying,

"It is a pleasure to meet you champion of the G.o.ddess Gabriel, I am the current demon king Ra.s.sem Alva Igdol." Alex nodded and stated,

"Greetings, I am Alex, the champion of Gabriel." As the two shook hands the demon king then gestured to his side and said,

"And this is my daughter, Francesca Alva Igdol." Alex nodded as he looked the demon princess over and said,

"It is a pleasure to meet you princess." Francesca nodded and replied,

"It is an honor to meet you too champion, I hope we can get along well in the future." If Alex was paying attention properly he might have noticed the hidden implications in the princess's words, having already been told of her fathers worries. However at that moment he was distracted by something and said,

"Definitely, but there is something that demands my attention so excuse me." Alex then used spatial magic to disappear suddenly, with a dark expression on his face, making the demon royalty worry slightly as Francesca asked Cattleya,

"I didn't offend him, did I?" Cattleya shook her head and answered,

"I don't think so, I wonder why he let so quickly..." As the group, which also included Cattleya's fiancé Mikhael, wondered what happened, there was a sudden cras.h.i.+ng sound as the closed great doors were suddenly blasted open. In stormed Alex who was dragging someone who was struggling by the face, while Liliana chased them from behind, clutching her dress together in the front where it had been torn. With the good mood that had been developing in the ballroom suddenly interrupted, Alex dragged his captive to the increasingly pale emperor Gahard and demanded,

"I wonder Gahard, is this what I can expect from the empire in the future as far as cooperation? You and your family trying to a.s.sault and my women the moment my back is turned?" As he finished speaking Alex threw his quarry down in front of the emperor, revealing the empire's crown prince Bias. With Alex's accusations and Lilliana's torn dress, everyone immediately understood what was going on and glared at the emperor and his son, including his own daughter Tracy. Though he was still pale, Gahard wasn't fl.u.s.tered in the slightest as he looked down on his son and demanded while focusing his killing intent on him,

"Son, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" As Gahard could easily be considered one of, if not the most powerful human in the world of Tortus, his killing intent slammed into his own son like a wave as Bias struggled to stand before declaring,

"But father, that b.i.t.c.h was mine to begin with! Or are we so pathetic that we'll let him take whatever he wants without fighting for it?" Gahard's glare intensified as before the ball he never even thought Liliana and Alex were interested in each other, the reason her and Bias's Union was canceled was because after freeing all of their slaves, the empires standing was nowhere near as strong as it was before, something he knew he had told his son before. Gahard closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm himself, before saying,

"'Strength is everything', that is the motto and standing of our proud empire. The champion of Gabriel is stronger than any of us, and by our laws if he wants your woman then that means nothing can stop him from taking her, especially if she was no longer yours to begin with, if you can't even realize this simple fact then you don't deserve the t.i.tle of crown prince. I hereby disown you and strip you of all your royal rights, and t.i.tles." Bias looked at his father with complete disbelief as he was disowned in front of everyone around them, not even understanding the real reason why his father disowned him. As the crown prince his actions would have severe consequences, and as Alex already pointed out reflected the will of their family and people. Gahard disowned him so that his actions would be considered his alone, and would also ensure that whatever Alex did next, it wouldn't be to the crown prince of a nation. While Bias was still trying to come to terms with what his father said, Alex stated,

"Don't worry Bias I'm not going to kill you, I have a special punishment for those who p.i.s.s me off this much." After he finished speaking Alex pulled out a whistled and blew into it, resulting a crash as several somethings blasted their way through one of the large windows. Everyone separated and made way for whatever had joined them, only to see several hulking things standing there, all dressed in too small girly skirts and dresses.

