II. Nothing Happened (Seriously, Nothing Happened)...! (3)

The two party members stared in admiration at the Nephilim, roasted to a crisp and cleaved clean in two.

"That was some possessed-level sword work."

"See? Told you recruiting a swordsman was the right call."

"No doubt about it! Taking first at the Academy Festival isn't a dream anymore."

They slapped their palms together with a sharp clap.

These two. They really were in sync.

"You two? You're not actually going to eat that, are you?"

I said it with a look of faint disgust.

That thing was a magical beast contaminated with cursed energy.

Kiiiiiing.

Though, to be fair, Poroe was happily munching away on a Class I Nephilim as we spoke.

"Tsk, of course not. You think I'd settle for some boring Class II? Begin!!"

Damcheong Ruri jabbed a finger at Gamram Minseong and barked the order.

"Roger that, my lady."

"Ugh. Don't call me that, you idiot. Hup!"

Team leader Ruri snapped at Minseong once, then puffed her cheeks out like balloons.

That wasn't just her sulking.

"Swordsman. Take a deep breath and get your head on straight. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We're calling a Nephilim. Saffron—!!"

I did as she said and puffed a pocket of air into my cheeks.

A sweet-scented powder burst from the long pipe clenched in Minseong's mouth. The saffron aroma was so fragrant it made my head spin, and drawn by that scent, the Nephilim of the Blue Jade Forest came flocking in.

Sssssrrr—

Quadrupeds. Bipeds. Floaters—and then a monster some five meters tall burst out, violently scattering the rest of them!

Its body, traced with glowing blue lines, was hard as iron plate, and its overall shape recalled a crustacean. Instead of pincers, though, it had massive forepaws covered in fur and thick, padded pads.

GROOOOAR.

It threw a punch into empty air, and the compressed blast popped the other Nephilim like balloons.

So that's the local boss of the Blue Jade Forest.

The strongest native in the woods, not counting the slumbering colossal beast. It looked like a Class III Nephilim—three animals' traits fused into one.

"Mantis shrimp as the base, mixed with sturgeon and bear, looks like."

As I analyzed it, the corners of Ruri's mouth—still chewing on a matchstick—went slack. She looked like she'd just been handed the entire world.

"Lobster, caviar, bear paw... the eyewitness accounts were true!! The absolute pinnacle of gourmet cuisine really is sitting in an unexplored barrier dungeon!!"

"So that's why you targeted the Blue Jade Forest. Doesn't look like an easy hunt, though."

A Class III Nephilim was typically recommended for a party of five seasoned sorcerers.

BANG—!

The lobster-caviar-bear-paw hurled a fist our way. The air seemed to shift for an instant, then a shockwave erupted. Trees shattered. The ground caved in.

"—Six o'clock!"

I drew my sword and shouted it sharp. Minseong, who'd been drawing a breath through his pipe, barely dodged the falling tree.

"Ruri Fire! Ruri Burning!! Ruri Flame!!!"

The Class III Nephilim's attention locked onto Damcheong Ruri, who was popping off will-o'-the-wisps with Ultramarine Ignition.

"Phew. Thanks for the heads-up, swordsman."

Minseong patted his rattled chest in gratitude.

"If you dawdle and another compressed-air blast comes flying, we're done for! Supporters, stay behind me."

I put on a cool front with a wry smile, but something warm stirred in a corner of my chest.

Heh. This is real shonen-manga camaraderie now.

The long stretch of humiliation and persecution—being ignored by that useless idiot couple—was over. Who was I? A party member of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Team Manhanjeonseok.

"Swordsman. You saved me, so I'll show you something hilarious as hell."

"Huh?"

"Careful you don't accidentally inhale the powder."

Gamram Minseong grinned slyly and stuck the pipe back in his mouth.

"Chili. Mala. Wasabi. Scorch the tongue!"

Even with your nose plugged, the pungent spices rode the wind and drifted straight toward Ruri.

"Ruri Burst—ghhhhh?!"

The powder went into her mouth mid-incantation, and Ruri let out a shrill scream, writhing. Her face went beet-red, and her eyes bulged like they were about to punch through a screen.

Why would he debuff an ally?

I was still wondering when—

"I-IT'S SPICYYYYY!!! IT'S HOOOOT!!"

The team leader's distinctly unladylike shriek sent the will-o'-the-wisps roaring hotter. Even the Class III Nephilim—normally recommended for a five-person hunting party—writhed as it was engulfed in the amplified blue flames.

Kiiiiiing—

Poroe, who'd tasted the powder out of curiosity, let out an agonized screech, and the sonic boom riding that scream widened in range too.

That cursed technique... I didn't know it had a use this creative.

"Look at that. Doesn't the team leader's face look just like a manga character?"

Minseong clapped my shoulder, wearing a thoroughly satisfied smile.

Setting aside the fact that she actually was a manga character.

This team's camaraderie... is this actually okay...?

I shook my head.

After much trial and tribulation, the team finally brought down the lobster-caviar-bear-paw they'd been hunting. We arrived at the heart of the Blue Jade Forest, where a megalith stood tall.

