I'm surrounded by devil sisters!

"Ah, there's a phone call..."

Himejima Akeno, the deputy director of the Mysterious Research Department, stood up out of habit to answer the phone.

But Rias took advantage of the distance and answered the call first, waving to her friend to let her do it.

"Hello? This is the Mystical Research Institute of Juou Academy... Oh, is that so? Okay... I got it. I'll help pass it on."

As if she had received some notification, the red-haired girl hung up the phone after briefly exchanging the information. Then she turned to look at Hua Kaiyuan Fogui who was also looking at her curiously beside the sofa.

"It's a call from the school security guard. They say there's a high school girl from another school at the school gate who wants to see you. She seems to be called 'Bujima Saeko.' Do you know her?"

"..."

Man!

Chapter 9 I've Broken It

Although it is still club activity time, it is actually school time.

The management system of Juou Academy is the same as that of most high schools in Japan. Normally, school is over once all classes for the day are finished. However, students are allowed to use school resources to develop their interests and hobbies within a certain period of time after school.

That is, the various clubs on campus.

The school also does not require students to return to the classroom to gather after participating in club activities and then have the teacher announce the end of school. Instead, they can pack up their things and go home directly.

As for some students who have not signed up for any clubs, they can go home early after class.

Students like this also have their own exclusive club in school, called the Homecoming Club.

It has been about half an hour since the last class in the afternoon ended. It is just when the club activities have just officially begun and the students in the Homecoming Group have just left school.

So the perspective changed. It was not yet evening, but the angle of the sunlight was already tilted to the west.

At the school gate where only a few students from the Homecoming Department were still slowly walking out, a girl with long dark purple hair and a sword bag in her arms stood quietly by the guard booth, waiting, gazing at the clouds in the sky that were gradually dyed red. She was wearing a school uniform that clearly belonged to another high school.

From the direction of the stadium inside the school gate, one could faintly hear the sounds of students from the Sports Department competing enthusiastically.

After several minutes, the sounds coming from the direction of the stadium were suddenly mixed with some footsteps, the rhythm was neither fast nor slow, and they came from far away.

The young man's calm voice was also heard.

"Ah hello~"

Um……?

Upon hearing this, Busujima Saeko withdrew her gaze and turned towards the direction where the voice came from.

The person walking towards him was Huakaiyuan Fogui, who had just received a call from the old school building and rushed over.

"Hello."

The kendo girl bowed politely, a faint smile appearing on her calm face.

"My name is Busujima Saeko, and I'm a third-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High School. You should know me. I've sent you a private message on the forum before."

"Oh, I remember."

Huakaiyuan Fogui nodded.

"Hello, my name is Qin Shi Huang."

"..."

For a moment, a bar indicating silence appeared above Busujima Saeko's head.

To be honest, she was a little worried that she might recognize the wrong person when they first met. After all, online chatting is done through a screen, and it is difficult to be sure whether the person sending the message is the owner of the other party's account.

However, after hearing the familiar words "My name is Qin Shi Huang", she was instantly relieved.

Being able to say such words so casually, this enviable mental state is undoubtedly his own.

"...Haha, Hanakaiin-san really loves to joke around."

Busujima Saeko shook her head slightly, her voice still calm and soothing.

"By the way, has Hanakaiyuan's club activities ended yet? If possible, I'd like to go somewhere else and have a deeper chat with Hanakaiyuan about last night's post."

"Well, of course."

Huakaiyuan Fogui agreed immediately.

……

Ten minutes later, in a coffee shop near the school, the two of them chose a secluded booth in the corner and sat down.

Saeko Busujima ordered a cappuccino, while Hanakaiin Fukui ordered a chocolate sundae without hesitation.

He is a die-hard sweet lover. Although he cannot completely resist bitter things like coffee, they are still not as good as sundaes.

After taking a big bite of the sundae, Huakaiyuan Fogui took the initiative to speak.

"Come to think of it, when we met at the school gate just now, I had a vague feeling that, Busujima-senpai, had we met somewhere before?"

"is it?"

Busujima Saeko was slightly stunned.

It was an old-fashioned... one could even say it was a bit tired of using it. She really didn't expect that Hua Kaiyuan Fogui would come up with just this.

Although she couldn't understand why the other party suddenly spoke like that, out of politeness the girl still tried to recall it carefully.

"I think... probably not. I really don't have any impression."

"No, no, no, there must have been one."

Hanakaiin Fugui's fingertips nimbly turned the silver spoon provided by the coffee shop for eating sundaes, and the end of the spoon tapped the table lightly from time to time.

"I remember it was last year, at the National Middle School Traditional Martial Arts Conference in Kyoto."

Middle schools include junior high schools and high schools, while traditional martial arts include Kyudo, Kendo, Karate and many other items.

When the young man brought this up, Busujima Saeko, who had said no the previous second, was stunned again, and her expression instantly lost its previous firmness.

"That's true. Last year, I participated in the high school kendo competition at the National Middle School Martial Arts Tournament in Kyoto, and..."

"Ah, I'm saying."

Huakaiyuan Fogui snapped his fingers leisurely.

"Although I was accompanying my sister to the Kyudo competition, I saw you on the podium during the awards ceremony. I remember you were the champion, right? You're quite impressive."

"Haha, Hua Kaiyuan classmate, thank you for the compliment. I just happened to be in a better mood that day."

Busujima Saeko smiled slightly. Although she was recognized as the champion, she did not look proud or complacent at all. Instead, she became more humble.

"Besides, due to family reasons, I have been taught by my father since I was young, so I do have an advantage over my peers in kendo."

"Family reasons?"

"The current head of the Dudao Ryu Sword School is my father."

