Humanity is wired to protect its offspring. You see it across most mammals, but it's especially pronounced in humans— their children need protection for far longer than most species, after all.
Now, when a parent believes their children to be in danger, a good exemplary parent would do their best to save them from the perceived danger, no matter the risks.
That is to say, Kazuki's mother swallowed whatever fear she had and something in her soul shifted. The trembling edges I'd noticed before firmed up, the outline growing steadier as resignation hardened into resolve.
The hell, was she preparing herself to die?
"Kazuki," she said slowly, each word was being deeply thought before it left her mouth. "Can you move?"
Her eyes never left me.
…she wasn't treating me like an animal, right? Like, she was afraid of startling me into action. I quite literally spoke to her; didn't she realise that I am intelligent?
"Hm?" Kazuki tilted his head, confused. "Yeah."
"Then come to my side," she ordered, voice firm despite the tension running through it.
I felt a flicker of amusement at the fear rolling off her soul—and immediately smothered it. But still, this is kind of a funny misunderstanding.
"But-"
"Now, Kazuki!" Okay, lady, no need to be so harsh, you're scaring the child!
Her sharp tone had the opposite effect of what she wanted. Kazuki whimpered and hugged my head tighter, drawing back instead of letting go.
Surprise flickered across her face—either at her son's fear, or at the fact that he'd apparently decided I was the safer option.
"You know," I said casually, "when someone introduces themselves, the polite thing is to introduce yourself back."
Oh shit, that's bad.
Her soul just trembled like there was an earthquake.
Once again, a wave of pure fear surged from her soul, her eyes widening as it finally dawned on her that I wasn't just a normal curse that parroted a few lines; I could actually articulate and hold a conversation here!
Call me the Einstein of Cursed Spirits.
"Y-you, that's not…" Whatever resolve had gathered on her soul seemed to lose its footing at my words. In fact, she started hyperventilating soon after, her eyes trembling as she looked at me.
Oi, oi, that's not good. You look this close to a panic attack.
Maybe take a breath? Just one?
Also—why the hell are you radiating this much belief?
[Source of Belief: Human (Grade Four Sorcerer)]
Path of Guided Belief: Power - Grade One Curse]
Analysing
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
[Faith Stored]
The fuck? I couldn't understand properly what my technique was saying, but it became crystal clear that she was a sorcerer.
And that she thought I was a Grade One Cursed Spirit? Damn, that's a massive compliment!
My only worries right now are that the Path seems way too broad. Like, last time my Cursed Energy Reserves were the only thing that got a boost, so it was pretty easy to get it to manifest just from a semi-intelligent Curse.
Also, I can apparently run simultaneous paths. I felt it in my soul, clear as day. Belief was gathering in more than one place, settling into two distinct containers tied to the active Paths. Each one felt different, like they carried their own weight and texture, and the more I focused on it, the more distinct I could feel each one being.
It made sense, you couldn't exactly pour the belief in flight into a Path meant for grounding, after all.
…Or maybe I was thinking about this way too literally.
Wait, focus, Mahito. There is a living, breathing woman having a panic attack in front of you.
"Mom!"
Kazuki's shout snapped me out of it. He scrambled down from my shoulders with surprising urgency, and I adjusted my grip automatically, setting him down with care so he wouldn't put pressure on his injured leg.
It obviously wasn't necessary cause the moment his feet hit the ground, he bolted toward his mother and threw himself into her arms. She caught him tightly, almost desperately, fingers digging into the fabric of his clothes
Only then did she seem to remember how to breathe.
Her breaths came in ragged pulls as she pressed her forehead against her son's hair, eyes squeezed shut. When she finally looked up again, her gaze found me almost involuntarily.
To maintain the image I was trying to sell, I raised a hand and gave her a small, cheerful wave.
She blinked.
"Huh?" Yuna muttered, clearly not expecting that.
The time has come for me to put my nonexistent acting career to the test.
I had no idea about Japanese customs, so I accepted the tea without knowing if refusing would have been rude.
"Hmm, thank you for the tea." Well, it's not like I could taste anything, but it sure looked good! The tea was served in a ceramic cup; it was quite different then in my human memories. Its sides were uneven, and I could feel how the width around it was imperfect; it had been made by hand.
Still, it had its charms.
"You are welcome, Mahito-sama." Still weird that even though I hear the 'sama' after my name, my brain kind of automatically places it on the English equivalent. Well, not that there is any, but in kind, I just know that she's being extremely polite to me.
Most likely from fear.
"Oi, oi, no need to be so formal," I said, waving it off with a sheepish gesture. "I'm kind of a country bumpkin."
That earned me a strained smile in return.
"And you never gave me your name."
"My name is Yuna," she replied, bowing her head slightly. "And it is only proper to be polite to one's guests."
Yuna, Kazuki's mother, sat opposite me on the tatami floor, both of us kneeling in the traditional way. She was used to it; in fact, her posture kind of made me think of those servants that I saw in a few anime.
I wasn't used to this position at all, but thanks to my curse physiology, I doubted my legs would go numb anytime soon. Small mercies.
"How gracious," I said lightly. "Do you always invite curses to drink tea?"
"Only the polite ones."
She gave me a closed-eye smile.
Huh. So that was a real thing and not just an anime gag.
Her soul had calmed down from her spiral towards a heart attack, but it was still buzzing, showing her unease behind the surface mask of etiquette she put on.
It probably helped that Kazuki was no longer in close proximity to me.
After his leg had been treated and wrapped, he'd been ushered into the adjacent room to rest, where he promptly fell asleep, exhaustion claiming him the moment his head hit the futon.
"Then I suppose there aren't many," I mused, lifting the cup again and taking another sip of tea.
Consuming things as a Curse was still deeply unsettling. I knew what food tasted like—those memories were intact—but the moment the liquid touched my tongue, it was as though I were drinking nothing at all.
I could feel it in my mouth, sense it brushing over my tongue and sliding down my throat, yet there was no flavor waiting for me at the end. Not even the bland neutrality of water.
It was fucking trippy.
"Still," I continued, smiling as I lowered the cup and glanced her way, "trying to cozy up to me like this? I'm a young, impressionable boy, you know."
I wrapped my arms around myself and swayed slightly from side to side, pushing a faint blush onto my face by reinforcing the blood vessels beneath my skin with a trickle of Cursed Energy.
Turns out, reinforcing internal organs wasn't much harder than reinforcing muscle. Once you grasped the basics, it came surprisingly naturally. It probably helped that I'd grown up in the modern era, where casually knowing way too much about the human body was just part of having a phone.
Yuna blinked.
I could see it—the exact moment her soul froze, processing my words while her face maintained an impeccable, dignified calm.
"…I am married," she replied at last, voice measured and careful.
"Ah, dang it." I 'tsk', shaking my head in disappointment, "My young heart, broken before I could even begin my journey of love."
I remember human me disliking NTR, and cheating in general, since it meant displaced trust. But I also remember human me contradicting himself various times since he jerked off to a lot of them doujins, so I take it with a pinch of salt.
…that's weird, my curse instincts seem okay with NTR, why the fuc-
Oh my god, is it because I'm putting a cuck into despair if I do?
