The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning, during breakfast time.
"Irumi."
Silva suddenly spoke, and Irumi, who was drinking milk, set down his cup and looked at him.
"You don't have to train today. I will take you somewhere."
Irumi nodded, indicating that he understood. He quickly finished breakfast and walked towards the dining room's entrance with Silva. Illumi stared blankly as his father, and Irumi left the restaurant, absentmindedly poking at his rice with his chopsticks.
Zeno lowered his eyelids and glanced casually, then continued eating.
"Hmm?"
Irumi, who was about to step out of the dining room's door, suddenly furrowed his brow. He paused in his steps, turned sideways, and looked back at the three people sitting at the table.
"Greed and jealousy?"
In Irumi's eyes, he could see a thick blue mist representing greed swirling around Illumi, with signs of increasing intensity. On his mother Kikyo, there was a pink mist expressing jealousy, and it was very dense.
On his grandfather Zeno, there was a green mist representing tranquillity, with only a thin layer covering his body. This indicated that his current mood had no fluctuations.
After three years of research, Irumi discovered that all colours of emotions have both positive and negative aspects.
For example, the blue mist on Irumi represented both the positive emotions of calmness, rationality, and caution and the negative emotion of greed. Similarly, the pink mist represented both the positive emotions of charm, sensitivity, and gentleness and the negative feeling of jealousy.
Emotions represented a variety of colours. And all of this required him to explore and analyze constantly.
*Step...step...*
In the dim and profound corridor of the mansion, the crisp sound of two footsteps echoed, each with a different rhythm. Irumi followed behind Silva, slightly lagging half a step behind.
Silva's emotions were very calm at this moment, with a deep blue mist covering his body, representing stability and determination.
They didn't speak and arrived at the hall, where Tsubone and Gotoh had been waiting for some time.
"Lord Silva, the trip has been arranged."
Tsubone and Gotoh respectfully bowed to Silva. They were both enveloped in a light blue mist, representing calmness, harmony, and rationality.
"Let's go."
Silva nodded, and Gotoh turned towards the direction of the main entrance, while Tsubone waited for Silva and Irumi to pass before following behind them.
"Family head, young master Irumi."
The two butlers guarding the entrance bowed respectfully to Silva and Irumi, then simultaneously grabbed the handles on both sides of the door and opened it with a click.
As Silva and Irumi passed through the door, the two butlers bowed in a gesture of farewell.
Outside the door, a carriage was already prepared, with an emblem of a reversed Mercedes-Benz symbol resembling a "Y."
Tsubone and Gotoh approached from both sides of the carriage, opening the doors for Silva and Irumi.
Silva entered from the right side door, while Irumi entered from the left. Tsubone and Gotoh followed suit and entered, standing guard on either side of the two.
In the driver's seat, there was a chauffeur specifically assigned for driving. The sedan drove from the entrance of the Zoldyck Family's mansion to a city near the mountainous area of the Republic of Padokea. There, arrangements had been made for an airship to fly to the city where the Sky Arena was located.
On the airship, Irumi and Silva stood opposite each other, while Tsubone and Gotoh stood guard beside them.
"Irumi, don't you have any questions?" Tsubone smiled and asked Irumi, who had been silent since they left.
"For example, where are we going?" Irumi turned his attention away from the scenery outside the window and looked at Tsubone with lowered eyes.
"If you want to say, you'll naturally say it. But even if you don't say anything, I already know where you're taking me."
"Hahaha, I just love the intelligence and composure of young master Irumi." Tsubone smiled, feeling slightly surprised as she couldn't recall revealing any flaws. "You have truly inherited the excellent qualities of Master Silva."
Gotoh glanced at Irumi with a cold expression from the corner of his eye.
"This time, I'm taking you to the Sky Arena." Silva spoke calmly, looking directly at Irumi, creating an atmosphere of calm and harmony.
"I want you to reach the 200th floor of the arena."
"There's no time limit, but you can't use any means other than the matches. This is to test your training progress. If you can reach the 200th floor, you can start accepting assassination missions from the family."
"By then, you'll be free to leave home as you wish."
Silva seemed to have read Irumi's thoughts, and his composed expression showed a slight surprise.
"How does Father know that I have thoughts of leaving home?"
Since becoming a member of the Zoldyck Family, Irumi had never set foot outside of Mount Kukuroo, where the family resided. The desire to leave home had always been hidden in his heart, never expressed to anyone or shown.
"I am your father, so naturally, I know my son's thoughts," Silva explained to Irumi with a fatherly attitude.
"Tsubone told me you had completed all your training progress six months ago."
"Why didn't you come to me at that time?"
Hearing this, Irumi rested his left arm on the table, propped his chin, and his lips curved into a smile.
"I didn't feel that I was truly strong enough to stand on my own at that time. Tsubone wanted to keep me and strengthen my combat abilities, and that's what I needed."
"I think if Tsubone recognizes that I can stand on my own..."
As Irumi spoke, he looked at Tsubone standing beside him and smiled.
"At that time, I should truly be capable of standing on my own."
"Hahaha, young master is too modest." Tsubone smiled and humbly replied.
"I see. Then let me see the strength that Tsubone recognizes in you."
Silva nodded thoughtfully. Tsubone was the strongest among all the family's stewards, so if she recognized Irumi's strength, it truly meant that he had some power.