[Seeing that she had piqued your interest, Yuki Tsukumo continued.]
["Actually, I think the first proposal is pretty good."]
[Yuki Tsukumo wagged a finger, her gaze sharpening.]
["And there's a concrete example of success."]
["An example of success?"]
[Suguru Geto raised his eyelids and regarded her suspiciously. As far as he knew, such an idealized world simply did not exist.]
[Yuki Tsukumo swept a meaningful glance over you both, then said leisurely,]
["You're both very familiar with him: Toji Fushiguro, or Toji Zenin, as he used to be known."]
[The instant that name came up, Suguru Geto's pupils contracted sharply.]
[He was the greatest humiliation of Geto's life, and the very culprit who had shattered his belief that "the strong protect the weak."]
[Yuki Tsukumo swept a meaningful glance over you both, a hint of regret and admiration in her voice.]
["But someone with absolutely zero Cursed Energy, completely free of its constraints... he's the only one in the entire world."]
[You frowned, unable to stop yourself from objecting.]
["That's meaningless."]
["Even if Toji Fushiguro is an exceptional case with absolutely zero Cursed Energy, something like a 'Heavenly Restriction' is determined at birth. There's no way to intervene through acquired means."]
["If he's just an isolated case, then there's no point even considering making such an unrepeatable miracle universal, is there?"]
["You're very clever."]
[Yuki Tsukumo snapped her fingers, a touch more appreciation in her gaze as she looked at you.]
["That's right, he is an isolated case. Although he has zero Cursed Energy, he can detect Cursed Spirits through his keen senses. By completely discarding Cursed Energy, his body instead gained extremely high resistance to curses."]
[She went on and on, seemingly oblivious to Suguru Geto's increasingly ugly expression beside her-or perhaps she noticed but did not care.]
["That guy was practically a superhuman."]
[Yuki Tsukumo tilted her head and looked past you at Suguru Geto, her tone as casual as though she were comforting an elementary school student who had failed an exam.]
["So you don't need to feel too ashamed about losing to him. That was a difference on a biological level."]
["I even wanted to study him, but he dumped me... tch, that man's death really was a loss for all humanity."]
[Suguru Geto lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes.]
["No need to feel ashamed...?"]
[What a joke. Losing to a monkey with no Cursed Energy, losing to a Heavenly Tyrant who relied purely on physical violence... what an irony for someone who considered himself one of "the strongest."]
["Since the first approach would be difficult to make universal, we'll have to look at the second."]
[Yuki Tsukumo shrugged and continued.]
["Did you know? Sorcerers don't generate Cursed Spirits."]
["Of course, that doesn't include sorcerers turning into Cursed Spirits after death. While alive, sorcerers leak very little Cursed Energy compared with non-sorcerers. We can circulate Cursed Energy within our bodies."]
["So if all humanity became sorcerers, curses would stop appearing."]
[You listened to Yuki Tsukumo's views, your brow furrowing as you sank into thought. Your instincts told you that this judgment was too idealistic and categorical; there had to be a flaw somewhere.]
[But before you could object, an icy voice suddenly sounded beside you.]
["Then-"]
[Suguru Geto slowly raised his head. His narrow eyes held no warmth, only a deathly void.]
["Wouldn't killing everyone who isn't a sorcerer... achieve the same thing?"]
["..."]
[Your expression immediately turned cold when you heard that.]
[You were not surprised. You could even say you had been waiting for those words.]
[You were not surprised that Suguru Geto could say something like that. After all, in the simulation where you had been an Assistant Supervisor, you had been killed because of that very idea of his.]
[Even having experienced being his classmate could not suppress your visceral disgust when this boy, who had once sworn to protect the weak, voiced such an idea.]
["What you're suggesting is feasible, Geto..."]
[Unexpectedly, Yuki Tsukumo was not angry, or even surprised.]
[She chuckled, folding her arms and leaning by the window, her tone as offhand as if she were discussing the dinner menu.]
["In fact, it's the simplest method."]
