novelBloodstained Zashiki Warashi by??? (2)
| ← Ch.67 | Ch.69 → |
I had no idea what was going to happen, so it was possible I would need a weapon like Nagisa had. I searched through the building with that in mind, but I only found a work bench with an attached electric tool. There was nothing small enough to carry around with me. I opened all the doors, hoping to at least find a knife or some scissors, but I found something else entirely behind one of them.
When I opened some thick metal double doors, I found a long, long stairway leading underground with a shimenawa decorating the top of the entrance.
I also saw the Hyakki Yakou emblem I had seen during the battle with the Aoandon.
The pure gold family crest had a shimenawa hanging from the very center.
"What the hell is this?"
"Gau."
Asking the zombie Zashiki Warashi wasn't going to help.
This was clearly suspicious, but I had a nagging feeling it wasn't going to lead to an escape route. Finding a cave at the mountain's peak made me think of the term Mikuchi-sama, but I had given up on doing anything on my own. If I was taken out here, what would happen to the caged Zashiki Warashi? Escaping together was my top priority. Once we reached some safe place, I could ask some big names like the Succubus or the Aoandon. I could even ask Hyakki Yakou for help. If we then found we had to go back to Bozen City to return the zombies to normal, we could do so with all the equipment we might need. I had no reason to risk my own life and the Zashiki Warashi's fate on a one-shot gamble here.
With that in mind, I prepared to close the metal doors, but then I heard something rolling toward me.
"Hm? Hey, wait!!"
The foundation must have sunk at some point because the floor was slanted just a bit. That meant the wheeled bear trap was rolling straight toward me!
For a second, I considered trying to catch it, but I quickly realized that wasn't possible. That thing was meant to carry two or three hundred kilo bears. It had to be pretty solid and heavy. If it picked up speed it wouldn't just hit me. It would send me flying!
So I quickly fled to the side.
"Gau!!"
As the Zashiki Warashi held onto the bars inside the cage, I thought I saw her giving me a look of pure spite.
A moment later, the cage fell down the stairs beyond the door.
The crashing sounds continued for a while afterwards.
"Ah..."
Once the sound completely stopped, I peered into that darkness.
These were the blatantly fishy stairs leading underground below the shimenawa. I hadn't wanted to go down there, so I sounded really annoyed.
"But I guess I have to go down there to collect that idiot..."
Part 7
The stairway was a lot longer than I had thought.
Once I finally reached the bottom, I found the bear trap on its side and the Zashiki Warashi glaring at me with a hint of fear in her eyes.
It was the look of a wild animal that could no longer trust humans after burning itself on a campfire.
"Gau gau!! Grrr!!!"
"Sorry. I'm sorry, Zashiki Warashi. But there's no way I could have stopped that."
I apologized and somehow managed to right the toppled cage. Then I looked back the way we had come. Could I really climb those stairs with that cage?
I was worried, but since we were down here, I decided to keep going. It was possible there was another exit.
The underground space was quite large. At the center was a pit twenty meters across and too deep to see the bottom. Quite a few small shacks and bamboo passageways had been built in three dimensions around the pit. The wooden walls were branded with Hyakki Yakou's emblem. There were plenty of bare lightbulbs, candles, and lanterns, so the space was filled with a dim orange light. The stuffy scent of dirt was mixed with the scent of machine oil. There was a simple reason why.
"A power shovel and a bulldozer? There's even a tunnel boring machine with attached arms."
There was a lot of the yellow heavy machinery used for public works projects.
I could tell a lot of effort had gone into making this space, but what was it for?
I pushed the bear trap down the gradually descending pathway that spiraled like a giant spring.
After continuing for a bit, the scenery changed entirely. The buildings and passageways had burned away. There also must have been a cave-in because the bedrock had collapsed in places.
What had happened?
No matter how big this place was, that would still mean a fire in a subterranean space. The smoke and lack of oxygen scared me more than the flames and heat.
"Gau..."
"Hm? What is it, Zashiki Warashi?"
She was acting odd inside the cage.
She was sitting motionless in a corner with her hands on the top of her black-haired head.
Was she afraid of something? I doubted it was just the fire, so what had caused it? I looked over to the fire-blackened pillars, but I couldn't tell what the small building had been used for originally.
Curious, I brushed my fingers across the burned materials and thought. Suddenly, what looked like a stuffed animal head poked out from behind the corner.
No, it was a small canine Youkai.
"Hm? You're that Sunekosuri, aren't you?"
"I never expected to see you here, Jinnai Shinobu! Oh! But this is hardly the time. Hide! You really need to hide!"
"?"
"The zombies will be here soon! Um, oh, that Zashiki Warashi also needs to-... wahh!! She's a zombie too!?"
The canine Youkai suddenly appeared and nearly pissed himself, so I scooped him up in one hand. It didn't matter if the zombies found the Zashiki Warashi, so I left the cage there. However, the zombies tracked their prey by smell, so...
"Hey, I'd like to base some stuff on a dog's sense of smell!"
"Who are you calling a dog!? I am a proper Youkai called a Sunekosu-... ghh!?"
He's useless!
At any rate, I ran into the remains of the burned-down shack with the Sunekosuri. I lay down on the ground and held my breath.
The smell of charcoal was pretty distinctive, so I could only hope it would hide us from the zombies!
I heard some wet sounds.
They were several pairs of footsteps.
I had no real weapon and I didn't have Nagisa's skill to knock them off balance and then sever an arm, leg, or head with a full swing. If we were found, it was all over. We'd be powerlessly overwhelmed and eaten.
I held my breath.
My heart pounded in my head.
I could not sense any warmth in the footsteps I heard. I didn't sense the atmospheric change felt when you're on an elevator alone and someone else steps on.
I couldn't move my head much, but I could see the zombies walking by beyond the burned-down wall.
They were...
"Uncle... ?"
I knew it was hardly the time, but I muttered under my breath.
And it wasn't just the detective in cardigan and slacks.
