Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Object from the Sea

1

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...”

*mumble*

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 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.”

2

Leaving only Lin-san to keep watch of Naru and the equipment, we exited the shop in a group and walked along the cove in the garden. There was a stone stairway, which was in the process of collapsing, in the very innermost of the cove. Since the middle of the stairs was becoming a mere steep slope, it would be close to almost impossible for people to use.

“Why is there a stone stairway in such a place?”

When Bou-san asked, Akifumi-san answered,

“I don’t really know, but it seems to be considerably old. Since it was here from the time when the shop was built. When my grandmother was a child, she went to the cave using this stone stairway. Though it seems it was already half broken since that time.”

Tentatively along the cove, there was a surrounding handrail and low fence, and at the exit of the stone stairway there was a decent iron gate. From the gate, there was a small distance until the stone stairway, and from this side of the fence the water surface of the cove was not visible.

“When was the shop built here?”

“I heard it was during my great-grandfather’s generation. Originally, there was a shop in Kanazawa, which likely transferred to here.”

“So up until that time, the family didn’t live here?”

“Right. But it’s likely that the location where the main household originally lived was here. My great-grandfather came here several times, and it seems because of that he decided to transfer the shop to here.”

“Do you know when the main household moved to this land?”

Akifumi-san tilted his head to one side.

“Let’s see, it was…The oldest person of those with a tomb in the family temple was born in the Ansei era. I know little before that. If you would like, I could ask my grandmother for you.”

“Please do. By the way, when was the Ansei era?”

Akifumi-san tilted his head.

“If I remember correctly, it was during the Edo period, but as for the details... anyway, it’s been a long time since I was tested on that.”

“Current high school students.”

Bou-san suddenly looked back at me.

“My school is still on the Genji and Heike war.”

“What about you, Masako? Don’t you go to school occasionally?”

Masako coldly looked the other way.

“Occasionally is more than enough. Mine is not yet out of the activity of Genji no Kimi.”

“Masako, you go to high school!?”

“May a junior high school graduate do as they please? Of course I go.”

Bou-san smiled smugly.

“It’s a certain famous high school for entertainers.”

Huh, is that so? As one would expect, a major medium is serious.

“I guess you’re essentially busy? You came quickly, didn’t you?”

When I asked, Masako blushed slightly.

“I am busy. I was still in the middle of supplementary lessons… I will say this in advance, however, that the supplementary lessons are to compensate for my attendance.”

Single-minded. So, you’re saying the reason you flew over was to see Naru. How touching. —hmm? Wait a minute!

“Masako, what do you wear when you go to school?”

When I asked, Masako’s expression was sincerely scornful.

“There is a uniform of course. Or did you think I go to school in a kimono as well?”

I didn’t think such a thing! Well, I was thinking something to the extent of, ‘is it a Hakama?’ *mumble*

“That is the teahouse.”

Akifumi-san raised his hand. Having come walking on the sidewalk of a large garden (I wonder what that is), a small building was visible before our eyes.

“Is the cove not completely visible from the garden?”

“On the opposite side of the tea house and flowers— we can go to the cape point. It’s possible to see from there.”

Exactly as was stated, when we walked farther past the teahouse, we came forth into a neat little garden, and we were able to look down at the cove from there. Beyond the low hedgerow was the cliff of the opposite shore and the building, which projected from the slope. A set of beams could be seen, which supported the building. And carved out of the rock surface below the set of beams, a narrow path extended. Right of the path was the crumbling stone stairway, and to the left was the gaping hole of the entrance of the cave.

“Do you want to go a little farther?”

Akifumi-san said so and opened a small door in the hedgerow using a key. From there until the cape point, short pine trees sparsely grew in the meadow.

“Beyond this point there aren’t any fences, so please be careful.”

Walking just a little bit fearfully, it was fifteen steps until the point. Although called a point, it was not a vertical, precipitous cliff, but more or less a gentle slope with shrubs growing there. Beyond the slope became a cliff, and from there it was the sea. To the right of the point, the crack’s open mouth formed the entrance to the cove.

“When viewed from above, it doesn’t even feel like that much of a cliff.”

