The sorcery world was turned upside down.
The Sorcerer Killer's rampage resulted in the dissolution of four curse user organizations, and even independent curse users were wiped out. The higher-ups were in trouble, trying to handle the aftermath away from the eyes of non-sorcerers, dealing with police and media to keep things quiet.
However, the Tokyo Jujutsu High, at the very center of this incident, was as peaceful as the eye of a storm.
Zoro was sitting with Megumi and Tsumiki asleep beside him under a falling maple tree at the school, avoiding the sunlight. The breeze was cool. Zoro liked autumn.
"Yaa— Marimo!"
A vein popped on Zoro's forehead. From a distance, Gojo Satoru approached him. Zoro gritted his teeth.
"Don't call me that."
"What's wrong with calling a marimo, marimo?"
"Hey!"
Gojo Satoru chuckled and sat down beside the sleeping Megumi.
"Your dad really made a spectacle, didn't he? At least in Tokyo, the curse users have dried up. Including the four curse user organizations and independent curse users, nearly 100 were killed, right?"
The Sorcerer Killer, known only by name in the shadows of the sorcery world, became a celebrity known by all within the sorcery world due to this incident.
Having killed so many curse users, the nickname Sorcerer Killer had half-shifted to Curse User Killer as a bonus.
Even some of the higher-up sorcerers declared sudden retirements and began seclusion. The official reason was old age, but Gojo Satoru wasn't naive enough to take that at face value.
'It must be related to what the gorilla mentioned yesterday.'
Despite the constant talk of rotten oranges, who knew they were connected to curse user communities? Gojo Satoru was cynical.
Meanwhile, Toji, in keeping his promise not to meddle with the Gojo family, didn't touch them. There was a sense of not giving any reason to interfere with the Gojo family and the higher-ups, considering their close yet strained relations.
'If he hadn't made a pact with me not to touch the Gojo family, the gorilla might have wiped out the higher-ups or the Gojo family as well.'
Gojo casually shared such information with Zoro. Listening to the disorganized information, Zoro's face remained impassive, even dozing off at the end.
"Aren't you surprised?"
"Not really."
Zoro yawned. He had expected the culprits would be doomed once Toji took action alone. In fact, the number of curse users Toji eliminated was less than Zoro had anticipated.
'Only about a hundred.'
In his past life, it would have been thousands. It felt like a much more peaceful world compared to his previous life.
Gojo made a fuss.
"You'd think a little kid like you would go 'Gasp! How could my dad! Scary! A murderer!' and run away."
"Well."
If one of us were to run away from the other, it'd probably be my dad rather than me. Zoro thought to himself.
By now, he wasn't shocked by murder, whether he was the one killing or Toji was. It wasn't as if the world was turned upside down; it was just retribution against those who crossed Zoro.
Not getting much of a reaction from Zoro, Gojo crossed his arms behind his head and sprawled out his legs as he sat down.
"You're no fun."
"..."
"The people in the sorcery world are all scared, calling your dad the crazy curse user killer. Doesn't that interest you?"
"It doesn't matter to me what people call me or my dad."
Whether a good person or a bad one. He had never been swayed by such labels, not in his past life nor in this one. Being pointed at or treated as a villain was something he had always experienced.
Toji was Zoro's family, and as such, whatever he was called wasn't Zoro's concern.
Gojo tilted his head in confusion.
"Don't like being called a good person?"
"It's not that. It's just that being called a good person makes my skin crawl. I'm not a hero."
Not that he hated heroes, but Zoro himself didn't want to be one. Heroes are those who share their liquor with others. Why give away precious liquor? It's for him to drink.
Thus, Zoro had no intention of demanding others to be heroes or good people. He wasn't one to begin with.
Gojo looked at Zoro for a moment before shrugging.
"Well, I don't mind being treated as a hero. But it's exhausting, you know? All that talk about power comes with responsibility, duty, and whatnot."
I hate moralizing, Gojo grumbled. Zoro glanced at him and said,
"You don't ignore all that either."
If he really wanted to go off without any duty or responsibility, there was no need for him to form a pact with Toji about bindings and such. He could have just watched Toji sweep everything away, whether it involved the Gojo family or anything else.
