Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 3 (section)

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The reactions of John and Masako, who arrived the following afternoon, were a sight to see.

“Naru is possessed by a spirit of uncommon will-power and is incapable of moving.”

The expressions of the pair when I said that. Masako looked as if she might cry.

“...how is he doing at present?”

“He’s sleeping. Lin-san put a certain spell on him to prevent him from gaining consciousness.”

“May I see him?”

Masako looked at Lin-san. Lin-san nodded.

“If only to see his face. Please do not enter the room under any circumstances.”

Masako nodded with a very serious expression. She honestly looked as if she might cry. I thought, ‘This girl also truly likes Naru after all.’

“Over here.”

I opened the sliding door. Last night we transferred Naru to the eight tatami in the back of the room we’re using as a base. We were somewhat anxious of keeping him by himself in the room next door; therefore, the opinion to move him was unanimous.

Masako looked inside and exhaled. A pained noise could be heard.

There was only one futon in the room, and at the four corners of that, charms were stuck in the tatami with tree branches. There wasn’t a single movement from Naru. Unless looking with considerable care, one might think he wasn’t breathing. A small character was drawn on his white forehead. That was also written by Lin-san, although it looked like the red done by Indian women. Somehow it suits Naru well.

“Do you know what kind of spirit has possessed him?”

When I asked, Masako weakly shook her head.

“I— I cannot see it well. I can feel the spirit that has possessed him, but… I wonder if I should call it an empty spirit.”

Lin-san looked back reprovingly.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s clear and colorless, and it also does not emit any emotions whatsoever. And yet, its presence is very strong. Perhaps something may be interfering in order to prevent us from grasping the true identity of the spirit.”

Lin-san looked down, falling deep in thought.

“May I close this?”

When I asked, Masako nodded in assent.

“Well then,”

Bou-san explained the general circumstances to John and Masako. In the middle of the story, Akifumi-san brought us some coffee.

“Th—that was Matsuzaki-san I heard on the other side, wasn’t it?”

It was said to John and Ayako laughed loud.

“Don’t worry about it. I was shaking with all my might at this person’s joke. Ho—hoho.”

...this woman is still laughing at such a thing.

Bou-san turned his gaze to Lin-san.

“Was there activity last night?”

“In the main building and a cove side room. Would you like to see?”

“I would.”

...depressing. The tone is all wrong. After all, when Lin-san asks, “Would you like to see?” shouldn’t an acerbic, “Replay it,” be the reply? *grumble*

The video appeared on the monitor. Unusual images were recorded of Hazuki-chan’s room and the corridor of the main building, and after that it was the cove side room. On both the screens of the main building, strange lights were reflected. It was something like dim, hazy lights. The light that appeared in Hazuki-chan’s room slowly floated around her futon and disappeared. The one that appeared in the corridor just quickly crossed the screen.

“What about the sound?”

“It is silence. There is no vibration. The other instruments are also within the range of normal values, however, the temperature dropped about five degrees.”

“What about the cove side room?”

“I will show it on the monitor.”

The camera that was placed in the cove side room was pointing straight towards the window. Occasionally, faint white lights were visible on the other side of the window. They were moving up from below.

...up from below.

“Are those spirit forms?”

“I do not know. Here as well, no change is seen other than the temperature.”

“What’s the temperature difference?”

“It is still five degrees.”

I secretly spoke to Akifumi-san.

“...the cave below...”

“Is something wrong?”

“Is there possibly a path beside the cave? A sort of path carved out of the cliff… with a stone stairway there that rises up to the side of the shop...”

Akifumi-san had a blank look.

“...did you go and have a look?”

So it’s there after all.

“Is the cave curved in the shape of a ‘く’ with a shrine in the back?”

“Did you go down to the bottom? You mustn't do that! That stone stairway is dangerous.”

Bou-san looked at me.
“What’s wrong, Jou-chan?”

“I… sort of slipped out again.”

“Slipped out, you say…?”

“...it seems so...”

<p>&#42;mumble*</p> I talked about the second half of the dream without Naru. The content of the first half could not possibly be told to other people. Akifumi-san looked at me blankly.

“Then, spirit lights came drifting into the cave from the sea. There was even the spirit of some sort of fish or something.”

“The spirit of a fish?”

...well, I think it’s strange myself. But, even a fish is alive, and why not also a ghost fish if there’s a [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Ghost_Cat.2F_Changing_Cat|ghost cat]]?

“That cave is like that.”

It was said by Akifumi-san with a serious tone.

“Corpses flow in with relation to the tide.”

—eh?

“When someone dies in the surrounding sea, they drift into that cave. Especially people and large objects. Because of that, we have a shrine. The family dogs also washed up there.”

Bou-san frowned.

“I’d like to see. Could you guide me?”

Akifumi-san nodded and looked at the clock.

“There’s a little time until low-tide… It isn’t accessible until the tide ebbs unless you use the stone steps.”

“Incidentally, I’d also like to see where the stone steps are.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll guide you around here a little. The tide should ebb soon.”