Hayami Minami was stunned.
What happened to me being the one to handle things?
What happened to you not having the qualities of a jujutsu sorcerer?
What happened to you prioritizing your own safety?
Most surprising of all, the child she had always considered "useless" turned out to be so strong.
"Akira, you—"
Akira gestured to Gardevoir, signaling her to continue cleaning up the cursed spirits without worry. Then, he turned to his mother with a slight smile. "I just didn't inherit jujutsu, but I do have basic cursed energy."
Cursed energy is the power source, and jujutsu is its manifestation. One is the foundation, and the other is the advanced technique.
While having advanced techniques is certainly advantageous, that doesn't mean the foundation can't be utilized.
Although the use of his cursed energy was limited, serving mainly to strengthen his body or inflict damage by direct infusion into a target, its simplicity made things straightforward—no need to worry about complex strategies, just a single path forward.
During his time with the Kamo family, Akira had learned the methods of training both cursed energy and his body, thanks to his position as the heir. Even after leaving, he never stopped practicing, as it was part of his larger plan.
Of course, with Gardevoir around, Akira didn't usually need to be on the front lines. Doing so would be risky and would reduce the experience Gardevoir gained.
However, if his physical form were too weak, it would hinder his Pokémon's performance. Some Pokémon, especially those with difficult personalities, might even disrespect a weak trainer and refuse to follow commands—something Akira absolutely didn't want.
Even putting all that aside, having a healthy body is the most valuable asset in life.
Whether making money, working hard, or even just enjoying life, a good body allows you to fully experience it all.
Imagine wanting to do something, only to feel constant back pain and fatigue, as if your body were completely drained. How would that feel?
As Hayami watched her son knock out a quasi-Grade 1 cursed spirit with one punch and saw Gardevoir effortlessly crush all the other spirits, she couldn't help but remark, "Letting you leave was the Kamo family's greatest mistake."
Akira simply smiled, saying nothing.
A mistake? Quite the opposite—it was the most correct decision the Kamo family ever made.
As long as the jujutsu world remains the way it is, the conflict between him and the Kamo family would only grow sharper over time. It was better to leave and keep their distance, allowing both sides to maintain some dignity.
The Zenin clan, one of the other Three Great Sorcerer Families, already had more than one example of this.
One of them should already be in Tokyo, attending Jujutsu High. Akira wondered when he might meet them.
While his thoughts drifted, Gardevoir finished wiping out the remaining cursed spirits, including the one in front of Akira that was barely clinging to life. Her level had now risen from 30 to almost 32.
Akira knew he had made the right choice—grinding in a higher-level area was definitely faster. Once he cleared out the spiritual sites throughout Tokyo, Gardevoir would be strong enough to face off against Special Grade curses.
"Mission complete. Let's go home and sleep. Big cities really are better than the countryside—lots of gains."
Akira bent down and picked up a fragment from the crack he had created with his punch.
Curious, Hayami leaned in. "What's that? Is it an item that can give Gardevoir a companion?"
"It's not that, but it's not far off either."
The item description before Akira's eyes clearly read: Z-Crystal Fragment (Fire).
While it wasn't the Psychic or Fairy type associated with Gardevoir, the presence of a Z-Crystal meant the existence of Z-Moves.
Once Gardevoir mastered a Z-Move, her combat strength would ascend to a whole new level.
From this, Akira began to speculate further: If Z-Moves existed, did that mean Mega Evolution and Gigantamax were possible too?
In the games, these were special features unique to different regions and generations, but in this real world, could they be combined? And if so, just how powerful could Gardevoir become?
The thought made Akira even more eager.
Decision made—he would cleanse all of Tokyo's cursed sites.
With newfound determination, Akira took Gardevoir's hand, and together they started their walk home.
Hayami dispelled the "Curtain" that had hidden their activities from ordinary people and followed them.
Though her son and Gardevoir were so strong that it made her feel a bit inadequate as their mother, the pride she felt far outweighed any insecurity.
With children like these, what more could she ask for?
The Minami family had no idea that just five minutes after they left, another group arrived at Yoshiwara Shrine.
Their group was similar in composition—one man, one woman, and one non-human entity.
However, the woman was younger, and the non-human was even less human-like—a panda.
As soon as they entered the shrine, the panda sniffed the air and spoke up. "Something's off. The smell of curses is faint, more like 'leftover filth,' and there's a trace of a 'Curtain.'"
"Are you saying our prey has been stolen?" asked the girl with the long weapon and single ponytail, raising an eyebrow.
"Salmon, salmon." The shortest boy pointed to a nearby unnatural crack in the embankment.
The girl gracefully leaped over to the crack, touching it and making a few motions before grinning. "No doubt about it. This was made by a human, using a blunt object or a fist. Whoever did it is an expert."
On the other side, the panda added, "Confirmed. There are no cursed spirits left. Someone beat us to it. What should we do?"
"Is that even a question? Call that dumb teacher and complain," the girl said with a wicked grin.
After the boy muttered "Katsuobushi," the girl pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker.
A moment later, a casual voice answered.
"Hi~ Hi~ This is your favorite teacher, Gojo, speaking. Let me guess, my lovely students have run into some trouble? Did the cursed spirits at Yoshiwara Shrine mutate, and you can't handle them? Don't worry, just call for my help, and Gojo Ultraman will arrive right away."
"No." The girl made a face of disgust and held the phone as far from herself as possible.
"Oh, so you knew the mission had issues, Gojo?" Panda teased.
"Nope, I was just guessing based on the fact that some people upstairs are pretty thick-headed."
The girl snorted, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, but she said, "Too bad. You guessed wrong. We don't know if the cursed spirits mutated because someone already came through and wiped them out before we got here."
"Someone came through? That's strange. This area was supposed to be under my jurisdiction," Gojo's voice sounded genuinely puzzled.
"You lazy bum, you're just dumping your task on us." The girl's expression turned fierce.
The boy added, "Bonito flakes."
"This mission was actually meant for you guys. It's a part of my loving guidance as a teacher. No need to thank me," Gojo said, shamelessly proud.
"Go die." The girl cursed.
"Oh no, I'm dead. Ah, but I've come back to life." Gojo was unfazed. "Well, since the mission is stolen, you should head back. I'll investigate who took the target—"
"I refuse," the girl cut him off bluntly. "Since we lost our prey, we'll investigate ourselves. This is our first independent mission."
"Agreed," the panda and boy nodded.
"Hey, what about my opinion?" Gojo protested.
"We're not listening to it," the girl replied with a smug smile.
"I figured you'd say that," Gojo sighed. "Fine, just be careful. Even though there weren't any high-level cursed spirits detected nearby, you never know with these things. Contact me if there's any trouble."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. You're so annoying." The girl hung up the phone, her gaze shifting in the direction Akira had gone. "Now, who could you be?"
PS: There isn't a strict standard for ranking jujutsu sorcerers, but here are some examples.
A Grade 1 sorcerer like Mei Mei soloed the Special Grade cursed spirit Smallpox Deity during the Shibuya Incident. Another Grade 1, Aoi Todo, defeated five Grade 1 cursed spirits and one Special Grade during the Night Parade Incident, all without using his cursed technique. Mei Mei once said that Maki should be promoted to Grade 2, and Miwa also noted that Maki could easily defeat a Grade 2.
So, it's fair to say that sorcerers generally handle curses one grade above their own.