Chapter 109

It wasn't the blood of a curse. It was human blood.

Zoro had reported that there were no curse at the site, so it was probably the blood of a victim. It wasn't certain. The victim's body found at the scene was too damaged for even Ieiri to analyze.

Shoko thought of Geto and Gojo. They were scum, but they were strong.

But even they felt very different from Zoro.

'Because he's a sorcerer?'

Well. Some people might think so, but Shoko disagreed. Even Toji, who was not a sorcerer, couldn't invoke the same terror as Zoro.

'It just seems to be because it's Zoro.'

Zoro didn't particularly oppress or torment people. He only eliminated curse or curse users, and if someone asked for help, he generally helped willingly.

Yet, there was something inescapable about him.

It was a chilling sensation, like being prey in front of an overwhelming predator. It was incomprehensible how someone not a sorcerer could be so powerful at such a young age. It was an instinctual fear.

'It's not incomprehensible why one would want to avoid him.'

...Though it wasn't a pleasant sight to see someone run away pale-faced from a person who had just saved their life.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Zoro didn't care that others feared or shunned him. He didn't mind if people feared him without reason or didn't thank him after he helped.

It was both a blessing and a curse. People murmured when they saw Zoro.

It was indeed a blessing that such a powerful being was on the side of the sorcerers, helping them.

But the turmoil and fear that followed each time Zoro took action could only be described as a disaster.

Of course, Shoko didn't think so.

'What disaster?'

He just liked helping people he cared about. Everything else was of no interest to him.

Indeed, Zoro had been a great help in the battle. Shoko knew this better than anyone.

In the two months that Zoro had been attached to the sorcerer's mission, no sorcerer's body had come to Shoko.

She handled the post-mortem work to prevent the sorcerer's body from falling into the hands of the black market or curse users for misuse as magical materials.

Shoko, a reverse sorcerer and doctor (though unlicensed), had taken charge of this task. Recently, however, the frequency of these post-mortem operations had noticeably decreased.

Instead, healing Zoro's wounds had taken its place.

Ieiri Shoko was neither foolish enough not to understand the significance nor shameless enough to be pleased about it.

"Don't overdo it."

She would have liked to say that it wasn't necessary.

Knowing how many sorcerers' bodies would pile up in Zoro's absence, she couldn't say that.

She knew that Zoro had saved several sorcerers' lives during the two months he was active.

That's why she couldn't stop him. She didn't stop him.

She silently applied a reverse sorcery on the injured Zoro.

"It's hypocrisy."

Seeing that, she could fully understand why Toji disliked Zoro getting involved in the sorcery world. There were plenty in the sorcery community who thought of exploiting Zoro even more than Shoko did.

Utahime stood up from her seat.

"I'll be going. Thanks for joining the mission today, Zoro. I'll share the bounty for exorcising the curses when it comes in."

"Oh, I'd appreciate that."

"Anything you want to buy?"

"Swordsmanship gear."

Like bamboo swords or training dummies, things like that.

"You might find some of that in the arsenal already."

"Really?"

Perhaps he could even use the empty buildings of the arsenal to set up a dojo for sword training. Zoro was excited at the thought, reminiscing about the dojo in Shimotsuki Village where he had spent his childhood in a previous life.

It wasn't long after Utahime had left the infirmary that the sound of chatter was heard. Click! The infirmary door opened, and Zoro's siblings appeared.

"Ms. Ieiri! Have you seen my Bro... Oh, big brother! When did you get here?"

Tsumiki's face brightened up, and Zoro's expression softened. He jumped down from the patient's chair.

"Tsumiki, Megumi. Have you been having fun?"

"Yes! But why are you here? Are you hurt?"

"...No, I'm not hurt."

Tsumiki and Megumi looked at Ieiri as if questioning Zoro's statement. Zoro looked pleadingly at Shoko, but Shoko immediately told the truth.

"He's lying."

"Eek... Shoko!"

Tsumiki's expression darkened. Seeing her face, Zoro flinched.

"Big brother."

"It's all healed."

"Even if it's healed, you shouldn't get hurt!"

Megumi toddled over and poked Zoro on the nose with his finger.

"Big brother, lying is bad."

"..."

"Your nose will grow. Really long."

Remembering the Pinocchio story they had read a few days ago, Megumi imagined Zoro with a nose that kept growing, with his hanging on like a sloth.

"That won't do. I'll treat you, big brother."

"I told you, I'm healed."

"I'm the doctor, Megumi's the nurse. You're the patient! Lie down here!"

"...Are you listening?"

"No!"

"...Sigh..."

Tsumiki laid Zoro down on an empty bed in the infirmary. Ding. Her cell phone rang. A text message had arrived. The sender was Toji.

[Is something wrong with my son?]

Ieiri frowned. Toji usually called Zoro directly when he was worried, he didn't typically send messages to Shoko.

"Zoro, do you have a phone call?"

"Hm? Here... Oh. Where did it go?"

"Uh! Patients aren't supposed to talk!"

"Well, I'm not a patient, am I?"

Had he lost it during a mission? Ieiri quickly figured out the situation as she watched Zoro rummaging through his bandages. She rapidly typed a message on her cell phone.

[He's currently at the arsenal. His eardrum burst. Treated with reverse sorcery.]

...

Toji had to exert all his strength not to crush the cell phone he was holding after reading Ieiri's message.

'What on earth happened?'

...Well, he probably encountered a curse or curse user somewhere.

Strangely, Zoro often got involved in troublesome situations whenever he went on missions. Even when it was a mission not supposed to be dangerous, something strange always happened.

Like encountering a curse of higher grade than expected, coming across other curse users or curse during the mission, or finding not just one curse but several.

'It's that damn sense of direction of his.'

Cursed with a terrible sense of direction, Zoro always ended up taking paths that others avoided. There were reasons those paths were not frequented: they were filthy, had been the site of bad incidents, or had bad rumors circulating about them.

Negative emotions gathered places where curses also tended to gather. There was a reason Zoro frequently encountered curse.

'He has to go to school in a few weeks.'

Toji was extremely worried whether his son would even find his way to his class.

'I chose a private school where it would be easy to cover up any mishaps, just in case.'

He was already scared of what might happen.

'His eardrum burst...?'

While Ieiri's reverse sorcery was excellent, and he shouldn't worry too much, it still made him uneasy.

Usually, if Zoro had been assigned a curse extermination mission, he would have quickly finished and rushed back to the arsenal, but that wasn't possible today.

Because it was the day to meet with the first-year students newly enrolled at the Jujutsu High.

Toji sighed and shuffled through some papers.

'Two this year.'

Neither too many nor too few, an average number. Normally, one or two, maybe three first-year students enroll at Jujutsu High, Yaga had said.

...That was at enrollment. The number of students who died before graduation in this field was substantial.

Creak.

The cafe door opened, and two male students entered.

They paused when they saw Toji, then approached cautiously—one graciously and carefully, the other with a grin, lively.

Toji scanned the two of them. The one with black bowl-cut hair seemed completely unguarded, while the blond seemed somewhat cautious, but looked like he wouldn't be able to defend or counter if Toji attacked.

Both need to be pushed hard, Toji thought internally.

"You're the one I talked to...."

"Yes. I'm Zenin Toji, the physical education teacher at Jujutsu High."

"Hello!"

While the bowl-cut haired student bowed deeply in greeting, the blond student still had a suspicious look. Toji pulled out his teacher ID from Jujutsu High and showed it to them, after which the blond also greeted him.

"...I'm Nanami Kento."

"I'm Haibara Yuu! Nice to meet you!"

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