A month passed in the blink of an eye.
When the people at Jujutsu High presented Yaga Masamichi with the fait accompli they’d decided on their own, he let out a quiet laugh and reached for a stomach tablet.
Just as they’d predicted, the old relics at the top regarded Himmel with a mix of probing curiosity and naked opportunism.
Old men liked to pull rank.
That was their whole thing.
But now someone had shown up with more history than any of them , how were they supposed to sit with that?
All are equal above us; hierarchy is absolute below us.
That was the natural order, as far as they were concerned.
So they piled a considerable stack of assignments onto Himmel.
“No problem.
I’m used to it.” “I’ll handle every last one.” That was exactly what Himmel would say.
Himmel had no complaints.
“I have complaints.” Nanami Kento, tasked with leading the early missions, felt differently.
………..
…..
[TASK ONE: LOW-GRADE CURSED SPIRIT SWARM , ABANDONED HOSPITAL] Location: Abandoned general hospital, Saitama Prefecture Grade: Grade 3 Cursed Spirits: Approx.
30 low-grade spirits, condensed from patients’ accumulated negative emotions Nanami Kento’s Plan: Enter through the main gate.
Clear floor by floor.
Done in two hours.
Stop by the bakery on the way home.
Go home.
Sleep.
Total time: three hours.
Execution: Himmel: “Oh, oh, OH — Nanami, the navigation app can actually plan routes?” Nanami: “That’s…
basic common knowledge for anyone living in the modern era.
Is something wrong?” Himmel: “Grade 3 spirits won’t get anyone killed, right?
Take me sightseeing on the way~” Nanami: “Why would we do that?” Himmel: “You have to explore every corner of a dungeon.
That’s just how it works.” Nanami: “This is Saitama.
Not a dungeon.” Himmel stopped walking.
He turned to look at Nanami with the expression of someone explaining something perfectly obvious.
“For me, every modern city is a dungeon.” Nanami: “…..” Result: Task completed.
Actual time: Nine hours.
Itinerary: Church, art museum, Lego store, Uniqlo, one long-established soba shop.
Task report: The soba was not particularly good.
Long-established doesn’t mean much, as it turns out.
— [TASK TWO: SEMI-FIRST GRADE CURSED SPIRIT , ABANDONED SHRINE] Location: Abandoned shrine, Chiba Prefecture Grade: Semi-First Grade Cursed Spirit: A land god whose faith was severed, twisted into a fallen form and reclassified as a cursed spirit.
Nanami Kento’s Plan: Deploy barrier techniques by the book.
Advance steadily.
No detours.
Actual situation: Himmel: “What’s Chiba known for?” Nanami: “…Peanuts, I suppose.” Himmel: “Hey hey, Nanami-nanami — do you believe in any gods?” Nanami: “No.
You, on the other hand, look like you do.” Himmel stopped again.
“I do.
I’ve even met her , her name is Aqua, the Goddess of Water.
She looked after me, and she said I should spread her faith in this world.
Want to join, Nanami?” Nanami: “What do I get out of it?” Himmel: “Things related to water, probably?” Hm.
Nanami filed that away.
— [TASK THREE: FIRST GRADE CURSED SPIRIT , RIVERSIDE] Location: Along the Tama River Grade: First Grade Cursed Spirit: Kappa activity reported; three people missing.
Nanami Kento’s Plan: Buy Pocari Sweat from 7-Eleven.
Skip sleep.
Night ambush.
Strike the moment it surfaces , one clean kill.
Wrap up before dawn.
Actual situation: Himmel: “Wait for it to surface?
Then let’s go during the day!” Nanami: “What are you talking about?” Himmel: “If we’re at a riverbank, that means we’re going fishing, right?” Nanami: “What century is that logic from?
And you could just go yourself.” Himmel: “Heeeey~ Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, let’s go together!” Nanami: “You’re insufferable!” Task report: No fish caught that day.
Probably a lure issue.
………
……
“Cast the lure, retrieve evenly, twitch to entice, feel the strike, set the hook, play the fish, land it…” The assistant supervisor looked up from the report.
“Nanami-san.
Could you perhaps include a few more details about the cursed spirit and the victims?” At Jujutsu High, every completed mission required a written report.
The person on the receiving end was, as a rule, the assistant supervisor.
Their job description: drive the vehicle, deploy the Curtain, collect and check reports.
