Eat, sleep, and hunt.
Even now, with my Cost fully filled, the pattern of my life remained unchanged.
However, I had decreased the frequency of hunting Cursed Spirits, shifting my focus toward tracking down rogue Curse Users instead.
The Curses themselves had become nothing more than a secondary bonus.
"Master. Wake up. You have an appointment today."
I rubbed my eyes and sat up at the sound of a voice.
It was a clear, dazzling morning.
Ibuki-douji greeted me with a bright smile, crawling toward me on all fours, her heavy, ample chest swaying as she moved.
"Whoa..."
"Hmm? Is something wrong?"
"No. It's just... the weather is nice."
I stood up, offering a pathetic excuse.
Whether by luck or design, Ibuki simply let it slide.
'Wow. Just... wow.'
Exclamations of awe escaped me internally. My jaw refused to close.
The outfit she wore was a curve-hugging, sophisticated knit dress—a look that felt decades ahead of the current era's fashion.
"Ibuki. That outfit is...?"
"Oh, this? I bought it a while ago to wear when the weather got warmer. I kept it hidden as a surprise for today. So, what do you think? Does it suit me?"
"It suits you perfectly. Almost too much."
The combination of that provocatively elegant style and Ibuki's devastating physique was overwhelming. It was a combination so lethal it was rare to find its equal.
Because of it, I felt the blood rushing to my head before the day had even begun.
I felt like I had just downed a shot of high-grade adrenaline.
"Are you going to eat breakfast?"
"Hmm... I think I'll just have some boiled eggs. Did the other Servants already eat?"
"You told us not to wait for you, so we did. We know how much you love sleeping in."
"Yeah... I guess I do."
I stood up with a long, lazy yawn. Breakfast was a must, regardless.
Ibuki walked out of the room beside me. In the living room, both versions of Koyanskaya, along with Shuten-douji, Raiko, and Ushi-gozen, were already seated.
"Good morning, Master. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah. Good morning, everyone."
I gave the usual greeting and headed toward the kitchen.
It had been roughly two years now. Or rather, it had been a year since I had maxed out my party's Cost capacity.
Since then, I had begun ensuring the Servants' autonomy. I changed the routines where they had to accommodate me every second of the day.
The result was that we sometimes ate separately, and I reduced the number of backup Servants following me to just one, unless I was on a specific duty shift.
Actually, those instances had just become more frequent; we still shared meals most of the time. If I looked at it logically, a normal Holy Grail War involved only one Servant. Dragging several around at once was excessive overkill.
Even though I lacked Command Spells, I could still communicate with them via Mental Link over long distances. If an incident occurred, a single backup Servant would be more than enough to hold the line.
In this world of Jujutsu Kaisen, a single Heroic Spirit was a peerless warrior. Against regular sorcerers and curses, it was nothing short of a massacre.
Furthermore, the Servants had come to an agreement among themselves. They decided to respect each other's time when one of them was on "duty" with me.
Their reasoning was that spending focused, one-on-one time together was better than being in a group every single day.
"Master. Are you sure you don't need to go to school?" Ibuki asked, sitting beside me as I peeled my eggs and sipped orange juice.
"Yeah. I've already secured the qualifications to graduate, so it's fine. Besides, having all of you teach me is better than any school curriculum."
I had excellent teachers—Raiko and Ushi-gozen, who were raised in prestigious noble houses, and Koyanskaya, who had built a literal corporate empire in the modern world. School was ultimately just a process for networking and finding a job, and I was already experiencing the results of both.
"Mmm. I suppose that's true."
"Besides, if I go to school, we'd have less time together. Is that what you want? Because I definitely don't."
"Absolutely not! I'd hate that too!" Ibuki cried out, startled.
The other Servants who were eavesdropping all nodded in unison. Seeing them share the same sentiment was both hilarious and heart-warming.
"Oh, right. You know you have an appointment this afternoon, so you need to head out, okay?" Ibuki reminded me as I stood up. At some point, the Servant on duty had taken over the role of my secretary.
"Yeah. I remember. It's a bit early, but I'll get ready now."
I nodded and went into my room. On this fine, sunny day, the Zenin sisters were coming to my house.
—If you are not a sorcerer, you are not human.
That was the defining motto of the Zenin Clan. It was essentially their family creed.
Because of this, between the ages of four and six, when Cursed Techniques typically manifest, the children's fates are decided. Boys without techniques are sent to the Kukuru unit, where they hone their martial arts relentlessly, day and night, until they become crazed private soldiers for the clan.
The women, however, are made into servants. They are treated as mere tools of the household, relegated to domestic chores and menial labor.
If they do possess a technique, they are assigned to the elite group known as *Hei, which oversees the Kukuru*. They receive significantly better treatment.
Zenin Naoya belonged to Hei. As a Grade 1 sorcerer, he maintained a formidable level of strength. His arrogant and cruel personality had been tempered, and he had even begun to gain some degree of public standing—at least as a leader people could follow, if not necessarily love.
Was he just lacking affection? Within the bloodline of sorcerers, and especially the Zenin clan, that was practically a virtue.
"Maki, Mai. Are you ready?"
Naoya himself had come to fetch the two sisters. Zenin Maki and Zenin Mai. They were children who had just reached the age to enter elementary school.
Because they were female, no matter how talented they were, they would never receive true recognition within the Zenin clan. But even that talent was missing.
Maki had almost no Cursed Energy. Mai possessed both Cursed Energy and a technique, but it was deemed useless. The Construction Technique allowed one to create physical objects, but its efficiency was atrocious. At best, she could create a single bullet a day, and even that required immense physical strain.
In the original timeline, they would have performed menial tasks until it was time to enter Jujutsu High—one in Tokyo and one in Kyoto. But things were different now.
"Where are we going?" one of the two children, dressed in a kimono, asked. Her voice and gaze were remarkably bold. It wasn't 'ladylike.' It was defiant.
The old Naoya would have looked at her with contempt, but the current Naoya felt nothing of the sort.
"Did you not hear what the Head of the Clan said yesterday? From today, you'll be living in a different house."
"Where is it?"
"You'll know once we get there." Naoya blinked as he looked at the sisters. It was probably fine to say this much, right? "Just know this—from your perspective, it'll be a hell of a lot more livable than this place."
Naoya turned his back, indicating for them to follow.
"Big sister..." the child clinging to the bolder one whispered in a frightened voice. She was far more timid than her twin. The bold one was Zenin Maki. The shy one was Zenin Mai.
"Let's go. He says it's better than here," Maki said, squeezing Mai's hand tight as they followed Naoya. Even though Naoya had changed, he was still Naoya. Knowing his reputation, they followed cautiously, but they had no other choice. They were still so small.
'I hope it really is better.'
Their father was trash. Their mother was slightly better but entirely cold. Maki felt no regret leaving this house. Mai was terrified, but she hated the clan just as much.
"We're headin' out." Naoya climbed into a car waiting at the main gate. As expected of a prestigious family, the car was luxury, and their luggage was already loaded. The sisters took their seats in the back.
"Yes, sir. Are we heading to Shinjuku?" the driver asked. He was one of the soldiers from the unit Naoya commanded.
"Yeah. Wait there until I contact you. Grab some food, do what you need to do."
"Understood. Departing now."
The car sped toward their destination. They arrived sooner than expected.
"Get out. I'll carry the bags, so you lot just focus on walking." Naoya got out on the outskirts of Shinjuku and personally unloaded the luggage from the trunk. For the leader of the Hei unit to carry luggage himself—this was an unthinkable sight within the Zenin clan.
"Why are you being so nice?" Maki narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It was incomprehensible.
"Because if I make a couple of brats carry heavy bags, my big brother isn't gonna like it." Naoya slung the bags over his shoulders. He didn't want to leave a bad impression on the man he respected. Besides, children carrying luggage would just slow him down, and he was impatient. Regardless of the reason, he moved quickly and boarded the subway with them.
The sisters and Naoya were all dressed in traditional kimonos. While it was enough to draw eyes in modern society, the attention was fleeting.
—The next station is Adachi. Adachi Station.
They had arrived.
Naoya led the sisters off the train. This was the place where the boy he served as a 'big brother' lived. The destination was right in front of them.
"Naoya."
As they exited the station, a boy standing by the entrance waved at them. He had striking white hair.
"Ah, big brother! You came out to meet us? I could've walked to the house myself!" Naoya greeted him with bright eyes. It was a shocking sight for Mai and Maki. Seeing the fearsome Naoya acting so friendly and subservient felt like a dream.
"Big sister... those people... something is weird about them," Mai murmured, sticking close to Maki's side. 'Weird' was an understatement. The white-haired boy looked quite young, and the woman standing beside him was towering and immense. Neither of them felt like normal humans.
"I'd feel bad keeping a busy man like you waiting. Or, do you want to stop by for a bit?"
"I can't say no to that! And I hope my sister-in-law is doing well?"
"Yes. Very well. So, these are the girls?"
"Yeah. The ones I told you about." Naoya glanced back, intending to have them introduce themselves.
"It's okay," the boy said, stopping Naoya. He could tell the sisters were nervous. He stepped toward them, meeting them at eye level with a smile. It was an incredibly benevolent expression. "You must be Maki and Mai, right? I look forward to us getting along."
As the boy smiled, the tension in the sisters' shoulders melted away. This was the first time in their lives a handsome boy had treated them with such kindness. It was so surreal it didn't even feel real.
"Are you the one the Clan Head mentioned?" Maki asked, coming to her senses first. Though her instincts were wary, she felt strangely at ease.
"What did Naobito-san say about me?"
"He said I have to marry you."
"Uh... did he now?" My head started spinning. I pressed my palm to my forehead and sighed. An arranged marriage? It was absurd that Naobito still hadn't given up on that angle.
"You're tired, right? Let's just go home for now." I changed the subject, feeling embarrassed. To Maki and Mai, that reaction was the most fascinating thing of all.
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