The fact that he didn't meant he was taking on at least some responsibility as the head of the Gojo family.
Even now, look. Despite talking about fun, marimo, and whatnot, Gojo Satoru has been quite diligently by their side while Toji was away. And when he unavoidably had to leave, he entrusted their protection to Geto Suguru.
Gojo Satoru declared arrogantly,
"Well, that's because I'm the strongest."
The talk of duty and responsibility might be bothersome, but he could bear a little. After all, with the power he possessed, he could easily carry such responsibilities.
"You too, right? None of the non-sorcerers present at the scene where you dealt with the special grade curse died."
"Is that so?"
At the time, he might have been so focused on the curse that he didn't notice. If people survived, that's not a bad thing. Zoro stopped his thoughts there.
"If someone other than your sibling had been attacked by that curse, would you have just watched?"
"No."
"Huh. Is that a sense of morality? A sense of justice?"
"It's because it feels wrong."
Women, children, civilians, or anyone in a weakened state unable to fight back. Leaving such people to die just leaves a bad taste.
That was the only reason. To avoid feeling uncomfortable. It wasn't out of some noble intent to save lives.
Gojo Satoru looked intently at Zoro. He could've dressed up his intentions a bit, but he bluntly said it was "because it feels wrong." It proved he didn't care in the slightest how others saw him.
"You're crazy."
"Ah?!"
"That's a compliment. After all, all sorcerers are pretty crazy."
Satoru circled his temple with his index finger.
Geto approached Gojo's side.
"Satoru, it's not nice to tease a child."
"Hmph, I don't like it. This kid is totally crazy."
"I'll apologize on his behalf then. Zoro. It's just how Satoru is."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Amid their bickering, Zoro suddenly turned his head. Far away, he saw Toji approaching.
In the blink of an eye, Toji was right in front of them, embracing the three children. Zoro naturally wrapped his arms around Toji's back in return. Half-asleep Megumi and Tsumiki, not fully grasping the situation, slightly opened their eyes before falling back asleep.
Zoro distanced himself from Toji and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No."
"I heard you made quite the scene."
"Who told you that?"
Quick to find the culprit, Toji glared fiercely at Satoru.
"Heh, what are you going to do about it? Gorilla, want to go a round? Do you know who took good care of your Marimo?"
"...Marimo?"
"Yeah, that thing. It was a bit different from a tennis ball, what was it... right, Marimo."
Zoro saw Toji's body subtly shaking with suppressed laughter and gritted his teeth.
"Don't laugh."
"So, our Marimo, you been good?"
"Are you going to call me that too?!"
Toji chuckled at Zoro's angry retort.
"Is everything taken care of?"
"For now."
Not knowing how deeply the Gojo family and the upper echelons were connected, Toji didn't directly interfere with the upper echelons, just lightly threatened them. But everything else was dealt with.
It wasn't that he lacked the power to sweep away the upper echelons. There was also the pact not to touch the Gojo family, and handling the aftermath would have been too bothersome.
"If the upper echelons were completely swept away, the sorcery headquarters would collapse."
And the collapse of the headquarters would mean the collapse of the sorcery world. All sorcerer assignments and compensations are managed through the headquarters.
Although the higher-ups are corrupt to the core, the sorcery headquarters, along with the Ainu sorcery union, is one of only two sorcerer organizations supported by the Japanese government. If such places were to disappear overnight, the world would plunge into chaos. It goes without saying that Toji would be treated as a traitor.
"At least, not in Japan."
That wasn't the outcome Toji wanted. It would be hard for the kids to move to another country at such a young age and adapt.
"You did well."
Toji felt something catch in his throat at Zoro's simply offered words. He couldn't bring himself to say it was nothing.
"Don't get hurt, son."
If something went wrong with you, this time, I really wouldn't be able to come back.
Toji embraced Zoro as if clinging to him. Zoro, accustomed to it, patted Toji's back. Satoru watched the scene and made a retching noise.
"The father and son are both crazy."
"Haah, Satoru."
Geto Suguru shook his head in disbelief. Even with summer over and heat exhaustion unlikely, he wondered when that guy would ever become sensible.
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