Reincarnated into a Multiverse, but High School DxD

Besides, nothing weird had been done to her.

"I'm so hungry, Ren. Is there anything to eat?"

Lavinia's stomach suddenly let out a puppy-like whine. She held her belly and looked at Ren expectantly.

"There should be. I already told those three Fallen Angels yesterday."

Ren nodded, his rolling eyes still fixed on Lavinia.

He honestly wasn't quite sure how to interpret Lavinia's attitude toward him.

He had saved her life, and after becoming homeless, she had agreed to leave Kyoto with him. Every night, she would somehow end up in his bed after supposedly getting lost on the way to the bathroom.

Even as a transmigrator, Ren couldn't help wondering whether this woman liked him.

Even so, he had not taken that final step.

After all, who knew what this airheaded girl Lavinia was thinking?

They had only known each other for a few days. If he couldn't hold back and tried to tear through that last layer of window paper, and Lavinia resisted before then, their relationship might never go back to what it was.

Even in the world of High School DxD, building a harem had to follow the basic rules.

After all, this was just an ecchi series, not hentai.

Of course, for the sake of his physical and mental health, Ren had not truly kept his distance from Lavinia and pursued some dramatic romance like in a school dating drama.

Though he could not be too direct for now, he could still slowly boil the frog. Maybe after a few more days of rubbing against each other, they would end up in bed.

"I'm going to change."

Lavinia climbed out of bed, yawning as she walked.

The oversized shirt hung loosely from her body, while the tiny shorts she had been wearing had somehow disappeared into some unknown place again.

"Eh? Miss Lavinia."

"Good morning, Asia."

"G-Good morning, but... why are you wearing Mr. Ren's clothes?"

"This one? I don't know, but if you like it, I can give it to you..."

"Um, really?! No, I'd better not!"

Asia was instantly overjoyed, but when she saw Ren come out of the room, she quickly swallowed the words back down.

The first-floor living room was already filled with the fragrance of food.

The table was laden with a dazzling variety of dishes.

Besides the classic toast, milk, and jam, there were even Chinese breakfast items like soup dumplings and fried dough sticks.

There was even appetizing vegetable soup and meat soup.

"Good morning, Master!"

Mittelt, dressed in a maid outfit, smiled as she greeted Ren.

"Master."

Kalawarner silently straightened up and gave a slight bow.

The curve she displayed while bending over was exceptionally rounded.

"What are you two standing around for? The shumai are coming out of the steamer. Hurry up and bring them over."

An irritated voice came from the kitchen.

Raynare was wearing casual home clothes with an apron tied around her front, an iron ladle in her right hand.

When she saw Ren, her expression quickly softened. "Master, breakfast is ready. Since I didn't know what everyone liked, I made a little of every common kind of breakfast. If you don't like it, I can make something else, but we're running low on ingredients at home. We may need to make a trip to the supermarket today."

Ren was quite surprised by that.

"You made all of this?"

"Yes, Master."

When Raynare nodded in confirmation, Ren was instantly stunned.

He had thought the three Fallen Angels had slacked off and ordered takeout. He had not expected her to handle everything herself.

"Where did you learn this?"

Ren asked curiously.

Hearing that, Raynare seemed a little embarrassed. She scratched her cheek and said, "I usually like studying cooking. And cooking for myself saves money, so I gradually learned a lot."

"Mm-hmm, Raynare isn't much good at anything else, but her cooking is delicious! I think being a Fallen Angel doesn't suit her. I suggest she become a chef or open a little shop of her own."

Mittelt chimed in, earning a glare from Raynare.

It was because every one of the companions she had found was more unreliable than the last.

How was becoming a chef or opening a restaurant supposed to help her improve?

"Not bad. You'll be the head maid from now on."

Ren had not expected that a moment of kindness would land him such a treasure.

Without Raynare, they would not even know what to eat for three meals a day in the future.

Upon hearing that, Raynare instantly stood at attention and straightened her back.

But she quickly came to her senses.

Something was wrong here.

He had forcibly beaten her into becoming his slave, so why was she feeling grateful to him?

Hah!

She Was the One Who Started It

With Raynare, a professional cook, Ren had finally established himself in Kuoh Town.

After breakfast, Raynare and the others finished the housework and headed to the city to buy ingredients for the next few days.

Asia and Lavinia sat on the sofa watching television, while Ren took the opportunity to check the Balance Breaker progress of his Longinus.

In less than two days, the Longinus's progress had only reached around five percent.

"This speed... is a little slow."

Ren frowned slightly.

While being able to automatically increase the Balance Breaker's progress was a good thing, he still preferred a simple and brutal method that directly increased his combat strength.

