Chapter 64
Chapter 64
3. The God Who Is There
"What are you thinking? Stop it."
Kirima stopped me as I pressed forward.
Ryoko gave a wry smile.
"If anything, I wanted Uyuu-kun to try. He might be able to see the god."
"Then I'll go first. Uyuu goes after me. That's fine, right?"
Kirima stubbornly refused to back down.
We have no choice but to do it. Even if we knocked everyone out and ran now, we'd just get caught.
Ryoko stepped aside, opening the way to The God Who Is There.
Ueda glanced at her watch and quickly jotted something in her notebook. August 29th, 11:52 PM.
The decayed chapel was filled with stagnant air. No god, no monster, nothing could be seen.
Ryoko and the other two held their breath and watched. Kirima moved forward without hesitation and placed his hand on the sliding door.
"Kirima-san......"
I had already started walking without realizing it. Ueda shot me a wary glance.
Kirima opened the door. I quickened my pace.
Kirima stepped over the lintel and passed through the wooden frame before I could catch up.
I stood frozen. Kirima was just standing on the other side of the door, like he had simply entered and exited.
With a weary face, Kirima closed the door. Ryoko tilted her head.
"How was it?"
"......It was definitely a temple. A room with tatami mats,
separated by shoji. There was a window, but I couldn't get out."
"Did you see anything through the window?"
"Nothing... I lost sense of time, but I was in there for a long while."
Kirima wiped the sweat from his neck and sat on the bench. Though not even three seconds had passed, he looked as exhausted as if he'd pulled an all-nighter.
"Same as before. Uyuu-kun is next, I guess."
"Time for the psychic fraudster to show his true colors."
That was Umemura's voice. I briefly considered punching him again.
I stood in front of the door. The splintered wood had distorted grain with some brush-written characters.
I could read it as 'Kuniumi,' but I didn't know what it meant.
I flung the door open.
There was nothing inside, just a wall with peeling paint visible beyond.
I took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.
The feel of soil through the cracked wood resonated under my feet. I planted both feet on the floor beyond the door.
I looked around, but the scene hadn't changed at all.
I glared at Ryoko, who had been watching from nearby.
"There's nothing. I didn't see any temple."
"Seems like some people can't see it. We don't know the pattern."
"Is this really the most dangerous god?"
"Maybe the concerned god really is broken. The date changed, so let's call it a day."
Umemura sneered.
"So much for your psychic powers."
"This is an unknown god. The investigation won't progress easily."
Kirima looked up at Ueda, who answered coldly.
"Yeah, this isn't the time for this. The news—Is Tokyo safe?"
Ueda gave him a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about?"
"A country launched a missile, and the report said it was heading for Tokyo Bay."
"Never heard of that. When was this?"
"This morning!"
Everyone looked confused at Kirima's outburst. No one else understood, and only Kirima was panicking. Just like I had been this morning.
I remembered desperately talking to Kirima, who hadn't noticed Reizei had disappeared.
Did something happen that we didn't notice? Was it caused by The God Who Is There?
I staggered and grabbed the wooden frame. I realized I hadn't closed the door.
The moment my head passed under the lintel, the air changed.
***
The scent of igusa pierced my nostrils. My soles pressed into soft tatami.
A spacious Japanese room stretched out before me.
"What is this place......"
Pure light filtered through the shoji, casting lattice patterns on the tatami. It was silent. I tried shaking the shoji, but it didn't move.
Those who used The God Who Is There returned with memories of time spent inside the temple. So this is the god's domain? Nothing happened earlier—why now?
I held my racing chest.
If I spend a day here, maybe I'll return. Calm down, take a nap. Yeah, I've been working too hard for someone like me.
Then, a dark shadow fell over me, and something heavy appeared behind me.
I turned around slowly, filled with fear.
A massive figure draped in white cloth stood right behind me. It was so tall its head touched the temple ceiling.
Pitch black, like the shadow had mass. I felt like I'd be sucked into the darkness beneath the cloth.
The shadow slowly leaned its head toward me. Incomprehensible whispers echoed in a bizarre tone.
"What... I don't get it......"
The towering shadow held a stick-like object in one hand. It was long enough to pierce both walls, with glinting metal at one end. Like a halberd or spear.
"You've got to be kidding......"
The shadow swung its arm. A tremendous sound and gust of wind followed.
The massive shadow had swung its spear.
"Wasn't nothing supposed to happen?!"
I turned my back to the shadow and ran.
The tatami stretched endlessly. The same scenery flowed behind me, warping my sense of reality.
The shadow didn't chase me. I only heard the spear slicing air and destruction.
Amid the endless tatami and shoji, a round window floated into view.
I stopped and looked outside. Chaos swirled like every color of paint dumped into water.
I ran again.
Tatami, shoji, window. Nothing changed. Every sound altered the colors outside the window.
Suddenly, darkness fell before me. The shadow stood in my way. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the tatami.
"What the hell is this......"
The shadow spoke again in that strange language. What was I supposed to do?
"I just want to go home. Like nothing ever happened......"
The God Who Is There. The most dangerous, unknown domain offender.
The god raised its spear.
***
When I came to, I was in the chapel.
Kirima, Ryoko, and the other two looked at me with shocked expressions. My head was spinning.
The dilapidated chapel and wall of documents. It was the same space as when I was brought here.
"Uyuu?"
Kirima stood up and asked.
"I went to the temple... with tatami and shoji... inside..."
I started to say there was a shadow, but stopped myself.
No one had mentioned that shadow.
If they found out I saw it, they might drag me into more awful investigations. Better not tell them.
"Maybe it can only be used once per day."
Ryoko let out a soft breath and took my hand.
"Thank you, Uyuu-kun. This alone is a huge step forward."
Her voice was gentle. So gentle I wanted to cling to it. I shut my eyes tightly so I wouldn't be deceived.
"Anyway, now I can trust both of you. I'm thinking of officially inviting you to the countermeasure headquarters too, Uyuu-kun."
Ueda and Umemura looked displeased.
Ryoko moved away from me and placed her hand on Kirima's shoulder.
"Thank you too, Kirima-kun. For not using it until the end."
Ryoko slid her hand along her jacket. A handgun peeked out from the inner pocket, and I heard Ueda and Umemura gasp.
A rectangular confessional towered at the back of the chapel.
Even though there's no god to confess to, nor people who would apologize to one.
We were loaded into the car again.
This time, Ueda was behind the wheel, and Umemura was dozing off in the passenger seat.
"This area is called Kamikakushi."
As the car started, Ryoko spoke.
"They say people who fled here from various circumstances settled down and prayed to god to be hidden so they could live in peace."
"And now you're using that to murder people?"
At my provocation, Ryoko sadly shook her head.
"No one was killed. Everyone erased by the Unseen God ends up in a beautiful, peaceful place, like paradise."
"How do you know that?"
Kirima asked sharply.
"Someone with the same power as Uyuu-kun saw it before. That's why I decided to use it. If it were a god that cast people into hell, I wouldn't have."
Uyuu, who had been at the countermeasure headquarters, was supposed to be a distant relative of mine. He was also erased.
"My husband suffered mentally because of his job, and I couldn't either let him die or save him. He chose to undergo personal measures himself."
"Did Reizei want that?"
Ryoko took off her glasses and wiped them with the hem of her blouse.
"If sacrificing a few means saving many, then that's what we should do. We are violating the mysteries to pacify a dangerous god and protect humanity. If that's the case, then we must act in god's place."
I thought the god they were playing was far more merciless than any Territorial Divine Offenses.