Rias's description was completely different from what Rod knew.
But with the Red Dragon Emperor nowhere to be seen even now, it wasn't surprising that Grayfia, who had only been a supporting character in the original work, had ended up with a changed storyline as well.
Time flowed by as swiftly as a white colt flashing past a crack.
Because they had arranged it in advance, Rias had brought prepared lunchboxes with her.
Asia and Lavinia, who didn't need to take part in the training, helped set up a sunshade, and once training paused, everyone gathered together to eat.
After lunch, everyone rested for a while, then resumed training.
Only when the sun was about to set did Rod finally announce that today's training was over.
The moment he heard that, Gasper felt as if he were hearing the music of heaven itself.
Afterward, Lavinia dispelled the barrier, and once Rod and Rias's group returned to Kuoh, they went their separate ways.
But before parting, Rias said to Rod, "I heard from Koneko that the house you bought may not have enough rooms anymore. If you don't mind, I can have my family's construction team come over and expand the interior space. Of course, there won't be any visible change from the outside."
When she said that, Rod suddenly remembered that in the original story, when Rias moved into the original protagonist's house, she had used that exact technique.
It just hadn't been important enough for him to think of earlier.
Since Rias had taken the initiative to offer, Rod had no reason to refuse.
After all, there would only be more and more beautiful girls in the house in the future.
...
Time soon reached the weekend of the second week.
In the first-floor living room, Kuroka was sitting on a floor cushion in cool, revealing clothes, staring at the television screen without blinking as she played a game.
Beside her was the fallen angel Mittelt, and the two of them were each controlling their own characters, fighting back and forth in a lively match.
Rod came downstairs yawning. Hearing the noise from the living room, he glanced over and saw that Kuroka had already changed positions. She was now lying down completely, a small pillow tucked beneath her neck, rolling left and right while mashing the controller.
At the sight of that, the corners of Rod's mouth twitched.
This cat's life had become even more comfortable than his lately.
Just as Rod was about to grab her by the scruff and teach her a lesson, someone else beat him to it.
"Kuroka, don't be so unashamed in here! Have a little restraint!"
"Hm? Oh, it's Shirone. Morning, nya."
Hearing her little sister's voice, the black cat tilted her head and blinked once in greeting, then immediately turned back to the television screen.
"Kuroka, don't you feel even a little ashamed?"
Dressed in casual clothes, Koneko caught sight of Rod with the corner of her eye, smiled politely and nodded to him, then immediately turned back to glare at Kuroka.
Her face was a mix of gloom and embarrassment.
"Nya? Shirone, wait a little. Mittelt and I are farming an important boss drop right now. Whatever it is, say it after I kill the boss, nya."
"I'm not stopping you from playing games, but you should at least help out with something."
"Huh? But I'm a cat, nya. Cats aren't supposed to do housework, nya."
Hearing that, Koneko froze, then her expression turned helpless.
"It dropped! It finally dropped, nya! All that gaming all night yesterday wasn't for nothing, nya!"
Kuroka let out a cry of triumph.
Mittelt turned her head and immediately saw Rod standing behind her. She hurriedly stood up, bowed, then rushed to tie on an apron and grabbed a mop to start cleaning.
"Big Sis, if you keep this up, I really am going to get angry."
Once Shirone learned that Kuroka had stayed up all night, the embarrassment on her face deepened.
Hearing that, Kuroka finally set down the controller, puckered her lips in a half-pleased, half-complaining way, and said, "That's because I don't really have anything to do all day, nya. And whenever I want to have a baby with Master, Shirone, you stop me. But I'm a cat, you know? If I keep suppressing my heat with Senjutsu for too long, it'll cause problems for my body, nya."
"That's way too improper, Big Sis! Mr. Rod would be troubled too!"
Koneko said coldly.
No, I wouldn't be troubled at all, Rod thought as he sipped his tea.
At the same time, he suddenly understood.
No wonder Kuroka had declared after Lavinia that she'd do a night raid on Rod, but nothing had happened even now.
So Koneko moving in had blocked her.
"But Shirone, that isn't something I can just control, nya. And it's not just me. Sooner or later, Shirone, you'll go through heat too, nya. It's just that you're still too young right now, so having a baby too early might cause problems for your body. That's why I wanted to test it out with Master first, then decide when it would be safest for you, nya."
Kuroka dropped that bombshell as casually as breathing.
As a cat yokai, she had lost both parents when she was young, and after fleeing the Underworld, she had lived a wandering life ever since.
Koneko, on the other hand, had been taken in by Rias and gone to school at Kuoh Academy, so the two sisters naturally had very different ways of thinking.
At those words, Koneko's entire face turned bright red.
But she also had no standing to directly deny Kuroka's claim.
After all, ever since accepting the power of her bloodline, she had occasionally noticed a strange feeling in her body. Since it disappeared quickly each time, she had never paid much attention to it, only now did she realize that it had something to do with the constitution she'd been born with.
"I'll endure it. You're the one whose willpower is too weak, Big Sis! And some of the things you say really don't inspire trust."
Hearing that, Kuroka spread her hands helplessly.
"This isn't something you can endure with willpower alone, nya. But whatever. You'll understand soon enough, nya."
Kuroka gave a bitter smile, her face practically saying, You really doubt me?
Then she turned toward Rod and put both hands on her hips.
"In that case, I'll just wait until Shirone isn't around and then find you to have a baby, nya! Oh, and just so you know, I'm from the no-underwear school, nya. I just keep it hidden with Senjutsu, so nobody notices."
"Big Sis!"
"Nya nya nya?"
Faced with Kuroka, who was completely shameless and unbothered, Koneko could only feel helpless.
Still, if it was truly consensual between the two of them, she had no right to stop it.
Giving up on trying to discipline Kuroka further, she walked over to Rod and said, "Mr. Rod, the President told me this morning that she has already formally requested a proper Rating Game with her fiancé from her family. The wager will be her engagement. If we win, no, the President said we will definitely win."
Rod wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Although their training time hadn't been especially long, each of them had improved a great deal.
Gasper in particular, after going through Rod's desensitization training last time, was already able to briefly activate his time-stop power.
That ability was practically a perfect mob grinder.
The moment it activated, even Upper-Class Devils would be frozen in time.
As for Riser and his peerage, their actual strength was quite mediocre. The only reason he had managed to rack up decent results was because he relied on Phoenix Tears during matches, along with his own immortal bloodline.
Most opponents were clearly stronger than Riser, but were still ground down and exhausted to death by him.
But once Gasper could use time stop, Rias and the others could eliminate their opponents in an instant.
Rias's meaning was naturally that she wanted to invite Rod to come watch, and he had already agreed.
Just then, the token in Rod's arms began to heat up.
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