“Oh, if it isn’t Ise-dono and others.”
When I turn around after hearing a familiar voice—I see Joker Dulio. He comes to our side with a big smile. “Dulio, have you finished your walk?”
Dulio bows his head down at Michael-san’s question. “Ah, hi there. And sorry for asking for a time to get some air at a time like this……”
“Since it’s a time like this, there are breaks which are needed. And I believe you will be helping with the Christmas project, Dulio?”
“Yes, of course. I’m good at giving out presents.”
Oh, I thought he wouldn’t participate since he didn’t show himself. So Dulio will also be joining the Christmas project. —Then Sister Griselda changes the subject by asking Michael-san. “Michael-sama. Maybe it will be good to notify them about that case?”
Michael-san nods. “You’re right. It’s not like they are unrelated to it. The truth is there are incidents which involve the staff of the Church being attacked.”
—! ……The staff of the Church are being attacked? It suddenly turned into a fishy atmosphere. Everyone puts on a serious face at that report and becomes alert to what he has to say. Michael-san continues. “Not only are there fatal casualties among the leaders of the Vatican, but there are also those being killed among those with import post at other branches. We are still investigating to find more accurate information, but it seems like there are presences of Evil Dragons being caught. So it’s most likely—”
“Qlippoth, correct?”
Rias continues after him. Michael-san also nods his head. “Yes, so please be alert. Since we don’t know what their objective is, we will end up getting hurt if we lower our guard. —They are good at checkmating you by using traps.”
……The presence of Evil Dragons huh. And the Qlippoth attacking those related to Church…… Well, it’s not weird if they do such things since they are terrorists…… But we don’t know what their aim is. Indiscriminate terrorism? That also sounds plausible……
While feeling uneasiness from what I just heard, we return to the human world after ending our discussion with Michael-san and Gabriel-san. We returned from Heaven and climbed up the stairs from the basement of the Hyoudou residence (We split with Sister Griselda at Heaven). I then hear people laughing from the living room. When we went there after becoming curious—we found my mum speaking to a middle-aged man. It’s a brown haired man wearing priest’s clothing. ……He looks familiar. More like I have seen that hair colour of his……
The man shows a gentle smile when he notices us. His expression says that he knows me. “Sorry to disappoint but I’m already here.”
“Papa!”
“Oh, my Angel! Were you doing okay?”
Irina and the man embrace each other! That’s right! Now I remember! No wonder he looks familiar! This person is Irina’s dad! Irina also hugs her dad happily. “Of course! Papa, were you doing fine as well?”
“Of course.”
My mum then tells me as she watches the two of them happily. “Ise. This person is Irina-chan’s father. Do you still remember him? I was shocked to see him since he returned so abruptly.”
Irina’s dad offered his hand to me. “Hello there, Hyoudou Issei-kun. Do you still remember me?”
“My memory is vague but I kind of do remember you. Sorry, my memory of you is poor since I was too small back then……”
“Oh no, not at all. Both you and Irina were small. It can’t be helped if your memory is vague.”
The Shidou family who lived close by. Irina’s dad brought snacks and juice often to us when I visited Irina’s home to play with her. I remember how kind he was. Her mum was also a kind person. Oh yeah. Irina’s mum is running a Japanese restaurant business in England. They say that both Irina’s parents know about her reincarnating into an Angel. That part is clearly different from the Hyoudou family. I……haven’t confessed to my parents that I have reincarnated into a Devil yet. Irina’s dad then says with a big smile. “It’s planned for me to work with Irina-chan for this project but let’s discuss about that afterwards. I have brought you souvenirs.”
We then came to realize it. I see, so the person who came up with the Christmas project is……Irina’s dad! Like this, we all ate dinner while having talks filled with laughs. The heroic story of Irina we heard from Irina’s dad during dinner was so funny that Irina’s face turned red since it was a story about his praise towards his daughter. “Geez! Papa, you even talked about my embarrassing history in front of Ise-kun’s parents!”
“Hahaha, I’m sorry. I would be satisfied if I can talk about how adorable you are but I couldn’t help myself”
Irina who is in rage. Even the side of her where she makes faces looks cute. It’s rare to see Irina act angry like this. That point alone makes me think how valuable it is to be able to see a new side of her when she is having dinner with her dad. “Oh, so you guys came back from Heaven.”
Azazel-sensei returns back to the Hyoudou residence. “You must be Irina’s father. I am Azazel.”
“Oh if this isn’t……the former Governor. How do you do. I am Shidou, I have role of both the pastor and agent of Protestant. Irina sure has been under your care……”
Sensei and Irina’s dad exchange a handshake. From Irina’s dad perspective Sensei would be the former Governor of the Fallen Angel’s organization and the teacher of the school her daughter is enrolled at. Since Azazel-sensei came to the VIP room again, Irina’s dad says this after making a cough. “Let me introduce myself again. My name is Shidou Touji, the one who came up with this Christmas project. I am the pastor of the Protestant Church of England.”
“Did you know that my papa was an exorcist in a past?”
Irina adds. So a pastor huh. If I remember right, you call a male churchman a father for Catholicism and a pastor for Protestantism. Huh? Wasn’t a pastor a teacher and not a churchman? Well, they do say that the way they are called and their teaching itself changes for each teaching. Except, unlike priests, pastors can marry. “That’s how it is, so for today, we will just confirm what we must do for this project, the reason why I started it, and then prepare for the actual day to come.”
From there we get explained from Irina’s dad of how he came up with this idea and points we must be cautious about. Well, its something we were explained about beforehand so it was easy to understand what he had to say. The reason why he came up with this project is basically a gratitude for those people living here and to put it even more bluntly, a compensation fee for causing inconvenience. What shocked me the most from his explanation is that Irina’s dad is office chief of the protestant side! Apparently he has a role in a certain branch. ……He’s a VIP! The reason why he doesn’t have any guards is because he declined to have them come with him since this land is a familiar place for him. Irina’s dad who finished explaining a quick run-through for this Christmas project starts looking through his bag after saying “Oh yeah, I have a gift”.