บท 29: Chapter 29

A taxi stopped in front of a massive abandoned building.

The rear door opened, and Iori Utahime stepped out of the taxi. As soon as she alighted, the taxi hurried away as if it had been waiting just for that.

Utahime stretched her body. The taxi driver hadn't seen it, but her eyes caught it clearly. A black veil hung over the abandoned building.

"It's been a while since I've been on a mission."

Last summer, Utahime was assigned a misgraded mission. Originally a Grade 3 sorcerer, she was tasked with handling two Grade 2 spirits alone.

Somehow, she managed to exorcise them, but she was severely injured in the process, dedicating the busiest summer months entirely to recovery.

'At least it led to my promotion to Sub-Grade 2.'

Perhaps because it was her first mission after a significant injury, the Jujutsu High didn't assign her a spirit extermination mission but something different. A task not requiring combat, yet not so simple that it could be handed to a complete novice.

"You've arrived, Ms. Iori."

An assistant director who had been waiting approached and greeted Utahime respectfully. She returned the greeting.

"Let's go in."

"Yes."

The assistant director pulled back the veil.

"...!"

Upon lifting the veil, Utahime halted at the sight of the enormous spirit.

Like the water used to rinse a brush after painting, various colors were chaotically mixed within the spirit lying there. Its abdomen was split in half as if cut by something sharp, and blood was everywhere.

The spirit, not yet dead, writhed and made a sound.

[Now, now, everyone. The button, the button...]

The assistant director left Utahime inside and dropped the veil again.

"I assume you've read the briefing documents on your way here."

"Yes, though I must admit, some parts were unclear to me."

This mission wasn't about exorcising a spirit. Nor was it about dealing with a Curse User.

More precisely, it was a mission to investigate the cause behind a spirit's affliction.

"Understandably so. Let me explain in detail once more."

The assistant director pulled out the documents.

"At approximately 11:43 AM today, an off-duty assistant director, while relaxing near his home, heard cries for help coming from within an abandoned building and discovered a dying spirit."

"Was that you?"

"...Yes."

Utahime internally expressed sympathy for the assistant director, who had essentially wasted his scarce vacation.

"The assistant director assumed a sorcerer who was assigned an exorcism mission had forgotten to put up a barrier, so he immediately erected one and checked inside the building but found no one. There were no residual traces either. Feeling something was off, he immediately contacted Tokyo Jujutsu High, and you, Ms. Iori, were dispatched."

Listening attentively, Utahime inquired.

"Could it be that the headquarters sent someone on an exorcism mission, or maybe another sorcerer was passing by and performed the exorcism? Or perhaps there's a sorcerer not yet identified by the headquarters."

Young sorcerers, especially those born to non-sorcerer parents, often use sorcery instinctively without knowing they are sorcerers. They exorcise spirits without even knowing what they are, leading to lower rates of spirit occurrences around where such sorcerers live. That's why Jujutsu High monitors areas where the number of spirits seems unusually low compared to the population.

'The Bunkyo district in Tokyo, where this incident occurred, is one such area.'

Sorcerers from non-sorcerer families are often scouted into Jujutsu High through such processes. Since Utahime's colleague was also discovered this way, she wondered if this case was similar.

The assistant director immediately shook his head.

"No. The headquarters nor Jujutsu High sent anyone for an exorcism mission here, and there were no other sorcerers nearby. Moreover, if a sorcerer had performed an exorcism, there would definitely be residual traces left behind, but none were found. The nearby CCTV cameras also didn't capture anything of note."

Utahime enhanced her vision with her sorcery to scrutinize the area around the spirit. Indeed, no residual traces were found. She meticulously checked other areas too, but the situation was the same.

Utahime reverted her vision to normal and asked.

"You mentioned hearing cries for help earlier. Was a non-sorcerer inside the building and attacked by the spirit?"

Despite being an abandoned building, it was broad daylight in Tokyo. It wouldn't have been strange for a few non-sorcerers to pass by.

"There was one person inside. They're safe. We kept them here considering the possibility that they might be a sorcerer."

"Bring them to me, please."

"Yes."

Utahime sent the assistant director away and continued to circle around the spirit, searching for traces. She hummed thoughtfully.

"What grade might this spirit have been?"

Given the spirit was nearly dead, there was no way to determine its grade. A mere touch could kill it now.

Only very famous spirits recorded in history or those in human form could be identified...

'But those are usually Special Grade.'

This one wasn't that.

...Probably.

Utahime placed her hands on her hips, pondering.

'...Nothing.'

There was absolutely no clue to be found. Not only were there no residual traces left by cursed energy or techniques, but there were also no talismans, footprints, or anything resembling a weapon.

'Could it be that a spirit fought another spirit?'

Utahime thought for a moment then shook her head. Spirits only manifest malice towards humans. Unless controlled by a human, spirits do not fight each other.

'To inflict such a wound, it would require a very long and sharp weapon.'

Utahime looked at the deep cut bisecting the spirit's swollen belly.

"Ms. Iori."

She turned around. The assistant director had returned, his face seemingly aged in the short interval.

Though Utahime had requested the person found inside the building to be brought to her, she was puzzled when the assistant director returned alone, only for a small girl to suddenly appear behind him.

"Hello, big sister!"

"Uh, yeah. Hello."

