At home, Rod sat with his fingers interlocked beneath his chin, his expression solemn.
Across from him, Xenovia and Irina were currently devouring two bowls of ramen like starving wolves.
"So what you're saying is that, in the span of just a few kilometers, the two of you managed to spend all your money and buy this completely useless painting?"
Beside Irina stood a half-human-height oil painting of a saint, conspicuously eye-catching.
According to Irina herself, it was an authentic painting of a saint. The problem was, she couldn't even identify which saint was on it.
"Don't drag me into this. It was entirely because Irina is too stupid and got scammed! Who in their right mind would believe this thing actually depicts a saint?!"
"What are you talking about?! It is a saint!"
After swallowing a mouthful of noodles, Irina immediately slammed her chopsticks down and shot back.
"Then do you even know who it is? I have absolutely no memory of any saint looking like that!"
Xenovia refused to back down.
"Maybe Saint Peter?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Since when did Saint Peter look like that? There are statues of him all over the Church!"
"No, it is him! That is Saint Peter!"
Watching Irina argue until her face was red and her neck stiff, Rod was pretty sure she already knew she'd been scammed. Her pride was just too strong, so she could only keep insisting she was right.
"Why is my partner someone like you? Lord… is this too another trial You've given me?!"
Xenovia grabbed her hair and scratched at her increasingly numb scalp.
"Hey, don't be like that, okay? Once you start sinking into despair, it lasts for a really long time."
"Shut up! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be like this! As expected, Protestants really are heretics. You have absolutely no respect for saints!"
"What?! It's clearly you rigid, stubborn Catholics who are the real problem!"
"What?! You damned heretic!"
"What, you want to fight?! Heretic!"
The two girls butted foreheads together like enraged bulls in heat, leaving Rod and the girls beside him staring blankly.
Kuroka, on the other hand, was giggling nonstop.
Who would've thought they'd get free comedy like this?
"Are they really okay like this?"
Asia asked worriedly.
It was her first time seeing two companions quarrel so fiercely.
"Just daily routine. They'll be done in a second."
Rod shrugged.
And just as he said that, the two girls immediately turned around and resumed inhaling the remaining ramen because they still weren't full.
Five minutes later,
"Haa… I'm so full. Still, the fact that I was saved by a Fallen Angel… maybe the end of the world really is near."
Xenovia looked at Raynare, who was dressed like a cook, and shook her head as she spoke.
"Hey! It's bad enough that you stuffed yourself without even saying thank you, but now you're badmouthing me behind my back too?! If you didn't want to eat, then hurry up and spit it all out for ol, me!"
Grace and manners had never really had anything to do with Raynare.
Her everyday display of cultured refinement existed only in front of Rod. As for outsiders, especially Church people, the three Fallen Angels had no goodwill whatsoever.
Asia was the only exception.
"Hoho, thank you for the meal. Xenovia just doesn't know how to speak properly, so I hope the three kind-hearted Fallen Angels can forgive her."
Irina crossed herself over her chest.
"But speaking of which, I didn't expect you to own a house in Kuoh Town too, Rod. You definitely bought it with the fee the Church paid you, right? And you're even keeping so many women at home. Just like I imagined."
"Rod, you're not part of the Church, so I have no authority to interfere in your private life. But as your friend, I still have to remind you that non-human races are not trustworthy. If you really want women, there are plenty of outstanding human women."
Xenovia said this with complete seriousness.
"Clearly I shouldn't have let the two of you eat your fill."
If Rod didn't know their natures weren't actually bad, he would have thrown them out already.
Seeing Rod's expression shift slightly, Xenovia, afraid he might really go tattling to Griselda, immediately changed the subject.
"Let's talk business instead."
"Our basic mission is still to recover the three Holy Swords. At the very least, we must destroy them with our own hands. But honestly, if Kokabiel discovers us during the operation, the consequences will most likely be severe. Since you arrived before us, Rod, have you already grasped the basic situation here?"
After Xenovia finished speaking, she waited for Rod's reply.
Instead, she saw his expression turn strange.
"So Griselda didn't tell you two about the Holy Swords?"
"What?"
The two girls looked puzzled.
Rod then briefly explained the current situation.
Xenovia, Irina Shidou: "(ΩДΩ)"
After hearing it, the two of them didn't know what to say for a moment.
They had only been one day late, and the mission, which had less than a thirty percent success rate and a high likelihood of ending with them dead in a foreign land, had already been completely handled by Rod alone.
The feeling was like aliens had invaded Earth, humanity had united to drive them off, and only after everything was over did they wake up.
"Why didn't you wait for us?"
Xenovia rubbed her temples.
"If I'd waited for you, the lilies would've been cold long ago. And don't think I don't know what the two of you were planning. You were definitely thinking about cutting me out of the remaining fee and secretly snatching the Holy Swords yourselves."
"Well…"
The two girls' eyes drifted away after being called out so accurately.
Still, they were deeply shocked that Rod had single-handedly recovered all the Holy Swords and even dealt with Kokabiel.
Especially Xenovia, who had originally thought Rod's strength was about on par with theirs.
She hadn't expected that, without her even noticing, he had already left them this far behind.
"Putting everything else aside, Griselda couldn't reach you, so she asked me to look after the two of you after you arrived. Now that the mission is over, what are you planning to do?"
The two girls looked at each other.
Everything had happened so suddenly that they really hadn't thought about it.
As Holy Sword wielders, their duty and responsibility had always been to carry out the missions assigned by the Church.
Other than normal rest time, every moment of their lives was either spent carrying out missions or traveling to carry out missions.
"Forget it. Ask her yourselves."
Rod had no intention of worrying about this for them. He simply tossed his phone over and left them to solve it on their own.
Watching the two of them hesitate over whether to make the call, Rod's mood suddenly became a little strange.
After all, in this part of the original storyline, Xenovia learned the truth that God was already dead, despaired, and felt that her life had no future at all.
Rias then took advantage of that moment, lured her in with all sorts of favorable conditions, and turned her into one of her own peerage.
But now, not only was the Boosted Gear gone from Rias's team, but Asia and Xenovia hadn't joined either.
Somehow, Rod felt just a tiny bit sorry for her.
That thought, however, was quickly thrown aside.
Rias had lived far too comfortably in the original story. By doing this, he was actually whipping her into becoming more ambitious.
This was for Rias's own good.
Rod felt like he was one hell of a saint.
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