Dragon Clan: Force me to be reborn and slay dragons

Chapter 242 The Righteous Father in White Mask Makes a Grand Appearance!

As dusk fell, Lu Mingfei and Erii left Meiji Shrine.

Although Meiji Shrine wasn't among the tourist attractions Erii had chosen, she overheard someone saying that a wedding was being held there, which reminded her of the incredibly romantic proposal concert hosted by Sakura that she had seen in her dream.

She had never seen a real wedding before, so she changed her plans and went to Meiji Shrine to watch it.

Meiji Shrine is under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Imperial Family. People who can get married there are either very wealthy or of high status, and they must also have certain connections. Otherwise, the Shinto marriage office managed by the Imperial Household Agency would not accept their marriage requests.

A wedding held at a shrine naturally has a royal style. The bride and groom may not be considered handsome or beautiful, but with the help of costumes and props, they are still quite attractive.

The guests who attended the wedding were all dressed in formal attire, either in suits or traditional kimonos. Coincidentally, when Lu Mingfei was shopping with Erii in the afternoon, he picked out a beautiful outfit for her that was perfect for shopping.

In return, Erii picked out a suit for him and pulled out a check from somewhere, slapping it on the cashier's counter with an air of dominance, like a queen who didn't care about money. Her demeanor even startled the experienced receptionist.

So they didn't need to think of any other way and just walked in openly. After all, with their looks and demeanor, if it weren't for the Japanese style of today's wedding, other people would probably think that these two were the bride and groom.

Lu Mingfei led Erii to a secluded corner and watched as the bride and groom, dressed in twelve-layered kimonos, entered the shrine under the guidance of priests and shrine maidens. Amidst elegant music, they listened to the priests chanting blessings, announcing the good news of their marriage to the gods, and praying for the newlyweds.

Erii held Lu Mingfei's hand as she watched the bride and groom alternate drinking from small, medium, and large cups, and then recite their vows before the gods to seal the jade bracelet that bound them together. Her crimson eyes were filled with intense curiosity.

When it came time to exchange rings, she looked at the bride, who was crying tears of joy, and the groom, who was smiling and kissing her tears. Then, she turned her gaze slightly to the boy holding her hand tightly beside her.

Coincidentally, he was also looking at her, his gaze as warm as ever, like the dawn shining into a dark world.

Lu Mingfei's only impression of Japanese weddings was the scene of Naruto and Hinata getting married in the final episode of Naruto. In his previous life, his wedding with Erii was Western-style.

At that time, his girl, dressed in a white kimono and holding flowers, was personally escorted to him by Genjiro. His brother-in-law lowered his voice and said, "If you dare to wrong Erii, I'll kill you."

This is no joke. Back then, Lu Mingfei was chased by his brother-in-law with a knife for two blocks because of a beautiful misunderstanding.

So when he saw the bride and groom embracing, he felt quite emotional. It was a great pity that the groom couldn't witness his brother-in-law's bitter reluctance to part with his beloved sister and hand her over to a man she had chosen.

Of course, it turned out that Erii hadn't made the wrong choice; Lu Mingfei never lets those who believe in him lose.

Except for gamblers.

In the instant his eyes met those of the girl, Lu Mingfei keenly noticed that there seemed to be some kind of eagerness surging in Erii's eyes. He then looked at the slender hand he was holding and felt that it was indeed lacking some adornment.

So he squeezed her palm, leaned close to her ear, and whispered:
"Eri will be available in the future too."

Upon hearing this, the girl's lips curled up slightly, a faint smile like the bright moonlight, overshadowing everything and everyone in the temple.

They watched until the wedding ended, and when all the attendees drank the sacred sake to bless the newlyweds, Erii blinked, holding her sake cup, her mind seemingly lost in thought.

The sake wasn't very strong, so Lu Mingfei didn't stop her from drinking it. Besides, given Erii's lineage, a little alcohol wouldn't be enough to make her drunk.

After watching the wedding, the two strolled hand in hand around Meiji Shrine until it was completely dark before leaving and heading to the restaurant that Erii had mentioned.

Although he spent most of his time in that dark little wooden house, Genji still cared about his sister. Whenever he had free time, he would take her out to eat delicious food. Their destination this time was the restaurant that Erii often went to.

Chateau Joel Robuchon is a restaurant that only accepts advance reservations.

Erii said this was a canteen, and perhaps only this little princess of the underworld would use a Michelin three-star French restaurant as a canteen.

Hearing that they hadn't made a reservation in advance, the waiter was about to refuse without a second thought, since the place had already been booked for today, and even if there were reservations, they wouldn't be for today.

Before Lu Mingfei could even use his financial power, the general manager had already rushed over.

His posture was elegant and impeccable, but his rapidly shifting legs betrayed his inner tension.

A few days ago, the Sheqi Bajia posted several high-value reward notices, and this aunt happened to be one of the people they were looking for.

Although I don't know why it was canceled a few days ago, there's been no word from the underworld, so it must have been canceled because they couldn't find it and were forced to do so for some reasons that are inconvenient to mention.

He was in his office on the second floor when he suddenly received a message from an unknown number saying that the mysterious guest who had booked the entire venue tonight was Ms. Uesugi, and that she was on her way and would be turned away by the waiter in half a minute.

After a mere 0.5 seconds of shock and hesitation, he transformed into Tokyo Bolt and charged straight down from the second floor.

He quickly approached Lu Mingfei and Erii, bowed deeply as an apology for the servant's rudeness, and explained that he had been negligent for not receiving prior notice from his retainers, asking Miss Uesugi to forgive him.

Erii didn't mean to make things difficult for them; she simply nodded and said she would use the menu she usually ate from.

