Curse of Ignorance Ch 16

I found myself in an interrogation room. It looked a lot like the ones you would see in movies. A room that contained nothing but a table with a few chairs. Bright overhead electric lights. What looked like a mirror set into the wall, which was probably one-way. If I didn't know any better, I would have never guessed that this room was part of a traditional-looking Japanese estate.

The only hint of that was the two young men in front of me. They both wore the white kimono that the Gojo clan seemed to favor, though with different designs embroidered into them.

One of them had an image of a white tiger snarling in black thread in such a way that it was hard to tell where the tiger ended and where the rest of the kimono began. He had white hair and brown eyes. The hair was not dull, like one would expect as a result of age or stress. Instead it was shiny like Gojo's. This suggested that it was a result of freaky genetics. I mentally labeled this one Tiger.

The other man had images of fish embroidered into his kimono using blue thread which matched the color of his eyes. It was not the shockingly vivid blue of Gojo's eyes, but a more mundane shade, which still stood out. Blue eyes were uncommon for Japanese people. This man had black hair, which allowed him to pass as a relatively normal person, unlike his companion. I mentally labeled him Fish.

Iwato, who I had met earlier, had brought me to this room and left me here, citing the fact that he had to go and report to others about the events that transpired. The two men had entered the room not long after, though they hadn't said a word yet.

Tiger paced around the room with an aggressive posture, almost exactly like a caged tiger at a zoo. Fish, in contrast, stood still, with a calm smile on his face.

Tiger suddenly lunged into action, slamming both of his hands into the table, causing a loud BANG! to echo off of the bare walls of the room.

His face contorted into a snarl directed at me. "Tell us what you know about the woman that attacked Satoru!"

I am not going to lie, I jumped at the sudden action. Part of it was just the instinctual reaction to loud noises, but there was also the fact that I was coming off the back of a battle in which I almost died. It was to be expected that I was still on edge.

Before I could even think to answer, Fish grabbed onto Tiger's shoulder. He looked annoyed. "Don't be so aggressive! Elder Iwato said that he's not a prisoner to interrogate. He's Satoru's friend! We're just asking him questions. Normally."

Tiger turned to his companion, the previous anger on his face morphing into confusion. "We're just asking questions?"

"Yes."

"No good cop, bad cop?"

"No."

"Then why are we in the interrogation room?"

"Hell if I know—"

Tiger lunged again, except this time, he aimed to clap a hand over the mouth of his friend. Taking advantage of this newfound closeness, he hissed out his next words, entirely too loudly for what was presumably a secretive message.

"Don't curse in front of the kid!"

Fish reached up to grab the wrist corresponding to the hand covering his mouth, ripping it away.

"I can say whatever the fu—"

Tiger's other hand shot out to replace its counterpart, silencing Fish once more. In the same moment, the air of the room shifted. It wasn't the pressure caused by the concentration of lots of cursed energy into a small space. It was something entirely different. Somehow, Tiger had started giving off the impression that he was dangerous, that he was someone you didn't want to mess with unless you wanted your life ruined.

Fish freed his mouth with his last hand. He protested against this treatment. "This is just how I talk!"

Tiger didn't say anything, but Fish clearly read from his expression that he wouldn't relent. "Fine, I'll go figure out why we ended up in the interrogation room instead of something more suitable for a guest."

The menacing aura wrapped around Tiger disappeared, and Fish and Tiger then detached themselves from each other, letting Fish stalk off towards the door to the interrogation room. In the short time it took to cross the room, Fish couldn't help but make a comment. He phrased it like he was talking to himself, but spoke loudly enough for Tiger to hear. "He's so weirdly serious about the strangest things, to the point where he would even use his curse technique."

Hearing those words, some thoughts slotted together in my mind. So that sense of intimidation that Tiger had started giving off out of nowhere was his innate curse technique. It makes sense, then, that Tiger has the role of "bad cop", despite it seeming like Fish has the more abrasive personality.

The door closed, leaving me alone with Tiger.

His actions in attempting to protect who he perceived to be a child from hearing curses were endearing, but his initial impression from when he was playing the role of "bad cop" was strong. This left me not knowing how to act around him.

