The next day after school...
"Hee... You're here, as expected. But..."
"ZZZ"
"Why are you sleeping on the sofa? I have a lot of things to explain to you. Get up right now.... though I guess that's useless? Koneko."
"...Yes."
Rias placed a hand on her wrinkled forehead, shaking her head as she called Koneko. Koneko nodded, approached Issei, and slapped him hard on the forehead. While a normal slap wouldn't be a problem, Koneko, possessing Rook's characteristics of immense strength and defense, far stronger than ordinary people, left Issei bleeding from the forehead. Issei grabbed his forehead and sat up.
".....That hurts. Elementary schooler."
".....If you call me elementary schooler one more time, I'll blow you away, Issei-senpai."
"Elementary schooler."
"I'll eliminate you."
"Ko...Koneko, calm down."
Yuto stopped Koneko, who was emitting murderous intent and lunging towards Issei, by grabbing her arms. Rias sighed, seeing Issei showing no desire to merge with his followers.
"Sigh..... What should we do about this? Akeno."
"I wonder..... How did he become so twisted? Before... he was such a cute kid, always clinging to me, calling me sister..."
"?? Akeno?"
Akeno muttered to herself in a voice so quiet that no one could hear her. A question mark appeared above Rias's head, and Akeno, suddenly alert, returned to her usual self, smiling and approaching Issei.
"Oh my, Issei-kun... You shouldn't bully your juniors like that."
"... I wasn't really bullying her. I just told the truth....."
Crack.
"Issei... Issei-kun seems to know little about girls, so I'll let you know. Girls are very fragile. Remember that even the slightest words can hurt them."
Akeno explained, looking at Issei with a kind smile. Issei ignored her, but as she continued to look at him with a kind smile, he felt quite uncomfortable, and he soon closed his eyes, hmphing and turning his back.
"..... I'll be careful. senpai."
"Heeh... Thank you."
Rias felt a little dejected, somehow feeling inferior to Akeno, seeing how easily she handled Issei. Meanwhile, Issei was a little surprised by Akeno's kind words, even though he spoke bluntly and rudely.
'This girl... She must have been very upset that I spoke rudely to her friend, but she's smiling like this.....'
(..... That's right. Somehow, she seems to know a lot about you.)
'... No way.... She's just a good person.'
"Didn't you say you had something to explain to me? Senpai. Tell me quickly. If you keep this up, I'll yawn again....."
"Issei..... Don't be so impolite. I don't know how strong you are, but... this person here is your... no, our master. This person also revived you...."-Yuto
"Yes, yes... I'm sorry. I've had a bit of a complicated life..... It's not that I'm deliberately impolite.... Please understand, Gremory-senpai."
As Issei got up, scratched his head, apologized, and sat with his back against the sofa, his hands on his knees, Rias finally seemed to like it and sat down with a grin.
"Okay then... where should I start explaining...?"
"By the way, the Sacred Gear in my body is one of the Longinus... the Sekiryuutei's gauntlet, Boosted Gear."
"I see. The Sekiryuutei's gaun... wait, WHAT?!"
At Issei's words, Rias looked at him with surprised expressions. The Red Dragon Emperor, Boosted Gear... it was a Sacred Gear with immense power, considered one of the rarest of the rare Sacred Gears, and even if the power was obtained temporarily, it was an ominous Sacred Gear that could gain power that transcends even the Devil King or El Angels. Rias suddenly wondered. With that power... he wouldn't have been so miserably killed by Raynare... no, he would have been strong enough to easily kill them, but he didn't use that power. As if he sensed their thoughts, Issei closed his eyes and said.
"Of course, if I had used the Red Dragon Emperor sooner, I could have beaten Raynare. But if you don't use Boosted Gear for a long time and suddenly use it, it will go berserk for a short time. My friends were there in that situation. I deliberately didn't use it until the last moment because I was afraid that if I used it wrong, they would die."
"... Can I ask you one thing?"
".... What is it?"
"So you didn't use Boosted Gear for your friends... even knowing you'd die," - Rias
"..... Not really... honestly, I never thought I'd die at their hands... I would have used it if I could have."
'If I could have used it... that means you couldn't use it because of your friends' lives. Huh... I thought you were just full of useless arrogance... surprisingly, you're a good kid.' – Rias
'If those Devilshadn't been around, I could've used it... why do these guys have to live in this area...'
Because of his usual tone of voice, Issei's evaluation, which had been completely arrogant in Rias's mind, had risen slightly, and Rias smiled slightly, having learned of Issei's unexpected side.
"Alright. From now on, I'll teach you what you need to do. Issei... you may not know this, but... Devils have ranks. Ranks of position, you know? I have one too. It's related to your background and family, but there are Devils who rose from the bottom, and everyone starts as a beginner."
"..... I've never heard of that. I thought Devil society was a feudal society..."
"Yeah... in the past, pure Devils monopolized all the high positions. But pure Devils died countless times in the old wars. So Devils inevitably had to gather followers. Well, they lost the power and prestige to lead armies like before, but they still had to increase the number of new Devils. Devils, like humans, have genders, so Devil men and women can have children. But it takes too long to recover to the same number as before through natural childbirth. The birth rate of Devils is extremely low. We can't counter the Fallen Angels like that. That's why we decided to bring in humans who seem promising as Devils. As subordinates."
"....."
"But although the change in Devil society started a long time ago..... the real turning point was a few years ago..... because of someone like you.... or rather, someone who could be considered your predecessor, a previous user of the Boosted Gear...."
"....."
"A few years ago, a fight was about to break out. No, to be precise, it went to the brink of war. But.... at that time, a hero appeared in Heaven. A hero who suddenly appeared.... A being called a monster, who started assassinations at only 8 years old and killed many pure-blooded devils and Fallen Angels for 6 years..... Cheon von Hanover.... his given name in Heaven was Kael.... Thanks to him, the angels' losses were minimized, but countless Fallen Angels and devils died. He handled the Boosted Gear extremely well and was said to create his own breakthroughs even in disadvantageous fights. Devils and Fallen Angels, in respect for his strength and courage, didn't call him the Red Dragon Emperor... they called him this: The Red Dragon King, Kael."
"....."
"My heart still races when I hear that story. I heard he was skilled with a black sword called Ascalon. The Red Dragon King Kael.... I wanted to fight him as a knight...."
"..... I heard he was strong, too. I wanted to spar with him once...."
"..... More importantly, you're saying I need achievements to become a high-class devil. (This has become a huge pain) So.... what's my job?"
==============
"ZZZ."
"I had a feeling, so I came to check.... As I thought...."
Rias had given Issei the job of handing out flyers. But about an hour after he left, she started to worry. When she went to find him, he was sleeping on a bench with the stack of flyers next to him. Akeno found this amusing, and a smile never left her lips.
"Fufufu..... Wake up. Issei-kun."
"Ughm... Did they all take one already?"
"Hey, Issei? Were you waiting for people to take them? In the middle of the night in the park? Didn't I show you the map? The houses where the greedy people live...."
"..... I don't know. I'm sleepy. They'll come and take them."
"Can't you just wake up and distribute them right now!!!"
Rias finally exploded, unable to hold back any longer. Despite Rias's outburst, Issei leisurely got up, scratching his head and rubbing his sleepy eyes. Rias was speechless, stunned by his nonchalant demeanor.