Sometimes, there are people who remember things about me that I even forget.
Maybe it’s because I have a selfish side that I forget such facts.
For example, like Mako right now.
Only after hearing what Mako said did I recall something that happened a year ago.
Back when I had just met Mako.
…Mako was a character who was already stated to have died in the main timeline of the original light novel.
Caught in the clutches of a ghoul, she probably got devoured alive. They said only some parts of her corpse were found, with traces of having been eaten.
That was probably because Mako was just too innocent.
It seemed the ghoul deliberately chose someone like her.
They must have judged based on ‘appearance.’ They picked a girl with thick glasses who looked sweet and innocent, just like Mako.
A child who came to help by mimicking the injured would end up getting eaten alive.
I saved Mako.
Mako didn’t know such a fact. She only knew that after she went ahead, I was left collapsed in an alleyway.
Instead of knowing that I had fought the ghoul that day, Mako thought I had been sexually assaulted after she left me.
Even now.
While she’s blocking my way with ragged breathing.
That thing beyond the stairs still watches us quietly. I have no idea why. Is it a spirit, or is it a ghost completely unrelated to the fact it died on those stairs?
One thing is certain; it doesn’t seem like a person standing there.
“……”
Mako says nothing.
Not knowing what to do, she just stands there to protect me.
And that situation made all fear in my head vanish.
It was the same when I entered this house. When I first came in to search for the flag, I was so scared, but after finding the flag and turning back, I felt a bit more at ease. Because I thought at least I achieved my goal. And I had grasped the layout of this house a bit by coming this far.
…Looking at that, surprisingly, I had similar thoughts.
Isn’t it no different from a yōkai?
If you just look at it, it’s not scarier than a yōkai. Of course, I have no idea what kind of body might be at the bottom of the stairs, but until now, all I see is a person with overly wide-open eyes. Even a normal person could open their eyes that wide.
No, actually, it doesn’t seem like that. It looks like an unusually wide-eyed person, one of the few you see sometimes.
For some reason, I feel like the face down there isn’t an ordinary person’s face.
But still.
Still, how many monsters have I seen until now? That much is nothing. Although the kudan looked a little scarier.
“Mako.”
“It’s okay, Koto Ne.”
“…No. Not that.”
I told Mako.
“Eh?”
Without looking this way, Mako made that sound.
“That thing isn’t okay.”
“……Koto Ne?”
I ducked under Mako’s arms stretched wide and said.
“Those things are way more dangerous than you think.”
“Mako.”
“But there’s no need to worry.”
I said.
“Even if I look like this, I’m an expert on those things.”
If I were to put it mildly, I’m somewhat of an expert. I’ve never truly been a priestess. In terms of expertise, I can’t compare to Yuka.
I looked back at Mako and smiled.
“And there’s something you’re a bit mistaken about too. I’ll tell you that.”
“Hmm?”
Yeah. I still think it’s a bit early to tell Mako everything. That the world almost ended, that I fought against God, things like that, it’s still too early.
But I think I can lessen the guilt Mako has carried since that day.
That day, I wasn’t assaulted at all. In fact, it was me who tried to stay behind after sending Mako away. So Mako had no fault that day at all. She just played hard with me.
“K-Koto Ne……”
“It’s okay.”
“N-No, that’s not it……”
Realizing that Mako’s gaze was not on my face but rather slightly to the side, I slowly turned my head.
Her face seemed to be rising a bit more.
No, it’s not that it seems; it really was rising. Just earlier, it was only barely visible beneath my eyes, but now it was definitely showing up to her nose.
“O-Oh, it’s rising…”
Mako mumbled.
I stared straight at that ghost.
The ghost had wide-open eyes, staring at us both. It didn’t move at all.
If I look away, will it move? But I’ve been blinking my eyes continuously since earlier.
“……”
I cautiously took a step forward.
Thud.
The ghost’s face rose a bit more. Now it’s visible up to the bridge of the nose.
Chills ran down my back.
It still looked somewhat like a person’s face. There was no indication of its mouth being open or anything.
But now that I see, its cheeks have no coloration at all. It seems like there’s no blood flowing in its body. Just a plain white, unlike something with just—
Its hair was all tangled. It looked like it hadn’t washed for a very long time.
