Chapter 56 (Patreon)

“Ragnar, if you do this… I’m afraid the jujutsu world is going to be thrown into chaos.”

Although Satoru Gojo disliked the higher-ups as well, even he had never taken things to the point of acting against them directly.

“Don’t worry about that,” Ragnar Kagenou said calmly. “Whatever kind of upheaval comes after this, I can suppress it. If they want to die, they can try.”

“Fine. If you say that much, that’s good enough.” Satoru Gojo yawned lazily. “Honestly, dealing with those people is such a pain.”

Since Ragnar Kagenou could handle it, that was enough for him. He could happily go back to slacking off.

“Are you sure the Gojo family won’t try to take a seat among the jujutsu higher-ups?”

“Forget it,” Gojo said without hesitation. “What if you suddenly decide to ‘clean house’ again one day?”

“Come on. I’m a good guy. I don’t just kill people at random.”

Satoru Gojo glanced at him.

A good guy?

What kind of good guy ripped someone’s heart out with his bare hands?

Some “good Samaritan” that was.

“Oh, right, Satoru. Give Yuta and the others more chances to go on missions.”

Ragnar Kagenou continued, “Otherwise, Rika protecting him all the time will become a problem. Without enough real combat experience, he won’t grow properly.”

Satoru Gojo felt a headache coming on just thinking about it.

Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto were practically inseparable.

“Fine. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“So that’s how it is, Rika.”

After listening to Ragnar Kagenou’s words, Rika Orimoto, who had been struggling with the decision, finally agreed.

“Alright. Just this once.”

“No problem.”

“Rika, you should also try coordinating with your classmates.”

“No…”

“Fine. If you don’t want to, forget it.”

Rika Orimoto’s strength was undoubtedly Special Grade.

However, Ragnar Kagenou had not allowed her to officially become a Special Grade sorcerer.

As for the reason…

What kind of Special Grade sorcerer had never exorcised a Special Grade cursed spirit?

A grade was only a title.

Even without that title, Special Grade strength was still Special Grade strength.

Meanwhile, Satoru Gojo approached Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki.

“There’s a mission that suits you pretty well. You’ve even been specifically requested for it.”

“Finish it quickly and come back.”

Toge Inumaki nodded.

“Salmon.”

Yuta Okkotsu blinked.

“Specifically requested?”

Yuta had honestly never heard of that kind of mission before.

Panda explained, “Toge is the only Grade 2 jujutsu sorcerer among the first years.”

Rika Orimoto: Grade 1.

Yuta Okkotsu: Semi-Grade 1.

Toge Inumaki: Grade 2.

Panda: Semi-Grade 2.

Maki Zenin: Grade 4.

Of course, those were only their grades on paper.

If it came down to an actual fight, none of them could be judged by those levels alone.

Panda continued, “Jujutsu sorcerers at Grade 2 and above are allowed to operate independently.”

“Operate independently?”

Yuta truly had not known that.

After all, no matter the time or the mission, Rika Orimoto had always been with him.

Ragnar Kagenou had only briefly gone over those written regulations. His only real requirements for the two of them were training and real combat experience.

Only when they had spare time would Ragnar allow them to take missions.

Panda found it strange.

“Yuta, aren’t you Semi-Grade 1? How do you not know this?”

Yuta Okkotsu smiled awkwardly.

“Haha… maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.”

At that moment, Satoru Gojo suddenly spoke up.

“Yuta, you’re going too.”

“Eh? Me?”

“Yeah. You two should build some teamwork. It won’t hurt.”

Yuta Okkotsu looked troubled.

Gojo waved it off. “Don’t worry about Rika. She already agreed.”

“Really?”

Yuta was a little surprised, but he quickly realized it had to be Ragnar Kagenou’s doing.

Other than Yuta Okkotsu, the only person Rika Orimoto listened to was Ragnar Kagenou.

For this mission, Jujutsu High’s assistant manager, Kiyotaka Ijichi, explained the details to them.

“The shops in this Happy Shopping Street have essentially all closed down.”

“According to the plan, this area will be demolished and rebuilt into a shopping center.”

“During the inspection, a large number of low-grade cursed spirits were discovered. Therefore, Grade 2 jujutsu sorcerer Toge Inumaki has been requested to exorcise them.”

