Ch.40Chapter 6. Solitude (4)

And my suspicions seemed to be correct.

The reason I thought so was simple.

I shuddered as soon as I got out of the car.

It wasn’t because of the cold. The June night wasn’t cold enough to make me shiver, even if it wasn’t quite midsummer yet.

Besides, I was wearing a light jacket, so I had no reason to be cold.

No, this chill was different from real cold. It felt like a long, many-legged insect crawling up my spine. Goosebumps.

Yamashita, who got out with me, didn’t seem to feel it, as she ran straight into the house without waiting for guidance from the men who got out with us.

It was almost exactly as I had imagined.

A large gate, a spacious yard.

The house was a Japanese mansion like something out of a manga. The kind where there might be a summoning circle in the corner of a storehouse, and a blonde girl summoned from it might ask, “Are you my master?”—Well, the situation is serious, so I’ll put those fantasies aside for now.

I quickly followed after Yamashita.

Yamashita seemed to know where Mori’s room was, as she flung open a door and entered a room.

It was a room with tatami mats. There wasn’t even a bed inside, just bedding laid directly on the floor.

But that doesn’t mean it looked like someone had been carelessly laid down. The bedding was a very clean white. It was clearly high-quality, showing the care of whoever maintained it.

And Mori was lying on that bedding.

Despite being covered with a blanket as thick as the one beneath her, she was trembling like an aspen leaf.

Even from a distance, I could see she was much thinner than when I last saw her. In just a few days, she looked like she was half-dead.

I carefully entered the room. The two men didn’t come in any further.

After slowly closing the sliding door and entering, a chilling coldness seeped out.

Could others feel it too? I looked at the people in the room, but none of them seemed particularly cold.

That sight gave me confidence again.

“……”

Mr. Yamashita, who was sitting cross-legged next to the lying Mori, looked up at me slightly. I gave a slight bow and sat down next to Yamashita.

“…Miho unni…”

Yamashita looked somewhat dazed.

Mori was in serious condition. She couldn’t properly hear people talking to her, and with her eyes closed, she was frowning and trembling. Her jaw was shaking so much that her lips kept moving.

“What on earth happened…?”

Yamashita asked, glaring at her father.

“This isn’t just shock. A person doesn’t get like this from just being surprised.”

“That’s right. Miho is a strong girl. She wouldn’t collapse just because someone threatened her.”

“Then why?”

Mr. Yamashita’s gaze fell on me.

I carefully looked at Mori’s face again.

As I did so, the chill seemed to intensify. Now I was trembling too.

…This is a bit different.

It was clearly a different sensation from when I saw the nue or the amanojaku.

Malice.

I had felt a bit of that sensation from both the amanojaku and the nue. The amanojaku deliberately sought out girls who would despair and wail as they were eaten, and the nue tried to feed on humans’ negative emotions.

But that was just the yokai’s “preference.” It’s like a human choosing how well-done they want their meat, whether to add vegetables, or what sauce to use.

It might feel like malice to the one being eaten, but to the eater, they’re just choosing according to their preference.

This isn’t just my speculation; it was mentioned in the novel too. Understanding it as a “feeling” was another matter, though.

‘Ah, so that’s what it is.’

That’s what I thought.

A bit more like a child playing with a frog, no, much more intense than that… Is this what a human’s gaze is like when they’re sharpening a knife while looking at someone?

“That dog head.”

Those were the words that came out when I opened my mouth.

“Where is it?”

“…Do you know something?”

Isn’t that why you brought me along?

“Did you throw it away?”

“Why? What is it?”

Yamashita asked me.

“…We need to find the cause.”

Just in case, maybe some kind of germ was transmitted from the dog’s head. In a yakuza mansion like this, it wouldn’t be strange if there were vengeful spirits. It was much better to confirm and deal with it properly than to make a mistake due to misunderstanding.

“Cause? What do you mean? You think you can find it?”

“……”

I had no response to that.

I couldn’t say, ‘I’m kind of like the daughter of a god that cult religions believe in. Oh, but thinking about it again, since that god actually exists, I guess it’s not really a cult…’

It would obviously sound like a joke to someone hearing it for the first time.

There’s no point saying it in front of someone who’s worried.

“Come with me.”

Mr. Yamashita stood up and opened the door.

“Kurosawa?”

Seeing me follow, Yamashita also got up.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Whether the cause was germs or a real curse, it was dangerous for people to approach that dog head.

The sensation I was feeling now was similar to being near a “nest.” It would be troublesome if Yamashita got involved.

…Though it might already be too late.

