"Is this a beauty salon? Why is the prize for the eating contest a full set of beauty services?"
Eichi looked at the first-place prize for the eating contest, a strange expression on his face.
He could not understand what connection an eating contest had with beauty services, or how the two could even be held together.
"Welcome, what can I do for you, customer?"
As soon as they entered the beauty salon, a stunningly handsome man with medium-length pink hair and fashionable clothes greeted them.
In the past, Eichi might have felt uncomfortable around such an overly feminine and delicate man.
But after years of Satoru's constant pestering, and after seeing Kechizu's appearance, which made him want to wash his eyes, Eichi's resistance in this regard had greatly increased.
He even found the flamboyant man in front of him somewhat pleasing to look at.
"Is this...?"
The handsome man leaned closer to Eichi and looked at the prize in his hand.
Eichi resisted the urge to step back.
"Oh, are you the champion of this eating contest? Please, come right in."
The handsome man gracefully turned, circled behind Eichi, and pushed lightly against his back, guiding him inside.
But he could not move him.
"It's not me..."
For some reason, Eichi felt that it was a little strange for a grown man to go to a beauty salon.
"It's alright, sir."
Seeing that Eichi was as immovable as an iron tower, the handsome man could not push him.
He could only return to the front and continue persuading him.
The boss had said that if he served these important guests well today, he would receive a full month's salary on the spot.
Earning a month's salary in one day, how could he let this opportunity slip away?
Moreover, the two people in front of him were indeed a rare handsome man and beautiful woman, which made him want to dress them up beautifully.
Just as he was racking his brain trying to persuade them to come in, the words the boss had specifically told him to remember that morning surfaced in his mind.
"This sir, you should know that even the finest sword will rust if it is not maintained. Why not take this opportunity to experience it properly, how about it?"
"And this is a trophy you earned with your own strength, isn't it?"
The handsome man crossed his left arm over his chest, rested his right elbow on his left hand, and waved a handkerchief at Eichi with his right hand.
Eichi's eye twitched.
The words made sense, but... Eichi turned to look at Artoria.
"Want to try it?"
Eichi felt that he did not need beauty treatments. He did not know whether Cursed Energy had some kind of positive effect on the body.
He usually only did some simple washing and had never had any skin problems.
But Artoria was a girl after all, so she should need beauty treatments, right?
"Let's try it."
Artoria hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
Although she had previously thought she did not need these things.
But the words that person had just said, "Even the finest sword needs maintenance" and "This is a trophy you won with your own strength," made Artoria feel that she could give it a try.
The handsome man breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Artoria agree.
'A month's salary is secured!'
In reality, what he did not know was that the words he thought the newly appointed "white-haired" boss had taught him were not meant for Eichi.
They were meant for Artoria.
After all, things like swords and trophies were generally not associated with a young girl like Artoria.
However, to avoid Eichi noticing anything, Satoru did not explain too much in detail.
So although the handsome man said those words to Eichi, they had an effect on Artoria.
But when Artoria sat down quietly, the handsome man became troubled again.
The first time he saw such a beautiful woman like Artoria, he subconsciously assumed that she had carefully applied makeup for a date.
However, after taking a closer look, this was her bare face?!
That made him feel a little jealous.
But thinking of his salary, he adjusted his mindset and began considering where to start.
Generally, beauty treatments involved adjusting one's appearance and concealing flaws.
But Artoria's beautiful face left him not knowing where to begin.
It was not that there were no suitable services, but rather that all of them seemed suitable, which left him at a loss over where to start.
Artoria endured the awkwardness, lying on the bed for a while, then sitting in a chair, experiencing one beauty treatment after another.
Eichi, meanwhile, also received a simple maintenance treatment at the enthusiastic recommendation of the other staff.
"How is it?"
Artoria's face was slightly red as she asked somewhat unnaturally.
"It... it suits you very well."
There was not much change to Artoria's face.
After some discussion, the staff at the beauty salon decided to apply light makeup to her.
This made Artoria's already incredibly beautiful features stand out even more.
However, more than her appearance, what made Eichi blush was Artoria's shy demeanor, which he was seeing for the first time.
For some reason, Eichi felt his heartbeat speed up considerably.
The handsome man beside them, seeing that the atmosphere had been set perfectly, immediately stepped forward.
"If you two need to rest, there's also a lounge upstairs, and we offer 24-hour accommodation service."
After speaking, he handed over a key.
"Should we... should we rest for a bit, Ria?"
"There's still the Summer Festival tonight. If we're going to rest, we should go back to Tokyo Jujutsu High."
"You're right. Let's go out and continue exploring, then."
The topic suddenly shifted to the Summer Festival, and their expressions quickly returned to normal.
The smile on the handsome man's face suddenly froze.
Also smiling stiffly were the trio eavesdropping next door.
"Damn it, why? It's already come to this point. All he had to do was become a beast, so why?!"
Satoru instantly pounded his chest and stamped his feet.
"Uh, Gojo-sensei."
Panda patted Satoru on the shoulder.
"Being a beast is wrong."
Panda said earnestly.
"But isn't he worse than a beast like this?"
Panda opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.
That's right, such a beautiful girl had been dressed up and placed right in front of him, and the venue had even been prepared for him.
But the two of them were still thinking about that Summer Festival?
It really did seem a bit... In the end, Panda was speechless too.
"Although I'm a beast, no, I'm not a beast."
Panda did not know what to say at this moment either.
"It seems getting these two ultimate blockheads together is even harder than getting Pandas together."
"Salmon roe?"
Toge looked at Panda strangely.
"Ah, you don't know?"
Seeing that Toge really did not seem to know what he was talking about, Panda explained.
"In the past, because of the small number of Pandas in a neighboring great country, artificially breeding Pandas and getting them to reproduce was not easy.
So the Panda conservationists would go to great lengths to help Pandas find mates.
For example, they would put two age-appropriate Pandas in the same cage.
But they found that in those situations, Pandas preferred fighting over bamboo to falling in love."
After listening to Panda's explanation, Toge looked at the two people outside, who were already discussing where to go next.
Toge suddenly understood.
(To be continued.)