Chapter 5
silence.
A silence so profound that even the sound of breathing vanished instantly.
The moment the words left his mouth, all the eyes that were looking at Kazuma Hatake widened to the point of almost popping out of their sockets.
This includes Kamo Chokichi and his servants.
In particular, Kamo Chokichi found himself suddenly transformed from a thug who came to provoke someone into a matchmaker who came to propose marriage.
Moreover, a sense of resentment and imbalance was faintly rising in his heart.
Why is it that this devil comes to Kamo's house to force them to eat swill, but comes to Gojo's house with the intention of getting married?
Is there any logic to this?
Is having a pretty face really that important?
Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru, the man proposed to by Kazuma Hato, also looked rather stunned, a rare occurrence for him.
He originally had a mission to attend to and did not intend to participate in the banquet. However, after hearing from the elders that the Kamo family had specifically called to inform him that they would choose to provoke him before tonight's banquet, he had no choice but to rush back to oversee the situation.
What happened? Was the new head of the family using a marriage proposal to provoke him?
...By the way, is proposing marriage considered a provocation?
He must like the other person to propose, right?
Gojo Satoru rarely formed close relationships with others, and not long ago, he had even severed his only bond with his own hands. He was unusually bewildered for a moment, and his blue eyes behind his sunglasses began to scrutinize the unfamiliar new head of the family before him.
—However, this time he no longer approached Kazuma Hagoromo with the mindset of dealing with a lowly underling.
He had extremely dark black hair and black eyes, and was about one or two centimeters shorter than him. He was also quite handsome... Hmm, his expression was rather serious, as if he was waiting for his answer.
If you observe the flow of magical energy within his body more closely... wow, his magical energy is so low, probably only at the level of a fourth-level sorcerer, barely stronger than an ordinary person...
How could this person become the rigid and traditional new head of the Kamo family? Really? Have these old men finally stopped focusing solely on bloodlines and magical techniques?
Surely he couldn't have gotten the position of family head through cheating and deception...?
Gojo Satoru stared at Hato Kazuma for a long time, then looked at Kamo Chokichi who was following behind him, and then turned back to him.
After several rounds of this, Gojo Satoru noticed something amiss.
"Why is it only Grandpa Changji who came?" he asked in confusion. "Hey, where are the other old men who usually hang out with you, looking down on people with their chins and speaking so arrogantly?"
Gojo Satoru remembered it clearly: every time he did something wrong, those old men from the supervisory department would jump up and scold him for violating the rules.
But this question instantly left Kamo Chokichi speechless, unable to utter a single word.
How was he supposed to answer that the others, who had eaten a bellyful of sour radish and hard rice and were forced to dig and plant vegetables at Kamo's house, were now lying in bed with aches, pains, and leg cramps, applying ointment?
These words were utterly humiliating; he would rather die than compromise the dignity of the Kamo clan!
"I arranged for them to cultivate the land in the courtyard to grow vegetables this afternoon,"
Before Kazuma Kazuma could come up with a reasonable explanation, he answered crisply and decisively.
"Work is finished now, it's time to rest."
"…………"
Gojo thought he had misheard.
"...They're cultivating land to grow vegetables?"
"Yes, we'll plant it in our backyard so as not to waste the land."
Kazuma Hatori nodded slightly.
“I also bought a shop, and once the vegetables are ripe, they will be responsible for transporting them to the shop to sell.”
"…………"
Upon hearing the explanation, Gojo Satoru was so shocked that he sat up straight.
Kamo Nagakichi: "…………"
Aaaaaah! This devil actually told the truth!!!
The room erupted in murmurs, though no one dared to speak loudly. Whispers arose one after another as people speculated about Hagoromo Kazuma's intentions.
It was already surprising enough that a new head of the Kamo family suddenly appeared, but what was even more surprising was that this new head of the family actually arranged for the elders to grow vegetables at home!
Is this a show of force by the new head of the family? Another form of test of loyalty?
Isn't he worried about retaliation?
This body has excellent hearing, so Kazuma Hatake can hear these discussions clearly.
However, his thought was that the NPCs in this game were indeed very realistic, and they even reacted differently to his words, which was amazing.
These discussions gradually quieted down before Gojo Satoru could speak.
Everyone is waiting for Gojo Satoru's response to the marriage proposal.
Should you get so angry that you kick the other person out, refuse them outright and then kick them out, or ask them to leave first and then beat them up?
Regardless of the reason, it's impossible for Gojo Satoru, the dignified [strongest] sorcerer and proud man, to agree to a ridiculous marriage proposal from some unknown brat!
In the quiet wait, when Kazuma Hato heard Satoru Gojo speak, he first let out a soft chuckle.
Gradually, the laughter became clearer and more unrestrained, echoing in the spacious main hall, like a sudden release of long-suppressed frustration.
That's so funny! It's really hilarious!
—It seemed that Kazuma Hagoromo understood the meaning behind the laughter.
Then, after the laughter subsided, Kazuma Hatori heard Satoru Gojo's reply.
"OK."
He said.
"!!!!"
This time, everyone present was so shocked that they leaned back in shock.
Are you kidding me?! How could you agree to this?!