I also saw Hishigami Enbi in a torn-up Santa Claus themed swimsuit and Hishigami Mai who seemingly couldn't use her legs since she was dragging herself forward with her arms. I also saw someone in a white kimono with long white hair spreading out from a head that dangled loosely from her neck. I was pretty sure that was the Hishigami Shikimi woman I had seen at some point.
All of them had dry white hair, muddy eyes, and red and purple skin.
What had happened here?
Why were they here in this creepy cave and why had they turned into zombies!? They all had to have been closer to the center of this than me, so how could this have happened!?
I didn't understand anything anymore.
I didn't want to believe the scene before my eyes.
"Jinnai-san?"
The Sunekosuri was saying something, but I wasn't listening.
I got up without thinking. I slowly moved my head toward them. If I could go to them, dispel this strange mirage, and prove this scene was a lie...
As I started to stand up, the small Youkai bit the back of my hand.
"Jinnai Shinobu! Stop this! Are you trying to sacrifice yourself!?"
But...
I can't let this be real...
"Refusing to face reality will save no one. If you are defeated, what will happen to the Zashiki Warashi you brought with you!?"
"————"
Those words finally focused my mind on reality.
Fortunately, the zombies had yet to notice me, so I got back down as if I had suddenly remembered the situation.
That's right.
No matter how cruel the world got and no matter how overwhelming the scenes before my eyes, I had been willing to part ways with Nagisa over this.
I couldn't end this by giving up and leaving the Zashiki Warashi all alone!
I clenched my teeth.
I could only wait for them to pass.
But...
"Gau."
The shaking of the cage seemed to squeeze at my heart.
You Good-for-Nothing!! Do you have something against me!? You haven't forgiven me for dropping you down those stairs, have you!? You're pretty conceited for a zombie!!
My uncle and Hishigami Enbi coldly turned their heads.
Their feet came to a stop.
While lying on the ground, I slowly reached for some of the shockingly light wood used for the shack. It was really only charcoal now, so I was worried it would break in two the instant I hit something with it.
But after listening to the sound of the cage shaking a few more times, the zombies seemed to lose interest. Their wet footsteps slowly moved away without setting foot in the burned-down shack.
I stayed among the black charcoal for a while, letting time pass.
I could feel my heart beating so oddly fast I was sure this was taking years off my life.
"Are they... gone?"
"Looks that way."
I hesitantly spoke and then got up from the charcoal. I poked my head out and looked around, but my uncle and the others were nowhere to be seen.
"What happened here?"
"I-I don't know everything either, but I think we should share what information we have."
Part 8
The Sunekosuri led me to one of the wooden shacks that had been built around seemingly at random. This one bore Hyakki Yakou's emblem as well. Once I pushed the bear trap inside, I saw a familiar face: the Deadly Dragon Princess.
That was Hishigami Mai's Shikigami.
She was lying on her back and didn't seem to have become a zombie, but she didn't look okay either. Sweat covered her unemotional face and she looked quite pale. It was like she was forcing down some pain.
How had this happened?
The Sunekosuri and I exchanged our stories leading up to this moment.
Despite being such a small Youkai, the Sunekosuri was an official member of Hyakki Yakou, so there were parts a high schooler like me had trouble comprehending. Still, I worked at processing it in my head until I had a decent understanding.
"You're kidding, right? So Majina and that Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi are involved in this?"
That was my initial reaction.
"They are at the deepest part of this cave. It seems Majina-sama developed the Ver. 40 here and has now moved onto causing this zombie outbreak. It seems to be in order to stop something, but we don't know what that something is. It's even possible naming himself the true leader of Hyakki Yakou to usurp the country's strongest organization is also part of his fight against whatever it is."
"It doesn't matter what it is. Creating an allied army to stop an UFO attack is meaningless if that allied army becomes a dictator that brings suffering to everyone. That just gives us two enemies threatening to destroy mankind."
If Majina's group had intentionally caused this zombie outbreak, stopping them was the only option.
And that meant something else was important.
"The Kasha and Mikuchi-sama. That's probably the bottleneck here."
I had already discussed the Kasha with Nagisa in that house, but we hadn't known anything about Mikuchi-sama. I was fortunate to get some new information here.
To prevent the spread of disease, the people without relatives who died during a famine were thrown into a large hole in the mountain. That had eventually been broadly interpreted into throwing in the injured, criminals, and the losers of conflicts between political factions. Anyone labeled a criminal was sacrificed. Instead of throwing out the corpses to prevent the spread of disease, they had to continue throwing corpses in to keep disease from coming out.
By adding in the Kasha's trait to move the corpses of criminals when it approached, it did sound like you could build up the basis for this zombie outbreak. But that made it sound like dying or being fatally injured in Bozen City was the trigger to become a zombie, not being bitten by a zombie.
No...
"This isn't limited to just Bozen City, is it?"
"No. Several cities in five regions are experiencing a similar zombie outbreak. The police, firefighters, and JSDF are trying to seal them off, but if the number of zombies grows high enough, it will reach the saturation point and they will spread across Japan."
"And you said with each generation, the zombies retain more of their rational mind. Eventually, they won't even be aware they're zombies."
That "generation" became a little unclear for the people who became a zombie after dying from something other than a zombie.
"Majina-sama's goal is to strengthen the entire Japanese population. He seems to want to increase their physical strength as much as possible while leaving them their rational minds."
How could I believe something like that?
There had to be more to it. Maybe he was using the Kasha Package to manage the zombies' minds and he had a breaker that let him turn someone back into a corpse if he didn't like them.
And even if you kept your mind, a zombie was still a zombie. No one would want to end up like that. That's the entire reason he had to attack all of Japan at once like this. He had known from the beginning that no one would agree to it if he simply suggested the idea.
"A-anyway, it all started here in Bozen City. The other cities are probably connected by some kind of network. If we destroy the Package's core here, it should resolve all of the zombie outbreaks."
Yes.
This was what I most wanted to ask about.
"What does it meant to resolve it? Does it mean no more zombies will be made? Does it mean the zombies turn back into people? Or does it mean they'll turn back into corpses? 'Resolving' this could mean a lot of different things."
