Chapter 162 — It's Time to Stride Boldly into the Age of Cursed Technology
Two girls, an old lady who sounded quite advanced in years, and a young man?
Emiya didn't recall ever attracting such a combination. Even if he counted them separately, the people he was acquainted with in this world didn't seem to add up to that list. After all, he had only been in this world for about a month; he remembered exactly who he had met and what their names were.
Furthermore, what was with Gojo Satoru's sarcastic tone? Was he implying that Emiya's personal life was "messy"?
Well, when it came to time management, no one could compare to Gojo; there were very few people in the world who slept only three hours a day on average. But Emiya felt that Gojo's words hid another meaning.
Could it be... he was jealous?
However, in Emiya's understanding, this "jealousy" wasn't romantic envy, but rather Gojo suspecting that a delicacy he intended to enjoy alone was being shared by many others.
...Right?
"I get it, I get it. I'll go see what's going on over there right now.
As for time management, Mr. Gojo, you should solve your own problems first. You say you're saving time, yet aren't you still neglecting the students' condition?
If you have nothing to do right now, why don't you go to the training grounds and check on them... if you think my training direction is off, feel free to correct it."
It was impossible for Gojo Satoru to rattle Emiya's composure with a few words. Having been baptized by the memories of several "Emiya Shirous," he was currently striving toward his powerful, complete form.
Eventually, he would be the one sharp-tonguing others; how could he be pressured back?
On the contrary, Gojo actually looked a bit embarrassed when he heard Emiya criticize him like that.
"Is that so? It seems I have neglected their progress lately, even though the original plan was to vigorously cultivate talent...
Could it be that letting Emiya-kun look after the kids makes me feel too at ease?"
"...."
Refusing to play along, Emiya gave Gojo a brief glance, placed the meal he had prepared in front of him, and immediately turned to push open the door.
"Anyway, I'm going to see what's happening over there first."
Bang—!
"Ah~ ah~ Emiya-kun really is reassuring."
Gojo Satoru brought the food to his mouth, his eyes lingering on the entryway for a long time.
"That kid Megumi must be quite happy right now too...!!!
So hot??!"
There it was—the only current weakness of [Infinity]. In order to taste the food Emiya made by hand, Gojo had to deactivate the technique near his tongue first, and he had accidentally been scalded by the high-temperature meal.
If there were an enemy in this world who could hide inside hot soup, perhaps they could launch a sneak attack at a time like this?
Well, but they would also have to withstand the wrath of a Gojo Satoru whose hard-earned delicious meal had been ruined.
.
.
.
On the other side, after leaving the room, Emiya immediately called Ijichi and asked him to lead him to the area Jujutsu High used for receiving visitors.
Although Ijichi had just received a significant fright involving "Tengen" and Principal Yaga, work and life had to go on. Even if he submitted a leave request to recuperate at home for a few days, he'd have to wait for his superiors to approve it and then successfully hand over his recent tasks.
For Ijichi personally, staying by Emiya's side was second only to being near the students in terms of relaxation—in fact, the former was much safer than the latter.
"Mr. Emiya, the visitors who came to see you are Ms. Miwa from the Kyoto School and your friend Ms. Yotsuya... it's worth noting that Ms. Yotsuya also brought two independent sorcerers with her, as if they wanted to discuss something with you.
Would you like to see Ms. Miwa first, or..."
Since both parties arrived at similar times, Ijichi couldn't overstep his authority to choose for Emiya and could only ask for his opinion.
"Miko brought two independent sorcerers? Could she be in some kind of trouble... then let's see her first."
If possible, Emiya wanted to meet both parties at once so no one would be left waiting... but if they met together, things might become even more complicated, right? After all, he couldn't listen to and handle both matters simultaneously.
Even for visitors whose backgrounds were known, Jujutsu High wouldn't allow them directly into the innermost layers of the multi-layered barriers for security reasons. Guided by Ijichi, Emiya walked through several "matryoshka-style" barriers before seeing Miko in a room, along with two independent sorcerers sitting beside her.
The old woman certainly looked the part of a sorcerer; any change of clothes would easily make one think of a spirit medium or a shaman. As for the man on the other side...
Rather than a jujutsu sorcerer, his first impression on Emiya was more like an unconventional magician—the kind who performs sleight of hand for an audience.
"Emiya-kun?"
The very moment she saw Emiya, Yotsuya Miko happily approached him. If there hadn't been two others behind her, she might have grabbed his hand directly.
"And these two are...?"
Emiya gave a slight nod to Miko before focusing his gaze on the two people standing up behind her. It's not like they hadn't seen each other in a long time; at most, Emiya was invited out by Miko once every three days.
"Um... do you remember the Mountain God we exorcised before? Mrs. Mitsue had actually noticed decades ago that it was gradually breaking its seal and tried to stop it.
And, one of the God's Attendants that became my Shikigami... was her master."
In just a few words, Emiya understood the general gist.
Even without direct ties to the Headquarters, true sorcerers would still exorcise dangerous Curses based on their kind nature... they were likely preparing to fight that Cursed Spirit to the death again when they discovered the trouble had already been solved by him.
"This old body didn't come here for anything else, just to thank you in person... thank you very much for letting her find peace..."
Mrs. Mitsue bowed her stiff, aging waist slightly.
The two God's Attendants did indeed become Miko's Curses afterward, but that was just the manifestation of condensed Cursed Energy; their true souls had been completely liberated the moment the Mountain God died.
"Exorcising such a dangerous Curse was simply what should be done. You don't need to do this, ma'am."
Unlike when he was with Megumi, Emiya stepped forward to gently help her up, then asked, "So you came here this time just to express your gratitude?"
"No, no, I have something very important on my end."
The man who hadn't said much just now suddenly leaned forward and opened a briefcase, placing it in front of Emiya.
"I believe the times are progressing, so the jujutsu world should naturally progress as well.
Since I wanted to express some gratitude as well, I brought this product directly to the Tokyo school... a smart drone that can detect Cursed Spirits.
Would you like to give it a try?"
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