Book 14 Chapter 12 黄泉への入り口 Trans-summary

From Chinese translations by Hinako.

Draft: Version 1 - final
Notes:
PS: do not distribute this without my permission

- Enoshima is in complete chaos; the island's residents dreamt about the Enma Daio again; if they don't leave the island at once, the sentinels of Hell will capture them and they'd be forced to endure the sufferings of Hell together with the dead
- apparently the southern section of the cliff collapsed as according to what the Enma Daio stated, and an earthquake occurred several times; furthermore, they had seen Gotou in their dreams as well who told them to 'leave Enoshima at once otherwise they'd be killed like him'
- people are running helter-skelter screaming as though they've seen the sentinels, of course Ayako and Reiko can't see the 'ghosts'
- less than an hour later, the police and members of city hall arrive, what's startling is that even the Kyoutake real estate employees are present; they respond to the residents' pleas and transfer all of them to a temporary refuge; then the bridge leading to Enoshima is completely sealed and entry prohibited
- Ayako and Reiko are forced out of Enoshima as well; they stand on the coast of Katase as they ponder
- Ayako relates the plans of summoning the dead to Reiko; she also begins to tell Reiko about the truth of the situation: the possession of the staff of Kyoutake real estate by the members of the Satomi clan
- Yagami appears with information on what Chiaki has been up to

***

- early in the morning, Kaizaki headed to the Tatsumi mansion at Mt. Kamakura after being summoned by Yoshitaka; Yoshiyori had already set out to Fujinomiya
- Kaizaki had issued orders to implement a new dream to get the residents out of Enoshima and preparations were underway to execute the 'Method of Connecting to Hell'
- to carry out the curse, Yoshitaka was about to start fasting and had changed into white clothes; in order to carry out the 'Method of Connecting to Hell' the master curse executor had to fast for 12 hours or more to cleanse the body
- Yoshitaka plans to use Natsuo as a container for Benzaiten when the goddess descends and leaves it to Kaizaki to manage the situation
- Yoshitaka has complete trust in Kaizaki
- then Kaizaki is informed that a special investigator has come to speak with the chairman Tatsumi

***

---

"I am Sakaki, a special agent from the investigation department of the National Security Board."

Sakaki, seated on the large sofa in the guest room, displayed his ID card. Kaizaki was extremely calm. He took out a small card box from his breast pocket and elegantly handed his business card to Sakaki.

"I am Kaizaki. I was informed that you are here to see the chairman Tatsumi, unfortunately the chairman is not in his mansion today."

"That's strange." Sakaki immediately asked a question in reply with a deep sense of suspicion. "I heard from the company's staff that the chairman would be at his residence for the whole of today."

"I was not told of the chairman's schedule today therefore I cannot provide you with an answer. I heard that you are here to conduct an investigation?"

Kaizaki's expression hardly changed, he suddenly went straight to the topic.

"I assume it's related to the development plans for Enoshima our company has undertaken. There are rumors that Chairman Tatsumi bribed the legislative assembly of Fujizawa city so that the project would proceed smoothly. Due to this suspicion of bribery..., the police have been really appalling of late. Where exactly did they hear of this spurious matter? This sort of fabrications can't be so irresponsibly spoken of."

"You mean to say that there was no such act of bribery?"

"Definitely no such thing."

Kaizaki replied with an abundance of confidence. This man, who was more than ten years younger than Sakaki, weighed his words unusually well. There was not the slightest inconsistency in his speech to allow him an opportunity for probing questions.

This man...

Sakaki immediately realized it. He was not an opponent that could be beaten back with ordinary means. Compared with meeting Tatsumi himself, this man was not wholly enthusiastic and difficult to persuade, proving to be more troublesome.

"The city councilor Gotou died a sudden death a few days ago."

Sakaki raised the issue again, he stared straight at Kaizaki, exposing a suspicious expression with a hawk-like inquisition in his eyes as though he was confronting a suspect.

"Mr. Gotou was an individual who opposed the plans to develop Enoshima. We had certain questions about city councilor Gotou's sudden death thus reopened an investigation. As a result..."

Kaizaki's expression did not change at all.

"We suspect that Mr. Gotou was murdered."

"Are you suggesting that we killed Mr. Gotou?" As though he was avoiding Sakaki, Kaizaki squinted and continued to speak. "How interesting. Why would it be necessary for us to have city councilor Gotou dead? Even though we allowed city councilor Gotou the time he needed to understand this project, we believed that we would've acquired his consent in the end. Even if he were to disapprove until the very end, we would've continued to persuade him. We even chose to foster good faith in the residents of Enoshima and patiently convinced them without rest. With regards to the last point, you will understand it by simply inquiring the people at Enoshima."