["Huh?"]
[Suguru Geto abruptly looked up. He had even been regretting the outrageous statement he had blurted out, expecting a reprimand from this Special Grade senior.]
[But he had never expected approval.]
["Apply 'thinning' to non-sorcerers, forcing them to adapt to an environment of sorcerers as a survival strategy."]
["Simply put, it would drive their evolution, like forcing birds to grow wings."]
[Yuki Tsukumo spread her hands, her eyes holding a scientist's madness and reason.]
["Of course, that would require extreme terror and a sense of crisis. Unfortunately..."]
[Her smile suddenly faded, and her eyes looked straight into Suguru Geto's soul:]
["I'm not that crazy yet. Besides, the curses produced by doing that might destroy the world before the evolution was complete."]
["What about you, Geto?"]
["Do you hate non-sorcerers?"]
[The question was like a scalpel, precisely cutting open the long-festering wound in Suguru Geto's heart.]
["I... don't know."]
[Suguru Geto lowered his eyes, unconsciously clenching his fingers until his nails dug deep into his palms.]
[He covered his face with both hands, his voice hoarse with exhaustion and confusion he could not hide.]
["I used to firmly believe that Jujutsu existed to protect non-sorcerers. That was the duty of the strong."]
["But lately... seeing those ignorant followers, seeing those monkeys spawning curses out of fear... the value of non-sorcerers has begun to waver in my mind."]
["The dignity of the weak? Or the ugliness of the weak?"]
["I can't distinguish between them anymore, and I can't tolerate either of them anymore."]
["The me who despises non-sorcerers, and the me who rejects that self... are constantly fighting."]
["Being a sorcerer is like running an endless marathon."]
["And the sight at the finish line... that so-called 'greater good,' is now so vague and indistinct."]
[He raised his head toward the irritating cicada cries outside the window, his eyes empty as dead ashes.]
["I can't tell which one is how I truly feel anymore."]
["Neither is how you truly feel. Or rather, you haven't reached that stage yet."]
[She suddenly held up two fingers and waved them before Suguru Geto's eyes as she continued.]
["The you who despises non-sorcerers, and the you who rejects that self, are merely 'possibilities' you've arrived at through thought."]
["Which one is how you truly feel is something you'll have to choose for yourself going forward. I heard about the Star Plasma Vessel, too... whichever path you choose, I won't blame you."]
[That ambiguous consolation only deepened the confusion in Suguru Geto's eyes.]
[What he needed now was not "understanding," but "rejection" or "affirmation."]
["I disagree."]
[You, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.]
[Your voice was cold and devoid of emotion, like a machine reading out a verdict.]
["Oh? What do you think, Shunchen?"]
[Yuki Tsukumo looked at you with interest. Clearly, this boy who had "entered sage mode immediately after confessing his feelings" intrigued her.]
["Kill all non-sorcerers? That complete abandonment of thought is far too stupid."]
[You gripped the drink can in your hand, your knuckles whitening from the force.]
[Even with Life Is Like a Play equipped, you could not be bothered to disguise your disgust at that proposal.]
["What did you say...?"]
[Suguru Geto looked at you in some surprise.]
["Even if you carried out a massacre under some high-sounding excuse like 'world stability,' what happens afterward?"]
[You stared coldly at Suguru Geto and posed a fatal question.]
["Would the world be peaceful once you'd killed every non-sorcerer?"]
["Afterward?"]
[Suguru Geto clearly had not followed your train of thought.]
["Yes, afterward. As far as I know, even when two sorcerers have a child, the next generation isn't necessarily guaranteed to be sorcerers."]
[You adjusted your glasses, your gaze sharp as a blade.]
["Even the Three Great Families can't avoid that. Aren't those children in the Zenin Clan without Cursed Techniques the best proof?"]
[As you spoke, you looked toward Yuki Tsukumo.]
[Yuki Tsukumo raised her eyebrows slightly, then nodded in agreement.]
["That's right. Though sorcerer bloodlines are hereditary, it's not a hundred percent. Atavism isn't uncommon."]
