Learning languages is too hard-I need some help!

Aikawa Kaze had already had a feeling when his backstory was glossed over earlier, but now that the system brought it up, his sense of foreboding grew stronger.

[Your background involves a few little Easter eggs arranged for you by the world consciousness, which will help you grow closer to important characters.]

"...System, you know what? Every time you get all polite with me, I can feel your guilty conscience."

[The system cannot tell you directly, but recommends investigating your origins-your mother's identity is already quite clear, but her 'belongings' may contain other clues.]

"..."

By then, Aikawa Kaze had finished washing up and was heading toward the cafeteria.

Since Aikawa Kaze had finally let down some of his guard, the system explained that he didn't actually have to speak aloud every time he wanted to communicate with it-as long as he intended to communicate, he could talk to it through his brainwaves.

After the system pointed this out, Aikawa Kaze somehow felt a little more reassured.

Whether the system resided in his body, his soul, or his brain, if they could only communicate when he wanted to, as it claimed, then he wasn't completely open to it.

That made sense, too. If the system really knew everything he was thinking, his earlier bluff wouldn't have worked so smoothly.

I keep feeling like the background you've arranged for me is a trap. You nonhumans don't understand a thing! If I'd known you could help me make connections, I would've picked for myself.

[I thought you disliked Jujutsu Society and the Three Great Families, Host, and would be strongly opposed...]

Disliking them is one thing, but they're genuinely useful. Garbage is just a resource in the wrong place. Putting that trash to good use would be doing society a favor.

[...]

The system fell silent for a while, forced to admit that its understanding of humans was still far too limited.

Thinking of the origins the world consciousness had arranged for Aikawa Kaze, it vaguely wondered whether the world consciousness had fallen a little short. Or perhaps this was exactly what Aikawa Kaze needed?

[Which of the Three Great Families would you want a connection to, Host?]

The Kamo Clan, obviously! The Gojo Clan has Satoru Gojo, and the Zenin Clan has Megumi Fushiguro and Maki Zenin. Only the Kamo Clan doesn't have anyone on our side. Once I control the Kamo Clan, won't we have the final say over all Three Great Families?

Aikawa Kaze made his choice without a second thought.

He had now enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High, wanted to reform Jujutsu Society, and was egging Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto on to put on a double act. He was already firmly part of the "Gojo Faction."

At least, he would be until he became stronger than Satoru Gojo. Besides, Gojo's goals were similar to his, and he was pretty easy to fool(?). Kaze was quite satisfied with having the strongest as his teacher.

Although the Kamo Clan's current heir seemed rather fond of Megumi Fushiguro, he couldn't exactly defect straight to their side. If Aikawa Kaze got to choose, he would definitely stir up trouble in the Kamo Clan!

Since that disgusting family still had primary wives and concubines in this day and age, adding an outside mistress would probably make sense, too. Another son of the clan head popping up would be perfectly normal, right?

Aikawa Kaze remembered plenty of characters who played around with blood. As long as he obtained a similar ability in the future, he could do everything Blood Manipulation could do, and everything it couldn't. Wouldn't he just take off from there?

What a pity. Judging by the system's sudden silence, his origins probably had nothing to do with the Kamo Clan this time.

He just didn't know whether they involved the Gojo Clan or the Zenin Clan.

His mother had been the eldest daughter of some family in Flower Planting Country who had run away to elope, so it definitely had nothing to do with her. That only left his father.

Aikawa Kaze decided it was time to look into this. The timing was right, too; anyone connected to those two families would undoubtedly be connected to Jujutsu Society.

Before, he could have said he hadn't fully entered Jujutsu Society, lacked the strength, and didn't have the connections to investigate. Now, though, he could start looking into it.

When Aikawa Kaze arrived at the cafeteria, he found that his classmates were already there and eating. Yuta Okkotsu even waved at him.

"Looks like Maki isn't back yet...Did Gojo Sensei really dump all his missions on her?"

Aikawa Kaze glanced around at his classmates with a rather sympathetic look.

"Is that really okay?"

"It should be fine. Gojo Sensei probably knows where to draw the line. The missions he gives Maki are all ones she can handle."

As for the ones she couldn't, those would naturally have to wait until he went himself.

"Maki really has it rough!"

Yuta Okkotsu couldn't help remarking.

Although he and Maki Zenin were actually in the same year, Maki had become a jujutsu sorcerer earlier and was also the first "senior" to inspire Yuta Okkotsu to move forward. He respected her greatly.

