The three of them steadied themselves and headed toward their objective.
They passed through the subway, crossed the temple grounds, and made their way through the old streets...
Following the increasingly dense Residuals, they walked uphill. From the top of the slope, a massive building came into view.
Beneath the pitch-black night sky, the school sat in an unsettling silence. Its gray-white outer walls, faintly cracked, looked cold and lifeless—like a tomb.
"Uh… this is a school, right…?"
Kasumi Miwa couldn't help feeling a chill run down her spine at the sight.
Momo Nishimiya replied casually,
"Yep. And it's actually a pretty reputable one, too…"
Noticing Kasumi Miwa's tension, Momo quietly leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"They say decades ago, right here… a girl snuck into the swimming pool and had an accident.
When the janitor found her the next day, her body had soaked so long it was swollen beyond recognition~~
And ever since then, a female student drowns here every year. Supposedly, even though their bodies are all bloated… every single one of them is smiling in satisfaction~~"
"Aaaah!!"
Kasumi Miwa bolted behind Mai, grabbing tightly onto her sleeve.
Mai shot Momo Nishimiya a helpless look before glancing down at the girl clinging to her.
This scene… felt oddly familiar.
She shook her head, deciding not to dwell on memories that didn't matter.
"Miwa."
"Hm… hm?"
"You're a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Aren't Cursed Spirits way more disgusting than what Momo just described?"
"Oh. Right!"
Kasumi Miwa suddenly came to her senses and quickly let go of Mai's sleeve.
To be fair, after Momo Nishimiya's little stunt, the atmosphere had lightened considerably, and Kasumi Miwa no longer seemed as tense.
The three reached the school's back gate. The curse's Residuals stretched all the way into the school building. Even in the courtyard, there were traces of "blood formed by curses" visible only to Jujutsu Sorcerers.
"Mai, what do we do? Going in head-on feels kind of dangerous…"
Mai Zenin checked the number of bullets she was carrying.
Mai's technique was a Construction—a technique that created matter out of nothing.
On paper, it was incredibly powerful. In reality, it consumed an enormous amount of Cursed Energy and placed a heavy burden on the body.
Because of her limited Cursed Energy reserves, she could only create one bullet per day.
That was why, in normal combat, she simply infused ordinary bullets with Cursed Energy and fired them from her handgun.
"We'll stick to our usual approach."
Though Mai herself wasn't particularly forceful, within the Kyoto School trio, the other two always centered their tactics around her judgment.
"Momo, stay in the air and keep watch. Draw their attention and be ready to support with your technique at any time."
"Kasumi, stay behind me. Cover me when my Cursed Energy runs low, and finish anything I can't."
"Got it!"
"Understood!"
The moment Mai finished speaking, she moved to advance—
A pale, swollen arm suddenly burst out from beneath the tiled ground of the school and clamped tightly around her ankle.
Mai didn't panic. Her expression didn't even change.
She fired a bullet infused with Cursed Energy. It struck the arm instantly, and the arm-shaped Cursed Spirit vanished in a shriek of pain.
The "arm" really was just an arm—the entirety of that Cursed Spirit. It was nothing more than a strangely shaped Fly Head.
"No matter when, no matter what kind of Cursed Spirit… they're always this disgusting."
After walking for about two minutes, the Cursed Spirits inside the school finally lost their patience and poured out from the entrance of the teaching building.
In an instant, wailing filled the air, and thick Cursed Energy surged into view.
"Ho-homework~ So many problems I can't solve… I-I-I-I'm so stupid~"
"Wh-why is it me getting hit????"
"Ooohhh… h-hey, waiiit~~"
Mai kicked down a "Six-Handed Peanut" Cursed Spirit. A shot followed immediately, blasting through its head.
At the same time, a flash of blade light cut across behind her, slicing apart a "Short Potato" Cursed Spirit that had tried to sneak up on her.
Working in perfect coordination, the trio made quick work of the swarm. These Cursed Spirits—averaging below Grade 3—didn't stand a chance.
They were nothing more than trash being cleaned away.
…
It didn't take long for them to reach the fourth floor of the school building.
The staircase in front of Mai was stained a grotesque dark red. Viscous "blood" clung to each step like syrup coating candied hawthorn.
The entire stairwell looked like a mountain of corpses drowning in a sea of blood. Countless reddish-brown, misshapen heads slowly pushed their way up from the surface…
Kasumi Miwa had already tightened her grip on her blade, standing slightly behind and to the side of Mai, eyes locked on the Cursed Spirits ahead. No matter how scared she felt in battle, she would always give it everything she had.
[This is a cluster of Grade 3 Cursed Spirits. Judging by their combined strength, they could practically qualify as Grade 2… What is going on with this school? This is ridiculous.]
After a brief moment of thought, Mai immediately chose the most efficient approach.
"Momo!!!"
At her call, a petite figure burst in through the window.
"Tool Manipulation! — [Wind Scythe]!"
A violent gust infused with Cursed Energy swept through the staircase, uprooting the Cursed Spirits in one go. The ones that were torn apart and flung into the air didn't even have the chance to hit the ground before they dissipated midair.
Against a swarm like this, a Grade 2 Sorcerer with area-of-effect capabilities was a natural counter. They stood no chance.
After confirming there was no abnormal Cursed Energy lingering nearby, Mai pulled out her notebook and flipped through it.
"Based on the mission description, this should count as complete…"
Kasumi Miwa sheathed her blade and let out a breath.
"Only three Cursed Spirits taken out… Feels like I just skated through another mission."
Momo Nishimiya hopped down from her broom and bounced over to pat Kasumi Miwa on the shoulder.
"Kasumi, you can't say that! You were super, super important!"
This world was steeped in the filth known as "curses," and most of the time, Jujutsu Sorcerers worked more like sanitation workers than heroes.
With careful investigation and tightly planned operations, Cursed Spirits rarely had any real chance to fight back. Most missions ended with the sorcerers feeling disgusted more than endangered.
Because of that, Jujutsu Sorcerers gradually developed a kind of "tolerance" to the surrounding filth. They could face all kinds of grotesque sights with steady composure.
But that so-called tolerance didn't always feel like adaptation. Sometimes, it felt more like assimilation.
Like a child rolling around in the mud. At first, they hesitate, wary of getting dirty. But once they loosen up and get used to it, it only means one thing—they're already covered in mud.
That was the real trial this world set before Jujutsu Sorcerers: how to keep from losing themselves too quickly in a world already teetering on madness.
And the ordinary yet pure-hearted Kasumi Miwa was the trio's greatest weapon against that creeping madness.