Kento Nanami's voice rang out from behind him.
Yu Haibara remained in a defensive stance, as though he had not heard Kento Nanami speak. A wordless silence followed.
"I see. Then I'll leave it to you, Haibara."
Kento Nanami unwound the bandages from his arm and bound his short blade firmly to his palm. This was his resolve.
He had come for his entrance examination, and to say goodbye to his past self. Yield? Compromise?
If this was still a handout from a cursed spirit, he would rather go without it.
"Haibara..."
Kento Nanami's lips moved.
"I'm actually a very cowardly person." "More and more hair kept falling onto my pillow."
"The bread I always bought disappeared from the convenience store shelves." "I pressed the light switch, but the light didn't come on as usual."
"Those ordinary, tiny despairs kept piling up until they crushed me. When I could no longer pretend not to see them, I chose to run away."
Kento Nanami's voice was quiet, carrying a young man's gentleness.
"Until I met the boss. Yes, a very good person."
Kento Nanami thought for a moment and settled on "a very good person" to describe Gojo Chingetsu. "So this time, I'm not running."
Light but resolute footsteps echoed through the cramped corridor. Kento Nanami advanced step by step toward the cockroach cursed spirit as it flailed its limbs. "Ratio Technique: Collapse!"
Cursed energy flooded into the short blade like water bursting through a dam, carrying an unflinching resolve to press forward.
Kento Nanami leaped into the air and brought his blade down. "You're certainly fired up, Nanami."
Two long, pale fingers caught the short blade. Kento Nanami had no time to make out the newcomer's face.
The massive loss of cursed energy made him briefly lose consciousness. "Geto, put it away."
Satoru Gojo helped the unconscious Kento Nanami over to a corner. Suguru Geto snapped his fingers.
The cockroach cursed spirit set down the terrified Kana, then vanished into thin air. "Satoru, did we go a little too far?"
Suguru Geto glanced at the unconscious Kento Nanami as he spoke. "Huh? That's not what you said earlier." Satoru Gojo rolled his eyes.
"You looked even more excited than I did. Still..."
Satoru Gojo changed tack.
"If everyone joining Jujutsu Society from now on is like those two, it'll be rotten to the core." "Yes, rotten to the core."
Suguru Geto looked at the two boys peeking timidly from behind the iron door, a trace of disdain flashing through his eyes as well. "Let's go, Geto. We've settled on the candidates, Jujutsu High's new students."
"Yu Haibara, and..." "Kento Nanami."
Elsewhere.
Chingetsu answered the phone.
Kuhonichi's fawning voice came from the other end.
"Mr. Chingetsu, a suspected Grade 2 Cursed Spirit has appeared at Takiyama Reservoir." "The client is offering twenty million. Would you..." Kuhonichi sounded somewhat apprehensive.
He had not forgotten how that devil of a man had touched his face. He recalled the sight of a solid concrete wall exploding beneath Chingetsu's hand.
Kuhonichi's face began twitching uncontrollably. So.
For the sake of his own life.
Kuhonichi had kept Chingetsu's "instructions"-which could also be called threats-firmly in mind, all so Chingetsu would lift the curse he had placed on him.
Three minutes later, Chingetsu hung up. From Kuhonichi.
He had learned the location of the job.
He had to admit, having someone help gather information on cursed spirits was convenient. It saved him a great deal of time and effort.
It was half past three in the afternoon. Chingetsu did the calculations.
It would take roughly three hours to drive from the Dawn Bar to the Takiyama Reservoir Kuhonichi had mentioned.
He had just received a message from Satoru Gojo informing him that Kento Nanami had passed the entrance examination. Chingetsu was not surprised by the result.
Whether in cursed technique or temperament, Kento Nanami stood out among his peers. After all.
Not everyone could hold out for so long against a Semi-Grade 1 sorcerer's attacks. The fact that Nanami had managed it was enough to demonstrate his talent. Putting on his signature white trench coat.