Bruh.
"Are you truly a Cursed Spirit?"
Thankfully, Yuna's question took my mind off that rabbit hole. Her gaze sharpened as she studied me with analytical eyes. I'm kind of scared here, Ma'am, stop staring like you're gonna peel back my skin!
Still.
It was a fair question.
Cursed Spirits weren't known for cordial behavior; well, they didn't have any to begin with. They hated humanity. They fed on it, slaughtered it, reveled in its misery, dedicating their entire existence to human suffering.
Welp. This was going to be an uphill battle no matter what I said.
"I am."
My smile didn't fade, but I made sure to change it, make it softer as I met her eyes.
I didn't want to fight humanity. If I could go the rest of this cursed life without ever harming another human, I'd be thankful for it.
Unfortunately, I had a sinking feeling that my… uniqueness was going to draw attention. And attention, in this world that contains a whole power system geared towards negative emotions, will probably mean conflict.
I didn't want to fight humanity.
But I really didn't want to die again.
[Accumulating Belief of set Path]
Analysing…
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
Maybe this was further reinforcing her assumption that I was a Grade One Curse. Those were probably the only ones capable of intelligent conversation in the first place.
"Then why are you so—" Yuna stopped herself mid-sentence, lips pressing together as she reconsidered her phrasing.
"Dastardly handsome?" I offered helpfully, flashing her a wink.
She startled, but the soft huff of laughter that escaped her made me internally celebrate.
"Perhaps," she replied, composure returning as she tilted her head slightly, "if you were to lose a few stitches."
"Not even a little?" I pout, looking down dejectedly into my cup.
"You are a handsome boy, Mahito-sama. I'm sure you will find a nice girl." She bowed in apology, rejecting me further.
Damn, she called me a boy. This actually hurts.
"Ugh, the 'you'll find someone else' rejection," I groaned, slumping a little. "My heart can only take so much."
This time, she laughed outright, lifting a hand in that delicate, practiced way to cover her mouth, as though her smile were something private, not meant to be seen.
Man, I knew my stitched-up face wasn't exactly easy on the eyes, but it was comforting to know I could at least hold a conversation without people visibly recoiling the moment they looked at me.
Maybe I really was handsome.
"What I meant to ask," Yuna said after another sip, "is why you are so different from other Curses."
I tilted my head slightly, considering her words. "It's not natural for a Curse to be able to speak this easily, right?" I asked, mostly to confirm my suspicions, since every cursed spirit I'd encountered so far had been limited to repeating a handful of phrases.
Then again, I hadn't exactly gone out of my way to approach anything stronger than the flesh-knight.
"I admit I lack the knowledge possessed by the Clans," Yuna replied carefully, "but to my understanding, I have never heard of a Cursed Spirit capable of such conversation." She folded her hands neatly in her lap. "From what I know, stronger Curses can speak, but even then, they are neither particularly intelligent nor capable of sustained dialogue."
That helped. A lot.
I'd already noticed that intelligence seemed to scale with strength, but even that Semi-Grade Two had been little more than a broken record. This more or less confirmed it.
Honestly, I kind of hoped they'd slap some unique classification on me. That sort of reputation would probably help my growth in the long run.
"Oh," I said, scratching my chin in mock contemplation, "so does that mean I'm one of a kind? Man, I must be amazing."
"Yes. You are."
Her tone was firm enough to catch me off guard.
"I have never heard of a Curse behaving so…" Yuna hesitated, her composure faltering just slightly as she searched for the right word.
"Human?" I offered, smiling.
She gave a small nod. "That as well. But you also seem to lack the… ah—" Her expression tightened, an unusual hint of awkwardness creeping in. "The necessary attributes typically associated with a Curse capable of such intelligence."
"…Hmm?"
"The requisite amount of power," she clarified, clearly cringing at her inability to phrase this properly.
I blinked.
…Was that a dick joke? Did she just say that I have Small Dick Curse Energy?
"You mean my Cursed Energy reserves are small?" I asked, and this time my amusement was entirely genuine, laughter bubbling up before I could fully suppress it.
Hehehe. Damn it. Watching Yuna grow visibly uncomfortable was making my Curse instincts act up. Get your mind out of the gutter, Mahito.
"Hehe, don't worry," I said lightly. "I just don't see much point in announcing my presence all the time."
With a thought, like loosening a knot I'd been holding tight, I let my concealed energy spill outward in controlled waves.
"I'm more of a grower, not a shower." My grin was wide, and Yuna herself seemed flushed by my words.
I didn't know exactly how much Cursed Energy I had, but I knew it was far more than that Flesh Knight Spirit I'd killed earlier. Hopefully enough to make an impression.
Judging by Yuna's reaction, it did.
Her eyes widened just slightly, and her soul became far easier to read, awe blooming through it like a half-forgotten memory resurfacing. There was something almost nostalgic about the way she reacted to the pressure of so much Cursed Energy, her soul feeling itself at home.
Hmm. She'd definitely seen someone with reserves comparable to mine before; maybe she served them for a long time to the point it became comforting to have it surround her?
[Accumulating Belief of set Path]
Analysing…
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
Damn, I knew this would help, but isn't this a bit too much? Humans were obviously the target for my Technique, because it was much easier to gather Belief from them than simple Curses.
I could feel my Technique steadily consuming the golden energy exuding from her soul, the container to the Path of Power filling up bit by bit, but at a noticeable rate.
Also, the more my technique was used, the more I could feel it. Which is why I blinked at how much larger the container for the Path of a Grade One Curse was compared to the Path for the Augmented Cursed Energy Reserves.
Well, like I expected, kind of. A higher-grade Path would naturally affect more aspects of my existence rather than just one narrow parameter.
Still, if I wanted it to actually manifest, I would need to fill that container completely. Good thing that the human before has been a huge help in steadily filling up that container.
"You mentioned Clans," I said, glancing back at Yuna. "I'm guessing you mean humans who can manipulate Cursed Energy."
"You would be correct," she replied without hesitation. "They are known as Sorcerers, and they are responsible for handling Curses that do not directly threaten our cities."
"Oh?" I leaned back slightly. "Then does that mean there are separate groups in charge of cities themselves?" Because at the end of the day, it was still humanity versus Curses, right? Splitting responsibilities like that sounds like the perfect recipe for a divide of interest.
"That role belongs to the Exorcists," Yuna explained, lifting her tea with practiced elegance before taking a sip. "They defend population centers from Curses and from Cursed Users."
Interesting.
A dual power structure. Those rarely ended cleanly, but I supposed that once supernatural power entered the equation, societies had no choice but to adapt in strange ways.
Clans and Exorcists.
From the names alone, Clans sounded like hereditary families, while Exorcists felt more like state-aligned operatives. If that was the case, then it wouldn't surprise me if the Exorcists also existed to ensure that no Clan ever decided to take the throne for themselves.
I mean, that's what one would expect in a world like this, right?
"Is it really okay to tell me all this, Yuna-san?" I asked casually. "Shouldn't you be keeping information like this away from enemies?"
She inclined her head politely. "It is of no concern. I am merely a retainer of the Tachibana Clan, and one of low rank at that. I possess little information of value. Everything I have shared is common knowledge, nothing more."
