“Or perhaps I could send you a set of furniture? My people are stationed outside Jujutsu High. If you are willing to open the barrier and let those ordinary people in.”
Tengen understood, with great sincerity, molded four straw mats out of the vast, empty white space.
Merlin: "Pfft."
Kobe Suzuo narrowed his eyes and asked kindly, "Well, what I mean is that a matching set of tables and chairs would make our conversation more convenient."
Tengen understood once more, replacing the tatami mats with a solid wood square table and adding four small stools.
Kobe Suzuo looked at the four-legged stools that were barely knee-high, his mouth twitched.
Merlin said joyfully, "To put it nicely, it's New Chinese style; to put it bluntly, it's a night market hotpot table."
The thought of three 5'11" burly men and a Tengen, whose size was also quite large after his transformation, sitting around a table was simply a sight too grim to bear.
Kobe Suzuo pulled a phone from his pocket expressionlessly, picked a set of interior design references from the butler's collection at random, held it up in front of Tengen.
If possible, please take a look at this.
Using the miniature camera, Merlin analyzed Tengen's fidgeting expression and said thoughtfully:
Young Master, has anyone ever told you that you're actually quite particular?
Kobe Suzuo put away his phone and typed a reply to Merlin:
No one would say that. I will pay wealth of equal value to my labor, so all my pickiness and calculation are reasonable.
Hmm.
Merlin provided plenty of emotional value. "Yes, you are always right."
Merlin paused, adding a brief, emphatic sound before starting a new conversation:
Young Master, before the formal negotiations begin, there is a piece of intelligence I must tell you.
It used a millisecond to calculate, opting not to use the voice function that is frequently noticed by others.
Instead, the report was displayed directly on a mobile phone—considering the occasion and energy consumption, Kobe Suzuo was not wearing Smart Glasses today.
[Within the Main Hall of Koushin Palace, the decryption progress for the special Cursed Energy cycle is 13.98%, expected to advance to 57.17% in 45 hours, which has not met expectations.]
[Barrier Technique circuits are detectable; simulation verification progress is at 39.43%, expected to reach 63.97% in 73 hours, but due to technical limitations, the estimated probability of the subsequent simulation being completed perfectly is only 48.311%]
..
After that came a series of notifications of failed calculations in bright red.
Tengen watched Kobe Suzuo's face darken and felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
She truly could not understand where this inexplicable emotion had come from.
“Um, would this be alright with you?”
The moment he opened his mouth, he was so startled by the slightly sycophantic tone that he began to question his very existence.
Kobe Suzuo looked at the familiar red mahogany reception set, the leather seats, the stone tea table, breathed a small sigh of relief.
With many things on his mind, he gave Tengen a reserved nod, unbuttoned a button with slow, deliberate movements, sat down in the seat of honor without any hesitation.
Tengen breathed a sigh of relief: He had finally managed to get the ancestor to sit down.
Kobe Suzuo was not sitting upright and formal as usual, but instead showed a rare hint of leisure.
His long legs were crossed, his calves casually propped up; he was still wearing red-soled leather shoes, the movement caused his trousers to ride up, revealing his ankles.
He leaned on the chair with one hand, his face expressionless, his pitch-black pupils practically cold.
Sit down. You have three minutes to make it clear.
Tengen's heart, which had just settled, skipped a beat again. As soon as Kobe Suzuo sat down, she felt that his aura had actually become even more overwhelming, making her feel inexplicably subordinate.
Well, three minutes probably won't be enough to finish..
Kobe Suzuo frowned, Tengen's heart skipped a beat in trepidation, standing frozen in place like a strange milk carton.
It was as if he were a socially anxious talent with special skills, poached by the Big Boss through unofficial channels.
Even though she knew the Big Boss wouldn't touch her, she was still terrified from the bottom of her heart.
Tengen is guarding Koushin Palace all by himself; how could he not be considered a genius social recluse?
Even Suguru Geto found it hard to watch.
Someone even more susceptible to Mr. Suzuo's influence has appeared.
Suguru Geto had already begun to grasp the pattern lately.
Those who tend to overthink or enjoy filling in the blanks in their minds—such as him, Kento Nanami, Iori—have weak mental resistance and are easily influenced by Kobe Suzuo.
As for natural types like Makoto Hibara, they naturally serve as atmosphere makers and don't actually overthink things much.
As for Satoru..
“Stop it, Suzuo, Lord Tengen is going to have a heart attack in a moment.”
Satoru Gojo leaned his head out from behind the chair, wrapped his arms around Kobe Suzuo's shoulders, rubbed his cheek against Kobe Suzuo's ear.
He sat sideways against the back of the chair, his hands resting loosely on Kobe Suzuo's shoulders, deliberately striking a pose like a scene from a soap opera.
One moment, Satoru Gojo was speaking up for Tengen, the next, he completely stopped caring whether Tengen lived or died.
