I was left with nothing else to do after washing the dishes and cleaning the room.
The Mountain Dogs and police were protecting me.
Just in case, I figured I should leave something behind for Satoko.
Should I write down some recipes for her in the notebook...?
Will she be happy if I leave a will for her...?
...I laughed at my own foolishness.
...No one would be happy to read a will.
If I die, they'll be devastated, and wonder why I didn't talk to them.
That's exactly how I felt when Satoko didn't ask for any help when her uncle was abusing her.
...I wonder, will I be killed before Satoko even comes home?
My memories of these days are never very clear.
The day I die is always vague in my recollections.
It's fine if I'm murdered before Satoko gets home...
but if I'm murdered after, then...
Would they kill her along with me...?
I don't want that to happen.
It's bad enough already that I end up killed.
If Satoko's murdered along with me each time, that would be too much bear.
Just how much have I ignored other people's sadness with that rash idea that the world ends when I die?
...Thinking about that made me feel truly ashamed of myself.
I turned on the TV to try and reduce the silence, but it didn't help at all.
...Worse, not only did the TV not help with my fears, it felt like it symbolized Hanyuu and my allies, making me feel even more unpleasant.
It was past lunchtime. Nearly 3 PM.
School should be out soon.
I'm not there today, so they probably won't do a club activity.
Satoko should be home shortly.
It seems I'm going to survive until she gets home after all.
If she comes home and asks me what's troubling me...
.........I might end up telling her the truth.
If I talk to someone, that person will be demoned away by the Mountain Dogs.
That's why I've never spoken to anyone about it.
I didn't want my friends to get into danger.
But...
...if Satoko was also murdered likewise in every world because she was involved with me,
then we're doomed to share the same fate.
It's better to know the truth than to be killed without knowing what's going on...
But...
I'm under very strict security right now.
I might be able to survive in this world.
If that's the case, I shouldn't talk to Satoko about it.
......It won't be so easy to talk to my friends after all.
Moments later, I heard a surprised yell of Satoko's coming from downstairs.
She'd returned.
It sounded like she was scared to see a stranger in our home.
I'd have to tell her that the police were here.
...That would be tantamount to telling her that someone is out to kill me.
...I don't know how to explain it to her, or how much I should tell her.
However, my thoughts were soon interrupted by the noise of a crowd.
...Satoko hadn't come home alone.
"I'm home!
Hey, Rika!
What's up with that officer downstairs?!"
"Why is that guy guarding your house?!
What the heck did you do?!"
"Mii-chan! That's not the right question!
What happened to you, Rika-chan...?!"
"There were some strangers on the shrine grounds, too.
Are they also police officers?
This isn't normal, you know...?"
"We don't know what's troubling you, but we're all here to cheer you up.
It looks like something bad is going on..."
".........Ah...
Ahahahahahahahahahaha."
I couldn't stop laughing
upon seeing everyone rush into my house all asking the same questions.
It made me feel as though being depressed all day had just been a waste of time.
"...Rika.
What on earth is so funny!?
You need to explain to us what is going on...!"
"......There's nothing to explain.
I'm getting murdered today."
"""What?!"""
Everyone already knew that I'd been telling people about how I was going to be killed,
but they were surprised to hear it from my own mouth.
"H-Hey, Rika-chan...!
I heard that from you yesterday.
You told me that you think someone is trying to kill you...
...But I thought that was one of your jokes then.
Now though, you're not fooling me anymore.
You have to talk to your friends!"
Keiichi spoke with a harsh tone, as though I'd made him upset.
...As my friend, he must think that it's unforgivable that I didn't talk to him about it.
He wasn't the only one feeling that way, though.
Every single one of them was looking at me with worried expressions on their faces.
"Rika, everybody here saved me.
...I want to do something for my friends as well."
"......I'm glad to hear that."
"Remember what you told me!
You told me to have the courage to fight!
But just look at you! You're not even fighting yourself!"
".............."
Satoko pointed out something that I've already realized.
I had no way to argue back.
"You told me that you'll put us in danger by talking to us.
But all of us are already involved, no matter if you talk to us or not."
"That's right.
We're your friends!
If you're in danger, all of us are in danger too!
When Satoko was in danger, we all fought for her, remember?
It's the same thing!"
"If your life is in danger, then I think it's time for the Sonozaki family to step in.
We're way more reliable than the police.
Isn't that right, Sis?"
"That's right!
You have to talk to us!
What kind of trouble are you in?!
Who the hell is threatening to kill you?!"
"Based on how you're acting, I assume you don't even know who it is.
If you did know, it wouldn't be as big of a problem."
"...Meep.
You're all so smart. You know everything, even though I haven't talked to you yet."
"This is not a time for jokes, Rika!
You must talk to us!!
What's happened?!
What's this all about?!
You don't call the police unless you're really in danger, no?!
How dare you talk to the police before talking to us!"
"......Is the cause something you're uncomfortable talking to us about?"
"...R-Rika would never have any issue that would be uncomfortable to talk about!!"
