Chapter 139 : The Zenin Lady
Zenin Naoya had long considered the family head position as good as his, but despite this, when actually facing family head Zenin Naobito, his behavior was still relatively obedient.
This time, he already knew that Zenin Naobito wasn't at the Zenin family estate for the past few days, but was out attending meetings with the Gojo family.
Therefore, Naoya, who brought Fushiguro, Itadori, Kugisaki, and Little Sheep Jiang Lai to the family head's room, felt no fear or guilt whatsoever.
When the family head wasn't home, the Zenin family naturally belonged to him, the future family head. Zenin Naoya was certain of this in his heart.
Guards stood outside the family head's room, dutifully stopping Fushiguro, Itadori, Kugisaki, and Little Sheep Jiang Lai.
Zenin Naoya waved his hand, lifted his chin, his upturned eyes sweeping over the guards: "Don't block the way. These are people I brought, I know what I'm doing."
People who could serve as long-term guards in a closed great family weren't fools. Symbolically stopping people was just in case something happened, making it easier to explain to the family head. They naturally couldn't truly disobey Young Master Naoya's orders.
Being resented by this Young Master Naoya would cause trouble later.
So the guards said nothing more. After Zenin Naoya spoke, they respectfully stepped aside.
"Follow me, don't look around randomly, and don't touch anything." Zenin Naoya led several people into the traditional-style building, his fox eyes glancing back, "If you trigger something and get hurt, I won't take responsibility."
"..." Hearing this, Fushiguro Megumi frowned slightly. He didn't remember there being traps in the family head's room.
Honestly, setting up such things in the family head's room, wouldn't that really cause accidental injuries? Though it was understandable, since the family head's room contained many important documents.
However, if there really were traps, their exploration would require even more caution.
After hearing Zenin Naoya's warning, everyone's movements became much more careful. They exchanged glances secretly, silently conveying tacit understanding.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai walked briskly but stepped carefully, his dark eyes quickly gathering information about the interior. The family head's room was large with clearly divided internal spaces, but he didn't know where the storage room was.
He placed one hand on a nearby support pillar, and the silver little snake on his wrist slid down naturally, wrapping around the pillar to the ground, silently moving and disappearing into the shadows at the edges.
"Where should we take photos?" Little Sheep Jiang Lai turned his face, his smile bright, "And which spirit shikigami do you want to pose with today?"
"The spirits will be those few we agreed on yesterday. As for the location..." Zenin Naoya didn't seem to have thought it through, since indoor photography was a sudden idea after Little Sheep Jiang Lai's suggestion. Originally, Naoya's plans hadn't included this step.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai was happy to have Naoya think for a while longer. Actually, he had already prepared delaying tactics: "If we're only taking one photo, the background must be chosen well."
Jiang Lai's goal was to set the photo location near that private storage room, so he was stalling for time waiting for Akira to return from scouting.
Kurosawa Akira's silver snake spirit talent had [Vigilance], allowing him to use intuition to avoid traps and mechanisms, so Jiang Lai was very confident in him.
Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuji, and Kugisaki Nobara could see Little Sheep Jiang Lai was stalling for time. They also understood they needed to walk around more to find the storage room's location, so they cooperated, making random comments here and there.
"I think that pillar over there looks good, the reliefs on it are beautiful. How about taking photos there?"
"Hah? What's good about those reliefs? You already have old man aesthetics, Itadori. Young people nowadays need to consider overall atmosphere when taking photos. Right, Fushiguro?"
"...Too troublesome. Just find somewhere with good lighting."
As several people chattered, Zenin Naoya's expression showed some impatience, but accompanied by the summoned spirits, his temper improved somewhat.
His fox eyes upturned, one hand holding a fluffy raccoon spirit as he walked through the room searching for a suitable location.
The brown-haired boy followed at a moderate distance. When he placed one hand on a side window frame, the silver little snake unconsciously coiled back around his wrist.
After turning through another sliding door, Zenin Naoya heard Little Sheep Jiang Lai say: "How about the study area? The study definitely has good lighting, and the atmosphere would be great too."
"Study?" Zenin Naoya stopped, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"Just don't know if we can go in. That wouldn't be where the family head handles official documents, would it? Then we shouldn't approach." The brown-haired boy immediately negated this, then threw out his next suggestion, "Maybe the flower garden in the back..."
"What kind of place is a flower garden? I wouldn't choose that kind of background." Zenin Naoya coldly refused, then returned to Little Sheep Jiang Lai's initial suggestion, "The study could be considered. As for the work location, I'll eventually be working there too, so taking commemorative photos is no problem."
"Of course," his eyes narrowed slightly, showing some testing sharpness with an arrogant attitude, "If you want to use this opportunity to spy on the Zenin family's confidential documents, that's just wishful thinking. These things won't be displayed openly on desktops."
"Confidential documents? Are they valuable?" Little Sheep Jiang Lai blinked, showing a thoughtful expression, "Wonder if there'd be buyers online after obtaining them..."
The nearby group of Fushiguro, Itadori, and Kugisaki all spoke up: "Hey! Don't actually start considering it!!"
Zenin Naoya: "..."
This interaction among several people eliminated the suspicion that had just risen in Zenin Naoya. He could see that these boys and girls had no intention of targeting work documents.
After all, these guys were still students. Zenin Naoya thought. Besides, Tokyo Jujutsu High had no reason to inexplicably interfere with Zenin family affairs.
They were probably all just here to earn extra money. Thinking this, Zenin Naoya felt somewhat displeased again. Although he had voluntarily paid, Little Sheep's prices always felt like a scam.
