Chapter 5: Swords and Arrows Fly Forth
Nanami Kento—former office worker, current Grade 1 Sorcerer.
A Sorcerer is exactly the specialized profession Emiya had been looking for, responsible for eliminating dangerous "Cursed Spirits" in this world.
Emiya's deduction was quite correct: Cursed Spirits are precisely bred from all kinds of human negative emotions.
Sorcerers classify Cursed Spirits simply by grades; a Grade 1 Sorcerer is expected to handle a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. However, this standard is not merely being "able to fight a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit," but being able to "achieve one hundred percent annihilation of a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit."
In other words, excluding a few anomalies whose strength is beyond measure, a Grade 1 Sorcerer is practically considered the pinnacle of the Sorcery World.
"Since entering the store, those two children's eyes have been constantly on me, yet the fluctuation of Cursed Energy isn't very noticeable. So... innate Yin-Yang Eyes?"
Even though the targets he's responsible for eliminating are usually Cursed Spirits and not humans, his battle-hardened senses are unusually sensitive to being watched.
Having received professional training, Emiya's gaze was somewhat subtle. But Yotsuya Miko's peering was very crude, clearly an amateur—to the extent that any sensitive ordinary person could notice it.
It's a shame that something like the Yin-Yang Eye, while sounding useful and being rare, is not necessarily a good thing.
Being able to see the ever-present Cursed Spirits means one could encounter danger at any time, but joining the Sorcery World doesn't mean safety; rather, it's a step closer to danger.
The structure of the Sorcery World personnel is quite straightforward, with danger level and status roughly descending as follows: Sorcerer → Assistant Supervisor → Window.
Sorcerers engage in combat with Cursed Spirits, while Assistant Supervisors are responsible for the Sorcerers' logistical support.
The final Window refers to people scattered throughout the city who possess Yin-Yang Eyes or have a keen sense for Cursed Energy, used to constantly feed intelligence to the Sorcerers.
It's safe to say that regardless of the role, as long as one is involved with the Sorcery World, the level of danger will significantly increase. It would be better to simply remain an ordinary person and pretend not to see Cursed Spirits, which would generally keep them safe from harm.
Therefore, even though the higher-ups had instructed that any rare individual with the Yin-Yang Eye should be reported and registered truthfully, Nanami Kento had absolutely no intention of doing so.
Not wanting to involve ordinary people in the troubles of the Sorcery World was secondary; more importantly...
Who would seriously execute the words of a rubbish superior!
Everything that comes out of those guys' mouths is utter trash!
Anyone who would seriously carry out the trash commands of those trash leaders is worse than trash!
Thinking this, Nanami Kento tore open the packaging of the burger in his hand and took a bite. He was instantly enveloped again by the helplessness of life.
"I still can't accept fast food. Next time I'll run a bit further to the bakery."
Despite this sentiment, Nanami Kento, even though he disliked the food, swallowed every bit of it.
This couldn't be helped; after all, adults can't be as whimsical as children.
After quickly finishing his lunch for the day, it was time to start today's work.
According to the intelligence received from the Window, a rather large Cursed Spirit had appeared in a nearby commercial center with heavy foot traffic. Such a dangerous presence absolutely could not be allowed in the city center, so Sorcerers had to be deployed for annihilation.
Since there had been no direct damage or combat yet, the Sorcerers' Association had temporarily classified it as a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit based on the overflowing Cursed Energy.
As for why a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit requires a Grade 1 Sorcerer for exorcism?
That is, of course, because the situation in the Sorcery World is completely trash, just like its higher-ups.
It's already a good situation for a high-grade Sorcerer to clean up a lower-grade Cursed Spirit, as the Sorcery Association frequently misjudges the grade of Cursed Spirits. Thus, situations where Grade 2 or even Grade 3 Sorcerers have to face Grade 1 Cursed Spirits are not uncommon.
If they're lucky, the Sorcerer can save their life and the task is reassigned to a Grade 1 Sorcerer; if they're unlucky, they perish right there.
This has led to a high mortality rate among Sorcerers, and the number of Cursed Spirit exorcism tasks is completely mismatched with the number of available Sorcerers, leaving many Sorcerers with little room for rest.
Despite such exhaustion, Nanami Kento always carried out his duties as a Sorcerer to exorcise Cursed Spirits.
Yet, even so, upon arriving at the mission site and seeing the constant flow of people at the entrance, Nanami Kento's blood pressure spiked instantly.
He immediately called the Assistant Supervisor.
"What's going on, Ijichi? Has the crowd dispersal work not been done at all?"
Hearing Nanami Kento's calm yet seemingly oppressive voice, the voice on the other end of the phone responded with a distinctly meek tone: "W-well, Nanami-san... The original plan was indeed to exorcise the Cursed Spirit at night, but the Window responsible for monitoring said that people have already been seen disappearing inside, and if we are to conduct a rescue, we can't wait until then."
"Also, this shopping center is open 24 hours, so even at night, the foot traffic would only be slightly less... The top floor area where the Cursed Spirit appeared has already been temporarily sealed off. As long as we don't cause too much of a commotion, it won't be noticed."
"To prevent any incidents, I will still deploy the Curtain promptly on the periphery. But it can only be maintained for ten minutes at most, otherwise, ordinary people will notice the abnormality..."
As he spoke, the voice on the other end gradually became softer. He seemed to know his work was not perfect and was afraid of being harshly scolded by the silent Sorcerer.
Click—
Nanami Kento expressionlessly hung up the phone.
"I have to rescue hostages, keep the commotion down, and there's a time limit, huh... Tch, they sure know how to make work difficult."
Muttering this, Nanami Kento lifted his head and looked at the sky. A deep black color surged from the position of the sun, then transformed into a semi-circular dome covering the entire commercial center.
