Chapter 8 – Stagnation and Full Speed

I’d figured out Fake Shinano—no, Sero’s—jujutsu.

If that’s the case, there’s no reason not to test it.

“Shinano. What does that guy look like to you?”

“What guy…? He’s looked like a man to me from the start, but… does he look like someone else to you, Miyama-kun?”

“Yeah. To me, he looks like you. Because that’s more convenient.”

“……”

“Huh? Why is it more convenient if he looks like me!?”

“More like… it would’ve been a pain if the one who talked to me back then wasn’t you.”

Fake Shinano goes slack, like her job is already done.

…No, that’s probably exactly what it is.

“Hey, Sero. One Shinano is enough—the real one. Drop the ability already.”

“No.”

“If you want me to release it, do it by force.”

“Got it.”

I swing my strengthened right hand and snatch away Sero’s consciousness.

“Ah—sorry. My buddy got drunk, you see… Look, I’m carrying him to the room, so help me out.”

“Uh—o-okay.”

While I confirm Sero’s properly knocked out, the seal on [Iron Cage] starts to dissolve.

In general, once the caster loses consciousness, the effect of jujutsu ends.

Which means Sero’s transformation gets undone, too.

“Shinano. This is Sero, no question, right?”

“Up close, he really is handsome, huh…”

“So that’s a yes.”

Apparently Shinano is even more of a face guy than I thought.

Feeling a stab of jealousy at the way her cheeks redden, I toss Sero’s body into the room.

“Sero’s jujutsu is, in simple terms, ‘becoming a convenient existence for the other person.’”

“So what does that mean, exactly, brother♪”

“Inside Minegi Workshop, Ltd., back then—Sero couldn’t notice Shinano’s presence on his own.”

“Well, it’s my ability, so of course that’s how it would be.”

“The only one who noticed was Minegi Shirou. But if Sero’s jujutsu made him into a ‘convenient existence’ for Shirou…?”

“Then he can notice me—wait, that’s allowed!? What about my convenience!?”

“Didn’t you have a crush on Sero? Honestly, you probably thought being chased wasn’t that bad.”

“……”

“There’s also the possibility he can freely choose who the ‘other person’ is. Though at this point, I don’t feel like confirming it.”

“Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that you won…♪”

“Then why did Sero look different to me and Miyama-kun?”

“Because he became a convenient existence for each of us, I guess. For you, Shinano, it’d be unpleasant if I were talking to some other woman, right?”

“No comment.”

“Trying to hide it is pointless♪ Your feelings are already obvious♪”

“And the reason the people around us couldn’t see Sero… is probably just because they were ignoring him.”

“An existence that becomes ‘noise’ in daily life is inconvenient, right? Yeah, I’m getting it now.”

“Alright. Now the mystery of his Unique Jujutsu is solved. All that’s left is breaking through this encirclement.”

Like some kind of warning, cursed energy ripples around us.

Proof that a large number of jujutsu users are surrounding us.

Basically, Sero managed to stall us in a disadvantageous situation by bluffing hard.

“Hey, Shinano. What’s the one thing we absolutely can’t let happen right now?”

“Mmm… the data I gathered, and Sero getting taken back?”

Shinano pulls a memory drive from her bag.

Inside it are tons of videos—production lines for cursed tools, and more.

If this goes public, Minegi Workshop’s credibility will hit rock bottom, in both the public world and the underworld.

Unfortunately, for some reason, there’s an unexplained communications blackout across this whole area.

Meaning it’s possible to erase the data physically.

And Sero himself could, depending on the situation, become a crucial information source and a negotiation card.

Losing him here would be a waste.

But greedy as I am, I picture one more person.

“And one more thing—letting Minegi Shirou go to ground.”

As long as we don’t catch him, he’ll keep coming back as many times as it takes.

He is the boss of a massive evil organization, after all.

Now that we’ve got leverage, we can only crush him here.

“Shinano—force our way through. We’ll track down Minegi Shirou and finish him fast.”

“Huh? But isn’t he already gone!?”

“Yuuri, you’re listening, right? I’ll let you eat whatever you want, as much as you want.”

“Just once?”

“……How about three meals?”

“Leave it to me, my master. Also, please cover the potato bill while you’re at it.”

In an instant, Yuuri vanishes.

All that’s left behind are a few empty platters… and extra receipts.

She was devouring fries while singing!?

“Whatever. It’s Yuuri—if not much time has passed, she’ll find Minegi Shirou for us.”

“Then we just have to break through this encirclement and survive.”

“I messed up earlier, so I’ll clear my name here. Shinano—get ready to sing my praises.”

“Okay. For now, make sure you protect me until we pay the bill, alright?”

In my hands: two cursed tools.

In Shinano’s hands: receipts, and (my) wallet.

As for Sero… maybe I’ll strap him to a drone or something.

While I’m at it, I’ll restart the stream too.

“Assassins all around, escorting a girl, and—bonus—boss hunt.”

-I’ve been waiting forever, you bastard!

-It was getting good right when you stopped…

-Finally time for the steamroll

-I sense a cute girl next to him!?

-HYAAHHA!!

-Hell yeah, blow them all away!!

Alright—time to sprint straight through.