Chapter 72
Do I look stupid?
Upon hearing Mr. Moth's admonition, Gojo Satoru pouted in dissatisfaction.
"Of course I know I can't mention this to ordinary people—they'll think I'm weird or have a chuunibyou complex, right?"
Even though Gojo Satoru was strictly disciplined by the Gojo family from a young age, he often sneaked out and was familiar with current popular culture, so of course he also knew the definition of the term "chuunibyou" (middle school syndrome).
"Chuunibyou? What is chuunibyou?"
On the contrary, Moth Masamichi was stunned for a moment, not understanding the meaning of the word. "Never mind, let's not talk about this for now."
"The problem is that your previous operation to capture the curse master was too blatant. There were so many witnesses that it was impossible to silence them all, and the news spread instantly... The police could only try their best to make it seem like you and Yizhen accidentally stumbled upon the murderer preparing to commit a crime against the host, and then bravely stepped in to fight back and defeat the murderer..."
It was practically a bunch of serious nonsense, as long as it made sense logically—that's why Gojo Satoru needed to make sure he didn't give anything away during the interview and that there were absolutely no inconsistencies with the police report.
"Okay, okay."
Gojo Satoru casually replied, his eyes never leaving the BOSS who was still half a bar of health left.
"Does the Gojo family allow you to appear on TV?"
Hearing the rather perfunctory attitude of Yagami Masamichi, he sighed and could only ask about the Gojo family's attitude towards Gojo Satoru's public appearances in ordinary society.
"Huh? Who cares about their opinions? They're so annoying."
—Night Moth Masamichi was not at all surprised by this answer.
That's probably why Gojo Satoru insisted on coming to Tokyo Vocational High School. Even though he was so strong that even his teacher couldn't beat him, he insisted on starting from the first year, and no amount of persuasion could convince him otherwise.
Since that's the case, Moth Master adopted the normal attitude of a teacher towards students and gave them serious instructions.
"Listen carefully, you will be given a script beforehand. If you encounter any difficult questions, just gloss over them and don't reveal too much information—whether it's about the sorcery world or your personal matters."
"Okay, okay—"
When he hung up the phone, Gojo Satoru tilted his head at Hagoromo Kazuma to show that he was really confused.
"Why is Ms. Moth so nervous? We're not kindergarten students going out for the first time."
From his perspective, this is just another "appearance on a TV show"—only this time it's an interview program, not a prank show.
"Yeah yeah."
Kazuma Hatori also agreed.
...Neither of them is currently online and has no idea how popular they have become in ordinary society.
However, the interview time still needs to be arranged, and Kazuma Hatake and Satoru Gojo still need to attend classes and complete tasks as usual.
Perhaps because he discovered that Kazuma Hatake didn't even know how to use his own techniques, Satoru Gojo took extra care of him in the next two missions.
Although Gojo Satoru also went to the library on his way back to the Gojo family home and showed him the relevant interpretations of [Jifang] and [Maha].
The core of [Shifang] lies in space, while [Maha] is more like an adjective describing words such as "great", "great", and "immeasurable".
So the focus should still be on the space—but even though Gojo Satoru tried his best to translate all the Buddhist terms and explanations for Hatori Kazuma, explaining them clearly and even pointing his finger at his forehead to infuse some magical power into his body for him to experience, he still received those silent, bewildered black eyes.
And they are obedient, guilty, and have an exceptionally honest sense of innocence.
Gojo Satoru:…………
Damn it, what an incredibly talentless and stupid junior in jutsu!
That angry, extremely unwilling expression almost made Kazuma Hatori hesitate, thinking, "Should I just complete that request, unlock the technique, and then use it to praise how well the pretty little Satoru taught me?"
But before Kazuma Hatake could even decide whether to take on the request, he received another result—even if it was assigned to the two of them, or even if it was a level three or four mission mainly to familiarize him with the process, he would not have a chance to do anything.
Unlike the first playthrough where the beautiful Daigo would deliberately save the final blow for Kazuma Hatake to finish off the enemy in order to accumulate [Curse Power Crystals] most efficiently, the beautiful Xiaogo always ends the battle with a clean and decisive blow. The cursed spirit is instantly crushed into a wrung-out towel and then disappears with a wail.
He wasn't given even the slightest chance to finish off the enemy and earn crystals.
Kazuma Hatori originally wanted to subtly confess this matter to him, but when he saw Satoru Gojo proudly give him a thumbs-up, as if taking credit, and happily shout, "This time we finished smoothly too—", and then bump fists with him...
Kazuma Hatake silently swallowed back the words, "I can use [Black Flash] to exorcise the cursed spirit, and it will also increase my curse power."
Anyway, he doesn't need one or two more cursed spirits... He can talk to the other party about it in advance next time.
As a result, on their fourth mission, Moth Masamichi separated them.
"Ichijin, I want to go on a mission with Ichijin!"
Before Kazuma Hatori could speak, Satoru Gojo was the first to protest.
"This is your personal task,"
Masamichi Yagami placed the document in front of Satoru Gojo and emphasized it again.
"This is a level one mission for you alone."
Honestly, the last few times I just had him show Hatake Kazuma the exorcism process, how did he get so attached to it? With this kid's strength, does he need a partner for a normal mission?
Besides, Kazuma Hatake is currently only a level four sorcerer, and he doesn't have the strength to handle a level one mission at all.
Gojo Satoru: “…………”
The skill gap was too large, and the team formation failed.