Chingetsu scooped up the pink cat still sleeping soundly on the coat rack. It was a long journey to Takiyama Reservoir.
Petting the cat along the way.
Was an excellent way to pass the time, too. By the time Chingetsu arrived at Takiyama Reservoir, it was completely dark.
He opened the car window.
He could clearly feel that the temperature here was much lower than in the city.
"Twenty thousand yen in total."
The driver looked at Chingetsu and said casually. "Twenty thousand yen?" Chingetsu raised an eyebrow.
He had not expected the driver to ask him for so much money.
Although he was not short of money, he had no desire to be treated as a gullible fool.
P.S. Because I really want to write this book properly, I'll spend some time planning the plot. Updates will generally come in the afternoon and evening, but this humble author promises that while updates may be slow, they will never stop. I hope you readers will bear with me.
? -
Chapter 52: The curse in the reservoir
"Going by the meter, it really shouldn't cost this much, but very few people are willing to come out to Takiyama Reservoir now." "There have been several accidents in this area over the past few days, so no one wants to come here." An impatient look appeared on the driver's face as he spoke.
"It's far too cold here. Something's not right." "Hurry up and pay. I still have other passengers to pick up." Chingetsu could not be bothered to argue.
He casually tossed down two banknotes and walked toward the reservoir.
It seemed Kuhonichi's information was probably accurate. There really was something strange about Takiyama Reservoir.
Takiyama Reservoir was only a small reservoir.
So, long ago, people would often come here to swim and fish.
But at some point, the number of visitors had gradually begun to fall.
Some claimed to have seen something resembling a water monster in Takiyama Reservoir, while others claimed to have heard a baby crying. Chingetsu browsed information about Takiyama Reservoir online.
Now he could be certain. The changes at Takiyama Reservoir were the work of a curse. By the dim moonlight.
Chingetsu could see a figure moving at the edge of the reservoir. He slowed his steps.
He slowly approached the figure from behind.
The figure had its back to him, its face hidden in the darkness and impossible to make out clearly. Darkness slowly shrouded the sky.
A luminous fishing float stood out against the pitch-black water. A moment later.
The luminous float suddenly sank.
Chingetsu kindly spoke up to remind the figure. "You've got a bite."
But.
The figure with its back to Chingetsu remained unmoved. "Watching you like this is making me impatient."
"Fish are cunning. If you don't lift the rod now, it'll get away." The figure remained silent.
The fishing rod.
An inscrutable smile appeared on Chingetsu's lips. Suddenly, with lightning speed, he snatched the rod from the figure's hands, stepped back, and put his waist into it.
The fishing rod bent into a full moon in Chingetsu's hands. The figure that had kept its back to him collapsed to the ground as well. It was the corpse of an adult man.
The corpse was severely bloated, with bulging veins on either side below its neck. The fat inside its body floated stickily, exposed together with its internal organs beneath a thin, fuzzy layer of skin, forming a yellowish-white mass.
Clearly, there was no telling how long this man had been dead, or how long he had soaked in the water. What Chingetsu could be certain of, however, was that this was the handiwork of the thing at the other end of the fishing rod. It used a person as bait to lure prey closer, then dragged the prey underwater.
This was the curse of Takiyama Reservoir.
With no one around, Chingetsu found himself somewhat interested. Wielding the fishing rod.
Chingetsu kept teasing the thing at the other end.
A dark shape appeared on the reservoir's surface, as though something had floated up. "Croak!"
A frog-like monster more than five meters long was violently hauled out of the water.
"So it's a frog. Is its tongue fused with the fishing rod?" Chingetsu examined the fishing rod in his hands.
The tip of the fishing rod was fused with the frog cursed spirit's tongue, as though it had grown out of it.
"A Grade 2 Cursed Spirit. Judging by the look of you, you must have eaten quite a few people this way." Chingetsu took one step and instantly appeared before the frog cursed spirit.
"Using humans as bait. That frog brain of yours has some surprisingly clever ideas." The frog cursed spirit twisted its body uneasily.
Before you continue