Rod noticed a faint, refreshing fragrance drifting from beside him while he waited for the food to finish cooking.
Lavinia had taken the initiative to sit next to him on the park bench.
She then pulled out a cup of yogurt from a plastic bag and handed it to him. While they were shopping earlier, she had bought quite a few dairy products. It was obvious that she truly enjoyed them.
"What flavor do you like, Rod? I only bought strawberry and mango."
"Either is fine."
"Then strawberry it is. I like strawberry too."
Lavinia took out the yogurt with the red packaging, inserted a straw, and pierced the seal.
"Asia and Kuroka are still at the shop ahead, trying to decide which flavor to buy. Personally, I think if it's hard to choose, you might as well just buy all of them."
"That's true."
Rod casually replied.
"About what happened last night…"
After finishing about half the yogurt, Lavinia opened the conversation herself.
"Was I too rough?"
Rod recalled what had happened in bed the night before. It hadn't gone anywhere near that far, so it shouldn't have been a problem. He had considered Lavinia's limits.
"That's not what I meant."
Lavinia immediately remembered the scene from last night and her face flushed with heat.
Although she usually felt no embarrassment being naked in front of Rod, after actually doing that kind of thing, emotions she normally overlooked began to surface.
"I was talking about Vali. I think he definitely recognized me yesterday, but I still don't understand why he suddenly ran away."
"So I've been thinking… maybe there are reasons why Vali can't meet me. And during the years he disappeared, he must have suffered a lot. That child has always been like that, never eating properly and always snacking on unhealthy food. Even with a strong body, he wouldn't be able to keep that up forever."
Rod listened as Lavinia shared many stories about Vali.
There were even quite a few amusing anecdotes that never appeared in the anime.
After hearing everything, Rod arrived at a conclusion.
Vali might look like a cold, stoic guy, but in reality he was the classic type, cold on the outside, warm on the inside. A guy who liked to act cool.
"I want to meet Vali face to face," Lavinia said. "I want to hear his reasons directly from him."
After saying that, she looked at Rod with sparkling eyes.
"Rod, can you help me?"
"I can, but it really feels like you treat the White Dragon Emperor like your little brother, or even your son. Honestly… the two of you look more like a mother and son."
"Huh? Is that so? Maybe you're right. Vali didn't have parents, so back then I always wanted to help him somehow. I know that feeling better than anyone."
Although Lavinia had biological parents, they died in an accident when she was young. If her master Glenda had not taken her in, her life would have turned out very differently.
"If I run into him again, I'll just drag him over so the two of you can talk it out."
That wouldn't be difficult.
Rod remembered that during the upcoming Three Factions meeting, Vali would appear together with Azazel.
There would probably be an opportunity then.
"Thank you, Rod!"
Lavinia smiled brightly, her expression blooming like a flower.
"With our relationship, you don't need to thank me so formally."
Rod shrugged.
"Mm… you're right. Do you think we could be considered family from now on?"
Lavinia looked at him hopefully. Deep down, she had always longed for family.
After her parents died, she had found some comfort under her master Glenda's care. But what Augusta once said had shattered that illusion.
Most witches were simply people who pursued power at any cost.
Her master was no exception.
…
The group stayed in the park until the afternoon.
After returning home, the girls each went to clean up. At that moment, Rod received a phone call from Griselda.
She got straight to the point without any pleasantries.
"Rod, I checked the timing and realized Xenovia and Irina should have already arrived in Kuoh Town. If you have time, could you go pick them up? I tried calling them, but neither of them answered."
Griselda sounded rather helpless.
She expected Rod to respond quickly, but several seconds passed with no reply. It made her feel slightly uneasy.
"Did something happen?"
"Yes."
Griselda's heart tightened.
She had been closely monitoring the Kokabiel situation. Kuoh Town's situation couldn't be good, and it was only a matter of time before Kokabiel made his move.
To be honest, she still felt that the Church had sent far too little reinforcement.
If Gabriel had not forbidden it, she would have personally gone there already.
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you, Kokabiel was already dealt with last night. A lot of things happened, so I forgot to inform you."
After Rod said that, it was Griselda's turn to fall silent.
And this silence lasted even longer than any of the previous ones.
At that moment, in Heaven's administrative office, Griselda stared blankly ahead.
What?
Kokabiel, the fallen angel leader recorded in the Bible, had been defeated?
Even if she fought Kokabiel herself, her chances of winning were only about forty to sixty.
In actual combat, it might even be lower.
Xenovia and Irina were among the Church's most outstanding Holy Sword wielders.
But even if the two of them fought together, their chance of surviving against Kokabiel would be less than twenty percent.
Even if Rod were added to the equation, the total probability probably wouldn't even reach forty percent.
And yet… she had just slept for one night, and Kokabiel was already gone?
"Did the Underworld intervene? The clues Kokabiel left behind were too obvious. If we could notice them, the Underworld should have taken action as well."
"No. And I don't think the Underworld knew before Kokabiel attacked."
Even if his brother-in-law Sirzechs wanted to train his sister Rias, he wouldn't pick an opponent that far beyond her level.
If no powerful figure had been present, Rias could have been killed instantly.
Not to mention that Kuoh Town also had Sona Sitri.
Sona had an extremely protective sister, Serafall. If she found out about something like this, she would skip every procedure and teleport straight to Kuoh Town.
She might even declare war on the fallen angels on the spot.
"Then who did it? None of the Seraphs from Heaven descended… wait… don't tell me you're saying it was you?!"
Griselda was stunned.
If Rod could even defeat a ten-winged fallen angel executive like Kokabiel… just how far had his strength grown?
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