The next day, still early, Yuji went straight to the door leading to the library.
To his and Beatrice's surprise, he didn't miss a single one.
The door opened without resistance, revealing the silent space filled with old books. Beatrice, seated in her chair, immediately looked up, her eyes wide.
"...On the first try?" she said, narrowing her eyes. "That shouldn't happen, I suppose."
Yuji scratched the back of his neck, somewhat embarrassed.
"I guess... I just felt which one was the right one."
Beatrice huffed, clearly suspicious, but let it go. He moved closer, becoming serious.
"Beatrice, I wanted to know something important. How do you break a curse?"
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Beatrice closed the book she was reading, resting it on her lap. Her expression turned cold, almost hard.
"What a dangerous question, I suppose..." she replied. "Curses aren't like ordinary spells. Once activated, they can't simply be 'broken'."
Yuji frowned.
"So there's no way around it?"
"There are nuances, I suppose." She raised a finger, didactically. "If the curse has already entered its full activation phase, the most you can do is endure it. Completely undoing it is… practically impossible."
The words hit Yuji hard.
"But…" Beatrice continued, "if we're talking about a small number of curses, before they solidify, then the story changes."
Yuji looked up immediately.
"How so?"
"Weak, fragmented, or scattered curses can be undone relatively easily, I suppose, like untying a shoelace. Whether by purifying the source, interrupting the flow of mana… or eliminating whoever keeps them active."
She stared directly at him.
"The problem begins when someone binds multiple curses to a single person."
Yuji's heart raced.
That sounded dangerously familiar.
"What if someone had placed multiple curses on different people?" he asked carefully. "Children, for example."
Beatrice was silent for a few seconds.
Then, her eyes truly narrowed.
"In that case…" she said softly, "You're not dealing with an ordinary curse. You're dealing with someone who plays with lives, I suppose."
The silence in the library grew heavy.
Yuji clenched his fist slowly.
Now he was sure.
The problem wasn't a curse.
Yuji thought: "So it's possible to break a curse before it's activated… After activation, it's too late…"
And time… was against him.
Beatrice suddenly wrinkled her nose.
The air in the library seemed heavy.
"…What an unpleasant smell, indeed."
Yuji blinked, confused, and looked at himself, raising his arm and sniffing his sleeve.
"Huh? Is that me?" he grimaced. "I took a shower yesterday…"
Beatrice stamped her foot, annoyed.
"Don't be an idiot, I suppose!" she retorted. "That's not the smell of dirt. It's the witch factor."
Yuji's heart skipped a beat.
"Witch…?" He swallowed hard. "So that's what everyone smells?"
"Not everyone…" Beatrice replied. "Only spirits, sensitive users, and ancient creatures perceive it clearly. That smell…" she stared at him, "is clinging to you."
Yuji felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Beatrice…" he said, more seriously. "Who exactly is this witch? The one everyone talks about, with so much fear. I read about her in a children's book, but it didn't seem enough."
Silence fell like a heavy veil.
Beatrice looked away for a moment, something rare for her.
"The witch everyone refers to…" she finally said. "is Satella. The Witch of Envy, I suppose."
Yuji felt the name echo within him, in a strange way. Too familiar.
"Satella…" he repeated.
"She was responsible for the greatest calamity in the history of this world…" Beatrice continued, her voice firm, almost mechanical, as if she had told this story many times before. "Satella killed the six witches who represented the other Seven Deadly Sins."
Yuji's eyes widened.
"All of them…?"
"All of them, in fact." Beatrice nodded. "And as a consequence of her existence, half the world was engulfed in an endless drought. Lands died, nations fell."
She clenched her small fists.
"She couldn't be killed. Only sealed."
Yuji felt a strange chill in his chest.
That feeling of déjà vu returned with force.
"She was sealed?"
That sent shivers down Yuji's spine, but not for any reason; he remembered someone with a similar story, someone so powerful that she couldn't even be killed in her time...
Ryoumen Sukuna.
Beatrice continued, her voice low, almost cold, as if reciting a truth too ancient to cause astonishment.
"Satella was… thirsty for love. A distorted, absolute love. She didn't understand the language of humans, nor their limits, I suppose. For her, to love meant to possess, to envelop, to consume."
Yuji felt a knot in his stomach.
"They say her body doesn't age..." Beatrice added. "It doesn't get sick. It doesn't die. Even now, sealed away, it continues to exist."
She raised a finger, as if marking an impossible-to-ignore period.