She bowed slightly as she finished.
Yeah. That was a lie.
Not necessarily a malicious one, but still a lie. There was no chance that was everything she knew. That said, I didn't particularly care. Even with how amicable this interaction had been, she'd spent her entire life viewing Curses as enemies of humanity.
Being polite to a pacified Curse was one thing. Freely handing over sensitive information was another.
The way she spoke of being a retainer also scratched something in my human memories. Class divisions were clearly alive and well here, and Japan had never exactly been subtle about its historical separation between nobles and commoners.
Well, not like the West was any better.
She called herself a retainer, and without a family name, which made me suspect she'd been a commoner who caught a Clan's attention due to her ability to see Cursed Spirits, even if she lacked the strength to properly fight them.
That raised a much bigger question.
What the hell was she doing out here, in the middle of nowhere?
She clearly wasn't stationed to protect the village. If the feeling I got from my Technique's ranking system was anything to go by, she was barely on par with that Grade Four fly Curse I'd casually smacked to death.
Should I ask?
…No. Think, Mahito.
You need to build a character here. A narrative. Something convincing enough to impress her and squeeze more Belief out of the moment.
She already thinks I'm abnormal for a Cursed Spirit. If I play this right, I can push that belief even higher. I need to show her that I'm capable of more than just speaking well, that I can think on the same level as humans, maybe even above them.
She mentioned Clans possessing knowledge of Cursed Spirits, which meant they were the ones who dealt with us, the ones who protected humanity.
She's a retainer. A Grade Four, if my Technique is to be trusted, which seems to be the lowest level required to even see Curses.
Wait, how do they even get notified about Curses outside the main areas of the populace in this day and age without any kind of long-distance communication? They would need someone on the ground area to-
…See Curses.
Oh.
Ohhh, that's it.
Okay. Play it cool.
"Yeah," I hummed, lifting my tea again. "A simple retainer wouldn't know much, right?" I took a slow sip, then continued casually, "I suppose that also means you're the one passing information up the chain. So what exactly were you planning to report to the Clans about me?"
Yuna froze.
Not figuratively. She went completely still, cup hovering just short of her lips.
"That is your role, isn't it?" I went on, tilting my head slightly, a smile resting easily on my face. "You stay out here on the outskirts, watching for abnormalities, and any Curse you encounter gets reported so the Clans can decide how to deal with it."
Her soul shuddered, the unease bleeding through her composure as her hands began to tremble despite her best efforts to steady them.
And here's the thing.
On the outside, I looked confident.
On the inside—
Please be right. Please be right. Please be right.
I had a few fallback phrases ready if I missed the mark, but they'd completely undermine the persona I was trying to sell. I couldn't stress this enough. I was absolutely winging it.
It made sense logically, at least to me. But that was because I'd lived a human life already. I understood hierarchies, understood how information flowed.
Reports moved upward, from the lowest rung to the highest, filtered by relevance. Yuna was basically a first responder, except without phones or instant communication, which meant she had to physically be present to notice when something went wrong.
From her perspective, though?
It probably looked like I'd pieced together human social structures, Clan hierarchy, and her exact position within it in a matter of seconds.
Or so I desperately hoped, I'm literally crossing my fingers here!
[Accumulating Belief of set Path]
Analysing…
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
Fuck yes!
The influx of Belief spiked noticeably. Even without concentrating on my Technique, I could see it now, a thin stream of golden energy spilling from her soul and flowing directly toward me, filling up the container quite a bit.
"You don't seem… upset," Yuna said carefully. Her posture was tense, coiled, as though ready to spring at the slightest provocation. I couldn't help but wonder what she planned to do if she decided I truly was a threat.
"Should I be?" I raised an eyebrow.
Obviously, a normal person would be. Even a part of me felt irritated by the fact. But I pushed that down, smoothing my expression as I leaned into the role.
She was staring at me like I was a slow child.
"I don't like it when you look at me with those eyes, Yuna-san~" I pout a bit, childishness in my voice, "I'll get self-conscious, you know?"
With a quiet sigh, Yuna shook her head. "I apologise for not informing you of this sooner, Mahito-sama."
"Ah, there's really no need," I waved it off easily. "Honestly, I can't wait to see their reactions when word gets out." I stretched my lips into a grin, as though the thought genuinely delighted me.
Which, admittedly, sounded absurd.
By Yuna's words, I was the first Curse intelligent enough to hold a conversation. Of course, the Clans, with their long history of exorcising beings like me, would take an interest. Of course, they'd try to kill me at the first opportunity.
But this was about setting the stage.
"You… can't?" Yuna blinked, genuine confusion breaking through her composure. "Forgive me, Mahito-sama, but I don't understand."
By the gods, she really wasn't going to let go of that sama, was she?
I pushed past it with a shrug. "I want to see what humans are made of." The grin I wore sharpened into something feral. "Honestly, I can't wait to fight them."
"Oh?" Yuna stiffened immediately, the earlier fear resurfacing in full force, though I pretended not to notice.
"Yeah," I continued casually. "I was born just about a week ago."
Yuna choked on her tea.
"But from the moment I could think," I went on, nodding to myself with a satisfied smile, "I knew I wanted to fight humans."
[Accumulating Belief of set Path]
Analysing…
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
Again?
What the hell was I saying that made her so convinced I was a Grade One Curse?
"And why would that be?" she asked, her voice tight now, the easy rhythm of our conversation completely gone. Yuna had remembered what I was, remembered that I belonged to the race that had stood in opposition to humanity since its very beginning.
It's here, the moment of truth, the point that I need to impress into Yuna, the moment that will shape how the entirety of humankind looks at me.
I had no doubt she would report everything she'd seen and heard to other sorcerers. Frankly, it would be stranger if she didn't.
This would be the seed of the Belief they'd form upon encountering me.
I couldn't lay all my cards on the table either. Once an idea is solidified in their minds and it gets set in stone, the harder it becomes to bend their Belief toward anything else.
In other words, I needed to be mysterious enough to invite doubt and speculation, yet bold and larger than life to make those ideas grow. And of course, be just strong enough to sell the lie I was spinning.
The beginning of the character known as Mahito.
And, as always—
Fake it until I make it.
I stared at her, and through my eyes I let the madness that came from being a curse bleed through, unrestrained and deliberate.
"Because I love humans."
The words struck her like a physical blow.
"Tell me, Yuna-san," I continued gently, "do you know what a negative shape is?"
The abrupt shift in topic left her reeling. The echo of my earlier words still clung to the air between us, but after a moment, she shook her head.
"In art," I said, my voice lightening, "negative shapes are the empty spaces around and between objects. They define the outline, give form to what is drawn, even though they themselves appear to be nothing." As I spoke, I smiled, warm and nostalgic, as if recalling a cherished memory.
"I am Mahito, the curse born from humanity's fear and hatred toward itself."
Her eyes widened, and I could feel the way her perception of me shifted, cracking and reforming all at once. Belief began to spike rapidly, this time like a stream, feeding deeper into my Soul.
"I am the sum of humanity's negative shapes. Every crime ever committed, every sin ever whispered, every malicious thought that went unspoken."
