POV: Mahito
Date: Chōtoku 2, Month 8, 29th Day.
Suzuka Gozen.
Not a name I recognize, but that doesn't mean much considering my absolutely abysmal level of historical knowledge.
From her strength, I think she could potentially be remembered as a Legendary figure, but then again, I had no means of figuring that out.
What does matter is that she's strong, potentially strong enough to clap my cheeks seven ways to Sunday.
Well, I put those thoughts aside.
Instead, I slap a bright smile on my face and start clapping, the sound echoing in the quiet street.
"Eight out of ten."
She blinks at me.
"What?"
"Eight out of ten in introduction prowess," I clarify, nodding seriously as I bring a hand up to my chin, "It was really good."
"Why only eight? That should be way higher."
"Well," I start, gesturing vaguely in her direction, "you should've said 'Rejoice' before cutting the curses. Build anticipation, you know? And if you'd timed the slash with a bit of backdraft, the wind could've caught your hair just right." I motion upward, as if illustrating it. "With the moonlight hitting it like this? Super dramatic. Would really sell the moment."
"Why the hell do you actually have notes on that?!"
Because the adversary must always refine both himself and his enemies.
But I keep that to myself.
"Don't worry," I say instead, waving a hand dismissively as I grin at her, "it's still one of the best introductions I've seen so far."
"For some reason, that doesn't make me feel better," she mutters, her expression flattening again.
She saw right through my words.
Yeah, her introduction is not hard to be at the top, considering I've only met, what, three sorcerers total? And the other two had some pretty basic ass introductions for Sorcerers.
Still, the way she immediately picked up on that…
What scary intuition.
Is this the legendary 'woman's instinct' I've heard about?
The street are quiet, leaving only the soft rustle of trees swaying in the night breeze and the distant hum the sea. The air has cooled noticeably, carrying that faint chill that settles in after sunset, while the moonlight stretches long shadows across the ground.
"Aaah… this is such a pain," she groans, before snapping her gaze back to me. "You're a Window, right? Then stop standing around and show me where the biggest cluster of curses is so I can finish this and get back to the actual city."
Well, I'm not a Window.
But it would be incredibly funny if I just rolled with that.
"I have no idea," I say, smiling shamelessly.
She gives me a flat look, so I shrug, unbothered, slipping my hands into my sleeves. "I mean, I'm good at sensing curses, sure, but with how saturated the city is right now, it's like trying to find a warm patch in a lake. Everything just kind of blends together."
It wasn't even a lie; The center of the city is so thick with ambient cursed energy that trying to pinpoint individual presences feels like digging through noise. I can do it, but I need to get closer, which makes it way more annoying than it should be.
That's why I came out here to the outskirt in the first place. There's less interference when tracking them.
I thought I was too used to curses in forests, where they were divided by a huge mass of land each, so I believed that was just how cities worked, but the fact that they sent someone as strong as her showed that this wasn't the usual state of affairs.
Suzuka doesn't look convinced.
Her gaze stays on me, completely unimpressed, before she clicks her tongue.
"So you're useless, then."
…
I stagger back like she just punched through my chest.
Why is she so good at this.
"I am not!" I protest, putting on an exaggeratedly offended expression as I cross my arms over my chest. "I'll have you know that when it comes to sensing, there isn't anyone better than me."
"Uh huh," she replies flatly, not even trying to hide her disbelief.
"It's true," I insist, closing my eyes as if I'm about to demonstrate something profound, while inwardly smirking at the setup. "For example, in the houses around us, there are exactly forty-eight people."
Even with my eyes shut, the world doesn't disappear. Souls glow faintly in my perception, each one a flicker of presence that's impossible to miss for my eyes, even when they're close.
"We've got a family of four over there," I add, pointing lazily in one direction, "and in that house—" I tilt my head toward another building, "—they've been very busy. Eight kids."
Man, these feudal peasantries and their need to have a whole football team for families. Though, thinking back, it's not like things were that different in the west.
Suzuka doesn't speak, but I can feel the shift in her soul, the way her it seemed to sharpen as that initial dismissal gives way to something closer to curiosity.
