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In the Student Council room, Sona spoke while handling the work Anos had left to her.
"Rias, you need to start looking for more outstanding retainers. You cannot rely on the president every single time."
Sona reminded Rias.
Rias, do not go too far.
The president was the student council president.
Just now, Rias had come to the Student Council room again to look for Anos.
Honestly, Rias, are you not going a little overboard?
That was Sona's true thought at this moment.
Ever since Anos returned, she had noticed a subtle change in Rias.
"Well, in that case, Sona, can you tell me where Anos went?"
Faced with Sona's dissatisfaction, Rias did not say much. Instead, she shifted the topic elsewhere.
After all, she had indeed done something that could be considered a bit of a betrayal toward Sona, so she felt somewhat guilty.
"The president said he was going to pick up a friend returning from overseas today, so he went to the airport."
Sona frowned, but still told Rias the news.
"Why do you not ask him yourself where he went?"
Sona asked, finding it rather strange.
"That?"
Rias smiled with pursed lips.
"A woman should know how to create surprises for a man, Sona."
Rias revealed a meaningful smile.
As expected, Sona really was not very good at this sort of thing.
"A woman should know how to create surprises for a man..."
Sona savored the meaning of those words.
Was Rias implying that Sona was usually a woman who did not know how to create surprises, while Rias herself did?
While Sona fell into thought, Rias had already left the Student Council room.
Since she had found out where Anos was, she could go do something with a little romantic flair.
As for Sona...
She thought about it for a long while.
"Compared to surprises, I think long-term companionship and mutual support are more important, Rias."
"Perhaps that is the difference between you and me."
"But more importantly, what exactly happened between Rias and Anos?"
That was what Sona cared about even more.
Although Rias had seemed to have that kind of intention before, she had not been like this, wanting to see Anos every single day.
Mm...
Perhaps if Sona experienced the strange and thrilling sensation of being struck by holy power, she would understand why.
...
The airport near Kuoh Academy.
Anos checked the time.
"There are still fifteen minutes until the agreed time."
This time, he was here to pick someone up.
The person he was picking up was named Irina Shidou, his childhood friend.
Not long after he returned from the Phenex estate, Anos had received a letter from Irina saying that she would be returning soon and asking him to come pick her up.
"It seems my place in Irina's heart as her childhood friend is not low."
Anos took Irina's letter from his pocket.
He had to admit that Irina's handwriting really had some problems. In some places, he even had to reason out what the characters were supposed to be.
It seemed Irina had trained very seriously in the Church.
She probably never wrote anything normally.
In fact, Anos even suspected that Irina and Xenovia might still be illiterate girls who had not completed even basic schooling.
After all, Irina and Xenovia were both girls who trained with holy swords all day long. It seemed natural that they would have no time to study.
Girls raised by the Church, whether Asia, Xenovia, or Irina, all gave off a subtle kind of feeling.
Calling them stupid was not quite right.
It was more like... a very strange kind of stubbornness.
Before long, Anos saw the childhood friend he had not met in a very long time.
From far away, Anos immediately spotted Irina and Xenovia, two girls whose warm and cool color tones stood in obvious contrast.
If Irina was a lively, youthful girl-next-door type, then Xenovia was the cool older-sister type who looked imposing at a glance.
Of course, in reality, Irina was a girl who often missed the point and had a rather dirty mind, while Xenovia was a power-type fool with very little common sense who often did things others found outrageous.
"Anos!"
When Anos saw Irina, Irina also noticed him.
The moment she saw Anos, she rubbed her eyes hard.
Was this really Anos?
In her memory, Anos had only been her childhood friend who was somewhat handsome, but whose main trait was being very smart.
Why did he look so refined now?
He was practically a different person from before.
But when she saw that he also seemed to be waving toward her and silently mouthing her name, Irina did not hesitate at all. She directly threw herself at Anos.
"Anos, it really has been so long."
Irina hugged Anos just like she had when they were children.
As expected.
The moment she hugged Anos, she smelled his scent.
It was a scent that made her feel deeply at ease.
"You have grown up too, Irina."
Anos smiled.
Indeed, he could very clearly feel Irina's growth.
That visible and physically perceptible pressure was probably only slightly inferior to Rias's.
Unfortunately, Rias was still a little stronger.
"Maybe Irina only looks less impressive because her inner clothing is the Church's combat uniform? Perhaps she really does have the qualifications to compare with Rias?"
Such a thought could not help appearing in Anos's mind.
In an ordinary slice-of-life story, a childhood friend like Irina, who appeared from overseas, would probably cut through the other heroines and win in the end.
Unfortunately, reality was never a novel.
"So this is your childhood friend, Irina? Hello, Anos Kanzaki. I am Irina, Irina's... her... good friend."
Xenovia's foolish side did not flare up. She did not say something that would obviously expose them, such as, "I am Irina's combat partner from the Church."
However, in reality, they were already exposed.
Because both of them were wearing clerical clothing and were openly doing attention-grabbing things in the airport.
Upon closer inspection, even part of the combat uniforms they wore underneath had already become visible.
"I am Anos Kanzaki, Irina's childhood friend, It is nice to meet you, Miss Xenovia. But if we are going to talk, let us wait until we get back."
For some reason, when Anos saw the slightly dazed Xenovia in front of him, he felt the urge to laugh.
Perhaps it was because he remembered that, at her core, she was basically a fool.
"Mm... Let us go first."
Xenovia also knew that the airport was a place with too many eyes and ears. Before finding their mission target, it was better not to expose herself and Irina if possible.
"Anos, how are your studies now? Do you have any female friends you are close to?"
Amid the emotion of their reunion, Irina suddenly remembered something very serious.
She had once heard a certain nun say that the more handsome a man was, the worse he was. Even if he was not bad now, he might become bad in the future.
Before, she had been relieved that the Anos she liked was the intellectual type.
She had not expected that, after meeting him again this time, Anos had turned into exactly the type that the nun had said would definitely become a bad man.
"Of course, I am first in my grade. As for female friends, it is actually all right. Our school recently started expanding male enrollment."
Anos's answer was rather subtle.
For an ordinary school, increasing male enrollment would naturally raise the ratio of boys, which would reassure Irina.
But in reality...
Kuoh Academy had been a girls' school until not long ago.
Ahem...
He also seemed to be Kuoh Academy's first male student and first male student council president.
Anos knew why Irina cared so much about these things.
Because when they were children, the two of them seemed to have made a promise to get married in the future.
Back then, young Anos could not stand seeing Irina looking like a boy, so he dressed her up as a pretty girl and even had her wear a little wedding dress.
He had to admit, his talent in this area had already been outstanding even when he was a child.
...
Anos's home.
"Oh. So this is the legendary maid? Anos, you actually have a maid?"
The first thing Irina saw was an older girl who looked like a potential rival, Tiamat.
"Please have some tea."
The corner of Tiamat's mouth twitched, and her brows also looked uncomfortable. But after thinking about Anos's training, she reluctantly endured it.
Her standards had dropped again.
Before, she had thought that if it was a powerful person like Anos, serving him a little would not be a problem.
Now it had become, she had to properly do what a maid should do and not let Anos find another reason to discipline her.
"Thank you... So you are the one who has been taking care of Anos all this time. But do not worry, from now on, leave Anos to me."
Irina patted her chest firmly and made her declaration.
Her true meaning was this: I might be your future mistress, so do not casually compete with your mistress. Make sure you understand your position.
"Yes, Miss Irina."
Tiamat bowed slightly.
Could she say that she would be more than happy to hand Anos over to Irina's care?
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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