Before long, the time came.
Megumi had set out on a mission to retrieve a special-grade cursed object.
I wanted to go with him and prevent Sukuna’s incarnation from happening in the first place, but as long as Kenjaku was operating in the shadows, I would not be able to stop it completely.
I should leave that side of things to follow the original plot and focus on what was right in front of me.
I was currently on my first solo mission since enrolling at Jujutsu High.
The location was a PC café on the outskirts of town.
While investigating a string of mysterious disappearances that had recently begun occurring in this town, it was confirmed that the victims’ last known movements all ended at this PC café. Once the investigation began, however, the owner of the PC café was found to be innocent.
"According to the owner, he recently increased the number of CCTV cameras inside to catch the growing number of customers who dine and dash. The police were able to clear him so quickly thanks to those additional cameras."
"Because someone using the café to plan crimes wouldn’t go out of their way to add more CCTV cameras?"
"That’s right!"
The assistant supervisor, Nitta Akari, a woman with short bleached-blond hair, eagerly agreed.
Before beginning the investigation, I listened while taking a long sip of the iced tea I had ordered.
Come to think of it, she was older than me, yet she was speaking politely. Was she always this kind of character?
"Anyway, thanks to that, the police investigation was wrapped up quickly and the case could be transferred to Jujutsu High. In a way, you could call that fortunate."
"If there’s CCTV footage too, identifying the cause should be quick."
"Yes. It’s that room right there."
The direction Akari pointed to was Room 4 of the PC café.
Wow, of all things, Room 4. Isn’t that laying it on a little too thick?
"According to the CCTV footage, everyone who disappeared from this café had one thing in common: they were all using Room 4 at 4:44 p.m."
"4:44? Do you mean in the morning or afternoon?"
"Uh... apparently, the missing people usually vanished in the afternoon. This café closes at 3 a.m., after all."
The cursed spirit squatting in Room 4 must not have much education. Four in the afternoon is 16:00, not 4:00. There’s nothing ominous about that number!
Well, even if I pointed it out, it was not like the cursed spirit would understand and change its active hours to four in the morning, so I kept quiet.
"Anyway, it’s 4:34 p.m. now, so it’ll soon be time to move in."
"All right. Just in case, please handle the barrier."
Still, the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. At 4:44 in the afternoon, it was still broad daylight, yet a cursed spirit chose that time to act? What kind of thing was this?
"Then I’ll go inside first."
Sluuurp.
I finished off the little iced tea I had left and headed for Room 4.
Though they were called rooms, this was a PC café, so the individual spaces were separated by partitions. The lower sections were sealed, but the upper sections were completely open for ventilation.
On top of that, the door was only covered by a curtain, and even that did not reach the floor.
What kind of cursed spirit would go so far as to kidnap—or devour—people in an environment that was difficult to call an enclosed room in any sense...?
16:43
I would find out soon enough.
-
16:44
Fwoosh.
Without me touching it, the computer suddenly powered on.
16:45
?
And then a minute passed.
It was now 4:45 p.m.
Other than the computer turning on, nothing happened.
"Um... Ms. Nitta? Has anything unusual happened?"
...There was no response.
Had something happened?
I pulled back the curtain and stepped outside.
I came out without any obstruction. It was not as though Room 4 had some kind of barrier around it.
"Ms. Nitta?"
There was no one in the café.
The assistant supervisor would not have left the site without saying a word.
Realizing that something had indeed happened, I stepped outside the café.
"Looks like I’ve run into a troublesome one here."
There was no one on the street either.
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