“This is the training plan Yaga-sensei approved.
Tōru Azuma’s Cursed Energy control and hand-to-hand combat fundamentals have already reached the required standard.
Having him keep hitting training dummies would be too inefficient.
Real combat is the best teacher.”
Mei Mei paused, her gaze lingering briefly on Utahime Iori.
“Besides, it won’t be long before he starts taking low-level missions.
It’s better for him to get used to fighting Cursed Spirits now than to freeze up when he encounters one on an actual mission.”
Hearing Mei Mei’s words, Utahime Iori immediately snapped out of her complicated mood, curiosity and disbelief appearing in her eyes.
“Missions?
Already?”
Seeing her surprise, Tōru Azuma nodded.
“Yes.
There hasn’t been an official notice yet, but Mei Mei-senpai told me it’ll probably happen soon.
That’s why I want to gain as much experience as possible before I start taking missions for real.”
Once she heard that Tōru would soon be going on missions, Utahime pushed all those complicated feelings from earlier aside.
After all, while Tōru Azuma had completed his training and was now capable of taking basic missions, he still had to be accompanied and supervised whenever he left the school.
Which meant the person accompanying him would either be her or Mei Mei.
But Mei Mei had the combat strength of a Semi-Grade 1 and could handle most missions on her own, while Utahime’s own abilities were primarily supportive.
So…
didn’t that mean she would probably be the one going on missions with him more often?
At the thought, her mood inexplicably lightened.
She stopped dwelling on what had happened earlier and merely cast Tōru a slightly peculiar glance.
“…Fine.
It was going to happen sooner or later anyway.
Just don’t drag me down when we’re out on a mission.”
Then she added,
“And going on missions isn’t a bad thing.
You’ve been stuck at school this whole time.
You must be bored out of your mind.
Getting out for a change will do you some good.”
Seeing how sharp her words were despite the obvious excitement in her eyes, Tōru Azuma smiled.
“I was thinking the same thing.
Fighting Cursed Spirits on the back mountain counts as real combat, but it still feels different from an actual mission.”
“Of course it’s different.
Mission sites are much more chaotic than the back mountain.”
Utahime spoke in a noticeably lighter tone, then her gaze settled on Fudōmaru at his waist, curiosity appearing on her face.
“By the way, is that sword a Cursed Tool?”
“Yeah.
I picked it from the Cursed Tool armory. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
It’s called Fudōmaru.”
As he spoke, Tōru removed the sword from his waist and handed it to her.
Utahime examined it for a few seconds before returning it.
“It looks pretty unremarkable.
Why did you choose a Cursed Tool like this?”
The Cursed Tool itself seemed decent enough, but somehow she felt it didn’t quite suit her junior.
Tōru Azuma merely smiled.
“Being unremarkable is good.
Just like me.”
“Hmph.
Sure you are.”
Hearing such an utterly self-unaware remark, Utahime rolled her eyes helplessly.
Her mood, however, was considerably better than before.
She turned toward the cafeteria.
“You two are done training, right?
Let’s go eat together.
I just got back from Osaka, and I’m starving.”
After watching her get a few steps ahead, Mei Mei followed at her usual unhurried pace.
Tōru Azuma fell into step beside them as well.
Utahime Iori was walking in front when she suddenly turned around.
“So, what happened with that Grade 2 Cursed Spirit?”
Tōru Azuma paused for a moment before realizing she meant the one they had just been discussing.
“That Cursed Spirit?
After a pretty tough fight, I managed to exorcise it.
And this time I didn’t land a Black Flash.
I did it using only what you two taught me and the combat skills I’ve learned over the past few days.”
His tone was calm, but inside he was filled with excitement and satisfaction.
After all, when he had first transmigrated into this world, the first thing he encountered was a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
Back then, all he could do was flee and dodge in a panic.
In the end, he had only managed to exorcise it through sheer luck.
But today, after several days of guidance from Utahime and Mei Mei, once he had learned the fundamentals and basic methods of combat, he had been able to deal with another Grade 2 Cursed Spirit through maneuvering and evasion alone.
He was no longer the helpless person he had been when he first arrived in this world.
From this moment onward, the path toward changing the future had finally begun to take a clear shape.
Utahime Iori, however, fell silent.
Before leaving, she had already expected that several days of practical combat training would make her junior considerably stronger.
But she hadn’t expected him to reach the point where he could exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit on his own.
Of course, this only meant that his combat ability had reached Grade 2 on paper.
It didn’t make him a true Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer yet.
Still, a complete beginner who had known nothing just a few days earlier had suddenly reached the same grade as her.
Then she remembered what Tōru Azuma had told her when she announced that she was leaving.
Utahime swallowed the self-deprecating thoughts that had begun to surface and instead stared at him as though she were looking at some sort of monster.
“You can already exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit by yourself?
You really are a monster…”
Tōru Azuma could only feel the same helplessness as before at that assessment.
“I’m hardly a monster.
I just had two senpai who taught me carefully.
Without the two of you, I’d probably still have no idea what I was doing.”
Even the usually aloof Mei Mei showed the faintest hint of a smile at those words.
As for Utahime, who had always lacked confidence, the corners of her mouth rose so high that she could barely hide how pleased she was.
It was only then that she seemed to remember something.
She held out the package she had been carrying all this time and handed it to Tōru Azuma.
“In that case, this is perfect.
Consider it a graduation gift to celebrate finishing your basic training.”
Tōru accepted the package and opened it.
Inside lay a bracelet.
Its craftsmanship was somewhat rough, but a faint trace of Cursed Energy could be felt coming from it.
Seeing the surprise on his face, Utahime seemed to assume he didn’t like it and quickly began explaining.
“The mission was deep in the mountains, so there weren’t exactly any local specialties I could bring back.
I thought about it for a while and ended up using materials I found there to make this bracelet for you.”
“I placed a few Barrier Techniques on it.
As long as you infuse it with Cursed Energy every day, it can give you a warning when a Cursed Spirit gets close.”
Halfway through, she turned her face away, her voice unconsciously growing quieter.
“If you don’t like it, you can give it back.
I can get you something else later.”
Looking at the bracelet, Tōru Azuma could tell just how much care she had put into it.
The thought of rejecting it never even crossed his mind.
He simply slipped the bracelet onto his wrist.
“I really like it.
Thank you, senpai.”
Seeing his sincere smile, Utahime Iori felt her heart skip a beat.
She immediately turned her head away in embarrassment, her voice rising slightly as she tried to maintain her usual attitude.
“Y-You like it, so that’s all that matters!
Now hurry up and let’s go eat.
It’s almost dark!”
Tōru Azuma found her obvious embarrassment a little amusing, but he still followed along.
Mei Mei, who had been walking beside them the entire time, watched the exchange, and the smile at the corner of her lips deepened slightly.
The footsteps of the three echoed one after another along the stone path.
As they passed, the lamps beside the road lit up one by one, casting their shadows ahead of them.
Neither too long nor too short, the three shadows overlapped perfectly as they walked forward.