Chapter 127
Case 14: In the Mirror (4)
At night, the chirping of the insects became even more terrible.
On top of that, the cries of some unknown mountain bird echoed from deep in the mountains.
Hyaeeeeee… it was a creepy voice, like that of an old woman crying out. I turned over in my sleep, thinking that if that was the type of sound heard by people in ancient times, then it’s no wonder that they thought that monsters lived in the mountains.
It was already half past one o'clock. In the end, I took the favor from the Mamiya household and stayed there. I was served a supper of wild vegetables in a hotpot, and I was even offered to take a bath which made it feel like I was at a resort, but it felt disgusting that I couldn’t change my underwear---well, that’s not it, these murky feelings weren’t because of underwear.
They arose from having completely deviated from my original objective. To begin with, I was going to ask Krishna-san to elaborate on what happened when I woke up in the hospital.
Who was it that came to visit me in the hospital room that day? The fact that I screamed when I saw them—and, why did I end up forgetting everything about them in the present? I went to the clubroom to ask her those things, but I, who have a reputation for being the best in the Kanto region at getting involved in the creepiest things there are, was as expected, being swept away once more. Before I realized, I ended up staying overnight at a mansion in the mountains. But—well, I’m together with Krishna-san this time, so I’m not too worried. That was fine, but the problem was the murky figure of someone who kept appearing and disappearing beyond the haze in my head.
They were slender and dark. I felt a chill and creepiness, but at the same time it was an awfully nostalgic, and loving feeling. The voice I heard the other day in ‘The Overlapping House’ felt the same. Was the person I ended up forgetting, the owner of that voice? I couldn’t help but feel -- that I had stepped foot into the depths of darkness countless times in the past together with that voice.
『…Hey, are you scared?』
Suddenly, that voice like a ringing bell passed through my ears once more.
It was accompanied by goosebumps and reminded me of a strange loneliness. And at the same time, an excitement of twisted delight. A floating feeling as if nothing lay beneath my feet--and paradoxically, an adventurous pleasure which made me strongly feel that I was alive.
That’s right, at any rate, my real feelings at this point were—
That I wanted to meet them once more. I absolutely hated the thought of never seeing them again.
Before I realized, I had sat up.
A mountain bird cried out again somewhere, and the pale blue moonlight peeked in through the window curtains.
“…Ah, I see.”
In the deep mountains, a mansion inhabited by an old man who could not leave the mansion. It was a situation that twisted just enough, and yet. Even though a ghost story that somehow didn’t add up was right there— but why aren’t you here anywhere?
That was the kind of loneliness I was feeling.
When—
Suddenly, I heard two knocks on the door.
I thought I might have misheard and merely stared at the door from my bed, when—
“…Nagi-kun, are you awake?”
I heard Krishna-san’s voice.
“I, I’m awake.”
I rushed to the door and placed my hand on the doorknob and opened it.
In the dark corridor, Krishna-san stood small and quiet dressed in strawberry pajamas.
--Gwah—Cute, super cute.
Why was she clutching a pillow, is what I wanted to ask her until morning, but this was Krishna-san we’re talking about, it wasn’t because she wanted to sleep together in my room or something like that, but rather, she was just anxious about something and carried it with her. Then, the problem was, just what made her anxious enough to go running to a man’s room in the middle of the night?
“W-w-what’s wrong?”
I asked, and in reply, “Is it alright for a bit?” She apologetically pointed inside my room.
I vigorously nodded. I’ll say it once more, but this person’s maturity with regards to the subtleties between men and women stopped at the middle school level, so this was in no way a night crawl. It was not – but as expected, my heart which was in its springtime of life couldn’t help but throb rapidly to the point of bursting at the sight of her entering in a single thin pajama in in the middle of the night.
Krishna-san pitter-pattered into the room and sat down on a chair next to the table by the window, and while still clutching her pillow, breathed a sigh.
“…Ummm.”
I called out to her, respectfully keeping a little distance from her by sitting at the corner of the bed.
“It’s about Karasu-san, I couldn’t sleep because it’s bothering me.”
