The days that followed were peaceful for once.
Xenovia and Irina Shidou took advantage of their vacation and had a great time all over Kuoh.
Although it was a little sensitive for Holy Sword wielders to be moving around Kuoh so freely, Rias knew the two of them were Rod's friends, so she turned a blind eye to it.
Because of matters in the Underworld, Himejima Akeno and Koneko also had no time to come over for training, which made things a good deal easier for the fallen angel trio.
Kuroka, however, was quite unhappy about that. Thanks to the fact that her identity had already been exposed, she now often ran out to hang around at the dormitory Koneko was renting.
When Koneko was around, Kuroka would stay there until late every night before finally coming home. She very much wanted to stay overnight with her little sister, but Koneko refused.
According to her, Kuroka was still under observation. If she could behave herself and stay out of trouble for a while longer, then Koneko would formally acknowledge her as her older sister.
Rod had also been fairly busy these past two days.
Not because he had any missions, but because he kept running over to Katerea's place.
"Rod, you're here."
Inside the private office, Katerea was going through documents. After sensing Rod's presence, she lifted her sharp face and gave him a slight nod.
What an act.
Rod laughed inwardly when he saw the way Katreya was putting on airs.
She certainly had not been this cold when she was bullying him in the workplace before.
Could it be that she had reached a woman's menopause?
Then again, while Katerea was already several hundred years old, for a long-lived race, that age was still only about equivalent to a human in their twenties.
Thinking about it that way, did that not mean Rias still counted as a baby?
In the end, age was just not something you could dig too deeply into.
As long as your mindset was young, you were young. Otherwise, how else could that certain old hag who was already tens of thousands of years old still shamelessly call herself a seventeen-year-old beauty every day?
Rod casually pulled over a chair and sat down. Looking around, he noticed that the decorations had all been replaced with new ones, and several more layers of barriers had been added to the office.
Only after Katerea finished dealing with the documents did she look toward him.
Without even glancing aside, she said sternly, "Creuserey came to see me last time and discussed the detailed battle plan for that day with me."
"As you suggested, I chose the second method and continued maintaining the original plan before betraying them. Creuserey did not notice anything unusual either, so the plan should succeed, right?"
"What do you mean, betray? I don't like the sound of that. This is called abandoning darkness for the light, while they're the real traitors to the people of the Underworld.
Think about it. Why are people willing to support Sirzechs and the others? Isn't it because the system they established benefits the people? You have to remember this: if you want to be a good queen, strength is only part of it.
What matters even more is the ability to govern. As long as your people can eat their fill, stay warm, afford a house, keep up a car, and even buy a luxury item now and then when they've got nothing better to do, then even if others want to deny you, your own people will stand up and object for you."
"When that time comes, won't the name Leviathan be completely yours in truth?"
Hearing that, Katerea fell into a long silence.
"Rod, you're right. I was too narrow-minded before. I thought that as long as I could defeat that thief, I would still be Leviathan. If not for you, then even if our plan succeeded, and we returned to Lilith and reclaimed the position of Maou, it probably would not take many years before a second Sirzechs or a second Serafall appeared."
Hearing that, Rod was genuinely surprised.
Had this woman actually come to her senses?
Could it be that after staying in that dried-up maiden state for several hundred years, her mind had finally started working properly too?
"Rest easy. Your original plan had a one hundred percent chance of failing."
He knew that in the original story, the only ones who had truly made a move were Azazel and Sirzechs.
Azazel had used an artificial Sacred Gear and still been forced by them to sacrifice an arm, while Sirzechs had never been serious from beginning to end.
As for Serafall, Grayfia, and Heaven's Michael and Gabriel, none of them had made a move at all.
At Rod's words, a trace of irritation appeared on Katerea's face.
She had only been making a comparison, so why did he have to tear her down like that?
Feeling frustrated, Katerea then borrowed wine from Rod to drown her sorrows.
Partly because she still felt some guilt toward Creuserey and Shalba, and partly because she wanted to celebrate in advance for the future success of the plan.
After several rounds of wine and food, Katerea's alcohol tolerance gave out, and she slumped against Rod like a boneless slime.
Her voice slurred as she said, "I'm drunk. Help me to the bedroom next door so I can rest."
Faced with a request from the future Queen Leviathan, Rod naturally did not dare refuse.
But the moment Rod locked the bedroom door behind them, he saw that Katerea, who had seemed dead drunk only a second ago, had already changed into the King's New Clothes.
The drunkenness on her face had long since been replaced by thick battle intent, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to swallow him whole.
"This time, I'm taking back everything I lost!"
Rod had never expected Katerea to start using tactics against him too.
......
By the time Rod got home, he rubbed his somewhat aching waist.
Although he had still won this battle in the end, Katerea's physique really was no joke.
Fortunately, he had only met one woman as ravenous as her so far. If all the descendants of the Old Maous were women, then sooner or later his kidneys were going to give out right here.
Thankfully, Katerea had told him not to come over during the few days before the plan was carried out, so as to avoid Creuserey and the others noticing even the slightest hint of anything unusual.
Rod felt that was probably unnecessary, but Katerea had become jumpy at the slightest sign of trouble.
After all, this concerned her future, so naturally she had no choice but to be careful, and then even more careful.
In the blink of an eye, the weekend arrived.
Kuroka, who often went out wandering, told him that quite a few Church and fallen angel presences had appeared around the borders of Kuoh.
Rod guessed that those people were most likely making preparations in advance for the upcoming talks.
The leaders of the three major factions had probably already been in contact.
Toward evening, a long luxury limousine stopped outside Rod's house.
Akeno, dressed in Kuoh Academy's girls' uniform, stepped out of the car, while the driver was a maid transformed from one of Rias's familiars.
"Mr. Rod, Rias and the others are already waiting for you at the restaurant."
Since they had arranged this beforehand, Rod had already made his preparations.
The fallen angel trio had no interest in going, since it had nothing to do with them.
Originally, Xenovia and Irina had not wanted to go either, but as involved parties, they had also received invitations.
"Why do we have to take a car, nya? Can't we just teleport over with a magic circle, nya?" Kuroka asked.
At that, Akeno gave a wry smile. "Teleportation circles are only something used for convenience in daily life. This time, it's a formal invitation."
"As the future head of the Gremory clan, Rias naturally would not slight everyone like that. If this were not the human world, she would have wanted to welcome Mr. Rod with the full etiquette of an Underworld noble."
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Read 40+ Advanced Chapters
p(a)treon.com/Shalltearr
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!