TL/N: Read the explanation about the Excalibur below [Re-upload to notice]
Half an hour later, Suzaku finished writing the letter and excused herself, citing clan matters to handle.
Rod, on the other hand, brought the completely unconscious Lavinia and Asia back from the tavern.
The former had simply drunk too much, while Asia, curious about what alcohol tasted like, had taken half a sip and immediately passed out.
Although his current tasks in this region were mostly wrapped up ,and considering the current state of the Five Great Clans, it wasn't ideal for him to linger, Suzaku had issued two quests. The first, which she rejected Rod's "decapitation solution" for, could be considered a long-term mission. The second required him to travel to Kuoh Town and deliver her personal letter to Himejima Akeno.
But in their present condition, they clearly weren't going anywhere today.
After calling a cab and getting the two sleeping girls back to the hotel, Rod found himself with nothing else to do. So, he turned on the room's computer and resumed his online-degenerate lifestyle.
A few hours later, with his internet craving satisfied, Rod exited the game.
Lavinia had already woken up.
Clutching her aching head, she slowly sat up from the sofa.
"Ugh… it hurts…"
"That's what a hangover feels like," Rod said at just the right moment. "I was the same the first time I drank. Got better afterward."
Before transmigrating, Rod didn't drink at all. But after killing for the first time, he'd felt emotionally hollow. Though he initially wanted to try smoking, it didn't suit him at all. So he turned to alcohol to commemorate that night.
The next day, he'd woken up with a skull-splitting headache, wrapped his head in ice packs, and suffered through it.
Since then ,whether it was his body adapting or his constitution improving ,he hadn't gotten drunk again.
Lavinia looked up and saw Rod sitting in a chair, swaying lazily as he stared at her.
"Rod-san, do you drink? You didn't seem to touch much alcohol during dinner."
"That's because Japanese sake is awful. It's so bland it barely has any taste."
Rod dismissed it with a scoff.
"…Okay."
Lavinia had the feeling Rod was subtly calling her a lightweight.
After all, she hadn't even finished half a bottle before completely checking out of reality.
Rod didn't linger on the alcohol topic and shifted gears. "I'm leaving Kyoto next. You okay with that, Miss Reni?"
"Just call me Lavinia."
Frost condensed in Lavinia's right palm, and she gently pressed it to her forehead.
Feeling slightly better, she said softly, "I'm fine. I was going to leave Kyoto anyway. Could you tell me where we're heading?"
"Kuoh Town. Got some business there to take care of."
"Never heard of it. But wherever you go, I'll follow."
Lavinia was essentially homeless now.
The Five Great Clans wouldn't keep her, her enemy's leader had been destroyed, and her mentor had betrayed her. If Rod hadn't offered to take her in, she'd probably be wandering the world alone again.
"By the way, Rod-san, when you said 'home' ,where exactly is that?"
Rod replied without changing expression, "I make my home wherever I go. So, you tell me ,is it big or not?"
Lavinia's mouth twitched slightly.
So he was just like her.
The only difference was that Rod was rich and could casually afford to stay in a presidential suite normal people couldn't even dream of.
She didn't feel like arguing with him.
Knowing where they were going next, Lavinia didn't have any more questions.
She wasn't much of a talker to begin with, so she quietly settled into the sofa.
Rod, however, suddenly remembered something while scrolling on his phone.
He had an issue to address ,namely, the purple cross he'd looted from Augusta's corpse after killing her.
According to the system, it was the Sacred Gear known as the Chief Mourner's Crucified Stand of Purple Flame or Incinerate Anthem.
In the High School DxD world, Sacred Gears were among the most important power systems.
The original protagonist, Hyoudou Issei, rose through the ranks thanks to wielding the Boosted Gear of the Red Dragon Emperor.
And this Incinerate Anthem belonged to the same elite class of Sacred Gears.
Augusta had been easier to kill than Satanael because she had barely tapped into the potential of her Sacred Gear. Her only advanced technique had been a pseudo Balance Breaker.
In DxD terms, the "Balance Breaker" was a Sacred Gear's ultimate form. To reach that state, the wielder had to possess an overwhelming emotion or desire strong enough to metaphorically defy the world's natural laws.
Metaphorically being the key word.
At least, from what Rod had seen in the anime, most users weren't powerful or dramatic enough to literally disturb the flow of reality.
Either way, he was getting ahead of himself.
He hadn't even fused with the Sacred Gear yet. Thinking about Balance Breaker now was premature.
Rod took out the purple cross.
Its intense aura immediately caught Lavinia's attention. As a fellow Sacred Gear wielder, she instinctively reacted, her eyes widening in surprise.
That fiery pressure ,it was unmistakable.
It was the same Sacred Gear Augusta had wielded!
"You actually snatched Augusta's Sacred Gear?!"
"Snatched?"
Rod didn't like the sound of that.
Was it looting if you were a transmigrator?
He didn't steal, rob, or cheat ,he followed a three-part moral policy when dealing with others.
If his storage space was filling up with loot, that was just because he forgot to turn off auto-pickup.
None of this was his fault.
"…But if it ended up in your hands, that's probably a good thing," Lavinia said as she looked at the cross. "If those witches had gotten it, they would've just kept using it for evil."
"Rod-san, are you planning to fuse with the Sacred Gear?"
"Exactly."
Rod nodded.
There was no way he'd let a power-up opportunity slip by.
The Incinerate Anthem might not be famous, but it was still a Sacred Gear. Used well, its power wouldn't be weak.
However, items looted from the real world differed drastically from those the system rewarded.
System items were plug-and-play, even the most complex skill could be used flawlessly from the start.
But looted items required understanding.
Rod had experimented before with some junk-tier Sacred Gears from early quests, the kind that only doubled your physical strength.
Now that he had a real one, he was stuck on the "fusion" part.
Might as well ask a seasoned Sacred Gear user for advice.
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TL/N:
Just a little reminder for those wondering why he isn't using Excalibur's Noble Phantasm:
As the MC mentioned, he can't use it carelessly because his current overall stats still can't handle the toll it takes. That's why he said he'll only use it as a trump card or a last resort at his current level.
He is using the sword itself as a weapon in combat, just not activating the Noble Phantasm. (Don't worry, he will use it soon.)
Yes, he does have powers granted by the system, but not all of his abilities come from it. Along the way, he can draw from other sources of power as well, like his acquired Sacred Gear, Incinerate Anthem. However, he still needs to train it personally. The system can assist him, but the actual training and mastery must be done by him.
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