In the middle of a Magecraft lesson, Koyanskaya of Light—Assassin—picked up a call.
"That company's immediate financial stability is weak, but the item itself is excellent. Maintain the investment as is."
"The one who couldn't even wait and went and did something idiotic is obviously at fault. Remove him."
Investment plans. Personnel plans.
Assassin, Koyanskaya of Darkness, and Foreigner worked exactly like the secretaries they claimed to be.
Thanks to that, my assets had ballooned.
I'd become as rich as possible without drawing attention.
From what I'd heard, it was enough to rank among the very top in Japan...
At this point, it was almost miraculous nobody had noticed.
They'd probably used some kind of magical suggestion or charm, right?
"Yes. Then that will be all."
Assassin and Foreigner ended their calls at the exact same time.
The timing was perfect.
"Managing all that money has to be exhausting, doesn't it?"
"A little. But serving you is a secretary's duty, Master."
"Yes. And our pleasure as well."
Assassin and Foreigner slipped into my arms at the same time.
Maybe it was because both of them were Koyanskaya at the core, but the way they acted and the way they thought were almost identical.
Their view of humanity.
Their attitude toward humans, the way they attacked—those were the only places they differed a little.
Magecraft lessons were the two of them in their element.
Even Shuten-douji and Ibuki-douji, who were on duty today, couldn't cut in, so they were staying in the living room.
Thankfully, maybe because they'd spent the last few days out having fun, both of them were in a very good mood.
"Thanks."
"More importantly, Master, how do you intend to handle housing from here on out?"
Assassin pressed her lips to my ear and whispered.
The heavy softness of her huge breasts crushing against me was way too stimulating.
And there wasn't just one.
Foreigner, clinging to my arm from the other side, was doing the exact same thing.
Even then, I managed to keep my reason intact.
I was definitely turned on, but not so far gone that I'd just pounce on them.
"Yeah. Now that I've got a body that won't die, I can't exactly keep living in the same apartment forever, can I?"
"Exactly. It may be inconvenient, but if you stay in one place for too long, you're bound to attract too much attention."
People can't live forever.
But if someone who does live forever appears, the aggro they draw becomes absurd.
Burning curiosity. Countless knives aimed your way.
Requests to dissect you for the sake of humanity, and every other kind of disaster imaginable.
"Should I just buy a house?"
It felt like a waste of money, but by now I had so much that even thinking of money as precious felt luxurious.
Even so, it still felt like a waste.
But thinking about the future...
If I wanted to keep enjoying this peaceful life, it was a problem I had to solve.
"And for that, I'll need help from the higher-ups too."
If I wanted to keep accumulating wealth, I'd need to periodically wash my identity clean too.
Unless I planned to hole up forever like Tengen.
"Yeah. I'll think about it seriously."
"How lovely. If we build a home that belongs only to us, we'll be able to act much more openly, won't we?"
"Then we should start looking for land immediately. Not a house built by someone else, but one calculated from the ground up."
The eyes of the two Koyanskayas gleamed with madness.
Like they'd been waiting for this exact moment, they turned aggressively enthusiastic.
Still plastered to my sides, they pulled out their phones.
Seeing how happy they were made me wonder if I'd just been stubborn for no reason.
"Now I feel kind of bad."
I was blinking helplessly while the two of them held me captive when my own phone vibrated.
When I took it out, it wasn't a call. It was a text.
The sender was Itadori Yuji.
I opened it right away. He was asking when it would be okay to come see me.
So he'd eaten Sukuna's finger too.
A few days ago, Choso had handed one over to Yuji on my behalf.
And apparently he was fine even after eating it.
"That's a relief, at least."
I'd been worried things might get messy if he failed to adapt, but...
For now, we'd cleared one hurdle.
"Has Sukuna awakened?"
Assassin asked as she looked at my phone screen.
She'd just finished her call.
"Yeah. Now the real issue is figuring out how to get rid of this thing..."
"Won't he just die naturally when his lifespan runs out?"
"I wish. But there's a chance that won't happen."
Itadori had eaten Sukuna's finger knowing exactly what he was doing.
Which meant his constitution itself could change.
To begin with, he was a child born after being jujutsu-engineered as Sukuna's vessel.
Of course he wasn't normal.