"..."
The Sunekosuri silently shook his head.
Well, it wasn't like the great Hyakki Yakou knew everything. It was possible not even Majina himself knew since he wouldn't have planned for it being stopped.
However, ignoring this would be a bad idea.
Majina's group had been spotted here in Mikuchi-sama. Given the scale of the facility, this had to be the center of it all. We needed to figure out the Kasha Package prepared here. The best plan from there would be to apply that knowledge in some way to save the Zashiki Warashi and the other zombies.
"But a Kasha, huh?"
That seemed like more of a minor Youkai than the Yuki Onna or Zashiki Warashi.
"That Youkai is said to be a cat Youkai enveloped in flames or an Oni chariot that carries criminals' souls down to the depths of hell. The legends change age to age, though."
"Majina is skilled enough to remake the Sunekosuri named Ohatsu into pure darkness that he can use for offense or defense. If he can freely use the Kasha, he might be able to switch between the different Kasha legends like shifting gears in a car."
The Sunekosuri twitched a bit at my mention of "Ohatsu".
... ?
They were the same kind of Youkai, so there may have been a connection there.
"The hell's chariot that takes criminals' souls away is the version from an older age while the cat Youkai that steals and moves corpses is the version from a newer age. Given the zombie outbreak, this might be focused more on the newer version of the Kasha."
"Um, in that case... Doesn't it appear at the funeral or graveyard, create a powerful wind to blow open the coffin lid, and steal the criminal's corpse?"
"The part about stealing the corpse must have been fulfilled by linking it to the Mikuchi-sama legend. That's probably our best bet at attacking this."
"?"
"Majina needs to be able to control the zombie outbreak. It's just like having a way to keep yourself from being infected by your own malware or from having your own counterfeit money in your wallet. In that case, there's one thing we don't know: how is Majina controlling the Kasha?"
"Come to think of it, we have a few ideas about how the zombies were spread, but there's a lot we don't know about how they're controlled. Majina-sama is powerful, so maybe he just plans to defeat any zombies that come his way."
"Even though his supposed objective is to strengthen the Japanese population? What good is killing the soldiers he himself strengthened? There's more to this. But is there some kind of symbol that restrains a Kasha? Y'know, like how a Nurikabe vanishes when you sweep the ground with a broom, how a Yuki Onna melts in a hot bath, or how the house transformed by a tanuki Youkai reveals its true form when cigarette ashes fall on it."
What was it?
It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't seem to verbalize it.
And then...
"... of Protection."
The Deadly Dragon Princess spoke up from the floor.
"The Sword of Protection. By placing a blade next to the corpse, the later legends say the Kasha will run away without stealing it. In some regions, a Sword of Protection is placed in the coffin during the funeral or burial."
"That's it."
I snapped my fingers.
Those words caused a symbol to link together the legends and scenes in my mind. I wasn't a strange fortune-teller or onmyouji, so I couldn't be certain about the occult. Still, I was pretty sure I was headed in the right direction.
"It was Mikuchi-sama."
"What?"
"That's what's trapping the Kasha. It's a giant hole twenty meters across and who knows how deep. Hey, Sunekosuri, what do you think this symbolizes?"
"Um, the gates of hell? The Kasha is also called hell's chariot."
"I don't think you're wrong. The Youkai might be at the deepest part."
But...
"But at the same time, I'm betting it was intentionally also made a symbol of a coffin. We think of them as long rectangular boxes today, but that came from the West. During the Edo period, weren't coffins round buckets?"
"Ah!"
"And Mikuchi-sama isn't just a big hole. It's closely linked to death with all the people that were thrown into it over centuries. Corpses have been piling up at the bottom of the coffin. If the Kasha causes the corpses to move by approaching them, the first step would have to be diving into the coffin itself. Yes, what would work better to lure in a Kasha?"
"But..."
The Deadly Dragon Princess moved her head a little on the ground.
She looked my way.
"Where is the Sword of Protection?"
"Normally, it's placed next to the body 'ahead of time' to keep the Kasha from showing up, " I answered."But what if it was placed on top of the giant coffin like a lid once the Kasha went inside? The Kasha would lose its only exit, so wouldn't it be stuck at the bottom of the coffin?"
Yes.
I was pretty sure I had seen the Sword of Protection already. When it came to swords and blades, there was only one option based on what I had seen after entering Mikuchi-sama.
But what next?
The Kasha was trapped in the center of the mountain, but how were they letting its power leak out? And this wasn't complete chaos. They were "aiming" the Youkai's power at thirteen cities in five regions so the zombies would spread evenly across Japan.
"Wait."
"?"
"Sunekosuri. You said the zombie outbreak is happening in thirteen cities at once, right? Do you know the exact names?"
"Y-yes. Based on the briefing I received ahead of time, it's Bonuta City, Sange City, Mukaehi City..."
"Shourou City and Kumotsu City are on the list too, aren't they?"
"H-how did you know that?"
"When escaping in the dump truck with Nagisa and the others, I saw a burning banner. It was talking about a winter festival held in other cities around the country. That speeds this up. The zombie outbreak is occurring in the thirteen cities working with Bozen City, but what kind of energy line is connecting Mikuchi-sama to them?"
I thought for a bit and came up with a theory, even if it was a little forced.
"What about geothermal power? There's apparently a geothermal power station a bit away from Bozen City's mountain road. I met some of the workers. They said something about smart power. That means they're monitoring the power production and consumption over the internet and can send the power to the optimal locations at the optimal times. Most likely, all the cities are linked by power stations or substations like that."
"Over the internet? But aren't the phone lines and other means of communication cut off?"
"But the power is still on. That means the smart power would be too. Maybe they have their own dedicated line or maybe their information is prioritized during this kind of chaos. Y'know, like how the police and firefighters can use their cellphones even during a disaster."
The Kasha was hiding inside the volcano, the heat energy was transformed into steam, the steam turned the turbines to create electricity, and that was carried to other cities based on the data from the internet.
I didn't know how effective that really was. It might have just been an empty show of being economical to get more funding from the country and the government.
