Binding Vow

"Mr. Ichiro, I call ordinary people who cannot use cursed energy monkeys. Every monkey has its own role—some gather money, some collect curses. I apologize again for what happened last night, Mr. Lin Ichiro. It was a misunderstanding."

Inside the restaurant, Lin Yi, having reverted from his transformation, sat there stuffing himself while listening to Suguru Geto explain his views on ordinary people.

He had no interest in Suguru Geto's self-justifying rhetoric. No matter how much the man said, it could not erase the dark history of having his mentality shattered by a Heavenly Tyrant with absolutely no cursed energy.

If fighting these people were not such a hassle—and if it would not draw the attention of Jujutsu Society officials, including Satoru Gojo, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of the modern era—he could not be bothered to listen to this guy ramble on.

"So, in your eyes, jujutsu sorcerers should stand above ordinary people, right?"

"Isn't that only natural, Mr. Ichiro?"

"Then let me put it according to your logic. You call ordinary people monkeys, and that's your call. But I'm curious—if the era you want, where every person in the world is a jujutsu sorcerer, really arrives, who will do all these things afterward? You? Me? Or other weak jujutsu sorcerers?"

Lin Yi wiped his mouth, pointed at the restaurant's facilities as well as the shops and office buildings outside, and threw the question back at Suguru Geto.

The expression on Suguru Geto's face froze.

"After all, humans and monkeys live in different worlds. If monkeys want to live in the human world, they can only do so in zoos or pet stores. If you want to end the age of monkeys and create a new era for jujutsu sorcerers, then all the work done by those ordinary people you call monkeys will have to be done by jujutsu sorcerers. Oh, and by the way, the phone your daughter is using was invented by monkeys too. How tragic, Suguru Geto. You call yourself a new human, yet you're using the creations of monkeys."

It had to be said that Lin Yi truly had a talent for venomous remarks. With just a few words, he had exposed a flaw in Suguru Geto's logic of jujutsu sorcerer supremacy.

Especially when Lin Yi pointed out that the phone Suguru Geto's adopted daughter was playing with had also been invented by ordinary people—it was a critical hit. Every detail Suguru Geto had deliberately avoided and ignored had been dragged out by Lin Yi.

This was also the greatest problem with Suguru Geto's logic of jujutsu sorcerer supremacy.

Japan was the vortex of cursed energy in the world and had a population of more than a hundred million. Yet even with such an overwhelming advantage, if all the jujutsu sorcerer families in Japan were counted, there were only around a thousand jujutsu sorcerers in the entire country.

Even Japan, the vortex of cursed energy, had only this many jujutsu sorcerers. Other countries and regions produced even fewer.

And yet he was talking about creating a world inhabited only by jujutsu sorcerers? Whether the entire global population of jujutsu sorcerers even exceeded ten thousand was questionable. Even if they bred like their lives depended on it, how many descendants born with cursed techniques could such a tiny population produce?

It should also be mentioned that, in this world where everyone possessed cursed energy, eighty percent of whether someone became a jujutsu sorcerer depended first on whether one side of their paternal or maternal lineage was made up of jujutsu sorcerers. If neither their ancestors nor parents were jujutsu sorcerers, then they could not possibly become one.

And even if both parents were jujutsu sorcerers, that did not guarantee that their child would become one. They might instead become an ordinary person without a cursed technique who could only use a tiny amount of cursed energy in simple ways.

So, being a jujutsu sorcerer was an occupation determined entirely by bloodline and fate.

Such an incredibly harsh innate condition meant that jujutsu sorcerers would find it difficult to become the leaders of the world.

The era Suguru Geto wanted to create, one where only jujutsu sorcerers lived, existed only as a theoretical possibility.

What Lin Yi did not understand was that Suguru Geto should have known that.

"Wonderful! Mr. Ichiro, you really do understand me! I've never carefully considered these problems before. Looking at it now, I was too extreme."

Suguru Geto's sudden increase in volume drew the attention of everyone else in the restaurant. Lin Yi, meanwhile, stared at the lunatic before him with a thoroughly bewildered expression.