"Calm down, Satoko!
Rika-chan is the leader of the Furude family.
She's worshipped as the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama in this village!
She might have been in trouble for a long time, even though we didn't know about it.
...Maybe she just didn't want to talk to us about such trouble because we're all trying to have a fun life here in this village.
...That's probably what it was, right?"
"So it has something to do with Rika-chama and the village...?
It must involve those crazy old people who worship Oyashiro-sama."
"...So it must have something to do with the curse of Oyashiro-sama...
I know.
I bet it's related to what happened to Tomitake-san and Takano-san."
"Why would Tomitake-san's murder cause Rika-chan's life to be in danger?!
That's too big a leap!"
"It's crazy just to think that someone is trying to kill her, anyway.
...Rika-chan is bound by more obligations than we know, and she probably couldn't talk about them.
...I'm right, aren't I?
It's not a very fun topic, which is why you couldn't tell your friends, right...?"
"......I cannot believe this.
...Is it really true, Rika?
Is it really true that you're involved in Tomitake-san's murder case?"
I remained silent, but with my mouth open.
...I hadn't answered any of their questions, but they continued to ask, and had eventually hit the nail on the head.
It was more surprising than anything.
...But then again, these are, after all, my beloved club mates.
I laughed once more.
My issues and my secrets are so devastating to me, but they stopped sounding like such a big deal when everyone talked about them together.
...They knew exactly what was going on without me saying a word.
In that moment, I realized just how powerless I am.
I had to tip my hat to them.
Everything seemed so foolish now.
And so, I decided to just tell them everything.
"If you want me to talk, I will.
But I'm sure you won't believe me."
"We will.
As long as you tell us the truth, we'll never doubt it!"
Everyone's expressions turned grave as they vowed not to make light of anything I told them.
And so... I'm going to tell them everything.
I want to see if they really will believe me or not.
".........In that case, I'll tell you.
I think I'm being targeted by the same person who killed Tomitake and Takano."
"Then... are they the true culprit behind the series of mysterious deaths?!"
"......I don't know about that.
But it is possible."
"...I don't understand...
Why would Tomitake-san and Takano-san's murderer also want to kill Rika?"
Ooishi thinks Takano is the culprit.
Okonogi thinks that Irie is the culprit.
Either way, it sounds like someone from Tokyo is trying to kill me.
I can't tell if it's Takano or Irie, but I do know that to them, I'm like a trump card.
In order to explain everything, I'd need to talk to them about the relationship between Hinamizawa, Tokyo, and the Irie clinic.
I don't think they'll believe me.
It's such a ridiculous story.
But who would ever believe it, if not my friends?
"......You'll all be in danger if I talk to you about this.
...Are you sure you still want to hear it?"
"Of course!
If you're in danger, we're in danger."
Everyone nodded at Keiichi's words.
"......Well then."
I'm going to see how everyone reacts.
I'm going to ascertain what friendship is all about.
With a nod of my own, I opened my mouth and began to explain.
"......There's a disease unique to Hinamizawa.
I'm not sure what it's officially called, but I've always known it as 'Hinamizawa Syndrome'."
Everyone glanced back and forth at each other when I mentioned the term.
...They'd never heard of it before.
The name "Hinamizawa Syndrome" has actually been around since before the war.
It's the general term for the severe homesickness and mental instability that people from Hinamizawa experience when outside of the village.
People in Hinamizawa have refused to leave the village since the era of Onigafuchi.
The villagers believed that they'd be cursed by Oyashiro-sama if they left, and people who did often came back because of that curse.
In general, it used to be thought of as only severe homesickness.
But during the war, soldiers from Hinamizawa became mentally deranged in faraway places.
That does sometimes happen in war.
What was unique about the soldiers from Hinamizawa was the way that they killed their own comrades and committed suicide at the end.
One doctor became curious about these cases and studied those soldiers.
That's when they found out that it was actually a disease only found in Hinamizawa.
According to this doctor, their strange behavior was not the result of their culture. It was a mental disease triggered by external circumstances.
A mental disease with an external cause is different from a psychological illness.
It's the result of some kind of physical disorder, and it causes people to become mentally unstable when something triggers it.
There are three categories of externally caused mental diseases:
traumatically induced, substance abuse induced, and chemical imbalance induced.
Traumatically induced disorders are cases resulting from damage to the brain from trauma or infection that influences the mind.
This is the reason personalities can change as a result of head injuries.
Substance abuse, as the name suggests, refers to cases where drugs, especially alcohol or stimulants, have influenced the mind.
The last category is chemical imbalances.
These are cases where some ailment in the patient's body causes abnormal secretions of bodily chemicals which then influence the brain's functions.
This may sound odd, but it's been said that people tend to become depressed when they have a cold.
We've all experienced the ways in which physical sickness can cause a buildup of negative emotions.
However, with chemical imbalances, the cause is more direct.
People's emotions aren't born from our hearts.
Everyone should know, logically, that they're the result of chemicals secreted by the organs in our body as necessary.
