"Wah!

It's Keiichi-kun! Good morning! Good morning!"

Rena was ecstatically waving her arms at me, already brimming with energy.

"What do you mean 'good morning'? It's already evening!

Just say 'hello' or something."

"But, but... This is the first time I've seen you today, so I think 'good morning' is right. It's right."

"...I got it, I got it.

Okay, then good morning it is. Good morning, Rena."

I grabbed Rena's head and rubbed it with my hand.

She squirmed, reveling in the motion like a cat.

"Heya, Kei-chan!

Sorry about yesterday. I left without telling you."

"Ah... No, it's my fault.

Sorry for making you wait so long."

"Are you talking about setting up for the festival yesterday?

How was it, Keiichi-kun?

Did you do your job properly?"

The slight muscle pain throughout my body and my sluggish movements were already obvious...

"I did great.

I'm pretty worn out now, though~!"

I grin dryly and the three of us break out into laughter.

"Where are Satoko and Rika-chan?

Are we meeting up with them at the festival?"

"Yep.

Rika-chan's actually been there since yesterday because she has such an important job.

I think Satoko-chan stayed with her, so they're already at the shrine."

Right, I just remembered!

Today was Rika-chan's big performance.

She'd been practicing especially hard for this day.

...As her friend, I needed to make sure I went and cheered her on!!

"All right! Let's go right away!!"

""Yeeeaaahh~~~!!""

As we got closer to the shrine, we started passing by more people and seeing a lot of parked cars.

It began to get noisier, too... I thought I could hear something like a bon dance song.

Without being able to restrain my impatience, I dashed up the entire flight of stone stairs!

"K-Keiichi-kun, you're going too fast...

...Wait for meee~~...!!"

"Man, Kei-chan, you're such a little kid."

Whooaaa!! The shrine grounds... they were packed with people! It was a festival if I ever saw one!!

"Wow! They went all-out this year too!! Amazing, amazing!!"

"They're coming from Hinamizawa.

Huh? The bedridden old man from the Kimiyoshi branch family is here too!

I think that old guy went home from Watanagashi last year and stayed in bed ever since."

Yeah, there were a lot of villagers here that I didn't really know.

They must have all been pouring in just for today.

"Oh!

It's Satoko-chan!

Heeey!"

"Oh, if it isn't everyone!

Yes, hello to you all!!"

"Yo, Satoko.

There's a lot of people today!! Don't get lost in the crowd, okay?"

"W-Who do you even think you're talking to!!?"

Satoko, too, seems somehow energetic. Of course, I'm the same way.

"Huh? Where's Rika-chan? She still has free time, doesn't she?"

"Rika was giving her respects to the mayor and other important people.

She shall come before long."

I see. Rika-chan is the shrine maiden for today's festival, after all.

...It's probably a pain for her to say hello to all the elders.

"......It really is a pain.

Hello, everyone."

"Ha... hau~~~~!!!!

Rika-chaaaaan!!

I-I-I want t-to t-take you hooomee!!!"

Rika-chan wore an immaculate shrine maiden outfit that looked fresh off the shelves.

...It was a perfect fit for her somehow mystical appearance!

"How does it fit?

It's not too long, is it?

My grandma gave me some safety pins just in case the sleeves are too long."

"......It's all right.

It really is comfortable."

As she spoke, she began to do some twists and stretches.

"...It's great, it's great! It's so kyuute~~ Hau~~~!!"

There was approximately one person here getting a nosebleed from watching Rika-chan move.

"K-K-Keiichi-kun, don't you think she's kyuute? Don't you?

If you don't, then she'll be all mine, and I'll take her home with me~~!!"

"I think she's really kyuute.

Totally cool.

Enough that I want to pretend to be her big brother or dad and take pictures with her.

If we take a picture from two different places and make it stereoscopic... we can eat—or, rather, stare at—a real-life Rika-chan at our houses whenever we want~~!!"

"Hau~~~!!!! That sounds great, that sounds fantastic~~~!!!!"

Rena's eyes and mine glittered with stars as our noses bled and we drooled.

"...Rika, you'd best stay away from them..."

"......Yes, or I might get locked away in a basement somewhere."

"A-ha-ha-ha!

You look like you're enjoying it, though, Rika-chan!"

"......Mii, you're being harsh."

We all laughed together again.

"Okay, let's not hang around here! Let's get to the festival!!

There's not much time left until Rika-chan's big debut."

"You're right. Great!! Let's go, everyone!!"

"""Yeeaaahh!!!"""

"Yo!

If it isn't the daughter of Sonozaki!

Eat up!!

The yakisoba is packed full of pork~!

This year we filled it up as much as we could! We even put in fried calamari!!"

"Gotcha, old timer!

The yakisoba this year looks like quite an achievement.

You have squid, too... You put a ton of time into this, didn't you!?"

"Wow! It's tasty! It's tasty!!"

"Yeah. The squid is delicious, but the aroma is just fantastic.

It wonderfully compensates for how soft it tends to be.

There's a delightful amount of squid and pork in it, too.

......Yep! Not bad at all, I say!"

"Haha.

Kei-chan, you sound like you could walk into a cooking program and become the host!"

"Yeah.

When I see Keiichi-kun acting like it's so good, it somehow tastes even better."

"I don't discriminate among delicious food!

So anything that I say is tasty has got to be worth trying out, right?"

"......Then, Keiichi.

Please, give us your opinion of this yakisoba again!"

"I'll do it in two words.

...Absolutely Scrumptious!!

If I had a second stomach, I'd buy another one right now!"

Having heard my three-star rating, a whole line of people suddenly formed in front of the yakisoba stand.

"Wow, that's amazing.

Kei-chan said it was so good that a little crowd started to form... not bad!!"

It was nothing to brag about, but I still decide to stick out my chest and put on airs.

Mm-hmm.

"Oh, is that so?

Then perhaps I shall try it out.

Mister, mister, could I perchance bother you for one takoyaki?"

Satoko bought a stick of takoyaki—balls of fried octopus—from the adjacent stand, and after blowing on it, put one of them into her mouth.

"How is it, Satoko-chan?

If you give it a good rating, then Rena will buy it too~!"

Chomp, chomp,

chew, chew.

Gulp.

"Now, it's time for Hinamizawa's very own food critic, Judge Satoko Houjou, to give her impressions!"

"......Ummmm......

............Mgh......"

Though she was all for it a moment ago, Satoko hesitated to give her thoughts.

...Hey, now, what's the matter?

Everyone else takes one of their own and puts it into their mouths.

"...Huhhh?

Rena got gipped."

"......Mine's bad, too.

...There's no octopus in it."

...This takoyaki vendor...

Could this be some sort of summer festival only 'octopus-free takoyaki' stand!?!?

An evil takoyaki stand that skimped on the octopus because they figured it would make them good money today...!!

"Ah, mine has some.

...Yeah.

It's pretty good, considering there's octopus in it."

"...How am I supposed to... explain that this octopus-free takoyaki is any good...?"

Everyone wondered about that.

......Our quizzical looks seem to be drawing equally dubious stares from the people in line...

"Umm, err... How about this?

Takoyaki without any octopus is really healthy~☆.

And even people who don't like octopus can eat this delicious takoyaki~...☆"

After hearing that, several surprised guests left the line.

It had the exact opposite effect...

"Alright, then I'll give it a try next.

A self-inspired take on takoyaki, in which you can clearly taste the simple flavors of the flour, green onions, and pickled ginger!

The unaffected taste is bolstered by the absence of octopus..."

...It wasn't half bad, but after hearing the "there's no octopus in it" clause, even more people left the line.

"...R-Rika-chan, any good comments?

...You can be honest."

"......400 yen is too much for this."

Gehah!

That was too honest!!

...Even more customers leave the line, dealing a lethal blow.

There were other takoyaki stands around, after all.

"Well

~~...

I mean, umm...

We might not want to be doing this~...

Hey, Satoko!

You started all this, so give us a great big turnaround!"

"Mgh... I cannot do it!!

How do you expect me to lavish praise upon takoyaki without any octopus in it!?"

Gah, you idiot!!!

Satoko's angry outburst was the finishing blow.

"Ah, ack!

The customers are all gone...!

Huh?

The guy is staring at us.

...Why is that? Why is that? Hau~~!!!"

Sigh.

...There's no saving this crowd.

Perhaps I, Keiichi Maebara-sama, will lend a generous hand...

"......Keiichi-kun, you could do it.

We want you to save the takoyaki vendor who didn't put any octopus in."

"...Don't smile as you say something so bitter.

...All right, fine.

This may be the only chance you'll get to see a pro at work, so watch carefully."

I shoved the stick into an octopus-less takoyaki and crammed it into my mouth.

As before, there wasn't any octopus in it.

...But Mion's had some in it.

...That was the important point.

"The man who runs this takoyaki stand... He truly loves takoyaki, in every meaning of the word.

No, it could even be said that he adores it."

"""Ehhh...?!?!"""

Everyone gasped in surprise.

...Including the takoyaki vendor glaring at us.

"This man truly does love takoyaki.

And because he loves it, he doesn't want to create halfhearted, random ones.

......Isn't that right?"

The takoyaki vendor looked down, unsure.