That part, at least, was true. Irritatingly so. The curse instincts clawing at my soul begged me to revel in it, to become some grotesque caricature of evil, the kind of gaudy villain that belonged in a blood-soaked comic from the nineties.
Well, I refuse to, so time to lie like a motherfucker. Use every damn near inspirational anime and book I ever consumed!
"But because I am the negative," I continued, my smile stretching wider, my gaze alight as it fixed on her, "I can also see all that is positive."
Yuna was transfixed now. The fear within her soul still pulsed, but it was no longer alone. Something else had joined it— I managed to keep the satisfaction off my face at the awe.
"For every murder etched into my existence, I have seen the life it saved. For every war born from clashing ideals, I have witnessed the unyielding faith buried deep within the human heart."
I lifted my hands to my head, my grin beginning to ache as I recited memories that were not real, mostly taken from whatever media I could remember.
"For every fragment of hatred that makes up my being, I have seen humanity's indomitable spirit."
I lowered my hands and met her gaze again.
"You asked me why I cannot wait to fight them, Yuna-san."
My voice softened, but the weight behind it only grew heavier.
"It is because humans have no limits. And I want to see everything they can become—from the greatest curses they can hurl at me, to the quiet, fragile loves they nurture within their hearts."
I looked at her fully now, and this time my smile was gentle, almost tender, letting non-existent love shine through, almost like I'm crying.
"I intend to be the one who will challenge you all. I intend to become the obstacle meant to be surpassed by any and all humans who curse."
This is who I need to be.
The bold, the insane, the crazy.
In my last life, words were my only power.
But here?
[Accumulating Belief of set Path]
Analysing…
—In this world of Curses and Sorcerers, words alone were not enough. Lies without substance would crumble the moment they were tested.
I had to become the very lies I told.
Analysing…
I would seize everything—hopes, beliefs, dreams. I would become the goalpost of sorcerer society, a dream forever within reach and yet always just beyond it.
And to do that—
"For I love humans."
I will be the Strongest.
And I would continue to believe in my victory.
[Faith Manifest]
Nice-!
[Quantified Belief Met!]
[Envisioned Soul Outlined!]Eh?
[Internalised Ideal]
[The Adversary Who Loves Humanity]Eeeeeeeeeeeh???
AN: Okay, just to answer any questions before they get called in, I kind of made it so that most Windows are taught how to use basic paper Shikigamis, mostly for long-distance messaging, and reporting of Cursed Spirits, cause otherwise there wouldn't be any type of civilisation outside of main cities back then.
Also, another aspect of Faith Manifest!
People were wondering whether his personality would change if people believed him to be something, but what happens is that he gains Internalised Ideals, and depending on the one he acts with, the necessary Faith for his Technique to work will be lowered.
Also, if anyone is wondering, Faith Manifest does take up Curse Energy to utilise. Not much, but it is there. Kind of like a payment for the technique?
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this part, even if there wasn't much progress. I just wanted to show you guys what type of 'Character' Mahito will be playing as, until he is no longer capable of identifying the lies he tells, and how he feels.
Thanks for reading, any questions just comment, and have a good day!
POV: Mahito
The screams of children tore through the air as several of them dove into the tall grass to escape my sight while others scrambled behind the larger rocks scattered across the clearing, convinced that stone and foliage would somehow shield them from what was coming. Under normal circumstances, my cursed instincts would have savored that sound.
Unfortunately for those instincts, these were not the right kind of screams.
I lifted the leather ball high above my head, letting it hover for dramatic effect, and once again the children shrieked as they burst into laughter and scattered in every direction.
They get a five-second head start, for I was a truly merciful being.
As soon as the count was done, I threw the ball gently towards a child, a little girl who hadn't found a place to hide so quickly.
Gently for me, which still meant it cut through the air like a professional fastball before bouncing squarely off her back, who collapsed into the grass with theatrical despair as the others howled.
"Nice~!" I declare triumphantly, even as none can hear me.
Yeah, Kazuki somehow convinced me to play with him. His leg wasn't that bad, and after resting, he bounced back quickly.
So here I was, entertaining a small army of children while giving Yuna the time she apparently needed to emotionally recover from the philosophical nuclear bomb I had dropped on her earlier.
I'm truly happy she bought all of that.
"You have now been captured, do not resist." I cheered, retrieving the ball before swooping down to lift the defeated child effortlessly into the air. Her scream of terror quickly dissolved into delighted giggles as I carried her over to the growing circle of the 'fallen,' who were already arguing over who had been unfairly targeted.
"Spirit-san! You need to target Yamai!" One of the kids, a boy with fat cheeks who urged me to pinch them, somehow managed to grab my invisible legs.
"Betrayal!" Came the shout behind me, from the aforementioned Yamai.
There were a couple of giggles from the circle as I set the girl down and briefly rubbed his head, an action that my human memories said was meant to transmit affection.
My human self vaguely remembered games like this, though this version seemed to operate on rules invented moments ago and enforced purely through shouting.
Oh? I guess that makes sense. The children hadn't been quiet after all.
Because we were playing near Kazuki's house, it didn't take long for the noise to draw Yuna's attention. I felt the soul in the house move around, standing at a distance while it observed us.
She stood at a distance, watching with an utterly flat expression as I proceeded to dunk another child out of the game.
Having a healthy body was incredible. The coordination of such strength, it was like being gifted a high-end character build without grinding for it; I fucking loved it.
"What are you doing?" Yuna asked, her voice carefully neutral as the children scattered once more, diving into the grass and behind rocks.
Since I am a merciful Curse, I decided to give them a bit longer to hide while I chatted with Yuna.
Alright, time for the 'love' to shine through!
"I'm playing," I answered reverently, as if she had just asked what enlightenment was. "What a fantastical concept. It trains the body, sharpens the senses for unexpected fast-paced attacks, and trains the ability to hide one's presence, all while fostering camaraderie and keeping the spirits up." I shook my head in admiration. "Humans truly are extraordinary to start so young."
Yuna sighed, though I could see the faint shimmer of Belief rising from her soul all the same.
[Source of Belief: Human (Grade Four Sorcerer)]
Path of Guided Belief: Power – Special Grade Curse]
Analysing
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
[Faith Stored]
Oh, right.
That notification showed up the moment I completed the previous Path.
Following that logic, there were clearly advanced tiers branching upward for certain types of Paths, which honestly reminded me of those multi-part questlines from RPGs where the bombastic reward only unlocked after an increasingly absurd list of prerequisites.
Still… Special Grade?
If the previous tier was Grade One, then a higher classification made sense, but why call it that? Why not something clean and intimidating like Grade Zero?
That sounded much cooler, right?
There had also been Belief trickling in toward the Path for the Poltergeist technique from the children, which helped me realize something important: while humans generated far more Belief than Curses, strength clearly affected output.
Because I had roughly thirteen children here, and even with all of them wholeheartedly believing I possessed supernatural ball-throwing powers, the total didn't even compare to the yield from a single conversation with Yuna.
And here I had been considering haunting a few villages as a spooky ghost to farm Belief efficiently.
