He selected a cigarette with a blend that would give him some energy and keep his mind sharp. He felt like he'd been abusing this particular blend lately.
Both of his guests watched in mild shock as someone their age pulled out a cigarette. Rias spoke up first, "Uhm, would you mind not lighting that? Aside from smelling bad, aren't you too young to be smoking? It's bad for you, you know."
Junichiro ignored her and lit the cigarette and taking a long drag on it. He slowly exhaled a cloud of thick purple smoke that smelled a bit spicy, "It's not tobacco."
Both girls continued to frown, even after they caught the scent of the smoke. Neither of them were experts, but they could tell that whatever herbs he used in the cigarette were magical. Which meant he had connections to buy such herbs. Potentially even connections to one of the biblical factions.
Junichiro let out a happy sigh as his brain started to work somewhat properly. He knew he was going to crash hard in a little while, but it'd be worth it. He was definitely still cranky, but at least he could think a bit better. He returned to the previous topic as if they hadn't left it, "I have no intentions toward you or your peerage. Same for the other chick. I just want to do my thing like I have been."
Rias asked with a voice filled with interest, "Your thing?"
Junichiro shrugged, "My thing." He had no intention of telling her he was 'The Artificer,' yet. That could wait until he got to know her a bit better.
Rias, sensing he wouldn't say more, nodded, "As long as you don't mean us any harm, that's fine. "
Junichiro couldn't help snickering as he replied, "Right, I'm going to mess with the peerages of the younger sisters of the two most powerful and unrepentant sis-cons on the planet? There are far more pleasant ways to commit suicide."
Rias actually looked a little irked by what he said, "So, you're not scared of me but are scared of my brother?"
Junichiro nodded in confirmation, "Exactly. You and your entire peerage might be able to beat me in a fight. Might. Same for Sona and her peerage. But the Satan Lucifer or the Satan Leviathan? They'd crush me with a flex of their power, let alone putting any actual effort into it."
Rias looked affronted while Akeno narrowed her eyes at him. Both felt he was underestimating their family, let alone themselves. If they knew the truth about Junichiro they would understand that he wasn't being cocky and overconfident, he just understood their strength and knew his was greater. They weren't the only ones doing some spying.
As Rias's peerage currently stood, the only possible threat to him came from Gasper, the little trap vampire. Who was too scared to come out of his cardboard box at the moment making him a moot point anyway. The next biggest threat would be Rias herself and her Power of Destruction. He'd never run into it to examine it and come up with a counter, so he could only avoid it for now. Avoiding it would be pretty easy too since Rias had a habit of just gathering a ton of it and firing it as one big blast.
Akeno was easily countered since she relied heavily on elemental magic with a focus on lightning. Kiba had no imagination when it came to the Sacred Gear they had in common. Junichiro was sure he could crush Kiba without much issue. As for Koneko, she was just a tank and easy enough to defeat with her current speed. She wouldn't ever get close enough to use her immense strength and he'd just crush her defenses quickly.
As for Sona... her peerage was actually smaller than Rias's, at the moment. Sona recruited a lot of people from the human world and had yet to do so. Even when she had more folks, Sona was really the only threat in that group for a good long time. He'd curb stomp her and her peerage at the moment. Elemental attacks were the equivalent of chump change to him unless it was an overwhelmingly powerful attack. Otherwise it was a piece of cake to absorb with his Sacred Gear, let alone his other tools and tricks.
Rias crossed her arms under her bust as she stared at Junichiro, "Would you care to put your money where your mouth is?"
Junichiro tilted his head and took another long drag off of his cigarette. After exhaling he asked, "Maybe, if there's something in it for me. I'm not the one with the hurt pride here."
Rias glared at him, "What would you want, if it were possible for you to win?"
Junichiro thought a bit, his brain still a little sluggish despite the caffeine and herbs. It took him a minute, but he smiled once he thought of something good. He still had the Essence of the Blank sitting safely hidden back at his old junkyard. He'd kept a close eye on the place since his move and it was still untouched since he left. Once he took it, he could learn anything, including the Power of Destruction. While not the end-all be-all power some thought it was, it was still a potent ability.
"If I win, I want you to teach me everything you know about the Power of Destruction, including demonstrations of it. But at a time of my choosing."
Rias looked completely confused, "Why would you want that?"
She honestly didn't get it. It wasn't like he could learn how to use the Power of Destruction just from her teaching him about it. Even if she did, she wasn't aware of it having any real weaknesses that he could exploit if she did show him.
Junichiro just smiled, "Because it's what I want."
Rias huffed, "Fine, but what do I get when we win?"
Junichiro shrugged his shoulders, "You tell me."
Rias studied him for a moment, she honestly didn't know what she would want to ask him for. She just didn't know enough about him to guess at what he could give her in exchange for her winning. One of her main goals in coming to Earth was to fill out her peerage more and while Junichiro was a decently strong mage, possibly someone with a Sacred Gear, she just didn't know enough to decide if he was worth the Evil Pieces.
"How about a favor to be named later?"