Chapter 7 The Main Body, Day 5

The two names I mentioned to Gojo Satoru were Megumi and Thorn.

Megumi's full name is Fushiguro Megumi, and she's a year younger than me. Although her name sounds like a girl's, she's actually a boy. Toshi's full name is Inu-maki Toshi, and she's my classmate, from when I was studying at Tokyo Jujutsu High School.

I remember it very clearly. The first time I fell into a deep sleep without warning happened, I was on a mission to exorcise a curse with Dog-Turtle.

At that time, whether it was Gojo Satoru, who was a teacher, or my classmates Otsuko, Maki, and Panda, they were all a little far away, leaving only me and Inu-maki Toshiki around.

Under normal circumstances, my cooperation with Dog-Curl Thorn could completely remove that curse.

But the unexpected thing was—I suddenly lost consciousness.

He fainted before the battle even began.

No one could have predicted this accident, because even I myself didn't know that I would suddenly faint at that moment.

I reckon the dog-like creature looked at me dumbfounded.

If he weren't a sorcerer who doesn't talk much, he would definitely have yelled "Holy crap!"

Then, he was still thinking about what was going on with Egawa or this person.

If it were a more short-tempered guy from Zu'an, he'd probably yell at me.

Maki later told me that after they arrived at Inugami's place after receiving his plea for help, they saw Inugami coughing up blood while using a spell to command people not to move (or more accurately, not to move me). Everyone was shocked.

Especially the five insights.

Once he realized what was happening, he immediately dispelled the curse with a single move.

“I’ve rarely seen Gojo-sensei so angry,” Maki said.

At the time, I asked in surprise, "Is Mr. Gojo very angry?"

Because Gojo Satoru rarely gets angry.

He wasn't the kind of teacher who would scold students. In fact, most of his words were praises of us as "adorable students" and his usual phrase, "It's okay, I'm invincible."

When I recall him, most of the times I remember him smiling, and I can hardly recall him being angry.

Then Maki continued to describe it to me: "Even though he didn't say anything, just looking at him, you would naturally feel that he was angry."

Yi Gu nodded solemnly from the side.

Maki's words led me to imagine what Gojo Satoru would be like. I did manage to imagine it, but I don't know how different it is from the real Gojo Satoru.

I then asked, "And the thorns?"

Maki said, "He's mostly fine, but the curse backfired quite badly, and he's received timely treatment."

Although Maki, Otsukoshi, and even Toji himself never told me the specifics of what happened after I fell into a coma, I could vaguely guess that Toji was carrying me around like a burden. If he had even the slightest thought of not wanting to take care of me, I would probably have had to say goodbye to this world.

Then I asked, "What about me? What's wrong with me?"

Maki didn't answer immediately this time, but remained silent.

I looked at Yi Gu, but he remained silent.

A sense of foreboding suddenly crept into my mind.

Just then, Sister Shoko walked in, and I asked her the same question again.

Shoko gave a long answer, the specifics of which I don't remember very clearly, but the general idea was that my coma had nothing to do with any curse or magical power, but was simply due to a physical reason. However, all my physical characteristics were perfectly normal, and she didn't understand where things went wrong.

I remained silent for a long time before slowly asking, "Is there no other way?"

"No." She shook her head.

At that moment, I knew I was finished.

****

Shortly after Gojo Satoru left, I went out for a while, my destination being the Armed Detective Agency.

It should be noted that although my physical form is a useless human type that faints from time to time and sleeps for most of the time every ten days, I do have a proper long-term job—yes, it's that amazing.

The alias is always working 996, while the real person is just sleeping all day.

The place where I work is the Armed Detective Agency.

Armed Detective Agency.

Locals living in Yokohama have probably heard of this name to some extent. It is an organization mainly composed of people with supernatural abilities that helps customers complete their requests.

Of course I'm not a superhuman; I'm just a handyman.

That's right. Not only do my alternate accounts move between various service-oriented professions, but my real identity, my main account, is also that of a typical working-class person.

...I guess the term "working class" has been etched into my soul.

My connection with the Armed Detective Agency began towards the end of my time at the Spellcasting Academy.

I had heard a long time ago that there was a person in Yokohama with supernatural abilities who could heal people on the verge of death. After Shoko explained my condition, I came to Yokohama to look for them and ended up at the Armed Detective Agency.