"They say it was a Sacred Dragon, a Hero, and a Sage who joined their powers to stop her. Yet… they were unable to kill her. All they could do was seal her away."
Silence returned to the library.
"And they say…" Beatrice concluded, "That the body of the Witch of Envy was that of a half-elf with silver hair."
Yuji's heart pounded.
Half-elf.
Silver hair.
The image appeared on its own in his mind.
"My name is… Satella."
Yuji lowered his gaze, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
Why had she lied about her name that time? Why choose the name Satella of all people?
"So that's why…" he murmured, more to himself than to Beatrice.
That's why Emilia hid her real name.
That's why people looked at her with suspicion.
That's why Puck never left her alone.
Yuji slowly clenched his fist.
She isn't Satella.
He felt it.
But he also felt that the world wanted her to be.
Yuji finally understood.
Emilia didn't use that name to deceive. She used it to protect me.
Not because she didn't like him, but because she didn't want Yuji to get involved in her problems. Emilia wanted to carry everything alone, as if distancing herself was the only way to avoid hurting anyone.
Yuji let out a small sigh, almost a humorless laugh.
"Emilia-chan, you idiot…" he thought, unsure if he was talking about himself or her.
His chest tightened when he realized how familiar that was.
Solving everything alone.
Not asking for help.
Throwing herself in front of danger thinking that's enough.
That was exactly what Yuji did.
How many times had Yuji suffered without telling anyone?
How many times had he chosen to suffer in silence because he thought it was the right way?
He looked up, staring at the endless shelves of the library.
"She and I are too alike…"
And that scared him.
Because Yuji knew better than anyone where that path led.
And this time, he didn't want to let Emilia follow that path alone, even if she tried to push him away.
Yuji approached Beatrice and thanked her sincerely, his voice low and sincere. "Thank you very much, Miss Beatrice." She looked away, crossing her arms, clearly unsure how to react.
"I-it's not like I did this for you, I suppose…" she mumbled, puffing out her cheeks.
Before she could finish, Yuji simply lifted her off the ground and pulled her into a tight hug.
"THANKS A LOT, MISS BEATRICE!"
Her brain froze.
"H-H-H-HEY?! R-RELEASE BEATRICE RIGHT NOW, I DEMAND!"
Her face turned red instantly, the mana around the library trembling with embarrassment and anger mixed together.
The next second, a flash.
Yuji felt the ground disappear.
"BEATRICE DIDN'T GIVE PERMISSION FOR THIS, I SUPPOSE!!"
He was thrown out of the library, through corridors, doors and… flew.
The impact came soon after.
Yuji landed directly in a well-tended flower bed, petals flying everywhere. He stood there for a few seconds looking at the sky, blinking, trying to understand if he was still in one piece.
"...I think I overdid it."
"Yes."
The voice came from above.
Yuji turned his head and saw Rem there, holding a basket, looking at him with the most neutral expression in the world. She didn't seem scared. Nor surprised.
Just… tired.
She observed the dirt, the crushed flowers, his completely filthy clothes.
"Itadori-kun, please…" she said calmly. "Go wash up before entering the mansion."
He chuckled softly, still lying on the flowerbed.
"Fair enough."
Rem sighed, turned, and began to walk away.
Yuji smiled to himself.
Even though he was being thrown out of the mansion…
Rem walked away through the garden, the light sound of her footsteps gradually fading.
A little later, Yuji heard a familiar voice.
"Good morning, Yuji."
He sat up on the flowerbed, still a little dirty with soil, and saw Emilia approaching, with Puck floating beside her, stretching in the air as if he had just woken up.
"Good morning, Emilia. Good morning, Puck..." he replied, offering a calm smile.
Puck tilted his head, observing his condition.
"Hoo? Good morning, do you usually greet the day by rolling in the flowers now? What a curious habit, I'd say."
"Long story..." Yuji replied, scratching the back of his neck. "It involves a library, a very strong little girl, and a bad decision on my part."
Emilia looked at the destroyed flowerbed and then at him, worried.
"Are you hurt?"
"Nothing serious. I've been through worse."
She sighed, relieved, but still seemed uneasy, as if something had been weighing on her mind since early morning. Yuji noticed, but didn't comment.
Puck landed lightly on Emilia's shoulder.
"So, Yuji... already up so early. Anything planned for today?"
Yuji stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes, his gaze becoming a little more serious, but still calm.
"I have a few things to take care of in the next few days, and..." he smiled again. "I think tomorrow will be an important day."
Emilia blinked, curious.
