Chapter 67
"Wait, I..."
That minister might still want to argue something, but Gojo Satoru won't give him the chance.
Does he think this is some kind of historical drama where they have to wait until all the lines are finished before they start fighting? He's not really planning to let them off the hook—in other words, whether these two beg for mercy or not, Gojo Satoru is going to give them a good beating.
"1-3, [Azure]!"
He said he had three seconds to think, but Gojo Satoru was saying "one" to "three" in a continuous sequence, so fast that he didn't intend to give the enemy any time to react.
Immediately afterwards, a strange suction force that appeared out of nowhere, like a huge and transparent deep-sea whirlpool, almost instantly caused the two unlucky guys to collide violently together. The surrounding desks, coffee tables, sofas, and everything else were like the talisman paper that Gojo Satoru had crumpled into a ball, being crushed by some heavy and irresistible force, and finally turned into a part that was attracted by [Azure].
The entire office was instantly turned into a mess, with countless items being tossed about and swirling in the artificial mini-hurricane, smashing themselves to pieces.
In this mini-catastrophe, which resembled the collapse of a star, the minister and the host didn't even have time to utter a cry of pain before they were smashed to pieces and lay motionless in the ruins.
"Hey—whoosh! That's a wrap!"
—Only when he was certain that the enemy was completely incapacitated did Gojo Satoru clench his five fingers together, as if he were truly crushing these things in the air, using a grasping gesture to finish the output of his curse power.
If high-level cursed spirits can withstand damage thanks to their special physical structure, then ordinary physiques like curse masters, who can only slightly enhance their bodies with curse power, are simply no match for Gojo Satoru's attack.
Once the clattering and crashing subsided, Gojo Gosai leisurely walked through the indistinguishable debris and dug the curse master and the host out of the ruins.
He thought for a moment, then slapped the host twice to wake him up.
"Hey, wake up! Answer a few questions for me first."
The moment the host opened his eyes, he saw the smiling white-haired devil squatting in front of him, and he was so frightened that he almost choked and nearly fainted again.
I have never met such a terrifying teenager!
Seeing the other person raise their hand again, as if to keep waking you up if you want to sleep, the host's face fell.
"You...you can ask."
Gojo Satoru beckoned to Hatori Kazuma, signaling him to help keep an eye on the department head—if the other guy woke up, beat him unconscious again.
What's so good about the culprit's sophistry? He wants to interrogate this ordinary accomplice, who has clearly only received a basic education on the world of sorcery, all by himself first.
"Explain the ghost story from last month."
Gojo Satoru took out his phone, turned on the recording function, and then coldly commanded the host.
After all, the mission's requirement was to [find the truth], and he remembered that.
As for this office, which looks like it's been through a hurricane?
Gojo Satoru was extremely confident about this, and didn't feel guilty in the slightest.
That's how his technique works, what can you do? In order to deal with the enemy, he just accidentally damaged a little bit of furniture... just accidentally, just a little bit.
The assistant supervisor and Ms. Nocturne will definitely not mind!
Gojo Satoru was slightly distracted. Seeing that the host refused to speak for a long time and had a shameless attitude that he could not be touched as long as he did not confess, he frowned and wondered whether he should punch him a few more times.
Just then, Kazuma Hato, who was troubled by Gojo Satoru's situation, came over, pried open the host's mouth with one hand, and stuffed a small, dumpling-like object into his throat with the other, forcing him to swallow it.
"What...what did you give me to eat?"
Realizing belatedly that both of them were from the world of sorcery, the host's expression immediately turned horrified.
"A curse that kills you if you don't tell the truth."
Kazuma Hatori spoke calmly, and his right hand, which had been releasing the host's chin, turned into a raised two-finger salute, as if he were actually casting a spell on him.
"This is my technique. Ever heard of Ebola? It works like that virus, it starts to gnaw at your body when you refuse to answer, and eventually makes you slowly [melt]."
The host's face grew greener and greener as he listened.
He didn't want to believe that such a strange thing existed, but the white-haired boy's ability to crush everything with ease, and his domineering and savage nature that left even the minister helpless, made him dare not gamble with his life.
What if it's true? He doesn't want to die here!
Moreover, coupled with Kazuma Hagoromo's expressionless, cold face, it is even more convincing.
Even Gojo Satoru turned to look at his good friend with some skepticism—he had indeed never asked about the technique before… was it really like this?
"This...this is impossible, you're...lying to me..."
The host's voice began to tremble, even more so than when he was standing on the metal plate.
"You don't have to believe it, as long as you're willing to bear the consequences."
