The village caretaker snored as they slept. They themselves had volunteered as a night attendant, but what a person without a sense of urgency.
Lit up by the soft light of a candle, the deceased"s profile looked as if he were sleeping.
(…….. I wonder where his soul is now,)
Suga casually thought in the dim room that was to become the library in the future.
There was still no sign of Keiichirou becoming a ghost and talking to Suga.
Even if his spirit was nearby, Suga probably wouldn"t be able to see or hear it anyway.
(In the first place the curse of the "promise" I"m under might be creating more victims….)
"So lonely"
"Someone like you should die"
"Poor mommy…"
"You meanie"
"My mommy"
"It hurts"
"Mommy, are you crying?"
Since that day, the voices of the ghosts of children that were in the forest were ceaseless. Even now. But their voices were similar to the murmuring of the forest on a rainy day, and so it was definitely possible to ignore them.
Routine sure is scary. On the other hand, the curse of the night-glowstones that had been seeping into his body since that day might have made that possible as well.
(In that sense, night-glowstones aren"t really safety charms or anything like that….)
How had Kenji realized that he had been to the workshop and met Ishimori there? —–The reason he suddenly started thinking of the past was probably because he hadn"t sent him a notice of condolence. While remembering him, Suga thought.
Why had Kenji said that Suga had "undertaken the curse of the night-glowstones" after checking that Suga had indeed gone to the workshop? Even though it was because of this Suga had been saved?
—-To call something used to ward off evil a curse was alarming, to say the least.
Suga took a small blue stone from his pocket. It was a jewel like stone that glowed blue in the dark. Why would he say that this was something like a cursed stone?
(…… Ishimori even said that it was his duty to guard these stones……)
It was a few days before "the promise." Suga had indeed been at the workshop, and had met a strange man there. This man had been leisurely sitting in the workshop. It was a man he had never seen in the village before.
Like in an old TV drama, his clothes were slightly eccentric. They were j.a.panese style, and while they reminded one of a priest, his hair was long. His appearance was so odd, that at that time rather than caution, curiosity won over. As Suga stood a.s.sessing the situation in the shadow of the workshop"s entranceway,
"Oh? Kid, looks like you heard my voice. Seems like you can see me as well."
The man laughed happily when he noticed Suga. Being beckoned inside, Suga timidly entered the workshop, when the man suddenly said,
"Well then, I"ll specially give you permission to manufacture these stones of mine."
These stones of mine. At that time, the man had been sitting on a large boulder placed in the corner of the room. Looking closely, that boulder seemed to be glowing faintly. Suga realized it was night-glowstone.
"Mister, your stones… do you mean the night-glowstones?"
While doubtful, when Suga timidly asked, the man nodded.
"That"s right. The crystals of these stones have the side affect of being able to confuse memories. Though the power of them to take away the freedom of that woman —– the Kotori Obake, is strong, it"s not perfect. And so, I asked everyone to wear these stones around. I"m lending my power specially for this purpose."
Suga, being young, had no idea what he was talking about. But, from the man"s unfamiliar appearance and self-important att.i.tude, as well as his un-j.a.panese amber eyes reminded him of something.
Saying the words as they came to him, Suga asked,
"Mister, by any chance are you the G.o.d of the night-glowstones?"
"The G.o.d of night-glowstones? Are you talking about me? You sure say some interesting stuff. I myself have forgotten what sort of being I am. ……..Let"s see, it"s my duty to protect these stones, these little b.u.g.g.e.rs over here, so that may well be the case. If these play the role of keeping that woman - the Kotori Obake trapped in this forest, then maybe I deserve to be called a G.o.d."
Looking extremely self-satisfied, the man threw back his shoulders and laughed.
This was Suga"s chance meeting with Ishimori a few days before the promise.
Even so, a G.o.d that protected the night-glowstone. So there was such a person.
Being so young, Suga was able to accept it as just something that was. But as he went to school, grew up, gained wisdom and common sense, he began to realize that the existence of Ishimori was unnatural. It didn"t take him long to realize that the fact that no one —at the very least, Keiichirou, could see him was supernatural, which made him the same as the Kotori Obake and the ghosts of the children- some kind of spirit thing.
But to Suga at least, Ishimori was nothing more than an ally. Since it was he after all who gave the stones to Ogami-san, who kept the Kotori Obake from coming into the village.
"There"s not much choice but to get along with Ishimori-sama. No matter what anyone else says."
Suga didn"t really know Kenji"s real motive in telling him that, but night-glowstones were definitely the "glowing blue stones" from the picture book "Kotori Obake and Ogami-san." And in reality, the enshrined rocks at the foot of the mountain were guarded by Ishimori-sama and formed a protective barrier against the Kotori Obake.
(Knowing this much is probably enough for right now)
Suga rolled one of the small amulet stones emitting phosph.o.r.escent light around in his palm. He had a whole mountain of doubts about Ishimori.
However, no matter what he asked, such as why Ogami-san received the stones in the story, why the Kotori Obake didn"t like these stones, why they worked to repel the ghosts of the children, all of these questions, he never received an actual answer. The more he asked, the more he got on Ishimori"s bad side, so eventually he had to just give up.
"You"re so noisy with your "Why, why." Why don"t you try using your head for once. You always try to take the easy way out, that"s why you"re so dim-witted and still can"t make any friends."
It"s said that j.a.pan is a country with a myriad of G.o.ds. Because there was such thing as the G.o.d of poverty, Suga could believe that such a disagreeable and mean G.o.d could exist.
Anyway, Ishimori"s permission was necessary in order to work the stones.
There was one day when Suga went and did his own thing during the manufacturing process, and before his eyes the stone he had carved out lost its color and became an ordinary stone.
From the shape and size to the heating time, Ishimori always fired out extremely detailed instructions. At first it was fine, while it was still guidance. But as Suga grew more experienced, he began to want to choose at least the shapes and sizes himself. The stone fading was a result of this.
In one of the corners of the workshop, near the ceiling, was the household shrine. As Suga turned and looked up at it without thinking, Ishimori appeared and looked down at him with cold eyes. Those eyes were the embodiment of a raging fire, housing extreme anger.
"Are you making a fool of me? While at the same time you claim to raise me up as a G.o.d? That"s enough. Leave this workshop obediently, and swear that you will never set foot in here again."
He then went on, threatening that otherwise, get your act together and follow my instructions.
This phenomenon was devoid of reason, the mysterious whim of a G.o.d.
The difference between a curse and a celebration was paper thin. This was the moment these words crossed his mind.