Chapter 49

2. The Feeding God

Seeing my pale face, Ryoko pulled me out of the laundromat.

I grabbed the shoe I had thrown and stepped outside with one foot still bare.

The sunlight was hot, but my body felt cold. I thought I felt something soft squish under the foot with the shoe, so I kicked it off immediately, but nothing came out.

I felt the suspicious stares of the people in the laundromat, but I sat down barefoot on the gravel path. Stones and broken twigs pricked the soles of my feet.

Ryoko placed a hand on my shoulder and gently peered at me.

"Did you see something?"

"Silkworms... they swarmed out of my shoe... and disappeared right away."

Ryoko looked troubled as she brought me the shoe I had tossed away.

"Can you wear it?"

I cautiously shoved my foot into the crushed heel of the sneaker. All I felt was the flat sole.

Ryoko didn't scold me or say anything as I put on the shoe. She just looked down at me gently. It reminded me of my mother seeing me off at the entrance.

"Uyuu, you really can 'see' them, huh?"

"All I see are these creepy things that don't even give me any clues. It's the worst."

"But they are clues. After all, you saw silkworms, right?"

Ryoko said quietly.

"The Cocoon Balls at the station, the hallucinations of silkworms—now we know the Territorial Divine Offenses in this land are related to sericulture. That's a major breakthrough."

"You're amazing, Associate Professor. I could never think like that."

"Work is about making up for each other's shortcomings. You just see them, Uyuu. I'll figure out how to use it. That's what an organization is, right?"

Ryoko's eyes behind her glasses gleamed again like blades. She didn't resemble my mom at all.

Ryoko and I were walking down a narrow village path.

"We need to meet the 'professor' the villagers mentioned. The meeting starts at four, so it should be soon."

I kicked a pebble with my shoe half off.

"You think it's a New Religion, right? Then it has nothing to do with the local god."

"I can't say for sure. After all, gods are created by belief. Even a sardine head can become sacred with enough faith."

Ryoko hurried ahead and kicked the pebble I had kicked. It flew into a bamboo grove and disappeared.

"Goal."

"Professor, you're like a kid."

Ryoko pumped her fist in triumph.

The surrounding houses were, as is common in the countryside, oddly large despite looking old and poor.

Most were three stories tall, but the strange part was that the first floor was low and flat, while the second and third floors were unusually long. It was like a two-story house had sprouted from a flattened single-story one.

"That's typical for silkworm farms."

Ryoko explained.

"The first floor is the living area, so the ceiling is low. The second and third floors are made taller to fit the silkworm racks. See those tall, narrow windows?"

Sure enough, the white walls had narrow windows, just wide enough for a human arm to fit through.

"Those are sweep-out windows. The window frames go down to the floor, so it's easy to throw out trash and keep the silkworm racks clean."

"So the house is built around silkworms, not people. It's like humans are slaves to bugs."

If the god here is a silkworm, that might be fitting, I added.

Ryoko brushed back her sweaty hair and laughed.

"Gods are considered higher beings than humans, but to me, gods are slaves to humans. They'll do anything just for a bit of faith—bread and water."

I kept my mouth shut. Ryoko could say that because she hadn't seen them.

None of the monsters I had seen ever looked human.

Even now, it was the same.

I tried not to look, but something kept peeking out between the big houses.

A massive, distorted oval mass like an egg.

I prayed not to get closer, but it was useless. There's no such thing as a kind god.

Ryoko kept walking, getting closer to the egg-shaped cocoon.

I was so distracted by the grotesque form that I didn't notice right away—the road had become paved, and the buildings around us looked a bit more modern. Maybe the local government had invested here.

At the same time, I saw something white and brittle, like threads, tangled along the roadside.

When I asked Ryoko, she looked puzzled. So it was just me seeing it again.

When I looked up, there was a prefab hut that looked sweltering in summer and freezing in winter.

A wooden sign read community center.

A crowd had gathered around. It was the same group from the laundromat.

Ryoko boldly walked toward the center of the crowd.

A graying woman with a son in a dinosaur T-shirt turned around.

