Chapter 148
"Ahh... that feels incredible."
As usual, Kiriya drew the pure blue energy into himself and guided it toward his eyes.
The cool sensation flowed through them like fresh spring water, and he could not stop a quiet groan from escaping.
"This might be becoming an addiction."
He closed his eyes and savored the lingering feeling.
Maki and Panda landed nearby, staring at him with a strange mix of shock and discomfort.
Neither of them seemed sure what to say.
"Hey, Maki," Panda whispered. "Did he just say that felt incredible?"
"I think so..."
Maki sounded uncertain.
She had never seen anyone look so pleased after exorcising a cursed spirit before.
It was unsettling in a way she could not quite explain.
"Do you think he’s some kind of creep?" Panda asked worriedly.
"Don’t be rude." Maki immediately scolded him.
The boy had clearly been fighting cursed spirits, which meant they were on the same side. Calling him a creep to his face would be unfair.
Even if she had been wondering the same thing.
"A creep? Are you talking about me?"
Kiriya turned toward them.
His red eyes settled on the pair, two tomoe revolving within each pupil.
There was something both eerie and strangely beautiful about them.
Maki and Panda tensed again, instinctively tightening their grips on their weapons.
"What kind of technique is that?" Panda muttered. "I’ve never seen eyes like those before."
The feeling was hard to ignore.
Under that gaze, it seemed as though nothing about them could remain hidden.
"What sorcerer family are you from?" Maki demanded. "Identify yourself."
Panda raised his fists as well, ready to respond if the situation turned hostile.
Kiriya smiled.
"Before asking someone else who they are, shouldn’t you introduce yourselves first, pretty lady?"
"He has a point, Maki."
Panda gave a polite bow.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Panda, and this is Maki Zenin. We’re from Tokyo Jujutsu High."
"I’m Kiriya. Nice to meet you both."
Kiriya raised one hand to show that he meant no harm.
"Relax. I came here to exorcise cursed spirits. I have no reason to fight you."
"I see..."
The two had just begun to lower their guard when Kiriya vanished.
Almost at the same instant, a series of heavy impacts erupted behind them.
Bang, bang, bang!
They stiffened and quickly turned around.
Several dog-shaped cursed spirits had appeared without them noticing. Now every one of them was missing its head, their bodies already dissolving into nothing.
"He’s fast..."
Panda’s eyes narrowed to tiny points.
"If he’d attacked us just now, we wouldn’t have been able to react," Maki said.
That, more than anything, convinced her that Kiriya was not hostile.
With his speed and strength, he could have dealt with both of them easily. There was no reason for him to waste time lying.
A dense, low buzzing came from farther down the corridor.
The three of them looked over and saw a swarm of bee-like cursed spirits rushing toward them.
"Annoying."
Kiriya stepped forward and began forming hand seals, ready to roast the entire swarm.
Then he suddenly stopped.
There were children beneath some of the cursed spirits.
"Damn it," Maki snapped. "Are they using the kids as shields?"
Her mind raced, searching for a way to destroy the curses without hurting the children.
A streak of blue-white lightning flashed past her.
It tore through the corridor in sharp, jagged turns, crossing back and forth until it formed a web of light.
Every bee-shaped curse was caught inside it.
They froze in place.
A moment later, they all burst apart and disappeared into smoke.
Kiriya calmly slid his sword back into its sheath.
With his free arm, he caught both falling children and lowered them safely to the ground.
The entire movement had been clean, effortless, and almost annoyingly stylish.
Maki and Panda could only stare.
"That was so cool!"
Panda pointed at Kiriya and shouted at the girl beside him.
"Maki, did you see that? That whole move was amazing! He looked like some wandering swordsman in a movie!"
"Idiot, you don’t have to shout. I saw it too."
Maki punched Panda on the head, mostly to hide how impressed she was.
’Damn it. He really did make that look good.’
After absorbing the pure energy left behind by the curses, Kiriya looked down at the two children in his arms.
They could not have been older than six or seven years old.
Their faces were pale, their breathing weak, and the curse’s influence had clearly spread deep into their bodies.
Without treatment, they probably would not survive the night.
"They’re in bad shape," Maki said. "We need to contact Ijichi and have someone come—"
She stopped as she saw green light had appeared around Kiriya’s hand.
He placed it gently against the children’s foreheads.
Their pained expressions gradually eased. Their breathing, once weak and shallow, became steady and strong.
Maki’s eyes widened.
"He healed them?"
She stared at Kiriya’s hand.
"Was that Reverse Cursed Technique?"
"It looked similar, but it wasn’t," Panda said. "I still can’t sense any cursed energy from him."
Overwhelming physical ability.
Speed that Maki could not hope to match.
And now a healing technique unlike anything either of them understood.
The more they saw it, the more mysterious Kiriya became.
It made them cautious, but it also made them curious.
"Who exactly are you?" Maki asked seriously.
"Like I said, I’m an exorcist."
Kiriya looked back at her with a smile.
"I came here to deal with cursed spirits."
"You’re really not some genius trained by a sorcerer clan or secret organization?" Panda asked.
"I have nothing to do with the jujutsu clans."
Kiriya’s face showed immediate disgust.
"Don’t lump me in with those walking coffins! I don’t want their stink rubbing off on me."
Maki’s expression softened at once.
"Okay. You’re not so bad."
She found herself liking him much more after that answer.
"You reached this level completely on your own?" Panda still sounded doubtful.
"I got this far through my own hard work."
Kiriya puffed out his chest proudly.
Having cheats did not invalidate the effort.
Being able to use them properly was a talent too.
...
Strange muttering echoed through the school.
Perhaps the Curtain had drawn them out, or perhaps the presence of living humans had become too tempting.
Either way, the cursed spirits hiding throughout the building finally began crawling into the open.
They were weak, mindless things with barely any intelligence, driven only by the instinct to devour human flesh.
When Kiriya saw them swarming in, his face lit up.
"Leave them to me!"
He charged forward before Maki or Panda could object.
Just as he had expected, both chakra and magic derived from spiritual energy were effective against cursed spirits.
With nothing left to worry about, Kiriya tore through the school with his sword.
The curses fell one after another.
Even the few Grade 2 cursed spirits hidden among them were no more difficult for him than helpless chicks.
Before long, the entire school had been cleared.
"So it’s over."
Panda watched the Curtain begin to fade from the sky.
"I don’t think an exorcism job has ever been this easy."
"Yeah."
Maki tightened her grip on her spear and stared at Kiriya’s back, something eager and determined appearing in her eyes.
He had no cursed energy, yet he possessed strength like this.
If she could learn from him—or even simply stay close enough to observe how he trained—perhaps she could grow stronger too.
"Hey," she called out suddenly. "Why don’t you come to Jujutsu High?"