Disaster from Within

Cursed spirits-the greatest difference in this world.

Or perhaps, when people gained cursed techniques and cursed energy through fear, these monsters born of fear came into being alongside them.

Ashiya Xia Xia, however, knew full well that this was false.

People could become cursed spirits.

People could also become cursed objects.

So what was the greatest difference between humans and cursed spirits?

Xia Xia did not mind answering this somewhat boring question on behalf of the mediocrities who had died at his hands-

It was the relationship between a king and his mount.

Not some childish debate about humans and horses, or two legs versus four.

Rather, when appearance, cursed energy, and even cursed techniques were identical, which one was the sovereign who commanded power, and which was the mount that supported it?

What distinguished them?

Instinct.

Even for beings with identical cursed techniques, the only thing needed to wield power beyond reason and become a king was the instinct to keep growing stronger for the sake of conflict.

Humans blindly trusted reason, often overlooking their most basic instincts as living creatures. Cursed spirits sank into instinct, but possessed only instinct, without the intellect to desire greater strength.

And so, with ten million excuses, fools troubled themselves.

To help these idiots who could not recognize their own nature find meaning in life, Xia Xia could only toil without complaint like this-reluctantly granting them a transformative opportunity.

It could not be helped.

Who could blame him for always being so eager to help?

What heavy rain.

Kansai summers should not have seen such abundant rainfall, unless a long-absent sea breeze had arrived. The warm currents sweeping in brought nothing but clouds that blotted out the sky, their murky gloom obscuring the lights of the human world.

A boring sleight of hand.

Passing the torii and stepping over the bronze bells before the shrine, Xia Xia found this return to an old haunt absurdly amusing.

Who would care about children fighting, apart from certain people with twisted tastes who saw these children as such fervent, fresh lives, perfectly suited to serving as seasoning for tuning cursed tools?

"What can I do for you?"

Xia Xia looked at the people blocking his way.

"Hand over all your money for this month. You might be a son of the main family, but all you have is an ordinary shell. Instead of wasting food, someone like you should give your resources to people who are worth more."

So said the boy leading them.

Xia Xia recognized him. He was the child of a servant family from a collateral branch, fortunate enough to possess a cursed technique and become a fairly decent jujutsu sorcerer. Sadly, he had died an unnatural death at a young age; otherwise, he would surely have amounted to something.

Why did he know so much?

What a joke. He had killed the boy himself. How could he not know?

Returning to an old haunt without a few familiar faces always feels a little lacking. Now that we have met again like old friends, why not let me see you off? Safe travels, old friend.

He was admittedly an ordinary person who fell short even of a Grade 4 Sorcerer, and draining his body dry would not yield enough cursed energy to exorcise a grade 4 cursed spirit. But he was still Ashiya Xia Xia, and that was enough-more than enough.

Children's interest and fear were exceedingly easy to arouse. Display just the right hint of power, and their admiration and dread were yours.

Children feared might rather than cherished kindness. You could not expect ill-bred children like these to remain calm before benefits within their reach, any more than you could stop a bird from stepping into a hunter's trap.

"You fell for it."

Xia Xia's fingers danced. A slender thread wound around his fingertip, its other end already looped gently around the boy's neck. Since it carried no cursed energy, these children, accustomed to fighting with jujutsu, often lacked even the most basic awareness of hand-to-hand combat.

"Safe travels. I won't see you out."

The others saw only Xia Xia slowly draw back his cuff, a faint dark stain coloring his index finger.

Bamboo shadows dappled the ground. The distant buildings remained hazy in the rain, and a few drops of red rain splashed soundlessly onto the steps before the shrine's mountain gate. The low courtyard walls seemed a little thinner still, with traces of moss soaking beneath the eaves.

By the time the others came to their senses,

the ringleader's head had already fallen to the ground.

See? Neglecting your studies can still get you a head above the rest. Never mind how that head gets there.

Besides, there was a second thing to do.

When a jujutsu sorcerer was killed by non-jujutsu means, sufficient lingering fear and resentment might give birth to a cursed spirit. That way, as long as Xia Xia won, none of his battles could ever be a losing investment.

More or less, that counted as doing right by this friend.

The headless apprentice jujutsu sorcerer staggered up from the ground. Blood no longer flowed from the stump of his neck. Instead, an arthropod's insect mouthparts suddenly emerged.

"So it's a bug."

A measure of nostalgia entered Xia Xia's voice.

Anyone would feel some inexplicable goodwill and affection toward their first companion.

Although this one was not particularly strong, the spider had helped him a great deal over the long years.

Therefore, I cannot let you stay.

To shed the disgrace of being a Grade 4 Sorcerer, someone always had to make a few insignificant sacrifices. Right now, Xia Xia happened to lack cursed energy and cursed spirits to command. This person's transformation into a cursed spirit was truly a timely blessing.

