Chapter 72: Futureproofing
[July 1st, Monday]
With their bi-annual JLPTs(Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) taking place that morning, Issei, Asia, and even Koneko were like zombies by the time the afternoon rolled around. They had the rest of the day off, so Rias invited everyone to gather in the Old School Building to celebrate with the members of Sona's Peerage.
"You three need to pull yourselves together," remarked Rias, sporting a playful smile as she reminded, "If you're this beat up after the JLPTs, the end-of-term exams two weeks from now are going to be Hell."
Borrowing Tsubasa's thighs with his right forearm resting on his forehead, Issei groaned, "Ugh....don't remind me..." before lowering his arm, looking where Vahn was lending his lap to Koneko, and asking, "Hey, Vahn, can't you, like, make a device that allows us to download information directly to our brain? You know, kind of like that one sci-fi movie?"
"It should be possible," confirmed Vahn, shrugging as he added, "But I believe it's best to avoid shortcuts when learning new things. Or else the knowledge and information don't have any weight to them."
"Vahn's right," affirmed Rias, standing behind Vahn and tousling her hair as she revealed, "Devils also have techniques to scan books, record their memories, and even download information directly from the internet. But knowledge acquired that way doesn't feel real. And even if you can recall the information flawlessly, it's like reading from a teleprompter or a script. It doesn't feel like information you actually know."
"But do high-school and college diplomas even matter for Devils?" asked Issei, rising to a seated position and crossing his arms as he argued, "It's not like I'll be using them to get a job or anything."
"Perhaps," conceded Rias, her expression and tone firming as she added, "But I prefer that my subordinates be well-educated and understand the significance of hard work. Think of it like this. If two people were to take an interest in cooking, but one worked hard to open a restaurant while the other was simply given one, which of them would be more invested in the restaurant's success?"
"The first one, obviously..." responded Issei, adopting a conflicted frown.