Chapter 8: A Bounty Ten Times Higher than Gojo Satoru’s

Once the others had left, the coldness on Mirai's face gradually faded.

"Sit."

He softly instructed the two girls, taking out a luxurious cushion from his Kamui space.

Looking at the now spotless floor, Mai's heartbeat finally steadied a bit.

Suppressing the lingering fear in her heart, she tilted her head up and called out sweetly, "Mirai... big brother."

Mirai took the bento box from Maki, who handed it to him, and nodded, "Has anyone in the family been bullying you two recently?"

The two girls sat across from Mirai and shook their heads.

Since they started delivering meals to him, neither servants nor sorcerers in the vast Zen'in household dared to trouble them—at least, not openly.

But those disdainful glances were still everywhere.

Without thinking too much about it, the two girls skillfully opened the other bento box in Mai's hands.

Kobe beef, lobster sashimi, fugu, matsutake mushrooms…

Even black-skinned watermelon, cut into perfect bite-sized pieces.

The four-tiered bento box was packed full, brimming with luxurious foods that the two girls rarely had a chance to enjoy in the past.

Mirai's health and nutrition were carefully managed by more than a dozen professional nutritionists within the family, ensuring he received the best care, as his age was crucial for physical development.

Just because of a single word from Mirai, the two sisters had been able to enjoy the same top-tier treatment.

Once Mirai picked up his chopsticks, the two girls also started to dig into their meals.

In the past six months, living under Mirai's care, the sisters had noticeably plumped up.

"Mirai-nii, I want to join the Kyujuru Squad to train."

Maki lifted her head, her expression firm as she spoke.

Mai, stunned, turned to her sister in disbelief, her mouth still full, forgetting to chew.

She couldn't understand it at all!

Their lives had just started to improve, so why was her sister willingly stepping into hell?

Mirai chuckled softly and agreed without hesitation.

It seemed that what had just happened made this little girl realize the importance of strength.

"Then I'm going too!"

Mai quickly swallowed her rice, clutching Maki's sleeve tightly.

At that moment, Mai had only one thought: to always stay with her sister.

Even if it meant going to hell.

Maki opened her mouth to dissuade her but stopped herself.

After all, she had been the one to bring it up first. How could she tell Mai to give up now?

"Alright, training is good for you."

"Once you're skilled enough, you can pick whatever cursed tools you want from the Forbidden Vault."

Mirai smiled warmly as he made the promise.

Perhaps it was because before he awakened, these two little girls were the only ones in the family who had ever shown him kindness.

Or perhaps their tragic childhood, before the age of six, in the Zen'in family was just too similar to his own.

These two girls were among the few in this world to whom Mirai could still extend any sort of goodwill.

As for the rest, they were nothing more than corpses in his eyes.

...

After finishing the meal, Mirai glanced at the two sisters, who were still eating slowly. He then pulled out an old notebook from his Kamui space.

"Maki, what month is it?"

Over the past half-year, Mirai had been overwhelmingly busy.

The growth of the Shikigami from the Ten Shadows Technique.

Feeding the Gedo Statue with cursed spirits... and the occasional sorcerer.

Fine-tuning his cursed energy control, researching the Reverse Cursed Technique, and learning the basics of Domain Expansion.

He owed much of his progress to the Zen'in family's vast resources.

Just the collected information on techniques, the experience and wisdom of past Ten Shadows users, and insights into Domain Expansion...

All of this greatly accelerated Mirai's growth, saving him a tremendous amount of time.

As for his physical needs—food, clothing, shelter, and so on—there was no need to worry about any of that.

Don't be mistaken into thinking that making money as a sorcerer is easy!

Look at Nanami, who's practically turned into a corporate drone.

Or Fushiguro Toji, who takes assassination jobs for money.

Not to mention the cursed user groups that have long operated in the shadows—all of them constantly hustling for cash.

"August, 2007."

Maki responded without hesitation.

