Silence and Taking Sides

Wow.

My cousin Toji was so strong.

After reading his file, I could hardly wait to see the legendary pinnacle of heavenly restriction for myself.

-and ended up seeing Toji Zenin in training.

Despite having no cursed energy at all, he could beat anyone who mocked and provoked him black and blue.

Watching the ridiculous sight of his beaten tormentors seething with rage, Toji Zenin laughed aloud.

"Y-you... do you know who my uncle is? He's from the main branch!"

"If you don't get on your knees and beg me right now, I'll-"

"What's all the excitement about?" I walked inside, looked at the man shouting on the ground, and smiled faintly. "Why don't you tell me?"

Everyone present froze.

The Young Master!

What was she doing here?!

Everyone there was like a duck with its throat seized by fate. In an instant, the noisy training ground grew so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone knew that the Zenin Clan's Young Master liked peace and quiet. She had fewer servants in her courtyard than even the young masters of the side branches.

-if anyone offended the Young Master by making a racket, the consequences would be more than they could bear.

I had thought keeping quiet in my presence had already become an unwritten rule in the Zenin Clan.

-in a sense, I was actually more of a "dictator" than Satoru Gojo.

When it came to noise, Satoru Gojo might simply ignore it out of disinterest, but I made people afraid to say anything irrelevant in front of me.

Before I awakened the Ten Shadows Technique, the courtyard where I lived had poor soundproofing, and I could often hear the servants gossiping without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Because my little courtyard was out of the way, and the Zenin Clan was so oppressive, that spot seemed to have become a favorite place for people to vent.

Outside my courtyard wall, they talked about Jujutsu Sorcerers with peculiar habits, a money-grubbing steward, an affair between some guard and a maid...

All sorts of topics that didn't interest me.

And since they were right beside my little courtyard, the conversation often naturally turned to me.

"Illegitimate daughter," "good-for-nothing," "lowborn"...

Although I had only recently transmigrated then and hadn't fully adjusted to this identity, hearing it over and over still made me angry.

After awakening the Ten Shadows Technique, my first demand of the Zenin Clan was this: from then on, every place I went within the Zenin Clan had to be quiet.

My father in name readily agreed, and thoughtfully added another clause: anyone who broke the rule would be punished personally by the steward in charge of discipline.

I was satisfied.

Didn't they love to talk?

Since I wasn't happy...

-then no one else would have an easy time either.

Now it seemed that rule had indeed had some effect.

At least the people around me had fallen silent, giving my ears considerably more peace.

As for the one on the ground...

When he saw me arrive, instead of greeting me and falling silent, he seemed to think he had suffered the greatest injustice imaginable and immediately began wailing. "Young Master! Young Master... you have to stand up for me!"

The people around him looked at him calmly, as though looking at a dead man. A trace of mockery even appeared on a few faces.

His attitude had changed so quickly. How did he manage that?

I crouched down and leaned closer curiously, playing along. "What happened?"

With a trembling hand, he pointed at Toji Zenin, who stood to one side with his arms folded and an indifferent expression. "It... it was Toji Zenin! Toji Zenin actually dared to hit me! My uncle is from the main branch-Young Master, Toji Zenin has no respect for rank! Please give me justice!"

"Ah... what should I do about this?"

I pretended to be troubled and thought for a good while. As he looked at Toji Zenin with undisguised triumph, I slowly said, "But I don't want to stand up for you, idiot."

"Young Master! My uncle is from the main branch-"

"What does that have to do with me?"

This man was too noisy.

I didn't like it.

The guards beside me immediately took the hint and dragged him away.

"I came to see my cousin Toji." I looked at the tall boy who matched his file exactly. "Now that the nuisance has been dealt with, Cousin Toji, shall we talk outside?"