Editing The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume8 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 7===

The stairway was a lot longer than I had thought.

Once I finally reached the bottom, I found the bear trap on its side and the Zashiki Warashi glaring at me with a hint of fear in her eyes.

It was the look of a wild animal that could no longer trust humans after burning itself on a campfire.

“Gau gau!! Grrr!!!”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, Zashiki Warashi. But there’s no way I could have stopped that.”

I apologized and somehow managed to right the toppled cage. Then I looked back the way we had come. Could I really climb those stairs with that cage?

I was worried, but since we were down here, I decided to keep going. It was possible there was another exit.

The underground space was quite large. At the center was a pit twenty meters across and too deep to see the bottom. Quite a few small shacks and bamboo passageways had been built in three dimensions around the pit. The wooden walls were branded with Hyakki Yakou’s emblem. There were plenty of bare lightbulbs, candles, and lanterns, so the space was filled with a dim orange light. The stuffy scent of dirt was mixed with the scent of machine oil. There was a simple reason why.

“A power shovel and a bulldozer? There’s even a tunnel boring machine with attached arms.”

There was a lot of the yellow heavy machinery used for public works projects.

I could tell a lot of effort had gone into making this space, but what was it for?

I pushed the bear trap down the gradually descending pathway that spiraled like a giant spring.

After continuing for a bit, the scenery changed entirely. The buildings and passageways had burned away. There also must have been a cave-in because the bedrock had collapsed in places.

What had happened?

No matter how big this place was, that would still mean a fire in a subterranean space. The smoke and lack of oxygen scared me more than the flames and heat.

“Gau…”

“Hm? What is it, Zashiki Warashi?”

She was acting odd inside the cage.

She was sitting motionless in a corner with her hands on the top of her black-haired head.

Was she afraid of something? I doubted it was just the fire, so what had caused it? I looked over to the fire-blackened pillars, but I couldn’t tell what the small building had been used for originally.

Curious, I brushed my fingers across the burned materials and thought. Suddenly, what looked like a stuffed animal head poked out from behind the corner.

No, it was a small canine Youkai.

“Hm? You’re that Sunekosuri, aren’t you?”

“I never expected to see you here, Jinnai Shinobu! Oh! But this is hardly the time. Hide! You really need to hide!”

“?”

“The zombies will be here soon! Um, oh, that Zashiki Warashi also needs to-…wahh!! She’s a zombie too!?”

The canine Youkai suddenly appeared and nearly pissed himself, so I scooped him up in one hand. It didn’t matter if the zombies found the Zashiki Warashi, so I left the cage there. However, the zombies tracked their prey by smell, so…

“Hey, I’d like to base some stuff on a dog’s sense of smell!”

“Who are you calling a dog!? I am a proper Youkai called a Sunekosu-…ghh!?”

''He’s useless!

At any rate, I ran into the remains of the burned-down shack with the Sunekosuri. I lay down on the ground and held my breath.

The smell of charcoal was pretty distinctive, so I could only hope it would hide us from the zombies!

I heard some wet sounds.

They were several pairs of footsteps.

I had no real weapon and I didn’t have Nagisa’s skill to knock them off balance and then sever an arm, leg, or head with a full swing. If we were found, it was all over. We’d be powerlessly overwhelmed and eaten.

I held my breath.

My heart pounded in my head.

I could not sense any warmth in the footsteps I heard. I didn’t sense the atmospheric change felt when you’re on an elevator alone and someone else steps on.

I couldn’t move my head much, but I could see the zombies walking by beyond the burned-down wall.

They were…

“Uncle…?”

I knew it was hardly the time, but I muttered under my breath.

And it wasn’t just the detective in cardigan and slacks.

I also saw Hishigami Enbi in a torn-up Santa Claus themed swimsuit and Hishigami Mai who seemingly couldn’t use her legs since she was dragging herself forward with her arms. I also saw someone in a white kimono with long white hair spreading out from a head that dangled loosely from her neck. I was pretty sure that was the Hishigami Shikimi woman I had seen at some point.

All of them had dry white hair, muddy eyes, and red and purple skin.

What had happened here?

Why were they here in this creepy cave and why had they turned into zombies!? They all had to have been closer to the center of this than me, so how could this have happened!?

I didn’t understand anything anymore.

I didn’t want to believe the scene before my eyes.

“Jinnai-san?”

The Sunekosuri was saying something, but I wasn’t listening.

I got up without thinking. I slowly moved my head toward them. If I could go to them, dispel this strange mirage, and prove this scene was a lie…

As I started to stand up, the small Youkai bit the back of my hand.

“Jinnai Shinobu! Stop this! Are you trying to sacrifice yourself!?”

''But…

''I can’t let this be real…

“Refusing to face reality will save no one. If you are defeated, what will happen to the Zashiki Warashi you brought with you!?”

“————”

Those words finally focused my mind on reality.

Fortunately, the zombies had yet to notice me, so I got back down as if I had suddenly remembered the situation.

''That’s right.

No matter how cruel the world got and no matter how overwhelming the scenes before my eyes, I had been willing to part ways with Nagisa over this.

I couldn’t end this by giving up and leaving the Zashiki Warashi all alone!

I clenched my teeth.

I could only wait for them to pass.

But…

“Gau.”

The shaking of the cage seemed to squeeze at my heart.

''You Good-for-Nothing!! Do you have something against me!? You haven’t forgiven me for dropping you down those stairs, have you!? You’re pretty conceited for a zombie!!

My uncle and Hishigami Enbi coldly turned their heads.

Their feet came to a stop.

While lying on the ground, I slowly reached for some of the shockingly light wood used for the shack. It was really only charcoal now, so I was worried it would break in two the instant I hit something with it.

But after listening to the sound of the cage shaking a few more times, the zombies seemed to lose interest. Their wet footsteps slowly moved away without setting foot in the burned-down shack.

I stayed among the black charcoal for a while, letting time pass.

I could feel my heart beating so oddly fast I was sure this was taking years off my life.

“Are they…gone?”

“Looks that way.”

I hesitantly spoke and then got up from the charcoal. I poked my head out and looked around, but my uncle and the others were nowhere to be seen.

“What happened here?”

“I-I don’t know everything either, but I think we should share what information we have.”