Upon hearing this, the general manager almost lost his humble and ingratiating smile—Good heavens, Young Master Yuan, come quick! Miss Uesugi has spoken!

Suppressing his excitement to report immediately, the general manager subtly glanced at Lu Mingfei, wondering to himself if this kid was the suspect who abducted Miss Uesugi. He then led them very attentively to the best spot on the second floor, thoughtfully dimming the lights and using candlelight and aromatherapy to create a romantic atmosphere.

The general manager was too attentive, and Lu Mingfei couldn't pull out a chair for his female companion like a gentleman in a movie, so he just rested his chin on his hand and looked at her:

"Eri was so cool just now." The girl nodded demurely. "The food here is delicious."

"That general manager's name is Dongcheng Bu?" Lu Mingfei had just glanced at the other person's badge, which had those three words written on it.

Erii shook her head, indicating she didn't know: "What's wrong?"

"No, it's just that I have the same name as a perverted butler. My expression just now was quite similar to his."

"Oh."

The two sat there chatting. After the general manager gave the order, he went back to his office and reported the news to Crow, who then relayed it to Yuan Zhisheng.

Genjiro already knew who Erii was with and that she had made purchases in Shibuya today, so he wasn't surprised at all.

But when the crow, adjusting his glasses, uttered the words, "The head of the Uesugi family has spoken; there are no dead people at the scene, and the restaurant has not been reduced to ruins," it nearly made his jaw drop.

If it weren't for the fact that he was going to have dinner with the delegation from Kassel College and the principal of Angers later, and that Lu Mingfei had subtly indicated that he didn't want anyone to disturb him, he would have really wanted to sprout wings and fly there directly.

He was just about to suggest getting the security footage from Chateau Joel Robuchon, but then he remembered how they always had screens placed to block other people's view whenever he ate there, and he sighed helplessly.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Let the general manager take good care of us."

The crow knew that Genjiro and Batman had reached some kind of shady deal, but didn't say much, simply relaying the information truthfully.

When the restaurant manager received the reply, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Indeed, appearances can be deceiving; the young man who had freeloaded had actually gained the approval of that underworld boss. Luckily, he hadn't done anything disrespectful, or who knows what the consequences would have been.

Thinking of this, he, a former chef who was very famous in Tokyo's culinary world, willingly degenerated and served as a waiter for the two distinguished guests along with the manager, doing almost everything he could to please them.

Lu Mingfei teased the general manager, saying, "Your name and service attitude make me wonder if you're someone sent to spy on me. If I do anything out of line, hundreds of axemen will jump in and chop me into mincemeat."

General Manager Dongcheng Bu chuckled dryly upon hearing this, explaining that the biggest risk for them, who were running a legitimate business, was the fear of inadequate service leading to customer complaints.

Just as Lu Mingfei was teasing the restaurant's general manager, a person who wasn't an axeman but was more dangerous than hundreds or thousands of axemen was approaching from the street not far away.

Uesugi Kotsushi, radiating a low-pressure aura as if he had been playing hide-and-seek all day, walked heavily toward the renowned French restaurant, his gaze fixed on the Western-style building built in the 1930s in the distance.

He chased after his daughter and that blond-haired kid all day. Once or twice was fine, but every time they just missed each other, how could he not overthink it?

Too many coincidences can no longer be called coincidences; they can be called premeditated.

Considering the previous incident with the rich young woman who wanted to buy the entire street behind the University of Tokyo, Uesugi had reason to suspect that the blond-haired guy had already discovered him and was deliberately causing him trouble.

Like using a carrot to lure a donkey, when it's tired and doesn't want to move, pull the bait (clue) in front of it to reignite its motivation.

You damn brat, you deserve to die!

French food is unlike any other; you can't leave in less than an hour. This time, let's see where you can run!

After half a day without a drop of water or a grain of rice, the old man, whose anger was so intense that small blisters were about to form on his lips from the heat, stormed forward, only to be unsurprisingly stopped outside.

The waiter had a businesslike demeanor; the guests who had booked the entire venue for the night had already dined, and the rest were unrelated personnel, so of course they were not allowed to enter.

Forgive his bluntness, but the old man in front of him did have an unusual air about him, but his clothes and appearance did not seem to belong to the group that could afford to spend money here.

Uesugi glanced at the empty lobby, his ears catching the melodious music and faint conversations coming from the second floor. Too lazy to argue with the waiter any longer, he simply grabbed the waiter by the neck and walked into the restaurant, hanging up the "Closed" sign.

He knocked out the clueless waiter and walked up the stairs, his steps heavy yet silent.

The closer I get to my hometown, the more timid I become; the closer I get to my relatives, the more anxious I feel.

The long-awaited reunion between father and daughter was just around the corner, but all the prepared plans he had made suddenly fell apart. Uesugi Kotsushi suddenly felt like he wasn't prepared at all, but now the die was cast and he had no choice but to go. Who knew where that bastard would take his precious daughter after the candlelight dinner?

As luck would have it, there were several white masks on a cabinet on the landing of the stairs, and he casually picked one up and put it on his face.

Since there's no preparation, let's just be righteous anti-abduction activists and make a grand entrance for the sake of protecting the purity of young girls!

When he reached two-thirds of the way up the stairs, the sound system playing melodious music suddenly stopped. He thought it was a machine malfunction, but when the sound came back on, he heard a strange clapper sound.

Impressed by the restaurant's unique culinary style, he went up to the second floor.

What came into view was not her beautiful and lovely daughter dining elegantly, but the wretched little blond boy sitting opposite her, drooling.

Instead, she was a pitiful and helpless girl, clutching her head, her face contorted in pain, her eyes filled with terror.

(End of this chapter)