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Early morning, Yasaka Shrine
At the breakfast table, the blonde fox-eared girl Kunou sat hugging Kuroka in her cat form, glaring fiercely at Rias, who was seated beside Ryo.
Meanwhile, Kuroka, taking full advantage of how convenient her cat form was for sneaking around and "stealing homes," also put on a vicious expression in cooperation with the clueless little fox girl.
"Meow! (I'm super scary!)"
Rias only smiled brightly. She picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks, supported it with her hand underneath, and brought it to Ryo's mouth.
"Ah~"
Ryo ate the tamagoyaki in one bite, narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, and laughed. "I didn't expect Yasaka's cooking to be this good."
"Of course!" Hearing someone praise her mother instantly made Kunou forget all her earlier unhappiness. She proudly lifted her chin high into the air.
Seeing the little fox girl in shrine maiden clothes acting so smug, Ryo wiped his mouth with a hot towel and couldn't help chuckling.
Just then, the door slid open and Ajuka walked in with Akeno.
"Oh? Breakfast already? So it's that late..." Having stayed up all night, Ajuka rubbed his brow with visible surprise in his voice.
At the same time, Akeno, carrying a thick stack of documents, secretly shot Rias a meaningful look.
'So? Did you succeed?'
Rias immediately averted her eyes and pretended not to notice.
Even someone like her couldn't withstand the embarrassment of being questioned by her childhood friend about whether she had successfully seduced a man.
Unfortunately for her, that guilty reaction basically confirmed everything.
Akeno's lips curled higher and higher until she wore the grin of an auntie enjoying juicy gossip first thing in the morning.
Damn it...
The moment Rias noticed Akeno's smile, she became so embarrassed she could barely sit still.
Ryo, however, paid no attention to the silent exchange between the girls and instead looked directly at Ajuka. "You seem to have had a rough night. Honestly, you should really find a wife to take care of you, Ajuka."
"Women only slow down my thinking speed." Ajuka adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
The lenses reflected light so brightly that his eyes vanished behind a white glare.
"Since everyone's gathered, let's discuss the post-alliance issues involving the Three Factions."
As he spoke, Ajuka walked over and sat beside Ryo, while Akeno stood behind Ryo like a secretary, holding the documents.
At the moment, due to the lack of manpower, Akeno had temporarily taken over the role of Ryo's assistant.
Of course, exactly when the manpower shortage would end depended entirely on when Ryo finally decided to let her go.
While flipping through the documents Akeno handed over, Ryo said casually. "For you to come looking for me this early in the morning, the problems must be pretty serious."
"Ryo-san... The three factions have blood feuds going back ages. Mediating them and suppressing the war fanatics is already a nightmare." At that point, Ajuka removed his glasses and slowly wiped them with a handkerchief, his tone full of resentment. "And only now have I realized that among the Three Factions, the only people actually doing real work are me and Shemhazai."
Ryo couldn't help smiling.
Still, Ajuka wasn't wrong.
On the devil side, among the Four Great Satans, Ajuka was the only one handling administration and operations. Serafall was in charge of diplomacy, Sirzechs focused on training and maintaining overwhelming military strength, while the last Satan handled military affairs and stayed away from day-to-day management entirely.
The angels were even easier. Most of them lived ascetic lifestyles like monks. They had few desires and even fewer problems. Any one of the Four Archangels could spend a few hours and clear away almost all routine matters.
Then there were the fallen angels.
An absolute circus.
Azazel spent his days wandering the world, sleeping around wherever he went. Naturally, nobody could say that openly.
Officially, it was: "Governor Azazel constantly concerns himself with the development of the fallen angels, actively discovering and nurturing Sacred Gear users, making tremendous contributions toward the future of the faction."
Anyone with half a brain could tell what kind of nonsense that statement really meant.
So with Azazel refusing to handle actual work, most matters on the fallen angel side were managed by Shemhazai, with Baraqiel assisting him.
The problem was that fallen angels became fallen angels because of their desires in the first place, so almost every one of them was a born troublemaker.
Rebelling against superiors, acting first and reporting later... those were practically racial talents for them.
"You want to say the fallen angels are the biggest headache," Ryo said knowingly.
"Pretty much." Ajuka sighed helplessly. "The angels are the easiest. As long as the Four Archangels appear in person, most people obey immediately. The devils are a little troublesome, but because of the command issued by Grayfia, most pureblood nobles are willing to support your rise."
"But the fallen angels..."
At this point, Ajuka glanced toward Akeno, "You want to explain, or should I?"
"I'll do it."
Akeno pulled out another thick stack of papers and handed them over gently. "This is the list of opposition members."
Ryo glanced at the stack, which was about a finger thick, then immediately flipped to the back to check the total count.
"Good lord. Ninety-five percent oppose me? And they all want Azazel back in charge?"
He paused, "Speaking of which, where is Azazel?"
"I suggest sending someone to Tokyo's Shinjuku red-light district," Ajuka replied expressionlessly. "Ask around which middle-aged guy spends money most generously. You'll probably find him."
"Fair enough..." Ryo shrugged.
He didn't really expect much from a retired former governor anyway. The fact Azazel occasionally revealed his whereabouts at all was already impressive.
Flipping through the names, Ryo muttered. "The people supporting me are basically all direct subordinates of Azazel and Shemhazai. But my approval ratings at the Fallen Academy are actually pretty good? Wow. So aside from the younger generation, the rest are basically beyond saving?"
With that, he tossed the documents aside and spread his hands. "I'm honestly tempted to abandon every fallen angel except the young ones. I'm not interested in recycling garbage."
If the location had been appropriate, Ryo would have loved to throw these idiots straight onto Mars in Little Garden and let them fence with the Greeks so they could experience firsthand the despair of desires.
"The Fallen Academy isn't completely stable either," Ajuka added. "Shemhazai rushed over there last night to calm things down, but a few troublemakers are still acting up pretty badly. I suggest purging them early. That place is basically your core support base among the fallen angels."
Ajuka gestured toward Akeno again. Understanding immediately, she pulled out another file and handed it to Ryo.
Ryo lowered his head, read it once, and burst out laughing. "The current White Dragon Emperor, Vali Lucifer? He's the loudest one causing trouble?"
"He personally requested a duel with you to determine ownership of the Governor-General position," Ajuka said coldly, obvious hostility in his tone. "But honestly, I think he's just a battle-crazed idiot looking for a fight."
A descendant of the original Lucifer hidden among the fallen angels for years.
Bearer of the Longinus Divine Dividing.
Azazel's adopted son.
A possible candidate for Governor-General.
Good grief. What exactly were the Old Satan faction trying to do?
Did they secretly have descendants hidden among the angels too? The Greeks? Hindu mythology? Mount Meru? Were they planning some grand comeback where all their hidden heirs suddenly emerged to claim their thrones?
"By the way," Ajuka added unhelpfully, sounding half like he was relaying a challenge and half like he was provoking Ryo himself, "their deadline is two days."
"So before I can even start working, I have to suppress all these troublemakers first?"
Ryo grinned, lifted Vali's file between two fingers, and burned it to ashes with a flicker of flame.
"Prepare the car. Take me to meet these adorable little rebels."
"Oh, and bring Ophis too."
A dangerous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm really looking forward to seeing how many unlucky idiots she can lure out."
"That fake rumor about Ophis entering a weakened state..." Ajuka stood up and sighed. "You're even more devious than Azazel."
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