This is an ordinary family restaurant. The lively decorative colors and the children's toy sign at the door set the tone. Most of the people who come here are office workers from the vicinity, or people who want to find a place to rest after shopping in the nearby mall.

Three first-year students from the technical high school are having lunch here.

Yuji Itadori stuffed the chopped hamburger meat into his mouth, holding the fork in one hand, but thinking about other things.

"I'm saying, Mr. Gojo said he would lead us in a practical exercise, why did he leave alone? Normally, shouldn't he be with us?"

"…That person cannot be judged by common sense." Fushiguro Megumi made a judgment, "Things that go against common sense become natural once they are related to Gojo-sensei."

After swallowing the last mouthful of juice, Wild Rose grumbled briefly, "That's what makes me feel even more uneasy... That stupid teacher is definitely the kind of guy who will surprise us like in a prank show and then shout 'Prank success' to himself."

After hearing this, the honest Yuji felt that he could not refute it.

Fushiguro Megumi, who has been with Gojo Satoru longer than his other two companions, has become somewhat calm when it comes to such small details.

Wiping off the spaghetti sauce on the corner of her mouth, Fushiguro Megumi concluded, "We'll know once we meet. There's no point in imagining it now."

Wild Rose: "You really have a lot of patience..."

It was almost time, and young people were quick eaters. He finished lunch in no time, and just as he was about to get up to pay the bill, something unexpected happened.

"!————"

A man at the table next to him suddenly folded his hands and stood up from his seat, knocking over the plate of corn soup in front of him. He was having trouble breathing like a fish out of water, and the next second he fell to the ground, his head tilted in the soup he had spilled all over the floor.

The closest Yuji rushed forward and he immediately leaned down: "Hey! Uncle! Are you okay--"

After reacting, Norose said to Yuji, "Are you still alive?"

"Sorry, Norose, the ground here is full of soup and it's too slippery. Please stand a little further away." Yuji put his fingers under the man's nose. There was no breath left. He raised his head and saw Fushiguro Megumi who was looking down.

Tiger Stick shook his head.

Fushiguro Megumi received the signal and said to the store clerk who came over: "...Call the police."

"Eh? No way?"

"Is there anyone dead?"

"No, that sounds terrible..."

Others in the restaurant also started whispering after they realized what they were talking about. After hearing what they were talking about, the manager, who was sweating profusely, had to run out to appease the customers and distribute some candy and snacks to everyone at each table. However, someone had just died while eating in the restaurant, so no one dared to take their food.

There was only the table where Yuzhang and his friends sat and the table next to it in this small area. The rest were round stools near the window, so the police could not ask them to leave immediately. In order to cooperate with the investigation, the three of them had to stay for the time being.

While the police were recording the scene, Megumi Fushiguro received a call from her teacher.

He took one look at the devastated scene and sighed.

"We can't leave in this situation." He replied, "Anyway, Gojo-sensei is usually late, so this time we can let Gojo-sensei wait for us instead."

Then he hung up mercilessly.

I could vaguely hear the person on the other end of the phone complaining, "Is this the rebellious phase?"

Fushiguro Megumi returned to his companions with an expressionless face.

Unfortunately, another quarter of an hour passed with no progress in the case.

Nearly half an hour had passed since the incident, and nothing had changed except that the customers who were still in the store had gone from being frightened at first to being impatient now and wanting to leave immediately.

The police officer in charge of the case seemed to be a newcomer and was assigned by his superiors to calm the crowd.

At this moment, he had no choice but to respond to the crowd's anger with an apologetic smile, saying "I'm so sorry, please wait a moment!"

Seeing this scene, the leading police officer sighed and said, "...This is troublesome. We can't force guests to stay."

But the perpetrator has not been found yet. If he just blends into the crowd and runs away, it will be difficult for him to be held accountable by the higher-ups.

"Oh? It's not over yet? Sorry to bother you——"

A tall young man wearing an eye patch, with his hands in his pockets, announced loudly at the door: "Come in~"

"Wait, no unauthorized persons are allowed to enter!"

"Hmm? I am considered a person of interest, right?" Gojo Satoru said in a startling tone. Several police officers beside him looked at him warily. He then slowly changed his words: "The first few kids who found the person were my students. They had made an appointment with me, their teacher, but they never showed up. I was very worried about them. After all, there are a lot of bad people in society now."

Fushiguro Megumi, who heard Gojo Satoru's high-profile speech from a distance, turned away and complained, "...I feel so embarrassed."

Norose, who also couldn't bear to look at Gojo Satoru, said: "...Indeed."

Yuji, who was only calm in this regard, waved his hand: "Gojo-sensei! Here, here!"

"Oh! Hisahito——" Gojo Satoru waved in unison with him, looking at the distance.

The other two: ...feeling even more embarrassed.

The police officer was confused: "...I told you."

"Oh, sorry." Gojo Satoru pulled out some ID from his pocket and showed it to him: "Is this all right?"

After reading it, the policeman looked at Gojo Satoru with disbelief, and finally nodded.

