Chapter 115

As the man-made storm completely subsided, Gojo Satoru went to the spot where [Azure] had been aiming and found a body that was barely intact in the ruins made up of a large pile of yellow mud, grass clippings, and wood blocks.

He used his curse to grind the wooden doll into a pile of wood chips, with one or two fragments still visible at its feet. The aura of the curse was extremely faint and no longer posed any threat.

The curse master who had been hiding and preparing to ambush them was also caught off guard by Kazuma Hatori's violent breakthrough and quickly died.

Perhaps other sorcerers would find it difficult to pinpoint a person by relying solely on their senses and the subtle ripples of their own cursed energy—let alone when that energy is mixed with their own.

Unfortunately, he has a pair of sharp eyes that are just right to coordinate with Kazuma Hatori's counterattacks.

Dragging the corpse out of the deep pit that [Cang] had forcefully leveled by a meter, he returned to the two people still waiting in the same spot. The stone weighing on Gojo Satoru's heart finally eased a little.

The dilapidated village was unlit, and in the cold, dark night, even those clear, sky-like eyes appeared somewhat dim, like the leaden sky after a rainstorm, exuding a gloomy and somber atmosphere.

The dark gaze first fell on Kana Yano, who seemed lost in thought, and after confirming that the aura of the curse on her body was rapidly dissipating, it turned back and stared intently at Kazuma Hatori, who was wiping the blood off his short blade with his sleeve.

The latter clearly noticed Gojo Satoru's gaze, lowered his head, and seemed somewhat afraid to move.

Gojo Satoru let out a light, indifferent chuckle.

Kazuma Hatake's movements became even more stiff, and his hand wiping away the bloodstains slowly stopped.

He completely transformed into a docile, repentant figure, waiting to be reprimanded.

“…”

Gojo Satoru felt a lump in his throat.

You know you made a mistake, but you'll still do it again next time, right?

Before, when someone cut their finger, you could say it was because they were used to getting hurt—but now that they can cut themselves so easily, what's wrong with that? Are they used to getting seriously injured?

Gojo Satoru felt like he was going to be driven crazy by this kid.

I've seen crazy things, but I've never seen anything this crazy! At least learn the reversal technique first!

Gojo Satoru mumbled a few words, his voice so fast and unclear that no one could understand what he was saying.

Kana Yano asked blankly, "Sorry, I didn't hear you?"

Her mind was actually racing with countless inspirations, so even if Gojo Satoru repeated them to her, they would most likely go in one ear and out the other.

Kazuma Hagoromo didn't dare to ask a question.

He didn't think much at the time. The illusion the enemy had created for him was so outrageous that he realized it was fake in less than a second and immediately used his skill to forcibly stop the spell the enemy had cast on him.

Even though he would still suffer a lot of damage, he had already fully healed himself in the car, so the result of dropping back to half health was completely within his expectations.

The method of this forced termination technique is probably, perhaps, maybe... a little bit crude.

When he realized that this was tantamount to stabbing himself directly, and that the wound on his abdomen was impossible to conceal, Kazuma Hatori silently lowered his head.

The confidence that had just been there, when he shook his head and told Gojo Satoru that he was fine, has long since vanished.

"…fine."

Gojo Satoru narrowed his azure eyes, probably saying, "I'll settle the score with you when we get back," before turning to ask Yano Kana to lead the way.

Kazuma Hatori secretly breathed a sigh of relief and followed behind Satoru Gojo.

"All done, we can go back now. Can you help me identify her? Is this the woman you saw at the disco?"

Kana Yano finally snapped out of her rambling thoughts and, upon seeing that what Satoru Gojo was dragging wasn't just a simple load, she almost screamed—but the scream caught in her throat.

"…………"

Gojo Satoru, who was waiting for her to scream in fear, waited a moment and slowly typed a question mark above his head.

"……Um?"

Kana Yano took a deep breath and slowly exhaled—forgetting the fact that she had fractured her ribs, accompanied by a slight grimacing.

"Yes, it's this woman."

She carefully examined the corpse, barely discerning its features from the messy hair covering its face, then calmly nodded and added an explanation.

"I just suddenly realized that I shouldn't be making such a fuss."

