Editing Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume4 Chapter1 (section)

===Part II===

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A week passed since they departed from Tanya’s house and went on their journey.

"……Should be soon, I guess?"

Julie, who was driving, looked back at the middle row and whispered.

"I guess."

Ai replied from the middle row.

"Miss Celica is almost at her limit."

"Understood."

Julie slowed down once Ai said so.

At this moment, Ai was sitting in the middle row, watching Celica.

As stated, Celica was literally at her limit. Her cheeks were flushed and puffy, and her hands were flailing irritably as she patted the objects near her. She was a baby, but she was showing a childish gleam in her eyes.

Finally, her lips opened and "Waaaahhh!" she cried out,

"Mr Julie, stop!"

The blue car stopped in the wilderness.

And at the same time, Celica's crying stopped immediately.

"0.3…."

Alice, who was in the passenger seat, looked at the sky with binoculars. Dee was the size of a bird, floating at where he was looking, arching forward as though measuring her height.

"How's it going?"

"Calculating."

Alice removed the binoculars off his eyelids and began to calculate the numbers that were read in his notebook.

At this moment, they were attempting to determine Scar's current location.

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It all started three weeks ago.

Immediately after escaping Gora Academy, the day Scar disappeared, Ai had planned to go look for Scar as soon as possible, but that was impossible.

First of all, they had no idea as to where Scar had gone, and furthermore, there were nine of them. It was difficult to move with so many people, so the group first decided to visit the city where Tanya's parents lived.

Mr. and Mrs. Swedgewood lived in a large city at the intersection of the continental highways, and it seemed they had been looking for their daughter ever since they moved there.

One day, their wish was suddenly fulfilled in a completely unexpected way, for their daughter returned with eight other companions.

Ai and the others suddenly appeared, but the Swedgewoods gladly welcomed them, and even had them stay in the warehouse. The group spent their days cramped in there, kicking their feet away from each other. Tanya had her own room, but she spent most of her time in the warehouse "It is so cramped" complaining so.

Such days lasted for about a week, and ended.

First, Rune the mermaid and Gigi the winter frog found jobs in the city and moved out. They had to make special preparations to reach the ‘Underwater City’ and the ‘Mountains of Elha’: Gigi had to store fat to enter the frigid Elha, and Rune had to raise money and contacts to enter the closed city. Gigi had to save her fat to enter the frigid Elha, and Rune had to find the money and contacts to enter the closed city.

The couple of Hardy and Volrath also left soon afterwards. It was said that Volrath's hometown, ‘The Corpse King and His People’, was a group with a special migration route, and they had to leave soon to catch up with them.

After her companions had all decided on where to go, Ai was the only one left. With Scar's whereabouts unknown, time seemed to pass in vain.

Information was found from an unexpected source however.

Dee was the first one to notice.

"Huh? Does Celica like the northwest?"

Those words were the key.

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"Are we there yet?"

"A little more."

<i>Scribble scribble scribble</i>, Alice did his math in the passenger seat. Ai peeked over his back "Not yet?" "Not yet?" and continued to ask away. "Just sit down." Alice retorted, and Ai finally sat down next to Celica.

[[Image:Kamisama v04 Illustration 02.jpg|thumb]]

"Does Celica like the northwest?"

Dee explained the meaning behind her words, that the baby would be happy whenever they moved northwest, and grumpy in any other direction.

Ai patted Celica's forehead as the latter laid in the crib, teary.

"Sorry…it’s for the sake of finding your mother though."

<i>I don’t care,</i> so Celica seemingly implied as she started hitting Ai

This Scar radar (Celica) would indicate the location of the target (Scar) through it’s ‘mood’. It would start from ‘delighted’ and end at ‘unhappy’. The further they got from Scar, the worse her mood was, and finally, she would bawl. The group used this to triangulate the direction and distance of Scar twice a day.

"…Not yet?"

"I told you we’re almost there."

And then, after a little while more.

"Done."

Ai and Julie brought their faces over the paper in Alice’s hand.

There were formulas and tables scribbled in messy handwriting, along with the answers.

"…Looks like there’s no doubt."

Ai looked up from the paper and tilted her head.

"…Miss Scar hasn’t moved at all…"

It had been eight days since they started calculating Scar's position, and she had been moving in a constant velocity, until the previous day, when she suddenly stopped.

This had never happened before.

"Well, it’s not like she’s not moving at all. Look at this number here."

His fingertips that were stained in pencil lead tapped at the equally dirty paper.

"What's this?"

"Vertical axis shift of the object with surface correction… Scar is probably moving up."

"… Up?"

Julie took out a white map and unfolded it with a ruffling sound. Scar’s movement records were marked with red circles.

"…You mean this?"