“Hm? Where is jujutsu sorcerer Toge Inumaki?”

While Ijichi Kiyotaka was explaining, Toge Inumaki had already wandered off to the side to buy something.

Yuta Okkotsu turned and saw him walking back with throat medicine.

Ijichi Kiyotaka said, “In short, please exorcise the cursed spirits in this area.”

Toge Inumaki nodded.

“Salmon.”

Then Ijichi pushed up his glasses and said, “I’ll lower the Curtain. Good luck to both of you!”

A moment later, a black barrier descended over the area.

Yuta Okkotsu looked around.

“Low-grade cursed spirits… This should be a simple mission.”

Toge Inumaki looked at him.

“Cod roe.”

Don’t let your guard down.

Eerie whispers drifted through the shopping street.

“You’re so unfair, Mom. Big brother got more than me…”

A carp with wide, glassy eyes swam through the air. Strangely enough, it looked almost beautiful.

“What does it matter? If you get duplicates, just trade them.”

“It smells like osmanthus…”

“We will now broadcast a missing person announcement…”

As the unsettling voices increased, more and more carp appeared, gathering into a swirling mass.

“If we all cross the street together, we won’t be scared…”

Yuta Okkotsu drew the katana from his back.

“There are quite a lot of low-grade cursed spirits.”

Toge Inumaki pulled down his collar, revealing the cursed seals around his mouth and on his tongue.

“Explode.”

The instant he spoke, the swarm of low-grade cursed spirits burst apart, scattering sparks through the air.

Yuta Okkotsu watched carefully.

“So this is Cursed Speech. It’s a very powerful technique. I’ll remember it.”

Right in front of Yuta, after Toge Inumaki used Cursed Speech, Yuta Okkotsu copied it.

That was Yuta Okkotsu’s innate technique—

Copy.

“Tuna mayo.”

After using Cursed Speech, Toge’s throat had already become terribly hoarse.

The power was impressive. All the low-grade cursed spirits had been exorcised.

However…

At that very moment, Suguru Geto was watching everything from the shadows.

Yuta Okkotsu looked up.

“The Curtain hasn’t been lifted yet? That means there are still cursed spirits inside.”

Toge Inumaki nodded.

“Salmon.”

At that moment, a cursed spirit with an elephant-like face and a human body appeared behind them.

The cursed spirit pinched its fingers together and spoke.

“Distort.”

The two of them stepped back at the same time.

A blast of cursed energy shattered the ground where they had just been standing.

Toge Inumaki spoke again.

“Distort.”

The cursed energy twisted the cursed spirit’s arm and fingers, but it barely had any effect.

“Cough, cough, cough—!”

After forcing out those words, Toge immediately collapsed to the ground, coughing violently.

Seeing the opening, the cursed spirit attacked at once, firing another blast of cursed energy.

Yuta Okkotsu moved instantly, appearing in front of Toge Inumaki.

Swish!

The blast of cursed energy was sliced apart by Yuta’s katana.

“This ends here.”

The shape of Rika Orimoto’s shikigami appeared along the blade of Yuta Okkotsu’s katana.

In the next instant, the sword erupted with jet-black cursed energy.

The cursed spirit trembled in fear.

“Trying to run now? Too late.”

A flash of black light cut through the air.

The cursed spirit was sliced cleanly in two.

Seeing that, Toge Inumaki shouted happily.

“Celery!”

That was amazing!

Then he reached out his hand, leaving Yuta Okkotsu slightly confused.

“Salmon.”

Accepted.

Yuta Okkotsu smiled faintly and took his hand.

“Yeah. Good work.”

Strange.

Why still hadn’t the Curtain been lifted?

Somewhere nearby, Suguru Geto sat in the shadows.

“So this is the power of Rika Orimoto.”

He smiled faintly.

“What a shame she wasn’t here in person.”

After the time limit passed, Kiyotaka Ijichi reported to Satoru Gojo that someone had covered the original Curtain with another layer during the mission.

And Satoru Gojo knew exactly who had done it.

After all, he was far too familiar with that cursed energy.

The most dangerous curse user—

Suguru Geto.