Having finished my preparations, I made my entry into Shikoku.
I left Toji to his own devices for now.
By my reckoning, Megumi must be about three years old now, right?
It's the peak of early childhood; the man deserves a long break to spend with his kid.
'You have to build memories for affection to take root between father and son.'
Even if that future little 'Furu-be' spammer… Megumi, has a dry personality, it'll be fine.
He's still a baby.
In my books, anyone up to four years old is a baby.
They only become a child starting from age five.
Of course, a five-year-old is still basically an infant, but for classification's sake, that's where I draw the line.
"It's stifling."
Koyanskaya of Light, manifest as an Assassin, murmured beside me.
The oppressive humidity, the merciless sun, the rising temperature. There was a reason people called the Japanese summer a literal hell.
"Tell me about it. Moments like this make me miss Chaldea."
The biting chill of Chaldea flickered through my mind. Being in Antarctica meant it was freezing 365 days a year, which meant heat was never an issue. Plus, the interior temperature was perfectly regulated. Back then, I lived without ever worrying about the extremes of the seasons.
"Koyanskaya, do you want to switch to spirit form? You won't feel the heat that way."
"What are you suggesting? Do you have any idea how much joy I find in walking by my Master's side?"
Assassin's eyes sparkled with an intensity that bordered on the obsessive. It was practically fanatical. To stay in spirit form essentially meant lingering as a ghost—ethereal and untouchable.
"Ah… sorry."
"As long as you understand. Also, why is it that you address me and Foreigner by our Class names? You use a nickname for Ibuki-douji-sama."
"I don't know, it just kind of happened?"
I let out an awkward laugh. It felt like the summer heat was making her a bit more prickly than usual.
"Then, from now on, please use a more intimate name. Except for when you need to distinguish us, or when only one of us is accompanying you."
"I will. My mistake."
I apologized, reaching out to take Assassin's hand. Despite the sweltering heat, the feeling of her hand in mine was surprisingly pleasant.
"Since you've apologized, I shall forgive you."
Assassin smiled, visibly pleased. It seemed that even more than the discomfort of the heat, she valued the affection of skinship.
We continued our journey through Shikoku. Our destination was a specific abandoned village hidden deep within the mountains.
Ibuki and Koyanskaya of Darkness—our Foreigner—were following us in spirit form. They had lost the bet to see who would remain manifest.
—The number of Servants is only going to increase. If we all stay materialized, we'll stand out way too much. Let's agree that only one of us stays manifest for outdoor escort duty at a time.
—Fine by me.
—No objections from me either~.
Foreigner had been the one to propose the idea, and everyone agreed. Then, through a game of chance, Assassin had emerged victorious.
'A bit of a pity.'
They say the one who proposes the rule is usually the first victim of it, and that held true here. I'd have to find a way to make it up to Foreigner later.
"Master. Over there…"
Just as we neared the mountain village, a black barrier came into view. It was a Curtain—a tactical field erected to conceal the carnage and chaos wrought by Cursed Spirits from the mundane world.
"Why is that here?"
"It means a Jujutsu Sorcerer is already on-site. Shall we enter?"
To go or not to go. Should I reveal my existence to a sorcerer whose identity I don't even know?
I was torn. I didn't want to waste the potential experience points, but I was hesitant to expose myself.
"Should we go in disguised?"
"Disguises take time. Won't the target be eliminated by the time we're ready?"
"You've got a point."
The more I debated with Assassin, the more my head throbbed. I felt my energy flagging. No matter which path I chose, I felt like I'd end up with some form of regret.
'Seriously, what should I do?'
While I was caught in the throes of serious contemplation, the Curtain began to dissipate. A falling Curtain meant one of two things: the curse had been exorcised, or the sorcerer had been slaughtered.
"Master."
Assassin's eyes narrowed, sensing something ominous. It looked like the sorcerers were the ones who had been caught.
"Let's move in for now."
"Understood."
As soon as I tucked myself into her arms, Assassin kicked off the ground. True to her class, she was blindingly agile and fast. I didn't know if the sorcerers were dead yet, but the situation was clearly critical. I needed to see for myself.
"Master, do you see it?"
Assassin whispered while looking ahead. A massive silhouette loomed in my vision. Its head was the gateway of a traditional Japanese estate; its upper body was human, while its lower half was that of a stag. It was a grotesque, hybrid form.
'Is that an Ubusunagami spirit?'
A Cursed Spirit born from land-based folklore and localized deity worship. It felt viscerally alien and wrong.
'First, we take it down.'
A creature that size promised a lucrative amount of experience. I couldn't let it go.
"Ibuki, you take the big one. Foreigner, you're with me—we're searching for survivors. Got it?"
"Yes, Master."
"Leave it to your big sister!"
Foreigner and Ibuki shimmered into existence, dropping their spirit forms. Ibuki immediately kicked off the air, soaring toward the Cursed Spirit, while Foreigner sprinted alongside us.
"Master~! Can I just erase this thing in one shot?" Ibuki shouted from high above.
When had she even climbed that high?
"Don't use your Noble Phantasm yet! Try to handle it normally first! If it proves too much, then you have permission!"
"Got it! Loud and clear!"
