However, Suzaku quickly realized her lapse in decorum. She sat back immediately, the heavy atmosphere around her vanishing without a trace.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away and said too much. This has nothing to do with you, so you must think I'm a very strange woman now."
Suzaku looked directly at Rhode, her tone completely different from before—sincere and innocent. If Rhode didn't have a basic understanding of the Five Great Clans and didn't know that Suzaku wasn't some expert manipulator, he would have suspected she was trying to "gaslight" him.
But honestly, if it were anyone else being looked at like that by a beautiful girl, they might have blurted out their bank PIN just to please her. Rhode liked beautiful girls, but he wasn't someone easily swayed. If it weren't for the quest, he had no intention of interfering in another family's internal affairs.
"You provide the gold, I'll provide the muscle," Rhode said.
Upon hearing this, Suzaku nodded. "With those words, I know what I must do."
Reform required the use of external forces. However, compared to factions she had never dealt with, Suzaku felt Rhode was more reliable. After all, not everyone would be accepted by Lavinia.
Suzaku's mood gradually brightened, and she took the initiative to fill Rhode's cup with sake.
"So, what does Miss Himejima plan to do? I know a bit about the Five Great Clans. What you want to do isn't just difficult—it's nearly impossible."
"I... I plan to launch a reform from within. As long as I can change the mindset of the younger generation and wait for the current heads to retire so we can take over, the situation should improve greatly. There might still be some voices of opposition then, so I would ask for your assistance at that time."
Suzaku's meaning was simple. She knew reform required bloodshed, and the Five Great Clans had spilled enough blood over the years. Even when she became the head of the Himejima clan, there would inevitably be opposition when she tried to change the rules. It might even evolve into something like the Utsusemi organization. That was when she would use external force to silence them.
Rhode was her current partner.
"That's too slow." Rhode didn't drink the sake; it was too weak for his taste. "I know a better way."
"What way?" Suzaku asked curiously. Rhode had always been mysterious; perhaps he could offer a new perspective.
"It's simple. Just make those old fogies step down as quickly as possible. I'll help you kill them off, and then you can take over naturally, right? If there are still people who won't listen, I'll kill them too. As long as you pay me a satisfying fee, I guarantee I can clean it all up perfectly."
Suzaku's face was frozen in shock. It took a long time before she shook her head frantically, as if in fear. "No... no, Mr. Rhode. Isn't that approach a bit too extreme?"
She had never considered using such a method to rise to power.
"Extreme? I think it's highly efficient. Besides, isn't 'overthrowing the superiors' a tradition in your country?" Rhode shrugged.
The Okunoin had just been attacked yesterday, shaking the Five Great Clans. If they moved now, they could even pin the blame on the Fallen Angels or those witches. He felt his plan was absolutely perfect!
"It's still too aggressive."
Admittedly, after hearing Rhode's explanation, Suzaku felt a flicker of temptation. But the current head and the others were still of the Himejima bloodline. If the matter could be settled without bloodshed, that was for the best. If they followed Rhode's plan, too many people would die.
Suzaku hadn't expected such a "restless" heart to be hidden beneath Rhode's harmless exterior. If they actually did it, the Five Great Clans would fall into total chaos.
"Since you're unwilling, then never mind." Rhode felt it was a pity. If they had done it, the quest rewards would have been explosive.
"Thank you." Suzaku breathed a sigh of relief. She was truly afraid that the moment she agreed, Rhode would charge into the clan headquarters and slaughter the current head and elders. Although she hadn't seen him in action, the fact that he saved Lavinia from Augusta of the Purple Flames was proof enough of his skill.
"Suzaku, what are you two whispering about? Come eat with us!" Lavinia waved her glass, her eyes glassy as she stared at a patch of empty air.
"My apologies, she's making a scene," Suzaku said with a helpless look at her friend. "I'll be counting on you to look after Lavinia."
By the end of the meal, Lavinia was completely unconscious. Suzaku looked at her with pity. "Usually, Lavinia doesn't touch alcohol. But perhaps because of her master, she's hurting inside. Leaving this stifling Kyoto might not be a bad thing for her."
"By the way, Mr. Rhode, where do you plan to go after leaving Kyoto?"
"Just traveling around. My destination is roughly Kuoh Town." Rhode didn't hide his tracks; Suzaku would find out eventually just by asking Lavinia.
"Kuoh Town?" Suzaku's pupils widened as if she had discovered a new world. "You're actually going to that place?"
She didn't ask what he was doing there, assuming he had his own private reasons. But more than Rhode's business, she cared about whether her cousin, who had been gone for years, was doing well.
Years ago, the Himejima head had led a group and stopped at Kuoh Town. It was said that her cousin, Himejima Akeno, had been taken in as a servant by the devil ruling that town. Bound by the power of the Underworld, Suzaku's uncle had no choice but to drop the matter.
"Mr. Rhode, if possible, could you deliver a letter for me to someone named Himejima Akeno? As far as I know, she should be living in Kuoh Town."
[Himejima Suzaku has issued a quest to you]
[Quest: Deliver a Letter]
[Objective: Deliver Himejima Suzaku's handwritten letter to Himejima Akeno in Kuoh Town.]
*[Reward: Increase in favorability with Himejima Suzaku and Himejima Akeno, Random Reward 1]
Since it was a quest, Rhode had no reason to refuse. Besides, once he went to Kuoh Town, he was bound to get tangled up with Rias Gremory's group anyway.
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (117 Chapters – Ongoing)
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