After mentally preparing herself for the stardom she never asked for, Mahina returned to the desolate domain and cast her gaze into the unfathomable darkness where the Herrscher of Sentience was preparing the promotional materials for her debut as an idol.
Noticing Geto's presence, Mahina let out a sigh of relief and greeted him with a casual, "Afternoon, Geto. Haven't Jogo and the others come back yet?"
"Not yet. Lately, Jogo's been obsessed with some pipe he saw—can't get it out of his head."
Geto's plan, of course, hadn't been discussed with the Herrscher of Sentience. Though Mahina knew they were up to something shady, she had no intention of prying.
She had no passion for being an idol. As a curse born from humanity's negative emotions, humans were inherently repulsive in her eyes.
The idea of trying to please them was laughable.
Though she hadn't seen much combat yet, she'd killed plenty of humans. To her, they were little more than garbage, nowhere near as relatable as Jogo.
The main reason she put up with the Herrscher of Sentience's orders here was simple: if she didn't play along, the Herrscher of Sentience might restrict all their freedoms. That would be a disaster.
So, someone had to step up and act obedient, to stay on the Herrscher of Sentience's good side.
That way, instead of the Herrscher of Sentience facing off against all the curses and restricting everyone equally, she'd focus her "attentions" on those who followed her.
The Herrscher of Sentience called it "rehabilitation," but to Mahina, it was pure torment.
"Is that so? I wonder if he'll come to my debut performance in a couple of days," Mahina said, trying to buy time and avoid further "training."
But the Herrscher of Sentience cut her off: "Alright, you're my top idol! Why waste time chatting with someone who's clearly got a few screws loose?"
She was referring to the stitches on Geto Suguru's forehead. In the Herrscher of Sentience's words, if your head's been cracked open like that, of course you're not all there.
Mahina immediately fell silent. Though she wasn't fond of working under the Herrscher of Sentience, she didn't have any goodwill toward Geto either.
Watching the Herrscher of Sentience berate him was just fine by her.
"Just exchanging pleasantries between comrades," Geto replied.
He wasn't surprised by the Herrscher of Sentience's disdain.
He knew full well none of these curses held any real fondness for him—even Mahina, who usually seemed to get along with him, was just putting on a show.
The moment they thought he was a threat or no longer useful, they'd turn on him in a heartbeat.
But… he was no different. He saw these curses as tools, planning to absorb them with his Cursed Spirit Manipulation once they'd been worn down by jujutsu sorcerers, turning them into his shikigami.
And the one he coveted most was this heavenly curse with gray hair and red eyes.
He still didn't know this curse's technique, but given Jogo's personality, the fact that he'd openly admitted he couldn't handle her—aside from them both being curses—meant there had to be a significant power gap.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation was strong, but Geto knew he could, at best, fight Jogo to a standstill. It wouldn't be an easy win.
By that logic, against this heavenly Cursed Spirit, he stood no chance.
By Geto's estimate, this curse had likely reached the level of that mysterious curse hidden by the higher-ups at Jujutsu High.
Though its strength was unknown, judging by the discussions at the Kyoto sister-school exchange event, it should be on par with the special-grade curses.
Technique compatibility could easily decide a battle, but even if his jujutsu was countered, in a life-or-death fight, Geto didn't think he'd lose to a special-grade. That was why the higher-ups kept that curse sealed away, fearing it might clash with him and Satoru Gojo.
If the heavenly curse was that powerful, then once they'd weakened each other, he could swoop in and claim both powers for himself.
Thinking this far, Geto felt a headache coming on. He closed his eyes, smiling faintly as he watched the Herrscher of Sentience resume Mahina's "training," while waiting for his part-time informant to bring him news.
Three hours later, feeling his phone vibrate, Geto curled his lips into a smile—only for it to freeze as he read the message.
Mahina noticed his expression.
She knew Jogo and Hanami were out today, up to something with Geto. Seeing his reaction, she initially thought things hadn't gone well. But his next words left her stunned.
"Hanami's dead. Jogo's been captured by the Jujutsu Headquarters."
"What…?" Mahina's voice was laced with disbelief. Even the lurking Dagon surfaced.
The Herrscher of Sentience, however, was just exasperated. She'd always known about their little schemes behind her back—Mahina's included.
Did they really think they could outmaneuver her, the Herrscher of Sentience of Sentience, in games of wit and deception? It was almost laughable.
She was genuinely annoyed. She hadn't harbored much malice toward these four curses—well, not entirely, but at least she hadn't wanted them dead. She'd even been planning to show them a better path.
If you asked her, "What about all the humans they killed?"—well, tough luck. They hadn't been around when she was.
Since her arrival, these curses hadn't killed a single person. And if you argued that past killings made reconciliation impossible—well, in conflicts between species, reconciliation never hinged on who killed whom.
If you dug into that, there'd be no peace to speak of.
Why did species reconciliation ever happen? Because the conflict wasn't driven by malice but by inherent opposition.
Curses were beings born from human malice—it was in their nature. Humans killed curses to protect themselves; curses needed humans to exist. They were ecologically opposed, with curses needing humans, but not the other way around.
But the Herrscher of Sentience could change that. She didn't care about species—after all, she wasn't human herself, though her friends were, so she leaned toward their side.
Giving curses a chance was also giving humans a chance.
If curses could exist without killing and held no malice toward humans, then humans wouldn't need to fight to the death anymore. Seemed like a win-win.
But more importantly… there was Dark Amber. The Lahmu shared some similarities with curses, though from a human perspective, curses were arguably worse.
Lahmu killed humans and other sentient life out of Tiamat's hatred, not out of necessity.
Curses, however, needed human malice to survive. If even curses could be shown to coexist with humans, then maybe that old fossil wouldn't cling so tightly to Dark Amber's nature.
But… with the curses pulling stunts like this, she could only sigh. She'd given them a chance, and they'd blown it.
Taking in everyone's expressions—especially the Herrscher of Sentience's disappointed look—Geto assumed she was the type who hoped for peace and coexistence between humans and curses.
After all, breaking such peace would surely anger her, since curses always prioritized human suffering.
So, he smiled and said, "The jujutsu sorcerer who killed our comrade Hanami and captured Jogo is named Seele Vollerei."
He then tried to stir the Herrscher of Sentience's hostility toward Seele: "Not only that, but Seele Vollerei used some unknown method to enslave the curse within her, turning it into a mindless puppet. For a sentient curse—one of your own kind—that's an utterly cruel insult."
Senti: ...
'You're really trying to play mind games with me, kid?'
--+--
T/N: Honkai: Star Rail fanfic up!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.