The Director had arrived?
A trace of surprise flashed across Gin Dojima's brow. Totsuki Resort was an asset of Totsuki Academy, and as the Director of Totsuki Academy, it was perfectly normal for Nakiri Senzaemon to come here.
In fact, Nakiri Senzaemon came here once every month to rest for a day and handle some affairs while he was at it.
The problem was, he had just come here a few days ago.
Logically speaking, his next visit to Totsuki Resort should have been a month later.
Why had he come again today? And so suddenly?
However, Gin Dojima did not stop what he was doing. He calmly said, "You go welcome the Director first. Once I finish these dishes, I'll go see him."
The manager gave a hum and quickly went to the lobby to welcome the famous Food Demon King of Totsuki Academy.
The lobby of Totsuki Resort.
Nakiri Senzaemon, the Food Demon King, had a burly figure, flamboyant hair, and wore a brown kimono as he slowly walked in. Beside him was Nakiri Erina.
"Director, Lady Erina."
The manager quickly stepped forward.
Nakiri Senzaemon gave a hum, his gaze falling on the manager.
"I heard Erina has several friends dining here. Is that right?"
The manager cautiously glanced at Nakiri Erina and gave a hum.
"They are indeed here."
"Where are they? Take me to pay them a visit."
Hearing those words, the manager's heart skipped.
The phrase "pay a visit" was something a person of lower status used when going to meet someone of higher status.
Could it be that the mighty Director of Totsuki Academy, the famous Food Demon King, actually believed himself to be beneath those people?
Just who exactly were the young lady's friends?
The manager was very glad he had not offended those people. He quickly bent down and said he would lead the way.
"Director, this way, please."
…
Knock, knock, knock.
Inside the private room, Rowan took advantage of the moment when no one was around, raised his hand, pushed open the door to the One Piece world, and returned there.
In the end, he still couldn't resist. He planned to find some fresh meat and have Gin Dojima cook it.
He wanted to know what kind of sparks would fly when the meat of the One Piece world met Gin Dojima's cooking skill.
Arriving in the Calm Belt, Rowan cast farsight magic and locked onto a Sea King that looked like an ox. Then he flicked his finger.
The magic that could cut almost anything activated.
Whoosh!
An invisible slash instantly cut through dozens of meters of ocean and also sliced through the body of that Sea King.
However, Rowan did not take its life.
He only cut off one leg from the sea ox.
Sea Kings were enormous. One leg alone was several dozen meters long, enough to eat for many meals.
After losing a leg, the Sea King let out a miserable cry and fled at astonishing speed.
Do not assume Sea Kings lacked intelligence. In truth, the stronger a Sea King was, the greater its intelligence.
Afterward, Rowan cut the leg into dozens of evenly sized pieces of meat and placed them into his pocket.
Care to learn about the Pocket-Pocket Fruit?
Returning to the private room at Totsuki Resort, Rowan was just about to go find Gin Dojima when he heard knocking.
"Come in," Rowan said.
The door to the private room was pushed open, and Nakiri Senzaemon and Nakiri Erina walked in from outside.
As for the manager, the two of them shut him outside the door.
Inside the room, before Rowan could even speak, Nakiri Senzaemon bowed ninety degrees toward him first.
"I am Nakiri Senzaemon. I humbly ask you, sir, to take action and help Nakiri Erina remove her curse. No matter what conditions you propose, this old man will absolutely not refuse."
Nakiri Erina also bowed ninety degrees.
"Please, both of you. Help me."
Rowan raised an eyebrow. Looking at Nakiri Senzaemon, who was still bent at ninety degrees, he said, "It seems you're not surprised at all about Nakiri Erina being cursed."
Logically speaking, he had told Nakiri Erina about her curse.
After that, Nakiri Erina would tell her grandfather, Nakiri Senzaemon.
The first thing Nakiri Senzaemon should do was find someone to verify whether the matter was true or false.
After confirming the curse's authenticity, he should then continue searching for someone to remove it.
That was the normal process for how a great family handled things.
But what had happened instead?
How long had it been since Nakiri Erina left? At most, not even an hour.
That amount of time was not even enough for Nakiri Senzaemon to find someone to verify the curse.
Yet he had brought Nakiri Erina straight to him, humbly begging him and hoping he could remove the curse on Nakiri Erina.
He had even let Rowan name any condition he wanted, saying that no matter what Rowan requested, he would not refuse.
No matter how one looked at it, this reaction was abnormal.
It was as if Nakiri Senzaemon had already known about Nakiri Erina being cursed.
"Yes."
Facing Rowan's question, Nakiri Senzaemon did not hesitate at all. He slowly straightened up, nodded at Rowan, and said, "In truth, I already knew at the first moment Erina was cursed."