Turns out, if normal humans produced this little individually, it simply wasn't worth the effort.
Dammit.
I was really going to have to focus on sorcerers instead.
Still, focusing back on the children who remained very poorly hidden behind swaying grass and questionably sized rocks, I had to admit it was impressive how quickly they had accepted my presence.
How did I end up with an entire miniature entourage of children when Kazuki was the only one who knew me?
Well, that likely had something to do with Kazuki enthusiastically calling them over and presenting me like I was a rare holographic Pokémon card, loudly declaring me to be a 'Friendly Spirit' while pointing at the conspicuously floating ball.
I honestly expected him to start listing my elemental weaknesses.
Curiosity had done the rest, and children were apparently far more open to the supernatural when it came packaged as entertainment.
I was honestly shocked no one had sprinted home in tears to alert their parents.
I had fully expected a lynch mob by now.
Alright, that's enough time for the—
Abruptly, my head twisted toward the outskirts of the village, my expression sharpening as my eyes locked onto something moving in the distance.
"Mahito-sama?" Yuna called, confusion evident in her voice. With the children still hiding, she didn't bother lowering her tone. "Is something wrong?"
"I'll need to take care of something," I replied casually. "I'll be back in a bit." Without looking at her, I tossed the ball in her direction. "Hold this for me, please."
She scrambled to catch it, clearly not expecting the throw, and nearly dropped it before hugging it awkwardly to her chest.
…I graciously ignored her flustered expression, choosing instead to stare intently at the shape shambling toward the village.
"I don't understand—" Yuna followed my gaze and quickly spotted what had caught my attention.
A Cursed Spirit had wandered to the very edge of the village, its body a grotesque assembly of mismatched limbs and clustered eyes that seemed to blink independently of one another. It possessed three arms sprouting from uneven shoulders and balanced its entire mass on a single thick leg, giving it a lopsided gait that might have been comical if not for the nauseating texture of its skin. It wasn't particularly large; with enough creative optimism, one might mistake it for a very unfortunate cow from a distance.
Ugh.
I wanted it dead.
Intellectually, I understood that Curses existed in a strange state of life, complete with souls and some semblance of awareness, but that knowledge did absolutely nothing to lessen the instinctive revulsion that crawled up my spine whenever I looked at one.
Then my intention must have reached Yuna, because I felt her soul tremble in a distinct pattern, which means I can cross out what surprise looks like in Souls.
"Mahito-sama… you intend to deal with that Curse?" she asked slowly, as though testing the logic of her own sentence. "There has never been a documented case of a Cursed Spirit attacking another."
That did make sense.
Just as humans were generally disinclined to murder one another without reason, Curses tended to avoid unnecessary conflict among themselves. It helped that every single one of them shared the same broad objective: the destruction of humanity. At the end of the day, they all have the same unified goal as a foundation for their minds and personalities.
"Well, I do love humans," I said lightly.
Yuna's soul betrayed her carefully maintained composure as it quivered in renewed bewilderment, yet even through that confusion, I could see Belief beginning to form and peel away from her.
…Except it wasn't settling into any Path.
It simply lingered, drifting across my Soul without direction.
Huh.
"That," I continued, my gaze still fixed on the approaching Curse, "and I hate Curses."
This time, I didn't need to lie.
The emotion beneath those words was genuine, and ironically, that authenticity lent greater weight to the fabricated parts of my persona.
Oh my.
Thank you for your continued patronage, Yuna-san. The Faith Organisation appreciates your business. Please rate your existential crises out of five stars.
More Belief flowed in, only to once again hover without anchoring itself to any specific Path.
Wait.
Was it being absorbed directly into the Outline of my Soul?
That would make sense. I had internalized the Ideal of the 'Adversary Who Loves Humans,' so perhaps this was Faith being gathered without a predefined route, accumulating simply because I was acting in accordance with that role.
Interesting.
I certainly hoped I could use this surplus eventually. Maybe pour it into the containers of other Paths?
I pushed those thoughts aside as I stepped forward to intercept the Curse, which had now wandered fully onto the road and was swaying aimlessly between the house, likely searching for any humans. I didn't need to glance back to know that Yuna's soul was trembling behind me, whether from the approaching Curse or from the lingering unease my earlier speech had left coiled inside her.
This one wasn't particularly strong. I could tell from the weight of its Cursed Energy and from the way its soul flickered unevenly within its grotesque frame. It was stronger than the weakest creatures I had fought so far, yet it fell short of the Flesh Knight by a margin.
Alright, time to test my new build!
"Wheaaat…" it groaned, the mouth embedded low in its torso peeling open as it finally registered my presence when I allowed a flicker of Cursed Energy to leak outward.
"Wheat for the harvest!" it bellowed, immediately charging toward me with in a gross mess of limbs.
How predictable, like every other Curse I'd encountered, they all charge as soon as they detect my Soul.
Oh well, just convenient farming methods then.
Hello Mr Dummy, thank you for volunteering as tribute in my very scientific experiment to determine the combat effectiveness of a freshly minted Grade One Curse.
This thing was probably around Grade Three, right?
So let's see what that gap really looks like.
It swung one of its massive, malformed arms downward with the clear intention of turning me into pavement decoration. I sidestepped easily, the motion feeling almost lazy, and as I pivoted, I felt reinforcement instinctively coat my body in a thin, controlled layer of Cursed Energy before I drove my fist forward into its bloated torso.
The impact was not subtle.
The Curse left the ground entirely, its enormous body launched backward as though gravity had briefly reconsidered its priorities, before it crashed into the dirt and gouged a shallow trench through the road. A crater now caved in its stomach, blood spilling freely from the ruptured flesh as it spasmed and groaned.
…
Uhm.
What?
Spoiler: Mahito:
"Mahito-sama, you're truly strong!" Yuna called from behind me, awe plain in her voice.
"Of course I am!" I answered immediately, a wide grin plastered across my face.
Internally, however, I was sweating bullets.
What the actual hell?
Wasn't this leap in strength way too excessive?! Sure, it was weaker than the Semi-Grade Two I'd fought before, but not by that much, and that thing had been capable of tearing trees out of the ground like decorative weeds.
My punch had just sent something the size of a cow airborne.
Was this really what it meant to be Grade One?
That was horrifying.
Especially considering my Technique likely did the bare minimum necessary to qualify me for that rank. If this was the baseline for a newly upgraded Grade One, then what in the world were the monsters at the top of the scale like?
And here I was thinking this was a balanced progression system.
Don't break character, Mahito!
"My, and here I was getting all worked up for nothing," I said lightly as I approached the writhing Curse.
"W-wheat…" it rasped weakly.
Ugh. Parrots. Every single one of them, repeating the one miserable phrase that had birthed them into existence.
"Go harvest in your next life," I replied, my tone cool despite the smile still resting on my face.
I raised my hand toward the cluster of eyes decorating its upper body, and the Curse trembled beneath my palm.
Time to farm some more Belief.
Fun fact: Faith Manifest, my original Technique, barely consumed any Cursed Energy at all. It was remarkably self-sustaining, since it seemed to be running primarily on Belief rather than raw curse energy.
