Dragon Raja 5; Chapter 36: Old Friend (5)

Dragon Raja 5

The middle-aged woman who greeted him was still waiting at the door. Ryuji Saeki raised his glass slightly behind Fujiwara Nobunosuke to express his farewell.

The steel door slowly closed, and the hot water on the stove was still boiling.

    ***

After seeing Fujiwara no Nobunosuke off, the middle-aged woman returned to the tea room. At this time, she had wiped off the makeup that she had deliberately used to make herself look older. Her bare face revealed a hint of charm.

“Why don’t you meet him in your own identity? You have to pretend to be a girl running errands. I’m wrong, a middle-aged woman running errands.” Ryuji Saeki said lazily and put a cup of hot tea he had just poured on the table.

The woman calmly stepped onto the tatami, sat down opposite Ryuji Saeki, picked up the hot tea and sipped it slowly. She was so elegant and charming that it made people’s heart beat fast, and her age was completely ignored.

The current head of the Snake Eight Families Nanami Sakurai.

After the Tokyo Incident, almost all of the eight heads of families died, leaving only the Sakurai family as the last one. Sakurai Nanami naturally rose to become the head of the family, becoming the first female head of the family in a hundred years.

Although she insisted on calling herself the “acting head of the family,” saying that she was incapable of leading this huge organization and was merely temporarily taking over the position while waiting for the new generation to grow up, her management style, which combined firmness and flexibility, was indeed more effective than that of the previous head of the family, Gennochi, and she quickly became the soul of Japan’s mixed-race society.

But after she became the head of the family, she lived in seclusion, so Fujiwara Nobunosuke, as the academy’s representative in Japan, had no chance to visit her.

“I wanted to hear what the academy’s spokesperson really thinks,” Sakurai Nanami said softly, “with my own ears.”

“The message delivered earlier was very clear, wasn’t it? Lu Mingfei must return to Cassell Academy, dead or alive.” Saebo Ryuji shrugged. “The academy didn’t just say empty words.”

“Did he really kill those Dragon Kings?”

“If all those conceited masters in the academy think so, then it must be true. Otherwise, why the academy will think they are so great.”

“He also murdered Herzog?”

“Well, if the young lady were still alive, she would be happy,” Saeki Ryuji whispered. “After all, he was her knight, and it’s time to avenge her.”

Sakurai Nanami took a deep breath, “You already know, right?”

“I know. The young lady’s knight has arrived in Tokyo.” Ryuji Saeki looked directly into Nanami Sakurai’s eyes. “I want to know what the head of the family and the entire family have decided on this matter. Will they protect him or hand him over to the academy?”

“The family has no decision on this matter. The family didn’t know Mr. Lu Mingfei had arrived in Tokyo, and neither did I. You are the only one who knows about this. You make the decision, and you are responsible for it.” Sakurai Nanami slid the prepared paper across the table toward Saeki Ryuji. “The family cannot become hostile to the academy again. After what happened, the family is already exhausted.”

Saeki Ryuji nodded and took the paper, “Understood. I’ll be the scapegoat.”

It is very clear at this point. The Eight Snake Families have been severely damaged, but the academy will never back down on this matter. The family wants to protect Lu Mingfei but cannot bear the consequences, so someone has to take the responsibility and he will have to bear the blame.

That’s why Sakurai Nanami didn’t meet Fujiwara Nobunosuke in her own identity, because she “never got involved” in this matter at all.

“I never thought that one day I would have to personally send that little fellow off.” Saeki Ryuji picked up the small knife on the table and played with it. The blade was cold. “If the young lady knew, she would blame me, right?”

“Don’t brag, Crow. If he really is that kind of monster, you can’t kill him.” Sakurai Nanami smiled, inadvertently charming.

Nowadays, there are very few people who can make the head of the family laugh like this. Most of the time, she has the sad face of a widow, and it is hard to believe that she was once the kind of woman who could captivate everyone.

“Of course I can’t kill him head-on, but I’m a gangster, and gangsters always have gangster methods.” Saeki Ryuji shrugged. “And don’t call me a crow anymore. I’m a person of status now. If you call me that in front of your men, I’ll lose face.”

Ryuji Saeki, nicknamed “Crow”, was just a thug under Minamoto no Chisei back then. Now that the talents of the Eight Snake Clans are dwindling, Crow, who came from the streets, has been promoted to the position of acting director of the Japanese Executive Bureau, and he has used his original name.

It’s quite majestic.

“I understand, Mr. Saeki,” Sakurai Nanami bowed respectfully, “Thank you for your hard work on Lu Jun’s matter.”

She stood up and walked away slowly, leaving Crow playing with the knife in silence.

    ***

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