But that wouldn't matter to Majina and the Ver. 40.
Anything was fine as long as they had a line between the Kasha's power at the depths of the volcano and the rest of the country.
"That would be why the zombie outbreak spread by city. The people who died in the areas managed by the smart power were the ones turned into zombies by the Kasha and Mikuchi-sama."
The exact numbers and equations might be different, but I thought I had the general framework right. If I didn't, I was out of ideas. If we were to take this any further, we would need to be as smart as the person who had assembled it.
Namely, Majina.
That was the truly skilled man who had ruled the old Hyakki Yakou.
This large-scale zombie outbreak Package was something only he could do.
"Th-then..."
"We can ignore the smart power for now. The Package's Achilles' heel has to be the Sword of Protection at the top or the Kasha sealed at the bottom. If we can free the Kasha, the zombie panic in Bozen city and the connected cities will end. Just like removing a toy's batteries."
Whichever one we went for, there was something I had to do.
"However we do it, we're going to be crushing Majina's grand plan here. I doubt he'll just sit idly by."
That old leader of Hyakki Yakou could analyze, break down, and reconstruct any Youkai to the point that he could turn a harmless Sunekosuri into the greatest of disasters.
And the Hyakki Yakou Special-Made Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi named Mei had been thoroughly remade by him to manipulate and create destiny.
Even if I could ignore Hishigami Shikimi since she had apparently become a zombie, there were two monsters left to face.
"Can you really take them both on at once?"
The Sunekosuri gulped and the Deadly Dragon Princess calmly voiced the result of her analysis.
"Not even Hishigami Mai's strength was enough to ensure their defeat. The ideal was to defeat only the trickier Hishigami Shikimi and send in the Top 5 to force back Majina, the Ver. 40, and Ohatsu."
"But..."
"Yes. Even that ideal was wishful thinking on the current Hyakki Yakou's part. In other words, if it did not work, they were out of ideas."
The Top 5 were all monsters on the same level as the Illness Magic User. We were up against something that even all five of them might not have been able to defeat.
What could a simple high school boy do?
The only help I had was a harmless Sunekosuri, the more than half-dead Deadly Dragon Princess, and the zombie Zashiki Warashi that I could only control with the cellphone and smartphone. To be blunt, they weren't going to be any help. I was the only one that could actually stand in harm's way here.
And if anything was going to give me a fighting chance there...
"Majina won't be worried about a simple high school boy, right?"
"So you think you can get him to lower his guard? You think Majina-sama will do that!? Don't be ridiculous. He has made countless sacrifices to evenly spread this zombie outbreak to everyone in Japan without questioning the morality of it all. If it was necessary to fulfill his plan, he would use his full power to kill a baby. I doubt that would work on him!"
"The difference in strength here is massive. Hyakki Yakou literally refers to a hundred Oni marching through the night, but he truly has surpassed that name. Even if he did let his guard down, less than 1% of his power would still smash my body to pieces. Whether he's taking it seriously or not probably doesn't really matter with him."
I knew that.
I knew all that.
After all, he was the leader of the old Hyakki Yakou. Until the assassination, he had ruled over Japan's strongest occult organization. And because I changed history, he had faked his death instead of dying and he had the skill to hide his survival from the current Hyakki Yakou for a full decade. He was a great mountain of an enemy that made me not understand even the things that I thought I understood.
The giant pit had countless excavation tools and shacks with everything from shovels and pickaxes to a tunnel boring machine and explosives, but I doubted any one of them would put a single scratch on Majina as he smiled cheerfully in the depths.
No normal attempt would win this for me.
If I relied on childish tricks, he would pierce me through the stomach with a smile on his face.
There was nothing I could do. It was a dead end. No matter what car you chose, if you floored it toward a thick concrete wall, your car would be the one that was destroyed.
"But that's fine."
"?"
The Sunekosuri tilted his head and I looked them in the eye again.
"We need to defeat Majina if we're going to do something about the Kasha Package. Can you give me a hand, Sunekosuri?"
"Y-yes. With Ohatsu down there and with everything else going on, I must bring an end to Majina-sama's evil deeds."
"Deadly Dragon Princess. I know this is asking a lot given your state, but can you help me out?"
"Yes. Hishigami Mai did not ask for my help in her final moment. I believe that was to preserve me for a future opportunity."
"And Zashiki Warashi, I'll need something from you too."
She didn't reply.
I only heard the shaking of the bars.
Now, then.
"Let's get started. We only have one chance at this. This is a pretty reckless plan, but hear me out."
Part 9
Everything was ready.
This was going to be the final battle.
And not long before that clash, I had selfishly asked to be left alone with the Zashiki Warashi. The zombie outbreak was ongoing in Bozen City and the other cities, so each extra minute or second could mean the loss of another life. In that way, taking my time like this might seem profane, but this was something I had to do.
"Hey, Zashiki Warashi."
While sitting on the ground with my back against the wall of a shack, I looked over to the bear trap. The zombie Zashiki Warashi may not have been able to recognize me because she had been grabbing at the metal bars and even gnawing on them. She would bite me to death the instant I gave her the chance.
There was no sign of who she had once been.
She was a partner who had been with me since before my birth. She had that long black hair and youthful skin. She had been close enough that I hadn't had an issue with taking baths with her or sleeping in the same futon as her.
But...
"Apparently, I love you."
The words spilled out.
If Nagisa had heard me, she might have chopped me to pieces, but I couldn't stop.
"You could have just told me, you know? You could have told me the whole 'Nee-chan' thing was an illusion and you're really just a girl. You could have told me I could love you like normal. If you had, I'm sure I would have gone for it a lot sooner. I mean, you're beautiful. Your looks are perfect, you've got giant tits, and your hips and butt are sexy too. Why wouldn't I jump at the chance? Plus, you don't age or decline. We've been together since before I was born, so we know everything about each other's habits and preferences and we almost seem to know what the other one's thinking. We've already seen every last good and bad thing about each other, so we know we won't be disappointed or get bored with each other. What is there to complain about that?... Honestly. What have I been doing all this time? I feel like an idiot for actually heading out to find a girlfriend. Why didn't I realize it until you'd turned into a zombie!?"