I keep going, not giving her time to interrupt so truly sell the act. "As for the city itself, there's roughly a hundred thousand people."
It's a bluff, mostly. I can't actually sense the entire city at once, just about a fifth of it if I really tried, but I've walked through enough of it over the past few days to piece together a rough estimate on the population. Still, confidence sells the lie better than accuracy ever could.
"You can sense the entire city?!" Suzuka blurts out, her composure finally cracking as she stares at me.
Okay, good, I'm glad that such claim is entirely absurd. But if I already proved that in a smaller scale, I could give a detailed assessment, so an entire city, while completely absurd, was in line with my capabilities.
Now, all I had to do was act completely confident.
I open my eyes and flash her a pair of victory signs, smiling as if there's absolutely nothing unusual about what I just claimed. "Yup!"
And then—
Belief.
It floods in so suddenly it almost makes me flinch, a thick stream of golden energy that only I can see, emanating in waves from Suzuka.
[Source of Belief: Human (Grade Zero Sorcerer)]
Path of Guided Belief: Power – Hypersensory Range]
Analysing
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
What? That quickly?!
The container in my mind fills at a ridiculous pace, already more than halfway there from a single claim. A container that's even bigger than God's Tongue. It feels completely different from the slow trickle I've been getting from ordinary people, like comparing a cup of water to a river in full flow.
Without hesitating, I draw from the Belief I've stockpiled over the past week from exorcising curses, feeding it into the forming Path.
[Faith Manifest]
This is insane.
I mean, sure my range of detection was nothing to scoff at, but this-
The moment it completes, my head throbs sharply as something inside me expands.
Information crashes in all at once, overwhelming in amount, and I grit my teeth as I try to process it and not show it.
My awareness stretches outward, far beyond what it was before, until I can feel souls and cursed energy spreading out across an eight-kilometer radius if I focus hard enough.
What the fuck? Why such a huge jump-
…wait a sec, Grade Zero?
I, I thought that such classification didn't exist? Yuna didn't mention anything about a Grade Zero, and my own technique skipped straight from Grade One to Special Grade when forming Paths to evolve.
Suzuka, completely unaware of the storm of thoughts running through my head, crosses her arms and looks at me again, this time with a slightly more measured expression.
"Then I guess you're not completely useless," she mutters, though there's still a hint of reluctance in her tone.
I rein in the pain threatening to show on my face and keep my smile steady, keeping the same victory sign as if nothing just happened. "Such praise is a balm to my weary soul."
Inside, though—
Grade Zero, they should be even stronger than a Grade One, right? And I just managed to stumble into one right now?!
My gaze lingers on her, my instincts prickling.
This girl is dangerous, super goddamn dangerous for my continued existence!
…And a part of me wants to fight her.
No!
I force that thought down immediately, clamping down on the instinct before it can take root. Get a grip Mahito!
Wait, what am I thinking about, isn't this a huge opportunity that just fell on my lap?
The stronger the source of Belief the more quality belief they generate, she just proved that in a single interaction.
So, I'll make sure to attach myself to your hip, Gozen-sama! Even if it means risking my neck by standing next to such a powerful sorcerer.
Huge risks, and huge rewards, and all of that.
"But you're still not much help if you can't find the center of all this," she adds with a sigh, her earlier irritation creeping back in.
"I apologize for being useless, Gozen-sama," I reply smoothly.
"Drop the 'sama.' I'm not a noble," she snaps, her expression twisting slightly as if the very idea leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
That's not fair girl, now I just want to tease you.
"No can do, Gozen-sama," I say, my tone dripping with mock humility. "This lowly Window knows his place."
Her brow twitches sharply, and she lets out a long, irritated groan. "This is the worst. I just want to get this over with already. As soon as I finish this mission, I'm going to enjoy everything Kiyosu has to offer."
"Hahaha, then you'd better get started, Gozen-sama," I reply lightly, not missing a beat.
"C'mon, you're supposed to be some kind of super Window, right?" she says, waving a hand at me dismissively before batting her eyes in an exaggerated way. "Go look for the curses and find me when you find them. Do it for this lady, won't you?"