When Bou-san said, Akifumi-san smiled. Suddenly, Ayako said,

“Hey, young master.”

“Young master… But I won’t actually succeed as the family head.”

“I’m not worried about minor details. What are those?”

Ayako pointed to stones lined up between the pine trees. Five stones, each of which was about the size of an armful, were neatly arranged in a row.

“Oh, those? Even I don’t know that. My grandmother doesn’t seem to know either. They look like gravestones. I was told to leave them as they are and not touch them.”

“Oh.”

There were rocks of various sizes protruding from the sea. Waves were breaking white against them. In front, there were conspicuously large rocks. One like a hill and the other a little smaller. In that place, a sacred shrine rope on each tied them together. John pointed with his finger.

“Yoshimi-san, what are those?”

“That’s Okobu and Mekobu. Okobu is the large one and Mekobu is the small one.”

“Okobu and Mekobu… Is that a sacred shrine rope tying them together?”

“Yes. But I think it’s unrelated to any Shinto rituals. Since I think that rope is also rehung by local fishermen at New Year’s.”

After saying that, Akifumi-san spoke to me,

“You know, it’s said that those rocks are a man and women who became like that after jumping into the sea from here.”

I looked up at Akifumi-san.

“It’s a local legend. Although her exact name was forgotten, a long, long time ago, there was a certain princess in this land. The princess had a lover who was a local fisherman, but there came a man who coveted her.”

“Oh?”

“The man who coveted her was the son of a nearby noble and tried to force the princess to be his bride. The princess was unwilling and tried to escape with her lover. —They eloped. However, the letter with the written plans of the elopement had been secretly switched by the nobleman’s son, and the two did not meet.”

I looked up at Akifumi-san with astonishment.

“The princess realized the mistake and, in a panic, went searching for her lover, and as for the lover, he had killed the nobleman’s son. He thought he had been betrayed since the princess had not come and the nobleman’s son came instead. The two were able to resolve the misunderstanding, however, it was too late. So, they jumped into the sea from this cape. The story says that the gods felt pity for them and, so that there would be no possibility of them being separated again, changed the lover into Okobu and the princess into Mekobu.”

That was the story… As I thought this, I inwardly blushed. I thought I was just being a bold woman. Was my role the princess? Moreover, was Akifumi-san the nasty nobleman’s son and Naru the fisherman? Unbelievable miscasting.

“Is there something wrong?”

Akifumi-san asked and I panicked.

“T-t-t-t-there isn’t anything, certainly.”

3

Upon walking back from the teahouse, there were trees growing densely out in front and some kind of roof could just slightly be seen peeking through there.

“Akifumi-san, what is that?”

“Oh, that’s the shrine. But it’s a small shrine without a Shinto priest.”

He said and dropped his gaze to his wristwatch.

“It’s still a little early. Would you like to go?”

With the tide not completely ebbed, Pumps Ayako and Kimono Masako said it was impossible to walk, so we headed to the shrine. For the time being, we exited the garden by going to the main building, and once we passed through the garden of the main building, we came out to the road. A torii gate was built a short distance away from the Yoshimi house gate.

The shrine was fairly neat. I thought it certainly would have been awfully dilapidated since Akifumi-san said it was unmanned. A little happily, Ayako said,

“Ahh, what a splendid shrine. Though it hasn’t been cleaned properly.”

“Is it splendid? The cleaning is done by my family. We’ve been the caretakers for generations.”

It was a really small shrine that didn’t seem anywhere near splendid. There was a small sort of stage, and there was only a lattice door on the interior.

“Splendid, splendid. This is probably the shrine of a patron god.”

“What’s a patron god?”

“To put it briefly, a god of the land. It’s a village’s guardian god. There’s a kagura hall, or in other words, a place for ancient Shinto music and dancing.”

“Right. In autumn.”

Hmm.

“Young master, young master.”

Now called by Bou-san, Akifumi-san smiled wryly.

Bou-san pointed out three side-by-side tombstones located in the corner of the grounds and asked,

“What’re those?”

“Those are the Tohachi mounds.”

“Tohachi mounds?”

