For an adult man, whether actively or passively, controlling desires is something that must be learned.
Unless your family is extremely wealthy and can shield you from all hardships for a lifetime.
It is like some fathers, who clearly love eating pork hock and playing with cars.
But after starting a family, they may not order a plate of pork hock at a restaurant for an entire month.
However, the moment their child asks for it, they immediately go to the restaurant to pack a portion to bring home.
They no longer replace their car every few years or change their phone every year.
Instead, those things become remote-controlled cars, clothes, and toys for their child.
However, Nanami is even better at controlling his desires.
Because he can regulate his desires and restrain his behavior very well, even without a wife or children.
This is why Tomie failed this time.
Desire cannot defeat everyone.
Nanami restrained Tomie with one hand, while his knee pressed firmly against her body.
With his other hand, he took out a rope covered in Cursed Seals.
The Cursed Seals on this rope could suppress the use of Cursed Energy.
Tomie had been captured. The next step was to bring her back for interrogation.
After all, according to Nanami's speculation,
in the worst-case scenario, they would have to face at least forty-two Tomies.
Nanami confirmed this from the small, four-limbed kidney-like creature crawling nearby.
Therefore, it was necessary to capture a Tomie alive and interrogate her for information when possible.
Just as Nanami made his move, a massive surge of Cursed Energy suddenly erupted from Tomie's body.
A distorted face emerged from behind Tomie's head and continued to expand.
It was a terrifying and sinister face, like that of a corpse.
"A Cursed Spirit?"
Nanami looked at the giant head that suddenly emerged from Tomie's body in surprise.
Although he was surprised that a Cursed Spirit appeared within Tomie's body, his movements did not slow.
He released the rope and grabbed his short blade.
Nanami delivered a horizontal slash at the Cursed Spirit's head as it lunged at him.
Pfft.
The head was split in half, and the Cursed Spirit's blood splattered across Nanami's face before quickly dissipating.
Nanami suddenly felt his consciousness waver.
When he regained his senses, the surrounding scene had changed.
Nanami's surroundings had shifted from the basement to the entrance of an abandoned hospital.
"This is..."
Nanami silently looked at the body severed at the waist before him.
He remembered this place. It was somewhere he could never forget in his life.
This was a scene from his third year of high school, when Nanami, newly promoted to a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer, was carrying out a solo exorcism mission.
Because the Seniors were too powerful, they had monopolized all Grade 1 and above Cursed Spirits near Tokyo.
So, younger Jujutsu Sorcerers like them only needed to exorcise Grade 3 and Grade 2 Cursed Spirits they could handle.
The enemy this time was supposed to be a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
However, the information provided by the Assistant Supervisor was incorrect.
The Cursed Spirit here was actually a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.
Although a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer has the ability to exorcise a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, the incorrect information caused Nanami to misjudge the situation, which led to him being injured at the start of the battle.
Then, the Cursed Spirit escaped.
The Cursed Spirit, both sides injured from the battle with Nanami, left the hospital.
And casually cut in half at the waist the Assistant Supervisor, Akemi Jojo, who had been waiting outside.
This made Nanami feel deep guilt.
Nanami, with his strong sense of responsibility, believed that his own mistake had led to the death of Assistant Supervisor Akemi Jojo, who had accompanied him for several months.
This also caused Nanami to give up becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer after graduation.
Because of this, Nanami's heart was filled with guilt.
He clearly had the ability to exorcise that Cursed Spirit, but due to his immaturity, his partner, who had worked with him for several months, died.
In his guilt and self-blame, Nanami came to resent the idea of being forced to sacrifice for others.
Eventually, he reached a conclusion. Jujutsu Sorcerers are shit.
Nanami then entered society, constantly working, working, working, with money as his goal.
Because society promotes the idea that with money, you can have "everything."
In fact, in the eyes of Eichi and Satoru,
Nanami's behavior of working hard under the pretense of earning money, turning himself into a top-tier workhorse, was a form of self-punishment.
It was his way of atoning for himself.
Just like some people, after making a mistake, always feel uneasy.
They punish themselves by working and studying harder to ease their minds.
However, a chance encounter brought Nanami salvation.
It was an ordinary female shop assistant.
Because she had been entangled by a low-risk Cursed Spirit,
the female shop assistant had been feeling discomfort in her shoulder during that period.
After sensing her kindness, Nanami casually helped her exorcise the Cursed Spirit.
Afterward, he received a simple thank you.
It was this thank you that allowed Nanami to rediscover the meaning of life.
This was also a process of Nanami understanding himself.
The reason Nanami felt such deep remorse over his companion's death was fundamentally because he possessed a sense of responsibility beyond his own capabilities.
Nanami had been taught from a young age that he must achieve something. Even if his strength was insufficient, he should still strive to do so.
Instead of recognizing his own limits and doing what he was capable of.
This is actually a common situation in Japan's education.
Textbooks always tell us that we must bear something and become something, but they do not tell us what it takes to become those things, or whether we even have the ability to achieve them.
And through the female shop assistant's gratitude.
Nanami realized that he was not Satoru or Eichi.
He only needed to do his best at what he could do, and bear what he should bear.
Nanami looked at the corpse in front of him in silence for a moment, then stepped forward and closed its eyes.
The desire for atonement in Nanami's heart gradually subsided under his control.
Everything around him began to blur.
When he opened his eyes again, Nanami was back in the basement from before.
Tomie, who had been pinned beneath him, was gone.
The sounds of fighting still came from behind him.
Nanami turned around.
He saw Haibara carefully subduing the frenzied Yukiko Mio.
Behind Haibara, Takagi-sensei's figure had also disappeared.
Yukiko Mio's condition at this moment was extremely abnormal.
Half of her face looked as if countless twisted blood vessels were bulging beneath her skin.
Her body also erupted with unimaginable strength.
Haibara had been suddenly ambushed by Yukiko Mio and failed to stop Tomie from escaping.
Coupled with Haibara's unwillingness to harm this kind girl, who had just overcome illness and was about to embrace a bright future, he found himself restrained.
Nanami stepped forward, moved behind Yukiko Mio, and knocked her unconscious with a chop to the neck.
"Phew, it's finally quiet."
Haibara let out a sigh of relief.
He truly did not want to hurt this poor girl, who was even younger than his own sister.
"Both of them ran away. What should we do?"
Haibara said with regret.
"Don't worry. This operation was not without gains."
(To be continued.)