Aikawa Kaze did not suspect that the higher-ups were behind this incident. After all, their visit here had been an entirely random, spur-of-the-moment decision.
Of course, more importantly, the presence Aikawa Kaze sensed this time was very weak—not even a single Sukuna's Finger was involved. How could this possibly be an ambush meant for him?
Lord Sukuna's... fingers had become the yardstick for judging whether an unexpected incident was deliberate.
He wondered whether, once His Lordship awakened in the future and Resonance activated, he would notice that one-twentieth of himself had disappeared.
That was something to consider later. For now, they really ought to exorcise the cursed spirit quickly before it spoiled their fun.
Since the cursed spirit he sensed was so weak, Aikawa Kaze paid it little mind despite the wide area its presence covered. He simply assumed it was particularly restless, swimming back and forth through the sea and leaving the same cursed residue over a large area.
However, when Aikawa Kaze turned to ask Ijichi and Inumaki for their opinions, he found that both looked rather sick.
Had his senses been wrong? Was this actually a powerful cursed spirit that was simply good at concealing its presence?
Trusting his companions, Aikawa Kaze strengthened his five senses with cursed energy and probed the sea again...
A second later, his face began turning green too.
"What... the hell is this?! Are we doomed to keep running into this stuff on this trip?!"
"S-salmon QAQ."
Toge Inumaki looked utterly miserable.
Beside him, Ijichi gave him a sympathetic look and silently handed him a bottle of throat medicine. Yes, the assistant supervisor carried throat medicine too, just in case!
However, this thoughtful gesture clearly made Toge Inumaki even more miserable.
Aikawa Kaze silently closed his eyes and turned away.
His initial assessment had been right. These cursed spirits really were weak. But... the weaker cursed spirits were, the more they liked gathering in groups, just like those "millipede cursed spirits" from earlier.
The entire stretch of sea before them was now densely packed with the lowest-ranked grade 4 cursed spirits.
They were tiny, no bigger than a fingernail, but there were thousands of times more of them than the millipede cursed spirits they had encountered earlier.
Worse still, perhaps because they lived in the sea, these cursed spirits looked as though absolutely no thought had gone into their appearance.
They had squishy skin, scales, and multiple tentacles-enough to make anyone with trypophobia faint.
Even worse, their "observation" had apparently disturbed the creatures. The densely packed grade 4 cursed spirits began emerging from the sea, slowly crawling ashore and swarming toward them.
"Allergies~~ allergies~~~~"
"Are these born from resentment over seafood allergies? Why are there so many?!"
"Actually, seafood allergies are relatively common in Japan. Around four percent of the population, I believe? Living by the sea while being allergic to seafood really is quite unfortunate."
"Now is not the time for fun facts, Mr. Ijichi! I don't want to know!"
Aikawa Kaze instinctively pulled Toge Inumaki and Ijichi two steps back.
Inumaki had already exhausted himself exorcising the millipede cursed spirits that afternoon. He certainly could not handle this many "seafood cursed spirits," and Aikawa Kaze's fighting style was ill-suited to such tiny, densely packed enemies.
"Wait, I remember that grade 4 cursed spirits don't actually have to be exorcised, right? At worst, they just make people feel a little uncomfortable?"
Aikawa Kaze forced down his goosebumps as he spoke.
"Why don't we head back first and come again tomorrow or the day after, once Inumaki's rested and we're properly prepared? With this many people around, Inumaki can't exactly clear everyone out and then use a megaphone! They'll think he's crazy, won't they?"
If he shouted things like "Die!" or "Explode!" through a loudspeaker now, he might even get arrested for disturbing the peace.
In that case, handling it another day seemed more sensible.
Finding an excuse to coordinate with the authorities beforehand, evacuating the area, lowering a Curtain, and then having Inumaki amplify his cursed speech with a megaphone would be the best solution.
"You're right."
Ijichi instinctively backed away with Aikawa Kaze and Inumaki, putting some distance between themselves and the seafood cursed spirits slowly crawling out of the water.
Fortunately, these seafood-allergy cursed spirits seemed to be aquatic creatures(?). They did not move quickly on land, merely wriggling ashore, which gave the three of them room to retreat.
Aikawa Kaze could clearly see the sticky, wet, unidentified fluid left wherever those little tentacled monsters crawled. They even actively sprayed slime!
The millipede cursed spirits were merely disgusting to look at, only bursting with fluid when crushed. These "seafood" creatures actually sprayed foul-smelling, sticky liquid themselves!
To people who could not see them, these cursed spirits with their negligible destructive power were practically harmless. To those who could, they were a living nightmare.
However, just as the three were about to retreat, their keen hearing picked up something unusual.
"Ah! Red spots are appearing on my arms! Whole patches of them... They don't look like bug bites?"
"An allergic reaction? But I thought you weren't allergic to seafood?"
"I don't know. It's a little itchy... It shouldn't be anything serious, right?"
"Ah! Ai fainted! Someone, please help!"
