Tokyo Jujutsu High Arrives

"Sorry, I'm not interested. In fact, I'm planning to quit after I finish work today."

On the sidewalk, Kento Nanami, who had not yet had time to make his call, accepted the business card Lin Yi handed him.

It bore Lin Yi's name and the agency's contact number, while the reverse side listed bodyguard and detective services.

Nanami studied Lin Yi for a moment before returning the card.

"All right. Then I wish you comfort in your next job."

Lin Yi could only put the card back into his wallet after Nanami rejected his offer, then left in disappointment.

With the uninvited Lin Yi gone, Nanami finally made his call. It connected.

"Hello, this is Nanami. There's something I need to tell you... Yes, I can return to the high school tomorrow."

"Mr. Nanami? It really is you."

Another voice interrupted Nanami's call. Covering the receiver, he looked toward the three people walking over from across the street: two adults and one minor.

Kiyotaka Ijichi, an assistant supervisor from Tokyo Jujutsu High, stood among them. Beside him were two figures, one tall and one short. The taller one wore casual black clothes, had short brown hair, and wore a black knit cap.

The shorter one had delicate features. Though he still looked young, he stood as straight as the young man beside him. His most striking feature was his hair—a blackish-blue sea urchin cut that made him look like some school delinquent.

"Ijichi, Ino..."

"This is Mr. Gojo's student, Megumi Fushiguro, of Zenin Clan blood."

"Why did we come over to greet him? Wasn't our mission this time just to observe?"

Fushiguro looked displeased as he turned toward the direction Lin Yi had left. Though Nanami had his doubts, he still looked at Kiyotaka Ijichi before him.

This assistant supervisor had been helping sorcerers exorcise Cursed Spirits ever since Nanami's days at the high school, and he was the person Nanami knew best.

"I didn't expect to run into you here, Mr. Nanami."

"You're on a mission?"

"Yes, Mr. Nanami. Here's the situation..."

Ijichi briefly explained the sequence of events, prompting Nanami to look in the direction Lin Yi had gone.

Could that uninvited visitor who had suddenly approached him be an unregistered sorcerer active in Shinjuku Ward?

"He looked like an ordinary person."

"Perhaps, but that needs to be confirmed. Mr. Nanami, are you working?"

"No, I'm preparing to resign. I was speaking with Satoru Gojo, but..."

Ichiro Trading Detective Agency, in a mixed residential-commercial building on Ome Kaido in Shinjuku Ward.

"Well, well. I didn't expect you to remember the address after just one look at my card. Um..."

"Kento Nanami. He's my colleague at my next job, and this is an intern."

Lin Yi warmly greeted Nanami, who had come to visit. Nanami introduced himself and came up with a flimsy excuse for the minor sitting beside him.

"Mr. Nanami, I work in this line of business. I know the rules and won't pry. So, are you here because your new job requires it, or have you decided to accept my offer?"

"It's a requirement of my new job."

"That's a real shame. Since it's a work requirement, do you have official credentials? If not, I should be allowed to refuse, right?"

"We do."

Nanami took out his wallet and placed a large-denomination Yukichi Fukuzawa note—10,000 yen—in front of Lin Yi.

Lin Yi swiftly pocketed the Yukichi Fukuzawa note, then asked with a smile, "How can I help you?"

"Then excuse my rudeness, Mr. Lin Ichiro. Where were you last night?"

Ijichi adjusted his glasses and got straight to the point, asking Lin Yi about his whereabouts the previous night.

"Oh, last night? I took on a job and helped the client deal with some personal matters."

"What kind of job?"

"That doesn't seem like something you should be asking, sir."

"Then let me ask another question. Mr. Lin Ichiro, was your job related to this place?"

Ijichi took a photograph of the building where last night's incident had occurred from his coat and handed it to Lin Yi.

"Mr. Nanami, your new job is certainly strange. Yes, it was related to this place. Per my client's request, I helped him deal with a minor problem."

"Then, Mr. Lin Ichiro, are you a sorcerer?"

Ijichi leaned back slightly. Nanami and Takuma Ino, seated on either side of Ijichi, secretly gathered their cursed energy as their eyes locked onto Lin Yi.

But a baffled expression appeared on Lin Yi's face. "What is a sorcerer? Is it a profession like being a medium? And you, kid, what are you doing?"

Lin Yi looked toward Megumi Fushiguro at the end of the row. From his height, Lin Yi could clearly see Fushiguro pressing his palms together in a gesture that cast the silhouette of a dog's head in the sunlight. He looked utterly confused.

"You can't see it?"

"See what? Is there something I'm supposed to see? In my line of work, you can't just look at things casually."

Lin Yi answered in all seriousness, leaving the highly alert Nanami and Ino even more doubtful. Along with Ijichi, they tried to find even the slightest sign of lying on Lin Yi's face, or some clue in his eyes.

Because in the eyes of Nanami, Ino, Ijichi, and Fushiguro, a white dog and a black dog stood on either side of Lin Yi, staring at him. Their bodies were slightly lowered, ready to attack at Fushiguro's command.

Yet Lin Yi still noticed nothing. He merely looked around in confusion and muttered, "Huh? Why do I feel like something is watching me?"

Seeing this, Fushiguro lost interest in continuing the test. He separated his hands, and the two dogs beside Lin Yi turned into shadows and melted into the darkness.

"Mr. Lin Ichiro, can you tell me what happened while you were dealing with that minor problem last night? I believe that is something you can answer."

Once Ijichi saw that the test had yielded no results and confirmed Lin Yi was merely an ordinary person, he took another five Yukichi Fukuzawa notes from his coat and placed them on the table.

"Of course I can. I was all ready for a fight, but someone dealt with it before I could. I just took a photo and handed the job over to my client."

"I have no further questions. I apologize for disturbing you, Mr. Lin Ichiro. Goodbye."

"Take care."

Having failed to get the answers they wanted, Ijichi and the others rose to leave. Before departing, Nanami noticed the calendar hanging on Lin Yi's wall and saw that Lin Yi had circled October 31 in red.

"October 31. Mr. Lin Ichiro, would you mind telling me what that date means to you?"

"Oh, that? It's just a vacation plan for after I finish this year's work. October has lovely weather, perfect for traveling abroad and unwinding. Mr. Kento Nanami, I don't know what your new job is, but it probably won't stop you from taking on a side job. How about considering it?"

"Excuse us. Goodbye."

"See you."

Lin Yi stood on the balcony and watched Nanami's group drive away before returning to the living room and throwing himself heavily onto the sofa.

He truly could not see the shikigami Fushiguro had summoned, and that was thanks to his cheat ability—the foundation that allowed him to survive in this country where everyone possessed cursed energy, a country filled with curses, Cursed Spirits, and two opposing camps of sorcerers.

Cursed Technique: Polarity Reversal!

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