"A designated mission for Artoria and me?"
Eichi, who had just woken up, looked at Masamichi with a puzzled expression.
"That's right. This incident has already resulted in 10 missing fishermen, and there are suspected Special Grade Cursed Spirits involved."
Another Special Grade.
Eichi's eyelids drooped slightly as he started to think.
Just moments ago, he had received a message from Emiya saying a Special Grade Cursed Spirit had appeared in the Nagasaki area.
A coincidence? Definitely not.
Should he refuse?
No. He had never refused previous designated missions. Refusing this one would only make it obvious he knew something.
He could only adapt to the situation.
Besides, he had already made preparations.
He opened his eyes.
"I understand. I'll leave once I change my clothes."
"Mm."
Masamichi nodded, then left.
However, not long after Eichi departed, Masamichi received another designated mission, this time for the students of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
And it wasn't from the Jujutsu Headquarters, but a direct designation from Master Tengen.
"Satoru and Suguru?"
Suddenly, aside from Shoko, who rarely went on missions, all the other students had been assigned?
And they were being scattered to various locations?
Masamichi sensed something was wrong.
While it wasn't unusual for students to receive missions, it was rare for them to be designated individually, and assignments almost never stacked like this.
Normally, Eichi and the others were sent out together.
But this time, two Special Grade Cursed Spirits—rare in ordinary cases—had appeared suddenly.
Moreover, two of the three missions also involved Curse Users.
"But with their strength, even a Special Grade Cursed Spirit should be manageable."
A faint smile appeared on Masamichi's face.
Although he constantly worried about these students, each one was exceptionally skilled.
One thing was clear.
His students were strong. Geniuses capable of carrying the future of the Jujutsu world.
Whoosh.
The gymnasium door was pushed open, and the scene inside immediately made Masamichi frown.
Inside, two heads were almost pressed together, one above the other.
And they belonged to Satoru and Suguru.
"How long are you going to keep messing around?"
His authoritative tone carried a hint of helplessness.
"There's a mission I need to give you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, both Satoru and Suguru showed open looks of displeasure.
They'd be thrilled if it interrupted class, but today was a day off.
"You got a problem?"
"No." x2
The two replied in perfect unison.
Masamichi turned around, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Was it really a good idea for Tengen to assign these two? Then again, if it was them...
The three of them talked as they walked, soon arriving at the classroom.
"To both guard and assassinate a little girl? Are you senile?"
The contradiction in the mission details made Satoru question it loudly.
If they were supposed to assassinate her, why guard her?
And the target was a little girl?
Soon, after Masamichi's explanation and Suguru's summary, Satoru understood the situation.
Tengen, the foundation of the Jujutsu world, was no longer able to maintain a physical body due to aging. To prevent Tengen from evolving in a direction unfavorable to the Jujutsu world, he needed to assimilate with a star plasma vessel to reset his physical form and regain youth.
"I see. So instead of evolving into a Machinedramon, they want to stop him from becoming a SkullGreymon. Back to Botamon it is."
Satoru summarized it in his own unique way.
"You can understand it like that."
Suguru was clearly stunned by his friend's bizarre logic.
"The problem is, the girl set to assimilate with Tengen has been targeted."
Masamichi opened a laptop and introduced the known information.
"This mission is critical. If it fails, the consequences will shake the stability of normal society. Both of you, take it seriously."
Upon hearing the mission's importance, both their expressions turned serious.
Only tasks of this scale could hold their interest.
Meanwhile, Eichi and Artoria were on their way to the mission site by car.
This time, the Assistant Supervisor in charge wasn't Zen'in Shuji.
That alone told Eichi something.
Since he enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Shuji had always been the one assigned to his missions.
At this point, Shuji was practically his exclusive butler.
Yet now, for such a high-level mission involving a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Shuji was replaced by someone far less capable and barely known.
'Are they trying to manipulate my judgment with false information? Or planning a sneak attack from behind?'
Eichi glanced at the Assistant Supervisor driving.
'Too weak. At best, they might use a pre-set barrier to try and trap me.'
'If that's the case, no need to worry. I doubt any barrier could withstand Artoria's Noble Phantasm.'
'That just leaves tampering with information, then.'
This sort of tactic wasn't unusual. In a company, when a problem arose, wasn't it always the intern who got blamed?
"Tell me the details of this mission."
"Yes."
The Assistant Supervisor immediately responded.
"Initially, several islanders went missing. Then, the police officers sent to investigate also lost contact…"
She reported in detail, going over the entire chain of events.
"As more people went missing, a 'Window' stationed in the police department took notice and went to investigate. That's when it was confirmed to be the work of Cursed Spirits."
After speaking, the Assistant Supervisor let out a sigh of relief.
Being thorough also meant being long-winded.
"How did the 'Window' determine there might be a Special Grade Cursed Spirit involved?"
That was what Eichi cared about most.
"It's said the report came from an Assistant Supervisor dispatched by Jujutsu Headquarters. That Assistant Supervisor was very capable…"
The driver had clearly opened the floodgates and started babbling about all sorts of rumors.
'It's said...'
Even vague phrases like that were passed on as intel to a Jujutsu Sorcerer about to step onto the battlefield.
Confirmed. This girl was a new "intern."
The Assistant Supervisor's suspicion was ruled out. Now, he just needed to focus on the Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
There were still two days until the star plasma vessel's assimilation.
What kind of Cursed Spirit gave the mastermind such confidence to trap him for that long?
(To be continued.)