𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 || 𝐉𝐔𝐉𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐔 𝐊𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐍

Chapter 16: The Ex-Salaryman

Nanami Kento was an imposing man. Dressed sharply in a crisp suit and wearing amber coloured glasses, he emulated an authoritative aura that Mina expected of a former salaryman.

Mina, Yuuji and Nanami Kento were currently in a movie theatre investigating the murders of three high-school boys by what appeared to be the work of a cursed spirit. Their bodies were slumped grotesquely over the seats, their heads distorted and enlarged frighteningly. The faint smell of vomit pervaded the entrance of the cinema, where the cinema worker stumbled across the corpses upon closing up.

"Can you see it? This is the residual taint of cursed energy." Nanami indicated around the empty movie theatre. Mina looked around. That explained the faint aura she sensed, a sickly feeling that left her skin feeling slightly clammy.

"No, I can't see anything-" Yuuji said confusedly, looking around.

"That's because you're not trying to see it," Nanami interrupted.

"We typically see curses as if it's perfectly natural to."

"When a cursed technique is used, it leaves traces behind. That's what residuals are. But residuals are much fainter than cursed spirits. So focus your vision and look closely."

Nanami seemed more like a teacher taking a child on a field trip than a man who was at the scene of a murder.

Mina wasn't sure why Gojou told her to tag along, but seeing as she was here, she figured she could kill some time.

She wondered if she should give up on the idea that Gojou would tell her where the codex is.

She suddenly remembered Geto's offer. It was a tempting one and it seemed like her best chance, but he gave her the creeps. There was something fundamentally wrong with him, but she couldn't quite place it.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she detected a particularly strange patch of residual energy.

She walked towards where the concentration of energy was strongest – the seats the boys had been sitting in, and frowned, realising something.

"Nanami, you know this residual energy, it was used by a curse. But it's a bit different." Nanami looked at her, a silent indication to continue.

"The humans here were altered by a cursed technique, but look at the concentration of energy. If this is any indicator, the cursed spirit's technique was activated at close range."

"Also-" Mina looked at the faint residue of footprints on the ground that was covered in residual energy.

"This cursed spirit is humanoid."

"Let's follow them, Nanami ducked under the yellow tape and out into the hallway, to where Yuuji and I both followed.

"Yeah! Let's go all-out!" Yuuji said confidently.

"No, where moderate effort will suffice, use moderate effort," Nanami countered, causing Yuuji to freeze at the unspoken admonition.

Mina suppressed a chuckle at the look on Yuuji's face before she slowly behind Nanami.

He was the complete opposite of Gojou, radiating a calm and composed manner expected of a dedicated office worker.

Or a dedicated curse killer?

**

Earlier that day

**

"I won't be able to lead you this time, but don't worry, I've called in a friend you can trust," Gojou spoke assuredly to Yuuji.

"This is Nanami Kento, the ex-salaryman jujutsu sorcerer!"

"Please don't call me that," his baritone voice sounded annoyed