Hauling Nephilim corpses out was only feasible for designated materials, so they said we'd eat it here before leaving.

"~~~...!!! You little—!"

Damcheong Ruri, her face still tingling and flushed bright red, kicked Minseong in the ass.

Grrngh!

Poroe joined in, pecking at him with its snout. Looks like neither of them had forgiven him yet.

"My baaad. Hehe. But hey, the surface got charred, so the swordsman could cut it easy, right?"

Minseong, his eyes swollen into a pair of dark plums, begged the two of them for forgiveness.

They'd dumped the hunted Nephilim meat and spices into a pot and were simmering it over will-o'-the-wisp fire.

Bubble, bubble.

The mingled aroma of meat and seafood was almost impossible to resist.

Ugh. Even in the original Jujutsu Gwi-hwan, I never heard of anyone eating Nephilim.

I wiped the blood off my blade and made a point of looking away.

"Come on, drop the grudge and try it, my lady. This is what we came here to eat."

"Hmph. If it tastes bad, I am never forgiving you."

Damcheong Ruri scooped some of the pot's soup with a ladle, tasted it, and her face went rapturous.

"THIS is it!! This mysterious flavor. The way cursed energy surges through your body. This is why I can never stop chasing gourmet food!!"

"Right. Right."

Minseong grinned like an idiot and chimed in with the team leader.

No. That's not gourmet. That's cursed cuisine.

They didn't even notice my unimpressed expression as they called me over.

"Kim Beom, you sliced it, so you get first dibs on the chunks!! You can only taste bear paw here."

"You must be starving after all that sword work, right? I specially added the Gamram family's secret spice—instant fatigue recovery!"

"Hey! Try it! Come on, try it!"

"I'm good. You two just keep your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠promises, since I came along to the Blue Jade Forest."

I said it as I slid the Changgun Sword into its scabbard with a click.

I confirmed it: food supplies from the Gamram clan, and the return of one of the Five Swords Under Heaven from the Damcheong clan. Not that these two seemed like the sort to go back on a promise.

"Eheh. Eat it first, then talk. Sending food to someone who doesn't even know how precious a meal is? Yeah, no."

"Hey. You won't find a taste like this anywhere else. If you don't eat it, I can't recognize you as part of the team!!"

A threat that wasn't quite a threat.

Left with no choice, I took a spoonful of the Nephilim soup Ruri held out.

The taste was, I have to say, extremely, extremely—

...I hated to admit it, but it was delicious.

Bear paw, lobster, and sturgeon—ingredients that could easily have sat too heavy—had been brought into perfect harmony with distinctive spices and a fierce flame.

Tszzzzz.

I felt a faint measure of cursed energy being drawn in and blending through my body.

Anyway, it had worked out. No Class V Nephilim had appeared in the Blue Jade Forest.

With the walls between me and my party members crumbling, I chatted about this and that over the meal.

"They evaluated me as having a chance of awakening an Innate Cursed Technique. That's why I was allowed to enroll."

"Ahh, so being a non-sorcerer doesn't mean you've got zero cursed energy, yeah?"

"If you had no cursed energy in your body at all, that itself would make you a rare talent."

In fact, Jujutsu Gwi-hwan featured a character like that as a hard counter to sorcerers.

Ruri, already on her third refill of Nephilim soup, asked:

"Haaah. Not being able to use Universal Cursed Techniques must be a pain. Your hits are strong, but there's no cursed energy in the blade, is there!?"

Now that Beomseong Iltu was inscribed, I used it as a one-hit kill. But I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still couldn't imbue my sword with cursed energy under ordinary circumstances, so I couldn't reliably finish off Nephilim—creatures of cursed energy. This time, the burns from the blue flames had dealt the finishing damage, which was the only reason it had worked.

"I don't particularly want to use them. Most Universal Cursed Techniques are pretty lame, aren't they?"

I shrugged as I said it.

"'Turtle, turtle, stick your head out. If you don't, I'll roast you and eat you.' What use is a spell that makes a turtle poke its neck out?"

"Hahaha. Fair enough. Don't take Professor Bokbok's nagging to heart."

Laughing heartily, Gamram Minseong thumped me on the back.

That hurt!

That was when it happened.

The ground began to rumble. The megalith of the Blue Jade Forest blazed with light—and shattered into pieces!

"H-hiiiiek!!? What the hell is this all of a sudden?!"

The violent tremor knocked the pot over, and a startled Ruri snapped in irritation.

"Huh. We already took down the local boss of a Rank C dungeon, though?"

Minseong bit down on his pipe and shifted into a ready stance.

KAAANG!

Poroe of the Wind snarled with him.

As for me, I could only stare in horror.

That's... the obelisk the King of Jujutsu used to seal a Divine Beast.

And that meant only one thing.

Bathed in sacred light, a Nephilim resembling a sea turtle stuck its neck out from the earth.

A Nephilim that had completed four evolutions could scarcely be called a magical beast or a monster any longer. It had transcended evolution itself—a Divine Beast, wielding grand jujutsu born of legend and literature.

The fifth beast that sinks and is forgotten. Minogame had descended.