I had already returned to the Kujo estate, and I planned to go back into the city tomorrow.
After changing clothes, I immediately headed for the underground training room.
The sealed chest containing Sukuna's finger was still in my hand.
The stale smell of the sealed white room welcomed me back once again.
The first thing I did was remove the seal on Sukuna's finger.
They had told me to keep it safe, but now that it was in my possession, whatever I did with it was my business.
Thinking that, I swallowed it.
The dried finger was colder and rougher than I expected when it touched my tongue.
It tasted bitter, foul, and carried something like the smell of rusty metal mixed in with it, enough to make me nauseous.
But the instant it slid down my throat, my breathing stopped for a moment.
My head began to spin.
The world in front of me blurred.
And in that brief instant, I saw a man.
Four arms.
Wearing only trousers, his entire body covered in tattoos.
The smile on his face was enough to send chills down my spine at first sight.
There was no way I could be mistaken.
The figure I had seen just now had to be Ryomen Sukuna.
I copied the hand sign of the white curse spirit from memory and instinct.
"Kai."
In the very next instant, a white slash wave shot silently across the floor in front of me.
The width of the damage was narrower than I had expected compared to the other marks.
But when I stepped closer, I found that the cut was so deep I could see the next layer inside the wall.
I looked over my shoulder toward the other side, then spun and released cursed energy as I swung my arm.
A blade wave appeared.
I turned my head over my shoulder again, then spun back, releasing cursed energy and swinging my arm.
Another blade wave appeared.
This time, the cut was no longer narrow and precise like before, but spread much wider.
The surface of the wall in front of me was split open in a long line, exposing the next layer behind it.
Compared to the Shadow Mandate technique...
I thought the cutting technique's destructive power was far greater.
I unleashed the same slash over and over in quick succession.
It felt good to destroy something without having to think.
It felt similar to unlocking a new skill in a game, except this wasn't a game.
It was real.
Along with the pleasure, I felt some vague insecurity inside me gradually fading away.
Black blade waves tore through the wall and the floor in front of me without stopping, leaving cuts that grew deeper and wider until the outer surface had barely retained its original form.
No one could possibly stand against something like this.
At most... perhaps only Gojo could.
I stood there staring at the sight in front of me for a moment before the corners of my mouth slowly rose.
"Fufu…"
In this world, power was everything.
That truth was something I had understood a long time ago, ever since I came to this new world.
No matter how pretty the words, no matter how much reason or ideology stood behind them, in the end what decided everything was still power and violence.
In a world where anything could happen, if the one standing here was an immortal vampire with immense physical strength and cursed energy, and who also possessed three cursed techniques—
Then who could possibly stop me?
"Ahahaha…"
I laughed softly, unable to hold it back.
But then my thoughts turned back to the time I had nearly lost to Mahoraga.
Was there still someone else in this world who could use the Ten Shadows technique like I could?
The mere possibility made a faint unease stir inside me again.
If such a person truly existed, they probably could not be far from the Zenin clan.
Should I kill them before they have the chance to grow?
The thought flashed through my mind for only an instant.
Then I shook my head.
Provoking a famous clan would bring long-term disadvantages.
I left the underground training room and headed for the estate library instead.
Normally, when I had nothing to do, I either spent my time with books or fighting Mahoraga.
Sometimes it was reference books about the outside world, history, and the structure of society. Sometimes it was novels.
At the very least, reading was a way to fill the empty stretches of life, no different from my previous world.
I picked a book from a nearby shelf and sat down in a chair by the window.
On one page, a line of text made my gaze stop for a moment.
The city of Kujo was recorded as one of the oldest cities in Japan.
...That made sense.
I turned the next page without hurry and sank back into the book.
1
Sunday night.
After returning to the apartment, I changed clothes again before leaving my room.
I used my original appearance, as a girl with long white hair hanging naturally.
I leapt from one building to another.
Tonight, I had only one goal.
To find a shop that sold cursed tools.
So I chose to survey the area from above first.
Before long, I sensed an unusual amount of cursed energy mixed into a certain district.
A black market?
I didn't know where the entrance was, so I chose to drop down into the alley below first.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I changed my appearance again.
My white hair turned black with the white bow tied behind my head.
