Tokyo.
Nanako and Mimiko walked through the streets of Shinjuku, holding umbrellas.
"Mimiko, that thing... will it really keep its promise?" Nanako asked, gripping her phone tightly.
"We don't have a choice." Mimiko bit her lip, her expression gloomy. "That thing occupying Lord Geto's body... it's definitely special grade. We can only trust that it stays true to its word."
As they passed a dark alley, a strange fluctuation suddenly made them stop in their tracks.
This wasn't a street they recognized.
Deep in the alley, a warm yellow kerosene lamp flickered.
There stood a retro-style Japanese shop.
As if drawn by fate, the two of them walked inside.
A fire blazed in the fireplace, and the scent of black tea wafted through the air.
"Welcome."
Behind the counter, Hayashi En was wiping a bone china teacup. He looked at the wary sisters with a smile. "Nanako Hasaba, Mimiko Hasaba. Suguru Geto's adopted daughters... or should I say, disciples?"
"Who are you? What is this place?!"
Nanako reacted instantly, raising her phone. Her thumb hovered over the camera button, her technique ready to fire at a moment's notice.
En didn't stand up; he simply tapped the tabletop lightly. "I'm a businessman. Don't be so tense. I have no interest in two homeless little girls. What I am interested in, however, is what you're planning to do."
As En tapped, a ripple spread out. The two sisters found themselves unable to launch any attack.
En continued wiping his trinket with a nonchalant air. "You've made a deal with that thing occupying Suguru Geto's corpse, haven't you?"
The sisters' pupils constricted violently.
"We don't know what you're talking about..."
"In Shibuya on October 31st, you're to help that fellow kill the assistant directors. In exchange, he returns Suguru Geto's body... Am I right?"
Seeing that En could describe their secret deal with Kenjaku so accurately, the two girls couldn't hide their shock and stopped playing dumb.
"So what if we did? What do you want?" Nanako asked sharply.
"I don't want anything." En leaned back, resting comfortably against his chair. He still didn't look them in the eye, focusing instead on inspecting the luster of the teacup.
"I just think... you're incredibly stupid."
"What... did you say?"
The girls' faces darkened instantly.
"I said the two of you are incredibly stupid. Did you hear me?" En finally stopped what he was doing and looked up. "That thing between your ears—is it just a decoration, or is it there just to make you taller?"
"You—!" Flushed with rage and tears welling up from the blatant insult, Mimiko turned and grabbed Nanako, ready to storm out. "Nanako, let's go! Don't listen to this madman's nonsense!"
"Do you really think the thing occupying Suguru Geto's body will keep its promise to return it to you?"
Hearing this, Mimiko's steps came to a sudden halt.
En looked at their stiff backs and spoke leisurely:
"Use those decorative brains of yours and look at it from that fellow's perspective. You'll understand soon enough."
"If it were you, and you finally managed to get your hands on a once-in-a-century special grade body possessing Cursed Spirit Manipulation, would you mercifully hand it over just because two brats helped take out a few insignificant assistant directors?"
Nanako turned her head and bit her lip, a look of hesitation appearing on her face.
"But he promised..."
"A promise?" En scoffed, his eyes looking at them as if they were primitive simpletons. "Promises aren't worth a damn. Are you three-year-olds? Do you need to pinky swear and hope to die?"
"In the end, you didn't even establish a Binding Vow, did you? What's stopping that thing from killing you after it's done using you? The price for breaking a promise is zero!"
"We had no other way!"
Nanako finally broke down. She practically shrieked the words, her voice choked with tears.
"That was the only way for us to get Lord Suguru Geto's remains back! What else could we do besides trust him?!"
A brief, dead silence fell over the shop.
"I can help you," En said flatly.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Mimiko screamed hysterically. "Who do you think you are? That's a monster occupying Lord Geto's body! It's a special grade! What makes you think you can—"
"What makes me think so?"
The smile on En's lips deepened as he slowly stood up.
*Hum—*
In an instant, the air in the agency became heavy.
[DOMAIN EXPANSION: TEN REALMS CONDEMNATION]
En formed a hand seal and casually expanded his domain.
A golden courtroom took shape, surrounding the two with an irresistible pressure.
Of course, En had no intention of attacking; after all, violence was prohibited inside the shop.
Using a momentary Domain Expansion to demonstrate his power and intimidate them was the most efficient method En could think of.
In less than a second, the domain dissipated.
In that brief moment, Nanako and Mimiko felt as if they were standing naked upon a guillotine.
*Thud.*
The two fell to their knees uncontrollably, cold sweat instantly drenching their backs.
With the domain gone, En remained standing elegantly behind the table as if nothing had happened.
En adjusted his cuffs and picked up the trinket again. "Now, can we talk?"
Nanako gasped for air.
Domain Expansion! That meant the man before them was on the same level as Satoru Gojo and Lord Geto! He was a genuine special grade!
The fear in the sisters' eyes gradually transformed into a feverish hope.
She raised her head tremblingly. "If... if you can really do it... what do we have to pay?"
"It's simple."
En held up two fingers.
"First, I know you have one of Sukuna's fingers. Give it to me."
"Second, tell me the whereabouts of another finger."
