The café door chimed softly as Suguru Geto left with Nanako and Mimiko.
Three empty dessert plates remained on the table, along with several coffee cups and the unique aura of a sorcerer that had not yet dissipated—a mix of incense from ancient robes, a faint chill caused by the presence of cursed energy, and an indescribable weight.
Eriri stared at the glass door, which was still gently swaying, and after a long time whispered:
"Is he... is he really a good person?"
The question was asked lightly, but it was especially clear in the quiet café. The night view of Tokyo outside the window was still bright, but Eriri suddenly felt that the things hidden beneath the lights were far more complex than she had imagined.
Utaha Kasumigaoka didn't answer immediately. She picked up her cold black coffee, took a sip, and her crimson eyes narrowed slightly, as if she were tasting something. The pen twirled gently between her fingers—it was her habitual thinking gesture.
"A good person?" She finally spoke, with a unique, calm-to-the-point-of-near-cold analysis in her voice. "Sawamura, people in this world can rarely be simply labeled as 'good people' or 'bad people.' Especially someone like him."
"What do you mean?" Eriri turned her head to look at her.
Utaha put down her coffee cup, took her notebook out of her bag again, and flipped to a new page. She didn't write immediately, but gently tapped the paper with the tip of her pen, making a soft click, click sound.
"Let's analyze," she said, her voice calm, as if she were explaining a math problem. "Suguru Geto, a former special-grade sorcerer, the patriarch of the Star Religious Sect. Judging from his speech and behavior, he is well-educated, clear-minded, and has distinct goals and ideas."
She paused and added, "Moreover, he is very good at hiding. For most of the conversation, his expression, tone, and body language were very natural, like a sincere scholar seeking answers. But for a few... moments—"
Utaha looked up at Eriri. "Do you remember? When he mentioned 'I waited a thousand years for you,' there was a fervor in his eyes. When he heard Zen'in Genji say 'I can't cure cursed spirits,' that flash of disappointment. And finally, when he promised to help investigate, that kind of... too-perfect respect."
Eriri tried to recall. Indeed, Geto was gentle and polite most of the time, but at certain moments, his eyes became very deep—so deep that she couldn't see what was hidden inside.
"What are you saying..." She hesitated. "That he's acting?"
"It's not acting," Utaha shook her head. "It's selective disclosure. He only showed the parts he wanted us to see—his reverence for Zen'in Genji, his persistence in solving the problem of cursed spirits, and his sincerity in being willing to cooperate. But what is he hiding? What is he concealing? Or, more precisely... not the whole truth."
Genji, who hadn't spoken for a while, spoke up quietly.
He was still sitting next to Eriri, but his figure was slightly lighter, as if he were conserving his cursed energy. His indigo hunting robes were almost translucent in the warm yellow light of the café, and only his deep indigo eyes remained clear and sharp.
"Utaha is right," Genji said slowly, with a thousand years of sedimentation in his voice. "Suguru Geto didn't tell the whole truth. Or... he told the truth, but not the entire truth."
Eriri's heart jumped. "Which parts are false?"
"It's not falsehood, it's 'incompleteness,'" Genji corrected. "For example, when he said he waited a thousand years for me to ask 'how to destroy cursed spirits'—that might be true, but it's not the whole reason."
He paused, his fingers tracing the table. A faint wisp of indigo cursed energy flickered at his fingertips, outlining a simple geometric shape—a basic rune of barrier techniques.
"Suguru Geto is an admirer of mine, or a researcher," Genji said. "He has studied my barriers, my theories, and perhaps even all the notes and manuscripts I left behind a thousand years ago. With his talent and level of cursed energy, if he truly wanted to learn barrier techniques—"
He flicked his fingers, and the rune instantly became ten times more complex, transforming into a multi-layered nested structure, each layer slowly rotating.
"—he should have mastered them long ago."
Eriri's eyes widened. "You mean—"
"I mean," Genji calmly interrupted, "the notes I left behind a thousand years ago on barrier techniques, although they were a thousand years ahead of their time, for modern sorcerers—especially gifted ones—if they are willing to spend time studying, understanding, and replicating the basic parts, it's not difficult."
He looked out the window, his gaze seeming to pierce the night sky, looking into the distance.
"The reason my global barrier is complex is because of its large coverage, multiple functions, and the embedded intelligence of the 'Guardian.' But if you wanted to make a simplified version—a secondary barrier covering Tokyo or all of Japan to improve the absorption efficiency of cursed energy... with Geto's level and resources, he is fully capable of doing it."
The café was quiet. Only the hum of the coffee machine operating could be heard from the counter in the distance.
Utaha's pen tip stopped on the paper, her crimson eyes unusually bright. She understood what Genji meant.
"So," she said slowly, her voice very soft, "if Suguru Geto really just wanted to 'reduce cursed spirits,' he wouldn't need to wait for you at all. He could have done it himself and made a simplified version of the barrier. Even if the effect was only a tenth or even a hundredth of yours—it would still be enough to significantly reduce the current cursed spirit pressure in Tokyo."
"Yes," Genji nodded. "But he didn't. He waited for me to appear. This shows... what he wants is not limited to a 'simplified version of the barrier.'"
"What does he want?" Eriri asked.
Genji didn't answer immediately. He closed his eyes, as if remembering something. A few seconds later, he opened them again, and a glint of clarity flashed within.
"One more thing," he said. "Suguru Geto was able to detect Eriri's abnormality so quickly, pinpoint the bus incident as a cursed spirit attack so fast, and even find us so swiftly... this speed is too high."
"Didn't he say he sent someone to keep an eye on her?" Eriri said.
"Surveillance is possible," Genji said. "But in Tokyo, a city with a population of over twenty million, to accurately target an ordinary person who has just awakened their perception of cursed energy, rush to the scene, and arrive just minutes after a cursed spirit attack... this requires not just manpower, but also 'eyes.'"
"Eyes?"
"The kind of 'eyes' that cover all of Tokyo and monitor cursed energy fluctuations in real time," Genji said, word by word. "That is a barrier."
Utaha looked at Genji and said, "You just mentioned that in Tokyo, Tengen has a barrier covering the entire country. Is it possible that Suguru Geto... has access to that barrier?"
Genji was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.
"Possible," he said. "Tengen's barrier covers all of Japan. Theoretically, all cursed energy fluctuations in Japan are recorded by this barrier. If someone can access the background data of the barrier, they can monitor anomalous cursed energy across the country in real time."
"Can Suguru Geto?" Eriri asked.
"Ten years ago, he might not have been able to," Genji said. "But now... it's hard to say. After all, he was once a special-grade sorcerer and also a focus of the Jujutsu Headquarters' training. He has probably come into contact with some of the barrier's authority."