After Erina woke up, Jaden told her about going to Kaiba Corp to look for the Old Man.
"If we find the Old Man, we'll visit him. If we don't, we'll just consider it a trip... Do you want to come?"
Jaden said this to Erina. As for the matters at Totsuki... truthfully, Totsuki could run itself now. If someone tried to cause trouble while he and Erina were away, the country's highest council and the Empire would likely intervene before they even returned.
Moreover, the Shinomiya family was also there, so even if they left, it wouldn't be a major issue.
The only thing Jaden cared about was Erina's thoughts and her arrangements.
"Okay."
After hearing Jaden's words, Erina, still curled up like a kitten under the covers, blinked her barely open eyes and, very unusually, replied to Jaden in a lazy voice.
"...Totsuki's matters can be left to Hisako. Hisako can already handle most things now. This is also a good opportunity for me to take a break, research local cuisine abroad, and try to improve my cooking skills."
As Erina said this, she moved toward Jaden, who was sitting on the bed, and lay directly on his lap.
Jaden naturally reached out and smoothed her slightly messy hair.
"Even though you say it's fine, if Hisako hears you're dumping all the work on her again, she might cry, you know."
Erina laughed when she heard Jaden say this.
"I grew up with Hisako, and no one knows her better than I do-if she cries, it will only be because she feels I trust her immensely and have entrusted her with such a heavy responsibility, and she's moved to tears."
Jaden smiled slightly after hearing Erina's response, and then they continued to chat casually about various things.
Erina's words just now were, of course, a joke.
She trusted Hisako, and it was true that most of Totsuki's matters would be handed over to Hisako while she was away, but such a large amount of work couldn't all be piled onto Hisako.
-She had other arrangements.
For example, Shirogane Tsumugi.
Although Shirogane Tsumugi was initially taken away by Kure Fuki, Shirogane Tsumugi was also a member of the Ultimate Despair, so while Kure Fuki didn't tell the members of the Tenth Divine Family, she did mention it to Erina.
The Ultimate-level Cosplayer could be useful at this time.
She could directly impersonate Erina and continue to maintain Totsuki's operation during Erina's absence.
As for whether she would have any malicious intentions?
That didn't matter~
If she truly had ill intentions, acting on them now would be the perfect opportunity to catch her and prevent greater damage in the future.
This was Erina's thinking.
And in reality, she was confident and prepared that even if Shirogane Tsumugi had malicious intent, it wouldn't cause problems for her.
If that was the case, Shirogane Tsumugi was a very useful employee.
Just like Ikusaba Mukuro, Erina genuinely valued her abilities.
So.
-Since I'm going out with Jaden this time, I'll let her disguise herself as me first to see if Shirogane Tsumugi can be entrusted with heavy duties~
...
While Erina was thinking about Shirogane Tsumugi, the latter was with Kure Fuki.
Since Jaden was with Erina at this time, Kure Fuki, as the bodyguard, and Shirogane Tsumugi, who always followed Kure Fuki, were in a period very close to a vacation.
This allowed the two of them to go out for tea and dessert around one in the afternoon.
After all...
Firstly, this was also a Totsuki establishment.
Secondly... if Erina were to get into trouble while Jaden was right beside her, what good would the bodyguards be?
At this moment, Shirogane Tsumugi was eating cake, while Kure Fuki was leaning on the table, watching a video on her phone.
"Tsumugi, the movie I'm watching has a plot where the body double is ultimately exploited, and the original owner ends up becoming the body double."
Along with Kure Fuki's words, her phone played a timely sound bite:
'Oh no, I've become the body double!'
Once the line finished, Kure Fuki paused the movie and looked at Shirogane Tsumugi.
"Tsumugi, if you were doing the body double job... well, the situation in this movie might be a bit rare, but what if you were caught or something? Excluding your situation at Totsuki, what would you generally do?"
Hearing Kure Fuki's question, Shirogane Tsumugi thought for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.
"It depends on the original owner's requirements... If the original owner wishes for the truth not to be revealed, then I will do exactly what the original owner would do. But if the original owner doesn't insist on keeping it a secret..."
Shirogane Tsumugi paused here, and the smile on her face became brighter, her eyes even curving into crescent moons.
"Then it depends on whether the other side gives me a chance~"
Shirogane Tsumugi being caught at Totsuki was ultimately because the situation at the time left her with no chance at all.
Her own boss directly defected and brought her to be captured, and then she was caught red-handed by the person she was impersonating. On top of that, Totsuki had a monster like Jaden, who made it impossible to lie... What could she have done in that situation?
But if she was given a chance...
Although Shirogane Tsumugi felt that her past was somewhat like a dark history, and she intended to make up for a considerable part of it, and she didn't feel proud of that past, but rather guilty...
However, she was Ultimate Despair back then, after all...
Give her a small opportunity, and things could become very despairing.
...
Most of the life of the King of Mercenaries, Muteba Gizenga, was spent taking on missions, completing them, and enjoying life.
Although the incident involving Jaden in the middle made his resume look a bit bad, such an accident clearly couldn't affect his life.
He was the same as always.
Always the same.
Under normal circumstances, he was active at the junction of the Empire and the Northern Country, but this time, there was a high-reward mission from the Far East, so he came over.
At the Sanzenin's base in the Far East, a man who looked about thirty years old slowly walked out when Muteba showed up.
"King of Mercenaries... I spent a lot of money to hire you this time, mainly because I want you to help me kidnap someone."
Kidnapping...
Muteba often received such missions.
Normally, he would accept without hesitation, but at this moment, he slightly hesitated.
Since this was the Far East, so...
"Let me ask first, the person you want me to kidnap isn't from Totsuki, right?"
Hearing Muteba say this, Sanzenin Ochi, the most vocal candidate for the next Sanzenin heir, who had only recently arrived in this country, was visibly stunned. However, he quickly recovered and shook his head at Muteba.
"No, the person I want you to kidnap is one of our Sanzenin members."
Sanzenin Ochi said this, then handed Muteba a photograph.
The photo was of a young girl with blonde twin tails who didn't look very old and wasn't well-developed.
"Her name is Sanzenin Nagi. Don't reveal my identity; just kidnap her for me and then contact me-can you do it?"
Muteba laughed when he heard this.
As long as it had nothing to do with the monster, Jaden, there was nothing to fear.
Can he do it?
"Of course!"