The surprises didn't end their though. After recognizing the gauntlet, she also noticed that the other boy wasn't dead. Anytime she'd ever heard about a Sacred Gear being extracted from someone, that someone died due to the process. So that brought up the question, how the fuck?!
She had no clue how what she'd just witnessed with her own eyes was even remotely possible. It not only intrigued her, but made her want to have Junichiro join her peerage even more. If he could do that to some random boy, what else could he do? Could he help her precious Gasper?! She certainly hoped he could. Even if the process was a bit painful, according to the boys screaming, it would probably be worth it to help her poor Bishop.
She was only slightly surprised when Junichiro ended the event by giving the boy a porn magazine after slightly editing his memories. At least Junichiro was keeping the masquerade up. She'd watched the boy leave with the magazine and a very perverted look on his face before confronting Junichiro. Now, here they were, heading to his home at his request.
Junichiro couldn't stop himself from sighing, repeatedly. He liked to think he was decent at planning things out. He had plans in motion all the time and was constantly making items to help those plans. Like making the ring he used to steal Boosted Gear from Issei, though it was in its Twice Critical configuration.
Yet, the moment he executes the plan to steal one of the twelve most powerful Sacred Gears on the planet, he doesn't notice the woman with blindingly red hair following him! A super sleuth he was not.
It didn't take too long for them to make it back to his place. They'd not said a word for the entire walk. Thankfully, the silence hadn't been awkward. Once they were inside, he led Rias to the living room and gestured to the various seats, "Please take a seat while I put this," He lifted the gauntlet up, "away and grab something. Would you like a drink before we begin?"
Rias tapped her chin, "Something cold will work. I'm pretty warm from the walk."
Junichiro nodded and left Rias behind in the living room. He made a quick trip into his workshop to set the Boosted Gear gauntlet on a table then made directly for his office. Once there he retrieved a contract, specifically a secrecy one.
After Azazel's last surprise guest, he'd made a dozen or so contracts expecting Azazel to pull something like that again. It seemed like something the mischievous man would do. Shockingly, he hadn't. It did leave him with a small pile of magically binding contracts though. He left the office, contract in hand, and made his way into the kitchen. It was easy enough to retrieve a bottle of chilled water and a pair of glasses. He was thirsty himself.
With everything settled, he returned to the living room where Rias had only had to wait a few short minutes. He set down the water, glasses, and contract. Though he slid the contract toward Rias, "Before I can really tell you anything, I need you to read and sign that. Once you do, I can answer any questions I feel comfortable answering."
Rias arched her eyebrow in question. When no answer was forthcoming, she picked up the contract and quietly read through it. The contract wasn't very long and basically boiled down to one thing, "So if I sign this, then I am expected to keep anything you tell me until I leave your wards a secret on penalty of losing the memories?"
"It also covers while you're still under the wards." He pointed to the relevant section, "So no calling people before you leave to tell my secrets before leaving."
Rias nodded and double checked the contract for anything else she might not have instantly understood. It didn't take long and she nodded. The contract used simple language, not complicated technical terms that required years of college education to begin to unravel, "Alright."
She picked up on of the few pens sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the seats and signed her name to the contract. After she did, Junichiro picked it up, folded it up, and slipped it into a pocket, "So, what do you want to know?"
Rias crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up in the process, "Everything."
Junichiro snorted, "First, I don't know everything. No one does." A facetious answer, but true none-the-less, "I also don't want to take the time to talk about my entire life in a single sitting. It's not all that exciting anyway."
Rias grumbled but settled for, "Fine, then explain what I witnessed today."
Junichiro tilted his head to the side in thought. He took a bit before letting out a sigh, he couldn't think of a way to explain today without...
"Alright, before I can do that, you need to understand something else about me." When she looked curious he explained, "I'm 'The Artificer'."
Rias froze for a moment, before she started laughing, "Oh, you almost had me for a second." She continued to giggle a bit as Junichiro looked slightly offended, "But really, The Artificer?" She gestured to the contract, "I know the contract doesn't say you have to tell me the truth, but come on! Can't you come up with a more believable lie, at least?"
Junichiro let out a sigh. He supposed he should have expected it. No one would ever think that the famous Artificer some some teenager. It wasn't the first time someone had questioned if he was who he claimed to be either. So, instead of trying to argue the point, he stood up and gestured for Rias to follow him, "Come on, I've got something to show you."
Rias, still giggling a little, climbed to her feet and followed Junichiro as he led her to his workshop. When he opened the door, all of her giggles died in her throat. The place she was looking into was like something out of a fantasy novel. There were tools, machines, and items of all shapes and sizes all over the place. On top of that the place radiated so much magical power past the threshold that she could clearly feel it despite not being specialized in sensing power.
With the door open, she silently gaped as waves of magical power rolled over her almost as a physical force. That fact that it was items putting off that much power actually scared her a little bit. Even if she gathered every drop of magical power from the members of her peerage together, it wouldn't even come close to the power radiating from the place. The only thing she could think of that was even close were the very few times she'd felt Grayfia let her power loose.
She slowly turned to look at Junichiro standing next to her. Seeing the satisfied smile on his face made her pout a little. Then it registered to her. The man she was trying to recruit into her peerage, and who seemed willing to join, was the flippin' ARTIFICER! With him in her peerage, her problem was instantly and immediately solved! With what she knew about Junichiro's reputation and his work led her to believe it would be possible for him to make something to easily hand her a victory over Riser.
If Junichiro knew what she was thinking, he would have agreed with her. Making something to defeat Riser would be a cake walk for him.
"So... apparently you weren't lying."
Junichiro smirked and closed the door to his workshop and led her back into the living room. After pouring himself a drink and lighting one of his herbal cigarettes, he spoke, "So, now that we've established that, I can more fully explain what you witnessed today. Thanks to my skills, I was able to create this..."
He set the golden colored ring on the table between then. Aside from the slightly rough looking surface, it looked like a simple gold ring to Rias. She tilted her head as she looked it over, "Alright?"
"That is a Sacred Gear extractor of my own design. It takes a good while to charge up fully and is only good for one use when it is charged. However, it does its job perfectly and doesn't kill the person I'm extracting the Sacred Gear from."
Rias's eyes were practically glittering, "That's amazing!"