I pause, glancing around as if genuinely searching.
"A lady? Where?" I hum in confusion, looking around. Unfortunately, there is no lady nearby, I do love myself some mature woman.
Her eye twitches.
"Haaaah?! I'm a lady! I'm refined and elegant, like a delicate flower, you fu—!"
Hahahaha! This gal was way too easy to rile up!
"Why are you following me?"
Suzuka throws a sharp glare over her shoulder, her steps never slowing as she moves along the dimly lit street, the moonlight catching faintly in her hair.
There's a breeze in the air from the sea, holding cold currents. Right here on the quieter parts of town, away from the residential areas, it's mostly just the sound of our footsteps.
I keep pace beside her, hands tucked into my sleeves, wearing the most serene expression I can manage.
"Because it's funny—" I pause mid-sentence, clearing my throat as I straighten slightly. "Ahem. Because you're funny~"
She shoots me a look, her brow twitching. "Weren't you about to correct yourself?!"
A flicker of irritation pulses through her soul, but I ignore it completely, continuing to walk beside her as if nothing happened.
Now, am I, as the Chinese would say, courting death by teasing someone stronger than me like this?
Absolutely.
But, and hear me out here, think about it from her perspective!
There's this strange Window—someone who looks barely stronger than a normal human, who somehow claims to sense entire cities, and yet walks around a city filled with dangers like he doesn't have a single care in the world. Someone who watched her cut down curses in an instant and didn't so much as blink, let alone show the reverence she's probably used to.
Even if she doesn't show it outright, I can feel it in her soul.
Curiosity, and interest.
Small little emotions, but they're taking root beneath her bratty attitude, and all I have to do is nurture them, give her pieces to let her build her own conclusions.
Then, when the time comes and I reveal what I really am-
Oh yeah, it's all coming together.
I can only hope that my stitched up face doesn't throw her off too much.
In other words, it's time to professionally gaslight this woman.
"By the way, Gozen-sama," I'm still saying this just to prick her annoyance, and to emphasise that I do not bow to such titles, even making fun of them. It'll make for a great point of when she looks back and realises how weird it is for a Window to act like this.
This also plays into my role as the Adversary. The challenger of humanity does not bow, and even while acting as a Window, that will remain true for the sake of my persona.
"I don't think I introduced myself," I continue, placing a hand over my chest in mock formality. "This one's name is Mahito!"
"Didn't ask," she didn't even spare me a glance as she kept walking toward the center of the town.
"So mean!" I complain, though I can't say I'm surprised. "You know, city men prefer their women a little kinder."
"And how would you know that?"
"Uwah, have I already been exposed as a country bumpkin?!"
Not really, of course. If anything, I'm probably the only person in this entire era who's lived in cities with millions of people, but she doesn't need to know that.
In fact, everyone here is a country bumpkin compared to past me.
"Ha!" Suzuka turned fully towards me with a smug grin, pointing a finger straight at my face. "So you're not any different from me, Patchwork!"
"My name is Mahito!" I shoot back immediately, stepping closer with indignation.
"What kind of stupid name is that? 'True Human'?" she fires back without missing a beat, leaning in just as much, her eyes narrowing as our foreheads nearly touch. "Your parents couldn't come up with anything better?"
I sniff, turning my nose up. "I'll have you know I chose that name myself."
"That just means your naming sense is sucks."
"Ugh—!"
I drop to my knees on the spot, clutching my chest.
Okay, sure, maybe it's not the best name.
But at the time, I needed something—anything—to anchor myself, something solid enough to push back against those damn curse instincts trying to swallow me whole, and a name that meant something so important really helped!
It's okay, Mahito, you've got this. Even if she's ridiculously mean, think about the Belief. Focus on the positives and not the cutting words that destroy your very essence!
"You're thinking something bad about me, aren't you?" Suzuka narrows her eyes.
"Your intuition is way too high! Use it to find the source of the curses already!"
"What do you think I've been trying to do, dumbass?!"
Before I can respond, she goes to push me, and instinctively I grab back, our fingers locking as we start pushing against each other like two stubborn children trying to prove a point. There's force behind it, but not enough to actually mean anything.
