Chapter 60
Chapter 60
5. The God of the Calling Tide
Four fingers slid directly into my brain.
They traced the inside of my skull, then a sharp pain shot through me.
A piercing, metallic sting and the dull ache of rough fingertips stirring things up hit me simultaneously.
My breath caught in my throat, and I couldn't even scream. I was about to suffocate on my own breath.
Something was invading. All I could do was writhe.
Tears, spit, and snot blurred my vision.
If I saw what was beyond the white spray of waves, it would all be over.
Even though I knew that, the four fingers slowly descended from my brain into the depths of my eye sockets. The hard tips of the nails pried my eyelids open from the inside.
The same fingers that were inside my head—something with four legs was there.
"The tide... four tails... called and came..."
I heard a song. The moment I realized it was my own voice, something burst inside my head.
When I came to, the white haze cleared, and the dimness of the cave spread before me.
My throat burned like it was on fire, and bile spilled from my mouth with my breath. The stench of acid and the bitter taste. It was awful, but my senses were still intact.
The sensation of fingers in my head was already gone.
I wiped my mouth and looked around.
The villagers were all rolling on the ground clutching their heads just like I had moments ago.
Seawater dripped from the ceiling and snuffed out the torches.
"Kirima... Reizei..."
The two of them had collapsed in the tidal pool. When I crawled over and shook their shoulders, Kirima and Reizei woke up and vomited at the same time.
"What the hell was that just now..."
Kirima groaned, his voice trembling.
"The God of the Calling Tide, maybe?"
Reizei stood up, her white kimono soaked and dripping.
"What the hell did you do to us?"
When I turned around, Esato was bracing against the wall with one hand. His sinewy throat moved constantly like it belonged to another creature.
"We were supposed to make Ouzu and get out quick, but now everyone's seen it."
Something with four legs squirmed behind Esato.
"Don't look!"
Kirima shouted sharply. The headache hit again. I squeezed my eyes shut.
In the darkness, I felt a hot hand on my back.
Peeking through narrowed eyes, I saw Kirima grabbing both me and Reizei by the collars with his right hand, and Esato's arm with his left. Ridiculous strength.
"We're running!"
Dragged along, I bolted out of the cave.
The cold air and the crashing waves finally eased my nausea.
We stood on footing barely stable enough to keep both feet planted.
"What the hell is Ouzu, the god, and this village?!"
Esato hung his head, water dripping from his hair.
"You saw it too, didn't you? I don't know what it is. Just showing up makes everyone lose it. It's an incomprehensible god from ancient times."
Kirima muttered in a gloomy voice.
"I saw it once when I was a kid. I thought I'd forgotten, but I hadn't. I just couldn't understand it."
"It was when I was chasing after my younger brother."
Esato let out a bitter smile, overlapped by the sound of waves.
Reizei, shivering with her soaked kimono clinging to her, spoke.
"A god that makes you go mad just by seeing it... You can't ignore that, but normal people can't do anything. So you deliberately created someone who's not in a normal state, right?"
Esato nodded.
"What the hell does that mean?"
Reizei smiled with a twitch in her cheek. Maybe people laugh when they're truly terrified.
"You saw that sacred rope, right? They tie a person to it, throw them into the sea, pull them up just as they're about to drown, and repeat. When oxygen runs out, brain cells die. That's how Ouzu-sama was made."
I forced the words out of my parched throat.
"That's messed up..."
Kirima looked at Esato with a more horrible expression than any of us.
"You knew? You knew and still did that to them?"
"What else could I do? Someone has to keep watch on that god. What if it moves? It's not just the village—Japan would be finished."
Kirima looked like he was about to kill someone. I didn't want to see that serious guy with a face like that.
I clapped my hands hard to drown out the sound of the waves.
"You country bumpkins can brawl later. The issue is what we do now."
I raised my voice like the dumb thug I was. It helped that it was true.
"The God of the Calling Tide just needs Ouzu-sama to be satisfied, right? I'll go."
Kirima grabbed my shoulder.
"What are you thinking?! You know what Ouzu-sama is now. If you go too—"
"I'll be fine. I can see ghosts and monsters. I'm not normal, remember?"
Kirima was at a loss for words. That familiar, overly serious face.
Reizei murmured.
"Maybe Uyuu-san can do it."
Her voice was full of incomprehensible confidence. She really was a weird woman. I shook off Kirima's hand.
"I'll handle it. You guys figure out how to escape. If we wait for the boat, we'll be stuck here till morning."
Ignoring whatever Kirima was trying to say, I crossed the rocky shore and headed for the cave.
The sea breeze blowing through the cave carried the stench of stomach acid and vomit. The villagers were still writhing in the tidal pool.
I sat formally on the rock, as if to welcome the god.
I saw the four-legged figure swaying deep in the cave. The headache was lighter than before.
The four legs drew closer.
A faint light filled the cave. A group in white garments.
