The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village:Volume1 Chapter 4

Status: Incomplete

Chapter 3: Regarding the Slaughter

Part 1 (Jinnai Shinobu)

It was all over.

It was utterly and fundamentally over. There was not even the slightest hope. After all, there had never before been the slightest hint that someone like her would die!!

“U-uhh…”

The urge to vomit rose up within me. The extreme red coloration made me feel dizzy.

Even so, I could not tear my eyes away from what lay before me. They were rooted to the spot. I pointlessly tried to not make the connection between the thick smell of rusted iron and the fact that I was in the same area as a corpse.

It was in front of me.

A neck that was twisted like an old rag. A female body missing a head. I recognized that person who even now had fresh blood gushing out of her. The corpse had its face crushed and was overall melted, so it was possible it was not actually her. However, that theory did not hold here. I simply recognized too many things about her.

I recognized the beautifully manicured fingers.

I recognized the smooth line of her back.

It matched the memories in my mind so perfectly I shuddered. I could not help but shudder. She was collapsed there limply…no, her entire body was twitching as the blood flowed out like a frog leg with electrodes attached.

I managed to squeeze a voice out of the depths of my dry throat.

“Hishigami…Mai-san…?”

I may have called her name because I was hoping for a response.

Even though she had no mouth. Even though she had no head.

My legs almost collapsed underneath me, but then I realized the redness gushing out was flowing toward me. When I thought it would touch me and sully me, strength reentered my legs. And then I realized something else. I felt it would sully me because it was coming from a corpse. I no longer even thought of it as being Hishigami Mai.

And with that realization, the fear that had been numbed over by the shock came flooding in all at once.

“Ah...ah...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

I would be killed.

I would be killed if I stayed there. This was a situation where a human on her level had been easily decapitated. A normal high school student like me did not stand a chance!!

I swung my arms around and ran away.

I had no idea what I was screaming. It didn’t matter what. I needed to get out. I needed to get out of the building. I ran through a long passageway.

But I stopped partway through.

My legs refused to move any further.

A single door lay before me. It was half open and a pure red color was splattered on the other side.

Dammit! What the hell!? Dammit!! That’s my uncle! He’s supposed to be a policeman! The symbol of this country’s power! Why…Why is his neck caught in a broken window frame and his legs severed!?

He was my relative, so I did not know whether I should run over crying even though he was so horribly damaged. But the fear held me back. I could not approach. There was something wrong about the situation. He had not died due to blood loss from his legs. He had suffocated with his neck caught in the window frame. It was clear someone had wanted him to slowly suffer as he died by setting a trap he could have escaped had he been able to use his legs at all.

That mystery-loving girl had been thrown on top of a gas burner in the kitchen and Madoka was swaying back and forth as she hung like a chandelier from the ceiling by a giant fishing hook meant for catching Pacific bluefin tuna. There was simply no hope. It did not matter who had done it. I could not imagine how this could all be summarized into an individual pursuing us. It simply seemed to me that the entire hotel was enveloped by some invisible power like some massive malice or grudge.

I was going to die.

I was definitely going to die.

I could not stop my erratic breathing. I could not put together a plan. I was next. In fact, I was the only one left. So who had done this? Was there any way I could escape? In fact…

In fact…

How?

How had it ended up like this?

Part 2 (Jinnai Shinobu)

As I was eating a popsicle on the porch of our Japanese house with a thatch roof that was only any use in the winter, my overall small granny called out to me.

“Shinobu. Shinobu.”

“What is it, granny.”

“It’s a stray cat. I do not mind if it rests here, but I do not want it to start using our yard as its litter box. I tried to chase it away, but it didn’t do any good. Shinobu, could you do something about it?”

“…Granny. That isn’t a cat. It’s a Nekomata. It has two tails. Those things can be deadly, so be careful.”

Cat Youkai were not all that disliked as they were said to take vengeance for their masters, but those were romanticized tales. They had the power to kill people, so you really did have to be careful.

I put on my flip-flops and headed out to the large yard. I then cautiously approached the Nekomata that was curled up below a tree covered in rhinoceros beetles.

“Nekomata, what are you doing here?”

“Can’t you tell? Doing my best to put up with this midsummer heat. I suppose you humans wouldn’t understand with your year-round air conditioning.”

“You can cool down inside if you want, but please don’t use our yard as a litter box.”

“A lady like me would never do something like that. Anyway, that sounds nice. I was starting to feel a bit irritable, so a nice cold bath would be great. Once my mood has been refreshed, I will no longer have to worry about harming anyone.”

“You like baths? But you’re a cat.”

“I am a Nekomata.”

And so I headed for the bath with the Nekomata in my arms.

“This is quite the high-tech bath for such a rundown house.”

“My grandfather insisted we get it redone while we can because he says the house could be designated cultural property at any time. That’s why the kitchen, bathrooms, bath, heating, and cooling are all more advanced than everything else.”

I turned the faucet and cold water started filling the wash basin, but the Nekomata began to complain.