Mock anger.
Because if Suzuka were actually mad, she would've reinforced herself with cursed energy already, and I'd probably be embedded in a wall somewhere.
The fact that she hasn't means that, while I'm definitely annoying her, it's not nearly as serious as she pretends.
…it honestly felt good.
There was a weird familiar sensation, like I was about to burst out laughing out of nowhere, my mind tugging towards casual arguments and pointless banter with friends from another life.
I don't dwell on it.
A window nearby slams open with a sharp crack, the sound cutting cleanly through our discussion, and both of us freeze mid-struggle as a haggard-looking man leans out, his hair disheveled and his bloodshot eyes locking onto us with frightening precision.
The sheer, unfiltered annoyance radiating from him is enough to make even us blink.
"Can you two lovebirds shut the hell up?!" he snaps, voice hoarse and rough. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"
His chest rises and falls heavily, breath coming out in uneven pants, like he's been woken up one too many times tonight.
Blessed silence went for a second.
Then Suzuka and I slowly turn to look at each other, and something clicks into place, a mutual understanding passes between us, a moment of synchroneity that I never felt, either on this or on my last life.
And then—
"This bitch isn't my lover, you senile old man!"
"As if I'd ever be with someone this disgusting, mind your own business!"
Our voices overlap perfectly, both of us snapping back at the same time, our combined irritation redirecting itself entirely toward this poor, sleep-deprived man.
Honestly, I don't even mind her attitude. If anything, it just makes this more fun, easier to push and pull at her reactions for hilarity's sake. And from what I can feel of her soul, Suzuka doesn't mean even half of the venom she throws around.
Still, we commit.
We keep going, tossing insults back and forth at the man until his face twists in frustration and he slams the window shut with a loud bang, cutting himself off from our relentless barrage.
Why am I having this much fun?
And judging by the way her soul practically hums, Suzuka's enjoying it just as much.
We eventually move further down the street, not because we care about being quiet, but because dealing with more interruptions like that sounds like a hassle.
The night air feels cooler away from the houses, the distant glow of lanterns flickering along the roads as the city settles into uneasy rest.
"I forgot to ask," I say, glancing sideways at her, "what's your mission?"
She raises an eyebrow, clearly surprised. "I thought everyone here had already been informed."
"Nope, I haven't been told anything, which makes sense, no one really tells me anything, and everyone hates me." Not even a lie. If I walked up to a normal sorcerer or even a Window, I'm pretty sure most of them would hate me on principle alone.
Which, to be fair, is completely understandable.
I also hate curses on principle.
"Wow, how did you piss them off so much they'll actively hold back vital information like this?"
"Te-he~"
"That was not a compliment!"
Her eye twitches, and she exhales sharply through her nose before glancing around the now-empty streets where market stalls had once been bustling. With a small shake of her head, she finally answers.
"About a month ago, there was a massive spike in curse activity around this area, we lost contact with a few Exorcists that were stationed here, and we have no sign of them anymore. Since there are no exorcists to clean up the city, I've been sent from the clans to do it instead, until it's devoid of any curse."
Her expression shifts almost immediately after, her mouth pulling into a small pout as she groans.
"But it's so boring," she complains, dragging the words out as her shoulders slump slightly. "Just wandering around hunting curses all day is a pain. I wanted to check out the port, maybe visit the markets, and see that famous shrine everyone keeps talking about."
"Ah," I nod, piecing it together, "so that's why you were asking about a concentrated area. You wanted to wipe them all out in one go."
"Yeah," she admits, though her tone loses some of its earlier bite as she sighs again. "Not that it matters. I tried following residuals, but they just loop back on themselves or disappear completely."
Right, residuals, Toshi and Yoto talked about that if I remember correctly, basically the footprints one leaves behind by using their cursed energy. I wonder is there's a way to not leave any behind even while using jujutsu.
"What if you—"
My words trail off as something catches my attention, I blink at the figure ahead.