Tiger took a seat across from me and struck up a conversation. "Sorry about that. It appears that we started off on the wrong foot due to a misunderstanding. My name is Gojo Yuuto. What is your name?"

"Gosho Kei."

"Gosho Kei," he repeated, as if testing out how the name felt on his tongue. "It is a good name."

Tiger—Yuuto, I mean—spoke with a seriousness and sincerity that made it hard to respond. "Thanks?"

He shook his head. "You should not thank me for something so trivial. Especially not after we wronged you."

I latched onto that opening. "Right. About that, Mr. Iwato just said that I just had to answer a few questions and made it sound like it was normal procedure. How did it turn into—" My hand traced a circle through the air, trying to convey through action what my words failed to express. "—this?"

The corners of Yuuto's mouth tugged down slightly, not enough that one would call it a frown, but enough that I could glean that he felt displeased with the situation.

"I do not have all the details, so I can not fully answer your question, but I will tell you my side of the story."

I nodded, indicating for him to proceed.

"Not too long ago, people in the estate started running around and chatting with each other more than usual. Listening to this gossip, I learned that Satoru had been attacked, that the servant accompanying him had called for reinforcements, and that Elder Iwato had been sent, due to being one of the strongest and most capable of moving quickly. Not many things can threaten Satoru, so the general consensus was that this level of backup was necessary, and maybe even a little lacking."

I recalled the image of Gojo in that fight, how he just stood there after seemingly rising from the dead, taking hits and laughing without a care in the world, secure in the fact that he was untouchable. Remembering that sight, it is hard to imagine anyone penetrating that defense at all. It made sense that they sent strong backup, if they were working under the assumption that Gojo's defense had somehow been bypassed.

"Not too long later, Kaisei—that's the name of the man who just left—sent me a message to come to the interrogation room. The interrogation room is for interrogations, as the name suggests. So, I didn't think to question why I was called, because to me, it was obvious. I just fell into the usual routine, but it turned out that this was not what I was actually here for. You know what happens from there."

I nodded thoughtfully. It didn't seem like there was any malicious intent behind this whole mishap. It was just a bit of miscommunication, so I could forgive it easily enough.

I then reciprocated with my own perspective on the events that occurred. Starting with a short explanation on why I was going to the Gojo estate in the first place, I then detailed the sudden attack on our way there. I placed most of my focus on this, trying to explain to the best of my ability what I saw at the time, what everyone was doing from moment to moment, and my own thoughts. I then ended with a few short sentences about arriving here.

"It must have been tough for you. It's a shame that the woman was killed by Elder Iwato. I would have enjoyed teaching this woman the error of her ways," Yuuto said.

He appeared to be sympathetic to my story, which I appreciated, but I did not miss how he alluded to torture in the same breath that he used to express his sympathies. It was a reminder that although Yuuto has been kind to me for the most part, his role within the clan is that of an interrogator, someone who intimidates, threatens, and punishes those that find themselves in this room.

The door to the interrogation room opened, and in walked Fish, whose actual name was Kaisei, according to Yuuto. And following behind him was Gojo.

"Elder Iwato was busy meeting with the other elders, but was able to spare a few moments to talk to me and clarify the situation. He said that there should be no need for interrogation tactics, since the kid is cooperative. It still needs to be done in the interrogation room, though, since on paper, he's still an outsider coming in during a state of emergency." Kaisei relayed this message to Yuuto.

Yuuto nodded in acknowledgement, then pointed at the figure standing behind him, giving voice to the question in both of our minds. "And why is Satoru behind you?"

Gojo waved cheerfully upon being mentioned. "Hi, Yuuto! Hi, Gosho!"

Kaisei sighed forcefully. "The little f—friend—wouldn't leave me alone when he overheard me asking for clarification on how to treat the outsider kid. You know we can't stop him from going anywhere he wants." That last sentence was spoken with an air of annoyed experience. It was clear that Kaisei had tried many times to contain Gojo and failed just as many times. "Never mind that, though. Let's just get this questioning over with." His shoulders visibly slumped at that, making it clear that he did not really enjoy this prospect.

Yuuto held up a hand at that. "Ah, that won't be necessary. I have already had Gosho tell me about his recollection of the events that occurred. There is no need to stay here with us, so he can go play with Satoru."