"Oh? How did you know? Did the person who cast the curse use it to threaten you?" Rowan asked curiously.
Nakiri Senzaemon shook his head.
"This matter was told to me by the zashiki-warashi worshiped by our Nakiri family."
Zashiki-warashi, one of the yokai of Japanese mythology.
Although it was a yokai, it was a good yokai.
According to legend, it often appeared in the form of a girl aged three to six, wearing a red kimono, and was regarded as a household guardian deity and god of fortune.
A household with traces of a zashiki-warashi would gain wealth and good fortune.
Because of this, some selfish families would cooperate with unscrupulous priests to trap zashiki-warashi using barriers, preventing them from moving freely.
Rowan had not expected that in this world where demons and monsters were everywhere, the Nakiri family would actually have a zashiki-warashi watching over them.
No wonder their business was doing so well.
"So, was it also the zashiki-warashi who told you to come to me to remove the curse?"
"Yes."
Nakiri Senzaemon said, "The zashiki-warashi told me that the curse on Erina is very powerful. Even she cannot remove it. Only great figures beyond common sense can remove such a curse."
"Although the Nakiri family is prosperous, we cannot make contact with such powerful figures."
"At present, only you can help us."
Rowan was not surprised by this.
Although Nakiri Senzaemon seemed impressive, with titles like Totsuki Director and Food Demon King,
in the end, he was still a chef.
In this world where demons and monsters walked everywhere, how high could a chef's status really be?
It was normal that he could not contact those great figures.
"I can indeed remove the curse on Nakiri Erina," Rowan said, giving Nakiri Senzaemon reassurance. Nakiri Erina's heart filled with joy beside him.
If one could live, who would want to die?
"But I want to ask, do you know who cursed Nakiri Erina?"
Hearing this, Nakiri Senzaemon shook his head and said, "In truth, I also do not know who cursed Erina. I only know that this curse appeared three days ago."
"I remember Erina mentioned earlier that you rejected people from Asahi Heavy Industries, right?" Rowan narrowed his eyes and said. "Did you never suspect them?"
Nakiri Senzaemon shook his head, and a trace of disdain naturally appeared in his eyes.
"Asahi Heavy Industries may indeed be a giant in the eyes of others. It is backed by the Washimine Group and has connections in both legitimate and underground circles."
"But in the eyes of people like us, Asahi Heavy Industries is merely an upstart."
"The curse on Erina is extremely sophisticated and extremely powerful."
"An upstart like Asahi Heavy Industries cannot possibly reach such power."
Previously, Nakiri Senzaemon had said that he himself could not contact great figures. Now he said Asahi Heavy Industries was merely an upstart.
It seemed that in the eyes of certain people, Asahi Heavy Industries really was the bottom of the bottom.
It could not appear on the stage.
No wonder Nakiri Senzaemon was unwilling to believe this matter was caused by Asahi Heavy Industries.
Of course, Rowan was not certain whether Asahi Heavy Industries was behind it either.
Although Asuna and Nakiri Erina's families had both clashed with Asahi Heavy Industries, what if it was only coincidence?
Thinking of this, Rowan looked at Nakiri Erina again.
"Although the curse on you is sophisticated, it is not difficult for me. I can remove it. But there is something I need to remind you of."
"If I remove the curse on you, it will inevitably alert the person who cursed you."
"At that time, whether this mysterious person stops there and lets you live, or whether they are thoroughly enraged and secretly attack you again, only the mysterious person knows."
"Right now, I've already sent someone to investigate this matter."
"If she can successfully capture the mastermind, you can also escape disaster because of it."
"At the same time, I can help suppress your curse and delay the time when it activates."
"Of course, if you insist on removing the curse, I can help you."
"But weigh the danger yourself."
Hearing this, Nakiri Erina fell into hesitation.
Before coming here, she had formally met the zashiki-warashi in her family.
This had truly shocked Nakiri Erina, because after growing up this far, it was her first time seeing the family's zashiki-warashi.
Small and unbelievably cute.
Her grandfather had really hidden this from her for so, so long.
However, the zashiki-warashi told her, "The curse on you is very dangerous. If it is not removed as soon as possible, it may take your life at any moment. If the person who saved you truly can remove the curse, then no matter what, you must ask him to help you."
Nakiri Erina had firmly remembered these words. She had originally intended to beg Rowan, no matter what, to help her remove the curse.
However, when Rowan handed the choice to her and asked whether she wanted to remove the curse,
she hesitated.
She truly hesitated.
Should she risk everything and beg Rowan to help her remove the curse?
Or should she do as Rowan said and wait a little longer, letting him suppress the curse and delay its activation until he found the true culprit behind the scenes?
For a time, Nakiri Erina did not know what to do.