Rukia had nearly been beaten into shutting herself off by Byakuya. The blow Lord Byakuya had suffered after being defeated by Lord Ailin in such a humiliating way had surely been far greater than hers.
That was why Rukia asked.
"Hehe, Rukia, don't worry."
"Byakuya is much stronger than you imagine."
Ailin rubbed Rukia's hair and comforted her. "Besides, this will help Byakuya move on from Hisana's death."
"Otherwise, he spends every day with that grim face, as if someone owes him a fortune, yet wastes his time instead of training hard..."
"If that still doesn't wake him up, then when the day comes that he regrets it, no one will be there to bail him out."
Rukia did not understand what Teacher Ailin meant by those words.
But she could tell that, compared to herself, Teacher Ailin had more faith in Lord Byakuya.
"Compared to Byakuya, your problem is much bigger, Rukia."
"I'm sorry, Teacher Ailin, I..."
Upon hearing Ailin say that she had a problem, Rukia instinctively wanted to apologize. But this time, Ailin quickly stopped her.
"You misunderstand, Rukia."
"When I say your problem is serious, it isn't because you aren't working hard."
"On the contrary, it is precisely because of your hard work that your problem has become more serious."
"Hm?"
Rukia was deeply confused. What Teacher Ailin said was very difficult for her to understand.
"Rukia, you must understand that if you want to grow stronger quickly, a 'correct' method of training is essential."
"With a 'correct' training method and training around it as the core, you can rapidly improve your strength."
"But if your training direction is wrong, spending even more time and effort advancing down that wrong path will only leave your future at a dead end."
"Rukia, in my view, your talent