Sunlight streamed into the room through the half-open window.
There were only three desks in the enormous classroom.
At the desk beside the window, Jin sat backward on his chair, boredly staring outside.
His first day after enrolling was unexpectedly dull.
Gojo hadn’t appeared again since leaving halfway through last night’s gathering.
Megumi had taken Jin to register his cursed energy.
After explaining a few precautions, he’d brought Jin to the classroom.
Jin raised his head and looked at the eight large characters written above the classroom blackboard—
“Throughout Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am the Honored One.”
What was interesting was that the phrase had been written in proper Chinese characters.
The handwriting was actually quite good.
Whoever had written it clearly possessed respectable calligraphy skills.
As for the kind of person who would think of putting a slogan like that inside a classroom, it was almost certainly Gojo himself.
After admiring it for several seconds, Jin turned slightly toward Megumi, who was sitting on the other side of the room.
“This is so boring.
Megumi, is Gojo-sensei always this busy?”
Jin had no idea what sort of major issue required the strongest sorcerer to be dispatched so frequently.
“Most of the time.”
Megumi lightly turned a page with one finger, keeping his head lowered as he read.
“But it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s always on missions.”
His tone shifted as he raised his head toward the window, his expression as calm as ever.
“Right now…
he might just be standing in line outside some dessert shop.”
“Is that so?”
Jin responded, picked up the phone on his desk, and began searching for nearby cake shops.
“Desserts…
come to think of it, I haven’t had cake in a long time either.”
Megumi froze slightly, not expecting Jin’s attention to immediately shift toward food.
Looking at the search results on Jin’s phone, he thought to himself,
‘His appetite really is as ridiculous as the amount he eats.’
Jin swiped across the screen and sighed.
The search results appeared.
The nearest cake shop on the map was more than thirty kilometers away from Jujutsu High.
“This school is way too remote!”
Jin rocked back and forth on his chair and curiously asked,
“Megumi, how do you normally get around?”
The chair legs scraped against the floor with a slightly unpleasant sound.
Megumi gently closed the book in his hands.
“I rarely go out when there aren’t missions.
When there is a mission, an assistant manager drives us there and back.”
“If I really need to go somewhere normally, I call a taxi.”
Jin rested his chin on the back of the chair and muttered with some dissatisfaction.
“That’s still a pain.
In this godforsaken place, you’d probably wait forever just for a taxi.”
Megumi picked up his phone and checked the time.
“It’s already five.
Let’s go back to the dorms.”
Knock.
Knock, knock.
A restrained and heavy knocking sound came from the door.
Exactly three knocks.
No more, no less.
Jin and Megumi both looked toward the entrance.
With Gojo’s personality, there was absolutely no chance he would knock when returning.
Megumi responded,
“Come in.”
Click.
The door opened at an unhurried pace.
The newcomer wore a cream-colored suit with a dark-yellow leopard-print tie.
Round dark-green glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.
He opened the door only wide enough for one person to pass through.
After entering, he gently pulled it shut behind him without making a single unnecessary sound.
Megumi stood up, a trace of surprise in his voice.
“Nanami-san.”
Kento Nanami nodded slightly toward him.
“Fushiguro-kun.”
Then he shifted his gaze toward Jin sitting by the window.
“I assume you are Jin-kun.”
It wasn’t a question.
It was confirmation.
Clearly, Nanami had done his homework before coming.
Nanami walked forward two steps and stopped at exactly the right distance from Jin.
Not so close that it felt oppressive, and not so far that it seemed detached.
He bent slightly at the waist and gave an introduction so textbook-perfect it could have been used as a model example.
“It’s nice to meet you.
I am Kento Nanami.”
Jin stood from his chair, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.
According to Japanese etiquette, he should probably bow in return.
But Jin genuinely wasn’t used to that, so he merely nodded toward Nanami.
“Nice to meet you, Nanami-san.”
Nanami didn’t care about the detail and went straight to the point.
“Gojo-san has something to deal with and is unable to get away.”
“Therefore, he has entrusted me with taking you to complete the evaluation for your jujutsu sorcerer grade.”
His speaking pace was neither fast nor slow, each word pronounced clearly.
“Let me clarify something beforehand…”
Nanami raised his right hand and lightly pushed up his glasses with his index finger.
“You must complete the evaluation using your own strength.
I am only responsible for supervision and limited guidance.”
His gaze fell calmly and seriously on Jin through the lenses.
“Unless your life is in danger, I absolutely will not intervene.”
As long as he didn’t run into a Special Grade cursed spirit with a Domain, Jin’s ability to preserve his own life was arguably better than Nanami’s.
Rather than protecting him, Nanami had probably been dragged here by Gojo mainly to teach him.
Jin had assumed today would end as a boring day, but unexpectedly there was a surprise waiting near the end.
He cracked his finger joints, crisp sounds ringing out as barely concealed excitement flashed through his golden eyes.
“A grade evaluation, huh…
Got it!
Are we leaving now?”
Nanami raised one hand slightly downward, signaling for Jin to calm down.
“Wait a moment, Jin-kun.”
“Fushiguro-kun, I also have a mission from Gojo-san for you.”
“Since the two of you happen to be together, I’ll pass it along now.”
Megumi, who had been aimlessly staring out the window, turned back and let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
He’d thought this had nothing to do with him, but apparently he hadn’t escaped after all.
Jin’s expression suddenly became slightly strange.
‘It can’t be this coincidental, can it?’
Nanami took a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Megumi.
“Go to Sugisawa Third High School in Miyagi Prefecture and retrieve the cursed object shown in this photograph.”
“The detailed information is on the back.
Read it yourself.”
“Understood, Nanami-san.”
Megumi accepted the photograph and looked at it.
The picture showed a long object inside a box, completely wrapped in talismans.
Retrieving a single cursed object sounded like an extremely simple mission.
Megumi put the photograph into his pocket, his earlier concern easing slightly.
After delivering the instructions, Nanami turned toward the classroom door.
“Jin-kun, let’s go.”
Jin started following him.
At that moment, Megumi suddenly pulled one hand from his pants pocket and called out.
“Jin!”
Jin stopped and looked back.
Megumi met his eyes and quietly reminded him,
“Be careful.”
Jin secretly laughed to himself.
It was still uncertain which one of them needed to be more careful.
But tonight, Jailbird Megumi was destined to return empty-handed after making a wasted trip.
According to the plot, tomorrow night Megumi would nearly be exorcised by a Grade 2 cursed spirit, officially kicking off the beginning of the story.
Jin winked his left eye and chuckled.
“Yeah.
I know.”
Then he continued walking while making a telephone gesture beside his ear.
“You be careful too, Megumi.
If anything happens, remember to call me.”
Click.
The door gently closed.
Megumi was left alone in the classroom.
He looked toward the entrance, a faint feeling of unease suddenly rising within him.
‘It’s only retrieving a Special Grade cursed object.
It’s basically an errand.
Nothing should go wrong, right?’