Chapter 171
Kazuma Hatake glanced at Miguel in silence, thinking that the "together" that Yuta Otsuku mentioned and the "together" that this guy knew were probably not the same thing.
But Yi Gu You misunderstood Miguel's words—after all, the other person looked black and spoke with a distinct foreign accent.
They probably don't know that this Kazuma Hato had a past as a very popular star...?
Rather, it's more accurate to say that Yuta Otsukoshi was extremely emotionally distraught at the prospect of seeing a long-retired superstar in his own home.
Especially the door that Kazuma Hatori had just violently torn open was still there, with half a piece of wood still attached to the top of the gap, hanging precariously and making a slight creaking sound as the wind blew through the corridor.
"That duo, the one who sang the super famous song..."
Yi Gu You Tai huddled awkwardly in the corner, but still explained to Miguel with considerable politeness—though he was still somewhat hesitant and timid in his speech, at least he was willing to communicate.
"Especially posters and CDs... Girls at school often take them out to discuss during breaks... I... I even borrowed one once..."
As the conversation progressed, his voice grew softer and softer, as if he was extremely embarrassed to be discovered by the person in question for having specifically borrowed the CD to listen to their rendition of "FIND."
For this one song, for which they wrote the lyrics and released a record, Tomoya Tsukichi has been paying them a monthly royalties, some more and some less, every month, a practice that has continued uninterrupted for the past ten years.
Arasena Junko and Yano Kana really gave them a very valuable thank-you gift.
Even if Kazuma Hato left the Pansei Cult, or Satoru Gojo stopped being a sorcerer, they would still have enough basic funds to live a good life.
However, Kazuma Hatake did not expect that even Yuta Otsuko had heard their songs and even had a deep memory of him and Satoru Gojo.
"Singing? You were actually a singer?"
Miguel was still in shock, but Kazuma Hatake didn't intend to explain further. Instead, he jumped straight to the topic that Yuta Otsuko was most concerned about.
Wu said he has a way to break the curse that's been on you.
"Really…!"
Upon hearing this, Yuta Otsuko's expression was filled with disbelief, but Kazuma Hatori didn't wait for him to say anything and simply repeated what Satoru Gojo had told him.
"The curse that has fallen upon you is intertwined with you, which can be compared to the curser and the cursed person using cursed power to tie countless knots. What you need to do is to decipher these knots and untie them one by one."
The sentence is easy to understand literally, but when placed on Otsuku Yuuta who has no understanding of the "curse," it only leaves him completely dumbfounded.
"Exactly, how...how do I...do it...?"
He had never heard of curses or magical powers before.
Kazuma Hatori stared silently at Yuta Otsukoku, unable to answer—he had never even seen anything like [cursed power], so how could he know what to do?
Wu seemed to suddenly have something to do, and after saying that, he told him to wait a bit, and then hung up the phone.
He thought that when this sentence was given to a sorcerer who could sense the power of magic, it would be a profound and easy-to-understand instruction from a master.
The commission is not progressing at all, and this single message is not enough to lift the curse on Etotsu Yuta.
However, this small problem is no challenge for Kazuma Hagoromo.
He pondered for a moment, then said to Yigu Youtai, "I am not good at teaching people. Perhaps you can ask Wu for advice when he is not busy."
"He is currently a teacher at the High School of Spellcasting, the best of the best."
After a brief pause, Kazuma Hatori added a compliment to Satoru with a sense of pride, his tone calm yet revealing his immense pride.
"Ah, in that case... I...!"
Although Yuta Ekiku didn't understand what "[Jujutsu]" or "[Jujutsu Advanced]" meant, he subconsciously trusted his idol and stood up excitedly—but after stiffening for a moment while supporting himself against the wall with one hand, he slumped back down and hugged his knees, shrinking back into the corner.
"No, no, if I go out, someone else will get hurt..."
Possessing immense but uncontrollable power, the first instinct is to avoid harming the innocent, even if it means destroying oneself.
Perhaps Yuta's current personality seems too passive, negative, and cowardly to many people, but Kazuma Hatori believes that even if he comes to his senses and sees him, he will smile and praise Yuta as a child with a good nature.
They are not the kind of people who, possessing destructive power, become reckless, commit evil deeds, and then boast that it is the "freedom of the strong."
“It’s alright,” Kazuma Hatake said calmly. “Since Miguel and I have been standing in the room for so long without any reaction, it means that your curse is not an indiscriminate attack.”
Miguel was completely stunned to hear his boss standing so calmly next to such a terrifying curse, saying "It's alright".
He weakly added a sarcastic remark: "There was no attack, but I'm so scared I'm practically drenched in sweat... Didn't you notice how incredibly powerful the curse aura is surrounding this little imp? And that almost materialized shadow behind him... I can barely breathe just standing here..."
Kazuma Hatake glanced at him, his face expressionless: "You can go outside and wait."
He couldn't sense any magical power; all he could see was Etoko Yuta sitting in the corner, looking pitifully in his direction.
"I'll go outside now!"
