Griselda picked up quickly, as always.
"What's wrong, Rod?"
That familiar, sultry older-sister voice came through the line again.
"Huh? You haven't gone to sleep yet?"
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"Should I be asleep at this hour?"
"Oh, crap, forgot it's only evening on your end!"
Rod had planned to pull a harmless little prank, but hadn't considered the time zone difference.
Griselda was momentarily speechless. Grown man still pulling such childish stunts?
Then she remembered, hadn't she called him once in the middle of the night? Was this revenge?
How petty.
"I'll call you in eight hours, then."
"Huh?"
"Just kidding. I just got back from the Inner Sanctuary."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Rod then gave her a quick rundown of the night's events at the Inner Sanctuary.
After listening, Griselda fell silent for a long moment.
"So the Fallen Angels still haven't given up on researching Sacred Gears. Good thing you stopped Satanael's plot. If he'd succeeded, it could've been catastrophic."
"But this may also cause the Five Great Clans to ramp up scrutiny of outsiders. Not that you need to worry, at least for now, they'll probably be focused on recovering. Still, I'd advise you to leave Kyoto soon. No telling what those fanatical exorcists might do."
"I know what I'm doing," Rod replied.
"As long as you do. Just be careful. Take a break now."
Griselda let out a quiet sigh.
She didn't know exactly what had gone down that night, but from Rod's severely abridged summary, she could tell the situation had been extremely dangerous.
A pang of guilt struck her.
After all, she was the one who had sent Rod into such a high-risk mission, one wrong move and he'd be lost.
But thankfully, Rod had turned out even stronger than she'd thought. Taking down a Fallen Angel commander like Satanael? That result was well beyond her expectations.
Rod, on the other hand, didn't seem all that thrilled.
"Take a break? Sure. But you know me, how am I supposed to relax when the world's on the brink? There's gotta be a ton of important missions out there. If you've got anything urgent, send it my way. Only people who're useless to world peace get to rest."
Griselda: "..."
She was starting to think she'd been too soft on him.
She'd always treated Rod like a younger brother rather than just another merc. Clearly, he didn't appreciate it.
She used to think she should even look after his day-to-day life more, but now? No need.
The truth was, there weren't any missions that suited Rod right now.
She couldn't exactly send him to take out more straggler devils or rogue exorcists again, could she?
…
After hanging up, freshly bathed Rod decided to stick around a little longer and wait for the right moment to leave.
Part of him wanted to see how the Five Great Clans would respond next.
The other part was waiting for the busty blonde Lavinia to show up.
Leaving the bathroom, Rod flopped down on the couch in the living room.
But not long after, he heard a faint rustling.
From the bedroom's dim glow emerged Asia, wearing a simple nightgown, clutching a pillow to her chest. She stood hesitantly at the door.
Her emerald eyes gazed toward Rod, her face full of words she couldn't quite say.
"What's wrong? Jet lag keeping you up?"
"N-No… I just… I'm a little scared to sleep alone."
The past few days had been more traumatic than all of Asia's prior years combined. Alone in bed, she'd been tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
She'd hesitated a long time before finally slipping out when she heard the sound of the shower.
But now, standing here, the words she'd rehearsed got stuck in her throat.
"Saying 'I don't mind sleeping next to Mr. Rod'… is way too embarrassing…"
"If you can't sleep alone, come over here," Rod said generously, patting the space beside him on the couch.
Technically a couch, sure, but it was large, no smaller than a bed. It could easily fit two or three people.
He was mostly joking.
But Asia's face lit up with hope the moment she heard him.
"R-Really?!"
Her innocent, expectant face tightened its hold on the pillow.
If she had a tail, it would've been wagging like crazy by now.
Rod was caught completely off guard.
Still, a promise was a promise, no taking it back now.
Seeing him nod, Asia quickly walked over, fluffed her pillow, and climbed onto the couch, blushing fiercely.
"S-Sorry for intruding…"
Then, she curled up next to Rod and instinctively pulled the single blanket over herself.
Seeing how naturally she settled in, Rod didn't overthink it and lay back down as well.
The moment he lifted the blanket, a subtle, calming scent wafted from the girl beside him. Rod didn't feel tense at all, but Asia, who had come over on her own, wasn't exactly asleep either.
Only after lying down did she realize what she'd done.
Alone in the dark with a man… What if Rod tried something?
Would she… accept his "sin" with gentle resignation?
No, no! Mr. Rod wasn't like that!
As this heavenly-devilish struggle raged in her mind, sleep quietly crept in.
Rod, for his part, didn't do anything.
If she had come with that kind of intention, that'd be different. But the way she completely trusted him, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of it.
Besides, there'd be plenty of time later.
…
The night passed quietly.
As dawn arrived, warm sunlight spilled once more across the island nation.
The previous night's chaos had left no ripple in the world of ordinary people. But Rod could sense a subtle tension hanging in the air.
Not that it mattered to a passing mercenary like him.
Besides, the girl curled up in his arms smelled far nicer than any looming political unrest.
When Rod opened his eyes, he found a soft "pillow" in his arms.
Asia wasn't the most still sleeper. What had started as a respectable two- to three-foot gap between them had completely vanished. By morning, she was pressed right against him.
Accidental, sure, but for someone who looked so petite, Asia was surprisingly soft.
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