After the others dispersed, most of the coldness on Mirai's face faded.
"Sit."
From the Kamui space, he took out two expensive cushioned seats and spoke gently to the two girls.
Seeing that the floor had been completely cleaned, the warmth slowly returned to Mai's racing heart.
Suppressing the lingering fear inside her, she looked up and called out in a clear voice:
"Mirai… big brother."
Taking the lunchbox Maki handed him, Mirai nodded.
"Has anyone in the clan been bullying you lately?"
The two girls sat opposite him and shook their heads.
Ever since they had taken on the task of delivering his meals, no one in the vast clan—neither servants nor sorcerers—dared to openly make things difficult for them.
Though the contemptuous looks still lingered everywhere.
Without thinking further, the girls skillfully opened the second lunchbox in Mai's hands.
Kobe beef. Lobster sashimi. Fugu. Matsutake mushrooms.
Black-skinned watermelon, cut into perfect bite-sized pieces.
The four-tiered food box was packed full—luxury ingredients the sisters had rarely tasted before.
Just for Mirai's dietary health alone, the clan employed more than a dozen professional nutritionists.
After all, he was still at an age where he needed to grow.
And with a single sentence from Mirai, the two girls were allowed to share in this top-tier treatment.
After he picked up his chopsticks first, they began eating as well.
In the past half year, following Mirai's meals, the two girls seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight.
"Mirai-nii, I want to join the Kukuru Unit and train."
Maki lifted her chin, her expression resolute.
Mai froze, staring at her sister in disbelief, cheeks puffed with rice she had forgotten to chew.
She truly couldn't understand.
Their lives at home had only just begun to improve—so why would her sister voluntarily step into hell?
Mirai smiled and agreed without hesitation.
It seemed the earlier scene had made the girl understand the importance of strength.
"Then I'll go too!"
Mai swallowed her rice in a few hurried gulps and grabbed tightly at Maki's clothes.
At that moment, she had only one thought:
To stay with her sister forever.
Even if it meant going to hell.
Maki opened her mouth to dissuade her—but stopped.
She had been the one to speak first. How could she tell Mai not to follow?
"Fine. Training will do you good."
"When you're done, you can pick any cursed tool you want from the Taboo Vault."
Mirai chuckled softly as he made the promise.
Perhaps before his awakening, these two little ones had been the only people in the clan who showed him kindness.
Or perhaps the suffering they endured before the age of six was too similar to his own childhood.
These two girls were among the few remnants of goodwill Mirai still held for this world.
As for the rest—
Just monkeys.
After eating his fill, Mirai glanced at the sisters, who were still chewing slowly, and pulled out an old notebook from the Kamui space.
"Maki, what month is it now?"
These past eight months, he had been far too busy.
The growth of the Ten Shadows shikigami.
Feeding cursed spirits—and occasionally stray sorcerers—to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Refining his cursed energy control.
Researching Reverse Cursed Technique.
Learning Simple Domain.
Thanks to the Zenin clan's rich foundation, his progress had been greatly accelerated.
The accumulated intelligence on techniques.
The experience and secrets of past Ten Shadows users.
Insights into Domain Expansion.
All of it saved him an enormous amount of time.
As for food, clothing, shelter, and daily necessities—
There was nothing to worry about.
People thought sorcerers made money easily?
Nanami Kento working himself to the bone like a salaryman.
Toji Fushiguro taking assassination jobs.
The curse-user groups that had long operated in the shadows—
All of them constantly ran about for money.
"August. 2007," Maki answered without hesitation.
The sisters leaned forward curiously to look at the notebook spread across the table.
But the strange characters written inside were completely unrecognizable to them.
Mirai flipped to the time period Maki had mentioned.
The densely packed text had been written in Chinese when he was younger, afraid he might forget the plot.
Even if you brought in someone from China, they might not be able to read it.
The handwriting was more illegible than a doctor's prescription—
Utterly wild cursive.
He flipped to August.
The upper half of the page had several lines crossed out—events that had already occurred:
"06: Star Plasma Vessel incident."
"06: Gojo Satoru ascends."
"06: Toji Fushiguro death."
Mirai's gaze moved downward, and the corner of his lips curved slightly.
"07: Suguru Geto falls."
The twisted line of handwriting was barely legible, but he recognized it.
Elsewhere — In the former Zenin clan head's courtyard.
Upon receiving word that yet another sorcerer had died in the Taboo Vault, Naobito's face darkened further.
In these eight months, the number of clan sorcerers killed by that brat could fill four mahjong tables.
Add in the two unlucky servants—
And in hell, they could probably assemble the Eighteen Arhats.
The more he thought about it, the worse his expression became.
"What? Can't stand it anymore, old man? Planning to make a move?"
Zenin Jinichi lifted his cup and gave Naobito a mocking smile.
"I told you to put away those little schemes of yours."
Naobito shot him a sideways glance.
"Waiting for me to fight that kid so you can climb higher?"
Seeing Jinichi's body stiffen for a split second, Naobito gave a dry laugh.
"The blood ties of the Zenin clan are truly laughable."
Then his tone shifted, laced with warning.
"Say that kind of thing in front of me if you want."
"But if you try that clever nonsense in front of him…"
"I don't think you'd survive three seconds."
To be honest, Naobito had already shown considerable care to this half-brother of his.
If he hadn't intervened last time, Jinichi would have lost his head eight months ago.
Seeing Naobito's serious expression, Jinichi frowned in confusion.
"If you're not thinking that way, then why did you order me to have someone pose as a member of the Kamo clan and raise that brat's—raise the clan head's bounty on the black market?"
"Eight hundred million yen, just thrown away? And you say you don't have those intentions?"
Mirai's bounty had now reached a terrifying one billion yen.
That was ten times the bounty placed on Gojo Satoru in his youth.
"You think that was my idea?"
Naobito snapped in frustration.
"Use that shriveled brain of yours!"
"With a pure Ten Shadows Technique alone, the Zenin clan would treasure him beyond measure—why would we send people to kill him?"
"Add in cursed spirit manipulation comparable to special grade, and that spatial technique that nearly killed you instantly!"
"A monster no weaker than Gojo Satoru—why would I put a bounty on him?!"
"That thing on your shoulders is a head, not decoration!"
After venting, Naobito let out a long breath.
Jinichi stood there blankly for a moment before regaining his senses.
"But—you personally told me to do it!"
Naobito sighed.
"Don't forget. I'm only the head of the Hei Unit now—not the Zenin clan head."
Jinichi's mouth twitched.
"You mean… the one who ordered you to raise the bounty was Clan Head Mirai himself?"
Naobito did not deny it.
Jinichi grew even more confused.
"Why would the clan head do that?"
"You think that brat would sit down and kindly explain it to me?"
Naobito looked at him as if staring at a fool.
He truly wondered what exactly was inside that skull of his.