Those watching were listening intently, wanting to know why octopus-less takoyaki deserved such a high rating.

"Keiichi-san, if he really and truly loved takoyaki that much, why did he make takoyaki without octopus at all?!

Is he not betraying that very takoyaki!?"

"You may be right.

In one sense, it is a betrayal.

However...... It's the best possible compromise this man could find.

This man is making real takoyaki today, as he always does!

However, only one or two of them on each stick are the real ones."

"Well, you're right.

The one I ate had octopus in it...

...and considering it did actually have it, it didn't taste bad at all, you know?"

"Right.

That was a bona fide takoyaki...

...And as for the other ones...

It was the biggest compromise he could make against the biases of the general populace, who all think that there need to be eight pieces on the stick, or else it's not real takoyaki."

"Huh? Keiichi-kun, I don't understand what you mean.

Why is one of them the real thing, and all the other ones are fakes? Why?"

"The secret... lies in the octopus.

Mister, this octopus...

It's true Akashi octopus, isn't it?

In recent years, the number of octopuses caught in Akashi has decreased, and their prices have risen drastically.

The prices are now so high... that you wouldn't think of using them in takoyaki."

Then the man, who had been looking down this whole time, mumbled...

"...Yeah, that's right.

Akashi octopus... It's very expensive..."

"But this man absolutely had to have the Akashi octopus!

He could have bought much worse-quality octopus for cheaper, as much as he wanted, and he would have still been able to fool everyone!

There are plenty of other scamming takoyaki vendors who claim theirs are from Akashi, even though they're not!!

But this man wouldn't accept it! He wouldn't tell lies!

Akashi octopus are supreme!!!

He would never relinquish this one stubborn conviction!!!

This man loved takoyaki!

That's why he never lied!!

Yet... There was one point that he absolutely had to compromise on."

"W-What might that be...?"

"The number.

The popular opinion is that a stick of takoyaki should have 8 pieces on it.

Even if it's real Akashi octopus, he couldn't charge 400 yen for just one piece, could he?!

If he didn't have eight pieces, nobody would buy them...

...This man wept over it!!

In order to make just one true piece of takoyaki...

he wouldn't ever let himself lie through the other seven!!!!"

Oh, whoooahhhh!!! The octopus-free takoyaki vendor burst into tears.

I gently clap one of his shoulders.

"No matter what anyone else says, I will never forget how genuine you are.

You, sir, are a true vendor of takoyaki!!!

You are the only one in the world with the right to call himself that!!!!"

Clap clap... clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap...!!!!

As I embraced the shoulders of this man, shedding his manly tears, those watching delivered a round of applause, moved by my speech!

"Everyone!!

I beg of you, please, eat some of this true takoyaki vendor's takoyaki!!

If we don't treasure genuine men like this, then how can we protect the true path of the takoyaki!?

If nobody else will eat them, then I will eat them aaaalllll!!!"

"Wah, wah, everyone watching is lining up!

Keiichi-kun, you did it! You did it!!"

"I think it's more they thought Kei-chan's propaganda speech was interesting rather than that the takoyaki actually looked good.

...Kei-chan, you could probably sell plain old rocks if you tried!"

"......You would do well at product demonstrations in a supermarket."

"...I suspect he would be good at selling off suspicious wonder-knives."

Absolutely stunned at my successful pitch, the guy manning the stall next to this one called out to me.

"Hey, hey, you guys, do that for my sweets, too!!"

"Great! You all get the gist of it, right?

It's your turn this time, Rena!"

"Okay! I'll do my best~!!

......Hau~~!!!

When apricot sweets are cold, they're very, very good~!!

The apricot is sitting so quietly an' nicely on top of the syrup.

Hau, it's sho kyute!!

I wanna take it home~~! Hau~~~~!!!!!"

...It looks like she lost herself in this midway through...

...but a girl giving it such natural praise was itself bringing in some customers!!

A line was quickly forming behind Rena!

"Next up is the okonomiyaki stand!!

Satoko, you're up!"

"Umm, rather, well...

The crunch of the fried tempura batter mixed with yakisoba is simply to die for!!

With a huge piece of bacon laid on top, when you bite into it, it all comes flooding out... chomp chomp chomp!!"

"Yeaahh!!

That's freakin' great!!

N-Now I want to try some, too!!"

Then, a huge line formed at my words!!

What on earth is this?

...So basically, all these onlookers are just following us around to all the stands.

"......When people hear about food from others and then try it for themselves, it tastes a lot better than it normally would!"

So that's it.

Even Rika-chan was gorging herself on the food, getting sauce on the bib she'd put on to prevent her shrine maiden outfit from getting dirty.

"Nice! The older guys are getting into it, too!

Okay, Kei-chan, which one should I do!?"

"Right! Mion, you go to the stand next to that!! Show them the depths of your power!!"

"Huh? B-But Kei-chan, the stall next to that is..."

Whoops!

A goldfish-scooping stand!

A bit out of our element.

"No, as club president, I won't flee no matter who or what my opponent is.

Let's get started!"

"...I look forward to a splendid performance, Mion-san!!!"

The onlookers were also watching Mion with hopeful eyes.

"Welcome, welcome!

Here's your net and bowl."

"Okay, here we go."

"......Hmm! The goldfish are energetic today!!

They really look delicious!

Small things like these—you could crunch 'em down whole~!!!"

Mutter mutter...!?

"...Mi... Mion-san... wh-what in the world are you saying...?"

"......Mii-chan... You eat them?

Did you... did you eat the one Rena caught last year too?"

"N-No... I-I didn't say anything like that...!!"

Mion's face went red and she shook it vehemently in denial.

"Well, I mean... You just said so yourself that they really look delicious."

"Yes, you did indeed say so.

My sister is omnivorous. She eats anything that can go in her mouth."

"......If they taste good, then maybe I'll try one next time."

"N-N-N-N-N-N-No, Rika-chan, don't! You'll get sick...!!!"

...Wait a second.

Hey, what the hell?

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

"Heya, Kei-chan, Mion, everyone! Good evening."

"Ah... aaahhhhaaaaaaaahhh!!!

Where did you come from, Shioonnnn!?!?"

"I've been here since the bit with the yakisoba.

You were all so loud that I found you right away."

"Geez!!

You've got nothing to do with this, do you!?!?

Go somewhere else already!!"

"Geez, Mion, don't treat me so cruelly.

...Right, Kei-chan?

You're okay with me being here, right?"

she asked, grabbing my arm and pushing her chest into it.

Bounce.

"Keiichi-kun, you're a pervert... Your nose is bleeding..."

"When you squish a jelly donut, the jelly comes out, right?

It's the same.

This isn't something I have any control over..."

"Heh, is that right?

Then will more come out if I squeeze harder?

Eei! ☆

Squeeze."

S-Shion's... her cleavage, it's... it's right up against my chest......

Driiiiiiip.

"Gyaahhhh!!!!

Shion, what the heck are you trying to dooooo!!?"

"...How vulgar!!

I seem to have misjudged you!!"

"......What about my flat chest?"

Rika-chan clasps onto my other arm, too.

Rub.

A plentiful, plump feeling on my left shoulder, and the sour sensation of a young, unripe fruit on my right......

Ha... Hau~~~~!!!!!

Boom boom baaaang!!!!!

Shion, Rika-chan, and I, our faces now bruised, fell to the ground, limbs sprawled.

"Nice job, Rena..."

"E-E-E-E-Everyone's so dirty...! Hau..."

"......Rena punched me.

It really hurts..."

"R-Rika, you get what you deserve..."

Sh-Sheesh...

Now that Shion was here, the energy around us had increased by 120%...

"Fufu, ah-hahahaha...!

Your friends are so much fun, Mion.

I never get bored of them."

"Agh, right.

If you weren't here, it would be way more fun, you know!!!"

"Ahahahahaha!

I want to stay with you all, but if I continue seducing Kei-chan, my sister looks like she's literally going to bite my head off.

So I'll retreat for now.

I'll be back.

See you, Mion!"

"Don't be back!!!

Get the salt! Someone get the saaaaalt!!!"

After teasing her older sister so much, Shion ran away into the crowd of people and disappeared.

"......I feel that I have borne witness to a rare side of Mion-san."

"When Mii-chan is with Shii-chan, she looks kinda kyuute!!"

Rena smiled happily, earning her a whack on the head from Mion.

"Don't say dumb stuff! Let's get to the next stand already!!"

We went about just like that, really noisy and lively, to the other stands.

We were paying money towards the beginning, but midway through, the guys running the shops thought we were just too funny, and we ended up being able to fool around without paying much more.

Thuuump!

The vigorous sound of a big taiko drum echoed through the air.

"Rika, it looks like it's time."

"Ah... Yep, looks like it."

Right, it's just about time for Rika-chan to appear in the offertory dance...

"......I'm a little nervous."

"Believe in yourself!

All of your sweat will definitely amount to something, Rika-chan."

Mion slapped hard on Rika-chan's back!

"That's right. You'll do fantastic, Rika!!"

"......I'll do my best."

"Yeah! That's the spirit~!"

I ball my hand into a fist and raise it into the air.

"We're rooting for you, Rika-chan!! Go for it, yay! Remember?!"

"""Go for it, yay!!!"""