It's frustrating, but there's nothing I can do; a person's life and safety are truly more important.
Even if he was confident that he could protect the other person, he couldn't rashly take them to such a dangerous place.
Seeing Gojo Satoru obediently take the paper, Yagami Masamichi finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Natsumi Yujie.
“Jay, this mission is for you and Ichijin, specifically assigned by the higher-ups.”
Gojo Satoru immediately exclaimed, "Huh!?"
Upon hearing the phrase "[designated by the higher-ups]", Kazuma Hatori couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly—as expected, this patriarch was very familiar with the higher-ups in the sorcery world, and was now deliberately creating opportunities for them to get close!
Only Xia Youjie paused for a moment, then asked politely.
Why were we specifically assigned this task?
"Hmm, it's probably because this mission, on the surface, has some similarities to your [Spirit Manipulation Technique]."
Night Moth Masamichi nodded and explained to them,
“Recently, there have been doll attacks in Kanagawa. When [Window] reported the details, according to the testimony of the only surviving eyewitness, the dolls that attacked him looked extremely bizarre, even terrifying.”
"Does Teacher Night Moth mean that those dolls are actually cursed spirits?" Xia Youjie's expression turned serious.
His technique is [Spirit Manipulation], which allows him to absorb and control subdued spirits. However, if someone else possesses the same technique and uses it for evil...
"I'm not sure, after all, there are many shikigami users who can control cursed spirits."
Moth Masakazu shook his head.
"Besides, some people simply like bizarre and terrifying dolls and then use them to attack their victims."
“Indeed,” Gojo Satoru muttered without keeping his voice down, “Yokumo-sensei’s [puppet manipulation] involves poking some bizarre and unlovable puppets with felt, and then controlling them to beat people up…”
Moth Masakazu's brow twitched: "…………"
My fists are itching to punch this brat.
"In short, you and Ichima need to go to Kanagawa and find out the truth."
Finally, Moth made the final decision.
"According to the report analysis, this incident is most likely committed by a curse master. The reason why I was specifically asked to go with you is that he and Satoru handled a similar case last time, so he has more experience."
"yes."
Xia Youjie accepted the task seriously, and when he looked at Yuqu Kazuma, he met a pair of deep black eyes looking at him.
"..."
That creepy feeling on my back came back again.
…………
The three of them had some subtle disagreements about the mission arrangements.
Only Iori Shoko expressed happiness, because she could finally enjoy the weekend instead of having to go on a grueling business trip to another city.
Gojo Satoru didn't actually take any substantial protest, and even his departure was very swift.
—He always kept a clear distinction between play and task.
In particular, Kazuma Hatori promised to bring him back a souvenir.
As for Kazuma Hatake and Natsuyuki, when they stood at the school gate where they had agreed to meet and were about to leave, Natsuyuki always felt a subtle unease.
It's like a fish being placed on a chopping board, carefully considering where to start cutting...
No, no, why is he making such malicious assumptions about his classmate, especially since he gets along so well with Wu?
It's even more likely that the other person will see his unconventional style of dress and mistakenly think he's difficult to get along with, thus wanting to stay away from him.
Moreover, he hadn't really had any interaction with the other person since he enrolled.
"Y-you...hello, Kazuma."
He hesitated for a moment when he started speaking, but became much more fluent when he spoke again later.
"The assistant supervisor said he'll be waiting for us in Kanagawa, so let's head out now. We'll need your help with the rest of the mission."
Kazuma Hatake uttered a soft "hmm".
He kept telling himself in his heart that he must not make a move.
First of all, he is only level four and his only skill is [Black Flash], so it is basically impossible for him to defeat his opponent.
Secondly, he also needs to find out the true identity of the cult leader and kill that guy.
Finally, he also wants to eliminate the villain's stronghold—the Panxing Cult and the high-ranking members of the sorcery world—until he completes his original plan.
—Make Wu the head of the General Manager's Office and support all his reforms.
This three-step plan he devised clearly did not allow him to directly confront Xia Youjie, whom the Pope had specifically requested him to approach, and to disobey orders.
It sounds complicated, but that's his only goal in playing through the game a second time.
"No, I should be the one troubling you."
Kazuma Hato spoke up, "After all, it was Satoru who found the clues back then; I wasn't even his assistant."
He was simply a conscript who was forcibly brought in, just to create an opportunity for him to gain Xia Youjie's trust.
"That's a bit modest."
Xia Youjie smiled, clearly not believing Yu Qu Yizhen's honesty—however, he was also slightly relieved that the other party was finally willing to say a few more words.
"Like you, I am a non-family sorcerer; my parents are ordinary people."
To prevent the atmosphere from turning icy again, he took the initiative to introduce himself.
"Although I was aware that I could see curses that others couldn't, and I instinctively absorbed those formed curse spirits, my systematic learning of curse power only began when I entered the college."
"My technique is [Spirit Manipulation Technique], which can turn a spirit into a spirit ball. Once you eat it, you can control it freely."
"…………"
Xia Youjie could tell that he was trying to make friends by showing weakness, but Yuqu Yizhen, who had no way of introducing himself, remained silent.
To put it simply, he was the "Holy Son of the Panxing Sect," who was completely ignored. His current mission was to get close to him and gain his trust, which was most likely to lay the groundwork for recruiting him into the villainous faction in the future.
After thinking for a moment, this was the only answer that Kazuma Hatori could give.
“I… also eat things that fall from cursed spirits.”
Xia Youjie: "...?"
Xia Youjie: "!!"
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