Even now that they had all gotten close, Yuta still occasionally slipped into overly polite language with Maki.

"Can't be helped. Maki's really strong! And since she left the Zenin Clan, she has to earn her own living expenses, plus pay for all kinds of cursed tools. Her expenses are pretty high, so naturally she works extra hard on missions."

Despite constantly complaining about a certain unscrupulous teacher, Maki still dutifully completed all those missions.

"Looks like your mission with Inumaki went smoothly."

"Yeah, Inumaki's super strong!"

Yuta Okkotsu looked at Toge Inumaki beside him with sparkling eyes, all his earlier fear and awkwardness gone. It was clearly heartfelt praise.

"Salted roe!"

Toge Inumaki happily said something in return, and Yuta Okkotsu sheepishly rubbed his head.

"No, I'm not as good as you're making me sound, Inumaki..."

"..."

Aikawa Kaze fell silent. He glanced at Panda. Was he the only one here who couldn't really understand Toge Inumaki?

As though sensing Aikawa Kaze's confusion, Panda took on the role of "Toge Inumaki" translator.

"Toge means Yuta's amazing, just what you'd expect from a special grade, and that it was thanks to Yuta that they managed to deal with that troublesome cursed spirit."

"Oh, so that's what he meant..."

Aikawa Kaze's expression grew even more peculiar. How exactly had Panda translated one short word into such a long speech?

At most, he could use Inumaki's expression, tone, the context, and his general understanding of him to work out whether he meant yes or no. Anything beyond that was out of his reach.

"As long as you pay close attention to Toge and get more familiar with him, you'll definitely be able to understand him too, Kaze!"

Panda patted Aikawa Kaze's shoulder, then looked at Yuta Okkotsu.

"Right, Yuta?"

"Exactly! Talk to Inumaki more. If you watch him, you'll naturally understand what he means."

"Salmon, salmon!"

Toge Inumaki nodded and met Aikawa Kaze's eyes.

Aikawa Kaze hesitated, then nodded as well. He could roughly infer what Inumaki was thinking.

"That means agreement and encouragement, right?"

"Yeah, Toge's saying he'll work hard to communicate with you, too."

"..."

Close enough, probably?

Aikawa Kaze sighed inwardly. Still, considering the several generation gaps between his actual age and these genuine teenage high school boys, some difficulty communicating was perfectly normal, right?

Right, he'd recently been studying Projection Magecraft and some basic knowledge of magecraft construction. Could he make something like a translator?

The thought flashed through Aikawa Kaze's mind just as Yuta Okkotsu asked about their mission.

"I heard your mission was at an amusement park. It must've been pretty interesting, right?"

"Well, it definitely was...eventful."

Panda scratched his head, unsure how to describe all the twists and turns of their mission. He instinctively looked at Aikawa Kaze.

Even though he hadn't entered a binding vow, he wasn't the sort to blab!

Those things probably weren't meant to be shared, right?

Aikawa Kaze couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. Panda really was adorable!

Although telling everyone wouldn't have caused any serious consequences, since they were all part of the Gojo Faction.

But if word got out about certain things, they might not work as well-for instance, Yuta Okkotsu needed an opportunity to break his curse.

So Aikawa Kaze gave a brief summary in Panda's place.

"The cursed spirit at the amusement park was easy to deal with. We pretty much spent the whole day having fun. It was pretty interesting. We can all go together next time."

Aikawa Kaze shifted the focus and casually summed things up.

"We also met a friend of Gojo Sensei's! He was probably the reason Gojo Sensei ditched Maki and rushed over, right? Those two are pretty close. Maybe we'll be seeing more of him later!"

"Seriously?"

"Kelp?"

Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki wore matching expressions of shock. After seeing Panda nod with an indescribable look on his face, their hunger for gossip blazed to life, and they eagerly waited for Panda to spill the details.

Yet this time, Panda, who was usually on the front lines of gossip, actually looked reluctant to speak...

That only made them more curious!

Panda scratched his head awkwardly, his furry paw secretly poking Aikawa Kaze down below.

Of course he knew what earth-shattering gossip his two friends were waiting for with those sparkling eyes.

After all, apart from Ieiri Sensei, Satoru Gojo seemed to have no friends, and Ieiri Sensei almost never left Jujutsu High. Naturally, someone Gojo had gone out of his way to meet seemed special.

-Maybe it was his girlfriend?!

