Kindred Spirits

Thinking of this, Yukihira Soma closed his eyes in a daze and slammed his fist against the wall.

"Damn it! What am I supposed to do?"

Just then, a burst of noisy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Did guests come to the house?

Or had that merchant brought his men to seize this place?

Despite his thoughts, Yukihira Soma made no further move. He remained sprawled on the bed, utterly still.

Bang, bang...!

Dad would never knock so urgently. Was it really that merchant's men?

As he wondered, a woman's voice came from outside the door:

"Young Yukihira, Boss came to see you. Hurry up and open the door."

It was the woman who had come on the first day!

When she came yesterday, she had stayed behind that fat man the whole time. She was probably some kind of secretary.

Yukihira Soma climbed out of bed, slowly walked to the door, and opened it.

Just as expected, the woman came into view.

However, unlike yesterday when her legs had been bare, she was wearing pantyhose today, and the style of her office outfit was different as well.

"Did you come to take the restaurant away? Isn't this too soon? At least give us a few days to move out."

"No. After discussions between Boss and your father, this entire street now belongs to the Yukihira family," Minezaki Yaeko said with a smile.

What?

Yukihira Soma's eyes lit up as the figures of several other people gradually entered his sight.

Behind her stood his own dad, a somewhat familiar young man beside him, and more than ten Suit Men scattered around them.

"Dad, did you win the Shokugeki?"

"No, I lost." Yukihira Joichiro slightly shook his head and sighed. "Still, losing to an opponent like this wasn't unjustified."

"What! Even Dad lost?"

Yukihira Soma abruptly turned to Minezaki Yaeko.

"Then what did you mean just now? Didn't Dad lose?"

"Indeed, your father lost—to money equal in value to Boss and this street." Minezaki Yaeko chuckled. "So, to repay the debt, your father mortgaged you to Boss."

"Dad!" Yukihira Soma's expression changed slightly.

"Hahaha..."

Yukihira Joichiro laughed uproariously. After a long while, he said with a smile:

"Soma, there was no helping it. Besides paying off the debt, I also traded you for ownership of this street."

"In other words, you're worth two streets. Isn't that a great deal?"

For a moment, Yukihira Soma could hardly believe his ears. He felt as though he might collapse at any moment.

Even after hearing it with his own ears, he still refused to believe that his own dad had actually sold him.

That dad who was always competing with him in cooking and had never been particularly reliable was actually... this kind of scumbag!

"W-What will happen to me? Will I be sold to Africa to mine? Or dismantled and sold off piece by piece as spare parts?"

Yukihira Joichiro instantly realized that his son was overthinking things.

For a moment, he wanted to laugh, yet felt a little angry too.

I'm your dad. At least trust me a little, will you? How could I possibly sell you off to mine?

"Of course not! You'll transfer to a Chef Academy and spend the next three years there. That's the condition."

"J-Just that?" Yukihira Soma's face was full of disbelief. "Just transferring schools gets us an entire street?"

"That's right! Not a bad condition, is it? If you were offered this, would you agree?"

"Probably..."

Even so, he still had every right to be angry.

"You bastard, Dad! You sold me without even discussing it with me. So what kind of Culinary School is it? Are there lots of amazing chefs there?"

Yukihira Joichiro did not answer. He instinctively looked at Shirou, waiting for him to explain.

Shirou slightly nodded and said after a moment of thought:

"It's still being prepared. It hasn't officially opened yet."

"What?" Yukihira Soma cried out. "Why are you already recruiting students when the school hasn't even opened?"

"Don't worry. Everything will be ready within a week at the latest," Shirou said with a smile.

"Is a school built in such a rush really going to be okay?"

Yukihira Soma looked hesitant. "I suppose not going isn't an option, right?"

"What do you think?" Shirou asked in return.

"Young Yukihira, this is a good thing." Minezaki Yaeko looked at him with a smile. "The enrollment subsidy alone is an entire street. If word gets out, who knows how many people will envy you. Besides, don't you want to get your family restaurant back?"

Yukihira Soma fell silent for a moment. It really was the kind of good fortune that fell from the sky.

As long as he agreed to enroll, not only could he get the restaurant back, he could also reclaim the entire street for the neighbors.

No, after the way they treated him yesterday, he could not let them use the shops for free. He had to charge rent!

"Fine, I agree!"

As soon as he said that, Yukihira Soma suddenly frowned and lowered his head, asking hesitantly:

"Wait, your voice sounds familiar. Yesterday, that... fat guy?"

"It was me." Shirou slightly nodded.

"That's impossible! How could someone lose that much weight in a single day? Even with surgery, recovery couldn't be that fast, could it?"

