Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume4 Chapter3 (section)

=== 3 ===

“This is an abnormal situation.” Naru announced.

Not long after we witnessed that cruel vision, in the midst of lessons in that classroom, a giant black dog appeared.

That dog mysteriously appeared, knocked the tables into a mess, and used its sharp claws and pointed fangs on the escaping teacher and students, then, like the wind, it vanished. 6 were slightly injured, 1 severely so.

“Is there such an evil spirit on this Earth?!

The monk paced the Meeting Room, frustrated.

“You call it a spirit?! Let’s not joke here; at this level it should be called a monster!”

It was the first time I had ever heard of something like this, too: spirits attacking people. The result of that were inexplicable cases of sickness and happenings. The spirit took on substance, and dealt out real damage to people.

Naru moved equipment into the freshly blood-stained classroom. Just as he was about to complete moving the equipment, Naru’s actions stopped. 

“There’s no reason for this…”

Naru frowned.

“First, I have never heard of spirits cannibalizing on each other.”

“Because it is a monster.”

Ayako sighed. The monk suddenly turned back.

“If it is a monster, isn’t that under the jurisdiction of a Miko?”

“You’ve got to be joking. Isn’t that mainly managed by Monks?”

Is this the time to argue over this detail?

Naru looked at his notebook. It contained the notes about the investigation in the school.

“The response in 3-1 has also disappeared. The initial response was so clear too.”

The real, abnormal response that had been present up till this morning had completely vanished. Of course, the stench was also gone. It had completely disappeared. 

“Was the spirit there also consumed…?”

Naru said that and lapsed into silence.

Just as everyone was lost for words, Yasuhara appeared.

Yasuhara probably felt the strange atmosphere about us.

“Could I say a few words?”

I don’t even know if anyone was listening.

“That… some terrible things have happened.”

“Young Yasuhara, your news is really up to date.” (sarcastic)

Yasuhara replied the monk’s comments with a bitter smile.

“Everybody in the school knows what happened. An ambulance was even called. Besides these, I heard some more slightly worrying news.”

“What news?”

Naru’s voice was a little gloomy. Yasuhara wore an apologetic expression. “Perhaps it is something unrelated; if you are busy it can wait…”

“There’s nothing much going on now. Please tell us.”

With renewed vigor, Naru sat on the chair. Unconsciously Yasuhara shirked. 

“That… it’s actually like this; I tried tracing the origin of Kokkuri.”

What?

“Yesterday during my discussion with Taniyama-san, she said the Kokkuri we play here was really too strange. I asked those who had played Kokkuri before whom they learnt it from, and traced it backwards in that order…”

Oh, did he really investigate it?

Naru’s expression turned deep.

“Then, did you find anything out?”

“Nothing that is very clear. I only found out that we started playing Worikiri-sama sometime after the second semester. And about the source, there are 2 possibilities. Some say they heard it from a first year student, others say they learnt it from someone in the Aesthetics Department.”

Saying that, Yasuhara’s expression turned bleak.

“And, what is more worrisome is, amongst the first years in the aesthetics department, that…” Yasuhara said, stammering.

“Perhaps this is completely meaningless; the late Sakauchi was from the Aesthetics Department.”

Everyone was mildly shocked.

Naru had sunk deep in thought.

“It’s really incomprehensible… Does this have any meaning, or not?” Naru muttered. He lightly tapped the table with his fingers.

“Anyway, it was after the second semester, and it started from a first year or from the Aesthetic Department… And then it gained popularity in the school and an uncountable number of summonings were performed. Subsequently those summoned spirits…”

Naru gently shook his head when he finished.

“As expected it is still very strange. Even if an infinite number of summonings were performed how can completely untrained people, even after a thousand or two thousand summonings, succeed in calling forth a cannibalistic spirit?”

“That…”

Yasuhara hummed and hawed.

“I don’t know if it has any relation to that?”

“That?” Naru questioned.

To which Yasuhara replied, “Haven’t you heard? This school is built on a cemetery.”

Eagerly anticipating his reply, everyone was immediately very disheartened. The monk said, “That’s nothing much, it is very common.”

He sighed, and tilted his head backwards. <!--(tl/n: Imagine him leaning back on a chair, tilting his head backwards instead of turning to a side to look back)-->

“Ah, you think I’m lying. No, this is true. This place is called the Ryokuryo Ruins, it became a cemetery in the Nara era. If you dig in the field, tombstones and human remains can be found.”

We shared a glance.

“Is this true, Yasuhara-kun?”

“It really is true. Will this have any connection to this incident?”

Naru sank deeper into thought.

“So that’s how it is… The so-called Old Tomb is the place where the Kekkai was erected to prevent spirits from trawling the Earth and causing hauntings. The spirits bound in the ruins have emerged in large numbers… that shouldn’t be the case. The floating spirits summoned into the school are unable to leave due to the Kekkai… there’s a possibility that it’s like that. Then, there are large numbers of spirits floating around the school. Indeed… the spirits could even follow a person and that person might even bring it home… I’ve never heard of this theory before.”

“It is like this.”

I was taking notes. Indeed, there hasn’t been a theory about the spirits causing strange incidents within and also outside the school. 

Naru tapped the table with his finger.

“With this we can account for half of the incident. But, there’s the other half… Why are the students here capable of summoning so many spirits with such ease?”

The monk said, “Could it be that somewhere in the ruins, there is something that can summon and attract spirits?”

“En… Right from the start the props used in spell casting have an innate ability to affect spirits… But, what is going on here? This is a place where the spirits are sealed.”

“If it is used to attract spirits…, there are small special differences from those used in spell casting.”

“So it is. The spirits are enclosed in the grave, the grave is then sealed; perhaps there are places where such spells are used. If spirits are gathered around it always feels different. Nothing seems to work here, in this school.”

Naru groaned softly, crinkled his brow and sank deeper into thought.