Having witnessed countless bizarre sights, and even seen boys with superpowers… no, curse powers, a mere corpse is no longer surprising.

Gojo Satoru was speechless for a moment: "...No wonder you dared to come to this village alone."

Kana Yano twitched the corner of her mouth: "You flatter me. I came during the day, and the lighting was much better then. It just feels a bit desolate here... Besides, I've been to even more creepy places for inspiration before."

"Huh, where?"

"...the rumored haunted house, the hospital morgue, and the human specimen museum."

She works incredibly hard to find creative inspiration for elements of horror and the bizarre!

Gojo Satoru: “…”

Gojo Satoru said with a touch of admiration, "I'm starting to admire you."

These are all places where cursed spirits are easily born... They were so reckless, yet they managed to hold out until now before being cursed.

They even survived.

"Anyway, be careful in the future, and never go to scary places alone again."

Gojo Satoru dragged the corpse toward Tsuji Tomoya, and along the way, he taught her some knowledge about cursed spirits and cursed power.

As the white-haired boy began to vividly recount how those cursed spirits harmed humans, Kana Yano's expression, which had just regained its composure, gradually turned into terror.

“…Eee-ya-ya!!”

She will never dare to go to places that resemble horror movie sets again!

…………

Back next to the tent, Gojo Satoru first circled around it and scanned it with his six eyes.

"There is residual cursed power. She came and tried to attack, but gave up when she found she couldn't get in."

Sure enough, he guessed that Araseru Junko was the real target of this curse master, otherwise Yano Kana wouldn't have survived.

With a wave of his hand, he untied the curtain. Tsuji Tomoya was idly tapping the steering wheel and humming along to the song playing in the car, while Araki Junko was staring blankly out the window.

Upon seeing Gojo Satoru and the others return safely, Tsutsuji Tomoya's expression immediately lit up with joy. "You guys... whoa!"—the second half of this exclamation came when he saw Gojo Satoru dragging a corpse behind him as he approached.

Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru casually came over and knocked on his window.

"Sir, could you please open the trunk? I need to put her in there."

Tomoya Tsuchi: “…………”

Really? He's going to put this in his trunk and he won't get arrested by the police the next day?

Then, he caught a glimpse of Kazuma Hatori following behind Gojo Satoru, whose clothes were stained with large patches of blood—and was immediately startled, forgetting what he had just been about to say.

"Ichima, this..."

Kazuma Hatori quickly waved his hand, not wanting the pretty little Satoru to focus on the wound.

"I'm fine."

Once he goes back and secretly eats two pieces of healing bread to replenish his stamina, his wounds will naturally heal completely, and everyone will be happy.

"Won't this mean we'll have to trouble you to go to the hospital emergency room again, sir?"

But it was too late. Gojo Satoru let out two cold laughs, which sent a chill down Hato Kazuma's spine.

"Oh, we really have to go. You guys get in the car first. I'll open this, uh, the trunk. Be careful to put her in there so no one can tell from the outside."

Seeing that Yano Kana was safe and sound and was now talking with Araki Junko about what happened that night, Tsutachi Tomoya breathed a sigh of relief and looked away. He then found the trunk button next to the dashboard and pressed it, feeling a bit lost.

He inexplicably felt like he was an accomplice in a crime...

But seeing that Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma both seemed used to it, he felt embarrassed to show that he was too flustered.

The latter, in particular, was so nonchalant about having an incision in his stomach, which made Tomoya Tsutsuji admire him immensely.

After all, they still needed to take Kazuma Hatake to the hospital later, so for the first time, Gojo Satoru carefully folded the body and managed to stuff it into the trunk without getting any blood on the car's exterior.

For a curse master like Gojo Satoru, who has already taken countless lives, there is no room for politeness.

These curse masters have managed to live in ordinary society for so many years; do you really expect them to earn their living by working odd jobs?

Besides, this is the kind of situation where someone has been caught red-handed.

On the way to the hospital, Gojo Satoru's phone vibrated; he had received an email from Mr. Furuei.

“Simply put, there are no normal gods enshrined in the shrine in Watari Village,” Gojo Satoru quickly scanned the area. “It’s probably because there used to be a curse master living there. They worshipped a demon child called [Kakura no Toki] and would hold a [Kami Matsuri] ceremony every year.”

