Chapter 182: Chapter 182 - Would You Refuse Me?

[Mei Mei’s hands rested lightly against the leather steering wheel.] 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

[She cast a long look at you, lounging comfortably in the passenger seat. The sharp calculation that usually lingered in her beautiful eyes had been replaced by turbulent emotion she couldn’t quite suppress.]

[Her lips parted slightly. Countless questions flashed through her mind, but after hesitating again and again, all that came out was a dry, uncharacteristically restrained sigh.]

["You really are... full of surprises..."]

[Faced with the undisguised caution and probing from the Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, you offered no explanation. You merely turned your head slightly and answered with a faint smile.]

[At that moment, the car rounded a gentle curve. The slight pull of inertia stirred Megumi Fushiguro awake from where he had been curled up across the spacious leather backseat.]

["Mm..."]

[Megumi let out a sleepy murmur and slowly sat up.]

[He rubbed his eyes hard with both hands, then opened his mouth in a huge, defenseless yawn.]

[For a child not even ten years old, forcing his Cursed Energy to such extremes during a life-and-death escape, then merging with a Shikigami, had pushed both his body and mind far beyond their limits.]

[The cold maturity that usually sat on Megumi’s young face had faded for the moment, replaced with the dazed confusion of someone freshly awakened.]

[He stared at the unfamiliar streets sliding past outside the window. His voice came out soft and drowsy.]

["Touma... are we going home now?"]

[You glanced at him through the rearview mirror and nodded.]

["Yeah. We’re already on the way back. But while you’re still awake, can you tell me exactly what happened from the moment school ended today up until you ran into me?"]

[Hearing your question, Megumi obediently nodded.]

[He frowned slightly, organizing the chaotic memories in his head before beginning to recount the terrifying night at the Zenin Clan estate in his childish voice.]

[His explanation came in fragments. After all, he was only a child and didn’t truly understand high-level jujutsu combat.]

[Most of the actual fighting had been handled by Kon, hidden within the shadows and acting entirely on the battle instincts you had drilled into it beforehand. Aside from initially summoning the Shikigami and responding to Naoya’s test strike against the shadows, Megumi himself had barely participated in the complicated exchanges of combat. Because of that, his descriptions of the battle were sparse and almost dismissive.]

[The problem was that this kind of casual retelling sounded absolutely horrifying to someone who understood what had really happened.]

[From Megumi’s innocent perspective, the supposedly impenetrable Zenin estate sounded less like the headquarters of one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families and more like a backyard playground where he could ride a dog in and out at will. The enemies blocking his path sounded no sturdier than paper dolls.]

[Even Mei Mei, who had seen more than enough in her lifetime and understood the terrifying strength of the Zenin Clan better than most, felt her scalp prickle listening to this child’s escape story.]

[Her fingers tightened unconsciously around the steering wheel. This was the Zenin Clan. A family packed with combat maniacs, where Special Grade 1 sorcerers on the level of Ogi Zenin and Jinichi Zenin were anything but rare.]

[Even she wouldn’t dare stroll into that place alone and expect to leave unharmed. Yet this elementary school kid described it like a simple game of hide-and-seek in the park.]

[As the shock waves continued crashing through Mei Mei’s mind, Megumi inevitably repeated things like, "It happened exactly the way Touma said," and, "Doing what Touma taught me really worked," and, "Kon managed it just like in training."]

[Every word pointed toward one chilling truth.]

[You hadn’t merely predicted tonight’s ambush, pursuit, and escape before they happened. Long before any of this began, you had already tailored Megumi’s training around the attack patterns and Cursed Techniques unique to the Zenin Clan leadership.]

[Mei Mei’s breathing stalled.]

[For the first time, genuine gravity and disbelief appeared on her elegant face as she abruptly turned to stare at you.]

[Her instincts, both as an information broker and as a survivor, were screaming at her now.]

[The seemingly gentle Jujutsu High student sitting beside her wasn’t merely powerful. He was terrifyingly calculating.]

[Behind this child, you appeared to be treating the entire Zenin Clan like a chessboard, quietly plotting something catastrophic enough to overturn the existing order.]

[Despite Mei Mei’s piercing stare, sharp enough to carve into someone’s soul, you remained perfectly calm.]

[You slowly raised your right hand and pressed your index finger lightly against your lips, giving her a subtle gesture for silence.]

[Then, while looking through the windshield ahead, you spoke in the same casual tone someone might use discussing late-night snacks.]

["Relax, Miss Mei Mei. For everything you’ve seen and heard tonight, I’ve prepared a confidentiality budget that’ll definitely satisfy you."]

[The promise, backed entirely by money, struck directly at Mei Mei’s greatest weakness.]

[She stared at you for a long moment.]