"Ai's arms and legs are covered in red spots too, and they're swelling up! This happens when she has a severe seafood-allergy reaction!"
"How? Didn't she deliberately avoid eating anything like that?"
"Could she have eaten some by mistake?"
"Quick! Call an ambulance!!!!"
All three stopped in their tracks, realizing something was wrong.
Under normal circumstances, grade 4 cursed spirits had little destructive power. Generally, they only caused minor discomfort, such as headaches or lower-back pain.
However, this swarm of seafood cursed spirits was different. They originated from the negative emotions of people with seafood allergies, and their ability was to induce allergic reactions.
For people without allergies, this might indeed amount to a little discomfort they could simply endure. But for someone who already had a severe allergy...
Like that girl, who was already beginning to have trouble breathing.
We can't just leave this alone!
Fortunately, some of the tourists had medical knowledge and had already gone over to administer first aid. Someone had called an ambulance too.
Toge Inumaki hurried over, trampling countless seafood cursed spirits along the way. His shoes became so sticky that walking grew difficult.
Even so, he quickly ran over and opened his mouth.
"Explode!"
"What?"
"Ahem, Inumaki meant, should we... bandage her up?"
Aikawa Kaze arrived right after him and forced himself to cover for him.
"I overheard you just now. If she hasn't eaten anything she's allergic to, maybe she came into contact with an allergen? Covering her exposed skin might help."
"Oh, I see! That's a good suggestion!"
The people who had been puzzled by Toge Inumaki nodded, accepting this explanation. The person who claimed to know first aid agreed too. Unable to find bandages, they opted to cover the girl's skin with tissues instead.
Perhaps she was allergic to something in the air, the sand, or the seawater?
In any case, using ordinary tissues as a barrier ought to help a little, right?
"Look! Aiko's expression has relaxed. It really seems to be working!"
"Thank goodness! Hang in there, Ai! The ambulance will be here soon!"
To ordinary people, Toge Inumaki's "suggestion" seemed to have worked. Only the three of them knew it was purely because Inumaki had used cursed speech to destroy every cursed spirit clinging to the girl.
"Damn it! What is this bizarre fishy stench?!"
Aikawa Kaze's face was livid. He was standing on something soft, sticky, and wet, and his entire body reeked of a disgusting mix of fishiness and foul odors.
He could even hear those little things in the distance rustling as they crawled toward him...
Aaaaaaah-
At that moment, Aikawa Kaze wanted to cry but had no tears. He even started missing those old fossils.
If there had been a Sukuna's Finger here to strengthen these cursed spirits, perhaps he could have justified using a beam blast to wipe out these bugs on the grounds that they "threatened the world."
Unfortunately, there was no such thing.
As for Emiya's domain... he did not mind spending cursed energy on an area attack, but the problem was that he could not activate it!
If the King of Knights' ultimate move required him to "fight to protect the world," then Emiya's domain required "battle honed through countless trials." He could not manage that yet.
Without hesitation, Aikawa Kaze took out the Hello Lion Plush and crushed it, restoring some health to himself and Inumaki. Then he took out a Rune Stone and crushed that too, raising his resistance.
Although these grade 4 cursed spirits' allergy curses had no effect on jujutsu sorcerers, their psychological assault sent Aikawa Kaze's SAN plummeting. He felt he needed to strengthen his mental resistance.
"Inumaki, I remember giving you one too. Hurry up and take it out, then crush it!"
"Salmon!"
In the rush, Toge Inumaki did not understand, but he followed the instructions out of trust in his companion.
For the moment, their sanity, which had been on the verge of collapse, stabilized, and they began considering solutions.
The troublesome part was the sheer number of tourists. Toge Inumaki could not openly use cursed speech, and Aikawa Kaze could hardly pull out a Jewel Sword and wave it around in public.
The painful part was that Aikawa Kaze and Toge Inumaki both had to endure disgusting cursed spirits crawling everywhere!
They were even trying to crawl up their trouser legs!
Aikawa Kaze raised his foot and crushed several "seafood cursed spirits." Slime burst out with wet squelches, making it difficult even to lift his feet as he walked.
Even so, that was better than actually letting these things crawl onto his body.
They were just like cockroaches: countless, ugly, disgusting, and utterly oblivious to danger...
"Is there any cursed spirit willing to slaughter every bug in the world?! Damn it! I can't think of one!"
"Bonito flakes!"
"You're right. They're more like octopuses or squid than bugs... Oh no! I don't think I'll ever want to eat seafood again!"
Aikawa Kaze instinctively nodded and complained, not even realizing that he had unconsciously understood "rice ball language" without a translator.
"Wait! If it's seafood... I've thought of someone amazing."
An incredibly dependable, fatherlike figure suddenly flashed through Aikawa Kaze's mind.
The system had told him that, in theory, he could communicate with any being from other dimensions who had left a significant mark on history and form a contract with them.
He had only been summoning Heroic Spirits from the Nasuverse because the two worlds were close together and had a cooperative relationship.
Then, theoretically, he ought to be able to summon that person?
Before you continue