Chapter 15: The Two from the Technical College

Chapter Fifteen:

Inside the sweet shop.

The originally kind shop manager’s expression suddenly darkened upon hearing Satoru Gojo’s offhand complaint. “Sir, your words are extremely disrespectful! These sweets were all purchased by a distinguished customer of our shop!”

“Huh? What did I say that was wrong… huh!”

Suguru Geto, who had just stepped inside a moment later, quickly covered Gojo’s mouth to stop him from spouting nonsense. Embarrassed, he turned to the manager and explained, “Ha, haha… he’s not all there, sorry.”

The manager’s expression softened upon hearing this. “I see.”

Gojo, annoyed, removed Geto’s hand from his mouth and protested, “What do you mean ‘not all there’? I’m not sick…”

Geto’s mouth twitched. “Enough, Gojo. If you keep talking like that, you’ll get beaten up!”

“Huh? Geto, your concern is totally unnecessary. Even if they teamed up, they couldn’t harm a single hair on my head!”

Geto frowned. “Who said I’m worried about you? Don’t get narcissistic, Gojo! I’m just afraid I’ll get dragged into trouble and get hit!”

“Huh? You’re afraid of that? As expected, I’m still the strongest.”

“You jerk! I should really keep my distance from you!”

Geto angrily swung a fist toward Gojo’s smug face.

A faint ripple appeared in the space.

As expected, the fist stopped mere millimeters from Gojo’s face, unable to get any closer. That tiny distance seemed to contain the entire universe.

“Heh heh, Geto, you can’t hit me!”

Geto retracted his fist, clearly annoyed. “If you’re so capable, then stop being so shameless!”

Gojo continued his teasing grin, “No way! No way!”

Just as the two were about to start fighting, the manager, having witnessed their childish bickering, finally lost patience and issued an ultimatum: “Gentlemen, we are closing soon. If there’s nothing else, please leave.”

“Sorry, we’ll be leaving now.” Geto, belatedly realizing there were others present, blushed with embarrassment and instinctively grabbed Gojo’s shoulder, but the latter remained unmoved.

Geto urged, “Gojo, let’s go. You promised you’d come with me to this sweet shop, so you owe me in return—you have to come with me to subdue a Grade One Cursed Spirit. So stop embarrassing us here.”

Unexpectedly, Gojo refused. “We can put that off for now. That cursed spirit only comes out at night anyway.”

“Hm?”

Geto sensed something was off.

Though Gojo usually seemed carefree and undisciplined, he was very reliable when it came to serious matters. For him to actively refuse a cursed spirit exorcism, there had to be a special reason.

Knowing Gojo’s personality well, Geto immediately guessed, “Gojo, you found something?”

There was no way he was just throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get any sweets.

“Ah! Geto actually guessed it—no wonder you’re my closest friend! We’re truly on the same wavelength,” Gojo said smugly, causing Geto to feel a little queasy. He fought the urge to retort, “Enough of the horror stories, just tell me what you discovered!”

“All right, all right.” Gojo cleared his throat and put on a serious face. “I think the last person who bought all those sweets was very suspicious. Let’s follow him.”

“Huh? Are you kidding me, you idiot?”

Geto was so angry he wanted to hit him again but was stopped by Gojo first. “Geto, remember? I only came here because I saw a post online recommending this place.”

Geto ignored the comment and snapped, “Yeah, you hopeless sweet tooth! I hope your teeth all get rotten and fall out!”

“You’re so cruel, Geto! Whatever, the invincible Mr. Gojo won’t argue. Let’s get back to business!”

Geto wanted to say he didn’t want to hear this, but Gojo wasn’t asking for his opinion. He went on, “I decided to come here and arrived within half an hour. Before then, the shop was packed. Even if a big customer bought all the sweets, packing and transporting them takes time, right?”

“You mean…”

Putting aside Gojo’s sweet obsession, Geto analyzed the clue and concluded, “A sorcerer skilled in spatial techniques bought all the sweets?”

“Exactly! Geto, you’re keeping up with my brilliant mind!”

Geto rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t it just be a bunch of people hired to carry them away?”

“That’s impossible! I saw it myself!” Gojo pointed at his Six Eyes. “I saw lingering energy around here—and it looks very familiar.”

Hearing this, Geto believed Gojo was right that the buyer was a sorcerer. After all, Gojo’s Six Eyes, known as the Divine Eyes, could clearly detect cursed energy residue. What intrigued him most was Gojo’s last remark.

“Familiar?”

