Chapter 73
Chapter 73
The God Who Is Just That, Part 1 (Investigators: Miyaki Rei, Eri Junichi)
Miyaki took a deep breath of the wind tinged with the scent of the sea.
Under the clear winter sky, it was an endless ocean. And yet, for some reason, it felt dim and gloomy—perhaps because the spray scattered by the ship's screw blurred the surroundings. The boat, said to be a converted fishing vessel, tore through the sea with a deafening roar.
Or maybe it was because of the gloomy face of the supervisor sitting beside her.
"Esato-san, are you okay? Do you get seasick easily?"
"No, I just hate the sea."
"I see... You do give off an intellectual vibe, Esato-san!"
"No way, I don't even have a degree. I barely left my hometown until my late twenties."
Esato lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile. Despite the introverted expression that didn't suit physical activity, his skin was tanned and dark.
Miyaki gave a vague smile to smooth things over.
A joint case between upper management and local field agents had come in, and her partnership with Katagishi was temporarily dissolved. That was fine, but the problem was who she was paired with.
Eri Junichi.
He wasn't a government official, nor did he have any particular knowledge of folklore or the occult. His background was mostly unknown. According to Kirima, he had been summoned to the special investigation division for one reason only—his involvement with a certain god.
That god was also connected to Miyaki's father.
Esato solemnly shook his head and looked down at the waves.
"My hometown was a fishing village. A worthless place. That's why I hated it."
"That must've been hard..."
"I'm the idiot who accepted the job without even asking questions. Can't be helped. You probably think I lack initiative."
"N-no, not at all!"
"Doesn't matter. I don't have any chance or position to show initiative anyway."
Miyaki hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Esato-san, you're from the same hometown as my father, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. But I don't really know much about his disappearance..."
"What kind of person was my father?"
Esato paused before answering.
"He was a fool."
"I see..."
"Well, of course. He vanished, leaving behind a wife and daughter."
Miyaki gave a bitter smile.
"He was always like that. He'd dive headfirst into things he knew would end badly, and sure enough, he'd get hurt. He always took on the short end of the stick for someone else."
"Everyone says the same thing."
"What?"
"Kirima-san said something similar. From what I hear, my father was a really good person. I just can't imagine someone like that abandoning his wife and child..."
"That's why he was a fool."
Miyaki looked away from Esato, who was staring into the distance.
The boat was approaching the harbor.
The waves roared as the bow scraped against the sandy shore.
Esato got off the boat ahead of her, kicked away the sand in irritation, and reached out a hand to Miyaki.
"Thank you."
As she stepped off the swaying boat with his help, a hazy memory returned. She felt like a tanned, rough hand had once guided her like this before.
Esato quickly withdrew his hand and began walking toward the quiet village lined with old houses.
Miyaki took long strides to keep up so she wouldn't be left behind. She realized that Katagishi had always adjusted his pace to match hers.
"Esato-san, what kind of being is this god we're dealing with?"
"They say it's 'The God Who Is Just That.'"
"Meaning?"
"It's faster if you hear it directly."
Esato turned the corner where weathered wooden houses stood, faded by the sea breeze.
Nets tangled with buoys lay abandoned on the road, and a motorcycle leaned against the wall of a house.
It looked like a typical fishing village scene, except for one thing—a roughly carved stone statue by the roadside caught the eye.
"That is..."
Just as Miyaki murmured, an old man with a cigarette in his mouth came out from a house facing the road.
Wearing sandals, the old man looked at Miyaki and Esato with a friendly smile.
"What's with the suits? There's nothing that formal around here, you know."
Miyaki returned the smile and bowed her head.
"Hello. We're here from Tokyo for work. It's a small museum exhibit—we're researching local guardian gods and roadside deities from various regions."
"I see, I see. But ours isn't much of a god, really."
The old man looked around with a troubled expression. Miyaki pointed to the stone statue by the road.
"What about this one?"
"Ah, that one's more like a yokai than a god. It doesn't do anything bad, just occasionally wanders down into human settlements. Kind of like a zashiki-warashi."
"I see. Specifically, what does it do?"
"Really, it just walks a bit along the roadside where the statue is and then quickly hides away. That's all."
Miyaki quietly gasped at the words that echoed the god's name.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, thank you very much for your help!"
After watching the old man return to his house, Esato, who had remained silent, muttered.
"You're good with words."
"I'm kind of the one in charge of gathering information. You get used to it."
"Totally different from your father."
Esato looked toward the roadside with cloudy eyes and, like the old man earlier, put a cigarette in his mouth.
As she watched the smoke dissolve, Miyaki tilted her head.
"There does seem to be something mysterious in this village, but it doesn't seem dangerous enough for us to be sent here."
"Who knows. Harmless, does nothing, just that. That's what witnesses always end up saying."
"End up...?"
Miyaki furrowed her brow without thinking.
"Apparently, the first person to report the god here was a young guy who had just moved to the village. He happened to know someone in the special investigation division and called in a panic. There's a record of him saying he saw 'something unbelievable' in a state of shock."
"Something that terrifying?"
"Yeah. The guy who handled it immediately contacted his superior and called back. But then the witness said, 'Maybe I was mistaken.' The investigator got suspicious, called his boss over, and contacted him again. That time, the witness said, 'I definitely saw it. Just that. It's nothing scary.' His statement had changed."
"So his perception changed in a short time..."
Esato nodded at Miyaki's question.
"I don't know if it's harmless, but maybe it makes people think it is. There might be a power at work. I know of gods that affect human perception. That's why I had no choice but to come here."
Esato exhaled a long stream of smoke and pointed at Miyaki with the tip of his cigarette.
"There was a god like that in the village where your father and I were born. And this place is just a stone's throw from my hometown."
Miyaki's eyes widened. At that moment, a small shadow darted across the edge of her vision.