A Stopgap Measure

Shinjuku Ward, a mixed-use residential and commercial building on Ome Kaido.

Lin Yi sat at his computer desk, browsing the commission notices he had posted on the message board at the East Exit of Shinjuku Station, when the doorbell suddenly rang.

When he opened the door, Suguru Geto and a pink-haired beauty holding some documents were waiting outside.

"Good morning, Yi-chan~"

"You really are absurdly enthusiastic about me, Suguru Geto."

Ignoring Geto's overly familiar nickname, Lin Yi cracked a joke and opened the door to let the two of them in.

Geto had no awareness whatsoever of being a guest. The moment Lin Yi let him inside, he began wandering around like he owned the detective agency, inspecting Lin Yi's decorating style.

The pink-haired beauty Geto had brought with him placed the documents in her hands on Lin Yi's desk.

After being pestered by that lunatic Geto yesterday and finding himself unable to shake him off anytime soon, Lin Yi had thought it over again and again. To keep making money, to comprehend the Reversed Cursed Technique and Domain Expansion that were standard equipment for the strong in Japan's massive whirlpool of cursed energy, and for his own safety, Lin Yi had chosen to form a "Binding Vow" with Geto.

A "Binding Vow" was a mechanism in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen that could be used between sorcerers, intelligent Cursed Spirits, and even ordinary people.

Simply put, it meant swearing an oath to heaven and fulfilling it.

The Binding Vow between Lin Yi and Geto was essentially a simple partnership. To put it plainly, theirs was an employer-employee relationship. If Geto discovered a Cursed Spirit in Tokyo or elsewhere that he wanted to subdue but could not conveniently act against himself, he could hire Lin Yi to do it, exchanging information related to Jujutsu Society or money in return.

Even if it involved causing Jujutsu High a little trouble, Lin Yi could consider it depending on the circumstances.

However, any Cursed Spirits he was asked to subdue had to be wild Cursed Spirits, not ones artificially created by Geto using humans.

Otherwise, Lin Yi would flip the table. He still had that much of a moral bottom line; he could not be as crazy as sorcerers like Geto.

In exchange, Geto was forbidden from revealing Lin Yi's existence to Jujutsu High or anyone other than Lin Yi's family. If Lin Yi died unexpectedly, Geto also had to erase every memory related to Lin Yi from his mind.

It did not matter if Geto could not accomplish that. As long as he formed this Binding Vow with Lin Yi, the will of heaven in Jujutsu Kaisen would enforce it the moment Geto was killed by Satoru Gojo. That way, even if Kenjaku, that thousand-year-old monster, took over Geto's body, he would not find anyone named Lin Yi in Geto's memories.

The reason Lin Yi had added those terms to the Binding Vow was nothing more than buying insurance. No one could predict the butterfly effect. Once he intersected with the main plot of Jujutsu Kaisen, who knew whether it would continue as he knew it? Better safe than sorry.

With the Binding Vow formed, Lin Yi temporarily abandoned his plans to flee back home and returned to his detective agency on Ome Kaido in Shinjuku Ward.

"Lord Geto, all the information on Jujutsu Society is here. How much longer are we staying?"

The pink-haired beauty watched Geto wander around Lin Yi's detective agency and impatiently urged him on.

"Manami, don't you think Yi-chan's place is nice? It doesn't have even a trace of that monkey stench."

"That's true, but we don't have much time this trip."

Seeing Geto and the pink-haired beauty named Manami putting on such an act, Lin Yi found it amusing. Since she did not want to linger, he followed her lead.

"Your secretary has a point. As a curse user officially wanted by Jujutsu Society, are you running around like this because you want your best friend to come have a chat with you?"

"Don't be so tense, Yi-chan. Satoru is busy. He doesn't have that much time to keep an eye on me. Come on. As our newest member, I should take you to greet everyone else. Besides, I still haven't compensated you."

At the mention of his best friend Satoru Gojo, Geto slung an arm around Lin Yi's shoulders and dragged him out the door without another word.

Lin Yi had no desire to go, but having temporarily boarded Geto's pirate ship by forming a Binding Vow with him, he could only follow.

Minato Ward, Tokyo, 2-1-1 Moto-Akasaka, Akasaka Palace.

This was Japan's largest Western-style palace. It had once served as office space for multiple government agencies and was now open to the public as a tourist attraction.

