Ch.41Chapter 6. Solitude (5)

First, let me think about this.

As usual, Shura Nirlas didn’t tell me the details.

Though Chi was on my shoulder, it wouldn’t tell me the truth behind the incident. It would probably just show me the location.

I’d have to find the details myself.

“H-hey, miss…”

As I walked between the men, one of them spoke up.

With my wrist wound open like this, blood would flow. This wasn’t something I could stop.

Even covering it with cloth wouldn’t control the bleeding. Since I’m connected to Shura Nirlas while my blood flows, it’s better not to stop it even if I could.

“A towel, just one…”

But I couldn’t go around splattering blood all over someone else’s hallway.

My blood might help drive away yokai since they’re terrified of it, but it still doesn’t look good.

When I said this while bleeding in the backyard, one of the men nodded and quickly went to get a towel.

He also brought a proper first aid kit. As expected of a household that uses swords.

Following my instructions, they didn’t stitch it up, just placed a towel over it and wrapped it tightly with bandages. The towel would absorb the blood, reducing what dripped onto the floor, even if it couldn’t stop the bleeding.

Good.

While they treated my arm, I organized my thoughts.

Earlier they mentioned “godogu,” which is something I know about. I’ve heard of it before.

The version I know involves making it from insects or people.

The most well-known version probably involves filling a jar with poisonous insects, burying it, and after some time, using the poison from the one survivor when you open it.

When making it with people, they say you starve a child, bury them somewhere, and when you give them food, you cut off the hand they reach out with. The craving for food supposedly concentrates in those fingertips.

The dog’s head probably works similarly. They likely cut off the head of a dog that was buried with only its head exposed.

Of course, that alone wouldn’t complete the curse. There must be other… “fantasy” elements involved. Just cutting off the head would only leave a dog carcass.

Breaking the head with a sword wouldn’t solve the problem. That would be too easy a solution. Someone trying to kill with a curse wouldn’t use something with such a simple remedy.

Gripping the sword tightly in my right hand, I went up to the hallway.

“Kyu.”

Chi, clinging to the side of my neck, made that sound. Honestly, its cry was cute, but I wasn’t used to its damp body.

It seemed to stick not by its own adhesion but like jelly that doesn’t easily fall off the skin due to some liquid-like substance. It didn’t feel good. Plus, its body temperature was oddly lukewarm.

Since it was born from my blood, I could understand what Chi was saying. I didn’t comprehend it as a specific language, but I could instinctively sense which direction it was looking at or where it wanted to go.

I moved my feet following that sound.

And—

Creak.

“Kyu, kyu.”

…I just found an empty room.

Well, not exactly empty. It was a long, stretched-out room that looked like it was meant for people to sit together for meetings. The kind of room you’d often see in yakuza movies.

In the middle of that tatami room, Chi was crying pitifully. It was one of those created from the blood that poured from my wrist earlier. It looked identical to the one perched on my shoulder.

Chi’s movement marks remained clearly on the tatami. There was faint blood on them that would clean up easily, but I shuddered thinking about all the “Chi”s that must have crawled into various parts of this mansion.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kyu.”

“What’s here?”

“Kyu, kyu.”

Malice.

Yes, that makes sense. Chi follows what I want.

I knelt down on one knee and touched the tatami with my hand. As expected, it felt the same as in the other rooms.

What now?

Looking back, I saw Mr. Yamashita and the men following me, watching from outside the door. They apparently couldn’t bring themselves to enter.

That was fortunate.

“Kyu?”

“…I think I understand.”

Listening to Chi crying in the middle of the tatami room looking up at me, I realized something.

The sword I possess. A sword made of pure blood, drawn from a body created with the power of an outer god.

While it’s a weapon usable by yokai, its purpose is to cut yokai and strange beings.

Maybe it’s related to Sasaki’s blood too. His blood was used for similar purposes in the novel.

I lightly poked the end of Chi’s waist with the tip of my sword.

Chi appears to be a living creature on the surface. But Chi relaxed its body languidly as if this was natural.

I closed my eyes and sliced through Chi’s waist with my sword.

Screech!

Something screamed, and

Splash!

Blood sprayed everywhere. Like someone had used a spray bottle of blood, it splattered in all directions from the halved Chi.

Of course, on my face too.

…Like something out of a B-movie when you slice a zombie with a sword.

“Gasp.”

I heard someone inhale sharply from outside the door.

And—

“Aaaaargh!?”

A scream came from far away.

I staggered to my feet.

The men who had been outside the door were already running toward the sound.

Drip, drip. Rain began to fall one drop at a time from the already gloomy sky. It would probably pour down in about a minute.

Mr. Yamashita slowly followed me as I staggered toward the source of the sound. Perhaps to catch me if I fell.

“Aaah!”

The man rolling around on the sandy ground that was gradually getting wet was someone I hadn’t seen before. He must have been inside since I arrived at the mansion.

“Hey, Koki!”