“It will be too cold with just that. Add in some hot water.”

“You sure are picky.”

“That’s too much hot water. It can’t be lukewarm. I want this to be refreshing.”

“Fine, fine,” I replied and stuck the Nekomata in the wash basin.

Despite all her complaints, she seemed to enjoy it. I could hear a lot of purring.

Suddenly, I noticed a flat-chested Yuki Onna peering in through the gap next to the sliding door to the bath. My dad had allowed her to live with us as long as she stayed away from anything related to brewing as the temperature for that had to be precisely controlled. (Incidentally, my mother just generally loved Youkai.)

“…No fair…”

“What isn’t fair?”

“That Youkai suddenly appears and you are already taking a bath with her? And yet I have not received an opportunity like that after all this work I put into solidifying a foundation…”

“Oh, you’re jealous. Not only is that unsightly, but you are way off the mark there,” commented the Nekomata.

“What!? Wait, does this even count? I mean, she’s a cat!!” I said.

“I am a Nekomata. I am as much a deadly Youkai as she is.”

Even if you’re in the same category, there’s still a huge difference!! And why is Yuki Onna-chan reaching for the obi to her kimono!? You’re clearly choosing the wrong person to compete with here!! Are you planning to stick your ass in the wash basin!?

And then came the glamorous Zashiki Warashi. She must have caught scent of my misfortune. The huge grin on her face made it obvious at a glance what she was after. It was a little unclear what this had to do with her being a Zashiki Warashi, but I was past caring.

“Hey, Zashiki Warashi! Hold that Yuki Onna back!”

“No fair, no fair☆”

“Why the hell are you reaching for your yukata’s obi!? Don’t strip nude just for a joke! It isn’t funny when you have a body as nice as that!!”

Part 3 (Hishigami Mai)

The countryside could be annoying with all the Youkai, but big cities were hardly perfect. They were so crowded and filled with unhealthy exhaust and chemicals despite the area being thoroughly altered for humans to live in. I could only imagine the people there enjoyed shaving away their own lifespan.

I entered a chain café and a police detective with a glum look on his face waved me over to a seat in the back. What he was doing counted as work, so I could only be jealous of how easy public servants had it.

Even so, he did seem a bit stiff in his movements due to the wounds from repeated shots from a hunting rifle.

But by “our” standards, that didn’t even count as being injured. Also, he received medical care paid for with the people’s tax money, so I still say they have it pretty easy.

“What are you drinking?”

“What does it matter? By the way…what’s with that outfit? A tank top and hot pants? Did you forget how old you are? You look like a complete idiot. You look like a university student that carelessly got in with a specialized entrance exam and then couldn’t keep up with the classes.”

“If a real idiot wore this, there would be no helping them, but it works as a handy bit of camouflage for those who aren’t idiots.”

“I see. So what did you want to talk about? Let’s get this over with quickly.”

“Oh, c’mon. At least let me complain about my troubles to you. I’ve had some pain-in-the-ass people set their sights on me lately which isn’t any fun. Oh, I know. Could you maybe help smooth things out with them?”

“With you, it’s bound to be your own damn fault. I hate that I can’t arrest someone like you. There are just too many holes in the police organization. So who has their sights on you? The PSIA?”

“MI6. The CIA. Oh, and the European Security Force.”

“That’s clearly well beyond what the Japanese police can deal with!! What the hell did you do!? No, wait…no!!”

“You wanna know? You do, don’t you? Well, I heard a system for making use of Succubi had been established in Europe, so I decided to go take a peek. The system was so poorly made it looked like an idiot had designed it. In fact, the officials who had contacted the Succubus were the ones being contr-…”

“Stop!! Please stop! I don’t want to end up being some poor victim after hearing something I shouldn’t have!!”

Oh, c’mon.

And I was just getting to the good part.

“Why do you two sisters always destroy the boundaries of common sense…?”

“Oh? I’ll admit I may do that, but I thought my little sister was a bit more normal.”

“What is normal about a minor that shows up at the crime scene of every mysterious murder? I’ve had a flood of complaints from the Lifestyle Safety Division. They keep telling me not to let a child see those things and to solve the cases on my own. …I don’t know how word of it reached them, but I’ve even received complaints from the riot police.”

“Why don’t you just go ahead and marry her?”

“Are you completely unfamiliar with the concept of context!? And do you have any idea what Japanese law is!?”

“Oh, right. About that sister of mine.”

“Again, context please…”

“She says to take a week of paid vacation starting today.”

“Why!? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!”

Well, that one wasn’t too surprising. My sister knew that was asking too much of him. That was why she had used me as an intermediary for the message.

“I have some tickets here. One for me, one for you, and one for my sister. That’s three in total. These tickets give us free lodging at a hotel in Fuuka Village, an Intellectual Village. You are headed there right away. Understand?”

“…I’ll keep this short. What happens if I just ignore you?”

“I will render you unconscious with this wet towel and stuff you in my travel bag. But then you won’t be able to call in to take a paid vacation, so you might lose your job.”

Notes

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