Chapter 18: You, You're Not a Sorcerer, Right?
In the back hills of Akase Junior High School, the two remaining Assistant Supervisors were inspecting the scene.
The Grade 1 Cursed Object had been retrieved and taken away by Kento Nanami when he arrived. Their job was strictly clean-up.
For instance, taking the resigned killer back to Jujutsu High to await judgment.
In this situation, the higher-ups in the Jujutsu world couldn't possibly hand him back over to the police system. Not only had he been involved in the world of Cursed Spirits and learned certain truths, but more importantly, he clearly couldn't have figured this out alone, meaning there was likely more intelligence to be dug up.
Another task was to override and conceal the impact caused at the battle site.
Contacting various parties to cover up the existence of Cursed Spirits is mandatory, as Cursed Spirits are born from the negative emotions of non-Sorcerers. If the public were to learn that Cursed Spirits exist, the fear generated could potentially breed even worse creatures.
At the same time, they also had to grade the Cursed Spirit and file it—once a curse solidifies into the form of a Cursed Spirit or a Cursed Object, it is no longer a simple aggregation of emotions but a definable curse.
For example, the fear of fire, the fear of guns, the fear of chainsaws, etc... When these curses materialize as Cursed Spirits, their form and abilities naturally gravitate toward these concepts.
Filing them is essential, because even if successfully exorcised this time, they might reappear in the distant future.
Another key reason for grading Cursed Spirits is the Sorcerers themselves. The most direct way to determine a Sorcerer's true strength is by grading the Cursed Spirits they exorcise. The first few commissioned missions for newly-registered Sorcerers are always of particular interest to the higher-ups.
"There's no secondary battlefield nearby; the fight was confined to this bamboo grove from beginning to end."
The two Assistant Supervisors first circled the entire bamboo grove to confirm the general combat area, then began recording information on their tablets. In reality, from the moment Miwa encountered the Cursed Spirit until Emiya ended the fight, the whole process might have been less than ten minutes.
However, due to the constant sparring and clashes between Emiya and the Cursed Spirit during the main fight, the state of the entire bamboo grove could only be described as brutal. Especially in one area, barely any bamboo stalks were left standing.
How could they explain the cause of this damage to outsiders? Maybe they should just shovel the entire grove and say they're converting it into an apple orchard? They wouldn't have trouble finding buyers for the bamboo they cut down.
"From the intelligence, it seems that Ms. Miwa, a Grade 3 Sorcerer, was defeated immediately upon encountering the Cursed Spirit.
The amount of Residual Curse left behind is also quite astonishing..."
Just as running water leaves a trace and animals leave a scent, Cursed Spirits, Sorcerers, Cursed Objects, and all things imbued with Cursed Energy leave behind Residual Curse after using Cursed Energy. More sensitive individuals can use this residue not only to track movements but also to identify the owner and their innate strength.
The two Assistant Supervisors exchanged glances and made their judgment.
"That is to say, the strength of this Cursed Spirit can indeed be classified as Grade 1.
A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit being misclassified as a Grade 3... those people made such a huge mistake in their work."
Because Assistant Supervisors are the closest people to Sorcerers, they understand the immense pressure Sorcerers on the front lines have to bear. No one wants to see a Sorcerer die due to Jujutsu High's misjudgment of a Cursed Spirit's grade. Such a sacrifice would be completely meaningless.
Never mind a Grade 3 Sorcerer; even several Grade 2 Sorcerers wouldn't necessarily be able to successfully exorcise a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. The gap in actual strength is quite brutal.
"But why are there only two traces of Residual Curse on the scene?"
"One belongs to the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, and the other, relatively faint one, belongs to Ms. Miwa... Where is the newly-registered Sorcerer's?"
After all, just as Cursed Spirits leave residue, Sorcerers naturally do the same when using Cursed Energy. The flow of Cursed Energy leaves a trace, like a basic law of physics.
"How is that possible? He didn't use some kind of physical means to exorcise the Cursed Spirit, did he?" one Assistant Supervisor said to his colleague, though it was clearly meant as a joke. It's common knowledge in the Jujutsu world that physical attacks without Cursed Energy reinforcement can barely harm a Cursed Spirit.
"No choice, if we can't detect it, we'll have to report the situation truthfully." They could only attribute this phenomenon to Emiya's Cursed Technique being highly unusual.
"But seriously, he was able to exorcise a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit right after becoming a Sorcerer? There are a lot of monsters showing up lately."
"Yeah, there was just one last year..."
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BANG—!
In the other room, as Nanami's words ended, the room door was suddenly kicked open.
The white-haired, short-haired man who burst into the room didn't apologize for his rudeness. Instead, he walked in with a playful smile, as if he had been invited.
"Ah?"
"Gomen, gomen. I just heard someone shout 'The Strongest,' so I thought I was being invited in."
He casually put his hand behind his head, offering this as his apology.
"Good evening, Gojo-san."
Nanami, seemingly quite used to this, showed no emotion because of the man's entrance. He simply bowed slightly and greeted him like an ordinary office worker meeting his superior.
"This is Satoru Gojo, one of the only three Special Grade Sorcerers in the Jujutsu world and a teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
If one must name 'The Strongest' Sorcerer in the world, he is it."
Nanami, acting as the intermediary, introduced the white-haired man, then turned slightly and extended his hand toward Emiya.
"And this is Emiya Shirou, a newly-registered Grade 4 Sorcerer who successfully exorcised a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit."
"Compared to those who would immediately contact the Jujutsu clans, I believe Gojo-san is more trustworthy."
Hearing Nanami praise him like this, Satoru Gojo showed an undisguised look of delight on his face, practically blooming with happiness. Unfortunately, Nanami added one extremely important sentence immediately after:
"Though I don't respect you!"
That's right, a trustworthy person isn't necessarily respectable.
"You said something so hurtful with such a straight face, Nanami-chan.
So, as revenge, can you let me have some time alone with Emiya-kun?"
His words were quite suggestive, and 'The Strongest' Sorcerer hadn't been serious for a moment since his arrival.
After Nanami nodded and left the room, Gojo's expression finally became a little more serious.
He put a hand to his chin and scrutinized Emiya from head to toe.
Even though he wore a pitch-black blindfold and shouldn't have been able to perceive his surroundings visually, Emiya's intuition told him he was being seen through completely.
Finally, Gojo's expression grew progressively graver, and the surrounding aura subtly changed. Emiya felt like an invisible force was pressing down on his entire body, accompanied by the instinctive crisis of an insect being targeted by a predator.
"You...
You're not a Sorcerer, right?"