Not unlike a lab assistant: unlock the door, switch on the instruments, collect and check reports.
Right now, though, the black-suited supervisor with his small rectangular glasses , a man who radiated the particular exhaustion of someone who had worked corporate for too long , pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose and rubbed.
SPLASH.
5:30 PM.
Ichigaya Fish Center.
The single fishing pond was visible right from the JR Ichigaya Station platform.
Rods stood propped along the bank, and a row of people sat in plastic chairs at the water’s edge.
Among them: Jujutsu High second-year Nanami Kento.
Light gray casual shirt.
Dark trousers.
Ordinary sneakers.
Back straight, not touching the chair.
Legs spread naturally to shoulder width.
Both hands on the rod.
“Even if I wrote all that, the people upstairs still wouldn’t produce any actual improvements.” His elbows rested on his knees, gaze fixed on the red float drifting on the surface.
“…Nanami-san.
You’ve changed, you know.” “Have I.” He said it flatly, reeled in the empty line, reset his grip, and cast again.
“Yeah.
More…
adaptable.” The assistant supervisor pushed his glasses up.
“Your expense report also grew by two zeros.
You didn’t bill the sightseeing as field expenses, did you?” “If it were Himmel, he would do exactly that.” “Okay, but , even if you say that like it’s some kind of famous catchphrase, this is still misappropriation of institutional funds!” “So it’s all his fault.
And Himmel was brought in by Geto-senpai, so it’s ultimately Geto-senpai’s fault.
Take it up with him.” “Please don’t joke , I couldn’t possibly…” The assistant supervisor gave a wry smile, went quiet for a moment, then continued.
“Though if things are going that smoothly, I’m relieved.
The case volume this summer has been brutal.
And since both you and Geto-san are the type to take everything seriously, I was worried you two were grinding yourselves down.” Nanami said nothing.
He kept his eyes on the float and thought.
It had been a month since Himmel arrived at Jujutsu High.
As a jujutsu sorcerer , as a human being, full stop , Himmel was simply too capable.
In that one month, he had picked fights with both special grade sorcerers, earned their recognition and formal backing, and somehow also found the time to master Curtain deployment from scratch.
His combat ability sat comfortably alongside the two special grades.
His mobility and instincts were on another level entirely.
He moved across the country like he’d been doing it for decades, never appearing tired, and cleared out two-thirds of the mission backlog on his own.
Nanami, who had been fielding missions alongside him almost daily at first, now found himself with actual free time.
(How does he complete that many missions while still going off to sightsee everywhere?) Nanami tugged the rod in irritation.
An ENFP.
Had to be.
“Sorcerer Himmel, hm…
I’ve heard the name too,” the assistant supervisor mused.
“A sorcerer of foreign descent is genuinely rare.” Word about Himmel had made its way through the jujutsu community, but most people still pegged him as some extraordinarily gifted foreign-born prodigy who happened to have a knack for the craft.
Quite a few older Japanese men of a certain persuasion had already talked themselves in circles about it , insisting this was simply proof that Western physiques were built different, that you could deal damage at that level through physical reinforcement alone.
Some of them had gotten embarrassingly emotional about it.
Either way, the rank-and-file sorcerers were glad to have him.
“Is Sorcerer Himmel in Kyoto right now?” Kyoto.
The spiritual home of jujutsu.
Kyoto and Tokyo had been rivals since time immemorial , in the jujutsu world and in Japanese history alike.
Neither side acknowledged the other’s authority.
The mutual contempt was practically a cultural institution.
A mission had taken Himmel in that direction, and the assistant supervisor felt a flicker of concern that the new arrival might catch grief from the locals…
but looking at Nanami’s expression, probably not.
“Well.
I’ll leave you to it.” “Mm.” Nanami nodded, unbothered.
VROOM , the car pulled away behind him.
Nanami returned his attention to the water.
“Don’t wander off,” he called out without looking back.
The Hasaba sisters, who had been crouched nearby in quiet debate about whether to sneak off to the market and buy Nanami a fish to present as his “catch,” answered promptly.
His turn to watch the kids today.
“Sure thing.” Both girls nodded.
He fished in silence for a while.
Then Nanami hesitated, tucked the rod tail under his knee to free his hands, and pressed them together.
CLAP.
CLAP.
“…Please, Lady Aqua, ble—” “Oh.” PLOP!
“Got one.” ➤ Next:
The story is already written.