Qi lässt sich leicht weitergeben

Kapitel 60

April 30, 1947 (Showa 26) <Celestial Maiden Reincarnation>

July 30, 1947 (with a pale face)

October 30, 1947 (Showa 26) <Dancing Wonderland>

May 30, 1948 (Showa 27) <The Lord of the Hot Spring Village>

August 30, Showa 27<dazzled

"As the author, you should understand this immediately. The previous paragraph describes the order in which the works were published in the magazine. However, as Ms. Koizumi mentioned in her letter, the order in which <With a Pale Face> was completed was earlier than <The Reincarnation of the Celestial Maiden>; further considering the order in which they were started, <Dancing Wonderland> was earlier than <Pale>. I've heard you mention these details before, and her insights are correct, as you, the writer, are surely well aware of them. Now—if I were to offer my personal opinion, I think it might be better to read your works in the following order. Of course, this is just a suggestion."

The next section is also a list of my works, but in a slightly different order.

Taisho to early Showa period—childhood <with a pale face>

Around 1955 – Childhood <The Old Man of the Hot Spring Village>

Portrait of E.B.H. (1945 - Youth)

Showa 15 (1941) - Student Days <Mocking Teachers>

Showa 17 (1941) - Wartime <The Horse of Ideology>

Showa 20 - End of the War <Tenjō Reincarnation>

Showa 22 - Post-war <Dancing Wonderland>

Showa 27 – Present <Dizziness>

"In what order are these arranged?"

"Come on, isn't it clearly written above? This is the chronological order within the works. Although the style of your works is distorted on the surface, they are essentially personal novels. You can almost tell at a glance which period of your experiences each story describes. <With a Pale Face> is probably a story based on your childhood traumatic experiences, while <The Reincarnation of a Celestial Maiden> is set in Jiaoshang during the end of the war. The general time periods are all conceived. So I arranged them in this order."

"Uh-huh."

That's exactly right. This arrangement is indeed very smooth. I never thought of such a straightforward arrangement before.

They only paid attention to the writing period and the order of serialization.

"Internal time is a very subjective thing, so it can't really be considered a chronological order. Therefore, the order I listed may not be correct. In short, this is just a trivial matter, and you can just ignore it if you think I'm being too fussy."

"No, how could it be lost? I think this is the most ideal arrangement right now. You've done me a huge favor."

"That's good."

After Kyogoku-do answered with an even colder attitude, he stared at the list of Kiyono roster I had taken out and fell silent again.

Soon after, Natsume and Toriguchi arrived.

The living room was taken over by our group of weirdos.

"Kyogoku, save yourself the trouble and get started."

Xia Mujin kept urging him on. He was in a good mood today.

Kyogoku-do reluctantly began to speak:

"Then why did you choose today to meet? What do you want me to do if you say you're starting?"

"What nonsense are you spouting now? Weren't you the one who said you'd report to us what happened after that day?"

I was so excited I blushed a little. I was incredibly eager to hear the conclusion.

It was rare for Natsume to stand by my side.

“That’s right, you did say that. You also said that we could decide the date ourselves, so I decided on my own. You probably thought I didn’t like to listen to you and that Xiao Guan had a bad memory, so it was okay to just say it casually, right? I won’t let you get away with it.”

Kyogoku-do let out a deep sigh.

“I never intended to cover this up. I did say that. But I originally said it to avoid the date, and now you're all gathered together. I have something else to tell you. Well then, just report to me first.”

After saying that, Kyogoku-do sighed again, as if he really hated it.

I started with my report from the day before yesterday. Since Natsuki had already gone to bed, I ended up giving the entire report. I described the encounter with Kubo, my conversation with Yoriko, and Kimie's words. Although there were many dialogues that only Natsuki understood, I didn't specifically explain them. Torikochi burst out laughing when he heard the part about the Kamekami, and Kyogoku-do also gave a wry smile. Natsuki got up.

"However, looking back, I should say that the Monkey God is more convincing, and I'm already reflecting on that. But at the time, I really thought the tortoise was better."

He said it very seriously.

"Speaking of which, Brother Xia, you were absolutely right about the appearances of those husbands of Kusumoto Kimie. Did you really see them?"

I really want to know the truth about this.

"Yes, I see it. I see an old photo on that tea cabinet. And next to it is a yellowed newspaper clipping with an old man wearing glasses in it."

"Huh?"

"However, the photo is too small to tell if she's bald or injured, so I just made something up. I was just guessing which one is which. There were names on the clipping, but of course I couldn't remember them, so I didn't mention them. I think maybe that woman became sentimental before she committed suicide, which is why she took out the photo to reminisce."

So that's what you saw with your own eyes?

"What? It was a scam!"

"It's not a scam, she really is thinking about those three people."

"The pass, it doesn't matter which one it is. As long as Brother Xia's strategy succeeds, isn't that enough?"

"Strategy? Is that Tortoise God a strategy?"

I didn't notice at all.

"What? Sekiguchi, so you report to me, yet you can't even see this little thing yourself? You really are a completely untrustworthy narrator. Everyone who listens to you will shake their heads and sigh! This is a rare and brilliant trick of Detective Natsuki that will get applause and cheers."

But I still didn't know what effect it had. I asked him, swallowing my pride.

