Inside the quiet car.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Akutagawa."
Kenmyo Isayama stared at the scenery blurring past the window and suddenly spoke up.
"Why are you apologizing?"
Driving the car, Akutagawa caught a glimpse of Kenmyo in the rearview mirror. His tone was hard to read.
"Because I turned down your kindness."
"Ken, everyone has their own path." Hearing the guilt in the boy's voice, Akutagawa shook his head dismissively. "I simply offered you an extra choice. If you don't want to take it, I won't force you."
"Thank you, Mr. Akutagawa."
Recalling what happened earlier, Kenmyo couldn't help but sigh.
The man Akutagawa called "Yaga" was the stern, buzz-cut middle-aged man who had so easily tamed those three problem children. His full name was Masamichi Yaga, a Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Not long ago, an appointment notice had been issued by the Sorcerers Association, and Kenmyo remembered seeing it in the association-wide bulletin.
Masamichi Yaga: Male, Grade 1 Sorcerer. Appointed as the Principal of Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School.
This meant he was the next head of one of only two Jujutsu high schools in all of Japan. These schools were specialized institutions for training sorcerers. Shoko Ieiri and the three "charcoal" students Kenmyo just met were all students there.
Yaga hadn't come just to check on the students who were clearly making his blood pressure spike; he had come at Akutagawa's invitation. Having entered the field a few years before Yaga, Akutagawa was something of a senior and mentor to him, so they were on good terms. For instance, Akutagawa's secondary technique, [Fictional Soul], was developed through discussions with Yaga, who was known as a "Puppet Master."
Because of this bond, Akutagawa had asked Kenmyo point-blank: "Ken, do you want to join Tokyo Jujutsu High and become a real sorcerer?"
Though Akutagawa didn't know exactly what Kenmyo's awakened technique was, anything capable of triggering such a terrifying explosion was bound to be powerful. With the Principal right there, Kenmyo's admission would have been a done deal. Transfer papers could have been processed by the next day.
Normally, entering the school without a recommendation is impossible. If a sorcerer later betrays the world, the recommender is held responsible.
"After graduation, you wouldn't even need to look for a job. You'd be on the government payroll."
Sorcery was exhausting, but it was a "tenured" position. The Association paid promptly, overtime was compensated, and all insurance and pension contributions were at the highest bracket.
Take Mr. Akutagawa, for example—the vintage Porsche 356A he was driving had cost him 150 million yen (over 1 million USD). And then there was that hammer Kenmyo had lugged around; that was a Grade 1 Cursed Tool with a staggering price tag. Ishihara hadn't even finished paying off the loan for it yet.
If one wanted social status, they could even hold concurrent posts in government agencies. Kenmyo felt the treatment was only fair; they were, after all, the final line of defense for humanity.
Akutagawa had essentially laid a golden road in front of him.
But Kenmyo had refused. The path he walked was not the path of a Jujutsu Sorcerer. The power he had awakened was not Cursed Energy—it was Psionic Energy.
Unless he found the "Master" he held in his heart, no one in this world could teach him. He wouldn't learn anything at the school, and if he failed out, it would be a huge embarrassment for Mr. Akutagawa.
So, under the gaze of two girls whose hearts seemed to break on the spot, Kenmyo had spoken his refusal. His reason was simple: "With my talent, I would only be a burden at the school."
Jujutsu talent is innate. At birth, Kenmyo had been evaluated by the authoritative Kamo clan: Zero Jujutsu talent.
"Besides, I want to fulfill my late sister's wish... to get into the University of Tokyo."
Kenmyo intended to walk the path of the ordinary world. Yaga had simply nodded, saying that if he ever had trouble with his technique or training, he could still come find him at the school.
"Ken, it's a good thing you didn't choose the life of a sorcerer."
A complex expression flickered across Akutagawa's face as he laughed self-deprecatingly. "I trust you've seen the state of us old-timers."
"When we were young, we burned ourselves without hesitation for the 'greater good.' Every high-grade spirit killed was potentially thousands of lives saved."
"The pain of Cursed Energy depletion that followed... only we know it. Takahashi, Kinoshita, and Hongo have lost ninety percent of their strength. If they used their techniques again, their bodies would collapse. Ishihara, Kiyono, and Iwata are slightly better, but even they must rely on my technique to function."
"But even so, we are the lucky ones compared to our fallen comrades. At least we are still breathing. I don't know how many more years we can keep this up. I didn't want you to experience what we have."
Kenmyo sighed. The [Scavengers] were a microcosm of the hidden side of the Association—a collection of broken people forced into retirement by injury. They had used their souls as fuel and held up the torch of life so humanity could survive an unimaginable winter. Yet the higher-ups were corrupt, more interested in power than in exorcising spirits.
"Sorry, Ken. I've been rambling the whole way."
Akutagawa pulled the car smoothly to the curb near Kenmyo's home and engaged the handbrake. "Good work tonight."
He handed over a thick envelope. Since Kenmyo wasn't an official member, his pay was settled in cash on the spot.
"Mr. Akutagawa, this is..." Kenmyo felt the weight. It wasn't too little; it was far too much. It was a thick stack of "Yukichi" (10,000 yen notes).
"It's correct. This incident involved a Grade 1 spirit, so the higher-ups gave us two months of leave. That means no part-time work for you for two months. This amount is just right."
With that, Akutagawa rolled up the window and drove off. "If it's not enough, remember to ask me."
"Mr. Akutagawa..."
Kenmyo knew the industry rates. Freelance pay was never this high. Akutagawa must have supplemented the payment from his own pocket.
1.5 million yen for two months? Am I some kind of high-society playboy? Well, Bank Account: +1,500,000 Yen.
This job had been Kenmyo's biggest haul yet, both in money and points. He had harvested the 150 Grade 3 spirits killed by Special Tactics Team 1 while he was helping the wounded.
$150 \times 80 = 12,000$ points.
And the real jackpot: the Grade 1 Spirit he had finished off.
$20,000$ points ($10,000$ for a Grade 1 kill, with a $2\times$ "First Kill" bonus).
In a single night, he had cleared 32,000 points. At this rate, he would soon have enough for a second D-rank Simulation. Harvesting behind powerful allies was definitely the fastest way to grow.
"Hmm?"
Kenmyo noticed the streetlights seemed to dim for a moment. He assumed the wiring was old and didn't think much of it.
But not far away, under a flickering light, a massive, lion-like Cursed Spirit lurked in the shadows. Its head was a grotesque, ape-like visage with twelve green eyes, and its tail consisted of three massive, anaconda-like snakes hissing with open maws.
When the light was on, it vanished. It could only be seen when the street was cloaked in darkness.
It watched silently as Kenmyo walked through his front door.