In the Jinde District, less than twenty kilometers northeast of Kamiyama City, dense mountains stretched as far as the eye could see.
This area was under the de facto control of the Chitanda family, the rulers of Kamiyama City. Barbed wire fences surrounded the perimeter, posted with warning signs that read: "PRIVATE PROPERTY. NO ENTRY."
The sky above was shrouded by a barrier so thick it looked like heavy cloud cover, indistinguishable even to most Sorcerers.
Halfway up one of the mountains, a large plot of land had been cleared. A white, European-style manor stood quietly in the center.
Through the fence, one could see small patches of rice paddies and common vegetables like corn and greens. On the slopes, rows of lush tea bushes thrived.
Strangely, the scarecrows on the hill didn't seem to be made of straw.
In the fields, a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat and clothes resembling an old farmer's—completely mismatched with the luxurious manor—was working the land.
He held a phone in one hand, chatting via video call with a gentle smile, occasionally laughing heartily.
A wide road led from the manor's gate to the public highway outside—the only connection to the outside world.
Suddenly, the roar of a car engine broke the silence, approaching rapidly until it stopped at the gate.
The engine cut off. Two men in black suits pushed open the iron gate and walked into the manor.
Seeing the kindly middle-aged man, one of the suited men started to rush forward, but his partner grabbed him tightly.
"Are you crazy?! Do you want to die?!"
The man holding him back whispered grimly:
"If you have a death wish, don't drag me into it. The Family Head is on a call with the Young Miss."
The man on the phone noticed the two uninvited guests. He smiled apologetically at the girl on the screen.
"Eru, I have something to take care of. Let's save the 'tea planting' lesson for tomorrow."
"Ehh? But I still have so many questions..."
Hearing her father's words, the girl on the phone sounded a bit disappointed.
"Forgive me, Eru. Next time."
"Okay then. Bye, Papa."
Seeing his daughter's unhappiness, the good father immediately promised:
"When you come home for summer break, Papa will hire a professor from the Agricultural University to teach you how to plant rice, okay?"
"Mn! It's a promise!"
After hanging up, the middle-aged man took his hoe to the tool shed and put it away. While taking off his gloves, he asked:
"Why was the barrier triggered?"
One of the men answered:
"Although they disguised themselves as lost tourists, your subordinate has confirmed they were sent by the Sorcerer Association."
"Is that so? Kill them."
The middle-aged man hung his hat on the wall, his tone as casual as deciding what to have for dinner.
"Bury them in my tea field. The soil fertility has been a bit weak lately."
"This is the second time this month. Is the Sorcerer Association testing my bottom line?"
He snorted coldly.
"Do they really think the Chitanda family is easy to bully?"
"Master, there is one more thing."
"Speak."
"Something happened to the Divine Tree..."
Countless ghosts suddenly materialized behind the middle-aged man. The chilling Cursed Energy instantly dropped the surrounding temperature by several degrees. Clearly, this news affected him far more than the Association's prying.
Gritting his teeth, he demanded:
"What exactly happened?!"
---
"Unfamiliar ceiling..."
Lying in a hospital bed, Kenmei finally woke up from his slumber. Sitting up, he felt a bit disoriented.
His last memory was deactivating the Terminator armor and ordering the [Scarab Occult Terminator] to tear the Domain apart.
Remembering something, Kenmei immediately rolled up his sleeve. The familiar tattoo on his arm was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief.
One worry off his mind.
Even a Peppa Pig tattoo would be better than that mark, considering it was linked to the "Lord of Catastrophe" Nine-Tailed Fox.
Aside from that terrifying cherry blossom tree, that humanoid Cursed Spirit was absolutely the strongest Cursed Spirit Kenmei had ever seen.
When he looked at Eru Chitanda back then, he never imagined she would be involved with something this horrifying.
That power truly deserved to be called the apex of Cursed Spirits—a genuine Special Grade.
Although it was Kenmei's first time fighting a Special Grade, the result was never in doubt.
After all, the [Scarab Occult Terminator] was simply too broken for the power scaling of this world.
Protected by the Terminator armor, Kenmei didn't take a single scratch even inside the Domain. He even had the spare capacity to look after Yaga-sensei.
However, the cost was steep.
Blue Uncle's (Space Marine) [Durability: 1180/189000] had dropped from 1180 to 890 points.
That was a loss of 290 Durability points.
Kenmei sighed. It genuinely hurt his heart. He would gladly pay 10,000 Points per durability point to repair it, but the problem was it couldn't be repaired.
Repairing it required the forbidden Rubric spells of the Sorcerers from the Thousand Sons Legion. Kenmei didn't have access to that.
Fortunately, the rewards were astronomical enough to soothe his pain.
[You have obtained 200,000 Points. First Kill Bonus for Special Grade Cursed Spirit x2: Total 400,000 Points.]
400,000 Points for killing that spirit.
Kenmei had estimated a standard Special Grade would yield around 100,000 Points. He had underestimated the intensity of this particular spirit.
And this wasn't even the main body of the "Lord of Catastrophe" Nine-Tailed Fox—likely just a clone or avatar. Imagine how many points the main body would be worth.
Wait. If that's the case...
Doesn't that mean Kenmei's balance just broke into the seven digits?!
Kenmei opened the Warhammer Simulator and checked his balance.
[1,010,890 Points]
He counted carefully, afraid of misreading the zeros.
Holy crap. He actually broke the million-point barrier.
Just a while ago, Kenmei was running around desperately trying to scrape together 100,000 points for a simulation.
And now?
Kenmei earned nearly 770,000 Points today at Jujutsu High alone. It was faster than robbing a bank.
With over a million in savings, he could afford a C-Rank Simulation.
For a C-Rank Simulation, Kenmei had a small wish.
Please.
Just once.
I want to be a human!
Don't make him a dog again, or turn him into a green-skin Ork. Nobody can handle that.
Suddenly, the door opened. It was Gojo and Geto.
"Yo, Kenmei! We came to visit."
"You look pretty energetic!"
Gojo opened the door and greeted Kenmei with high energy.
"Satoru, keep it down!"
Geto reminded him.
"This is a hospital."
"What does it matter? You know how low the occupancy rate is at Jujutsu High's affiliated hospital."
Gojo casually sat in the chair by Kenmei's bed, grabbed an apple—presumably washed by a nurse and left there—and started chomping on it.
"You really make yourself at home."
Here's a cold joke: The frequency of Sorcerers visiting the hospital is far lower than the probability of them lying in the morgue.
"By the way, you didn't tell my family I was hospitalized, did you?"
Kenmei had just acted cool in front of his uncle, only to end up in the hospital that same night.
That would be way too lame. He couldn't afford to lose face like that.
"No, we haven't had the chance to notify them yet."
Geto shook his head.
Kenmei breathed a sigh of relief. His reputation was safe.
"That's good."
"By the way, Kenmei, I have good news for you."
Gojo looked at Kenmei smugly.
"You are now the hero who successfully exorcised a Special Grade Cursed Spirit and saved Jujutsu High!"
---