The brave Simmel wants to resign

I already had a bit of PTSD because of the Star Magma Body, and now I get provoked by all sorts of curse masters who pop up out of nowhere every day, and then I have to deal with them and see their dirty blood splattered all over the place.

Nausea and irritability.

Gojo Satoru is about to become Accelerator, and he's starting to figure out how to go from being the 'strongest' to being 'invincible'.

—Incidentally, since both astral bodies were in Tokyo, he ended up being the one to protect them personally, while Jay and Simmel went out hunting curse masters.

And Xia Youjie...

Others are not very clear about his situation.

Although they maintained communication via mobile phone, Xia Youjie was providing significantly less information, but the number of curse masters in his jurisdiction was indeed decreasing sharply.

In this blood-soaked daily routine, everyone's sanity, accumulated over the past month, is rapidly declining...

The only thing that could break the atmosphere at this moment...

..............

.....

"Ah."

"I know, I'll go back in a couple of days if I can."

【December】

[23rd]

The glow of the neon lights spread out around my feet.

Tick, tick.

There were puddles on the ground, and water dripping from the air conditioner unit had accumulated into a pool, with mushy flyers floating on the surface.

The noise of the izakaya could be faintly heard. Xia Youjie was alone, leaning against the inner wall of the alley, with the phone to his ear.

His expression regained some of its former warmth.

"Nanako, you should be a little more lenient with Mimiko."

The people I was talking to were the Kaba sisters.

They are clearly not related by blood.

But perhaps because he had rescued the two sisters from the village, Xia Youjie always felt a sense of responsibility towards them.

This heavy emotion was mixed with many feelings he didn't want to face, but the only thing he truly cared for was his desire to protect them.

No matter how bad his mood was, he could still force a bit of kindness as long as he heard the two sisters' voices.

Don't let children worry about adult matters.

Stubbornly thinking this way, he looked up at the sky and chatted gently with the two sisters about everything under the sun.

Overhead, the buildings on both sides squeezed inwards, cutting the night sky into a thin, long black cloth, making the field of vision so narrow.

After a long time, he hung up the phone.

With a lingering smile on her lips, she looked at the middle-aged man twitching in the depths of the alley.

"Arisaka Niro, the technique is [Reversal of Strength and Weakness]."

"A very interesting technique. If you had dragged me into close combat from the start, I would have been in trouble for a while too."

He squatted down, his wide black harem pants close to the ground.

"But unfortunately, we are incompatible. The spell spirit manipulation technique is quite good at intelligence gathering."

However, most people have very poor compatibility with the art of manipulating spirits.

Xia Youjie thought to himself.

"Waaah..."

Arisaka Jiro, an ordinary-looking, slovenly old man, had his chin pressed against the rough cement floor, looking up at Xia Youjie with fear in his eyes.

This guy was full of murderous intent when I first met him, but after he subdued me and made a phone call, he's finally starting to look somewhat human.

Pfft, so this is the type...

"You are not suited to be a sorcerer."

Arisaka Jiro grinned, but with blood seeping from between his teeth, his speech was so slurred that it looked rather comical.

"Ok?"

“Cursed power originates from negative emotions, which often drives people to madness. Or rather, without exception, everyone at the end of a curse is a madman. That emotion is what is ‘normal’ for a curse master.” The uncle struggled to be sarcastic. “You seem very unwilling to break away from ‘normal’.”

"so what?"

Xia Youjie spoke calmly as he helped the curse master tie up the ropes.

"Hehehehe, clinging to normalcy is just running away from your true nature as a sorcerer. Sooner or later, you'll—ouch, it hurts!!!"

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Youjie forcefully tied a knot, tightening it around the man's wrists, causing the curse master to howl in agony.

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

The curse master looked at Xia Youjie with trembling eyes.

His gaze returned to normal.

"Just because I'm communicating with you doesn't mean I respect you."

"The Panxing Cult is a bunch of monkeys without any magic, and you, who are driven by monkeys, are even less than monkeys."

"When a highly skilled sorcerer is on a mission, in an emergency, they are permitted to kill the sorcerer."

------------

At that moment, Arisaka Jiro stopped trembling.

In that instant, the body's instincts stopped any movement, including trembling, and made every effort to avoid making any noise.

Top to bottom.

His eyes were half-closed, and there was no emotion deep in his pupils, just like the lines in a comic book suddenly turning pale, and even his expression became unpredictable.

The neon lights overhead flickered.

For about half a second, the neon lights went out, and then came back on after a slight sound.

........

..

After handing the curse master over to the specialists, Xia Youjie smiled and saw off the assistant supervisor. Then, without saying a word, he released a tiny curse spirit, which adhered to the bottom of the other party's car.

From Xia Youjie's perspective, it is now basically confirmed that there is a mole within the higher echelons of the sorcery.

Although the chances of a curse master meeting with higher-ups after being captured are slim, it is still necessary to keep them under surveillance.

It wasn't far from his home, and Xia Youjie planned to go home to stay today.

[Didi.]

He looked down at his phone again.

【21: 30】

[Miyoko]

Jay, are you coming home for dinner tonight?

Xia Youjie has reached the age where he doesn't like to say "Mom" anymore and prefers to call her by her first name. Mei Daizi herself doesn't care about this; on the contrary, she thinks it makes her seem younger and lets the child decide.

Jay smiled helplessly and replied that he was going back now.

Then, I deleted the background app and opened an electronic list containing the names of the curse masters involved in the asteroid assassination.

Many of the profile pictures have been marked with an "X", some of which were just marked with an "X". Xia Youjie could tell at a glance that it was Xinmeier's doing.

He smiled helplessly.

Simmel's Agility is simply outrageous. Although Gojo Satoru, who has a limitless spell, is theoretically the fastest sorcerer in the world, he cannot use that spell indiscriminately because it damages the surrounding environment. Therefore, Simmel's mobility is actually the strongest.

With his voice constantly cracking, Simmel could travel to and from Tokyo more than 300 times a day, and 99% of curse masters couldn't withstand a single blow from him.

He became increasingly aware of Simmel's power.

The fact that Gojo Satoru single-handedly protected two astral bodies silently proves that [Gojo Satoru, as the strongest, is strongest when he is alone].

And what about him?

The feelings I thought I had abandoned are gradually resurfacing.

Even though I was walking on concrete, it felt like seawater was gradually rising up to my ankles.

Gudu, Gudu.

The sound of the waves rose from my ankles to my knees.

Splash, splash.

It went down to my waist, and eventually even breathing became difficult...

...

【Drip drip-】

The sharp sound of the cell phone caught Xia Youjie's attention.

He snapped out of his daze and picked up his phone.

I don't know if it's the Kaba sisters calling again, or their parents, or perhaps Shoko, Simmel, Satoru... Nanami probably won't call.

In short, it doesn't matter who it is.

He instinctively wanted to hear his partner's voice.

But the number was unfamiliar, and the voice coming from it wasn't his friend's.

【Mr. Xia You, hello. Although you may not remember, this is not our first meeting.】

".....Who are you."

He slowed his pace, and the voice on the phone sounded vaguely familiar.