Zoro and Geto got in the car with the assistant director to carry out their mission.
Geto glanced at Zoro sitting next to him.
"Zoro, are you really okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Being a sorcerer is no easy task. Even strong and talented people can run away in fear and disgust."
Zoro blinked.
"Disgust?"
"I mean the spirits. They look scary and grotesque. You have to keep facing them."
It was news to Zoro. With his Observation Haki, he could only sense presences and vague shapes, not seeing the spirits themselves.
'I knew the shapes I sensed with Haki were a bit peculiar.'
If Geto was saying this, they must really look grotesque. Anyway, Zoro told the truth.
"I can't see them."
"Huh?"
"I don't see the spirits."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Geto, testing him, pulled out a bright red moth-shaped spirit he had captured. The moth had the character for "evil" prominently displayed on its red body.
"What color is this? Guess right, and I'll give you 10,000 yen."
Zoro looked directly at where the moth was, but couldn't discern the color and frowned.
"I don't know. Gray?"
"It's red."
And a very vivid red at that.
"What's the shape?"
"Roughly... an insect with wings? Like a big butterfly."
He could recognize the shape at least. Geto realized. Well, otherwise it would be hard to fight.
"What do you think is drawn on the surface of the spirit?"
"Is there something?"
"A blue flower."
"Is that so?"
Geto, seeing that Zoro accepted his lie without a hint of doubt, realized that Zoro truly could not see what the spirits looked like.
"Isn't it inconvenient to fight when you can't see the spirits?"
"Not really."
I just need to turn on my Observation Haki as needed to sense their presence. It was the same in my previous life.
"By the way, what exactly are we going to do now?"
"Um, just a moment."
Geto rummaged through the documents the assistant director had handed him before they got in the car.
"First, the location is Gukoku Village in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture."
The village had a total population of 108, making it a small village.
The estimated grade of the spirit was nearly first class. The phenomena involved were the disappearances of women and the deaths of men.
From 1998 to 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006, incidents presumed to be vanishings occurred consistently in this village.
'All incidents occurred within a 50-meter radius of a cave regarded as sacred by the village.'
Geto's expression darkened as he read that among the victims, young women disappeared, and middle-aged women and men were found dead without their heads.
'To send a six-year-old on such a mission...'
The cruelty of the incident itself, the entanglement with the folklore of vanishings, and the need to stay in the village for several days to investigate the truth of the matter. It's a task that normally requires an experienced first-class sorcerer.
That's why they assigned Geto to it.
Confirming that the legend of vanishing was transmitted in the village, Geto asked Zoro.
"Zoro, do you know what a vanishing is?"
"I don't know."
"It's an old superstition. Literally, it's like people disappear as if hidden (vanished) by a deity."
Initially, it probably started as simple disappearances. In old times, guest deaths weren't uncommon, and they would have just buried them without knowing where or how to search.
But as such cases increased one by one, and people began to name and fear these as 'vanishings.'
The curse is drawn.
Awe, fear, distrust, resignation, injustice. Such negative emotions from people are indeed the source of the curse.
The vanishings that have persisted to modern times have been transmitted that way. An unfortunate accident from the distant past gets tangled and retold by people, becoming a more formidable curse.
Especially if it has been passed down as a legend within the community of the village over generations, the curse would have consistently grown stronger.
Zoro looked intrigued.
"So, are we going to kill a god?"
"Sorcerers might put it that way. Mostly, it's just spirits that cause vanishings. It's not that none of the spirits are named 'deity,' but to be that, they would have to be of special class."
Geto thought of 'Smallpox Deity,' one of the sixteen special-class spirits.
Zoro tilted his head curiously.
"Nearly first-class... Is that around Mei Mei's rank?"
"Senior Mei is first-class. And even at the same rank, spirits are much weaker than sorcerers."
"Really?"
Zoro sounded disappointed.
If Gojo had said this, Geto would have advised him to focus on saving rather than fighting. That's the duty of a sorcerer.
However, Geto couldn't say the same to Zoro. Zoro was a sorcerer, but he was too young to be burdened with such responsibilities.
Zoro looked up at the pensive Geto.
"Don't worry about it."
"I actually think it took quite a long time to get to this point." Zoro muttered.
In his previous life, those with formidable power were eventually forced to choose to become marines, pirates, one of the Seven Warlords, or revolutionaries when the time came.
For Zoro, that time had come once again.
"My father and Geto seem to think it's too early."
But Zoro didn't think it was too early. Even though he hadn't reached the same level of power as his previous life, he was strong enough to stand a fight against the powerful ones in this world, and above all, he was a reincarnate.
"If you combine my age in my previous life and this one, I'm older than my father."
Though it was only by a year or two.
