Chapter 203: Akeno A Girl Grows into a Woman
The dim room finally began to brighten slightly.
Suzaku slowly opened her eyes—she had lost count of how many times she'd done so.
After waking once in the middle of the night, she simply couldn't fall back asleep.
It wasn't due to excessive drinking and a hangover, but for other reasons.
They were really bold, considering she was right nearby.
Suddenly, she heard movement, and from the sound, she could tell he had woken up.
After getting up, he headed straight for the door.
Once the door closed again and a brief silence followed, Suzaku finally sat up.
"Ugh, I did drink a bit too much," she murmured, massaging her temples as a headache set in—it really felt like a hangover.
If she could have slept normally and properly, she would have been fine, but the disturbances had prevented her from resting well.
Getting up, she glanced at Akeno, who appeared to be sleeping soundly as if nothing had happened, and sighed.
Last night, when Akeno was confiding in Mr. Renji, Suzaku had already been awake.
So, she hadn't realized that Akeno still cared so deeply about returning to the Himejima Clan.
To be precise, Akeno wanted her mother to be recognized again as a member of the Himejima Clan and to restore her mother's dignity.
Sighing once more, Suzaku walked to the window and opened it to let in some fresh air.
The atmosphere in the room was just too peculiar.
"Akeno, I'll do my best to have Aunt Shuri's name reinstated in the main family registry as soon as possible," Suzaku whispered softly, gazing at the sliver of sun emerging on the horizon.
"Sister Suzaku, there's no need to trouble yourself any further," came the response.
"I intend to make them record my mother's name back into the registry myself, and ceremoniously relocate her grave to the Himejima Clan."
Akeno spoke with great seriousness.
As Renji had explained to her, it was quite simple—as long as her own power became strong enough to make the Himejima family fearful, to the point where they wouldn't even dare to think of resisting, and to make them feel utter despair, then everything would be resolved.
As the old saying goes—a mother's status is elevated by her child's achievements. By then, none of the five great families would dare to gossip about her mother or slander her in any way.
"I understand~"
Since Akeno had said so, letting her personally accomplish this matter would allow her to completely resolve the knot in her heart.
"Then, Akeno, could you tell your sister who this Mr. Renji really is?"
Suzaku was still very curious about him. On one hand, someone so powerful couldn't possibly be unknown. On the other hand, she was worried that her younger sister might have entrusted herself to the wrong person and wasted her life.
"That's a bit hard to explain. If Sister Suzaku becomes his familiar, you'll understand everything."
In fact, she had secretly asked Renji whether Suzaku was suitable, and the answer was yes.
With that in mind, Akeno planned to bring this sister into the fold as well, allowing her to obtain more secure power.
"Join his familiars?"
"It's similar to Evil Pieces."
"You joined? Didn't you join Rias Gremory?"
"Yes, I'm still Rias's familiar, but his side is more advanced. By the way, Rias has also become his familiar. And he's not a devil, nor an angel, or a god or Buddha—he's just a human."
"A human?"
What kind of human could make even the next head of the Gremory family join? This made Suzaku even more curious.
"Since you've become his familiar, what rank are you?"
Devils have Evil Pieces, which use chess ranks for comparison, while other factions actually have similar systems to turn targets into familiars.
Angels use playing cards.
The ancient Eastern countries use Chinese chess.
Our country also has one, using shogi.
So, what does Akeno use here? Specifically, which rank?
"Well, I'm not sure about that either. I inherited the Fifty-Fourth Demon God—Murmur."
What rank that counted as, Akeno didn't know. It seemed that aside from the four supreme pillars being clearly higher level, the rest were roughly equal, depending on individual aptitude.
"Ah? The Fifty-Fourth Demon God—Murmur?"
Suzaku was stunned.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as if she had realized something.
"You became one of the pillars in the legendary Seventy-Two Demon Gods project of King Solomon? But you clearly don't have the bloodline of the Seventy-Two Pillars of Demons."
It was hard to comprehend, but it must be related to King Solomon's Seventy-Two Demon Gods project.
"If you want to know, Sister Suzaku, you should join too. At the very least, it could raise your current rank by two levels."
As she said this, Akeno released the power of a top-tier High-class Devil.
"I went from an Intermediate Devil to this level in an instant. I feel like it won't be long—at most a month—before I step into the Maou class."
She then said something that shocked Suzaku.
"At most a month, and you'll step into the Maou class?"
This rate of power growth was far too abnormal. Honestly, Suzaku was tempted.
Her current strength, converted to devil ranks, was that of a High-class Devil.
If she could rise two levels, wouldn't that mean stepping into the realm of the gods?
"If you believe your sister, then join quickly, otherwise the remaining spots might be taken soon."
"Let me think about it~"
Suzaku believed her sister meant no harm and was actually eager for her to join, hoping she could quickly gain strength to deal with some crisis, right?
She had also heard some rumors—it seemed something major had happened, so much so that an unprecedented conference of all mythologies was being convened.
The Himejima family had also received an invitation.
"By the way, Suzaku-nee, what's going on here?"
Akeno suddenly smirked mischievously, pointing at the spot where her older sister had been lying earlier. The color there had darkened.
"Huh? This... I don't know."
"You don't know? This is where Suzaku-nee was lying just now, right? So, Suzaku-nee, how long have you been listening?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Ah—Ara?"
As Akeno stood up, she suddenly seemed to have numb legs and weakly slumped back down.
At the same time, something slipped out, and Suzaku-nee saw it, making her momentarily unsure where to look.
It was clear that Suzaku-nee knew exactly what had caused that to happen to Akeno.
She probably didn't just listen—she must have been peeking too, huh...