Rika-chan gave the best smile I'd ever seen, then pivoted on her heel and ran off.

"Okay... we should get going too!"

"Right. Let's go cheer her on!!"

"You mustn't!

You must keep silent during the performance!"

I got it, geez! I rubbed a hand through her hair. She was worried about her good friend up to the end.

"Then we'd better hurry!

All the good spots will be taken!!

Come on!!"

Mion ran off, and everyone else followed a moment later.

A large amount of people had already clustered into the tight space to watch the edifying dance.

"Wow, this is... this is a lot of people!!"

I turned around to look at everyone else, but nobody was there.

Wh-Where did everyone go?!

...They probably got lost among all these people.

Finally, I spotted the back of Mion's head on the other side of the crowd.

It definitely doesn't look like I can get over there.

...Well, we got separated. No big deal.

We can just meet back up when Rika-chan's dance is over.

I gave up on finding the others and wandered around, trying to look for a place where I'd be able to see better.

...It didn't take long for me to realize I'd have to settle for watching between the heads of the people in front of me, though.

Thuuump!

Once again, an even louder taiko drum resounded.

This one was to announce the beginning of the dance.

I couldn't see very well, but it seemed like Rika-chan had come on stage with the elders, who were in priestly garb.

I heard low exhalations of admiration and the seniors rubbing their prayer beads in gratitude.

Everyone's heads were in the way, and I couldn't see. It was really frustrating.

We should have cut playtime short and come here to get good spots earlier...

After Rika-chan intoned the prayer, she took the festival hoe and walked to the pile of quilts stacked on the altar.

That's right.

The point of the ceremony was to purify bedding and to hold a memorial service, wasn't it...

Then, the solemn offertory dance began.

She had practice using a mochi-pounding mallet... The awkwardly-shaped festival hoe Rika-chan held seemed really heavy.

Back and forth, up and down. It was doubtlessly difficult to even lift in the air, but she sweated and waved, raised, and dropped it, again and again.

She couldn't just deal with it and do it grudgingly. As the shrine maiden, she needed to retain the dignity and solemnity present at this festival.

......There must be a ton of pressure on Rika-chan's shoulders right now...

......Damn!! Why am I cheering her on from a place I can barely see her?!

I'm her friend, so I should be right up in the best spot rooting for her!

"Kei-chan, over here!"

Someone tugged lightly on the back of my shirt collar.

...It was Shion.

She beckoned me outside the crowded ring of people.

She had a mischievous grin on her face, and I took it as her saying she knew a good place nobody else knew of.

"Shion? ...What's up?"

"Shh!

Just be quiet and come with me."

After she told me so, she ran in a big detour around the throng.

Man, it's great to have someone who knows the lay of the land here at times like this!

Impressed though I was, I nearly lost sight of her right away.

No more getting separated for me.

I ran after her so that I wouldn't be left behind.

As I wondered in anticipation what kind of secret spot Shion had in mind, we left the crowd of people and went around to the back of the shrine grounds.

"Hey, wait... Where are we going...?!

We're getting further and further away!"

"Shhhh!

Just stay quiet and follow me. You'll understand soon."

Shion gave me a wink that reminded me of Mion as she said that.

No sign of people, and not much moonlight—it was dark.

We had gotten pretty far away from the crowd of people on the shrine grounds.

...How are we supposed to see Rika-chan's dance from here?

"I see. ...There's some high spot around here, isn't there?

Like a rooftop, or somewhere we can look down at it, right?"

"What? Why do we have to climb onto the roof?"

"Well, how else are we supposed to see Rika-chan's dance?"

"Did you really want to see Rika-chama's dance?

Kei-chan, could it be that your strike zone is really low?"

"...I don't think we're understanding each other here.

Weren't you going to show me somewhere I could see Rika-chan's dance from easily?"

"What?

...Who made that promise?"

Ngahhh!!

What's going oonnnnn??!

Why me?!

Why do I always misunderstand Shion?!

Is it my fault?!

Am I just reading the wrong things into it?!?!

"T-Then why did you call me all the way out here?!"

With an expression that indicated she wasn't fooling around, Shion pressed her index finger to my lips and said slowly and quietly,

(...This place is a dark, dead, empty spot. You can't see it from the festival grounds, and now a male and female of the same age are all alone together.)

......Eehhhhh?!?!

C-C-C-Could this be?!?!

Shion... She's not planning something crazy again, is she?!?!

(Shhhhh!

Look over there...!

See?)

Shion whispered, pointing into the dark underbrush...

And there we saw... two figures, one male, and one female.

(Wha... What's that?

...............I-Is that...)

(We're right at the scene of a rendezvous, of course~.

See, look closely.

Can you tell who they are?)

I peered intently into the dark at Shion's suggestion.

...Oh, it's Tomitake-san and Takano-san...!

The two of them were clearly breathing quietly and glancing around to make sure nobody knew they were there, as they crouched before the entrance to a wooden, storehouse-like building.

(...Wait, Shion.

......Could this be what you wanted to show me?)

(Kei-chan.

You can see Rika-chama's dance any year, but you won't ever get another chance like this, okay?)

......I had thought the Sonozaki sisters each had their own personalities, but at times like this they seemed all too similar...

(I'm going back!

Don't call me for something like this again!!)

(Ah, if you move now, they'll see us...!!)

At our noisy argument, Takano-san suddenly turned around!

"......Oh, my. Who might that be?"

We held our breaths and tried to wait it out, but it seemed like Takano-san was now acutely aware of our presence.

Shion and I exchanged glances, then gave up and climbed out from behind the bush.

"Well, hello there.

The moon sure is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

"My, my.

If it isn't Shion-chan and Maebara-kun.

Good evening. Yes, the moon certainly is pretty."

"What's this...? Keiichi-kun, you sure are smart, you know that?

Having a secret date in a place like this?

Then I guess we accidentally interrupted something important. A-ha-ha-ha!!"

You're the ones who were meeting up secretly!!

Tomitake-san and Takano-san laughed to themselves, and it got on my nerves for some reason.

"Wait, so you two weren't having a little rendezvous, then?"

"O-Of course we weren't.

Though I don't dislike that kind of romance."

"Heehee...

Unfortunately, this wasn't the location of a rendezvous either of you would want to see.

Sorry for not living up to your expectations."

"Hmm.

If this wasn't a rendezvous, then what were you doing?

Tomitake-san, were you messing around with the padlock on the door just now?"

Huh? After she said that, I looked at the two of them again...

And I definitely saw it.

They were hunched in front of a warehouse door, fiddling with a pretty heavy-looking padlock.

"......Guess we've been found out, huh?

We were trying to break into the warehouse...

but don't tell anyone, all right?"

"D-Don't tell anyone...?

Are you thieves or something?!"

I demanded unthinkingly, just because of how absently Tomitake-san was grinning.

"Nah, never.

Thieves are people who steal things, right?

It's not like we were trying to take anything out of here."

"I see...

Then why are you trying to unlock the door?

This is the forbidden storehouse for ritual tools.

They say only the Furude family and a mere handful of others are allowed in."

Forbidden storehouse...?

I took a few steps back at that and looked on the entire warehouse.

It certainly looked like one, built removed from any signs of people, almost as if in secret.

...It was filthy, revealing how little it was ever opened.

And...it was built to be durable, giving it a strange, overpowering impression...

Now that I looked at it more closely, it was certainly different than normal warehouses.

"This place...

They're called ritual implements.

Basically, this is a warehouse where they store such tools used in rituals.

...Well, more accurately, maybe it's a temple where the implements are enshrined.

The ritual hoe Rika-chan is using for the offertory dance was inside here until today.

Of course, if anyone but the Furude family enters...

...they bring 'impurity' into it, so absolutely no one is allowed a single step inside it.

......It's a sanctuary."

Shouldn't we absolutely NOT be coming to a place like this, then?!

However, Takano was wearing a childlike expression—an innocent smile at best, and terribly cruel grin at worst.

"I told you I was researching Hinamizawa's folk tales and legends out of an interest in them, didn't I?

A lot of the answers to questions I'm curious about are hidden away inside here.

I've waited all this time until today for this chance."

A chance.

...Everybody's eyes were fixed on the dance at the shrine grounds today.

This was the ultimate blind spot.

"Heh, I see.

I didn't know you had lockpicking skills, Tomitake-san."

"...Stop it.

I don't want to be doing this, okay?"

"Sorry for taking you along with me, but

this was all thanks to you, Jirou-san.

I really am grateful."

"Sheesh...

This is the only time, understand, Takano-san?

I don't want to be sneaking into places like this."

"Heehee... You really are a good person, Jirou-san."

Ker-clink.

...Tomitake-san undid the padlock and placed it to the side.

"It's open."

"Thank you.

...At long last."

Takano-san gulped. With an unusually excited air about her, she gave the heavy door a shove...

The sharp smell of mold and dust flowed out from the gap in the doors...

I had claimed curses didn't exist, but... in this situation, I could believe in them.

...If we went into such a holy place with our shoes on... it feels like we could be punished somehow.

"How about it?

You're accomplices, too.

You came all the way here, so why not come in and take the tour?

It'll be a little field trip to a museum of precious cultural artifacts that conceal the secret history of Hinamizawa.

