"Why is she still alive? Didn't she fall from the rooftop? I pushed her myself!"
Behind Eichi and Suguru, Uranishi, dressed like an honor student, was curled up in a corner, hugging his knees tightly.
"Why isn't she dead? If she's not dead, then won't we still be killed by the Crimson Being tonight? Damn it."
Of the four in the room, some looked desperate, some resigned, and others clung to each other with worry on their faces.
Eichi and Suguru exchanged glances, their eyes solemn.
"Tell us what happened. Maybe we can help."
Suguru stepped forward and spoke softly.
"Haha, you can solve it? Do you even know what that is? That's an evil spirit. I know you two, the strongest delinquents in the Middle School Division. Do you plan to punch an evil spirit?"
"Shota, stop."
Among them, Ise, the calmest and most capable fighter, restrained the already distraught Uranishi.
"You two come in and sit down too. We might have to be teammates now."
As he spoke, Ise gestured for them to enter. Asuka immediately helped set up the fallen chairs around a bed.
Eichi and Suguru did not refuse and walked over to sit.
"I'm Ise Takahiro, second-year in the High School Division. These are Uranishi Shota, Morisaki Asuka, and Rie. What about you two?"
Ise, who seemed to lead the group, introduced the others to Eichi and Suguru.
"Azuma Eichi, second-year in the Middle School Division."
"Suguru Geto, second-year in the Middle School Division."
Ise nodded politely, then continued.
"The whole thing started three days ago. We were still on our lunch break when the girl you just saw walked up behind me and asked me to help her find her body."
"At first, I thought I misheard. Just as I was about to ask what she meant, the girl suddenly disappeared, just like now."
Eichi and Suguru understood. Just now, when Eichi hesitated about following her, the girl's body had dissipated into the air like mist.
"That night, the four of us suddenly appeared at school, and then a Crimson Being covered in blood chased us."
As he spoke, Ise raised a hand to cover one of his eyes.
It seemed like a very unpleasant memory, Eichi thought.
"At first I thought I had been killed, but when I woke up the next day, I was at home without a single scratch."
"Was it the same for them?"
Eichi looked over the others.
"Right. When we compared notes yesterday, we found that each of us had been asked by that girl to find a corpse."
"We also exchanged details. Rie found a coffin in the auditorium with a human-shaped void inside, meant to hold body parts. Asuka found an arm in a classroom. I think the body we need to find might be those parts."
After speaking, Ise looked up at Eichi and Suguru.
"Now you two have also been asked, so you might also get dragged into this search for a body, this curse, tonight."
After a pause, Ise decided that calling it a curse fit better than calling it a game.
"Of course, it is also possible that the scope of this curse only exists in the High School Division, so you Middle School students might be fine."
Perhaps afraid the two would be scared off, Ise tried to reassure them.
He had been very displeased when they rushed in and attacked, but after learning they had misunderstood the situation and had come from the Middle School Division to help, his displeasure vanished.
"What do you think?"
Eichi looked at Suguru.
"It's a type I haven't seen before. What about you?"
"It's my first time too. Normally, Cursed Spirits have relatively simple behavior patterns. It is rare to see one with such complex actions, and the most important thing is that this Cursed Spirit did not kill you."
Most Cursed Spirits have low intelligence. They act like beasts, instinctively seeking out and killing humans.
But according to Ise, they had been killed more than once, yet always came back to life in the morning.
Could the experience of being killed have been a dream?
"Why do you call that Cursed Spirit the Crimson Being?"
"Oh, because that's what the broadcast called it."
"Broadcast?"
Eichi looked up at Ise.
"Yes. The school's broadcast room irregularly announces the location of the Crimson Being."
This made it even stranger. Constantly broadcasting the location of a Cursed Spirit would only make it easier for people to avoid it.
"Um, I keep hearing you say Cursed Spirits. What exactly are Cursed Spirits?"
Asuka, standing nearby, caught the key point.
"Cursed Spirits are monsters formed from accumulated negative human emotions. They curse and kill people."
Suguru gave a simple, easy-to-understand explanation.
"Then what are you two? Onmyoji?"
Hearing that, Asuka looked excited. Uranishi, who had been on the verge of a breakdown, also looked up, his face full of hope.
"We are Jujutsu Sorcerers. We use Cursed Energy to exorcise Cursed Spirits. It is different from Onmyoji."
Jujutsu Sorcerers, Cursed Spirits.
A new concept took root in their minds.
"Excuse me, can you remove the curse on us?"
Ise asked nervously.
"Yes. According to what you said, we will also be drawn into the curse tonight. When that happens, we will be responsible for exorcising the Cursed Spirit."
Eichi nodded.
"Really? Thank you so much."
Upon hearing this, Ise stood and gave a perfect ninety-degree bow.
Eichi and Suguru were used to it.
They often encountered similar situations while exorcising Cursed Spirits.
"No need to thank us. It is what we should do."
Suguru smiled slightly and helped Ise up.
"Tell us everything you know, so we can protect you better tonight."
"Understood."
Seeing hope for lifting the curse, the group immediately spoke up, sharing everything they knew.
Eichi took out his notepad, which he used to jot down novel ideas, and summarized their information, finally forming a picture of the Cursed Spirit.
The Cursed Spirit appeared as a small girl, likely junior high age, wearing a blood-stained dress and holding a dirty doll.
She was very strong, capable of easily tearing a person in half. Her movement speed was not fast, about the same as a normal high school student running. With corners, it was easy to create distance.
She seemed to possess a teleportation Technique that required certain conditions to activate.
According to Asuka, once when she turned around, the Crimson Being that had been far away suddenly appeared in front of her.
Additionally, after being caught by the Crimson Being, they were usually not killed immediately. She would hug them tightly and only kill after singing a song.
Eichi asked what song she sang, thinking the lyrics might reveal her identity or Technique.
Ise and the others thought it over and finally pieced together the lyrics:
Please give me red clothes,
Dye all the white clothes red,
Dye them blood red, blood red,
Dye hands and faces all red...
(To be continued.)