Chapter 102

When Zoro and Geto returned to Nanako and Mimiko's hospital room, Toji was waiting at the door.

"Father."

"Zoro."

"Nanako and Mimiko?"

"Those little ones' names, right? They're sleeping."

The steady breathing coming from inside the room made that clear. Geto asked Toji,

"How did you know to come here, sir?"

"The assistant director called."

It was natural for the assistant director to contact a parent, especially since this was the first mission for a six-year-old sorcerer, and it had turned into an unexpected situation.

Thanks to that, Toji had quickly decapitated the curse, left all the cleanup to the assistant director, and rushed here at full speed.

Toji crouched to meet Zoro's eye level.

"Any injuries?"

"None."

Toji nodded, but he quickly scanned Zoro with his green eyes, slightly anxious. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, Toji stood up and turned to Geto.

"Thank you."

It was the first time Toji had thanked Geto. Geto shrugged.

"I didn't really do anything."

"Not true. You led the way, didn't you?"

"Ah, that's true."

"Suguru, you..."

"Honestly, Zoro, your sense of direction is at the level of a thousand curses."

With April approaching and Zoro soon to start elementary school, there was concern about whether he'd be able to find his classroom. Geto was sure Toji shared that concern.

Toji crossed his arms.

"I've heard roughly what happened. The villagers of the mountain village were abusing those kids, stupidly thinking they were responsible for the acts of a curse. You discovered it, reported it to the police, and they all ended up in handcuffs. You went back to decapitate the curse."

Geto nodded. Toji's green eyes dimmed slightly then looked down at Zoro and asked.

"Do you think it was intentional?"

"What?"

"That this was set as your first mission."

Geto's eyes widened, then his face twisted in anger.

"Don't tell me, the higher-ups knew about this case and assigned Zoro this mission?"

"It's not certain yet. Those old heads are so empty, it could really have been a mistake."

It's possible they really didn't know anything and assigned Zoro's first mission here by accident. When Toji first became a sorcerer, his potential threats were dealt with by mixing first-class or special-class cases with fourth-class ones, even though he was a fourth-class sorcerer. Of course, now Toji primarily handled first-class and special-class cases.

But occasionally, the upper echelons really thought they were sending him a fourth or third-class case and instead sent a first-class one. Not just once or twice, but three times. At first, he thought they were trying to mess with him, but it turned out to be a genuine mistake. How absurd that was when he found out.

'It was only because it was me that I was unharmed.'

If it had been a real fourth-class sorcerer, they would have been dead without a chance.

Toji didn't make a big deal out of it with the upper echelons. He just made a hefty sum off the mission's success fee. After all, it hadn't been particularly dangerous.

But Zoro was different.

'Even if the type of mission assigned was a mistake, the elders were the ones who assigned the mission to Zoro.'

While Toji was away on a mission, they assigned it to Zoro, who was only six years old. Even though Zoro wasn't hurt, Toji had no intention of just letting it slide what the upper echelons had done. Absolutely not.

Geto's face showed a bit of disbelief that the people leading the sorcery world could do such a thing.

"It might not have been the upper echelons."

"That's possible."

"If someone, whether the upper echelons or not, deliberately sent us here, what were they aiming for? To harm Zoro?"

Zoro and Toji scoffed at the same time. Just releasing a nearly first-class curse to harm Zoro?

"If that were the case, they would have prepared something of a special class. And they would have made sure you couldn't follow either."

"Then why..."

Zoro thought for a moment. If there were planners behind this, what was their purpose?

A nearly first-class curse. Not one with unique magical techniques, but rather a downgrade from a special-class curse Zoro had previously faced, which they would have known Zoro could handle without any trouble.

'Especially with Suguru there too.'

The goal wasn't to kill or physically harm either of them. If that had been the case, there would have been much stronger or peculiar curses involved. Something immune to slashing damage, for example.

Then the answer was one. Zoro voiced his hypothesis.

"It seems like they wanted to see our reaction."

"Our reaction?"

"How we would react when we saw Nanako and Mimiko."

Whether we would get angry, if so, how much; whether we would try to help them, and if we did, how. Things like that.

Understanding your opponent is a key factor in determining victory or defeat. Zoro knew that much, of course.

However, he would never leave a child in danger just to gather information.

Geto looked through the small window in the door at the sleeping children.

Just for information, they left those kids to suffer like that?

"That's annoying."

Toji grimaced suddenly, feeling a sharp sensation of energy. As he activated his Haki, he felt the energy swirling around Geto, intensified by anger.

"..."

He wasn't usually one to lose control of his emotions. It must be the anger, or perhaps something had been building up.

"Do you want to come along?"

"Where are you going?"

"To the upper echelons."

He intended to warn them never to assign missions secretly to Zoro while he was away again.

But before that, there was one thing Toji wanted to ask Zoro.

"Zoro."

"Yeah?"

"Do you like the classics?"

"Well, in a way, yes."

There were many interesting characters, and it wasn't boring.

Reading the faint enjoyment on Zoro's face, Toji said,

"Good."

If that's the case, he couldn't completely blow away the upper echelons. After all, the Sorcery Headquarters is the higher authority over the sorcery classics, and if they were completely dismissed, even a young Zoro could be designated as a rogue sorcerer.

'Maybe I should just negotiate to adjust the level of the missions.'

Missions once a week, no solo missions, no missions involving personal interaction, no special-class cases, and the right to refuse missions. At least these conditions.

Feeling a rising sense of anxiety, Toji clenched and then unclenched his fist.

'If I had my way...'

He would prefer that Zoro not be given any missions at all. He wished Zoro wouldn't have to capture curses or rogue sorcerers. At least not for the next ten years.

But that would not only cause a conflict with the Headquarters, but Zoro probably wouldn't like it either.

Seeing Zoro smiling even while bloodied after being struck by Gojo's powerful technique, Toji knew. For Zoro, combat was part of life and a source of joy.

Toji, who focused on merely ending lives regardless of strength or weakness, method, or outcome, was very different. Zoro had grown tremendously through the process of fighting and enjoyed it.

If Zoro had been weaker, Toji might have put everything on the line to stop him...

'But even Gojo's powerful attacks couldn't beat him.'

Toji could no longer simply protect Zoro; he had grown too much, too soon.

Suppressing his turmoil, Toji said,

"Let me know if you need help, anytime."

"That's fine, just tell me where the upper echelons are."

It seemed necessary to see for himself whether they were really behind this incident. Geto raised his hand.

"Can I join too, sir?"

"Go ahead."

"I'll call Satoru too. I told him to call me if anything about blowing away the upper echelons came up."

"That guy too?"

It looks like there's going to be quite a disturbance at the Headquarters. Toji's lips twisted into a wry smile.

...

Zoro followed Toji's lead to the top floor of the Headquarters building, where the upper echelons were located.

As the door slid open, three members of the upper echelons were visible.

The upper echelons each had their responsibilities, so it was unusual for all the major executives to be present in the Headquarters building at the same time. Therefore, today, only three of them were in the building.

Zoro scrutinized the three individuals and then asked,

"Are you the upper echelons?"

He had expected them all to be at least as skilled as Suguru. However, they all seemed less capable than him.

Zoro's expression soured slightly. One person sprang up and pointed aggressively at Zoro.

"You! Where do you think this is...?"

The voice, initially bold, diminished as the speaker saw Toji enter. Zoro frowned, reading the clear fear directed at Toji.

"What a disappointment."

As he watched one of the sorcery world's elders avoid Toji's gaze while dripping with cold sweat, Zoro thought to himself.

These were supposed to be the leaders of the sorcery community, yet their caliber was disappointingly small.

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