Brave new world

At that moment, time on the street seemed to stand still.

The two stood motionless, as though apart from the bustling crowd.

Suguru Geto held Akutagawa Shang's hands tightly, seemingly waiting for his response.

Akutagawa Shang froze at Suguru Geto's words.

Wait... why did he set his sights on me? Wasn't he supposed to go after Yuta Okkotsu? What did he want with a lowly Grade 4 Sorcerer like me? Oh, right, Satoru Gojo seemed to have said he'd promoted me to Grade 2. Besides, if I remembered correctly, my cursed energy shouldn't be detectable when I wasn't attacking.

"You're Suguru Geto?"

Every muscle in Akutagawa Shang's body tensed with nerves.

"Oh... you actually know my name? I didn't expect anyone to remember my name after I'd been away from Jujutsu High for so long."

Seemingly sensing Akutagawa Shang's tension, Suguru Geto chuckled and released his hands.

Here's a little-known fact: Suguru Geto's coldness and cruelty were actually directed only at non-sorcerers. Toward Jujutsu Sorcerers with a talent for Jujutsu, he was often friendly, even warm. He believed only Jujutsu Sorcerers were his own kind, while non-sorcerers were all uncivilized monkeys.

"Can I ask why you came to me? I'm just a Grade 4 Sorcerer. I don't think there's much I can do to help a legendary Special Grade Sorcerer like you." His meaning was clear: I'm just a small fry. Even if I joined, I wouldn't be much use. There's no need to fixate on me.

"A legendary Special Grade Sorcerer? I didn't realize I was so impressive." Suguru Geto laughed to himself again.

"There's no need to sell yourself so short. I saw everything just now. That was Reverse Cursed Technique, wasn't it-a technique even I haven't managed to learn? Someone who can master a skill of that caliber is no small fry. Forgive me for misjudging you. You're very special. If I hadn't seen you exorcise a cursed spirit myself, I probably would have taken you for one of those monkeys."

Akutagawa Shang fell silent.

Shit, he saw that just now. I should've minded my own business. Who knew I'd be unlucky enough to run into a wanted criminal just going out to buy something for someone-and the most dangerous fucking one, at that? I'd never had such rotten luck in my life. Why was this guy looking at me so strangely? Was he gay? Shit, Reverse Cursed Technique was so rare. Was he going to forcibly drag me off to use as a healing tool? I was screwed, completely screwed.

Seemingly seeing that he had no intention of replying, Suguru Geto began talking on his own in front of him.

"Do you know why I left Jujutsu High back then?" His tone was exceptionally calm, as though he were recounting something perfectly ordinary.

"Because I learned the truth about this world."

"In this world, Jujutsu Sorcerers fight cursed spirits to protect ordinary people. My friends died at the hands of cursed spirits, died on missions. But those ordinary people? What did they do? They never show any gratitude. They don't even know Jujutsu Sorcerers exist."

"Do you know how cursed spirits are born? Ordinary people can't control their cursed energy, and the cursed energy that leaks from them unconsciously is the source of cursed spirits."

"They create cursed spirits themselves, yet we Jujutsu Sorcerers have to fight them to protect those people, even giving our lives. Don't you think that's absurd?" As Suguru Geto spoke, he even laughed involuntarily.

"Ten years ago, I received a mission. A village was suspected of having a curse. I thought it was just an ordinary curse causing trouble, but do you know what I saw when I got there?"

"There was no curse there, no cursed spirit. There were only two little girls with a talent for cursed energy, locked in a dungeon and abused by those damned monkeys. What had they done wrong? They hadn't done anything. They'd merely revealed their talent for Jujutsu by accident, and those lowly monkeys treated them as ill omens."

"That was when I began seriously considering a question-if Jujutsu Sorcerers are superior to ordinary people, why should we protect them? Why should we fight and die for beings who show no gratitude, who don't understand us, who even stab us in the back? Don't you think that's unreasonable? People kill wolves to protect sheep, but when have you ever seen humans kill sheep to protect wolves?"

"Later, I understood. We Jujutsu Sorcerers are the higher beings. These ordinary people without cursed energy are like monkeys to us. These creatures who do nothing but waste resources and produce cursed spirits have no right to live in this world. So I took those two little girls away. As for the monkeys, I disposed of them all. Once they're all dead, no more cursed spirits will ever be born in this world. Kill every monkey in the world and build a new world inhabited only by Jujutsu Sorcerers-that is my righteous cause. Incidentally, my parents were monkeys too, so I killed them as well."

Akutagawa Shang couldn't understand what Suguru Geto was saying, nor did he want to. A week earlier, he had still been an ordinary person-a monkey, in Suguru Geto's words. The difference in their backgrounds let him see many things Suguru Geto couldn't.

Besides, to be honest, all he wanted to say about that ideology was that there certainly were plenty of fucking idiots among ordinary people. He couldn't agree more on that point. But did that mean there were no fucking idiots among Jujutsu Sorcerers? The Three Great Families in particular were full of them.

Where weren't there fucking idiots? They were everywhere!!! You, Suguru Geto, wanted to kill every ordinary person just because some of them were fucking idiots. Was that right? There were so many fucking idiots among Jujutsu Sorcerers, so why hadn't you killed every Jujutsu Sorcerer? Didn't dare? Or couldn't beat them? Oh, right, you couldn't kill them all.

When you ran into a fucking idiot, what you should do was beat up that fucking idiot, not beat up everyone.

"You're being a bit too extreme," Akutagawa Shang couldn't help saying.

"Heh, extreme? I think it's pretty good, actually."

Seeing that Akutagawa Shang seemed lost in thought, Suguru Geto didn't force him. He merely patted his shoulder.

"You seem rather conflicted. That's all right. It's perfectly normal. I agonized over this decision for a long time back then too. You can go back and think it over. Once you've figured it out, come join my great cause. The door here will always be open to you. We Jujutsu Sorcerers are the most complete beings in this world."

"Huh? You're saying I can leave?" Akutagawa Shang looked utterly bewildered. A dangerous wanted criminal had grabbed someone on the street just to pour out his righteous cause? And he was actually letting that person leave? What kind of joke was this?

"Of course. After all, this isn't a terrorist organization. Killing people indiscriminately would make us look very unprofessional. Those monkeys don't count as people, though. Unless necessary, I won't hurt a single Jujutsu Sorcerer. After all, we are the true masters of this world." Suguru Geto gave him a kindly smile.

"Sorry, thank you..." Akutagawa Shang bowed, saying everything he could think of, then circulated his cursed energy at full power and sprinted away, fleeing the scene as though running for his life. No, he really was running for his life.

"Remember to say hello to Satoru for me," Suguru Geto called, waving at the fleeing Akutagawa Shang.

"Did he have to run that fast? Do I look that frightening?" Suguru Geto rubbed his chin and reflected on what he had just said. He'd thought he'd been quite friendly.