When surrounded by hell, I had found what it was I wanted to keep with me even if it meant abandoning all else.
Only after seeing that did I finally realize it.
I had realized I cared more about that Good-for-Nothing Youkai's smile than I did my own life. This wasn't based in pseudo-familial love. It came from a much more direct emotion.
I could not allow anyone else to harm her no matter what.
I wanted to place her above all else.
I wouldn't let anyone else touch her.
She was mine.
Not everything that came to mind was exactly pure. In fact, more of it was impure than pure. A lot of it would make me want to die from embarrassment if I said it aloud. But I couldn't lie to myself about what I thought. When you think about it, there's only one reason a teenage boy would have such muddled feelings toward such an attractive girl.
This would be why none of my other attempts at love or romance had lasted very long.
This would be why Nagisa had snapped and chased after me with a machete in middle school.
"Hey." I slowly got up from the ground."It's pretty cheap and unfair of me to make a promise with you when you're like this."
I faced the beast's cage and took a step toward the bars.
"But if we do end this zombie outbreak caused by Majina's group..."
I stood in front of it.
The trap was made to capture a bear, so the bars were spaced wide apart. The Zashiki Warashi could reach her hands out, so approaching was dangerous.
Even so, I took another step.
I moved into the danger zone.
"If the people who turned into zombies return to normal and we can return home together..."
I placed my own palms over the hands grasping the bars. I wrapped my hands around them and gently squeezed.
It was like the preparation to push a girl back onto the bed.
I held her hands and brought my face in close.
If she bit me, I would die. I would become a zombie. I knew the risk, but I still spoke from close up.
"Then can I call you Yukari? If I have that dream to look forward to, I think I can fight even the greatest monster."
Part 10 (3rd person)
Majina was the old leader of Hyakki Yakou. No, under their bloodline rules, he was most likely still their true master.
He was a young man with long hair and a monocle. The Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi he had traded an eyeball with stood alongside him and the Sunekosuri named Ohatsu was held in his arm. They all waited at the deepest part of Mikuchi-sama.
Lava bubbled up.
They were surrounded by intense heat and a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide. A normal person's mind would have grown muddy after only twenty minutes in that scorching hell, but he did not have a single bead of sweat on him.
That was how inhuman he had become.
His eyes were aimed toward unseen above rather than the nearby lava.
He seemed to be waiting for someone to arrive from beyond the true darkness of that abyss.
"What are you going to do?"
"About what, Ohatsu-san?"
"The kid named Jinnai Shinobu is here. He has made it to the depths not even the current Hyakki Yakou's greatest force could reach. You know what that means, don't you?"
"Well, those who are meant to arrive will arrive when they are meant to. I have Mei with me, so I can only accept that destiny is a thing."
"..."
"Also, this pleases me."
"That the boy who walks with the Ver. 39 has taken a different path from you and the Ver. 40?"
Ohatsu's question was followed by silence from Majina.
But it was not that he could not answer. He was taking time to think on her words.
"In the end, I couldn't make Mei into the ideal Zashiki Warashi."
He smiled thinly and glanced over at the Ver. 40 that did not react in the slightest.
"Whether you call it her traits, instincts, or characteristics as a Zashiki Warashi, I wanted to free her from all the rules that leave her at the mercy of her family's fortune and misfortune. I simply wanted her to be with me, without being torn apart by the bonds of species. But after everything that happened, I ended up heading down the exact opposite path."
Mei still did not react to his words.
The Zashiki Warashi in a white yukata was too perfect as a Zashiki Warashi. She had wished for that and Majina had provided the actual technique.
"So..."
"The way that the Ver. 39 and Jinnai Shinobu could simply smile together shined too brightly for you to bear?"
"It goes beyond just the Zashiki Warashi. I even urged on Mishima-kun when he was still green and wanted to use the police to rescue the Youkai who are neither bound by nor protected by the law. I said all sorts of idealistic things, but in the end, I was forced to rely on the organization. To me, that boy's desire to negotiate with the Youkai until they could all smile together in a circle is a path I tried but failed to achieve."
He slowly closed his eyes as if picturing something in his mind.
Was it a vision of a young boy smiling with so many Youkai ten years before? Or was it the back of the older boy who was now working to protect a Zashiki Warashi without abandoning her, even in this extreme hell?
"Have you caught on yet, Jinnai Shinobu-kun?... I controlled Japan's most powerful organization, I restored the lost Zashiki Warashi techniques, and I can bend the world's destiny to my will, but I only traveled so far in my desire to be someone like you."
Wanting to be something was not enough to be it.
It was because he could not achieve it that he dreamed of it every single night.
Majina had mastered the path of the "curse" his name meant, but now the Sunekosuri named Ohatsu spoke to him.
"Don't forget."
"Forget what?"
"It is true you weren't able to acquire everything, but there were some who followed you as you continued forward even as that path wore you down."
Majina smiled at those almost sulking words.
Then something happened.
The Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi had been as silent as a mere object, but she suddenly raised her head.
"I know, Mei."
Majina also looked back.
He could see someone beyond the curtain of extremely hot steam filled with toxic hydrogen sulfide.
The person did not hide anywhere, did not hold any kind of cheap weapon, and did not take refuge behind a Youkai.
The boy stood there all on his own.
He had chosen a reckless option that Majina never could have due to his extensive knowledge of paranormal techniques.
"Welcome, Shinobu-kun. But this is the end."
Majina spoke gently.
As he did, he placed two raised fingers on Ohatsu's forehead.
The high school boy with hair dyed blonde opened his mouth to respond.
"Th-..."
Before he could even begin, Majina's attack burst straight through Jinnai Shinobu's chest.
A Sunekosuri's existence was based in the vague fear of something lurking at one's feet while walking along a path late at night.
Majina had taken Ohatsu's small canine form and returned her to that original darkness, transforming her into "something that gives off a sense of death". He rearranged that into something like a tornado or a giant fang and used it to stab through Jinnai Shinobu's body.