So when the organs operating the secretion of those emotional controllers malfunction, it causes them to secrete abnormal amounts.
The thyroid gland, for example, secretes hormones that regulate emotions.
When that gland is defective, the balance of those hormones becomes unstable.
This can cause people to have not only a physical sickness, but also a mental sickness such as depression.
People don't get mentally ill just because of mental problems.
Human beings are made out of meat.
We get mentally ill when that meat is defective.
The doctor studying Hinamizawa Syndrome also came up with a theory.
He suggested that there is a pathogen endemic to Hinamizawa that, if its hosts stray too far from home, affects the chemicals in their brain and causes them to hallucinate.
The villagers' belief in Oyashiro-sama is certainly related to this endemic disease. People in Onigafuchi Village knew about this syndrome.
They knew that they couldn't survive outside the village.
They also didn't want anyone else to enter the village, because they would get infected too.
They took this disease as a curse, not a sickness.
The most significant symptoms of this disease are antisocial behavior and an extreme persecution complex.
The eventual suicide caused by defects in the lymph nodes are also another unique characteristic.
The unusual behavior of terminal patients is what inspired the legend of the demons coming out of the swamp and attacking the villagers.
Basically, sick villagers developed severe persecution complexes and wound up killing other villagers.
After a long time, survivors of the disease started to comprehend its "rules".
They discovered that the disease is incurable once you contract it.
That's why they started barring outsiders from entering the village.
Also, once you become ill, you will begin developing a persecution complex.
This can happen to anyone in the village.
The doctrine of Oyashiro-sama says that the blood of humans and demons was mixed together, and that Oyashiro-sama has control over the violent blood of the demons.
People said that you'd be cursed if you didn't follow Oyashiro-sama's rules.
That could also be understood to mean that as long as you followed Oyashiro-sama's rules, you could cope with this endemic disease.
This is what was meant by the scripture in Oyashiro-sama's legend that said they appeared, unified the humans and demons, and made them live together in this village.
Then there was the most important part--
the rules to prevent symptoms from appearing.
Those rules are the taboos, and people were strictly taught that Oyashiro-sama would curse them if they broke those rules.
...The horrible, bloody traditions of the village were probably performed in order to force people to respect these taboos.
There are several ways to keep the disease under control, but there are two main conditions for doing so.
The first one is to prevent suspicion.
When the villagers are suspicious of someone, it can trigger their persecution complex, which can lead to them developing terminal symptoms.
That's why they made sure to have such a tightly-knit community, so that people wouldn't suspect each other.
Since the terror of Oyashiro-sama's curse is emphasized, many don't know this, but she's also a god of marriage and neighborly love.
However, this condition is not as important as the other one.
Indeed, Oyashiro-sama isn't even recognized as a god of friendship in Hinamizawa anymore, and is only worshipped as such in Okinomiya's Hirasaka District.
Now, for the other condition.
This one is much clearer, and was practiced more strictly.
If villagers leave Hinamizawa, they will fall ill quickly, proportional to the distance from the village.
Villagers nowadays will not get sick as rapidly, even if they leave town or even go out of the country for a long time.
However, long ago, they would fall ill as soon as they left the village.
It's very unfortunate that Keiichi got infected so soon after he moved to the village.
It was also very unfortunate that he got sick just because he left the village for a few days to go to his relative's funeral in that one world.
That's why Hanyuu felt so bad for him that time, and kept on apologizing over and over.
...Although, no matter how much she apologized, he never heard her voice.
This turned into a long discussion, but... these rules etched around Oyashiro-sama's curse represent the ancient wisdom of how to cope with the Hinamizawa Syndrome.
Is there any way to use this mental disease for military purposes?
The aforementioned doctor insisted there was, but the military didn't listen to him at all at the time.
They were interested in developing a weapon that could make a dramatic change to the war efforts. They didn't have any money to spare for the research of this strange disease.
In this way, research on Hinamizawa Syndrome was abandoned...
Then the war ended.
Japan started its reconstruction under American leadership.
However, some powerful people in the political world didn't want to accept the American way of thinking.
Some of them were fired by the GHQ, but they still stayed on as advisors to the government, since Japan has a culture of respecting the elderly.
Eventually, a political organization was formed, the object of which was to restore Japan to the way it was before the war.
In the beginning, this organization was a very small group.
It was just a gathering of two or three individuals who shared the same ideals blowing hot air at a restaurant.
Those two or three hit it off with each other and grew to the size of a class reunion.
That group became a rather sizeable organization...
Eventually becoming a political one.
Well, it would be more accurate to call them a secret society.
This secret society eventually came to be called by the name of the place where it was based: "Tokyo".
There are many mysteries about Tokyo.
One thing I knew for sure is that it was composed of old men from Japan's political stage, ones with strong power to indirectly influence the government and vast assets that meant they could work from the shadows.
They were also connected to various corporations, and their goal was to return Japan to the way it was before the war.
Of course, that was a pretty ridiculous goal.
