A guest arrived at the Folklore Research Institute.
"Gulp, gulp, burp~"
"You're already so old, drinking every day. Be careful, your body won't be able to take it."
Eichi looked speechlessly at the old man behind him, who was carrying a sake gourd.
"Hahaha, when you grow up, you'll understand the beauty of alcohol."
Naobito laughed heartily, patting Eichi on the shoulder.
"I don't think I'll ever understand it in this lifetime."
To be honest, Eichi had no interest in alcohol, even across two lifetimes.
The number of times he voluntarily drank in his previous life could be counted on one hand.
He only drank when friends needed to vent or when something happened at home.
All other times, it was just for social obligations.
Bang, bang, bang.
A series of gunshots drew Naobito's attention.
The two followed the sound to the training ground.
In the field, five people were practicing target shooting with firearms.
"Oh? Is this your new Kukuru Squad?"
"They're not called the Kukuru Squad."
"Haha, same difference. So, how effective are those things now?"
Naobito asked with curiosity.
"They can consistently exorcise Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, but the cost is still too high. So, for now, they're mainly used to exorcise Grade 3 Cursed Spirits."
"Hmm, not bad."
Naobito watched the training closely.
As the most open-minded head of the Zen'in clan, Naobito keenly noticed something.
The conservative atmosphere in the jujutsu world probably wouldn't last much longer.
Everyone already knew what kind of person Satoru, the next head of the Gojo clan, was.
And Eichi, who intended to tear down and rebuild the Zen'in clan, was also preparing to reshape the jujutsu world.
In a few decades, once Satoru and Eichi had cultivated their own forces, it would be time for a revolution.
Naobito wanted to understand Eichi's ideas ahead of time.
"Are you planning to have these non-sorcerers exorcise Cursed Spirits in the future?"
"For Grade 3 and Grade 4, yes. But Grade 1 and Grade 2 still need jujutsu sorcerers."
In multiple previous experiments, Eichi found that even with excellent equipment, ordinary people's physical capabilities made it very difficult to handle Grade 2 Cursed Spirits.
The reason was simple—the difference in overall quality was too large.
Grade 1 Cursed Spirits were already far beyond ordinary humans in terms of speed and strength, not to mention their various abilities.
It was hard for a regular person to even react to a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit's attack.
Even with the most advanced lab-developed equipment, it was useless if they couldn't land a hit.
They couldn't just deploy large-scale destructive weapons in the city. Besides, the Institute couldn't produce those at the moment anyway.
"There aren't many jujutsu sorcerers who can handle Grade 1 Cursed Spirits."
Naobito casually remarked.
Eichi understood it was a reminder not to ignore the average jujutsu sorcerers.
If non-sorcerers took over all the Grade 3 and 4 exorcism jobs, which most sorcerers relied on to make a living, it would cause a major backlash.
"What's the current population of Japan?"
"Hmm, how much was it again? Over 100 million, I guess."
"Hmm. The increase in population and the growing social issues have led to the birth of more Cursed Spirits. It's already too much for traditional jujutsu sorcerers to handle, and it's only going to get worse."
Eichi turned to Naobito.
"Jujutsu High has always been sending fourteen- and fifteen-year-old kids onto the battlefield to fight Cursed Spirits. As far as I know, the casualty rate among jujutsu sorcerers, especially civilian ones, is extremely high."
Most of the powerful Cursed Spirits were taken care of by Satoru and Suguru, yet the jujutsu world still suffered from a severe manpower shortage.
"Besides, these new tools aren't just for ordinary people. Jujutsu sorcerers can use them too. Isn't your Projection Sorcery a pretty trendy form of jujutsu?"
Projection Sorcery—breaking a second into 24 frames for high-speed movement. Enemies struck by it also had to move at the same trajectory or be frozen for one second.
It was a little like those old 24-frames-per-second animations.
"And the principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High is also quite trendy."
"Hahaha, true."
Naobito took another sip from his sake gourd.
Eichi's goal was to change the jujutsu world for the better.
This also showed some consideration for the elders of the jujutsu world, which was a good thing.
Even if it wasn't fully comprehensive, the elders could help smooth things over.
What they feared was someone who would forcefully push their ideals without warning, leading to bloodshed.
Ding-a-ling.
The phone rang.
Eichi gestured to Naobito, then answered the call.
"Hello, Minako-san."
It was Fushiguro Minako.
"Hmm? You're saying Toji hasn't been home in nearly half a year?"
From her, Eichi got an unexpected revelation.
It turned out Toji had vanished after saying he was going out to work. He hadn't been home in nearly half a year, and he hadn't sent any money back either.
Worst of all, Minako had no way to contact him or find out what was going on.
"Alright, I understand. I'll help you look for Toji."
Eichi hung up.
From her tone, Eichi could already guess something. Like maybe she had run out of money.
After all, resources were tight in Japan, the cost of living was high, and with two children to raise, Minako couldn't exactly work in peace.
"Old man, do you know where Toji is?"
Eichi turned to Naobito.
"Toji?"
Naobito pulled out his phone and made a call.
Not long after, a text came in.
"Here. This is where Toji is. If you hurry, you might catch him."
The address led to a club.
But as Eichi stood at the entrance, doubt filled his mind.
Was this place even a legitimate business?
He slipped the waiter a tip and was led to a private room.
Something felt even more off.
Knock, knock, knock.
Eichi knocked on the door.
He didn't dare barge in. Who knew what he might see?
"Please come in."
Hearing that, Eichi opened the door and stepped in.
Such great evil.
The woman leaning on Toji's shoulder, dressed luxuriously and clinging to him like a delicate bird, made Eichi feel like he was staring at a whole new creature.
Was this woman a dairy cow in her past life?
"You are?"
The wealthy woman's eyes lit up as soon as she saw Eichi.
"Hello, I'm here to find Toji."
Eichi felt something was off and instinctively wanted to back away.
"Ah, it's you, kid."
"Toji-kun, who's this child?"
"Someone I know. Can you wait for me a bit?"
"Of course. We can get to know each other later."
"Mmm. We'll talk soon."
With that, Toji got up and followed Eichi outside the club.
"Hey, Toji, are you working as a host now?"
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)