Never forget, and an answer will come. Believe me, his becoming a cursed spirit has absolutely nothing to do with me. I merely thought that, at such a lovely time amid such fine scenery, failing to lend a helping hand would rather spoil things.

If you want it, rob it, steal it, seize it.

That was the fundamental rule of this world.

If you were sufficiently particular, you could find a high-minded excuse that suited your tastes.

Or-

"Netherworld."

Xia Xia's Cursed Spirit Manipulation revealed its true nature for the first time. Formless darkness answered him. With just a light push, the hideous giant spider cursed spirit plunged into a deep abyss as it lunged at him.

Perfectly reasonable, isn't it?

A Grade 4 Sorcerer who cannot exorcise a grade 4 cursed spirit can go home, pack up, and get ready to have Xia Xia recycle that waste.

Only after he had finished all this did the children's screams begin to echo around him.

No matter. These wails could not escape this bamboo grove. Servants from collateral-branch households had entered the main family's barrier; they had already given him grounds to kill them-as though anyone would ever discover them.

He repeated the same trick.

You are all talents of the Ashiya family. As pillars of the family, you ought to contribute to our grand undertaking. After so many years of nurturing you, surely it is time to reap the rewards.

"Night Plains."

More threads intertwined. As Cursed Spirit Manipulation absorbed and brought the spider cursed spirit under his control, the cursed energy Xia Xia could wield increased further. Yet he used this energy only to restrain his enemies, inflicting no harm.

Just as the apprentices thought he had changed his mind and was prepared to abide by the family's rules, Xia Xia took out an exceptionally small knife. Narrow as a willow leaf and a little over three inches long, its edge was inconspicuous; it looked more like a ceremonial implement.

Before their eyes, he slit one of these talents' wrists, then brought out a chair and waited quietly.

They should not think too badly of him. He had no twisted desire to torture his opponents. He was merely doing everything a curse user ought to do. Lacking a suitable means of turning these people into cursed spirits at present, he could only reluctantly adopt this inefficient approach and follow the old method.

Fortunately, Xia Xia had traveled far and wide back then, learning many trades to survive. His wages as an interrogator in the imperial prison had been far more than ten times those of an ordinary jailer, so he had no choice but to diligently learn all those ingenious techniques.

Hurry up. Don't waste time.

"Ashiya Xia Xia, you can't do this! We came today on the clan elder's orders to teach an ignorant, fatherless, motherless bastard like you a lesson! You'd better let us go right now, or else..."

"They won't come."

"What?!"

Xia Xia calmly answered the boy's threat.

He was still a child, after all. In a moment of lonely, helpless despair, all he could think of was calling for backup.

But, my child, since you came here, how could the clan elder not know? If he could tacitly allow you to come, then even if you fail to return, he will not come either.

Perhaps when you grow up, you will understand this simple truth. Once something has happened, any further embellishment is futile. People care only about the result, not the process-the family wants a talent, and does not care who that talent is.

An ant's name, born at dawn and dead by dusk.

In the time it would take to avenge you, they could train ten more people who fight as well as you. And until I die, someone capable of killing all of you is worth more than you are.

Once I leave this bamboo grove today, they will ask what fortunate encounter I had and what cursed technique I awakened. The one thing they cannot possibly ask is what I did in the woods. The one thing they will not ask is where you went.

Almost there. Your blood is nearly drained.

Have you decided what sort of cursed spirit you want to become?

I am in a very good mood today. If you have the inclination, I do not mind helping sculpt your face a little, salvaging the features that are bound to fall apart when you become a cursed spirit.

As soon as he finished speaking, woody grain spread over the withered shell. The person transformed from a living human into a tree, luxuriant yet unable to conceal its gloom.

"I remember now. You're that scraggly pine. Yes, your connection to the family head is tenuous at best, but you still share his blood, more or less. How curious. I'll treasure you... You really are fine timber for a pillar."

A tree ought to be neatly felled with an axe, then made into a suitable object. Otherwise, would such a fine piece of material not go to waste?

An unpleasant smell hung in the air.

Someone seemed to have broken down at their companion's tragic fate and lost control of their bladder-how ugly.

"No need to rush. One at a time."

Ashiya Xia Xia did not disdain them. He screened off the filth with a barrier and continued guiding the threads, allowing those suspended upside down from the trees by shadowy spiderwebs to realize their full value.

Before long, he had used them all up.

When he left the woods, the sky was dark, yet a red sun was rising in brilliant splendor.

The awakening ceremony-now that he recalled it, that had happened last night.

So it was already the following morning.

Picking up a jewel-inlaid hairpin from the ground, Xia Xia secured his loose hair and walked unhurriedly toward home.