"Young Master Naoya, good morning!"
The moment Naoya Zen'in stepped out of his room, the servant who had knocked earlier immediately bent at a full ninety degrees, smiling nervously as he presented a stack of documents.
"I've already sorted out the notices issued by the Higher-Ups, Young Master. Please have a look!"
He was a middle-aged man.
His voice trembled with tension, and sweat kept dripping from his forehead onto the wooden floorboards. It was obvious that merely being alone with Naoya Zen'in placed an enormous psychological burden on him.
Naoya lifted his eyelids and gave him a brief look.
He vaguely remembered this guy as one of the Zen'in household guards. In the main story, he was just background scenery—an unimportant NPC.
Uh...
What was his name again?
"Are you from the main family? What's your name?"
Naoya took the documents with practiced elegance and asked casually as he flipped through them.
"Ah? Ah, yes! Y-yes, sir! My name is Oda. I'm from the main family, but I didn't inherit any cursed technique. Thanks to the clan head's great generosity, I was able to join the Kukuru Unit and make a living..."
Oda looked on the verge of tears.
The Zen'in clan revered strength above all else. Even someone born into the main family would hold no status in this exalted house of one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families if they failed to inherit a technique from their forebears.
Even Maki Zen'in, daughter of Ogi Zen'in—the younger brother of the current clan head—had been humiliated all her life within the clan simply because she had inherited no cursed technique, until she finally left for Tokyo to make her own way in the world.
And yet, despite serving at Young Master Naoya's side since childhood, despite not asking for glory or advancement, this future clan head could not even remember his name?!
So in the Zen'in clan, failing to inherit a cursed technique truly was the original sin...
Ignoring Oda's despair, Naoya focused on the papers in his hands.
The documents had been issued by the Higher-Ups.
The Higher-Ups were the supreme authority governing and controlling jujutsu sorcerers—an institution jointly recognized by the Big Three Families, with the power to issue direct orders to all sorcerers without going through any normal procedures.
If a sorcerer disobeyed the Higher-Ups or resisted their command, the Higher-Ups could even sentence them to death and order other sorcerers to execute them on the spot.
The title of the document was Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. It announced that a massive cursed spirit rampage had broken out in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Curse user Suguru Geto had orchestrated the incident in an attempt to seize the special grade cursed spirit Rika Orimoto, but was ultimately defeated head-on by first-year Jujutsu High student Yuta Okkotsu, with special grade sorcerer Satoru Gojo handling the aftermath and killing Geto on the spot.
After reading it, Naoya frowned immediately.
The good news was that he had transmigrated into the prequel of Jujutsu Kaisen—one year before the main story began. At the very least, he did not need to worry about the Zen'in clan being wiped out the very next day.
The bad news was that one year's head start did not actually help him much. He was still a villain fated to stand far away from the protagonists.
Worse still, Geto's death guaranteed that Kenjaku would seize his corpse, which meant the true mastermind would obtain Cursed Spirit Manipulation, leading eventually to the start of the Culling Game and, in the end, Sukuna's resurrection.
This was obviously a terrible opening.
If only he had transmigrated back when Naoya Zen'in was still a child, then at least he might have had a chance to secure Toji Zen'in as a trump card. At the very least, he would have had an invincible bodyguard by his side.
Anything would be better than Oda, this useless middle-aged man.
"You organized this well."
Naoya praised him offhandedly.
It was not mere politeness. Oda really had done a meticulous job. He had summarized an event that happened all the way in Tokyo so clearly and succinctly that even Naoya, a transmigrator who already knew the plot, could find no fault in it. No wonder villains always had a few loyal lackeys around them. Being in charge like this actually felt pretty good.
"Ah?!"
And yet that single, simple compliment nearly scared Oda out of his wits.
That Naoya Zen'in—the Naoya Zen'in who looked down on everyone—had actually praised him?!
From childhood until now, this genius sorcerer had either ignored him coldly or mocked him with open disdain. In all those years, he had never once said a kind word.
After all, Oda was just a middle-aged servant stuck doing grunt work in the Kukuru Unit, while Naoya Zen'in had already entered the uppermost tier of special grade-one sorcerers.
Whether in status, in power, or in worth, the two of them were worlds apart...
C-could it be that some enormous trap was waiting for him down the line?
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world!
Please, Young Master Naoya.
I really do not want to become some disposable pawn sent to die!
I only follow behind you because the Zen'in family pays well!
If I had any real ability of my own, who would want to be your servant?!
"…?"
Naoya looked at the servant, whose face had suddenly gone deathly pale, and found himself equally baffled.
Although that compliment had indeed stirred up a fair amount of disgust inside him, it had still been a fair and reasonable evaluation. It was nowhere near enough to count as breaking character, so even with Naoya Zen'in's lofty, arrogant personality, the system had allowed it to pass.
Naoya, on the other hand, was in a rather good mood.
The important thing was that control had shifted one step closer to him.
The transmigrator knew very well that the original owner's proud and overbearing soul was already finished. And now, borrowing this body, he was gradually taking back control of this character's body and fate for himself.
A mere little Naoya Zen'in? Easy work.
But soon, the young aristocratic heir frowned again, goosebumps prickling across his skin.
Because he noticed that the corner of the document was stained with a bit of moisture.
That was...
Sweat.
Without question, it had come from the trembling hands of this middle-aged man standing before him.
And the sight made Naoya instinctively recoil in disgust—
Sweat from someone's palms touching paper was contamination. A kind of... filth that could not be forgiven.
The sensation of that filth made him deeply uncomfortable. He had nearly lost control and started cursing the man out on the spot.
But in the end, he held himself back.
Naoya knew that this was the influence of Sigma Male at work.
Still, he had to find a way to overcome the habits of the past.
Sigh. It really looked like he needed to find himself a cute maid.
Surely the hand sweat of a pretty girl would smell nice—maybe then even his cleanliness obsession would not complain.
But considering the original Naoya had died at the hands of a beautiful girl with a kitchen knife, he had better give up on that idea as soon as possible.
And so, lost in thought, Naoya Zen'in made his way toward the Zen'in clan's conference hall.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, the servant Oda hurried to raise a black umbrella over him, shielding him from the cold Kyoto rain.
This looked to be more than just an internal Zen'in family meeting. It had gathered many of the most prominent figures in Kyoto's jujutsu world.
After all, something had happened in Tokyo that was enough to shake the entire jujutsu world. Kyoto, as the guardian of that world's ancient traditions, could not simply sit still. It had to formulate a response.
The young nobleman, draped in a black wide-sleeved haori, wore an expressionless face as his sharp, slightly upturned eyes swept over the bustling crowd around him.
The moment he appeared, the surrounding noise froze.
Kyoto's sorcerers instinctively stepped aside, even their breathing growing quieter.
That was...
fear of the strong.
The transmigrator narrowed his eyes slightly, looking around at the mixture of awe and fear in their faces, and for a moment his emotions became difficult to suppress—
He really had transmigrated into Jujutsu Kaisen.
Even if it was one year before the main story, the plot was about to begin in earnest.
From here on, every step would be like walking on thin ice.
Could he really make it safely to the other side?
"Young Master Naoya, the meeting is about to begin."
Another servant bowed respectfully and reminded him.
"Lead the way."
Without revealing even the slightest flaw, Naoya Zen'in kept his face cold and walked straight toward the conference room.
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