This was the same technique once used on the Ver. 39 Zashiki Warashi. The Youkai was stripped of their flesh, mind, personality, and dignity. They were reduced to a mere phenomenon to alter them more easily.
He despised such a technique more than anything, yet he entrusted his life to it as it was the most logical and efficient option.
That was Majina.
That was the true master of Hyakki Yakou.
It did not matter if his opponent was an amateur, a baby, or the embodiment of the ideal he had longed after for many long years. His overly clever mind would not hesitate to kill them if that was the logical and efficient thing to do. He would not let them speak and he did not need to warm up or test their strength. He would use his greatest power from the very, very beginning to exterminate his target.
It was not that this was the only thing he could do.
Nor was he looking down on his opponent and holding back.
He had simply made the optimal choice for killing Jinnai Shinobu out of the billions or trillions of deadly techniques available to him.
And that was why his target was killed instantly.
There was no room for argument. Hyakki Yakou did not allow for that sort of naiveté. That single attack tore a hole the size of a volleyball, taking Jinnai Shinobu's heart and one of his lungs with it.
So...
And yet...
Jinnai Shinobu seemed to ignore his death as he ran forward like a bullet.
"What?"
It was not that Majina had taken Jinnai Shinobu lightly. In fact, the man was truly unable to feel such an emotion. He would use his greatest strength to exterminate any opponent. He would logically and efficiently end their life with 100% certainty. That was why he bore the name Majina and that was why he had ruled at the top of Hyakki Yakou.
Nothing had gone wrong as far as ending the boy's life was concerned.
The problem had to do with what happened after ending the boy's life.
If some change had slowly occurred only once some time passed after the boy's death, Majina would not have been caught off guard, but this was different.
"Don't... tell me..."
"Majina!! Get ready!! He's coming!!"
"Don't tell me you had yourself bitten to turn yourself into a zombie!"
Now it was Jinnai Shinobu's turn.
The zombie's mouth assaulted Majina's shoulder before the man could recover.
Part 11
I knew I would be killed, so I had to think about what was the best way to be killed.
When it came to that, the answer was obvious.
To be blunt, it was probably the worst possible option. I started to understand the final moment between Nagisa and the St. Bernard.
But not how Nagisa felt as she sent the St. Bernard to his grave.
I understood how the St. Bernard felt being killed at the hands of the one it cared for most.
"It was one hell of a kiss, Majina!!"
An unpleasant sensation reached my jaw. The smell of rusted metal filled my mouth and I heard a fibrous tearing sound as I felt something soft being ripped from Majina's shoulder. The intense urge to vomit rose from the depths of my gut. Instead of fighting it, I turned to the side and spat the substance in my mouth to the ground.
"But after being bit by a zombie... no, after receiving a fatal injury or dying, there had to be a few minutes of 'turning into' a zombie. During that time, my physical abilities would be improved yet I keep my own thoughts. Yes, it was the same with Nakisuna. When your hair is dyed, it's hard to tell the hair is losing color. And during that time, even a mere high school boy can outdo you!! I just had to accept being killed!!"
"You let... the Zashiki Warashi bite you... ?"
"If the alternative's being killed by you, of course I'd choose being killed by her."
That was the limit.
A black tornado burst out from Majina. It was nearly an explosion and my zombie strength no longer mattered. I was knocked backwards, blown through the air, and slammed into the hard bedrock with a large hole in my chest.
I slowly slid down, like a piece of raw meat thrown against the wall.
There was nothing more I could do.
I heard an unpleasant sound flowing from the hole in my chest. Even as a zombie, I had no strength left and my mind was growing hazy. I looked down and saw red and purple stains on my hands. My thoughts were breaking down.
However, I had managed to accomplish something.
Still collapsed by the wall, I looked over.
"Gh... gh."
Majina had a large chunk of flesh missing from his right shoulder to his neck. His collarbone was broken, his neck's artery was torn, and a frightening amount of fresh blood was spurting out.
"Stop the Kasha Package, Majina."
I somehow managed to provide a final notification despite my inarticulate tongue.
"You tried to fill Japan with 'rational zombies', but you didn't want to become one yourself, did you? And if you die at this early stage, you'll be one of the 'irrational zombies'. You won't be able to continue with your plans, whatever those might be."
He could not have had much time with that veritable fountain of blood coming from him.
At most, he would have lasted a few minutes.
His long hair was already growing pale.
"... Heh."
But he laughed.
And as he laughed, the darkness took form. The black tornado wriggled like a living creature and took aim at me like a great cobra with head raised.
"Hey, Jinnai Shinobu-kun. Did you really think my goal was myself?"
"... ?"
"Did you never think I might have something I prioritize above myself, just as you wished to restore that Zashiki Warashi even at the cost of your own life? We do both have a Zashiki Warashi, after all."
"You... don't mean..."
Before I could finish... no, before I could even begin, the pitch black serpent prepared to swallow me head-first.
But before it could, a mass of steel weighing more than ten tons dropped down directly above Majina.
The massive and all-purpose darkness changed directions. It easily deflected the great weight threatening to crush Majina.
The darkness instead crushed what turned out to be a yellow-painted bulldozer.
But Majina was more focused on the bulldozer itself than the fact it had attacked him.
"How could this happen... ? So that's it!"
"That's right. We both have something we can't compromise on. I will return that Zashiki Warashi to normal whatever it takes. I'll do anything for that Good-for-Nothing Youkai I know so well, that's been my Nee-chan for as long as I can remember, and that I've fallen in love with! If you had ended the Kasha Package, I wouldn't have needed to go this far!!"
I smiled.
I smiled?
Was I really smiling?
"The Kasha was sealed at the bottom of the coffin by the Sword of Protection placed directly above. And what else could stand in for a blade with Mikuchi-sama!? It would have to be the excavation equipment used to expand the cave!!"
Of course I wouldn't approach him all on my own without a good reason.
We had split up into two groups from the beginning.
