Chapter 8: Cursed Homies
Nakiri Senzaemon stood tall without moving an inch, his eyes staring intently at his granddaughter.
He didn't speak, didn't help Erina make her choice, and didn't interfere with his granddaughter either.
Because this matter concerned Nakiri Erina's very life.
As her grandfather, he could assist Nakiri Erina in making many decisions, but he possessed no right to dictate Nakiri Erina's life, even if she was his granddaughter.
Thus, he stood silently in place, waiting for Erina's choice. Whether it was betting on the risk or waiting patiently, he could accept it.
Yumesaki didn't rush the young girl in front of him either, choosing to wait calmly instead.
After a long while, Erina finally firmed up her resolve.
Waiting around simply wasn't in her nature. Rather than continuously suffering through a prolonged period of anxious waiting, it was better to get it settled swiftly.
"Please, Mr. Yumesaki, help me lift this curse."
"Very well."
Yumesaki smiled. This choice aligned perfectly with his wishes. He also wanted to use this curse to test who exactly was pulling the strings from behind the scenes, and why that person was placing curses consecutively on both Asuna and Nakiri Erina.
"Step forward in front of me. No matter what you see, do not be afraid."
Yumesaki instructed Nakiri Erina to stand closer, then decisively channeled the power of the Reaper.
The towering shadow of the Reaper emerged from behind Yumesaki, and a chilling aura of death instantly diffused throughout the private room.
In an instant, everyone in the room felt as though they had plunged straight into an ice abyss.
Nakiri Senzaemon felt that he had witnessed many grand spectacles throughout his life, but the moment he beheld the phantom of the Reaper, he still lost his composure in a rare display of panic.
Both of his legs trembled, goosebumps erupted all over his flesh, and within mere seconds, cold sweat completely drenched his clothes.
The aura of death was truly far too terrifying.
He felt as if a part of himself had already died.
Just looking at it brought about such a horrifying sensation; he truly couldn't begin to imagine what kind of pressure his beloved granddaughter was enduring at this very moment.
In reality, Nakiri Erina was indeed enduring an almost unimaginable pressure.
Especially when the Reaper reached out its hand and grabbed her, her breath hitched instantly.
Her entire physical body felt as though it had ceased to live.
A few seconds later, Nakiri Erina's soul was gently pulled out by the Reaper.
The exact moment her soul detached from her body, Nakiri Erina spotted a dark reddish-black aura tightly coiled around her form.
This aura had been completely invisible before.
But now that she had shifted into her soul form, through the spiritual vision of a soul, she could see this ominous reddish-black aura with absolute clarity.
Following that, the Reaper's other hand grabbed her gently.
The reddish-black curse was seized by that massive hand of the Reaper.
This particular brand of death curse was utterly suppressed by Yumesaki's Reaper power.
Logically speaking, at this point, Yumesaki should have used this energy as a stepping stone to trace the mastermind behind the scenes who cast the curse.
But right at that moment, a bizarre idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Perhaps, he could handle it like this.
Yumesaki controlled the Reaper to manipulate the curse's energy. After pondering for a moment, the powers of the Hollow-Hollow Fruit and the Soul-Soul Fruit erupted simultaneously.
He began transforming the curse's energy into an anthropomorphic manifestation.
The curse power, which originally possessed no intellect whatsoever, actually transformed into a tiny chibi-sized figure with its own consciousness under the influence of the two Devil Fruits.
The Soul-Soul Fruit could manipulate human souls at will, allowing fragments of souls to inhabit various objects to make them anthropomorphic.
Those personified entities were known as Homies.
Meanwhile, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit could generate various types of ghosts and spirits.
When the powers of the two fruits were fused together, Yumesaki could create Cursed Homies entirely at will.
The curse power was merely a small experiment for Yumesaki.
Fortunately, Yumesaki succeeded.
The curse power had actually been successfully personified, morphing into a tiny Cursed Homie.
"Master," after the Cursed Homie was born, it bowed politely toward Yumesaki.
Even though this power hadn't originated from Yumesaki, its intelligence and personality had been bestowed by him, so it naturally addressed Yumesaki as its master.
"No need for formalities," Yumesaki waved his hand casually. "Tell me, who cast this curse?"
The Cursed Homie showed a troubled expression. "My deepest apologies, Master, I do not know who cast this curse either."
"You don't know?" Yumesaki felt a bit surprised.
The Cursed Homie nodded. "Master, my original true form is actually a notebook. As long as a person's name is written inside the book, the cursed person will die."
A notebook, writing down a name, and then they die?
Why did this concept sound so incredibly familiar?
Yumesaki's eyes flashed, suddenly arriving at a stark possibility... could it be the Death Note?
Ah, wait, that thing was mixed in here too?
But the situation didn't align perfectly.
If Yumesaki remembered correctly, people whose names were written in the Death Note were supposed to die of a heart attack by default.
But Asuna was targeted by a Youkai.
And Nakiri Erina was supposed to drown in a lake and die.
Neither had anything to do with a heart attack.
Wait, Yumesaki suddenly recalled that the Death Note actually possessed another specific rule.
The notebook allowed the writer to specify the exact method of death.
Dying from a car accident, drowning in the ocean—as long as it was a physically possible scenario, it could all become reality.
Being killed by a Youkai, though slightly unusual, if it truly was that specific notebook, it might actually be able to manifest it.
After all, that object could genuinely intervene with the laws of cause and effect.
