Chapter 113 (Patreon)

While the investigation involving Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji Itadori, and Nobara Kugisaki had reached a standstill, the Fujinuma siblings heard that they were searching for information about Yasohachi Bridge and hurried over on their bicycles.

At first, Megumi and the others assumed they had come to share information related to the victims of the automatic-door incidents.

What the older Fujinuma sibling said instead caught them by surprise.

“I’ve been there.”

“?”

“I went to Yasohachi Bridge at night.”

No one reacted immediately. They simply continued questioning her, asking whether anything strange had happened since that night.

After exchanging glances, Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara followed the Fujinuma siblings back to the shop their family owned.

Fujinuma possessed no talent for jujutsu and could not see cursed spirits. However, she could still sense that something unnatural was lingering around her.

After asking a few more questions, the three prepared to leave and continue searching for clues.

Just as they were about to go, Fujinuma called out to Megumi.

“Oh, Fushiguro-kun.”

Megumi turned around, confusion visible in his eyes.

Fujinuma hesitated briefly before finally continuing.

“There were two older members of the club who took part in that test of courage.”

Megumi was still unsure why she was bringing that up.

Then she spoke again.

“Tsumiki-senpai went with them that night too.”

Yuji and Nobara looked puzzled. Neither of them understood how Megumi’s sister had suddenly become connected to the case.

Despite the shock running through him, Megumi kept his expression controlled.

“I see. I’ll ask Tsumiki about it later.”

Once the Fujinuma siblings had left, Yuji immediately spoke.

“First, we need to make sure she’s safe.”

Megumi contacted Kiyotaka Ijichi soon afterward.

However, Jujutsu High had no personnel available to station beside Tsumiki Fushiguro. The only sorcerers who could be spared were Grade 2.

There was no chance Jujutsu High would assign a Grade 2 sorcerer to stand guard over someone who had remained unconscious for an entire year.

There was no other option.

Megumi understood that the situation was likely far more dangerous than they had first believed. If the curse could affect someone from such a distance and remain active for an entire year, then the cursed spirit responsible could not be underestimated.

Because of that, Megumi decided to send Yuji and Nobara back.

He told them that only one person needed to remain and continue the investigation.

To break a curse, they would have to exorcise the cursed spirit that had placed it.

Megumi intended to visit Yasohachi Bridge alone that night and settle the matter himself.

——————

“It’s so quiet that it hardly feels like a place where living people could survive.”

More than ten hours had passed since Ragnar Kagenou entered this strange world.

Aside from the cursed spirits that lurked within the shadows and occasionally lunged at him, Ragnar had not encountered a single living person.

Then he stopped.

As Ragnar walked through the deserted city, he sensed someone watching him.

“Someone’s there?”

The moment Ragnar turned his gaze in that direction, the hidden figure immediately tried to flee.

“That presence… It feels human.”

Golden ripples spread through the air behind Ragnar.

A silver-white chain shot from one of them, crossing the distance in an instant and wrapping itself around the fleeing figure.

“Ugh!”

There had been no attempt to resist.

If the person he had caught were a jujutsu sorcerer, Ragnar would have expected at least some form of retaliation.

“Let me go!”

The captured figure appeared to be a young girl dressed in a school uniform. Judging from her appearance, she was most likely a middle school student.

“What is your name?”

“Let me go… Wait.”

The girl stared at him in confusion.

“You’re not an evil spirit?”

Ragnar approached and examined her carefully, confirming that she was indeed human.

However, something about her felt strange.

Her presence was faint and insubstantial, almost as though she were composed entirely of spiritual energy.

“You…”

The girl tried to continue, but Ragnar interrupted her.

“Your name.”

“Uh… My name is Suzuki Airi.”

Before Airi could say anything else, Ragnar asked another question.

“Are you the only person here?”

Airi opened her mouth, ready to answer, but hesitated.

The stranger before her could summon chains and manipulate them from a distance. Whatever he was, he clearly possessed some kind of supernatural ability.

Perhaps he had come to rescue them.

“No. We have a base nearby. We hide there whenever the evil spirits appear in the streets.”

After confirming that there were other survivors, Ragnar released her and lowered her back to the ground.

“Whoa…”

Airi stared at the silver-white chain as it withdrew into the golden ripple.

“You can actually control things from a distance.”

Ragnar ignored her astonished chatter.

“Take me to your base. On the way, explain how you entered this world.”

Airi looked at his uncompromising expression and realized that refusing him would accomplish nothing.

“Fine. But if you try to hurt anyone inside—”

“That is not something you need to concern yourself with.”

Airi swallowed nervously, unsure how she was supposed to respond.

Still, she felt that remaining close to him might be safer than wandering through the city alone.

“To be honest, I don’t really understand what happened either. I only remember walking across a bridge at night. Then I saw a woman dressed in red. The next thing I knew, I was here.”

“A bridge?”

Ragnar looked at her.

“Which bridge?”

“Yasohachi Bridge. I doubt you’ve heard of it.”

The moment he heard the name, Ragnar continued questioning her.

“Were you there with your classmates?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

Airi blinked in surprise.

“It was only supposed to be an ordinary test of courage. I never thought something like this would happen…”

Ragnar cut directly to the matter that had brought him here.

“Was there a girl named Fushiguro among the students with you?”

Airi’s eyes widened.

“You know Tsumiki?”

“In a manner of speaking. She is the reason I came here.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Hope flickered within Airi’s eyes, replacing the numb resignation that had been there before.

“Can you take all of us out of this place?”

“As long as you cooperate, bringing a few additional people with me will not be a problem.”

Airi struggled to suppress her excitement. She reached out, grabbed Ragnar by the hand, and began pulling him toward their base.

“Come on, then!”

“Hmm?”

The moment her hand touched his, Ragnar confirmed what he had already suspected.

The girl before him was not present in a physical body.

She was a spiritual body.

That explained how she and the others had survived here for so long.

Tsumiki Fushiguro had fallen under the curse an entire year ago. Ragnar did not believe there could possibly be enough food in a place like this to sustain a group of ordinary humans for that length of time.

More importantly, those affected by the curse had not physically disappeared.

Their bodies had remained in the outside world, trapped in an unconscious state.

Ragnar raised his eyes toward the sky.

“Does the sky here ever change?”

Airi followed his gaze toward the dark, bluish-black sky hanging over the city.

“No. At least, it hasn’t changed once during the year I’ve been here.”

Ragnar glanced at the wary girl walking beside him.

“You have survived for an entire year in a world filled with cursed spirits. That requires a certain degree of ability.”

“Cursed spirits?”

“That is what you call evil spirits. ‘Cursed spirit’ is simply the proper term. You do not need to concern yourself with the difference.”

“Oh… All right.”

Airi’s expression gradually darkened.

“Anyone who wasn’t careful died a long time ago. Now, we live every day without knowing whether it will be our last. None of us knows when we might die.”

At that moment, something emerged from the narrow path ahead of them.

A cursed spirit with a twisted, unnatural body crawled into view.

“An evil spirit!”

Airi’s face instantly went pale.

“How did it get here? None of them have entered this path for a long time!”

She bit her lip and shifted her weight, preparing to run at the first opportunity.

Ragnar remained completely still.

“Calm down.”

His eyes settled on the distorted creature blocking their path.

“It is only a cursed spirit.”