One held Majina's group in place to buy some time while the other moved the ten ton Sword of Protection to damage the Kasha Package.
If the Zashiki Warashi remained a zombie after a set amount of time, I had instructed the group above to attack this area down below since my negotiations had clearly failed.
This was basically a giant boiler and the Sword of Protection was the safety valve meant to manage the power of the steam. If we forcibly moved it, changed its position, and sent it down to the bottom of the abyss, wouldn't they lose control of the internal pressure, causing an explosion?
"You mean... you sacrificed your own life to become an undignified zombie, and yet... even after that, you chose the path of an expendable tool!?"
"I had no other choice. It was the only part I could play. Even as a zombie, I can't knock a bulldozer or power shovel down here."
That was why I left that job to a Shikigami like the Deadly Dragon Princess and the RC-mode zombie Zashiki Warashi being guided by the Sunekosuri.
And instead...
"I had them give me the honors of getting an attack in on the guy who hurt the girl I've fallen for! Why would I complain about that!?"
Meanwhile, more and more pieces of heavy equipment were thrown down. They were not accurately targeting Majina or the Ver. 40. In fact, it probably would have been easier for him to intercept them if they were.
But something else frightened him much more.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
He roared.
The black serpent that was Ohatsu split apart into seemingly infinite numbers and shot down the falling machinery, but he had to know that action was essentially meaningless. We were only tearing off the ultra high power boiler's safety valves and throwing them away. Whether he shot them down or not, the damage to the Kasha Package was already done by the time they were torn off.
And to clinch it, a tunnel boring machine with heavy machinery arms slipped through the gaps in the nearly infinite black snakes and fell into the lava-covered depths of hell.
The wind blew in a different way from before.
"The Sword of Protection isn't meant to close the coffin like a lid. It's supposed to sit next to the dead to drive away the Kasha."
The bottom of Mikuchi-sama was the crucible of death where countless dead had been thrown to ferment over centuries.
The modern Sword of Protection known as excavation machinery stabbed down right next to it.
"The area overhead is wide open and the Sword of Protection has been stabbed into the depths of the earth. There's no way your Kasha will stay put now!!"
I saw a flash of light.
It appeared in the twenty meter wide hole at the bottom of Mikuchi-sama, but it was not an explosion of orange lava.
This went well beyond that.
The pure white light covered everything. Something forced down there had been freed. It was powerful, like a bowstring being released after being drawn beyond its limit.
I finally learned what the Kasha was.
It was said to be a cat Youkai enveloped in flames or the chariot that dragged criminals' souls to hell.
But I was now certain its original form had not been on the side of evil. It had not even been a Youkai.
It was the judge of human souls.
It was in fact close to being a god that crushed people's sins.
As soon as the great light pierced the heavens like a beam weapon, the destruction arrived. It felt something like an intense gust of wind. The Kasha used wind to blow open the lid of the coffin. The bedrock crumbled, the shacks along the side of Mikuchi-sama crumbled, and even the ground below my feet grew unsteady. Just as I felt a shaking, my footing crumbled away like a landslide and it all moved toward the boiling orange volcanic crater.
"... !?"
I grabbed Majina's arm as he was nearly thrown in first.
Fresh red blood flowed back out of my mouth.
We were both dyed purple.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Releasing the Kasha destroyed the Package. The zombie outbreak is over, but there's still more I want to ask you."
"Even if the zombies become human once more, that hole in your chest will not be healed. You too will simply remember that you should be dead."
"Then at least let me die satisfied."
Majina smiled as he dangled down by one arm.
"What do you want to know?"
"Why did you do all this? Why did you develop the Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi, overthrow Hyakki Yakou, and try to strengthen Japan's population with this zombie outbreak? The Sunekosuri said you were afraid of something. I can only assume you're looking to something you can't defeat without forcing everyone to work together. This was all meant to fight whatever it is, but what is it!?"
"It is not an enjoyable story."
"Tell me. This is the end for us both anyway."
"You have already seen this greatest evil that will lead to the end of the world."
... ?
I didn't know what he meant, so he continued.
"Listen, Shinobu-kun. There are many different kinds of Zashiki Warashi. Based on their origin, there are those that come from the children killed during famines and there are those that are Kappa or Badger Youkai that took on human form to live in people's houses. The most important point when it comes to that is the color of their clothing."
"What... ?"
"Normally, a Zashiki Warashi will prefer to wear a white kimono. That is a standard Zashiki Warashi that brings prosperity to its family. But that is not the only legend concerning them. There are also more disconcerting stories about them predicting a fire or about the entire family dying of food poisoning just as they leave the house."
A normal Zashiki Warashi would wear a white kimono.
But wait.
The Zashiki Warashi I knew didn't. It partially had to do with my grandma using her as a dress-up doll, but there was one color she always preferred!
"Yes, the red kimono.... The Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi is an ill omen. When it leaves the family or predicts that family's destruction, it always wears red."
And...
"That Zashiki Warashi is not just any Zashiki Warashi. She is the Ver. 39. She once had her power thoroughly increased using insane ideas implemented with definite techniques, so she can go beyond manipulating the world's destiny and actually create that destiny out of nothing. So what if she was 'red'? How far would the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi's power reach? She would not bring about the downfall of a single family. There is a chance her influence would surpass the framework of Japan and bring about the downfall of all mankind."
"You're kidding..."
I felt dizzy, but not because my death was approaching.
"How am I supposed to believe that!?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
"When she... when that Good-for-Nothing Youkai used her Ver. 39 in that past incident, it was only ten years ago. She's been living in that house for over a century, so the world should've been destroyed far sooner!"
"That just shows how prosperous the Jinnai Brewery was. It was enough to force back the destructive power of the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi. You can be proud of that, but it will not last forever. The end is inevitable."
Majina smiled with his purple-dyed face.
"I have the Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi. Why do you think we didn't use that power to put you in checkmate? Because we needed the full power of the Ver. 40 to oppose the ruinous destiny brought by the Ver. 39. If she had used up the Ver. 39 to stop the zombie outbreak, Mei's Ver. 40 could have contained it. But I never expected her to become a zombie herself and lose her rational mind. This was not malice on Yukari's part. We should view it as just how cruel the Ver. 39's ruinous destiny is."
