A wide hotel rooftop.
Koyanskaya of Darkness, the Foreigner, had laid out a series of Magecraft circles across the concrete surface.
It was a substitute for a Curtain.
While casting a standard Jujutsu Curtain would have been simpler, it was far too conspicuous. An obvious black dome descending from the sky was an invitation for unwanted attention.
In contrast, her Magecraft remained invisible to the naked eye.
It required layering multiple spells, but the results were undeniable. Noise cancellation. Visual concealment.
Shock absorption.
Having anchored these three layers of mystery, the Foreigner turned her undivided attention back to breaking Naoya. Her Master, meanwhile, was still out enjoying the local sights.
"*Pant... huff...*!"
Thirty hours into his 're-education.'
Deep, dark circles had carved themselves beneath Zenin Naoya's eyes. His breath came in ragged, desperate gasps. Being put through a meat grinder for over a day without rest would make anyone feel like they were knocking on death's door.
*'I... I am strong.'*
I am strong. It was an arrogant thought, but one rooted in objective reality. At least within the Zenin Clan, there wasn't a single soul—save for the Clan Head—who could match his innate talent.
The same held true even when looking at the world outside.
There was the legendary talent of Gojo Satoru. Then there were the anomalies: the Heavenly Restricted Zenin Toji and the Special Grade Tsukumo Yuki. That was the extent of the pinnacle.
*'That's why... I'll definitely be at the top.'*
He would reach that same height. He knew it was possible. Naoya, for all his hubris, deeply yearned for that zenith of power. It was that yearning that drove his effort.
But now, that very pride had been ground into dust.
"Remember this well. Arrogance and disparagement—those are emotions reserved only for the weak."
The pink-haired monster lashed her whip once more. She had repeated the same lecture dozens, perhaps hundreds of times. Naoya's Cursed Energy was already bottoming out. It was all he could do to barely scramble away from the relentless onslaught of her summoned Magical Beasts.
In the duration of this nightmare, Naoya had activated his Projection Sorcery exactly fifty-six times. Against a Special Grade Curse, that many hits would have been decisive.
*'And yet... and yet...'*
Once.
He hadn't managed to land even a single, solitary blow. His self-esteem, his pride, his very identity as a sorcerer—everything he had built up until now was collapsing like a house of cards.
"It seems you've finally realized your place."
The Foreigner retracted her whip and walked toward him with measured, elegant steps. Since she had finished shattering the vessel, it was time to forge a new one.
"Do you understand now? The reason why not a single one of your attacks reached me?"
The Foreigner crouched down in front of the kneeling Naoya. Her thick, toned thighs and the smooth curve of her knees were right at his eye level.
"Because... I'm arrogant?" Naoya asked, slowly lifting his head. Arrogance. Disparagement. The Foreigner's repetitive conditioning had been burned into his subconscious, much like how a certain someone once etched the word 'monkey' into their mind.
"Precisely. Because the vessel of your soul is fragile. Had you maintained your composure until the end, you might have touched me at least once."
"So, in the end... it means I'm just weak, doesn't it?"
"You are weak. Even a legendary blade is useless if swung by a child, is it not?"
The Foreigner's eyes narrowed into a sharp, predatory smile. Her lips curled upward in a way that looked almost inhumanly wide. *'He's become quite docile, hasn't he?'*
His back and limbs were covered in crisscrossing red whip marks. His mental state was in tatters. Looking down at the hollow-eyed Naoya, the Foreigner began to whisper softly, her voice dripping with the sweetness of corruption.
The current time was 5:03 AM. The Foreigner's whispers continued for exactly two hours and forty-seven minutes more.
"Master. The training is complete. It was a bit of a rush job, but the results weren't half-bad."
8:00 AM on the day of their return. Koyanskaya of Darkness returned from the rooftop.
"Good work. And the kid?"
"I've instructed him to return. I ensured his absolute secrecy and even patched up his wounds so they wouldn't leave a trace."
"Thorough as always. You did great."
I gave the returning Foreigner a couple of appreciative pats on her rear. It wasn't harassment; it was a genuine reward.
"Thank you, Master," she chirped, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she sat beside me, looking immensely satisfied.
"Given the way he was talking, I thought he'd be obsessed with Toji. You really managed to send him away?"
"I crushed his ego quite thoroughly. It's a bit of a shame, really—had I spent a little more time, I could have fundamentally altered his humanity."
The Foreigner licked her lips and crossed her arms, the action lifting her heavy bust. Koyanskaya of Darkness was naturally sadistic; she took great pleasure in the mistreatment of humans. If she had been allowed to have her way...
He wouldn't have just been 'changed.' He would have been turned into a domesticated sow.
*'That's a bit much.'* I'd rather just kill the guy. Seeing Naoya turned into a literal pig? That was a sight I didn't need.
"So he just left obediently?"
"Yes. His perspective on women should be... slightly different now. It's been a while since I had such a diverting time."
"As long as you enjoyed yourself." If she was happy and the results were good, it was a win-win. Everything was as it should be.
"Oh my. You're back?"
The bathroom door clicked open and the Assassin stepped out. She was already fully made up.