"Third, don't go to Shibuya on October 31st and cause trouble for me."
"As long as you do these three things." En pushed a shimmering contract toward them. "I will establish a Binding Vow in the name of the No. 8 Exchange: I will make the thing occupying Geto die and return Suguru Geto to peace."
"Of course, if you refuse, I'll just break your limbs and perform a search devoid of any gentlemanly manners. I'll get what I want either way."
"However, I am a businessman, and I'm more accustomed to resolving issues through trade."
En shrugged his shoulders as if he were just discussing a trivial matter.
The sisters exchanged a look. It was a resolve that required no words.
Mimiko tremblingly pulled a withered finger wrapped in talismans from her bosom and placed it on the table.
"That's the first one."
Nanako grit her teeth and said, "The other one... its location is strange. We planned to retrieve it tonight, but there's a very troublesome cursed spirit there."
"Oh?" En pocketed the finger, his mood lifting. "Where is it?"
"In an... arcade in Ikebukuro. A Pachinko parlor."
...
Half an hour later, Ikebukuro. The 'Victory' Pachinko Parlor.
The shop was filled with the smell of smoke, noise, and an air of decadence.
Even though it was late at night, it was still bustling with people.
"So..." Standing at the entrance, En looked at the flashing neon sign with a subtle expression. "You're saying a cursed spirit swallowed Sukuna's finger and is now hogging a machine and refusing to leave?"
Nanako had a strange look on her face. "It seems... it's become addicted."
En raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open.
Sure enough, in the Umi Monogatari machine zone deep inside the parlor, a large circle around one machine was empty.
A bloated, three-eyed Grade 1 cursed spirit was sitting in a chair like a middle-aged man.
Its fat claws skillfully twisted the ball-launching knob, while its three eyes stared intently at the scrolling numbers on the screen.
The spirit radiated thick cursed energy, and the aura of a special grade cursed object emanated from its stomach.
Most absurdly, the cursed spirit wasn't attacking humans. Instead, it was frantically absorbing the negative emotions of the surrounding gamblers—the regret after losing money and the greed to win it back—feeding as it played.
"Dammit! Missed again!" A middle-aged man nearby who couldn't see the spirit slammed the machine. His negative emotions were instantly sucked away by the spirit, which let out a satisfied grunt.
"It mutated after swallowing the finger," Mimiko explained in a low voice. "It seems to have developed an obsession with hitting the jackpot. If we attack it head-on, it might detonate the cursed energy within its body and cause a riot."
"Interesting." En rubbed his chin. "A greedy cursed spirit? That's right up my alley."
En stopped the sisters, who were preparing to act.
He walked straight over and sat at the machine next to the cursed spirit.
The spirit turned its hideous head and bared its teeth warily at En, letting out a low growl. "Scram... My... jackpot..."
"Don't be so stingy, friend." En pulled a coin from his pocket.
It was the product of him using the system to materialize Ijichi's good luck.
The transaction with Ijichi was finally coming in handy.
En flicked the coin with his finger and smiled. "I've seen you play for a while without winning. How about we make a bet?"
"If you win, this token that guarantees a jackpot is yours."
"If you lose..." En pointed at its stomach. "Spit out that dry thing you swallowed and give it to me."
The spirit's murky eyes stared intently at the token in En's hand.
As a cursed spirit born from gambling obsession, it could sense the rule of 'Absolute Good Luck' contained within that token.
It was practically what it had sought its entire life.
"Bet... bet on what?" the spirit asked unclearly.
En pointed to their respective machine screens.
"One round to decide it all. Whoever hits 'Kakuhen' first wins."
The spirit flashed a greedy grin.
Its machine had already swallowed countless balls. According to the laws of probability, it was due for a jackpot.
Meanwhile, En's machine was a notorious money-sink; it was impossible to win on it.
"Deal..." The spirit let out a raspy laugh. This was the sound of a Binding Vow being established.
The sisters watched from behind, dumbfounded.
'Is he... gambling with a cursed spirit?'
Three minutes later.
Deafening celebratory music erupted in the parlor—the kind of sound effect reserved only for a massive jackpot.
"CONGRATULATIONS! 777! SUPER JACKPOT!"
The machine in front of En frantically spat out silver balls, piling them up like a small mountain.
A cursed spirit was just a cursed spirit; they were incredibly stupid.
En had even shown he had a good luck coin, yet it still chose to bet.
Meanwhile, as the spirit next to him looked at the 'Regret' screen again, its entire body began to shake violently. Its mental state had completely collapsed.
"How... possible..."
"Accept your loss." En smiled and held out his hand. "By the terms of our Binding Vow, spit it out."
The spirit let out a wail of despair as the power of the Binding Vow was forcibly enacted.
It was forced to open its wide mouth, and with a gagging sound, a finger of Sukuna coated in gastric juice was spat into En's palm.
Having lost the finger, the spirit withered instantly. With a casual wave of En's hand, a burst of cursed energy exorcised it.
Immediately after, En took out the Primal Sphere and stored the spirit inside.
En picked up the finger, held it up to the light, and turned to the stunned sisters with a smile.
[REMAINING POINTS: 14,000]
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]