A jujutsushi who deals with humanity’s negative emotions is, himself, easily consumed by negative emotions as well.
Loss of humanity.
It was the final end all jujutsushi feared, and the miserable fate of those devoured by power.
But the monster before her—
Two mouths. Four arms. Four eyes. Divine and demonic.
That monster, swinging weapons and unleashing slashes while slaughtering jujutsushi with a body that was anything but human, did not possess even a speck of humanity.
Chaos itself wearing a human skin.
More like a natural disaster than a fellow human being, it laughed wildly and scattered blood everywhere without taking even a proper wound.
The moment 'Roku', who had been desperately blocking attacks, met its eyes, she was seized by an unprecedented terror.
It was not the gaze one would use to look at another human being.
It seemed to say that only it was noble, and that it cared not at all what happened to any other existence.
Before she knew it, 'Roku' was fleeing from those four pairs of eyes that regarded her as no more than decent prey, or perhaps a bit of amusement.
And so that battle, one that would go down in history, ended with her retreat and the victory of the monster later called 'Ryomen Sukuna'.
Extermination had failed.
All the forces that had taken part in the battle suffered irrecoverable damage, and in order not to incur any further wrath, their masters decided to offer tribute.
The monster that swept away everything in its path and won victory with absolute ease was given the epithet 'King of Curses'.
What she received upon returning with the barely surviving members was not comfort, but blame.
The extermination operation, carried out after taking the bold step of exposing the assassination unit, had failed.
Fujiwara, who had led the extermination, not only suffered the loss of more than half of the private soldiers it had painstakingly raised, but also had to endure attacks from enemies who had bared their teeth at the opportunity.
In that situation, responsibility fell on 'Roku', the field commander, and she too could not escape censure.
She did not commit seppuku thanks to the protection of the 'master' who had placed the Jitsuseongjin Unit under his command, but she became no different from a dead person.
Not only had the 'master's' influence within the clan been greatly diminished, but no one pitied the Jitsuseongjin Unit, which had taken on all the dirty work, or her.
Rather, as soon as the chance came, more shameless people raised their voices and insisted that they should cut off the tail now, while they still could.
Their gaze of fear and reverence turned into one of looking at an inconvenient burden.
After that day’s failure, the Jitsuseongjin Unit was no longer a reliable blade, but merely a toothless hunting dog that was awkward to either dispose of or prop up.
Once the hunt is over, it is only natural to boil and eat the hunting dog that can no longer work.
At the very least, disbandment seemed inevitable; at worst, even murder to silence them could not be avoided.
'Roku' felt wronged.
No matter how strong a person was, if they had seen that monster with their own eyes even once, they would never have thought of opposing it.
Was the failure really their fault alone? She had simply followed orders as usual.
Being too weak was perhaps a sin, but more than that, the clan’s leadership that had pushed for such an unreasonable extermination should have been held responsible first.
She had lived like a dog, doing everything she was told, and yet they were casting her aside after one failure. What kind of thing was that?
To them it was merely getting rid of an annoying problem, but for her life was at stake. Unlike Fujiwara, which could rise again even after failure, the fate of the Jitsuseongjin Unit and hers was as precarious as a candle in the wind, and just as worthless.
From that moment on, a sense of compensation and inferiority began to boil inside the woman’s heart.
Why should I be the one to die?
They were happy to swallow the achievements I offered up, and now they want me to shoulder all the blame for the failure.
Why? Because you’re above us? Because you’re some noble thing living with your feet planted in the sunlight?
As each day passed in that state of someone who could not even die properly, an unquenchable resentment kept piling up.
To be honest, it wasn’t as if she had never thought of abandoning loyalty altogether and running away, or even turning everything over. She had simply calculated the gains and losses that would result and given up.
If she killed a blood relative, she would only end up being hunted by the entire country, and even if she fled, there was no way they would leave someone who knew all their secrets alone.
Leaving everything to fate and waiting for judgment was the only thing she could do.
Time passed, and 'Ryomen Sukuna' held all of Japan beneath his feet,
and about a year had passed since the Jitsuseongjin Unit’s missions came to a halt.
