Page 6
Tsurugi: Those arms… Did you ever once think of using them for the sake of others?
Old man: Such naïve words… are nothing but sentimentality. If you live long enough… that sentiment rots into malice.
Tsurugi: No matter how much you try, people will always kill each other. That’s the fate that can never be avoided.
Old man: But strangely enough… people still keep trying again and again. There are even fools who cling to empty ideals.
Page 7
Flashback narration: Hand in hand, walking under the cherry blossoms. The numbers given to me at enrollment, used to identify myself. The outside world that defined me through grades and evaluations.
Old man: I loved being an elementary school student. I always wanted to stay as a child forever.
(SFX: ミキミキ… / Miki miki… — creaking, twisting sound)
⸻
Tsurugi: Nice. The more you talk like that… the easier it’ll be to cut you down.
Tsurugi: …That’s what I asked you earlier. But strangely enough… people keep regaining their awareness, and try again and again… That’s why—
Page 8
The origin of this incident… was the rampage of an elderly jujutsu sorcerer suffering from cognitive decline…!?
Old man (walking away, recalling): I really loved being an elementary school kid. I always wanted to stay as a little kid forever.
Old man: What people can’t notice… is the difference between what they ‘can do’ and what they actually can’t.
Tsurugi: Now… …I understand your feelings.
Old man: Heh. Then let me teach you… …the trick to keeping your sanity intact.
Page 9
“Simple Domain” “Ma-ai!!”
Old man: This brat… he knows simple domain? By replacing physical technique with cursed energy, he’s gained the ability to sense distance— a natural-born physical gift.
To apply cursed energy, and on top of that knows simple domain… Not bad at all.
SFX: ガチン ガチン (Gachin, gachin) — clash! clash!
Page 10