Kaisei eyed Yuuto for a moment. It appeared that whatever Kaisei saw in Yuuto was satisfactory, because he waved a hand through the air in acquiescence. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Go. Be free."

With permission given, Gojo shot forward and dragged me off to parts unknown.

We ended up in a library. It seemed to be about the same size as the school library, but a few cursory glances told me that it was much better organized.

As we walked through the aisles formed by the tall shelves, Gojo occasionally plucked a book from off the shelves. By the time that we made it to what seemed to be our destination, a small, cozy-looking nook containing some seating and a table, the pile within Gojo's arms had grown to a respectable size.

Gojo dumped all of the books onto the table with a thump and slid into a seat. I followed suit.

"Binding vow time," Gojo informed me. "Here's the deal: You tell me the secret behind how you know the future, and I give you access to these resources." He slapped the cover of the book on the top of the pile to show which resources, exactly, he was referring to. "I won't tell anyone what you tell me unless you allow it, and you won't reveal the contents of these books to anyone that's not from the Gojo clan without the clan's permission. You won't be allowed to take the books outside of the Gojo estate, but you will be able to visit in order to read them. Are these terms acceptable to you?"

It was exactly what we had already agreed on beforehand, we were just formalizing it now. "Yes, I agree."

There was a pause as the sensation of a binding vow taking hold made itself known to both of us. For a moment, I felt the phantom sensation of a metal collar clasping itself around my neck.

The moment passed quickly, and Gojo wasted no time in sliding over the stack of books from his end of the table to mine. "Alright, tell me now," he urged. He looked at me with wide eyes, eager to hear what I was going to say.

I decided against building up to it in a dramatic way or anything like that. I just said it plainly. "I am a reincarnator. I died in a car crash and retained the memories of my past life."

Gojo's eyes seemed to go even wider in realization, before narrowing into an obvious look of suspicion. "If that's the case, how do you have future knowledge?"

I smiled. This was the weird part of my circumstances, after all. "When I died, the year was 2024."

Gojo immediately understood the implications of that seemingly simple statement. "So it is time travel! No wait, it could be that you're from a parallel world where time moves at a different rate, too. Which is it?"

It was at this point that I was reminded that Gojo was actually quite smart, despite his usual unserious demeanor. I don't think that at his age, I would have been able to come up with the theory of a parallel world where time progresses at a different rate that quickly, if at all. Due to this, I ended up treating his question more seriously than the rest of the conversation up until this point. I shrugged. "It's hard to tell. The existence of jujutsu and sorcerers makes me think that it's a parallel world, though."

Again, Gojo picked up on the implications quickly. "What!? You mean that there was no sorcery in your world? No cursed spirits?"

"Like I said, it's hard to tell. I wasn't a sorcerer in my past life. I wasn't even Japanese. For all I know, sorcerers and cursed spirits did exist, but the fact that the jujutsu world does its best to hide itself kept me from learning about them."

Gojo nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face. "That's certainly a possibility too." He mulled over the problem for a moment. "If we find your past identity, won't that be a point in favor of the time travel theory?"

I shot that idea down, as it was something I had already considered when thinking about the nature of my own existence. "No, it would still be possible for this to be a parallel world. The country names and general history of the world is the same. If that's possible, what's stopping the world from containing a parallel-me? Besides, I wasn't born yet, anyway."

"Really? Ha! You're such a baby!" Gojo exclaimed while pointing a finger at me.

I let the accusation slide right off of me. I was more mature than he was, and this was proof of it. "My age when I died is higher than your age now, you know."

"That doesn't matter! When your past life gets born, I'll be older than him, which means I'll be older than you! And while your past life's age is stuck in place since you died, I'm still alive, so I can catch up! I'll be double-older than you!"

There was a lot wrong with that logic, including how he was assuming that there would be a parallel-me born in the future. I just chose one issue to address first. "Shouldn't you add my current life's age to my past life's age? If that's the case, then I'll be older than you."

Gojo made an exaggerated face of realization, before smirking at me. "Wait! You're totally right, old man."

"You were just arguing that you were going to be double-older than me. Doesn't that make you the old man?"