He waved at Suguru Geto, grinning foolishly like an elementary schooler on a field trip, "Geto, how's this pose? Take a photo for me."
After waiting for two seconds, Satoru Gojo felt unsatisfied again. He lifted his long legs, gracefully stepping over the back of the chair, using Kobe Suzuo's shoulder as a fulcrum, he leaned his body and landed on the front of the sofa.
Kobe Suzuo reached out at the perfect moment, wrapping her arms around Satoru Gojo's waist and the back of his knees.
Using the strength from his back, waist, abdomen, he pulled the long, lithe Satoru Gojo into a princess carry in his arms.
Eiya~" Satoru Gojo covered his face with both hands and looked at Suguru Geto with excitement, "Perfect! Geto, take a photo!
Tengen..
Suguru Geto..
Even if Satoru wasn't being influenced by Kobe Suzuo, he would find ways to be influenced; this guy was clearly enjoying it.
Suguru Geto pulled out his phone and took a photo with an expressionless face; he might as well take it if he was going to.
If these two succeed, his name will definitely be in the photo montage at the wedding.
If these two don't make it, his best friend will have his life's darkest secrets in hand for the rest of his life.
Suguru Geto won twice (indifferently).
The flash went off twice. Suguru Geto looked at the photos and then at the person, feeling a sense of unease.
Satoru, your legs are crossed too high.
"Oh, oh." Satoru Gojo shrank into Kobe Suzuo's embrace.
The waist is too straight.
"Oh, oh." Satoru Gojo shrunk further into Kobe Suzuo's embrace.
Hiss, why don't you try putting your arm around Mr. Suzuo's shoulder?
"Oh, oh." Satoru Gojo moved his hand away from his face and placed it on Kobe Suzuo's shoulder, casually ruffling the prickly hair at the back of Kobe Suzuo's head.
Kobe Suzuo stiffened for a moment, but she remained still with great restraint.
The camera shutter clicked a dozen more times. Looking at the increasingly abundant photos in the album, Suguru Geto found it utterly incomprehensible.
Handsome, with excellent proportions, a slim waist, long legs—logically, he shouldn't look bad in any photo, but somehow, something just felt off.
When the dark history is sufficient, it's fine, but it doesn't quite work for a wedding.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Suguru Geto, his determination to get a great shot overriding his common sense, as he commanded:
Satoru, try giving Mr. Suzuo a princess carry.
Satoru Gojo's eyes instantly lit up, in the blink of an eye, he darted out from Kobe Suzuo's arms.
“You’ve got some ideas, Geto.”
Unlike Kobe Suzuo's skillful, domineering CEO-style carry, Satoru Gojo's was purely a matter of raw strength and youthful recklessness.
He made a mistake from the very first step; he shoved his hands under Kobe Suzuo's thighs, once he was sure he had a firm grip, he hoisted her straight up onto his forearm like a carrot.
“What? Wait..”
Kobe Suzuo was so shocked that she had forgotten to react, leaning backward with her momentum.
Satoru Gojo quickly reached out a hand to support Kobe Suzuo's waist, which was arching in mid-air due to inertia; realizing his support point was off, he slid his palm upward along her spine to brace her back.
Kobe Suzuo felt the world spinning around her. When she opened her eyes again, her perspective had risen to two meters one, her entire body was hanging on Satoru Gojo.
Sorry, sorry, I'm inexperienced at holding you for the first time.
Satoru Gojo apologized sincerely; he hadn't expected Kobe Suzuo to be so light and so flexible.
When he transported someone, he usually only had the options of carrying them or hoisting them, even then, it was always with the assistance of Limitless. He had been a bit too presumptive when it came to taking action.
Kobe Suzuo had seen many princess carries in two worlds, but this was the first time she had seen someone hang a person on their body before adjusting their posture.
“.. Put me down.”
Satoru Gojo was researching how to turn a person from a vertical position to a horizontal one without using Limitless; hearing the words, he paused and lifted Kobe Suzuo higher, his blue eyes sincere and beautiful.
Kobe Suzuo was startled by the sudden change in perspective, instinctively grabbing Satoru Gojo's shoulders, nearly drowned in those clear blue eyes when she looked down.
Deep breaths.. the bottom line just keeps receding.
After all that tossing and turning, Satoru Gojo remained unruffled, his face neither flushed nor his heart racing, his breathing barely changed, while Kobe Suzuo's ears turned bright red and her hair became slightly disheveled, her entire being lost in a daze.
He even suspected that Satoru Gojo was teasing him on purpose.
Satoru Gojo sat down on Kobe Suzuo's sofa—which possessed the aura of a big shot, being low-key, luxurious, profound—while holding the person, feeling as if he could just lounge right in.
“Yes, yes, yes, just like that.” Suguru Geto nodded frantically.
He thought something was off; with that look just now and that height difference, Satoru Gojo was about to crush Kobe Suzuo to death. This was much more appropriate.
Tengen..
What on earth are you all here for?
You think this is a photo studio?