Chapter 104

2. The ●●● God

My hand holding the photo trembled.

I know him. He was shown to me by the Slumbering God.

A man who had collapsed in a pool of blood in the ruins beyond the sturdy bamboo fence. Dark-skinned with a solid build. In the hallucination, his messy bangs were slicked back, but there's no mistake.

No, even before that—I already knew him.

"Are you okay, Miyaki?"

Katagishi's voice brought me back to myself. My own voice, replying "I'm fine," sounded like someone else's.

"I thought there might be a connection because he has the same last name as you."

"Yes... that's true. I feel like I know him, even though I shouldn't... Was he an investigator during the countermeasure headquarters days?"

Katagishi looked at me with concern and continued slowly.

"This might sound weird, but the area around his mouth kinda looks like yours."

My heartbeat pounded like a stake had been driven into my chest. My grip on the photo tightened, cracking its sepia-toned surface. When I let go, the photo dropped onto the table, still warped.

I wiped the powder off my hand with a cloth and steadied my breathing.

"Katagishi-san, there's something I want you to see."

"What is it?"

"Something passed down from my grandfather. I won't force you. I don't even know what's inside..."

"I'll take a look."

Katagishi spoke gently, as if to calm me. I took out the envelope and, like drawing a sword from its sheath, pulled out the documents inside.

What appeared were just a few sheets of copy paper—so thin it was anticlimactic. I unfolded the pages and laid them out so Katagishi could see them too.

The first page was a map of Tokyo. Place names were marked with arrows and scribbles in red pen.

The Garden-Taking God: Arakawa Ward, December 21, Year 96," "The Hollow-Ferrying God: Edogawa Ward, January 15, Year 99," "The Assigned God: Adachi Ward, June 23, Year 102.

"Are these records of Territorial Divine Offenses appearing in Tokyo...?"

"Considering the dark numbers from prior investigations, there are probably a lot more."

I licked my dry lips. Even though at least three gods had been confirmed, we hadn't been informed of anything.

The next page was a copy of washi paper, dotted with stains like insect marks. It looked like an ancient tome. Beside the illegible brush characters, there were annotations in ballpoint pen.

Current God (Utsutsu God?) No record in countermeasure headquarters. Needs verification by the special investigation division.

We silently turned the page.

Mihara Ryoko, On the Practicality of the God Who Is There

"Mihara-san, she was an investigator at the countermeasure headquarters, right?"

"Looks like a report written by the woman in the photo."

What I could vaguely decipher was that several experiments had been conducted on the door-shaped Territorial Divine Offense, but none had yielded results.

The text was full of cryptic characters and erratic numbers, making it hard to interpret. Among the listed test subjects, one name looked familiar.

Kirima Renjiro - After entry and exit, slight memory impairment. Perception of reality is unstable. Possibly influenced by a god.

"Kirima-san..."

The next line contained another unfamiliar name.

Uyuu Sadahito - No abnormalities. The God Who Is There may only exert its unique effect once per day.

Considering the memory impairments observed in previous test subjects, it is believed the God Who Is There possesses the authority to alter memory or reality. Needs further verification.

"So this is a god held by the Ministry of Divine Affairs..."

"Why did my grandfather want me to know about this?"

When I gripped the envelope, another sheet stuck inside peeled off and fell. The print was even rougher and yellowed.

I carefully smoothed out the wrinkles to avoid tearing it. In the center, a copied photo had been pasted.

The narrow frame suggested it was taken secretly from inside a car. It showed the streets and crowds of Tokyo. The focus was on two people in the crowd.

On the left was a man named Miyaki who had appeared in the photo from the countermeasure headquarters. Someone I should know—someone I had forgotten.

I couldn't tell who the person on the right was at first glance. The man I knew always had his bangs up, his expression and clothes neat. This man wore a wrinkled aloha shirt, his bedhead unkempt, and was gaunt—hard to connect the two.

But without a doubt, this was Kirima-san. The photo was quite old, but he hadn't changed at all.

My eyes were glued to the writing beneath the photo.

The name "Kirima Renjiro" was linked to the tall, sun-tanned man. And to the right of the Kirima I knew, it said "Uyuu Sadahito."

Katagishi let out a voice.

"What the hell? The guy on the left is Miyaki, and the one on the right is Kirima-san, right? They look really different from how they do now though..."

My head burned. It was like the charred scar in my memory had reignited. The current Kirima-san resembled that man. No—he was made to resemble him.

"Miyaki, are you okay? You look pale."

Katagishi's outstretched hand smelled of cigarette smoke. In my childhood memory, a hand with the same scent once patted my head. When I looked up, I remembered being completely enveloped in the shadow of a tall figure. I remembered his awkward smile, the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Dad..."

"Miyaki!"

A searing heat—not an illusion—flared in my fingertips, and I dropped the paper as if it had burned me. The sheet on the table ignited in an instant. Katagishi quickly doused it with a glass of water. The charred remains shriveled up, releasing black smoke.

A female clerk rushed over.

"Is everything all right?"

Katagishi covered the smoldering remains with his palm, answering in my place since I couldn't speak.

"Sorry, I just dropped my cigarette."

The woman glanced at us anxiously, then walked away.

Katagishi, his face pale, looked at me.

"Miyaki, your hand..."

My fingertips were red and swollen, the tips of my nails warped from the heat. I barely felt the heat or pain. My mind was a mess.

A strangled laugh escaped my throat on its own.

"Was it the work of the Kindling God...? Because I tried to remember..."

Katagishi soaked a cloth in ice water and wrapped it around my fingers.

"Just cool it down for now."

"Thank you..."

"...Miyaki, what did you remember?"

I gripped the cloth. The pain from the burn arrived late.

"The man in the photo—I think he's my father."

"What? I thought he disappeared before you were born."

"That's what I thought too. But I definitely remember him. Why did I forget until now...?"

The pain throbbed steadily. Why hadn't Kirima-san told me until now?

Katagishi reached for a cigarette, then stopped.

"So if Miyaki's your father... then Kirima-san is... Wait, is your father Kirima? No, this is too confusing."

I understood the words hidden behind his bitter smile. If that man was my father, then who is the current Kirima Renjiro? Why has Kirima been using my father's name and deceiving me all this time? Why did my father disappear?

"Was my father erased by something like the Kindling God or the Unseen God?"

Katagishi lowered his gaze. He probably wanted to say it wasn't a god, but a human. I understood too. I just didn't want to believe it.

I steadied my breathing and set down the damp cloth. The shop's heater sharpened the pain.

"I want to uncover the truth. About the Territorial Divine Offenses in Tokyo, about my father, and about Kirima."

"I get how you feel. But what if something like this happens again..."

"I've already been targeted by the Kindling God. There's no running now. I'll be fine. I'll look into Sumida and Fukagawa too while I'm at it."

After a long silence, Katagishi spoke with resolve.

"I'll come with you. I'm done being left out in the dark. Maybe I'll find out about Misaki too."

The smell of burning still lingered from the seat.