Chapter 167
"Ahem... Zenin-san, what exactly is all this?"
Kiriya looked past the line of young women to Naobito, who stood behind them in his kimono with the expression of a man who had arranged something perfectly reasonable.
"Well, I heard you’d only recently arrived and didn’t even have anyone attending to your daily needs."
Naobito walked over and gestured proudly toward the girls.
"That simply wouldn’t do. They’re all younger members of the Zenin clan. Don’t let their age fool you—they’re capable, well educated, excellent in the kitchen, and properly trained in household service."
He smiled broadly.
"Choose whichever one you like. I’ll personally arrange for her to accompany you."
Kiriya stared at the group.
’Damn this rotten feudal system.’
He condemned it fiercely in his heart.
With absolutely no trace of envy whatsoever.
After clearing his throat, he raised a hand.
"I’m used to taking care of myself. Having someone wait on me would only feel uncomfortable."
He glanced toward the young women.
"Besides, they’re all in the prime of their lives. Following me around and wasting their youth as servants would be far too dull."
"Not at all."
Naobito shook his head vigorously.
"They were extremely enthusiastic when they heard they might be chosen."
He lowered his voice as though sharing a secret.
"These are the best of the volunteers."
Kiriya blinked and looked at them again.
Every girl had clearly spent considerable effort on her makeup and clothing.
Some gazed at him shyly, others with open excitement, and several with hopeful anticipation.
Not one of them looked unwilling.
Kiriya fell silent.
He had no idea what sort of image these girls had built of him in their minds.
He was sixteen, yet his strength already exceeded that of a Special Grade 1 sorcerer.
His future seemed limitless, and on top of that, he had the kind of face people found difficult to look away from.
To girls who still secretly dreamed of fairy-tale romances, he was practically an unbeatable combination.
There was also what had happened with Maki.
From their perspective, Kiriya had come all the way to the Zenin estate and humiliated two of the clan’s strongest men specifically to defend her.
Within a family that valued cursed energy and inherited techniques above everything else, women without exceptional talent endured plenty of the same discrimination Maki had suffered.
If one of them were chosen, she could leave this suffocating place behind and finally live on her own terms.
So when Naobito announced that he was selecting attendants for Kiriya, volunteers had appeared almost immediately.
"..."
Kiriya remained silent.
Naobito was far too good at this.
Every choice had clearly been made with careful attention to aesthetic balance—angles, curves, symmetry...
Was this really how one tested a man’s principles?
What man’s principles were supposed to survive this?
Before his resolve could weaken any further, something soft and firm wrapped around his arm.
Kiriya raised an eyebrow and turned.
Maki had pressed herself against his side, wearing a smile so gentle that he had never seen anything like it from her before.
"Kiriya," she said sweetly, "weren’t you planning to visit the Kamo and Gojo clans too? There are still plenty of curses waiting for you."
The warmth in her voice was so unnatural that Kiriya’s eyes filled with amusement.
Maki felt embarrassed under his stare, but stubbornly refused to look away.
They held each other’s gaze for several seconds.
Then Kiriya broke into a bright smile and turned back to Naobito.
"Thank you for the generous offer, Zenin-san. Unfortunately, I still have somewhere to be."
He slipped an arm around Maki’s waist.
"Let’s discuss this another time."
Naobito had naturally noticed the entire exchange. Satisfaction flashed through his eyes, though he put on a disappointed expression.
"What a shame. You hardly ever visit, and now you’re already—"
"Hahaha! Next time. Definitely next time."
Kiriya laughed boldly and walked away with Maki at his side, leaving behind a line of deeply disappointed girls.
...
"Kiriya, don’t we still have to visit the Kamo and Gojo clans? There are sooo many curses waiting for us~"
Inside the car heading toward the Kamo estate, Panda leaned toward Inumaki and repeated Maki’s earlier words in an exaggeratedly sweet voice.
"Shut up!"
Maki’s expression changed instantly. She raised a fist toward Panda’s head.
"Waaah, Maki is so scary!"
Panda pouted.
"You were so gentle when you spoke to Kiriya."
"You’ve changed, Maki. You’ve become a hypocrite!"
"I told you to shut up!"
Maki’s face turned bright red as she grabbed both of Panda’s cheeks and stretched them outward.
"No one will mistake you for being mute just because you stop talking for five minutes!"
"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!"
Panda wailed dramatically, then looked toward Kiriya for help.
"Save me, Kiriya! Control ’your’ Maki!"
"What—did—you—just—say?"
Maki pronounced each word slowly, radiating the pressure of a tiger preparing to pounce.
"That’s enough, Maki." Kiriya spoke gently. "I need to tell you something."
"..."
Maki stopped and released Panda’s cheeks. After giving him one final murderous glare, she turned toward Kiriya.
"W-What is it?"
"Give me your hand."
"Why?"
Her toes curled inside her shoes, a strange restless sensation spreading through her body.
"Just give it to me. Why do you ask so many questions?"
Kiriya took her hand before she could object and sent a stream of chakra into her body.
"Mm..."
The warm, vigorous energy flowed through Maki, drawing a small sound from her before she could stop it.
When she noticed Panda and Inumaki giving her strange looks, her face heated immediately.
But she soon forgot about them.
Information flooded into her mind.
The fundamental theory behind the Eight Gates.
The physical conditioning required before attempting to open them.
The dangers, precautions, and training stages involved.
Everything Kiriya knew about the technique was there.
Maki clenched her fist as she witnessed the hellish training contained within those memories.
She had always believed she trained harder than almost anyone.
Compared with this, however, her routine seemed almost gentle.
"Push the body to its absolute limit... then burn brighter than anyone else."
Maki felt the passion and determination embedded within the technique, and for the first time in a long while, excitement surged through her.
"Looks like you’ve made your decision."
Kiriya smiled when he saw the fire in her eyes.
"I have."
Maki lifted her chin proudly.
Then she suddenly told the driver to stop.
Under Panda and Inumaki’s confused gazes, she stepped out of the car.
"You three go ahead. I’m running back to Jujutsu High."
"Are you serious?"
Panda leaned out of the door.
"We’re forty kilometers away! You’ll kill yourself trying to run that far!"
"If I don’t even have that much determination, then I have no right to talk about ideals or becoming stronger." Maki spoke as though the answer were obvious.
"Then... we’re coming too."
Panda exchanged a look with Inumaki and climbed out.
"Salmon."
Inumaki followed him.
"Fine."
Kiriya did not try to stop them. Instead, he handed Maki a kunai marked with a tiny Flying Thunder God formula.
"Keep this with you. If anything serious happens, channel cursed energy into it. I’ll reach you as quickly as possible."
"Got it."
Maki accepted the kunai, waved once, and set off with Panda and Inumaki.
The car continued onward and soon arrived at the Kamo estate.
The head of the Kamo clan had already received word of Kiriya’s visit.
He personally waited at the entrance with several senior members of the family, greeting Kiriya with such deference that an uninformed observer might have assumed Kiriya was his superior.
Any dignity normally expected from the head of one of the Three Great Sorcerer Families had been thrown aside.
When members of the clan privately questioned his behavior, the current family head dismissed them without hesitation.
If one of them could effortlessly defeat two Special Grade 1 sorcerers before turning sixteen, he would happily greet them with the same respect.
The Kamo clan had endured for a thousand years because it understood power.
They possessed enough strength of their own to maintain their place in the world—but whenever someone appeared with power far beyond theirs, they knew when to lower their heads.
They had done so before Kenjaku.
They had done so before Satoru Gojo.
Why should Kiriya be treated any differently?
When survival and prosperity were at stake, the Kamo clan had always been remarkably flexible.