Miguel, on the contrary, was more than happy to do so and ran off in a flash, leaving Kazuma Hatake and Yuta Otsukoshi in the room.
When Yuta saw the black man who had helped him earlier leave in such fear, he shrank even further into the corner, looking dejected.
"It still doesn't work..."
Kazuma Hatori looked closely at Yuta Otsukoku, who was almost crying, and realized that he was really prone to slipping into negative emotions.
However, his friend Mikoshiba is no different – he always feels ashamed and flustered in front of girls.
"That's because Miguel is too cowardly, it has nothing to do with you."
As Kazumasa Hatori was speaking, his phone rang. It was Satoru Gojo calling.
"Oh dear—sorry, I had to take care of something. Kinji, you know, the first-year student I mentioned before who likes to gamble with life, he lost so much playing pinball that the owner got angry and they started fighting in the store. He almost beat the owner half to death, so he called me over to help..."
As Gojo Satoru spoke on the other end of the phone, he almost laughed at himself. He coughed to bring the conversation back to the present, "So, did you manage to meet that cursed boy?"
Kazuma Hatake hummed in agreement and turned on the speakerphone on his phone. "His name is Yuta Otsukoshi."
After saying this, he reminded Yigu Youtai, "It was from Wu."
Yuta Otsukotsu quickly bowed his head and said, "Hello, I am Yuta Otsukotsu... Um, I have always admired you and Mr. Hatori..."
Towards the end, he became almost incoherent, feeling as if his brain was evaporating with the rising heat.
"Haha," Gojou Goro chimed in, his tone particularly playful as he spoke again, "I'll sign an autograph for Yuuta later. Okay, okay, let's talk about your curse first. Was Kazuma attacked when he went back in the past?"
Kazuma Hatori shook his head: "No."
He recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.
When Gojo Satoru heard that Otsuko Yuta wouldn't open the door and that Hato Kazuma's solution was to break down the door, he couldn't help but let out a few pleasant chuckles.
"I understand now. The trigger condition for Yuta's curse is most likely that [Yuta himself is about to be harmed]."
Gojo Satoru stroked his chin thoughtfully. "This judgment condition is a bit strange. It doesn't sound like a vicious curse on Yuta; it's more like a form of protection. Yuta, do you have any clues about the source of this curse? In other words, when did you realize you were cursed?"
After hugging his knees and remaining silent for a long time in front of his two idols who wanted to help him, Yuta finally made up his mind to tell them about his unknown past.
"That happened five years ago... almost six years ago."
He spent his childhood in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, growing up with his childhood friend, Rika Inori, and on his birthday he made a promise to marry Rika when he grew up.
But not long after, Rika Kimoto died in a car accident right in front of him.
At that moment, a pool of dark blood stretched out in front of him, and what crawled out of it were not gods or ghosts, but...
"[Urika]."
Yuta whispered the name, "I don't know why, but I'm convinced in my heart that it is Rika... and it speaks the same words as Rika."
"Can a person become a curse after death?" This was the first time Kazuma Hato had ever heard of such a thing.
"No, generally speaking, no. Although non-magicians cannot control the overflow of cursed power, and the accumulated negative emotions can easily give birth to cursed spirits; however, even if an ordinary person curses another person before death, it is difficult for them to form a powerful curse."
Gojo Satoru shook his head. "If that Rika is a sorcerer, then it makes sense. Sorcerers must be killed with cursed power, otherwise they can easily turn into a curse after death."
The car accident does indeed meet the condition of [not being killed by the curse, thus being transformed into a curse].
"But ordinary non-family-based sorcerers wouldn't become a top-tier cursed spirit after death... Hmm, I'll check Rika's family tree to see if her ancestors had sorcerer blood."
Yi Gu You Tai hesitated for a moment: "Special...Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"
“Ah, that’s what you’re referring to, [Rika],” Gojo Satoru said with a smile. “To be honest, I’ve encountered vengeful spirits before, but according to Kazuma’s description, this is the first time I’ve heard of one that has reached the Special Grade.”
"Then, how to break the curse..."
"Hmm, there is a way, but I need to see Yuta's actual situation first—ah, why don't you come to our house for sukiyaki tonight? What do you like to eat in it? By the way, I love sweet fried tofu soaked in broth!"
"Shou...Suki hotpot?"
Yuta's brain was almost completely blank; he had no idea how the topic had jumped from the ominous-sounding "[Special Grade Cursed Spirit]" to "[Which ingredient in sukiyaki is the best]".
Come to think of it, regular sukiyaki doesn't usually have fried tofu in it... Wait, is he really going to eat it? Won't Rika run out and hurt someone again...?
Yuta Otsu was still in a daze, but Kazuma Hatake realized that it was indeed getting late. After confirming with Satoru that he was still negotiating compensation with the owner of the pachinko parlor and wouldn't be able to return anytime soon, he hung up the phone.
"Walk."
A single, concise word made Yi Guyou look up in bewilderment, "Go...go where?"
“Needless to say,” Hatake Kazuma gave him a strange look.
"Of course, I'm going to buy ingredients for sukiyaki."
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