Zenin Toji was dying.
More precisely, his heart was dying as much as his wife was.
It had been months since she collapsed onto her sickbed. His wife had become terribly thin.
She was barely clinging to life, relying on IV drips and machines.
However, now even that shallow breath was about to disappear.
His wife's death meant his own death. It was the extinguishing of the humanity that Fushiguro Toji had, which had barely begun to sprout.
"...."
He held his wife's hand in silence. There was no emotion in his gaze as he stared blankly at her.
Outwardly composed, yet rotting within.
That was his situation.
An incurable disease with unknown causes.
Aftereffects of an accident.
Or something else.
Various things the doctor had told him flashed through Toji's mind.
Just for a moment, like starlight.
"Hoo――."
A heavy sigh escaped his lips.
Regret, frustration.
Or a complex breath, as if blowing away his humanity.
Whoosh.
As if waiting for this moment, a wind blew simultaneously.
A bright spring day.
Just like the day they first went on a date.
However.
Their first date had been fresh and embarrassing, but not chilling.
Much less, an uninvited guest.
"Who are you?"
Toji raised his head.
Outside the window, which he had left open for his wife, someone was standing on the railing.
A child.
Approximately five or six years old, male.
Shorts, a shirt, sneakers.
His attire was ordinary, but his appearance was quite striking.
Above all, his aura was unique.
His impression was intense, yet he felt like someone you'd forget once he left your sight.
Conclusion.
The child before him was no ordinary child.
It was reasonable to assume he was of the same ilk as those pathetic bastards swarming the Zenin estate.
Or the selfish Cursed Spirit Users whose necks he'd cut.
"Fushiguro… no, Zenin Toji-san. Is that correct?"
The child sat on the railing and asked in a polite tone. Too polite.
And calm like an adult.
Unnecessarily so.
"You know me?"
Toji frowned and asked.
Knowing him meant living in the hidden side of the world, the sorcerer world.
It was highly likely that their fates were intertwined by grudges.
"I do. You're the Sorcerer Killer who easily slays even sorcerers."
The child nodded.
He had come knowing everything from the start, so there was no way he wouldn't know.
His personal information, his characteristics.
And even the future he was originally meant to face.
"Then you've arrived quite appropriately. To kill me? Or to make a request? Which is it?"
"I've come to make a deal."
The child blinked, looking at Toji.
He remained calm, even though Toji was showing faint hostility.
Just one second.
A distance where his neck could be grabbed and snapped with just a blink.
The child remained calm even though he was within Toji's attack range. Because he hadn't come to fight.
Besides, even if he did fight, he was confident. Because his alluring, seductive, kind yet dangerous older sisters would protect him.
"A deal?"
"Yes. If you become my subordinate, I will save your wife."
What?
Suddenly, Toji's eyes widened.
Save her? His wife?
How?
An utterly unexpected ambush struck Toji from behind. It was on the level of shattering his head.
Because of that, his reaction was slow.
"…This is the only time you'll cross the line involving my wife. I won't go easy on you, even if you're a kid."
A faint murderous intent flickered in Toji's eyes.
It was hard for him to forgive the child who seemed to be toying with him.
If it were a real curse.
If such a trivial reason were the cause, he would have acted already.
But it was an incurable disease.
In other words, it was science that had not found a solution.
He had searched for someone with a cursed technique to cure diseases, but there was no one.
A Reverse Cursed Technique user who could heal a broken body?
They couldn't cure diseases, nor were there any users with such ability.
"It's not a joke, nor trickery, nor deceit. I have brought a definite solution."
The child rummaged through his pants pocket and pulled out a glass vial.
It was about the size of an adult male's index finger.
"If it's a solution, then that…?"
Toji stared intently at the glass vial.
Inside the medicine bottle, a sparkling pink liquid sloshed as if afraid.
"Yes. You just need to make a binding vow… no, a pact with me. We'll also write a contract."
A pact literally means a binding.
It is an oath to accept certain conditions and suffer certain disadvantages if they are violated.
That oath is especially effective when made between sorcerers.
In some ways, its reliability is higher than a legal contract.