With the brown-haired boy's image reflected in his eyelids, Zenin Naoya felt his blood pressure rise slightly. His pace quickened considerably as he headed toward the study.
Kugisaki Nobara complained in a low voice about the blonde young man walking away: "What's with this guy? Seems inexplicably angry again."
Little Sheep Jiang Lai: "Probably because I'm too good at making money."
Everyone: "?"
Next, Little Sheep Jiang Lai lowered his voice to a level only the few of them could hear: "...I sent a stealth-type spirit shikigami to scout. The storage room is over by the study."
Storage room...
Fushiguro Megumi exhaled. He had one hand in his pocket, containing a pre-prepared unsealing charm. He only needed to stick it on that compartment to open the seal and obtain the cursed tool.
The most crucial moment was approaching.
The group headed to the study together. The study was in a side door location with very quiet surroundings, suitable for focused work.
Inside hung the Zenin family's massive family crest, with elegant calligraphy above it.
To the side was a wall of compartments like a traditional Chinese medicine cabinet, with neat rows of small squares. This was the family head's private storage cabinet.
Fushiguro Megumi still remembered this. He hadn't expected that the Zenin family a thousand years later would have incorporated this compartment wall into the study.
Although there were many compartments, they didn't need to search carefully for which one was their target. The unsealing charm could sense the corresponding compartment.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai attracted Zenin Naoya's attention, taking photos by the family crest.
Fushiguro Megumi pretended to adjust the cursed tool camera, leaning back against the compartment wall. Itadori Yuji and Kugisaki Nobara in front of him both helped block the front view.
Perfect. Fushiguro Megumi thought. Next, he just needed to slowly sense which compartment it was, stick the unsealing charm on it, and in just a few seconds he could get the cursed tool.
He silently took a deep breath, his palm slightly damp with sweat. His hand behind his back gripped the charm, about to instinctively stick it on one of the small compartments...
"Naoya, did you bring guests?"
A female voice suddenly rang out from the doorway, causing Fushiguro Megumi's movement to freeze abruptly. He twisted his wrist, quickly withdrawing the unsealing charm!
The doorway position offered a side-angle view that could clearly see the compartment wall situation. This wasn't the right time to retrieve anything.
That voice instantly attracted everyone's attention in the room, all eyes falling on the doorway.
Standing there was a woman with pinned-up hair, faint fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Her eyebrows still held lingering charm, but with added sickly pallor.
Her frame was already thin, and the loose, soft kimono draped on her made her appear even more gaunt.
The scent of medicinal herbs drifted slowly into the room with the breeze.
Zenin Naoya instinctively released his grip, and the little raccoon spirit shikigami fell to the ground. He paused, then still managed to say: "Mother."
The woman who had suddenly appeared was the family head's wife!
Little Sheep Jiang Lai's heart skipped a beat. He was somewhat surprised by this sudden encounter, instinctively wary of this character whose technique was prophecy. No one knew what exactly had been prophesied or how much the other party had guessed.
However, his face still wore a harmless, pure smile, fully demonstrating the advantages of his youthful shell.
Faced with the suddenly visiting Lady Zenin, Zenin Naoya's expression couldn't be called very respectful, nor did it seem to have much mother-son intimacy.
But regardless, she was his mother, the family head's wife, and he couldn't lose face in front of outsiders.
Therefore, after some expression changes, Zenin Naoya still somewhat restrained his usual frivolous arrogance, using a relatively polite tone:
"Mother, why did you come here? The weather hasn't warmed up yet. You should rest indoors."
Lady Zenin smiled gently: "I heard from my attendants that you brought friends from outside, so I came to see."
"They're not friends." Zenin Naoya immediately replied, "Just some training... and entertainment, business transactions."
Although he had quickly discarded the raccoon spirit in his hand earlier, this action certainly couldn't be hidden from her. Plus, the training excuse wasn't suitable for use in a study, so Naoya simply used entertainment and transactions to replace his explanation.
"Is that so? I was rather hoping you'd make some friends from outside." Lady Zenin sighed lightly, "Seeing you always holding your phone before, I thought you had made friends from outside."
"What's the point of making such friends? I don't go out anyway, and there's no need to associate with people from outside." Zenin Naoya's reply carried no particular emotion.
He paused again, his voice light: "Mother should return to her room. After all, your health is poor. If you're waiting for Father, there's no need to wait here. He won't be back for several days."
"I know." Lady Zenin covered her lips with one hand, "Before leaving, he told me he was going to meet with Lord Kyufuin."
Kyufuin... Gojo Kyufuin?! The Gojo family member connected to the Supervisory Committee, whose technique was [Conversion]!
Intelligence Jiang Lai had previously gathered immediately came to mind.
In that case, was this a meeting related to the Supervisory Committee?
Such information didn't really need to be spoken aloud. Was this Lady Zenin deliberately informing them?
Jiang Lai's gaze shifted, catching sight of Fushiguro Megumi's somewhat stiff posture by the compartment wall. He seemed to be waiting for that lady to leave so he could continue his actions.
However, Lady Zenin didn't leave. Instead, she walked gracefully with small steps toward the camera area, which was Fushiguro Megumi's location.
Lady Zenin's voice was gentle: "Is Naoya taking photographs? I'm feeling well today and would like to observe you young people's activities."
She smiled beautifully, "Come to think of it, this form of mission is quite good. Give and take, fair trade is an unchanging principle of cooperation."
Due to Lady Zenin's approach, the atmosphere among the group of Fushiguro, Itadori, and Kugisaki subtly tensed, while Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes slightly, placing his other hand on the silver snake's snout at his wrist, thinking:
Was that last sentence a meaningful hint?