...And it's only open today. Heehee..."

"W-We're not... accomplices, or anything..."

"...Aren't you interested, though?

Come on, let's take a peek,"

Shion said, predictably, linking her arm with mine.

"B-But... We definitely shouldn't be doing this...!

This is a holy warehouse, isn't it?

You said ritual implements, right?!

I really feel like we shouldn't go in...!"

"I'm a part of the Sonozaki family, so I have a good guess as to what we'll find in there,

but I want you to see it too, Kei-chan."

"You want to show something to me...?"

I thought it was just a ploy, but Shion's eyes looked entirely serious.

...Of course, she was the sort who could lie with a straight face.

Of course... I was an average boy, too.

My curiosity was at least twice that of a normal person.

Sleeping, forbidden treasures, never to leave this warehouse. Chances like this don't come around too often.

If I had to choose, then... I want to see!

Until the locked door is open, though...

I dunno about this...!

"If you're not interested, Kei-chan, then you can leave now.

I think you'll wonder about it later, though,"

Tomitake-san spoke after listening to our discussion, himself having sat down on the stairs to take a short rest.

"I'll keep watch here.

Go in and check it out with them.

I'm not too interested...

but it might be pretty interesting for a young guy like you, Keiichi-kun. ......Fu-fu-fu!"

he said, laughing mischievously.

There was no ill will in his laughter.

"Tomitake-san, do you know what's in here?"

"Kind of.

Takano-san told me all about it."

"Must be a pain to have to go along with your companion's unique hobbies, huh~?"

Tomitake-san didn't answer that, only responding with a pained smile.

Takano-san had this kind of scary air about her, like she'd drop absolutely everything else for something she had an interest in and go straight for it, but...

Tomitake-san, on the other hand, seemed like the gold standard of what a normal person should be.

...Having him tell me so frankly to go check it out suddenly made the guilt feel lighter.

"Okay......... but just a little.

...If it's not interesting, I'm leaving."

"You got it!" Shion gave me another Mion-like wink.

"Looks like we're decided.

Shall we go inside?

...Jirou-san, we'll leave this to you."

Tomitake-san waved his hand to see us off.

The inside was pitch black, but Takano-san turned on the battery-powered lantern she'd brought, revealing a pretty cramped front room.

"It's so dark in here.

Everyone, 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 smiled spitefully, as if leaving Tomitake-san out of something fun, and began to close the door.

"Man...

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

There was a low, heavy, and loud noise... and we were completely cut off from the outside world... and covered in silent darkness.

...Takano-san's lantern was the only light we had.

"It'll be fine.

It's an outdoor lantern with backup batteries inside.

It won't go out or anything."

Looks like Takano noticed my uneasy expression.

...I couldn't help but blush a little and avert my gaze.

Deeper inside, there was a heavy and old-but-sturdy door with solemn decorations on it.

...It was the last door sealing away what was within...

"Strange how it has an antechamber even though it's just a warehouse, isn't it?

...I believe it's set up this way so that you open one door at a time, never letting the room with all the tools be seen from the outside."

Takano-san explained this, awfully impressed by the construction.

...But still... it's really dark in here.

......Huh?

That, over there, it's...

I spotted a circuit breaker hanging from a clump of wiring, clumsily attached to the wall.

"Oh, here, isn't this the light switch or something?"

I flip the biggest switch I can find, and with a *click*, the pitch-black room was illuminated by an old, bare light bulb.

Everyone scrunched up their faces at the sudden strobe-like brightness.

"Don't!!"

Before she even finished, Shion slapped my hand and flipped the switch back.

There was another loud *click*, and the room returned to darkness, with only the lantern for illumination...

"Oww..."

"You can't, Kei-chan.

We snuck in here, remember?

If you turn on the light, it might give us away...!"

I'm scolded by Shion fairly harshly...

It looked like she was worried about whether someone had seen them from the momentary light.

"It's all right.

It was only for a moment."

Takano-san remained a relaxed adult.

...It seemed like she was confident she could talk her way out of it if someone did see us...

"Let's go in.

...Here we go...

There."

The even heavier door opened... and this time, it wasn't just the dust that came out with the air—there was also a nasty smell.

......One smell was like opening a dust-filled cupboard in the back of a kitchen that hadn't been opened in years...

and the other smell, the nasty one, was hard to explain... but it was like the raw odor of a fish market.

From how the sound echoed, this room felt far larger than the first.

Takano-san held up her lantern and revealed the contents of the expansive room.

"...Whoa...!!"

At the back wall of the storehouse, right in front of us...was a Buddha-like holy object, standing there, looking down at us.

I was taken aback by its unseen force, lit up by the slender beam of the lantern.

"That's the guardian god of Hinamizawa...

Oyashiro-sama."

"...It's far grander than the one at the shrine."

Oyashiro-sama.

...So this is the spirit protecting Hinamizawa.

The one guarding the holy land of Hinamizawa from the impurities of the outside world, and the one delivering punishment after punishment upon those who attempted to sully the land with the dam construction...

"...It looks like... there are far more tools stored here than I thought, but...

This is so sad.

None of them have been maintained.

...How unfortunate that they're in such a state..."

Even in the dim light, I could see a lot of strange objects lining the walls, ceiling, and shelves.

Takano-san, speaking as if in a trance, was infatuated by the various implements filling the dark room.

...They weren't very festival-like, or traditional, but instead... this was more like the workshop of a blacksmith or a carpenter...

There were a lot of large wooden and metal tools packed in here.

Putting it bluntly, it was all pretty boring stuff.

I'd imagined there would be more artistic things in here from the Heian period, but...

these are a far cry from being cultural artifacts.

My expression betrayed my dashed hopes, and they caught on right away.

"......Oh...

...Is this not interesting for you?"

"I'm not into literature or art, so...

...I can look at this stuff, but I don't really understand its value."

"Fufu.

...Keiichi-kun, you really do look like you don't get it.

I guess that's only natural."

Takano-san reached into a paper bag that she'd been holding the whole time, took out a worn scrapbook, and began to flip through it.

"...Then just for you, Keiichi-kun, I'll tell you an old story.

It's a common tale in this region.

If you go to the library, it would even be on their recommended reading list."

Telling stories... in such a dark, creepy place?

......She must have a horror story in mind.

Shion's face belied nothing but calm.

If she had the same personality as Mion, she'd have found fault with me being scared.

...I'll endure it for now and pretend to be calm.

"Okay?

All right... I'll read it."

After confirming that I was going to be quiet and listen, she began to speak softly, like a kindergarten teacher reading a picture book...

"Long, long ago, in a certain village in the mountains, there was a swamp.

This swamp was very, very deep. Some even called it bottomless.

People said it was connected to Hell, the land of demons."

The rumors said that it was deeper than the ocean, and that anyone it swallowed would sink into the underworld—a bottomless swamp.

Its name was Onigafuchi...

...Wait.

I thought back to the story I heard yesterday about the sacrifices sinking in the bottomless swamp.

...Could that be the swamp she's talking about?

"...So then the village... was Hinamizawa, right?"

"You catch on quickly.

That's right.

...Though it was called Onigafuchi Village at the time."

"Onigafuchi Village...

...That's a pretty inauspicious name..."

"It evokes quite the image, doesn't it?

I hear that the name was changed in the Meiji period."

...The name of the swamp connected to Hell was called Onigafuchi, which meant "The Demon's Abyss."

...And the true name of this village, Hinamizawa...

...was Onigafuchi Village.

"The villagers belonged to that abyss—or to hell, in other words.

...They lived their lives worshipping the swamp said to connect to it.

But then, one day..."

Demons began to appear, one after the other, from deep in the swamp.

...The villagers feared...

that hell was overflowing.

The demons mercilessly attacked the villagers.

They could only watch in fear.

...They could do no more than hide themselves and tremble...

"...So did someone exterminate them?"

"Unfortunately, there is no Momotarou or Superman in this fairy tale."

"Then... did they get the whole village together to fight them?"

"Heavens, no.

The villagers weren't nearly strong enough to fight on equal terms with the demons."

"...Then... the only recourse would be to flee the village..."

"They couldn't do that, either.

...To the villagers, it was their beloved homeland.

It didn't matter how terrifying the demons, they wouldn't have run away so easily."

"...Then... what did they do?

Wouldn't they just get wiped out?"

Unable to fight, and unable to run.

...All they could do was wait for the village to be destroyed...

Then, when everyone had lost hope...

...their god...

'Oyashiro-sama' descended unto them.

"I see...

So Oyashiro-sama came down from the sky and beat up all the demons, then."

"...You're such a boy, Kei-chan.

You always jump straight to using force to resolve things,"

Shion sighed, a little annoyed. Embarrassed, I held my tongue.

"The thing about Oyashiro-sama...

He wasn't a violent god who would beat them up, like you're saying.

......He was a kind god, filled with love and benevolence."

The strength of Oyashiro-sama descended from the heavens couldn't be compared to that of the demons.

They didn't even fight—they simply prostrated themselves before his radiant authority...

Oyashiro-sama urged them to go back to Hell from whence they came, but the demons wept and challenged him, saying they could never return.

"The world of the demons, too, has harsh commandments.

They claimed they had been banished from Hell."