Tonight I wore a black dress under a dark blue cardigan so I wouldn't stand out too much in the night.
Not far after stepping out of the alley, I saw several booths lined up, and the things displayed on them were clearly not ordinary.
Talismans.
Knives.
Sealed boxes.
I glanced left and right before asking the vendor as if I knew nothing about them.
"What are these?"
The stall owner looked me over from head to toe, then smiled.
"Old stuff."
I swept my eyes over the merchandise once more.
Then, in that moment, a man's voice came from beside me.
"How much is this chain?"
I froze slightly.
Only then did I realize someone had been standing nearby.
I turned toward the voice instinctively.
He was a powerfully built man, with a scar running across the corner of his mouth, and black eyes too still to read easily.
...Oh.
I had looked at his face for a little too long.
He glanced back at me for only an instant before his gaze returned to the chain.
He laid down money without hesitation and immediately picked the chain up.
I watched the chain in his hand.
Then he turned back toward me again, this time with the corner of his mouth lifting slightly into what looked like a smile.
"You want it, miss?"
I had no idea what the chain actually did, but in the end, I still nodded slightly.
He lifted the chain and idly swung it in his hand.
I was sure it had to be something interesting—otherwise he wouldn't have bought it.
"Then I'll sell it to you for ten million yen."
"Huh?"
I immediately glanced at the few bills he had just put down.
He had only paid a tiny amount for it, hadn't he?
Before I could say anything, he gave a slight shrug.
"If you don't want it, then goodbye."
He turned to leave immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
I looked at his back for a moment.
To be fair, ten million yen was nothing.
The real problem was that making a transaction involving that much money would create complications.
Even so, the chain looked interesting enough to buy, and it might even be a cursed tool.
"Fine..."
My answer made him stop before he turned around again.
This time, his eyes locked directly onto mine.
"Who are you?"
The question was so blunt that my thoughts stalled for a moment.
Then I raised the corner of my mouth slightly.
"Have you never seen a rich person taking a walk on the street?"
He paused, then gave the faintest smile.
"Then if I kidnapped you, I'd get rich too, wouldn't I?"
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"Are you serious?"
The man's smile deepened without hurry.
"Of course I'm serious."
He sounded as though he were casually calculating something in his head before continuing in the same indifferent tone.
"If your people are willing to pay the ransom, I could live comfortably for quite a while."
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand as if to place it on my shoulder.
I brushed his hand away lightly on instinct before his fingertips could reach me.
But in that instant of contact, I froze.
His hand was hard.
And unmistakably heavier than an ordinary person's.
My gaze moved from his body back to his face.
Definitely a jujutsu sorcerer, even if I couldn't sense any cursed energy from him.
The man looked at me for a moment before smiling again.
"Just kidding."
He lightly swung the chain in his hand.
"I'm not selling it, miss. I need it."
With that, he turned and walked away at once, without offering any more explanation.
I stared at his back for a moment.
...A high-level sorcerer?
That thought flashed through my mind for only an instant before I decided to quietly follow behind him and forget about the cursed tool shop for now.
I kept a suitable distance, letting the shadows on the ground swallow the sound of my footsteps.
He never looked back even once.
He walked as if he cared about nothing in the world.
Before long, he turned into a building.
I stopped to read the sign.
A casino?
I frowned slightly and followed him inside.
The moment the door opened, the sounds of chips, music, and people washed over me.
The lights inside were brighter than necessary. Gambling tables filled the room, and the people there ranged from drunks to those who looked untrustworthy at first glance.
I chose a seat in the corner where I could watch him from a distance without standing out.
He sat down at one of the gambling tables with the ease of someone used to the place.
I watched him in silence, spending my time studying his behavior.
Eventually, someone approached me.
A man.
"Are you here alone?"
I turned only slightly to look at him and answered without interest.
"Yes."
"If you don't mind—"
"I'm busy."
I cut him off immediately.
That was more than just a rejection.
It was closer to sending him away.
He seemed to understand, because the smile on his face faltered for a moment before he laughed it off awkwardly and finally left.
I looked away from those people and turned back toward the gambling table.
The man was still there.
But before long, he rose from the table with a visibly irritated expression.
It seemed he had lost more than he had won.
His eyes swept across the room before stopping on me with uncanny precision.
