Itabashi Ward, one of the areas Sakurada Niji was responsible for.
Itabashi Ward lay northwest of central Tokyo, close to Saitama Prefecture, and was a relatively quiet area. Its out-of-the-way location meant that tourists visiting Tokyo rarely made a special trip there, but it was also one of the city's few old neighborhoods that still retained the atmosphere of a traditional castle town. Besides its residential and commercial areas, northern Itabashi Ward had plenty of factories and few notable landmarks.
I only got the notice of my official promotion to Special Grade Sorcerer yesterday, and there's already work today.
Just moments earlier, Sakurada Niji had received a call from an Assistant Supervisor, then gotten into his car at the foot of the mountain where Tokyo Jujutsu High stood.
"I hate riding in cars, especially for this long." Sakurada Niji sat in the passenger seat, the breeze blowing through the window barely keeping his carsickness-induced nausea at bay.
The Assistant Supervisor driving the car was a middle-aged man. He was taciturn and not fond of talking, but from the few things he had said, Sakurada Niji had concluded that he hated and loathed cursed spirits with a passion.
Faced with someone who so clearly had a tragic story and had lived through something unforgettable, Sakurada Niji made no attempt to offer comfort or promises.
He merely strengthened his resolve to eradicate cursed spirits completely.
As the road grew increasingly uneven, Sakurada Niji felt worse and worse. He reclined his seat, lay back, and quietly closed his eyes, hoping to escape the misery of carsickness through sleep.
His carsickness kept his sleep shallow. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the car turning and stopping. Only when he felt it come to a complete halt did he wake naturally, slowly sit up, and stare blankly through the window at his surroundings.
There were many factories nearby, some already abandoned. A railway track ran through the weed-covered ground, and the car had stopped not far from the station ahead.
"Sakurada, we're here. Maenocho Station up ahead is where the cursed spirit was found this time," the Assistant Supervisor said quietly to Sakurada Niji in the passenger seat.
"Right. Give me the mission details." Sakurada Niji rubbed his eyes and patted his face to wake himself up.
"This incident began when a train full of passengers failed to reach its terminus after passing through Maenocho Station. Contact with it was also lost. The missing train didn't reappear until the following morning, but by then, there wasn't a single person left inside."
"The police then reported the matter to the Jujutsu Association. According to observations made by the Window dispatched by the Association, there should be a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit with an expanded innate domain at the station ahead. Its basis appears to be the Kisaragi Station disappearance case that became popular two years ago. For some reason, it recently gained popularity locally again and became a well-known urban legend."
"The Window classified it as a fictional imaginary cursed spirit."
"Ugh, there are always people who like making up stories to scare everyone..." Sakurada Niji was speechless. No matter where or when, there were always those first-person horror stories.
"I'm sorry, that's all the information we have..." The middle-aged Assistant Supervisor looked apologetic. He bowed deeply to Sakurada Niji, almost as though rebuking himself.
"Your report was already very thorough. No need to blame yourself." Sakurada Niji stretched.
"Wait here, and don't come any closer. Once I've gone over there, put up the Curtain." After giving the Assistant Supervisor his instructions, Sakurada Niji opened the car door and headed toward the station.
"Understood, Sakurada. Please be careful." The Assistant Supervisor bowed again to Sakurada Niji's retreating figure.
"Emerge from darkness, darker than darkness. Purify all that is impure, all cursed residue." The Assistant Supervisor pointed a finger toward the sky and recited the words.
As the Assistant Supervisor finished the incantation, a pool of soy-sauce-colored substance appeared in the sky and began pouring down. It looked as though it were being poured over an upturned hemispherical container, slowly spreading down its outer surface until it covered it completely, forming a Curtain that enclosed Sakurada Niji and the station.
The instant Sakurada Niji was about to enter the station, the world before him changed. Day became the dead of night, and the darkness and silence around him made his footsteps sound unusually heavy.
"The time changed, but the surroundings are pretty much the same. Still a station," Sakurada Niji murmured.
He headed toward the station, because there was still light there.
There was still no movement anywhere. The silence was frightening, leaving Sakurada Niji, who had never been particularly brave, feeling uneasy.
I hate it when a normal place turns completely lifeless and silent.