Could it be that this was someone who secretly lived in the mountains? Someone who committed some crime and then came to hide in the mountains for decades after that…
…
No, thinking like that makes it scarier.
But for now, I had to prepare to transform my body. That strength had been mostly useless for the past four months, but if needed, I had to use it.
Slowly, I put my hand in my pocket. I could feel the talisman I folded twice tucked in there.
In one step, I began to climb the stairs one by one. It didn’t rise up fully in one go; it seemed to climb the stairs as I placed my foot, rising only when I took another step. It was as if it was moving at the same speed as my legs.
So its face was slowly rising.
After moving a little more, its face rose a bit more.
A half-scream, half-cry escaped from Mako’s mouth. It sounded exactly like nails scratching against a chalkboard. A scream that couldn’t come out properly due to a dry throat, a cry that wasn’t even a proper scream.
As for me, my mouth was shut tight, not being able to move.
One more step.
The face of the man…
No. Not the face, but the body looked a bit odd. It was twisted at a strange angle.
The shoulder line was a straight line. Was the spine slightly bent sideways?
They said someone died here after falling down the stairs.
The twisted top part of the neck was straight, but the lower part bending created a bizarre sight.
“Mako.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“Hold on tight behind me and follow.”
“Sure…”
When I took another step forward, Mako followed my lead, holding onto my clothes.
Naturally, the man took a step forward too.
His wrist and elbow joints bent at strange angles, like a tree growing at a weird angle.
His head was in the center, but the body below was turned backward.
The man had his back to us. Only his neck faced us.
The upper body of the man looked like it was twisted like a J, with his head verticalling placed on the protruding part.
Neither of us could make a sound.
“Mako.”
“Yeah?”
“I-I’m going to do it all at once.”
“What!?”
“…In this situation, that’s the only way.”
“……”
Mako seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, unable to say anything, then finally replied,
“……Okay.”
I took a careful breath.
And then.
“Uuuuuhhh!”
With that nonsensical shout, I charged forward.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
As we ran forward, the man also quickened his pace to match our steps.
He was a man about a head taller than me.
As described, his neck and upper body were like that, and his legs weren’t intact either. One of his ankles bent vertically.
I hadn’t noticed it when climbing the stairs, but running up the hallway was horrifyingly bizarre.
But I had no intention of going down without a fight.
I withdrew my hand from my pocket.
With the talisman wedged between my thumb, index, and middle fingers—
“Die!”
I shouted as I slapped the ghost’s cheek.
Slap!
It was a sound that normal ghosts couldn’t make.
Spin.
The ghost’s head turned around completely.
It spun around and looked at me. Thud. Its head fell to the side and flipped over. Now it was completely upside-down in a ‘J’ shape.
“AAAAAAH!?”
I panicked and hit the ghost’s cheek multiple times.
The ghost’s expression didn’t change at all.
But the ghost seemed to sense something was off.
Of course, it would. Normally, ghosts would unilaterally harm the living.
“W-What? What?”
Then Mako, who had been glued to my back, was also lost in the situation, making those noises.
“Get back! Get back! Get back!”
I shouted, swinging my arms.
The ghost started to retreat as I shouted. Though it seemed more like it didn’t know what to do rather than wanting to retreat.
When the ghost backed up a bit, I raised the talisman.
I had three talismans layered.
I quickly tore one off and threw it over my shoulder while repeatedly swinging with one hand.
Mako behind me took the talisman.
“W-Wait!?”
Then, she came forward with me, flailing her hands randomly.
Thud! Thud!
But the sound I made was completely different, a dull sound.
As the exorcism chant surrounded the swing, the ghost looked even more deranged.
Eventually, the ghost backed off—not that it was moving backward; it was actually moving “forward” as its entire bottom had flipped upside down—stumbling and stepped on the stairs.
Should I shove it? Should I shove it?
My terrified head pondered that.
Maybe Mako was thinking the same, whether we should push a ghost that already died from falling down the stairs off the stairs again.
But before we could reach a conclusion—
Crash!
The door swung open.
And I heard sounds rushing toward us.
“Ghost!”
Kaoru’s shout echoed. The sounds of people screaming in panic.
And—
Whoosh!
The ghost was pushed back and tumbled down.
……
Huh, but why is the ghost rolling down the stairs? Isn’t there some physical law against that?