His face turned cold at once.
Then he walked straight toward me without hesitation.
I didn't move away. I simply waited in silence to see what he would do.
When he stopped in front of me, he stood there and said matter-of-factly,
"Lend me some money."
"Huh?"
The sound slipped out of me without concealment.
He remained standing there with the same relaxed attitude, as if he had merely asked to borrow a pen from an acquaintance.
"Lend me some money."
He repeated it in the same tone.
...What is this?
A jujutsu sorcerer who looked this dangerous, and yet he was broke and shameless?
I looked him over from head to toe once again.
"You blew through everything?"
"No."
He answered immediately.
"I just don't have any money right now."
Which meant the same thing.
Still, what was strange was not that—what was strange was that his first words did not mention my following him at all.
It was as though he had deliberately chosen to ignore it.
Either way, the conversation between us was becoming something strange.
So I asked directly,
"How much again?"
He fell silent for half a second.
"Just ten thousand"
I looked at him quietly for a moment.
"I'll win and return it right away."
The words of someone who had just lost moments ago were not convincing in the slightest.
But whatever.
Money was not that important.
Besides, I was the one who had followed him here.
The only problem was that I did not have a hundred thousand yen in cash on me.
"I didn't bring that much cash."
He smiled slightly.
"The casino takes cards, miss."
He answered without the slightest guilt.
Could a jujutsu sorcerer really live this irresponsibly?
Or perhaps it was simply excessive confidence.
Even so, I opened the small purse in my hand and took out a credit card.
At least, it would not be easy to trace this card back to my real identity.
I was just about to hand it over—
But in the end, I stopped.
"Before that."
I raised my eyes to meet his.
"Answer me first. You are a jujutsu sorcerer, aren't you?"
I asked in a serious tone.
The man paused only slightly, then put on an innocent expression.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.
"No."
The answer was too short.
Even so, from his demeanor, I got the feeling he wasn't lying.
I looked at him for a moment, then finally handed him the card.
"And do you know that I'm a jujutsu sorcerer?"
This time, he looked at the card in my hand before taking it.
Then he lifted his head and answered in the same old tone.
"I had my suspicions."
"In that case, you must be involved with jujutsu sorcerers in one way or another, right?"
He paused for a moment, as if weighing whether or not to answer.
But in the end, he made no effort to hide it.
"Yes."
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"In what way?"
He looked at me for a moment before replying with total indifference, as though he were talking about something ordinary.
"I kill them for money."
Mercenary?
My eyes widened in surprise just before he took the card and exchanged it for a stack of black chips.
As he passed by, I spoke up.
"My name is Kujo Tsukiyo. And yours?"
The man paused for only an instant before answering without much interest.
"Fushiguro Toji."
Then he kept walking, as if he had no intention of wasting any more time on the conversation.
I watched his back for a moment before turning toward the chip exchange desk in mild curiosity.
"How much did he cash out just now?"
The staff member looked at me for a moment, as though hesitating over whether to answer, but eventually did.
"Five million yen."
I froze for a second.
That not ten thousand yens?
So if he lost again, he'd now be five million yen in debt to me?
I walked over and stood behind his chair, folding my arms as I watched the cards and chips on the table in front of him.
His style of play wasn't careful at all.
Some rounds, he pulled in chips quickly enough.
But when he lost, he lost in huge chunks.
There was no retreat at all.
No matter how I looked at it, it was all loss and more loss.
Before long, he swore under his breath.
"Damn it..."
The stack of chips in front of him dwindled bit by bit.
Until finally, nothing was left.
He sat in silence for a moment, then rose with clear irritation.
But my credit card was still in his hand.
And I knew very well that before long he would exchange it for another round of chips.
So I spoke before he could walk away.
"This is the last time, okay? This is getting far too wasteful."
He glanced at me slightly and replied at once.
"I know. I'll win next round."
His tone was still full of confidence, even though his expression was visibly irritated.
Then he walked away, and not long after he returned with another pile of chips before sitting back down as though nothing had happened.
I glanced at the chips in front of him and asked calmly,
"How much this time?"
"Ten million."
He answered shortly, without even turning to look at me.
I let out a soft sigh.
"If you lose again, you'll be fifteen million yen in debt to me. Do you understand your situation?"
