She was unwilling to listen to Kobe Suzuo's nonsense any longer; she casually grabbed a core material and turned back to her workstation to get to work.
Yes, a workstation.
Kobe Suzuo insisted on distinguishing between a work environment and a home environment; he felt that Tengen lived too comfortably in Koushin Palace, causing people to set up a half-baked office here.
As the deadline for the agreement with Tengen approached, Yuki Tsukumo had already been summoned back from abroad by Kobe Suzuo at the beginning of the month, she moved into Koushin Palace together with Riko Amanai.
Facing the young Star Plasma Vessel, Tengen always felt guilty.
The attitude of being somewhat indifferent to danger, as if a dead pig fears no boiling water, gradually began to soften.
Riko Amanai heard the sound of the door closing and looked up toward the office partition.
Through the frosted translucent glass door, Tengen's gray-white, thumb-like, non-human silhouette was a blur.
As the process of casting the Cursed Technique to engrave the runes progressed, the room flashed with flickering red and blue lights.
Riko Amanai's movements of wrapping cursed charms onto the tent pegs slowly came to a halt. She dragged her small stool over to sit beside Yuki Tsukumo and whispered in her ear.
Yuki-san, is that really Lord Tengen?
After speaking, he looked up and scanned around, his eyes meeting Kobe Suzuo's ambiguous gaze.
Riko Amanai's body stiffened. She gave a silly laugh and, like a thief with a guilty conscience, buried her head in wrapping the talismans for several more rounds.
The runes on the cursed cloth were folded incorrectly, Riko Amanai was jolted back to reality by the heat of the tent peg. In a frantic rush, she shook out the incorrectly placed cursed talismans and began to carefully attempt to fix them.
Yuki Tsukumo did not answer her question for a long time. Riko Amanai moved back to her original position, her feelings somewhat complicated, as she muttered softly:
“If I undergo assimilation, will I end up like Tengen?”
Or would it be that if Tengen successfully completed the assimilation, he would be reborn and become like a normal human?
Riko Amanai actually wasn't very clear on these matters; even as a Star Plasma Vessel, she didn't know much about Tengen.
Even his appearance was something people only found out about after meeting him through Kobe Suzuo.
That fellow who called himself Tengen spoke with two or three overlapping voices, as if multiple souls were mixed within a single body, struggling to make a sound.
Compared to the bizarre appearance, these eerie voices made Riko Amanai feel even more uncomfortable.
Just a single encounter was enough to send a chill down her spine.
After the other person left, she lowered her head and couldn't help but tremble slightly, as if she had just survived a catastrophe.
What "assimilation" actually meant remained as vague and incomprehensible as ever.
But Riko Amanai had already vaguely understood what she was hoping for.
Yuki Tsukumo rested her chin on her hand, watching the kid's shifting expressions, reached out to ruffle the kid's hair, teasing him playfully.
Having lived for so long, it wouldn't be strange for them to look like anything at all.
She pulled the small stool toward her with her legs, before Riko Amanai could react, she hooked her arms around the girl's neck, asking with a grin:
“Are you relieved? It's such a relief that you don't have to turn into that half-human, half-spirit thing anymore.”
Riko Amanai felt that this way of putting it wasn't quite right, waving her hands with a conflicted expression.
She did not understand "Assimilation," but she was well aware of Tengen's great achievements.
Yuki Tsukumo drew closer, her hair spreading across Riko Amanai's field of vision like liquid gold.
“There's no need to hide it; you can't deceive me. After all, that's what I thought after seeing her appearance back then, too.”
Yuki Tsukumo was casual and carefree, possessing a certain free-spirited, worldly aura.
Things have come to this, so don't overthink it, little kid. Your Brother Kobe is a man of his word; if he says he'll back you up, he will definitely protect you.
She raised her voice and waved casually toward Kobe Suzuo in the distance. "Right, Suzuo!"
Kobe Suzuo pushed up his smart glasses and looked down to fiddle with his phone.
Yuki Tsukumo's pocket vibrated, when she pulled it out to take a look, her face fell.
It was a project progress reminder, a message left by the BOSS, consisting of five pithy words: Pay cut for late work.
Yuki Tsukumo put away her phone and handed the nearly finished semi-finished cursed tool she was working on to Riko Amanai to finish.
She sighed and exhaled a long breath as she warned, "Although your Brother Kobe is kind-hearted, he is a rare stingy person in this world, so remember, whatever you do, do not offend him."
After class, Riko Amanai often came to help Yuki Tsukumo, as she possessed great talent in barrier techniques and had become highly proficient at the finishing touches.
The development of the Cursed Technique, which had been delayed because it required assimilation with Tengen, was also progressing steadily.
Kobe Suzuo told her that, according to her current study progress, she would be able to enroll in Jujutsu High with the new students next year.
It was just that, for some reason, Kobe Suzuo seemed to favor an ordinary high school more than Jujutsu High.
I think Mr. Suzuo is very generous.
