Asi Hell - Capítulo 13
Indeed, the circle is gathered in my hands.
"Putting aside the writer's ability, he is at least incompetent as a guide or teacher."
He completely ignored his own incompetence as a driver.
Birdmouth drove the car onto the shoulder and took the compass from my hand to check our current location. But even if we wanted to check, there was no way to do so; I'm not kidding, we're really lost this time.
"Ugh, where am I? Is this the place? Or is it here?"
"This road should resemble National Highway 16. In other words, we took the wrong road on the way, or rather, a long time ago."
Atsuko, with her keen eye, spotted the marker.
In other words—
"We should be near Yokohama by now."
Atsuko was very calm.
Yokohama?
What a long drive! It's already past eight o'clock.
"Yokohama isn't that far. Saying I took the wrong turn is just that I took one wrong turn and ended up here. So I can just turn back and get back to where I started."
Atsuko encouraged Toriguchi. The driver, who had been worried, seemed to have received a divine revelation and immediately perked up.
"Hahaha, that's right, all you have to do is turn it 180 degrees. Mr. Sekiguchi, don't glare at me like that."
After finishing his cheerful conversation, Toriguchi started the car, but with a slight turn, he drove into a small path on the right. Where was he going?
Why did you go down this alley? Weren't you going back?
"Huh? So I turned?"
"But now we've entered a side path."
The path was very narrow, lined with trees on both sides. As you went deeper, the distance between the trees became increasingly narrow, and soon the trees on both sides became as dense as a forest. There was only this one path, no matter which way you went.
"I'm telling you, you can't get back to the way you came by walking this road. Bird Mouth, you've taken the wrong path."
I have a bad feeling.
"It seems like a dead end."
All three seemed to have noticed. However, the road was too narrow, and it wasn't convenient to keep reversing, so they decided to drive forward until they could turn.
An unpleasant feeling.
It seems there's no road ahead.
Suddenly, a bright white light appeared ahead, and intense headlights shone from both sides, so bright they were blinding. The vehicle suddenly slowed down, swaying and shaking violently.
I was thrown forward due to the sudden braking and fell, hitting my buttocks.
Several figures darted out from the direction of the light, and there were several more people directly in front of them. They were police officers.
They gestured for us to stop.
Bird Mouth slammed on the brakes, and I bumped my backside again.
"Th-that is, what is that—"
Atsuko pointed ahead. I squinted in the bright light. Then, behind the police station, I saw something unbelievable—a solid object that exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression.
It was a huge box.
It is a very large box that is taller than a three-story, no, four-story building.
The building—which is definitely a building in terms of size—shows absolutely no window-like features, except for a vertically sealed window-like gap above the main entrance. The rest is all solid black cement. It's square, or rather, rectangular—no, it should be called a cube.
A huge, pure black cube, illuminated by intimidating lights, stands tall in the night sky.
An ominous sign.
The box—in front of the building was an open space that resembled a plaza. Four or five vehicles were parked there. One appeared to be a truck, and the others were mostly police cars.
There were two chimney-like pipes at the back of the box. One of them was even larger than the chimney in the bathhouse.
What exactly is this?
Before we knew it, our beat-up car was surrounded by police. There were about ten officers; we were truly surrounded. One officer peered through the driver's seat window and knocked a few times. Were they asking us to open the door or get out? Bird Mouth rolled down the window.
"Who are you? What do you want? Why are you here?"
The other party spoke in a harsh tone, as if interrogating a criminal.
"Uh, um, we're lost—"
"Lost? You couldn't possibly have driven onto such a back alley. That's too suspicious. Anyway, you all get out of the car."
I'm in trouble.
Another physician was knocking on my window, asking me to get out of the car. I looked at Atsuko, but she remained silent.
However, the security here is far too tight. Wait, could this building be a secret base of the old Imperial Army or something? No, impossible. Let alone during wartime. There's no way such a thing could exist now, and even if there were, it wouldn't be in use.
Just as I was about to open the car door, several more men ran towards me from the direction of the building. One of them recognized me as I opened the car door and exposed half of my body. He rushed over and shouted:
Hey! What are you doing here?!
It's a lumberyard.
In the midst of this unexpected tension, encountering an unexpected acquaintance was honestly quite reassuring. However, Kiba remained serious, silently walking to my side, grabbing my chest, and asking again.
"Sekiguchi, what are you doing here?"
As the saying goes, even in hell, there are gods and Buddhas to help, but at this moment, Kiba looks more like a demon from hell.
