(100 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 14: Asuna Under Attack
"What is it?" Yumesaki asked.
Even though Cossette hadn't voiced her request yet, he could already guess exactly what she wanted to ask of him.
"I would like to enroll in Totsuki Academy to study for a period of time."
After experiencing the spectacular dishes prepared by Dojima Gin and Nakiri Erina tonight, Cossette had painfully realized just how lacking her own culinary skills truly were. She wanted to enter Totsuki Academy to undergo systematic, professional training so she could become much stronger.
Hearing her request, Senzaemon's eyes lit up instantly. He slapped the table with enthusiasm. "That is absolutely not a problem!"
This was a golden opportunity to further cement their relationship with an incredibly powerful entity. He was absolutely not going to let a chance like this slip through his fingers.
Yumesaki offered a gentle smile. He had known she would say something like this. "Since Old Man Nakiri has already given his approval, I'll naturally support your decision. Just make sure you study hard."
Cossette nodded vigorously, determination burning in her eyes. "I will definitely do my best, Lord Yumesaki!"
She silently swore to herself that she would never do anything to bring shame to Lord Yumesaki's name while studying at the academy.
Senzaemon smiled warmly at the scene, knowing he had successfully established a meaningful connection with Yumesaki. With this bond in place, if Totsuki Academy ever faced a catastrophic crisis in the future, Yumesaki would surely not stand idly by.
An involuntary, hearty laugh escaped Senzaemon's lips. "You can rest easy, Lord Yumesaki. I will personally ensure that the absolute best instructors are assigned to educate this young lady."
"Then I shall trouble you, Old Man Nakiri," Yumesaki replied politely.
"Think nothing of it, it is a simple matter," Senzaemon waved his hand grandly. "Furthermore, regarding your desire to taste the cooking of the Totsuki Elite Ten alumni, I can easily arrange that for you as well."
"That works."
Yumesaki nodded in appreciation. He was well aware that the restaurants managed by these top-tier alumni were incredibly popular. Securing a reservation normally required waiting for weeks, if not months in advance. Without the right connections, tasting their food was practically impossible. Since Senzaemon was offering to pull the strings, Yumesaki had no reason to refuse.
Consider it a fair exchange of favors.
With those matters settled, Yumesaki fully immersed himself back into the grand feast.
Once the banquet finally drew to a close, Dojima Gin and Nakiri Erina stepped back into the private dining room.
Erina stepped forward, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation. "Lord Yumesaki, I hope our dishes were to your satisfaction tonight."
"They were excellent."
Yumesaki didn't hesitate to give them a firm thumbs-up. "In particular, the roasted meat prepared by Dojima Gin left an incredibly deep, unforgettable impression on me."
As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out several massive, one-meter-long cuts of raw meat, placing them neatly on the freshly cleared table.
"Consider these a token of appreciation for tonight's wonderful meal."
Dojima Gin's eyes widened as he stared at the massive cuts of meat resting on the table. He couldn't help but ask out of pure professional curiosity, "If I may be so bold as to ask... what kind of meat is this exactly?"
When he had been prepping the meat earlier in the kitchen, he had taken a small sample to taste. It possessed the rich, dense texture of high-quality beef, yet carried the unmistakable, clean savory undertone of fish. For the life of him, he hadn't been able to identify what kind of creature it could have possibly come from. Terrestrial animals certainly didn't grow to such a massive scale, yet it didn't resemble any known marine species either. The mystery had been driving him crazy.
"Just think of it as Sea Cow meat," Yumesaki answered simply.
The Sea Kings of his world came in all sorts of bizarre shapes and sizes. Some looked like marine cows, some resembled octopuses, and others looked like giant hippos. In short, they came in every form imaginable. The specific Sea King Yumesaki had processed happened to look quite a bit like a cow, so calling it a Sea Cow was accurate enough.
Dojima Gin, however, looked completely baffled. That explanation didn't seem right at all.
It wasn't as if he had never seen a stellar sea cow or a manatee before—those gentle marine mammals belonging to the order Sirenia, family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus. Their physical forms were typically spindle-shaped, with paddle-like forelimbs and reduced hindlimbs. A fully grown adult usually reached around 2.8 to 3.0 meters in length and weighed anywhere from 400 to 550 kilograms, with females generally being larger than males.
