Of course, everything Rod had said was nothing more than inspirational words. At his core, he was not all that different from Cao Cao.
But to Jeanne, who genuinely yearned to become a hero, Rod was undoubtedly a mentor guiding her along the path of life.
Since Rod had chosen to do this, he must have his reasons.
"Okay! I'll support you with everything I have!"
"Good. Now do the big pendulum dance for me."
"..."
In the end, Jeanne did not perform the big pendulum dance. It was not that she did not know how, but that she was too embarrassed.
And after Rod said that, the image of him as her good mentor shattered considerably.
She still trusted him, but she also realized that he was, after all, a youth in the prime of adolescence.
Boys his age really were far too curious about girls.
Since Rod had agreed to walk into the enemy camp alone, Jeanne prepared to take him to the place where she was supposed to meet Cao Cao and the others.
Before that, however, Rod triggered a randomly generated system mission in a Romanian city.
[Mission: Vampires]
[Objective: Investigate the vampire criminal organization that has recently become active.]
[Reward: Jeanne Affection +10, one random reward.]
Vampires again?
Rod raised an eyebrow.
He and vampires could already be considered old acquaintances. His first meeting with Jeanne had also happened because he triggered a mission to eliminate vampires.
The last time had been near the Vatican, while this time it was in Romania.
Of course, it was perfectly normal for something like this to happen here.
Romania was practically the homeland of vampires.
Unlike Devils and Fallen Angels, who lived in another world, vampires resided deep within remote mountains and forests somewhere in Romania.
They had built several cities there, protected by special barriers. They slept during the day and emerged at night, living on a schedule completely opposite to human society.
The mission in Kyoto was not urgent anyway, so Rod decided to take Jeanne along and beat up some vampires first.
The system map provided a clear route, leading them toward a multipurpose high-rise building in the city.
After Rod explained the situation, Jeanne stared at him in surprise.
"Vampires?"
She clearly remembered how she and Rod had first met.
Looking back on it now, she actually felt somewhat nostalgic.
As a descendant of the Saint, however, she naturally had no reason to refuse Rod's request.
After randomly selecting one fortunate passerby's car from the roadside, Rod opened the driver's door and sat inside.
Jeanne glanced at the ordinary man lying asleep beside the road and said helplessly,
"Is it really okay to do this?"
As heroes, weren't they supposed to avoid involving ordinary people whenever possible?
"What's wrong with it? We're about to save humanity."
Rod spoke matter-of-factly.
"Besides, this middle-aged white man reeks of capitalist energy from head to toe. Who knows how many corporate wage slaves are working themselves to death under him? People like this are parasites on society and vampires who feed on the world."
Capitalists were vampires too.
Flawless logic
Jeanne clearly accepted that explanation.
However, she suddenly became hesitant, fidgeting as though she wanted to say something.
"Um... could you let me drive?"
"..."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Rod watched the scenery flashing past through the corner of his eye, then glanced at Jeanne as she skillfully overtook another car.
"You're actually pretty good at driving."
Jeanne smiled shyly.
"I'm all right, I suppose. I haven't touched a steering wheel many times, though, so I've forgotten quite a lot."
"This is already better than a lot of people who call themselves experienced drivers."
Rod praised her sincerely.
"But weren't you always serving as a saint in a church before? When did you get your license?"
Jeanne's expression became even more bashful.
"I don't actually have a license."
"?"
...
In the end, Rod and Jeanne reached the vampire building without any major incidents.
Night had fallen, and the city lights were beginning to shine.
Rod looked up at the neon-covered skyscraper and sighed.
"Vampires are this flashy nowadays?"
"Flashy?"
Jeanne looked around but could not see any sign of vampires.
Only when she noticed Rod staring at the tallest building beside the intersection did surprise appear on her face.
"The vampires' base is here?"
"Yeah. This is the place."
"How do you know?"
Although night had already fallen, they were still in the heart of the city. Pedestrians filled the streets, and traffic flowed endlessly around them.
The vampires they had encountered near the Vatican had practically hidden inside an underground fortress. Even after finding the place, an ordinary person would not have been able to enter easily.
"Because I turned on my X-ray vision."
Rod stepped out of the car and swept his gaze across the building.
Several security guards carrying stun batons were patrolling inside, but judging from their auras, they were only ordinary humans.
According to the system map, however, every vampire marked with a red dot was gathered on the top floor.
Jeanne found Rod's answer baffling.
What did X-ray vision have to do with knowing that this was a vampire hideout?
Hiss...
Then she suddenly realized something and instinctively drew her body inward.
No wonder Rod's gaze had always seemed strange whenever he looked at her.
So it was because he had X-ray vision?
Although Jeanne certainly had considerable affection for Rod, the feeling of knowing she had effectively been naked in front of someone all this time was still rather different.
Of course, deep down, she also felt a tiny bit excited.
"What do we do next?"
Despite that excitement, Jeanne did not forget their mission.
"Relax. I've already devised a perfect plan."
Rod spoke with complete seriousness.
With the system guaranteeing the location, he did not have to worry about targeting the wrong place.
Under Jeanne's curious gaze, Rod walked straight toward the building's main entrance.
Jeanne hurried after him.
But when they approached the doors, she finally could not hold back.
"Wait, Rod. The people in the security office have already noticed us."
"Oh, you're right. This plan is still missing one thing."
Rod suddenly stopped.
Then he pulled a pair of sunglasses from his storage space and put them on.
He continued walking forward, his clothes fluttering dramatically in the night breeze. The sunglasses pushed his pretentious aura to its absolute limit.
Not only the security guards, even Jeanne herself stared at him in a daze.
The thing your plan was missing was a pair of sunglasses?
So pretentious!
But... so cool!
"Stop! What are you two doing here?"
One of the security guards stepped forward and shouted.
Rod ignored him and turned to Jeanne.
"My plan is simple. I'll enter from the roof, and you block the ground floor."
"The two of us will surround the entire building."
"Well then, goodbye."
The moment he finished speaking, Rod vanished from where he stood.
Jeanne was left alone in the wind, facing the aggressive security guards with a completely blank expression.
Meanwhile, using the Flight Technique, Rod easily reached the rooftop.
Before he even saw a single vampire, deafening rock music blasted into his ears.
Neon lights illuminated the entire rooftop.
Rod swept his gaze across the scene and clicked his tongue.
These vampires were throwing a party.
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