The footage continues to roll across the screen. Ryoma watches for a few more seconds, then reaches for the remote and turns it off.
He has seen enough. The man in front of him understands match pacing, career positioning, and talent framing in ways that cannot be improvised. The earlier dishonesty still lingers, but the competence feels real.
Yet inside his mind, the system speaks again.
<< You are considering alliance with someone who opened with manipulation? >>
<< Are you being serious now?! >>
But Ryoma lets the warning drift past without engaging it.
"I do not need a personal manager," he says calmly. "I do not need someone to divide my purse, negotiate sponsorship clauses, or oversee my compliance with sanctioning bodies."
Kurogane listens carefully, his earlier urgency replaced by focused restraint.
