Sakurada Niji kept refining his cursed energy, slowly trying to repair his body. Every so often, he stood up to keep the burned man's vital signs stable. His reverse cursed technique could heal others, but it was less effective on them. He suspected that might have something to do with his medical knowledge.
Once Sakurada Niji felt his body no longer hindered his movement, he slowly stood up and looked at [Skyward Support] in his hand.
[Skyward Support]'s blade looked mostly fine, but its hilt was completely ruined. It was no longer fit to hold.
Sakurada Niji sighed and slowly sheathed [Skyward Support], only to discover that its sheath was nearly destroyed as well.
...Three hundred million... This thing cost... I hope it'll still work after it's repaired... Shortly after enrolling, Sakurada Niji had taken on a debt of two hundred million. He had barely managed to pay it off over the following year, then spent all his time researching his cursed technique after dumping his missions on Suguru Geto. He had no savings at all!
I wonder if Jogo could be made into a cursed tool... I'll find a way to capture him alive next time... He thought of a game he had played in his previous life, where defeated bosses willingly became the protagonist's weapons and fought alongside them.
"Sakurada?!" A shout came from the distance. Sakurada Niji looked toward the voice and saw someone waving at him.
"Supervisor, sir?" Sakurada Niji said in surprise. He hadn't sensed anyone else's cursed energy nearby at the time and had assumed the assistant supervisor had already been killed by Hanami and Jogo.
Seeing Sakurada Niji in tatters and the injured victims, the assistant supervisor drove straight over.
"Sakurada! How are you feeling? You hadn't come out after two days, and this morning, the higher-ups reassigned me. They said I didn't need to worry about things here for now..." As soon as he got out of the car, the assistant supervisor hurried over to explain the situation.
After completing the temporary assignment the higher-ups had given him, the older man had rushed straight back.
"Two special grade cursed spirits. I drove them off. Oh, sir, my phone's broken. Let me borrow yours," Sakurada Niji told the assistant supervisor. He wasn't going to deliberately conceal something like this. They had to pay him extra for this mission.
The assistant supervisor handed Sakurada Niji his phone.
Looking at the wounded boy before him, the assistant supervisor said nothing. He merely clenched his fists in silence.
"Ring... ring..."
"Hello~ Who's this~?" Satoru Gojo's flippant voice came through the phone.
"It's me, Niji. I ran into two special grade cursed spirits that could speak... Bring Shoko over..." Sakurada Niji gave him their exact location over the phone.
"Got it. I'll be right there." Satoru Gojo's voice on the phone had turned serious.
Sakurada Niji returned the phone to the assistant supervisor.
"Sir, contact a hospital. Two of the victims here haven't eaten or drunk anything for three days. The other is badly injured, so I need to take him back to Jujutsu High for treatment," Sakurada Niji instructed him.
Come to think of it, I haven't eaten in ages either... Sakurada Niji couldn't help thinking.
"Understood. Please get in the car and rest for a while." The assistant supervisor opened the car door and reclined the seat for Sakurada Niji, then brought him a bottle of water and a bag of bread.
"Sorry... I didn't keep much food in the car..." The assistant supervisor looked a little embarrassed as he offered Sakurada Niji the food.
"I don't need it. Give those victims a little water first... They haven't eaten or drunk anything for over three days. They've probably been unconscious for more than a day."
The assistant supervisor said no more and took the water over to the three unconscious victims.
About two or three minutes later, Sakurada Niji saw two people suddenly appear in the air: Satoru Gojo and Shoko, whom he was carrying.
"Satoru! Over here!" Sakurada Niji shouted up at Satoru Gojo.
Satoru Gojo and Shoko saw Sakurada Niji, his clothes in tatters and his body still covered in burn marks.
"I can use reverse cursed technique now too~ Though I'm not very good at it yet~" With his close friends here, Sakurada Niji relaxed considerably and began showing off his accomplishments.
Why do these despicable things only go after everyone but me...? Satoru Gojo said nothing. An indescribable emotion stirred within him. His hatred for cursed spirits and Kenjaku had now reached its peak.
Shoko looked at Sakurada Niji with heartache written across her face. As a doctor, she knew just how severe the wounds beneath those scars had been before he healed them.
"It was Jogo and Hanami. I badly wounded Jogo, then learned reverse cursed technique. If they hadn't used hostages to stop me from opening my domain, I'd have killed them already..." Sakurada Niji briefly explained what had happened to the two of them.
"Oh, right! Shoko! There's a victim over there with severe burns. My reverse cursed technique doesn't work very well on other people. I could only keep him alive. Hurry over and take a look!" Sakurada Niji had nearly forgotten the critically injured victim and hurriedly told Shoko.
"Mm... I'll go right now." Shoko answered and walked over to the injured man to begin treating him.
"Niji, thanks for everything you did." Satoru Gojo addressed Sakurada Niji with a serious expression.
"Uh... Don't be like that... Can you go back to normal...?" Sakurada Niji wasn't at all comfortable with such a serious Satoru Gojo.
When someone who normally acted with complete abandon suddenly became serious, the contrast was jarring. More importantly... Sakurada Niji couldn't handle praise. It made him unbearably embarrassed.
"Tch..." Satoru Gojo looked annoyed. He felt that the affection he had finally managed to muster for his friend had just evaporated.
"Satoru... Take me and Shoko back first... And the badly injured man, too. With burns like that, there's no way he'll recover his original appearance without Shoko..." Sakurada Niji felt terribly guilty. Although he knew this was already the best possible outcome, he couldn't help himself.
"You're being just as difficult as Geto." Seeing Sakurada Niji still tormenting himself, Satoru Gojo couldn't help speaking up.
"You already did the best you could, didn't you? You badly wounded him without even opening your domain. What more do you want? Even if I'd been here, all I could've done was kill them to avenge those three." Satoru Gojo's expression was grave as he spoke earnestly to Sakurada Niji.
"You said Geto was arrogant for treating himself like a savior. I think you're the most arrogant one of all."
Satoru Gojo couldn't stand seeing his close friend like this, especially after learning how things had ended for Suguru Geto.
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