"Interesting. I've never met a woman who dared refuse me."
Naoya Zen'in did not hesitate in the slightest. He picked up the brush and swiftly signed the sponsorship list.
"Though my cousins are all disappointments, they were born Zen'in and they'll die Zen'in. That fossil of an uncle of mine letting them wander around outside like beggars is simply too disgraceful."
When Oda saw the mocking sneer that slipped onto Naoya's face, he shuddered at once.
Just as expected—this young master was the same as ever, someone who took pleasure in humiliating the weak from the lofty position of the strong.
By tomorrow, word that Naoya Zen'in had chosen to sponsor Maki Zen'in and Mai Zen'in would spread through the entire school.
The younger sister, Mai, who had the more compliant temperament, might grit her teeth and accept it.
But the hot-tempered older sister, Maki, would absolutely reject the sponsorship.
That would amount to standing alone against the entire angel investment system.
At that point, it would no longer just be a grudge between her and the Zen'in clan. It would become a grudge between Maki and Jujutsu High itself...
The result would surely be expulsion...
Ah, poor Maki. Who told you to provoke Naoya Zen'in...
The middle-aged man could not help beginning to sympathize with that upright and stubborn young lady.
After all, he himself was also forced to serve this villainous master for the sake of money, so deep down he had always looked forward to seeing someone brave enough to stand against Naoya Zen'in—someone who might drag this evil man down from his pedestal and make him pay what he deserved.
Maki was still working hard to grow stronger, while he himself was still running errands for a monster like this. It was genuinely shameful...
"Hm?"
Oda suddenly rubbed his eyes and stared at the sponsorship form in disbelief.
"Y-Young Master, did you fill something out wrong? Why is the signature... anonymous?"
Anonymous sponsorship?
If public sponsorship could at least be called performative charity to build one's reputation, then anonymous sponsorship was the purest kind of good deed—doing good without leaving one's name behind.
Given Naoya Zen'in's vicious and rotten personality, should he not have made the sponsorship public and crushed the twin sisters completely in terms of public opinion?!
"Oda, do you know what the most painful kind of torment is?"
Naoya Zen'in elegantly crossed one leg over the other, folded his hands, and let a cold glint flash through his amber eyes.
"It is... letting her believe, at the moment of deepest despair, that she has found hope."
The young nobleman in his haori spoke in a low, icy voice, the corners of his lips lifting into an almost cruel smile.
Oda swallowed hard, cold sweat beading at his temples.
In that instant, he understood Naoya Zen'in's intention.
Anonymous sponsorship.
That way, Maki Zen'in would believe that someone was willing to support her despite the threat of the Zen'in clan. That would let the runaway girl start hoping again. She might even lower her guard completely, accept the money wholeheartedly, and begin to feel gratitude—or even admiration—for the mysterious benefactor.
But once the truth was revealed, and she learned that the money had come from Naoya Zen'in...
The humiliation of being toyed with, of being pitied and fed scraps, would be enough to crush any proud and defiant soul.
Worse still—
if Maki Zen'in and Mai Zen'in truly relied on that funding to conduct research, or even achieved results because of it, Naoya Zen'in could withdraw the sponsorship at any time and send the twin sisters plunging from the clouds back into the mud.
That was true torture.
Oda's fingers trembled slightly. For the first time, he felt he might actually have underestimated just how vicious Naoya Zen'in truly was.
"Y-Young Master... do you really intend to do this?"
Naoya tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingertips, frowning just a little, his expression indifferent and dangerous.
"Oda, since when did you become bold enough to question my decisions?"
Oda's heart turned ice-cold.
Today, Young Master Naoya had seemed strangely easy to talk to. He had even, incredibly, praised him once. Had that tiny bit of kindness really made him swell with self-importance enough to start pushing his luck?
So the one who had mistakenly believed he'd been given hope was himself?!
Who was he, Oda, to dare question Naoya Zen'in?
"Young Master, forgive me!"
The terrified middle-aged man dropped to his knees instantly, kowtowing frantically.
"I-I'll take care of it immediately! I'll make sure it's done perfectly! Please don't worry, Young Master!!!"
...Was he a startled kitten or something?
Did he really need to panic this hard?
Naoya himself was baffled. He did not think he had said anything all that threatening.
But at this point, the aristocratic young master could only cough lightly, cross one leg over the other, and declare in an arrogant drawl, "Three minutes. I'm giving you only three minutes."
Right.
He had nearly forgotten.
Naoya Zen'in had terrible popularity within the Zen'in clan. Though he was the designated heir as the next clan head, he had always walked alone, with no truly reliable lackeys at his side.
