Chapter 101: Fair and Just, Absolutely No Jest!
"Hoh-lah, what's going on?"
"Why does it sound like I've heard something incredible as soon as I stepped over the threshold? If there's trouble, you can pay me to sort it out."
The moment Satoru Gojo's words fell, a tall woman suddenly entered through the door.
Besides her towering figure, her most conspicuous feature was her hair. She had styled her white hair into a braid, but instead of letting it fall behind her, she strangely let it cover her face, leaving only one eye barely visible to observe her surroundings.
"If you heard it, you heard it. It's no big deal."
"As for trouble that can't be sorted out? I've never seen such a thing."
Emiya found it difficult to tell from Gojo Satoru's expression who he was more familiar with, because this guy seemed to wear a constant, beaming smile whenever he met anyone.
Acquaintances would only feel helpless seeing this, but rivals would be infuriated half to death.
"Come on, Emiya-kun, this is Ms. Mei Mei, a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, but she applied to leave Jujutsu High and become a freelance sorcerer many years ago.
She's a veritable miser, so be sure not to let her discover how much utility value you have."
Although the last sentence was deliberately whispered into Emiya's ear by Gojo, it would be truly strange if she didn't hear it at such a close distance.
"What's so embarrassing about showing this? Isn't the value of a life its potential utility?"
"In other words, anything that can't be converted into money has no value whatsoever."
Mei Mei openly presented her view in front of the group.
In her opinion, those who cannot create any value are the ones who should conceal their incompetence.
"Well, life can't be judged so one-sidedly, right? Life itself is very meaningful."
Emiya subconsciously refuted her opinion, then asked the question he was curious about: "Speaking of which, is there really such a group as freelance Jujutsu Sorcerers?"
It seemed that Nanami-san had mentioned it when inviting him to join the Jujutsu world—whether he wanted to join Jujutsu High or be active as a freelance sorcerer.
Emiya remembered choosing freedom initially, although the time of freedom was quite brief...
"Of course. It's just that the two high-incident areas of Tokyo and Kyoto are both managed by Jujutsu High, so you don't see them.
Some groups formed by freelance sorcerers are also recognized by the Higher-ups and thus promoted to permanent Jujutsu Sorcerer strongholds... In short, they are just ordinary sorcerers who are excluded by bloodline theories, and rarely are there strong ones."
That being said, it absolutely cannot be denied that they have also made great contributions to the balance of the Jujutsu world.
Otherwise, relying solely on the limited personnel of the two Jujutsu High schools, even with several times more people, it might not be enough to manage incidents across the country.
Combining the image of a miser given by Gojo Satoru and the concept of a freelance sorcerer, Emiya roughly understood what kind of work Ms. Mei Mei usually undertakes. It might be being summoned by Jujutsu High with a bounty to defeat Curses, or being hired by wealthy ordinary people to handle minor supernatural incidents... In short, it's about how to make money.
Emiya thought this was fine too.
As long as she can adhere to her moral bottom line, and not trample on life wantonly like a Curse User, what she wants to make of her life is naturally her own choice.
"In that case, what is the reason Ms. Mei Mei was invited to the Exchange Event?"
Emiya was originally asking Gojo Satoru in a whisper, but Mei Mei, who inevitably overheard the conversation, spoke frankly about it:
"Because my Cursed Technique is called 'Black Bird Manipulation', a technique that can control crows and share their vision. From a Jujutsu Sorcerer's perspective, it must seem quite useless, right?
But even the seemingly useless 'Black Bird Manipulation' can still receive high-priced commission fees from Jujutsu High, can't it?"
In this large forest team battle, saying they should set up cameras beforehand is utterly delusional, and they might easily be damaged by stray energy during a fight. Things like helicopters are even more exaggerated.
From this perspective, the flexible and versatile crows become the best 'cameramen'.
So, the hair covering her eyes isn't some kind of performance art, but rather her constantly sharing senses with a crow somewhere?
"What's the big deal? Jujutsu High's expenses have nothing to do with me."
Hearing this, Satoru Gojo shrugged his shoulders in a highly unprincipled manner.
In fact, Satoru Gojo had never worried about money since he was a child.
Being heavily relied upon by the Gojo family, one of the three great families, since childhood, and becoming the veritable 'Strongest' not long after graduating from Jujutsu High, he always bought whatever he wanted.
Because he had no great desire for material things, he would just do what he wanted when he thought of it—would his balance ever be insufficient?
Not long after, Principals Gakuganji Yoshinobu and Yaga Masamichi also entered the room in turn, and the group naturally stopped talking.
"Now then, the Sister School Exchange Event..."
"Start!"
Following Gojo Satoru's charming and drawn-out call-out, the people in the multiple screens immediately started running in unison.
Since the starting points on both sides were placed on opposite sides of the map, theoretically, even if the two teams met, it should be after eliminating a considerable number of Curses, and the number of people in the scattered teams would be uncertain.
However, the scene now displayed before the teachers was both teams heading simultaneously towards the center of the map, which was the location where the Grade 2 Curse was originally placed.
Engaging the opponent in a group melee right at the start is certainly a solution. However, due to the instability of a team fight, no one can be sure which side will have the advantage in the end, and this shouldn't be included in a normal plan.
Having a portion of the people distract the enemy and another portion eliminate the Curses to earn points—that kind of strategy is the safest.
"Um, Fushiguro's condition looks a bit off?"
Looking at Fushiguro Megumi in the screen, who was clearly lagging behind the team and constantly gasping for breath, Gojo Satoru didn't quite understand the situation.
"Did you do something to him, Emiya-kun?"
"I just told him to take some newly forged weapons just in case... that should be fine, right?"
Emiya wasn't too clear about the rules of the Exchange Event, such as whether there was a limit to the number of Cursed Tools that could be carried.
"Like that? Then it's fine; weapons are also part of a Sorcerer's strength."
As long as they aren't those messy modern weapons, they will hardly be criticized.
Finally, just as the two teams in the screens ran halfway through the course, an unexpected event occurred—
A bare-chested Todo Aoi suddenly ran out from the edge of the screen, crashing through, and stood alone in front of the entire Tokyo Jujutsu High team.
It's not surprising for someone as proud as him to attempt to solo challenge everyone.
The scene that made everyone in the monitoring room widen their eyes was—Itadori Yuji reaching out his hand towards Fushiguro Megumi and then pulling a two-meter-long greatsword out of the shadow.
This will be a fair and just confrontation!
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