Ten minutes later, Asia woke up. Hearing movement in the room, she propped herself up. Still suffering from a bit of morning lightheadedness, she sat there for a while, eyes bleary.
Instead of the church dorm she'd lived in for over a decade, she saw a luxurious presidential suite. Not far away, Rhode was sitting at a table, eating breakfast and scrolling through his phone.
Seeing her wake up, Rhode turned around. "Go wash up. Breakfast is ready."
Rhode was a lazy man when it came to chores; he hadn't cooked for himself in years. Breakfast had been delivered by the hotel staff—nothing fancy: dumplings, buns, bread, just a simple home-style spread.
"Oh." Asia's face turned pink. She realized she'd slept in and worried that Rhode would think she was lazy.
She got off the sofa and carefully folded the blanket. Feeling the lingering warmth, she remembered her bold behavior from the night before. She was relieved he hadn't done anything, but a part of her felt a strange, inexplicable restlessness. She pushed the feeling deep down.
After breakfast, Rhode told Asia to get ready while he went into another room to call Jeanne. The phone rang for a while before someone picked up.
"Hello?" a weak, groggy female voice answered.
"It's Rhode."
"Oh."
"I made contact with the Oz witches yesterday. Unfortunately, their leader Augusta is dead. By the time I tried to find the rest, they had already retreated. I don't know where they went."
Rhode told the truth but omitted the most critical details. He couldn't exactly tell Jeanne that he was the one who wrecked the witches' plan and killed the Hero Faction's potential allies. That would get him labeled a traitor instantly.
"Mmm..." Jeanne still sounded half-dead.
"That's all I have. Anything else?"
"..." A long silence followed before Jeanne's voice came through, sounding ghostly. "I say... do you have any idea what time it is?"
Rhode checked his watch. "9:00 AM."
"It's 2:00 AM here! Little Rhode, let's make a deal. No matter how much you miss your big sister, don't call me this late, okay? Lack of sleep makes a girl's skin sag."
Rhode could easily picture her pouting with messy hair. "What about the witches?"
"If they failed on their own, that's their problem. They were just one option for the Hero Faction. It's no great loss."
"Listen, Little Rhode. Even if you're a bit of a loner in the Hero Faction, remember our goal: we fight for the peace of humanity. We will pay any price to challenge the gods and buddhas, to prove that humans can do what they do—and even what they can't do."
Jeanne's voice had taken on a fanatical edge.
"Hello? Little Rhode, are you listening? Hello?"
"I'm here, I'm here."
Rhode had set the phone down the moment she started her long-winded speech and only picked it up when she stopped. Even from a distance, he could hear the cult-like fervor. The Khaos Brigade really was just a giant pyramid scheme.
The whole "proving ourselves to the gods" thing was hard to take seriously, considering the Hero Faction's leader, Cao Cao, was literally being funded by the god Indra. Rhode wasn't sure if the others knew that. He wondered if he could use that information to split the faction later. But for now, it was just a thought—no quest, no reward, no effort.
"Oh, and Little Rhode—as punishment for waking me up, you have to buy me a meal next time we meet."
"Fine," Rhode agreed.
"Bye-bye!" Jeanne hung up and immediately dove back under her covers.
"Let's go out for a bit," Rhode said to Asia, who was sitting obediently in the living room.
He had originally planned to head straight to Kuoh Town to finish a system quest and enter the main storyline, but the Five Great Clans' drama had derailed him. Now that things had settled, he could take Asia out. Kyoto had plenty of sights to see. Asia's eyes lit up; she was curious and scared of the outside world, but as long as Rhode was with her, she felt safe.
Rhode took her out quickly. He felt that her nun habit was impractical and stood out too much, so he took her to a clothing store.
"This one, that one... not that one. Wrap up everything else."
The clerk thought she had misheard. Asia was terrified by the sheer volume of clothes. "Mr. Rhode... I don't need this many! Just something to wear is enough."
"Clothes make the man—or the woman. You should dress up a bit. Besides, walking around in a habit is way more conspicuous than wearing these."
"Thank you, Mr. Rhode. You really are a good person." Asia's eyes grew misty again at his kindness.
Rhode's expression turned serious. "Asia, don't call me a 'good person' ever again."
"Eh? Why?"
"Just because."
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (117 Chapters – Ongoing)
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