It was nothing more than an idea in their minds immediately after the war, back when they were still bowing their heads to the occupation forces of those white barbarians.
Once Japan's post-war reconstruction began, "Tokyo" steadily became a shell of its former self.
...But it didn't totally become a shell; it culled the fat.
Japan regained its peace,
and years passed.
However, some people still continued to believe that Japan had been better before the war, and they were determined to return the country to those times.
So this "Tokyo" plotted how to restore pre-war Japan from many angles.
They approached the problem economically, internationally, and militarily as well.
Japan has no nuclear armaments due to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
In other words, this country has to brown-nose America as long as they hold nuclear weapons.
The number one priority of Tokyo is to be independent from America.
They want this country to be on equal footing,
and to obtain a weapon of mass destruction that isn't nuclear in nature.
That was the reason why they started thinking about utilizing Hinamizawa Syndrome.
However, they couldn't study this disease openly.
In order to utilize it for military purposes, they had to hide the existence of the disease itself.
So, they enlisted one young researcher--Kyousuke Irie.
I need to make it clear that Irie isn't some far-right supporter of this secret society.
He's just a young, capable doctor and an earnest researcher.
He published an innovative thesis, but other academics thought he was too radical.
However, that convinced Tokyo that he was the only researcher suitable to study Hinamizawa Syndrome.
As someone young and ambitious...
Irie was thrilled to take on the project of studying this rare disease with a large budget, a large staff, and his own facility.
...But researching the disease would mean that he'd end up infected too.
No one would want to take on such dangerous research.
...He really was too young.
With his other option being wearing down his youth working hard at the night shift for a local practice, he wanted to answer the expectations of the sponsor who carefully selected him.
In the end, Irie was able to uncover that, as hypothesized, the Hinamizawa Syndrome was a unique infectious disease, and he developed both a treatment and a vaccine.
Irie was extremely talented.
The Irie Institute was formed to study the disease.
Irie was nominally the head of the organization, but Tokyo still sent out a supervisor, because when all was said and done, he was just a researcher.
That supervisor was Miyo Takano.
Takano's job at the Institute was to act as a go-between for Tokyo and Irie, manage the research progress, and preserve its secrecy.
The latter was the most important part of her job. She had to do her best to prevent people from finding out that Irie was researching the disease, or even that the disease exists at all.
The "Mountain Dogs" were formed for that purpose.
They were under Takano's command, and their job is to prevent the Institute's secrets from being discovered.
The Mountain Dogs are one special forces unit specializing in unconventional warfare and owned by Tokyo with its vast influence on the SDF.
Tokyo had set their eyes on the likelihood that a small, elite squad of covert operatives would be a trump card in the anti-nuke era.
So they vigorously investigated those options.
This was a worldwide trend, since the Cold War, everyone avoided sending troops directly to their enemy's doorstep.
Japan was also trying to be part of that world.
As a result, by 1983, even the police have been forming secret special forces units.
Prefectural Police Squad 2, the ones who intervened when Rena laid siege to her school, changed their name to Zero Company, and grew into an anti-terrorism squad that handled hijackings around the Kansai airport area.
The National Police Agency's Squad 6 was formed as a counter-terrorism squad for Narita Airport too, and they later changed their name to Seventh Company as well.
They theorized that in a world where nations possessed nukes they can't use, small, elite special forces disrupting metropolitan areas would be the new way of waging war, so in 1977, they developed the SAT's predecessor, the special task force SAP, to serve as the National Police Agency's trump card in securing the peace.
Likewise, the Japan Coast Guard established their special task force, the SST, in anticipation of unconventional warfare on the coast.
There are several known special forces units in Japan.
When they hear a phrase like "special forces," most people tend to think of a movie or a comic book.
However, these units actually exist, and are protecting Japan in secret.
During the famous incident of suspicious boats off the coast of Noto peninsula, the news reported that "the helicopter squad trained in gun battles was headed there, but was recalled because the suspicious boats sank.\
However, the news never mentions the SST or any other special forces unit...
All of these units were established after Tokyo made a suggestion about it to the government.
Researching military tactics under the name of peace and order worked perfectly for Tokyo.
But since the mid-century anti-war movement made people resent those forces, these special units have been kept secret as of 1983.
Furthermore, these units are not all formed under the jurisdiction of the police.
There are still many other military units that are kept secret from the average citizen.
The Mountain Dogs are actually one of those special units.
They specialize in kidnapping, espionage, and preserving secrecy.
You might as well call them an assassination unit.
They were around during the dam conflict as well.
Tokyo worked to put an end to the dam project because of the impact it would have on Irie's research.
The Mountain Dogs were the ones who kidnapped the Minister of Construction's grandson.
Most people believe that the Sonozaki family was at the center of the movement, but in reality, the Mountain Dogs were responsible for many of the things the Sonozakis were accused of.
In that sense, the existence of the Sonozaki family was an advantage to the Dogs.
Their main job after the dam conflict ended has been to continue keeping the disease hidden from the public.
