Volume 4 - CH 3.1

Story III

“I have a new story to share to you today.”

I put on an immaculate smile and flipped through the book in my hand.

The Lord was not at all interested in the believers before me.

So I will offer sweet swords in his stead, by narrating a story that the Lord himself created.

“Tragedy can be undone. If you so wish.”

This farce was far too obvious, however.

Still, convention mattered.

Compose a song to praise the Lord.

Build a place to honor the Lord.

Create a ritual to praise the Lord.

Only by giving them a clear format would people be at ease.

“Please don’t cry. With the Lord’s help, everything will be fine.”

I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.

This situation was nothing but an appendage to him to begin with.

The humans in front of me were not foolish sheep, but more like molded meat.

Rolling around, waiting to be cooked.

I repeated the honeyed words to keep the meat from tumbling off the shelf.

“Please look forward to the next story.”

Ah, deceiving people is so exhausting!

Are humans really worth all this effort?

“Apart from a few bandwagons, we can be certain that the suicides that occurred in June and July share the same precedent,” Mayuzumi muttered, tapping the paper she took back with her.

Her fingernails left marks on the Story of the Good Family. She leaned back on the couch and rested her chin in her hand, irritated.

“As a condition for bringing someone back to life, more than twice as many people die. That’s the outline behind these incidents. In some cases, suicidal people have been deceived and taken advantage of. In all of them, the common denominator is the involvement of the fox. The resurrected are given instructions. I believe the same ridiculous stories as this one are left at the scenes. Ah, what a pain. Is he telling me to check all of them?”

Mayuzumi shook her head softly. She reached over to the corner of the table.

Elaborate chess pieces made of white chocolate were lined up on a real chessboard. Mayuzumi picked up a white knight and flicked away a black knight.

The white knight alighted.

“The dead and the living are switching places… all over.”

I squeezed my clasped hands tight. While I was turning my eyes away from reality, all sorts of incidents were happening. The dead were probably arranged in a spiral like needles, and by pulling on the thread, we would no doubt reach the fox at the end of it.

Mayuzumi Asato.

“Normally, I wouldn’t bother. I don’t have time to check every single stage he has set up. But to save Shirayuki-kun, we have no other choice than to look into the cases.”

Mayuzumi gave a small click of her tongue. She picked up the white knight. The horse’s head was inserted between her teeth.

Snap.

“It’s so irritating.”

Like a guillotine, her teeth severed the white knight’s head.

Playing with the piece’s body, she added, “If you don’t mind, Odagiri-kun, could you recount the situation when Shirayuki-kun was abducted? A more detailed description of what was going on inside the building would be appreciated.”

I shared what happened that day again, explaining in detail the images I glimpsed from Shirayuki’s blood. Mayuzumi propped up her elbows, wearing a distressed look. Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed in thought.

“A building that’s fusing with the spirit world, huh? There must be more otherworldly creatures at the moment.”

Mayuzumi shook her head and put the headless knight’s body back on the chessboard.

Next, she picked up three white pawns and fiddled with them.

“The pale humanoids will probably be used as the base for the person. Dolls that can be altered later as you wish. It’s easier to start with the same prototype then modify it, than to have to listen to each person’s wishes and recreate each dead person individually. Sounds like fraudulent business to me. How laughable.”

Her smile deepened. She tossed one pawn after another into her mouth.

“I can’t believe they’re letting the building stay fused with the spirit world,” she went on, chewing on her chocolate. “What happens if it falls through the rift? Or maybe he’s adding more humanoids to the building to turn it into an otherworldly domain. Mayuzumi Azaka rules the spirit world. I think he wants to feel like a ruler himself. Utter foolishness, if you ask me,” she finished with a smile.

Then she paused. Pale fingers caressed her cheek. While she was ridiculing the fox, she didn’t know where he was. After a while of pondering, Mayuzumi shook her head and let out a sigh.

“You should go home for now, Odagiri-kun,” she suddenly suggested. “You left without fixing your door, didn’t you? We might be in this for the long haul. You should head back.”

I was about to object, but I swallowed the words along with my impatience. Shirayuki’s image flashed through my mind. But there was no point in staying here. I doubt the situation would change drastically in a short amount of time. There was nothing valuable in my apartment, but I had to show myself to Nanami.

And there was one important thing I really needed to get.

“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll get ready and be back soon.”

“There’s no need to rush. Actually, there’s something bothering me.”

“What would that be?”

Mayuzumi picked up another chess piece. She watched the white bishop dance in her hand, holding it between her fingers.

“Odagiri-kun. Think back to when I visited your place. What did you drink to survive?”

“…What did I drink?”

My brows knitted. I had no idea what she was talking about. But despite not having any memory about it, I could taste iron in my mouth.

I felt the sensation of lukewarm liquid running down my throat.

Now that she mentioned it, how did I survive?

“Perhaps that will be the key. And your apartment is connected to it.”

Mayuzumi spun the bishop around and set it between her teeth.

“So go.”

The bishop snapped in half.

She returned the bottom half on the board, and it toppled toward the king.

Mayuzumi watched me go with a cat-like grin.

When I stepped outside, the sweltering heat hit me like a truck. It was only around ten o’clock in the morning, but the sun was already demonstrating its fierce harshness. Sweat poured out of my body as I hurried to the subway. I took the westbound train to the end of the line, then took the bus. As I rocked in my seat, I wondered if I should have come home earlier.

An apartment unit with a broken door and its resident missing clearly reeked of a crime.

I just hoped Nanami didn’t report it.

I headed to my apartment, hoping things had not blown out of proportion. Upon reaching the street in front of the building, I surveyed the old exterior that I had jumped out of two days ago. I wasn’t sure if I should visit the landlord’s place. Finally I decided to head to my own unit first.

“Huh? Odagiri-san!” I heard someone shouting my name as soon as I stepped onto the staircase outside.

I felt a jolt in my stomach. Someone had thrown their arms around me. I looked down and saw pigtails.

I knew immediately who it was.

It was the same person I had in mind earlier. Nanase Nanami.

“Where have you been?! I… I was so worried!” She pulled herself away from me. “If you’re going to be gone for a while, you have to inform me!”

Her small shoulders peeking out from her flower-patterned camisole were shaking with anger. There were tears in her big eyes.

“There’s so much going on lately. Suicides, mass suicides. It’s dangerous out there. I thought you wouldn’t do anything to yourself, but I was still worried.”

She cast her gaze down, then suddenly lifted her head back up.

“You just went out without telling me anything. Who do I ask to drive me during summer break? This is not the Odagiri-san I know!”

I made her worry, it seemed. There had been a lot of reports about the series of suicides, and she was concerned that I had joined them.

I patted her small head. She looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes.

“I apologize for making you worry,” I said. “I had really important business I needed to attend to, and I didn’t have time to inform you.”

She puffed out her cheeks, folded her arms, and looked away from me.

“That’s not my problem! I was worried, okay?! Your apology means nothing.”

“I’m so sorry. How’s the landlord doing? It must be hard for you to go grocery shopping alone in the summer heat. I can help you—”

“I love you, Odagiri-san!”

Nanami embraced me with a big smile, then put on a frown the next second. She pulled away, balled her hands into fists, and placed them on her hips. It looked like she was about to give me a lecture.

“Speaking of which, there’s one more thing!” she said. “You’re free to go out, but there’s just one thing I can’t allow. If you want to leave your unit empty, that’s fine, but this is unacceptable!”

“Uhm… what would that be?”

Like a menacing kitten, she cried, “Couldn’t you find a better person to look after your place?!”