He said nothing.
It seemed my words did not rattle him in the slightest.
Since this round would probably take some time, I shifted my posture a little.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the back of Fushiguro's chair, raising my right leg slightly and tapping the floor with the tip of my foot to pass the time.
The game started again.
And everything proceeded exactly as before.
A little gain, a little loss.
But in the end, the trend remained the same.
"You're going to lose again, Fushiguro-san."
He remained silent.
And in the end, I was right.
When the last stack of chips disappeared, Fushiguro scratched his head a little and stood up without meeting my eyes.
I looked at his back for a moment, then spoke in an unhurried tone.
"Please return my credit card."
He stopped and turned back toward me with almost the same expression as before.
...
I stared back at him in silence for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.
"Fifteen million yen doesn't mean much to me."
I paused only briefly before continuing.
"If I wanted to, I could simply consider it a gift."
Those words made his eyes shift slightly.
I looked at him for a moment.
A sorcerer killer, huh?
Maybe he could help me with something.
So I asked bluntly,
"Do you know anything about users of the Ten Shadows technique?"
"You mean that Zenin bastard's technique?"
"Yes."
He fell quiet for a moment.
"Yeah... if I remember right, there was one."
He continue
"What was his name..."
Then, in the next moment, his eyes lifted slightly as though he had just remembered.
"Megumi."
I froze a little.
I hadn't expected him to know the name.
"What exactly is your connection to the Zenin clan?"
He looked at me for a moment before answering without much interest.
"I used to belong to that clan."
He paused slightly, then continued in the same tone.
"Now I use Fushiguro."
Then he said the next line so casually that it left me speechless for a moment.
"Megumi is my son."
He tilted his head slightly, as though only just remembering what he had said.
"Almost forgot."
...What a bizarre coincidence.
It seemed the plan I had considered—making him dirty his hands in my place—would have to be shelved for now.
So instead, I asked again in the same calm tone.
"Then why did you leave the Zenin clan?"
He answered almost immediately.
"It's a trash clan."
His tone was not especially emotional.
I fell silent for a moment before asking once more.
"And where is your son now?"
The answer I got made me genuinely freeze.
"Sold him to the Zenin."
"What?"
The word slipped from my mouth before I could stop it.
I stared at his face in silence for a moment.
But this time, even though his expression did not change, his eyes revealed a slight trace of guilt.
"You sold your son to a trash clan... was money really that important to you?"
He was silent for a moment before answering in a flatter tone than I expected.
"It had its reasons."
I looked at him for a little longer.
In the end, I chose not to press further.
"I suppose I won't ask any more."
For some reason, the look on his face then stirred a mix of pity and sympathy in me.
I swept my gaze around and saw an ATM not far away.
"Come with me."
He asked no questions, but followed in silence.
I stopped in front of the machine, transferred twenty million yen, and printed out the receipt.
Fushiguro looked at the slip in my hand, his expression becoming a little harder to read.
He truly seemed confused.
So I handed it to him and explained in a calm tone,
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not giving this to you for free."
He kept watching me in silence.
"I'm giving it as collateral—so you won't waste money in the casino anymore, and so you won't go around killing jujutsu sorcerers recklessly just because you need cash."
That made him hesitate slightly.
It was the first time since I had met him that I saw even a hint of surprise in his eyes.
But he still didn't argue.
So I took out my phone and held it toward him.
"If I have work for you, I'll contact you together with the payment."
I paused before continuing.
"So please give me your phone number."
He took the phone without hurry and keyed in the numbers.
When the phone was back in my hand, I looked at the empty contact name for only a moment before saving it as:
Beggar
I closed the screen without much concern, then looked back at him.
"And from now on, you won't take jobs from anyone else. Understand?"
Fushiguro raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That's impossible."
I did not answer immediately.
Instead, I turned back to the ATM once more and printed another receipt.
Then I turned around and held it out to him.
"How about now?"
He looked at the receipt in his hand, then raised his eyes to meet mine again.
This time the silence lasted a little longer than before.
At last, he let out a quiet sigh.
"Yes, miss."
He was strong enough to be useful.
And I had no intention of allowing more uncontrollable factors to increase any further.
At least for now, he remained under my control.