I'd already sensed the soul earlier, moving steadily from the outskirts toward deeper into the town, and I'd dismissed it as nothing more than someone out for a late-night walk. It wasn't unusual enough to warrant attention.
But now that he's closer…
A middle-aged man stands in the dim light of a nearby lantern, his silhouette unremarkable at first glance, dressed in simple clothes that don't really look like outing clothing, but more like something you would wear indoors.
And he was shambling forward like a corpse.
…Zombies aren't a thing here, right?
Oh god, a zombie curse would be actual nightmare fuel that I'm not at all ready to deal with.
"What?" Suzuka asks as she notices me going quiet, and her gaze follows mine.
It didn't take long for her to spot him.
And the closer he gets, the more details I can make out. His steps were weird, and he was walking around with a type of hibana that I think was meant for sleep, and wearing no shoes at all.
The closer I look, the more something about him feels off in a way that crawls under the skin—his eyes are open, but glazed over, fixed somewhere forward as if he isn't really seeing anything at all.
"What's he doing out here like that?" Suzuka mutters, her brows knitting together as she studies him.
He's getting closer.
I reach out with my senses, expecting something—anything—but there's nothing unusual. His cursed energy is no different from that of a normal human.
His soul doesn't look any different than normal either.
No, wait his soul is a bit too calm right now, almost like he was-
Sleeping?
We both watch as he proceeds to walks right past us.
"Excuse me, sir," I call out, tilting my head slightly. But there is no response, he just keeps going.
Raising an eyebrow, I step forward and grab the back of his clothing before he can get any further.
"What're you doing?" Suzuka asks, glancing at me, though there's no real disapproval in her tone—just curiosity.
The man doesn't resist to my grasp, in fact he doesn't react at all, his body simply continues to move forward despite my grip, his feet dragging uselessly against the ground.
Super fucking creepy, am I looking at mind control of some kind? That's fucking terrifying.
"He's not aware of us," I say, snapping my fingers right next to his ear.
No response.
I wave a hand in front of his eyes.
Nothing.
Ugh! So fucking creepy.
Thankfully, my cold sweat is hidden as my mask remains calm.
"Something's controlling him." I let go, and the moment I do, the man stumbles forward slightly before regaining his balance and continuing along the exact same path as before, his pace unchanged.
Though…
Curiosity getting the better of me, I grab him again, this time spinning him around completely.
For a brief second, he stalls as he faces the opposite direction—
Then his body turns again, reorienting itself back toward wherever he was originally headed, resuming his march without hesitation.
"And it's sending him somewhere," Suzuka comes to the same conclusion as me.
Her gaze flicks toward me, and she gives me a measured look. "I'm surprised. You're smarter than you act."
For a split second, I feel Belief begin to form into a Path, maybe something related to my smarts?
Then it fizzles out completely.
…I guess she still thinks I'm stupider than I actually am.
…that hurts man.
Letting out a long sigh, I say. "Let's just follow him. We should find—"
I stop mid-sentence.
New presences just appeared at the edges of my range.
My head turns sharply as I feel them, the sensation spreading across my awareness like ripples in water.
Ten… no.
More.
Around twenty curses, closing in on our position.
How?
Was the man bait?
The timing is too perfect—they must have reacted the moment we made contact with him, which means whatever is controlling him is can also see through the connection.
"We've got company," I say, my tone shifting slightly as I glance at Suzuka.
I don't need to warn her.
In the span of a heartbeat, as the first twisted forms begin to emerge—from the shadows of narrow alleyways, from the rooftops above, from further down the road where the lantern light barely reaches—Suzuka is ready.
The moment the first of the curses crept into the dim light, Suzuka's hand moved, and that same blade appeared in her grip in a flash that almost looked like reflected moonlight rather than something summoned.
Yeah, either her Technique had something to do with storage, or the sword itself was tied directly to her Technique.
"Just a bunch of weaklings," She muttered, rolling her shoulders to loosen up. Woah, you sound so cool right now Gozen-sama.
"Gozen-sama's got this," I said with a bright grin, giving her a thumbs up that made her glance at me in confusion. "I'll support where I can!"