Honestly, if he hadn't personally witnessed the "dark truth," Panda would have gotten the wrong idea from that description, too.

Unfortunately, the person Satoru Gojo had abandoned Maki to meet wasn't some shy, charming, beautiful woman. On the contrary, he was a tall, sturdy male curse user...

Seeing Panda struggle to get the words out, Aikawa Kaze burst out laughing and satisfied his two classmates' curiosity.

"Gojo Sensei's friend is a real beauty with a distinctive appeal, who looks a little sinister and dangerous! He's probably pretty popular, right?"

"Kaze, what are you saying?!"

"The truth, of course. Did I get anything wrong?"

"Well...no, you didn't."

Panda had to admit that every word Aikawa Kaze said was correct, but wouldn't putting it so vaguely make it even easier to misunderstand?

Sure enough, the exchange between Aikawa Kaze and Panda only heightened Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki's interest.

But even though Yuta Okkotsu was curious, his introverted nature kept him from asking outright.

Toge Inumaki wasn't introverted and was very close to Panda, but...

"Tuna mayonnaise!"

"Huh? What was that you just said, Toge?"

"Tuna mayonnaise!"

"Sorry, haha. Panda's a panda, so I don't understand."

"Sorry, Inumaki. I can't understand you yet, either."

Panda used his cuteness to get away with it, while Aikawa Kaze tilted his head and sincerely declared that he didn't understand. Taking advantage of the fact that Toge Inumaki could only speak rice ball language because of his abilities as a cursed speech user, the two openly played dumb.

While they were staring at one another, a harried man who looked like an overworked office employee entered the cafeteria.

"Assistant Supervisor Ijichi?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Inumaki! There's an urgent mission that specifically requires you." Ijichi pushed up his glasses and looked at Aikawa Kaze beside him. "Aikawa, you'll be going too. Mr. Gojo arranged this earlier."

"I see. Switching partners?" Panda nodded. "Then Yuta and I will be partners for the next mission?"

"Yes. But your mission isn't quite as urgent."

"Salmon!"

"Yeah, I'm ready to go whenever."

"Bonito flakes!"

"That's right. Leaving immediately is fine, too."

Faced with Toge Inumaki's enthusiastic responses, Aikawa Kaze declared that he was ready as well!

He was now a man with a Four-Dimensional Spatial Bag. There was no need to hesitate over taking along whatever possessions might be useful. He was a walking warehouse!

"Um, Kaze, Toge means he needs to make some preparations and can't leave immediately, but he'll be as quick as possible."

Panda reluctantly translated for Toge Inumaki. He was genuinely worried Aikawa Kaze would misunderstand and drag Toge straight off on the mission!

"Sorry..."

"Mustard leaf!"

"Toge says it's okay."

Panda continued translating for Toge Inumaki, and Aikawa Kaze nodded a little sheepishly.

"Ah, thanks."

Then Aikawa Kaze sank into troubled thought.

Communicating like this was so inconvenient! He didn't have the intuitive mind-reading skills of teenage boys the same age. This was far too difficult.

Aikawa Kaze seized on the inspiration that had briefly flashed through his mind earlier. What he had originally thought would simply be a fun project now became an immediate priority.

I really should make some kind of translator!

"Panda, Inumaki, could you let me try making a translator for you so we can communicate more easily? I'm not very good at learning languages, so I need a few tools to help."

"Kelp?"

"That way, you'd be able to communicate more smoothly with people outside Jujutsu High, too, right?"

"Salmon!"

Aikawa Kaze thought Toge Inumaki seemed to have agreed, but given his earlier blunder, he still looked to Panda for confirmation.

Panda nodded.

"Toge says you can give it a try. He also suggests preparing a bit more to be safe. You're carrying a little too little equipment."

"...That's a good point! Then let's meet at the school gate later."

Only then did Aikawa Kaze realize that although he had spatial equipment now, it obviously wasn't something he could flaunt. At least for now, he lacked the ability to protect his treasure, so keeping a low profile was best.

He should at least carry some proper-looking equipment.

Fortunately, what he had said earlier could be explained as being "eager to complete the mission," which was still plausible.

Reminding himself not to get carried away, Aikawa Kaze quickly returned to the dormitory to pack.

He instinctively packed his Switch Game Console as well.

It wasn't necessarily because he wanted to play. He was just rather curious about those few portraits that had suddenly lit up on it. Maybe bringing it along would lead to an unexpected surprise?