Because this young master was simply too arrogant and too cutting. Even if his succession was all but set in stone, no servant wanted to bet their life and future on following him.
Originally, Maki and Mai had both served Naoya Zen'in.
But Naoya had been far too misogynistic. He viewed women as nothing more than tools for menial tasks. And with Maki so determined to become independent, one could easily imagine how viciously he had bullied her all throughout their childhood.
As for male servants, it was even worse. Even if Naoya Zen'in really did become clan head one day, that would only be the title on paper. The Zen'in family's internal politics were tangled and vicious. Naoya Zen'in was born looking down on everyone. The only people he had ever truly respected were Toji Zen'in and Satoru Gojo. He did not bother to build ties with relatives, only made enemies everywhere he went—today calling one uncle worthless, tomorrow insulting a cousin as ugly as sin. Following a master like this meant one's career future would end up crawling in the dirt.
So as the transmigrator looked at the trembling Oda, he thought that before anything else, he ought to give this man a bit of reassurance and stabilize his loyalty.
Otherwise, he really would end up with nobody around him even to run errands.
Thinking that, Naoya suddenly had an idea.
He reached out and patted Oda on the shoulder, then even straightened the collar that had been soaked through with cold sweat, softening his tone as much as he could.
"Perhaps you should leave the Kukuru Unit and focus on serving under me instead, Oda. It's about time you thought a little about your family."
The moment those words of concern landed, the servant's entire body turned cold.
He looked into Naoya's eyes and saw endless chill hidden in those amber irises.
Why had the young master suddenly brought up his family?!
Was he threatening him through his family?!
Leave the Kukuru Unit?
Everyone knew Young Master Naoya paid generously, and serving him came with excellent wages. But he had never liked servants who had thoughts of their own, much less those who used his name to get things done. Young Master Naoya despised useless people—and Oda was exactly that: a washed-up middle-aged nobody who had achieved nothing.
Could it be...
Had Young Master Naoya already realized that he had been thinking about changing masters?
Cold sweat poured down Oda's back.
It was true. Lately, he had often wondered whether life might have turned out differently if he had served Jinichi instead.
Because Young Master Naoya was just too much of a bastard.
Jinichi might be ugly, but at least he was reasonable. Oda had even once seen him casually handing out watermelon to servants during downtime. His reputation in the Kukuru Unit was excellent. Aside from looks, he outclassed Young Master Naoya in every possible way.
Still, those thoughts had remained only thoughts. Oda was too much of a coward ever to actually jump ship.
And yet, against all expectations—
Even that had been perfectly seen through by Young Master Naoya?!
Oda's face turned deathly pale. Swearing inwardly that he would never again dare criticize Young Master Naoya behind his back, he snatched up the documents and sprinted off to handle the sponsorship arrangements.
Watching the servant flee in a panic, Naoya Zen'in finally let out a long breath of relief.
Success.
This time, unlike in the meeting earlier, his line had not failed the system's judgment and made the situation even worse.
For him, playing the role of a thoroughly rotten villain was an enormous strain.
And just now, the transmigrator had not only passed the system's check perfectly—
he had also managed, through his own intent, to successfully convey the message he wanted to the servant.
Because in the original story, once Maki Zen'in awakened as the Heavenly Tyrant, the very first thing she wiped out was the Kukuru Unit.
If Oda kept working there, then sooner or later his family really would have to bury him.
The transmigrator had already made up his mind.
If he truly could not stop Maki Zen'in from awakening as the Heavenly Tyrant, then the first thing he would do was sever ties with the Zen'in clan immediately.
He would change his name on the spot and abandon his identity as the Zen'in clan's young master altogether.
Because the price of Maki Zen'in awakening as the Heavenly Tyrant was fulfilling the binding vow Mai left her before death—
to destroy everything connected to the Zen'in clan.
So all the transmigrator had to do was cut off the father-son relationship with Naobito Zen'in.
As for the rest of the Zen'in family...
If Oda obediently did as he was told, then Naoya could save his life along the way.
Everyone else could fend for themselves.
To be honest, Naoya Zen'in did want to keep living as Kyoto's pampered young master.
But he wanted even less to end up like some roadside stray dog, beaten to death by his ultra-violent cousin with a single punch.
Because if the plot proceeded normally, then sooner or later Zen'in Ogi would drive Mai Zen'in to her death—
and Maki Zen'in would awaken as the Heavenly Tyrant.
Which meant the only thing Naoya could do now was try to grind out a little favorability, so that when that future Heavenly Tyrant raised her hand against him, she might remember their past and show him mercy.
But when the starting affection was already deep in the negatives...
How exactly was he supposed to grind it back up?
"Don't tell me I really have to die before we can reconcile?"
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