That difference was why he could serve as Sukuna's vessel, why he could unleash Black Flash like he was possessed.
And in the future I'd buried, he even ate his brothers and learned [Flowing Red Scale].
Because of that, I'd ended up nerfing him whether I meant to or not, but it wasn't a bad thing.
That had been the only choice available.
Anyway.
If, by some chance, Itadori's body changed from being steeped in a cursed object...
If the result made him something close to a Cursed Spirit, then he might slip free of the limits of lifespan altogether.
And if Sukuna remained lodged inside him at that point? That would be one hell of a headache.
"Let's go."
That was the last line.
I sent a reply saying yes, we could meet, and stood up.
We set the meeting for evening.
The place was a sushi restaurant in Roppongi.
It made me think of early Jujutsu Kaisen.
That story where Gojo talked about sightseeing in Roppongi and then blindsided them.
"Huh? Sushi? Seriously?!"
Itadori's reply came back sounding genuinely shocked.
Guess that really caught him off guard.
"Sure. If your friends are around, bring them too."
I sent a casual reply and turned off the screen.
I briefly considered inviting Maki and Mai too, but from the first-years' perspective, that would probably just make things awkward.
Even if we were comrades-in-arms, I was still their senior.
That title came with its own pressure.
"Yaskaya. I'm going out for dinner, so eat without me. I'm heading to a sushi place I can get into immediately through jujutsu connections."
"Yes, Master. I'll make the reservation at once."
Assassin smiled and called the restaurant.
The way she moved to reserve the whole place the instant I spoke was honestly impressive.
A few million won, maybe more.
That much would probably vanish in one go, but it wouldn't strain the household finances in the slightest.
The only burden was on my conscience.
"Still, I can't exactly ask the kids to pay. It's not like I'm short on money."
I felt a little intimidated after committing to it, but I steadied myself again.
I should think about what to wear.
Itadori Yuji. Fushiguro Megumi. Kugisaki.
The three first-years from Tokyo Jujutsu High arrived at the sushi restaurant.
Yuji and Megumi were the kind Kadoc was used to.
Nobara was the kind he found harder to deal with.
"He really is handsome."
This was her second time seeing him.
Nobara narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the white-haired man.
The atmosphere around him, the sheer presence he carried, was different from when she'd seen him on the bus...
But it wasn't unpleasant. It wasn't uncomfortable either.
He had the striking face of someone with foreign blood in him.
A solid body.
And above all, enough money to rent out even an expensive sushi restaurant in full.
Kadoc met every last one of the worldly standards people used for an ideal partner.
No, he didn't just meet them. He exceeded them to a ridiculous degree.
Of course Nobara couldn't help being drawn to that, but her standards for men were strict.
Looks. Money.
Those mattered too, but the most important thing was personality.
And Kadoc was perfect there too.
At least by Nobara's standards.
"Can we really eat all this?!"
"Of course. Order whatever you want. I rented the place out, so the more you eat, the better it is for the owner."
"That's right. We'd be grateful if you enjoy the ingredients we prepared."
Itadori's eyes shone. Kadoc smiled.
The owner behind the counter and the assistants working with him chimed in too.
"Whoa!"
Nobara watched the scene and ate her sushi.
She was just as excited as Yuji and Megumi.
"She's seriously gorgeous."
Eat, then eat some more.
While picking out only the expensive pieces, Nobara studied Kadoc.
More precisely, the two women who had come with him.
Shuten-douji and Ibuki-douji.
From what Maki and Mai had told her, the six Servants including those two weren't human.
Something closer to shikigami.
That was how it had been explained, but seeing them in person, they were nothing like shikigami.
They had intelligence. They had power.
And the atmosphere around them was overwhelming.
The phrase "a woman women fall for" fit them perfectly.
Especially the two who called themselves secretaries.
To Nobara, the two Koyanskayas were particularly unforgettable.
"Hm? Is there something on my face?"
Shuten-douji leaned slightly over the counter and asked.
The gaze she turned on Nobara was full of goodwill.
Not because she'd taken some special liking to her. She was simply in a good mood.
The alcohol tasted good.
When her eyes met Shuten-douji's, Nobara hurriedly shook her head.
"Huh? Ah... no. Sorry."
"It ain't unpleasant, so there's no need to apologize. More importantly, you're quite a cute little thing, aren't you?"
