"Welcome!

Here's your net and a bowl."

"Great!"

"Wow... these fish are so active!!

They look delicious!"

"I could eat this little one raw right here!"

Huh...?

"What are you saying, Mion-san...?"

"Mii-chan... you eat goldfish...?

Did you eat the one I gave you last year too...?"

"No...! I didn't say that...!!"

Sis shook her head hard. She'd turned all red.

"But you just said it...

You said they look delicious..."

"I heard it too.

Sis eats everything, as long as it fits inside her mouth."

"......If it's really good, I'll try it once."

"No, you can't, Rika-chan! You're going to get sick!!"

"Wait a minute...

Hey, you...

How long have you been here... Shion?"

"Hi, Kei-chan, Sis, and everyone else!

Good evening!"

"Aaaaaaah!!

When did you get here, Shion?"

"I've been here since you were at the chow mein booth. I found you guys quickly since you were making so much noise."

"Hey!!

You're not in our club!

Get lost!"

"Don't be mean, Sis.

Right,

Kei-chan?

You're fine if I come with you guys, right?"

I took Kei-chan's arm and held it between my breasts.

Puff, puff.

We were going to have a ball.

I went around the booths with Sis and her friends.

I joked around and laughed out loud.

I teased Kei-chan and Sis too.

Kei-chan was at the center of the group, so if I did something to him, it naturally involved everybody else.

It looked like Satoshi-kun was having a hard time finding his own spot in the crowd.

When I glanced at him in a quiet moment, he smiled and told me to have fun without worrying about him.

...If he were tangible, I'd pull his arm to join the crowd...

It made me sad that I couldn't do that.

I bumped into somebody's shoulder.

It was obviously my fault, so I apologized right away.

As it turned out, it was somebody I knew.

"Oh,

looks like you're having fun.

Good evening, Shion-chan.

The moon looks beautiful tonight, doesn't it?"

"......Oh, it's been forever, Takano-san!

And you were......"

"Nice to meet you.

I'm Tomitake.

I heard you were Mion-chan's twin sister."

"Nice to meet you too, Tomitake-san.

I heard you were a great cameraman.

Please take a picture of me someday."

"Ahahahahaha... I'm just an amateur dreaming of going professional."

"Well, you're actually great,

Jirou-san.

You're good at many things...

Hee hee hee..."

"No, I need to study more.

I have no talent, so I have to put out a lot of effort to compensate."

They must've been in a relationship.

"You two look so happy together.

Am I interrupting you?"

"Oh, no.

I appreciate your consideration, but you're not interrupting us at all.

And... you can call me Miyo like before,

not Takano-san."

"Aha ha ha ha... It's a bit hard for me to call someone older than me by her first name...

Well, never mind."

I smiled bashfully, and Takano-san smiled back elegantly.

"I haven't seen you in the library since.

I wanted to talk to you more, as a fellow researcher."

"Ahahaha... well, when I feel like it."

"A fellow researcher...? Are you interested in it, too, Shion-chan?

I mean... in the legend of this village?"

Tomitake-san raised his eyebrows.

As far as I knew, Takano-san's hobby wasn't exactly normal.

On the surface, her research dealt with the cultural history of ancient Hinamizawa, but its main focus was the 'Watanagashi' festival from ancient times.

The cannibal banquet in which they captured and gutted a living sacrifice.

Her research covered various stories surrounding that, and other legends of cruelty... It was nothing if not gory.

That was where her main interests lay.

So, I didn't feel comfortable being called a fellow researcher, to be honest.

But objectively speaking, her research notes were fun to read.

It was then that I heard the loud booms

of the taiko drums.

The main event of the Watanagashi festival, the dedication dance, was about to start.

According to Takano-san's hypothesis, the part of the dance where the shrine maiden tears open a futon mat represents gutting a living victim.

"It's starting.

I should head over.

Aren't you guys coming to see Rika-chama's performance?"

"Hmm?

......Hmm.... Ahahahaha."

Tomitake-san looked bewildered......