Sakurada Niji wasn't afraid of cursed spirits, because he could see them and beat them to death. But this one had yet to show itself, clearly having no intention of confronting him head-on.
It's a little like the cursed spirit from that mission with Utahime, Sakurada Niji thought.
Probably a spatial type.
Sakurada Niji reached the station entrance and went inside. The station was brightly lit, but there still wasn't a single person in sight. He began sensing with his cursed energy and detected fluctuations coming from what looked like a security office nearby.
Tap, tap. Tap, tap...
Sakurada Niji's shoes echoed against the station floor.
My name was Konno Yoshiko. I was eighteen years old and worked at a factory near Itabashi Ward.
Yesterday afternoon, after work, I boarded the train home as usual.
But gradually, I realized something was wrong. The train normally reached my stop in less than twenty minutes, yet this time, it had been running for ages.
When my phone warned me that its battery was low and it would soon shut down, I checked the time: 19:20.
More than an hour had already passed.
I looked out the window. It was pitch-black outside, and I couldn't see the familiar factory buildings of the industrial district.
I glanced around the carriage. Aside from me, there was only a couple. They had been busy flirting with each other and hadn't paid any attention to the time.
I missed my stop, I thought.
Even if I bothered the driver now, it wouldn't do any good, would it?
I could only blame my own bad luck. I'd been so absorbed in my rhythm game that I'd carelessly missed my stop.
All I could do now was wait for the next station, right? Then I'd make do with a night at the station and take the train straight to work tomorrow.
I looked at my phone's remaining 19% battery and stopped using it, quietly watching the "scenery" outside instead.
Well, it was still nothing but pitch-black out there.
Watching the unchanging scenery outside, I somehow drifted off to sleep...
I didn't know how long I'd slept before the couple's arguing woke me.
They seemed to be saying things like, "Why hasn't it stopped yet?"
They were pounding on the driver's door, trying to get an explanation from him.
Honestly, how clueless. Why would the driver stop just because you missed your stop?
I turned on my phone, checked the time, and froze.
22:33.
It's been so long... We must be out of Itabashi Ward by now, right?
I looked out the window. The scenery was still exactly the same.
I didn't join the argument. I simply waited quietly for the train to reach a station.
There should be a stop roughly every twenty minutes on this line. There was little chance I'd miss it, I thought.
The couple kept pounding on the driver's door, but there was never any response.
I stared blankly at the unchanging scenery outside. After who knew how long, a glimmer of light appeared in the darkness...
A station!
I felt as though I'd narrowly escaped death. I might never dare take a train again.
The couple stopped knocking on the driver's door. They seemed to have spotted that glimmer of light too.
The moment the train stopped, I hurried off and ran toward the station building.
I eagerly pushed open the station's doors, wanting to buy something inside as soon as possible, then find a bench to sleep on for the night.
But once I went inside, I discovered that there wasn't a single person in the station, nor anything on the shelves...
An abandoned station. There's nothing left but the electricity. I had already begun to feel uneasy, but I had no choice but to reassure myself that way.
The couple looked just as disappointed as I did when they saw the state of the station. Putting on a calm front, they walked over to me.
"Excuse me, miss. Do you remember what time you boarded?" the man asked me.
"Around six. What about you?" I answered, then asked them the same question.
But upon hearing my answer, the couple looked terrified, as though something dreadful had occurred to them.
I didn't question them further. All I could do was force myself to stay calm and reassure them.
"We'll spend the night here, then wait until tomorrow morning. We can take an early train to the nearest departure station and get home from there."
They said nothing, only nodded at me.
I was a little hungry and very tired, so I went to the security office. As expected, there was nothing to eat inside, just a desk and a chair. But the room was small, which made it warmer and gave me more of a sense of safety.
I crawled under the desk, curled up, and fell asleep...
The next day, the couple woke me by knocking on the door.
I went outside and joined them on the platform to wait for an early train. But by noon, not a single train had arrived. The couple couldn't wait any longer and wanted to walk back along the tracks in the direction our train had come from.
For some reason, I stayed behind, watching them grow farther and farther away.
I waited on the platform, desperately hoping a train would suddenly appear...
Night came, and still no train arrived. I could only return to the security office and crouch beneath the desk, enduring my hunger.
Just as I was growing drowsy and about to fall asleep... I heard the tap, tap of footsteps.