"We just got lost. My friend was driving; he took the wrong turn and ended up here."
"who is he?"
Bird Mouth was surrounded by three policemen, and he was so frightened that his face changed color and he dared not make a sound.
"He's an editor at the magazine, his name is Toriguchi, and he's a friend of mine. He's not a suspicious person."
"The magazine?"
Kiba spotted Atsuko sitting in the back seat.
"—Hmph, even Kyogoku-chan is here—that's too suspicious."
“Not suspicious at all. Putting aside Toriguchi, you know perfectly well who Atsuko and I are.”
Kiba pondered for a moment, with two men who appeared to be detectives standing behind him.
"Kiba, what are you doing? Don't forget you have no authority here. Don't try to do anything reckless. Questioning is our responsibility. Get out of the way!"
Kiba revealed an even more terrifying expression, glaring fiercely at the man who had spoken.
"Hey! Sekiguchi, are you really lost? You're not here looking around for a magazine article, are you?" Kiba asked, as if issuing a warning.
"W-What are you asking us for? We're not!"
"Okay, I understand."
Kiba finished speaking coldly, released me, and turned to the officer behind him, saying:
“These people are my friends, and I can vouch for their identities. Making a scene will only cause more trouble, so let them go back for now.”
"Put it back... What are you talking about? You have no authority here, do you understand? Whether it's suspicious or not is for us to decide. You're obstructing us, so get out of the way."
“What I mean is that questioning people who are completely unrelated is just a waste of time. What if something happens while we're wasting that time? There's no need to waste time questioning them. If these people are involved in the incident—I'm willing to take responsibility then.”
The men—mostly detectives from the Kanagawa Prefectural Headquarters of the National Police—had expressions as bitter as if they had drunk bitter tea.
"Hey, Kiba. You're just a patrol chief. Even if you overestimate yourself and try to take full responsibility, you can't. If something goes wrong, it'll be too late!"
"So what if something happens while we're wasting time here? If the Inspector General isn't qualified, how about the Inspector General? You'll be in charge then."
Kiba did not back down.
The detectives scrutinized us with the same eyes they would use to examine criminals.
I'm terrible at dealing with these situations; I can't calm down at all, and I can't stay composed, which makes me seem even more suspicious. I try my best to calm myself down, but my gaze keeps wandering around involuntarily.
The police officer's face, the detective's face, the night sky, the moon has risen.
The moon shone brightly above the square box. My gaze shifted from the moon to the building. Slowly descending along the narrow seam of the box, I saw a woman peering anxiously into the building's entrance; her face was obscured by the backlight.
Suddenly, I felt a ringing in my ears. No, this wasn't ringing; it was more like a rumbling sound, similar to the booming engine noise I'd heard in military factories.
"How long do you plan to keep this up? I don't mind, but your time is precious!"
Kiba, losing patience, roared.
"Alright, Kiba, I give in. But at least let me register their identification information."
Unable to withstand the stubbornness of Kiba, the detective's attitude finally softened.
Toriguchi produced his driver's license, and Atsuko and I gave our names and addresses. Kiba stood imposingly to one side like a demon from hell, bathed in a bright light from behind, his face completely black, looking truly terrifying like a Vajra warrior. Behind him stood an enormous, incomprehensible box, and at the entrance of the box stood a woman's figure.
The moon was still hanging in the sky.
All of this seemed like a nightmare, becoming increasingly unreal.
Kiba walked up to me and threatened me in a rare, deep voice:
“Sekiguchi, listen up. Don’t ask anything about what happened tonight. Just go home and don’t say a word about what happened here, whether you saw it or heard it. Promise me you’ll also tell that guy and Kyogoku to shut up. If you don’t keep your promise, I—I personally will not forgive you.”
The sound from the wood yard seemed to be coming from the box behind him.
We were as if we had lost the ability to think, and could only obediently follow the box's commands.
And so, August 30th, a day that left a very deep impression on me, came to an end.
(The first half is omitted)
Then, start looking for that girl.
I decided to stay at the wooden inn near the station. After settling in, I immediately went out. I had no idea who to ask. Anyway, I decided to go to the cafeteria first. I had almost no appetite, so I only ordered a bottle of wine and some grilled fish.
The mismatch between the number of seats and tables is frustrating. A table should have four chairs, but some have three, some have five. Why don't people seem to care?
When asked about the girl by the middle-aged woman who delivered the wine bottle, she indeed knew nothing about it.
The text on the menu was written very messily, crookedly and unevenly. The characters were also written in different sizes, leaving a lot of blank space.