Chapter 84

2. The Slumbering God

As we continued on, houses and shops began to appear more frequently.

In front of a candy store with a tin roof, a bench had been placed, and posters for ice cream and beer remained stuck to the glass windows.

On both sides of the road were unmanned mandarin orange stands, a pump-style well, and scattered old tricycles.

Katagishi looked around and muttered.

"It's a common thing, but at first glance, it's just a peaceful countryside."

"There's no obvious anomaly. That round window hasn't appeared again either."

Akitsu silently stared at the hedges of the houses.

As we turned the corner of a plastered wall, an elderly woman who seemed to be a local appeared. She looked kind, with freshly picked kumquats gathered in the hem of her apron.

Katagishi tapped me on the shoulder.

"Miyaki, your turn."

"Again? A newbie just arrived, so you should get used to interviewing people too, Katagishi."

"Alright, Akitsu, go with her. Let your senior show you how it's done."

Katagishi pushed Akitsu forward and acted indifferent. Half exasperated, I spoke to the woman.

"Excuse me, I'm here from Tokyo to do an interview. Do you have a moment?"

The woman was wary for a moment, but when I mentioned the name of a famous newspaper, her face quickly softened.

"Oh my, thank you for coming all the way to such a remote place. What's the interview about?"

I made a deeply apologetic expression.

"Well, I'm still new, so I've been assigned to write articles focused on generating buzz... I hope it's not a bother."

"That's just how it is when you're young. My son's a scaffolder, and his boss used to make all kinds of unreasonable demands..."

"Thank you for your kindness."

I paused briefly before continuing.

"I heard that mysterious phenomena have occurred in this village for a long time. Like a round window where you can see the deceased appearing."

The woman nodded as if it were nothing unusual.

"People from outside might not believe it, but around here, everyone knows about it."

"Then, have you seen it too?"

"Oh my, don't call me 'miss.' Sorry, I haven't. But it's not something scary. It's like the god gives a little dream to those who are grieving the loss of someone close."

I pretended to take notes seriously.

"...I wonder what happens if you go through that window."

"Who knows? When I was a kid, I heard you could meet the deceased, but I don't have the courage."

After we thanked her and ended the conversation, the woman returned while polishing the kumquats.

Katagishi, who had been standing at a distance, came over and suddenly said to Akitsu,

"Miyaki-senpai's smooth talking was a good lesson, huh?"

I furrowed my brows and snapped, "How rude."

Akitsu remained silent as ever, but suddenly crouched down and dug into the soil with her finger.

"What are you doing, Akitsu?"

"Something's definitely off..."

Akitsu stood up and rubbed the soil she had picked up with her fingers, not caring about getting dirty.

"The soil here is dry and has a single-grain structure. It's not suitable for planting, yet there are too many hedges around."

At her abrupt statement, Katagishi and I were confused. As we stood there speechless, a low voice echoed.

"You think the window won't appear without a wall?"

Turning toward the voice, we saw a thin man standing there. He was still young, but the hollows under his eyes gave him an utterly exhausted look. As he approached us, he spat out his words.

"What a stupid idea. Whether it's a wall or a hedge, 'that thing' shows up regardless."

"Um, by 'that thing,' you mean...?"

"That round window you were just asking about."

The man bared his yellowed teeth, stained from cigarettes.

"You think that's a god? Don't make me laugh. Any sane person is wary of it. Enough to tear down walls and rebuild hedges."

I swallowed hard and looked him straight in the eye.

"Could we hear more details?"

The man, who introduced himself as Okichi, led us to the front of the candy store and sat down on the faded bench.

"Back in the day, I used to come here often with my grandpa."

Okichi said, almost like talking to himself. I stood diagonally beside him. When I touched the backrest of the bench, it was as cold as a corpse's skin.

"My grandpa was a war veteran. He rarely talked about those days though..."

Akitsu cut in.

"Was it the Second War? Or the Third?"

I never expected her to joke. Especially not now. Okichi looked puzzled, and Katagishi shook his head in disbelief.

"Between you and Miyaki, is that joke popular now or something?"

"Why are you bringing up my name?"

"You say it sometimes too, don't you?"

I had no memory of that whatsoever.

"Are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else?"

Akitsu made a face that looked both hurt and resigned.

Okichi stood up partially, irritated.

"If you're not interested, I'm leaving."

I hurried to smooth things over.

"I'm sorry, please continue."

He sighed and pulled out a cigarette. Words slipped out along with the smoke.

"Just before Grandpa died, that round window appeared. I saw it too. Through the window, I saw Japanese military uniforms and a tropical forest. Probably his war buddies."

"At that time, your grandfather..."

"He turned pale and grabbed me, running off. I knew instantly it was something bad."

Katagishi, who had been silent until then, spoke up.

"Was that the first time your grandfather saw the round window?"

"Not sure. At least he never talked about it before, but he was already wary of it even before seeing it."

"Any idea why? Maybe he heard bad stories from fellow veterans?"

"...No. I heard there used to be other veterans, but they all died before Grandpa. By the time I was born, he was the only one left."

Katagishi touched his dry lips and looked at Okichi.

"Okichi, the reason you're wary of the round window isn't just hearsay, is it?"

Okichi fell silent, as if caught off guard, then looked down.

"...There was a baby."

"Whose?"

"Mine and my wife's."

I was a bit surprised. I couldn't associate his somewhat decadent aura with a family.

"It was around the time the baby had just started to pull itself up. I was at work, and my wife was napping. She had left the bathtub filled and the lid open—something she never did. She must've been exhausted. When I got home, there was an ambulance in front of the house... but it was too late."

Okichi bit down on the filter of his now-short cigarette.

"My wife blamed herself. She stopped sleeping, stopped eating. I even thought we might end it all together. But half a month later, she smiled for the first time in ages and said she 'saw the window.'"

"Did she see your child beyond it?"

"Yeah. She saw the baby just before falling into the bathtub and drowning. She kept saying 'I have to go save them' over and over... I'm just tired now."

Okichi threw the cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it underfoot. As he was leaving, he looked back at us and said,

"I don't care if it's for an interview or whatever. Just figure out what that thing is before it destroys me and my wife."

Okichi's figure disappeared behind the fluttering banner in front of the store.

Katagishi muttered,

"It's like that god is testing humans."

"If that's true, then what does the Slumbering God want? It almost feels like it's offering a chance to start over."

Akitsu, who had been staring at the crushed cigarette butt, spoke.

"...If people can live happily while forgetting, that's enough. Anything that tries to dig up old memories isn't worth it."

She blinked and looked at me.

"Even if you forget, as long as you're happy."

Again, a dull pain throbbed deep in my chest.