A surprise?

Suguru Geto fell into a long silence, and a hush settled over the air.

I smiled faintly, seemingly unconcerned with how he felt.

I simply looked at the alcohol in my hands and drank alone, bottle after bottle.

Today really was the anniversary of their deaths-my classmates, whom I had known for only a month.

They hadn't died in front of me. By the time I arrived, there had been nothing left to salvage.

Thinking back carefully now, I could no longer remember their faces. Through the haze, all I remembered were those two figures on the training ground, laughing and fooling around with me.

Perhaps only after someone died did everything they had done-the right, the wrong, the grievances, and whatever else-become magnified beyond measure and celebrated by others.

Everyone seemed to do this, as though it were some unspoken agreement made long ago.

Even I hadn't escaped it. The unpleasant things had slowly washed away in the river of time, and now only two or three memories remained vivid.

Cool liquor slid down my throat. The light overhead cast a warm yellow glow. The ceiling beams here really would be a lovely place to hang myself.

I smiled faintly. Unfortunately, I found no rope for hanging myself in my pocket. My fingers touched only a cold box.

Sukuna's Finger...

I snapped out of my mood in an instant and casually withdrew my hand, continuing to drink as though nothing had happened.

"Dazai, is killing me how you intend to stop me?"

After a long silence, Suguru Geto finally spoke again. The expression he had concealed so well had nowhere left to hide before me.

Once he realized I had seen straight through him, he no longer intended to keep pretending. Instead, Suguru Geto seemed to let his negative emotions spill out unchecked, even saying some rather extreme things.

"Ah, personally, I'm not very fond of that method."

"But for me, it is one of the easiest options. Killing you outright, Geto, imprisoning you, brainwashing you, or giving you such a psychological aversion to the word 'murder' that you'd tremble whenever you heard it... I could do any of those."

I smiled faintly as I listed my ideas one by one. There were actually plenty of ways to handle him. After all, I only needed to keep Suguru Geto from defecting.

If all else failed, I could cripple Suguru Geto, leave him able to do nothing but lie motionless in bed, and keep him at Jujutsu High for good. Those were all simple, brutal methods, and all within my abilities.

"...You sound an awful lot like a terrorist."

Listening to my ideas, Suguru Geto wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead and took a sip of his drink before continuing.

"Do I? I suppose so-"

I drew out the last syllable, fiddling forlornly with an empty bottle, then slumped over the table and tilted my head to look at the sky outside.

"I still don't understand, Dazai."

Suguru Geto remained silent before quietly uttering those words.

"Geto, sometimes things aren't necessarily accidents."

"Dazai, what do you mean?"

"I mean, you've been set up. You, Satoru, Riko Amanai, and Tengen have all been manipulated by something that's neither human nor ghost."

"And his plan is to prevent Tengen from assimilating with Riko Amanai, then have Tengen assimilate with everyone."

"Then there'll be cursed spirits everywhere. You too, Geto-oh, no, you might not even be alive by then."

I said it teasingly, but it made Suguru Geto's hair stand on end beside me.

"How could Lord Tengen possibly assimilate with all of humanity?!"

"That's where you come in, Geto. Why don't you guess whether Tengen is more like a human or a cursed spirit now?"

"! Dazai, what exactly is he?"

"No idea-"

I kept smiling faintly and drinking, acting as though none of this had anything to do with me.

"Dazai."

"Geto, are you still considering defecting?"

"..."

Suguru Geto fell silent, staring at his hands for a long time.

"At least... at least it would have to wait until those things are dealt with. If it's really as you say, Dazai, I... Besides, neither you nor Satoru would want me to defect, would you?"

"A wise choice. But when did I ever say I needed you to handle this?"

"If you want to defect, Geto, you can go right now. I'll give you an hour, and I won't stop you. If you still intend to do it after that hour, Teacher Dazai will have to clean house on behalf of Jujutsu High and Teacher Yaga."

I waved a hand, then gently shook my head, rejecting his choice and his reasoning. Yet the words coming out of my mouth were utterly unbelievable.

At least, Suguru Geto was completely stunned, seemingly unable to understand why I was doing this.

"...Dazai, why?"

"Ah, I told you a long time ago, Geto. You're not strong enough, and neither is Satoru. I've always looked at you as your senior, as though you were children. So children shouldn't be involved in a dangerous plan like this."

"But Satoru and I are both special grade."

"And that's all?"

"...I..."

Suguru Geto fell silent once again.

"Geto, think a little harder. Even if the streets were full of jujutsu sorcerers, bad people would keep appearing. Whether they're jujutsu sorcerers has nothing to do with it."

"You investigated me once, together with people from the Gojo Clan. I know.

I also know what the Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups say about me, and that they nearly branded me a curse user."

"What they talk about most is how I personally destroyed more than ten families without any regard for human life. They called me cruel and cold, and I know what ideas they fed you."

"But doesn't that prove precisely how strong I am? I have the power and standing to make them fear me. I give them reasons they can't afford to ignore.

But, Geto, what do you have now? Has Satoru taken power yet?"

"In the hands of the Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups-or mine-what good is being special grade? In the end, you're nothing more than a useful pawn. A pawn that can be destroyed at any moment."

I calmly propped my head on my hand. My brown eyes were full of gentleness, and a faint curve touched my lips as I looked out the window.

There probably wasn't much worth looking at outside. If I had to name something, this place was actually fairly close to a certain bar.

I occasionally took a detour along this road rather than going straight down that one. Over time, I had noticed an izakaya here. It seemed nice in every respect, and I had become something of a regular.