"The 'Demon Festival' sounds really off, doesn't it?"

Yano Kana complained silently.

"After all, there are just too many strange and unusual festivals in Japan. I remember once when I was on a mission, there was a [Bear Spirit Festival] in that place. The ritual involved killing a bear on the spot."

Gojo Satoru shrugged and continued.

"In short, this [Demon Festival] involves selecting a young child from the village to play the role of a [demon]. The child wears a mask resembling a malevolent spirit, holds a sickle, and cuts the shimenawa (sacred rope) around the shrine while chanting prayers... These procedures are all skipped. In the end, the priest has to expel the [malevolent spirit] that is possessing the child."

"If the priests succeed in expelling the evil spirit, the ritual will be over, and the evil spirit will not harm the village in the coming year."

"But if the priest fails to expel it, the evil spirit will remain attached to the child, gradually drawing upon its power to do evil."

Gojo Satoru flipped through the long paragraph that followed, trying to keep the rest of the story concise.

"But when the village held its last [Demon Festival] ceremony, a sudden downpour and flood prevented even the selection of children from being completed. Later, the government organized a mass relocation, and the shrine was completely abandoned."

As Yano Kana listened, her eyes widened until she covered her mouth in surprise.

"So... I'm the possessed child?"

Wow, this is totally like a horror movie unfolding!

“…No, that’s not it.” Gojo Satoru chuckled. “Rituals performed by ordinary people don’t have the ability to turn rumors into reality. Even if targeted negative emotions accumulate, it’s only possible to create a cursed spirit with a similar appearance—and this village isn’t very big, so it’s even more difficult to generate a cursed spirit that can use curses at least level one. At most, it’ll be level two, right?”

"In addition, those victims were villagers who had moved away... Hmm, I guess this was done by that curse master. She probably wanted to use this to create cursed tools to enhance the effects of her spells."

After all, there are very few cursed artifacts that can be circulated outside, and the process or materials used to make them need to be full of negative energy, preferably becoming a murder weapon or medium for serial killings.

"Even if there were no floods later on, she would still find a way to deliberately interrupt the ritual, kill the villagers, and create panic among others."

Apart from Kazuma Hagoromo, everyone else in the car only vaguely understood what he was saying.

"Then why did you come to me again?" Yano Kana asked. "I'm not a villager from this village."

“A curse master, besides trying all sorts of ways to increase their own survival rate, is also trying all sorts of ways to make money.” Gojo Satoru thought for a moment, “Probably someone is jealous of Arase Junko, so they spend a lot of money to hire this curse master to curse her.”

Unable to reach Arase Junko directly, the only option is to first approach Yano Kana and then find a way to indirectly curse Arase Junko.

It was precisely because of this that the curse master had to forge a cursed tool that could meet her requirements as soon as possible, which caused too many villagers from the original Dulu village to die at once, and the college discovered the suspicious circumstances.

Arashi Junko was stunned: "...Huh, the target is actually me?"

"It's really thanks to your sharp ears that you were able to hear the strange noise. Otherwise, if it had gone on any longer, something really bad would have happened."

Gojo Satoru winked at her, "Junko-neechan, you're so professional!"

Araki Junko was struck by that wink, and her heart, which had just been in her throat, immediately calmed down, and she chuckled.

"What should I do then? What if something like this happens again..."

"The Higher Vocational College will be responsible for the follow-up investigation. First, we will determine the false identity of this curse master in ordinary society, and then we will investigate who she has been in contact with to see if we can catch any more of the slip-ups and find the person who commissioned her."

Gojo Satoru thought for a moment and comforted Araki Junko, "Don't worry, there are very few sorcerers to begin with, and even fewer curse masters. It won't be that easy to run into one again."

"Furthermore, most spells cast by sorcerers have a range, so they can't just randomly harm you."

Hearing that they wouldn't be easily drawn into such a supernatural danger, Tomoya Tsuji, Kana Yano, and Junko Araki all breathed a small sigh of relief.

When they arrived at the hospital's emergency room a second time, they found that the doctor who received them was the same person.