What is this?! The heads of the Gojo and Kamo families have formed a marriage alliance?!?!
Kamo Chokichi also gasped.
As expected of Gojo Satoru, who is always unconventional, his answers are always so unexpected...
Just as he was lost in thought for a moment, he heard Gojo Satoru ask the demon patriarch with a smile.
"May I have your name?"
"My name is..."
Just as Hato Kazuma was about to answer the question about the game nickname he had given himself, Kamo Chokichi, who was standing behind him, suddenly grabbed him.
That's enough! It's already outrageous that you were able to propose successfully. Do you really have to say that ridiculous and absurd name out loud too?
Even if he had agreed just now, the moment that name was mentioned, Gojo Satoru would have kicked him out the door on the spot! Including them!
The main reason was that he didn't want to get involved in this undeserved disaster at all, and he didn't want the outside world to know that their new head of the family was actually named [Handsome Dad]!
"His name is... head of the Kamo family."
Kamo Chokichi spoke firmly.
Kazuma Hagoromo raised an eyebrow in slight surprise and saw that Kamo Chokichi had actually circumvented the game mechanism of [forced nickname] and called out "Head of the Kamo Clan" as his name.
Ah... is it because "Head of the Kamo Clan" is his title? So Kamo Chokichi used a roundabout method, forcibly calling him by his title as his name.
These NPCs are surprisingly well-designed.
However, since the person in front of him is the handsome Da Wu instead of Xiao Wu, it's not really appropriate for him to use the game nickname "[Handsome Dad]".
But it's too late to change it now; I can only wait until the next playthrough.
"Master of the Kamo family?"
Gojo Satoru blinked. "There are people who would call you by that name? Your parents must have really high hopes for you."
I just don't know if this old man, Choji, knows that the patriarch's magical power level is actually quite low... He probably won't last long in a fight.
Well, in order to be able to witness these stubborn old men continue to suffer in the future, he had to keep this a secret for them.
After all, he is the only one in the world with [six eyes], and no one else can see the flow of magical power with the naked eye like him.
"You can call me that."
Seeing that Kazuma Hagoromo did not refute the name but accepted it as the "Head of the Kamo Clan," Kamo Chokichi breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had been pulled back from the brink of death.
Originally, he had hoped that Gojo Satoru would teach this kid a lesson, but after this outrageous marriage proposal, he now only hoped that he wouldn't be assigned to grow vegetables... Running errands for the head of the family was fine, he didn't mind at all.
"I see—then,"
Gojo Satoru didn't delve into it further, but nodded and continued to smile as he rested his chin on his hand and looked at Hagoromo Kazuma.
"You must understand, right? Marriage requires two people to like each other."
Kazuma Hatake expressed his understanding.
"Now, you really like me, I understand that very well,"
Gojo Satoru used his other hand to gesture back and forth between the two of them.
“But I don’t like you yet,” he said. “So, this proposal is only half successful.”
You need to keep working hard—
oh.
Hagoromo Kazuma suddenly realized.
After all, even in a regular dating sim, you have to reach a certain level of affection with the character before you can trigger the marriage storyline.
With this in mind, Gojo Satoru's answer becomes quite reasonable.
Not only was it reasonable, but he didn't even directly refuse at the beginning; instead, he subtly reminded him of this point. No wonder she's so pretty… Ah!
[Proposal: Congratulations! Based on your strong desire for intimate interaction with your target, the affinity module has been unlocked ahead of schedule. Now, you can increase your target's affinity towards you through various methods.]
Please note that some of the character's affection level will be carried over to the next playthrough.
Currently, the people you have had contact with are listed below in order of favorability:
Gojo Satori: 5;
Kenki Kamo: -10;
Kamo Nagayoshi: -100;
Kamo Noyoshi: -100;
Kamo Heishichi: -100;
...
The -100s at the bottom are all the ultimate negative favorability scores earned from Kazuma Hatori treating him to over fifty meals.
However, Kazuma Hatake wasn't particularly concerned about the favorability ratings of these old NPCs.
As long as they can do the work for him, that's enough. Why bother with favorability? He's not playing this game because of these old men.
After closing the pop-up window, Kazuma Hatake nodded readily, "No problem."
It's just about building up favorability; he's very good at it.
Gojo Satoru, who had expected the Kamo family head to be a rather stubborn person, was somewhat surprised that he had suddenly become so easy to talk to. He had thought that the Kamo family head would be angry or disappointed.
"It would be so good if you could understand."
Since the other party was very easy to communicate with, and the crisis that he had initially thought was a provocation had been resolved, Gojo Satoru took the opportunity to adopt a more relaxed posture and spoke in a lazy manner.
"Since you came all this way, you can stay and join the banquet... Huh? What's this?"
Gojo stared blankly as Hato Kazuma walked straight over, raising his hand to pull out something from somewhere on his dining table.
It was still alive, wagging its tail and thrashing about.
"The most expensive fish I caught today."
Kazuma Hatori spoke seriously, and there was even a hint of expectation in his expression as he looked at him.
"This is for you."
Gojo Satoru wiped the water droplets off his sunglasses and slowly raised a question mark above his head.
"...?"
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