Apparently, the rolling man’s name was Koki.

One of the men who had been outside approached him.

“Koki, what happened!”

“M-my hand…!”

The hand the man held out was missing a finger. The little finger on his left hand.

“My finger hurts…!”

“…”

I looked at Mr. Yamashita.

“He’s a guy who made a big mistake years ago and cut off his finger.”

How very yakuza-like.

But what connection could there be between me cutting Chi and this man’s finger—

“…”

Then a thought crossed my mind.

“Mr. Yamashita, perhaps.”

“Yes, that’s the room.”

Mr. Yamashita said calmly.

“That’s where he cut it off.”

—Malice lurks everywhere.

That’s what Shura Nirlas had said.

I closed my eyes.

…More of his tricks, huh.

*

The hide-and-seek with malice lurking everywhere continued afterward.

In the attic.

“Aaaaargh!?”

One of the men collapsed. He was holding his groin. I didn’t really want to know why.

In a storage room different from the one with the dog’s head.

“Urgh.”

A man collapsed clutching his stomach. I heard he was famous for beating his juniors severely.

In the well-maintained garden.

“Eek…!”

The man who collapsed holding his head was apparently someone who used women like toys and discarded them.

Most were perpetrators, but there were also many closer to being “victims.” The malice didn’t follow its intention or direction. The stronger the malice they harbored, the more violently the men rolled on the ground.

Naturally, the looks in the eyes of the men watching these scenes gradually changed as time passed.

Some trembled as if witnessing divine punishment.

Some gave me hostile glances.

Some couldn’t understand what was happening.

…Above all, I myself was dumbfounded.

After sacrificing several Chi and completely soaking my body in blood, I finally understood what I was doing.

I was also creating godogu.

Of course, it was weaker than that dog’s head. Being created with shallow thoughts in a short time, the men didn’t suffer serious damage.

They just suffered pain.

Alright, I think I understand now.

Shura Nirlas has terrible taste. He probably enjoys anything that torments people. This pain is likely the “price” for this job.

I’m paying the price of pain in exchange for solving pain.

And among those pains, the most persistent and severe would be my own pain of bleeding. The bleeding that slowly kills over time.

“Phew.”

I exhaled and gritted my teeth again.

I got up and staggered forward again.

None of the men following me spoke to me anymore. Whatever emotion was behind that reason.

My heart was beating faster, perhaps wanting to circulate the diminishing blood more quickly to supply oxygen to my brain. No, maybe it was just fear. Fear that I might die in vain. Fear that Yamashita might hate me.

That’s what I was thinking about a friend I’d only known for just over a month.

That’s also why I didn’t call Yuuki.

“Haa.”

Still, I’d dealt with almost all the malice Chi had shown me. I felt like after clearing away the small things, one big one remained.

But of all places.

“B-boss.”

When I headed to where the Chi were gathering last, it was in front of Mr. Mori’s room.

Shoji, was it? The Chi were stuck all over the bottom of the traditional Japanese paper door. I could hear them crying “kyu— kyu—” but Chi’s cries aren’t very loud unless you’re very close.

I wasn’t sure if anyone could hear them through the thin wood and paper door.

The men guarding the door to prevent Yamashita from coming out were terrified but couldn’t bring themselves to touch those sticky, incomprehensible bug-like things clinging to the bottom of the door and wriggling while crying.

That was fortunate.

“Mr. Yamashita.”

“Yes.”

Even without me explaining, Mr. Yamashita, who had followed me and seen what happened when I cut those things, immediately understood what I wanted.

“…I’ll do it myself.”

The men who understood the same tried to enter the room, but Mr. Yamashita raised his hand to stop them.

I stepped aside and hid by the door.

Mr. Yamashita touched the door, glanced at me briefly, nodded slightly, then quickly opened the door, went in, and closed it.

The Chi, which could only wriggle, couldn’t keep up with that speed.

…

It was quiet around me. The rain that had been falling steadily was now pouring down in a complete downpour. Only the sound of the rain hammered at my ears.

But that didn’t mean the people around me were standing without thoughts.

They were all looking at me.

‘Couldn’t we have just come here from the beginning?’

I don’t know if it’s my paranoia or what, but I think some people are thinking that. No, they definitely are. If I had been watching without knowing anything and lacked observational skills, I would have thought the same.

But I felt somewhat wronged too.

Shura Nirlas wanted pain from the beginning.

Of course, I passed by this place briefly while going around the mansion earlier. And if there had been this many Chi clustered thickly at the door, I would have known this room was the final destination.

But there was no sign of that when I passed by.

Only after dealing with Chi scattered throughout the mansion did this many Chi—far more than I had dealt with so far—gather here from wherever they had been hiding.

I leaned against the wall next to the door, catching my breath. This is starting to take too long.

I heard someone getting up from the front.

“Dad…?”

Yamashita’s voice.

“Yuu.”

And Mr. Yamashita’s voice.

“Dad, what are you trying to— Eek, what!? What are you doing!?”