Only now did I think that I should have come alone. Maybe that’s why Mr. Yamashita hadn’t called Yamashita in the first place.

But perhaps he did so because Mori’s condition had become too critical, and he didn’t want to leave any regrets.

“I’m coming too…!”

“Yuu. Wait here.”

But before I could express my refusal again, Mr. Yamashita spoke first.

His voice was calm, but perhaps because it was naturally deep, it resonated somewhat frighteningly throughout the room. Yamashita’s shoulders momentarily shrank, but,

“I’m going too.”

Yes, Yuka Yuuki is Mr. Yamashita’s daughter. They seemed to share a similar temperament. I wondered if their taciturnity was also hereditary.

“Stay seated.”

Mr. Yamashita warned again.

“Who do you think you are…!”

“……”

When Yamashita shouted, Mr. Yamashita glared at her with wide eyes.

He didn’t shout back. But there was power in that gaze. Yamashita backed away slightly after receiving it.

She hunched her shoulders and trembled slightly.

…Somehow, I felt like I had seen something I shouldn’t have. I had witnessed a very sensitive part of someone else’s family affairs.

“…Haa.”

Mr. Yamashita exhaled deeply and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

…Mori must have been an important person to Mr. Yamashita too. Not just as his future wife, but as someone he had raised like his own daughter for a long time. She was also the daughter of a brother figure to whom he owed a debt.

And as a result of accepting that responsibility, he was accused of cheating by his daughter, and his partner had fallen ill with an unknown disease. He had reason to be on edge.

“Wait in your seat.”

Yamashita glared fiercely at Mr. Yamashita, but seeing her father standing firmly at the door, she finally sat down with a thud.

“I apologize for showing an unpleasant side.”

“…No, it’s fine.”

When Mr. Yamashita apologized quietly, I responded in a somewhat subdued voice.

Mr. Yamashita hesitated slightly before turning and leaving the room. I followed him into the hallway.

Before the sliding door closed, I glanced back and met Yamashita’s eyes as she looked up at me.

As if wondering why I was allowed to go when she wasn’t, Yamashita was staring up at me.

Thud.

One of the men waiting outside closed the door.

When I looked back, Mr. Yamashita was looking down at me.

When I nodded, Mr. Yamashita turned and began walking.

I followed behind him.

*

Was this also something that happened in the main story?

I suspected it was.

Given that Kotone Kurosawa and Kagami Kurosawa exist in this world, they must have existed in the novel’s world too.

The same goes for Miura.

…If Miura had been killed as in the main story, how would things have unfolded?

The cult group exists. The attempt to summon an outer god into Kotone Kurosawa’s body must have failed. Humanity was safe at the start of the main story, so that was almost certain.

But Kotone Kurosawa would have attended school. Teacher Suzuki knew of my existence. Since I existed in the system, Kotone Kurosawa would have been sitting in the classroom next to the protagonist’s throughout the main story.

Miura, who would have taken care of me, was gone. Yamashita’s… sister, I should say. Perhaps Miho Mori had died too.

While Fukuda and Yamashita were quite popular in the classroom, strictly speaking, they weren’t the ones with the wide social circle.

Miura, who became class president through what was essentially a popularity vote, could be considered the most popular student in the class.

A central figure who kept Fukuda and Yamashita grounded.

“……”

It feels a bit wrong to think negatively about two people I’ve already gotten to know, but wouldn’t Kotone Kurosawa have been isolated in class?

…Even if it had progressed that far, there’s no point in worrying about it now since I didn’t read to the end.

The answer to why I didn’t read to the end is simple.

I just forgot.

For the first few years, I bought each new volume religiously, but at some point, I started reading other manga and light novels, buying those new releases… Students always lack pocket money, don’t they? When you keep switching to new things, eventually the novels you were following go out of print.

…I should have read it properly to the end.

Then I would at least know something about the situation I’m in now.

“It’s here.”

Mr. Yamashita said.

It must have rained slightly before we arrived, as the ground was damp. Since this was the back of the house, there wasn’t a pretty garden or anything.

Just hard-packed sand.

At the edge of it was a fairly large storehouse. It was big enough for someone to set up living quarters inside, about the size of a studio apartment.

That’s right.

To be frank, it looked about the same size as the house I lived in.

Indeed, a wealthy household.

“Shall we go in together?”

“No, I’ll go and look by myself.”

No need to increase the number of victims unnecessarily.

At least my body doesn’t get injured when attacked by yokai.

No, to be precise, it’s not that I don’t get injured.

It’s more like I don’t die instantly.

I should be able to withstand the curses that yokai spread. Probably.