[With a Special Grade's backing, you turned and fixed Suguru Geto with an unrelenting stare, delivering an icy question that struck at his soul.]
["Good. Then after the first great purge, once you've killed billions of non-sorcerers."]
["When the surviving sorcerers pair up and eagerly welcome the next generation, only to discover their child is an ordinary person without Cursed Energy..."]
["By your logic, would that child also be defective, someone to kill outright for the 'greater good,' in the name of survival of the fittest?"]
["Would you even strangle your own child with your own hands, Geto?"]
["Uh..."]
[Suguru Geto froze. Clearly, he had not thought that far into the idea he had just blurted out.]
[That seemingly perfect closed loop of logic was instantly torn wide open by your blunt, simple deduction.]
[Kill all non-sorcerers? That would mean killing every non-sorcerer baby who might be born in the future.]
[It would be an endless slaughter of infants.]
[Yuki Tsukumo rested her chin on one hand, a trace of surprise entering her gaze as she watched you. She had not expected you to find that logical flaw so quickly.]
[You did not stop questioning Suguru Geto because of his silence, but pressed further.]
["If that's the 'paradise' you're hoping for."]
["If the people left behind have to keep slaughtering their own flesh and blood to maintain their purity..."]
["Then how would those things wearing human skin, no longer deserving to be called human, be any different from curses that do nothing but devour one another?!"]
[You gave two cold laughs and crushed the empty drink can in your hand, the cracking sound particularly grating in the corridor.]
["If the price of having no Cursed Spirits is turning us into monsters even more disgusting than Cursed Spirits..."]
["I'd rather keep things as they are! I absolutely refuse that kind of twisted hell!"]
[A dead silence heavier than before spread among the benches beside the vending machine.]
[Suguru Geto did not argue, or rather, he could not.]
[The model student who could always put everything neatly in order with the "greater good" and "sound reasoning" was now rendered speechless by your blood-soaked questions.]
[Killing children born as non-sorcerers...]
[Internal purges to maintain purity...]
[That image was too concrete, so concrete that it made him physically nauseous. He had thought he had grasped a lifeline, never noticing that it was a venomous snake dripping with poison.]
["Ha..."]
[A soft laugh broke the deadlock. Yuki Tsukumo was not angered by your forceful, almost offensive attitude.]
[Instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly and leaned forward. In that instant, the immense Cursed Energy of a Special Grade seeped out almost imperceptibly.]
[Even that tiny trace of her presence made the air thick as mercury.]
["Shunchen, you seem to have misunderstood something."]
[She did not look at Suguru Geto, who had already withdrawn into himself. Instead, she stared straight at you, her wild eyes holding a hint of amusement and a dangerous, probing edge.]
["Are you... directing killing intent at me right now?"]
[You did not answer, merely continuing to look at her coldly. But the Cursed Energy around you had already begun circulating unconsciously, and your body was stretched taut.]
["How interesting."]
[Yuki Tsukumo extended a finger and lightly tapped her temple.]
["Do you know what 'Special Grade' means? It's not just a nice-sounding title."]
["It means being able to overthrow a nation single-handedly. It means I could crush you like an ant with just a twitch of my fingers."]
["Faced with such an absolute gap in power, ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers instinctively feel fear even if they resent it. They tremble and beg for mercy. But you're different..."]
[She looked into your eyes, still cold behind your lenses, even carrying a trace of resolve. There was no fear in them, only assessment.]
[You were assessing how, if she really attacked, you could use every possible means-even mutual destruction-to tear a piece of flesh from her.]
["If that kind of hell becomes reality..."]
[You finally spoke, your voice terrifyingly calm, completely disregarding the dreadful pressure of Cursed Energy weighing on your shoulders.]
["If, for the so-called greater good, the world really becomes a paradise of monsters that can only sustain itself by slaughtering infants..."]
["Then whether you're Special Grade or anything else, as long as you stand on that side, I will kill you."]
Before you continue