At dawn, I left the hotel with Toji, and of course, the uninvited guest came along.
Training was training, and work was work. The plan was to finish the job first, then proceed with mind modification.
"Toji. Do you know who this child is?"
"Hmm… I think I've seen him before, but who was it? I'm not good at memorizing men's names."
Toji blinked in response. I was hearing the lines that revealed his trashiness in this way.
"His name is Zenin Naoya. The old head of the family's son."
"Ah. I see."
Toji muttered with an indifferent expression, clearly showing no interest.
He was a child of the Zenin family, whom Toji disliked. Being a particularly rotten one among them, it was understandable that Toji had no affection for him.
"I had a chat with him, and he actually spoke highly of you, Toji-san. It's a bit different from what they say about him calling you a monkey."
"This kid did?"
Toji asked, his eyes sparkling. Being unique for a Zenin, he seemed to have gained some interest.
So he bent down slightly, then met Naoya's gaze.
"If you're not a sorcerer, you're not human. You're a monkey. Wasn't that what you were taught?"
"Th-those are just idiots with shit for brains. They say that because they don't know how strong Toji-kun is."
Naoya replied in a trembling voice. His gaze was fearful yet seemingly full of admiration.
"Hmm… he certainly is unique."
Toji straightened his back again. Though still indifferent, he seemed slightly more favorable.
"So, you're taking this kid too? Didn't you say you didn't want to get involved with the Zenins?"
"I did, but they got involved with me first. Since we're involved, I might as well fix his bad personality."
"Oh. That sounds kind of fun?"
Toji's lips twisted into a smile. He looked thoroughly amused.
"Who's handling the training?"
"Foreigner has agreed to take charge."
I lightly patted Dark Koyanskaya, Foreigner's backside, habitually without thinking.
Fortunately, Foreigner just laughed, even wiggling her backside as if asking for more pats, like a cat happy about butt taps.
"Master. What about me?"
Light Koyanskaya, Assassin, pouted and asked. It was her protest to be patted too.
"Alright."
After patting her a few times, her expression finally brightened.
I was pleased, while Toji and Naoya blinked, looking bewildered.
Screech. As we chatted, a black car pulled up in front of us.
A band like celebrities ride? It was exactly that kind of van.
"Phew."
Clunk. Someone sighed and got out of the car.
A moderately handsome face, a lithe build, and a beard. His face looked familiar, and upon closer inspection, I realized who it was.
Gong Si-woo. The Korean broker who briefly appeared in the original work.
"Hunting at this late hour. Aren't you overworking me?"
Gong Si-woo muttered as he approached Toji. They looked comfortable with each other, as acquaintances would.
"You need a car and a driver to get around, don't you? I've already paid your daily wage, so earn it,"
Toji said with a wry smile, waving his hand. His welcoming demeanor made them look like friends.
"Alright. The rest of you, get in too."
Gong Si-woo glanced at us, then immediately got into the driver's seat. His cheeks were flushed.
'He's a pro.' He seemed infatuated after seeing Koyanskaya, but he didn't show it, keeping his composure.
Just that alone was enough to consider him a true professional. Is that why he's been around for so long?
"Everyone, let's go."
"Yes, Master."
We immediately boarded the van and headed to our destination, the Hyugami Dam.
'Convenient.' The two Koyanskayas sat on either side of me, Toji in the passenger seat, and Naoya across from me, fidgeting as if about to poop.
Everyone took their seats, and we traveled comfortably, without conversation.
"I'll wait here. Go on."
In front of the bridge leading to the dam tunnel, Gong Si-woo stopped the car and opened the door.
We immediately got out and headed towards the problematic tunnel. As expected, the atmosphere was eerie.
With a memorial monument near the entrance and the general atmosphere, it certainly seemed like a place where cursed spirits would be.
"Master. Who will handle the battle?"
Foreigner, walking beside me, asked. It sounded as if she was implying that both of them stepping forward would be a waste.
"Assassin."
"Understood. This will be my first chance to show my skill in this world."
Assassin stepped forward with a smile. Her hand, which had clearly been empty moments before, now held a pink pistol.
"W-what was that just now? Is it a Construction Technique? Can you actually create a gun?"
Naoya, walking beside me, stared wide-eyed. Construction Technique? Strictly speaking, it should be Projection Sorcery, but he called it a Construction Technique?
'Ah, I'm getting dizzy.' I unconsciously pressed my hand to my head. Every time such a knock-off comment came out, I felt dizzy.
"You can think of it as similar," Assassin replied calmly, raising her gun. Just then, a grotesque form wriggling in the distance came into view.
A cursed spirit, and a low-grade Class 2 one at that.
'At that level, an ordinary person would be driven to suicide.' Ordinary people possess cursed energy, but it's minimal. Sometimes, people can see cursed spirits, but their power is weak.
If you're not a sorcerer, if you don't properly hone your cursed energy, you're bound to get caught up in it.
"W-wait a minute! Are you just going to shoot the gun as is?"
Naoya asked, his eyes wide. What now?
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"Won't it be noisy if you shoot a gun? Are you going to let the sound of the gunshot echo everywhere?"
"It has a suppressor, and there's no one around, is there?"
Assassin frowned, her expression indicating, 'You interrupted me for such a trivial reason?'
"A Barrier, you need to put up a Barrier!"
A Barrier. A Barrier Technique that often appears in Jujutsu Kaisen.
As a Barrier, it can have separate entry and exit conditions, and can also hide itself from the eyes of ordinary people.