"Boss~ we heard your call!~?"As it spoke the lead thing called Mil-tan stepped forward, making several people cower back in fear of the strange creature, before a sudden sorrowful cry rang out, and another thing ran towards Liliana and declared,

"My beautiful dress! What happened darling?" This one was Mil-tans partner in running Asora's secret magical girl squad, who also doubled as a fas.h.i.+on master, Crystabel. It was Crystabel who made the majority of the girls dresses for the night so, seeing the state of Lilliana's before it could be repaired, it let out a despairing noise while asking what happened. Before she said anything though Alex spoke up,

"She was attacked by this man here, Bias. I called you because I wanted you to teach him the fragility of a maidens poor heart, so that he can learn the errors of his way." As he finished speaking Mil-tan and Crystabel glared at Bias along with the rest of the magical girls gathered, before Mil-tan stated,

"Of course! We will teach him not to mess with maidens and their hearts! Cookie, be a darling and pick up our new comrade!~?" As it finished speaking, Mit-tan gestured to one of the waiting magical girls to step forward and collect the now terrified Bias, before Ryutarou stepped forward and demanded,

"Wait, Cookie? Are you Kouki?" Everyone was silent as they stared at Cookie in realization, before it seemed to notice Ryutarou and the others, and jumped with excitement while saying,

"Heyyyyy, it's Ryu-tan and everyone else!~? How have you been?!" The students from earth and Aiko were stupefied as they looked at their former comrade and cla.s.smate, while s.h.i.+zuku even hesitantly stepped forward and said,

"K-Kouki, is it really you?" The hulking figure with its hair in pig tails and dressed in too small skirts turned to look at her, before squealing in excitement and saying,

"s.h.i.+zuku-tan! I'm so happy to see you!" As Cookie shouted, it rushed forward and grasped s.h.i.+zuku's hands excitedly, as if they were the best of girlfriends. s.h.i.+zuku however didn't seem to know how to take the changes to her childhood friend, and hesitantly asked,

"H-how have you been? Are things alright over there?" Cookie nodded excitedly and started telling s.h.i.+zuku all about Magical Girl Island.

"Yep yep, it's amazing there! We watch Magical Girl Milky every day, and when we aren't watching it we train to become amazing magical girls- no... That's wrong." It seemed as if there was suddenly wrong with Cookie, as it shook it head slightly before stating to s.h.i.+zuku,

"No! s.h.i.+zuku it's me Kouki! Save me! It's h.e.l.l over there! SAVE MEEEEE-" Though Kouki would have likely gone on longer, Mil-tan suddenly hit him in the back of the neck and rendered him unconscious, before throwing him over its shoulder like a sack of potatoes and saying,

"I'm sorry~? It looks like Cookie's training isn't complete yet~nyo?!" After saying that Mil-tan had someone else collect the struggling Bias, and was about to return to their island in Asora, but Alex suddenly said,

"Wait, I have something else for you Mil-tan." The freak turned to look at Alex expectantly with a "nyo", while Alex summoned a few wooden barrels and said,

"Here Mil-tan, this is some delicious apple juice for you and the rest of the magical girls to share, my treat." Mil-tan looked at the barrels before squealing excitedly and saying,

"Ohhh, thank you boss! You're so nice to us, I love you!" While suppressing the chills that attacked him, Alex kept a straight face as they collected the barrels and went on their way, until Grayfia asked him with a deadpan face,

"That wasn't regular apple juice, was it?" Alex shook his head and answered,

"It's spiked with the aphrodisiac from the Haltina labyrinth, Bias is about to experience the other side with a vengeance." As they heard what he said, every single person around Alex paled as they realized the viciousness he treated people like Bias with, and each swore to never make an attempt on his girls, ever. As could be expected not everyone was willing to go on with the ball after having such a thing happen, so they started to wind down for the night, with several people leaving while a few others just stayed for the remaining food and drinks. As things started mellowing out, there was once again another interruption as a knight in full armor burst into the hall and desperately ran to Alex's group, consisting of the ones he would be meeting with the next day.

"My lords, your graces, it's terrible!" The knight cried as tried to get to them. Alarmed by his tone, Liliana commanded,

"Speak, what happened?" The knight tried to catch his breath before reporting,

"The farming communities to the west, they've all been razed to the ground! The remnants of the church of Ehito are marching this way, torching everything in their path!"