Xenovia and Irina eventually dialed Griselda's number. After reporting the situation, they expected to be recalled immediately, but to their surprise, Griselda told them to stay in Kuoh Town.
"Why?" "Do we not need to return to report?"
Facing their questions, Griselda sighed softly. "It wasn't my request. However, after I reported the results of this matter to Lord Gabriel, she issued this order."
"As for the reason, Lord Gabriel revealed to me that because of this incident, the Fallen Angels have already entered private negotiations with Heaven. There may be a high-level meeting in the near future. You two will stay in Kuoh Town for now; you might be tasked as guards when the time comes."
"Understood."
Just as they were about to hang up, Griselda added one more thing.
"While you are in Kuoh Town, you must follow Rhode's commands. Do not cause trouble, understood? Rhode, if they do anything out of line, discipline them on my behalf."
Griselda didn't mince words, though her attitude was mostly that of an elder. She was most worried about Xenovia; her disciple was someone who hated evil with a passion, but Kuoh Town was the official territory of Devils. Furthermore, the upcoming high-level meeting signaled a special shift in policy. Griselda felt it was necessary to keep Xenovia in check, though she personally felt it would be better if they could be recalled.
After the call ended, Xenovia looked quite resentful. Since Griselda had spoken, she had no reason to refuse.
"Even though Lord Griselda told you to manage us, if you plan to order me to do something... impure, I have the right to refuse."
Rhode couldn't be bothered to respond. He decided right then that they could just sleep in the storage room tonight; there was no need to arrange proper bedrooms.
Late at night.
"You're actually making us sleep in a place like this?"
"What does it matter? At least it's better than sleeping out in the elements. Besides, there are floor mats. And if you hadn't said those things to Rhode, we wouldn't have ended up here, okay?" Irina was quite optimistic. At least Rhode hadn't kicked them out.
"Fine, it's my fault." Xenovia recognized her mistake and decided she would apologize to Rhode when she woke up tomorrow.
However, when she went to look for him the next morning, he wasn't home.
"Where is Rhode?" she asked the sleepy-eyed blonde witch, Lavinia.
"I don't know. But it's likely the same as before—he'll be back in a day at most." Lavinia had made the connection after waking up and finding her bedmate gone. There had been several times before where he suddenly vanished and then reappeared.
Five minutes earlier.
A freshly awakened Rhode had received a call from Jeanne.
"Hey, Little Rhode~ how does it feel to hear your big sister's voice after so long?" As soon as the call connected, Jeanne's affected tone came through the speaker.
"Are you excited? Having some naughty thoughts? It's only natural for a boy like you to be smitten with me."
"After all, my charm is enough to make any little boy swoon."
"Little Rhode, are you listening to me?"
Rhode waited for her to finish before putting the phone to his ear. "So, what do you want?"
"Still so cold. You're going to break my heart if you keep this up~"
"I'm hanging up."
"Eh? Wait, so impatient. I was just joking." Jeanne's voice returned to normal.
"I'm calling you this late because something is up. It concerns the future plans and policies of our Hero Faction. As you know, we are dedicated to protecting humanity, upholding justice, and acting as a community of shared destiny for all mankind..."
There followed a long string of boasts about the Hero Faction's righteous stance. Combined with the passionate tone Jeanne used when she was serious—and the hint of leadership charisma that could be felt even through the screen—Rhode felt that if he didn't already know what kind of people the Hero Faction were, he might have been brainwashed into a fanboy in no time.
"Hey, Little Rhode, are you there?"
"Get to the point."
"Alright. Actually, there's something I need to tell you." Realizing Rhode's patience was thinning, Jeanne stopped the nonsense and explained her purpose.
"To expand, our Hero Faction has been recruiting heroes from all over the world. However, not long ago, an organization called the 'Khaos Brigade' suddenly sent us an invitation, hoping we would join them."
The Khaos Brigade? This organization spanned the entire plot of the anime. Rather than being established by a single group, it was more like several organizations came together to form a mutual-aid agency. It was somewhat similar in nature to NATO or the Warsaw Pact.
"Khaos Brigade? Sounds like a terrorist organization," Rhode said.
"The name sounds like it, but it's not a terrorist group! Honestly, Little Rhode, don't always think the worst of things."
"You said our Hero Faction was a pyramid scheme before, too." Even over the phone, Rhode could imagine Jeanne's helpless expression.
"So, what's the specific situation?"
"It's like this: our Hero Faction appreciates like-minded partners, so we decided to accept the invitation and visit the Khaos Brigade HQ. Hehe, Little Rhode, don't be scared by what I'm about to say..."
At this point, Rhode didn't even need to think to know what was coming. From start to finish, the most impressive thing about the Khaos Brigade wasn't the organizations within it, but its nominal leader, "Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God."
"It's said that the leader of the Khaos Brigade is the strongest being in the world today—Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God!"
After saying this, Jeanne fell silent, seemingly giving Rhode time to process. About fifteen seconds later, her voice came through again: "How is it? Are you shocked? Actually, I was about the same when I first heard the news."
"But we didn't believe the Khaos Brigade had that kind of power right away, so Cao Cao sent several of us, including me, to visit their HQ. I immediately thought of you. You've been a member for a while now, yet you don't know any of your companions besides me."
"Of course, according to our previous agreement, if you don't want to come, you don't have to."
As her words fell, Rhode received a system notification.
[Jeanne has issued a new mission to you] [Mission: Travel to the Khaos Brigade HQ] [Target: "Confirm the existence of Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God"] [Reward: Jeanne Affection +20, Random Reward x1]
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (200 Chapters – Ongoing)
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