Chapter 29: A Successful Encounter
Day One of the Mission
Minamoto Sōjun and his team arrived at the residential area where the Star Plasma Vessel was located. Gojo Satoru immediately made his way to a vending machine to grab a drink for himself.
Suguru Geto followed, purchasing two bottles.
The two approached Sōjun, looking more like tourists than sorcerers on a mission.
"Something feels off," Sōjun said, catching the drink tossed to him. He shielded his eyes with his hand as he looked towards one of the tall buildings.
Before his voice faded—
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted from a window.
All three looked up at once.
Sōjun clearly saw glass shatter as the shockwave deformed the window frame and blew out the balcony. Shards of glass scattered in all directions, followed by thick smoke billowing outward.
Amid the smoke, a figure fell freely—wearing a sailor-style school uniform with braided hair and a headband. Having reviewed the mission file, Sōjun instantly recognized her as the target: Riko Amanai, the Star Plasma Vessel.
From their vantage point, Gojo and Geto could only see a black speck.
While the Six Eyes could perceive cursed energy in extraordinary detail, Sōjun felt his Starlight Eyes were not inferior in terms of pure visual clarity.
"!?"
"?"
When the falling figure had dropped halfway down the building, Gojo and Geto exchanged a glance and nodded.
"Yeah."
It was her.
"I'll head up and check things out," Sōjun gestured to the pair. A flash of dark light flickered beneath his clothes before his body twisted and became translucent, reappearing a moment later at the shattered window. With one swift kick, he sent a masked man in strange attire flying out.
He didn't need to look twice to tell the man was up to no good.
Meanwhile, Suguru Geto summoned a manta ray-shaped flying cursed spirit to catch the falling Star Plasma Vessel.
"Ahhh!"
A terrified male voice echoed from above—it was the masked man Sōjun had kicked out, now plummeting toward the ground.
Geto summoned another cursed spirit, this one a grotesque mass of flesh covered in human heads. The spirit embraced the falling man, merging its body with his until the two were indistinguishable. The heads murmured, "Give me a kiss, come on."
Ignoring its appearance, there was an oddly romantic vibe to the scene.
Back in the apartment, Sōjun found a maid collapsed on the floor. He helped her up, and she jolted awake. Seeing the identification badge Sōjun presented, she let out a sigh of relief and immediately began scanning the room.
"The young miss... where is she?"
Suguru Geto flew into the room, carrying an unconscious Riko Amanai.
The maid hurried over, helping place Riko onto the sofa. Once assured she was unharmed, the maid relaxed completely.
"I'm Miri Kuroi, her caretaker," she introduced herself, regaining composure. "Thank goodness you arrived in time."
Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru encountered a cursed user wielding throwing knives.
The knives hurtled toward Gojo but froze mid-air just before reaching him.
Although they seemed stationary, they were in fact moving imperceptibly closer, inch by infinitesimal inch, but never able to touch him.
With minimal effort, Gojo defeated the cursed user.
The team regrouped and learned the man Gojo fought was the strongest fighter of the Q organization. Upon hearing this, a captured Q member's face turned ashen.
By the first morning of their mission, the Q organization's strongest had been defeated, and the group was dismantled.
Everything was progressing as expected. But Sōjun doubted it would continue to go so smoothly.
The flutter of a butterfly's wings... the storm had yet to come.
For now, however, the three sorcerers had successfully reunited with the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai.
As they observed the still-unconscious Riko, Geto gave her a gentle nudge. She didn't react. Rising to his feet, he sighed, "If only Shoko were here. She's the only one who knows reverse cursed techniques."
"Should we take her to a doctor?" Gojo suggested.
"Heh," Sōjun chuckled.
The others turned to look at him.
Stepping forward confidently, Sōjun placed a finger on Riko's forehead and declared, "Leave it to me. I know a bit about healing too."
Blood-red energy glowed at his fingertip. Riko's face suddenly sprouted small tentacle-like growths that wiggled erratically before falling off, twitching briefly before vanishing entirely.
"Hey, maybe we should take her to a hospital," Geto protested, reaching to stop Sōjun.
Miri Kuroi stepped between them, blocking Geto.
Gojo picked Riko up, saying, "Yeah, let's just—"
"She's fine now," Sōjun interjected, pointing to Riko.
The group turned to see her eyelids flutter open.
Still groggy, Riko first saw a white-haired man wearing sunglasses and then looked down at herself, realizing she was in a princess carry.
"Urahhhh—!"
With a loud slap, she smacked Gojo in the face, leapt from his arms, and yelled, "How dare you try to kill me! You should be the one to die!"
A vein bulged on Gojo's forehead.
"Pfft—"
"Kukuku—"
Sōjun and Geto stifled their laughter.
"Miss Riko, calm down. We're not the ones who attacked you," Geto said, his tone gentle but his face still amused.
"Liar!" Riko pointed at him. "Weird bangs guy—you look like a scammer. No way you're a good person!"
Geto froze momentarily before his smile widened, eyes narrowing. Together with Gojo, he grabbed Riko by her hands and feet, trying to restrain her.
"Riko," Sōjun interjected, unable to hold back his laughter any longer.
"Ahhh, scary eyes! Creepy eyes guy!"
She eventually managed to insult each one of them before calming down.
Turning to Miri Kuroi, Sōjun suggested, "Miss Kuroi, perhaps you should handle the introductions."
Elsewhere, in a high-rise building overlooking the city, two men stood before a large window.
"It's begun," said one, dressed in a sharp suit. "The Time Vessel Association spares no expense, I can tell you that."
He turned to the other man. "Well, Zen'in? Aren't you going to join in on the Star Plasma Vessel assassination?"
The other man, tall and muscular, dressed casually with slippers on his feet, replied, "I'm no longer a Zen'in. I married into another family."
Turning his scarred face toward the first man, he smirked, "Call me Fushiguro now."
"Alright. I'll take the job."
"Then I'll leave it to you, sorcerer killer."
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