This was no exception even for Toji, who couldn't use cursed techniques. Because he too was a human living in the world of curses.
"Are you serious?"
Toji asked.
The option of becoming a subordinate and that future didn't scare him.
What was important was his wife.
Only his wife.
Because of that, his eyes trembled faintly.
Rain began to fall once more on the parched, cracked earth.
"I am serious."
"You want to make me your subordinate, so your objective must be my strength, right?"
"That's right."
The child nodded and held out the medicine vial.
As if telling him to take it and make her drink it quickly.
"I'll take it that taking this means you accept the contract, that is, the pact."
"There won't be any lies, will there?"
"If this medicine cannot cure your wife, the contract is void. And even if you accept the contract, I will not issue any commands that could harm your wife."
The child paused for a moment, then spoke the most important words.
"Furthermore, I stake my life that this medicine is harmless. By this pact."
Yes. That was enough.
He had worried that the child might order him to cure her disease only to kill her with his own hands…
But since it was specified in the pact, it should be fine.
Above all, Toji was currently clinging to hope.
When one clings to hope, there is no turning back.
Rational judgment?
That was also out of the question.
Whether the rope dropped before him was rotten or not.
There was no time to even check that.
Just grabbing it.
That was all.
"If my wife's illness is completely cured, I will gladly accept your pact."
"Good. Tomorrow at this time again..."
The child trailed off while trying to set an appointment.
Because coming all the way here was bothersome.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow night at ten, at the convenience store near the hospital. I guess she'll be discharged tomorrow, so that should be enough time, right?"
"Alright."
Toji nodded and approached the child.
He reached out and grasped the bottle the child offered.
"This is..."
Toji stared at the bottle and mumbled.
He was still suspicious yet bewildered.
"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."
The child slowly turned his back.
The current floor was the fifth floor.
Despite being a sufficiently high floor, he intended to jump down.
'As expected.'
Toji slowly raised his head and observed the child.
Jumping from here was suicide. For an ordinary person, serious injury or death would be a certainty.
But for a sorcerer, they could protect their body with cursed energy. The more skilled they were, the less impact from the fall.
But why, exactly?
"Is there a reason to jump out the window? You could just leave through the door."
"It's cool, and faster."
The child just turned his head back, smiled, then leaped down. There was no hesitation.
'Insane?'
Toji's eyes widened, and he leaned his head out the window. His excellent instincts had reacted reflexively.
Fortunately, the child was unharmed. His limbs weren't broken, nor was he bleeding.
However. Beside the child stood a woman he hadn't seen before.
─Master! How can you jump without a signal? If I hadn't noticed, you could have been seriously hurt.
─I always trusted you.
─Oh, goodness! Are you going to brush it off like that again?
─I didn't know our Yasuka was such a nagging woman.
Toji stared intently at the woman in the distance. Despite the distance, she was as clear as if she were close by.
'A white suit, short skirt. Is she an office worker? Or a sorcerer or cursed spirit user pretending to be one?'
A sweet voice capable of melting the rationality of both men and women. A perfect body with large breasts and hips, yet a tightly cinched waist. A beautiful face matching it.
To describe her in one word: a beauty that could topple nations.
'Towards this way…?'
The woman, who had been looking at the child, turned her head.
Backwards, upwards.
In sync, her light pink hair swirled like a curtain, then parted.
The moment it parted, her gaze met Toji's.
"…!"
Instantly, Toji's eyes widened.
Eyes that emitted an enchanting light.
The sharpness hidden within them and a chilling depth he couldn't fathom.
That was not human. A Cursed Spirit, and at least a Special Grade at that.
Just after he instinctively took a step back and assumed a combat stance.
A captivating smile formed on the woman's lips.
It was breathtaking. For a moment, he felt as if he had been steeped deep in the abyss.
I'll see you tomorrow.
The woman mouthed words to Toji. Then she turned her back.
"Hoo-."
Toji finally caught his breath after the woman and child turned their backs and left.
It was a terrifying moment.
'I'll never forget this.'
Toji felt his back turn clammy for the first time in a long while.
It was an impressive first encounter.