The games Raiden Games had previously released served as trailblazers in the international market. The road ahead was now mostly paved.
At present, the most important task was ensuring the quality of Dies Irae. It had to be perfected down to the smallest detail.
Although the path had been laid out, standing high also meant falling hard. This was Raiden Games' first foray into the galgame genre.
Without strict quality control, failure was a real possibility.
After all, competitors were eagerly waiting for Raiden Games to stumble so they could take advantage of it.
In direct competition, other companies could not match Raiden Games. Their only hope lay in exploiting potential setbacks during its expansion.
Raize understood this perfectly. Whether for his current growth or the future of his games, he had to invest his utmost effort.
---
Some time later, at Sobu High School.
"Raize, this is a bento Chihiro taught me to make. I want you to try it."
Raize was extremely concerned about his friends at school—Shirogane, Mashiro, and even Hiratsuka—so he had dispatched several shadow clones to the campus.
His Doppelganger with strength comparable to his own was also lurking nearby. The Raize now facing Mashiro's bento was likewise a shadow clone.
At noon, as usual, he had prepared lunch for Mashiro. But under the curious gazes of Rias and Sona not far away, the shadow clone Raize's mouth twitched as he looked at the Japanese bento in Mashiro's hands.
Tempura, meatballs, rice—it looked acceptable at first glance. However, his sharp eyes quickly noticed numerous flaws, including several burnt and charred spots.
Still, for a girl who could barely take care of herself to reach this level…
Raize glanced at Mashiro's fair fingers, which indeed bore several faint marks.
However, due to the symbiote within her, Mashiro showed no outward signs of injury.
"The taste is average—edible, but just okay. Why did you suddenly decide to make bento yourself?"
Under Mashiro's expectant gaze, Raize quickly finished everything in the box. He did not placate or deceive her. Instead, he honestly pointed out both strengths and weaknesses, carefully explaining issues with timing and heat control.
Mashiro did not need false praise. Raize's feedback was sincere. To Yumiko nearby, it seemed a little harsh on the girl.
Mashiro was indeed slightly disappointed at first, but she quickly recovered.
After all, before meeting Raize, her manga career had hit wall after wall. Her mental resilience was not weak.
If she failed, she would simply work harder and strive for improvement. That was the kind of girl Mashiro was.
If she applied the same focus she had for drawing to other fields, she could achieve remarkable results there as well.
"Chihiro said that if a girl doesn't know how to cook, she'll lose points in a boy's heart."
As she spoke, Mashiro happily ate the delicious bento Raize had prepared for her. Each shining, mouthwatering bite made her squint her eyes in contentment.
Comparing her own bento to the food made by her caretaker Raize, she deeply understood the gap between them.
If she didn't care about Raize, she wouldn't have bothered trying in an area where the difference was so obvious.
A pure, slightly airheaded yet adorable girl, Mashiro made no effort to hide her affection for Raize.
Raize, not being dense, clearly felt it. Mashiro's place in his heart had risen significantly since their last hug.
"Don't worry. It has nothing to do with whether you can cook or not. You won't lose points in my heart. You don't have to listen to everything your cousin says."
A faint smile appeared on Raize's calm face as he watched Mashiro eat, carefully serving her rice and picking out side dishes for her.
Hearing this, the "pet girl" immediately became happy. Since she wouldn't lose points, there was no need to put effort into cooking. She could just focus on eating the food prepared by her caretaker Raize.
"This person… is unexpectedly compatible with certain people, even though his killing intent last time was so overwhelming and terrifying."
Walking out of the classroom with Rias, Sona could not help but sigh, unaware that Raize's hearing might have been sharp enough to catch her words.
Walking side by side down the crowded corridor under the intense stares of other students, Rias showed no discomfort. Hearing Sona's words, she spoke up.
"I believe you've investigated Raize as well. He is a pure human. According to information Yuuto gathered, just a few months ago he was completely ordinary. I'm almost certain he awakened after his family suffered a tragedy."
When Rias learned this, she felt genuine regret.
To become such a powerful existence in just a few months—this level of potential and growth speed would attract the attention of any major faction.
If she had arrived earlier and offered help while Raize was still weak, wouldn't she have gained a powerful ally?
Based on Raize's displayed strength, dealing with her fiancé would be no more difficult than lifting a finger.
After learning the truth, Rias felt like an ordinary person who had missed out on a billion-yen opportunity. She had even joked about it with her close friend, Akeno.
"If only I had noticed Raize earlier and helped when his family was in trouble—even if we didn't become partners, we could at least have been close friends."
Sona saw the regret in Rias's beautiful eyes and immediately understood her thoughts.
There was nothing shameful about it—even Sona herself had similar fantasies after learning about Raize.
But missing the chance meant missing it. There was no way to establish an exceptionally close relationship now.
They could only maintain the current status quo.
"Rias, you'd better stop entertaining those ideas. That human is impossible to recruit."
Sona lowered her head slightly. Sunlight filtered through the corridor windows, reflecting in her eyes as she spoke in a low voice.
Based on her investigation, recruiting Raize was impossible. Even forming a truly friendly relationship with devils was absolutely out of the question.
"I know he can't be recruited. But can't we at least improve our relationship? Befriending a strong individual isn't a bad thing."
Rias sighed. As a pure-blooded devil far weaker than Raize, recruitment was impossible. Perhaps her brother might have had a chance, but she knew she herself did not.
"His entire family was killed by ghouls. You probably didn't extend your investigation that far," Sona said coldly, looking at Rias with a strange, probing expression. "I had Tsubaki investigate thoroughly. Guess who was behind those ghouls?"
Seeing Sona's gaze, Rias felt something was wrong. Her eyelid twitched as she recalled matters related to ghouls.
She and her peerage had never held any goodwill toward that weak, universally despised man-eating race.
During stray devil hunts, Akeno and Kiba had occasionally killed a few ghouls as well.
Wait.
Rias's eyes widened as she connected several unsettling dots.
If she remembered correctly, the beings most closely associated with ghouls were stray devils.
Ordinary stray devils were only slightly stronger than top-tier SSS-ranked ghouls, yet they still completely outmatched them.
The demonic power within them was the fundamental reason for their superiority. Stray devils often used ghouls as subordinates.
The most depraved stray devils even enjoyed consuming humans to strengthen themselves—something Rias had heard from her sister-in-law, Grayfia, during her early hunts.
A detail she had never paid much attention to now resurfaced vividly in her mind.
She turned an inquiring gaze toward Sona, about to ask if it was true—only to see the knowing cold smile already present in Sona's eyes.