"Yes. I gave that insolent boy a proper education. Not quite enough to fully rewrite his personality, but it'll do for now."
"Thank you for your hard work. And the countermeasures?"
"Naturally, I made him swear a Binding Vow to ensure no information leaks out."
The two Koyanskayas shared a look and a smile. It was as reassuring as it was sinister. In a mere thirty hours or so, they had managed to dismantle and rebuild a person. I was genuinely impressed. Perhaps the old saying was true—for some people, the only cure is a good thrashing. A truly miraculous result.
"Well then, we can take our time heading back."
The Assassin nodded, sealing the matter. I felt the same way. Zenin Naoya was 'changed.' It was almost a pity I was asleep and missed the process.
After returning from the trip, I spent two days resting. The fatigue from the journey was heavier than I'd anticipated. Sightseeing by day, hunting Curses and Curse Users by night. I'd been running on minimal sleep. Even in this adult-like body, the toll was inevitable.
*'That feels better.'* After two days of solid rest, my mind was clear and my body felt refreshed. Time to get back to the routine.
*'Where should we move next?'* While Curses provided experience, hunting Curse Users was also an option. The higher the grade, the better. When it came to human sorcerers gone rogue, Toji was the better source of information. He mainly operated through those underground Curse User websites that were mentioned even in the Jujutsu Kaisen anime.
"Like most of them, this one is particularly nasty. Murdered thirty people with curses so far."
Inside the plane bound for Okinawa, Toji sat beside me, giving the briefing.
"Human trash."
"Total trash. He's a tricky one to handle, though. The risk-to-reward ratio is garbage." Low bounty, high danger. It was the kind of job no one bothered to take even if a request was posted.
"Is that why he's still walking free?"
"Yeah. He doesn't exactly hide... but he's pretty damn brazen about it."
"Hasn't anyone tried to handle him by leaking his location to the authorities?"
"Provoking a situation like that just makes it messy. If the scale gets too big, official Jujutsu Sorcerers get involved. And besides, most people don't even know he's a Curse User."
There was only one reason sorcerers didn't hunt down every Curse User: they were too busy. But if an incident reached a certain threshold? Then it became a priority task regardless of how busy they were. Every Curse User knew this and kept their head down just enough to stay off the radar. Pure survival instinct.
"I understand."
"Right. Which is why it's better if we just bag him. The client is a family member of one of his victims with a serious grudge."
The client for this bounty was wealthy, seeking vengeance for a dead friend. Only a tiny fraction of society—the ruling class, essentially—even knew that Cursed Spirits and sorcery existed. This client had initially thought it was a freak accident, but they eventually discovered the dark truth.
*'Humanity really is...'* Curse Users kill for money. Clients use money to have people killed. It was a bleak cycle of exchange. Regardless, the target was scum.
"We have a confirmed location, right?" I asked as we walked through the airport terminal after landing. Assassin and Foreigner followed behind us. As usual, I hadn't put them in spirit form.
"Yeah. Since we're going with a sniper approach this time, I've already scouted the best vantage point. I'll lead the way."
Toji led with a confident smirk. From the car rental and driving to selecting the sniping nest and even picking out our lodging for the night—he was surprisingly meticulous for a former deadbeat. Thanks to his preparation, we rested comfortably and moved out in the evening.
We took our positions on the roof of a three-story building overlooking a mundane one-story house. There was only one entrance to our roof, and it was now blocked. We had a clear line of sight to the target.
"Hmm. This will work nicely."
The Assassin manifested her sniper rifle. Lying prone at the edge of the rooftop, she aimed the barrel toward the target house. The angle was perfect. The preparation was complete. All we had to do was wait for the moment.
"I'm taking the shot."
After a few minutes of waiting, the Assassin pulled the trigger without hesitation.
*K-boom!*
A pink beam of light erupted from the muzzle, searing a line through the night air. The laser punched through the window of the opposite house on a diagonal trajectory, piercing through something on the other side. No—'vaporized' was a better term for it. The human head in its path vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind.
*'He's definitely dead.'* As the head evaporated, I felt that familiar surge of experience points. It was unmistakable.
"Snipe complete. Target is confirmed dead."
The Assassin adjusted her posture and regulated her breathing. All that remained was to clean up the scene.
"He reacted the moment the shot was fired. Looks like he tried to use his Cursed Energy, but it was nowhere near enough." Toji chimed in with a cold, one-line assessment from where he sat beside me.
We had just killed a man. None of us felt even a shred of guilt. What I had killed wasn't a human, but a pest—a beast.
"I'll go finish the cleanup. It'll be a messy sight, Master, so please wait out here."
The Assassin dismissed the sniper rifle and drew a handgun. A pistol was more practical for tight indoor quarters.
"Huh?"
The Assassin froze just as she was about to leap toward the house. Following her gaze, I saw something squirming inside the building. One, then two. Shadows visible against the glowing yellow light of the windows began to multiply rapidly.
"Ghosts?"
"What are you talking about, ghosts all of a su—"
Toji cut himself off. *Rattle!* At that very moment, a flood of bizarre, grotesque shapes began pouring out of the house like an overflowing tap.