Direct Cursed Energy manipulation, on the other hand, was obscenely expensive. If my reserves hadn't increased as much as they had, I wouldn't even consider attempting something like this.
Fortunately, at the moment, I had energy to spare.
I focused on the center of my palm, visualizing the Cursed Energy compressing outward as a crushing force rather than an explosive one – I realised that Cursed Energy seemed to manifest easier when you visualise something - and then release it downward in a controlled surge.
The Curse screamed as invisible pressure bore down on it, forcing its body against the ground as though it had been placed beneath a massive hydraulic press. The earth cracked beneath it, the air vibrating with the strain, until finally, with a sickening final crunch, its entire form collapsed into a grotesquely flattened disk, blood spilling outward in a widening ring.
Without flinching, I turned back toward Yuna and flashed a victory sign with my fingers, smiling brightly.
…Wait.
Did people even know that gesture here?
Was that even a thing in this era?
Dammit.
No one would understand my references.
Pain.
This is the true tragedy of time travel.
"Ain't I just the coolest?" I puffed out my chest slightly, forcing myself to push past the soul-crushing realization that I could no longer shitpost in this timeline.
"W-was that your Technique, Mahito-sama?" she asked.
Ah.
There was blood on my face.
That was probably alarming if I kept smiling.
Unfortunately, I couldn't wipe it off without ruining the image.
Suppressing the deeply inappropriate satisfaction that came from visibly unsettling a human, I gave her a teasing smile and tapped a finger lightly against my cheek.
"It might be~" I replied, deliberately sticking my tongue out at the end.
There.
Now she was staring at me with a flat, unimpressed expression.
Sorry, Yuna-san, but it's genuinely more convenient if you think I'm childish rather than terrifying. Managing my instincts becomes significantly harder when your soul is broadcasting fear at maximum volume.
Ooooh~
Now that's a nice spike of Belief.
A steady stream of golden light poured out of Yuna's soul, shimmering as my Technique drank it in like something long deprived of water.
All of that Belief flowed neatly into the container—Poltergeist.
And it was enormous.
Even larger than the container that had elevated me to Grade One.
Alright then.
So Techniques weren't just perks you picked up on the side, and not something that was easily accessible to acquire, which made sense, considering my own Technique bordered on absurdly unfair.
I sincerely hoped that it was a perk from being reincarnated, and that not every sorcerer possessed something comparable, because if that were the case, I might as well lie down somewhere scenic and wait politely for an exorcism.
Welp, suicide thoughts for later.
Humming lightly, I plucked the ball from Yuna's hands and turned toward a child who was very poorly concealed behind the wooden foundation beams of her house, his wide eyes peeking out as though I couldn't see him at all.
"Mahito-sama?" Yuna asked, confused.
Target acquired.
I drew my arm back with a grin and let the ball fly.
Dunk.
That was the sound of my balls all over your—
Wait.
That is a child.
…it's so weird, because I don't really feel anything? I know my human self would be appalled just by imagining that.
Oh well.
With a shameless grin, I leaned closer to Yuna, who was staring at me with a completely deadpan expression.
"Score~," I whispered conspiratorially.
She rubbed her temple as though nursing a migraine.
As the ball rolled back to my feet, I bent to retrieve it, only for the child I had just tagged to spring upright as if fueled by righteous indignation.
"Change of plans!" he declared loudly. "We must defeat the Spirit Tyrant!"
Without further discussion, he charged me.
A wave of screaming children followed him immediately, abandoning all previously agreed-upon rules in favor of mob justice.
Tsk.
So he changed the rules just because he didn't want to be out?
How immature.
Very well.
"Come at me!" I spread my arms wide, welcoming the assault with theatrical enthusiasm, my grin stretching as the first of them leapt for the floating ball.
Behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound of a facepalm.
I barely contained my laughter as another surge of Belief flowed in.
Honestly, Yuna was far too entertaining to tease.
"Oi, hands to yourself," I said, even though I knew the command would accomplish nothing.
"Is this really your hair, Spirit-san? It's so smooth," Kazuki asked, already covered in dirt and grass stains from hours of play.
Since he was clearly exhausted but refusing to admit it, I simply hoisted him onto my shoulders, where he immediately began investigating my hair like it was a rare artifact.
The sun was dipping low in the sky, painting the village in warm orange tones as the children gradually scattered back to their homes, no doubt preparing to enthusiastically inform their parents that they had spent the afternoon tackling a floating spirit.
Hehehe.
I would have paid good money to witness those conversations, hopefully none die from a heart attack.
Yuna watched us with an expression I could only describe as amused.
Hold on.
Weren't you trembling earlier at the mere thought of your child standing this close to me? Where exactly did that fear disappear to?
"Help me here, Yuna-san," I pleaded as Kazuki tugged at my hair again.
"Now, now, Kazuki," she chided gently, though her smile betrayed her. "You must be careful with Mahito-sama's hair."
No.
Please no.
She ignored my imploring stare, her expression composed and serene. If I couldn't see her soul quivering with barely restrained amusement, I might have believed the act.
"Mahito-sama?" Kazuki repeated curiously, tilting his head.
"Yes," Yuna answered smoothly. "The spirit's name is Mahito-sama."
"Mahito-sama!"
Please, Kazuki. Not you too.
I made sure my wounded pride was visible as I shot Yuna a mulish look.
It seemed she had calmed down significantly after watching me spend hours playing with the children.
That was good.
Hopefully, it would be just as simple with other sorcerers. Though somehow, I suspected that those raised from childhood to hunt Curses might prove less receptive to dodgeball diplomacy.
Eventually, Kazuki fell asleep against my shoulder mid-sentence. I carried him inside and placed him carefully in his bed, taking a brief moment to observe the modest interior of the house, which felt so different from the homes I remembered.
"You're leaving?" Yuna asked quietly.
"Yes. Thank you for your hospitality, Yuna-san."
"No, not at all," she replied with a polite bow. "You were a very good guest, Mahito-sama."
Yeah, that bow and reverence pretty much confirmed it. She had once served someone of higher status long before being sent here.
I inclined my head in return and turned toward the door, only to pause when a faint tremor rippled through her soul.
Blinking, I looked back at her and saw the hesitation written plainly across her face.
I tilted my head.
Yuna exhaled slowly. "Be careful in your travels. I sent a message to the capital. Soon, the Clans will be dispatched to deal with you."
Ah.
How thoughtful.
"You can send messages that quickly?" I ask, genuinely intrigued. Normally, it would take days, maybe even weeks, for letters to travel in this era, right? This isn't one of those weird medieval-modern hybrid worlds, right?
Yuna flicked her sleeve, and a piece of paper floated out. But it didn't just fall to the ground—it hovered midair, perfectly cut into the shape of a bird, flapping delicately as it zipped around, as if it had somewhere important to be.
"Paper shikigami are the minimum requirement for Windows to give a swift response to curses for the Clans," Yuna explained. "They allow rapid transmission of information."
Holy hell. Familiars. They all had familiars!
That's actually amazing. Except, well… it completely ruins my buffer time.
"Amazing, you guys managed to command other spirits and capture them in pieces of paper?" Alright, time to ramp up the ignorant country bumkin boy, while glazing humanity!