Still, he had snatched this Longinus from that old witch. Being able to have it enhanced by the system was already fortunate enough.

"Little Ren, what are you thinking about?"

At that moment, someone beside him spoke up.

"Want something to drink?"

Lavinia handed Ren a bottle of soda while opening a bottle of milk for herself.

White milk overflowed from the girl's lips, sliding down her fair neck and into the quiet valley below.

Though Lavinia had changed clothes at home, she was still dressed in an open-collared shirt and shorts. They had bought them at the mall yesterday, and Lavinia had called them homewear.

Lavinia: (·)

Ren had no objections to her dressing like that. After all, he was the one benefiting.

Modern clothing highlighted the girl's already lovely figure even more. She was no less impressive than Rias and Akeno Himejima.

And since Lavinia was a little older than the two of them, some parts of her were even more womanly.

From Ren's current angle, he could see some very alluring parts of Lavinia quite clearly.

Most importantly, as a Westerner, Lavinia basically had no habit of wearing a bra except when going out.

"Little Ren is so pervy."

Noticing Ren's gaze, Lavinia chuckled softly.

"This is what I'm supposed to say at times like this, right?"

Ren was silent for a full minute before slowly speaking. "That's right. But you shouldn't let other men see you like this, or some beast might hurt you."

"What about you, Little Ren? You keep staring. Won't you become one of those beasts you mentioned?"

Lavinia's voice was gentle.

Ren said, "I'm fine. I have an iron will."

Lavinia's lips twitched slightly.

She was not completely ignorant. She was just a little dazed every night and in the morning when her blood sugar was low, but she was perfectly clear-headed the rest of the time.

As for the iron will Ren mentioned—

She had to admit that she truly acknowledged it.

After all, she had never seen anyone stare without looking away or blinking even once for an entire minute.

Still, Lavinia did not mind much. She had long stopped treating Ren like an outsider.

Rather than dwell on the subject, Lavinia smiled and continued, "How does the Longinus you fused with feel? Are you used to it yet?"

"It's fine for now."

"Oh, as long as there's no discomfort. The power of a Longinus is already very strong under normal circumstances."

As she spoke, Lavinia snapped her fingers. Flower-like ice crystals emerged from her fingertips, and a chill spread through the room.

Such a small display alone instantly dropped the room's temperature by more than four or five degrees.

The cold air brushed over the soda in Ren's hand, freezing the entire bottle of cola in an instant.

"See? This is my Longinus—Eternal Ice Princess. Longinus are powerful, but if you can control them more precisely, you can bring out even greater power."

Ren bared his teeth.

You're right, but how am I supposed to drink it after you froze my soda?

"Your Longinus is like mine, Ren. They're both independently manifested types. If I had to give you advice, it would be to work hard to become one with the power of your Longinus."

"When controlling an independently manifested Sacred Gear, fighting alongside it or issuing it commands are natural actions. That's how Jaucusta uses hers, but she failed to understand the true essence of a Longinus."

"If you truly want to control it, it isn't enough for your body to synchronize with it. You need to become one with it from the depths of your soul. Generally speaking, you should aim for the Sacred Gear's deepest core and keep delving into it as far as possible. The deeper you go, the closer you get to the truth."

"Well, don't let my confident talk fool you. To be honest, even now, I still can't control my Doll Princess as easily as I'd like. Whenever I want to control my Sacred Gear, merge with it, or explore the truth, I feel as if I'm about to be swallowed by the doll."

"Usually, I'm the one controlling the Doll Princess. But sometimes I wonder whether I'm actually just a doll being controlled by that Doll Princess. I'm terrified of that feeling, so I learned a great deal of magic. Yet when facing this power that has lived within me since birth, I still feel a trace of fear."

Lavinia's voice trembled slightly.

Perhaps she had remembered her younger self. Back then, when she was only a few years old, she had needed to face an independently manifested Longinus all by herself.

This was probably what people called childhood trauma.

"Ren, I hope you'll be careful. Independently manifested Sacred Gears are like this. The more you seek their true power, the closer you come to the truth—but at the same time, the greater the chance that you'll be devoured by that power. A duplicate is part of yourself, but also another you. As long as it finds an opening, that other self may replace the original you at any time."

"Uh..."

Ren wanted to say there was no need to worry about that.

After all, the system had already optimized the Cross of the Purple Flame Sacrificial Lord and rendered the Saint's will within it harmless.

He just had not expected independently manifested Sacred Gears to have such a side effect. The anime had not mentioned it at all.

It had been hidden really well!

"Don't worry. I could never be devoured, because I..."

"Because you have an iron will, right? Mm, I've already experienced that firsthand."

Lavinia giggled.