With the spread of information networks in the modern age, the media jumped onto any unusual incident and quickly aired it to the whole nation.
Tokyo doesn't want the disease to be known nationwide, since they're trying to utilize it for their own purposes.
The main task of the Mountain Dogs is to kidnap people suffering from Hinamizawa Syndrome.
They pose as gardeners, but in actuality, they patrol the village to make sure nothing strange happens.
They're the ones who demon away people who go missing.
...They're probably also involved in some of the mysterious deaths, too.
The last important person is Jirou Tomitake.
I don't know his real name.
He was an auditor who was sent from Tokyo four times a year.
He came to check on the progress of the research, and outlined requests from Tokyo. He discussed the research budget with Irie, too.
He also got the observation report on Irie from Takano.
That was his purpose.
Irie started out by studying the autopsy results of dead villagers,
and he discovered many answers from that.
In 1979, the Mountain Dogs kidnapped the culprit behind the murder of the construction chief, who was a terminal patient of Hinamizawa Syndrome. The nature of the disease was dramatically clarified.
Their research made rapid progress after that,
and they discovered a vaccine,
medication,
and other methods of treatment for the disease.
...At the same time, they continued to investigate how to utilize it for military purposes.
One of the interesting findings of the research was that the pathogen can only be found when the patient is still alive.
On top of that, they couldn't detect the presence of the pathogen at all unless they used a certain inhumane method.
In other words, it's virtually impossible to detect the pathogen by normal means.
It left almost no trace, and the unusual symptoms it produced seemed like voluntary behavior, so they concluded that the disease could be used to their advantage.
However...
...Tokyo has been going through some changes.
It's been almost fifty years since the war ended.
The leaders in shadows behind Japan's government who ruled from the center of "Tokyo" began growing infirm and opening up seats, steadily passing their leadership to the new generation.
The whole organization has started to shift.
Of course, the purpose of "Tokyo" has stayed the same.
It's still a secret society of ultra-nationalists who want Japan to be at the top of the world.
However, their ambition to start a war with America and take over the world has diminished.
Tokyo has directed its priorities towards the economy, international affairs, and education.
That doesn't mean that those ambitions are gone entirely, however.
Several seniors still alive retain those ambitions.
Tokyo continues to finance military research...
But for the present-day Tokyo, Irie's research is actually something of an embarrassment.
The new Tokyo is no longer interested in his project, and they announced that they're going to cut their budget as soon as those seniors pass away.
However, Irie objected to that plan.
He strongly appealed for the continuation of his research.
This is what Okonogi was talking about. Irie is in disagreement with Tokyo.
Irie's research has been making great progress.
They've discovered various treatment and testing methods, and he's even starting to develop a treatment plan for the whole village.
If they cut his funding, Irie's research would end without any results.
Tokyo had a discussion with Irie through Tomitake, and they decided to shut down his research partially, but not fully.
However, they told him to immediately stop researching military applications of the disease, and destroy all the research data related to that.
He had little interest in weaponizing the disease anyway, so Irie accepted those terms right away.
Tokyo probably believed that it was better to let him find a cure for the disease than to terminate the project entirely.
At this point, Irie considers himself one of the villagers.
Perhaps exterminating the disease infecting the villagers without their knowledge is his way of atoning for using the village to advance his research and reputation.
Both Tokyo and Irie agreed to fully terminate his research as soon as he discovered a way to completely eradicate Hinamizawa Syndrome.
Irie made a plan for the next three years, and he promised them that he would find a resolution by 1986 at the latest.
The meeting they had this June was to discuss the plan and budget for the next three years.
.........Which brings us back to the beginning.
One theory goes that Irie is in opposition with Tokyo, and as his trump card, he's planning to kill Rika Furude.
The other theory is that Takano killed Tomitake, and as her trump card, she's going to kill Rika Furude.
I suppose I need to explain why Rika Furude can be a trump card.
The answer to that lies in the ancient traditions of Hinamizawa.
Supposedly, members of Furude family have the blood of Oyashiro-sama in their veins.
I explained earlier that Oyashiro-sama was made up as a method for having people cope with the disease.
However, that's actually not true...
...For the demons, the pathogens, to survive, a certain being must be present.
That being is the successor of the Furude family line.
The truth behind the advent of Oyashiro-sama,
and the coexistence of humans and demons...
is that Oyashiro-sama was actually the queen of the village.
According to Irie's research, Rika is adored by the whole village not only because she's a charming little girl, but because she's the queen carrier.
Infected patients are unconsciously driven to protect their queen.
Irie says that this is done with pheromones.
Rika Furude's mother was also adored by everyone since she was little.
However, as soon as she gave birth, people's attention quickly shifted to Rika.
Irie calls it the succession of the throne.
The queen is a precious existence to people in this village.
There are theories that carriers of the disease are actually unable to survive when away from the queen,
not from the village itself.
Irie's research indicates that the queen can only survive in Hinamizawa,
and infected patients can only stay alive when they're around her.
But this is just a theory.