Did that mean he wasn't coming?

Takano-san giggled, then whispered in my ear.

"To tell you the truth...

...We're thinking of sneaking into the ritual storehouse."

".........Eh?"

She made it sound like she was going to do something fun...... but it wouldn't be amusing to anyone who knew what the ritual storehouse was.

The ritual storehouse, or the storehouse for ritual implements, is sort of a treasure house belonging to the Furude Shrine.

I'd heard that Oyashiro-sama's sacred treasures were stored in there.

Only people from the Furude family and selected members of the other two Three Families are allowed to enter.

...They believe that if other people enter, the place will be desecrated.

Everybody in Hinamizawa must've been curious about what was in there when they were kids.

But the storehouse was always tightly locked. You couldn't just peek into it either.

Kids would get chided if they played around it, so they'd learn to stay away.

I didn't like being around it myself, since I was familiar with all that.

Even though I didn't believe in curses, I still didn't want to be near it.

Nothing good can come from breaking the rules.

Were they still going to enter the ritual storehouse despite all that?

"...I'm pretty sure it's tightly locked..."

"It was, until last year...

Rika-chan had the heavy bolt changed to a cheap padlock

because the bolt was too heavy for her to lift.

Did you know that?"

"N-No...

but even if it's cheap, it's still locked, isn't it...?"

"Jirou-san is very skilled."

"......Oh, are you... good at lock-picking...?"

"Once the Watanagashi ritual starts, everybody will gather around the stage, right?

Then the area around this storehouse will be completely devoid of people.

Tonight, this place will be a blind spot.

Can't see the forest for the trees, I suppose."

According to her hypothesis, the ancient tools used for human dissection and torture would be found in the ritual storehouse.

"Why don't you join us in a bit?

It's now or never.

Hee hee hee hee.

So, maybe I'll see you then."

"Takano-san, what are you telling her?"

"Just girl talk.

Let's go to some dark place for a quick date.

Hee hee hee..."

"Huh?

Ah, ahahahahahaha..."

Takano-san walked against the flow of the crowd alongside Tomitake-san.

...The ritual storehouse, huh?

It was supposedly filled with torture tools...

Considering what they had in the underground torture room at the Sonozaki house... that's quite possible.

......Satoshi-kun fell victim to the curse in the fourth year.

His aunt's death was the sign of Oyashiro-sama's curse.

...Satoshi-kun was the sacrifice to pacify Oyashiro-sama's anger.

.........That was what Takano-san said last year.

It was just her hypothesis.

...At present, I wanted to deny her hypothesis because I wanted to believe that Satoshi-kun was still alive.

If her hypothesis was correct,

either some religious fanatic or somebody from the Three Families must be imitating the curse in order to revive the ancient custom of Onigafuchi.

That would mean that it was them who killed Satoshi-kun.

......So what if...

What if the ritual storehouse was filled with garbage instead of torture implements?

Maybe it was filled with broken palanquins, or freshly painted signboards for the festival.

What then...?

It wasn't really hard for me to believe

......

that it was filled with the chemical smell of paint.

Maybe I'll get to deny the hypothesis that Satoshi-kun was sacrificed by seeing the inside of the ritual storehouse for myself.

...Whatever was in there... it didn't mean that Satoshi-kun would come back.

.........

"Satoshi-kun...

...What should I do?"

Since most people went to see Rika-chama's ritual dance, the festival grounds were deadly quiet.

Even so... I couldn't sense Satoshi-kun.

Did he go somewhere? Or was I not paying enough attention?

...Or maybe he wasn't feeling any emotions in particular?

After thinking for a while, I decided to go in with them.

It had been almost a year since Satoshi-kun's disappearance.

...I'd been avoiding the truth because I was afraid he might be dead.

But... now I had a chance.

...I had a chance to see the inside of the ritual storehouse.

I felt as though something divine had arranged that coincidence.

On my way to the storehouse, I noticed Keiichi. He was jumping up and down, trying to see Rika-chama's dedication dance over people's shoulders.

