The Mountain's Curse

"Mm... big brother... I believe you..." Nanako was already overwhelmed with grief. After hearing Suguru Geto's reply, she finally buckled under the strain and fainted. Suguru Geto summoned a cursed spirit to protect her.

Then Suguru Geto reported the situation to the Assistant Supervisor and instructed the villagers to lock the village chief in the wooden cage that had held Nanako and Mimiko until the police arrived.

Working together, Suguru Geto and Sakurada Niji soon exorcised all the cursed spirits possessing the villagers.

"The evil spirits possessing you have been banished, but the wicked thoughts in your hearts cannot be uprooted. Remember, you must never again succumb to greed, hatred, or delusion. Otherwise, once the wickedness in your hearts is stirred, the evil spirits will possess you again. We [God Servants] will return regularly to banish the evil spirits afflicting you faithful, but we will also assess how much those spirits have grown within you. Those with excessive growth will be punished; those with little will be praised."

"Remember, faithful ones: keep kindness in your hearts and give generously to others. Only then can you escape suffering and toil and soon rid yourselves of the evil spirits invading your bodies." Suguru Geto simply stood there, yet his tall, straight figure seemed exceptionally striking. His face was filled with compassion as he solemnly admonished the faithful.

The villagers froze for a moment, but when they heard the [God Servant] say that he would return regularly to cleanse them of evil spirits, they hurriedly bowed low.

"Yes... Lord [Divine Child], Lord [God Servant]...!" The villagers showed great devotion, kneeling and bowing to the two [Divine Children].

So easily tamed. Count yourselves lucky... that you met me... I will grant you [equality]. The smile on Suguru Geto's face unconsciously softened further, making him seem like a god.

"The ritual is complete. The [Divine Children] have forgiven you. Faithful ones, disperse." Seeing that Suguru Geto had slipped into some sort of trance, Sakurada Niji did not disturb him.

The faithful dispersed, leaving only Suguru Geto, Sakurada Niji, and the two sisters.

A little later, Suguru Geto's expression returned to normal, as though he had emerged from that state. Sakurada Niji picked up the unconscious Mimiko behind him and walked toward Geto.

"Let's go, Geto. One last loose end. Hopefully, some cursed residue hasn't dissipated yet," Sakurada Niji said to Suguru Geto.

"Yeah. Don't worry, we won't let him get away." Suguru Geto took Mimiko from Sakurada Niji's arms and laid her beside Nanako on the back of the Ox Cursed Spirit.

"All right, let's go." Suguru Geto headed toward the mountain behind the house, with the Ox Cursed Spirit following him.

Sakurada Niji started walking too, but his eyes remained fixed on the Ox Cursed Spirit ahead. Its gait was exceptionally steady as it slowly followed Suguru Geto.

So steady. Riding it definitely wouldn't make me dizzy...

After they had walked for quite a while, Suguru Geto suddenly stopped up ahead.

"Niji, aren't you going to ask what I'm planning to do...?" Suguru Geto seemed to be growing impatient. He had waited the entire way for Sakurada Niji to ask, but the question never came.

"I've said it many times, but I'll say it one last time. I believe in you, Geto."

"Besides, you managed to restrain yourself even in a situation like today's. That proves your state of mind hasn't continued to deteriorate," Sakurada Niji said calmly.

He had only feared that Suguru Geto would fail to restrain himself in that moment. If that had happened, there would have been no turning back.

With things like this, the crucial point was often the first time. If he held back the first time, he would grow increasingly stable afterward. If he failed to hold back the first time...

"Yeah... I understand... Sorry. Even now, I'm still saying things like that..." Suguru Geto lowered his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he gave a quiet, rueful laugh. That laugh seemed to be directed at his own question.

"Don't bring that up again. Let's focus on what's happening now... There's cursed residue nearby, probably Grade 1." Through his cursed energy perception, Sakurada Niji detected a swath of cursed residue in the bamboo grove ahead.

"All right, understood. Geto, [just in case], stay here." Sakurada Niji entrusted Suguru Geto with protecting Mimiko and the others, preparing to investigate the spot ahead where the residue lingered himself.

"Okay, Niji. [Be careful]," Suguru Geto replied.

Sakurada Niji followed the traces of cursed residue to investigate alone.

"Hmm, there are probably three kinds of cursed residue... Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 2..." Sakurada Niji murmured after examining it.

The Grade 1 residue ends here, and one of the Grade 2 trails ends here too. The blood on the ground... Did only one survive? After observing his surroundings, Sakurada Niji took his analysis further.

I think I understand. They were probably Grade 2. One of the sorcerers may have had no direct combat ability, while the other wasn't particularly strong either, or he wouldn't have been injured by a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. Most likely, one sorcerer ambushed the other during the fight, killing him. The victim was probably the girls' father, Yoshihide Hasaba. Sakurada Niji mentally reconstructed the scene from the evidence and arrived at a highly probable sequence of events.

"Then this final clue is all that's left to uncover the truth. Onward." Sakurada Niji followed the last trail of residue he could sense.

After walking a little over a hundred meters, Sakurada Niji stopped. He saw a long-extinguished campfire on the ground. Expanding his cursed energy perception, he found a source of cursed energy still active nearby and slowly headed toward it. With the fixation provided by his cursed technique, he made no sound along the way.

"Ah! Why! Why!! You'd rather die than go back to Jujutsu Society! Weren't you the one who dragged me into Jujutsu Society in the first place?!" A man dressed like a vagrant stood among the bushes, swinging a billhook and hacking incessantly at the branches and leaves, trying to vent his emotions.

Sakurada Niji watched him silently and used his cursed technique to lock his own state, reducing his vital activity to a faint minimum. This was the trick he had once used to play dead in front of Toji Fushiguro. Through Cursed Technique Reversal, he could suppress all his vital functions while remaining mobile. In his current state, without using cursed energy perception, no one except Toji Fushiguro could detect him.

Undetected, Sakurada Niji slowly approached the man who kept swinging his billhook.

"Urk-" The man made a small sound the instant Sakurada Niji touched him, but then Sakurada Niji's cursed technique immobilized him.

Yay~ As long as I don't actively spread my cursed energy and only apply my cursed technique to myself, I can quietly get close without a sorcerer noticing me or putting up their guard~ Well, he's only a Grade 2 Sorcerer, so that doesn't tell me much...