He felt being a little more formal for her slightly more formal attire was appropriate.
She gave him a bright smile and walked into the house. Together they moved to their usual meeting area in his living room and sat across from each other. Rias held her hands in her lap as she straightened her back and looked Junichiro in the eyes, "First, I'd like to apologize for Akeno's attitude the other day."
Junichiro smiled at that while waving his hand in a dismissive manner, "There's no need. Individuals are just that, individual. I don't hold entire groups responsible for the acts of a single person."
Sure, it was a bit of a dig at Akeno, but it was also completely true. Rias noticed that but said nothing. Instead, she lifted the small briefcase she'd been carrying and opened it to pull out the newest draft of the contract she'd written up for him. She set the small stack of papers on the coffee table and slid them toward him, "I rewrote the contract for you to join my peerage after you left the other day. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think."
A little surprised, he picked up the couple of sheets of paper and started reading. It didn't take more than a few moments for him to go through the whole thing. In essence, if he joined Rias, he would only be expected to perform the activities that required the entire peerage to be present. For instance, he would be required to attend Rating Games, certain social events, and other things of a similar public nature. He was, basically, only required to attend to events where his absence would be a slight against Rias and show disrespect toward her and her position as the King of the peerage.
Other than that, he had complete freedom. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and whoever he wanted. He wasn't required to do any of the annoying newbie shit like passing out fliers. He didn't even have to do any client work, if he didn't want to. Every other aspect of being a member of a peerage was being waved as optional. If he wanted to, he could, and he would get the normal rewards for it. If he didn't want to, no worries, there was nothing listed as a negative if he chose not to.
Lastly, she'd added a portion to protect his identity. She would guarantee that no member of her peerage would leak Junichiro's true identity without permission. It was honestly something he'd failed to consider. He'd wanted Rias to keep the secret, but hadn't considered the others being the ones to spill the secret for her. That was a blatant failure on his part and he felt rather happy that she'd considered it and included a clause to protect him.
He read the contract several times, just to make sure he didn't miss anything. It seemed that Rias had written it in plain language to make it crystal clear that there was no alternative agenda or hidden tricks buried in lawyer speak. When he finished reading it, he set the contract down and smiled at Rias, "I appreciate this."
Rias broke out into a beaming smile, "I really want you to join."
Junichiro climbed to his feet and made his way toward the kitchen while saying, "I'll get us something to drink."
He returned quickly with two bottles of water, a quill, and an ink pot. Something like signing a contract with a devil felt like it required more than a simple mass produced pen. It needed something a little more grand!
Rias's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the old fashioned writing implement. She watched him like a hawk as he set everything down. She gratefully accepted the water bottle and quickly opened it to take a drink and wet her suddenly very dry throat.
Junichiro sipped his own water while looking over the contract one last time. He felt that one could never be too careful before signing a life altering contract. Still, there was nothing hidden, nothing that would bite him in the ass later. It was even better than he'd hoped to get from her. Now he was a little glad that Akeno had opened her mouth and annoyed him.
Rias watched, barely daring to breathe, as Junichiro set the contract down, dipped the quill into the ink pot, and carefully signed his name on the contract. When he slid it across the table to her and held out the quill, she didn't hesitate to take it and sign her own name on the contract. It took every ounce of her self control for her to not start squealing in excitement and pouncing on Junichiro to hug him to death.
This one contract represented her freedom. Something she would give almost anything she had to attain.
With the contract signed, she wasted no time in using her magic to summon forth the intricate box that contained the remaining pieces for her peerage. She set it on the table and opened it to reveal an almost complete set of pieces. The only ones missing were the Queen, a Knight, a Bishop, and a Rook. All eight pawns were untouched. There was a single pawn that was different from the others. Each of the other pawns were white with decorative black lines on them. The final pawn was white as well, but the decorative lines were a vivid green that seemed to glow lightly.
Junichiro was certain the last Pawn was a mutation piece. He was certain, completely certain, that Rias hadn't had any mutation pieces when she reincarnated Issei. If she had, it wouldn't have taken all of her pawns to turn him. As he looked at the pieces, Rias reached in and plucked out a Knight piece, "Originally, when I thought you were just a human who had Sword Birth, I planned to make you into a Knight."
She set the piece back in its place, "I'm now certain that it would be impossible to do so. You're too strong for that, which also means you're too strong to be a Bishop. Not that you seem like the magical spell casting type so that was out regardless. Lastly, I considered making you a rook. The added strength and defense added to your already impressive defenses would have made you impressively durable. A literal walking tank. Yet, I know I can't. Your potential means its impossible. That leaves just my pawns."
She gently lifted the mutated Pawn, "I was willing to go so far as to use all eight of my Pawn pieces on you to have you join us. Some might say that would be a waste, a single individual where I could have, potentially, gotten eight. Yet, your strength and potential makes it worthwhile."