Yuki Tsukumo and Riko Amanai whispered about her behind her back.
Of course, I'm not talking about money. You're still young and don't understand; men like him are the most petty.
Riko Amanai couldn't help but look up toward the corner again.
The man standing there wore a suit; he was broad-shouldered with a narrow waist and long legs, his posture straight and poised. He curved his eyes toward her and raised his hand, giving a small, casual wave.
As Yuki Tsukumo looked up, she made a straight line in the air with a smooth twist of her wrist, her knuckles moving with a natural, fluid motion.
Yuki Tsukumo shuddered, muttering, "That's just too stingy."
Without a word, she pulled Riko Amanai to a corner where it was inconvenient to supervise, bringing a small stool along.
Her phone vibrated, Kobe Suzuo sent a new message from a private account:
[Don't talk nonsense. If you corrupt the kids, you're finished ^_^]
After finishing editing the message, Kobe Suzuo glanced at the time and tapped on Merlin:
How is the preparation coming along?
Merlin said, "Everything is ready, Young Master. It will definitely satisfy you—the most, the best, the finest."
Kobe Suzuo stepped into the elevator heading straight for the Koushin Palace office, a nearly imperceptible frown crossing his face:
It's not about whether I'm satisfied; it has to be about whether Satoru is satisfied.
Merlin's triumphant voice pack glitched, a mechanical voice began to broadcast with rhythmic beeps.
[Intelligence missing, data for reference only; the estimated probability of the target Satoru Gojo being "satisfied" with the mission is 50%]
[If there are any questions, please complete the following table]
Merlin asked, "Young Master, do you think a simple and direct idea would pique his interest more, or would a complex and novel idea be more interesting to him?"
Kobe Suzuo: "?"
Merlin asked again, "Do you think he would be more likely to agree with a viewpoint that evokes emotional resonance, or with real-time evidence?"
Kobe Suzuo: "Why are you asking these things?"
Merlin's direct analysis results were displayed on the home page of Kobe Suzuo's phone.
The AI spoke in a somber tone: "Young Master, we still do not understand Satoru Gojo well enough; emotions like 'like' and 'satisfaction' are far too subjective."
Kobe Suzuo found it inconceivable: "You're an AI capable of creating a favorability system, you're asking me this now?"
Merlin said with righteous solemnity, "It's different, Young Master. That one could zoom in on a face to analyze facial features and emotions, but this one is an unpredictable 'surprise'!"
Besides, the Favorability System even recommends taking the playboy route in the early stages and treating every suitable candidate equally. Did you even listen?
You are biased to the extreme!
Merlin asked, "So, Young Master, can you fill out the above questionnaire?"
..
Suguru Geto was forcibly woken up by the loud banging outside the door; he hadn't even had time to tie his hair, when he opened the door, he felt like smashing Satoru Gojo's head with a Hammer Cursed Spirit.
Outside the door, Satoru Gojo's expression was serious, having lost his usual lawless and playful, cheeky demeanor for once.
Seeing Suguru Geto open the door, he dragged him into his own dorm without a word.
Nobara Iori had already arrived, clearly looking sleep-deprived as well; she sat on the most expensive sofa in the room with a sour expression, scrolling through her phone with her legs crossed.
Suguru Geto sighed with a headache and rubbed his temples. "What is it with you now?"
Satoru Gojo sat on the floor and said heavily, "Tomorrow is my birthday."
He glanced at the time: "To be precise, there are only 23 hours left."
Nobara Iori said coldly, "You'll only be seventeen after your birthday, kid. We don't count age by the traditional way, the audit won't allow it."
Satoru Gojo was stunned for a moment before finally realizing what Nobara Iori meant. He slammed his fist onto the floor in indignation, "That's so dirty! Nobara Iori, how could you be such a classmate!"
Suguru Geto sat on the edge of the bed, casually picking up a gaudy shojo manga from the nightstand, raised an eyebrow at the words.
What? I thought you were dragging us to discuss how to launch a night raid on Mr. Suzuo?
Nobara Iori put down her phone and pressed her palms together. "Oh, passionate youth, wait one more year."
Satoru Gojo grabbed the throw pillows and slammed them at the two of them, one on each side, as he said through gritted teeth:
“Clean out the lewd trash in your heads.”
He looked dejected and embarrassed.
He reached out to catch the throw pillow that Suguru Geto had blocked back, pulled the plump, big-headed fat cat into his arms, buried his face directly into it.
A muffled voice drifted out:
Actually, Suzuo doesn't like me.
Satoru Gojo tilted his head slightly, the flesh on his cheeks bunching into curves against the fat cat pillow, his azure eyes drifting aimlessly without finding a place to rest.
He only needs my help with something, that's why he's acting so.. well, as if he really likes me.
Suguru Geto snapped the manga shut with a "pop":
This plot—
Nobara Iori "ding-donged" and turned off her phone:
“This kind of trope—"
The two looked at each other, their voices trailing off with deep meaning.