That might have been an exaggeration, but choosing to leave together with Akemi Aki did involve risk. Strictly speaking, Akira was the child of someone considered Akemi Aki’s enemy, and resentment by association would have been understandable.
Even though Akira had prepared himself mentally, if he had lived in a hostile family, his condition would never have been as good as it was now. His patience and steady preparation would not have gone so smoothly either.
This was the greatest stroke of luck in his second life, equal to awakening Cheat Ability and hatching Ralts. “So, Mom, you don’t need to feel pressured. I’ll take care of you.”
The words were undeniably a bit domineering, but saying them out loud felt really good. “That’s exactly the problem,” Akemi Aki replied. “I’m the mother.”
“My son is too outstanding and needs no worry, which just makes his mom look incompetent.” She sighed, then straightened up.
“I actually have something to ask you,” Akira said as he opened a map of Tokyo. “Do you know which places in Tokyo are more likely to have curses?”
“I know a few,” Akemi Aki replied, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you planning to exorcise Cursed Spirit?”
“That’s the idea,” Akira said. “Gardevoir’s growth needs Cursed Spirit as nourishment. I also want to see if I can give Gardevoir a few companions.”
“Isn’t Little Sha alone enough?”
“Sha,” Gardevoir responded, her small mouth drooping as she looked pitifully at Akira.
He found it both funny and heartbreaking. While comforting her, he explained, “Little Sha is of course the most important. In my heart, Little Sha is one of a kind.”
“Besides, Little Sha’s companions won’t all look like Little Sha,” he continued. “Pokémon that are this close to humans and this cute are actually very rare.”
From memory, only a handful even came close, and compared to the huge number of Pokémon overall, they were negligible. Akira did not think his luck could be that good again and again.
Impossible. If he were really that lucky, the next thing to worry about would be getting hit by a speeding truck.
“If the next one looks a bit strange, Mom, don’t dislike it.”
“Don’t underestimate me,” Akemi Aki said. “I’ve fought Cursed Spirit before too.”
She felt she had to do something to reclaim her authority as a mother. “I’m your mom. What I say goes.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Akira replied, indulging her verbally while thinking to himself.
The lower end of Pokémon appearances included things like Grimer and Muk, which were roughly the average look of Cursed Spirit. Akira did not believe he would be that unlucky.
Thinking this way, he became even more eager to obtain his second Pokémon. “Is there a suitable place nearby? I’ll try my luck tonight.”
“There is,” Akemi Aki said. “Yoshiwara Shrine. I’ll take you there after dinner.”
“Uh, wait,” Akira said. “Mom, you’re going too?”
“Why can’t I?” Akemi Aki replied, sitting upright with a serious expression. “I’m a Jujutsu Sorcerer too.”
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“You can, of course you can.”
Akira shook his head decisively. He did not know why his mother was suddenly so enthusiastic, but it did not matter. In Tokyo of 2017, as long as they did not provoke certain people, there was no real danger, so it could be treated as an after-dinner walk.
“Little Sha, protect Mom.”
“Sha,” Gardevoir nodded quickly.
“Protect yourself first,” Akemi Aki said. “I’m a Grade Three Jujutsu Sorcerer no matter what, and you don’t even have Jujutsu.”
She knew she was being a bit childish, but after being overshadowed by her son so much, this was the only way she could regain some ground. “Alright, alright.”
Akira could tell by now. Smiling, he accepted his mother’s protection, though the look he gave Gardevoir did not change.
It was true that Akira did not have Jujutsu, from beginning to end. But that did not mean his own body lacked combat capability.
After all, could someone capable of training Pokémon with supernatural power truly be weak?
Yoshiwara was originally located in Nihonbashi Ningyocho, and after the Great Fire of Meireki it was moved to the Japan embankment in Taito Ward, Tokyo. When the great fire happened, many courtesans were burned to death or jumped into the water and drowned, leaving behind stories of female ghosts. It is said that going to Yoshiwara Shrine late at night can bring strange experiences, and it has become a small but known “spiritual site” in the Tokyo area.
Those female ghosts are Cursed Spirit. Cursed Spirit are special beings born from the gathering and manifestation of human negative emotions. The range of negative emotions is very wide.
Resentment, confusion, fear, and unwillingness from dying in a fire can form Cursed Spirit. Rumors, suspicion, and malice can also give birth to Cursed Spirit. The earliest Cursed Spirit at Yoshiwara Shrine came from the former cause, but a hundred years later, with even the location changed, their continued birth clearly comes from the latter.
The reason is simple. As long as people believe there are ghosts at Yoshiwara Shrine, ghosts will be born. “Cursed Spirit are things that work like this, driven by belief.”
The mother and son of the Ake Clan were standing on the embankment next to the shrine, enjoying the evening breeze. Although it was already early spring, the wind still carried a chill, but the family were not ordinary people and could endure it with ease. It fit the fiery nature people associated with Tokyo.
After listening to his mother’s explanation, Akira understood, but a new question came to mind. “If rumors can create Cursed Spirit, why not spread the truth and wipe out the Cursed Spirit here at the root?”
“Two reasons,” Akemi Aki replied. “It is easy to start rumors and hard to dispel them. Even if you clear out the Cursed Spirit in one place, you cannot erase all Cursed Spirit. As long as humans exist and negative emotions keep appearing, Cursed Spirit will never disappear. If they are gone here, they will be born elsewhere.”
“So the Jujutsu Sorcerer deliberately allow rumors to spread, to stabilize the creation of Cursed Spirit?”
“Correct. It is better to fix them in place and clear them regularly than let them appear at random. Most Jujutsu Sorcerer do exactly this, and it was the same when I was a student.”
One person was responsible for a large area, patrolling it on a schedule, not much different from traffic police or neighborhood officers. The work of a Jujutsu Sorcerer was plain and repetitive. It was steady rather than exciting.
“I see,” Akira said. He understood that the exciting lives of protagonists only happen because they stand at the center of events, not because all Jujutsu Sorcerer live that way. For him, a quieter routine was better, and raising Pokémon was much the same, grinding and training day after day.
It seemed that even after coming to Tokyo, his life would not change much. The story had not truly begun, and his strength was far from special grade, so he would lie low and keep leveling. That was enough for now.
“Little Sha, did you notice anything?” Akira asked.
“Sha~”
The sharp sound made the meaning obvious. Gardevoir was naturally sensitive to emotions, and to her, Cursed Spirit were like bright marks in the dark that she hated more than anything. With her master’s permission, she raised a small hand, ready to release her power.
“Wait,” Akemi Aki stopped them quickly. “This would draw too much attention. Rule one for Jujutsu Sorcerer is concealment. The existence of Jujutsu must not be known to ordinary people, to avoid panic and the growth of curses. Before any formal action, a ‘curtain’ must be set.”
As she spoke, Akemi Aki formed hand seals and began to chant. “Born from the dark, darker than black, filthy and impure, all be cleansed.” The clear moonlight was stained by dimness, spreading like ink in water.
The murkiness spread along the embankment as a boundary, cutting off the inside from the outside. The barrier known as a “curtain,” which isolated ordinary people, was complete. When she lowered her hands, Akemi Aki lifted her chest slightly, as if to say that she was capable too.