"Important... how?"
Yuji looked at the sky for a moment, feeling the morning breeze.
"I don't know yet. But that's usually how it starts."
Puck spun in the air, excited, as if he'd just had a brilliant idea.
"Since you came straight from a battlefield against flowers... how about a quick bath, hm?"
Yuji's eyes widened slightly.
"Now...?"
Before he could ask anything else, Puck snapped something like a "plim" in the air. A jet of clear water appeared out of nowhere and fell directly on Yuji.
"Hey—?!"
He was startled at first, his whole body tensing reflexively. The water was cold enough to give him a shock, but it wasn't unpleasant. In a few seconds, the dirt and dust were washed away.
"Relax, relax..." Puck said, laughing. "Water spirits are very careful."
Yuji took a deep breath and let his body relax. The feeling was strangely good, almost comforting. The tiredness seemed to wash away along with the dirt.
"...Okay," he admitted. "That helps a lot."
Emilia smiled, relieved to see that he wasn't hurt or complaining. "See? Now you won't get scolded by Rem again." Emilia turned around and walked away from them.
Puck struck a proud pose in the air.
"Mission accomplished successfully! Clean, alive, and still in one piece. Not bad to start the day."
Yuji ran a hand through his wet hair and let out a small laugh.
"Thanks, Puck. Maybe I'll need to learn that trick someday."
Puck suddenly became serious, something rare for him. His tail swayed slowly in the air, as if hesitating.
"Yesterday… when I tried to peek at your gate, but I didn't go very far…" he said. "I felt something strange. It wasn't ordinary magic. I want to confirm it."
Yuji blinked a few times, then nodded.
"Alright. You can try."
Puck approached and touched the tip of his tail to Yuji's forehead again.
The instant of contact, the air seemed to weigh down.
Puck's perception was pulled inward, as if he had passed through an invisible membrane. It wasn't an ordinary gate. It wasn't an organized flow of mana. It was… a space.
A domain.
The landscape that opened before him resembled a silent hell: a reddish void, cracks like scars in space, skulls everywhere, a suffocating pressure that crushed even the concept of life. There was no fire, no screams, only the constant sensation of accumulated death and violence.
But the strangest thing…
"…There's nobody here."
Puck looked around. No presence. No entity. No consciousness watching.
It was an empty domain.
As if something that should be there had been forcibly ripped away.
The connection broke with a start, and Puck recoiled in mid-air, his eyes wide open, a mixture of shock and unease.
The wind around him stood still for a second, as if even the lesser spirits had fallen silent.
Yuji frowned slightly, noticing the change in Puck's tone.
"Did you see something…?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Puck crossed his little arms, floating at the height of his face. His usual smile didn't return.
"I saw a place that shouldn't exist inside an ordinary person. It seemed like some kind of domain…" he replied. "So tell me something, kid… does your body serve as a receptacle?"
Yuji looked away for a moment. His left hand, marked by scars and missing fingers, closed slowly. He took a deep breath.
"Not anymore."
It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
Puck tilted his head, clearly noticing.
"I understand. You don't want to talk about it."
Yuji gave a tired half-smile.
"It's not that I don't trust you, really, Puck. It's just... complicated..."
Puck sighed, wagging his tail.
"Hmph. Humans full of little secrets are really troublesome."
He then glanced at Emilia, who was watching the two of them, confused by the heavy atmosphere.
"But whatever was in there..." Puck continued, lower in his voice. "It left deep marks on you. That empty domain... it's not something that disappears without consequences."
Yuji nodded slowly.
"I know." "That's why I can't mess up this time."
Emilia crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks slightly.
"Hey… what are you two whispering about?" she asked, looking from Yuji to Puck.
"Nope~" Puck replied too quickly, laughing.
Yuji scratched the back of his neck.
"Nothing important. Silly stuff."
Emilia's gaze became even sharper.
"You're clearly hiding something…"
"Lia is a very perceptive girl…" Puck said, trying to soften the blow.
"Hmph!" she turned her face away. "If you don't want to tell, that's fine. But this is unfair!"
She left stomping, clearly sulking. Puck chuckled softly, while Yuji watched, feeling a pang of guilt.
"Sometimes she looks like a child… it's quite cute, to tell the truth," he murmured.
"Of course, she's my little girl…" Puck replied, serious for a rare moment.
—
In the afternoon, Yuji was in the side corridor of the mansion, cleaning some shelves and organizing tools. The physical work helped him clear his head, even with time running against him.