While giving Kazuma Hatake emergency treatment for his wounds, the doctor asked him seriously if he needed to call the police.

Tsuji Tomoya quickly laughed it off, and in a moment of quick thinking, explained to the doctor that it was an accidental injury during the filming of the music video.

The doctor, holding the phone, looked suspicious: "Filming a music video?"

How could filming a music video result in two wounded soldiers being brought in overnight?

"Yes, this is my business card. I'm an agent affiliated with SS Agency."

Tomoya Tsuji took out his business card to prove his identity and pulled Junko Arase, who was wearing a mask, over to him.

"We're going to film a music video for this Ms. Arashi Junko's new album."

Araki Junko removed her mask to reveal her face, wearing an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, we were so careless."

The doctor may not know Kazuma Hato and Satoru Gojo, who were briefly popular among the younger generation, but he has at least heard Junko Arase's songs.

"Oh, I see," the doctor sighed after hanging up the phone. "Please don't push yourself like that again. It was lucky this time you avoided the organs."

"Definitely, definitely."

Tsuji Tomoya nodded repeatedly, thankfully managing to escape unscathed.

If the doctor calls the police, things could get really bad. If the police open the trunk, they'll arrest them all on the spot.

Once they return to the SS Agency, the body of the cursed mage can be transferred to Mr. Gujing's car, where he will transport it back to the high school for further processing.

Tomoya Tsukichi wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling incredibly nervous driving the whole way.

"I'll wash the trunk tonight as soon as possible."

Absolutely no bloodstains or strange things should be left behind!

"Haha, you can contact Mr. Gujing. He knows some car washes that specialize in cleaning these 'strange marks' inside cars."

Gojo Satoru smiled and took out his phone to show him his contact information.

Tomoya Tsuji was overjoyed.

"Very good!"

…………

Now that the matter was resolved, Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma said goodbye to Tsuji Tomoya and the others, and got into Mr. Furui's car.

They needed to continue their journey back to the college.

At this moment, the car interior, which was occupied only by assistant supervisor Kazuma Hatake and Satoru Gojo, suddenly fell silent.

In other words, Mr. Gu Jing, who was holding the steering wheel, felt a sense of oppression spreading inexplicably, as if they were driving on a road where the temperature was tens of degrees below zero, and the rapidly dropping temperature was causing the glass to start to frost.

Of course, the paper-cut window decorations are fake, but the feeling of oppression is real.

Kazuma Hatori placed his hands on his thighs, straightened his back, looked straight ahead, and lowered his head slightly.

His attitude of admitting his mistake was so sincere that he didn't even dare to lean back in his chair.

Sitting like this will only make the wound hurt more, right?

Since you're so worried about him getting angry, you could have thought of other ways to break the illusion from the start—for example, you could have just let yourself be deceived by the illusion and even fought with him.

Gojo Satoru stared at the guy who had injured him so badly again, and sighed silently in his heart.

"What did you see in your hallucination?"

He suddenly spoke.

This time he didn't hear the baby crying, which was obviously due to the presence of the wooden doll. The conditions for the other party to activate the spell became more concealed, practically silent.

Even so, how could Yizhen distinguish between the real and the fake in an instant?

That being said, hallucinations are nothing more than inducing the affected person to accidentally kill their companion or to commit suicide.

Just as his hallucination was that he mistook Kazuma for Yano Kana who was performing a spell, he could hardly detect anything unusual until his [Azure] was interrupted.

So, how exactly did Kazuma realize he was under a genjutsu? Didn't he see him as an enemy?

While annoyed, Gojo Satoru was also a little curious.

But Kazuma Hatori found it difficult to answer this question.

What he saw in his hallucination was his first timeline... the 28-year-old Satoru.

It was Wu, with bloodstains on his hair and wearing the clothes that he had praised Ge Liheng for.

Wu, whom he could not go back to even after repeatedly reloading his save file, stood expressionless in front of him, replacing him who was still a first-year student at a vocational college.

Hatake Kazuhito had no idea how this technique could read his memories, or whether it simply randomly selected a fragment from the first playthrough and played it to him based on the game mechanics.

It's also possible that it's just a bug in the game.

