The smugness is earned, fair and square. Akechi got him good.

“Yours are safe with me too, of course.”

Which means Ren will not be spilling any tea about Akechi’s past to his new friends. That would be extremely rude. And despite the dangers of this world, it has provided Akechi a fresh start of sorts. He’s forged new bonds, after all. Ren would never want to impede that progress.

“For the record,” he says, shyly rubbing a hand over the back of his head, “I only tested out Mara that one time.”