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Chapitre 70

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Junkong Kubo

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Why are women such creatures? ■■■■■■■■■■■■ Used to solidify the eyelids ■■■■■■■■ Mother ■■■■■■■■

It is in the order of the roster■■■■

May everything go smoothly.

To dismantle it neatly, one must [do something]. Luckily, I brought props, which allowed me to [do something].

Confirm address, leave city.

(Interrupted)

—Unable to interpret—

(continue)

Why? Why can't I do it right? Is my method terrible? I've practiced so much, yet I still can't do it. There's no reason I can't. There's no reason others can do it but I can't; I can't tolerate such an unreasonable thing. I absolutely must finish this. Ugh, so filthy. Why is it so unclean?

I hate it, I hate it, I can't do it.

Why are these unclean bodily fluids leaking out? Even when tightly bound, they keep flowing out. The boundary becomes ambiguous.

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(Interrupted)

—Unable to interpret—

(continue)

The streets are full of gaps, and everywhere you look is empty; it's truly unpleasant. Excess items should be moved to fill these gaps to maintain balance. Use strengths to tightly fill weaknesses. I often feel that it would be better to simply bury everything in plaster.

(omitted)

(continue)

I got the photos. ■■■■■■■■■■■■ Is this a revelation from fate?

After three trials, this time it went smoothly. With careful preparation, the first time will definitely be no problem.

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(Interrupted)

—Unable to interpret—

(Continue, but record outside the column)

What a terrible sow. Thanks to her, the manuscript I finally finished writing has been ruined again.

(Interrupted)

There's no time to rewrite the original manuscript, and I've failed again.

It is because the soul is corrupted that it becomes decadent. It seems that it was no coincidence that this woman was the one in the end.

Since that doctor knows, it's necessary to make the trip. Let's set off immediately to find that girl.

(Interrupted)

Kiba slowly remembered; it happened before the war, probably around 1945. He forgot whether he saw it at the Daishokan or the Kunigakuza.

The title is... yes, it's called *Frankenstein's Resurrection*. That was the first time. Actually, it's the third film in the same monster movie series starring the same actors; there were two before that, so it must have been quite successful.

I remember it was an American movie.

After the war, I forgot where I saw the first one. For Kiba, the monsters in the movie weren't scary at all. On the contrary, Kiba felt that the monsters' images overlapped with his own, which made him feel very sad.

He was a monster because he couldn't understand the language and was ugly. What made him a monster had nothing to do with his unusual origins. People judged him based on his appearance and his ability to perform.

Since that's the case, we're all in the same boat, and the monster could be wiped out if we're not careful.

These were my feelings after watching the movie.

Kiba broke his promise to Kyogoku-do yesterday.

I don't know how to deal with his theories, and I always end up agreeing with his views without even realizing it.

I don't know if his theory is sophistry or true.

Kyogoku-do probably wanted to stop Kiba from delving deeper into the incident. Although it's unclear what he was hiding or considering, Kiba didn't want to fall into his trap.

He'd run as far as he could, regardless of what lay ahead.

Kiba knew that following Kyogoku-do's advice was a wise move. Kyogoku-do always had a clear understanding of the situation. So Kiba thought that if he continued rushing forward like this, he would inevitably face a painful reality in the end.

—Who cares about all that.

Whether hell or trials await ahead, accepting this reality is the best course of action. Forget about subtle mood swings or delicate romantic feelings; Kiba doesn't understand such complicated matters.

So Kiba broke his promise and continued the search voluntarily. The fact that he didn't have a police handbook, a pistol, or arrest rope on him was very unsettling, but Kiba still possessed a tenacious physique and an inexplicable persistence.

Yesterday, Kiba went to find Kawashima Shinzo instead.

Kawashima was a friend of Kiba since before the war, and I heard that he was quite active in Manchuria during the war as a confidant of Masahiko Amakasu (note).

Note: 1891-1945. Japanese Army officer. Participated in the planning of the Mukden Incident. After the establishment of Manchukuo, he served as the chairman of the Manchukuo Film Association. Although outwardly appearing as a powerful military figure, he was also very sensitive to popular culture. During a visit to Germany, he brought back the latest film technology to Manchukuo, influencing the development of postwar Japanese film technology.

Kiba was quite close to him, but he knew nothing about the details of how Kiba became Captain Amakasu's subordinate.

Kawashima is currently producing films for a small, independent production company. However, Kiba doesn't know if his position is director or something else.

Of course, Kiba believed that Kawashima's postwar career shift to the film industry was influenced by Amakasu, but that was merely Kiba's imagination. After all, Kiba hadn't seen him for two years, and their encounter two years prior was just a brief chat on the street. They hadn't discussed work before, so Kiba only learned then that Kawashima was involved in filmmaking.

Furthermore, Kiba himself couldn't quite recall why he suddenly wanted to see Kawashima. It was something that suddenly occurred to him the night before last after a phone call with Kyogoku-do. It was probably based on a simple, straightforward association: Yoko—movies—Kawashima.