Demons...

who didn't have a place to go, neither in Hell nor in the human world...

Of course, they were at fault for attacking the village.

They deeply reflected on it and were sorry.

"As the villagers conversed amongst themselves, little by little they came to pity the demons, and...

...after talking with everyone in the village, they decided to live alongside them."

"A lot of fairy tales have them being exterminated or driven away... but you don't often hear one where they live in peace."

"You're right.

Demons are supposed to symbolize all evils.

A story where they decide to live together with humans is certainly strange."

When the demons first heard the villagers' invitation, they doubted their ears, but soon burst into tears of joy.

The villagers had given them a place to live.

It was said that in payment for this good deed, the demons shared their many kinds of power and secrets with the villagers.

"Oyashiro-sama was very pleased with this happy exchange.

He gave the demons the bodies of humans so that they would be indistinguishable from the villagers.

He himself decided to stay on the surface and watch over the everlasting peace between them."

A land in which man, demon, and god live together.

...I had thought the word "demon" was a noun meaning "evil that needs to be exterminated."

A god may have mediated for them, but you don't often hear happy endings like that where both sides live in harmony.

...I see. I guess it is kind of interesting.

"Although the normal fairy tale ends there,

it was revised quite a bit during the Edo period into a much longer story."

After that, the humans and demons intermixed, and eventually there was no difference between them.

"So the demons ended up disappearing?"

"No.

Not at all.

Half of them stayed just as they were."

The knowledge the villagers had received from the demons basically made them into something inhuman—what people call 'transcendent.'

They were well aware the power they had was heresy, and as those below worshipped them, they lived out their lives in secrecy...

"This story is the root of many derivative tales and pieces of fiction.

It's the foundation, I mean.

The basis."

"What do you mean by 'root'?"

"She means the part about the villagers having demon blood.

...What I mean is, all of the legends from around here are based on the premise that the villagers are descended from demons."

There was a hint of amusement in Shion's face as she said that.

...It was like she wanted to say that she, too, had demon blood in her.

...Is there any proof, though?

Maybe it's somehow rooted in historical fact beyond just fairy tales.

"Oh.

...Maebara-kun, then do you believe that demons really did come out of the swamp and breed with humans?"

"......Hmm, well, it's not that I don't believe it, but..."

When she said "demon," she meant the ones from Hell, but...

...In ancient Japan, the word wasn't necessarily used to denote only that kind, right?

The more well-known use involves the "drifting foreigner theory."

As the story goes, Westerners who were shipwrecked in nearby seas had such markedly different customs that they were called 'demons.'

Japanese people were relatively similar in appearance to other Asians, but everything about those from the West was different—their physiques, their faces, and their skin color.

In Japan, terms like "red demon" and "blue demon" evoke images especially of Westerners.

Lacking in skin pigments, Westerners would sunburn easily and turn red.

Being fair-skinned, I think blood vessels appearing on their skin would look blue, too.

A handful of accidental aliens would drift into Japan and came under persecution, being called demons.

They would flee into the mountains to survive, turn into bandit groups, and attack villages for food and the like.

"How does that explanation sound?

...Maybe it's a bit childish..."

Takano gave me a weird smile when, having come up with such an impromptu hypothesis, I unconsciously followed it up with self-deprecation.

Still, she didn't smile as if to make fun of me.

"It's not ridiculous.

There are a lot of people who subscribe to the drifting foreigner theory.

Even so, nobody actually knows what happened.

Were they groups of foreigners who had turned to banditry, or were they really demons who had come from the bottom of the world...?"

"Then, ...er... Takano-san, which one do you believe?"

"The truth of the matter aside, I'd rather believe the more fantastic explanation.

It's more fun that way, isn't it?"

Her answer made her sound a wee bit like a romanticist.

Here I'd thought she'd reject unrealistic stories like that.

"Now then.

......This is where...

the fun begins."

Takano-san brought an end to her storytelling and waits for a moment as if to tantalize us.

"...?"

Suddenly, Shion looked around, as if something had caught her eye.

...Her head bobbed to and fro, like she was making sure nothing had changed.

"...? What's wrong, Shion?"

"......I'm sorry.

Please don't worry about it."

Shion pretended as though nothing had happened.

Takano-san also made sure nothing had happened, then cleared her throat and broached the next subject.

"...I explained that half of the villagers have demon blood.

That blood—they actually say that it's the blood of the kind of demon that eats people."

"...Man-eating demons?

......That escalated quickly."

"That blood still runs through the villagers' veins.

......They say that sometimes, the blood awakens from its slumber."

I thought the fairy tale had a happy ending, with the humans and demons living in peace... but it began to suddenly change into a brutal, bloody story...

"Well, they eat people.

They say that every decade or so, they can't help but want to feast on human flesh.

The villagers can't eat other villagers...

So when this happens, it's said that they descended on the human villages and conducted Onikakushi."

"What's an... Onikakushi?"

"Broadly speaking, it's when a demon kidnaps someone; when a person is 'demoned away.'

They say that the villagers of Onigafuchi would overwhelm unfortunate human villages, in order to kidnap sacrifices."

Takano-san's explanation was plain and simple... but when I imagined what it must have been like... it was terrifying.

They lose their human reason...

The villagers turn into real demons en masse...

They attack the villages they loathe, in the dirty world of the masses below...

...and then they kill and eat their sacrifices.

"S-So they're no different from demons after all!

...What did Oyashiro-sama do?!

Wasn't he supposed to be staying in the village and watching over them?"

"Oyashiro-sama knew about it, of course.

Onikakushi isn't indiscriminate. The villagers apparently never kidnapped anyone other than the sacrifices decided upon by their god.

In the texts, it's usually one or two people."

......A village inhabited by those both human and inhuman.

...It was like the heart-warming episode's colors had inverted, like negative film...

...revealing the painful...

...and ugly truth...

"So on the nights when they stole away villagers...

they would feast on their kidnapped sacrifices, which is why the nights came to be known as 'Watanagashi.'"

Watanagashi.

...Tonight's festival was Watanagashi.

...I just couldn't reconcile the fun festival with the horrible tale Takano-san was telling me.

"Watanagashi, well, wasn't it...

wasn't it about giving thanks to the futons we use over the winter or something?!"

"Kei-chan.

...'Wata' has another meaning, you know.

It means 'entrails.'"

Shion, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

"Entrails?

......Oh, yeah, I guess that's true.

Like, fish guts.

......Wait, what?!"

Like a jigsaw puzzle, the fun times I had today and Takano-san's grotesque tale clicked together in my mind.

"Watanagashi, so... 'gut-spilling'..."

I didn't think saying that could ever feel so nauseating...

"Yes.

It's as you imagine, Maebara-kun.

...Right now, the Watanagashi Festival might just be a somewhat early summer festival occurring every June, but it used to be different.

It used to be a ghastly, cannibalistic feast... held on the night the villagers had collected their unfortunate dinner."

"Th-That can't be true!!!"

I had no real reason to say that,

but I couldn't help it.

"Maebara-kun, you said that Watanagashi is a ritual about purifying futons, right?

What do you think the futons, filled with cotton—with 'wata'—represent?"

"Futons are futons!!

They're beds!

They're things for sleeping in!

What else could they possibly represent?!"

I was rattling on, desperately attempting to deny the horrible festival that Takano-san was describing...

Deep down, however... I found myself understanding all too well what she meant.

Futons, stuffed with cotton.

If the cotton represented entrails in both pronunciation and meaning, then entrail-filled futons... would have to be humans.

"Why don't you think back to the offertory dance Rika-chan performed?

Do you know...

what she was doing up there?"

"No, I don't!

I didn't even watch the whole thing, anyway...!!"

"Shhh!

Kei-chan, you're getting too worked up."

Shion grabbed one of my ears, reminding me that this wasn't somewhere I should raise my voice.

Even so, I still can't suppress this agitation I feel.

"Rika-chan was carrying a festival hoe.

...You've probably realized it already, but that's not a hoe for plowing fields.

...It's a tool for dissecting human bodies."

I didn't see the dance all the way through, so I don't know what kind of performance Rika-chan was putting on after I'd left.

When I told this to Takano-san, she kindly explained Rika-chan's dance to me.

To summarize what she said... After what I'd seen,

Rika-chan would pierce the futons with that hoe,

cut them open,

and pull out the cotton inside...

She'd cut the cotton out, one bit at a time, and set it afloat.

......That's the kind of ritual it was.

"Broadly speaking, it was quite the bombastic ceremony, where they'd rip out the guts and throw them into a basin.

...And then the ritual was over.

It's thought that afterwards, the villagers, each with a different role, dismantled the flesh piece-by-piece and feasted upon it.

...Heehee."

...At Takano-san's strangely happy giggle, I felt, for some reason, violent displeasure.

Rika-chan... Every day during our lunch break, she'd take a rice-pounding mallet into the schoolyard... and she'd work so hard, sweating bullets, to practice for the offertory dance she had done today...

......All that effort...

All that work...

...Takano-san disgraced it.

...Even though she worked so hard to practice for today......

"...Takano-san, I think you should choose your words more carefully.

Kei-chan's pretty naive, so please don't tease him so much."

A moment before I opened my mouth to express how angry I was, Shion stopped me.