The moment she saw the smile in Shuten-douji's eyes, Nobara's heart slammed in her chest.
She felt bewitched.
"Wait... do I like girls?"
A cold sweat ran through Nobara's reason.
Not in that kind of sense, but she did like pretty girls.
That was why she stuck to Maki and Mai whenever she had the chance.
They were rare, beautiful, and worthy of admiration.
But...
Now a woman even prettier than Maki was looking at her like that, and it was murder on her heart.
"And those two idiots are still just stuffing their faces."
Face flushed red, Nobara quietly ate a sea urchin sushi.
She was jealous of Yuji and Megumi, who were too busy eating to notice anything.
"Urgh!"
After eating for a long while, the first-years started clutching their stomachs one by one.
They were beyond full.
They'd started with the basic course, then added more, then more again.
By the time they stopped, it felt like their stomachs were about to burst.
"Big bro. Is it really okay for us to eat this much?"
Megumi, who'd overeaten after getting swept up by Yuji, asked the question.
Only after finishing did he regain his senses.
"It's fine. I may not look it, but I'm a rich kept man. Somehow I got loaded without doing anything."
"...That's good, then, but the way you put it is kind of..."
"What can I do? It's true. It's not because I'm especially capable. Yaskaya did the hard part. Same with Ibuki, Shuten-douji, and the ones who aren't here, like Raiko and Ushi-gozen."
Kadoc gave a short laugh and turned his eyes toward Yuji.
"What about you, Yuji? Eat a lot?"
"Yep! Thank you!"
"Good. You're still growing, so you need to eat well and sleep well. And Miss Kugisaki..."
"Ah! I ate well too. Thank you."
Kadoc nodded, then gave the owner and the assistants a look.
A silent request for them to step away for a moment.
The owner of this sushi restaurant and the employees helping him were all affiliated with the jujutsu world's [Assistant Director] network as well.
"Is there something you wanted to say?"
As the mood settled, Yuji asked.
Unlike his appearance suggested, he was pretty perceptive.
"Yeah. I'm going to declare war on Sukuna. And while I'm at it, provoke him a little too."
"Huh? Sukuna? Did he do something to you?"
"He's the kind of bastard who was always going to become my enemy. A type like Sukuna never fixes his nature until the day he dies."
Kadoc let out a sigh as he recalled the story of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Sukuna stayed ugly to the very end, stayed evil to the very end.
Only after dying did he finally admit his own faults cleanly.
That still made him better than the ones who couldn't admit it even after death, but not by much.
If he'd won, he would have stayed exactly the same, so there was no saving him.
"Oh? A provocation, is it?"
A mouth split open on the back of Yuji's right hand where it rested on the counter.
It was Sukuna.
"Yeah, Sukuna. I called you out so I could piss you off a little and make sure you're afraid. Some very scary older sisters have their eyes on you."
"Afraid? What could those things possibly—"
Before Sukuna could finish, Shuten-douji and Ibuki-douji let their presence bloom without restraint.
Ibuki-douji as a divine spirit.
Shuten-douji as an oni.
"What in the world is this...?"
For the first time in his life, Sukuna lost his words because of the Servants before him.
They were too alien.
The Heian era.
Even in that age of chaos, when jujutsu had stood at its peak, creatures like these had not existed.
They were not human.
But neither were they Cursed Spirits, nor shikigami.
They were something unknown.
A nameless threat, just like Kadoc sitting in front of him now.
"You can't win on your own. Kenjaku, the one who turned you into a cursed object, is dead. I killed Uraume too, your loyal retainer. That means you're completely alone now."
"What...?"
Even Sukuna had no choice but to be shaken by that.
He had never expected the deaths of Kenjaku and Uraume.
Still, he wasn't sad. He wasn't resentful either.
He was arrogant, petty, rotten to the core.
A personality closer to a curse than a man.
So he quickly regained his calm and asked,
"So that happened, did it?"
"It did. So sit tight and wait. Your past is pitiful, sure, but you committed vicious acts out of inferiority, so you're going to pay the price."
"Inferiority?"
Sukuna's voice dropped flat.
That meant he was genuinely angry.
"Got under his skin."
Kadoc was delighted that he'd managed to needle Sukuna, even if unintentionally.
Not bad at all.