Chapter 96

2. The Hakuchō God

The village we were ordered to investigate seemed, as is often the case, completely unremarkable at first glance.

Rice fields stretched out on either side of a wide asphalt-paved road. A road mirror distorted the view of the power lines and the block walls of houses. My tired face, looking up as I paused, was also distorted.

A sparrow was pecking at a persimmon impaled on a pine tree. Akitsu murmured with gentle eyes.

"It's so peaceful."

"Yes, it's the kind of village you'd want to spend your retirement in."

"Miyaki, are you planning to retire?"

"That's still a long way off!"

Akitsu gave a small smile.

We saw a truck rattling toward us from the opposite direction, so we stepped aside to the shoulder of the road.

The battered vehicle stopped in front of us, and an old man with a towel wrapped around his head peeked out.

"Oh, you're not from the village, are you?"

His tone wasn't hostile at all—it was cheerful. I bowed my head.

"We're here from Tokyo to conduct a land survey."

"Tokyo sure has a lot of beautiful women."

Akitsu silently averted her gaze. The old man pulled out a plastic bag from beneath the steering wheel and handed it to us.

"These are persimmons from our place. Try one."

"Are you sure? Thank you so much!"

"There's nothing much here, but the rice and fruit are delicious. Good luck."

With a broad smile, the old man started the truck again.

"He was really nice for someone we just met."

Even when I spoke, Akitsu didn't respond. Her gaze was fixed on the truck's cargo bed.

"What's wrong?"

Akitsu pointed. I couldn't believe my eyes.

The green tarp covering the cargo bed was slightly bulging. From its edge, dry white hair peeked out.

As we stood stunned, the truck stopped again, and the old man from earlier got out. Akitsu and I instinctively braced ourselves.

Still smiling, he walked over and lifted the tarp himself.

An old woman wearing a reddish-brown apron was crouched down, holding her stomach.

"You were worried, huh? Sorry, sorry, that's my wife. She collapsed while working in the fields, said her back hurt."

"I-I see..."

I replied with a strained smile. The old woman looked up and gave us an awkward nod.

"I wanted her to sit next to me, but she said she wanted to lie down. I need to get her home and let her rest."

The old man pulled the tarp back over his wife again.

Even after the truck drove off, we remained standing there. Akitsu spoke in a low voice.

"Let's go meet the client for this investigation."

I nodded with a slight tilt of my chin.

A utility pole wrapped in yellow and black covering, a rusty sign for a dentist, and a yard with a bicycle equipped with training wheels.

Beyond that peaceful scene was the house we were looking for.

Around the low wall were PET bottles to ward off cats and potted red flowers.

A frosted glass door opened, and a refined middle-aged couple beckoned us in.

We passed through a hallway scented with camphor and ducked under a string curtain to find a living room with a low table. It was an old-fashioned room where time seemed to have stopped decades ago—only the TV looked brand new.

After offering us green tea, the couple introduced themselves as Mikami.

"I don't know how to begin this..."

"We've handled all kinds of cases. Please, tell us anything, no matter how unbelievable. We're here to help."

Silence filled the room. Behind the couple, the CRT television reflected their backs, a blue vase on a shelf, and a feng shui fortune calendar.

The shelf also held a wrist model showing massage pressure points and a wicker basket filled with plasters and bandages.

After a brief hesitation, I spoke up.

"Forgive me, but is there anyone in your household who's unwell?"

Mikami and Akitsu looked at me. The couple finally voiced the words they'd been rolling around in their mouths.

"It's our daughter..."

"Your daughter?"

"Our daughter Otome is in high school, but about three months ago she started complaining of back pain. It wasn't from club activities or anything, and the hospital said there was nothing wrong with her spine..."

Akitsu and I exchanged glances. The old woman in the truck bed had also said her back hurt.

Akitsu spoke in a thin voice.

"So you suspect something other than physical or mental causes."

Mikami's wife covered her face with trembling hands.

"It's a curse."

"Don't say weird things in front of our guests."

Ignoring her husband's warning, she continued.

"I know it sounds unbelievable. But people around here have experienced the same thing for generations. It starts with back pain, then the back swells like a lump, like they'd been stung by a venomous insect..."

Suddenly, Mikami's wife leaned forward. The tea set rattled and pale green tea spilled on the lacquered low table.

"Mikami, please calm down!"

"It's the curse of the giant centipede! Once your back swells and you can't walk anymore, it's over!"

"Over...?"

"They say you have to return them to the god—leave them where the valley used to be! But I don't want that. Otome is only seventeen..."

Her husband gently rubbed her back as she sobbed into the table. Akitsu and I lowered our eyes.

"May we meet Otome?"

Guided by the couple, we climbed a steep staircase to Otome's room.

A handmade sign from art class, painted in pink, swayed with the words 'Knock, please.'

"Otome, the guests we spoke about are here. Can we come in?"

The door opened. A long-haired girl sat on a bed by the window.

"Pardon the intrusion. I'm Miyaki, and this is Akitsu—we're from Tokyo."

"Thank you for coming all this way. Sorry I'm in pajamas... and I haven't brushed my hair..."

Otome smiled shyly. Photos from school trips and club activities were taped to the wall. The contrast between her vibrant smile in those pictures and her now pale, haggard face made me avert my eyes.

"Sorry for the sudden visit. May I see your back?"

She obediently turned around and lifted the hem of her pajamas. Her spine jutted out like a dinosaur fossil, red and swollen.

"Since three months ago?"

"Yes, it suddenly started hurting during class..."

She whispered and awkwardly turned back around.

"Mom, Dad, could you step out for a moment?"

With worried expressions, the couple closed the door. Once they were gone, Otome spoke with a tense face.

"Please don't tell my parents."

"Tell them what?"

"Can you... take me to the valley?"

I reflexively asked back.

"Why?"

"People who end up like this have to go to the valley. If they don't, their family ends up the same... If I go, Mom and Dad will be safe."

Otome pleaded with a tearful face. Her shoulders trembled as if her frail body couldn't contain her emotions. I took her hand.

"You don't have to go, Otome. We're here to solve this problem."

"But..."

"Can you trust us?"

"...Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes. We'll go to the valley. We'll investigate and do everything we can to solve this."

I said with as much cheer as I could muster. Otome nodded, trembling.

"Thank you. I believe in you... all of you from the special investigation division..."

I instinctively looked at Akitsu beside me. She answered with just her gaze.

As soon as we left the Mikami house, Akitsu lowered her voice.

"Did you mention the special investigation division?"

"No... The one who assigned me this case was Kirima. He wouldn't leak information."

"Then where did it leak from? Even the God of Bountiful Harvest knew about us."

I fell silent. A disturbing shadow loomed over the special investigation division.

When I looked up at the hazy early spring sky, something white swayed from the shadow of a utility pole.

It looked like a snake, but its body was knobby and its movements were awkward. A long, white centipede.

The moment it flashed through my mind, it slithered like a loosening belt and vanished into the shadows.