Chapter 135 – I Must Start Acting Right Away!
“So, how do you plan on helping me?”
At the dining table, the black-haired young man pointed his chopsticks at Yukinoshita Yukino with a half-smile, asking teasingly.
“This…” Yukinoshita Yukino hesitated for a moment before mumbling, “I can assist in the investigation. Having another set of eyes would be helpful, right? Two people are always better than one.”
“Do you want to be like Watson?”
“Who was the person who just said they weren’t like Sherlock Holmes?”
Looking at the composed girl across the table, Lin Qi couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, alright, I’ll take you along. You look worried.”
“I’m not worried…”
Yukinoshita Yukino’s action of sipping her miso soup froze abruptly, and light blushes appeared on her cheeks as she mumbled with her lips submerged in the soup.
After breakfast, Lin Qi was lounging on the soft sofa, pondering what activities he should do today.
Yukinoshita Yukino, having cleared the dishes and set the dining table, fetched a book from her room and sat beside him on the single-seater sofa, reading quietly from time to time casting glances toward him.
Lin Qi stared blankly at the ceiling, suddenly thinking of something. He leaned back slightly, assuming an upright posture and asked, “Yukinoshita, do you know how to use barrier techniques?”
“Barrier techniques?” Yukinoshita shook her head. “Are you talking about curtains? You haven’t taught me this one.”
“Follow my words, born from darkness, darker than shadow, purify all filth and sin,” Lin Qi made a hand sign and said.
Yukinoshita muttered along quietly.
“Now that you have learned the mantra and the hand seals, quickly create a curtain,” he said as he leaned back again.
“…You don’t have to teach if you don’t want to,” said Yukinoshita, although she began trying it out by herself.
Nothing happened, naturally.
“First, imagine the use of curse energy and the combination of the curses and the second-hand seals to create a covering, then define the scope and effect of the curtain. The most common is to either trap a cursed spirit or serve as a cover,” Lin Qi explained.
A thoughtful expression appeared on the black-haired girl’s face.
After a moment.
“Born from darkness, darker than shadow, purify all filth and sin,” Yukinoshita recited the mantra softly.
A black aura appeared above the apartment building, spreading outward continuously until it enveloped the entire building.
Lin Qi soon noticed that the light shining through the window had dimmed considerably as if time had skipped from the bright morning to the early dawn before the sun rose.
“See, I told you it was simple,” Lin Qi remarked, spreading his arms, noticing the joy on the girl’s face. “Don’t get too excited. This is only the beginning. For the more advanced barrier techniques, you need to practice your domain. Many large curtains usually require auxiliary stakes.”
“Reaching the peak of jujutsu requires the release of a domain, which needs to integrate with barrier techniques. All of this knowledge will require gradual learning.”
The joy on Yukinoshita’s face subsided slightly, and she answered with a faint smile, “You’re right, there’s still a long way to go.”
She couldn’t help but recall the match between Lin Qi and Satoru Gojo involving their domains.
To reach that level, she needed to continue working hard.
As she was about to unravel the curtain and try creating another one, her phone lying on the glass coffee table rang.
Yukinoshita was forced to pause her practice of barriers as she picked up the phone. Seeing the caller ID—Teacher Hiratsuka—it flashed on the screen.
“It’s Teacher Hiratsuka calling.”
She accepted the call and turned on speaker mode when suddenly, Shizuku Hiratsuka’s cheerful voice emanated from the phone: “Hey, Yukinoshita, I have arranged a summer camp activity for the service club members.”
“The activities include providing volunteer work for a summer camp training for elementary school kids in Chiba Village, lasting two days and one night. Is that okay?”
“Eh?” Yukinoshita looked slightly surprised. After peeking at Lin Qi, she asked, “Could you please specify the exact date?”
“If everything is fine, I will pick you up tomorrow in the morning. Do you have any reservations?” It seemed Shizuka Hiratsuka sensed hesitation from the girl as she asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Do you have anything going on?”
“No…”
Yukinoshita looked at Lin Qi, seeking his opinion.
“Just go if you want, it’s not a big deal,” Lin Qi said casually.
She nodded lightly, then spoke into the phone. “I understand, so we’ll go tomorrow. Have you notified other members of the service club, Teacher Hiratsuka?”
“Oh? No, not yet, but since you, as the club leader, haven’t raised any concerns, the others should be easily manageable. Let me contact them now. So, that’s it for now, bye.”
In a cluttered rented room, Shizuka Hiratsuka hung up with a serious expression on her face.
“Was there a male voice just now?”
If she remembered correctly, Yukinoshita should be living alone, but the voice in the phone indicated otherwise. And linking this call to the frequent unexplained absences Yukinoshita has taken in the past two months…
A sharp bolt of lightning flashed in Shizuka Hiratsuka’s eyes.
Yukinoshita must be dating someone!
Moreover, judging by the voice she heard, it seemed to be a man from outside the school, older than Yukinoshita.
And given that her sister, Yono, has been helping shield her absence by claiming she needs to handle household affairs…
Surely, it was reminiscent of the classic arranged marriage drama seen in wealthy families!
For a while, she thought she understood everything.
It seemed likely that Yukinoshita’s grades might have dropped due to the influence of this relationship.
Shizuka Hiratsuka knew that Yuno, the eldest daughter and heir apparent of the Yukinoshita family, had been groomed accordingly.
So, was Yukinoshita, as the second daughter, being used as a pawn in a marital alliance?
At home, Shizuka Hiratsuka, unlike her school persona, wore a light green short sleeve shirt with gray shorts resembling a middle-aged uncle rather than her usual cool white coat.
On her face, instead of the casual air she usually carried, was a look of deep worry as she lit a cigarette, contemplating how best to help her dear student.
Though in the short term, the effects on Yukinoshita seemed limited to fluctuating grades, long-term, the enforced marriage to a person she may not love could severely impact her mental state.
Marriage was not a trivial matter.
While Shizuka Hiratsuka, nearing thirty and yet unmarried, faced repeated failures in matchmaking, this very experience gave her the wisdom to speak these words with authority.
“No, I need to act immediately!”
With a firm resolve, Shizuka Hiratsuka snuffed out her half-burnt cigarette forcefully into the overflowing ashtray.
*
After school, the path to becoming a jujutsu sorcerer begins:
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