As soon as she answered, both girls curiously peered at the notebook Mirai had laid on the table.

However, the strange characters on it were completely unrecognizable to them.

Mirai began flipping through the pages, searching for the relevant date.

The densely packed text in the notebook was a narrative Mirai had written in Chinese when he was younger, out of fear of forgetting the events. [T/N: It isn't a Chinese propaganda, calm down.]

It wasn't just the two sisters who couldn't understand it—any regular person from Japan wouldn't be able to make heads or tails of it either.

The writing was more chaotic than a doctor's prescription!

It was a masterpiece of wild cursive script.

Flipping to the date Maki had mentioned, Mirai saw the top half of the page covered in lines he had scribbled over with black ink, marking the events that had already occurred.

06: The Star Plasma Vessel Incident

06: Gojo Satoru's Evolution

06: Fushiguro Toji's Death

Mirai's gaze settled on the lower half of the page, and his lips curled into a faint smile.

07: Suguru Geto's Betrayal

In twisted, crooked writing, Mirai recognized what he had written.

...

Meanwhile, back at the former family head's courtyard.

Having received word from his subordinates that yet another sorcerer had perished in the Forbidden Vault, Naobito's expression darkened further.

In the past eight months, the number of sorcerers from the Zen'in family who had died at that boy's hands was enough to fill four tables for mahjong!

And if you added in the two foolish servants...

They'd have enough to form the Eighteen Arhats down in hell. [T/N: Mahjong pun, even I don't know. Someone comment if you know.]

Thinking about this, Naobito's face became even more grim.

"What's wrong, old man? You can't hold it in any longer and are ready to make a move?"

Zen'in Shinyi smirked, lifting his wine glass as he mocked Naobito.

"I told you, cut the crap."

Naobito shot Shinyi a sidelong glance, "Are you hoping for me to fight that brat so you can make your move up the ranks?"

Noticing how Shinyi's body stiffened in that moment, Naobito couldn't help but laugh.

"Blood ties within the Zen'in family… truly laughable."

He paused, his tone shifting to a warning, "It's one thing to say this in front of me."

"But if you try pulling these little tricks in front of that kid..."

"I doubt you'd survive more than three seconds."

When it came down to it, Naobito had already been far too lenient with his half-brother.

If he hadn't swallowed his pride and intervened eight months ago, Shinyi's head would have been long separated from his body by now.

Seeing the serious look on Naobito's face, Shinyi was momentarily puzzled as he asked, "If you really have no such intentions, then why did you order me to send people disguised as members of the Kamo clan to the black market and raise the bounty on that brat—the family head?"

"Throwing away eight hundred million yen like that? Can you honestly say you had no ulterior motives?"

Currently, Mirai's bounty on the black market had reached a staggering ten billion yen!

That was ten times the bounty of a young Gojo Satoru!

"Do you think it was my idea?"

Naobito spat in frustration, "Use that shriveled brain of yours!"

"Just the Ten Shadows Technique alone is enough for the Zen'in family to treasure him beyond measure. Why would they send someone to kill him?"

"On top of that, he controls cursed spirits on par with Special Grades, and he nearly killed you with his space-warping technique!"

"A monster not inferior to Gojo Satoru, and you think I'd post a bounty on him?!"

"What do you think is sitting on top of your shoulders, a decoration?"

After venting his frustrations, Naobito took a long breath.

Shinyi, still in a daze from the verbal lashing, took a while to process what had just happened.

"But... you were the one who told me to do it!"

Naobito sighed, "Don't forget, I'm merely the head of the Hei unit now, not the head of the Zen'in family."

Shinyi twitched, "So you're saying it was the family head himself... Mirai... who ordered you to raise the bounty?"

Seeing Naobito's lack of denial, Shinyi grew even more confused. "But why would the family head do that?"

"You think that kid explains things to me?"

Naobito gave Shinyi a look as if he were a fool.

He genuinely wondered what was going on inside that head of his.

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