"If I don't enroll, then I can't stay here?"
After a moment's thought, Amber asked.
"Hm?"
Satoru Gojo was taken aback for a second, then immediately grasped her meaning.
To be honest, Amber still rather needed the Jujutsu world's intelligence network.
Not just because she needed to gain recognition, but also because she wanted to keep track of the timeline in real-time. Yet, she had no desire to be controlled by the Jujutsu establishment.
Thinking it over carefully, why couldn't she be a free agent like Yuki Tsukumo?
It wasn't like she needed to learn Jujutsu, and controlling cursed energy wasn't a worry at all. With the Taixu Sword Qi as her foundation, handling any form of energy was second nature to her.
As for her having too few negative emotions, resulting in an extremely low reserve of cursed energy… that was even less of a concern. She could continuously use the cursed energy of her 'other self'. With that one's reserves, she'd never run out.
In other words, Tokyo Jujutsu High had almost nothing to teach her. Probably only the general academic classes would be of any use, and even those she could catch up on from her other self.
"Of course you can."
Having just boasted about giving young people the chance to choose their own path, Satoru Gojo naturally didn't see a problem with this.
If anything, he was a little surprised that Amber had brought it up.
"Satoru!"
Yaga frowned.
"Even if we tried to refuse her, it wouldn't work," Gojo shrugged, spreading his hands.
"I'm a good judge of character. A kid like Seele-chan would do whatever she wants, no matter how much you try to stop her."
"Besides, if she's truly determined, there's no way we could hold her back anyway."
Looking at the young girl's demeanor before him, Yaga couldn't see how she matched Gojo's description. But at least that last part was probably true.
Thinking it over, Yaga Masamichi could only sigh. He didn't think she was suited for the Jujutsu world at all, but if she herself insisted, the most he could do was offer what help he could.
He didn't forget to add a warning, though. "If any bad situation arises, just abandon the Jujutsu world."
Knowing this was his agreement, Amber nodded obediently.
"Great! But this does make things a bit tricky. I'd already arranged a transfer for Seele-chan. If she doesn't transfer in, she'll become a dropout."
Gojo rubbed his chin.
A dropout? Anything but that!
Amber definitely didn't want that. Maybe many people dropped out due to life's difficulties, but in the public eye, dropouts were basically synonymous with delinquents.
"Don't worry, I'll sort it out later."
Seeing the familiar look of worry on Amber's face, Gojo finally nodded, then grinned. "We'll keep your student status at Sugiwara High, and you'll temporarily study here at Jujutsu High as an exchange student. How does that sound?"
Yaga Masamichi had no interest in commenting on this roundabout method. After all that talk, she was still effectively becoming a student of the high school.
But it was different.
This way, Jujutsu High would have little hold over Amber, at least on paper. And as long as it wasn't official, it would lift a lot of psychological burden from her.
Firstly, she could say no to things she found unreasonable. Secondly, it gave her a much freer position.
She wasn't the 'my power makes me the rules' type. Though she hadn't received much formal education, she leaned more towards the idea of being one 'cog' within a larger whole.
In other words, she had the power of someone strong, but not the self-awareness that should come with it.
Her 'dark' self couldn't help with that, nor could Fu Hua, because that kind of awareness had to be felt personally.
Understanding your rightful place and what you're capable of was something you only learned through experience.
Gojo naturally understood Amber's meaning too. "But doing it this way, those rotten old higher-ups probably won't provide you with any assistant supervisors. Their malice towards you will just go from out in the open to hiding in the shadows."
That was fine by her. Gojo was just mentioning it in passing.
After all, since she was already here at the school, she could just treat any missions as 'extracurricular field trips' and tag along with the other students. As for malice… who cared? It wasn't like they'd dare make a move on her anyway.
And so, the matter was settled for now.
With the enrollment issue dealt with, Gojo asked for Yuji Itadori's clothing sizes. The high school's uniforms were custom-tailored for each student, so even though Yuji was enrolling now, there was no uniform ready for him to wear immediately.
As for Amber, since she wasn't technically a member of the school, she didn't need a Jujutsu High uniform.
Gojo led the two of them around the campus, explaining the purpose of each building while casually filling them in on some basics of the Jujutsu world.
After finishing, he looked at Yuji. "But all that stuff's not important. You two just focus on living your youth to the fullest."
Talking about youth in a school life filled with killing and negativity… I don't even know where to begin, Amber thought inwardly.
Fortunately, Yuji was still sunny. He responded enthusiastically, then finally asked the question that had been bothering him for a while. "Speaking of which, if you need me to find the fingers, why did Principal Yaga test us earlier?"
"Probably because he's worried kids like you, who've never been exposed to Jujutsu before, might not be able to adapt to the life here."
Gojo wasn't surprised. Suguru Geto's defection had left an indelible mark on his heart, but that mark wasn't his alone. It was the same for his classmate Shoko Ieiri, and for the current principal, Yaga.
"But compared to keeping you holed up here at the school while we go out and find fingers to bring back for you to eat, I'd much rather you come out with us."
"Because 'he who does not work, neither shall he eat'?" Yuji blinked.
"Because Sukuna's fingers are just that hard to find. There are twenty in total, but over all these years, the Jujutsu society has only managed to secure six of them."
Gojo laughed. "But now we have you. The Sukuna inside you acts like a radar. To get his power back, he'll tell you where the fingers are. So if you just stayed shut in, it'd be pretty troublesome, you know~"
"Eh…" Yuji Itadori's eye twitched. "In other words, if I just stayed locked away, this death sentence reprieve would basically be extended indefinitely?"
After all, it took centuries just to find six fingers.
"Haha, it's not that simple. Those higher-ups wouldn't just sit back and watch you hopping around under their noses."
Gojo dashed his wishful thinking.
"Figured as much…" Yuji knew he'd been hoping for too much. He let out a heavy sigh, then brought up another question. "Speaking of which, why is Seele here? Earlier, Principal Yaga mentioned 'Vessel'. Is Seele a vessel too?"
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.