At that time, the 'master' quietly summoned her.
The 'master', whose wrinkles had deepened and whose vigor had faded since their first meeting, spoke an unexpected first line.
"I will give you a name."
It was a proposal too sweet to refuse.
She did not think, Why now—
She did not think of the chaotic state of the world, or of the monster who by now was surely living like a king.
"From now on, live as yourself."
And so 'Roku' became 'Uro Takako'.
And from this point on, this story is
the tragedy of 'Uro Takako'.
The tears that spilled out showed no sign of stopping.
Her tear ducts must have been a little too large to hold a thousand years of sorrow.
"Hic...sob...."
I neither affirm you nor deny you.
Those modest words made her so happy she could cry.
And they made her just as sad.
There had once been a time when she lived believing that someday, she might be able to become like this. In the end, she had thought it was all over.
Why. Why are you appearing before me only now?
This...is too much. It’s too much.
"Why, why are you crying...."
You don’t know, do you. How much salvation your casual words are to me.
What am I to you, that you’d go this far?
Even if I only borrow a little of your light, it’s so warm it feels like I could die.
"Shut up...don’t look at me..."
Even though she was trying to stop crying, seeing that dazed face made her emotions surge even more.
Uro rubbed at the corners of her eyes and muttered in a wet voice.
She wanted to calm down, but the more plaintive her tone became, the more embarrassed she felt.
"I don’t think I said anything strange, so did I do something rude...?"
"It’s not that....just leave me alone for a bit."
"O-okay."
Junpei was a little flustered in his own way.
Still, he had enough sense, and after hearing her story, he did not have the idiotic thought of, Is being saved really that happy? or anything like that.
What surprised him was that she, who always had such a cynical attitude, was directly showing her emotions. He checked to make sure he hadn’t touched a nerve, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case.
Unfortunately, he had no talent for soothing a crying woman, and she didn’t seem to want that from him either, so he simply watched until her sobs subsided.
"...Okay, I’m fine now."
"Are you feeling a little calmer?"
"Thanks to you."
Even after the crying stopped, Uro’s face was still flushed red.
Over the long streaks of tears, the reversed eyes where black and white had switched were damp with moisture.
Her sharp, always-raised gaze had softened, giving her a rather forlorn look.
"Anyway....you’re saying you’ll let me live."
"Saying I’ll let you live sounds a little too rough, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better to say you’ve given up fighting?"
"Just get the gist of it and move on. I’d lose if we fought anyway."
"Yes."
She had returned to her usual self before he knew it, but the atmosphere was softer than before.
He could clearly feel the goodwill she was showing for no apparent reason.
He didn’t know why, but he guessed it was probably because the grudge she had been carrying had been eased a little by their conversation just now.
"What does it mean, that I’m free?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. It means you can go where you want and live however you want."
"What if my goal is 1000 points?"
"That’s a little much, isn’t it...? I have things I can’t give up on too."
Even while teasing Uro like this, he did not forget his duty.
Gather 1000 points and end the Culling Game. It was indispensable for the final goal.
If Uro insisted on obstructing that, then unfortunately he could not back down.
Fortunately, perhaps it was a joke, because she gave a faint smile.
"I’m kidding. I don’t care about points anymore. I don’t want to fight you again either."
"That’s a relief. Ah, and please don’t kill people if you can help it. Once I get 1000 points, I’ll be able to end the Culling Game quickly."
"Is that an order?"
"It’s a request."
Not an order, but a request. To someone far weaker than himself.
That was a little amusing.
Was he timid, or bold? Pick one. He thought too much for no reason, yet was firm and kind, and in many ways, a complicated person.
Which was why she liked him.
"Alright. I won’t...kill people. Except for the ones who come at me trying to kill me."
"That can’t be helped. Self-defense is essential."
To be clear, 'murder' and 'self-defense' are different.
She disliked getting blood on her hands, but one cannot always live doing only what one wants.
Setting aside the desire to live, if someone came at you trying to kill you, shouldn’t they be prepared to die too?