Meaning, the deaths of Asuna and Nakiri Erina had actually been meticulously planned.
"I see. Where is your true physical form right now?" Yumesaki inquired out of curiosity.
The Cursed Homie stated, "Does Master wish to go there right away? I can lead you to its location."
Yumesaki shook his head, choosing not to move immediately. "Hold on a moment, let's settle the business here first before we talk about that."
He placed the small Cursed Homie onto his shoulder, then pushed Nakiri Erina's soul right back into her physical body.
"I have extracted the curse power. You both saw it just now; the true form of this object is actually a small notebook. As long as a person's name is written there, they will die."
"And the specific method of death can be custom-designed."
Nakiri Senzaemon witnessed the events unfolding inside the private room, his face filled with utter shock, bewilderment, and astonishment.
He truly couldn't fathom that something as abstract as a curse could actually be personified into a living entity.
The grand power demonstrated by Yumesaki far exceeded the imagination of ordinary folk, proving to be completely transcendent.
But what he expected even less was that the thing cursing his beloved granddaughter wasn't a person, but a small notebook that caused death simply by having a name written within it.
Even the manner of death could be custom-designed by the user.
To think such an absurd, illogical cursed item existed in this world.
Nakiri Senzaemon couldn't help but shudder. Didn't this mean that whoever controlled this small notebook could assassinate anyone they pleased, whenever they wanted?
Perhaps even including himself.
This realization left Nakiri Senzaemon feeling deeply unsettled, his hands and feet turning cold as he couldn't resist asking, "Sir, who exactly created this small notebook to possess such an preposterous ability?"
"I don't know," Yumesaki shook his head and said, "I'll have to see the notebook firsthand before I can say for sure, but unless something extraordinary happened, this item was likely created by a Shinigami."
"A Shinigami?" Nakiri Senzaemon's heart rattled, and he stared deeply at Yumesaki.
Because just a moment ago, he too had witnessed a Shinigami.
Yumesaki caught his train of thought and immediately waved his hand dismissively, stating, "Don't look at me, it has nothing to do with me. I don't own that item, let alone create something like that."
Nakiri Senzaemon swallowed hard, and ultimately chose to believe him.
After all, he had no choice but to believe; he couldn't possibly defeat Yumesaki anyway.
Thus, he tactfully changed the subject. "Since the curse has been taken by you, Sir, does that mean Erina is finally safe?"
Hearing this, Nakiri Erina looked up at Yumesaki filled with anticipation, her fingers subconsciously fiddling with the hem of her outfit.
This matter concerned life and death; how could she possibly maintain total composure?
Yumesaki observed this and couldn't help but offer a gentle smile. At her core, Nakiri Erina was just a high school student, so it was only natural for her to get tense and lose her cool when facing a life-or-death crisis.
"Relax," Yumesaki pointed to the Cursed Homie resting on his shoulder and said, "The curse wrapped around her body has already been taken away by me. Barring any bizarre anomalies, that curse shouldn't affect her ever again."
Hearing those words, Nakiri Erina let out a heavy sigh of relief, her chest heaving significantly.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Yumesaki."
Nakiri Erina's eyes sparkled as she gazed earnestly at Yumesaki. "I owe you my life, Mr. Yumesaki. If you have any requests for me in the future, as long as it lies within my power, I will absolutely give it my all."
Yumesaki chuckled softly. "Don't put it like that. As it happens, I do have one thing here that requires your assistance."
As he spoke, he channeled the power of the Pocket-Pocket Fruit, pulling several colossal chunks of meat out from his pocket.
"Help me prepare these pieces of meat, turn them into some top-tier meat dishes. You should be capable of doing this, right?"
Nakiri Erina had originally assumed it was some monumental task, her heart full of anxiety. Seeing Yumesaki merely asking her to process these chunks of meat, she instantly felt relieved. This was her absolute specialty.
She agreed decisively, patting her own chest as she declared, "Leave it to me, Mr. Yumesaki, rest assured. I will definitely put in a hundred and twenty percent of my effort and won't let you down."
Yumesaki gave a brief acknowledgment, then added, "Let's do this: hand a portion of the meat over to Dojima Gin to prepare. I am highly anticipating what kind of sparks will fly from combining his culinary skills with these meats."
Nakiri Erina nodded, opened the door, and called the manager inside, instructing him to get some staff to transport all these massive chunks of meat to the kitchen, assigning half of the haul directly to Dojima Gin.
When Dojima Gin laid eyes on these chunks of meat, he couldn't help but stand there completely dumbfounded.
The quality of the meat was remarkably dense, the texture incredibly fine, glossy and shimmering beautifully—it was a true work of art.
The premium caliber of this meat was obvious at a single glance. Even A5-grade Wagyu beef would look entirely pale and inferior when compared directly to it; the difference was night and day.
No wonder that guest had referred to A5 Wagyu as cheap meat; it turned out the opposing party truly possessed the real deal.
No wonder he was such an esteemed guest to Nakiri Erina.
No wonder the Director-General had personally rushed down to the resort; he was clearly aiming for these meats.
If they could truly secure a steady import of this quality of meat, Totsuki Resort's business would undoubtedly soar to unprecedented heights.
At the exact same time, Nakiri Senzaemon, who had absolutely no clue that he was being completely misunderstood by Dojima Gin, was deeply contemplating a certain question Yumesaki had raised just moments before.
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