See? I can see ghosts.
The God of the Calling Tide needs Ouzu-sama. I can summon them.
A small figure was standing there.
It looked like a scrawny little kid. That bony back that looked like it would break if pushed stood in front of the God of the Calling Tide, shielding me.
Spring tide, neap tide.
I heard singing. I realized it was that child singing. The four legs stopped moving and quietly retreated.
The headache vanished. The little Ouzu-sama looked back at me.
A sunburned, dried-up little kid. Somehow, I thought he looked like me.
He looked behind me and smiled like he'd found his family or friends.
When I turned around, a loud motor echoed through the cave.
A blinding light shamelessly swept over the cave walls.
Through the rocky exit, I saw a massive fishing boat slicing through the waves.
"Get on!"
Leaning out from the boat was Esato. Kirima and Reizei were onboard behind him.
Ouzu-sama and the others had vanished.
I sprinted through the cave in one go.
When I jumped on, the boat rocked so hard it almost capsized.
"You idiot, trying to sink us?!"
Esato shouted from the helm. Before we could catch our breath, the boat took off.
"Uyuu, are you okay?!"
Clinging to the edge of the boat, about to be thrown off by the momentum, Kirima came over.
"Yeah."
"What the hell did you do?"
"I summoned Ouzu-sama. We don't need to make a new one if the old ones are still around. It's just a temporary fix, though. A little kid showed up for us."
Kirima gasped and said in a hoarse voice,
"Did he... say anything?"
"No. But he looked happy."
Kirima didn't answer and closed his eyes. I thought I saw Esato's shoulders tremble slightly at the helm.
The boat moved forward, and the rocky outcroppings like a shark's jaw faded into the distance.
Maybe it had switched to autopilot—Esato came over. Kirima lowered his chin.
"We made it."
"Don't joke. I can't go back to the village anymore."
I sat down on the deck.
"Kind of surprising. I thought you were all in on the village customs."
"I'd just given up. But giving up doesn't mean I was okay with it."
Esato turned her back to us again and returned to the helm.
Reizei was sitting with Kirima's suit jacket draped over her shoulders.
"Never thought I'd end up going back in a kimono. I look like I just escaped a haunted house."
"That's pretty much what happened."
"What kind of haunted houses have you been to?"
Reizei laughed bravely. Kirima and I sat in a circle.
"Hey, why did you think I'd be okay?"
"Didn't Esato say you were an ancient god?"
Reizei looked into the distance.
"In folklore, there's a concept called the 'Pre-Existing One.' A primordial god that watches over the village and harshly punishes those who deviate. Things like group punishment or ostracism supposedly come from that."
"So?"
"When something bad happened, the villagers all reacted the same way, right? Like they were showing it to a god."
The villagers' chorus echoed in my head.
Kirima furrowed his brow.
"So you figured the God of the Calling Tide was a god that imposed collective punishment on the village?"
"Yes, because even if the truth is different, belief creates gods."
I couldn't follow the conversation. Maybe noticing my frustration, Reizei smiled.
"I thought gods couldn't make someone a sacrifice if they couldn't assign them responsibility."
"You mean outsiders? But after Ueto died, your name showed up on the pillar."
"That's the thing. Uyuu-san, is that your real name?"
"Yeah, I sold my family register though."
"Maybe that's why. No, that's not it..."
Reizei thought for a moment, then spoke.
"The surname Uyuu doesn't actually exist."
I repeated it like an idiot.
"Doesn't exist? What do you mean?"
"I don't know. But that surname doesn't exist."
I didn't understand. Beside me, Kirima silently looked down.
The clouds drifted away with the night, and the sky began to lighten. Through the morning mist, the harbor drew near, and the boat came to a stop.
Kirima asked Esato,
"What are you going to do now?"
"Who knows. I'll crash with a fisherman I know and live day to day for a while. Better than staying in the village."
Esato got off at the dock without looking back. In her retreating figure, I saw the back of Ouzu-sama.
We got off the boat too.
From the boat next to ours, covered in a green tarp, came the grainy voice of a radio, talking about the Cold War and hydrogen bombs.
Reizei wrung out the hem of her kimono.
"No way I'm going home like this. Let's contact HQ and have them come pick us up."
My head was so full I couldn't think of anything. Completely empty.
I remembered that I'd thrown up everything in my stomach earlier.
"I'm starving."
"Can't believe you're so carefree."
Kirima said with an exasperated voice.
Under the pale layers of the sky, there was a taiyaki stall.
"Think we can afford that? I left my wallet in the village, so treat me."
"Mooching again?!"
Kirima pressed his fingers to his temple.
"If the owner shows up. Let's get some souvenirs too. Rei only eats red bean paste. Hope they have it."
"You're pretty carefree yourself."
I knew it was forced cheer, but I deliberately punched Kirima in the back. He lifted the corner of his mouth.
The sound of waves echoed gently. The child's singing voice was gone.