[Since you had already named your price, she understood perfectly well that you had no intention of discussing this matter further right now. As a professional keeper of secrets and broker of information, she knew when to stop pushing.]

[In the end, she quietly withdrew her gaze and focused back on the road.]

[Once Mei Mei settled down, you looked at Megumi again through the rearview mirror.]

["By the way, Megumi, is Panda still with you?"]

[Megumi nodded.]

[He reached both hands into the pool of darkness spreading beneath his feet.]

[A faint sound like thick liquid being stirred echoed from the shadows as he fumbled around inside. Then he grabbed something with both hands and pulled hard, dragging out a large black-and-white furry neck from the tiny shadow space.]

[Panda emerged forcefully from the darkness.]

[The moment he came out, Panda rubbed his eyes with his chubby paws in a remarkably human gesture. He blinked sleepily and looked around the car.]

["Yaaawn... Feels like I slept in there forever. It’s dark as hell outside, so is it over already?"]

[You looked at his relaxed expression and explained.]

["Not completely. You’ll probably need to stay inside Megumi’s shadow a little longer. By the way, while you were in there at the Zenin estate, did you notice anything unusual?"]

[Panda, along with the Special Grade cursed tool Split Soul Katana, had been hidden inside Megumi’s shadow all along.]

[This was the ultimate contingency plan you had prepared long in advance to guarantee nothing could go wrong.]

[Ever since the day you stopped carrying Panda around personally, this arrangement had already been quietly set into motion.]

[Panda’s internal structure was surprisingly lightweight, and even with the Split Soul Katana added, the burden was still manageable for Megumi, who had gradually become more accustomed to using his technique.]

[In a sense, this was also deliberate training.]

[Maintaining the shadow space while carrying Panda’s weight constantly pushed Megumi’s control over his Cursed Energy to the limit.]

[If he could adapt to carrying Panda, then storing anything else in the future would become effortless.]

[The only downside was Panda himself, forced to sit inside that pitch-black shadow space for extended periods.]

[Fortunately, Panda was naturally easygoing. At least on the surface, he didn’t seem bothered by the confinement.]

[He tilted his oversized panda head thoughtfully before answering honestly.]

["I could feel a bunch of jujutsu sorcerers getting closer through the shadows, yeah, but..."]

[Panda shrugged casually.]

["None of them felt dangerous enough to seriously threaten the kid’s life to the point where I had to break out and protect him. And that sorcerer you specifically warned me about, the one with the annoying control-type Cursed Technique, never showed up either. So I stayed hidden the whole time."]

["SCREEECH!!!"]

[A sharp scream of tires tore through the mountain road.]

[Mei Mei’s hands jerked violently on the steering wheel, and the car swerved in a dangerous snake-like motion before she barely regained control.]

[Her eyes widened as she stared into the rearview mirror.]

[What the hell is this thing?!]

[A panda doll that could speak fluently like a human, analyze battle conditions, summarize combat decisions, and intentionally conceal its trump cards?]

[And judging from Panda’s completely casual tone, it sounded as though he genuinely believed he could have forced his way through an entire encirclement of Special Grade 1 sorcerers and escorted Megumi out alive if necessary.]

[That’s supposed to be a Cursed Corpse?!]

[Who the hell raised this kind of monster combination?!]

[Even someone as battle-hardened and mentally stable as Mei Mei finally hit her limit after enduring one absurd revelation after another.]

[First, the instant defeat of the clan head. Then a child breaking into the Zenin Clan. Now an absurdly intelligent Cursed Corpse.]

[The final thread of her sanity snapped.]

[She slammed the brakes.]

[The car came to a smooth stop at the roadside.]

[Turning around sharply, chest rising and falling violently, she stared at your calm profile and asked in a low, trembling voice unlike anything she’d shown before.]

["What... exactly are you trying to do...?"]

[You didn’t answer immediately.]

[Instead, you looked into the backseat through the mirror.]

[After surviving such a terrifying night, Megumi had fallen asleep once more, curled tightly against Panda’s warm, fluffy body, his face buried in black-and-white fur.]

[You slowly withdrew your gaze.]

[The last traces of warmth faded from your eyes, replaced by something bottomless and resolute.]

[Looking directly into Mei Mei’s wary eyes, you answered in a soft voice that sounded almost like a devil whispering in the dark.]

["You probably already investigated my past, Miss Mei Mei. It’s complicated to explain, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say I’m planning to seize the entire Zenin Clan as part of my overdue revenge."]

[Mei Mei’s pupils contracted violently.]

[But before she could even process that statement, you continued.]

["Though the Zenin Clan was never my end goal. I want absolute power, enough to truly control the entire jujutsu world and rewrite its rules. I intend to tear this rotten system apart from its roots to its branches."]

[You met her gaze steadily.]

["I’m inviting you to join me. Would you refuse?"]

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next target 200PS :)