Since Odin had hired Rod as his bodyguard for this trip, it was only natural for him to come to Rod's house to discuss their plans.
The moment he saw Rod living together with so many girls, however, the old god's eyes nearly turned green with envy.
He immediately started ranting that once he got back, he was going to live together with all the goddesses too.
The result?
Rossweisse smacked him over the head with her folding fan right in front of everyone.
"Odin-sama! If you keep this up, I'll report every single thing you've done here to Lady Frigg without leaving out a single detail!"
"I-I was only joking!"
Odin instantly wilted before quickly changing the subject.
"Rossweisse, you're just too serious. That's why you've never been able to find a man!"
In response, Rossweisse merely sneered.
By now, even she had figured it out.
Whenever Odin found himself in the wrong, he would immediately bring up the fact that she was single in an attempt to throw her off balance.
She had almost gotten used to it over the past few days.
Yes, it was true that she didn't have a boyfriend.
But that had absolutely nothing to do with Odin's shameless behavior.
Watching Odin deflate like a frostbitten eggplant, the girls meeting him for the first time couldn't help feeling curious.
Even the Chief God of the Norse pantheon was afraid of his wife?
Although they all wanted to continue gossiping about the subject, Odin clearly had no intention of letting it continue and hurriedly motioned for Rossweisse to get to the main topic.
"Rod-sama, this morning we once again received another death threat from Loki-sama."
"Was it delivered while you were in the Underworld?"
Rias asked.
"Yes."
Rossweisse nodded.
"But... you should've been under heavy protection last night. How did he still manage to..."
"That's perfectly normal."
Rossweisse's expression grew solemn.
"Loki-sama excels at illusion magic, deception, and trickery. He is also an exceptional master of Rune Magic. Ordinary security measures simply cannot stop him."
"And besides, he didn't come in person. If it's merely a weak avatar, no one would notice."
Rod asked curiously,
"So what did the message say?"
Rossweisse answered in a low voice.
"Loki-sama warned Odin-sama not to have any further contact with the Biblical Faction."
"Otherwise... he will immediately begin Ragnarök."
"And if Odin-sama insists on continuing down this path, he will join forces with the Frost Giants and the gods of other worlds to completely destroy Asgard."
"So what's your plan?"
Rod continued.
"I..."
Odin spoke with obvious bitterness.
"I intend to continue negotiating with the various factions."
"Ragnarök is one of the destined processes of Norse mythology. It is a future that cannot be avoided."
"But since even Devils and Angels have managed to forge peace, I've been wondering whether Ragnarök itself might also be avoided."
"The problem is right in front of us."
"If Loki wishes to, he can trigger Ragnarök ahead of time."
"Even if he fails, Asgard will still suffer tremendously."
Silence settled over the room.
Even Rias and the others couldn't think of any advice.
After all, this concerned the survival of an entire mythology.
None of them dared offer suggestions lightly.
After waiting for quite a while without hearing Rod speak, Odin looked at him in confusion.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
"What exactly am I supposed to say?"
Rod asked in surprise.
"Give me some advice."
"...?"
Only then did Rod finally understand.
So Odin had come here hoping he could tell him how to prevent Ragnarök.
But how would he know?
If he could casually stop Ragnarök himself, then what was the point of having an entire Norse pantheon full of gods?
So Rod simply shook his head.
"My job is only to protect you from Loki."
"If you're looking for advice on saving Norse mythology, you'll have to ask someone else."
"Aren't you already negotiating with the Three Factions?"
Odin understood.
Even so, he had hoped to hear another possible solution.
Seeing that Rod truly had no answer, he stopped pressing the matter.
Yet the worry on his face only deepened.
Because of both his own actions and the growing opposition within his homeland, he had begun wondering whether there was something fundamentally wrong with the way he ruled.
But every time he thought about the future of Ragnarök, he became convinced that simply following the predetermined cycle wasn't enough.
He wanted to carve out a new path for the next generation.
Rod could see the bitterness in the old man's eyes.
For all his shamelessness, Odin truly was thinking about the future of Norse mythology.
"Come on."
Rod suddenly said.
"Tonight we'll take a trip to the geisha district in the neighboring city."
"Oh? Now that's a wonderful idea!"
The instant he heard those familiar words, Odin immediately perked up.
Rias looked completely bewildered.
How had they suddenly gone from discussing battle plans to that topic?
Rod calmly explained that visiting the geisha district was merely part of the plan to lure Loki into making another move.
Although every ounce of common sense told Rias that probably wasn't the real reason, there wasn't a better plan available at the moment.
That afternoon, just as everyone was preparing to depart, Rod welcomed two groups of reinforcements.
"Yo, Rod! We're here!"
"We heard Odin-sama might come under attack, so Lady Gabriel specially sent us to help protect him~"
Irina and Xenovia descended into Rod's courtyard, their angelic wings gently beating behind them.
The other arrival was a man dressed in a black coat with an expression as cold as ever.
The White Dragon Emperor, Vali.
Standing beside him was another man with short hair, wearing leather armor and simple cloth garments.
Around his waist was a tiger-skin skirt, and on his forehead rested a headband that looked strangely familiar to Rod.
"Va-Kun, you're here~"
The moment she saw him, Lavinia beamed with delight.
Without the slightest hesitation, she walked over and gently patted him on the head.
The gesture instantly shattered Vali's carefully maintained cool demeanor.
All the sharpness and dignity he'd carried with him vanished in an instant.
"L-Lavinia..."
"D-Don't pat my head in front of so many people..."
His face turned bright red as he instinctively tried to dodge.
Instead, Lavinia simply tilted her head in confusion.
"Why not?"
"I've always done this."
"And if you hadn't shown up soon, I was planning to ask Rod to take me to find you."
She spoke as though no one else were present.
Vali could only smile helplessly.
Against anyone else,
Even a god,
He possessed the courage to challenge them.
But in front of Lavinia...
He would always be the little boy she had once looked after.
"White Dragon Emperor."
Rias spoke coolly.
"Weren't you still under supervision? Why are you here?"
"Hmph."
"That's not very polite, Va-Kun."
Lavinia gently scolded him.
"When someone asks you a question, you should answer properly~"
Although Vali clearly didn't feel like explaining himself, he still answered under Lavinia's gentle gaze.
Just as Rod had guessed...
He was here for the exact same reason.
To serve as one of Odin's bodyguards.
The proposal had come from Azazel.
He suggested letting the White Dragon Emperor protect Odin and repel Loki as an opportunity to atone for his previous crimes.
With Azazel personally guaranteeing him, Gabriel, Sirzechs, and the others had ultimately agreed to the proposal.
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