It was then that Rem appeared, holding a carefully folded piece of fabric.
"Itadori-san," she called calmly. "I finished sewing your clothes. They were quite damaged."
Yuji turned around, surprised.
"Really? Thank you, Rem."
She held out the garment. The stitches were firm and well-made, almost perfect.
"You didn't need to go to all that trouble…"
"I think this is the third time I've said that…" Yuji thought.
"It wasn't difficult…" she replied. "Just something that needed to be done."
Yuji held onto the garment for a moment longer than necessary.
"Even so… thank you. Really."
Rem looked away for an instant, a slight blush appearing on her face.
"Make sure you don't tear it again."
"I'll try…" he chuckled softly.
Rem stopped mid-way, as if something had just occurred to her.
"Ah…" she turned again. "There's one more thing."
She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small object wrapped in cloth. Opening it, she revealed a Choso blood amulet, already dry, but still carrying a strange weight.
"I found this in your blouse while you were sewing…" she said, extending it to him. "I thought it was important."
Yuji felt his heart clench the instant he recognized the amulet. Her fingers tightened around him carefully, almost as if she could break him.
In every loop…
It was always Rem who returned the amulet to him.
Even when the world repeated itself, when everything went wrong, she still bothered to mend his clothes. She still remembered to return something that clearly had value to him.
Yuji lowered his head slightly, smiling softly.
"Destiny is truly unstoppable… You are… very kind, Rem."
The words escaped him before he could think better.
She blinked, surprised. For a brief moment, she seemed unsure what to make of it.
"I-I just did what was necessary…" she replied, looking away. "There's nothing special about it."
But the slight blush on her face betrayed her.
Yuji carefully kept the blood amulet and, for a moment, thought that perhaps… even trapped in a cruel cycle, some things would never change.
Later, Yuji walked back through the mansion's corridors to the door of the Forbidden Library. This time, there was no invisible labyrinth or doors leading him elsewhere. He simply arrived.
Beatrice, seated on a pile of books, merely looked up from the thick cover she was reading.
"You came in on the first try again, I suppose…" she said, without her previous irritated tone. She seemed… resigned. "What do you want now?"
Yuji scratched the back of his neck, a little awkwardly, but went straight to the point.
"Beatrice… can you locate curses before they are activated?"
The little spirit's blue eyes narrowed for a moment. She closed the book with a dry snap.
"Yes, I can," she replied. "If they are curses already cast, even if still dormant, I can sense them through the residual Od and the distortion of the magical flow, I suppose."
She tilted her head slightly, looking at Yuji more intently.
"But that's not something an ordinary human would ask. Why do you want to know that, I wonder?"
Yuji felt a familiar weight in his chest. He didn't answer… but, it seemed, he had found exactly the answer he needed.
Yuji took a deep breath before continuing.
"And… how does one catch a curse?" he asked, his voice low.
Beatrice frowned, as if she found the question too obvious.
"Physical contact, I suppose. In most cases, it's enough to touch the cursed medium or the curse's trigger. Sometimes it's direct, sometimes it's something left to be touched later. It depends on who cast it."
Her words echoed in Yuji's mind.
Physical contact. Memories of previous loops came in uncomfortable flashes: the village children, one after another… and, in that specific cycle, Rem going to the village in his place. If the pattern repeated itself, then the beginning wasn't random.
"So…" Yuji murmured, "the curse begins in the village."
Beatrice didn't answer, only observed him with growing attention.
But the next question weighed even more heavily.
By whom?
Yuji closed his eyes for a moment. There had been something strange about that village from the beginning. Something that repeated itself in every loop, even when the variables changed. The target changed… but the point of origin didn't.
When he opened his eyes again, his expression was firmer.
He still wasn't absolutely sure.
But he already had a clue.
Yuji tilted his head slightly.
"Thank you, Miss Beatrice. Again…"
She looked away almost instantly and took a few steps back, standing near one of the bookshelves.
"D-don't think that means I want physical contact with you, I suppose..." she said, crossing her arms, clearly defensive.
Yuji smiled slightly, understanding the message this time.
"Relax. I promise I won't hug you."
Beatrice made a low "hmph," but seemed a little less tense.
Yuji turned and left the library without difficulty, as if that place already recognized him. Outside, the mansion was silent, enveloped by the night. The dark sky and the cold air brought a strange sense of calm… a calmness he knew wouldn't last.
Tired, his mind full of questions and suspicions, Yuji went to his room. He changed his clothes, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds.