...Surprisingly, however,
the doctor who first discovered the syndrome was also aware of the existence of the queen.
That doctor was also knowledgeable about Hinamizawa's culture, and he was interested in how much value the village placed on the Furude family.
He theorized that the queen lying in the Furude bloodline might have the power to manipulate the whole village.
The truth is still unknown, but perhaps the Furude family really has held such power since ancient times, miraculous power that would make them perfect for serving in the priesthood.
Although the only thing Rika can do is be doted upon by the villagers.
If all this is true, then the question is what would happen if the queen disappeared from the village.
During the war, a doctor prophesized that if the queen were to die, then all the infected would show terminal symptoms,
and the whole village would be wiped out.
He advocated for strict preservation of the queen's host.
Rika is important to Tokyo not only because Irie found many answers after running tests on her body.
If Rika Furude dies, the two thousand people in Hinamizawa will turn into demons.
It would happen too fast for people to even realize that they're getting sick.
They will each be overcome with a violent persecution complex, and start killing each other out of fear...
This is why the Mountain Dogs are protecting the queen, Rika Furude.
Her death spells the end of the whole village.
That's why Rika Furude is the trump card for those who know that she's the center of the whole epidemic...
This is the story of Hinamizawa.
Our tale begins in June, 1983.
Tokyo's liaison, Tomitake, was found dead of the disease, even though he was vaccinated against it.
On the same night, Takano was also kidnapped and murdered.
...Though I don't know for sure if she's really dead or not...
Rika Furude is also going to be murdered soon enough.
...While I've suspected Irie and Takano, this was my first time doubting Tokyo.
I always thought that they were on my side.
They had to be.
My death would lead to nothing but disaster.
At the same time, there might be people within Tokyo who could use my death as a trump card.
......I never considered that there were opposing factions within Tokyo.
I guess I was naive enough to not realize that Tokyo had internal problems due to the generation gap...
Anyway,
I wouldn't be feeling this way if I didn't suspect that Takano might still be alive...
I feel like I'm starting to see the greater picture.
It's possible too that Takano is the victim, and Irie is the bad guy.
The Mountain Dogs might be on my side, or they might be assassins who are trying to kill me...
...I was too scared to choose a wine that might be at risk of having something poisonous mixed in.
In which case, I could rest assured with a fresh, unopened bottle, even if it was a little bad...
After telling everything to my friends, I finally realized that I could only trust them and the police.
I'm really dumb.
...I thought I was thinking so hard, but I never actually understood anything.
After all this time, I made things clear just by talking about them with my friends.
...I'd never have thought it would make such a big difference...
"......Meep.
...And that's the end of my story."
As I thought, everyone was staring at me with their mouths open in shock.
...Even Ooishi wouldn't believe a story like this.
That's only normal.
I'm sure I sound like a crazy person...
"......Satoko.
We go to the clinic every week to help with Irie's research, right?
We're actually not just helping him.
We go there so you can get treatment."
"I remember... you told me that Satoko is ill..."
"...Me...?
Hoho, ho ho ho ho!
As you said, it's not only me, but the whole village that is infected with this disease...!
Why would I have to take the shot every day and not everyone else?
I thought it was just a new type of vitamin that the coach is developing!"
"......At one point you were a terminal patient, Satoko.
That's why you need two shots every day to keep your symptoms under control.
Irie is very passionate about saving you,
but he still can't find a better treatment than that.
Don't think he's not still working hard to find a cure, though."
"D-Don't you joke around!
I thought we were getting financial support by aiding his research!
I don't want to get those shots every day for the rest of my life!!"
Satoko looked upset that she had been completely ignorant of all this; she also didn't want to accept the reality of having to manage her condition.
Her fake laughter sadly echoed in everyone's ears.
...Keiichi opened his mouth to speak.
"So... if she misses a shot... she'll react like she did the other day...?"
There was a day where she forgot to take her shot.
...She convinced herself that the principal was her uncle.
Her fear escalated, and she thought her uncle came inside the school to take her back home.
Once she feels that way, there's no turning back for her.
"......Yes, she will.
That's why I tell her to be sure to take her shot every day."
"I don't, I don't believe you...!!
What do you mean, I'm a terminal patient?!
Why me, exactly!?
I refuse to believe it!
When did I even become so sick?"
...Satoko's face contorted as tears began to flow from her eyes.
...I shouldn't have said this.
...Satoko is starting to remember something she's not supposed to...
"I'm sorry, Satoko...
You don't have to remember.
That was just an accident.
...It wasn't your fault......"
"......Ghhk, ugh!!
No, this is a lie...!
You're just lying to us...!
Ugh... ugh...!!"
...The others probably had no idea what Satoko was talking about.
......They don't need to know.
They don't want to know about it, because they're her friends...
Rena gently touched Satoko's shoulder.
...She gently touched mine, too.
"...We believe your story, Rika-chan."
"......Thank you."
".........And... you've been carrying such a heavy burden for a long time...
I'm proud of you.
You've been struggling all alone to this day..."