If I took him along, we could split the guilt.

...Oyashiro-sama might put a curse on me for entering his divine storehouse.

I wanted a partner in crime.

.....................Since the boy I love disappeared last year because of the curse...

...Maybe Mion's love should disappear this year.

"......Whoa...... What am I thinking...?"

That must've been the demon inside me. I shook the thought out of my head...

"What's going on, Shion?

Where's the best place to see Rika-chan's dance from? Is it far?"

"Huh?

I never said I was going to show you that."

We made it to the ritual storehouse. Keiichi was baffled by the whole situation.

Our timing had been perfect.

...I could see Tomitake-san picking the lock...

Even though Keiichi must have been curious, he insisted that we shouldn't go in.

But I talked him into it anyway. He was quick to change his mind when Tomitake-san joined in.

It was completely dark inside, so Takano-san lit a battery-powered lantern. A small entry space appeared before us.

"It's so dark in here.

Take care not to trip over anything."

"I appreciate the concern.

...Okay, doorman, keep a good watch.

We're shutting the door now."

Takano-san closed the door with a smile, as if leaving Tomitake-san out on purpose.

"Man...

...All right, everyone, have fun."

As soon as the heavy door was closed, we were surrounded by a quiet darkness.

...All we could rely on was Takano-san's lantern.

"It'll be fine.

It's an outdoor lantern with backup batteries inside.

It won't go out or anything."

Takano-san teased Keiichi a little.

Keiichi, in turn, looked a little pale.

He seemed to be able to recognize the sanctity of the building even though he wasn't from Hinamizawa.

"Let's go in.

...Here we go... There."

After Takano-san opened the heavy inner door, a dusty foul smell flowed out.

It was like the smell of a pantry that hadn't been opened in years and the smell of a fish market mixed together... I didn't know exactly how to describe it, but it was a bad smell.

From listening to the echo of our footsteps, I could tell that this room was much bigger than the one we were just in.

When Takano-san raised her lantern, I could clearly see just how big it was.

"Wow...!"

At the far side of the wall, there was a statue of some kind of god staring down at us intruders.

The way it was lit by the lantern gave it a powerful appearance, and it scared me.

"That's the guardian god of Hinamizawa... Oyashiro-sama."

...I looked up at the statue, which was holding its religious ornaments.

...If Satoshi-kun's disappearance really was a curse...

...I couldn't forgive this god.

I found myself irritated by the way the statue looked down at me.

...Damn you, Oyashiro-sama.

...If you really made Satoshi-kun disappear...

I'll never forgive you. Never.

Keiichi didn't seem to understand the significance of the storehouse. He looked bored.

Takano-san noticed that and took out her scrapbooks to show him the brutal history of ancient Hinamizawa.

I'd heard that story already... So I decided to walk around by myself.

...Since I knew the significance of all these tools, I felt a little nauseated.

Though they certainly wouldn't jump out to me, I still found them intimidating.

They looked as if they were craving for fresh blood after not having been used in hundreds of years.

All the tools looked similar to the ones I saw in the underground torture room at the Sonozaki main house.

......If those tools were the progenies of torture implements, these would be their ancestors.

All the implements here looked old. I doubted they could really be used.

They weren't kept maintained like the ones at the Sonozaki house...

So, did that mean they shouldn't scare me...?

No, on the contrary...

.........They told me that cruel rituals were indeed performed in this village at one point.

...Now that I found scary.

...What Takano-san told me was the truth.

When I stopped, Satoshi-kun also stopped behind me, one step later.

...I felt no emotional change in Satoshi-kun.

I couldn't tell if he was feeling something or not.

...I knew he was there, but I had no idea how he was feeling.

...I felt scared of him for the first time.

If he could answer me...

...I'd want to ask him.

...Who demoned you away...?

"Hey, Satoshi-kun...

...Are you listening...?"

I couldn't tell if he heard me or not.

...He left

as if he didn't hear anything.

I could tell that he'd been sulky ever since we got here.

