Late at night, the family restaurant was bathed in warm, creamy yellow light. The central air conditioning hummed, sending warm air over every booth.
A scattering of office workers sat around the restaurant. Some dozed with their heads on the tables, while the employee at the register yawned as they counted change.
No one noticed the darkness sitting in the farthest corner, enough to overturn all of Jujutsu Society.
The part-time cleaner pushed his cleaning cart toward the corner. Just as he rounded a booth, every hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end.
The mop in his hand froze in midair. His heart clenched violently, and an inexplicable chill shot up his spine to the crown of his head.
All he could see was an ordinary customer in a trench coat, with the seats beside him empty, yet his instincts were screaming.
If I go near that seat, I'll definitely die!
He tightened his grip on the mop handle, and the four adopted younger sisters he had at home, all still in school, flashed through his mind.
My pay? How could half a month's pay matter more than my life?
Without even taking his cleaning cart, he turned and rushed to the register, flung his apron onto the counter, and blurted out,
"I quit! Keep the pay!"
Before the manager at the register could react, he pushed the door open and fled into the night, not even daring to look back.
Kenjaku reclined in the booth, wearing a light gray trench coat, looking like an ordinary researcher who had worked past midnight.
Three special grade cursed spirits of different shapes crowded the sofa opposite him, while the ordinary people mere feet away remained utterly unaware.
"All the barrier nodes in Shibuya have been arranged." Kenjaku tapped