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"Man, this place gives me the creeps," Hakari muttered as he walked through the empty doorway and glanced at the dented door that had been kicked down, "Looks like he didn't bother to take a careful approach."
"Kiniro!" Kirara called out into the seemingly empty warehouse, making Hakari sigh, "Looks like we aren't either."
Kirara glared at Hakari and was about to call out again when a familiar voice echoed from further in the slaughterhouse, "About time you guys showed up! Come on back, though, if you're squeamish, I have to warn you it's pretty gruesome. This guy was a full-blown serial killer."
"It can't be that bad," Hakari muttered as he shoved his hands into his pockets and marched straight towards Kiniro's voice, eventually finding the back room and stepping inside. Taking a look around, Hakari immediately noticed the human furniture and outfitted butcher's table along with the intense cursed energy lingering around the room, "I was wrong, this is pretty bad. How the hell did someone manage to hide this amount of cursed energy?"
"He used a very specific curtain that he reinforced with some kind of talismans," Kiniro answered as he stepped into the room with an easy-going smile. "He turned this place into his lair and purposefully tortured his victims to generate as much cursed energy as possible, creating the perfect environment to perform his craft."
Hakari was about to ask Kiniro what the hell he was talking about when he noticed the sword hoisted over his shoulder and the cursed energy pouring off of it, 'Where the hell did he get a cursed tool like that?'
Seeing Hakari's gaze, Kiniro grinned and hefted the sword, "Nice, isn't it? Apparently, this was the guy's masterpiece."
"It's definitely a special grade cursed tool," Hakari agreed as several things clicked in place at once, "So this psychopath, he makes cursed tools out of the cursed energy and body parts of his victims."
"Made," Kiniro corrected, stressing the past tense, "And yes he did."
Hakari raised an eyebrow, "You killed him?"
"Uhhhh yeah, wasn't that the point?" Kiniro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Normally, with cursed users, headquarters prefers them to be taken alive so they can be questioned," Hakari muttered with a groan.
"Well, no one told me that!" Kiniro threw up his hands in protest.
"So your default stance is to kill?" Hakari questioned, making Kiniro cross his arms while still holding Dragon-Bone, "It is when a deneraged serial killer is talking about wanting to add you to his collection of human bodies!"
"Yeah, right," Hakari muttered, seeing right through Kiniro, "You were going to kill him regardless. Your fever is still running hot."
A heartbeat passed before Kiniro grinned, "You got me, though, can you really blame me?"
Hakari shrugged, "I don't give a shit either way, you'll just have to explain in the mission summary why you felt it necessary to use lethal force."
"Wait, I have to write a report." Kiniro moaned as his face fell.
"I mean, only if you want to get paid."
"I'm getting paid for this?!" Kiniro's expression reverted to a broad grin, "I thought this was like some type of school assignment or something."
Hakari stared at Kiniro for a long moment before slowly shaking his head, "You can't be a real person."
"Hey!"
"Kirara, get in here before I punch him in the face." Hakari called out over his shoulder, "This entire mission has been a waste of my time."
"And just as I thought we were bonding," Kiniro let out a disappointed sigh, "And here I was about to give you first pick of all the cursed tools."
Hakari paused as he looked past Kiniro to the doorway he had entered from, "First pick, just how many cursed tools are in there?"
"Didn't count, but at least ten," Kiniro replied absently as he glanced over as well, "Though none of them are as cool looking as Dragon Bone, so I'm not really interested in them."
"Who cares how cool they look? I'm more concerned about how much they'll fetch at auction." Hakari muttered as a glimmer of greed appeared in his eyes.
"Why? Do people pay a lot for cursed tools?" Kiniro asked, making Hakari blink, "....No."
"Liar!" Kiniro pointed an accusatory finger at Hakari, who clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Fine, cursed tools can go for a decent amount, especially if they're in the upper grades. That sword in your hand can probably go for at least a couple of hundred million yen if it's actually a special grade and possesses an innate technique."
"Did you say…a h-hundred million?" Kiniro repeated with a spaced-out look in his eyes.
Hakari watched as Kiniro's mind crashed as he stood unmoving and unblinking, "Looks like that broke him."
"What broke who?" Kirara asked as she walked up behind Hakari, only to see Kiniro staring off into space with a look of disbelief frozen on his face, "Hakari, what did you do!"
"Why do you assume it was my fault?" Hakari muttered as Kirara reached out and shook Kinrio's shoulder, "Kiniro, you okay?"
After a second, Kiniro blinked and let out a long sigh, "Yeah, I just realized that I'm gonna have to give up a fortune."
"You're not gonna sell it?!" Hakari asked in outrage, "Don't tell me you plan to use it yourself."
"Not it's for a friend," Kiniro replied.
"You're gonna give your friend a special grade curse tool?" Hakari repeated in disbelief, "Why would you do that?"
"I want to see if this sword can take the rest of her cursed energy," Kiniro explained as his eyes roamed over Dragon-Bone, "It's probably a long shot, but the payoff would be totally worth it."
"Worth more than millions of yen?" Hakari cried out before shaking his head, "That's it, I can't do this anymore. Let's pack up and get the hell back to Tokyo."
"Sorry, can't do that just yet," Kiniro objected, making Hakari glare at him, "Why not?"
"I need to get something while we're here, and it might take a few days," Kiniro insisted. "Also, do you know how soon I can get paid? Do I need to report back to Headquarters, or can they just wire the money?"
---
"So that's when I killed him and took his sword," Kiniro spoke into his phone as he watched the landscape pass by outside the train.
"Definitely sounds like a memorable first mission," Satoru replied, "But I hope you don't plan to repeat that psychopath's efforts. I know you were interested in making cursed tools."
"Don't worry, I'm like 85% confident that torturing people isn't a requirement. All I need is a source of cursed energy that I can contain to saturate whatever I want to make. Though I'm pretty sure there's more to making a special grade cursed tool than the amount of cursed energy poured into it. Some X factor that determines what kind of cursed technique they manifest."
"It sounds like you've already given it some thought," Saturo commented, making Kiniro grin, "I think the manifestation will share some similarities with the birth of cursed spirits. The form they take on and their abilities are determined by not only the amount of cursed energy available, but the emotions behind it."
"All cursed energy is formed from negative emotions."
"Yes, but not all negative emotions are the same," Kiniro stated with confidence, "Fear, anger, sadness, all negative but with distinct differences. They may all produce cursed energy, but I don't believe a cursed spirit formed from pure hatred will behave the same way as one formed from grief."
"You think cursed spirits create personalities based on the emotions that gave birth to them?" Saturo asked, though he sounded more curious than speculative.
"I mean, just think about it," Kiniro continued, "The more powerful a curse is, the more intelligent they become. And the only way to create a powerful curse is to have a large amount of cursed energy collect over time. More cursed energy, more emotions, more intelligence. To be honest, I'm surprised that fully sentient cursed spirits aren't a thing yet."
"They probably would be, if Tengen had erected the Pure Barriers thousands of years ago to suppress curse spirits," Satoru muttered in response, making Kiniro perk up, "Though in all honesty, after what I've witnessed on this mission, that won't be enough for much longer. Even with the barriers, cursed spirits are becoming more common and drastically increasing in strength."
"Well, of course they are," Kiniro responded flippantly, "The emotional extremes people go to have only gotten worse and worse. Meaning there's a greater collective output of cursed energy. Which is why you'll never get rid of cursed spirits, because people will never be satisfied. It goes against our basic human nature. Which is why curses intuitively hate us. What kind of life is it to feel the pain of existing with none of the beauty and love to balance it out?"