"Hehehe," Yuna laughed softly, "Not quite, they are simply autonomous incarnated beings made of cursed energy, it's especially easy to use them if you have a medium."
"Like paper," I finish, giving the paper bird a touch, which it ignores.
"I'm guessing you sent everything about me, right?" I asked, my voice a little higher than I intended because the godamn panic was creeping in! Damnit, I thought I had a few days as a freeman.
Yuna nodded, thankfully not noticing my brief leak of panic, a faint wave of fear brushing across her soul.
"Yes, Mahito-sama."
"Nice," I said, smiling brightly, though internally I wanted to curl up and cry a little.
Feeling how the fear leaves her, followed by understanding, I forced myself deeper into character.
"I told you, didn't I?" My smile broadened, eyes flaring with a fire I didn't feel. "I can't wait to fight humans."
Ah, fuck me. I could have waited a few weeks, man.
…Oi. Why are you smiling so sweetly at me, Yuna-san? Why is there so much Belief flowing right now?!
Ah, whatever. In this day and age, how would they even find me if I didn't attack humans? I'll be traveling through rural areas mostly, right? Surely it'll take them ages to locate me.
Three Days Later…
This is bullshit.
"In the name of the Tachibana, we shall exorcise you!"
How?! How have you already found me?!
Okay, step back, Mahito. Let's retrace.
Still Three Days Later, but a few minutes ealier…
I had left that little village behind without much fanfare, but I kept Yuna-san's warning to mind.
What a surprise, though, I should have asked further about these 'shikigami' that Sorcerers apparently have. I mean, just from knowing Japanese, I know that it means 'ceremonial spirit', but what Yuna had shown me was far more functional than mere decoration.
Wonder if they have shikigami to help in combat?
Ah, who am I kidding, this is humanity; they definitely found a way to weaponize it
I'd been traveling with no real plan, following the compass of my soul. My goal? Either stumble upon a larger town to farm Belief en masse or run into more curses to test my growing strength.
Honestly, leaving my presence unhidden was like lighting a neon sign; they all came hurling towards me with reckless abandon.
Thankfully, my sensing range exceeded theirs by miles, literally. I don't know if it was an increase because I am now a Grade One, but my previous range of just about fifty meters un-enhanced is now almost two hundred meters passively.
My method was simple: flash my Cursed Energy like a lighthouse beacon, lure the nearby curses close enough, then vanish my presence before the troublesome ones could detect me further.
Boom, perfect way for mass killing these bastards.
I even earned more Belief by toying with them, but it was horrendously inefficient. Honestly, I might as well just kill them quickly and be done with it, rather than dragging it out for the sake of technique refinement.
Well… sometimes I stretched fights anyway. Combat experience was important. And, secretly, fighting was… genuinely fun.
Both human me and curse me seemed to agree on that.
"Woah! You almost had me!" I dodged beneath the trunk of a fallen tree, the mammoth-like curse letting out a furious roar that somehow sounded terrifying.
This guy was super tough, like, I'm pretty sure his Technique had something to do with becoming more durable. No matter how hard I hit, it was like the entire force of it disappeared on contact.
Dodging its raised legs, which the curse brought down in a thunderous slam, I jump away, crouching on the tree branch I found myself in, considering the monster below me.
Alright, the scientific method it was.
With a mighty leap, I landed atop its head, my foot coming down like an executioner's blade. The impact rang through the air, the gust from the strike whipping past me—definitely not a product of Kinetic Manipulation. If it had nullified my force on contact, there wouldn't have been a sound; this was pure damage reduction somehow.
I jump off as it starts to buckle, then twist in the air to barely dodge a follow-up swipe from one of its tusks.
Oh, that's an idea.
Grabbing the tusks for leverage, I ignored its incomprehensible roar and aimed my feet toward the back of its gaping mouth. Ora? Same outcome—my strike hit with everything I had, and the curse barely reacted.
Oh shit. My legs are inside its mouth.
The moment it realized what I'd done, it snapped down. I tried to retract them in time: the right leg slid free, but my left foot was trapped. Thankfully, being a curse dulled the sensation of pain… just barely.
"Motherfucker! Your mother was a greaseball, and your father was a hamster!"
What? I said pain was dulled, not that it didn't exist.
Its jaw shook me violently, tossing me like a chew toy. My vision blurred as it shook, each movement a test of strength in holding my non-existent lunch.
Cursed energy thrummed through my body, its purple hue coiling through my limbs as I swung a devastating hook into the mammoth's throat.
This time, there was actual damage—tiny gashes opening across its body rather than at my intended target.
Of course, my train of thought ended abruptly when it finally severed my left leg, hurling me through the air. On instinct, I slammed my hands down, digging trenches into the dirt as my momentum ground to a halt.
The curse was now watching me warily, the damage to its form making it reconsider.
Ugh, what a pain in the ass that technique was.
"Distribution, huh?" I murmured, eyes scanning its massive frame.
It wasn't pure durability; the Technique at play here was that this curse had been distributing the damage done to focal areas around the entirety of his body, until the force behind it was negligible, and as such, leaving it mostly untouched.
Okay, a few options on how to deal with this crossed my mind.
I'ma go with the fun way.
A grin tugged at my lips as I launched myself forward, my severed foot magically regenerated by circulating cursed energy. Sliding under its swipe, I find myself back to the ground, the curse's stomach just above me.
I hammered its stomach with rapid, forceful blows, each strike shaking the air around us.
It tried to counterattack, dropping its entire body to try and crush me, but I was already gone, rolling up its side and gripping its fur to swing atop its hulking form.
"Fun technique, here's mine." I grinned, firing a crude, inefficient blast of cursed energy. It barely had the strength to scratch stone, but against a distributed force like this? Perfect.
The curse wailed in pain. It could spread damage across its body, yes, but I'd already forced the pressure evenly through its form with my punches. Now, I just needed to push beyond the limits of its distribution.
Even as the pressure continued, I didn't let up, punch after punch, leaving my fists as I rained blows on top of the curse, overwhelming it's distribution limit.
A roar of agony escaped it, and I couldn't help but laugh. Fuck these curses, man.
Finally, it collapsed, sides caving in like a tin can under a hammer as my 'Poltergeist' technique did its work.
Oooooh, Belief is nice. Minimal, sure, since it's a curse, but every bit counts.
I stretched, winded from the most irritating fight I'd faced yet, considering a brief rest before hitting the road again.
Hmm, I should be getting close to the next city by now-
Two signatures flare in my senses, coming from behind, the exact path that I had taken.
They're making a beeline towards me, the fuck, are these guys trackers or something?
No, with that amount of Cursed Energy, there's no doubt.
Fuck! How the hell have Sorcerers already caught up to me?!
And thus, here we are.
Two of them stood before me, both men, though the difference in their ages was immediately apparent.
They wore traditional clothing, much like my own, though even my commoner's eye could discern the vast difference. Every layer seemed meticulously crafted from soft, supple fabrics, far superior to the stiff and ordinary material I was currently wearing.
…can I steal it?
