Venelana moved into my house and everything got better.
Everyone started behaving a little differently…
For example, Lavinia—who's usually polite but gets aggressive when it comes to me- started feeding me by hand.
Cleria began playing the maid role much better.
Valerie, who used to be very proactive, toned it down a bit.
"CASSIEN SHOW YOURSELF!!!"
While I was sitting on the couch in the living room, I heard someone's voice.
Who is this?
The door opened and Venelana appeared with a short girl dressed like a magical girl beside her.
Then a young girl with glasses showed up too: "Sis, calm down… you're going to get judged."
I stood up and looked at the newcomers: "I didn't expect the Maou to show up at my house."
"Didn't Sirzechs tell you I'd come later? I wanted legal advice for my little sister, but you completely ignored us."
This was Serafall, and the one beside her was Sona.
I crossed my arms: "My schedule is packed. I'm even sitting here reviewing cases right now. The world doesn't revolve around you."
"Sis is right… Please calm down."
"Ahem, I-I'm sorry… I just wanted my little sister to talk to you…" said Serafall.
Venelana patted Serafall on the back: "It's okay, Serafall. I'm sure Cassien has time for you now," she said and winked at me.
"Please sit down. I'll talk as much as I can…" I said and pointed to the couch.
10 minutes later.
"This is my little sister Sona Sitri. She thinks the Underworld Rating Games system is unfair… She's very excited to meet you right now, so I'll explain instead. Anyway—she wants to open a school where lesser devils can get proper training and compete fairly."
I crossed my legs and judged both of them with my eyes: "First of all, a democratic mindset is impossible unless the monarchy is overthrown. Being overly idealistic will only lead you to death."
"HEY SHE'S STILL A YOUNG GIRL!"
Sona lowered her head: "I won't give up on my dream. I'm sure I can do it."
"Of course it's possible—if you were stronger than your sister. If you killed all the noble devils—including your sister—then what you're saying would be perfectly doable."
Sona stood up: "THAT'S TOO EXTREME!!"
"Everyone has a dream. People live, die, and are revived by their dreams. Even on the brink of death, there's always that desire to make the dream come true. But there are also dream who destroy thousands of dreams. You will destroy dreams. Killing a dream is no different from killing a person. The future of some noble devils will shine, but because of you, they might never get the chance. Or lesser devils rise and want to destroy the old regime, leading to another civil war? Face it. An extreme dream cannot be achieved without extreme actions."
Tears welled up in Sona's eyes. Serafall furrowed her brows: "Sona is still only 16."
"I'm 19. What makes my dream more valuable than hers? Or is the dream of someone who wants to become a tailor worth less than mine or hers? She needs to face reality," I said.
Serafall stood up: "Cassien-chan, you really are brutally honest, just like Sirzechs-chan said."
"You're foolishly idealistic," I replied.
Sona stood up: "I-I'll do my best. Reaching my dream over corpses would be meaningless… What about you, Mr. Cassien? What's your dream?"
"My top priority is a peaceful life. Second is helping as many people as I can."
But Sona's teary eyes met my cold gaze: "So are you walking a bloody path too?"
"You could say that. I try to deliver justice according to my own moral understanding, and yes—even a simple dream like mine is a bloody path," I said.
Sona looked at her sister: "We're leaving, Cassien-chan."
"Bye."
Venelana had just been standing there.
She put her hand to her forehead: "Even though you told the girl the truth, she's still Rias's age and just turned 16. Besides, some dreams don't leave corpses behind."
"No—dreams that don't leave physical corpses still kill. Sometimes a person's life, sometimes our own ego, sometimes someone else's efforts. Just like what they did to you… You were once a young girl with dreams too, Venelana."
She looked like she was about to cry and sat next to me: "…It's too late now…"
"Does it matter? Somewhere deep inside, that dream is still burning. You just don't realize it…" I said, but she slowly leaned toward me, and our lips met.
When it ended, she looked into my eyes: "Thank you for caring about me… and for looking at me just as Venelana."
"Thank you for everything…" I replied.