I waited calmly for Suguru Geto's reply, though I hardly seemed to care what it would be. After a long silence, I slowly lowered my hand and leaned back in the reclining chair.

Looking at Suguru Geto again, I found him silent, caught between wanting to speak and holding back.

With his head lowered, I couldn't really make out any particular emotion. But this gifted young man had grown even more dejected after being knocked down by me again and again.

"Geto, the Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups don't treat ordinary people as human. They don't treat ordinary sorcerers as human, either."

"My classmate's older brother died at their hands. Remember that assistant supervisor from earlier?"

"He was a sacrifice offered up by the Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups. Someone they could casually send to his death so I could vent my anger. What do you suppose those higher-ups were thinking?"

"Even if you could create a world like that, what then? Can you guarantee that every child born to jujutsu sorcerers will be a jujutsu sorcerer? Would you make them kill their own children? How many people could be that cruel and heartless?"

"Could you guarantee that, in the future, ordinary, weak jujutsu sorcerers wouldn't be hurt by the sorcerers from those clans?"

"I said there are no wrong paths. It's just that some paths are extraordinarily uncertain and difficult. Geto, are you strong enough?"

"You aren't even qualified to have me regard you as an equal, yet you want to gamble on odds of less than ten percent. To me, that's a fool's choice."

I was still smiling, and even my voice remained mild.

For a moment, this scene actually made me nostalgic for the conversations I used to have with Atsushi.

But he wasn't a rebellious child. Fortunately, all Atsushi needed to do was listen.

I hadn't actually said many particularly harsh things. I had simply been stating indisputable facts, nothing more.

Atsushi had come through it that way, and wasn't he doing just fine now?

Under the hazy light, I watched the silent boy before me with indifference, showing not the slightest regret for what I had done.

Diamonds needed polishing. If letting him and Satoru Gojo polish each other was bound to lead to unforeseen consequences, then I would do it myself.

If he wanted to remain unchanged, if he wanted to change the entire world, if he wanted to choose this approach, then surely he at least needed to be strong enough.

All I wanted was to preserve a world where Oda Sakunosuke could write his novels in peace. That was all, and I had paid many prices for it.

Let alone another grand, absurd, and unbelievable idea.

He wanted to eliminate every human in the world, but this world had nothing like the Book.

Of course, if he really possessed that ability, if he truly became that powerful...

I certainly wouldn't mind him killing every ordinary human in the world.

After all, as I had said before, whether ordinary people lived or died had nothing to do with me. What did it matter if the whole world was destroyed?

I would be heading to the Sanzu River sooner or later anyway. Even if Teacher Yaga would be heartbroken once he had done all that, as long as Teacher Yaga didn't die so casually, that would be fine.

All I needed was not to have the terrifying experience of seeing Teacher Yaga charging toward me on the way to the Sanzu River and punching me.

After all, if things really reached that point, I would probably come to understand how sheer strength could defeat any amount of skill. Before absolute power, no matter how brilliant my plans were, the moment he caught even the slightest hint of them, he could crush all my ideas and calculations and destroy every arrangement and bargaining chip I had.

Unfortunately, Suguru Geto wasn't strong enough.

I wasn't undermining a child's confidence. I was merely stating a simple fact, then telling him that if he tried to do this now, he would undoubtedly lose.

But if he waited until later, until he had become strong enough, he would be certain to win. I was merely telling him how to succeed.

"I'll become stronger..."

Faced with our standoff, Suguru Geto calmed down, and a spark ignited in his eyes once more.

This scene felt rather familiar. Where had I seen it before? Had the last one been Akutagawa? Although I had never seen how the Osamu Dazai of other worlds taught Akutagawa, it certainly wasn't through a relatively gentle approach like this.

If only Atsushi could avoid being knocked down by a few words, too-

Anyway, at least I hadn't given him a gun! I was super gentle, gentler than all the other versions of Osamu Dazai in the Port Mafia!

Still, everyone had their own way of polishing a gem.

"A wise choice. Ah, until then, work hard at becoming stronger, Geto."

I shook my head, casually opened my phone, and sent all the messages to Satoru Gojo.

Together with Satoru Gojo, I planned to successfully brainwash Suguru Geto out of this mindset.

More precisely, I strongly insisted that Teacher Yaga introduce psychological support and therapy for everyone at Jujutsu High.

Back then, Teacher Yaga had spent plenty of nights poring over books for my sake. Unfortunately, none of it had been of much use with me.

Now it had a use. Please counsel a Suguru Geto who had gone astray.

After that, I added two special courses to Jujutsu High: political science and laws and regulations recitation.

From first year to fifth year, no one was spared. Each course met three times a week on average, one hour per class, with an exam every two months and retakes for anyone who failed.

It was all very standardized and very punishing. Naturally, the Jujutsu Higher-Ups would never have agreed to any of this.

As for how they came to agree?

Haha, who knew how they came to agree? Perhaps they had accidentally discovered their consciences.

Then what I needed to do next would be very easy: let ordinary people gradually come into contact with jujutsu sorcerers and learn what they sacrificed and what they stood for.

Then I would find a way to put all those villagers behind bars. Geto could send them there himself.

But, but this really would have to wait until after I died, wouldn't it?

The other things could get started a little earlier. I wondered whether Geto would consider putting me behind bars too after studying the laws and regulations.

After all, I had been involved in child trafficking.

Ah, ah, why couldn't I die today either?

It really was so unfair.

But for now, I wouldn't tell anyone except Satoru about these changes. I really ought to give the other students at Jujutsu High a little surprise!