I suddenly felt lonely, so I looked for him while walking around.

I realized then that there was an altar in front of the statue.

...He might be there.

It was a clean altar.

An altar ornamented with religious artifacts.

It was kept well-maintained. I saw no dust.

That would mean... well...

The flowers in the vase weren't wilting.

...I saw a pretty handkerchief under the vase. It looked out of place amongst everything else.

...I was fairly certain it was Rika Furude's handkerchief.

That would mean...

...That this storehouse is maintained daily.

It wasn't a forgotten ruin buried in dust.

...So, the brutality that dwelled in this ritual storehouse...

is still alive and well in Hinamizawa.

That's right.

Something as ambiguous as Oyashiro-sama's curse is nothing more than a simple delusion of the villagers.

As Takano-san said...

"Everything that happens in this world is done by humans."

I'd accused Oyashiro-sama of demoning away Satoshi-kun.

But Oyashiro-sama is just a statue made of bronze or wood.

It's nothing but an icon.

...There are, however, human beings who would try to make that icon seem real.

The series of mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa is the result of human action...

It shouldn't be called 'Oyashiro-sama's curse.'

If Satoshi-kun was the fourth year's victim...

Then he was victimized by a human being who just was acting the part of a curse.

The person who demoned away Satoshi-kun must not be very far from me.

...The truth behind Satoshi-kun's disappearance was...... not so far from my grasp...

Thump.

I was startled by the sound. It sounded like somebody had dropped something. I looked over at Takano-san and Keiichi.

Takano-san was still lecturing him.

...Did she drop her scrapbook or something...?

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

......The sound came from right behind me, not from them.

I'd never heard Satoshi-kun do that.

...It sounded like somebody was stomping on the floor in frustration.

Wh-What is it...?

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound continued, ignoring my question.

Though I heard it right nearby...... it sounded as though a child was hopping on a wooden floor somewhere distant.

"......What's wrong, Satoshi-kun......?

Are you angry about something......?"

I couldn't read his expressions.

I thought he was mad, but I didn't sense any emotion from him at all.

...Was he mad that I touched the altar...?

Maybe you weren't supposed to do that.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

...It's not that I'd been able to communicate with Satoshi-kun in a concrete way.

I just talked to him.

...I was never expecting him to react like that.

I didn't sense a willingness to communicate from this creepy sound.

Then a chill ran up my spine...

I felt as if all my pores were opening.

I'd been thinking that it was Satoshi-kun stomping on the floor.

.........Hey......

you.

.........You're Satoshi-kun.........

aren't you...?

...The sound stopped

when I asked that.

It wasn't a yes or a no. Just silence.

...Satoshi-kun wouldn't scare me like that.

I realized suddenly that the sound hadn't come from Satoshi-kun.

A cold shiver shot through my feet, and I sprung a step backward.

The sound had come from right there.

...Even though I'd jumped back, it was still just a few meters away.

Satoshi-kun would sometimes let me hear his footsteps when I walked.

...But ...if that wasn't Satoshi-kun, then... there was no guarantee I'd hear its footsteps.

So... that invisible being could already be right in front of my eyes...

...and I just wouldn't see it?!!

I forgot everything and ran.

Straining my ears as much as possible for any sound.

Listening for any footsteps pursuing me.

I ran right into Keiichi and clung to him, timidly turning back to look.

...The dimly lit area before the altar was quiet, like nothing was happening.

But seeing that chilling dark stillness... realizing I was just in that space, made me even more frightened now...

"What's up, Shion...?

Did you get scared?"

Keiichi made fun of me.

Even though he'd looked horrified just a little while ago, he now looked satisfied to see me scared too.

"Ahahahaha. I know girls tend to get freaked out by haunted houses.

Well, I don't mind it.

Anyway, let's go.

Before Takano-san leaves us behind."

I pretended to be fine, but I wasn't sure if I was able to hide my fear entirely.

The footsteps were chasing me...

They were outside the illumination of the lantern as if they couldn't go into the light.

