"Alright, that's enough for today," Jin announced, closing the notebook where he'd been tracking their progress. "We're done with group training for now. We've analyzed each of Riser's peerage members and drilled counters for their strengths and weaknesses. From tomorrow onwards , we focus on our individual regimens. ."
A collective sigh of relief went through the room. The peerage, exhausted from the non-stop training of the past five days, began to disperse, each member looking forward to a brief respite. Jin also turned to leave, his own day of training far from over.
"Jin," Rias called out.
He stopped and looked back at her. "Yes, Rias?"
She rose from her chair, her expression thoughtful. "I just wanted to talk. Would you accompany me for a walk?"
Jin considered it for a moment before giving a simple nod. "Sure."
He fell into step beside her, and soon they were walking along a stone path that wound through the estate's sprawling gardens, the setting sun painting the sky in hues of orange and purple.
"Koneko has been falling straight asleep the moment her head hits the pillow," Rias began, breaking the comfortable silence.
"At first, she was hesitant," Jin replied, his gaze fixed ahead. "But I think she's starting to enjoy pushing her limits. It seems she had just become a bit lethargic from a lack of strenuous activity. She's strong."
Rias stopped walking and turned to face him, her expression serious. "I see. Jin… I want to ask you something. Why do you want to become so strong?"
Jin met her gaze, his own unreadable. "Why the sudden question, Rias?"
"I've been watching you," she explained. "You train like a maniac, pushing yourself to your absolute physical and mental limits every single day. Then, when we're all done, you go and train in magic late into the night. You must have a goal. There must be something you're chasing."
A shadow passed over Jin's features. "To survive, Rias. For months, there were constant attempts on my life. I just want to survive. And to survive, I have to be strong. To be strong, I have to push myself like this."
"But what about now?" she pressed. "Those who wanted you dead are gone."
"There will always be someone else who comes after me. I know it," he said, his voice hard as flint. "I can't always be on the receiving end."
"You're right, there will always be more enemies," she conceded. "But I have a doubt. If surviving is your only goal, you could have been safe just by joining my peerage. With the backing of a major faction, you'd be far more secure. I am the heiress to the Gremory house, and my brother is Sirzechs Lucifer. Wouldn't you be safest with me?"
"If you're trying to get me to join your peerage again, you already know the answer—"
"I know you would say no," she cut him off. "You're a human with incredible potential. People will always be after you, even if you just stay in Kuoh Town. So I want to know why you, a person who just wants to survive, aren't taking the best and most logical route available. Is remaining human that important to you?"
"You're right," Jin admitted, his tone softening slightly. "If I joined you, I'd be in a safe environment. I'd have access to nearly unlimited resources, powerful backing, people to guide me… but I don't want to grow in a gilded cage. Truthfully, at first, I just wanted to survive and be free. But now… now I've started to enjoy the feeling of getting stronger. I want to see how far I can go. I want to know the heights I can reach by myself."
He paused, his gaze becoming more perceptive as he studied her. "But this isn't what you really wanted to ask, is it? Tell me, Rias. What do you really want to know?"
Rias looked away, her composure finally cracking. "I just… I wanted to know what makes someone so passionate, so driven. I look at myself, and I find that I'm lacking in so many ways. I'm not brilliant like Sona, or charismatic like Sairaorg… I'm not even driven like you or Issei."
Her head dipped, her voice trembling slightly. "Now, I find myself at a dead end. I don't see any road leading forward, and I feel… stuck. So when I see you, I wanted to ask why you struggle so hard. I've been thinking that maybe it was okay to just keep being myself. I just want to enjoy my life. I don't want to become strong like my brother, or change devil society like Sona and Sairaorg. And I've never been in danger like you, where I was forced to get stronger. So I just… I feel lost."
Jin listened patiently until she was finished. "Rias," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "You want to grow and change, but you don't know what to do or which direction to go. That's perfectly fine. You're overthinking things . You're a devil. Find a desire, and follow it. "
He took a step closer. "Truth be told, you've already taken the first step. If you truly wanted to remain the same, you never would have approached me."
"No, that was just because I don't want to be with Riser," she mumbled.
"Exactly," Jin affirmed. "That is your desire. For now, just follow that. I think by the end of it, you'll find your answer. Think about it. If you hadn't approached me, you would have lost the Rating Game, but you would have been fine. Your brother never would have let that marriage go through."
Rias looked up, truly surprised. "Really?"
"Yes," he stated with certainty. "By involving me, you escalated a private dispute between two families into a public spectacle. You've actually restricted your brother's ability to intervene behind the scenes even more."
Rias stared at him, dumbfounded. "I… I don't know what to say. I never even considered that angle."
"What did you consider, then?"
"I just felt trapped," she confessed. "Then I remembered the minor favors owed to me by the council, and I remembered you. I just thought that with you, I could win. Maybe… maybe I shouldn't have involved you."
Jin started walking again, his hands in his pockets. "Too late for that now."
A small, genuine smile touched Rias's lips as she fell into step beside him. "Yes, you're right." A bit of her usual teasing tone returned to her voice. "Looks like I'm stuck with you for now."