The older of the two bore the long, meticulously groomed beard that so often appears in depictions of wise elders, the kind of beard movies insist is either Japanese or Chinese in origin. Standing before me, I decided it was safest to assume that both traditions might lay claim to it.
Spoiler: Old guy
The younger, on the other hand, didn't appear much older than I. He had the air of a posh noble, hair tied in a perfectly arranged man bun. Also, he was fit, like super fucking fit, the type of cut that only showed up with specialised dieting and exercises that should be possible in this day and age.
Spoiler: Younger one
You ain't ever gonna catch me styling my hair like that. Even if it did look very good on him.
Hmm, that's not gay to think, right? Weird thing is that you would normally think that a Spiritual being like that can't be attracted, right? Wrong! I certainly felt attracted to Yuna, that's for sure.
… Let's leave that train of thought there, because the younger man was already staring down at me, his expression a mixture of disdain and calculation, as if I were an insect daring to exist on the same plane.
What an incredible technique, such refined and trained movements!
"We have received reports that you are intelligent," the younger said, his tone clipped, almost mocking, "but apparently the window has overestimated your mind. How typical of weaklings."
Weaklings, really? Could someone be so slappable?
Oh no. Was this the cliché of the Young Master?
Alright then, time to deploy my strongest attack.
The Pimp Hand.
"He does appear… humane, Tachibana-dono."
Holy shit. He actually was a young master?!
The Japanese part of my brain said that 'dono' was normally used to address those of a higher station, coupled with the fact that he carried the surname of the clan, this dude was definitely a noble!
In other words… an important character!
Alright, Mahito, time to get in character.
"Sorry, sorry! I was just surprised," I said, letting a laugh bubble from my chest as I shook my head, feigning lightheartedness. "I didn't expect sorcerers to find me so quickly."
Both of them froze for a beat, staring at me with slack-jawed disbelief. Much like Yuna, their souls betrayed a mixture of shock and restrained contempt.
Seriously… were curses normally that incapable of holding a conversation? Surely, there had to be stronger ones capable of coherent thought. Right?
"It seems the reports were not exaggerations," the young man, Tachibana, remarked, this time wariness replacing his initial arrogance.
"Well, it depends," I replied smoothly, giving him a wink. "I hope you only read the good parts."
The action again caused his brain to malfunction.
"How incredible," the older man murmured, his gaze lingering on me as if I were some exotic creature. "Never before have we encountered a curse such as you."
"You're going to make me blush, old man!" I cooed, forcing my cheeks to turn red, hands flailing around.
His expression immediately darkened, "Brat, don't call me that."
"You are kind of old, old man," Tachibana added, smirking with a casual ease that made the elder roll his eyes.
Ayo. Was this Young Master actually… kind of based?
[Accumulating Belief of set Path: Power – Special Grade Curse]
Analysing…
[Quantified Belief Threshold Not Met!]
Holy shit! Belief was surging like a storm, swirling and crashing through my soul with an intensity that made the entire day with Yuna look like child's play.
And as it spilled into the container, I finally realised just how fucking colossal the Path to becoming a Special Grade Curse was.
This wasn't just double the size of the Grade One path; it was a hundred times bigger, possibly even more.
How insane. Special Grades are fucking insane.
At least this proved one thing: strength mattered. The stronger the one who believed in me, the more Belief they generated. Even from the barest hint of what I showed, their Belief oured in like a river breaking a dam.
"By the way, how did you manage to find me?" I asked, genuinely curious. I always walked with most of my Cursed Energy sealed while resting between skirmishes with other Curses. And even those skirmishers were quite fast-paced.
"You left quite a bit of residuals on your battles," the older man said with casual ease. "Following it was trivial."
The hell are residuals?
Part of me wanted to chat with them, both to gather more Belief and to extract information about Jujutsu, but I reminded myself: stay in character.
And what would the Adversary do here?
The answer was obvious.
"Man, you guys are fun!" I exclaimed, stretching my limbs in exaggeration, letting the energy ripple around me like I was basking in it. Both sorcerers stiffened instantly, their souls bristling, Cursed Energy leaking from their bodies in cautious awareness.
"You're not half bad," Tachibana said, his tone almost casual, but his narrowed eyes betrayed the tension in his body as I let some of my Cursed Energy peek out. "Too bad we have orders to exorcise you, Curse."
There it was. Even as they spoke with a measured calm, I had an advantage at reading people that no one else held.
Their souls told me everything I needed to know.
Revulsion, like I was a pest crawling across the floor. Hatred, the sort reserved for something beneath even a maggot.
Good. No, perfect in fact.
Curse me, despise me.
Believe in me.
"Hahaha! It wouldn't be fun if you hadn't," I said, throwing my head back, letting the momentum of my 'personality's performance fill the clearing.
"I see." Tachibana's voice sharpened, slicing through the tension like a blade. "Are you truly what the reports claim?"
"Oh?" I tilted my head, letting my grin stretch wider, my eyes glinting with playful malice.
"For one who claims to love humanity," he spat, his expression grim, "you do not conceal your bloodlust, beast."
My grin only widened. "How can I not?" I said, my voice dripping with fervor. "I want to see… I want to feel—"
"Struggle!" In an instant, I unleashed the entirety of my reserves, the Cursed Energy sweeping across the area, encompassing both sorcerers. They stiffened, forcing their own enhancements to cope with the pressure, muscles coiling, souls screaming as they witness this show.
"Fight!" I stepped forward, letting 'Poltergeist' ripple outward, smothering them in my presence. Even their enhancements strained beneath it. I also use it to make my own clothing ripple from the wind, like Piccolo would have done.
The sun flared behind me, my shadow stretching- almost engulfing them.
"Show me!" I yelled, eyes wide with unhinged intensity, fire blazing with the kind of fervor no human could match.
"Show me why humans are worth loving!"
Show me how much Belief you will give me.
Spoiler: Mahito from the Sorcerer's POV:
AN: This chapter was surprisingly long, but I kind of didn't just want to fast forward to Mahito already leaving the village, so I have a bit of Mahito playing with children.
Also, here are a few Sorcerers! And how Sorcerers are capable of reacting to Curses in rural places, because let's be honest, if villages existed outside of the capital without any means of contacting Sorcerers, all it takes is a single Grade two and boom, that's a whole village off the map.
In this world where Curses do exist, especially this Era where Sorcerers and Curses are stronger than ever, they kind of do need to innovate.
Then again, Sorcerers are incredibly set in their ways for some reason.
Thankfully, the newest generation of miracles is here to take over!
With a weird teacher at the helm (He did not want to be here)
Oh yeah, this Tachibana, by the way, is an unknown, think of him like a side branch young master who managed to get to Grade 2 and as such was allowed to have a good life.
If you're wondering why they would send a Semi-Grade 1 and a Grade 2 for this job, then be assured that the Tachibana Clan did not take this seriously, like, at all. They thought it was their Window exagerating after finding a semi-intelligent curse.
Hehehehehe.
Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoy the chapter! Any questions, or well, anything really, then just comment and I'll try to answer!
Also, yes, I didn't notice at first, but Mahito is definitely treading on the way to becoming a Beast from FATE. If he were in the Nasuverse, he would definitely qualify at the end of his journey