...The presence never left us, however.

...It followed us like a fourth member of the party.

Sometimes it made a stomping sound as if wanting some recognition.

But neither Takano-san nor Keiichi...

seemed to notice it.

It was possible for Takano-san to be ignoring it.

But Keiichi would never ignore it.

If he could hear it, he would have said something.

So... just like with Satoshi-kun...

...Only I could hear it...

What was this thing that was making me so scared?

Was it Satoshi-kun in a bad mood?

Or was it possible that the presence I believed to be Satoshi-kun might not have been him at all?

Thump.

Thump.

...What are you upset about... Satoshi-kun...?

Tell me if I did something wrong... I'll apologize...

Thump thump!

Thump!

...If you aren't Satoshi-kun... then where did he go...?

When did you take his place...?

Thump.

Thump.

Thump!!

"...Shion, are you all right?"

"Huh?

I'm fine.

You look pale, though."

"Then I'd appreciate it if you didn't stretch my clothes too much..."

"Oh, sorry......"

"Oh.

Am I interrupting you two?

Hee hee hee..."

I decided to engage in the conversation to help myself ignore the sound from behind.

I didn't hear the sound as much... and it became a bit more distant.

Yeah, I shouldn't pay attention to it.

It wouldn't bother me if I didn't hear it.

...I should just ignore the noise...

"Takano-san, you're researching whether those customs survived into the present.

...You are, right?"

Thump.

Thump.

"...What I'm about to tell you is a secret, all right?

I told you, Shion-chan, because you're an understanding person, but the other villagers don't want to hear it.

...If things go awry, I could be ganged up on and punished."

She smiled at me like a witch.

Thump.

Thump.

"Maebara-kun, you keep it a secret too, okay?

If this gets out, I could suffer Oyashiro-sama's curse, or be made into a sacrifice.

If it's the curse, then I wonder what kind of death it'll be this year?

If it's the sacrifice... then will I be thrown into the Onigafuchi Swamp while still alive?

...And it is tonight, you know.

The night of Oyashiro-sama's curse."

...It certainly is....

If the curse strikes for a fifth time, it'll happen tonight.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump!

Takano-san pulled out an old scrapbook from her paper bag, and started turning the pages.

She opened it to the page with that one article.

It was the article about the brutal murder of a Watanagashi victim. It happened in the Meiji Era.

"This is a story that actually happened.

It was around the end of the Meiji Era.

...They discovered an unknown, mangled corpse, the victim of a murder, in Onigafuchi Village."

Thump.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!!

"...Never before has there been a corpse treated with such cruelty and inhumanity..."

Thump-thump-thump!

......Hey,

you guys seriously don't hear that...?

It's freaking loud...... How can you not hear it?

Ah... hell... it's freaking noisy... Cut it out already...

And the next moment, we all heard a squeaking noise!

We turned around in surprise.

It was just Tomitake-san opening the door...

"Aha ha ha ha.

Did I startle you?"

"Oh, Jirou-san, could you not resist seeing inside?

...This is a splendid treasure trove of torture devices."

"I'll pass on that.

Ahahaha...

I'm bad with this sort of thing by nature."

Takano-san laughed as if making fun of Tomitake-san for being such a scaredy-cat.

"In any case.

The dance and ceremony are over, and everyone's going down to the river.

The festival as a whole will be over within minutes."

Time was up.

...I'd never expected that Tomitake-san would save me from this nightmare. His face suddenly looked heroic.

"Oh?

Keiichi-kun, are you leaving too?"

"...I've seen enough.

...Shion, you're good too, right?

Let's get out of here.

...I want some fresh air."

"I agree.

Let's leave."

I went into the entry room and turned around.

Takano-san was taking photos in a mad rush, though our time was up.

...I didn't hear that sound anymore.

I didn't feel that presence.

...I didn't feel Satoshi-kun either...

but somehow I wasn't too sad about that.

Even if he followed me out here...

......I wouldn't be able to tell if it was really him... or somebody else......