Ahh, I nodded. I didn’t say anything, not knowing how to respond immediately.
“Say, Nagi-kun. Didn’t Karasu-san die – because she threw away her name?”
“…Eh?”
“I realized it when you told me about the Scholomance university of magic. I knew the importance of names—and how dangerous it was to throw one’s name away—and yet…. I never pointed it out to Karasu-san.”
“Wa, wait a minute.”
I denied it as best I could.
“Karasu-san abandoned her name to get away from something, right? And rather than throwing it away, she took the new name of ‘Karasu’, and moreover, she seemed to like it a lot, didn't she? It’s not your fault, Krishna-san.”
It seemed like it still weighed on Krishna-san. She continued to blame herself, not that it was her fault, but that she could have done more. And I finally understood that this was the impetus for trying to do something on this occasion—here in this mansion.
“Nagi-kun, I relied on Karasu-san you see.”
“……….”
“I think I relied on her too much. I was only in charge of updating articles on Ikaigabuchi. Even if a lot of things happened, I thought it was all fine as long as Karasu-san laughed, and even when I stepped into really dangerous territory, a part of me would feel relieved when I saw her. I would be relieved thinking that this person had stepped into the world beyond far longer than I had, and despite that, she was smiling so joyfully like this, so I should still be okay too---”
“…Krishna-san.”
“Despite that….to die so suddenly like that…. It really was dangerous after all, that’s what it means, right? No, I’m not grieving over the fact that Karasu-san died – I'm afraid that I might be swallowed by the abyss next. That is---that is, just the worst, isn’t it?”
--That’s not it.
I wanted to say that that’s not it, but, I lacked the words to say what I wanted, and on top of that, I was lacking in knowledge and couldn’t find the right words to tell Krishna-san right now. Despite that, I clearly thought that that wasn’t it--- that’s it, I’ll use that. The words that helped me from the invisible someone in the ‘Overlapping house’.
『You are not broken.』
『Because – you can still ‘fear’.』
…That’s right, that was exactly it. Feeling fear was a normal human trait, and that’s how humans can distance themselves from danger—and the really dangerous individuals have had their ‘fear’ extinguished altogether and….
…Wait.
Thereupon, I recalled.
“…That’s right. There’s something I absolutely have to ask you, Kri--”
However, it happened at that moment.
From somewhere in the mansion, I heard the scream of a man.
In the darkness, Krishna-san too looked back.
“….Did you hear that?”
Krishna-san asked me, and I vaguely nodded. After that, we both held our breath. We strained our ears, but didn’t hear anything again.
“….Let’s go--- and check.”
Krishna-san withdrew the weak expression she had just been making. In its stead was the charismatic manager who formerly administered one of Japan’s largest occult websites.
We slowly opened the door, and peered down the corridor. The corridor was illuminated by auxiliary lights modeled after lanterns; We could easily see at our feet. Krishna-san took the lead, and slowly made her way forward, and I followed. We arrived at the stairs, and when she peeked at the bottom of the stairs, Krishna-san put her fingers to her lips. I, too, tried to hold my breath as I peered down below.
There was the old man.
He was walking unsteadily, and had a gown sloppily worn over his sleepwear. For some reason, he held a candlestick with a candle in hand, which gave him the appearance of a ghost.
Eventually, after confirming that the old man had returned to his room, I asked Krishna-san.
“That voice just now…was it his?”
The bobbed haired former manager shook her head and said, “I don’t know”. After that, we slowly began to descend the stairs, step-by-step.
As I checked the non-slip surface of the stairs with my bare feet, I began to feel as if the scene I had just witnessed had been a dream. His hair was grizzled and disheveled, and his eyes were hollow. His pale complexion looked even paler, yet his arms alone, which resembled withered branches, felt strangely darkened—
“Um, didn’t he just go to the toilet?”
I spoke as if to shake off the detestable chill, when Krishna-san stopped halfway down the stairs for a moment and asked me in return,
“Why did he need a candle when the lights in the corridor were switched on? Moreover, if the voice just now belonged to the old man…. Then I’m concerned as to why none of the servants came out. Could it be that this is a routine occurrence?”