He pointed at a certain spot on the map. There was a spot indicating a little settlement, and a name.

"World Tower."

"What’s going on? Is there a tower?"

"No, it's just a small village indicated on the map, and probably has such a name. Maybe it’s because there’s an abandoned tower as a landmark?"

"…That’s quite vague…"

Question marks appeared above the trio’s heads, and they racked their brains, but they just could not get an answer.

"…Well, we'll find out when we get there. Looking at this distance, we’ll catch up to her tomorrow.."

"Tomorrow…"

It had been less than a month since they last met Scar, and while it seemed long, it also seemed short..

Ai herself had changed a little during that time.

One had to wonder if Scar had changed during that time. Or did she remain the same?

"Let's go."

Julie pulled the side brake, and stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated . The blue car hopped through the wilderness and returned to the road.

At the same time, Alice poked his head out of the passenger seat and shouted into the sky.

"Oiii~ Dee, that's enough. Come back here."

Dee, who had been asked to be the reference point, was standing straight above them, as though she was having her height measured.

"——"

It seemed she did not hear Alice, who then waved his hand in the air. She finally noticed, and floated down towards the car with her feet towards the ground.

"—!—!"

"Eh~? What~?"

Dee cupped her hands over her ears and said.

"Eh~? What~?"

"I can’t hear you! "

The distance closed in an instant

"I can see your panties!"

"No looking!!"

Dee hurriedly clutched the hem of her skirt, flipped over, and stomped at him with her heels.

"You're disgusting! You're the worst!"

She continued with her signature rapid attacks on the eyeballs.

"Hahaha, those attacks don't work anymore! Hahahahaha!"

<i>It won’t look creepy if you don’t look, right? </i>After Ai taught Alice, Alice was completely invincible.

"Hahahahaha! It's not creepy, it's not creepy!"

After looking down at Alice, Dee snapped her fingers.

"Ai."

"Yes."

Ai then smacked Alice on the back of the head.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing? It's none of your business anyway!"

"It does. We're friends."

<i>Right? </i>The two girls nodded to each other.

Alice rubbed his head and complained.

"Dammit, you two are in cahoots. Aren’t you two being too close?"

"Of course we are. We're friends."

<i>Right?</i>

"I can’t stand you two," Alice said, looking forward. The wise Julie never joined the conversation from the beginning.

"So, Miss Dee, did you see anything?"

Ai tried to ask for a report, but Dee then frowned.

"Ai, I won’t answer your ‘question’, because you are an ‘enemy’."

"Uuu…"

The mood between them became heavy.

"………You two are on poor terms, oi.."

Alice retorted.

Dee Ensy Stratmitos, Witch of the West. A ghost.

She yearned to end the world, and was at odds with Ai's dreams. Just days ago, she had declared that "You and I are enemies."

There was an awkward atmosphere in the car.

"If you're enemies, why are you tagging along…"

Julie muttered to himself. Obviously, it was no wonder that Julie was not too fond of this suspicious pair. Usually, he would have wished to dump them aside, and he did say so outright, but this ghost was truly an enigma, and it was impossible to shoo her.

"Nobody asked you to stay. Why don't you go somewhere else?"

<i>Don’t wanna</i>, Dee replied frivolously, and flew off to join Celica.  The ghost had been fond of the baby recently.

Seeing that, Julie rubbed his eyebrows hard. Alice patted him on the shoulder with a sympathetic motion.

"Look, old man…you should give up on trying to talk that idiot through. I’ve given up at least. Your chiseled face is going to wrinkle even harder…"

"……Why are you acting like it got nothing to do with you? You’re reason number two."

"Eh? Me too?"

"What the hell are you planning, tagging along with us? What do you want?"

"No, there’s nothing really. If I have to say, tagging along is my objective…eh? Wait a minute, old man. You’re trying to group me with that idiot ghost in the same category?"

"Still trying to play dumb…!"

"No! I’m not compromising on this! "

"Both of you, please stop."

Ai let out a sigh and declared firmly.

"Mr Julie, I was the one who allowed Mr Alice and Miss Dee to come along."

"…Tch…You’re going to suffer one day…goodness me, you’re letting such shady people tag along…"

<i>Hmph, </i>Julie snorted in annoyance, but said nothing more and went back to driving.

"…So? Dee. Did you see anything?"

Alice asked on Ai's behalf, while Dee did a real ‘peek-a-boo’.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure? I’m not letting you bullshit me like the last time. You sure you didn’t see any quicksand or willful people?"

"No, no—ah, but, now that you mention this."

She turned around with an annoyed look.

"There's some weird terrain up ahead."

"Weird?"

"I’m not answering Ai’s question?"