...Shion must have been fully aware of how that story made me feel.

"I'm sorry.

...I thought you'd like a story with that sort of shock value, since you're a boy."

Takano-san spoke without a hint of malice as she smiled gracefully.

"After hearing all that,

...Did you figure out what kind of stuff is in this storehouse, Kei-chan?

See, look."

Shion pointed out one of the walls vaguely illuminated by the lantern's light.

......There was...

...Mere moments ago, they hadn't held my interest...

They were just boring-looking tools lined up on the shelves.

"..................Ugh..."

All those uninteresting tools that I didn't understand how to use...

They all suddenly took on a new meaning...... and I couldn't help but let out a groan...

At first they had looked like carpentry tools, like chisels or planes.

...However...

when I thought back...

I'd seen pictures of these sorts of tools before.

...Yeah, they... They came up in a Japanese history textbook.

Yes...... on the page introducing the Kaitai Shinsho, or the New Text on Anatomy.

"These sorts of things...

They're printed realistically in the literature of Germany, capital of the medical world."

These... aren't carpentry tools.

...These strangely-shaped tools... They're for dissection.

Everyone knows that in the Edo period, they would dissect the corpses of those who had been put to death in order to gain knowledge about Western medical techniques.

Illustrations of the dissection tools they used at the time came up in textbook supplements.

......The things hung up on this wall... all looked exactly the same as those.

"If you want a scarier way of looking at it, think of them as cooking utensils.

...Heehee."

Takano-san, holding the lantern, the only light source in the room, led us along the wall.

...She had the only light, so I had to walk after her whether I liked it or not.

"...Look."

Takano-san illuminated a coiled chain which left a bigger impression than the other things we saw.

The chain in itself was nothing unusual...... but further along it were metal fetters that were like hinges, clearly meant for binding people.

"Ke... Kei-chan,

......Look at that."

Shion tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to... ...a restraining table... that was clearly shaped like a person.

My spine froze...... My blood felt like it was turning into sherbet as it crawled up my back.

On each of the joints, there were things like chains and iron balls attached...

It was like the table was searching for its next sacrifice, ready to spread their arms wide and close them in...

"It's probably... a chopping block.

I think you'd strap the sacrifice down to prep them for eating."

The words "chopping block" sent a jolt through my body......

When I looked more closely...... there were many dark slices carved into it, as through from a knife or a saw...

They were the most clear-cut signs of usage you could ask for.

...It proved these tools weren't just for show—they were used for their original purpose.

If someone was strapped tightly onto this table... they probably wouldn't be able to move even a muscle.

...Their guts would be defenseless...... you'd take one of those eerie cooking knives lined up over there... stab them with it...

...and then you'd slice open their belly and dissect them......?

"......I'd heard the stories......

............But this is incredible........."

Before coming in here, Shion had mentioned she had a good guess of what was inside... but it seems to have exceeded her imagination.

"There's still more.

...How about it?

More fascinating than a wax museum, isn't it?"

Takano-san had this happy expression like she was visiting a toy store for the first time.

...I don't get it.

This Miyo Takano person has nerves of steel.

Are these... these bizarre, grotesque objects... that fascinating to her?

I, for one, was not enjoying myself.

...I'll be frank.

This was all too weird for me.

Still... there was something even more horrifying than all this.

That would be... none other than Takano-san herself.

Takano-san, holding the lantern giving off such a thin beam of light... If she suddenly turned it off...

...Then I would... What would I do when, the next moment, everything went totally dark......?

That's why I was scared.

......Takano-san had the only light... and anyway, I was scared.

...At some point, Shion had started holding onto my shirt sleeve.

It was a little annoying to walk like that, but... I didn't shake her off.

...That minor sensation allowed me to feel the presence of an ally, here and now......

Before we had even walked halfway through the storehouse... the air I felt on my skin changed completely.

These cruel tools lined up, all crammed together in this place...

Some were horrible ones made to take away sacrifices' freedom, and...

Some were tools made to efficiently disassemble and prepare the bodies for consumption.

...Those were just the things I understood.

There were plenty of other strange-looking objects that I couldn't even guess the purpose of.

...Now that I was here, I didn't have the slightest desire to hear the details... about what sort of terrifying reasons they were meant to be used for...

...At the very least, they were all completely different from the sort of clean, simple killing function of a katana.

Tools to kill people were, obviously, constructed in such a way that they could kill people.

If that was the goal, then the person you used them on would, obviously, end up dead.

The kinds of tools here, however, were different.

...The tools that were here...

were for cutting people...

for crushing them...

for boiling them and cooking them...

and for grinding them.

...They were tools of torture.

...They weren't made to kill people.

People dying was just an incidental result.

...Actually, they might not even kill them.

...If the sacrifices could die during such a horrifying ritual process, that would be nice, but...

...They don't even die in the end.

...They remain in a state of hellish pain... perhaps they were only being allowed to live...

Only now, in this moment, did I fully realize... just how terrifying and fearsome... that difference was.

"People, you see...

Most of these wouldn't kill them, if used properly."

Takano-san, as if reading my mind, displayed a shocking smile...

"Burning at the stake, the famous method of execution for witches, will kill the person immediately.

When the body suffers extreme burns on the skin all over, the decomposition of the skin's chemical makeup produces poison-like symptoms and causes an immense shock to the victim.

...Though I suppose it's still very cruel—compared to the guillotine, you have to wait far longer for that to happen."

......She described such horrors in a strangely medical way.

...Shion immediately answered the question I had.

"Takano-san is a nurse."

...There's a saying that nothing can scare a doctor...... I guess it's true.

"Oh, and also.

There was a method of execution in ancient Rome where they would grill the person.

Just like a barbecue.

They would cover the person in wire netting and slowly cook them over a charcoal fire."

To think the memories of when I went to a day camp with my family... would come rushing back now, of all times, so vividly...

"...That's what it was like.

Apparently they wouldn't die too easily for some reason.

According to one source, even if they roasted one side of a person to a crisp for an entire night, they would still be conscious and able to speak fluently."

...That's insane... You'd grill someone the whole day... and they'd still be conscious......

It's said that ancient Rome, famous for their executions, thought of plenty of ways to execute someone while having the victim stay alive as long as possible...

"Among them...

there was one method where they would open the gut, pull out the intestines like sausages, pull them up with a winch, and put them on public display."

Shion was behind me, clinging to me.

...Not just because she was scared.

...She was protecting her stomach...

"You would think someone with their intestines pulled out would die instantly, right?

Actually...

...As long as you do it tenderly and thoroughly...

It's apparently possible to pull them all out while the person is still conscious."

I felt a sick feeling in my stomach...

It was like my organs were coiling up... just from Takano-san's stare...

"Though pulling them out with a winch was a rather... exaggerated method.

In a more barbaric way, they might slice open the gut, then cut the intestines out and throw them everywhere...

It's quite imaginable that they did dreadful things like that too, isn't it?

However, those being put to death are conscious.

...It must be far more terrifying than painful..."

She spoke with pleasure, as if she had come here on a sightseeing trip.

...I heard Shion gulping multiple times near my ears......

"Perhaps Hinamizawa—or, rather, Onigafuchi Village—did something like that for the Watanagashi Festival.

......Listen.

If you try hard...... can't you hear it?"

I wanted nothing more than to not hear anything at all...

So why? Why only at times like these do I begin to hear things I shouldn't be able to...

Takano-san, having realized she'd scared Shion and I enough at this point, smiled soothingly.

...Then, she turned on her heel, raised the lantern, and began to walk again.

...If Takano-san left us here, we'd get even further away from the light...

Shion and I... no matter how scared we were, we were forced to follow Takano-san along on her field trip through the ritual storehouse......

"I suppose we've seen a bit of everything.

See?

This place is interesting, isn't it?"

she says, raising the lantern high in the center of the storehouse.

The dim lighting didn't change... but for some reason, it felt like I was able to see all of those horrible tools at once...

"Ke...... Kei-chan,

......look up......"

Shion stammered while grabbing the nape of my neck.

"Uh..............."

I couldn't tell because it was so dark, but... there were a lot more tools hanging from the ceiling as well.

They all looked like they were made of iron bars... but then I figured it out.

Cages.

For cages... they were very small.

Cramped cages just for one, like a casket.

...If you got locked up in there...

No, you wouldn't get locked up inside it.

It was another tool meant for restraining people... where the iron bars would squeeze you tightly...

All the... so many, big and large... Things of all shapes... were hanging down...

...Takano-san's mention of execution by grilling crosses my mind...

We weren't just surrounded on all sides... by these terrifying instruments.

Things crowding the ceiling... were even hanging over our heads...

"There are many of these sorts of bird cages among European torture devices.

I'm surprised to see them in Japan as well."

"Ke...... Kei-chan,

......Is there... something in there?!

A person?

A mummy?!"

"Eh?! Wh-Where...?!"

Shion desperately pointed to one of the many human-sized bird cages hanging from the ceiling, but I couldn't tell which one she meant.

...Being that dark, there wasn't any way you could tell if something was there in the first place.

"...I don't see anything.

You sure you're not seeing things?"

"..............."

Shion didn't seem convinced... but without a means to confirm for ourselves, we couldn't do much but wonder.