Gojo shook his head condescendingly in the face of my flawless logic. "Tsk, tsk. Babies just don't understand how the world works, do they?"

Our serious conversation about the nature of my existence had suddenly devolved into a childish argument. It never recovered.

The argument continued like that without any opening to steer it back into normal territory. I made attempts to shoot down Gojo's points, while Gojo just ignored my rebuttals in order to make more jabs at my age or take ridiculous leaps in logic. Gojo won, just through his sheer ability to spit out nonsense faster than I can retaliate.

I was sitting in the nook in the library alone. Gojo had left me to study the books that he had given me as his part of the deal. He promised that he would be back in a few hours.

At that time, I would have to leave the estate in order to go back to the jujutsu school and leave studying the books to another time. I didn't come here prepared to stay overnight, after all. Even if I did, it still wouldn't be the best idea, what with the Gojo clan being in a state of emergency from the attack earlier today. Some members of the clan might be a little trigger-happy towards outsiders, like how Tiger—Yuuto, I mean—just jumped into interrogation.

So without further ado, I laid out all of the books on the table before me.

Scanning the titles, I could see that there were a variety of topics represented. There were the subjects that I specifically named, hand signs, chanting, and shikigami, but there were also some things that I didn't mention, too. There were books on barrier techniques, something called cursed corpses, which sounded quite sinister, something else called "anti-domain techniques", and much more. There was no book on domain techniques, though. Why was that?

I pushed aside that thought, focusing on the task at hand. I wanted to make the most of my time. I didn't want to leave empty-handed. I almost died for the sake of this knowledge, after all.

If that was the case, then I should prioritize learning the basics of some new discipline. Basics are basic, after all, so they should be relatively easy to pick up, guaranteeing that I won't return having learned nothing. It's better than possibly scratching my head over the complicated theory behind hand signs and absorbing nothing.

With that in mind, I picked up the book on barrier techniques. I already had a prior interest in it, since it could serve to improve my survivability as an auxiliary manager. Something like Shirawachi-sensei's dome barrier could prevent cursed spirits from escaping and getting at me, even if they kill the sorcerer that was sent to exorcize them.

The idea behind barriers turned out to be surprisingly simple. Enclose some area and enforce some effect on the closed area. For example, Shirawachi's dome barrier would be described as enclosing a hemispherical area and having the effect of preventing solid objects from leaving the area.

However, the devil is in the details. The methods behind defining the area to be enclosed and the effect to be enforced were incredibly complex. The diagrams included in the book showing how cursed energy should flow for certain kinds of effects were so detailed that I wanted to find a magnifying glass in order to look at them more closely.

Having judged that I had gained enough of a theoretical foundation in this skill for now, I decided that it was time for practical work now. I flipped back to the simplest diagram that I have seen so far. It showed how I would have to flow my energy in order to create a rectangular plane that made whatever was on the other side look blurry. Well, technically, it was a very thin rectangular prism, in accordance with how barriers are supposed to "enclose spaces", but functionally, it was a plane. This flattening from the usual three-dimensional barriers to an almost-two-dimensional form was the source of this barrier's relative simplicity.

This would be what I would be trying to create. Even despite the relative simplicity, this basic effect would stretch the limits of my cursed energy control.

Referencing the diagram in the book, I moved my cursed energy. A large amount of energy moved from my core to my outstretched hand, and from my hand to the air. In the air, my cursed energy spread out to form a slightly wonky rectangular plane. On this plane, various indentations, wrinkles, protrusions, and slight tears formed under my command, coming to resemble the design shown within the pages of the book.

These deviations from what could have been a smooth plane were not random. There was a flow to the entire layout that hinted at a purpose to it all. Somehow, these seeming imperfections gave rise to a tangible effect. I wasn't far enough in my reading to know how it all came together yet.

The world beyond my hand grew blurry, but it was unstable. The barrier that I had just created shimmered and shifted, acting like heat distorting the air. It wasn't supposed to act like that. The book said that the distortion created should stay the same, more like looking through foggy glass.

Still, I wasn't mad at this result. I was more glad that I got anything to happen at all on the first try. I half-expected that nothing would happen, and I would be forced to spend a good chunk of my time comparing what I made and what the book showed, searching for the discrepancies between them.