"Did you know? Sekiguchi, Kusumoto Kimie lost her will to commit suicide because she started to believe in the spirit medium Mikoto. Of course, partly it was because she developed a distrust of Mikoto, and partly it was because she was worried about her daughter, so she couldn't care less about her original intention to commit suicide."

"ah."

Indeed, Junzhi's expression changed drastically after that, and she immediately went out to look for Laizi. If we had left without saying anything, there was no guarantee she wouldn't actually commit suicide. Even if we had tried to stop her on the spot, it wouldn't have mattered, since we couldn't possibly monitor her indefinitely.

"By the way, Brother Xia, what did you see behind Lai Zi back then?"

"I saw pimples, and that weird man."

"Kubo—this is bad. So, did they find Raiko later?"

We don't know.

"Yeah--"

Kyogoku-do once again held his head in his hands, troubled.

Where do pimples appear?

"Take this."

Xia Mujin grabbed my neck, pulled me to his side, and poked my back with his index finger to indicate a location.

"Probably this area."

That's the area below the seventh cervical vertebra, near the thoracic vertebrae. So it's not really considered the neck anymore; it's more accurate to say the upper back than the back of the neck.

Kyogoku-do watched intently.

"And what about you, Bird Mouth—what happened?"

The conversation suddenly turned to Torikochi. Natsume pushed me away.

"I've been waiting for a long time."

Bird Mouth seemed quite energetic because it was finally his turn.

"Finding the first believer was really difficult. The list of believers was basically arranged by the Japanese syllabary, and many parts were quite random, so it didn't help at all in finding the first believer. So I went to ask the doll dealers who frequented the doll shop. But even if these dealers weren't as fierce as the believers, most of them were either friends of believers or their masters were believers, so everyone was very wary and wouldn't reveal any information. So I went in other directions, and this time I was very successful. I was almost certain who the first believer was."

Why do you say "almost"?

Kyogoku-do didn't speak, so I asked.

"Since I can't confirm with him personally, I'm not sure what his name is either. Aren't there accessories like oxcarts and large square boxes for the Girls' Day dolls? The first believer was a craftsman who specialized in painting these accessories, and his name was something like Yamauchi or Yamaguchi. At that time, Terada Woodworking also contracted to make these kinds of decorative accessories. The previous generation's skills were poor, and they didn't know how to make these kinds of handicrafts. However, Hei's hands were very dexterous, so he also took on this kind of work. The work ratio was about half iron boxes, half wooden boxes, and a small amount of handicrafts. He was a customer who made handicrafts."

Why is the name uncertain?

"Because everyone just calls him by his nickname, A-Yan. The other direction I'm referring to is those who move materials like timber into the box houses, or manufacturers of metal processing machines. They have no direct connection to the doll industry and know A-Yan through Terada Woodworking. Apart from having the chance to meet him in the box houses, they have no other contact. This group of people gradually drifted apart after the box houses became the Mihako-no-Kami. However, they probably still frequently came and went from the box houses at the beginning, so I guess they must have heard some rumors."

"This is a very insightful perspective."

Kyogoku-do praised it.

"But if you don't even know the name, there's no way to tell if it's real or fake, Bird Mouth."

"The name is not important."

Kyogoku-do, still wearing a sour face, bluntly rejected my pursuit of Toriguchi's case.

"Then?"

"That man—I forgot to mention, he's a man, let's just call him Yamaguchi for now. Yamaguchi accidentally injured a child, which caused a rift between him and his wife, and she ran away. After that, he was very disheartened. But for some reason, Yamaguchi kept receiving encouragement from Hyōe. That taciturn and unfriendly person actually encouraged people—so everyone was very surprised."

Do you think Heibe encouraged him?

"Yes, encourage him, instead of using some kind of incredible magic. It's similar to that kind of psychotherapy that's popular in the US."

Have you heard about the specific incentive method?

“I’ve heard about it. A lot of people were talking about it back then, saying that the wooden figure was talking nonsense. It seems that Heibei said something like this: ‘Asan, I will seal your misfortune in a box. Don’t be discouraged anymore. Cheer up soon. Although the child’s injury can’t be fully restored, time will heal everything’—something like that. Mr. Chuzenji, what do you think?”

"It's a very common form of encouragement. It has nothing to do with psychic powers; it's the kind of encouragement anyone could use to fool a child. But are the people in the lumber or machinery industry who tell you this really not believers in the God of the Hakoyaki?"

“I’m sure they’re not believers. They’re all unbelievers who blow their noses with Bibles and wipe their butts with talismans. Several people remember Ah Shan, but most of them are very similar—unbelievers.”

When did this happen?

“Yamaguchi’s child was injured last January, and his wife ran away in February.”

"Uh-huh."

"In other words, Yamaguchi was encouraged by Hyōe before the Mikoto-gami dojo was built, and after the bathhouse old man found Dr. Fukurai's 'Mouryou' box. So if you ask me if he was the first believer, I really can't say for sure."

"No, that's enough. That's exactly what I want to know."

Kyogoku-do finished speaking and raised his face. Although Toriguchi was praised, he then said rather uselessly:

"However, regarding Hei's family, well—"

"Can't find any clues?"

"Yes. But I've heard something noteworthy: I've heard that there's a strange fellow among the people who frequent the box houses."