"Maebara-kun, after seeing this, have you come to believe in all of it?

The countless terrible rituals passed down in Hinamizawa?"

It's got nothing to do with believing in them.

......Now that I've been shown the real thing like this, there's no possible way to deny it.

......Even the nations of Europe, with all their beautiful landscapes and legends, were like a maelstrom during the terrible witch hunts in the Dark Ages.

It's well known that the era gave birth to countless gruesome forms of torture and execution.

Japan was the same way.

Didn't it have its own era of hellscape-like torturous feasts because of religious suppression and things of that nature?

...Hinamizawa itself had such a period.

...It had that much history behind it.

Even in Europe, land of the witch hunts—that was all far in the past, no more than a series of historical events, and in this age, nothing that abnormal would ever happen.

That must apply to Hinamizawa as well...

"...Just as Europe had its Dark Age,

...Hinamizawa had one too.

...That's how this should be taken.

...Even if these things all really happened in Hinamizawa,

...they're all long past.

...They don't have anything to do with the people living in Hinamizawa right now."

"Maebara-kun, you really do like this village..."

It didn't sound like she was making fun of me.

Takano-san gave me a light smile.

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

...You are, right?"

Shion suggested something...

that made my heart leap into my throat.

...Are you telling me... that all these horrible things... are still going on even today?!

"...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."

Shion flashed a devilish smile, as if reveling in the immorality of it.

"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?

......It is tonight, you know.

The night of Oyashiro-sama's curse."

Takano-san said, bringing her face right up close to ours.

...As if to say that if she had the choice, she'd rather suffer the curse.

...That was what she seemed to be implying.

Takano-san took a fairly worn notebook out of her paper bag, then began to flip through its pages...

There were all sorts of references and newspaper clippings attached to them, and it had all manner of things written inside.

The letters were very small and bunched together, so I couldn't tell at a glance what it was about.

"What I'd really like to do is search through the national library for newspapers from the era, but...

...Here it is."

......A photocopy of a page from some book was slid into the notebook, and it, too, was written in small, tight lettering.

Like the other pages, I couldn't tell what it was about just by glancing at it.

"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."

An old newspaper clipping attached to the page spoke of something that was no mere rumor or fairy tale.

"We don't have most police documents from the time anymore, so it's all based on oral traditions and memories.

......See? It's not very clear, but it looks like a cut-out of a newspaper from the Meiji era."

"...Never before has there been a corpse treated with such cruelty and inhumanity / Could it be the work of a demon...?"

Being a copy of a copy, it was very hard to make out, but it was more than enough to make me feel strangely tense.

Near the end of the Meiji era.

In old Onigafuchi Village, a mangled corpse was discovered.

The identity of the corpse was unknown.

...It wasn't even in a state where it could be identified in the first place.

It was missing a head, and each limb was separated from the body.

Skin had been peeled off the entire body, and there were markings that implied terrible torture in every place imaginable.

Not only that, but the belly had been cut open by a sharp knife, with the entrails completely dragged out.

The police immediately began an investigation, but since they couldn't even determine the identity of the victim—much less the criminal—finding answers was extremely difficult...

"Do you understand what it must have been like?"

I couldn't imagine such a strange sight... even if I tried.

This was the first time I was ever thankful for my lack of imagination...

"The victim was skinned while still alive, underwent all kinds of torture, and was killed brutally...

...The author here also thinks that even after death, the remains were divided and dissected even further—the epitome of inhumanity.

......I'm of the opinion that the entire 'process'

was performed while the person was still alive, though.

What do you think, Maebara-kun?"

...She spoke in a way intended to make me imagine even more vicious things...

As my brain was already far over capacity, however, there was no way I could imagine anything more brutal.

Then when I broke my gaze from Takano-san's... those strangely-shaped weird tools were... all around us.

I wonder if you could faithfully reproduce the mutilated corpse discovered at the end of the Meiji era... with the tools found in this place...

I want to deny it.

...I don't want to admit that something so terrible could have happened at all.

...Even so, they were so strange, so terrifying, these tools... and as if they had seen through my attempt to escape from them, they did nothing but ridicule me silently...

"So...... that creepy incident.

...What was it, in the end?"

"The author says that... regarding Onigafuchi Village's dreadful customs, they've survived into recent post-Meiji days...

and that perhaps they lasted until around the beginning of the Showa period."

This corpse, at a glance, appeared to have been brutally killed after a period of torture...

In actuality, however... it was the pitiful sacrificial remains of the man-eaters' terrifying feast...

......The corpse was just leftovers...

It was so fantastic, so strange, that it didn't feel real.

...Was this an extension of the legends, too...?

...It happened in the Meiji era, though, which is just too recent to be called a 'legend'...

Also...... there's a newspaper clipping right here suggesting it......

"O-Okay, but... even if it really happened... it was a long time ago, right?

I mean, the Meiji era ended a hundred years ago..."

"That's all.

...Only a hundred years ago.

Besides.

It kept happening even after the beginning of the Showa period.

...Like with the uproar around the post-war

canned flesh incident,

......Oh, I apologize.

That story was taboo, wasn't it...?"

Takano-san immediately stopped talking as if worried about Shion.

...Shion briefly looked somewhat angry, but that expression soon disappeared.

"......Huh?

Takano-san, what did you just say?

Canned flesh...?"

Just then, there was a huge CREAAAAAKING noise!!!

Everyone whipped around to look!!

...It was Tomitake-san, who had opened the door slightly.

"Ah-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 held her stomach and had to muffle her laughter, as if she wanted to make a comment about his masculinity.

"In any case.

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

The festival will be over within minutes."

"Oh, that's no good.

Maebara-kun is just such a good listener that I couldn't help telling stories."

...I'd really rather you not mention me in a place like this.

"Jirou-san, could you wait out front?

I want to take a few pictures.

There are actually a lot of tools I'd like to bring home, but we obviously can't do that."

Takano-san took a camera out of her paper bag and began to snap photographs.

......She looked like she was having fun, like she was on a scavenger hunt.

"Hm?

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 did feel a bit of hesitation at leaving Takano-san by herself in this darkness...

When I thought about it, though, I realized that whatever kinds of evil spirits and ghosts lurked in the darkness, none of them could hold a candle to how scary she was.

Even if a phantasm were to appear, she'd be overjoyed and flash her camera at it.

It seemed like Shion shared my somewhat-rude mental images.

We exchanged glances and smiled painfully.

We left Takano-san there, bathed in her strobe of camera flashes, and decided to go leave the ritual storehouse.

Everyone at the festival seemed to have gone to the stream, so their voices were very distant.

The voices of the bugs, on the other hand, were clear... lending an empty feeling of isolation to the place.

"How was it?

Interesting?"

Tomitake-san gave us a somewhat mischievous grin.

He should have been able to tell by looking at how pale our faces were.

"...I should have kept watch outside with you, Tomitake-san."

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

Tomitake-san laughed so delightfully that it wiped away our dark feelings.

"How did you fare, Shion-chan?

Were you scared?"

"...I was prepared for it, so I wasn't too afraid, but...

seeing the real thing was... powerful."

Shion spoke like she wasn't scared at all.

...She really had been quite afraid, but seeing as how I was in way worse a state than her, I didn't have much room to talk.

As Tomitake-san grinned candidly, my mind, exhausted and locked up by nervousness began to calm itself...

"Was Takano-san an adult about this little expedition?

You know how she seems like a child sometimes.

I was worried she'd be way too excited."

Both Shion and I laughed, and left that as our answer.

"Hopefully she was only looking at things.

I'm worried she'll sneak something out of there, or mess with a ritual implement too much and break it or something."

...Right, that's quite possible.

...She is alone in there right now.

She might pilfer something small and easily concealed, hiding it in her pocket.

"Ahahahaha, yeah.

I can see that."

Shion said what I was thinking.

"You're sure she didn't break anything?

I could clearly hear some noises like someone jumping up and down.

I was getting pretty nervous..."

"I'm sorry.

I ran out of film.

Jirou-san, if you have any more, could I use some?"

Takano-san suddenly appeared while we were talking about her, taking everyone by surprise.

Tomitake-san smoothly grinned and responded as if nothing had happened.

...He's pretty mature.

"Ah, ah-ha-ha-ha!

I'm all out of spare film.

Sorry about that..."

"...Geez.

You won't win any Pulitzer Prizes by not stocking enough film for any occasion, you know.

...I suppose that's it, then..."

Tomitake-san scratched his head apologetically.

Without film, we're done here.

...Takano-san seemed to have given up because of that, too.

We checked carefully to make sure we hadn't left anything inside, then closed the door and turned to the heavy padlock we'd left beside it.

"Takano-san... You didn't sneak anything out, right...?"

"How rude.

I'm trying not to be that childish."

Ker-clack.

Tomitake set the padlock back to the way it was before.

...From a cursory glance, it didn't look like thieves had snuck in at all.

"Okay.

Let's get over to the stream ourselves.

If we don't at least set some cotton afloat, there won't be any point in coming to the festival!"

Tomitake-san spoke brightly, urging us all on.

...Setting cotton afloat down the stream...

...I shake my head a few times, driving away my dismal thoughts as to the double meaning.

