Kento Nanami, Sorcerer

The next day, in a mixed-use residential and commercial building along Ome Kaido in Shinjuku Ward.

Lin Yi woke naturally, looked at the notification on his phone confirming the transfer, and happily got up to brush his teeth, wash his face, and make himself breakfast. He enjoyed the sunlight on the balcony while watching pedestrians stream along the street below.

After finishing his brunch, he tidied up a little, got dressed, and went downstairs.

He rode his motorcycle to the East Exit of Shinjuku Station. Looking at the various requests written on the message board, all beginning with XYZ, Lin Yi took out his phone and photographed the contact details left there.

Having finished his routine work, Lin Yi checked the time on his watch before riding around the streets and heading to a bakery he often visited.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ichiro. One butter mochi, right?"

"That's right. One butter mochi and a bottle of milk. Xiao Xiang, you really know me well."

"Because Mr. Ichiro comes by at this time every day and orders the same butter mochi and milk."

"That's true. Xiao Xiang, you don't seem very energetic. Haven't been sleeping well lately?"

"Mr. Ichiro noticed? Maybe my workload has been too heavy lately. I'm so tired that I can't sleep at night. But don't worry, Mr. Ichiro, I'll get myself back on track!"

Hearing Lin Yi's concern, the young cashier rolled her left shoulder and gave him an energetic smile.

"If you're feeling unwell, Xiao Xiang, you should see a doctor. Or you can come to me for help. As for the fee, naturally, it'll be one month of free butter mochi."

"Oh my, Mr. Ichiro, you're so generous. I'll go see a doctor."

Lin Yi chatted familiarly with the young woman from the bakery. Taking the freshly baked, still-warm butter mochi and milk she handed over, he found a seat in the shop and watched the crowds passing outside the window.

From the corner of his eye, he occasionally glanced at the young cashier standing behind the counter. More precisely, he was looking at her shoulder.

A monster about the size of an adult human arm, resembling some sort of insect, was perched on her shoulder. Yet the cashier herself was completely unaware of it.

An ungraded Cursed Spirit: a Fly Head.

A type of Cursed Spirit born from humanity's disgust toward insects such as locusts, flies, and mosquitoes.

It posed very little harm to the human body. It survived by absorbing the trace amounts of cursed energy emitted by ordinary people, causing its host to become listless and easily fatigued. It posed no direct lethal danger to normal people.

But Lin Yi could see it, because he was a sorcerer.

And an ungraded Cursed Spirit like a Fly Head was something any sorcerer could easily exorcise.

This was Lin Yi's third month in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. His luck had been awful, but also pretty good. Right from the start, he had been given a cheat ability from the Jujutsu Kaisen world: Cursed Technique: Polarity Reversal.

With the power boost brought by his cursed technique and his status as a sorcerer, Lin Yi quickly obtained a legal identity and established himself in Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward. When in Rome, he did as the Romans did, adding "Ichiro" to the end of his name and becoming Lin Ichiro.

He had opened a detective agency called Ichiro Trading on Ome Kaido in Shinjuku Ward. Taking jobs under the guise of a private detective, he had become an active City Hunter in Shinjuku Ward—an invisible profession akin to an urban cleaner.

For now, his plan was to save up as much money as possible in Japan, find a stockbroker with at least some professional integrity, invest all his savings in the stock market, then sell every last share before October 31. He would convert it all into cash and flee back to his homeland with it.

He had no interest in joining the protagonist group to take turns fighting Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses from a thousand years ago.

Thinking about his plans for the coming days, Lin Yi finished the butter mochi in his hand. Seeing the young cashier occasionally rolling her shoulder, he thought it over and prepared to get up. He would use ordering another butter mochi to take away as an excuse to casually exorcise the Fly Head clinging to her.

"Ding-dong!"

"Welcome!"

The chime at the entrance announced a customer. The young cashier called out brightly, and upon seeing who had arrived, Lin Yi sat back down.

The customer wore a classic office worker's suit. His neatly combed blond hair was parted seven-to-three, and he was roughly the same height as Lin Yi. The dark circles beneath his eyes showed the toll overtime culture had taken on him. This blond customer was named Kento Nanami.

Like Lin Yi, he was a sorcerer.

Only, Lin Yi was a wild sorcerer—an unregistered sorcerer outside Tokyo's Jujutsu Society—while Kento Nanami was a properly trained sorcerer who had graduated from Tokyo Jujutsu High, one of Japan's only two schools that trained sorcerers.

Seeing that regular customer Kento Nanami had arrived, the young cashier placed a baguette sandwich on the table. But when she saw his haggard face and dark circles, she could not help asking, "Are you all right? Have you been sleeping properly?"

"You're the one who looks exhausted."

"You noticed too? Mr. Ichiro said the same thing."

Kento Nanami followed the cashier's gaze to Lin Yi, who was seated nearby. Lin Yi politely waved at him in greeting.

Seeing how casually familiar Lin Yi was acting, Kento Nanami withdrew his gaze. As a Grade 1 Sorcerer, he detected nothing unusual about this fellow sorcerer and judged him to be an ordinary person, just like the cashier before him.

Faced with the cashier's concern, Kento Nanami felt an urge to confide in someone. Without minding Lin Yi, a stranger, being present, he began talking about his current work situation.

"My job is to have wealthy people entrust their money to me, then make wealthy people even wealthier. More or less..."

Lin Yi sat nearby, admiring the scenery outside as he listened to Kento Nanami talk to himself. A faintly frivolous smile curled across his lips.

He had just been wondering where to find a reliable stockbroker to make his money grow. Well, there was a ready-made one right in front of him—and his commission might even be lower than the market rate.

"...Could I ask you to take one step forward?"

At the counter, Kento Nanami, still talking to himself, suddenly made a request of the young cashier serving as his listener, who only found this stockbroker's words impressive without really understanding them.

The young cashier took a step forward. Then sorcerer Kento Nanami raised his right hand and swept it toward her left shoulder.

Through the reflection in the window glass, Lin Yi saw the Fly Head Cursed Spirit clinging to the cashier's left shoulder shatter under Kento Nanami's gesture and vanish without a trace.

As the Fly Head was exorcised, the exhaustion that had wrapped around the cashier was instantly swept away.

Kento Nanami merely offered a few simple words of concern before taking his baguette sandwich and leaving the bakery.

Still immersed in the sudden disappearance of the fatigue that had plagued her for days after Kento Nanami's simple wave, the young cashier finally came back to her senses. She hurried to the entrance and loudly thanked Kento Nanami as he walked farther and farther away.

Seeing this, Lin Yi also left the bakery and quickly caught up with the sorcerer Kento Nanami.

"Um, please wait a moment."

On the sidewalk, Kento Nanami took out his phone and was about to call a name in his contacts when he noticed Lin Yi approaching from behind.

Lin Yi saw the name in the contacts as well: Satoru Gojo.

"What is it?"

"Hello, my name is Lin Ichiro. This is my business card. You can also call me Lin Yi. I heard you talking about your work in the shop just now. You're a stockbroker, right? Would you be interested in managing my funds?"

Add bookmark

Return to contents

Report chapter error

Share with friends: