Walking behind Kenjaku, Mahiko noticed something.
Maybe it was because she'd just absorbed that small cursed spirit, sharpening her sensitivity to Cursed Energy. Or maybe it was the sheer, bottomless depth of the Cursed Energy radiating off Kenjaku that had her nerves pulled taut without her even realizing it, every instinct on high alert.
Either way — she noticed.
About three meters above and to her left, there was an infinitesimally faint trace of Cursed Energy.
She stole a glance from the corner of her eye.
A mosquito.
No — not an ordinary mosquito. Its body was covered densely with eyes. Dozens of tiny pupils, all turning in unison, fixed directly on her.
A surveillance-type cursed spirit.
A cold sweat broke out down Mahiko's spine in an instant.
She understood now.
This thing had been watching her the whole time.
It was more than likely that Kenjaku had been surveilling her from the very beginning. Her every movement, already in his hands.
Hah…
Mahiko forced her expression to stay perfectly still, maintaining the easy posture of someone just following along.
Stay calm.
Stay calm.
Thank god.
Thank god she hadn't done anything to expose her real identity or intentions. If she had — the consequences didn't bear thinking about.
Tsk…
She ran back through everything she'd done since arriving. She'd been too relaxed — completely forgetting there was a thousand-year-old fox watching her every move from behind.
She needed to learn from this. Sharpen up.
From this moment forward, she had to be more careful. Every action. Every word. She would operate as if Kenjaku were watching — because he was — until the day she was strong enough to take him down herself.
............
She followed Kenjaku to an entrance, descended underground, wound through a labyrinth of passages, finally ducked into a downward corridor, and passed through a barrier —
The scene before her changed completely.
Sunlight. Sand. Waves.
A simulated tropical shoreline materialized in front of her. Brilliant blue water stretched to the horizon. White sand dotted with a few beach chairs. Overhead, a sky so radiant it looked fake.
Mahiko blinked.
She knew this place. The base of operations for the cursed spirits in the source material — a pocket dimension constructed entirely from barrier techniques. Seeing it in person was still somehow striking.
The beach was already occupied.
Out in the water, a tiny thing drifted slowly through the waves — something like the embryo of a marine creature, red and soft, resembling a miniature octopus or jellyfish. That was Dagon: a Special Grade cursed spirit born from humanity's negative emotions toward the ocean, still in embryonic form, not yet fully matured. It paid Mahiko no attention, simply floating in the current at its own unhurried pace.
Two figures stood on the beach.
One was small and stooped, like an elderly man, flames erupting from a crater-like opening at the top of his head — one-eyed, skin dark and rough. That was Jogo, a Special Grade cursed spirit born from humanity's dread of volcanoes and the earth.
The other was tall, his entire body cloaked in trees and blossoms, his face wrapped in bark save for two calm, gentle eyes. That was Hanami, a Special Grade cursed spirit born from humanity's fear of the forest.
Two Special Grades.
Counting the half-formed thing in the water, that was three. Three formidable entities. Both Jogo and Hanami were significantly stronger than she was right now.
And Kenjaku at her back.
If a fight broke out here, she wasn't making it out.
Not that she could let any of that show.
"Hey, everyone!" Mahiko waved with a bright grin, her tone breezy as if she'd just strolled up to a beach party. "Looks like I'm the last one here, huh."
Hanami spoke first, voice low and even: "Hello."
Jogo only glanced at her, gave a single nod, and said nothing.
The Special Grade cursed spirits in the original story had wildly different personalities — but they did genuinely regard each other as kin. Born from humanity's negative emotions, they were the closest thing to a single family this world had to offer. Jogo especially — later in the story, when he faced the deaths of his comrades, his grief had been real.
It's a shame. I'm not actually your kin.
Mahiko let out a quiet sigh, deep inside where no one could hear it.
Kenjaku stepped to the center of the beach and clapped his hands together. "Right then. Everyone's here. From now on, you fight together — get along."
Mahiko nodded along agreeably. Sure, sure, sounds great.
Then Kenjaku changed course.
"By the way, Mahiko. There's actually a small question I've been meaning to ask you."
Mahiko kept smiling. "Hm? What question?"
"You're fully capable of devouring humans to grow stronger — and yet just now at the construction site, it looked like you chose to absorb a cursed spirit instead."
Kenjaku's tone was casual. Conversational.
"Why is that?"
The air went still for a beat.
Both Jogo and Hanami gave a faint start, turning to look at Mahiko.
Jogo's brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"
Kenjaku explained with a smile: "Mahito's power is Idle Transfiguration — the ability to touch and reshape souls. The most direct application of that technique has always been devouring human souls to strengthen oneself. But our new friend here doesn't seem particularly interested in eating humans. She's absorbing cursed spirits instead."
He looked at Mahiko, expression warm.
"I'm simply curious. Why?"
Mahiko's smile froze for just an instant.
In that instant, her mind detonated.
Here it is.
Of course he was waiting for this.
She'd known Kenjaku wouldn't let this slide. Absorbing cursed spirits instead of humans — for "Mahito," that behavior was a glaring anomaly. Every previous generation of Mahito had grown by devouring humans. It was an instinct carved into Mahito's very soul. And she had done the exact opposite.
How do I explain this?
Tell the truth? — "Because I'm actually a human who crossed over, and I can't bring myself to kill anyone"?
That would be the end of her.
Say she likes humans and dislikes cursed spirits?
That was the same as standing in front of three Special Grade cursed spirits and announcing "I look down on all of you" — also the end of her. Might as well walk in swinging.
Say she found humans too weak to bother with? But she'd encountered Megumi Fushiguro and hadn't absorbed him either — that lie wouldn't hold.
What do I do?
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do —
And then, in that single flash of lightning, something sparked.
Mahiko raised an eyebrow. A sly smile spread across her lips.
"Oh — that's what you're asking about?"
With total ease, she walked over to one of the beach chairs, dropped into it, crossed her legs, and picked up a coconut drink that someone had left sitting there. She took a long pull through the straw.
"That's simple," she said, setting the drink down. She looked up with a brilliant smile. "Because cursed spirits are the new humanity."
One second of silence on the beach.
"Didn't you say it yourself?" Mahiko spread her hands, her tone matter-of-fact. "The old humans are obsolete — nothing but livestock, barely a step above monkeys. And cursed spirits are the true new humanity. So if I want to absorb souls to grow stronger, of course I should be absorbing the souls of the new humans. Why would I bother with the old ones? Those things are already throwaway relics."
She leaned back in the chair, smiling lazily at everyone present.
"Isn't that right? Aren't cursed spirits the new humanity? Isn't that what you all believe?"
Silence.
Jogo and Hanami looked at each other.
Even Kenjaku — usually so unflappable — had his smile go rigid for just a moment. An almost imperceptible tremor crossed his brow.
…Why the hell does that actually make sense.
____
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