"Let's try another house."
Kento Nanami wasn't reassured, so he found another household and asked them about the situation here.
A little while later, Nanami returned with some information.
"According to the villagers, they suspected that wild beasts from the mountains came out to hunt at night.
But from the sounds, they couldn't tell what kind of beasts they were.
Still, someone claimed to have seen one with their own eyes. It was a monster that looked like a person. That person was a little mentally unstable now, so that's all we know for the time being."
"So it really could be a Cursed Spirit causing trouble.
But it only comes out at night and treats the villagers as food. That sounds a little like..."
Riko Amanai looked a little scared, as though she'd thought of something unpleasant.
"My initial judgment is that it's a curse. I estimate it won't be very strong, but don't let your guard down."
Nanami offered a reminder.
He didn't want to lose another companion because of a mistaken assessment.
"Hey, mister, do you have anything to say?" Riko looked at Shinsuke Zenin.
"Who are you calling mister? Call me teacher."
Shinsuke glanced at her, then turned his gaze toward the mountains behind the village. They were quite expansive.
The whole village sat at the foot of the mountain, like a small basin.
Whatever was in the mountains didn't seem like a small fry...
"Teacher Shinsuke! There, is that better? You're our supervising teacher. Aren't you going to share your opinion?"
Riko Amanai put her hands on her hips and pouted, looking a little unhappy.
Why did this supervising teacher seem so unreliable?
"What opinion could I have? I don't have any Cursed Energy. Even if we run into a powerful Cursed Spirit, I can't help you. So no matter what happens, you'll have to rely on yourselves."
"No Cursed Energy? How is that possible?"
Riko Amanai looked completely unconvinced. How could someone without Cursed Energy catch bullets barehanded? Did he think she was stupid?
"So Teacher really doesn't have any Cursed Energy?"
Nanami, standing nearby, seemed to understand. He'd wondered why he couldn't sense even a trace of Cursed Energy from this teacher. He'd assumed the teacher was strong enough to conceal his Cursed Energy completely.
Turns out he had no Cursed Energy at all.
"So, young lady in her prime, and boy with a serious case of office-worker vibes, fend for yourselves. I'll only be responsible for your safety; I won't help you complete the mission."
"Fine, fine. As long as you can keep us safe, that's enough."
Riko Amanai waved a hand. She didn't care anymore.
At worst, they'd just risk their lives fighting the Cursed Spirits. Someone would step in if their lives were in danger, so as long as they didn't die, it was fine.
Losing an arm or a leg didn't matter. Sister Shoko could heal them anyway.
The three of them waited until nightfall.
The village was very quiet at night. Everyone stayed indoors and went to bed early.
The bright moonlight made the village look fairly clear, and they could even see the country lanes plainly.
But in contrast, the mountains behind the village looked sinister, as if shrouded by something. They were pitch-black, and not even the moonlight could reach them.
The three of them went to the back of the village and stood at the entrance to the mountains.
"It's already the middle of the night. How come there's been no sign of anything?"
They'd spent hours walking around the village without finding any man-eating monster. It made Riko wonder if Jujutsu High had sent them on the wrong mission.
Maybe the villagers had been lying.
She knew every place had stories to scare children. Perhaps this was the same, and they'd just made a fuss over nothing.
"Rustle, rustle..."
A sound suddenly broke the silence of the night, as if something had stepped on and crushed fallen leaves and branches.
Riko and Nanami immediately went on alert and prepared to fight.
A stooped figure appeared at the entrance to the mountains.
It was an old man, leaning on a cane as he emerged from the darkness.
A strange expression crossed his wrinkled face. His eyes were bright and alert, unlike those of any old man.
"Sir, what are you doing here so late at night?"
Riko was taken aback. She'd thought it was a Cursed Spirit, but it was only an old man, so she instinctively let down her guard.
The old man didn't answer Riko. Instead, he gave her a strange smile. In the moonlight, the three of them, whose eyesight was better than ordinary people's, immediately noticed scraps of flesh stuck between his mottled teeth.
"Riko! Watch out! He's a Cursed Spirit!"
Nanami instantly sensed the fluctuations of Cursed Energy within the old man and hurriedly warned her. At the same time, he rushed forward, gripping a short blade wrapped in bandages.
"Roar!"
But the old man was faster. He lunged at Riko, his face seemingly ripping apart as it sprouted fur. He opened his mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and bit at her.
Riko's expression changed drastically, and her pupils contracted. Seeing the monster leap at her, she hurriedly covered her body with Cursed Energy.
"Swish!"
The bite missed, but a sharp claw knocked Riko backward, leaving a bloody scratch on her smooth arm.
Just as the Cursed Spirit disguised as an old man was about to attack Riko again, Nanami had already reached its side.
Cursed Energy wrapped around his short blade. He divided the opponent into a seven-to-three ratio, then struck it with a single swing, sending it flying.
"Rip!"
"Roar!!"
Blood gushed from the wound. A long gash had been cut across the Cursed Spirit's chest, and it fell to the ground, howling in agony.
Only then did everyone get a good look at the thing. It was a monkey!
More precisely, it was a mountain sprite!
Shinsuke Zenin looked surprised. A red nose and a long white face—that was a mountain sprite, wasn't it?
There were even creatures like this around here.
"So this is the Cursed Spirit that's been eating people?"
Riko didn't pay attention to the wound on her arm. Instead, she carefully studied the Cursed Spirit, which had returned to its original form.
"It's not that strong, is it? A Grade 3 Cursed Spirit?"
If she hadn't let her guard down, she could've handled something at this level with ease.
"Aow!"
Just then, the mountain sprite, lying on the ground and barely clinging to life, let out a long howl. Its body gradually turned into Cursed Energy and disappeared.
"Aow!"
"Aow!!"
At the same time, long howls rose one after another throughout the mountain, making Riko and Nanami's scalps tingle.
They'd stumbled into a nest of Cursed Spirits!
"We can't let them out, or the villagers will be in danger!"
Nanami tightened his grip on the hilt, his brow furrowing slightly. So many curses had gathered here, yet nobody had noticed them before.
It really was a miracle that the villagers had survived until now.
What he didn't know was that the reason there were so many curses was the stories the village had told to scare children, generation after generation.
They had formed from generations of accumulated negative energy.
"Seriously, I hope there isn't a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit in there."
Riko sensed the fluctuations of Cursed Energy coming from within the mountain, and her expression grew solemn.
"Looks like it's time for this genius Jujutsu Sorcerer to step in!"
A powerful burst of Cursed Energy erupted from Riko as she charged into the mountain.
She understood that if they didn't exorcise so many curses, letting them escape could cause a catastrophe.
Seeing this, Kento Nanami followed close behind.
There was no choice. Now that they'd alerted the curses, they could only grit their teeth and press on.
"Teacher Shinsuke, be careful!"
After calling out a warning, the two of them disappeared into the forest.
"Cursed Spirits, huh? Come to think of it, I've been in this world for so long and still haven't killed one."
Shinsuke Zenin followed them in at an unhurried pace.
Thinking back on what had happened so far, apart from the time as a child when that man, who'd been dead for many years, threw him into the Zenin Family's room for containing Cursed Spirits, he hadn't encountered many powerful Cursed Spirits.
Before you continue