Chapter 78
Chapter 78
The God of the Pine Room, Part 2
"Why..."
Uyuu pressed his trembling hand to his forehead.
A sensation soaked into the sole of his shoe, like water seeping in. When he looked down, a dark red liquid had spread. The ground had somehow turned into cracked tiles, reflecting rainbow-colored glass light.
That chapel where an overwhelming amount of blood had flowed.
"Kirima-san"
Feeling a hand grab his shoulder, Uyuu instinctively looked up. Rokuhara's pale face was there. The scene had returned to the dilapidated rest area on the edge of the village. Uyuu nodded, feigning composure.
"Sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment."
"I see."
Rokuhara's expression remained unreadable as always, but Uyuu saw a bead of cold sweat trail down his narrow chin.
"Rokuhara, did you see something too?"
"You did as well, Kirima-san?"
"Yeah... I saw the Territorial Divine Offenses we dealt with long ago."
"It was something similar for me."
Rokuhara said, lowering his gaze slightly.
"There's a village I once visited with Investigator Katagishi. In that village, there was an evil god that mimicked the voices of the dead."
"You heard it?"
"Yes, it's not a pleasant memory."
"Nothing involving an evil god ever is."
Uyuu lit a cigarette and took a drag. Ash carried by the wind fell onto the notebook. Rokuhara opened his mouth.
"Could it be the influence of the God of the Pine Room?"
"Most likely. It supposedly shows people the memories of what they fear most. That's its trait."
"Fear, huh..."
"What's wrong?"
"I don't really understand what fear is. I can tell when something is inconvenient for me, though."
"Are your brain nerves fried or something?"
Rokuhara gave a faint smile.
"Why are you smiling at that?"
"My younger brother once said something similar."
Uyuu exhaled smoke with exasperation.
"Not feeling fear isn't necessarily a good thing. In this job, it's a scale for measuring danger. You can't be a coward, but reverence for gods is necessary."
"Even if I don't run away in fear, I believe I understand the gravity of the situation."
"Then that's fine... Yeah. You're different from Ryoko-san, after all."
"Kirima-san?"
"It's nothing."
Uyuu glanced at Rokuhara. He still saw traces of Ryoko in him. But he was different. That's why Uyuu had chosen him for the special investigation division. Uyuu stubbed out his cigarette and stood up.
"Let's get back to the investigation."
"Right. There are still parts we need to confirm."
"Like the true nature of the god?"
"Something even more fundamental. Is the God of the Pine Room really a god that instills fear in humans?"
"What do you mean?"
Uyuu waited for him to elaborate, but Rokuhara said nothing more and turned on his heel.
Leaving the rest area behind, Rokuhara walked down a farm road with only sparse signs of human habitation. The grass along the roadside was withered, and piles of illegally dumped bicycles and tires were stacked in the corners. It looked like a deserted village.
Walking behind him, Uyuu quickened his pace.
"Rokuhara, at least give me a proper report on where you're heading."
"I thought Kirima-san already knew."
"What kind of logic is that?"
"Since it's the Pine Room, it likely originated from a house or inn with a tatami room. There's only one old house in this village, so if we head there, we'll find out."
"That's exactly what I'm telling you to report!"
Perhaps reacting to Uyuu's angry voice, a middle-aged man in work clothes peeked out from the roadside. He was holding the broken remains of a neon sign. The man eyed the two of them suspiciously.
"Haven't seen you around before."
Rokuhara replied expressionlessly.
"We came from Tokyo. We heard there's an old house around here."
"So what? You people came to dump garbage too?"
The man grew more wary and swung the scrap in his hand. Uyuu stepped forward.
"We're here to investigate. We heard that illegal contractors have been dumping waste in various places."
The man suddenly softened his expression.
"Oh, so you finally came! I've been telling the town office over and over to do something about it."
"It sounds like a serious issue."
"Of course it is. Why the hell do they have to dump it at the Pine House..."
"Pine House?"
Uyuu and Rokuhara exchanged glances. The man exhaled and spoke.
"This is an old story, something I heard from my grandparents. That ruin that's all torn up now used to be called the Pine House."
"What kind of people lived there?"
"They were like half-doctor, half-faith healer. Not scammers or anything. They'd travel to places where diseases were spreading, chant prayers, and also make proper medicine to sell cheaply."
Uyuu quietly gasped. There was overlap with his own lineage, once called the wandering shrine maidens. If they weren't scammers, then maybe they were different from him, he murmured internally.
"As thanks for curing the village's epidemic, the villagers decided to build them a fine house to live in."
"That's the Pine House?"
"Yeah. They even built a proper altar inside. After they settled, they mostly worked as doctors rather than faith healers."
"So why did it become a ruin?"
In response to Rokuhara's question, the man shook his head.
"After a while, another illness spread through the village. It was worse than the last one, and the faith healer family couldn't handle it. But the villagers begged them to help, so they kept praying without abandoning them, and in the end, they caught the disease themselves and died."
Uyuu lowered his eyes.
"...And after that?"
"A doctor from another village came and cured the disease. Once everyone could move again, the whole village held a grand memorial for the faith healer family. Even though no one lived there anymore, they kept the house."
"And it's still there today?"
"Yeah, the faith healer family is like our village's guardian god. After the disease subsided, some people tried to take advantage of the weakened village, but they all left quickly. I wish these contractors would be driven out too."
With that, the man tossed the scrap into the bed of a parked truck.
After watching the man leave, Rokuhara muttered.
"You heard that, right? The altar in the Pine House is probably the origin of the god."
"Yeah... Let's go."
From deep within the desolate farm road, a wind carrying the scent of dust blew through.