Utahime observed the cheerfully greeting child. Despite the giant spirit behind Utahime, the girl seemed completely unaware, focusing only on Utahime.

A non-sorcerer, then. And one who couldn't even see spirits.

A child who seemed about six years old, a non-sorcerer oblivious to spirits. The likelihood of getting any useful clues from her was nearly zero.

Nevertheless, Utahime crouched down in front of the girl.

"My name is Iori Utahime."

"I'm Mie! Sato Mie."

"Alright, Mie. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Sure! What happened to Mie today was..."

Mie began her tale: She had left home after a disliked breakfast of curry, despite her mother's warning. She hated curry, especially with carrots and broccoli in it, but had eaten it all to be allowed yogurt – her mother's condition. Protesting the unfairness, she had stormed out to play at the nearby playground, where she encountered Haruto, a boy who deliberately ruined her sandcastle. Claiming it was ugly, Mie retaliated by throwing sand in his eyes. She fled when he tried to do the same, boasting about her speed and recalling a recent victory in a race at a sports festival. Despite not beating the older kids, her father had praised her and lifted her high, making her wish to grow as tall as him. However, despite following her father's advice to listen to her mother, her height hadn't increased, leading her to fib about finding her father more handsome than a TV star to match his lie.

"Big sister, are you listening?"

"...Yes."

In truth, Utahime had lost track halfway through. Something about a sandcastle?

With missing teeth in her grin, Mie laughed brightly.

"That's great! No one usually listens to me. Even mom and dad. I spoke slowly for them, but they keep changing the subject. That's not right. I learned in school... What was it? Keichou? Keichaku? Ah, active listening! Yes! That's important. But the teacher said it's important for me too. I listen well! It's just Haruto who doesn't. Even when told not to, he breaks my sandcastle! My sandcastle is so pretty. It has a castle for a prince, a princess, and even a place for a dog."

Utahime hastily interjected as Mie's story seemed to never end.

"Uh, Mie? I want to know what you saw here."

"I was getting to that! I was running from Haruto when suddenly the house changed. It was supposed to be Setsuno Grandma's house there. Her house has a red roof and a persimmon tree in the yard. I even climbed it once? Mom got so scared she never let me again. Anyway, it wasn't there, and everything was too dark and damp, and it smelled bad, so I was really scared. What do I do? How do I handle this? Then I remembered! The teacher taught us a song for when we get lost. 'Stop, Think♪ Please help me~♫ My name, phone number, parents' names♬ Always remember♪♩' So, I stood still and kept thinking of my name, phone number, and parents' names while shouting 'Please help, please help.' Then this man appeared like magic..."

Listening to Mie's continuous chatter, Utahime smiled gently and stood up. It seemed getting useful information from this child was a lost cause.

Listening to her for about 20 hours might eventually yield the information Utahime wanted, but sorcerers weren't afforded such leisure.

With the spirit nearly dead and no reason to detain a non-sorcerer child who couldn't even see spirits, Utahime stood up from her crouched position.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Nope! Mie is healthy. I even ate carrots and broccoli. Oh, speaking of broccoli, that reminds me of something similar to—"

"Glad to hear it. Assistant Director, please take her home."

"Yes. …! Ms. Iori. Behind you."

Utahime turned to look at the spirit behind her.

Silently.

The spirit seemed to have finally passed away, its form disappearing. The blood that had soaked the interior of the building faded as if water drying on a towel, eventually vanishing completely.

It was over. With the spirit gone, there were no further avenues for investigation. Utahime suppressed a sigh as she pondered how to draft her report.

"Please take her home. And if she says anything, let me know."

"I've already heard plenty…"

"...Yes."

That must have been why the assistant director seemed aged in the brief time he had the child with him. Utahime looked at him with pity, now seemingly aged into his fifties.

At least, since the child was young, there was no need to silence her. At that age, children often spout nonsensical things, so parents likely wouldn't take it seriously.

...And that child seemed to be quite the chatterbox herself.

As the veil was lifted and the assistant director left with the child, Utahime turned away from where the spirit had vanished.

Thud.

"...?"

Something caught Utahime's foot. Looking down, she saw a glass bottle. The bottle was broken, leaving sharp edges of glass.

Utahime, as if entranced, wrapped her hand in her clothing and grasped the neck of the bottle like a handle. With the jagged, broken edges pointing forward, it resembled a weapon.

"...Could it be?"

This as a weapon?

"...What am I thinking?"

After pondering for a moment, Utahime shook her head. Of course, such a thing couldn't possibly serve as a weapon. While the broken edges were somewhat sharp, that was all there was to it. It wasn't capable of tearing through a spirit's flesh. More likely, it would have broken upon use. Simply applying physical force wouldn't suffice to capture a spirit; it would need to be reinforced with cursed energy... and that would have left residual traces.

'Besides, the bottle is too small.'

If it was too small even for Utahime, who had small hands, then only a child like the one she had seen earlier could possibly wield it as a weapon.

Losing interest, Utahime flung the bottle away. It shattered with a crisp sound upon hitting the floor. She then fretted over how to report this.

"Ah, what to do!"

Her first mission back ending so anticlimactically!

"Who could have done this?!"

Iori Utahime shouted in frustration, unaware that a man had been watching her before disappearing, unnoticed by anyone.