I had assumed Majina's group had started down this strange path because my changes to the past had allowed them to escape their assassination.
"In theory, we should have won, but it didn't work. This power is great enough to overturn reason and drive back logic. While the Ver. 39 is unstable, that very instability allows it, for brief moments, to surpass the power of the fully stabilized Ver. 40. That is why we could not fully suppress the ruin she brings. That is why we lost."
But that wasn't all that happened.
I had resolved that past incident so the Ver. 39, that Good-for-Nothing Youkai, didn't have to lose her power. That meant the power of the Ver. 39 remained. If her bodily structure had been destroyed and she could no longer use her power as a Zashiki Warashi, the world might have stabilized.
Majina had quickly realized that fact, so he had hidden for a decade, remade his beloved Mei into the Ver. 40, and done whatever it took to resist the ruin approaching the world.
It had all been to face that one threat.
It had all been to protect both humans and Youkai from the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi.
"You won and we lost. That may be due to our failure to suppress the Ver. 39's ruinous power, but the result is the same. So accept this. Accept that you have released the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi. Accept the true ruin that will bring."
"I'm going to die here and this is the truth I find at the very, very end!?"
"That is why I will play one last piece of mischief."
A small light appeared near Majina's chest.
Was it was some kind of paranormal power? Since it was intentional, perhaps it was best called a paranormal technique.
"Our original destiny was to die and this incident was the result of us fooling history for ten years. To put it another way, correcting history to its proper form will erase the tragedy we created. It isn't actually that simple, but my technique can forcibly twist it in that direction. Of course, it will be a joint effort borrowing my wife's power."
"Majina... ?"
"You returned yourself to human with your own power and your human wounds will be healed by the historical corrections brought by my disappearance. This way you can survive to see the world of the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi."
"Wait. But then what happens to all of you!?"
"Ohatsu-san and my wife Mei are both Youkai. They were always paranormal beings, so they have some resistance to interference from history and destiny. Shikimi-san is probably 50/50, but she was always something of a living legend and it's worth seeing if she can escape her destiny to die. The most unnatural one here is me, a 'mere human' who has continued to live in defiance of destiny. So once the distortion of history has concentrated at that weakest point, I will intentionally correct that distortion. That will leave me as the only sacrifice. No one else will be affected."
"That's not what I'm talking about!!"
"I feel bad making a comparison here, but not even Mishima-kun from the NPA stands a chance. Nor does Hafuri. Neither of them can solve this. You are the only one. I am certain that only you can stop the Bloodstained Zashiki Warashi that holds the Ver. 39. Protect the world using that power that overcame even me, my shining hero."
The black vortex took the shape of a small canine Youkai.
It was the Sunekosuri named Ohatsu.
"You knew this would happen from the beginning, didn't you?" she asked.
"I am not that farsighted. I truly did not predict what Shinobu-kun was after and it was entirely my own error that we failed to suppress the Ver. 39. Then again, I won't deny that I set things up so some hope would remain no matter who won."
Even now, the Hyakki Yakou Special-Made Ver. 40 Zashiki Warashi said nothing.
Perhaps she had been altered to the point that she couldn't.
She had a thin veil covering half her face and a head-mounted display around her neck. Most importantly of all, she wore the white kimono, a symbol of normality that she could not escape.
Majina glanced over at his partner who could not and was not allowed to change her expression.
"True to my name, I will cast a curse on you."
"What are you-... ?"
"Take care of my wife and daughter. I won't ask that you return them to a proper path in life. I only ask that you do enough to keep them smiling in the narrow field over which Hyakki Yakou rules. I know I am being selfish, but I will soon be crushed between the gears of history in order to protect your dream of walking alongside the Ver. 39. I can at least wish that you will get along with any Youkai, can't I?"
I felt something run down my spine.
I couldn't explain what exactly it was, but something invisible seemed to seep out from Majina's smile. It was entirely different from the zombie purple.
It may have been what they call the shadow of death.
"Screw that..."
I didn't care how irrational my argument was. Anything was fine.
No matter what, I had to sweep aside that pallor spreading across Majina's face!
"After everything you've done, you're just going to disappear at your own convenience!? That's just quitting while you're ahead! Don't you try to look cool by dying!! Live on and make up for what you've done!! I'm not going to allow this! I'm going to drag you to somewhere you can be judged! No matter what!!"
I finally understood this man named Majina, at least a little bit.
He had not swapped an eye with Mei for some disturbing benefit or ideology. A Zashiki Warashi would remain with or leave their family depending on that family's prosperity or decline. He had wanted some kind of eternal bond and he had wanted to be a normal family, so like exchanging rings, they had exchanged a part of their bodies.
He was the same as me.
He was the end result of a man who had been willing to make an enemy of the world to grasp a life of happiness with the Zashiki Warashi he had fallen for.
He was a living corpse that had been left behind by history.
And even though I finally understood him...
"Oh, and one other thing. Please pass a message on to that girl. Tell her I'm sorry I never had a chance to celebrate her birthday. But assure her that Mei and I never forgot her face even once. Tell her she was our greatest treasure."
"Majinaaaaaaa!!!!!"
"Such a beautiful light."
At first, I had no idea what he was talking about.
But...
"I see. So the Kasha was a chariot that carries the souls of criminals to hell."
The bright light that had been released to the surface once more descended into the great pit. It bared its fangs in its proper role. That beam of light swallowed up everything, tore Majina's hand from my own, and carried that man, who had committed great crimes out of love for his family, into the lava-filled depths of the earth.
Once the light vanished, I was a human rather than a zombie.
No trace remained of the hole in my chest and I was among the living rather than the dead.
My archenemy had been eliminated.
History had been corrected and the zombie outbreak was over, so it was the ultimate happy ending.
And yet I still felt like an invisible hole remained somewhere in my chest.
| ← Ch. 67 | Ch. 69 → |