Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

The next morning, Rito was woken up by his alarm clock.

He turned off the alarm and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

I ate dinner very late last night, and I couldn't fall asleep when I got back.

I don't know when I fell asleep, my dreams were all jumbled up, and I forgot them all when I woke up.

Wash up, change clothes, and go out.

There's an indescribable chill to the air in the mornings at the college.

The playground was deserted, and the distant school building cast long shadows in the morning light.

Rito walked down the corridor, his shoes making a soft sound on the floor.

Qi Haijianren's office is located at the very back of the second floor of the teaching building.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

"Come in."

Liren pushed open the door.

Nanami sat behind her desk with several documents spread out in front of her and a cup of coffee that had gone cold to her right.

He looked up at Rito and pointed to the chair opposite him.

"sit."

Nanami didn't speak immediately, but instead pulled out Rito's task report from the pile of documents.

"The mission at the mental hospital." Nanami's tone was as calm as usual. "I've read the report. The cursed spirit has been exorcised, and the mission objective has been achieved. That part is fine. But there's one thing I need to confirm."

He put down the report and looked at Li Ren.

"You've reversed the effects of the spell, causing them to affect yourself?"

The man nodded.

Nanami remained silent for two seconds.

"This kind of usage is not without precedent in the history of sorcery, but not many of those precedents survived."

"The reason is simple: the technique is imprinted on the body, and its essence is 'external release'."

"A blade pointing outwards is for killing enemies. A blade pointing inwards..."

He paused for a second.

"It's for suicide!"

The office was silent for a few seconds.

"I understand," said Rito.

You may not understand.

Nanami stood up and walked to the window.

The morning light shone in, casting a pale golden glow on his shoulders.

"Some of the deaths of sorcerers do not occur during battles with cursed spirits, but rather during moments when they think they can control the situation."

He turned around and looked at Rito.

"Your technique is unique, and you have great talent, but because of this, you are more likely to feel that you can do things that others cannot."

Sometimes, the difference between confidence and self-destruction is just one mistake.

"I'm not denying your judgment; in that situation, your choice might have been the only solution. But you must remember..."

Nanami paused for a moment.

"Every time you point a knife at yourself, you must be clear that you are gambling, and the price of losing is your life."

Li Ren remained silent for a long time.

He recalled the moment when the decaying body activated in the mental hospital.

The power of the curse surged from his chest, and the flow of time within him became disordered.

In that instant, he didn't think of anything.

It wasn't because he was calm enough, but because he didn't have time to think.

What if something went wrong back then?

he does not know.

"Thank you, Mr. Nanami." Rito stood up and bowed to Nanami.

Nanami nodded: "Let's go, Principal Nightmoth is waiting for you."

The principal's office is at the other end of the college.

Nanami led Rito through the corridor, one in front of the other, neither of them speaking.

As Rito passed the training ground, he saw Itadori and Kugizaki training in the distance.

Itajimaru was being chased and beaten by Kugizaki, running and shouting for help. Fushiguro stood by, holding a bottle of water, watching expressionlessly.

Li Ren slowed down a beat.

Nanami also stopped and followed his gaze.

"Your cohort," Nanami said. "You'll be going on missions with them from now on."

"……Um."

Rito withdrew his gaze and followed Nanami's footsteps.

The principal's office door was more ordinary than I had imagined.

Nanami knocked on the door, and a deep voice came from inside saying, "Come in."

He pushed the door open and gestured for Liren to come in.

"The next assessment will be conducted directly by Principal Moth. I'll be waiting for you outside."

Li Ren nodded and stepped inside.

The principal's office was a bit larger than Nanami's office, but the furnishings were equally simple.

The bookshelves against the wall were filled with documents and books, and several unfinished cursed corpse dolls sat on the windowsill.

Night Moth Masamichi sat behind his desk, head down, holding an unfinished cursed corpse in his hand.

Rito stood in front of the desk for a few seconds, the only sound in the room being the sound of needle and thread cutting through fabric.

"Nanami has already given me the report for the second assessment."

The moth spoke, its voice low and unhurried.

He put down the cursed corpse and looked up at Rito.

Those eyes weren't scrutinizing like Nanami's, nor were they enigmatic like Gojo Satoru's; they were a more direct gaze.

"Now, answer one question for me."

Why do you want to become a sorcerer?

The person in charge did not answer immediately.

He had seen this scene in an anime before he traveled through time.

Yuji Itadori sat in the same spot, faced the same question, and gave Moth a satisfactory answer—"Save more people first."

That's the "correct answer".

As long as you speak in that direction, as long as you say something about responsibility, mission, or not wanting to see anyone die in front of you anymore, the moth will most likely agree.

he knows.

But he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Those words were not false.

The sense of responsibility, mission, and the desire to stop seeing anyone die—these are not fake feelings.

But if you package them into a nice answer and say it, then it becomes fake, it becomes carefully chosen wording to pass the test.

When Shunping died, he didn't have time to say anything.

Now he stands here, facing a question about "why," and he doesn't want to brush it off with a fancy answer.

It's not for myself, it's for Shunping.

"To become stronger, and to protect those around me."

Li Ren spoke, his voice not loud, but very steady.

The moth looked at him, and the silence lasted for about five seconds.

Then he put down the cursed corpse and stood up.

He was significantly taller than Rito, and the sense of oppression became even more pronounced when he stood up.

"Unqualified".

Moth's tone remained unchanged.

"Go. I will arrange for someone to erase all your memories of magic and let you return to the world of ordinary people to continue your original life."

Li Ren remained calm.

Although he already knew the outcome, his heart still clenched when he actually heard those words.

If he cannot join the higher vocational college, it means he will forever lose the ability to avenge Shunping himself.

This means he will never see Itadori, Fushiguro, and Kugizaki again.

This means that everything has come to an end.

The moth circled the desk and walked towards Rito.

"Anyone could say the answer you gave: 'Become stronger,' 'Protect.' These words are meaningless; they are just what you think you should say."

"I'll ask you one more time, why did you become a sorcerer?"

Li Ren opened his mouth, the words were on the tip of his tongue.

The answer to the question about Japanese knotweed, the answer to "save more people first," and any statement that could move Moth.

But he kept his mouth shut.

Then he looked up at the moth.

"I know the answer you want to hear, but I can't tell you, because... that's not my answer."

Li Ren's fingers tightened slightly.

"When Shunping died, I didn't have a chance to say my last words to him. He invited me to a movie and bought a bucket of popcorn, which he crumpled because he was so nervous. Before the movie started, he asked me, 'The Coke is broken, you don't mind, do you?'"

His voice paused for a moment.

That was the last time I heard him speak normally.

The room was quiet, and the light from the window fell between the two of them, with dust motes slowly floating in the beams of light.

"So when you ask me why I want to become a sorcerer, I only have one answer: to become stronger and protect those around me. I know this doesn't mean anything to you, but it means something to me."

"If I were to put that sentence in a more elegant way, then Shunping's death would just be a lesson in teaching me how to speak eloquently."

Rito looked at the night moth.

"But he isn't."