[After the accident involving Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara had fully blown over, life at Jujutsu High seemed to briefly return to its usual rhythm of training and mundane routine.]

[But you knew, with a certainty that this was nothing more than the suffocating stillness before the storm.]

[Only a few days later, Masamichi Yaga slammed an urgent mission papers onto the classroom lectern, its cover an alarming shade of red. His expression matched.]

[Mission location: a remote, abandoned village.]

[Mission objective: investigate multiple cases of villager disappearances and bizarre deaths. Observation by the Windows at higher command suggested the involvement of a Grade 1, or near-Grade 1, Cursed Spirit. A Jujutsu Sorcerer was to be dispatched to determine the cause and carry out a thorough elimination.]

[Given the mission’s danger rating and the complexity of the village terrain, command had originally designated Suguru Geto alone for the task, as the only Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer available. But the moment Yaga issued the assignment, you stepped forward without hesitation and volunteered to go.]

[Your reasoning was airtight.]

["Yaga-sensei, Geto’s Cursed Spirit Manipulation is powerful against unknown Cursed Spirits, but in most scenarios it can only suppress or exorcise them through brute force. If the target possesses some kind of spatial or psychic Cursed Technique, raw power alone could tip it off and escalate the situation.

If I go with him, I can covertly analyze the spirit’s technique before engagement and use Phantom Night Parade to lock it down directly, minimizing any chance of a wider incident. And since this is a remote mountain village, medical support will be nonexistent. Against a suspected Grade 1, serious injuries are a real possibility. My Reverse Cursed Technique works on others. As field medical support, I can handle emergencies the moment they arise."]

[Yaga listened to the entire tactical breakdown. Behind his sunglasses, the furrow in his brow eased slightly.]

[He had to admit it made sense. The mission site was impossibly remote, the roads treacherous. If the target turned out to be a true Grade 1 and someone got hurt, there would be no hope of outside medical aid in time.]

[An additional high-caliber fighter who could also heal was a double insurance policy. After a moment of deliberation, he gave a final nod of approval.]

[Geto himself didn’t seem particularly concerned about you tagging along. If anything, he welcomed a reliable companion who could watch his back and keep the conversation going.]

[But among everyone present, only behind your calm, still gaze did something vast and turbulent churn beneath the surface.]

[Only you knew, with crystalline and terrible clarity, that the moment this mission was issued, the gears of fate had begun grinding again. You had all arrived, once more and inevitably, at this critical junction in history. The cursed village that, across countless simulations, had shattered the scales Suguru Geto held so carefully in his heart, the ones that weighed protecting the non-sorcerers. The place that had dragged him into despair and, finally, into the madness of indiscriminate slaughter.]

---

[The black sedan reserved for Jujutsu High rattled along winding mountain roads for what felt like hours. Beyond the windows, Tokyo’s urban sprawl gradually gave way to dense, primordial forest.]

[They arrived at dusk. The car came to a stop at their destination.]

[The moment the door cracked open, a thick wave of rotting leaves hit them, laced with something else underneath, something stale and putrid, like timber left to decay in a sealed tomb.]

[It felt like stepping into a coffin that hadn’t been opened in centuries.]

[The car had barely stopped before you pushed the door wide and stepped out, planting your feet solidly on moss-covered earth.]

[A deep breath. Eyes scanning the perimeter.]

[Rows of wooden houses spread unevenly across the slope, every one of them in advanced decay. Black mold crawled across their walls like disease.]

[And from behind half-shuttered windows and cracked doors, your sharp senses caught them immediately: dozens of gazes lurking in the shadows, watching.]

[No welcome in those eyes. Only suspicion, ignorance, hostility, and beneath it all, a thread of malice that raised the hair on your neck.]

[Every detail matched. The grim backdrop fit perfectly against the memory of a massacre buried deep in your mind.]

[This time, you made a decision that diverged sharply from the original course. You turned around and stopped the assistant manager, the one who normally stayed outside to drive and raise the Curtain, from leaving. You called him along.]

[He blinked at you, surprised. Your tone stayed even as you offered a perfectly reasonable explanation.]

["Come with us. A place this isolated and hostile, the locals will have their guard up against outsiders. Two teenagers showing up to ask questions could hit a wall fast, or worse, provoke something. Having an adult in a suit handling the introductions will at least make us look official."]

[The manager pushed his glasses up, considered for a moment, and agreed without any suspicion. They were still in the preliminary investigation phase after all, not yet at the point of erecting a Curtain to seal off the village for combat. Even with the target estimated at a dangerous Grade 1, the initial legwork of interviewing villagers and gathering information couldn’t be skipped.]

[But barely minutes after the three of you set foot on the muddy path into the village, Geto’s stride hitched. Those narrow eyes sharpened with a flicker of doubt. He’d sensed it immediately.]

[He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, extending his cursed energy perception outward, washing over the surrounding buildings and through the air itself.]

[When his eyes opened again, a deep crease had formed between his brows.]

[This was supposed to be a site that the Windows had flagged for a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. But no matter how hard he searched, the Residual Cursed Energy was so thin it barely existed. And the village, while undeniably eerie, was far too quiet. None of it felt like a place where a rampaging Grade 1 had been nesting and feeding for any length of time.]

["That’s strange..."]

[Geto murmured it half to himself, hands stuffed in the wide pockets of his school uniform.]

[His gaze turned blade-sharp. Without hesitation, one hand snapped up to form a seal.]

[With a series of faint whispers cutting through the air, several small reconnaissance Cursed Spirits, some shaped like birds, others like black rats, slipped from his wide sleeves like drops of ink dissolving into the night. They scattered into the village’s dark corners in silence, probing deeper.]

[Watching him brace for the worst while confusion etched itself across his face, something flickered behind your eyes. You kept it hidden, turned to him with an easy grin, and prodded in a light tone.]

["What’s the matter, Geto? You look almost disappointed. Don’t tell me no Grade 1 showing up is bad news for you. Or are you just upset you can’t catch a rare spirit in this remote dungeon to add to your collection?"]

[The joke loosened the tension in Geto’s shoulders by a fraction.]

[He glanced at you, let out a reluctant half-laugh, then composed himself and answered with the seriousness the mission deserved.]

["What are you even talking about, Hayase? No Grade 1, no large-scale disaster, that’s obviously the best outcome. But..."]

[He paused, his gaze sweeping across the tightly shuttered houses with their aura of lifelessness, his voice growing heavy.]

["The mission report doesn’t lie. Villagers vanishing, dying under inexplicable circumstances, those are established facts. If it isn’t a high-grade Cursed Spirit behind it, then what is? Whatever the truth turns out to be, people’s lives are already at stake. We need to get to the bottom of it and put a stop to it. That’s our responsibility. As sorcerers. As the strong."]

[Listening to that unwavering conviction, the strong protect the weak, your gaze drifted through the deepening dusk to rest on his profile. That face still burned with righteousness.]

[A gust of wind rolled in from the village, carrying the stench of rot. Your voice came out steady, quiet, but the words landed with the weight of prophecy.]

["Yeah. You’re right. You can’t judge anything by what’s on the surface... First, we need to find out what actually happened here. Only then can we decide exactly how to deal with what we find."]