Dantalian no Shoka:Volume4 Chapter4

Special Chapter 1 - The Book of Hypnotism
Hypnotist in Trance

There were two guests sitting at the counter of the bar.

One of them was a middle-aged man.

He was wearing dirty clothes and was surrounded by a rude atmosphere. Dried-up blood stuck to the thin line in his finger ring, which might be the traces of striking someone.

The other guest was a young man who was wearing a leather frock coat.

Although his sincere features implied a good upbringing, a mysterious atmosphere enveloped him which did not expose a single unguarded spot.

While toying with his glass of lukewarm ale, the young man was absorbed in reading a book.

It was an old book that was written in the language of a country that had fallen into ruin long ago.

When the young man had read about half of the book and ordered a second glass ale,

"Hey you... quite a rare book you're reading there, eh? I bet it would reach a high price, wouldn't it?"

The brute-faced man suddenly addressed the young man.

The young man shook his head with a smile.

"It is just an old book! It's not worth that much."

"Ha, I wonder!"

With those words, the man poured a strong distilled liquor down his throat. Then, he chuckled lightly,

"Well, whatever. It's no problem to find that out. However, you seem quite versed in books. Do you know of the 'Phantom Books'?"

"Phantom Books?"

"Exactly. It's about the illusory books in which forbidden knowledge is written that should not exist in this world. That's just between the two of us, but there also seems to be a book that contains knowledge about powerful hypnotism!"

"The Book of Hypnotism...?"

"Yeah. That book seems to contain the power to instantly put any human into trance and control him, no matter how suspicious or strong-willed the target is."

He said and took out a book he had been hiding.

It was a sallow old book with a leather cover.

Looking at the puzzled young man, the man raised a laugh,

"Hyahaha, you were wary, weren't you! But it's too late. I've already finished reading this book aloud! And now let's complete the spell---"

The man opened the leather book quickly and hastily spoke some words.

Thereupon, life disappeared from the young man's face. His entire body grew stiff and he gazed into the far distance with blank eyes.

The arms of the young man, he had reflexively moved to his pocket, slackened and the object he was holding dropped to the floor.

It was a big handgun. A top-break service revolver.

The middle-aged man seemed lightly surprised,

"Whew, that guy's dangerous. Did he seriously have such a thing... but, that may be fun."

With those words, the man picked up the handgun.

Then, he handed it back to its owner.

The man pointed at the bartender and commanded the young man,

"Oi, shoot that guy there."

"......"

The hypnotised young man turned the gun wordlessly towards the bartender.

The bartender, who had been polishing a glass, contorted his face in shock.

But the young man pulled the trigger without raising an eyebrow.

A shot echoed through the small pub, upon which its master voicelessly died due to a head-shot.

Seeing the fresh blood and the grey matter flying around, the other guests that had been sitting at the tables started to scream.

The middle-aged man clicked his tongue annoyedly,

"Crumbs, don't be so loud. Oi, shoot them all to death. Don't let anyone escape."

The instant he finished talking, gunshots resounded continuously.

The hypnotised young man had killed the other four guests, one after the other.

Having seen that, the middle-aged man seemed very pleased and laughed out loud while clapping his hands.

The young man's gun can hold six bullets. Hence, there was one remaining.

"Alright, you're a bother. Blow away your own head with that. But wait until I counted to three, okay? One, two, three---!"

Right when he finished speaking, the last gunshot resounded.

The young man, who had pressed the gun against his temple, slowly collapsed with his head stained with blood. Only the man holding a book was left in the pub that had turned into a bloodbath in an instant.

"Haha, the power of those Phantom Books is awesome. Great!"

The man contently held the book aloft and raised a big laughter.

"Well then, I'm done with this place. I'll go home after picking up the purses of those killed guests."

Grasping his valuable Book of Hypnotism tightly, the man laughed once again.

"My, my... that guest again?"

The bartender, who was polishing a glass, gazed at the drunken guest and let out a sigh after that guest had suddenly burst out into a laughter.

The guest was wearing dirty clothes and was surrounded by a rude atmosphere. He was tightly grasping an old sallow book with leather cover and laughed loudly.

"Each and every evening he comes here and makes a noise while reading that strange book. He sure is a bother... He even tries to steal the purses or other possessions of the guests from time to time. Oh dear, what kinds of drinking habits to you have to have to become like that?"

The bartender seemed annoyed and grumbled to the young man who was sitting at the counter.

The other guests in the pub looked annoyed as well and gazed at the middle-aged man who didn't seem to stop laughing.

"Really?" the young man murmured. Then he said, as if he was speaking to himself,

"He seems to have a nice dream... reading the Phantom Book that puts its reader into trance."

"...eh?"

The host of the bar made a wondering face, but the young man just smiled at him and enjoyed his ale.