Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but It's High School DxD

"Young Lady, we can't just reveal our identities to these humans. That would violate the rules we signed with the Five Great Houses in the past!"

The guards spoke anxiously.

"What rules? Those awful exorcists love bullying us every other day. But I heard other yokai attacked them last night, so they don't have time to bother with us now!"

Kunou pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Besides, Asia isn't an ordinary person either, right? I saw on TV that she seems to be a saintess from some very, very distant country."

The guards were left speechless. However, they knew they could never win an argument against their young lady, so they wisely chose to remain silent.

They only needed to ensure the young lady's safety.

At the same time, their gazes remained fixed on Ren.

On the surface, he appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary person, yet whenever he looked their way, they felt a chill run down their spines.

The moment this man showed any unusual behavior, they would immediately take the young lady away.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey went quite smoothly. The young lady and the foreign girl got along wonderfully, and their laughter often rang out from the group.

Meanwhile, Ren pondered the information Kunou had revealed.

It was not difficult to see that the deaths of Inugami Gyobu and Onra had caused a huge chain reaction in Kyoto's yokai world.

That was why she had gotten the chance to sneak out of the yokai world and play in the human world.

After all, the Five Great Houses surely had no energy to spare for the local yokai at a time like this.

Happy times were always short-lived.

Kunou and Asia, who had only just met, had already become good friends. They even agreed to play together again next time.

Unfortunately, Ren had not received an invitation from Kunou by the time it was over.

So he would not be seeing that great nine-tailed fox after all.

But Ren soon remembered that the treasure box he had retrieved from the Inner Shrine still contained the sealed remains of a great fox yokai.

He wondered which was stronger, her true form or Yasaka's.

As for Shuten-doji and Ootakemaru, just hearing their names made it clear they were not good people. He needed to find a way to deal with them.

Besides that, there was also the Sacred Gear that had dropped from Jaucusta.

To increase his combat strength, Ren felt it was necessary to refine that thing into something truly his own.

The only reason he had not used it yet was that he had absolutely no idea where to begin.

Equipment dropped by natives was completely different from equipment directly issued by the system.

The latter could be used the moment it was taken out, while the former required patience, talent, effort, and more.

With those questions in mind, Ren and Asia ended their day's outing.

The next day, someone knocked on the hotel room door from outside.

Suzaku Himejima's Request

After opening the door, Ren saw a pair of beautiful women.

He had met both of them before.

One was Lavinia, whom he had only recently parted with. She was still dressed like a magician, with a pointed hat and white robe. Fortunately, the chest of her robe was fully covered now instead of featuring that hollowed-out design that exposed her cleavage.

The slit in her skirt only reached around her knees, though she still wore black stockings that reflected a delicate sheen.

The other girl surprised Ren somewhat.

Suzaku Himejima, the heir apparent of the Himejima Family among the Five Great Houses. Logically speaking, after something so serious had happened at the Inner Shrine, she should have been at headquarters directing the Himejima Family's exorcists and the others in rebuilding it. How did she have time to come here with Lavinia?

Oh no!

Could Lavinia have leaked his identity?

After all, when he saved Lavinia, Ren had taken off his glasses.

Even if he were exposed, it would not matter since he had done nothing bad. Still, if his disguise had been seen through after only one night, that would be utterly ridiculous.

In truth, Suzaku Himejima had two reasons for coming with Lavinia.

After Lavinia returned to the Inner Shrine yesterday, Suzaku Himejima had asked about the outcome of the battle.

Lavinia might have been a little absentminded and naturally airheaded, but she was not stupid.

Since she would be living under someone else's roof in the future, she naturally had to follow certain rules. Thus, she did not reveal that Ren was the mysterious man with glasses.

She only said that he had saved her, without adding a single unnecessary word.

Suzaku Himejima had come partly because she wanted to see Ren again and determine whether he was the mysterious man with glasses, and partly because she wanted to thank him personally.

After all, Lavinia was her friend, and since she was about to leave, Suzaku naturally had to come see her off.

"Mr. Ren, it's good to see you again."

Suzaku Himejima wore a casual red outfit. Bright red was a color most people struggled to pull off, yet it seemed perfectly natural on her and gave her a unique charm.

As she spoke, she carefully observed Ren's every movement.

Her time with that man last night had been brief, but he had left a deep impression on her. Even if he turned to ashes, Suzaku Himejima would recognize him.

Yet although Ren gave her the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before, Suzaku Himejima's instincts told her that the man before her and the person who had saved her last night were completely different people.

Whether it was his demeanor or appearance, everything was utterly different from what she had seen last night.

In fact, not only Suzaku Himejima—even Lavinia felt that Ren was completely different now from when he wore his glasses.

Even magic could not help her tell the difference. She could only marvel at how vast the world was and how many strange things it contained.

"Although you broke the agreement between us, you did save my friend Lavinia. For that alone, I must personally thank you."

"It was nothing. Helping others is a traditional virtue. When I was young, I was a model student of advanced civilization at school."

Neither of them had heard of such a thing, but it was not hard to understand that he was probably bragging.