Village.
Physical contact.
"Tomorrow I'll solve this case… Damn, I look like a detective…" he muttered to himself before closing his eyes.
Sleep overtook him quickly.
And, for now, the night remained quiet.
The next day, Yuji woke up as if he had never felt the tiredness of the previous day. His body was light, his breathing steady… his energy was completely restored. 100%.
He got up, carefully dressed, and put on his butler's uniform. The fabric was still a little strange to him, but it no longer bothered him as before. He adjusted his gloves, took one last look in the mirror, and left the room.
In the hallway, the mansion was already awake.
In the kitchen, Ram and Rem were already awake. Rem was organizing some things with her usual calm, while Ram observed everything with that half-bored, half-attentive look.
"Good morning…" said Yuji, entering.
Rem was the first to respond, turning to him with a gentle smile.
"Good morning, Itadori-kun. You seem in a good mood today."
Ram looked him up and down.
"Hm. So you finally learned not to look like a corpse first thing in the morning..." she commented, not mincing words.
Yuji chuckled softly.
"Sleeping helps more than it seems."
Rem nodded, pleased to see him well. Ram just looked away, but didn't retort. The day was only just beginning…
Yuji was silent for a moment, as if gathering courage.
"Can I ask a question?" he said.
Ram and Rem exchanged an almost automatic glance.
"Dear sister…" Ram crossed her arms. "I bet it's something incredibly perverted."
"Or dangerous." Rem added calmly, but already prepared. "Itadori-kun often surprises negatively."
Yuji took a deep breath, ignoring the comments.
"Is something missing in the kitchen? Like… ingredients, actually."
There was a brief silence.
Ram blinked, clearly taken aback.
"…Huh?"
Rem tilted her head slightly, thoughtful.
"Now that you mention it…" she walked to the shelves, mentally checking. "We're running low on spices. We ran out of some dried herbs yesterday."
Ram clicked her tongue.
"Great. I was expecting you to ask something stupid, and you come up with this."
Yuji scratched the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry to disappoint."
Rem smiled slightly.
"That's not a bad question. On the contrary, it's very thoughtful."
Ram looked away.
Yuji just shrugged. At least, this time, he hadn't caused any disaster… yet.
Rem crossed her hands in front of her, thoughtful. "I was planning to go tomorrow," she said calmly.
"We can go today..." Yuji replied too quickly, almost reflexively. "It's not far, is it? And the sooner we sort this out, the better."
Rem hesitated. Her blue eyes lingered on him for a moment, as if trying to read something beyond the words. It wasn't distrust… it was concern.
"Itadori-kun…" she began, but stopped mid-sentence.
"Hm?" Ram tilted her head, observing the scene with interest. "If he wants to go today, what's the problem?"
Rem looked at her sister.
"It's not exactly a problem, just—"
"Just afraid he'll cause trouble?" Ram finished, with a teasing half-smile. "In that case, it's better if someone goes along to keep an eye on him."
Yuji raised his hands.
"Hey, I heard that!"
Ram continued, ignoring him.
"I'll go too. That way, if he does something stupid, I can yell at him in real time."
Rem sighed, but a slight smile appeared.
"If nee-sama is going… then I'm going too."
Yuji smiled in relief.
"Deal, then."
And so, the decision was made. They would go to the village that very night, and even though it seemed like just a simple trip to get spices, Yuji felt deep down that it was far from being just that.
As they left the kitchen, the sound of footsteps echoing down the silent hallway, Yuji remained silent for a few seconds, lost in his own thoughts.
I need everyone in the village to touch me…
The idea was strange even to him. His body wasn't affected by common curses, he already knew that. But that didn't mean they simply disappeared. On the contrary. If there was an active curse, it could very well permeate him, clinging like mud to something it can't corrode.
"If the curse passes through physical contact… then I become the filter," Yuji thought.
He took a deep breath.
The village children. The previous loops. Rem going in his place. Everything pointed to the same pattern. The curse started there, but it was never clear on whom.
If everyone touched him, and nothing happened to them… then the answer would be obvious.
"Itadori-kun?" Rem's voice brought him back.
He realized he had stopped walking for a moment.
"Are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
Yuji smiled automatically.
"Yes, it is. I was just thinking about how we're going to carry the spices."
Ram let out a short laugh.
"But if you carry everything yourself, Ram approves."
They continued walking, but Yuji had already decided.
On this visit to the village, he wasn't just going to get ingredients.
He was going to become the target again.
End of Chapter 6