Kawashima's office is in Ikebukuro. Kiba served at the Ikebukuro police station before being transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department, so this area is considered Kiba's territory. I asked for the address two years ago, thinking we could meet anytime, but Kiba never went there. Yesterday was Kiba's first visit here.

Upon hearing Kawashima's profession, Kiba felt the worlds they belonged to were too different, and he was a little embarrassed to intrude. For Kiba, film was something to be watched, not created. The agency had a unique name: "Cavalry Film Company."

Kawashima lay alone on the sofa, seemingly quite relaxed. As soon as Kiba arrived, he immediately greeted him with his small, blinking eyes. Only his eyes were somewhat cute.

"It's you, Kiba Osamu! It's a rare sight to see you here. Please, make yourself at home."

"You still look really down, Chuanxin."

They addressed each other by nicknames.

This was a nickname given to him by Xia Mujin, which means that Chuanxin and Xia Mujin are also friends.

When Kawashima stood up, he appeared very tall; it was unclear how many feet he was, but he was certainly a towering man. His hair was shaved clean, and he always wore a military uniform—even now—always, and he also wore sunglasses, making him look even more intimidating than Kiba.

However, he has a gentle personality and is a good person.

Kawashima brings Kiba some unexpected information.

He was very familiar with Minami Kinuko's news. Not only that, he also knew a lot about Shibata Hiroya. In the past, Hiroya was a very prominent figure in the film industry.

However, he seemed unaware of Kinuko—Yoko's relationship with Hiromi.

According to Kawashima, Minami Kinuko seemed to have been blackmailed.

He said that the industry consensus was that this was the real reason for Juanzi's retirement from acting.

If Kinuko was indeed being threatened, the reason must be that incident.

But extorting Shibata was one thing, but why target Yoko? Shouldn't the Shibata family, not Yoko, be afraid of the truth being exposed? No—Hiroya was already dead at that time, so even if the truth were exposed, it wouldn't matter much to the Shibata family. Kiba felt that something about this whole thing was off.

Although everything that happened gave people this feeling—

Moreover, who is the intimidator?

Kawashima said that someone had seen an unidentified man in the studio—a threatening person—and Kawashima himself had seen him once. However, Kawashima didn't initially suspect he was a threatening person, but considering the people who had seen him, it seemed like it was him.

"That guy was very short, with a big head. He looked like a slightly chubby child with the head of Ikikawa Utaemon (Note 1). As for Kinu, everyone calls Minami Kinu. I've never worked with her, but she's a very classy girl. Although her acting is terrible. I was thinking of working with her sometime, but then she suddenly became famous, so—Kinu was walking with that brat Utaemon. Kinu looked disgusted, but Utaemon was grinning wickedly."

Note 1: 1907-1999. A famous Japanese actor. He starred in over 320 films during his career.

Kiba doesn't really like Utaemon. He only saw him in "Oedo Five Men" at the end of last year, and even then, he only watched the Sakazuma (Note 2), so he can't really remember what he looks like right now.

Note 2: 1901-1953. A famous Japanese actor. His stage name was Bando Tsumasaburo, and Tsuma was his nickname.

Besides, even if you do remember, it's probably hard to make the connection from the way the character wore a wig and costume in the movie.

As for Hiroya, he was known in the film industry as a spendthrift. He was very generous when it came to spending money, but he was also very timid and completely inept when it came to women. He claimed to be afraid of "candle disease" (Note 3), and even if a woman offered herself to him, he would turn away without touching her. When Hiroya was still alive, Kawashima didn't know him at all, but the lighting technicians at the company were very familiar with him and often listened to him talk about random things at celebration parties.

Note 3: A rumored illness. Men with this disease are said to have genitals that gradually melt like a candle. It may also be a misunderstanding of syphilis.

"Hey, in the end, having money is useless."

That middle-aged filmmaker often concluded with this.

Surprisingly, Kawashima had also heard about Mimasaka.

Kawashima said he heard it from Amakasu.

"Our country has a scientist who can create Frankenstein's monsters. The military high command doesn't believe in his abilities and always looks at him with disdain, but that's wrong. We should allocate more money to let him create an artificial army. Even if it's actually useless, it doesn't matter; this research is a golden opportunity to let the great powers know just how excellent Japan is—"

Amakasu was quite drunk at the time, so he didn't know if what he said was true or false, but he did say it at the time. The scientist's name was Mimasaka—

Kawashima said this.

—Artificial Army

Lacking scientific imagination, Kiba couldn't conceive of any concrete image.

However, he remembered seeing a movie with the same name.

So Kiba finally started to remember.

It reminds me of the kind of monster that Mimasaka wanted to create.

I remember it was a story about an artificial life form created by piecing together fragmented corpses.

—Perhaps it will be used as some kind of material.

—Perhaps the body or head will be used for something.

—If you don't think this way, there's really no reason to believe it.

Don't you need your hands and feet?

When used to create that,