Takano-san, looking a little let down, kept turning back to glance at the ritual storehouse.

"Let's just leave it at that, all right?

You saw enough to sate your curiosity, didn't you?"

"Oh, not at all!

Everything I found only renewed my interests.

All those stories and legends suddenly hold water.

After today, I'm going to have to change the way I look at all this!"

Wow... She's truly indomitable.

Her curiosity really is something else—still interested in all this, through and through...

We descended the stone stairs and all the people crowding the stream came into view.

Near the bottom of the stairs, we could clearly see people receiving cotton that had been cut out for them, then wishing upon the cotton and setting it afloat down the stream.

...The festival was already over.

"Damn.

I missed my chance to photograph the best part of Watanagashi."

"Oh, but it's not too late.

I'm going to go and set some afloat.

Perhaps you could take pictures of me?"

Takano-san, with an impish expression, brought her head to Tomitake-san's shoulder.

Despite his age, he looked embarrassed...

I felt an honest respect for Tomitake-san, man to man, for dating such a handful of a woman...

"Good bye, then.

Maebara-kun.

Shion-chan."

"We're going down to the stream.

Would you like to come with us?"

"No, no.

I couldn't get in your way.

Please, take your time~"

Shion waved her hand to them with an expression just as impish as Takano-san's.

...Tomitake-san, on his part, seemed to want us to come... but whatever...

Shion gave a big stretch and sat down on the stone steps.

"Ehehe...

I'm pretty worn out."

"...Same here.

......I'm exhausted too."

"Kei-chan, this is your first Watanagashi, isn't it?

You go on. Don't mind me.

I'm tired, so I'd like to stay away from the crowd."

Yeah, if we were to go now, we'd barely slip into the end of the cotton-drifting ceremony.

"My sister and your other friends might be looking for you, too.

Go on."

"Oh... yeah, right.

They've been by themselves ever since we got separated.

I'd feel bad if they were looking for me..."

Then, Shion suddenly got a playful look on her face, then put her index finger to her lips as if telling me to keep this a secret.

"My sister is the type that gets really jealous.

If she knew I was hogging you this whole time, she'd never let me hear the end of it, so keep tonight a secret, okay?"

...Keep tonight a secret...

......Don't say things that are so embarrassing!

"Not only because of that, either.

...Considering what we were doing tonight, we really need to keep it secret.

...Oyashiro-sama's curse might happen tonight... and we four would be the prime candidates."

The loosening threads of tension became taut again.

Shion, however, burst out laughing.

"All right, I'm going to get out of here before I run into my sister.

I really am tired, so I don't have the endurance to put up with her anyway."

"I can't tell if you get along with her or not."

"We... get along."

Though as she said that, her vague expression explained that there are a lot of oddities in a relationship between twins.

"I'm an only child, so I don't really get it.

Make sure you get along with her, okay?"

"Right. Thank you kindly for your meddling.

...Okay, I'm gonna go.

You should hurry up if you want to make it, Kei-chan.

Watanagashi really is about to end."

Shion stood up and brushed the dust off her backside.

After watching her do so, I returned my eyes to the final ceremony of the Watanagashi Festival below me.

"Seriously, though...

...What was that sound, anyway?

It was kind of unpleasant and creepy."

"Huh?

What sound?"

"..................The sound.

You know, the banging noise.

...It was really loud, wasn't it?"

I was giving her a blank expression, so Shion stared hard at me.

I stared hard at her, too.

"Sorry, Shion.

......Could you give me the short version?

What was making noise?"

"......Wait, Kei-chan...

...It didn't bother you?"

When all's said and done,

it was like we were speaking two different languages.

"Shion.

...Explain it to me, without jokes, from the beginning, will you?

What's this about a noise?"

"...Kei-chan, you quit joking around too.

......Really, honestly... it didn't bother you?"

Neither of us was giving any ground,

and both of us were staring at the other in disbelief.

We were answering questions with more questions, with no sign of an actual conversation in sight.

Baffled, I held in the urge to shout at her... and asked politely one more time.

"...I'm going to ask one more time, okay?

I'll ask the questions."

Shion nodded silently.

"...Okay, here goes.

...You said there was a sound. What are you talking about?"

"The banging sound.

It was like a kid was jumping up and down on floorboards, somewhere far away.

...It really didn't bother you...?"

"...There was nothing to be bothered by.

...When did you hear this?

I never heard anything."

"Wait, Kei-chan... are you... are you serious?"

Shion, as if she didn't understand my plain and simple answer, pressed me further, her expression serious.

......I have no clue what she's talking about, but if it has Shion acting so like this... Whatever it was, it gave me the creeps, and sent a chill down my spine.

"It was while we were looking around the inside of the ritual storehouse with Takano-san.

...About the time she started her stories, I think it was?

Little by little.

Louder and louder.

Off and on..."

She heard a banging sound, like a child jumping on distant floorboards...?

"That can't be true.

Don't start trying to scare me after all that!"

I didn't hear anything at all.

...In fact, it was so utterly silent in there that my own heartbeat was almost deafening.

"Please don't try to scare me either, Kei-chan.

...It was like something was making noise in time with Takano-san's scary stories, and... I was totally creeped out the whole time."

......The chill rose from my spine to the back of my head.

...My blood turned cold as it crawled up my body.

When it reached my head, my mind froze over...

"You and Takano-san weren't paying any attention to it at all, so... I pretended not to hear it either, but...

...You heard it, right?

It happened a bunch of times, and it was really loud."

...Shion's eyes were begging me to tell her I heard it.

...I had no doubt, however, that my own eyes suggested something entirely different—a 'you've gotta be kidding' look.

......In that storehouse, we were surrounded by brutal ritual tools that looked like they were from another planet, listening to terrifying old stories.

...The whole time, Shion had been hearing a sound that we couldn't hear, by herself.

...Should that make Shion, who heard it, tremble, or should it make me, who didn't hear it, tremble... I didn't know the answer to that at the time.

...For now, Shion seemed to have made that decision before I did.

"Ah...... ahahahahahaha."

"What are you laughing about..."

"I really got you, Kei-chan.

I was fibbing the whole time!"

".........Whaaatt?!?!"

Shion laughed, saying how easily scared I was, and clapped me on the back.

...Her smile seemed somehow artificial, and actually made me feel worse.

Then, after leaving me with two or three generic, diplomatic goodbye phrases, she left, almost like she was running away.

All I could do was look after her... my mouth agape.

...At the end of the day...

...I didn't have a clue what was going on.

Shion laughed it off and said she had been lying, but...

...she couldn't possibly have been lying.

Of course not.

And now that I think back... Tomitake-san said the same thing, didn't he?

"I could clearly hear some noises like someone jumping up and down.

I was getting pretty nervous..."

Tomitake-san, the most neutral party present at the time, had said he'd heard something.

......Then...... that noise...

...It was real...?

The banging sounds.

Sounds as though a child was jumping up and down on some kind of floorboards, far away.

Oyashiro-sama's curse... which happens every year, might happen again tonight.

The most plausible victim candidates were Takano-san, Tomitake-san, Shion... and me.

The bustling of the people sounded further away than I would have liked, and the sounds of the insects sounded too close for comfort.

...I'm near so much human warmth... and yet I can't ever go back there again.

......That was the ominous idea that sprouted in my mind.

Then, all of a sudden, I was pounced on from behind, causing my heart to lurch!!

"......Keiichi, we fooound you."

It was Rika-chan.

...When I turned round, Mion and Rena were there too.

"...We finally found you.

Now we just need to find Satoko."

"Everyone got split up this year.

We should make sure we have somewhere to meet up afterwards next year. Hau."

"You're right.

It's a festival, so we should all be together!"

I listened to Mion's happy declaration with a little bit of guilt.

"......Keiichi, did you root for me while I was dancing?"

"Ah, yeah!

I saw it all!

You did a great job, all the way through.

No mistakes, either."

".............................."

"...Yeah.

That's right, Rika-chan.

That didn't count as a mistake~"

I tensed up as I realized I'd made a mistake of my own...

Mion slapped a hand onto my shoulder a little roughly.

...A gross sweat broke out over my whole body.

"...Did you do it too, Kei-chan?

Did you get some cotton and send it down the stream?"

...You haven't yet, right?

is what I could feel her saying.

...Without the courage to tell any more lies... I lifelessly shook my head.

"Huh?

You haven't, Keiichi-kun?

You should go now or it'll be over!

It'll be over!"

"S-Sorry...

This is my first Watanagashi, so...

I don't really understand the rules and stuff..."

".........That's right.

I'm sorry."

Mion took my hand and we started walking down the stone steps.

"...Hey, Kei-chan."

"What...?"

"Did you see Shion?"

My heart skipped another beat.

...Maybe Mion could sense my surprise through my hand.

"N-No...... Oh, well...

...I sort of think I saw her......

You two look so alike, though... so it might have been you..."

"...You wouldn't have gotten that wrong.

We're wearing different clothes."

"Huh? ......Oh... ...that's right......"

Mion's momentary silence was like a deathgrip upon me...

"...I just can't do anything about that Shion!

Well, it's her we're talking about, so we can just leave her be."

Mion's expression returned to her former, usual smile, and we continued down the stone steps, her firmly pulling my hand along...