".........."
I never thought Rena would say something like that to me.
...My eyes were filling up with tears.
"...It's difficult to have a secret that you can't tell people.
...Mine was hardly a big deal compared to yours.
...But I can still sympathize with you."
"I agree.
You've done your best too, sis.
...I often shift the blame onto you to relieve myself, so I can tell."
"You're all going to believe my story...?"
"Of course.
We said we'd believe you.
It's a bit of a relief, since a lot of my questions about this village are answered now.
So... Is everyone in this village infected by that disease, that Hinamizawa Syndrome...?"
"...Yes.
Everyone is infected.
But unlike hundreds of years ago,
this disease is much weaker now.
That's why people can survive even if they move far away, or go somewhere far for a trip."
"But some people still get sick, right?
...I'll never leave this village again.
Hahahahaha!"
"......Even if you do get sick, you can still control the illness yourself.
It's very simple... yet very difficult."
......If you think you might be suspicious of someone...
don't be.
Continue to trust in them.
When you become too suspicious of someone, that suspicion will degenerate into a persecution complex, and it will be too late.
...So long as everyone stays friendly and united, we will never have to worry about this disease.
This disease starts with anxiety.
Modern people don't believe in curses the way people long ago did.
That might be why we're more tolerant to the disease.
"I see.
Then we should be fine."
"Yup!
We're friends, and we're family!
We would never suspect each other!
I'm going to believe everything that you said today.
You couldn't talk because you were afraid that the Mountain Dogs would hurt us, right?"
I nodded quietly.
I don't want to think that the Mountain Dogs have bugged this room...
But if Okonogi overhears this conversation, they will definitely kill not only me, but all of my friends tonight.
...That's true no matter who my enemy is.
"Well, it sounds as if we should all get ready for battle.
Let's sum up the story.
Someone might come and kill you, knowing that your death will cause chaos and destruction in the village.
Is that correct...?"
"......They'll definitely come for me."
"Are you sure?
Will they get rid of their trump card that easily?"
"...Sh-She's quite right.
A trump card is like a pile of gold.
Isn't it better to keep your hands on it?"
Satoko's eyes were still swollen, but she had stopped crying.
"......But think about it, Satoko.
If you have more than one trump card, you'd want to play one of them right away..."
"That's true.
It's more effective to have more than one hostage.
One hostage is not as valuable as many of them."
"Anyway, we don't know anything for sure, and that means we can't be too optimistic."
Everyone nodded in unison.
"What do you think about the Mountain Dogs?
Do you think they're our enemies?"
"That's not even a question.
They're like wolves trying to watch after the sheep."
"Just think of all suspicious people as bad guys.
We need to seek help from someone who has nothing to do with Tokyo."
"I agree.
I think you made a good choice by seeking help from the police.
Ooishi-san is on our side, right?"
"......Yes.
Ooishi doesn't know everything yet, so he thinks that the culprit behind of the curse of Oyashiro-sama is targeting me."
"I think you should talk to Ooishi-san too.
We need help from some adults."
"......But that's pretty risky.
What if they don't believe her and step away from the investigation?"
"We should still talk to him.
...He said that he's going to retire this year, and that it's his last chance to avenge his old friend.
I'm sure he will believe any story, no matter how wild."
"Yeah.
He helped us when we were trying to save Satoko-chan, too.
I think he'll remain on our side."
"Okay.
Let's talk to Ooishi.
Where is he now?"
"......He's out in Gifu prefecture.
He went to check on Takano's body."
"Oh...
She was found in Gifu, right?
Burned to death inside an oil drum.
...Why does he have to go there directly to check on her?"
"......There's a possibility that it might not be Takano's body.
But the Gifu police department isn't being very cooperative."
"You said that the Mountain Dogs specialize in preserving secrets and manipulating information, right...?
That corpse is pretty suspicious.
I don't think she's the kind of person who would die just from being burnt a little, ah ha ha!"
"......It's still possible that Irie is the bad guy and that he killed Takano.
That's what Okonogi tried to make me believe."
"I kinda doubt that the Coach is the mastermind.
...He's just not that kind of person."
"I do agree.
He's very nice as long as you don't let him talk about maids."
"As the manager of the Hinamizawa Fighters, I also think the coach is innocent.
He's more like someone who could be easily used.
Maybe he's too good of a guy."
"...Hau... seems like everyone suspects Takano-san~"
"Well...
We're just saying... if we compare the coach and Takano-san......... you know...?"
"Takano-san would be pretty upset to hear that..."
"""Wah ha ha ha ha ha!!!"""
Everyone laughed, as though we were in the middle of a club activity.
If they're after my life, they'll kill everyone here.
It's very possible that they'll all get involved in this mess, and they know that.
That they could still laugh... is really significant, I think.
I started laughing along too.
"It's odd that Takano-san's body was found in Gifu.
If someone wanted to make it look like she killed Tomitake, they would hide her body somewhere nobody would ever find.
Burning her body in the middle of the woods is like begging people to come across it."