Harm to cursed spirits shouldn't be seen. Ordinary people won't tremble in fear if they don't know of cursed spirits' existence.
For these reasons, Barriers are often deployed when exorcising cursed spirits, but honestly, it wasn't necessary now.
"That Barrier? I know what it is too. But there's no reason to deploy a Barrier in a place like this,"
Assassin said, looking at Naoya, and pulled the trigger.
Pfut! The bullet tore through the air with a sound like spraying water and lodged itself in the cursed spirit. It was a cursed spirit that looked like unfinished dough.
—Aaaargh…
The cursed spirit, shot between the eyes, turned to dust and vanished. It was over in an instant.
"I hoped there would be strong cursed spirits since it's called a spiritual spot, but it's not like that. They're all about the same level,"
Assassin muttered in an indifferent voice. She seemed very bored.
"Right."
"I'll just clear them out immediately without further inspection. Is that alright?"
"I'd like that."
Assassin walked forward, deploying numerous firearms. She levitated them in front of her outstretched right hand and fired indiscriminately.
Pink lines poured down like rain, and numerous cursed spirits fell, struck by those lines.
Assassin's Third Ascension. It was a sight reminiscent of using a Buster card in that state.
'Oh.' I glanced sideways and saw Naoya's face. His pupils and lips trembled faintly.
His face looked either terrified or profoundly moved.
'He must be sensing the difference in power.' Humans, like animals, bow their heads before the strong, because humans are also animals.
That's why I brought Naoya along; I hoped that if he felt the difference in power, his arrogant pride might break a little.
And my plan seemed successful. Naoya, terrified, was proof of that.
"It's done. This entire area is clean,"
Assassin said, lowering her hand and sighing. The firearms that had been floating in the air vanished without a trace.
"Good work. Let's move on,"
I said, taking Assassin's hand, then left the tunnel.
Other spiritual spots, even sniping a curse user said to be near Fukuoka. We spent the entire dawn moving around before returning to the hotel.
It was just before sunrise.
Dark noon.
Dark Koyanskaya, Foreigner, dragged Naoya and flew to the hotel rooftop, to avoid being seen.
"Ugh…!"
Naoya groaned, rolling on the rooftop floor.
He was grabbed by the scruff of his neck like a piece of luggage, and now even thrown. It was extremely humiliating.
Yet, he couldn't get angry, nor could he ignore it as he usually would.
To Naoya, the two Koyanskayas were not cursed spirits, but monsters; they weren't women.
"Hmm…"
Foreigner pondered with her hands behind her back.
How to fix that terrible personality, how to torment him fairly.
'Master instructed me not to turn him into a drooling beast…' Foreigner slowly sifted through her memories.
Naoya's tendencies as Master had described them, Naoya's words and actions, and what emotions he felt when observing certain behaviors.
'Ah. That'll do it.'
Foreigner's lips stretched into a wide, horizontal grin. The answer had finally come.
"You are destined to live weak your entire life. You'll die without even being able to crawl beautifully."
"W-what… did you say?"
In an instant, Naoya, who was crawling on the floor, his eyes flashed. The word 'weak' was the greatest humiliation for Naoya, his berserk button.
But strangely, it was also the future Naoya was originally destined to experience.
He would crawl grotesquely on the floor, then be stabbed to death by the woman he so despised. After that, he would become a cursed spirit and die again.
Once by Zenin Maki's mother, and once by Zenin Maki.
"Shall I repeat myself? You are weak."
Foreigner smiled, her eyes crinkling. It was both a provocation and an act of contempt.
"I'm… weak?"
"Yes. Not only are you weaker than me, but by absolute standards, you are weak. You are weak in spirit, aren't you?"
"In spirit?"
What kind of nonsense was this? Naoya frowned and stood up.
Weak in spirit. His emotions were shaken by a phrase he'd never heard in his life.
"Arrogance. Contempt. These are emotions only the weak, who cannot bear not to disparage someone, harbor,"
Foreigner said, pulling a black whip from thin air. It was a technique similar to Projection Sorcery, creating objects purely with magical energy.
"Don't want to hear you're weak? Then you must change that arrogance, starting with your way of thinking."
Swish! The black whip slashed through the air, striking at Naoya.
The whip flew by his side, accompanied by a spine-chilling sound, as if space itself was tearing.
Naoya, seeing the whip, channeled his cursed energy and immediately used his cursed technique.
His jujutsu was Projection Sorcery, setting 24 movements within one second and moving exactly as set.
If he failed to set a movement or couldn't reproduce it, he would be frozen for one second.
Conversely, this drawback could be used to freeze an opponent, just as his father Naobito had done.
'Even I can dodge this much!'
One second, 24 frames. Naoya effortlessly set his actions and moved.
His target was Foreigner. He intended to punch the woman who was neither cursed spirit nor human.
'Here I go.'
Naoya avoided the whip with a slide, then stood up while sliding and punched towards Foreigner.
Perfect. He could strike the arrogant woman with a speed that was among the fastest in the jujutsu world.
"You are fast, indeed."
But it was an illusion. The whip had cut through the air, but his fist never reached its target.
Before he knew it, Foreigner's hand had gracefully grasped his wrist, as naturally as picking up a dropped wallet.
"Alright, let's begin your training now. We don't have much time, so we'll go with a special, harsh course."
Foreigner smiled, her eyes crinkling, and summoned a pack of beasts. It was training time.