Chapter 98 (Patreon)

Morning.

Nobara Kugisaki dragged her luggage into the plaza with a proud look on her face until...

“…Why are all of you empty-handed?”

Megumi Fushiguro, Maki Zen’in, Panda, and Toge Inumaki were all standing there empty-handed.

The four of them looked back at her in silence.

Panda was the first to speak.

“No, that’s our line. Why did you bring luggage?”

Nobara blinked.

Then, as if the answer was obvious, she said, “Because we’re going to Kyoto, aren’t we?”

Panda scratched his cheek and explained patiently, “It’s called the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event because we’re competing against Kyoto Jujutsu High. This year’s venue is Tokyo.”

Nobara froze.

A second later, her scream echoed through the plaza.

Maki looked at her with a dry expression.

“So that’s why none of our conversations matched up these past few days.”

Panda suddenly remembered something and added, “The venue is decided by whoever won the previous year.”

Nobara snapped her head toward him.

“You didn’t win anything!”

“We didn’t participate last year,” Panda replied.

Maki patted Nobara on the shoulder.

“Last year, Yuta and Rika went.”

She paused for a moment, then continued flatly.

“Apparently, it was a complete wipeout. We didn’t even get to go to Kyoto.”

Nobara’s knees hit the ground.

Her luggage stood beside her like a gravestone.

“Unforgivable…”

At that moment, Maki glanced toward the entrance.

“Hey. They’re here.”

The students from Kyoto Jujutsu High had arrived.

Aoi Todo. Noritoshi Kamo. Momo Nishimiya. Mai Zen’in. Kasumi Miwa. Ultimate Mechamaru.

Mai looked over the Tokyo lineup and immediately curled her lips.

“What is this? A welcoming party? How disgusting.”

Todo ignored her and scanned the group.

“Okkotsu isn’t here.”

The atmosphere sharpened at once.

Neither side looked even remotely interested in greeting the other politely. The moment their eyes met, the usual exchange of barbed comments began, cold enough to count as a pre-fight warm-up.

Before it could get worse, Utahime Iori stepped forward.

“Enough. Stop fighting before the event even starts.”

Utahime was the supervising teacher for Kyoto Jujutsu High, a Semi-Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer.

She glanced around the plaza, then pressed a hand against her forehead.

“Honestly… Why are that idiot and the golden brat late too?”

Panda folded his arms.

“Those two being late is normal.”

Maki gave a tired sigh.

“Expecting Ragnar Kagenou and Satoru Gojo to arrive on time is a fantasy.”

Megumi looked at them.

“Wait. How do you already know it’s those two?”

Just then, a huge golden ripple spread open in the air before them.

“Hm?”

Everyone’s attention shifted at once.

“That golden ripple…”

Megumi’s eyes narrowed.

“Ragnar Kagenou’s technique.”

A moment later, Satoru Gojo came out of the golden ripple while pushing a cart.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

He drifted the cart to a stop in front of everyone with unnecessarily perfect control.

Behind him, Ragnar Kagenou walked out at a relaxed pace.

And following him were Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto.

“Okkotsu and Rika are participating too…?”

Utahime’s irritation toward Gojo had only just begun to rise.

Then she saw Ragnar.

Then Yuta.

Then Rika.

For a moment, many thoughts went through her mind.

The Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event had not even started, but she already felt as though the result had been decided.

Yuta Okkotsu was a Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer. Rika Orimoto, the Queen of Curses, was still bound to him. And according to school records, Yuta had not graduated yet. He was still a second-year student of Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Which meant there was no rule preventing him from participating.

The moment Todo saw Yuta, the corners of his mouth rose.

“Okkotsu…”

His smile widened.

“Now this is getting interesting.”

Meanwhile, Miwa’s entire attention had gone somewhere else.

“Hehe… Satoru Gojo…”

Then her eyes drifted toward Ragnar.

“And Ragnar Kagenou too… He’s scary, but…”

Her face flushed slightly.

“He’s really handsome.”

Mai looked at Miwa and covered her forehead.

“She’s hopeless.”

Ragnar glanced at Utahime.

“We arrived on time.”

Utahime’s expression turned blank.

“You’re five minutes late.”

Yuta smiled awkwardly.

“But the match hasn’t started yet, right?”

“No, it hasn’t,” Utahime admitted.

Rika tilted her head.

“Then we aren’t late.”

Utahime had no answer to that.

