The child's death might have been the wealthy man paving the way for his own illegitimate son.
"A sinister scheme to ensure his illegitimate child could inherit the company legitimately," Matsuda Jinpei let out a sneer after finishing the files. After all, looking at the whole thing, the only prime suspect in the child's death was the tycoon.
"The human heart." Hara Kenji stood behind the sofa, leaning on a mop and making clicking sounds of disapproval.
More vicious than a demon.
Kisaragi Chiyo had no reaction to the views expressed by the two of them; he put down the documents in his hands and instead picked up the second set.
The second owner of the villa was the president of a certain food company, who moved into the villa three years after the first tragic incident occurred.
This was a move that appeared incomprehensible to the outside world at the time. It is said that the company stocks of the president who bought the villa were plummeting on the market, having fallen to an irrecoverable point where bankruptcy was imminent.
But facing such a situation, the president made an inconceivable move, using all the remaining cash on hand to purchase this villa.
Then, within the first month after the president purchased the villa, the company's stock prices rebounded at an eerie speed, the previously severed capital chain was restored to full operation thanks to the receipt of a large investment.
But perhaps because his business was too prosperous and attracted the malice of those with ulterior motives, the president's six-month-old child was killed during a kidnapping.
However, the president's company was not affected by this incident; instead, it grew larger and larger, even expanding into exports.
The suspicious point specifically highlighted in this case was that the so-called kidnappers were merely two idle, ordinary alcoholics who lacked the capability to plan such a kidnapping event, they had accurately predicted the police's movements throughout the process.
Furthermore, the kidnappers' route was far too convenient; the nanny and the maid, who should have been watching the child, were both coincidentally absent, as if someone had deliberately sent them away.
Therefore, the police had once suspected that this was a staged case, but because the killer eventually turned himself in, the police had no choice but to close the case due to a lack of evidence.
And three days after being released from prison, those two kidnappers were caught in a brawl and died unexpectedly.
The three of them fell into a long silence upon hearing this.
The so-called suspicious questions were as obvious as they could possibly be.
In this world, aside from calculated schemes, where would all these perfectly timed accidents and coincidences come from?
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Author's Note: Thanks to all the little angels for your support, muah!
Chapter 133
Kisaragi Chiyo closed the materials he had finished reading and set them aside. He opened the notebook that Hara Kenji had thoughtfully handed to him, took out the pen clipped to it, wrote down a certain relationship on a blank page.
Crisis sacrifice? Good luck?
The reason for the question marks at the end was because Kisaragi Chiyo was not yet entirely certain, but it was not difficult to speculate that they were related to these things.
“Have you ever heard of Kumanthong?” Kisaragi Chiyo tapped her pen against her notebook, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, her eyes fixed intently on the words she had just written in her notebook.
"I've heard a little about them." Matsuda Jinpei's expression turned solemn; he knew Kisaragi Chiyo would never bring up something irrelevant without a reason.
"It's some kind of Thai sorcery, right?" Hara Kenji rested his hands on the mop, his chin resting on the back of his hands. Behind him, eighteen tentacles continued their cleaning work diligently.
Although eighteen tentacles were not his limit, they were just enough to keep him from feeling his energy drain too quickly.
“Kumanthong is a product of the fusion of sorcery and Buddhism.” Kisaragi Chiyo held her pen and drew a heavy underline beneath the words 'Sacrifice.' “In the beginning, Kumanthong made from the ashes of a child purified by Buddhist teachings was believed to have the power to grant wishes and bring good fortune.”
They generally come from children who died prematurely or in accidents.
"That is quite a coincidence." Matsuda Jinpei let out a cold laugh, his lips curling upward, a cold light reflecting in his teal irises.
The first owner and the second owner both had children who died in accidents.
"As for whether it was truly an accident or an intentional one.." Hara Kenji drew out his words, his gaze falling upon the small, square basement within the fireplace wall.
"However, this shouldn't be a Kumanthong, but rather a similar type of sacrifice." Kisaragi Chiyo sighed softly, resting one hand on his own wrist, his fingertips rubbing the veins on the inner side of his wrist. He had originally thought the house spirit might be a bad guy, but looking at it now, the other party seemed to be a victim of all this.
As for the Zashiki Warashi, you've all probably heard of them, right?
