By the end of the banquet, Kuroka tugged at Rod's sleeve and quietly asked when they could finally go home.
After all, sitting at the same table and eating with two Maou was still a lot of pressure.
"Look at you. You're not even afraid of those two, so what are you scared of? Where did all that courage go when you were hissing at me back then?"
"You raised it out of me, nya."
Kuroka was completely shameless about it.
Right now, all she wanted was to hurry back to her little nest.
But when Kuroka brought that up, Rod actually remembered something.
"Oh, right. Sirzechs, and Levi-tan, I want to discuss something with you."
Rod grabbed Kuroka by the back of the neck and lifted her up.
"Her name is Kuroka. She should still be an SS-rank wanted criminal in the Underworld right now. Do me a favor, can you revoke her wanted notice?"
"An SS-rank wanted criminal?"
Hearing that, Sirzechs frowned slightly.
There were many people on the Underworld's wanted list, but those ranked above S were not common, and SS-rank could be counted on one hand.
Seeing Rod casually expose her like that, Kuroka immediately lost even the courage to lift her head.
Koneko tensed up at once as well.
No matter what, Kuroka was still her real older sister.
It was one thing for her to act cold toward her normally, but if something really happened, she would be more heartbroken than anyone.
"Her name is Kuroka. You should remember her."
"Kuroka? So she's the little sister of little Rias's peerage member Koneko?"
Sirzechs knew his younger sister's situation quite well.
That included the composition of her peerage.
Yuuto Kiba was a victim of the Church's Holy Sword Project. Himejima Akeno came from one of Kyoto's Five Great Principal Families and also carried half-human, half-fallen-angel blood. Koneko, likewise, was a half-blooded cat yokai.
And back then, Koneko's case had caused quite a stir in the Underworld.
Her older sister had killed her own master and several colleagues before fleeing. Because the methods had been so vicious, she had initially been classified as an S-rank wanted criminal.
Several enforcement squads from the Underworld had been sent after her, and after one high-class devil was killed, Kuroka's bounty had been raised to SS-rank.
As for the work of those enforcement squads, Sirzechs and Serafall were not especially familiar with it. Or rather, that department's work was not directly managed by the Four Great Maou.
"Brother, I've already investigated this matter clearly. The reason Kuroka killed her master back then was because there were other circumstances. It's said that Koneko's master was carrying out a secret inhumane experiment at the time. Kuroka acted in a panic because she wanted to protect Koneko."
Rias knew about this matter too, and it happened to be a good chance to repay Rod a favor.
"Little Sirzechs, could it be that incident?"
As if suddenly recalling something, Serafall asked in surprise.
"Yes, it should be."
After nodding, Sirzechs revealed a bitter smile.
"In that case, once I return to the Underworld, I'll look into it in detail. If it's really true, I'll have Kuroka's wanted notice revoked."
"That works."
Rod nodded.
It was not being revoked on the spot, but it was basically a done deal now.
As for the way those two had suddenly started speaking in riddles, Rod could understand it too.
Back then, the Naberius branch family had been conducting research into Artificial Super Devils.
Because of the existence of Rizevim, Sirzechs, and Ajuka, some pure-blood devils had become extremely curious about those three exceptional devils.
That was why they had secretly carried out experiments into "Artificial Super Devils," trying to use human experimentation to enhance and alter devils' strength and see whether they could break past the limits of ordinary devils.
Later, however, that research had been exposed because of the Kuroka incident, and the current Maou government had shut down that taboo experiment.
Still, Rod seemed to remember that the research had later been taken over by some other organization, and near the end of the story there really had been several Artificial Super Devils.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with the current situation.
He then let go of the back of Kuroka's neck.
Kuroka was scared half to death, while Koneko let out a sigh of relief, overjoyed inside, and looked at Rod with eyes full of gratitude.
With the addition of the two Maou, the banquet finally came to an end in an atmosphere that was both tense and cheerful.
Akeno was responsible for seeing Rod and the others off.
Sirzechs did not return to the Underworld immediately. Instead, he watched the direction the car had gone in and said to Rias with a smile, "Mr. Rod really is an outstanding young talent. To have that kind of strength at such a young age…"
"And that blonde witch beside him isn't simple either. She seems to be the host of a Longinus~" Serafall said from beside him.
"A human being able to gather so many powerful companions around himself might make him a threat in the eyes of many people. But fortunately, his attitude toward our Underworld is fairly good for now. Otherwise, he would never have stepped in to kill Kokabiel back then."
"It's just that, apparently, he also has three fallen angel maids living in his house. That man's personality really is hard to read."
"It doesn't matter. As long as he keeps maintaining this kind of relationship with our Underworld, that's enough. By the way, little Rias, what do you think of Rod?"
Sirzechs changed the subject and asked his younger sister.
"Uh... does having a way of talking that makes people want to hit him count?"
Even though what he said was usually the truth, could he not say it in a slightly gentler way sometimes?
"I actually rather admire that part of him, his habit of speaking the truth directly. He lives freely and doesn't care about other people's opinions. But that's not what I meant. More accurately... what strengths do you think he has?"
"His strengths?"
Rias began to think.
"He's strong, straightforward, and his attitude toward us devils is fairly friendly. If you can figure out the way he thinks, he's actually pretty easy to talk to... Does being handsome count as a strength?"
Actually, Rias had originally wanted to say that he was gentle. Living in Japan, she had naturally been influenced by all kinds of anime and manga, and heroines were always praising the male lead for being gentle.
But on second thought, Rod did not really have anything to do with being gentle at all.
After all, a man who could be sharp-tongued toward a beautiful girl he had only just met, and even say she should come work at his house as a professional cook, was no matter how you looked at it not the gentle type.
"Mm... and what else?"
"Huh? That's all I can think of for now."
Rias could not understand what had gotten into her brother tonight.
She had known Rod for less than half a month. They had not even met five times in total, and Akeno and Koneko had spent more time with him than she had. How was she supposed to know that many of his strengths?
"What I mean is... compared to Riser from the Phenex Family?"
"Then of course I'd choose him."
Rias answered without a second thought.
But she quickly reacted.
Wait.
"Big Brother, what do you mean by that?!"
"I'm just asking. Don't take it to heart."
Sirzechs said with a smile.
But the smile on his face only made Rias more certain that there had definitely been a trap hidden in that question.
Could it be that he was trying to set her up with Rod?
Wait just a second!
She did not even know what kind of person Rod really was yet, so how could she possibly be that careless?
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