With a boisterous cry, Ibuki began to expand her physical presence. One meter, two meters, then up to three. As her size increased, her terrifying presence became impossible to miss.
"Master, I've located the casualties."
In the brief moment I was distracted, Assassin and Foreigner came to a halt. One man was collapsed on the ground, soaked in blood. Beside him stood another man, gasping for air and struggling to stay upright.
'I've seen them somewhere before.'
Who were they? As I searched my memory, a spark of recognition flared.
'Ah!'
It came to me. The blond one was Nanami Kento, a man destined to be entangled with the protagonist's fate. The bloodied man beside him was his friend. Haibara… was that his name? It had to be.
'So this is when it happened.'
A brief, tragic death scene mentioned in the original story. The memory surfaced with sudden clarity.
"Who… who are you people…?"
The blond youth panted out the question. He was conscious but riddled with heavy injuries. In contrast, the blood-soaked Haibara was on the brink of death. If left alone, he'd be dead in under three minutes.
"Foreigner. Administer first aid. You're authorized to use the Elixir."
"Understood. Proceeding."
Foreigner immediately drew a small glass vial from her jacket pocket. It contained a concoction refined from Ibuki's divine blood.
"You realize the situation is critical, don't you? This is no time to debate trust; it's a matter of whether he lives or dies. Do you consent?"
Foreigner's gaze was cold and professional as she addressed Nanami. There was a dry efficiency to her tone—as if to say if he didn't trust them, she was perfectly happy to leave them to rot.
Assassin, still holding me, wore the same indifferent expression.
"Please… do it," Nanami muttered, bowing his head in desperation. It was a wise choice.
Foreigner popped the vial open and poured every last drop into the dying man's mouth.
"I will amplify his regenerative capacity with healing magecraft."
She placed her hand directly over Haibara's heart. Soon, a soft emerald light began to pulse from her fingertips.
"Boom!"
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion pulled my attention toward the sky. Ibuki had mimicked the sound with her voice, and in perfect sync, a real shockwave erupted, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air.
—Wu… wuuuu…
The Cursed Spirit let out a mournful wail, a sound somewhere between a funeral dirge and a final, desperate struggle for life.
"Wind, Fire, and Lightning!"
Rumble!
Massive, violet thunderclouds manifested behind Ibuki.
—Ssssss…
Red eyes gleamed within the vapor. In an instant, three heads of a colossal white serpent surged forward from the mist. Each maw opened wide, exhaling a different elemental torrent: a gale of wind, a localized inferno, and a spear of lightning.
The three elements slammed into the Cursed Spirit in a straight line, detonating with the sound of a world-shattering thunderclap. It was a sound that reminded me of those rainy nights where the sky never stops screaming.
—Uuuuu…
The Spirit gave one last, sorrowful cry before it was utterly obliterated. Not a single speck of ash remained.
"Master~, all finished."
Ibuki shrank back down to her human scale as she descended, making it much easier to meet her eyes.
"Good work."
While still held in Assassin's arms, I reached out and patted Ibuki's head as a reward and a show of gratitude.
"Ah~ that feels great. More, please."
Ibuki beamed with simple joy, while the two Koyanskayas shot her a sidelong glance. They were clearly harboring a flicker of jealousy.
I stopped petting Ibuki and looked down at the ground. The man who had been a bloody mess was now blinking his eyes in confusion.
"Ack! An undead!"
"Wha—what?! Eek!"
When I made a fuss, Haibara flailed about in a panic. Seeing him so energetic was a relief.
"Looking healthy. The medicine must have worked like a charm."
"Indeed. I poured enough healing magecraft into him to mend a mountain. It would be a waste if he didn't recover quickly, considering how precious that elixir is."
Foreigner stood up with a sigh, looking slightly miffed. It wasn't because of my orders, but likely because she'd had to touch a human—and a blood-soaked one at that.
"Could you put me down now?"
"Of course, Master."
Once Assassin set me on my feet, I reached out and gave Foreigner a gentle pat on the backside. This, too, was a sign of comfort and appreciation.
"Thanks for all the hard work."
"Well… since Master is personally cheering me up, I suppose I can't stay in a bad mood."
Foreigner gave a bittersweet smile, her expression showing she'd decided to let the unpleasantness go.
"Assassin, thank you for protecting me as well."
I gave Assassin's hip a reciprocal pat. With that, all potential complaints within the party were handled.
Having cleared that hurdle, my heart gave a sudden, heavy thrum.
Finally.
At long last.
The summoning Cost limit I had waited for so desperately had finally increased.
'How many years has it been?'
Despite the achievement, a sense of hollow futility felt stronger than the joy of it. This had taken an absurdly long time.
"Phew—"
I let out a long, heavy breath, exhaling all the frustration that had built up inside me over the years.
Would this Cost have increased if I hadn't been hunting Cursed Spirits all this time? Probably not. Even if the individual gains felt like nothing, my efforts hadn't been in vain. Collecting even a single point of experience consistently had made the difference.
In any case, that made two more points. If I could just raise the remaining Cost needed, I could truly rest easy. I wouldn't even need to hunt curses anymore. I'd clean up whatever appeared nearby, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
'What a relief. A total relief.'
Steadying my breath, I looked at the two young sorcerers. Time to wrap things up here.
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