Kazuma Hatake said calmly, "My only request is that you honestly explain the whole incident."
host:"…………"
With a long face, the host finally began to honestly recount the events from the beginning, allowing Gojo Satoru to record everything as his statement.
In short, the minister was indeed a curse master hiding in ordinary society, and he was the one who caused the haunting incident.
It's not surprising that a curse master could become the head of a TV station. After all, since the birth of the "Six-Eyed" from the Gojo family, most curse masters have had to accept the fact that the era in which they could do whatever they wanted and cause trouble has completely vanished.
However, those who use spells against ordinary people and are thus defined as curse casters are also criminals no longer accepted by the world of sorcery.
Therefore, almost all curse masters are forced to hide their identities and mingle in ordinary society, concealing their whereabouts as much as possible and trying not to give themselves away.
Despite their attempts to hide, they will continue to engage in underhanded activities for various reasons.
For example, in this incident, the minister wanted to use this modern prank show to perform a ritual similar to "Nuwa" (a type of exorcism), and with the help of pre-arranged spells, not only would negative energy be generated more, but it could also be continuously precipitated and purified in the studio for his own use.
"I only cooperated with the minister because of my future prospects; otherwise, I would have lost my job."
The host pleaded pitifully, "Besides, even if I told anyone about something so bizarre, no one would believe me."
"Besides, I was just setting up the paper with strange patterns as he asked, hosting the whole program, and guiding the atmosphere... I really didn't mean to harm anyone, really!"
"It's not up to me to decide this; you'll have to argue with the higher-ups yourself later."
Gojo Satoru pursed his lips and waved his hand, signaling him to hurry up and continue.
“I’ve heard plenty of the tricks of the curse master. Tell me about the staff member who was killed.”
The host instantly tensed up, seemingly trying to stammer and gloss over the situation—telling only half the truth would still count as telling the truth.
"that……"
Gojo Satoru stared at him with wide, blue eyes. The icy blue seemed so sharp and clear at that moment that the host felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water from head to toe, and even his inner thoughts were clearly seen through.
"Don't try to hide anything from me, old man. It's obviously related to that girl, Anri Saki. We're pretty close, you know?"
Gojo Satoru immediately began threatening people without any politeness.
"Do you want me to call her and watch you slowly melt into a puddle of liquid on the floor, like butter being baked at high temperatures, which can be easily cleaned up with a mop?"
Although it was uncertain whether the technique described by Kazuma Hatori was real, it didn't stop him from treating it as such, scaring the host half to death and watching him visibly turn ashen.
"So this is why you suddenly appeared here..."
The host, thoroughly deceived, muttered something and completely gave up on distancing himself from the incident.
"The death of that staff member was the result of the department head's excessive greed leading to a loss of control... The cause was last month, when Anri Saki's sister had an accident during the recording of that prank show."
"The prank was to have the celebrities wrap themselves in thick cotton-padded coats and blankets and sit by a stove, while the indoor heating was kept being raised, to see who could win this competition of enduring the heat..."
"Just as rubbish as this idea."
Gojo Satoru narrowed his azure eyes with obvious disdain, startling the host so much that he dared not continue speaking.
The minister next to him was showing signs of waking up when he was knocked unconscious by a swift and decisive punch from Kazuma Hatori, and continued to lie unconscious in the ruins.
"In short, back then, some artists who couldn't take it would give up early, but Saki Hanae insisted on continuing, probably wanting to win... As a result, she suffered heatstroke and lost control, collapsing into the stove, causing a fire."
"Of course, we immediately put out the fire and sent her to the hospital... I heard that she was fine in the end, but the burns were very severe and her face was completely disfigured."
The host said nervously, "At the time, the production team gave all the witnesses present a hush money payment, hoping that such a terrible incident would cause the show's ratings to drop. But unexpectedly, a few days later, a staff member died mysteriously in the middle of the night!"
"Really, the minister said it was just an accident, he's taken care of it, and told me not to worry. He also told me to keep an eye out for a white-haired, blue-eyed boy named Gojo Satoru in the building... but I have no idea what happened..."
"……I see."
Gojo Satoru frowned, not happy that he had heard such a truth.
For Saki Hanae, who wanted to become famous, having her face disfigured was practically the same as being killed.
Therefore, the intensity of Saki Hanae's resentment while lying in the hospital bed far exceeded the minister's expectations, causing him to fail to deal with the rapidly escalating negative emotions in the studio in time, which prematurely triggered the creation of a cursed spirit to attack the staff.
