The moment Irina Shidou said that, Takumi shot back on instinct, "Not a demon. I'm a god, dammit!"
"..."
The four girls at the table instantly fell silent.
"Alright. You're still a demon, Takumi."
Quietly taking back what she'd just said, Irina turned her head away.
"Pff... hahah..."
Not long after, two suppressed bursts of laughter slipped out of Irina's mouth.
Koneko and Tsubaki also looked at Takumi, clearly trying not to laugh.
"Takumi-senpai... you're still pretty chuuni, huh."
"It's okay. Takumi-sama is still really handsome like this!"
Seeing Tsubaki actively trying to encourage him, Takumi was full of black lines.
Still, he really had gone a little chuuni just now. It was all Yuki Suou's fault.
After neatly dumping all responsibility elsewhere, Takumi acted like nothing had happened and changed the subject.
"So what exactly did you two come here for?"
Koneko and Tsubaki didn't hide anything and stated their purpose directly.
"Lady Rias and Lady Sona discussed it and decided they're still going to interfere in the Holy Sword situation. We want to work together with you and destroy the Excaliburs."
They looked toward Irina and Xenovia.
Hearing that, both girls widened their eyes in clear surprise.
"Then, Takumi-kun, you—"
"I just happened to pass by. I saw you two begging on the street with empty stomachs, so kind-hearted me treated you to a meal. My goal, obviously, is to make you call me Daddy."
"..."
"What's wrong? Not talking now? Is one meal not worth the word 'Daddy'?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. You're my daddy, and I'm your mom."
As his childhood friend, Irina snapped back at him without hesitation.
As for Xenovia, faced with Takumi being this unserious, she chose not to respond at all.
After a brief silence, she agreed to Koneko and Tsubaki's proposal to join forces.
Irina, however, frowned and voiced her objection.
"They're demons!"
"Irina, honestly, with just the two of us, reclaiming the three Excaliburs and fighting Kokabiel on top of that is too difficult."
"I know, but—"
"Our most basic mission is to destroy the Excaliburs and then escape back to headquarters."
Xenovia's next sentence cut Irina off completely.
With a serious expression, she continued, "Rather than letting the Excaliburs stay in enemy hands, it's better to destroy them ourselves. And even if we use our final option, the chance of completing the mission and getting back safely is only thirty percent."
Hearing that, Irina still frowned and argued back, "Didn't we already come to this country because we'd resolved ourselves to that and decided thirty percent was already high enough?"
"Yes. The people above us sent us out on this mission quite decisively. At this point, it's basically a suicide assignment."
Xenovia sighed, her expression complicated.
Irina's gaze, however, remained as firm as ever.
"For believers like us, isn't that exactly what we wished for?"
Xenovia turned toward her and spoke her true thoughts.
"I changed my mind. My faith is flexible. It always chooses the form of action that produces the best result."
Faced with that answer, Irina stared at her in silence for several seconds.
"Y-your faith is a little messed up!"
Xenovia didn't deny it.
She nodded seriously and said, "Maybe. But if we make it back alive, then we can continue fighting for the Lord, can't we?"
"What you're saying isn't wrong, but..."
Even though what Xenovia was saying felt vaguely off to Irina, there was no denying she'd been persuaded.
Just when she was mounting her last bit of resistance, Xenovia turned to look at Takumi.
"So I don't plan to borrow the power of demons. In exchange, I need the help of your childhood friend."
Xenovia fixed Takumi with the most serious look she'd worn all day.
"You're unaffected by the power of Holy Swords, and crosses don't restrain you either. Even if the files say you carry demon blood, the reality is that you are definitely not a demon. At the very least, you can't be treated as one."
Taking a sip of juice, Takumi shrugged.
"So?"
"We need your help. You have power that can rival a Demon Lord, don't you? If we have your strength, destroying the Excaliburs should be easy. I believe this meeting, too, must have been the Lord's guidance!"
The more Xenovia spoke, the more excited she became, her eyes practically glowing.
In her mind, this encounter with Takumi was Heaven guiding lost lambs back toward the right path.
Takumi, seated right in front of them, was the assistance they needed.
Xenovia's words also caused Irina to fall silent.
She tacitly accepted that conclusion, then turned toward Takumi with a hopeful look.
When it came to this childhood friend she had once loved back in their younger days, Irina still carried a distinctly complicated kind of affection.
If it was him, Irina felt like she could lower her bottom line quite a bit.
Yet Takumi, facing the expectant eyes of both girls, remained perfectly calm.
"If this is a transaction, then if you want me to put in work, what exactly are you offering in return?"
"Ah— in return? Don't you want the Holy Swords destroyed?!"
"What do I care about Holy Swords? Didn't you already see they have no effect on me?"
"But you're also Irina's childhood friend. Are you seriously just going to stand by and do nothing?"
"Are you trying to guilt-trip me?"
Takumi raised a brow and looked at Xenovia with a cold gaze.
That one response instantly shut her up.
Koneko and Tsubaki also said nothing, merely watching from the side.
Rias and Sona had both specifically instructed them to show Takumi proper respect.
No matter what he chose to do, they were absolutely going to stand on his side.
Irina, still seated in her chair, looked visibly unsteady. Pressing her lips together, she said, "T-Takumi-kun... what do you want? As long as it doesn't violate my faith, I can..."
As she said that, her face flushed red, as though she'd just imagined something extremely not safe for children.
Hearing those words, Takumi let out a breath and said, "I'm not trying to make things hard for you. No matter what, Irina is still an old friend of mine."
As soon as he said that, the tension in the air eased a little.
Just as Xenovia and Irina were beginning to feel relieved, Takumi turned to Xenovia.
"My request is simple. Let me see your Holy Sword. And after that, I want to examine the other Holy Swords your Church has as well."
Takumi tapped the table and stated his terms plainly.
He intended to copy the Church's Holy Swords.
Once he gathered all seven, he could forge his own Excalibur.
And even ordinary Holy Swords were still quite powerful.
If he could mass-produce them later, he could hand them out to his own followers.
The moment Takumi laid out those conditions, Irina Shidou and Xenovia's expressions changed dramatically.
If you said it was too much, all he wanted was to look at them, not take them away.
But if you said it wasn't too much... he wanted to see all of them.
Those Holy Swords were the Church's treasured relics. There was no way they would ever let some outsider examine them freely—least of all Takumi, who, at least on paper, was a demon from the Underworld.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.