"Yeah.
That makes sense.
It's like they're trying to force an unidentified body to be Takano-san, just because it was found outside the prefecture and the police here can't investigate further.
...That's the specialty of the Mountain Dogs, right?"
"I think it's pretty obvious at this point.
The Mountain Dogs are working for Takano-san, right?
And the leader of the Dogs is saying that the manager is pulling the strings...
I bet Takano-san and them are working together."
"Tomitake-san died the way he did so that Coach would be suspected.
...But Tokyo is the only organization who would suspect the coach.
They also found the body of the true mastermind, Takano-san...
Tokyo will suspect that the manager killed both of them...
I see... This is a well-planned setup...
Though it's not perfect."
"It sounds like the Mountain Dogs are setting the coach up."
"Well, I think we should talk to Coach directly.
That's the best way to go about it."
"That's a good idea.
I can tell if he's telling the truth or not... just by looking into his eyes."
"Ah, yeah... you're good at that, Rena-san..."
"......The Mountain Dogs are also running security on Irie right now.
He might not be able to get on the phone..."
"What?!
That sounds even more suspicious!
I hope the coach isn't in danger right now."
"......Me too.
If I was a member of the Mountain Dogs, and I was going to set him up...
I'd kill him before he said something I didn't want him to say..."
"A dead person can't say anything,
huh?"
"......Ooishi will return as soon as he takes care of business in Gifu.
I don't know what time that will be, but he'll be here for sure."
As one, everyone glanced at the clock.
It was already past 6:30 PM, and starting to get dark.
"No wonder I'm so hungry..."
We'd usually call it here if this was a normal day.
But everyone decided to stay until Ooishi came back and discuss what to do.
"Can I use your phone, Rika-chan...?
I need to call my dad and let him know that I'm going to be late tonight."
"I need to call my mom too."
"I have to call Granny and tell her to order something for dinner tonight."
"Heh heh heh!
You'll be in big trouble later."
"We have to get something to eat for those officers, too.
We can order some sushi."
Everyone had a sensitive reaction to the word "sushi".
Their stomachs were empty, after all.
...The same should be true of those officers too.
"Are we going to order something too, Rika?
I don't feel we have that kind of money..."
"......Satoko. Why don't you cook a stir fry for everyone?"
"What?
I can't! I've never cooked for this many people!"
"Satoko's stir fry?
I'd love to try it, as long as there're no fingers inside!"
"Ahahahaha. Satoko-chan, I want to eat your food too, I want to!"
At that point, the phone rang.
"......Hello, this is Furude speaking."
"Oh, glad to hear you still alive!
It's Ooishi.
I've finished up everything in Gifu, and I'm heading toward Okinomiya right now.
I'm calling from the gas station."
"What about Takano's body...?"
"Nfu fu fu fu!
We did it! We were right!
Gifu made one incredible, easy mistake on their paperwork.
What a stubborn bunch!
I really had to let them have it, let me tell you!
Takano and her vehicle are still missing!
She may have some information regarding Tomitake's murder, so I've just issued a search warrant for her!
I'm getting close to revealing the secret of the curse of Oyashiro-sama!
I'm going to solve this case!"
Ooishi sounded so motivated.
He'd finally found the hint he'd so desperately wanted.
...Could he actually solve the case, though...?
"......I'm looking forward to hearing your story."
"I'm heading to your house with Kuma-chan, so please tell us whatever you know.
You can talk to me about anything you can think of."
"......Yes.
I'm ready to tell you about everything."
"Oh my!
I look forward to hearing it.
Nfu fu!
I should be there in about an hour.
......It sounds crowded over there.
Are your friends there with you...?"
"......Yes.
Everyone came here to offer their help."
"I see.
You've got some wonderful friends.
It's probably better for you to stay with them.
Good way to keep the criminals at bay.
...Right, we're heading out!
I'll see you soon!"
"Was that Ooishi-san?"
"......Yes.
He's heading this way with that other detective."
"Hau, this is the first time this room will have so many people inside it.
How many people will it be?"
"There's six of us here... so eight people?!
I do hope our floor won't break!"
"......Au.
I'm the ninth person."
"Hanyuu.
Were you listening to us?
This is turning out to be... very interesting."
"...Do you think it'll be different this time...?"
"Yes.
I'm sure.
This time is different."
"Don't say that you're sure. It would devastate you if nothing ended up changing."
"......So, Hanyuu... you still think that I'm dying today?"
".........I don't want you to die."
"I know what you're thinking.
You don't want to believe because you don't want to be hurt.
...That way, you'll never be let down.
I'm not going to listen to your opinions anymore.
You just stay there and watch like the bystander you are!"
"...Yes.
...I'm just a bystander.
...But I'm still rooting for you."
"Rooting for me?
Thanks.
But are you sure you want to root for me?
Are you sure you won't be hurt if I lose?"
"Au... au... au...
Don't be mean, Rika..."
We had a rather harmonious mood going.
However, a feeling of unease was beginning to settle over us...