Mr. Yamashita nodded and took out a cigarette from his inner suit pocket.

This time, he didn’t seem to care that I was watching and immediately lit the cigarette, taking a deep drag.

After watching him exhale a cloud of white smoke, I turned around.

Walking across the wet sand, I approached the storehouse.

There was no one guarding it, nor was the door locked.

I pulled the door open.

Creeeeak, the unoiled hinges made a spine-chilling sound.

A humid summer smell wafted out from inside. And something like the smell of decay.

…It had been a while since I’d smelled that. At least it wasn’t the worst smell I’d ever encountered.

Leaving the door open, I went in and felt along the wall for a switch.

Finding the up-and-down switch protruding from the wall, I flicked it up with a click.

The light bulb hanging from the ceiling by an electrical cord lit up.

…It was a somewhat desolate storehouse.

Various tools were hanging on one wall. On the opposite wall, a broom was leaning, and there was a cleaning supply box that probably contained a mop.

The floor was spotlessly clean.

Several folding chairs were leaning against the wall, and though they were nothing special, they somehow looked ominous.

And on a table at the far end of the wall directly in front of me was a box with its top open.

The bottom part was soggy and mushy from some liquid. There were traces of what looked like dried mud on the outside of the box, as if it had been dropped and rolled.

I slowly approached the box.

Wrinkling my nose, I slowly leaned forward to look inside the box.

My eyes met the dog’s.

Whatever grievance it had, the dog had died with its eyes open. Had its neck been cut while in that state?

The skin on its forehead was all wrinkled as if it had been barking vigorously until the very end, and there were things crawling around the severed neck and mouth. Insects were also stuck to its outstretched tongue.

It was just a head. If I hadn’t known anything, I might have thought it was the head of a dog that had been in a traffic accident and placed in a box.

But throughout looking at that head, I couldn’t hear anything.

Just a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I couldn’t hear the sound of the wind coming through the storehouse door, or the rustling of trees planted around the mansion.

The ambient light gradually dimmed. As if only the dog’s head and I were being highlighted, my peripheral vision slowly narrowed.

The dog was still looking up at me—

“Huk.”

Realizing I hadn’t been breathing, I forced myself to inhale.

I quickly turned and ran out of the storehouse.

“Ugh.”

I bent forward and dry heaved. Fortunately, I didn’t actually vomit.

…It wasn’t just panic from seeing a dog’s corpse. I’ve seen much worse things.

However—

Chills.

My body was trembling like an aspen leaf.

It felt like I had faced something that wanted to “kill” me. The dog’s eyes were clearly looking up at me.

I heard footsteps. When I straightened up, Mr. Yamashita was approaching. His expression was calm. No, perhaps it was an expression that said he had expected this.

…Well, outwardly I’m just a high school girl.

“Can you solve this?”

“……”

To be honest, with my personal knowledge alone, I’m not sure.

However.

“A knife.”

“Hm?”

“I need a knife.”

“What kind of knife would work?”

Not expecting such a question, I stared at Mr. Yamashita’s face in surprise for a moment.

Ah, right.

This is a yakuza mansion, after all.

“…One that can cut flesh and draw blood will do.”

“Understood.”

Mr. Yamashita answered and dropped the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth. He ground it out with his foot.

“Hey!”

“Yes!”

When Mr. Yamashita shouted loudly, one of the men waiting a little distance away quickly ran over.

“Bring a knife. Just needs to be sharp.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man said that and then—opened the black suit jacket he was wearing.

And from inside, he pulled out a knife.

…….

Really?

The knife… looked like an ordinary kitchen knife. However, the blade part was wrapped in newspaper to make a makeshift sheath, probably so it could be carried inside the suit.

It looked extremely suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Mr. Yamashita took it and handed it to me.

With a somewhat dazed feeling, I took the knife and drew it from its makeshift sheath.

It was just a cooking knife, but why did it look so deadly? It was incomparable to the utility knife I usually used.

Tsssk.

Mr. Yamashita took out a second cigarette and put it in his mouth.

And while smoking, he stood at a distance and quietly watched me.

“……”

I looked around. No one was moving to step back.

Is it okay to show this?

“Mr. Yamashita.”

When I called out, Mr. Yamashita nodded slightly. It seemed to mean he was listening.

“Among the people here, how many ‘know’?”

Mr. Yamashita turned his head to look behind him. After carefully examining each of his subordinates’ faces one by one, he turned back to me and said,

“Those guys over there are all ‘believers.'”

“……”

So that’s how it is.

For a moment, I almost dropped the knife from the reality check.

