Every year, Oyashiro-sama's curse claims two victims.

This means that with four years in a row, there have been eight now, but it's worthwhile to note half of them have been members of this family.

Note: The curse on the second year, a certain falling accident, involved the death of Houjou, a dam proponent, and the disappearance of his wife.

(She was pronounced dead the following year after being considered to have vanished under perilous circumstances.)

The curse on the fourth year involved the death of the Houjou sibling's aunt, who was then their foster mother, and the disappearance of the elder brother.

The Houjou family is a poor one, and it's hard to say Mr. Houjou's job went very well.

Apparently, upon reemployment via family connections, there was a plan for them to return to the home of the mother's side of the family.

For Mr. Houjou, the eviction due to the Hinamizawa dam project and the payment of a large amount of compensation money was essentially a windfall.

Mr. Houjou actively embraced the Ministry of Construction's negotiations from an early stage and was selected as representative of the dam proponents.

It was rumored he had been bought out by the Ministry of Construction for doing so, but the truth is unknown.

However, the dam's proponents were in the vastly outnumbered minority.

In addition, as the Sonozaki family strengthened its own foundation and promised support against the dam, all of the proponents save for Mr. Houjou switched over to the anti-dam side.

At this point, Hinamizawa was completely united against the dam, and Mr. Houjou was held up to ridicule as a stooge of the dam project's proponents.

He was, essentially, used as a scapegoat for the anti-dam coalition.

In the end, the dam project collapsed with Oyashiro-sama's curse and the dismemberment incident.

However, punishment towards the bitter enemies supporting the dam project continues to this day...

There are not many left today who supported the dam project, nor who had a negative reputation at the time.

If there were any candidates left for the curse, it's the husband of the housewife who was beaten to death last year, Teppei Houjou.

And Mr. Houjou's daughter, Satoko Houjou.

Strangely, these two are the only candidates left.

Will this year's curse come down on the two of them...?

There is more than enough value in observing them both...