Yu Haibara didn't show a hint of nervousness, still as carefree and open as ever.
"Isn't Akira-senpai here?" he said brightly. "Nanami and I getting to exorcise high-level Cursed Spirits under a senior's guidance? Just thinking about it makes me shake with excitement!"
Kento Nanami glanced at Akira Zenin, the tension he'd been carrying finally easing.
'It might be dangerous,' he thought, 'but with a Special Grade on site, arguing over a Cursed Spirit's grade is meaningless.'
In truth, Kento Nanami didn't like relying on so-called "Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers." Those people possessed talents beyond ordinary comprehension, able to turn effort directly into overwhelming strength.
And because of that, it was easy for others to overlook the ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers. The ones who lived with their lives constantly on the line, whose ultimate goal was simply to reach Grade 2, and who could die at any moment.
Those ordinary sorcerers were the foundation. They were the majority.
"Well," Akira Zenin said casually, "same as always. Don't think of relying on me. Treat me as insurance for when things get out of control. Just do your own jobs."
Yu Haibara twisted around and eagerly agreed.
"Right, right! Nanami, for a Jujutsu Sorcerer, getting a chance like this—no regrets, real stimulation, and turning a fight into experience—that's rare, isn't it?
Just thinking about facing a high-ranking Cursed Spirit gets my blood pumping!"
Kento Nanami nodded.
This idiot had absolutely no sense of a Jujutsu Sorcerer's constant brush with danger. The fact that he'd made it this far on pure enthusiasm alone was practically a miracle.
Still, Nanami's expression softened a little.
This senior might seem lazy at first glance, but he didn't appear nearly as eccentric as the rumors made him out to be.
…
Far from the city, deep in the outskirts where human presence was scarce, towering trees stretched overhead and weeds grew unchecked. The four of them had already arrived at the mission site.
Supervisor Kairi Miyu added,
"This was initially judged to be a Grade 2 'Wide-Area Roaming Cursed Spirit.' This type can wander freely across a large area. However, these Cursed Spirits don't appear at random. They follow specific routes. After organizing and reviewing what we discussed in the car earlier, I realized that the distribution of victims in this incident mostly falls along a straight line connecting two Ubusunagami Shrines in this area."
Kento Nanami responded,
"Two?"
"More accurately, they're two parts of the same shrine, just located quite far apart."
"In other words, what's actually happening is very likely the worst-case scenario we were imagining."
Kairi Miyu nodded.
"That's right. One of the defining traits of Cursed Spirits is their extreme sensitivity to sight. Wide-Area Roaming Cursed Spirits are even more special. They can detect the gaze of people who are able to see 'curses'—that is, those with strong spiritual sensitivity—and treat such people as targets."
Akira Zenin leaned closer.
"I have a question. Why send two second-years to exorcise a roaming Cursed Spirit that's at least Grade 2? One Semi-Grade 2 and one Grade 3. If the Cursed Spirit's grade ends up being even slightly higher, wouldn't that mean unnecessary losses?"
Kairi Miyu replied,
"Grade 1 sorcerers who can handle Grade 2 Cursed Spirits with ease are severely understaffed. And more importantly, when dealing with this type of sight-sensitive Cursed Spirit, the 'Window' personnel, who are responsible for monitoring but lack combat ability, suffer extremely high casualty rates. So…"
Akira Zenin nodded.
"I understand."
"Casualties?" Yu Haibara said indistinctly while chewing on a rice ball. "Then we really can't afford to delay any longer!"
Nearby, Kento Nanami and Kairi Miyu continued discussing the details of the Cursed Spirit. Akira Zenin, meanwhile, found himself curious about how Yu Haibara could still eat so casually in a place filled with the damp, decaying smell of rotting vegetation.
Yu Haibara explained cheerfully,
"My technique is [Cursed Energy Storage]. I can turn whatever I eat into reserve Cursed Energy and store it in my body. Normally, I can store about one-third of my total Cursed Energy. But since my technique has been revealed now, I should be able to temporarily push it to around half."
"Akira-senpai, I'll tell you a secret. Rice has an insanely high efficiency when converting into Cursed Energy!"
"Can you store Cursed Energy throughout your entire body?" Akira Zenin asked.
"More or less."
"A sorcerer's weak points are the head and the abdomen. If you ever master Reverse Cursed Technique, it's basically like having a backup health bar that ignores weak-point damage."
Yu Haibara scratched his head.
"As for Reverse Cursed Technique, I did ask Senior Shoko for guidance before. But I'm a bit slow, and I just couldn't adapt to her teaching style."
As if struck by a painful memory, Akira Zenin clutched his forehead.
"Is there any chance this isn't actually your problem?"
While they talked, the group followed a decaying wooden fence, walking along narrow paths covered in moss and thick with fallen leaves from years of neglect. At the end of the path stood a structure that looked like it was made to gather resentment—a dilapidated shrine.
They stopped in front of the torii gate. Kairi Miyu halted and began chanting.
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
As the curtain descended, Yu Haibara looked puzzled.
"Kairi, this place is so remote. We didn't see a single person on the way here. Do we really need to put up a curtain?"
"This is an order from the higher-ups," Kairi Miyu replied. "Any mission involving Special Grade Sorcerer Akira Zenin requires a curtain to be deployed. I'm just following instructions."
"All right, I'll wait here. I wish you all the best…"