-867- The essence of B-level jujutsu

After leaving those words behind, Medea hastily departed.

The princess had come at Rozen's waking moments not to specifically check on him but to ask him to help break the curse on Jason. Naturally, Rozen declined.

"If that idiot's curse is lifted, he'll undoubtedly come over here smugly provoking me. At that time, I'll definitely give him a lesson. Are you sure you want to do this?" Rozen said, and Medea promptly gave up.

Evidently, in Medea's mind, the scenario Rozen described was easily imaginable. The realism and persuasiveness were compelling. Therefore, Medea decided to abandon the idea.

This Medea had no idea.

"What runic curse?" Rozen mumbled as he watched Medea leave.

"There was no curse like that," he thought.

Yes.

There was no such curse.

To be precise, Rozen immediately lifted the curse he had placed after casting it.

The reason was simple.

"If I don't do this, with the abilities of that princess as a Divine Mage, there might indeed be a method to break the curse."

At least, in terms of magical prowess, Rozen was confident that he could rival a divine level mage. However, to claim absolute superiority, to make the other incapable of even finding the runic symbols he used, let alone undo them, Rozen wasn't that confident.

Unless he planted hundreds of entirely different curses on Jason, created a special realm of magic with each curse, used a forgetting enchantment on himself to erase the memory of the runes, and meticulously set traps and hindrances layer by layer, even accounting for rebound and backlash effects due to interference, after spending three days and nights preparing everything, the attempt to dispel the curses would leave the one trying helpless.

Otherwise, relying solely on the power of a runic curse, it would be challenging to render someone like Medea powerless.

Thus, Rozen immediately removed the curse after casting it.

In this way, even if Medea attempted to dispel the curse, she would find no runic symbols, making her powerless.

In other words, it was a deception.

Perhaps, Jason and Medea both believed that they couldn't find the runic symbols due to Rozen's exceptional magical skill. They would think that Rozen's mastery was so far beyond Medea's that she couldn't even perceive the existence of the symbols, let alone undo them. Who would suspect that the curse had already been lifted?

"Scams and lies – that's the essence of B-level jujutsu."

Therefore, if Rozen didn't personally tell others, they would never know.

"However, Scáthach-sensei might have seen through it," Rozen speculated. Only that queen, possessing a discerning eye and vast experience, could possibly see through this.

However...

"Given Sensei's personality, she probably won't expose it. Instead, she'll happily observe Jason's anxious and agitated state from the sidelines, right?"

Rozen was confident about this and glanced at Berserker, who had been standing still.

"He... has good impression of me?" Recalling Medea's words, Rozen couldn't help but shudder.

"Still... best not to dwell on it," Rozen said, then quickly left the stone hut.

Berserker remained motionless, continuing to guard the stone hut, resembling a true statue. Even after Rozen left, there was not the slightest hint of movement.

...

After a day and night, the basin had once again returned to its lively and vibrant state. Everywhere, indigenous people could be seen harvesting fruits, preparing meat, driving away herds of animals, and fetching water by the river. Laughter and playful sounds echoed throughout the basin.

Upon seeing Rozen, some of the indigenous people knelt down excitedly, while others prayed to him, displaying a pilgrim-like demeanor that made Rozen uncomfortable. He quickly headed towards the mountain wall.

During Rozen's rest, the Servants had been setting up barriers within the basin, intending to thoroughly protect the entire area before leaving. Even Rama and Atalante joined this effort, and Medea had been roaming around, enhancing the safety of the basin with her own setups.

However, Jason had never intended to participate in such work. He locked himself in the cabin of the Argo, either because the curse in his body left him with no spare energy to care about the safety of the basin, or he viewed this kind of work as beneath him, not willing to associate with those he considered inferior.

Nevertheless, people didn't expect Jason to be of much help, so they let the prince worry about the curse in his body on his own.

In this way, guided by the connection of their contract, Rozen found the person he was looking for.

In front of a mountain wall, a shield-wielding girl was diligently posting talismans, her expression incredibly serious.

"Fou!"

With a talisman in it's mouth, Fou sent it flying toward Mash.

"Thank you, Fou."

Mash took the talisman from Fou, patted Fou's head, and continued posting them. The girl and the creature continued to collaborate, one picking up talismans from the ground and delivering them to the girl, and the other ceaselessly obtaining talismans from her portable beast and posting them on the mountain wall.

The scene, at first glance, seemed like the heartwarming sight of a serious junior diligently working.

Only Rozen could perceive that this earnest and hardworking junior was actually feeling somewhat disheartened.

If not for this, Rozen wouldn't have immediately sought out Mash upon waking up.

"Fou! Fou!"

Fou was the first to notice Rozen's arrival. After a joyful call, he pounced towards Rozen.

"You're helping too, little one."

Rozen caught Fou as he leaped towards him, petting him while smiling.

"Senpai? You're awake?"

Mash noticed Rozen and approached with a pleasant surprise.

"Yeah, just woke up not long ago. Both my body and magical energy are fully recovered, so I came to find you."

Rozen playfully smiled at Mash.

"That's great."

Mash finally seemed to fully relax, loosening her shoulders.

"In that case..."

Rozen extended his hand, patting Mash's head and looking directly into her surprised eyes, speaking with a smile that could be mischievous.

"I'm completely fine now. It's about time you throw away any self-blame for not being able to protect me and nearly letting me die, okay?"

Rozen's words left Mash momentarily stunned. Then, she lowered her gaze.