It wasn’t until the ghost had rolled down that I realized it wasn’t pushed but rather yanked from behind, causing it to tumble down.
As soon as the ghost rolled, I saw Yuka’s face. The flashlight illuminated her pale, terrified face.
And strangely, she seemed quite horrified too.
Weren’t ghosts supposed to be unafraid?
Yuka, who pressed herself against the side of the stairs to witness the ghost tumble down, quickly checked on me and Mako, then turned back to race down the stairs.
Yuka held a flashlight. Unlike the square type Mako and I had, it was longer and thicker, like equipment carried by a movie’s heavily armed guard.
And that flashlight had talismans stuck on it.
“Wait, Yuka—”
I called out her name, sensing the next scene would be something.
Thud.
Yuka had already moved.
Climbing onto the terrifying ghost in a mounted position, she started swinging that flashlight.
“……!”
A horrendous scream escaped from the ghost’s mouth, but Yuka seemed completely unconcerned.
I quickly ran down the stairs to watch her as she struck the ghost’s face with a truly dreadful expression.
The ghost didn’t bleed or splatter, and it didn’t really give off a human-like vibe either, seeming strangely less serious, but still, the atmosphere was very intense.
Is that how it’s supposed to be done in exorcisms?
It felt like something you’d see in a gag comic.
Given they could send ghosts back by cutting them with swords, would it be too much to say using a blunt instrument is also feasible?
“Yuka, wait—”
I was trying to stop Yuka somehow when—
“U-Uncle!?”
The woman’s scream left me speechless.
Even Yuka, who had been bashing the “uncle” with the flashlight, was stunned and looked up.
The woman covered her mouth with both hands, staring at her uncle, who was being exorcised by Yuka, before collapsing to the ground.
Beside her, Kaoru and Hiromi quickly caught her.
“……”
For a moment, there was complete silence.
In the suffocating stillness, we couldn’t decide what to do—
Thud.
Yuka’s next strike on the ghost brought us back to reality.
*
For a brief moment, I wondered if the ghost wasn’t a person.
“It’s a ghost.”
But Yuka neatly negated my thought.
“The talisman you were holding is great for throwing ghosts into confusion. It’s impossible to set up barriers with just one, and you need to use the entire place, so I brought it along to be the most convenient to whip out when needed.”
“I see…”
I replied, a bit dazed.
Certainly, it did look like Yuka was sitting on the ghost rather than truly mounting it. The only thing touching was the flashlight with the talisman.
“Then why did that ghost roll down the stairs?”
“Because it died there.”
Yuka said.
“Earthbound spirits are bound to the places they died, repeating the form they had at the time of death. This must be one of those cases.”
“……”
I shut my mouth.
That… seemed a bit sad.
Yuka tirelessly kept striking until the ghost disappeared, and as soon as it vanished, she led us straight back to the lodging.
Then, she rummaged through her bag, sticking talismans around the lodging, and pulled out another set of talismans to go back to the mansion with me and Yuuki.
Carrying the flashlight and attaching talismans all around, Yuuki and I followed Yuka to perform the spirit-purifying ritual.
It took about two hours. Precisely, we waited until it was a little past two in the morning.
Just like when calling out the Nue in that playground, Yuka timed the ritual.
Oh, of course, she first safely sent the woman home. The family was very curious about the reason, but I told them I’d explain tomorrow and smoothly evaded it.
“Now, will it not appear anymore?”
“It should be fine. It didn’t seem like such a formidable one.”
“……Why did it appear in front of the two of us?”
“Ghosts or spirits… well, usually, they’re seen by those who are really scared.”
“……”
So it meant that both me and Mako looked too frightened to not see it.
That being said, it made sense. In other groups, at least one person wouldn’t be afraid of ghosts.
“Moreover, hm, that would be you. Is it a matter of constitution?”
“……”
I had no words.
“But earlier.”
Yuuki, who had quietly listened to our conversation, opened the door.
“Mako seemed particularly intent on not letting you go; what’s the reason for that?”
When I tried to leave with Yuka, Mako had tried to keep me from going.
That would be…
“Maybe…”
Yeah, it would be because of that incident.
I rubbed my face.
It had dragged on too long.
Not too long ago, I thought that I should tell her, and I still feel that way, but…
How should I bring it up?
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