Lin Yi had not expected the headquarters of the Time Vessel Association, where Geto served as cult leader, to be located here.

"What do you think, Yi-chan? Not a bad place, right?"

"It really is nice. No wonder Satoru Gojo, with his Six Eyes, couldn't find you after all these years. Who would have thought you were right under his nose?"

"Yi-chan, you know quite a lot about the relationship between Satoru and me. Then why did you ask me for information on Jujutsu Society?"

"It isn't hard to know about you and Satoru Gojo, but when it comes to Jujutsu Society—especially Japan, the world's great whirlpool of cursed energy—I know less than you do."

As they spoke, Geto led Lin Yi to a room and pushed open the door.

"Everyone, meet our new family member: an unregistered sorcerer who works as a City Hunter in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. Mr. Lin Ichiro—Yi-chan~"

Geto presented Lin Yi behind him as though displaying a treasure. Looking at the sorcerers Geto called family, Lin Yi was speechless.

He had already met Nanako Hasaba and Mimiko, the pair of twin sisters. They were middle schoolers spoiled rotten by Geto, yet their feelings for their adoptive father were the most sincere. Seeing that the new member was Lin Yi, the man who had startled them that night, they merely sat off to the side with puffed cheeks and turned their heads away.

Two foreigners sat on the sofa. One was Miguel Oduol, a Black man. The other was a blond, blue-eyed white man with a muscular bare upper body and two hearts tattooed on his chest. There was also a young man with a scar over his right eye, studying Lin Yi curiously.

Counting Geto beside him and that pink-haired beauty of a secretary, this was the entire group Geto intended to use to create an era where sorcerers stood above all others.

Without Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation, which allowed him to function as an army all by himself, Lin Yi felt that this handful of people trying to create some so-called era of sorcerer supremacy was downright laughable.

No wonder Satoru Gojo had not laid a hand on you despite all the trouble you've caused over the years. You've just been making minor mischief all along.

"Mr. Geto, is this guy really a sorcerer? He looks like nothing more than an ordinary monkey."

The first to speak was the young man with the scar over his right eye, who had been staring curiously at Lin Yi. He could not see through Lin Yi's disguise under the passive effect of Two-Stage Reversal.

"Hey, Neki, don't judge through tinted glasses. Use your heart. Mr. Lin Ichiro's technique even gave me quite a scare."

Miguel, who had dealt with Lin Yi once before, unexpectedly spoke up for him.

Lin Yi could not be bothered explaining. He directly activated the active effect of Two-Stage Reversal, switching into his sorcerer form. In an instant, an enormous amount of cursed energy poured out of him and enveloped the entire room.

The eruption of cursed energy startled Geto's family members, putting them on high alert as they glared at Lin Yi with unfriendly expressions.

Lin Yi saw that his sorcerer form had frightened them, but he gave it no further thought. Greetings had been exchanged, and he had seen the place. It was time to leave.

"Suguru Geto, honestly, I really don't think much of your idea. But I'll do what I promised. If there's a Cursed Spirit you want subdued, just let me know. You know how to contact me, right?"

Lin Yi patted Geto on the shoulder, turned, and left.

Geto did not get angry just because Lin Yi's sorcerer form had frightened his family. He merely looked toward his pink-haired secretary, and the sorcerer named Manami went after Lin Yi.

"Mr. Lin Ichiro, please come with me. This is compensation from Lord Geto for damaging your motorcycle that day."

In the courtyard of Akasaka Palace, Lin Yi stared at the motorcycle before him—a replica of the one from Kamen Rider W—with gleaming eyes.

The motorcycle had originally been Lin Yi's Honda CBR1000RR-R. After a new paint job and some modifications to the front, it had become the Kamen Rider W motorcycle, Hard-Boiled.

There was also a storage case on the seat. When he opened it, he found one thousand 10,000-yen notes inside. Another windfall had arrived.

Now Lin Yi was satisfied.

"So, you'll be responsible for contacting me whenever Suguru Geto wants a Cursed Spirit subdued from now on, right, Miss Manami?"

"Manami Suda, Mr. Lin Ichiro. Please believe in Lord Geto. He will definitely create an era that belongs to us sorcerers."

"Yes, yes, I believe you. See you around."

Lin Yi agreed perfunctorily, then finally mounted the motorcycle in satisfaction and rode away.

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