“Tohachi mounds, written as eighteen. I’m not sure why, though. I think Tohachi is a sort of play on words since their also called the Sanroku mounds.”

“Why?”

When I asked and pulled on Akifumi-san’s shirt, he replied,

“Three times six is eighteen, right?”

“Oh, I see.”

“No one knows why they’re called the Sanroku mounds. But three are here, right? And then there are the ones on the point of the cape.”

“Ah, it was five, wasn’t it?”

Akifumi-san nodded.

“Right. Therefore, there were six on the tip of that cape and maybe one was lost, is what my grandmother says.”

Bou-san was thoughtful.

“Lost mound, huh?”

John spoke to Bou-san,

“A mound in this case is a grave, isn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

“Is there a reason for it not being there? I wonder if it’s not related to the Yoshimi house incident.”

Ayako snapped her fingers.

“That’s it! That mound was the grave of a fox. And then, it was moved without permission when the shop was built. That curse then...”

“I already came to the same conclusion.”

This was said by Bou-san and Ayako puffed her cheeks.

“Is that so!?”

“If it was Naru-bou, he’d probably say, ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself.’ What do you think, Masako?”

Masako tilted her head like a doll.

“What we are calling a fox is not truly a fox. I did not sense the presence of an animal. Not at the shop, nor at the mounds either. Spirits often tell lies, and when they are seen by human eyes, they will often appear taking the form of an animal.”

“Hmm. What else?”

Being asked, Masako made a serious face.

“I feel the presence of many spirits. I do not know what kind of spirits they are. However, I wonder if they’re not a kind of wandering spirit.”

“Masako. Does that mean you don’t know this time either?”

Masako looked away from Bou-san’s amazed expression. And then,

“This is a strange place. I do not sense anything good, but on the other hand, I do not sense anything bad.”

...Wait a minute. Those words.

“I sensed a strange power inside the house as well, however, what I felt was a mix of something very bad and something very good. I have a memory of such a feeling... ”

“Sacred ground?”

When I asked, Masako opened her eyes wide.

“...Yes. That’s right. Previously, when I went to America, I had gone to sacred Native American ground. This feeling is very similar to the feeling of that place.”

“Masako, you’ve been to foreign countries?”

Ah, wealthy people.

“Only once. I attended a seance by invitation of ASPR.”

“ASPR?”

“It’s an American psychic research society. At that time, I had gone to a place referred to as Native American holy ground. This was where Native American souls gathered. It was a sacred place protected by spirits, but it was also the source of a curse that would bring calamity to those who defiled it. The spirits of many were wandering… It’s very similar to the feeling of that place.”

A place to gather souls…

Bou-san looked back in the direction of the cape behind us.

“In any case, I still want to take a look at that cave.”

***

In front of the shop entrance was a beautiful garden. The low hedgerow continued here as well, and beyond was the coast. There was a break at a point in the hedgerow and from there, concrete stairs extended down to the coast. While clinging to the steel handrail, we descended the long stairway along the cliff. At the bottom was a coastline full of pebbles and rocks. Slightly offshore from the coast, there was an area where various sized rocks projected in countless numbers from the surface of the sea. It stretched directly parallel along the coast, and surging waves crashed against the rocks there, halting their momentum, which resulted in the coastline becoming very calm.

“Beautiful water.”

The seawater was clear like glass.

“Here it is.”

Akifumi-san indicated the base of the cliff, which he had now descended. At the base of the cliff, something like a path had been made, which had things such as rocks and stones piled up. We walked along the path, being careful so as to not slip. The path ran along the circumference of the cliff and going around it, the tip of the cliff could be easily reached. From the tip, we walked along a rock and arrived at the entrance of the cave. The tide had completely ebbed, but nevertheless, the water had only fallen to about ankle depth at most, and as a result, Ayako fussed even more. Thus, I told her not to come dressed pretentiously during investigations.

The cave was exactly the same as what I saw in my dream. The ground was covered with stones like a dry riverbed. In the case of the identical bend around the middle, there was also the same small shrine in exact area inside of the bend. However, looking at the shrine now, there wasn’t the same distortion. Although small, the cleaning was thorough. A clean, orderly shrine.