I've heard of them," Hara Kenji said, looking somewhat puzzled, "but you mentioned Kumanthong; how is that related to the Zashiki Warashi?
“It would be more accurate to say they are somewhat related.” Kisaragi Chiyo's hand tightened slightly, her nails leaving a distinct red mark on the inside of her wrist. She subconsciously rubbed it and pulled her sleeve down to hide the small movement.
“Actually, I didn't come to Tokyo solely because of the relocation fee.” After a long silence, Kisaragi Chiyo suddenly blurted out this completely non sequitur remark.
"Hmm?" Hara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei both turned to look at her at the same time. Being familiar with Kisaragi Chiyo, they easily detected a hint of tension beneath the young woman's attempt at a calm expression.
Let me guess?
“Do you have another little secret to tell us?” Hara Kenji let out an "oh" and winked at him.
He looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a smile, using a rather lighthearted tone to stop the words the young man was about to say.
If possible, how about we have a good chat while eating some little cookies and drinking coffee?
".. Alright." Gazing into those gentle, dark purple eyes of the evil spirit, Kisaragi Chiyo dazed for a second before nodding.
*
The cookies baked by Hara Kenji were truly delicious.
Kisaragi Chiyo held a cup of hot coffee with chocolate sauce and milk; after taking a light sip and setting it down, her initial nervousness gradually faded in the cozy atmosphere, which felt like any other sun-drenched afternoon.
Everything began from the very start, even before Kisaragi Chiyo arrived in Tokyo.
I had heard something before I arrived.." Kisaragi Chiyo looked at Matsuda Jinpei, organizing her words. "The weaker the yokai, the more sensitive they are to danger; they have their own special ways of conveying messages.. much like dandelions scattered by the wind, they can quickly spread in all directions.
"You want to talk about that matter, don't you?" Noticing the young man's gaze fall upon him, Matsuda Jinpei subconsciously shrugged his shoulders. Behind him, at the position of his shoulder blades, a brief sensation of phantom pain and itching would occasionally occur.
Unlike Hara Kenji, who liked to take his tentacles out to let them breathe, Matsuda Jinpei rarely let his wings out.
"Regarding the experiments on stitching monsters together." Matsuda Jinpei lowered his eyes, one hand pressing against his right shoulder, his teal eyes staring blankly at Kisaragi Chiyo's pale fingertips, which held a faint hint of pink.
Yes." Kisaragi Chiyo nodded and continued, "I got the news from Wind-That.. Wind is a social type of minor yokai; they float year-round in misty places, no news within the wind can be hidden from them.
"So you decided to come to Tokyo after receiving the news, at that time, did you already know that the mastermind behind this was the person you were looking for?" Hara Kenji looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a somewhat complex expression, not for any other reason, but simply because he felt her decision was somewhat reckless.
The young man's grandmother, the Oboshima shrine maiden, didn't even stand a chance against him; so how much certainty could Kisaragi Chiyo have, going all alone?
"No, I didn't know back then." The disapproving gaze caused Kisaragi Chiyo to instinctively straighten her back.
I was just thinking of coming to investigate the news, plus, among the settlement fees Morofushi Takaaki provided, the prices in the Tokyo area were the highest, I also wanted to see if I could recruit a few strong Paper Shikigami while I was at it..
Well, in truth, the relocation fee was the decisive factor in Kisaragi Chiyo's decision, but there is no need to be quite that blunt about it.
"Are there great yokai in Tokyo too?" Hara Kenji asked curiously. He had almost beaten.. visited every restless neighbor in the vicinity, yet he hadn't found anyone with combat power exceeding his own.
"There are a few good ones." Kisaragi Chiyo had done her homework before coming, listing them one by one in her notebook in order.
Spider Woman, Faceless One, Grudge Fox, Corner Creature..
"But you were still the first one to choose me." Hara Kenji rubbed his chin, looking at Kisaragi Chiyo with a smile and squinted eyes, his expression appearing somewhat smug.
"Because your danger level is relatively low." Kisaragi Chiyo paused as she spoke, thinking of the tentacles that had occupied the entire hallway and ceiling in the Hazama, the countless eyes that had opened in the darkness.. Even now, recalling that scene, she still couldn't forget that hair-raising sensation.