Gojo clapped his hands together.

“Well, looks like everyone’s here. I just got back from a business trip overseas, so I brought souvenirs.”

Panda stared at him.

“He started talking on his own again.”

Gojo cheerfully handed out souvenirs to the Kyoto students.

Then, as if remembering something important, he pointed at Utahime.

“None for Utahime, though.”

A vein rose on Utahime’s forehead.

“I don’t need one!”

Gojo ignored her completely and pushed the cart toward Megumi and the others.

“And now, for everyone from Tokyo Jujutsu High…”

Clatter.

The top of the cart opened.

Yuji Itadori crawled out.

“Hi!”

Gojo threw both arms wide.

“It’s Yuji Itadori!”

For an instant, Megumi and Nobara’s expressions became impossible to describe.

Their eyes went empty.

Their mouths opened slightly.

“…Huh?”

Meanwhile, the Kyoto students were still focused on the souvenirs and had not fully processed what had just happened.

Inside the cart, another voice spoke up nervously.

“I… I knew this would happen. This is humiliating…”

Megumi and Nobara both looked back into the box.

A young man in black clothes sat there awkwardly, avoiding their eyes.

Megumi frowned.

“Who are you?”

Nobara stared at him.

“I’ve never seen him before.”

Gojo raised a finger.

“Everyone, this is Junpei Yoshino. He just transferred into Jujutsu High.”

“Yoshino?” Nobara looked him up and down. “A new classmate…”

After a brief inspection, she came to a quick conclusion.

He looked like the quiet type.

Megumi gave a small nod.

“Welcome.”

The rest of the Tokyo students also greeted Junpei in their own ways.

As for Yuji Itadori…

He was completely ignored.

Yuji’s smile slowly stiffened.

“Wait. Is this really how you react to someone coming back from the dead?”

No one answered him.

From the Kyoto side, Principal Yoshinobu Gakuganji had originally intended to say something.

But the moment he saw Ragnar standing there, he quietly closed his mouth.

For some reason, he felt as if his presence had already started fading into the background.

Gojo noticed that the old man had no intention of making trouble and immediately lost interest in him.

Ragnar clapped his hands once.

“Since everyone is here, let’s go over the rules.”

As for who would explain them properly, that naturally fell to Principal Masamichi Yaga.

Yaga stepped forward.

“The first day of the Goodwill Event will be a team battle.”

He paused for a moment before announcing the name in a serious voice.

“The Tense and Exciting Cursed Spirit Exorcism Race.”

The students stared at him.

Yaga continued without caring.

“The team that exorcises the most Grade 2 cursed spirits wins.”

Then, with one hand, he grabbed Gojo before the man could wander off.

“You are allowed to interfere with the opposing team’s progress. However, do not forget that you are all jujutsu sorcerers. You are comrades who fight against curses.”

His gaze moved across both groups.

“The purpose of the Goodwill Event is to learn your allies’ strengths, weaknesses, and temperaments through combat.”

Gojo suddenly raised his hand.

“In addition to that, there are also plenty of Grade 3 cursed spirits inside.”

Yaga’s grip on him tightened slightly.

Gojo continued anyway.

“And there are three Grade 1 cursed spirits placed as boss enemies. Since they’re boss fights, they’re worth the most points.”

He smiled.

“One of them is worth more than all the Grade 2 and Grade 3 cursed spirits on the entire map combined.”

Several students immediately reacted.

Gojo kept going.

“If there’s no clear winner by nightfall, the team with the highest total number of exorcisms wins.”

Once he finished, Ragnar added calmly, “This is still a school event. Killing your opponents or inflicting injuries that cannot be healed is forbidden.”

He looked over both teams.

“That’s all. The event begins at noon. Until then, you’re dismissed.”

The students began to break apart.

But as they did, Ragnar’s gaze shifted.

His eyes landed on Ultimate Mechamaru, who had been standing inconspicuously among the Kyoto students.

For a brief moment, the air around Kokichi Muta seemed to freeze.

Far away, through the puppet he was controlling, Kokichi felt a chill run through him.

It was not the body of Ultimate Mechamaru that trembled.

As if Ragnar’s gaze had passed through the puppet entirely and reached the real him.

Kokichi swallowed.

“Why…?”

His thoughts became heavy.

“Why is he looking at me like that?”

A terrible possibility surfaced in his mind.

“Does he know something…?”