Chapter 37

2. The God Holding Down the Lid

There was a smell of grass.

The scent of grass, burned and smoked.

It wasn't the season for field burning, so it was probably the grass and trees on the mountain scorched by the sun. I thought it smelled like the countryside.

The old car carrying me creaked to a stop.

I heard the front driver's door open, then another sound next to me, followed by a wave of warm, stifling air like someone exhaling.

"I'm taking it off."

The sweat made the handcuffs slip off, and my vision cleared.

The grasslands and the darker green mountains were framed by the van's window.

Kiruma shoved the handcuff key into his suit pocket. His dress shirt and suspenders were stained with sweat, darkening in patches.

"Aren't you hot?"

"If I take it off, I'll stand out."

"Wouldn't dressing like that make you stand out even more?"

Just as I was about to say that, I noticed a black, solid mass of iron hidden beneath Kiruma's jacket.

So if I tried to run, he'd shoot me with that.

I pretended not to notice and got out of the car.

"Where the hell is this place?"

"Why do you think we went through the trouble of blindfolding you?"

The still heat clung to my neck, making it feel like I was carrying a feverish person on my back.

Air flowed in from the forest, its color more black than blue.

It smelled like something was burning. I wanted to believe someone had just lit a fire somewhere, but I knew better.

This was the smell of animal fat burning.

The wind was coming down from the mountain. The forest, distorted by heat haze, looked like it was covered in a pale yellow film.

As we entered the dense forest, the heat intensified.

A few steps ahead, sweat dripped from Kiruma's nape and splashed against his suit collar.

"Hey, what exactly is Territorial Divine Offenses?"

I figured he'd ignore me, but Kiruma turned and shot a sharp glance over his shoulder.

"They were discovered from the late Meiji to early Taisho periods. With the development of transportation and communication networks, entities that had only been known deep in remote regions came to light. One reason was that people began relying more on science than faith and started questioning the nature of gods."

"Don't make it complicated. I barely finished compulsory education."

His upturned eyes opened slightly.

"Basically, there are beings all over the place that do things science can't explain. Think of them as more vicious versions of the monsters in old folktales. They're feared and revered as gods."

"So gods are like old men who live in the mountains or something?"

"They don't have fixed forms. Some look human, some are like single giant doors, some have no form at all."

As Kiruma spoke, there was a rattling sound like a poorly fitted door shaking.

I thought there might be a shack nearby, but the black, misty forest stretching out on both sides had no houses or signs of people.

"Something wrong?"

"No..."

I wiped my sweat and played it off.

"If they've been around that long, why not just leave them alone? They're not that harmful, right?"

"They're not beings you can judge by simple good or evil, but I wouldn't say they're harmless either."

Kiruma looked away from me and stared at the trees twisted like an old man's joints.

"An entire village was wiped out once."

"So even if the culprit isn't human, you still go after them if someone dies. Tough job for a civil servant."

Bang—a loud sound. Like someone slammed a door in frustration. There's no way Kiruma, standing so close, didn't hear it.

I decided to pretend I hadn't heard anything either.

Just when I thought the forest might go on forever, the view opened up.

A dull brown river ran through the village center, with a rusted red-painted bridge carelessly laid across it. At the end was a bus stop with a tin roof.

Behind it were a few old buildings. The banners for day-trip hot springs stood sparsely, stained with dirt and rain.

It was a worn-out rural town that seemed to have given up on both jobs and tourism.

"We're heading to the town hall."

Kiruma pointed to the far side of the bridge with his chin. Though the area was surrounded by forest and close to the mountains, it wasn't cool at all. If anything, it felt even hotter.

As we passed the bus stop, I saw the words "Abandoned Mine" on a rusted, chipped circular sign.

"A mine...?"

Just as I muttered that, a black shadow flickered at the edge of my vision.

It wasn't just backlit—it was black all over, like it had been coated in tar.

I made sure not to turn around. If I didn't look directly at it, maybe it wouldn't exist.

The town hall looked like a cardboard box—completely devoid of charm in both color and shape.

Inside, a blast of cold air and the smell of dust hit us.

Probably to save on costs, the reception area was dimly lit and resembled a morgue.

"I'm Kiruma from the prefectural police. We're here to ask a few questions. Could you get the person in charge?"

Kiruma pulled out his badge and showed it to the woman at reception.

"Prefectural police?"

I couldn't help but ask, and got jabbed in the side.

"Um, and this person is...?"

The woman's gaze wasn't on the police badge—it was fixed on me.

Kiruma averted his eyes after a beat. So he hadn't come up with any excuse at all.

I took a breath and slouched toward the woman's face, trying to look as shady and incomprehensible as possible.