Well, I was still going to do that, but the difference was in the mentality. With an actual sign that what I was doing was not in vain, I would be much more motivated. Even better if I correct some mistake and see the barrier improve in real time.

I spent the rest of my time exactly like that, looking back and forth between the example in the book and what I had in front of me, tweaking things and seeing them gradually improve or suddenly deteriorate, taking the first steps in building that intuition by observing how cause and effect map together.

When Gojo walked back into the library, he found that I had not moved much at all from where he had left me. He had walked in on my process of incrementally improving the barrier.

His eyes seemed to gleam in the light as he took it in. I had no doubt that he was seeing things on a deeper level than I was, despite the barrier being my creation.

"So you did go for barriers, after all," he commented. "Were you lured in by my promise of crazy effects down the road? Maybe you were thinking 'This is it! My path to power! I'll show all of these fools that you don't need an innate curse technique to be the most powerful sorcerer! It can be done with the skills available to everyone! All you need is hard work, dedication, and resourcefulness!', or something along those lines?" When giving a voice to my supposed "thoughts", Gojo struck a dramatic pose and put on a deeper voice.

I laughed at that, which broke my concentration enough for the barrier to disperse. For the first time in a while, the world beyond my hand became clear. "Nothing so grandiose. I don't need to be a powerful sorcerer or anything like that. I'm content with being an auxiliary manager that lives a long life, and I thought that learning barriers would help me with that."

Gojo made a humming noise in the back of his throat at that, like he wasn't sure that he agreed with me. "Well, time's up for now. You can come back in a week or so."

I stood up with a grunt, stretching out my body and coaxing popping noises from various joints. "Okay then."

We went down the hallways and through multiple rooms, before we finally walked out to a grassy clearing within the estate that seemingly served the same purpose as the airfield back at the jujutsu school. There were no roads or airplanes, though. This was seemingly for shikigami-use only.

In this clearing, another bird-like shikigami stood at the ready. It was similar to the one I rode before, though with a darker coloring and the eyes positioned down on the neck instead of on the head.

Standing beside my ride back was Shuugo. I was surprised to see him. "I thought that I wouldn't see you so soon after the attack."

Shuugo smiled at me. "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Gosho. I have spent the hours since our last meeting without performing any of my usual duties, so I am well-rested."

That wasn't what I meant. "No, I meant that I thought that maybe you would have changed jobs, or something. I wouldn't blame you, either. Being a shikigami driver suddenly seems a whole lot more dangerous."

He maintained his smile. "Ah, but I am the one best suited for this job, considering the fact that I am the one to create and tame these shikigami. They obey my commands the best. If it were anyone else, they may rebel. Besides, it is not like I am without means of defending myself."

He was alluding to how he was able to pull out an army of animals at the drop of a hat. That army didn't actually end up fighting, so I didn't know how strong they were collectively. Still, considering the fact that pulling them out didn't lead to a decisive victory before, they were at most Grade 1 in strength. That wouldn't be enough when it comes to any assailants that had any real chance at killing Gojo.

Even if future attackers aren't able to kill Gojo, that doesn't mean that Shuugo couldn't die. Fights were messy and mistakes can be made. Shuugo was making a conscious choice to risk dying as collateral damage.

I shook my head in disbelief. This guy was just too dedicated to his job, it seems. I couldn't really relate. Just what did the Gojo clan do to earn such loyalty?

"Well, it's good to see that you're doing fine. Shall we go, then?"

Shuugo agreed, gesturing for the bird to lie down for easier mounting. The process went much quicker than the first time, when I was unfamiliar with everything.

With myself seated, I waved goodbye to Gojo. He would be staying here. It was the original plan, but even if it wasn't, it wasn't a good idea for him to leave the confines of the estate so soon after the attack. There could still be other assailants prowling around, looking for an opportunity.

By going out now, I was risking being attacked by these hypothetical "other assailants", this time without Gojo around to save both mine and Shuugo's necks. The thought made my heart clench a little, but there was nothing to be done about it. I needed to go back to the jujutsu school and sleep.

The bird flapped once, twice, and we were off, flying back to the jujutsu school.\