[The next day, you went of your own accord to Masamichi Yaga's quiet workbench, piled high with all kinds of half-finished plush dolls.]
[Amid the faint rasp of a sewing needle piercing fabric, you calmly informed this homeroom teacher, who had achieved so much in the field of cursed corpses, of your final decision to begin making a "fully independent cursed corpse."]
[You chose to be frank with him partly out of basic respect for a teacher who had once guided and sheltered you, and partly because, in your thoroughly rational planning, you knew perfectly well that creating a complex body with an independent soul and a mechanism for replenishing itself from nothing would take an extremely long time and tremendous effort.]
[In the days ahead, you would inevitably spend long stretches away from Jujutsu High's regular missions and daily activities. Such a substantial commitment of time certainly required giving your homeroom teacher, Masamichi Yaga, advance notice and reporting your plans.]
[The steel needle in Masamichi Yaga's hand, which had been sewing a doll's button eyes, abruptly stopped in midair the instant he heard your words.]
[His brows drew tightly together, and his eyes behind his sunglasses fixed on you.]
[In the somewhat stuffy room, the air seemed to freeze for several full minutes.]
[During that suffocating silence, countless arguments to dissuade you flashed through Masamichi Yaga's mind.]
[He knew all too well what fear and frenzy touching such forbidden technology would provoke in the higher-ups, and he also knew how heavy an ethical burden one had to bear to forcibly grant a soul to an inanimate object.]
[But when his gaze met your deep, unwavering eyes, every word of persuasion turned to ash in his throat.]
[He could see with absolute clarity that yours was not an arrogant decision