Although reluctant, he was allowed in in a businesslike manner.

Gojo Satoru turned around and shouted, "Hey - you over there, come over here."

There was already a small group of onlookers at the door, and when they saw Gojo Satoru suddenly turn around and call out to his companions, they all looked in the direction he was looking - only to see a young man wearing a mask with an extremely embarrassed look on his face.

…Even though he was wearing a mask, that’s how it seemed.

Gojo Satoru: "I can't help it. I don't know your name. Come on, come here." Then he said to the policeman, "This guy is my assistant. Let him come in."

Police officer: “…” You’re lying! Didn’t you just say you didn’t even know his name?

Gojo Satoru forced the crowd's attention to rush in, and the man with the slit mouth covered his mouth and rushed into the scene quickly.

Gojo Satoru: “You have a lot of enthusiasm for work.”

Yuji was the first to step forward, and his speech was full of personal style - straightforward and to the point.

"Hello! I'm Yuji Itadori!" he said, "Excuse me...are you Gojo-sensei's assistant?"

Unlike Yuji's style, the other two were observing the man.

He was tall, but a little shorter than Gojo-sensei, but overall he looked too skinny. Norose was much more sensitive to this than the two boys in her class, and she immediately found a suitable description - the person in front of her gave her the feeling of a model or idol who pursued a good figure, not only was he skinny, but his posture was also similar.

besides--

"…Hey, Fushiguro."

"ah."

This brief conversation seemed to be encrypted because Fushiguro Megumi and Norose felt a special aura from the person in front of them.

Soft yet sharp.

But, overall, it's very strange, and ordinary sorcerers will definitely avoid it if they encounter it.

Only Yuzhang would go up and say hello first.

But, since it was Gojo-sensei who sent me here, I guess I don't have any hostile intentions, Fushiguro Megumi thought.

"…Hello." He said, "Fushiguro Megumi, my name is."

"Kusaki No Rose, like these two guys, is a student of that idiot."

"Hello." The man said only briefly.

His voice is husky and seems to be pleasant only within the normal frequency range. It becomes harsh if it exceeds this range.

"Eh? You don't want to tell me your name?"

Yuji asked the questions that others were wondering.

"Name or something..." The other party was a little distressed.

Yuji looked at the well-dressed young man in front of him and said, "Ah... is it inconvenient? But if it's inconvenient, there's nothing we can do."

"No." The young man shook his head. "...Do I have a name or something like that now?"

Gojo Satoru came over from behind and said, "Of course. Why not just use your old name? Your ID card uses your old name anyway. Do you think I'll give you a name like Tanaka Taro to make up the number?"

"Didn't you say you didn't know my name?"

"Ah, exposed." Gojo Satoru said with a smile: "Well...if I say I really don't know, and I let others handle those things, do you believe me?"

Xiao Bai pursed her lips and gave up on this meaningless topic.

"Yamashiro Baiya." He touched the strap of his mask uncomfortably with his fingers, fearing that it would fall down in front of the children and reveal his ugly face. "You can call me whatever you want."

Gojo Satoru added, "The other name is more famous, right? Mr. Slit-mouthed Man? Well, let me add that his favorite thing is Coke."

Yuji: "Oh, is that so? It turns out that no one doesn't like Coke."

The other two people: "..." Unimportant information increased.

If there was a table in front of him, Fushiguro Megumi would have wanted to flip it over and yell: Who cares about Coke? And Yuji, you should also complain about it!

Norose: "...The man with the slit mouth, is that the one we know?"

Gojo Satoru smiled brilliantly: "Yes, yes, it's the protagonist of the hot post in the BBS last week. This is a genuine ghost story. How about it, the teacher found a target for you to practice with, isn't it amazing?"

Fushiguro Megumi: "Wait... so the assistant you mentioned is..."

Is this what you mean?

Compared to Yuji, who changed his career path to become a shaman, and Norose, who had limited knowledge of shamanism in the countryside, Fushiguro Megumi knew several times more about this than them. According to common sense, if all this was true, the skinny and shy young man in front of him was at least stronger than a first-level shaman, and might even be at a special level.

After all, it was born from such a huge urban legend, so even if it is a processed male version, it will definitely not be weak.

(Also, since Gojo-sensei is so confident in taking care of him, maybe he is not as strong as a special grade?)

In fact, Megumi Fushiguro underestimated him.

The Slit Man that Jiuyuan, who has not yet fully acquired his abilities, can use is already at the special grade level. Even the special grade that is slightly lower is just cutting cabbage. If his abilities can be fully unleashed, it is hard to say what level he can reach.

After all, the sorcerer's evaluation of the special grade is too simple. Even among the special grades, there are huge differences.

Gojo Satoru had guessed this, of course, but he was too mean to say it out loud.

...Besides, nothing will go wrong with him watching over it.

"Compared to these..."

The young man seemed to have been enduring for a long time. He felt the gazes from all around him were enough to make him feel a stomachache.

"Can you resolve this matter quickly? I don't want to stay here."