“It’s a religion that people in this line of work find easy to believe in.”

I heard an explanation I didn’t particularly want to hear.

“What about Yamashita… Yuu?”

I almost called her “Yamashita,” but then remembered that the person in front of me was also Yamashita, so I asked that way.

“That child knows nothing.”

“…Then, please make sure she doesn’t come out of the room until this is over.”

Mr. Yamashita nodded and then waved his hand toward the back.

“Yes!”

Two men who shouted that quickly ran off. Probably heading in the direction of Mori’s room.

“Haa.”

I exhaled slightly and rolled up my left sleeve.

When I removed the hair tie from my wrist, a small magic circle engraved on my wrist became visible.

With the hair tie lightly held in my mouth, I raised the knife tip in my right hand and placed it against my wrist.

When I pressed the blade against my wrist, I felt the characteristic stinging sensation,

And then I stabbed the knife tip in. And dragged it sideways.

Indeed, it was a kitchen knife. The wound on my wrist formed much more easily than when using a utility knife.

And then—

“I thought you had forgotten about me.”

A tickling voice in my ear.

“…It hasn’t even been a month since I last called you.”

I answered.

There were no sounds of surprise from around me. Of course not. Nothing was moving. Even I, who had summoned that being, could barely move my eyeballs.

Crunch, crunch, I heard the sound of someone walking on sand nearby. But even when I moved just my eyes to follow the sound, I couldn’t see anything.

“That’s plenty of time, isn’t it? You’re human, so you won’t live that long.”

“…Am I really human?”

Laughter echoed in my ear.

“I’m curious what you want from me.”

“…You saw it too, right? That dog head.”

“A dog loyal even in death, how admirable.”

Zhapguras said playfully.

“…Can you tell what that dog is doing?”

“Of course it’s carrying out its master’s orders, isn’t it? Because it’s a dog.”

Laughter echoed in my ear again.

“However, I’m a bit concerned. If someone trained the dog to do something, they should give it a reward. I’m not sure if it will be satisfied with just a treat.”

That’s what the outer god said. Somehow, I thought that this Shub-Niggurath knockoff shrugged at the end of his sentence.

“Don’t worry about the master. I’ll find and kill them. Can you tell me the location?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to call a professional cleaner? There should be some among your friends, right?”

“……”

“Aha.”

The voice giggled.

And then, whispering into my ear, the author spoke.

As if telling a secret.

“You don’t want to involve them in this, do you?”

The outer god smiles. Somehow, that image formed in my mind.

“People who do dirty work in the underworld. That’s what they’ll think. Well, most of my believers do that kind of work. Don’t worry, I don’t mind much.”

I never worried about it in the first place.

“But, can you overcome this? The opponent is a starving mad dog. A grudge created by cutting off the head of a dog that was raised with plenty of love, then starved for days. Concentrated poison (gudoku). I think it might be a bit difficult with just your power.”

“……”

“Indeed, indeed.”

Zhapguras nodded… or so it seemed.

“You can’t give up either way, can you?”

For some reason finding this amusing, “she” laughed for a while.

“Good. I like it.”

As if thoroughly excited, she said,

“I’ll help you.”

Slowly, the wound opened as if being poked by a finger. In a world where everything had stopped, only that part moved, and the sight of blood gushing out wasn’t particularly pleasant to see.

“However, I hope you don’t think it will be too easy.”

Slowly, the force holding my body tight loosened, and the voice in my ears gradually grew fainter.

“Malice lurks everywhere.”

A very soft, soft whisper.

“Especially in places like this—”

And time began to flow again.

Plop, plop.

I heard the sound of something pouring out.

“Ahhh!?”

The people watching me were startled. They were all looking at my feet.

Chi.

What I had previously named “Chi” from the Japanese pronunciation of the character for blood, were wriggling on the ground—creatures that looked like snakes that had been cutely deformed except for their red, blood-clot-like color.

The ones that had just fallen to the ground flipped around for a while before finding their balance, and then quickly swam across the ground, wriggling forward in an instant.

The “Chi” that wriggled through the people instantly disappeared into various parts of the mansion.

“Kyu.”

A cute sound came from near my ear.

…Like last time, one had climbed onto my shoulder.

Clang.

The sound of metal falling rang out indifferently.

Looking down, I saw a red sword had fallen at my feet.

“……”

Silence.

Everyone was silent, with expressions suggesting they didn’t know what to make of this situation.

I bent down and picked up the sword.

“…Haa.”

Alright.

Well then…

Let’s go find it.

I’m going to be up all night, damn it.