"Just now I saw that little girl Akemi looking at you strangely the whole time. Did she come to you for something?"
When Mutou Judai returned to the house, he saw Mutou Yugi.
"Sort of... she said she wanted me to fight a Kengan match, but I haven't agreed yet."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Mutou Yugi looked at him.
"Is the opponent very strong?"
Earlier, Soryuin Akemi had asked the same question, and Mutou Judai had answered—hard to say.
Now that Mutou Yugi was also asking this, Mutou Judai slowly smiled.
"I heard he has some kind of secret technique... but I'm probably stronger."
"Mm... in that case, if you want to fight, then go ahead. Don't worry about me and these children."
Hearing Mutou Yugi say this, Mutou Judai looked at him questioningly.
Mutou Yugi smiled.
"I've told you before, right? When I was young, I was the Duel King..."
Here we go again...
Previously, although Mutou Judai felt that old man Mutou Yugi was probably wealthy when he was young, the Duel King thing... wasn't very credible.
Especially now that Mutou Judai had Jack Hanma's knowledge, so he could tell at a glance that even when young, the old man probably hadn't practiced any fighting techniques.
It wasn't that he had practiced before and later gave it up for some reason.
Because the old man didn't even have the foundation.
However, Mutou Judai didn't say this out loud, just obediently listened to the old man talk for a while. After Mutou Yugi finished talking about how he had once angrily confronted one of the world's largest companies decades ago to protect his family, he spoke to Mutou Judai again.
"I have an old friend I haven't seen in decades who made contact over ten years ago... I should have gone to see him over ten years ago, but because it had been so long, and I didn't know how to face him... so I never went. But recently he contacted me, and I feel it's time to meet him..."
Mutou Yugi looked at Mutou Judai with a serious expression.
"So today his plane will probably come to pick me up, and I'll take these children with me when I leave—if you stay here, be more careful about safety, and you can also act more freely. Of course... if you plan to come with me, I would very much welcome that."
Mutou Judai heard what the old man said and looked him in the eye.
"Stop lying... Old man, you clearly don't want me to come along."
"Oh my, was I found out? Hahaha."
Seeing the old man like this, Mutou Judai sighed.
"I won't ask you more about other things. Since you're taking those little ones, it means your friend's place is quite safe—but I'm not going now. However, when I want to find you later, I'll have to go look, right? So how will I be able to find you then?"
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Mutou Yugi left him two words.
—Kaiba.
"...Although it would be very difficult for you to search now, with that guy's abilities, in a few years even you will probably understand these two words 'Kaiba.' When that time comes, as long as you look for Kaiba, you'll definitely be able to find me."
After saying this, Mutou Yugi took something that looked like a train card from his pocket and handed it to Mutou Judai.
"You chose your own path. Although I want to help you as much as possible, there actually aren't many places where I can help you—Judai, take this."
Mutou Judai was somewhat puzzled but still took what the old man gave him.
—It was something like an amulet made of a protective case composed of some special transparent crystal plus several... well, several small cards.
It looked like there was more than one card inside, probably about two.
But the bottom card's front was covered, and the back showed a spiral-like card back, while the first card's front had card art, attack points, defense points, attributes, and descriptions...
—Isn't this just little cards that children play with...
"Kuriboh..."
Mutou Judai helplessly read the name of this card, then seeing the old man's expression of—this is all I can help you with—he raised an eyebrow for a moment, then still carefully put away this special "amulet" the old man had given him.
"This is from me, and also a gift from the person who originally brought you to me... Judai, you must carry this amulet with you at all times. They will protect you at critical moments."
They?
Although Mutou Judai was very surprised by the old man's word choice, he still nodded seriously.
"Since you've said so... then rest assured, I'll definitely carry it with me."
"Mm."
Old man Mutou Yugi nodded to Mutou Judai, then went back to pack his things, refusing Mutou Judai's help.
"Akemi is still waiting for you. You should go think about her matter."
Mutou Yugi left these words, then went back, while Mutou Judai slowly returned to the house via the stairs.
He first turned off the transmission device and computer that had already uploaded the first volume of A Certain Magical Index to Okuya Ken, then casually picked up his phone and looked at that name in his contacts.
—Erina.
Mutou Judai himself wasn't clear why he wanted to call Erina, but he still did.
He felt he should ask Erina about it.
Then...
When Erina answered the phone, Mutou Judai's first sentence became:
"Erina, I'm going to fight a Kengan match against that Tenrō-ken guy next. Is he strong?"
On the other side, Erina, who was processing documents, blinked.
"Tenrō-ken... oh, you mean Nikaido Ren. Of course that guy is strong. And he's Toyo Electric's fighter, right? How are you fighting Kengan with Toyo Electric people again? Did you find a company?"
"I didn't."
Mutou Judai first quickly denied this, then his tone became casual again.
"Mainly I just completed two techniques and was feeling a bit itchy to try them, so when someone just happened to find me wanting to commission me to fight a Kengan match, I thought I might as well agree and go test the new moves."
"Oh right, the one commissioning me is Korakuen Academy. It looks like Toyo Electric approached them, and Korakuen seems to find it quite troublesome."
Mutou Judai's words were casual, but Erina still understood.
—Toyo Electric is targeting Korakuen while simultaneously targeting our Totsuki...
Heh, if it's Toyo Electric, they indeed have the qualifications to target both sides simultaneously.
Since that's the case...
"Hmph, if you want to fight then fight. No need to tell me about it. But since we're acquaintances, you don't need to worry about Mutou Orphanage—I'll help you out."
"The old man has other ways... besides, your Totsuki is already overwhelmed, right? You actually have spare capacity to help me now—you should handle your own matters first."
"I'm calling you mainly to tell you that I'm going to Korakuen for a while. Regarding you cooking for me, although I'm at a loss, I'll give you half a month... no, one week off. Be grateful."
"You're the one who should be grateful. If you get seriously injured, I'll definitely come to the hospital to laugh at you."
"You'll probably be disappointed—as for your side, if I win and find that your side has already been crushed by Toyo Electric, then I'll be the one laughing at you~"
"Hmph, Totsuki isn't as fragile as you think!"
They bickered like this as if arguing.
Then Erina learned that while Toyo Electric was recently targeting Totsuki, they were also targeting Korakuen—and while they were only being aggressive in attitude toward Totsuki and emphasizing the upcoming Kengan match, toward Korakuen they seemed to have actually started fighting Kengan matches beyond just being aggressive...
This meant Toyo Electric was prioritizing Korakuen, and targeting Totsuki was just bluffing...
So they could catch their breath for a while.
And if they didn't need to focus too much attention on Toyo Electric—then they could slightly clean up the pawns Toyo Electric had planted in Totsuki. Although those known pawns weren't big fish, causing some trouble for Toyo Electric would still be good.
Moreover, Erina also knew that Mutou Judai would go to Korakuen—
So Toyo Electric's plan targeting Korakuen would definitely fail. She believed this from the bottom of her heart.
And Mutou Judai also learned that Totsuki still had spare capacity recently, and Kengan wasn't coming quickly—while Korakuen was probably Toyo Electric's priority target recently...
In that case...
Mutou Judai smiled.
"If Totsuki's defense capabilities are still the same as before, I think that's not looking too good—but just wait for news of my victory."
"Hmph, you're the one who should wait. Since you've said such things now, if you lose later due to carelessness, I'll definitely play this phone recording separately for you to hear!"
Heh.
Hmph~
In any case...
—These two stubborn people now both had a clear understanding.
...