“Of course, only on the surface,” the young man added, glancing at the Evil Spirit.
"Is that a compliment? That counts as a compliment, right?" Hara Kenji seemed to only care about that, he curled his two tentacles into a heart shape toward Kisaragi Chiyo with a smile.
"That notebook.." Matsuda Jinpei hesitated, as if wanting to say more. Of course, he had not forgotten; that notebook also contained records regarding his own legends.
[Nameless Shrine]
I'll just say it straight then," Kisaragi Chiyo was not actually good at being honest with others. He slapped his forehead hard and leaned back, his entire body sinking into the sofa, as he said in a somewhat self-abandoning tone, "I actually approached you all with an ulterior motive.
I want to subdue Hara Kenji to be my Paper Shikigami, as for you, Matsuda Jinpei..
Kisaragi Chiyo lifted the hand covering her eyes, her misty-gray eyes looking at the calm Matsuda Jinpei.
He looked into the other's eyes, attempting to find disappointment within them.
But Kisaragi Chiyo failed; that emotion simply wasn't there. Whether it was Matsuda or Hara, they both acted as if they were listening to a common, heartwarming bedtime story.
There was no resentment, no anger.
“My original purpose was for [Sculpting],” Kisaragi Chiyo said, pursing her lips uncomfortably. “Which is to say, that bronze mirror it left behind.”
An abandoned shrine, a god long since vanished.
And that bronze mirror, as the former vessel of a deity, retained an aura sufficient to ward off and seal away evil things.
I only knew that the Susu Shrine had been abandoned, but I didn't expect it to be the Nameless Shrine.
Kisaragi Chiyo had not connected the two when she saw the Nameless Shrine, assuming it was merely a minor deity newly born from human willpower, until that story belonging to [Sculpture] was told by Matsuda Jinpei.
Only then did Kisaragi Chiyo realize that the thing she was searching for had already found a new master.
The residual power chose Matsuda Jinpei.
"So your fallback option is to win me over?" Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow, staring at Kisaragi Chiyo's face, his thoughts unreadable.
"You're very certain that I won't give up on Hara," Matsuda Jinpei said in a certain tone.
He probably understood Kisaragi Chiyo's thoughts back then; thinking about his own hesitation before he had proactively come to her, he realized now that Kisaragi Chiyo was likely even more eager than he was for him to become a part of this family.
"Why choose to say this now?" Matsuda Jinpei was somewhat puzzled, because if Kisaragi Chiyo hadn't spoken up about these things, they might never have known what she was thinking at that time.
Kisaragi Chiyo twiddled her fingers, remained silent for a moment, then brought the topic back to the main subject.
I mentioned Kumanthong and Zashiki Warashi before," Kisaragi Chiyo said, tapping the two reports. "And this method of sacrifice could be described as a combination of the two.
By using the bodies of children who died prematurely or by accident as sacrifices to create statues, in order to make them dedicate themselves entirely to bringing wealth to this household, a formation was set up to suppress and imprison them within the formation's eye.
But why did those people die, why did they kill each other?
"Because someone released them." Kisaragi Chiyo still remembered those damaged paper charms in that small basement.
When the formation used to suppress the Child Spirit Statues loses its effectiveness, that is the moment they begin their revenge.
Once the Child Spirit Statues have killed, they will not be satisfied with peace; they will begin to hunt proactively.
And Kisaragi Chiyo was the next prey they had selected.
If Kisaragi Chiyo had entered alone, she might have faced a bitter struggle with the Child Spirit Statue. But the Child Spirit Statue likely hadn't expected that the prey it had set its sights on would be followed by a powerful and terrifying Evil Spirit. With Matsuda also moving into the back door, the Child Spirit Statue was rendered completely silent, hiding away on the third floor.
As for the patterns on the ceiling, they were likely the Child Spirit Statue refusing to give up on its prey, preparing to strike once Kisaragi Chiyo was alone.
But little did he expect that this wait would last until now.
As for why those people were killing each other, it was because they had fallen into the illusions created by the Child Spirit Statue.
Blinded by illusions, they see the familiar people around them as monsters or enemies. Or, through illusions, they sow discord, causing people to view one another with suspicion and doubt.
After all, once suspicion arises, the conviction is already established.