Even though he immediately exorcised the cursed spirit, cleaned up the residual cursed power, and guided the police to define the incident as a suicide in an attempt to cover up the traces of the cursed spirit's appearance and let everything pass quietly, he never expected that someone would anonymously compile all of this into a "haunting incident" and spread it widely on the forum.
In conclusion, from the perspective of criminal investigation in ordinary society, the host really had nothing to do with either case, and there was no way there could be any evidence to prove that he committed a crime.
After all, if word gets out that he was just putting stickers under the seats in the audience, what impact could that have?
The only reason he's so afraid now is that he's worried Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma will kill him.
But he is not a sorcerer and cannot see the spirits at all. He was forced to participate in what the minister did. In fact, he was the one that these sorcerers needed to protect.
"--well."
Gojo Satoru took a deep breath and then let out a rather exaggerated sigh—then, he put away his phone after recording and patted the host who was scared half to death by his action.
"I have to say, you're really lucky to be alive."
The host responded hesitantly, not daring to retort with the sharp wit he usually displays on the show.
“We’ll take that minister with us,”
Gojo Satoru pointed to the curse master who had just taken another punch, his gaze returning to him.
"As for your actions, I will report them truthfully, and we'll see how the higher-ups handle it."
Just as the host was about to breathe a sigh of relief at having his life temporarily spared, he heard Gojo Satoru say "but"—and his heart jumped again.
"You must find a way to make this program cover all of Anri's subsequent medical expenses and compensation for emotional distress."
Gojo Satoru stood up and looked down at the host, who was in a disheveled state.
"Oh right, and there's that prize we won today, the magazine cover shoot and interview?"
—Gojo Satoru looked at Yuuto Ichishin, who nodded in confirmation that this was the one.
"Let's assign it to Anri too—don't say you can't do it, I'll be watching you."
Gojo Satoru picked up the curse master whose face was swollen from being beaten, watched the host raise his hand with a bitter face and promise that he would definitely do it, and then left the minister's office with Hato Kazuma.
Fortunately, the office was luxuriously decorated and had excellent soundproofing, which prevented the noise caused by Gojo Satoru from getting out.
While standing in the elevator leading to the lobby on the first floor, Gojo Satoru specifically asked Hatake Kazuma about it.
"Is your technique really that one?"
"no."
Kazuma Hatori shook his head and unfolded the talisman that Gojo Satoru had just handed him back to Gojo Satoru—a corner of it had been torn off.
He simply gave the host a useless piece of paper to eat and then tricked him into believing that lying would kill him.
Gojo Satoru burst out laughing instantly, a laugh that was exceptionally cunning and delightful, showing none of the cold and ruthless demeanor he had displayed when facing the enemy just moments before.
"I guessed so!"
He even extended his fist and affectionately bumped it with Kazuma Hatori's, to celebrate their perfect understanding just now.
But at this point, Gojo Satoru had clearly forgotten one thing.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, his action of casually dragging the unconscious department head with one hand and walking out with Kazuma Hatake completely stunned the jaws of the onlookers.
All eyes were fixed on the two boys, and the minister, whose suit was soaked in blood and whose fate was unknown, being dragged behind by the white-haired boy.
So, Gojo Satoru had no choice but to drag the still unconscious department head along while making a phone call to the assistant supervisor.
"Hey, come pick us up! We've found the murderer!"
"Huh, so fast...?"
The assistant supervisor who worked on the first mission with Gojo Satoru raised his voice, shocked by Gojo Satoru's high efficiency in solving the mission.
After all, [Window] had come here to observe and confirmed that there were no traces of cursed spirits, but there were a very small amount of residual cursed power, which is why the incident was reported. It can be considered a difficult case.
He thought these two would need to lie in wait for many days to find clues, unravel the mystery, and slowly uncover the truth... but they only took half a day?!
"Okay, okay, I'll be right there. Wait for me for twenty minutes, no, fifteen minutes!"
"Also, there's one more thing."
When Gojo Satoru spoke on the other end of the phone, he sounded a little guilty, even softening his voice as if he was trying his best to appear obedient.
"What's wrong?" the assistant supervisor asked, puzzled.
"Uh, that's because the murderer was the head of the TV station,"
As Gojo Satoru spoke, his tone became cheerful and light, with a soft, drawn-out tone, as if he wanted to get away with it by being cute.
"During the process of bringing him out, it seems that some ordinary people misunderstood something, so they called the police! Now there's a group of police officers in front of me and Yizhen pointing guns at us, hehe."
"Could you also help me with this while you're at it?"
Assistant supervisor: "…………"
Helper's solution: "Huh??"
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