Ai fell silent, dejected. Dee's face became a little pained as well once she saw this. Alice in turn gave a frustrated look as he asked in Ai’s stead,

"What do you mean, weird?"

"Well, you know, the ground's full of potholes…"

Potholes? A question mark appeared above everyone's head. She said it was full of potholes, but there was no place in the wilderness where that was not the case.

"I don’t mean that…ah, we can see it now, more or less."

Everyone looked forward.

There was a strange landscape there.

There was dry land, rocks eroded under winds and temperature differences  that almost returned to being sand. There were shrubs with hard trunks and leaves growing atop them. Everything was normal till this point.

But the ground was abnormal. The land formed by rocks and sand…

Had many perfectly hemispheric potholes all over oit.

"…The Gravekeepers’ birthplace…"

Alice muttered in an absent-minded voice.

"It’s my first time seeing it…"

The hemispheres made of either rock or sand were gouged out cleanly, leaving gaping holes. It seemed like they were dug specifically to avoid living creatures, and did not harm the little bit of greenery at all.

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That was when Ai saw the moment a Gravekeeper was born.

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It was silent. The air seemingly stood still, and the sounds had disappeared to a point where it seemed the heartbeat stopped too. All tremors vanished from this space, and the world became silent as if it was filled with vacuum.

The scent of the air changed, and the scent of water, which should not exist, instantly engulfed the wilderness as though a mirage arose. The dry wind became humid and sticky, clinging to their foreheads.

And then, the sky grew bluer. The blue sky intensified in color, as if the bottom had fallen out, becoming blue like the deep sea, and a phantom ocean appeared there.

Suddenly, lightning struck.

The lightning seemingly scaled up the deep blue bottom, and descended with a deceptive sense of distance, striking the sand at the speed of light.

It was unusually silent.

The white thunderbolt did not burn or destroy anything, but struck the earth just large enough for a single person, and let out a rumbling sound. The lightning hovered like mercury and eventually began to blend with the sand beneath. The glowing mercury diminished in intensity with each passing moment, changing color and energy  into something more humble in place of it.

That object initially resembled a wax doll.

The wax doll looked solid, and no matter how much it resembled a person, Ai could not imagine that it would be able to move.

It did not seem like a living thing.

However, the doll stood up, not caring that it had not been in this world until a moment ago. Steam rose from its hair and clothes, it moved its limbs as if to check its bodily functions, and finally opened its eyes.

Their eyes met.

It was only then that Ai realized that Gravekeeper was in the form of a boy.

The Gravekeeper smiled at her for the first time in his life,

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<p style="text-align: right;">Hello there.</p>
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[[Image:Kamisama v04 Illustration 03.jpg|thumb]]

No one responded.

The boy did not seem particularly offended. He picked up the shovel that lay at his feet, bowed, and walked away.

The boy was born with clothes, a shovel, and the Dead that were waiting for him to be buried. To Ai, he appeared exceptionally complete.

The Gravekeeper left. Slowly but surely.

Then, with a flop, the first raindrop landed on the hood. They looked up, and before they knew it, the rain clouds were rolling in.

And after that, it was a downpour.

The parked car remained still, as though it had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

<i>It was said that when it rains whenever a Gravekeeper is born…</i>Julie muttered while the rain could be heard. It was most likely Julie, or if not, Alice. Delving over such unimportant matters, Ai looked at the rain. She stared at the downpour that acted as though it was trying to be coherent with the lightning that had landed.

The rain poured down on everything, swallowing up the figure of the Gravekeeper and the sandy ground where he was born, leaving nothing behind.

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<b>Then, suddenly, the rain stopped.</b>

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"Oi, you’re kidding…"

Someone muttered.

The sky was blue, pale blue, azure, and blue again, and the air was as clear as a vacuum.

Then it turned pure white.

A roar struck the earth in the form of lightning, and their hearing complemented the loud noise that should have been present, delivering a cranial-splitting bombardment to their cochleas.

But the reality was a thin, chilling silence.

The white skies devolved into ten thousand thunderbolts that scattered across in the wilderness, becoming mercury. There the mercury mingled with the ground beneath their feet,

<i>Ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru, ruru ruru.</i>

There were rumbles.

And they stood up.

None of the wax dolls were defective, they all wore the same clothes, wielded the same shovel, had the same face, and gave the same smiling expression.

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<p style="text-align: right;"><i>"Hello there."</i></p>
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Julie stepped on the gas pedal without saying a word.

"W-What the hell is this?"

Alice shouted. No one answered his question, for everyone was stiffened by near panic. Ai remained rooted as she saw the Gravekeepers pass behind her.

A hundred faces tilted their heads quizzically at the escaping Living, and took their first step.

Towards them.

Heading in the direction where Scar was supposed to be.