Before long, the weekend came around again.
Rias stood with Rod beneath the shade of a tree, watching Koneko, Akeno, and the others not far ahead as they practiced Senjutsu and Light power.
This was the outskirts of Kuoh.
Lavinia had set up an isolation barrier around the area, so no matter how much noise they made inside, nothing would reach the outside world.
"I can't believe it's only been half a month, and yet Akeno and Koneko have already grown this strong?"
Rias watched Akeno sparring with the fallen angel trio, and Koneko testing out new Senjutsu, her voice full of surprise.
The first time she had realized something was different was on the night Kokabiel attacked Kuoh.
Koneko's Senjutsu was still too unrefined at the time, so it hadn't stood out all that much. But Akeno, who had been able to use Spears of Light, had been impossible to miss.
Later, though, one thing after another had gotten in the way, and Rias never had the chance to properly gauge Akeno's exact strength.
Now, with the weekend finally here and her deciding to come watch in person, she discovered that Akeno's current strength might already be nearly on par with her own.
In terms of raw destructive power, Rias's Power of Destruction still held the advantage, but Akeno's experience and technique were clearly better. If the two of them were put into a straight duel, it was impossible to say who would win.
And the reason for that change, was Rod's guidance.
Looking at it now, it really was exactly like that saying: Once you looked down on him; now he's far beyond your reach.
Fortunately, Rod hadn't given her any attitude over it. When he found out she wanted to come observe the training, he had simply brought her along.
After withdrawing her gaze, Rias turned to Rod and asked, "...Mr. Rod, under your guidance, Koneko and Akeno's strength has improved by a lot. I've also realized just how conceited i used to be. I actually thought things like dealing with low-level stray devils counted as training."
She had already spent several years living in the human world after leaving the Underworld.
In order to prove herself to others, Rias had always worked hard to search for promising peerage members and train them.
But just as Rod had said before, it wasn't that she hadn't been trying.
She had simply been trying in the wrong direction.
Now she was already in her third year of high school.
Cleaning, cooking, organizing, and similar skills had all become second nature to her, yet her actual strength had remained stagnant, only increasing in raw magical power with age the way it naturally would.
The more she thought about how she had once wanted to argue with Rod face-to-face, the more childish it all seemed.
"So, Mr. Rod... would you be willing to put me through special training as well?"
Rias knew very well that part of the reason Akeno and Koneko were working this hard was because of her.
For a while now, the fiancé her family had forced on her had been repeatedly coming to the human world to harass her.
Rias was sick of it, but a parental arrangement was not something she could openly defy. All she could do was keep escaping reality by using the excuse that she wouldn't marry before finishing university.
She had, of course, thought about winning her freedom through a Rating Game, but the gap in power between the two sides was obvious at a glance.
It was precisely because Akeno and Koneko wanted to defeat her fiancé in the Rating Game that they had been training so desperately.
And if that was the case, then Rias naturally couldn't afford to slack off either.
Hearing that, a faint smile appeared on Rod's face.
"I thought you'd stay stubborn about it a little longer."
In the original story, Rias's strength had never grown all that much. In the end, she only reached Maou-class because of the original protagonist, the Red Dragon Emperor's power. In her normal state, she still only sat at the Ultimate-Class level.
That wasn't weak, exactly.
But for someone treated like a heroine, her strength simply didn't match her status.
"I've reflected on it deeply."
In the past, if someone had spoken to Rias like that, she absolutely would have shot back at them with a proud, haughty attitude.
But if she were still like that now, then she would never have been fit to inherit the Gremory clan.
And seeing how sincere her attitude was, Rod nodded slightly.
Because of Rias's stubborn nature, his impression of her hadn't been especially good before. But if she could recognize her mistakes and change instead of stubbornly doubling down on her tsundere pride to the very end, then that counted for a lot in his eyes.
So Rod smiled lightly and said, "Wanting to improve is a good thing. Even though you're weak right now, you still have a lot of talent. What you need now is simply time to truly grasp your own power."
The Power of Destruction had never originally been some especially supreme force.
But Sirzechs had pushed it to its limits, developing it all the way to the level of a Super Devil through the Power of Destruction alone. Its potential was undeniably very high.
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Hearing Rod finally give her some positive evaluation, Rias was instantly so touched she could have cried.
It really hadn't been easy.
"But that said, if you want to train in the Power of Destruction, why don't you just go to your brother Sirzechs? He should have plenty of insight into it."
Rod frowned slightly as he said it.
"Well... I did go to my brother before. On one hand, he's very busy with work. On the other, the way he uses the Power of Destruction is quite different from mine. He said his style is more technical, while mine is more brute-force oriented, so he can't really help me that much."
At that, Rias let out a soft sigh.
She knew perfectly well that the best coach for her should have been her brother.
But because their directions were different, he hadn't been able to offer her much actual guidance.
That was why she had come to Rod instead, to ask whether he had any ideas.
Hearing that, Rod gave a slight nod.
"In that case, I just so happen to have a good solution."
The moment she heard those words, Rias was overjoyed.
After all, she already knew what Rod had shown that night. Even the Old Maou hadn't been his match, so helping guide an Upper-Class Devil like her should have been more than easy enough for him.
So Rias immediately adopted the most earnest, humble attitude possible, like a diligent student asking for advice.
Rod looked at the flawless face of the red-haired girl and said seriously, "Listen carefully. Your power is very straightforward, it's simply the Power of Destruction. And the way to master it is equally simple."
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Rias nodded again and again, full of expectation, looking every bit like she had already cast Rod in the role of some benevolent master from a movie.
The kind of expert who would give the confused protagonist just a few words of advice, and suddenly the protagonist would gain enlightenment on the spot and skyrocket in strength.
Potential mattered.
But so did a good mentor.
Then Rod slowly said, "You just need to follow your heart."
"Mhm, mhm...!"
Rias kept nodding and waited eagerly for what came next.
But after waiting for quite a while and hearing no continuation, she finally asked hesitantly, "And then?"
"That's it."
"?"
"?"
Rias: "...."
Once she confirmed there really was nothing more, the girl's mood nearly collapsed.
No, wait, at least tell me how I'm supposed to follow my heart?!
My heart is telling me that it has no idea what to do!
But Rias still didn't dare doubt Rod's words, so she sat down where she was and closed her eyes, entering some kind of meditation.
After several minutes of trying, though, her thoughts were still a complete mess, with not the slightest clue to guide her.
She stubbornly held on for more than ten minutes, and in the end could only look helplessly toward Rod.
Couldn't you maybe say a little more?
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