"Well... technology is pretty advanced these days. When you have time, pay more attention to medical technology instead of always staying in the kitchen."

Yukihira Soma had no reply. It was true that he always stayed in the kitchen and rarely paid attention to outside technology.

But has medical technology really advanced to the point where it can make a fat man slim overnight? Then why are there still so many fat people on the street?

Yukihira Joichiro looked back and forth between them and quietly let out a sigh of relief. Although the process had been extremely winding and nearly went off the rails midway through, the result was good in the end.

Night, Sakurai Residence.

The enormous house now contained only Sakurai Shirou.

That afternoon, he had deliberately given all the servants in the residence the day off. After ensuring no one would disturb him, he stood beneath the ginkgo tree in the courtyard.

After testing it last night, he had confirmed that ninjutsu used on himself, such as the Clone Technique and Substitution Technique, could be used normally.

As for projected ninjutsu that affected the outside world, such as the Water Prison Jutsu and Great Waterfall Jutsu, some were weakened while others could be used normally.

He just did not know whether the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu could be used normally.

Of course, he was not doing this because he wanted to see that woman again. He merely wanted to test the effects of the ninjutsu, nothing more.

Not long after, a black van drove in through the wrought-iron gate of the courtyard.

Two men in black suits carried a man tied to a stretcher out of the vehicle and set him down on the ground.

"Boss, this is the death-row inmate we bought from the prison overnight, as you requested."

"What crime did he commit?"

"After killing his wife, he and his daughter..."

"I see. He really is an out-and-out scoundrel."

"Boss, do you have any other instructions?"

"No. You can leave."

After watching them leave, Sakurai Shirou took a deep breath and began forming hand seals.

"Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu!"

After a cloud of white smoke, the man lost his life. Other than that, nothing changed at all.

This clearly meant that the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu had activated successfully, but had failed to pull over the target's soul.

"Did it fail?"

That was within his expectations. After all, not every world had something like the Pure Land.

"Fire Style - Great Fire Annihilation!"

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

After the two ninjutsu in succession, the courtyard returned to its former tranquility.

Like-Minded People

Like-Minded People

Not long after, inside the White Mist Space.

"You really tried it."

After shaking hands with Sakurai Shirou, Slime Shirou teased him happily.

"I only wanted to test the ninjutsu. There was no other meaning behind it," Sakurai Shirou said expressionlessly.

"I get it, I get it! You don't need to explain."

Slime Shirou chuckled, then stretched out his hand and bumped palms with Demon Lord Shirou, who had just arrived.

Their palms met, and their memories and emotions instantly connected.

"Oh... you opened a manga bookstore? But why a manga bookstore?"

"Because I like reading manga."

"I like it too! But with the development of the internet, sales of physical books will gradually decline in the future. No matter how you look at it, that's a dead end, isn't it?"

"Not so soon. It's only 2004 where I am. Physical manga books will remain popular for at least another twenty years."

"2004?" Tohsaka Shirou suddenly spoke.

That familiar time period made him involuntarily think of the Fifth Holy Grail War ten years later.

After shaking hands with Tohsaka Shirou, the other Shirous who arrived one after another all showed looks of understanding and turned to look at Demon Lord Shirou.

"Does the Earth you're on have Fuyuki City?" Mizukage Shirou asked thoughtfully. "Since you aren't a native of that other world, but a Transmigrator, after using magic, it's possible you traveled back to your original Earth."

Demon Lord Shirou rubbed his chin thoughtfully and remained silent.

Indeed, that was very possible.

Suppose that in the story of The Devil is a Part-Timer, Earth and the other world were sister worlds.

Then for now, this Earth could be called Earth A.

And he had traveled from Earth B to the other world.

In that case, when he traveled back to Earth from the other world, there was a strong chance he had not returned to Earth A, but to Earth B—or even Earth B1, B2, B3, and so on.

On Earth B, he was Shirou Kotomine; on Earth B1 and B2, he might be Shirou Emiya.

"After I go back, I'll look for Fuyuki City."

"Not just Fuyuki City. Look for other cities too," Celestial Dragon Shirou said with a smile. "It might not necessarily be A or B. It could be C or D."

"Mm. I don't need to worry about money now. I'll buy a computer later and search more thoroughly," Demon Lord Shirou said with a slight nod.

"That's right. If you don't look, how will you know whether the place you live is really an ordinary Earth?" Celestial Dragon Shirou smiled at Tsukimi Shirou and waggled his eyebrows. "You've had quite the luck with women lately."

"No! This isn't luck with women at all. It's absolutely a living hell."