After that, Akeno briefly explained the flow of a noble-style welcome ceremony.
A ceremonial cannon salute was a must. There also had to be a red carpet no shorter than a hundred meters, and on both sides of it there had to be formally invested devil knights standing with longswords in hand. At the rear of the welcoming procession, there also had to be maids and butlers, and only at the very end would the host, Rias, step forward to deliver her words of welcome.
In short, it was a huge hassle.
Akeno had seen it a few times before, back when Rias had to return home during summer and winter break.
The first time she saw it, she was deeply shocked.
She was only going home, yet the display was grander than receiving a head of state.
But since they were hosting here in Kuoh, all sorts of procedures could only be simplified.
After hearing it, Rod could not help feeling that this was the kind of scene that only appeared in one of those absurd rich-protagonist novels.
But on second thought, with the power of the Gremory clan, if they were placed in the human world, they would already count as rulers of a nation, and the feudal kind at that, Kings who stood above all.
Thinking of that, Rod could not help sighing inwardly. Comparing people really did make one furious.
He had been here for so many years after transmigrating, and he still had not achieved financial freedom.
Sure, his savings had already reached seven digits, but in those international metropolises, that might not even be enough to buy a single villa.
Meanwhile, Rias had been born into financial freedom. Forget a single house, her allowance alone was probably enough for her to open a real estate company for fun.
But then, when he thought of Xenovia and Irina, those two poor souls who worked even harder than 996 corporate drudges, Rod's mood immediately balanced out again.
The car drove smoothly all the way to the hotel entrance, hitting green lights the entire way.
Normally, all sorts of vehicles belonging to different members of society would be parked outside this hotel, but tonight it was especially empty. There was only this one car.
"This hotel actually belongs to the Gremory clan. Rias is the owner here, so she notified the staff long ago to book the whole place out."
Akeno explained with a smile.
"She's really that rich?!"
"One night of eating here must cost several hundred, right?!"
Looking at the splendidly decorated hotel before them, Xenovia and Irina were openly envious.
Whenever they went out to eat during missions, they only dared ask around for the cheapest place they could find.
At that, Akeno let out a soft laugh.
Still, there was no contempt in her heart. She simply found the two of them rather interesting.
Kuroka had by now been passed into Lavinia's arms. Her big round eyes darted everywhere. As a cat, she did not care whether Rias was rich or not. All she cared about was where her younger sister was.
Lavinia did not care much either. The only thing she cared about was what they were going to eat next.
At the thought of that, saliva began secreting in the girl's mouth all on its own.
But then she remembered that today was Rod's stage, so she quickly straightened out her thoughts. She could not embarrass Rod out here.
After all, this was not home.
"Found little sister!"
Kuroka spotted several figures appearing beyond the hotel's main entrance. The moment she locked onto the shortest one, she immediately slipped out of Lavinia's arms and dashed over in a blur.
"Shirone, big sis is here, nya!"
Kuroka traced a perfect arc through the air as she pounced toward Koneko, who was in school uniform. But the latter very clearly showed an expression of extreme disdain on her face, and did not even raise a hand to catch her. She merely shifted lightly to one side, causing Kuroka, who had been aimed straight at her, to miss completely and plunge headfirst into a potted plant.
Yuuto glanced at Kuroka behind them, who was struggling to pull herself back out, and could not help asking, "Is this really okay?"
"It's fine. Don't bother with her."
Koneko said expressionlessly.
Rias did not pay it any mind either.
At the moment, she and the others were all dressed in Kuoh Academy's girls' uniforms.
The specially tailored uniform fit the girl's figure perfectly. The hem of her skirt swayed with the breeze as she walked, and the cinched waist design outlined her slender waist beautifully. The white lace trimming at the cuffs was just right.
Even though the uniform design was not revealing in the slightest, it still could not hide Rias's strikingly ample chest.
Wrapped beneath the fabric, it looked even fuller, and the contrast between her slim waist and her impressively developed chest outlined a breathtaking S-curve.
At the same time, the legs beneath her skirt were long and straight, her skin fair and smooth, as though covered in a soft sheen.
If there was one difference from usual, though, it was that her ordinarily loose red hair had been tied up in a ponytail, making her look both youthful and spirited like a girl her age, while also giving off a mature and captivating charm.
Besides Rias and her peerage, there were also two people present whom Rod had met once before.
They were Sona Sitri and her Queen, Tsubaki Shinra.
Compared to Rias, the former's figure could only be called ordinary, though from the perspective of a normal person, it still counted as perfectly appropriate for someone her age.
Of course, because Rod's eyes were so often treated to far more imposing sights, his standards were naturally higher than the average man's.
So when he saw Sona Sitri, Rod gave a slight shake of his head.
For a devil, her figure was just too plain.
By contrast, Tsubaki Shinra, standing beside Sona Sitri, had a rather good figure. Though she could not compare to Rias or Akeno, she was at least enough to catch Rod's eye.
Rod remembered that Tsubaki, like Akeno, was also a child of one of Kyoto's five great principal families. But because a Sacred Gear dwelled within her body, she too had been ostracized by her family.
Of course, compared to Akeno's fate, hers counted as fortunate.
At the very least, she had left of her own will and had never been hunted down.
Rod's automatic targeting went unnoticed by everyone, and that was all thanks to the sunglasses he had put on before leaving the house.
At home, staring at them all he liked was one thing, but outside, he naturally had to pay some attention to his image.
"Welcome, Mr. Rod. Because of the limitations of the venue, this is all we could manage. Please forgive the inadequacy."
Though Rias's words were quite formal, the smile on her face came straight from the heart.
By now, Rod's status in her mind was no lower than that of those pure-blood noble clan heads in the Underworld, if anything, it was even above theirs.
Not only because he had saved her life, but also because of the strength he had displayed when he acted.
The Underworld had always been trying to model itself after the human world, but its fundamental logic had never changed.
If your strength was great enough, then you would earn everyone's respect.
The current Four Great Maou held their positions precisely because they were the strongest devils in the Underworld.
"Welcome, Lord Rod. I trust you still remember me. I am the next head of the Sitri clan, Sona Sitri."
Sona did not use the alias she went by in the human world. Instead, she introduced herself with her true name.
That alone was enough to show the respect she had for Rod.
"Mm."
Rod nodded.
Then, seeing that both Rias and Sona were waiting for him to speak, he cleared his throat and said, "Since it's come to this, let's eat first."
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