Framing

"The killer wasn't me... I didn't slaughter my own clan..."

Inside the cramped, dark chamber, a sea of densely packed talismans covered all four walls, and thick Shimenawa hung from the ceiling.

Dim yellow lanterns fashioned from cursed tools stood on the floor in a simple formation, while mudlike curse marks forced a young woman to kneel in the center of the room.

A middle-aged man stood before her, his face shrouded in shadow. He stared at Takako Uro with utter indifference, his gray eyes beneath the shadows chilling to behold.

"Lord Fujiwara, I didn't kill the clan head. It really wasn't me..."

Still unable to believe it, Takako Uro kept struggling to explain herself.

A few days earlier, she had used her cursed technique to escape the battlefield where they had fought Ryomen Sukuna. Out of two entire elite squads, she alone had survived. She had gone to the clan head's chambers to report what had happened.

After giving her account, before she could even leave the Fujiwara Clan's compound, a squad had rushed out and dragged her back, claiming she had killed the clan head.

Takako Uro had been imprisoned for several days, her heart filled with confusion throughout. She could not understand who could have attacked Fujiwara Daolong inside the clan compound, where there were so many guards whose abilities rivaled her own.

"I know you didn't kill him."

The man stepped forward and slowly lowered his head. Bringing his face close, he whispered in her ear, "Because I did."

Takako Uro jerked her head up. Her lips trembled slightly as she fixed her eyes on the man's face.

"Were you already planning to make me your scapegoat when you gave me my name?"

That name hovered on her tongue, but trying to utter it felt as though it would slash her throat bloody.

"Your cursed technique has to do with the sky... Then I'll give you a name related to the sky. How does Takako Uro sound?"

She could still faintly remember the joy she had felt upon receiving her name.

Yet she had never imagined that after barely escaping Ryomen Sukuna, she would face the crime of slaughtering her own clan, pinned on her by the person she respected most.

Details she had never noticed before churned through the cracks of her hatred, surfacing before her eyes one after another.

There were so many sorcerers in the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad. Why had he singled me out?

Was there anything special about me?

Had this been his plan from the very beginning? Otherwise, why would a nobleman pay attention to an ordinary covert guard like me? They were the ones who made me captain of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad and Lady Alluka's bodyguard. There was nothing about me worth their attention.

At that thought, her face suddenly turned deathly pale.

"It seems you aren't entirely stupid."

The man reached out with a cold hand and lightly patted Takako Uro's head.

This sealing chamber was specifically used to imprison jujutsu sorcerers who had committed offenses within the clan. No one could use their cursed technique here, so he had no fear of Takako Uro fighting back.

"Fujiwara!!!!!"

It had all been a lie from the very beginning. A raging fire burned in her heart, and the urge to kill the man before her surged through Takako Uro's mind.

She wanted to reach out and tear his throat open, but the restraints stopped her just as she was about to touch him, preventing her from moving even an inch farther.

The man smiled faintly, paying no heed to the hatred in Takako Uro's eyes. He turned and pushed open the sealing chamber's door, leaving her with nothing but his slightly blurred retreating figure.

"Lord Michimitsu, will the one at the Shrine be angry with us for doing this?"

After leaving the sealing chamber, a man followed respectfully behind Fujiwara Michimitsu. The two boarded an ox carriage bearing the Fujiwara clan crest, bound for the mysterious Shrine on the outskirts.

Driven by his swelling desires, Fujiwara Daolong had obtained everything he craved, but lately, the way he looked at them had grown increasingly dangerous.

Being watched every day by that gloomy gaze had left them all shuddering.

People from other clans might not have known the truth, but those within the Fujiwara Clan knew that many people at court were under Fujiwara Daolong's control.

Fujiwara Michimitsu was terrified that one day his elder brother would wish to Nanika to turn him into a mindless plaything as well. Taking advantage of the campaign against Ryomen Sukuna, they had pinned Fujiwara Daolong's death on an insignificant covert guard.

After Fujiwara Daolong died, all the ministers under his control had become completely unresponsive. Fujiwara Michimitsu had seized the opportunity to place the Emperor's younger cousin on the throne and marry his eldest daughter to him.

As for those puppets, they had killed those who needed killing and disposed of those who needed disposing of, without any major mishaps.

Only after settling everything had they come to visit the esteemed person at the Shrine.

The black-haired girl was sitting upright on the veranda, with two monks in dark yellow robes beside her. Their eyes were closed as they recited the day's scriptures.

The Black-Haired Boy was clearly uninterested in the scripture in his hands. His attention was entirely on the bell hanging beneath the veranda's eaves. Gohei covered the tassel hanging below it, and when the wind blew, the bell's clear chime sounded lovely.

Seeing Fujiwara Michimitsu and the others arrive, the two monks bowed their heads slightly and withdrew.

"Lady Alluka, the clan head passed away a few days ago. Takako Uro did it. We intend to execute her tomorrow."

As he finished speaking, Fujiwara Michimitsu discreetly focused on the Black-Haired Boy before him, watching for any change in his expression.

His feelings about Alluka's existence were complicated.

Although desire had corrupted Fujiwara Daolong into an entirely different person, Alluka's abilities were simply too unfathomable. The Fujiwara Clan's growth could not do without her.

"Oh, they're paying the price for their actions. Once they've finished paying, they'll all be happy."

Alluka tilted her head, her gray-blue eyes turning toward Fujiwara Michimitsu. Those pure eyes seemed capable of seeing into a person's heart, and under her gaze, Fujiwara Michimitsu fell into a daze.

He felt as though she had seen straight through him. In the sweltering evening, a dense layer of cold sweat had covered his back without his noticing.

"Lady Alluka... Both of the clan's elite units were annihilated by a monster. The Emperor intends to invite him to the Niiname-sai in half a month. Could we ask you and Lord Nanika to eliminate him on the day of the festival?"

Unlike the impulsive Fujiwara Daolong, Fujiwara Michimitsu did not intend to use Alluka's abilities excessively.

Over the years, as Fujiwara Daolong had made wishes without pause, finding sacrifices had become increasingly difficult. There had even been one or two occasions when they had accidentally involved nobles.

Fortunately, Fujiwara Daolong had not been entirely foolish back then and had known to find a scapegoat for his actions. But none of them had expected Ryomen Sukuna's abilities to be so impossible to counter. Even after deploying so many of the clan's elite forces, they had achieved nothing.

Now that two-faced, four-armed monster was still advancing toward Heian-kyō. The newly enthroned Emperor was scared half to death of him and did not even dare preside over the Niiname-sai in half a month himself.

Fujiwara Michimitsu believed that if Lord Nanika intervened, the monster would certainly be slain in Kyoto. Afterward, they would find sacrifices more discreetly and make sure they never alarmed the nobles of Heian-kyō again.

There was just one thing that concerned him: they did not know the monster's name. Ryomen Sukuna was merely a name the common people had given him.

Names were the trigger for the esteemed one's ability. Fearing that a second two-faced, four-armed monster might appear within the country, he had deliberated at length before deciding to ask Lady Alluka to act from the shadows on the day of the Niiname-sai.

With Lord Nanika there, he had no worries about their ability to eliminate the monster.

"Sure."

Alluka lifted her head slightly and slowly extended a hand toward Fujiwara Michimitsu, as though she would embrace everything.