"Anyway, where are you going to go?"
"What’s it to you?"
"If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. It’s fate that brought us together, so I’m just curious."
"You’ve been saying things that sound suspicious from the start.....never mind. Still, you don’t seem to have any impure intentions."
"I told you not to keep twisting my goodwill into something weird. I’m loyal to my girlfriend, Grandma Uro."
Clack!
At that instant, Uro’s forehead flicked Junpei’s back of the head before he could stop her.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t react, but the blow landed cleanly.
It was admirable that he let it hit him like a joke, but it was still irritating.
"Ow!"
"I told you not to bring up my age!"
"But it’s true that you’re over a thousand years old! The Heian era, the Heian era! You’re the kind of person who belongs in a history book! Don’t deny it!"
"I’ve been in a sealed state for a thousand years! I was in my twenties when I died, and I’m not even that much older than you! How can you be so clueless about women when you have a girlfriend?"
"My girlfriend is a fresh, young younger woman, so I don’t really know about that kind of thing, old lady."
Whoosh!
This time, he was not hit.
Junpei quickly dodged the fist, and a victorious grin appeared on his face.
It was a thoroughly annoying expression, and it was a shame he couldn’t be hit again.
"One hit is fine, but two is not."
"Haa....."
"Anyway, where are you going to go?"
At Junpei’s question, Uro thought for a moment.
'It’s been two days since I left the base and moved over to Higuruma’s side...'
Two days is enough time for hyenas to run wild once the ruler is gone.
Her original base was probably thoroughly trashed by now.
All the supplies would be stripped bare, and some stray losers would have taken the place.
'Should I kill them all and drive them out.'
She thought that for a moment, but then stopped.
Her territory was pretty far from here anyway, and from those guys’ point of view, it would just look like the previous owner had come back demanding her house be returned.
She had also made a promise to Junpei just now, and even if she returned to her old place, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
Then what should she do?
Neutral zone? No.
The residents there were survivors who had fled from the tyranny of the rankers.
If she went there and said she wanted to take shelter, they might not be able to drive her out, but they would definitely find it uncomfortable.
She didn’t want to go to Dorb’s territory. It was too gloomy.
That old man who was happily living in ruined Shibuya had definitely gone insane.
Ah, well, he was a primitive Bronze Age person, so maybe that was only natural. At least he probably wasn’t sleeping in a hut like back then.
Higuruma’s theater was....kind of hard to go to.
She had bad memories there, and for some reason, if she stayed there she felt like Higuruma’s phantom would pop out.
Besides, if she said she wanted to go back there less than a day after leaving, it would look a little strange.
Then there was only one choice left for her.
"Um, that...."
"Yes?"
"Well...if you don’t mind...."
Hesitating and wavering over her answer, Uro squeezed her eyes shut and blurted it out.
"Can I stay here?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, Junpei genuinely worried that Uro was either unhoused or a commoner despairing over Tokyo’s sky-high rent.
She, too, seemed embarrassed after saying it, and couldn’t properly meet his eyes.
"There’s nothing wrong with that."
"...Really?"
"We’ve got plenty of spare rooms, and enough supplies too. One more person won’t change anything at all. So, yeah. Let’s do that."
Junpei answered with such ease.
Having already owed him her life and now receiving his goodwill too, she felt a little shameless.
She had meant to say thank you, but her stubborn mouth gave a completely different answer.
"Hmph...fine."
"You’re awfully prickly for your age. No need to feel burdened. I like it when there are more people around anyway; it feels lively."
After finishing his coffee, Junpei wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up.
He held out a hand to Uro, who was still sitting there blankly.
"Come on. I’ll show you around the facilities. There’s actually more to do here than you’d think. I’ve been busy with work, so I haven’t used them much, though."
"R-right."
"The Culling Game will be over soon, so we’ll have plenty of time. While you’re staying here, think about what you want to do from now on. Ah, and Remi seems to be bothering you lately, so talk to her once in a while too."
Even as she took Junpei’s hand and stood up after he said that, Uro kept muttering one thing under her breath.
"From now on...what I’ll do..."
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