"An unregistered special-grade sorcerer?"
Yaga Masamichi pressed his fingers against his temples, a deep frown on his face. "And at a time like this…"
After a moment of thought, the newly appointed principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High finally spoke. "Since they got away, there's nothing we can do for now. You two should rest for a bit."
"That won't be necessary," Suguru Geto refused. "The jujutsu world is already in decline. There aren't many sorcerers left. If even we, as special grades, take a break, then there's even less reason for the lower-ranked sorcerers to go out on missions."
"Geto..." The middle-aged man with a muscular build looked genuinely touched after hearing his words.
"Ah, Principal, please don't make that face. It's kind of gross."
The emotional moment lasted less than a second before it completely shattered.
Masamichi Yaga crossed his arms, put on a serious expression, and said to Suguru Geto, "Since that's the case, there's a mission that requires some travel. I'm assigning it to you."
"Sigh, you're really born to work hard, huh, Geto?"
Standing lazily next to him, the white-haired boy shrugged and sighed. "Even when you have time off, you still take missions. You really don't know how to relax, do you?"
"This is part of a jujutsu sorcerer's duty," Geto replied. "So, what's the mission?"
"It's in a remote mountain village in Shikoku."
As he spoke, Yaga pulled out a file from his coat and tossed it onto the table in front of them.
The carefree look on Gojo Satoru's face instantly disappeared. His eyes widened as he stared at the stack of papers.
"The village has an old legend about people mysteriously vanishing. Based on the information from the client and our own investigation, some villagers have indeed died under unusual circumstances.
We're fairly certain it's the work of a cursed spirit."
"The mission is to investigate and eliminate the spirit."
Geto picked up the file, skimmed through it quickly, then nodded. "Alright, I'll leave tomorrow."
Gojo Satoru, trying to sound casual, said, "Hey, Geto, how about I come with you?"
"No need. This is just a standard curse elimination mission. The difficulty won't exceed Grade 1. Sending two special-grade sorcerers would be a complete waste of resources."
Before Geto could say anything, Yaga spoke up firmly, immediately rejecting Gojo's request.
"Huh? Geto's the one who said he didn't want a break, not me," Gojo protested. "Just think of it as my vacation activity."
"You..." Yaga was at a loss for words. Just a minute ago, he was the one suggesting they take some time off. Taking it back now would just be embarrassing. With no choice, he gave in. "Fine, do whatever you want!"
"Honestly, the principal is right. There's no need for you to come along, Satoru," Geto added, trying to dissuade him.
"I already told you—this is my vacation. Are you seriously going to tell me where I can and can't go on my time off?"
Not knowing how else to argue, Gojo stubbornly stuck to his weak excuse.
In simpler terms, he was just being difficult.
"Well, do whatever you want."
Seeing Gojo act this way, the bun-haired boy could only give him the same exasperated look their teacher often did.
That night, Geto had the dream again.
It was the conversation from the day before Yu Haibara's mission.
A woman with long blonde hair, Tsukumo Yuki, approached and started talking to "him," while he stood off to the side, watching.
Neither the "him" in the dream nor the blonde woman seemed to acknowledge his existence. Even when he tried to step forward and interact, his hands passed right through them, as if everything he saw was just an illusion.
By now, Geto had grown used to this dream that he had no control over.
To be honest, he wasn't even sure if this was really a dream—after all, no normal dream felt this real.
Deep down, a part of him had started to believe that this dream was a glimpse into an alternate reality.
It was the only explanation that made sense to him.
Without acknowledging Geto, the two figures in the dream continued their conversation.
"I hate Jujutsu High..."
Tsukumo Yuki first slumped against a bench, grumbling lazily, then straightened up and said more seriously, "Just kidding. But I really don't agree with Jujutsu High's ideology."
"Everyone here is just treating the symptoms, but what I want to do is treat the cause."
"The cause?" A weary-looking Suguru Geto asked.
"Not exterminating cursed spirits, but creating a world where cursed spirits don't even exist," Yuki Tsukumo explained.
"Huh..." Geto's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the special-grade sorcerer before him.
"Let me give you a little lesson. At its core, what exactly is a cursed spirit?" Yuki asked.
"They're formed from the accumulated cursed energy that leaks out of humans," Geto answered.
"Exactly. And there are two ways to create a world where cursed spirits don't appear," she said, raising one finger. "First, eliminate cursed energy from all humans. Second, make sure all humans can control their cursed energy."
"I think the first option is a bit unrealistic, but the second one has an example—Zenin Toji. There are several cases of people whose Heavenly Restriction limits their cursed energy to an average level, but someone with absolutely no cursed energy? In the entire world, he's the only one."
"But that's not the only interesting thing about him. Even though Zenin Toji has zero cursed energy, he can still sense cursed spirits with his five senses. Having no cursed energy at all actually separates his body from curses, making him resistant to them."
"He's practically a new kind of human."
"But cases of Heavenly Restriction like that are extremely rare, so right now, I'm focusing on the second method—making it so that all humans can control cursed energy."
Yuki smiled at Geto and suddenly said, "Did you know? Sorcerers don't create cursed spirits."
"...What?" Both versions of Geto—his dream self and his real self—showed identical looks of shock.
"Of course, this doesn't include cases where sorcerers turn into curses after death," the blonde woman clarified, clenching her fist. "Compared to non-sorcerers, sorcerers release very little excess cursed energy."
"That's partly because using techniques consumes cursed energy, and their reserves are naturally higher. But the main reason is flow. A sorcerer's cursed energy circulates efficiently within their body."
"Simply put, if all humans became sorcerers, cursed spirits would stop appearing."
With that, Yuki Tsukumo finished her explanation.
Both the Geto in his dream and the Geto having the dream fell into deep thought.
As the latter was still processing Yuki's words and wondering how to make all humans into sorcerers, his dream self suddenly dropped a bombshell.
"Then... doesn't that mean we just have to wipe out all non-sorcerers?" Geto muttered.
The moment he said it, even he was startled by his own conclusion.
Let alone the version of himself who was merely dreaming—he hadn't even gone through the same experiences as the Geto in the dream.
For a second, he even wondered if the person in the dream was really just an alternate version of himself.
But then, all the things he had been through recently flashed through his mind, and the bun-haired boy fell silent.
Along with the scenes unfolding in his dream…
If he connected everything together...
Geto suddenly realized that, at this very moment, he could understand why he had instinctively reached such a terrifying, genocidal conclusion.
"Suguru-kun..." Just as he was hesitating, Yuki Tsukumo spoke again, her voice slow and deliberate. "It is possible."
"Huh!? But—"
"If anything, it's the simplest solution. By constantly eliminating non-sorcerers, humanity would be forced to adapt to survive. In other words, using fear and crisis to drive human evolution—just like how birds evolved wings."
"But unfortunately, I'm not that crazy."
"Do you hate non-sorcerers, Suguru-kun?"
Faced with Yuki's question, Geto hesitated for a moment before answering.
"I don't know."
"I always believed that sorcery existed to protect non-sorcerers."
"But lately, my understanding of their worth has been shaken. The things that make the weak admirable, the things that make them detestable... I'm starting to lose the ability to distinguish between them."
"Looking down on non-sorcerers, denying that part of myself... The finish line of this long marathon called jujutsu is too blurry. I can't tell what my true thoughts really are."
Hearing these words from his own mouth, the bun-haired boy fell silent.
Does he really not know what he thinks?
That question slowly surfaced in his mind.
...
(End of Chapter)
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