“Masako, how about here?”

When I asked in a whisper, Masako looked up at the high ceiling.

“It’s the same. That mountain and— the sacred ground I saw in America, it’s the same feeling.”

Hearing muttering, I looked back at the cave entrance.

“Even now, spirits are flowing in.”

Bou-san looked inside of the shrine.

“Do you also do the cleaning for this, young master?”

“Yes. As well as the main building's Buddhist household altar and the shop’s Shinto household altar… Since my family is fussy, my childhood was difficult.”

“Oh?”

“If it’s child’s help, it means cleaning and that sort, right? Childhood was unpleasant.”

“Tell me about it. My house was a temple, too.”

“What about you, Ayako?”

I tried asking.

“Was your house also a shrine, Ayako? Was it difficult?”

“Sorry to disappoint. My home wasn’t part of a shrine.”

“It wasn’t!?”

If so, then why are you a miko!?

“I never helped with anything. You see, besides being raised like a princess, I was an only child, so I got spoiled.”

“...you admit it yourself. Well then, what does your family do, Ayako?”

When I asked, Ayako smiled and combed back her hair.

“Oh, they're doctors.”

EEK!

“As in the wealthy and prestigious kind of doctors?”

“That’s right. We built a private general hospital, so we’re fairly wealthy. The maid did everything for us.”

Why is such a wealthy young woman acting as a miko? When I tried to ask, Bou-san raised his voice.

“Young master, what’s inside here?”

Bou-san was looking inside so that his nose was pressed against the small lattice door of the shrine. Saying, ‘Ah,’ Akifumi-san opened the shrine.

“It’s driftwood. At least, that’s what I think it probably is.”

Contained inside was a wooden stick about thirty centimeters in height. Near the top was rounded and it appeared to be in the shape of a person. There were two small projections that looked like little hands.

“It’s called ‘Okobu-sama.’”

“‘Okobu,’ like the rock?”

“I don’t know… I think it’s different from that. Doesn’t it look like a human somewhat with a head and hands? Also, doesn’t it look like this?”

Akifumi-san lightly raised one hand while hanging the other hand slightly out in front.

“Ah, I see.”

“This is a common pose of Buddha statues, right? I think that’s why it’s enshrined.”

4

“Is it an Ebisu?”

Right after returning to the base, Bou-san muttered then spoke to Lin-san.

“Abnormalities?”

“None so far.”

“I see. Hey, Lin-san. Can’t we put equipment in the cave below?”

After he asked, Lin-san contemplated the situation of the cave.

“As long as there is no concern of seawater, we can set it up, but what about the power... ”

“Oh, I see.”

“The battery only holds two hours, and only one is available. There is the manual interval timer as well.”

“Interval timer?”

“It is a device that can be switched ON/OFF at regular time intervals. For example, it is sufficient to only record at hourly intervals. In that way, at best, it will allow us to record for half a day or so. ”

“However, that means there’s also the possibility that the switch will be turned off during a vital point.”

“Yes. —Ah, approximately how high is the cliff?”

Akifumi-san answered with, ‘About ten meters.’

“If that’s the case, we can probably lower the cable from here somehow. As long as no effort is spared to bring in the equipment afterwards.”

Ugh. Seems difficult…

—For this reason, we performed rigorous, heavy labor from there. We carried the equipment in a great hurry while the tide was out. Since we couldn’t go across the rocky stretch and carry the equipment on our shoulders, we walked in the water *splash splash* while circumventing the rocks. If the equipment got soaked by water, then it would be a serious matter. As such, I was dripping cold sweat. We couldn’t even use the supply cart.

Akifumi-san jumped into the cove in order to catch the cable that was lowered from the window of our base and pulled it up to the cave for me. If not for Akifumi-san, it would have been fairly difficult work to deliver the cable without getting the connector wet. The equipment was wrapped in vinyl to avoid getting wet and we built a simple tent. …*dizzy* Then, when we had at last finished the setup, the tide had risen and having no choice but to return, we were submerged in water up to the waist.

***

“Hey, Bou-san, what’s an ‘Ebisu’?”