I could definitely do more, but I'm playing the role of Window here. So I'll just do little acts here and there to stoke her fire of curiosity, little things to help her in the fight.
Not that she needed.
Suzuka scoffed, lips curling into a smirk. "As if I need it."
And then she starts being a fucking murder blender.
Like, no jokes, the only reason I can see her now is because I'm focusing on her and enhancing my own eyesight.
She became a streak that cut through the narrow street, her sandals barely making a sound against the dirt as the first curse lunged, only for her blade to meet it mid-motion. The strike didn't stop at one target, her sword passing clean through the creature's torso, and then going forward uninterrupted into the next, a single attack killing two curses.
Insane.
She swung her sword again with elegance and precision, and I was reminded that in this world of Jujutsu, martial skills could also reach superhuman levels, just like with Yoto's bullshit xianxia martial arts, Suzuka's swordsmanship was definitely beyond normal humans.
Her cursed energy manipulation was also something to marvel at, wrapping around her blade and coating it thinly, not wasting a single drop. What supreme control, honed to a great degree.
Another curse came from her blind spot, claws outstretched, only for Suzuka to pivot on her heel, her free hand brushing against its arm just long enough to redirect its momentum before her blade thrust forward, piercing straight through its head. She didn't even look at it as she pulled the sword free, already turning into the next movement.
Then her lips moved as she smiled.
"Daitouren."
And the air itself answered.
The space around her blade distorted as she swung, and for a split second I could see it—thin arcs of pure air slicing forward, invisible until they tore through flesh. Half the remaining curses were shredded before they even realized they'd been hit, screaming as their bodies came apart in clean, effortless lines.
…oi, if you keep being such a baller I won't be able to mysteriously show you a bit of my power Gozen-sama!
The remaining curses hesitated, their malformed bodies twitching as instinct finally caught up with them, and then they broke, turning to flee in different directions, scrambling over rooftops and down alleys in a desperate attempt to escape.
Suzuka didn't let them.
She stepped forward, and the wind followed.
There was no wasted movement in her actions, the blade weaving through the air in arcs that flowed into each other.
One curse was launched upward by a rising slash, its body lifted off the ground. Beneath it, Suzuka already stepped into the range of another, driving her blade deep within it's stomach, and proceeded to fucking drag the blade along its length in a clean upward cut that split it apart completely.
And the same motion intercepted the curse that had been launched, now falling into her waiting sword.
Another tried to slip past her, only for her to twist mid-step, her strike changing direction halfway through to carve through its side, which she proceeded to use as leverage to twist her body, and launch an arc at another that had not stopped running.
It was ridiculous.
Every motion connected.
Every action fed into the next.
And as I continued to watch it, I analysed it all, I could feel my mind churning at the moves like a sponge, capturing every single act and going 'Yoink!' not only for the sword art, but also for the basic fighting actions that spurned her.
And despite all that power, I noticed how the edges of her slashes softened just before reaching the nearby buildings, the cursed energy dispersing at the last moment so nothing beyond her targets was touched.
Huh, look at this Lady, so good with collateral damage, I just know that in the worlds of superheroes, you would have been a loved one.
Well, I need to do something to at least say that I contributed, right?
With a flick of my will, I tugged at the feet of the last few fleeing curses, Pull activating just enough to throw off their balance. They stumbled all at once, crashing into the ground in a mess of limbs and panicked shrieks.
That was all Suzuka needed.
She stepped in, her shadow falling over them as her blade rose once more, and in a single, sweeping motion, she cut through everything in front of her.
The street, which had been filled with movement and noise just moments ago, fell still under the pale light of the moon.
Suzuka exhaled slowly, the tension leaving her shoulders as she brought the sword down and, with deliberate care, slid it back into a sheath in a completely unnecessary action.
Try harder.
Not that I could say anything.
"Ten out of ten," I clap with enthusiasm, "That last bit was amazing, nice and slow, with that tinge of dramatics that made my heart skip a beat!"
Suzuka huffed at my praise, though the faint curl at the corner of her lips gave her away, and as she flipped her hair back with a practiced motion. What made me hold back a smile, however, was now the consideration she was sending my way, obviously asking herself if I was the one who made all the curses trip, and how I did it.