"It does sound strange to say I'm older than my father."
Well, it wasn't the first time something strange had happened in Zoro's life. Zoro shrugged.
It was time for him to officially step into the world and decide what to do. Ultimately, the decision about what to do in that world was entirely up to Zoro.
"I hate being ordered around."
Except for Luffy's orders.
But this time, Zoro had a feeling that he had to go. That's why he had decided to go on the mission despite it being an order from above.
"I'll know once I get there."
Zoro closed his eyes. It was a good idea to rest until they arrived.
...
The incident occurred in Gukoku Village, which was so remote that cars couldn't enter, so the assistant director dropped them off about 1 km away from the village at a crossroads.
"I'll meet you here in three days at this time. If you haven't completed the mission by then or feel that you cannot resolve the incident, please let me know."
Geto acknowledged. Then, he made sure Zoro wouldn't lose his way as they entered Gukoku Village as directed by the assistant director.
At the entrance of the village, about ten villagers, including the village chief, were already gathered.
They hesitated upon seeing Geto and Zoro, then began to murmur among themselves.
"Are these the people sent to solve the vanishing?"
"Aren't they too young? One of them even looks under ten."
"They must be taking our village lightly. They probably think it doesn't matter if a few of us are harmed because we're few."
The village chief cleared his throat loudly, which quieted the murmuring somewhat.
"Are you… the ones sent to resolve this incident?"
"Yes, we are."
"But… there's a child among you."
The village chief asked cautiously, to which Geto responded with a smile, placing his hand on Zoro's shoulder.
"He's young, but stronger than anyone else. I believe he will definitely help end the tragic events you're experiencing."
"But he's still a child…"
"My daughter almost died in that incident! Don't you plan to bring more qualified people?"
"That's right. My grandson was hurt recently because of the curse!"
They needed to stay in the village for a few days and gather information about the spirits based on the villagers' statements, but the reaction was not at all welcoming.
"Now, please calm down."
Geto was about to try to pacify the villagers with a forced smile when Zoro wrinkled his nose at a smell he detected. He looked around at the people to locate the source of the smell. Not one or two, but three, four, five... six.
"There's a smell of blood."
"What?"
Zoro closed his eyes and spread his Observation Haki throughout the village.
Then, from beneath the ground, he sensed two particularly faint and weak presences.
"Underground."
Zoro, having opened his eyes, dashed past the villager standing in front of him. Geto, well aware that Zoro should not be left alone, was alarmed.
"Wait, Zoro!"
"Hey, where are you rushing into!"
"I'm sorry. He's a child that shouldn't be left alone."
"And that's why I'm asking, why bring a kid in the first place—"
Geto didn't wait to hear more and rushed after Zoro, knowing that once Zoro was out of sight, it could be disastrous.
Bang!
Zoro kicked open the door of the storage room in the house closest to the village entrance. Finding nothing, he kicked open another house's storage room door.
Bang! Bang bang!
After a few tries, there was a passage leading underground in the floor of one of the storages. Seeing the passage that led deep underground, Zoro twisted his lips.
"This is it."
There was a smell of blood coming from inside.
Geto, who had quickly followed, stood next to Zoro.
"Zoro, you can't just rush off like that."
"There's a smell of blood from below."
"Really?"
Could there be a spirit down there? But seeing candles at intervals along the passage suggested it was frequented more by humans than spirits.
While Geto was pondering, the village chief, who had run breathlessly to the spot, spoke.
"Oh, you really are different being the ones sent to resolve this. We have confined the cause of the vanishings down there."
"The cause?"
If it was the cause, did that mean a spirit? Had they confined a spirit? Did this village have a sorcerer?
The village chief nodded vigorously.
"Yes. But we're not sure if capturing it has ended the problem or how to deal with it without repercussions, so we sought help—"
Zip.
Zoro didn't wait to hear the rest and dashed into the passage.
After all, Zoro could distinguish between human and spirit presences.
He knew there was no spirit down there.
"..."
As soon as he stepped into the underground space at the end of the straight passage, Zoro could understand the intuition that had made him feel he had to come here.
"..."
Two girls, younger than Zoro but older than Megumi, appeared to be about the age of Tsumiki, were locked in an underground jail made of wooden bars.
The two, seemingly sisters, clung to each other to keep warm or for comfort.
Their filthy and emaciated bodies, toes frozen from the cold, bruises of vivid colors all over their bodies, and blood sprinkled on their worn clothes all spoke of blatant abuse.
Zoro clenched his fist tightly.
"Zoro, please, wait for—"
Geto, coming down the passage with the village chief belatedly, paused mid-sentence as his eyes fell on the two visibly abused girls.
Geto muttered with a hardened face.
"What is this..."
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