Sakaki's mouth closed entirely, he regarded Kaizaki's calm expression.

"We are a firm. Preparing for this whole project is simply one of the businesses that we handle. Kyoutake real estate is indeed currently pouring its resources into this project to construct a resort bay, but it hasn't reached the extent of putting the entire company at stake. There is also no need for us to commit dangerous acts for this reason, much less do something like murder... Which company would carry out this sort of crime that would sweep the company's reputation to the floor?"

"So you're saying that you people have nothing to do with the sudden death of city councilor Gotou?"

"I heard that city councilor Gotou died of illness, isn't that so?"

"..."

Sakaki only remained silent. City councilor Gotou did suffer a sudden death, no matter how much he pondered, it was not because someone had set about to kill him.

Jusatsu...?

How could that be possible. Sakaki had denied it in this way. Was someone like him, who firmly disagreed with this sort of matter, now about to use it as a refute?

"Anyhow, if you still wish to speak with the chairman, you can make an appointment..." Kaizaki said, slowly crossing his legs. "However your suspicion of bribery won't get you anywhere, or rather please don't waste your energy. It would probably be more meaningful to carry out some other investigation."

"We will decide for ourselves if this is a waste of energy."

"Very well. But it's useless. If you want to know why, that is because we did not bribe anyone." Kaizaki stated once again with a staunch intonation full of sureness. "No matter how much you probe there will be no results. If you still have your doubts, please investigate until you're fully satisfied. But that will only make you regret having wasted your time."

"..."

Being disparaged to this extent, Sakaki, with his pride as a capable and well-experienced prosecutor, could no longer remain silent. ...However he felt extremely reluctant to say out what Reiko mentioned about curses, jusatsu and hypnosis. But Sakaki was besieged with resentment of Kaizaki, he could not help but mention it.

"The residents of Enoshima said that they were threatened by the Enma Daio..."

Hearing these words, Kaizaki revealed a reaction for the very first time. Sakaki did not let that escape his eyes.

"I heard about this matter. The Enma Daio of Hell appeared in the residents' dreams and said that the Enma wants to buy Enoshima, the dead will return via the caverns, turning this place into a part of Hell, for that reason all of the residents have to leave the island. Following that, witnesses to attacks by ghosts on the island have emerged ever since."

"..."

"We suspect that this may be some form of group hypnosis."

A question that did not actually stem from his own hypothesis unexpectedly incited a response in Kaizaki, Sasaki deliberately questioned him with a tone of voice that was full of malice, he leaned forward. However Kaizaki was no meek person to become frantic from this level of questioning.

"...A group hypnosis? You have mentioned something amusing yet again. Are you saying that we have an expert in hypnotism and whatnot amongst us?"

"Additionally, with regards to Mr. Gotou's sudden death. It was reported that starting about ten days before his death, the ten kings of Hell took turns to appear in his dreams. Mr. Gotou grew emaciated along with these dreams, finally becoming extremely weak and died..." Sakaki peered at Kaizaki's face from the bottom. "We suspect that..."

Kaizaki's expression did not change.

"This may or may not be a jusatsu."

"Jusatsu...? What is that?"

"Death as a result of having been cursed."

"Ju... satsu?" Kaizaki repeated the words over and over again, after revealing a somewhat confounded expression, he suddenly smiled. "This is truly a unique opinion. You can't be suggesting that city councilor Gotou was punctured by a long nail by someone and thus cursed to death?"

"I heard that the cave was sealed three days ago due to a rock slide."

"There was indeed an incident of collapse due to falling rocks. You can tell by one look at the site."

"But in reality the collapse due to falling rocks occurred the day after the cave was sealed right?"

Kaizaki's expression suddenly returned to a serious one.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Someone has already looked into it. In the first place, when the cave was sealed there was no such incident of falling rocks. You collaborated with City Hall and prohibited the entry of the public right?" Sakaki discussed with fervent emphasis. "The Enma said that the dead will return via the fuuketsu. I was told that the fuuketsu mentioned by the Enma is in that very cave. Don't tell me this has nothing to do with your sealing of the cave?"

Kaizaki looked back at Sakaki with a serious face. All that Sakaki had said were from what Reiko had acquired in her information-gathering and her deductions. Even though Sakaki had told himself that 'those sort of unrealistic matters were impossible' and was completely unconvinced, it unknowingly had a genuine tinge of truth when he voiced it out, he found it rather inconceivable.

Kaizaki solemnly gazed at Sakaki.

"You have truly uttered some astonishing words."

"...!"

