"It seems that you've resolved yourself." Aoran retracted his gaze after staring at Seiji for a while.
"How youthful," he exclaimed as he picked up his teacup and sipped on some tea.
Seiji remained silent.
"The Wanhua Family won't do anything to you, Haruta -san," Aoran continued.
"All we can do is forcefully keep Summer Night away from you.
We know that this isn't a good idea, but the Wanhua Family has its own stance on the Wanhua Family.
We're not responsible for the Mitarai Family's young master's death, so we don't need to give an explanation. However, we need to show our attitude so that he can at least save some face.
"However, this way of expressing one's attitude is not fixed. If you do something for the Wanhua Family, we'll replace it with something else.
Let me state clearly that this isn't a threat. Even if you don't do anything, the Wanhua Family won't completely cut off all contact between you and Summer Night. After all, you have tremendous potential … Let's not talk about anything else for now. I personally have high hopes for you. "Aoran smiled.
"What do you need me to do?" Seiji asked directly.
"Do you know about the Challenger's Bloodwine?" Aoran countered with another question.
The Challenger's Bloodwine …
Seiji blinked as he recalled.
Before New Year's, Akira Mitarai came looking for him. Seiji asked Summer Night about a "method to greatly increase her power level in a short period of time." Summer Night's answer was …
"It's a Spiritual Wine formed by many Spiritual Ability users signing a contract with each other. The loser has to pay up their Spiritual Blood, and only the victor can drink it to increase his power level."
"That's right." Aoran nodded. "It's good that you know.
The process of creating the Challenger's Bloodwine is called the 'Bloodwine Ritual.'
"The first public Bloodwine Ritual was originally scheduled to be held in January of this year. However, due to various things that happened after New Year's, the Kurosaki Family and the Himiki Tribe delayed it.
"They're currently planning to hold the ritual in early March, which is half a month from now. I estimate that they'll begin sending out invitations to participate and spectate tomorrow.
"The Kurosaki Family and the Himiki Family have prepared some rewards in order to attract people to participate in the battle. One of the rewards for the victors is something that our Wanhua Family really wants.
"In other words, you want me to participate in the battle, win, obtain that thing, and give it to you?" Seiji's eyes flashed.
"Yes. But like I said, this is not a threat, nor is it an order. It's just a hope. " Aoran smiled. "If you participate in the battle and win, and are willing to give that item to the Wanhua Clan, we will pay a reasonable price for it, or exchange it with something of equal value. We won't take advantage of you."
"As long as I do it, you won't let Summer Night leave me, right?" Seiji looked at the other party.
"Yes, I promise," Aoran confirmed. "If you can do it."
If I can't do it, then I'm sorry.
Seiji seemed to be able to hear him say that.
The Challenger's Bloodwine, the Bloodwine Ritual … Who would have thought that they would appear in front of him in such a manner?
Seiji recalled the relevant information he had read.
It would definitely be difficult for him to win. Would he be able to do it with his current power level?
He had to give it a try!
"How can I participate in the battle?" Seiji asked calmly.
Seiji was able to make such a decision in such a short amount of time, and it wasn't done impulsively. He had truly resolved himself … Aoran was quite impressed. He now truly understood why his younger sister liked Seiji.
"It's fine as long as you receive an invitation to participate. You should also be able to apply for it yourself. As for the specifics, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. "
Seiji nodded.
There was nothing else to say after that, so he said goodbye and left.
…
"That's how it is."
Chiaki told Mika everything that she had done in her room.
"I'm sorry, Mika. I've joined the enemy, heehee ~"
Mika was rendered speechless.
Although she really wanted to comment on this, the double pigtailed girl was stunned by what she heard.
"Chiaki … is everything you said true?" She couldn't help but ask after a while.
"It's true." The tomboy nodded.
"How is that possible … President Wanhua … actually agreed to such a thing …"
"Why is it impossible?"
"Because … the president …"
"Are you trying to say that Wanhua Summer Night is so excellent that she won't allow such a thing?"
Mika nodded.
"That's your misunderstanding. Being excellent doesn't mean having a strong desire to monopolize her. In a way, it's the opposite, "Chiaki said seriously as she adjusted her nonexistent eyeglasses.
Mika was visibly shaken.
Chiaki wanted to say something else upon seeing her friend's expression, but didn't say anything in the end.
Both of them fell silent for a while.
"As expected … is it impossible to defeat the president?" Mika muttered to herself.
"Although I want to comfort you, to be honest, I think that's the case." Chiaki shrugged.
"If President Wanhua had a strong desire to monopolize her, then it might have been possible to defeat her. However, she doesn't.
Not only is Wanhua Summer Night currently Seiji's favorite, she's also the most perfect partner. She's basically flawless.
In fact, if you think about it from another perspective, it's precisely because she's such a perfect partner that Seiji likes her the most.
If I were Seiji, I definitely wouldn't let go of such a girl, no matter what. "
Mika was rendered speechless once again.
"Think about what you want to do next, Mika."
"Chiaki …"
"I'm truly sorry, but that's just the type of person I am." Chiaki smiled.
This smile seemed familiar to Mika, but now it felt rather unfamiliar.
The tomboy left.
The double pigtailed girl collapsed on her bed.
She didn't feel defeated at all.
But there was also no hope. She had no idea what she should do next.
She just felt empty.
Mika flipped over and looked at the ceiling. She didn't think about anything and allowed her mind to go blank.
But even so, that name still surfaced in her mind.
"Seiji …"
…
Later that night.
Summer Night arrived at Seiji's apartment.
"You're really going to participate in the tournament?"
"Yeah."
"It's quite dangerous."
"I know, but this is also a chance for me to learn more." Seiji chuckled. "Fighting tournaments are the romance of youth."
No matter if it was in anime or novels, fighting tournaments were always classics.
If a shonen manga like Dragonball was the path of a king, then a fighting tournament would be the path of a king. Sometimes, just the fighting tournament alone would be enough to extend the life of the entire manga!
'Cough, I got distracted.'
At any rate, Seiji was quite interested in the fighting tournament itself, which was also the Bloodwine Ritual tournament itself.
Summer Night looked directly at him.
She knew that he was speaking from the bottom of his heart. But, the main reason why he was participating in the tournament was because of her.
He had already resolved himself, just as he said this morning.
"… Be careful, and don't force yourself." That was all Summer Night could tell him.
"I will," Seiji promised.
Then, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Summer Night kept looking in his direction. Seiji felt rather awkward being stared at like this, so he averted his gaze.
Just as he was about to say something, he heard a gentle voice speak up.
"Seiji, I'd like to enter your room. Is that alright?"
'Enter my room?'
Seiji paused in surprise for a moment.
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