The next morning.
Rod glanced at Lavinia, who was curled up beneath the covers and fast asleep, and let out a heartfelt sigh of admiration.
Back then, that spur-of-the-moment decision to take this girl away from Kyoto had truly been one of the best choices he had ever made.
Airheaded, strong, considerate, and completely unbothered by the ever-growing number of girls around Rod.
Of course, that also had a lot to do with how Rod had saved her back then.
And if Augusta had not given him that final assist from her master at the end, letting him slip in while the opportunity was there, then wanting to develop his relationship with Lavinia to its current stage probably would not have happened even after dozens of chapters.
Perhaps sensing Rod's movement, Lavinia slowly woke up.
The moment she saw Rod, a bright smile bloomed across her face.
"Good morning, Rod."
"If you're tired, sleep a little longer. You don't need to go out training for the next few days."
The progress bar for the Balance Breaker of his Longinus, Incinerate Anthem, was only short by the last few percent. Even without sparring with Lavinia, it should still reach one hundred percent before the three-way faction talks began.
The only thing he needed to worry about now was making sure the appearance of his Longinus's Balance Breaker did not go in a weird direction.
After all, being strong only mattered for a while, but being cool was a lifelong matter.
"Okaaay~"
After saying that, Lavinia closed her eyes again.
Not long after, Rod could hear the faint sound of soft snoring.
Although Lavinia's period still had not passed, Rod's "return gift" last night had still left her limp as mud, and she clearly had not fully recovered yet.
After getting up, Rod put on his clothes, walked out of the room, and casually closed the door behind him.
Before he had even gone downstairs, he heard noisy arguing coming from the first floor.
Xenovia and Irina were pressing their foreheads against each other like two rams in heat locked in a contest of strength.
Kuroka, in her black cat form, had both paws clamped over her ears.
The moment she saw Rod appear, she cried out in complaint as if she had just been rescued.
"These two are way too noisy, nya! Can't you throw them both out, nya?!"
After a brief explanation, Rod quickly understood what had happened.
Xenovia and Irina had disagreed over where to go during their vacation.
Xenovia wanted to visit some of the local sights, while Irina was more inclined to head to a lively shopping street.
"I seriously don't understand why they're even arguing, nya. If they want to go to different places, then they can just split up and go separately, nya!"
"Huh?" x2
The two church girls, who had been butting heads, both turned at the same time to stare at the yawning black cat as though they had just heard something shocking.
"That... is actually a solution."
"Then why didn't we think of that earlier? Xenovia, this is all your fault for not realizing it sooner and making us argue for so long!"
"You still dare blame me? If you hadn't kept repeating that you absolutely had to go shopping at the mall, I wouldn't have argued with you in the first place. You're the one who's too stubborn! People from the Protestant Church are such a hassle!"
"What's that supposed to mean?! Catholics who only know how to let outdated rules tie them down are the real problem!"
"What did you say, you damned heretic?!"
"Oh yeah?! Heretic!"
"Nya! They started again, nya!"
Kuroka hurriedly covered both ears again. Even with a cat's face, she somehow managed to look profoundly pained.
Cats hated noise, and even becoming a yokai had not changed that instinct.
Rod, however, was long used to it. The two of them fighting like this was something that happened every few days.
But despite how red-faced and heated they got, it never affected their friendship.
At first, Rod had found it strange that Griselda had paired the two of them together as partners, but after seeing them quarrel so many times, he finally understood.
Theirs was the sort of bizarre relationship where the more they argued, the closer their friendship became.
"Um... could you two stop arguing..."
Unable to bear watching anymore, Asia said timidly.
"If you really want to go out, then maybe you could visit the sights first and then go shopping afterward?"
At those words, the two of them finally stopped.
Xenovia and Irina turned together to look at Asia.
Under that aggressive double stare, a trace of nervousness appeared on Asia's delicate face.
"You're Asia, right? We've stayed here for a few days already, but we still haven't properly greeted you."
"When we were on the phone before, Sister Griselda specifically instructed us not to discriminate against your existence. We don't know why you, as a saint, were expelled, but if Sister Griselda said that much, then there must be reasons behind it that people like us can't reach."
At that point, Xenovia and Irina looked at each other.
"When I first saw you, I was even thinking about how to deal with you, the witch, but because of Rod I forgot all about it. Even though I never acted on it, I still feel guilty about having thought that way. And to slander a saint like that in my heart was truly sacrilegious. Asia Argento, would you be willing to forgive us?"
After saying that, the two of them bowed in apology.
Asia, seeing them act so formally, immediately looked flustered and at a loss.
She turned back and looked at Rod as if asking for help, but Rod only gave her a firm look in return.
Some things were better handled by herself.
"I... I really don't mind at all. And right now, I'm going through a trial given to me by God, so it's only natural that you didn't know. And... because of that trial, I also met many important people. They've let me experience a kind of happiness different from the happiness I felt while helping others in the Church. Maybe that is what God wanted to teach me."
Asia said this with a smile like that of the Holy Mother herself.
Seeing that, Xenovia and Irina smiled as well, finally letting out relieved breaths.
Rod's own expression, however, was complicated.
Because God had truly existed here, the faith of the Church's believers was a hundred times firmer than that of the believers in the world before his transmigration.
And the three girls before him clearly truly regarded God as the spiritual pillar and support of their lives.
Especially Asia.
She had been taken in by the Church from childhood, raised and educated within it, and her faith in God was so unwavering that even in the original story, after becoming a devil, it had never once faltered.
And Asia becoming a devil had never been her own wish.
If Asia had been conscious back then, then no matter how much Rias invited her afterward, she definitely would not have been willing to become a devil.
But the news of God's death could not be hidden forever.
At the upcoming three-way talks, there was a very high chance that Michael and the others would reveal the truth that God was dead during the meeting.
Rod had no idea what kind of expressions Xenovia and Irina would wear when they heard that news while serving as guards.
He was not exactly the type who knew how to comfort people with words.
"Um... if you want to go out, then... would you like to come with us?"
Asia asked with a bright smile.
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