Chapter 26
Eriri and Utaha were both stunned.
"Where?" Utaha looked around carefully. The café was still quiet—the barista behind the counter was wiping cups, a couple in the corner was talking softly, and an old man sitting alone by the window was reading a newspaper. Everything was normal.
"The door," Genji said. "They just arrived. Three of them. Two little girls. One… man."
Eriri instinctively looked toward the café entrance.
The wind chimes on the door were still swaying gently, making a soft tinkling sound. As the chimes stopped swinging, three figures entered.
The leader was a man.
About twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, tall and straight. He was wearing an unusual outfit—a pure black straight robe underneath, a dark purple five-striped surplice over it, the edges of the surplice embroidered with intricate lotus patterns in gold thread.
His hair was combed into a half-bun at the back of his head. A long, thin strand hung down in front of his left eye, like a vine. The most striking thing was his ears—his earlobes were thick and full, with large black earrings that reflected a dull luster in the light.
The man's features were gentle and handsome. His eyebrows were slender as willow leaves. His eyes were slightly narrowed, the corners of his lips curved in a smile. He stood there, clearly dressed in eye-catching clothes, yet there was a strange sense of harmony about him. As if he was meant to be here, in this café at dusk.
Behind him stood two little girls, about ten years old.
They wore identical white dresses, identical ponytails, and looked exactly the same—they were twins. But their personalities were completely different. The girl on the left had a wary look and pursed lips, like an animal ready to fight at any moment. The girl on the right was timid, holding tightly to her sister's hand, her big eyes full of fear.
The three paused for a moment at the door. The man's gaze swept across the café—past the ordinary customers, the old man by the window, the couple in the corner—and finally stopped at the table where Eriri and Utaha were sitting.
No, to be precise, it stopped on the "empty" air beside Eriri.
The man's eyes widened slightly. It was an extremely subtle change, unnoticeable unless you were watching closely. But he was genuinely surprised, even if it lasted less than half a second.
Then he smiled.
Not a polite, business smile, but a genuine, heartfelt one. The smile instantly brightened his face. Fine wrinkles spread at the corners of his eyes. His whole body exuded a gentle, almost compassionate aura.
He walked over. The two girls followed him—the left one more alert, the right one shrinking behind him.
No one in the café noticed anything unusual about them. In the eyes of ordinary people, this was probably just a man in cosplay with his two nieces getting coffee—although his outfit was strange, it wasn't too unusual in the Akihabara area.
But Eriri knew it was different.
Because she could see that where the man walked, there were faint traces of cursed energy on the ground that only she could see—not actively emitted, but unconsciously overflowing, a massive and pulsing residual aura of cursed energy.
Genji's voice sounded in her ear, light as a sigh:
"A special-grade sorcerer… Suguru Geto."
Eriri's heart suddenly jumped.
Geto had already reached the table. He didn't sit down immediately, but stopped in front of the table, clasped his hands, and gave a slight bow—a very standard, archaic gesture of etiquette.
"Excuse me," his voice was soft and clear, with a strange, compelling quality. "This one is Suguru Geto. These two are Nanako and Mimiko. Excuse me, may I sit at this table?"
Utaha's crimson eyes narrowed. She didn't answer immediately, but turned her head to look at Eriri—or rather, at the "air" beside her.
Eriri opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't make a sound. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something. She could only nod clumsily.
Geto's smile deepened. He sat down in the empty seat next to Utaha—directly facing Eriri. The two girls stood behind him, not meant to sit.
"Thank you," Geto said, then turned to the counter and raised his hand, gesturing. "Please bring three glasses of milk. Thank you."
The waiter nodded and went to prepare. Silence fell over the café, but Eriri felt as if the air had frozen. She stared at Geto, gripping the edge of her skirt tightly under the table.
Geto seemed to notice her nervousness. He smiled, his voice becoming even softer. "Don't be nervous, Sawamura-san, Kasumigaoka-san. I have no ill intentions in this visit. I just… need to clarify some things."
He knew their names.
Eriri's back stiffened.
"You're investigating us?" Utaha spoke first, her voice cold as ice.
"Just a necessary background check," Geto admitted frankly. "After all, you were involved in two consecutive cursed spirit attacks. As a member of the jujutsu world, it is my responsibility to find out the situation."
He paused, shifting his gaze to Eriri. "Especially Sawamura-san… it seems you can see things that ordinary people cannot?"
The question was direct and sharp. Eriri felt sweat on her forehead. She remembered what Genji had just said—tell the truth.
"I…" She took a deep breath. "I can see them. Since yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Geto raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't you do it before?"
"Before… I don't know. Maybe I could, but I thought it was an illusion."
"I see," Geto nodded. "The ability to perceive cursed energy suddenly awakened. Although this kind of situation is rare, it's not without precedent. It's usually caused by a strong mental shock, or…"
His gaze drifted to the "air" beside Eriri.
"…encountering some kind of high concentration of cursed energy."
Silence hung in the air for a moment. The sunset outside the window had deepened further. Orange-red light streamed through the glass, casting warm patches on the table. But that warmth could not dispel the cold in Eriri's heart.
"So," Utaha spoke, breaking the silence, "you came to confirm whether Eriri is a sorcerer?"
"Partly," Geto said. "Confirming her status is one reason. Secondly…"
He paused, the corners of his lips lifting into a meaningful arc.
"I want to see the 'being' that is helping her."
The moment those words were spoken, Eriri felt the air around her "freeze."
Not a change in temperature, not a disappearance of sound, but a deeper, almost conceptual "solidification." It was as if this space had been cut away from the world, independent of all physical laws.
Then Genji appeared.
He didn't gradually materialize or become clearer—he "appeared." One second there was nothing there, the next, a figure in indigo hunting robes was sitting on the chair next to Eriri.
He had even changed his posture. No longer floating, but sitting on the chair, one hand casually resting on the table, the other holding his chin, a smile on his face.
"Since you've come to my door," Genji said, his voice terribly calm, "there's no point in hiding. First meeting, Suguru Geto."