Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 5 (section)

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Yasuhara-san returned at night to hear the story of Kazuyasu-san. He sighed once.

“Keep up your strength. Because it’s not finished yet.”

...yeah.

“After suffering such casualties, if you leave defeated, then what was it that you come here for?”

Yasuhara-san said, then threw down an extraordinary amount of copied documents on top of the table.

“And now, shall I finish my homework?”

“Homework?”

“Yes. First, this is the newspaper Takigawa-san requested.”

One-by-one, Yasuhara-san showed us bound copies of documents.

“This is from the time of the predecessor, and this is from the time of the predecessor before the last.”

“Well done.”

Yasuhara-san gave Bou-san the copies.

“To summarize, it’s like this. The predecessor— that is, during the time Akifumi-san’s grandfather was ceded the house from his great-grandfather, eight people died. I understand from consulting the newspaper that four people committed [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Double_Suicide|double suicide]]. Of the remaining four people, one was a suicide, one was an accident, and the other two abruptly died from unknown causes.”

“Double suicide...?”

“Yes. The second son died after killing his wife and two children. I would call that forced double suicide. Two customers died, but those didn’t have clear causes. Since the bodies came out of the water on the coast, it was tentatively considered an accident, but I think it’s suspicious. Three spiritualists died. Two of them burned themselves to death when their clothes caught fire from the flame of a [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Goma|Goma]] ritual. The remaining one was an unexplained sudden death. It was thirteen people in total.”

“Thirteen people, huh?”

“Before that, during the time of the great-grandfather, only six family members are listed in the newspaper. However, since it was before the war, I think it was really suspicious that it was six people. Those six people who died, died due to poison that was inside the well. This was immediately after they moved here and closed the shop in Kanazawa.”

“Well, why was that? Did the great-great-grandfather die after moving over here?”

“It seems so. Since his age at death was seventy-eight, it was a very advanced age. I think he had already ceded the shop to his son. —Next, here’s the family death register.”

“Oh, you were able to copy it?”

“Yes. I went to the temple first thing in the morning and made a copy. After that I visited the city library, then immediately went to Kanazawa....”

“You went all the way to Kanazawa!?”

“I certainly went. In fact, I ran and ran. It was on the train, while looking over a bunch of copies, that I noticed something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. It was the grandmother who said, ‘Accidents occur whenever there is a change of ownership,’ but actually, the large number of deaths that occurred in this Yoshimi house were only during the last two generations of predecessors.”

“Let me see!”

Bou-san snatched the copy of the family death register.

“That doesn’t mean the deaths during the previous generation weren’t particularly unusual.”

“That’s for sure...”

“I thought this seemed strange, so on the way back I visited the temple again and looked at all the family death registers for both the main household and the branch household. This is that copy.”

Yasuhara-san presented the copy.

“In conclusion, the problem isn’t with the Yoshimi house, but with this location.”

“...what?”

“Akifumi-san’s family— what’s known as the branch household from Kanazawa— have only come to suffer misfortune since moving here. Before that time, the family that lived here were descendants of the main household, however, the family died out about five years before the branch household from Kanazawa came back.”

“Huh...”

“In addition to that, the first death happened in third year of the Ansei era after the main household came over here. Before that, there wasn’t a Yoshimi house in this area. But, if one were to speak of who had ownership before that, then it would certainly be the family of the Fujisako house. However, the Fujisako house died out in the first year of the Ansei era.”

Saying this, Yasuhara-san then pulled out a different copy with triumph.

“After persuading the chief priest, I was able to make a copy of the family death register of the Fujisako house.”

“Remarkable.”

“Right? The Fujisako’s control only lasted two generations, but there’s nothing prior to that in their family death register. In other words, in summary up to this point,”

Yasuhara-san said, then lightly cleared his throat.

“This location was originally owned by the Fujisako house. The Yoshimi house came after they died out due to accidents. This Yoshimi house lived here for four generations, but they also died out in the fourth generation. It turns out, the family from the branch household came thereafter.”

Bou-san ruffled his hair.

“So, the problem isn’t the family, but the location...?”

“It seems so. Next, I tried investigating the history and legends around here. The result was this,”

The bundle of copies Yasuhara-san stacked was easily two books worth.

“How did you investigate this much stuff in one day…? While taking a roundtrip all the way to Kanazawa?”

Yasuhara-san smiled at the sound of Bou-san’s amazed voice.

“Hehehe. I have a talent for this.”

“A talent... you say?”

“After going to the temple and asking to copy the family death register, I went to the city library, but I did something before browsing newspapers. Can you guess what it was?”

“...what was it?”

“I stopped bored-looking schoolgirls and offered them part-time jobs.”

Bou-san, who was resting his chin in his hand, lost balance and dropped his chin.

“You hired part-time workers?”

“Quite so. If I wanted to hurry, only human wave tactics would work, right? ”

...good point.

“I was able to secure a one person workforce in Kanazawa, too. By keeping in touch with the kid I left over there by phone, I was able to collect this much material.”

...in—incredible.

Yasuhara-san, who was puffed up with pride, smiled and looked at Lin-san.

“As such, ‘Shibuya Psychic Research’ will accept the part-time work fees, right?”

Lin-san gave an exceptionally wry smile.

“We’ll pay.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

His relief was oddly amusing.