"I'm the one who reported it, alright? I came to make sure you people weren't just gonna cover it up among yourselves."

The woman made a clearly displeased face and said, "Please wait a moment," before stepping away.

After she left, I got a tap on my hunched back.

"How did you know there was a report?"

"I didn't. Just figured that in a closed-off place like this, they wouldn't bring in outsiders unless someone from the outside tipped them off."

Kiruma let out a sigh of mixed exasperation and admiration.

"I wondered how someone like you could fool people, but now I kind of get it."

"Glad to hear it."

The woman returned with an old man in a matching three-piece suit.

Despite the air conditioning, a thick, lukewarm breeze drifted through the room.

Kiruma and I sat across from the old man in the lounge.

"To think someone from the prefectural police would come all this way. I don't think it's that serious... Is this the person who reported it?"

After rattling off his words, the old man looked at me.

"My granny was the one who called it in. Her legs are bad, so I came in her place."

Kiruma glared at me. That was his signal to keep my mouth shut from here on.

"According to the report, someone saw a suspicious black figure moving in and out of the village recently."

When Kiruma asked, the old man looked away awkwardly.

"Well, we don't really keep track of who comes and goes in the village..."

Kiruma stood up and lowered the window blinds.

"I'm a detective who handles 'those kinds of cases.' I've dealt with things you wouldn't believe. Please, tell us everything."

The old man smoothed down his white hair.

"Did you know there used to be a mine here?"

"Yeah, I heard it was shut down during the economic boom due to mining damage or something."

"That's the official story. But the truth is different. It's about that shadow."

A single black droplet ran down the white blinds, absorbed the dust gathered in the folds, and dropped to the floor. I heard the sound of the droplet hitting the linoleum.

"At first, it was just a migrant miner claiming he saw something strange. We didn't take it seriously, but soon villagers started reporting it too."

"Specifically?"

"Well, how should I put it... It's about the size and shape of an adult human. But its outline is blurry, and its entire body is black like it's been dipped in ink. It drips fluid as it walks and then vanishes somewhere."

"Any actual harm?"

"No harm exactly, but it's creepy. You can tell it's something you're not supposed to see."

The air conditioning roared as it sent out wind.

The stirred cold air spread, clashing with the humidity and heat.

"They seemed to be coming from the mountain. Right after the mine closed, when the men climbed the mountain to identify the shadow, they found a large round hole at the summit. From the bottom of the hole, black dust resembling the shadow was spewing out."

"And then?"

"It's shameful, considering we have a mine, but we processed iron sourced from elsewhere into a lid and covered the round hole. Then, we had the priest from the old shrine in the village perform a purification ritual."

The old man paused between his words.

"No sightings of the shadow since then?"

"Correct. However, I've heard that recently, some people in the village have seen it again."

"Any idea why?"

"I believe the lid has aged. Perhaps it's been worn down over time, and sometimes we hear rattling sounds coming from the mountain."

"No other countermeasures besides the lid?"

"I wouldn't call it a countermeasure, but we are holding down the lid in another way. As I mentioned earlier, the shrine in our village is tied to a rather unique guardian god..."

The old man made a gesture of spreading his hands.

Fluid scattered from the black hands mimicking the gesture behind him, splattering across the desk.

That was the limit.

I stood up, nearly kicking the desk, and rushed out of the lounge.

I ran down the hallway. Damp footsteps followed me.

A woman at the reception desk I passed looked at me.

The hot air outside the government office wrapped around me. Heat rose up from my throat.

I bent over and vomited.

My throat muscles trembled as bile spilled onto the hot asphalt, splashing and steaming.

I remembered I hadn't eaten anything since morning.

As I dry-heaved a few more times, a single droplet fell onto the stain at my feet.

It didn't just darken the soil color—it was black from the start.

Something like a half-cooked human stood there. Black fluid seeped from its exposed gums, mixing with its melting jaw as it dripped down.

Don't look. If I look, I'll have to admit it's real.

"Vanished!"

The shadow disappeared the moment the voice rang out.

When I looked up, Kiruma, who had chased after me, was staring down at me in shock.

"You were throwing up?"

"It's nothing serious. Probably just heatstroke or something..."

A loud clatter rang by my ear, and I instinctively jumped back.

Kiruma supported my shoulder, still wearing a puzzled expression.

At that moment, I ended up looking straight at the mountain.

Two massive arms jutted out from beneath the edge of a cumulonimbus cloud, driven into the summit.

I could see the veins beneath the skin. The arms trembled, bulging with blood vessels as if desperately trying to hold something down.

I wanted to believe I hadn't seen it, but it was too late.

Lying won't help.

I know that. But if I don't lie, I won't survive.