Gojo said excitedly, “It’s the guy we met yesterday at the station—the one who smashed half a pillar.”

Geto didn’t understand his reasoning. “So? He spent money buying sweets. What’s the problem?”

Gojo exaggerated, “That’s a huge problem! If he buys all the sweets in the world, I’d die without any sweets to eat! Maybe he’s trying to kill me without bloodshed using this method! How cruel!”

Geto was speechless.

“That’s the dumbest reason ever! You won’t die just because you don’t eat sweets!”

Geto sarcastically said, “You’re just upset he didn’t save you a piece of cake, right?”

“Am I really that petty?” Gojo immediately denied it. “The real problem is that he probably has spatial techniques.”

“Because throughout Japan, no, the whole world, I haven’t heard of a sorcerer awakening spatial techniques.”

“Exactly…”

Gojo said excitedly, “A wild sorcerer who mastered the extremely rare spatial technique in the jujutsu world, and maybe even a bit of mental manipulation magic! Imagine if we bring him back to the school—Principal Yaga would reward us handsomely!”

“Wait, hold on. Before that, how did you figure out the mental manipulation magic?”

Before Gojo could answer, Geto guessed, “You saw it again?”

Gojo nodded, pointing to the shop staff. “Right! They all have lingering cursed energy! If you don’t believe me, try asking them about that big customer’s details. You definitely—absolutely—won’t get any information!”

“Is that so?” Geto skeptically looked up and asked the manager, “Excuse me, could you tell us what that big customer looked like?”

The manager paused, instinctively wanting to refuse, and tried to recall. “Sorry, that’s customer privacy… Wait, was there a customer just now? I don’t remember.”

Geto asked the other staff a simpler question: “Was the customer male or female?”

They asked around but couldn’t get a single clue.

Gojo crossed his arms with pride. “See? I told you I was right!”

“Ugh… why are you so proud? Shouldn’t you be worried? If someone had such terrifying power and used it for evil, no one would be able to detect it.”

Unlike the thick-skinned Gojo, Geto was more sensitive and thought further ahead, even contemplating how to prevent such a person from causing trouble.

Gojo was indifferent. “It’s fine! After all, I’m the strongest! He can’t hypnotize me!”

Geto had no mood to argue his self-bestowed title and said, “We have to find him immediately! You have a way, right?”

Gojo was pleased by the certainty. “Of course! I caught the trace of his cursed energy. If we follow it, we’ll find him!”

Geto said seriously, “Well done, Gojo! Lead the way. Let’s find him and bring him back to the school!”

Gojo nodded seriously as well. “Mm-hmm! But first, we have to loot all his sweets!”

Geto was speechless. You’re still hung up on him not saving you a piece of cake, aren’t you?

“Forget it, let’s focus on the task. Gojo, lead the way!”

Geto was troubled but helpless, reluctantly following Gojo on their hunt. Little did he know, the person they were tracking had already sensed their inquiry the moment he was questioned.

In the outskirts of Chiba Prefecture, in front of a four-story apartment building, Ryoumei Kisaragi suddenly stopped climbing the stairs.

Conan, beside him, looked puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

The barrier he casually set up had been triggered, meaning someone was snooping around. Was it the group hunting Zenin Shinji and Mei?

Countless thoughts flashed through Ryoumei’s mind in an instant, but his face showed no sign of concern. “Nothing, just a little slip-up. Conan, you go upstairs first. I can’t pinpoint which one is Shinji Zenin’s family, but you look for him. Only Mei is home. You two play together.”

“Okay.” Conan didn’t hesitate and started climbing the stairs.

Ryoumei called out to him, “Wait, take this.”

He placed a jet-black bracelet in Conan’s hand.

“A bracelet?” Conan asked curiously.

“It’s a makeshift mustard seed bracelet. Inside, I put some sweets and curry I bought. If you think ‘open’ or ‘close’ in your mind, it will open or close. You and Mei play first—I’ll be back soon.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Conan’s attention was instantly captured by the bracelet’s magical power as he headed upstairs without looking back.

After Conan left, Ryoumei’s expression darkened. He raised his hand, and a vast spiritual energy surged from within him, instantly weaving a magnificent patterned barrier in the sky that enveloped the entire apartment from top to bottom.

After setting up the hidden spiritual array to conceal all traces, Ryoumei didn’t stop. He released his divine perception, confirming every movement within a ten-mile radius was in his sight. Then he tore open space and pulled out Etsu Mae, who had been left behind at the office—

“Whoever dares covet my child and partner…”

“Will only meet death.”