I heard struggling sounds and the sound of someone slapping with their hands. I also heard something crashing and breaking.

“What!? Where are you going!? Why are your eyes—”

Thud.

The door received an impact from inside. The men guarding the door quickly opened it to clear the way.

“Kyu— kyu—”

The Chi that had been crying pitifully rushed into the opened door.

“Whoa!?”

When the entering Chi stuck to his legs with a splashing sound, the man quickly moved his feet to shake them off. The Chi that fell off leaving bloodstains on the floor quickly rolled over and went back into the room.

“…W-what’s happening…”

Yamashita, tightly embraced by Mr. Yamashita, muttered. His eyes were covered by Mr. Yamashita’s large hand.

When a person’s eyes are covered, they naturally focus on other senses. Sound, smell, touch.

“What’s this smell?”

Yamashita muttered fearfully.

Mr. Yamashita looked at me.

I nodded to him. Mr. Yamashita looked at my face and immediately turned to walk toward a room far away.

He would know that Yamashita shouldn’t be near here.

…Shinja, he had said.

How much do these men know? And how far has Kagami infiltrated this household?

There was much I wanted to know, but right now—

I entered through the open door.

The Chi were gathered in one place.

I was really glad they weren’t on top of Mr. Mori’s body.

…It’s “godogu.”

The location is somewhat important. But more important is where that location and the target are connected.

“…Sigh, if you’re going to tell me, just say it in words…”

I said as if lamenting.

My blood—the blood flowing in this body from somewhere beyond the universe—has the effect of suppressing yokai roaming this land. I don’t know how strong that effect is.

Fight godogu with godogu.

If there’s something “used on a person,” I just need to pour my blood there to break the “connection.”

…I didn’t think of this properly this time, but I’ll use it next time.

Thinking this, I slightly stabbed my sword into the tatami.

And then I slashed sideways through the mass of Chi that had piled on top of each other like a slime mound.

Splash!

Even more blood sprayed than in the other rooms. I had already seen several times how efficiently a small amount of blood in each Chi could wet a room.

In other words, when you cut a mass of Chi so numerous it’s annoying to count them one by one, blood sprays in all directions more than if you used a spray bottle.

…My clothes had simply turned red. At least it wasn’t my school uniform—

—I couldn’t finish that thought.

I can see the sky.

That’s what I thought in the next moment.

I once heard someone on YouTube say that in fighting games, people float into the air too easily, but in reality, if someone received enough force to be knocked into the air, they would just die.

That makes sense. How often would a person be hit hard enough to float in the air? Maybe when hit head-on by a car at full speed. The impact would be indescribable if I also broke through a door made of thin wood and paper.

It’s fortunate that the window facing outside was open. If I had broken through two doors, the impact would have been doubled.

Hmm, but I didn’t die.

That’s good.

After rolling on the ground several times, I quickly got up.

Somehow I was still holding my sword in this situation.

“Haa…”

My whole body was wet. The rain soaked in, making reddish water drip down. Since I was practically pickled in blood, this was natural.

“Grrrr…”

While holding my sword, I heard something coming from far away by the window.

Lightly jumping up and landing gracefully in front of me was a dog.

But a dog that looked somewhat human.

A bizarre appearance like someone forcibly crawling on all fours with only the head resembling a dog. It was truly a yokai.

“Yes, it was you.”

Its body was transparent. It probably wasn’t just transparent but untouchable to others. If something like that had been on top of a person, someone would have touched it during nursing.

If left alone, it would have continued hiding its body while gnawing away at Mr. Mori’s life.

What prevented that was probably my blood.

Red blood was caked all over the transparent dog’s body. It was quite bizarre how its fur stood up toward the sky like a cat despite being a dog.

“Grrrr…”

When the dog made a sound, the hair on my back stood up.

Not just because I was facing a yokai.

…The dog, as if… it had been a frightening creature from the beginning. An instinctive aversion.

No, fear.

Ha.

I wish they hadn’t copied this aspect from the original work too.

In Lovecraft’s original text, dogs once killed Shub-Niggurath’s hybrid son. It was an absurd death for someone with the blood of an outer god who was trying to summon Shub-Niggurath to the world.

I was afraid of that dog.

No, if you’re going to add originality, don’t just change the name. Change the setting properly too.

Besides, that’s nothing like a dog, humanity’s eternal friend! It looks more like a ghoul! Ghouls in the original text looked similar to dogs but weren’t actually dogs!

If you’re going to reflect the setting, do it properly!

I raised my sword.

The dog’s legs bulged up and then shot forward like a spring.

I moved my sword to strike the dog’s head.

The dog quickly ducked its head down, opened its mouth wide, and moved toward my abdomen. Was it trying to eat my intestines?

I hurriedly backed away.

The edge of the cardigan I was wearing was slightly torn. If I had been a little slower, my intestines would have been torn out.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

…Alright.

From today, I should completely switch to being a cat person.