Like a little shit, I say nothing, innocently letting my stitched up face smile.
"Of course," Suzuka said, lifting her chin with a haughty air as her blade vanished from her hand as suddenly as it had appeared, "I expected nothing less."
"Anyway, we should focus back on the—" Her words cut off.
Her brows knit together, gaze snapping toward the road ahead.
"…where did he go?"
"…oh shit."
The realization hit me a second too late, my head turning sharply as my senses stretched outward, brushing against the surrounding souls like threads reaching into the dark.
Nothing.
He had been right there, shambling forward, slow enough that even a distracted glance should've kept track of him… and yet, how could he be gone?
That didn't make sense.
Even if I'd been focused on Suzuka, my range wasn't something you could just slip out of in a few steps, not unless—
Ah.
"I can't sense him anymore." I mutter, sighing in disappointment, "He's dead."
Dammit.
For a brief moment, something in me stirred, pleased at the outcome, a twisted flicker of satisfaction that I immediately shoved down, forcing it out of focus as I steadied myself.
Better to focus on my human emotions.
Or, well, where my human feelings would normally be in. I know that human me did things he was not proud of in the name of survivals, but right here and right now, I literally lost nothing in saving that man.
And still he died.
…there was a disconnect there.
I could recognize it, analyze it, even pick apart what my human self would have felt in this situation, the hollow weight in the chest, the quiet nausea that came from realizing you actions lead to the bad outcome of others.
But I didn't feel it.
At most, all I could do was remember the emotion rather than actually experience it.
So instead, I adjusted.
If my human side wouldn't react properly, then I'd fall back on something else.
On the role I chose.
On what the Adversary should feel.
…
"Dead?" Suzuka repeated, her expression tightening into a scowl as she clicked her tongue, clearly irritated, though her gaze lingered on the empty street for a moment longer before she exhaled through her nose.
"Damn it," she muttered, folding her arms as her foot tapped once against the dirt, the annoyance plain on her face. "That was our best lead."
Human me might have found it unsettling, how quickly she moved past his supposed death, but I knew better than to judge. In this era, in her line of work, I doubt that death was a rare sighting. After all, most of the time, when Windows notice curse, it's when victims have already been claimed.
Seems like she just grew used to it, and so focused on what mattered.
And she wasn't wrong, I also focused on what we gathered.
It was pretty obvious that whatever was controlling that man, was behind the increased spike in curses in Kiyosu. What with the way the curses clocked in on our presence as soon as we made contact, to the fact that it got rid of any evidence that we could have used to find its location.
"It wasn't a coincidence," I said, glancing down the road where the man had disappeared, my mind already piecing things together. "Whatever was controlling him knew the moment we interfered."
"So the curse behind it can watch over its thralls," Suzuka narrowed her gaze slightly,
"And it managed to plan around us to cover it's tracks." I added lightly, even as my eyes raced along the path that the man had walked, "So it's smart."
Covering his tracks, definetly smarter than the Oni I fought.
Grade One?
No, something in me, an instinct was telling me—
This was a Special Grade.
Which mean I couldn't just follow his direction in hope of getting there, if he had been making a beeline towards the supposed place that the one commanding him wanted to go, the man would have been jumping fences and going through houses.
No, the curse who controlled him had purposedly made the man walk through the streets.
"I have a feeling, Gozen-sama," I said, the corner of my lips curling into a sardonic smile as I glanced at her, "that this little spike of curses is a bit more complicated than it looked at first."
The way her expression immediately soured at that, shoulders dropping just a fraction as if the weight of more work had been physically placed on her made me chuckle.
Still, I tuned my gaze towards the dim stretch of the road ahead.
"We'll find it."
I nodded to myself, the decision settling cleanly in my mind.
It wasn't a complicated conclusion, not really.
The answer to everything I'd been mulling over came down to something simple.
The Adversary didn't hesitate, nor did he stand on the sidelines weighing morality like a human would.
He interfered.
He pushed.
He forced things forward in whatever way led humans to grow.
And most importantly.