After finishing the setup, we took showers and returned to base. Then I tried asking.

“Ebisu?”

Ayako and Masako, who did not participate in the setup, took John to go examine Hazuki-chan’s condition.

“A little while ago, you said, ‘Ebisu.’”

“Oh, is that so? In short, ‘Ebisu’ is flotsam.”

“Flotsam… ”

“An unusual object that’s drifted to the coast. Things like underwater rocks or dead bodies, sharks or whales. Anyhow, when an uncommon object turns up on the coast, it used to be a custom of fishing villages to gratefully accept this as a sign of a good catch. Apparently, this type of flotsam was originally called ‘Ebisu.’ Especially unusually shaped rocks or favorably shaped driftwood. Those sorts of objects were said to be harbingers of good things and were worshipped with utmost devotion. That driftwood, ‘Okobu-sama,’ would also be so. Actually, a shrine’s object of worship is sometimes flotsam.”

“Really?”

“On the other hand, an ‘Ebisu’ was sometimes a harbinger of bad things. For example, things such as typhoons and tsunami. So you might say, in the beginning, an ‘Ebisu’ was the deification of an ‘object from the sea.’ Originally, it was written with the character ‘夷’. Later on it became the god of prosperous business and even the word began to be written with the special characters, ‘恵比寿.’”

...object from the sea…

“Originally, there was a belief in Japan of ‘Tokoyo.’ Put simply, ‘Tokoyo’ was a country of immortality. It was believed to be a place that existed far beyond the sea. An ‘object from the sea’ was thought to have come from ‘Tokoyo.’”

Yikes. The Japanese are strange.

“Ebisu, Okobu-sama, lost mound...”

Bou-san muttered and stood up.

“I’m going to borrow the phone for a minute.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We alone are unreliable.”

Huh?

***

Bou-san left, and when I was alone with Lin-san, the conversation wasn’t even encouraged further, so I decided to go outside for a while and wander aimlessly. I went to the stairs that go down to the coast and sat down. I watched the coast grow considerably smaller than it was a little while ago.

...object from the sea.

‘Okobu-sama’ that was washed ashore and drifting spirits. A cave and sacred ground. A shrine and a house. Two rocks with a legend. A couple throwing themselves into the sea.

—Could that sacred ground be the cause?

I thought in this manner.

—Or, could it be something related to that legend?

Until listening to Akifumi-san a little while ago, I didn’t know the legend. The fact that I saw that sort of dream surely has some meaning. Not to mention, since Naru said he, “showed the direction of the dream,” that’s probably what he wanted to inform me about. If that’s the case, the legend can’t have nothing to do with this incident.

Or could there be a connection to the other part of that dream? That dream where we ran away and were surrounded without a way to escape. I wonder why we didn’t jump into the sea. According to the legend, we were supposed to throw ourselves into the sea. In the dream, I also thought, ‘I wonder why it’s not the sea.’ And that brief phrase.

—Cursed until the end of days.

“What information did you want me to know?”

Then it occurred to me.

—Could the dreams I’ve seen up till now possibly be entirely Naru “showing the direction” for me?

Despite how much I thought about it, I didn’t really know. When I returned to the store, my brain was in a muddled state. Bou-san was using the phone at the reception desk that was located where you enter the front door.

“Hey. Didn’t you go somewhere luxurious?”

...I wonder who he intended to call.

“It’s a bad place for enjoyment, but it’s become a bit of a difficult situation. I want you to lend a hand. Can you come?”

After a moment, Bou-san spoke,

“Come. The manpower is really needed. —Tomorrow? There are probably still flights today. Since you don’t need any luggage, get on an airplane today by any means.”

Airplane?

“Unless there’s a direct one, get on a connecting flight. At any rate, I want you to arrive as early as possible.”

What a underhanded way of calling. I wonder who on earth is on the phone. They seem like a close acquaintance. Eh? Perhaps… is it?

I smiled complacently, but when I tried to return to base, the clatter of panicked footsteps was heard. When I looked back, it was Akifumi-san. His complexion had turned pale.

He dived at the reception desk, then uttered a cry similar to a scream.

“Takigawa-san, my older brother—”

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