But in that instant, as 28-year-old Satoru gently opened his mouth as if to say something to him, Kazuma Hatori unhesitatingly used his skill on himself.

—The illusion vanished in an instant, and he returned to the "reality" of the second playthrough.

At this moment, Kazuma Hatori didn't know how to answer Satoru's question.

"It's...you when you grow up."

After a long silence, Kazuma Hatori finally answered in a low voice.

"Me when I grow up?"

Gojo Satoru repeated his doubts aloud.

"Why did you create a grown-up version of me? No wonder you attacked me like this. How strange..."

Kazuma Hatori blinked his dark eyes slowly—at least on the surface, his expression didn't change.

“I don’t know,” he replied calmly. “Perhaps it was to lull me into a false sense of security?”

Gojo Satoru: "Paralysis..."

He couldn't finish the sentence because, considering that what Kazuma saw was [himself after he grew up], the scene that came to mind next felt very subtle.

To put it simply, it was as subtle as that section of the forum he didn't have permission to access...

Gojo Satoru wanted to say something, but he felt choked up. The burning sensation that gradually spread from his earlobes made it impossible for him to continue being angry with Hatori Kazuma.

So, this kid has been looking forward to him growing up all along?

Gojo Satoru covered his mouth and remained silent for a long while. Souhime glanced in the direction of Hagoromo Kazuma and found that he was still sitting upright, showing no sign of relaxing.

His head was lowered, and there was no discernible expression on that cool guy's face.

But at least Gojo Satoru noticed that the other person was in a low mood.

So he reached out his hand to Kazuma Hagoromo—

"Huh?"

Hato Kazuma was momentarily distracted when he felt Gojo Satoru grab his shoulder.

Immediately afterwards, this undeniable force pressed him down, causing him to tilt to the side until he lay flat on the other person's lap.

Kazuma Hatori was stunned.

Looking upwards, all you could see was half of Gojo Satoru's chin tilted to the side and his hand resting against the car window.

"It's still an hour's drive to the college. Are you really planning to sit there like that the whole time? You should get some sleep."

Gojo Satoru murmured, his gaze fixed on the scenery outside the car—even though they were driving along the highway, there was nothing outside except for dark forests and rocky cliffs.

Just as Kazuma Hatake blinked his black pupils, a hand covered his eyes, blocking his vision into darkness.

"Okay, go to sleep and don't talk."

Gojo Satoru's tone was crisp and decisive, giving Hatori Kazuma no chance to protest.

"..."

Kazuma Hatake had no choice but to close his eyes in compliance, his eyelashes lightly brushing against the palm that steadily transmitted body temperature.

He suddenly felt very at ease.

In this quiet, slightly swaying, cramped space.

…………

Upon returning to the vocational high school, Gojo Satoru dragged Hato Kazuma to knock on Iori Shoko's dormitory door and woke her up to treat Hato Kazuma's wounds.

Shoko Ieiri was still sleepy. Considering that Satoru Gojo had promised to treat her to afternoon tea, she quickly used the Reversal Technique to heal Kazuma Hagoromo, and then sent the two sticky people back to their dormitory so that she could continue sleeping.

Gojo Satoru seriously warned Hato Kazuma that if he did such a thing again, he would... ...

After all, when he cut his finger last time, Gojo Satoru was able to lick his wound and watch Hatori Kazuma's helpless expression.

But this time the injury was to the abdomen... Remembering that the other person's hallucination was of him as an adult, Gojo Satoru could only cover his face and wave his hand as he returned to his dormitory.

I'm so angry, but I can't do anything about this guy!

Just a few days after completing this mission, Kazuma Hato received a call from Junko Arai.

"I got your contact information from Mr. Tomoya, but I can't get through to Satoru on the phone, so I can only ask for your opinion first," the other person said with a smile.

Kazuma Hatori nodded: "Satoru has gone to do a solo mission."

Araki Junko first inquired about his injuries to see if they were alright, and then directly stated her purpose.

“It was just a joke, but this time you and Wu saved our lives,” she said. “Even if it’s just to repay the life-saving grace, I have to do it.”

"For my new album that will be released next month, Kana has finished composing the last song. I hope you can participate in writing the lyrics and singing it."