Chapter 12: Apprenticeship at the Door, Freeriding a Job
"If you don't agree, I'll kneel here until you do."
Maki's tone was unusually firm.
She didn't know why her cousin wouldn't teach her, but that's how it worked on TV—if you kneel and kowtow, the other person would probably agree.
And if they still didn't agree, that meant they were testing you. All you had to do was keep kneeling.
…
Zenin Jinsuke ended up laughing.
Just a moment ago he thought she was mature. Now it seemed that no matter how mature she acted, she was still just a kid.
"Get up."
"You agreed!" Maki immediately lit up with joy.
"What are you thinking? You think it's that easy? Don't you know taking a master requires a test?"
Zenin Jinsuke said solemnly.
"Sounds right."
Maki thought seriously for a moment. What he said made sense.
"Then test me however you want!"
Compared to gaining real strength, a mere test was nothing.
"Heh. Fine. My condition is this: when you can exorcise a Grade 1—uh, Grade 2. When you can exorcise a Grade 2 curse with your own strength, I'll teach you how to get stronger."
Zenin Jinsuke originally wanted to set the bar at Grade 1, but considering her situation, he decided to give her some hope.
Having the strength to defeat a Grade 2 curse should barely count as reaching the threshold for "getting stronger."
"Deal! It's a promise!"
Maki didn't even know what a Grade 2 curse was like yet, but she believed she'd do it someday.
After getting what she wanted, Maki finally dragged her sniffling sister away.
Zenin Jinsuke smiled and shook his head.
The Zenin Clan… sooner or later, it would be destroyed by its own arrogance.
Zenin Jinsuke didn't care at all how the Zenin Clan would end up. He was even planning to have old man Naobito use connections to arrange a paycheck job for him.
Since it was going to collapse sooner or later, he might as well squeeze what he could out of it.
If he waited too long, there'd be nothing left to squeeze.
The next day arrived.
He did what he said he would. After training, Zenin Jinsuke swaggered straight into the Zenin Clan grounds, drawing plenty of angry looks.
But he liked it—those expressions where they hated him yet couldn't do anything.
If they didn't like him, then come fight him. If they could.
"Damn it, this guy is way too arrogant."
Only after Zenin Jinsuke's figure disappeared did they dare whisper.
"Shh—keep it down. Don't let that freak hear you. Be careful he goes crazy again."
"Wait, is he really that strong?"
Some younger ones had been out on missions back then and hadn't seen Zenin Jinsuke's rampage with their own eyes. They didn't believe a man with no cursed energy had nearly slaughtered the Zenin Clan.
"That's why they call him a freak. Both brothers are freaks."
In a corner, Zenin Maki happened to witness this again. Her resolve grew even firmer, and she felt a flicker of admiration for her future master.
So this is what it feels like to be strong?
These ugly people only dared gossip behind his back.
But besides Maki, there was also a young man watching from another side.
Sixteen-year-old Zenin Naoya hid behind a building, staring from afar at Zenin Jinsuke's back. His eyes held both fear and worship.
Big brother Jinsuke… still that strong.
Even more terrifying than back then.
Naoya had been lucky enough to see Zenin Jinsuke become a tyrant, and from that day he became a devoted fanboy—though he only dared look at his idol from far away.
Now the view shifts to the clan head.
Zenin Jinsuke showed no courtesy to Naobito at all.
"Old man, help me arrange a job where I don't have to work."
Asking the Zenin Clan for money directly would feel a bit impolite.
But asking for a job should be fine, right?
Naobito's mustache twitched. He immediately understood this deadbeat was here to squeeze the clan again.
"What do you want to do? With your ability, would you even lack money?"
Naobito didn't agree right away—he was afraid the brat was digging a trap.
"Making money isn't hard, but it wastes time."
Right now, he wanted to spend time training. For earning money, taking it for free was obviously easier.
He couldn't exactly keep his pockets empty. This was modern society—there were plenty of places to spend money.
"Then go be a part-time instructor at Tokyo Jujutsu High. I can arrange it."
Naobito knew he wanted to freeload. At least it was just an easy job—using the Zenin Clan's influence, it could be arranged.
As for why he wouldn't just give him money…
Naobito's view was: do you think the Zenin Clan is that rich?
A clan obsessed with cursed energy and techniques—if you want money, go earn it yourself.
Forget others—even he, the Zenin clan head, sometimes had to take missions for extra cash to support the household.
"What? Be a teacher at Jujutsu High?"
Zenin Jinsuke was completely stunned.
He thought the old man would give him some idle title in a listed company or something.
Sending him to be a teacher at Jujutsu High—wasn't that ridiculous?
"You want a guy with no cursed energy to teach those sorcerers?"
Teach what—hand-to-hand?
"Ahem. It's just a position on paper. You don't actually have to teach."
Naobito explained.
"You wanted something easy, right? At Jujutsu High, as long as you don't take missions, you can just collect a monthly salary.
The profit's a bit lower, but there's no risk. Doesn't that fit your requirements perfectly?"
The base salary for Jujutsu High instructors wasn't high, but the mission payouts for exorcising curses were pretty good.
If you didn't want missions, you'd be poor—but at least it was free money.
For example, the special grade sorcerer Tsukumo Yuki never did missions, but she still got a small, meager paycheck deposited every month.
"Fine, fine."
Zenin Jinsuke waved his hand.
Free money was free money. If he didn't take it, he'd be an idiot.
If he really couldn't get by, he could always return to his old trade and go earn some quick cash once in a while.
Either way, he absolutely wasn't going to do real work.
That was his principle.
After settling the money issue, Zenin Jinsuke left satisfied.
Meanwhile, Naobito made a phone call. Using the connections the Zenin Clan had built over many years, he had the higher-ups do him a favor and finalize Zenin Jinsuke's personnel assignment at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Face cost nothing—might as well use it.
"Now… this kid should have a slightly better impression of the Zenin Clan, right?"
Naobito murmured.
When it came to the two brothers, he had never looked down on them like the other clan members did. He simply took a hands-off attitude.
He didn't value them, but he didn't mock them either—he treated them as ordinary Zenin clan members.
Even when Toji stole plenty of powerful cursed tools from the Zenin Clan, Naobito didn't really care.
Still, the importance of cursed energy and techniques was carved into the Zenin Clan's bones—he was no exception.
But as the brothers' strength became more and more obvious, Naobito gradually shifted away from that indifferent stance.
He tried to ease the relationship between the Zenin Clan and the two brothers.
Even if they couldn't be family, at least they shouldn't become enemies.
In Naobito's mind, the fact that Zenin Jinsuke came to him for help meant he still acknowledged his identity as part of the Zenin Clan. As long as Naobito did his best to meet his needs, Jinsuke would surely remember it.
The fantasy was beautiful.
Reality was the exact opposite.
Zenin Jinsuke was only freeloading. If you gave it to him, he'd freeload. If you didn't, he'd force the freeload.