"Oh, it's you from earlier. Are you okay?"

Despite her words of concern, the woman looked at me with curious eyes.

I had suddenly taken off my shoes, screamed, and run out. She probably thought I was crazy.

Ryoko bowed and said, "Thanks for your concern."

The woman quickly stepped up to Ryoko and whispered in her ear.

"Um, is that person with you...?"

I stayed silent, unsure of her meaning.

Ryoko nodded as if understanding and pointed to me.

"Yes. He's my nephew, but city life wore him down... Do you think there's hope for him?"

"If it's the professor, he'll be fine. Things will get better."

The woman, already feeling camaraderie, patted Ryoko on the shoulder.

After she returned to the crowd, Ryoko shrugged.

"Sorry. I made up a bunch of stuff."

"No big deal. Unlike Kirima, you make interviews easy. So, is that guy the professor?"

I pointed past the circle of villagers.

Amid the greasy heads, one man stood out with a clean face.

Wearing a black suit in midsummer and a center-parted hairstyle, he clearly wasn't a villager. In fact, his Noh-mask-like faint smile made him seem inhuman.

The man listened to the villagers with a pleasant smile, nodding exaggeratedly.

"Your wife had back pain, right? How is she doing?"

"She can even make deliveries now. It's all thanks to you, Professor."

"It's your own strength. 'Delusion' may sound harsh, but there is such a thing as willpower. Illness can be cured by spirit alone. I merely assist."

The man spread his arms like a priest. Ryoko's eyes sharpened again.

I stayed silent, but I could feel my heartbeat quickening.

Behind the man, I saw something trailing sticky threads. Further back, a white cocoon sat atop the dirty prefab roof of the community center.

What the hell is he doing here?

"Oh?"

The man looked our way. I thought he was staring at me, but his gaze quickly shifted to the side.

I turned too and saw an old man in an indigo-dyed shirt standing a bit away. It was the station attendant.

The villagers looked grim. One middle-aged man spoke up.

"You again, old man? If you're just here to cause trouble, go home."

"That's right. We're not bothering anyone."

The graying woman also raised her voice.

"Everyone, please calm down."

The man called professor calmed the villagers and turned to the old man.

"May I hear your story as well? I might be able to help."

The old man cleared his throat and spat out a glob of phlegm so big it looked like his guts came out. It splashed near my feet. Damn old man. Even the villagers looked at him with disgust.

The graying woman muttered.

"This is why people obsessed with tradition are hopeless... What has the god here ever done for us?"

The man smiled and took the woman's hand.

"I'm satisfied as long as you all believe in me."

Ryoko whispered to me.

"Uyuu, look closely. Something's about to start."

The man rummaged through his bag.

"There are plenty of people here, so why don't we begin?"

What he pulled out was a plastic washbasin and a surgical scalpel. The two items looked completely out of place in both the black leather bag and the rural community center.

"Yuu-kun, come here for a moment."

The graying woman called out to her son.

The chubby man obediently stepped forward and held out his short-sleeved arm.

"It only hurts at the beginning."

The doctor took the woman's son's arm and ran the scalpel across it.

Ryoko and I held our breath.

Blood trickled down like a snake, and the washbasin made a light sound. The dark red filled the bright yellow plastic.

"Since ancient times, bad blood has been the source of all illness. By doing this, the sickness leaves the body too."

The villagers listened without a hint of doubt. The man narrowed his eyes like threads as he held the chalice of blood.

It was a dizzying sight, but Ryoko tapped my shoulder and brought me back to my senses.

She had told me to watch closely.

I strained my eyes, then quickly turned my face away.

From the cocoon in the community center, countless white threads were connected to the man's back, who held the scalpel and the blood-filled washbasin.

The sticky threads were like larvae waiting to emerge.

What the hell is this thing?

Is the New Religion really creating a god?

As I stepped back, I bumped into the old man from earlier.

The old man stared at the man with raptor-like eyes.

"That's no good. The Feeding God is here."

The old man's raspy voice was as cold as ice under the blazing sun.