Chapter 79 (Patreon)

June 2018.

Ragnar Kagenou was sprawled lazily across his chair.

“Did you send Megumi to retrieve Ryomen Sukuna’s finger?”

Satoru Gojo, who was casually eating a daifuku, answered without a care.

“Yep. Simple retrieval mission.”

Ragnar glanced at him.

“Those are usually the ones that go wrong.”

“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.”

Buzz, buzz—

Gojo’s phone began to ring.

Ragnar looked at it, then back at him.

“See? There it is.”

Gojo stared at the screen for a second.

No way.

He didn’t actually call it, did he?

Then he answered.

“Hellooo?”

Fushiguro Megumi’s voice came through the phone.

“It’s not here.”

“Hm?”

“The collection box is empty.”

Gojo paused.

Then laughed.

“Seriously? That’s hilarious.”

“Maybe it went out for a little midnight walk.”

“I’m going to hit you.”

“Don’t come back until you retrieve it.”

Gojo ended the call.

On the other side, Megumi lowered his phone and muttered under his breath.

“I’m definitely hitting him next time.”

Gojo slowly turned his head toward Ragnar.

“You really called it, huh?”

“It’s a special grade cursed object. Of course something like this can happen.”

Ragnar pushed himself up from the chair.

“Should we go take a look?”

Gojo stood as well, still completely relaxed.

“Yeah. But before that, let’s buy the local specialty.”

Ragnar stared at him.

“...You’re serious?”

“Kikufuku. Edamame cream flavor.”

Ragnar let out a small sigh.

“Fine. It’s on the way anyway.”

Megumi Fushiguro searched Sugisawa Third High School in Miyagi Prefecture for the missing special grade cursed object.

Grade 3 and Grade 4 Cursed Spirits wandering around a school at night was nothing strange.

But Grade 2?

Megumi stopped near the football field and looked up.

A fish-shaped Cursed Spirit drifted through the air above the field, swimming lazily as if the sky itself were water.

“How many bodies are buried under this place…?”

Still, his job wasn’t to exorcise every Cursed Spirit that wasn’t actively attacking people.

His target was Ryomen Sukuna’s finger.

“Is this because of the special grade cursed object?”

If that was the case, the situation was worse than he thought.

He needed to retrieve it immediately.

Just as Megumi was wondering how long the search would take, a boy sprinted past him.

Megumi froze.

A terrifying amount of cursed energy was leaking from the boy’s body.

“That’s—”

By the time Megumi turned around, the boy was already far ahead.

“Too fast!”

With no other choice, Megumi chased after him.

A short while later—

“Hah… hah… Why is he so fast…?”

Megumi bent forward, catching his breath, then looked up.

“A hospital…?”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Whatever. I’m going in.”

Megumi rushed inside.

...

After searching around the hospital for a while, Megumi finally found the boy at the reception desk.

“You’re Yuji Itadori, right?”

Yuji turned around, confused.

Megumi didn’t waste time.

“I’m Fushiguro from Jujutsu High. Sorry, but I don’t have time to explain everything slowly.”

“The cursed object you picked up is dangerous. Hand it over. Now.”

Yuji blinked.

“Cursed object?”

Megumi pulled out his phone and showed him the photo.

Yuji looked at it.

“Oh, yeah. I found that.”

“I don’t really care about it, but my seniors seemed pretty into it.”

Megumi’s expression sharpened.

“Then give it to me.”

“At least explain why first.”

...

After Megumi explained curses, Yuji’s expression finally became serious.

“So if people mess with it, they could die?”

“Yes. So hand it over before that happens.”

Yuji reached into his pocket and pulled out the box that had contained Sukuna’s finger.

“I told you, I don’t care about this thing.”

Megumi opened the box.

It was empty.

For a moment, he went silent.

Then his voice rose.

“Where is the thing that was inside?!”

Yuji flinched.

“I told you, my seniors have it!”

“Where are they?”

“I think… Izumi Ward…”

Yuji suddenly stopped.

Megumi’s face darkened.

“What?”

Yuji slowly turned toward him.

“My seniors said they were going to remove the seal tonight.”

Megumi fell silent.

Yuji’s voice became uncertain.

“Uh… that’s bad, isn’t it?”

Megumi snapped.

“It’s worse than bad. They’re going to die.”

The next moment, the two of them ran toward the school at full speed.

Yuji stopped outside the building and stared blankly at the cursed energy rising from inside.

“This pressure…”

Megumi stepped in front of him.

“Stay here.”

Then he looked back.

“Where’s the activity room?”

Yuji clenched his fists.

“Wait. I’m going too. This is really bad, right?”

“I can’t just stand here and do nothing.”

Megumi’s voice was cold.

“You’ll only get in the way.”

Then he rushed into the building.

Click.

He opened the activity room door.

“No one here?!”

Megumi immediately left the room and followed the cursed energy deeper into the school.

“Chiu-liu! Chiu-liu! Chiu-liu!”

A black leg blocked his path.

Eyes and mouths were scattered across its surface, blinking and twitching.

Megumi’s hands moved.

“Divine Dogs.”

Splat.

The two shikigami lunged forward and tore the Cursed Spirit apart.

Megumi ran past it without slowing down, the Divine Dogs following close behind.

It’s close.

Just around the corner.

Megumi turned—

And saw a mass of Cursed Spirits gathered together.

Found it.

Swoosh.

Ragnar Kagenou and Satoru Gojo arrived in Miyagi Prefecture.

Ragnar glanced at Gojo.

“Where’s this shop you wanted?”

Gojo was scrolling through his phone.

“Hold on. Almost got it.”

“Hm?”

Ragnar suddenly turned his gaze east.

He had felt a cursed energy fluctuation.

“That cursed energy… Megumi.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

“A Grade 2 Cursed Spirit. Nothing he can’t handle.”

When a jujutsu sorcerer and a Cursed Spirit shared the same grade, the sorcerer generally had the advantage.

Still—

“We’re already here. Might as well give him a hand.”

A golden ripple unfolded beside Ragnar.

From within it, a golden Noble Phantasm shot toward the school.

At that exact moment, Gojo suddenly raised his voice.

“Found it! Quick, quick! It closes in ten minutes!”

Screech.

Ragnar hit the gas and drove toward the address Gojo gave him.

Five minutes later—

“Come again!”

Gojo stepped out carrying a bag of edamame cream Kikufuku.

“Perfect. Bought it right before closing.”

Ragnar looked at him in silence.

“You’re unbelievable.”

Gojo smiled.

“Thank you.”

Megumi faced the enormous fish-shaped Cursed Spirit in front of him.

A person was trapped inside its mouth.

Megumi clicked his tongue.

How was he supposed to exorcise it without crushing the hostage?

Before he could move—

Crash!

Yuji Itadori jumped in through the window and kicked the Cursed Spirit aside.

At the same time, he pulled the senior student free.

Megumi’s eyes widened.

“What—”

He wanted to ask why Yuji had come in.

But the words that came out were different.

“...You did well.”

Yuji picked up Ryomen Sukuna’s finger from the senior student.

“So this is it.”

Megumi immediately reached out.

“Give it to—”

His expression changed.

“Look out!”

Before he could finish speaking, Megumi shoved Yuji away.

The next instant, the Cursed Spirit’s attack slammed into him and sent him flying.