Muteba's presence seemed to give the few people sent by the Sanzenin family to meet him some confidence. However, just before they could recount the magnificent story of how there were originally eleven beings in the world who could be called the Strongest Creature on Earth, and Muteba had killed ten of them, leaving only Jaden-they were knocked unconscious by Muteba!
This made Eriri and Sanzenin Nagi, who had been a little nervous, have subtle expressions.
Jaden, on the other hand, had expected this and sat back down in his previous spot, motioning for Muteba to compensate the owner and then take a seat next to him.
"Muteba, you should honestly explain why you came here today. Although I have ways to make you 'talk' even if you don't, but..."
Before Jaden could finish, Muteba immediately interrupted.
"I'll talk, I'll talk!"
Seeing his reaction, Jaden nodded. Meanwhile, Eriri and Sanzenin Nagi spoke up with some hesitation.
"Since this is your business, should the two of us...?"
They hadn't left earlier because they thought Jaden might be in danger and wanted to see if they could help. Now that they knew there was no danger, they didn't intend to keep listening.
However, Muteba shook his head.
"You should stay for now..."
Saying this, Muteba looked at Sanzenin Nagi.
"After all, the reason I came here this time is that someone paid me to kidnap you."
"Me?"
Sanzenin Nagi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized. She wasn't particularly surprised by this sort of thing and simply looked at Jaden.
"If that's the case, it's not surprising... but I apologize for the trouble, Kiryu-sensei."
Sanzenin Nagi was probably used to people trying to kidnap her!
She was one of the heirs of the Sanzenin family, so it was only natural that people would try to kidnap her.
However, one thing she couldn't understand was that normally, she would always have bodyguards with her when she went out, but today, even after such a big incident, the bodyguards hadn't shown up, which made her a little confused.
However, this confusion quickly disappeared with Muteba's explanation.
Because...
"Yuki-san... my employer this time is one of the Sanzenin family heirs, a man named Sanzenin Ochi who paid me to kidnap this young lady... Before I came, I specifically asked if this mission had anything to do with Totsuki, and he said no, which is why I accepted."
"So this is truly a misunderstanding, you see..."
Hearing Muteba say this, Sanzenin Nagi's confusion was gone.
Because the person trying to capture her was from the main family, and that Sanzenin Ochi was, strictly speaking, her uncle-if he intended to make a move against her, her bodyguards had probably already been sent away by the few people he dispatched to meet Muteba.
Sanzenin Nagi had no particular reaction to this.
After all, the internal strife within the Sanzenin family was just that serious.
While she hadn't considered it at first, she wasn't surprised to hear it.
Jaden, on the other hand, had a stronger reaction to Muteba's words.
"Sanzenin..."
His brow furrowed when he heard these three characters.
Muteba, who was already intent on pleasing Jaden to spare his life, immediately noticed Jaden's reaction and spoke up directly to state his allegiance.
"Yuki-san, do you have any conflict with the Sanzenin family? If so, although I know you certainly wouldn't care about any family, as for the dirty and exhausting work, I'll handle it for you for free if you just ask!"
Muteba desperately tried to show his usefulness.
Eriri and Sanzenin Nagi, meanwhile, looked directly at Jaden.
After all, though she didn't say it out loud, Sanzenin Nagi... was a Sanzenin!
And while they were beginning to feel that the identity of 'Kiryu-sensei' was somewhat mysterious, they were still at the very beginning of the Heroic Age. People's general mindset was still stuck in the light-firepower era, so they didn't dare to imagine a single person opposing a super-large family.
As for what kind of backing he might have...
Rationally speaking, an ordinary background couldn't be bigger than Sanzenin's.
If it were the kind that was too huge... then Sanzenin would have been gone long ago.
So, they were both nervous about the three characters 'Sanzenin' and didn't want Jaden to do anything foolish if there truly was a conflict.
After all, Jaden had helped Eriri a lot, and he was one of possibly only two people in the world who could understand Sanzenin Nagi's manga, so they wouldn't mind helping Jaden if they could.
Although...
"If some faction had a conflict with me, would I need you to step in?"
Hearing Jaden say this, Eriri and Sanzenin Nagi's thoughts began to drift, but Muteba immediately shut up.
Because he had heard rumors about something.
The former Shinomiya family head and the Shinomiya Guard... were reportedly taken out by the Strongest Creature on Earth right in front of him!
If Shinomiya could be beaten into its current state by him, then if Sanzenin truly crossed him... it would probably also be crushed!
That's what he thought.
Jaden pondered for a moment, then looked at Sanzenin Nagi.
"Nagi, compared to me, you or the force behind you are the ones in conflict with the Sanzenin family, right?"
As for Sanzenin... just as Jaden had told Sanzenin Mikado and Tennousu Athena before, Jaden regarded them as completely unfamiliar families.
However...
That's what he thought, but it was hard to guarantee that the other party thought the same way... The last time, at the Shinomiya family banquet, Sanzenin Mikado expressed an interest in getting close to him. It was difficult to guarantee that this incident wasn't another one of their schemes.
That's why Jaden asked Sanzenin Nagi.
Sanzenin Nagi hesitated slightly at this moment.
After all, if Jaden really had friction with Sanzenin, then her saying she was a Sanzenin person now might be very awkward.
But if she didn't say it... it might be even more awkward later on.
So...
She finally spoke.
"Rather than asking if I have a conflict with Sanzenin, you should ask if I have a conflict with Sanzenin Ochi-strictly speaking, that guy is my uncle, but since we are both Sanzenin heirs, he sent people to try and capture me."
"I apologize for not telling you at the very beginning-but my full name should be Sanzenin Nagi."
The moment Sanzenin Nagi spoke her name, a faint red light flashed in the depths of Jaden's eyes.
He used Observation Haki to listen to the thoughts of Eriri, Sanzenin Nagi, and Muteba, and then he suddenly smiled.
Jaden didn't know what the baseless goodwill of the old man, Sanzenin Mikado, meant, so... instead of spending time trying to figure out those things, it would be simpler to just repeat what he did to the Shinomiya family.
Moreover, if he could use this to bring the Sanzenin over as well, it would also benefit Erina.
So...
"Nagi, although this might be sudden, do you want to become the head of the Sanzenin family?"
Hearing Jaden say this, Sanzenin Nagi didn't even hesitate and immediately gave her answer.
"Absolutely not!"
...