“….”
“But if that's the case —I feel like there’s something there which can unravel the old man’s mystery.”
When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Krishna-san silently crouched down on the floor. She seemed to be clawing her fingers on the dark red carpet.
“…What’s wrong?”
“Look, Nagi-kun. There’s a trail of wax that dripped down.”
“Ah…”
“If we were to follow it--”
Krishna-san then proceeded down the corridor in a crouched position. I took a gulp and followed her cute looking behind as it swung from side to side. There was indeed a trail of dripped wax that continued every meter or so. And it continued down the corridor, but—
“…Unh.”
Krishna-san suddenly stopped, and my face almost came into contact with her behind.
“What happened?”
“It’s a dead end.”
“…Eh?”
I looked up and sure enough, at the end of the corridor was a wall. In front of the wall, there was only an ornamental plant, a low table, and an expensive-looking vase of flowers on it.
“Does the wax continue here? Did you make a mistake on the way?”
Krishna-san went back a few meters, and traced after the dripped wax once more before returning,
“No, without a doubt it’s leading this…”
As she declared that, she slowly raised her head. She then continued to gaze motionlessly at a part of the wall.
“…Nagi-kun?”
She suddenly lowered her voice even further and pointed somewhere.
“Isn’t this, a door…?”
“…………”
I, too, drew close and touched the wall with my fingertips.
--Aah, that’s right. It had been painted the same color as the wall, but the material was different.
“But, how is it opened…?”
I looked around as if to soothe my heart which had begun to throb violently once more.
And that’s when I noticed it. There was a spot under the wall that was slightly stained. A point that looked as if it had been touched by hand countless times. I managed to press it somehow, when—
I heard a clicking sound from somewhere, and one part of the wall simply flipped the other way.
However—beyond it was merely darkness. No—there was a path that continued endlessly, only a few meters wide.
“………”
“………”
--Gulp My throat sounded. I couldn’t help but feel a terrible premonition. I thought that this path was a truly unpleasant path. If you were to ask me why that was, I couldn’t answer well, but—there was a dampness, and a rotten smell that assailed my nostrils. I was hesitant to proceed further from here.
“—Nagi-kun.”
At that moment, Krishna-san’s nervous voice reached my ears; I turned around and was startled.
There was a human there with an expression of shock who had seen something impossible. Even though it was such a familiar face, it had an expression so drained of blood that I had never seen before – my face.
That’s right, the other side of the wall door that had flipped open was covered… by a polished mirror.
“A m…mirror? In this mansion? And…why is it on the backside of the wall door?”
“I don’t know… but there’s something strange.”
“W-w-what’s that?”
“There is no light whatsoever in this corridor.”
“…Huh?”
“In short, it means that when this door is closed, it’s impossible to use this mirror.”
With a shiver, something cold crawled down my back.
“Then, why is this mirror set up here? In the first place, where does this path lead--”
Then, it happened as Krishna-san was muttering to herself.
From somewhere, a rustling sound rang out, as if something was being dragged.
With a start, Krishna-san and I looked at the end of the dark corridor. We strained our eyes beyond the darkness.
…Huh…did something, move….?
In the darkness, something even darker moved—like it was drawing closer to us.
The light in the corridor through the doorway was not enough to illuminate the far end of the passage.
However— I could vaguely make out the outline of the thing that moved.
The moment I realized that it was like that of a person—
“K-Krishna-san…!”
I recoiled backwards as if collapsing, and grabbed the edge of Krishna-san’s pajamas.
“Nagi-kun….W, we can’t stay here!”
Her voice was the signal to prompt us both to turn around and run away, when—
We bumped into something, the unexpected impact startled us, and we fell down on the spot. We raised our faces to check what was blocking our path—I let out an “Eek” involuntarily, and Krishna-san had her mouth agape on the spot without a word.
There was the pale face of this mansion’s proprietor.
His complexion was like a corpse, and he wore a smile on his wrinkled face.
“Get away as fast as you can.”
The old man spoke in a frolicking tone.
“Before that thing gets you."
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