Yet, looking at the portions Yumesaki had just gifted him, even though each individual cut was only about a meter long, it was glaringly obvious that they had been carved from the body of an absolute behemoth. An ordinary sea cow could never possess a body mass of that scale. Even if it were a rare genetic mutation, growing to such a monstrous size was fundamentally impossible.
Yumesaki didn't offer any further explanation to clear up his confusion. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward Erina.
"This is for you."
He extended his hand, presenting the Cursed Homies he had created earlier to Erina. "This little guy can do more than just place curses on others; it can actively devour curses directed at you as well. It should serve as an excellent tool for your personal protection."
"As long as you have it with you, you'll never have to worry about anyone trying to place a curse on you again."
The Cursed Homies looked at Yumesaki as he handed it over to a new master. Though it felt a bit reluctant to leave his side, it didn't voice any complaints. Instead, it bowed very politely toward Erina, its tiny voice squeaking out, "I look forward to working with you, Lady Erina."
Erina felt incredibly honored as she carefully accepted the Cursed Homies. The creature looked like a tiny, chibi version of a human, incredibly small and profoundly cute. She fell in love with it almost instantly. After all, it was a well-known fact that humans had absolutely no natural defense against incredibly adorable things.
"Thank you so much, Lord Yumesaki."
"Don't be so formal," Yumesaki replied smoothly. "Also, Cossette will be officially enrolling in Totsuki Academy tomorrow as a transfer student. I'd appreciate it if you could look after her for a bit."
Without a single shred of hesitation, Erina proudly puffed out her chest. "Just leave it to me!"
Totsuki Academy was her personal domain. There was absolutely no way she would ever allow anyone to bully Cossette under her watch. It was completely out of the question.
In truth, Yumesaki wasn't actually worried about Cossette getting bullied at all. Even though she looked incredibly gentle and delicate on the outside, she was ultimately a native of the One Piece world who had also been injected with the Superhuman Serum. A single serious punch from her could easily take down a whale. If anyone actually tried to pick a fight with her, it would simply mean they were utterly tired of living.
The real reason he wanted Erina to look after her was so that Erina could utilize her legendary God's Tongue to help Cossette's culinary abilities develop even further. That was the most efficient way to utilize Erina's unique talents.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city.
Deep within the hidden confines of the Peace Society, the massive, imposing leader of the organization stared down at his phone screen, his expression entirely unreadable.
The headline read: *Tanaka Asahi, President of Asahi Heavy Industries, Passes Away After Fatal Fall from Building.*
After staring intently at the breaking news report for several quiet moments, the leader of the Peace Society swiped away from the article and opened a heavily encrypted, secret messaging application to send out a single text.
"Tanaka Asahi is dead."
A few seconds later, a reply pinged back from another member. "Just saw the news. They're claiming he died from falling off a building. What a complete joke. A drop from that height could never kill a Jujutsu Sorcerer like Tanaka Asahi."
Moments after that, a third individual joined the secure chat.
"His death was completely unnatural. I personally went to investigate Asahi Heavy Industries. His [Paper] is missing as well."
"Damn it," the third person cursed in reply.
The leader of the Peace Society typed out another message. "Regardless of the circumstances, the [Paper] must be recovered at all costs. That object poses far too great a threat to us. If we fail, the higher-ups within the cult will absolutely not let us off the hook."
"Agreed. The [Paper] must be retrieved. But the real issue here is whether any of you actually know who killed Tanaka Asahi and took the [Paper] in the first place."
The leader of the Peace Society shook his head slightly before typing his response. "It's completely unclear. I have no idea. Do any of you have a lead?"
"No clue here."
"I don't know either."
"Same. Perhaps we should start our investigation by looking into the people Tanaka Asahi has offended recently."
"The list of people he's crossed is endless. Trying to investigate every single one of them is going to be a massive headache."
"No, you're trapped in the wrong mindset. While it's true Tanaka Asahi offended a vast number of people, the number of individuals who actually possess the raw power and capability to completely erase him from existence is incredibly small."