Because the person with special abilities I'm looking for, Akiko Yosano, works at the Armed Detective Agency.

Unfortunately, even Ms. Akiko couldn't change my strange sleeping symptoms.

What's even more absurd is that I had just come off the operating table, taken two steps, and sat down on the sofa in the Armed Detective Agency's reception area when I fell asleep again.

I reckon Yosano Akiko was just as foolish as Inuyama Toshiro was back then.

The moment my consciousness left my body, I thought to myself that I had probably let Miss Akiko down.

Although I wasn't cured, my dormant state did change somewhat.

For example, during that deep sleep, my consciousness became very clear after leaving my body.

—He became a completely different person.

It was around that time that I awakened the alternate identity function and then bound the alternate identity to the sleep system.

The system never actually told me what it was; the name "Vest and Sleep System" is what I gave it.

It is concise, succinct, and very apt.

When I woke up again, I was still at the Armed Detective Agency. The first person I saw was a black-haired boy dressed in a detective's uniform. His eyes were narrowed, and he was scrutinizing me.

"You..." I started to say, but he interrupted me.

"Do you want to work at the detective agency?" he asked me, and before I could answer, he continued, "Lord Ranpo thinks you'd be perfect as a great detective's assistant."

I:"……"

I:"???"

Did I pass the interview with the Armed Detective Agency's HR?

But I didn't come here for an interview at all.

“But I can’t work normally…” I tried to explain my strange physical condition.

"Ranpo-sama knows, but doesn't think it matters." Edogawa Ranpo tore open a bag of potato chips, glanced up at me, and said, "But you, you dropped out of school and I don't know where you've been all this time."

I was taken aback: "How did you know?"

"Of course a famous detective has to know everything. And you idiot, Edakawa, you wear your heart on your sleeve."

"..."

I eventually agreed to stay.

As Edogawa Ranpo said, I didn't know where to go after dropping out of school.

If I could avoid returning to the palace, I certainly wouldn't.

I can't very well let Oikawa and Iwaizumi know that I've become like this.

When I returned to the college to complete the withdrawal procedures, Dongtang happened to be there as well.

I originally thought he had something to do in Tokyo (like attending a meet-and-greet with his idol Kotakada) and would stop by our vocational high school while he was there, but Yigu told me first that he seemed to be looking for me.

My relationship with Dongtang is actually just so-so, because we have different standards for our ideal partners... This might sound like a joke, but I'm serious.

Dongtang's way of making friends is to ask the other person what kind of woman you like.

That's what he asked me when we first met.

I was completely stumped by the question.

It took me a while to come up with a few points.

Absolutely perfect. It doesn't match that guy's preferences at all.

Dongtang probably didn't know the whole story clearly. He seemed to have only heard that I was unconscious for a while and was about to drop out of school when I woke up. He kept asking me what happened.

I simply said that I could no longer be a sorcerer.

He was surprised and said, "Edaka, why can't you be a sorcerer?"

I looked up and stared into his eyes, even seeing my reflection in his dark pupils, and said very seriously, "I'm scared, Toudou."

He wore an expression of incomprehension.

Yi Gu was also somewhat surprised.

“Of course I’m not afraid of curses, nor am I afraid of death,” I said.

If I had said that when I first entered university, it would most likely have been a lie to save face, but back then, I believed it almost entirely.

but--

"I'm afraid that because of my mistakes and my stubbornness that I'm unwilling to let go, I'll drag others down with me."

Just like back then, what would happen if Inujimashige couldn't contact Gojo Satoru, and it was just him and me?

I'm dead, that's it.

Although I feel regret and remorse, it is indeed my cause that has led to my effect.

Outsiders who hear about it will only feel sorry for me and pity me, not think that I am wronged.

But thorns are not worth it.

He doesn't need to be responsible for my slumber, nor should he be burdened by my slumber.

The day I left the college, the sun was shining brightly and the wind was gentle.

I waved goodbye to them and said with a smile, "I'm going to Yokohama, but we can still keep in touch."

Then, as she turned around, tears streamed down her face.

Am I sad?

Of course, I was almost dying of sadness.

For sorcerers, there is no such thing as a death without regret.

I'm no longer a sorcerer, and there's still no such thing as a farewell without regrets.

But do I regret it?

I have no regrets.