This is the Curtain, a simple barrier technique, and the reason Sorcerers have been able to remain hidden until now.
It prevents ordinary people outside the Curtain from seeing what's inside. This is not a visual disappearance, but a subconscious ignoring of events happening in this area by the senses.
Similarly, the Curtain can be set so that ordinary people can only exit and not enter, or only enter and not exit; it's a very convenient barrier technique.
But in a shopping center with such a large flow of people, even with the Curtain deployed, if it lasts too long, ordinary people are bound to notice an abnormality.
So, Nanami Kento's job was to annihilate the Cursed Spirit within this limited time.
The mature office worker tugged at his tie, then reached his hand inside his suit jacket to his lower back, pulling out a wide, short blade wrapped in bandages.
"I hope the hostages haven't been harmed yet."
The reason Nanami Kento decided to carry out his mission meticulously was not to appease the old folks in the Sorcery World's high command, but merely to realize some value like this.
If the hostages captured by the Cursed Spirit were still alive and he successfully rescued them, allowing them to return to society and continue fulfilling their duties—that's how he would realize his value.
Just as people who like bread would be troubled if a bakery disappeared, people would similarly mourn if those harmed by the Cursed Spirit died.
So, for this job, he probably had to be serious.
Ten minutes—a long time for customers waiting in line, but fleeting for students during a break... Nanami Kento wasted no time, quickly ascending to the top floor of the commercial center in a few dozen seconds.
The area had indeed been temporarily closed. Were it not for the sunlight filtering through the windows at the far end, it would be pitch dark.
But a little darkness was no obstacle for Nanami Kento. Just as criminals leave footprints after a crime, Cursed Spirits leave behind "Residual Curses" wherever they pass. This unusual aggregation of Cursed Energy is very easily detected by a Sorcerer.
For some unknown reason, the Cursed Spirits gathered on this top floor were exceptionally aggressive. But they were only Grade 3 at most; a disaster for ordinary people, but nothing at all to Nanami Kento.
Bang!
Just by raising his arm and swinging hard, a Cursed Spirit foolishly rushing forward was easily exorcised by him.
But he had no time to waste on these lackeys...
Following the Residual Curse left by the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, Nanami Kento began moving at extremely high speed towards the target's location.
Inevitably, some Cursed Spirits would unleash their malice due to his unrestrained actions, but it didn't matter—just kill them.
In barely two minutes, Nanami Kento had crossed almost the entire shopping center, and the Cursed Spirits on the top floor were nearly all wiped out. Maybe a few tiny ones were hiding somewhere, but that wasn't his concern.
The important thing was that, even after searching the entire top floor, he couldn't find a trace of the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
The Residual Curse led through a passage straight to a higher level; the Cursed Spirit had somehow run up to the rooftop.
Nanami Kento slightly adjusted his breathing and quickly followed. The anticipated ambush didn't occur, and he successfully reached the top, finding the target Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
Except that...
The good news was that the hostages were still alive. The bad news was that they were in the hands of the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit and might not be alive the next second.
The Cursed Spirit even faced Nanami Kento with a bizarre smile, as if it had been waiting for him here all along.
Undoubtedly, Cursed Spirits are born from human negative emotions.
The stronger the fear humans project onto a certain thing, the more powerful the Cursed Spirit born from that thing becomes.
And in Tokyo, this awful place where tens of millions of people are densely packed, the Cursed Spirits generated by the amalgamation of the emotions of millions are absolutely incomparable to those in some smaller locales.
They might lack reason and emotion, but that doesn't mean they lack intelligence.
Some of these creatures, having hidden for a long time in human cities, have thoroughly learned excellent qualities like cunning and deception.
After Nanami Kento and the Cursed Spirit stared at each other in silence for a moment, the Cursed Spirit seemed to confirm that he was the object of its intimidation. It then extended a tentacle, curling around one of the hostages, towards him.
During this process, the gradually increasing force squeezed the hostage almost to the point of suffocation, and the threat was clear without words.
'Damn it... what should I do now?'
Nanami Kento was finally stuck in a dilemma.
Because a Grade 1 Sorcerer was exorcising a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, the higher-ups hadn't assigned him any backup Sorcerers who could intervene.
He wasn't at all afraid that a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit could hurt him, nor would the higher-ups punish him over the safety of a few hostages. So, if he acted without hesitation, the Cursed Spirit wouldn't be able to react and would surely be annihilated, and the hostages might not all die.
So...
"In the end, I'm being blackmailed by a Cursed Spirit."
Nanami Kento crouched down, placed the weapon in his hand on the ground, and then stood up with his hands raised.
Even with some level of intelligence, a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit's thinking ability wouldn't be very strong. Once the opponent either captured him or initiated an attack, he would have enough confidence to save the hostages, with the maximum cost being a few injuries to himself.
"As you can see, I pose no threat. Now, why don't you... What?!"
Completely contrary to his expectation, the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit had no intention of attacking him; instead, it clenched its tentacle tighter, clearly aiming to kill the hostage.
'Is this thing smart, or utterly stupid?'
Nanami Kento instinctively reached for the weapon on the ground. It would only take him two seconds from initiating the attack to eliminating this Cursed Spirit... but it wasn't enough; that level of speed wasn't enough!
To kill the hostage in its grasp, this Cursed Spirit wouldn't even need one second.
'Damn it... I won't make it!'
Consciousness seemed to stretch infinitely at this moment. Nanami Kento desperately tried to make his body move faster, but reality could not be altered by will alone.
Just as he watched the hostages' bodies on the verge of being crushed and distorted by the Cursed Spirit, and he thought everything was about to end, the thing that suddenly appeared behind the Cursed Spirit made him instinctively widen his eyes.
"What... is that?"
A sword-arrow flying in from a distance?!