So after messing yourself up for all these years, you're only now realizing you were extreme?

Sure enough, anyone who becomes a jujutsu sorcerer is a lunatic. A normal person like me really doesn't fit in with these people.

Lin Yi rubbed his forehead, looking as though he did not know this madman at all.

But Suguru Geto became even more excited.

He stretched out both hands and tightly clasped Lin Yi's wrists, wearing the expression of someone desperate to recruit talent.

"Mr. Lin Ichiro, I truly need you. With your help, perhaps we can create an era that truly belongs to people like us."

Suguru Geto completely ignored the strange looks the ordinary people in the restaurant were giving him, but Lin Yi was starting to feel numb.

Being targeted by a lunatic who was both an extreme fanatic and a psychopath—was this the price he had to pay for obtaining a cheat ability?

Do you know your death is approaching, Suguru Geto?

Lin Yi pulled his hand free from Suguru Geto's grasp with a look of disgust. Another reason he did not want this madman clinging to him was that the guy's time was nearly up.

Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation, a cursed technique with limitless potential for later growth, had long been targeted by Kenjaku, a jujutsu sorcerer who had lived for a thousand years. Even if Suguru Geto was not killed by his best friend Satoru Gojo at the end of the year, he would still be killed by that thousand-year-old monster, Kenjaku. The man had lived for a millennium, possessed multiple powerful cursed techniques, and had both Domain Expansion and Reversed Cursed Technique, the standard tools of a top-tier powerhouse.

He was merely waiting for the right opportunity to kill Suguru Geto, take his body and Cursed Spirit Manipulation, and begin the grand plan he had been plotting for a thousand years.

Lin Yi did not want Kenjaku, after taking Suguru Geto's body, to notice him through Suguru Geto's memories. As things stood, without Reversed Cursed Technique or Domain Expansion, he could not beat that thousand-year-old monster Kenjaku.

But he was not sure he could kill Suguru Geto either. And if he did, Satoru Gojo might very well find an excuse to avenge his best friend.

Damn it, making money after transmigrating isn't easy these days.

Lin Yi cursed inwardly. Looking at Suguru Geto, with doom practically hanging over his head, he hurriedly waved his hands.

"Alright, alright, tone it down a little, Mr. Suguru Geto. Let me think about your proposal first. I'll give you an answer."

Lin Yi hurriedly soothed Suguru Geto's agitated emotions, then sat there with his eyes closed, considering what might happen with every choice he made next.

Option one: tell Suguru Geto that a thousand-year-old monster has its eye on him and have him lie low for a while? No. Who knows where that old monster might be watching from? If he launches a direct attack, neither Suguru Geto nor I can beat him without Domain Expansion. We might even get taken out two for the price of one. No way.

Option two: find Tokyo Jujutsu High and explain everything to Satoru Gojo. Hmm, that doesn't seem to work either. Satoru Gojo is strong—ridiculously, overwhelmingly strong—but even tigers take naps. That thousand-year-old monster has all the patience and time in the world. If nothing else, he can just wait for Satoru Gojo to die before making his move. He's planted so many traps already; who knows where one might go off. No way.

Option three: flip the table and run straight back home. Even if you people destroy Japan, it'll have nothing to do with me. But looking at Suguru Geto's lovesick face, getting away won't be easy. Damn it!

Lin Yi ran through the options in his mind and realized that none of them were good. The best outcome was to pretend to agree, then let Satoru Gojo kill Suguru Geto, let Kenjaku take Suguru Geto's body, and flee back home himself. But there was no guarantee Kenjaku would not become interested in his cursed technique through Suguru Geto's memories and specifically travel to his homeland to cause trouble for him.

Given that jujutsu sorcerers outside Japan were currently scattered and scarce, returning home might even make him the strongest person in the country. There would be no one capable of helping him.

Looking at it that way, it seemed his only remaining option was to enter the game himself and break the deadlock from within.

After thinking it through, Lin Yi could only come up with that one solution—a solution that barely even counted as one.

He opened his eyes, looked at the expectant Suguru Geto, and finally said:

"Suguru Geto, how about we make a Binding Vow?"

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