Chapter 14: Grade 1 Cursed Spirit?!
It was strange. While the instinct for all life is survival, why did this man actively want his life to end?
From a personal perspective, Emiya has always believed that if someone unjustly takes another person's life, they should bear the consequences no matter what.
That consequence shouldn't be lessened by the difference in age, and the concept of "the law can't punish everyone" is nonsense.
But in a place like a school, where bullying leads to mental illness and then suicide...
Legally, it would be very difficult to seek justice in such a case, and the school, eager to resolve the matter quickly, would be highly unlikely to let the situation escalate.
Emiya now understood why the information he received from Ijichi mentioned only three victims.
It wasn't just because the other three weren't killed directly by a Cursed Spirit; it was more likely that the academy simply hadn't reported the other victims at all.
But the question facing Emiya now was: If the law cannot provide justice, is private revenge justified?
"..."
Emiya let go of the man's arm, stood up, and picked up the pistol that had fallen nearby.
"What's wrong? You heard the story, and now you don't want to follow through?
That's why I hated kids before. Right now, I actually hoped a more mature adult would show up. Maybe I would have been freed just now."
The man neither showed gratitude nor attempted to flee. He simply turned and leaned against a bamboo stalk beside him.
"If you choose to turn yourself in, you will never get the death sentence for this here.
It sounds like your relationship with your daughter wasn't the best before, so your daughter probably wouldn't want to see you this soon, old man."
Emiya expertly unloaded the bullets from the gun as he spoke to the man.
"Tch, your tongue is truly venomous, kid...
But you're right. It's only fitting that an incompetent father like me should suffer more punishment."
If he had noticed the anomaly sooner, none of this tragedy would have happened. Even with the bullies at fault, the blame ultimately rested on him, the father, for not providing enough care and for failing to notice the signs.
To die so easily would be letting him off too lightly.
Emiya could sense that the man's regret was absolutely genuine.
Perhaps there are many examples of disharmonious relationships between parents and children, but most parents' concern for their children is undoubtedly real; they just can't find the right way to express it.
To lose a child's precious life because of one's own mistake would indeed be something to feel guilty about for a lifetime.
However, Emiya wasn't the one to pass judgment on the man; he had other matters to attend to.
This situation was temporarily resolved, but the missing Cursed Object and Cursed Spirit still hadn't been found.
It was clear the man had lost all desire to escape, so after notifying Ijichi outside the Curtain of the situation, Emiya immediately rushed back the way he came.
This man clearly knew a lot more, but rather than slowly questioning him here, it was better to hurry back to Kasumi Miwa.
After all, if the man didn't take the Cursed Object, wasn't the Cursed Spirit the one that picked the lock then?
.
.
.
On the other side, after splitting from Emiya, Kasumi Miwa followed the traces of Residual Curse all the way to the top of the back hill and then down to the slope on the other side.
The path here began to grow uneven, indicating that even students rarely ventured this far.
Walking alone in the silent bamboo grove at night, it was impossible for Miwa not to be afraid. She hadn't felt much while Emiya was with her, but now that she realized she was all alone, the feeling of dread immediately crept up on her.
But as a senpai, where's the sense in running away because you're scared of the dark before you've even seen the Cursed Spirit?
More than that, dignity was the smaller issue. If the mission's completion was poor, a Sorcerer would face criticism from Jujutsu High, and their salary would even be affected.
That money wasn't enough to begin with, and if more was deducted, she would truly be in trouble.
Others didn't understand the difficulty of raising two younger siblings!
Miwa silently complained about her life to distract herself from her fear.
The Assistant Supervisor had already investigated and said the Cursed Spirit's maximum strength was only Grade 3. It had no chance of winning against her, a Grade 3 Sorcerer.
Furthermore, most Grade 3 Cursed Spirits have little intelligence; when they encounter a Sorcerer and sense danger, they either run away or charge directly—they are very easy to understand.
But as for the Cursed Object... she could only hope the seal would last a little longer. Logically, a Cursed Spirit shouldn't be able to remove a seal, and fusion takes a long time, so there was no need to worry too much.
"How did the traces of Residual Curse disappear again here..."
"Hmm?"
Miwa suddenly heard a faint, unusual sound near her ear.
She immediately took a stance, pressed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, and looked around with vigilance.
She couldn't have misheard it. There was definitely the sound of a bamboo stalk being broken... Is that it?
After searching for a moment, Miwa finally saw a bamboo stalk snapped in half, seven or eight meters behind her. That was the path she took, so she knew for sure that the bamboo had been fine just seconds ago.
What was it? A Curse User? A Cursed Spirit? Or something else?
Miwa was still desperately thinking when her entire body suddenly froze.
Her body... was trembling.
It was instinct... no, all her senses had received a message of extreme danger, transmitting a fear to her brain that she couldn't rationalize.
The unknown is always scarier than the known.
She had to do something!
"New Shadow Style... Simple Domain!"
This is a technique that generates a simple domain with a radius of 2.21m centered on oneself.
Any foe who steps into the domain will be met with an unavoidable counterattack. Even Cursed Spirits that conceal themselves would be struck the moment they entered the domain.
It's here!
...So fast?!?!
Miwa only saw a black shadow flash past, and the Simple Domain was triggered, forcing her to swing her blade based solely on instinct.
Clang—!
The Simple Domain did take effect, and the blade did strike the Cursed Spirit, but...
The humanoid Cursed Spirit, which had finally revealed its true form, blocked the unavoidable attack with just its arm. The only price it paid was a mere half-inch cut into its forearm.
"Heeh—"
A terrifying, wide-arced smile suddenly spread across its face.
BOOM!!!
Her vision instantly turned black, and her brain stopped functioning. Her breathing... no, her heart seemed to have stopped beating at that moment.
"Cough, cough..."
When her five senses could finally receive information again, Miwa realized her body had been flung dozens of meters away, slamming into the remote slope.
This Cursed Spirit... Grade 1?
Could it be even higher...?
"Sorcerer!"
It was still smiling, with a hint of predatory delight, walking towards her step by step, completely unhurried.
She had to run!
Her body's instincts were screaming at her to flee!
But she couldn't. It was only a casual strike from the Cursed Spirit, yet she couldn't even feel her own body.
'This is awful. Am I going to die now?'
She'd thought about dying one day ever since becoming a Sorcerer, but now that the moment was truly here, she couldn't stop the fear in her heart.
No, wait. As a Sorcerer, how could she be afraid of a Cursed Spirit? She should be worried about not being able to look after her siblings anymore.
And that kouhai. Although she was indeed wishing someone would come to save her, she prayed he had noticed something was wrong and fled.
He should be smart enough to run in a situation like this.
Even the Strongest couldn't possibly appear right now and save her, could they?
In the end, it was still regret she felt.
Just as she was about to close her eyes to escape everything, she suddenly saw a figure's back appear in the moonlight-drenched bamboo grove.
Pah-dah.
The figure lightly positioned itself in front of her.
Was this a hallucination before death?
No, it wasn't.
"Clang—Clang—!"
Although she was in a bamboo forest, Miwa felt as if she was hearing the sound of metal being forged.