Ten minutes later.
Asia slowly stirred awake.
She must have heard the faint noises coming from the living room. Still drowsy, she sat up, propping herself on her arms. Perhaps due to a bit of low blood sugar from just waking up, she sat in a daze on the couch for a good while before slowly opening her eyes.
What greeted her wasn't the dormitory of the church she'd lived in for over a decade, but a lavishly decorated presidential suite.
Not far away, at the dining table, Rod was seated, casually eating while scrolling through his phone.
Despite having transmigrated, Rod still passed time on his phone when there wasn't anything else to do.
Seeing the girl wake up, Rod looked back. "You're up? Go wash up. Breakfast is ready."
As someone notoriously lazy in domestic affairs, Rod had never developed a habit of cooking for himself. Over the years, he either ate out or ordered in.
Breakfast today had been delivered by the hotel butler. It wasn't anything extravagant ,soy milk, shumai, bread ,just a simple, homely spread.
"O-okay."
Asia's cheeks flushed as she responded. She hadn't expected to sleep so long, and worried that Rod might see her as lazy.
Sliding off the couch, she carefully folded the blanket. Feeling the warmth it still held, she couldn't help but recall her bold move from last night.
Rod hadn't done anything inappropriate, which made her feel safe… yet she still felt slightly flustered.
That unease ,she couldn't even name it, it was something she chose to tuck away in her heart.
After breakfast, Rod asked Asia to freshen up. Then, he stepped into the other room and placed a call to Jeanne.
The phone rang for a while, but no one answered.
Rod persisted.
It wasn't until the third try that the call finally went through.
"Hello?"
A faint, groggy female voice came through.
"It's Rod."
"Oh…"
"I made contact with the witches from Oz yesterday. Unfortunately, their leader ,Augusta ,was reportedly killed. I was about to seek out the rest when they'd already retreated to who-knows-where."
Rod spoke the truth but deliberately left out the most critical details.
After all, he couldn't exactly tell Jeanne that he was the one who sabotaged the witches' plans, causing the Hero Faction's potential allies to lose several top fighters.
He'd be branded a traitor on the spot.
"…Mhm."
Jeanne's tone remained languid.
"That's all. Anything else?"
"..."
A long pause followed. Then Jeanne's voice came through like a ghostly whisper.
"Rod… do you even realize what time it is right now?"
Rod glanced at his watch. "Nine in the morning."
"It's two a.m. here! Little Rod, let's make a deal, okay? Even if you're pining for your older sis, can you please refrain from calling me at ungodly hours? A girl needs her beauty sleep, or else her skin gets all loose and saggy."
No need to imagine ,Rod could already picture Jeanne's expression: half-asleep, hair a mess, eyes full of complaint.
"What about the witches then?"
"Well, if they messed things up themselves, then there's no one else to blame. They were just one of our options. Losing them isn't the end of the world."
"Rod, you're a member of the Hero Faction. Even if you're not the most sociable, you must never forget our mission ,to fight for the peace of humanity! For that, we'll challenge the overbearing gods, Buddhas, and asuras, and prove to them that humanity can do everything they can ,and more!"
Even without seeing her, Rod could tell Jeanne was wearing that fanatical expression of hers right now.
"Hey? Rod? Are you still there?"
"I'm here."
Rod had muted the phone the moment she launched into her speech and only picked it up again after she finished.
Even so, he'd still caught the gist of it.
As an "outsider," it was hard not to compare the Hero Faction to a full-blown cult.
Proving humans were superior to gods? Seriously?
Especially since their own leader Cao Cao was secretly backed by the very main god they claimed to oppose: Indra.
Rod didn't know whether the rest of the Hero Faction knew about this, but it did spark a wicked thought.
If the others didn't know Cao Cao was Indra's pawn, maybe he could use that intel to fracture or just completely destroy the Hero Faction someday…
Still, it was just a passing idea. Rod didn't dwell on it for now.
If there were no mission rewards, he wasn't about to waste his energy.
"Oh, and one more thing, Rod! As punishment for disturbing my sleep, you owe your older sister a nice meal next time."
"Sure."
Rod didn't object.
"That's settled then!"
With that, Jeanne hung up without a shred of hesitation and promptly rolled back under her covers to continue sleeping.
"Alright, time to go out for a stroll."
With nothing pressing at hand, Rod looked toward Asia, who was quietly sitting in the living room like a well-behaved kitten.
He had originally planned to head to Kuoh Town with her to complete a system quest and jump into the High School DxD storyline from there.
But fate had dragged him into the conflict between the Five Great Clans and the other factions, completely throwing off his itinerary.
After last night's battle, it was likely that all the local factions would lay low for a while, which gave him a window to take Asia out for a walk.
Say what you will about Kyoto ,its sightseeing spots were genuinely top-tier.
The moment Asia heard they were going out, her eyes sparkled with joy.
While she used to be both curious and frightened of the outside world, now that Rod was with her, she felt like she could go anywhere without fear.
…
Rod quickly took Asia out on a shopping trip.
He didn't have a set destination in mind, but there was one thing he couldn't overlook ,Asia was still walking around in her nun's habit, which wasn't exactly ideal.
So he brought her to a clothing store and basically went on a shopping spree.
"That one, and not that one ,everything else, pack it up."
The shop assistant did a double take, thinking she'd misheard.
Asia, too, looked completely flustered. "Rod… I really don't need that many clothes. As long as I have something to wear, I'll be fine."
"Clothes make the man ,or woman, in this case. You should put a little effort into your appearance. Besides, walking around town in that habit attracts way more attention."
Rod smiled as he spoke.
"…Thank you, Rod. You're such a good person."
Touched by Rod's kindness, Asia's eyes once again welled up with tears.
But Rod's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Asia, don't ever call me a good person again."
"Huh? W-why not?"
"No reason."
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