After confirming that Ren was not the man with glasses who had defeated Satanael last night, Suzaku Himejima set aside her other thoughts. "Won't you invite us in to sit?"

Inside the hotel room.

Suzaku Himejima had relaxed her posture by then, no longer wearing the stern and aloof demeanor she showed outsiders.

"Lavinia has been lonely and helpless since childhood. I'm truly worried about her leaving this time, so please take good care of her, Mr. Ren."

Even now, Suzaku Himejima did not understand why he was willing to take Lavinia in.

But since Lavinia herself had not said anything, Suzaku had no intention of making decisions for her friend.

"Why are you saying that, Suzaku? I'm an adult too. Even on my own, I can take care of myself."

Lavinia spoke with some dissatisfaction.

Why did everyone see her as a child?

"You have the nerve to say that? You're always so absentminded, and what is with a girl like you constantly wearing this outfit?"

"I'm a magician, so dressing like this is perfectly fine. Besides, this kind of outfit can enhance my magic power, and in an emergency, I can immediately enter battle."

Lavinia retorted.

"That's exactly what I mean. You're always so careless about your daily life. You're clearly such a beautiful girl, yet you dress so plainly. You need to treat yourself better in the future."

Suzaku Himejima had long grown accustomed to Lavinia being like this. She could only sigh and offer one final piece of advice.

"As a farewell gift, let me treat everyone to a simple meal one last time."

Not only in East Asia, but everywhere in the world, people handled such things much the same way. When a friend was about to leave, the only proper send-off was a shared meal.

Soon, the group arrived at a private dining room reserved by Suzaku Himejima.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes.

Perhaps because they had drunk some alcohol, Suzaku Himejima and Lavinia both had a faint flush of intoxication on their cheeks.

Asia sat somewhat stiffly, drinking her beverage by herself.

Facing these two older sisters, the girl felt immense pressure.

But at that moment, Suzaku Himejima suddenly said, "Mr. Ren, you probably think the Five Great Houses aren't a very good place, don't you?"

Without waiting for Ren's response, Suzaku Himejima continued, "But those are rules the Five Great Houses have followed since ancient times. I once had important family members too, such as my adorable younger cousin and my beautiful aunt. But because of the family rules... I lost them."

A sorrowful expression appeared on her face, her eyes filled with regret and guilt.

"Even now, I regret that I couldn't save those two. If I had possessed greater power and talent, Akeno and my aunt would not have ended up like that..."

Why did that sound strangely familiar?

You're too weak. You lack power?

Just as Ren was about to make a snide remark, the system's voice rang out in his mind.

[Suzaku Himejima has issued you a quest]

[Long-Term Quest: Reform of the Himejima Family]

[Objective: Assist Suzaku Himejima in changing the Himejima Family's current state and correcting the rules established by the Five Great Houses.]

[Reward: Will be determined based on your influence over the event]

Suzaku Himejima's eyes hardened with resolve. "Mr. Ren, I want to change the Himejima Family's current state. To do that, I believe it doesn't matter if I need someone's help."

Suzaku Himejima's entire face began moving closer to Ren's.

Ren was instantly "shocked." Did beautiful girls really lose control after drinking these days?

But he had only met Suzaku Himejima three times. Was this really appropriate?

At the very least, he had to tell Asia to close her eyes first.

I Have a Plan

However, Suzaku Himejima quickly realized she had lost her composure.

She immediately sat back down, and the atmosphere she had been giving off just moments ago vanished without a trace.

"I'm sorry. I got carried away and said so much just now. This matter has nothing to do with you in the first place, so you must think I'm a very strange woman now."

Suzaku Himejima stared directly at Ren. Her tone was completely different from before—sincere and pure.

If Ren did not know a little about the Five Great Houses and know that Suzaku Himejima was not some veteran manipulator, he would have thought this woman was deliberately trying to manipulate him.

But honestly.

If it were someone else, with a beautiful girl looking at them and speaking like that, they would probably be coaxed into revealing even their bank card password.

Ren liked beautiful girls too, but he was not someone who could be easily manipulated.

If not for the quest, he had not intended to interfere in someone else's family affairs.

"You provide the money, and I'll provide the effort."

Ren said.

Upon hearing that, Suzaku Himejima nodded. "With that one sentence from you, I know what to do."

Since she wanted reform, she could not avoid using external power.

But compared to forces she had never dealt with before, Suzaku Himejima felt Ren was more reliable.

After all, not just anyone could be accepted by Lavinia.

Thinking of that, Suzaku Himejima's mood gradually brightened. She then took the initiative to fill Ren's cup with sake.

"So what does Miss Himejima plan to do? I know a little about the Five Great Houses. What you want to do won't be easy."

"I... I plan to carry out reforms from within. As long as we can change the ingrained ideas of the younger generation, then once the current heads of the Five Great Houses step down and we young people inherit their positions, this situation should improve greatly. There may still be some opposing voices by then, and when that time comes, I'll have to trouble you to take action."

Suzaku Himejima's meaning was very simple.