"Jusatsu? Application of hypnosis? Although I've heard that the public are beginning to accept those sort of supernatural phenomena, I absolutely did not expect a national functionary to speak of this matter in such a serious and unrestrained manner, in addition to that, using it as grounds for suspicion."

The indignation in Kaizaki's expression changed into coldness.

"Unexpectedly using that sort of unrealistic matter to judge another as a criminal... I'm very disappointed. I have never liked the way in which the national authorities wielded their power, but in hearing these words, I have completely lost my trust in you people. There should be a limit to how much you take people for fools."

Kaizaki's face had become iron-like without any expression, he stood up.

"Please return."

"Wh..!"

"To be suspected of bribery with no substantial evidence is quite enough to make one feel displeased, much less having to listen to this preposterous matter all of a sudden. It's a waste of my time to listen to your words."

"Wait a minute! I haven't finished yet!" Sakaki stood up as well. "The daughter of the head of Enoshima's self-government went missing yesterday. From the inferences drawn from the scene, there's a possibility that she has been kidnapped."

"Are you suspecting us again?" Kaizaki faced Masaki with a contemptuous, icy expression in his eyes. "If you want to search the house, call your accomplices or the news media, search as much as you wish. However if you do not find anything, we will sue you for slander."

"...!"

"I still have matters to attend to, I take my leave here. From now on, it would be better for you to not use those sort of senseless words to waste other people's precious time. Please help yourself as you see fit."

After Kaizaki finished, he left the guest room. Sakaki stood there dully.
The other had despised him in the end. This was Sakaki's first encounter with this sort of matter. As a competent prosecutor this was really the first time he suffered trivial insults from another ever since his days as a novice.

What is the meaning of this...

Sakaki's fists trembled in humiliation. His gait was in complete disorder. He felt extremely discontent with his impertinence. Not to mention that he was someone who was originally opposed to the idea of curses, jusatsu and so on. He did not believe in that sort of thing himself. Kaizaki had in fact taken the words straight out of his mouth. Sakaki found it intolerable to have been admonished by Kaizaki to this extent. He felt humiliated. "This is all your fault." Sakaki was angry at Reiko.

"Damn... it---...!"

Sakaki's shaking fist slammed against the table.
Kaizaki, hearing the activity inside the room from the outside, smiled insidiously.

"What is it? Kaizaki-sama."

"Hmm...? Nothing..." Kaizaki smiled in delight. "Looks like everything is going smoothly..."

From the very beginning, Kaizaki had seen through Sakaki's nature. Sakaki's pride of being 'capable and well-experienced' was his failing. It seemed like he did not have any preconceived plan on how to provoke him. Kaizaki was several times smarter than Sakaki was. It was fairly simple to dodge questions regarding the jusatsu and the 'Method of Connecting to Hell' from someone who did not even believe in them. As for the bribery issue, he merely had to deny it as they had really committed no such act. The resulting events believed to be due to bribing of the legislative assembly of Fujizawa city, was in actuality the effect of a hypnosis. Regardless of how extensive Sakaki's investigation was, there would not be any evidence, and thus he could not cross-examine Kaizaki. Natsuo was not in this house. Therefore it was useless to search.

Kaizaki moved from the door of the room and turned away. At this moment, Masaki Tokishige came from another side of the corridor.

"Kaizaki-sama, I have reported about that investigator to Yoshitaka-sama. It would be inconvenient if he were to act in haste. Yoshitaka-sama instructed us to imprison him here until the curse is completed."

"You reported this to Yoshitaka-sama?" Kaizaki looked displeased. "I don't remember leaving the reporting to you when Yoshitaka-sama is in the process of fasting."

"This is to guard against any contingency."

"Even if we let that investigator go, no harm will be done. I feel that if we were to capture him it will lead to future troubles."

"This is Yoshitaka-sama's order."

"..."

Kaizaki pondered over something without displaying any expression on his face. He knew that Tokishige did not have complete trust in him. Then Kaizaki smiled lightly, and said.

"... Then do as you wish." Kaizaki took out the keys to the apartment from his pocket and handed them to Tokishige. "The prison facilities there are rather impeccable. Confine him in that place. I have to leave for Enoshima now. Bring the car over."

"Understood!"

Kaizaki put on his overcoat brought to him by his subordinate, wore his leather gloves, turned and headed to the front door cutting a fine figure as he walked away. Masaki watched him leave with a distrustful face.

***

---

- Sakaki is still in a rage as he turns every room in the Tatsumi mansion inside out; he finds nothing and leaves
- still cursing himself for relying on Reiko's deductions
- even so, he believes that Kyoutake real estate is related to the strange happenings at Enoshima
- as he's about to approach his car, Masaki attacks him and knocks him unconscious

Original fiction © Kuwabara Mizuna.