Reading that line, the leader of the Peace Society's eyes flickered slightly. "That's a very valid point. Tanaka Asahi's personal strength was quite formidable. Very few people are qualified to take him down. If we look at it from that angle, the Shinomiya Zaibatsu is currently our most likely suspect."
"The Shinomiya family? He actually went out of his way to offend someone from the Shinomiya Zaibatsu?"
"Yes. That fool actually wrote the name Kaguya Shinomiya onto the [Paper]," the leader replied.
"Kaguya Shinomiya? You mean that illegitimate child the Shinomiya family couldn't care less about?"
"Even if she is an illegitimate child who receives no affection, Kaguya Shinomiya still carries the Shinomiya bloodline. If the main family found out that Tanaka Asahi was actively moving against one of their own, they would never allow him to keep breathing."
"That's assuming the Shinomiya family actually figured out that Tanaka Asahi was the mastermind behind it."
"The Shinomiya family is definitely not going to be an easy target to investigate."
"Exactly. The influence of that massive conglomerate has extended into every single corner of this country. Whether it's in the political arena or the business world, they have people everywhere. We're going to hit a wall of resistance trying to dig into them."
The leader of the Peace Society let out a cold, cynical chuckle to himself before sending his next message. "Oh, so it's difficult? Is that your excuse? Let me remind you all, the [Paper] is completely gone. If we don't find it and bring it back, will any of you truly be able to sleep soundly at night? Are you not terrified that your own names might suddenly appear on that very [Paper] next?"
The moment that chilling message was sent, the group chat fell into an absolute, dead silence.
A long, agonizing period of time passed before anyone finally gathered the courage to reply.
"I'll handle the investigation into the Shinomiya family."
The leader of the Peace Society smiled with deep satisfaction. "I'll leave it in your hands then. Make sure you find out exactly where that [Paper] went."
"Consider it done. But once this matter is resolved, the three of you will owe me a massive favor."
"Deal."
"Agreed."
"Agreed," the leader text back, sealing the arrangement with absolute seriousness.
...
Time flowed by rapidly, and soon enough, the next morning arrived.
Accompanied and supported by Erina, Cossette successfully completed her transfer process and officially integrated into Totsuki Academy, starting her new life as a student.
Yumesaki and Nero had gone along to see her off, originally intending to take a leisurely stroll around the beautiful Totsuki Academy grounds.
However, right at that moment, Yumesaki received an urgent telepathic message from Medea.
"A horde of monsters is currently attacking Asuna."
The moment Yumesaki received the news, he immediately grabbed Nero. Activating his Clairvoyance magic, he instantly locked onto Medea's exact magical signature and location.
At that very moment, Medea was sitting inside an entirely empty, quiet classroom deep within Shuchi'in Academy, anxiously waiting for Yumesaki's arrival.
Inside the classroom alongside Medea was Asuna, whose face was completely devoid of color, looking incredibly pale.
"What happened?"
Yumesaki opened an Air Door, stepping directly into the classroom from the spatial void, his voice sharp with concern.
Seeing Yumesaki arrive, Medea quickly and concisely explained the situation.
"This morning, Asuna went about her usual schedule to attend her classes after breakfast, while I followed her from the shadows to ensure her safety."
"The moment we entered the school grounds, the strange monsters lurking within this academy suddenly seemed to lose their minds. They were violently drawn to a massive curse, and they began attacking Asuna in relentless waves."
"To avoid drawing ordinary civilians into the crossfire, I had no choice but to quickly bring Asuna here to hide inside this empty classroom. I immediately erected a powerful magical barrier to keep the monsters outside from breaking in."
Hearing her explanation, Yumesaki tilted his head upward. Sure enough, his eyes caught the shimmering edge of the boundary barrier Medea had cast.
Beyond the translucent wall of the barrier, a grotesque mass of bizarre, twisted monsters stood guard, scratching and clawing desperately to get in.
However, these entities were definitely not typical Youkai.
They belonged to a completely different class of supernatural threats, known collectively by one terrifying name...
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