The next day.
By the time Shinsuke Zenin arrived at Jujutsu High, two students had already been waiting in the classroom for quite a while.
The spacious classroom held only the two students and Satoru Gojo, who was starting to get impatient.
"You're finally here, big brother. Could you try having some sense of time?"
Satoru Gojo complained.
"You never told me what time to come," Shinsuke Zenin retorted.
He was always punctual. If he'd said he would come in the morning, then he'd come in the morning. Without a specific time, even eleven o'clock counted as morning, right?
"..." Satoru Gojo.
Unable to come up with a response, Satoru Gojo looked exasperated. "Fine, I was wrong. Come over here, you two. Starting today, this is your homeroom teacher. Go to him with any problems."
"Of course, if you have any questions about your Cursed Techniques, you can ask me or another teacher."
Satoru Gojo brought the two over to Shinsuke Zenin and said,
"Take your time getting to know each other. I've got things to do."
With that, Satoru Gojo left. As a Special Grade Sorcerer, he didn't have as much free time as Shinsuke Zenin.
Shinsuke Zenin ignored Satoru Gojo and looked at the two students in front of him, a boy and a girl.
No, more accurately, a boy and a boyish guy.
"Why don't you introduce yourselves?"
The mature-looking young man stepped forward and said,
"Kinji Hakari, male. I like doing things that get me fired up."
"Kirara Hoshi, female. I don't have any particular hobbies."
Looking at the person who resembled a delicate girl but had a lip piercing, Shinsuke Zenin furrowed his brow. "You think I can't tell you're a guy?"
There was nothing wrong with being a boyish guy. It wasn't something to be ashamed of.
"You saw through me. Okay." Kirara Hoshi stuck out his tongue.
He'd thought he could get away with it.
"My name is Shinsuke Zenin. You can call me Teacher Zenin or Teacher Shinsuke. I don't have many rules as a teacher. I only ask one thing of you: by the time you graduate, you must at least reach Grade 1 Sorcerer level."
Shinsuke Zenin stated his one requirement. He also believed the two could meet it.
In fact, if Kinji Hakari got lucky, he might even become a Special Grade Sorcerer.
But with the old-fashioned way the higher-ups thought, they'd probably rather die than classify him as Special Grade.
"Teacher, are you a sorcerer from the Zenin Family?" Kinji Hakari asked.
"I am and I'm not. That's not something you need to concern yourselves with."
Shinsuke Zenin looked at the two of them. "From now on, go to Satoru Gojo with any questions about your Cursed Techniques. If you're sent on a mission or run into trouble, call me."
After giving them his contact information, Shinsuke Zenin thought for a moment. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he added,
"That's all for today. Train hard at Jujutsu High and try to reach Grade 1 as soon as possible. I've got things to do, so I'll head off. Call me if anything comes up."
After giving them his final instructions, Shinsuke Zenin left while the two stared at him in confusion.
With only the two of them left in the empty classroom, they looked at each other. Kinji Hakari said, "Why does this teacher seem so unreliable?"
Both their homeroom teacher and Satoru Gojo, who had brought them here, gave off an unreliable impression.
For two newcomers who had just entered the Jujutsu World, they really hadn't had much luck ending up with a teacher like this.
"Before coming here, I looked into it. The white-haired guy is the big shot of the Jujutsu World, the Strongest Sorcerer alive.
"And Teacher Zenin, our homeroom teacher, may have the strength of a Grade 1 Sorcerer, but he can't use a Cursed Technique and doesn't even have Cursed Energy."
Kirara Hoshi clearly knew more than Kinji Hakari did.
"He's from the Zenin Family, but I heard he doesn't get along with them."
"What do we do now?" Kirara Hoshi chewed his gum and looked at Kinji Hakari beside him.
"How should I know?" Kinji Hakari said, exasperated.
Could this school even be trusted?
"Let's ask another teacher. We should at least find out what we're supposed to do next."
Like a pair of lost souls, the two wandered around Jujutsu High. Their lives as Jujutsu Sorcerers began that day.
For several months, their homeroom teacher, Shinsuke Zenin, seemed to have vanished. They never saw him again.
On top of that, he was still collecting such a high salary without doing anything.
But the good times couldn't last forever. When a phone call finally came, his leisurely days came to an end.
"Hello, is this Teacher Shinsuke Zenin?"
A somewhat familiar voice came from the other end. Shinsuke Zenin was briefly taken aback, then remembered. "Kinji Hakari?"
"That's me, Teacher. The thing is, Kirara and I accepted a mission to advance to Grade 2 Sorcerer, and we have to be accompanied by a teacher..."
Kinji Hakari explained the situation to Shinsuke Zenin.
If the circumstances hadn't forced them to, they wouldn't have wanted to bother their hands-off teacher.
After all, they had plenty of freedom without a teacher keeping an eye on them.
"Grade 2 Sorcerer?"
Shinsuke Zenin thought about it. Several months had passed, so it seemed these two really were talented. They could take the Grade 2 Sorcerer exam after only a few months.
"Okay, I understand."
For the Grade 2 Sorcerer exam, the target they exorcised had to be at least a Grade 2 Curse.
The talented always got different treatment. Something might go wrong during their mission, and they could run into a Grade 1 Curse or something.
He could take care of it while he was there.
Taking an ordinary long-sword Cursed Tool with him, Shinsuke Zenin headed to Jujutsu High to accompany the two on their promotion exam mission.
When he arrived at Jujutsu High, an annoyed-looking Riko Amanai was standing beside Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi.
"Uncle, you're such an irresponsible teacher! Do you know I've been the one teaching them these past few months?"
Riko stood with her hands on her hips, furious.
Satoru Gojo had been so busy lately that he'd had to ask Riko to spare some time to teach the two about Cursed Energy and Cursed Techniques.
She'd done it as a favor, without getting paid, since the salary was going to Shinsuke Zenin.
She did the work, and he got the paycheck.
"Uh... I see."
Shinsuke Zenin suddenly understood. No wonder the two hadn't contacted him for months—Riko had been helping out.
"How about I transfer you a month's worth of my salary?"
Shinsuke Zenin scratched his head. He couldn't afford to give her more than that.
"Forget it, forget it. I only spent a little time on them once a week anyway. I'll just come over to your place and mooch a few meals from now on."
Riko waved her hand, not asking for any money.
She'd only wanted to complain about this irresponsible uncle.
"Of course. You're welcome anytime."
"Since that's settled, I'll take these two to complete their promotion mission."
"Okay."
Riko gave him an OK sign. "These two students are really talented. You should put a little more effort into teaching them."
At that, Shinsuke Zenin smiled nonchalantly.
Talented students needed to be given free rein to make their own way.
"Come on, you two little geniuses. It's time for your mission."
"..."
Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi's cheeks twitched slightly. Their homeroom teacher really was a bit unreliable.
At least they were confident in their own abilities. The Grade 2 Sorcerer exam would be a piece of cake.
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