At a winery on the outskirts of Tokyo, a Hassan was skillfully infiltrating under cover of night.
Although the test results for that bottle of wine had not come back yet, the Hassans, acting on the principle that it was better to overreact than let a lead slip by, sent the nearest one to investigate.
After all, appearing near the target once or twice could be a coincidence. Appearing near the target every time could not be explained as mere coincidence.
After entering the winery, Hassan no longer moved as quickly as before, and his movements became increasingly cautious.
He discovered that even late at night, many people were still working and moving around the winery.
"Haruto, you're here too?"
A man rushing past saw an acquaintance and went over to greet him.
"Oh, Kenta, is that you? You started working here too?"
"I heard they're short-staffed here. It's not just me. A lot of people have been transferred over, and I heard more will be coming later."
"How did it suddenly get so busy?"
Haruto was very confused. He had worked in sales for several years, but this was the first time he had seen their wine sell this well.
"I heard someone say that about a month ago, the boss's son got the brewing method for a special wine that used to be supplied to the Emperor from his girlfriend. That's why our wine suddenly became so popular."
"Really? No way!"
Once an interesting piece of gossip came up, the two immediately loosened up and started chatting.
"Hey! What are you two doing? Get back to work!"
"Yes!" x2
The two, who had been caught slacking off, immediately scurried back to their workstations.
In Japan, where overtime culture was common, most people, once they got used to office life and moved past the intern stage, tacitly slowed down their work pace.
A significant portion of overtime was spent slacking off.
But things were different here. This was genuine overtime work.
Because of that, the people recently transferred to the winery were all suffering.
After the corridor emptied, Hassan, who had been hiding in the ceiling for a long time, immediately dropped down and found a new hiding place.
At the same time, he began thinking over the information he had just obtained.
According to the two employees, the changes at this winery began about a month ago, after a woman arrived.
And the winery's wine suddenly becoming extremely popular happened around the same time the Curse Users began gathering.
Thinking of this, Hassan's suspicion of the winery rose another level.
After confirming the direction of his investigation, Hassan immediately entered spirit form and carefully avoided everyone's sight, preventing any potential Curse Users from observing him.
Finally, he infiltrated the winery owner's office.
There, Hassan saw numerous documents related to the winery, such as ledgers, employee lists, and order records.
Just as Hassan was searching for possible clues, the sound of the door opening echoed through the room.
Hassan immediately entered spirit form again and hid in a concealed corner.
"Phew, I'm exhausted. I finally dealt with those annoying people."
The pot-bellied winery owner sat directly in the boss's chair behind the desk.
The chair groaned under the strain.
"Those people are ridiculous. They can't make decent products themselves, so they always try to profit by sabotaging and blackmailing their competitors. They have no craftsmanship at all."
The winery owner's son complained.
"Alright, with your old man here, those scoundrels won't be able to stir up any trouble."
The winery owner, completely unaware that a mysterious force was helping him, spoke without the slightest self-awareness.
Just as many leaders prefer using mediocre but easy-to-control subordinates to manage employees, Tomie also chose someone with a great reputation, but poor management skills and an easily controlled nature, to help execute her plan.
In the early stage of the plan, before she had accumulated enough power, Tomie did not want to expose her existence.
So, although both men already had Tomie's cells in their bodies, she was not in a hurry to fully control them.
Instead, she gradually expanded the power under her control by using her abilities to manipulate the father and son.
"How is production of the new wine now? Can it keep up with demand?"
"Almost. At the current pace, production should catch up in a few more days."
"Keep a close eye on it personally. Once we've captured the domestic market, we'll expand overseas. There must be no mishaps."
"No problem. Don't you trust me to handle things, Dad?"
"Go."
The conversation ended, and the winery owner waved his hand, signaling his son to leave.
The son also smiled and nodded, then left the room.
Hassan, who had listened to the entire conversation, silently followed him.
"That useless old man really thinks his reputation still means something. If it weren't for Tomie's help, he would have been eaten alive long ago."
The winery owner's son cursed angrily after walking some distance from the room.
Although they were father and son, because of the other competitors, their relationship was more like that of a boss and an employee.
"Soon, once I'm ready, both Tomie and the winery will be mine."
The man, who had learned some secrets from Tomie, showed a crazed smile on his face, then stepped into the basement.
The scene that followed made even Hassan, who had experienced countless bloody assassinations, feel a chill in his heart.
The man, who had been refined and courteous just moments ago, was now like a mad butcher.
And the naked woman he pulled from the container, far from resisting, showed an expression of enjoyment as the cleaver fell.
"Who's there?"
Tomie sensed a slight abnormality and turned to look at the spot where Hassan had just been hiding.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? There's no one there."
The man followed Tomie's gaze but found nothing.
"Maybe I was mistaken."
Tomie also sounded a little uncertain.
"Good girl, let's continue, Tomie."
With that, the madness that had just been suppressed in the man's eyes surged again.
When this information was relayed back to Tokyo Jujutsu High, it immediately caused a stir among the higher-ups.
The name Tomie drew serious attention from Eichi and Artoria.
After all, the last time Tomie appeared, the casualties she caused were even greater than all the other Special Grade Cursed Spirits that year combined.
She alone accounted for more than half a year's worth of casualties caused by Cursed Spirits.
Similarly, the mystery behind the large gathering of Curse Users was immediately explained the moment Tomie's name appeared.
Eichi, who already controlled the Jujutsu World and had some influence in normal society, immediately took measures against the wine flowing out of the winery.
At the same time, he ordered the eighty Hassan of the Hundred Faces outside to fully investigate the Tomie who had already appeared, using the previous lead of people causing trouble for the winery.
The radar for Tomie, which had been canceled within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, was reactivated.
When the void barrier covering Japan was fully loaded with the Cursed Technique effect for searching for Tomie, Tokyo Jujutsu High immediately took action.
Megumi, who had synchronized with Mahoraga's adaptation to Tomie's Cursed Technique through Eichi, Yuta, who had once slain Tomie, and Satoru, who was unaffected by Tomie, all left Tokyo Jujutsu High.
(To be continued.)