He did whatever the fuck he wanted.
And right now, I might not care for the life that was lost, nor will I even remember this man in perhaps a week.
Nothing like that mattered.
I wanted to get rid of the curse who snuffed out the potential of growth in all humans who live in this city.
So, I'd deal with it.
"And how do you propose we find it?" Suzuka asked, her tone dry.
"Why not just ask around?" I replied as if it was obvious.
She blinked at me, brows furrowing as she tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"
I let out a small hum, glancing up at the rooftops before gesturing vaguely toward the sleeping city around us. "Sure, the Windows are the ones officially tracking curse activity, but there's, what, a couple dozen of them for the entire city?"
I shrugged lightly. "Meanwhile, there are tens of thousands of people living here. And I bet you at least a few heard something about those who walk at night. People who might talk."
Her expression shifted into something more thoughtful.
Neither of us said it out loud, but there was an unspoken understanding about how the windows definitely didn't do this. From the little that I knew, and could even predict from my own human memories, Sorcerers wouldn't rely on normal people for this kind of thing, not when they could handle it themselves, and definitely not in an era where the gap between the two was definitely treated like a wall.
"That… is a good point, huh."
"Try not to sound so surprised,"
"Then give me fewer reasons to be surprised,"
Oh, I'll give you the biggest reason to be surprised! Soon, very soon, Gozen-sama.
"Well, even if it turns up nothing," I went on, stretching my arms slightly as if loosening up, "it still helps narrow things down. I might not be able to pinpoint curses across the entire city, but if anything gets within about a a few blocks…" I tapped the side of my head lightly. "I'll catch it."
That new range still felt absurd when I thought about it too hard, but I wasn't about to complain.
Suzuka exhaled, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she glanced down the road again. "Should we regroup in the morning then? We can make the rounds on more populated areas that would normally harbour negative feelings."
Right, it was pass midnight. I didn't really feel anything, but she looked a bit more fatigued.
One upside of being a curse is not needing sleep, nor do I seem to get mentally drained or tired either. Maybe it has to do with being spiritual entities? Well, I'm not entirely sure.
"Let's get this over and done with, it shouldn't take that long, right?" Suzuka asked, her eyes shining with desperate hope that only those who looked at the clock at the middle of their shift at a minimum wage paying job can ever relate to.
I looked at her.
Then I slowly looked away, my mouth pulling into a thin line.
I mean, I'm an evil spirit, but even I'm not evil enough to pop her ballon like that, specially when I had held the same hope in my eyes.
On paper, asking around for information sounded simple.
In reality?
Human testimonies were messy, very inconsistent, and full of half-remembered details, especially when fear and superstition got involved.
It'll be a huge pain in the ass.
"Hey," Suzuka called, tone tinged with slight desperation, stepping into my line of sight. "Hey, Patchwork, don't do that. Don't look away."
I turned and started walking.
"Hey!" she snapped, hurrying after me, "Stop ignoring me! It won't take that long, right?!"
I walked faster.
AN: Hello my various readers, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
This chapter was mostly created to both set the tone of how Suzuka's and Mahito's relationship is gonna be like, and to better construct her character in terms of strength and how skilled she is.
Currently, she's "Grade Zero" which isn't actually a Grade. It's honestly more like she's a Special Grade, the same way that young Geto was considered a special grade.
With her bullshit Technique, she can theoretically take over a country (Which is BS that, this qualification is what makes one Special Grade, I'm just going for good old fashioned strength.)
Also! What a huge steeping curve! The stronger the source of Belief, the more Belief is generated, and the greater it's quality is, so Mahito just got a huge sense upgrade.
Also also! We're finally into the first main mini arc of the story, I wonder which curse is gonna be behind this little trouble in the city of Kiyosu?
Also Also Also? Question for you my readers! What Curse do you think this is? I wanna see what you guys come up with
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed it! Have safe day, and leave a comment if you want or have questions. I'll try and be more proactive and answer them if I can (Still not used to how QQ works even though it's been months)Last edited: Apr 15, 2026 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Corcyrae, Gabriel021, The_Nick_12 and 1,106 others