Ah~ So that’s how it is.

The flowers bloomed and the Buddhist faith became clear instantly.

The Busujima-ryu is considered a famous school in Japanese kendo. Although it is not as well-known as the top ones such as Hokushin Ittoryu and Satsuma Shigenryu, it is recognized that its strength is enough to establish its own school. At most, it can only look up to them, and there is no such thing as one will definitely defeat the other.

It should be said that any school of thought that has been passed down from the war-torn era to the present day will not be bad.

"But why would the daughter of a famous kendo family become a sorcerer?" Hanakaiin Fugui was still a little puzzled.

"This... is just a personal choice." Busujima Saeko smiled. "And my father supports it."

"Oh."

This translates to other people's family affairs, so it's better not to ask.

Huakaiyuan Fogui wisely chose not to continue the conversation.

Seeing that they had almost finished talking, Busujima Saeko decided to get straight to the point.

"Now, getting back to the point, regarding the finger in the photo you posted on the forum last night, Hanakaiin-san, as I mentioned in my private message, it's a special-grade cursed item that's been sealed away by our Tokyo Jujutsu High School and even the Jujutsu Association. It's extremely dangerous, so if possible, Hanakaiin-san, I hope you can return it now."

"Well, actually, it's not impossible to return it."

Putting another spoonful of sundae into his mouth, Huakaiyuan Fogui put down the spoon and reached into his pocket. After pausing for two seconds, he took out a small plastic bag containing dark brown solid fragments, then placed it on the table and pushed it across.

"But it seems that I have broken it..."

Busujima Saeko: ???

Chapter 10 There are differences even among special grades

Did it... break it?

Busujima Saeko never expected that after all her negotiations, the final answer would be this.

She had imagined countless possible outcomes before this, including but not limited to losing it, selling it, lending it to a friend, or even accidentally falling into the sewer and being flushed away while using the toilet.

For this purpose, Busujima Saeko had already prepared various emergency response plans in her mind.

Only this one is broken...

The girl concentrated and held her breath as she leaned over the table, carefully examining the dark brown solid that had been broken into powder and a few pieces in a small plastic bag.

There is no doubt that judging from the color and shape of the fragments, this is undoubtedly Sukuna's finger. Even though it is completely destroyed, it still exudes an lingering evil aura.

But how could this be possible?

Busujima Saeko couldn't understand it. Although she had not been transferred to Tokyo Jujutsu High School for long, only a year had passed so far, her strength had reached the level of a first-level sorcerer. In addition, Busujima's influence in Japanese society made her know a little about the secrets of some of the Jujutsu Associations.

Especially regarding the secret of Sukuna's finger, in fact, the Jujutsu Association chose to continue to seal it rather than destroy it not because of any unrealistic intention, but simply because there was no other way.

It is impossible to destroy it. All means have been tried. Even Gojo Sensei, who is known as the strongest sorcerer in modern times, has tried to destroy it, but to no avail.

But at the same time, we cannot just leave it alone, because if we don't control it, the mere existence of the finger will continuously attract a large number of cursed spirits to gather and fight for it, just like raising a Gu, and eventually the situation will develop to the point where it is completely out of control.

There is no way, just like humans facing a super virus that far exceeds modern technology.

Sealing is the best and only way, there is no other choice.

And now tell her that her finger is damaged?

Busujima Saeko opened her mouth slightly, but was speechless for a moment.

"This...how did you do it?"

"The force is so great that the bricks fly."

The boy's answer was rather simple and crude.

"The so-called indestructibility simply means the attack force hasn't reached the target's endurance limit. It's like saying you can blow up the Earth with a small pistol. But if you have the True Star Killer, that's a completely different story."

"By the way, let me introduce myself again. I'm Hanakaiin Fugui, the de facto agent of the Hanakaiin family in Kyoto."

The word "acting as an agent" may be unfamiliar to ordinary people, but Busujima Saeko herself comes from a famous kendo family, so she understands the value of this title.

Being an acting person means that one can make important decisions on behalf of the patriarch when he is not around. Usually, to sit in this position, one needs not only bloodline recognition, but also sufficient strength to convince the public.

For example, Gojo Sensei is the de facto representative of the Gojo family, one of the three great families of Jujutsu today.

But then again, even Gojo-sensei, the most powerful sorcerer of the modern era, whose very existence has been breaking the balance between sorcerers and curses, was helpless against the finger left by Ryoumen Sukuna, so...

buzz~

The sudden vibration interrupted the girl's thoughts. Busujima Saeko suddenly withdrew her thoughts and took out her mobile phone from her school uniform pocket. Without bothering to check the caller ID carefully, she answered the call and put it to her ear.

"Hello, this is Saeko Busujima, Class A, Grade 3, Tokyo Jujutsu High School. The recovery of Ryoumen Sukuna's finger is progressing smoothly..."

"Bushima-san, it's Ijichi! Something's wrong!"

A timid-sounding male voice came from the other end of the phone. Although he seemed to be trying hard to keep the volume down, his tone still revealed unconcealable panic.

"Listen, about an hour ago I sent Fushiguro, Itadori, and Kugisaki to the location where the Curse Child reaction was detected by the Window. They lost contact with me after entering, but just now Fushiguro came out, bringing with him the seriously injured Kugisaki. I'm taking Kugisaki to the hospital now..."

"Where exactly is the location?"

Without even bothering to finish the remaining coffee, Busujima Saeko picked up her sword bag and stood up from her seat upon hearing this. Her voice changed from its previous calmness, and her whole demeanor became sharp and decisive.

Oh ho?

Sensing the change in the girl's aura, Huakaiyuan Fogui raised one eyebrow slightly.

"The location is..."