Chapter 28
2. The Unknown God
A spray of water burst from a rusty red pipe.
"Whoa, hot! This is practically a hot spring source!"
Miyaki, her hand soaking wet, let out a high-pitched yelp and jumped back. Steam rose from her hair, dampened by the splashing water.
"Well, yeah, if you stick your hand in, you're gonna get burned."
I sighed, feeling the gravel of the unpaved road biting into the soles of my shoes.
"But it says it's a hot spring."
"We're not here to have fun, you know."
Miyaki, shaking off her wet hand from the hot water spurting from a pipe sticking out of a stone wall midway up the gentle slope, looked like a carefree student on a field study.
I felt like I had seen a scene like this before. Probably when I really was a college student.
I shook my head and looked up at the distant blue sky frad by thick leaves.
It was the quintessential winter landscape of Japan.
The withered trees looked even whiter under the sunlight, and with the faint snow lingering in the leaf veins, they resembled ashes left after a fire.
Beyond the trees was a rust-colored, tattered fence, and past that, an old railway line from an abandoned train route.
"It's more run-down than I expected."
"It was already abandoned when I ca two years ago. No construction's been done, so it's just been deteriorating."
The roof, made by attaching slanted wooden boards to iron pillars, marking the remains of what was once a station building, hadn't changed a bit since two years ago.
A makeshift sign tied with striped tape to a wire fence swayed in the wind. The plastic sheet ant to protect it from rain had turned yellow and tattered, and even the drawing paper inside was swollen and looked like trash.
The blistered navy marker letters barely spelled out "Main Line," "This Station," and "Temporary."
Beyond the fence lay the tracks of the abandoned line.
A mound of dirt piled on the road, a bulldozer rusted beyond color recognition, and scattered logs. From the top of the dirt mass, two red rod-like objects protruded. For so reason, I instinctively thought they were a torii gate.
"Ah, look over there. There's sothing up there." Miyaki, walking a bit ahead, pointed toward the summit of the mountain in front of us.
"What is it?"
Squinting in the direction of her finger, I saw the head of a giant white statue sticking out from between the brown mountains. It wore a veil, but the folds of the cloth were crudely carved at regular intervals, like an accordion curtain.
The features that seed like eyes, nose, and lips were so vague it felt like they were carved without any draft.
"A Kannon statue—no, it's different. More like a Virgin Mary statue."
"There's sothing called a Maria Kannon, right? Back when Christians were persecuted, they made statues that looked like Kannon so they wouldn't get caught."
It certainly looked amateur-made, and it was hard to tell what it was ant to worship. A line from the report crossed my mind.
"You heard this place used to be a facility for a new religion, right? 'The Silent Voice.' It was dismantled after its leaders were arrested for fraud."
"Ah, I see. Since they left in a hurry, they couldn't even demolish it and just left it as is."
"Apparently, they gathered people from all over the country—so were affiliated with shrines and temples, others were like they were possessed by evil spirits. Maybe it was more convenient for them not to focus worship on a single figure."
"Katagishi-san..."
Miyaki looked at with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Was all that written in the report?"
"I looked into it."
I turned my face away to avoid her gaze. I definitely rembered hearing it, but I couldn't recall where from. I didn't read it or see it—I heard it. That much I was sure of.
The leaves on the distant mountain had long since fallen, leaving only thin branches, making the god statue more visible than the last ti I was here.
That's right, I saw that statue two years ago too. Why hadn't I rembered until Miyaki ntioned it?
It had been quite a while since I returned from Rokuhara's hotown village, but for my mory to be this fuzzy, I must be more exhausted than I thought.
Miyaki didn't press further and turned away from the mountain with the god statue, facing the abandoned railway.
"What do you think that big box-like thing is?"
Beneath a partially collapsed roof was a square enclosure made of wooden fras about two ters wide. Inside, mud and wet fallen leaves had accumulated freely.
"No idea..."
After saying that, I suddenly rembered—when I ca here before, this wooden fra had been filled with earth-colored hot water, sparkling under the sumr sun.
"A footbath. I'm pretty sure it was a footbath."
"A footbath?"
"Probably... It looked like mud, so I guess it hadn't been used even back then..."
I touched my temple. Are these really mories of this place? Could I be confusing it with sowhere else?
"Katagishi-san, you really have been here once before, right?"
Miyaki looked at not with suspicion, but with concern.
"Yeah, I have."
I sat down on a faded light blue bench leaning against the fence. Ever since arriving, my mory had felt hazy, like a fog in my head. I felt like I was forgetting sothing important.
Trying to mask the inexplicable emptiness and anxiety, I lit a cigarette.
Miyaki sat silently next to .
"Two years ago, I ca here after finishing another job. Rokuhara asked to check this place out on the way. I was still new and tired. That's probably why my mory's so vague."
Even though she hadn't asked, I offered an explanation, as if making excuses.
"That must've been tough. So Rokuhara-san was already dumping work on you back then?"
"Ever since I married Misaki, he's been doing it nonstop."
Miyaki gave a wry smile. I laughed along, and the tension eased a bit.
"Did you co alone back then?"
"No..."
Ash fell from my fingertip with a soft plop.
Looking for an ashtray, I found a red tin stand-style one like you'd see behind a rustic hot spring inn. Three cigarette butts floated in the cola-colored rainwater inside.
"I think I ca with so seniors. There was a guy from Kansai nad Miwasaki... I don't rember the na, but there was a female senior too... no, maybe she didn't co to this village. Probably parted ways at the previous village and ca here with just the two of us."
"I've never t anyone nad Miwasaki among the staff."
"Yeah, you probably wouldn't know him. He was a kind guy, but his ntal health took a hit. He ca to this village alone to investigate that new religion I ntioned earlier, even though it wasn't part of his job. I think he went on indefinite leave before you joined the departnt."
I had completely forgotten until I said it aloud. Even though I could vividly recall his gentle tone and narrow eyes behind glasses from my rookie days, why had I forgotten?
"What about the female senior...?"
"She went missing."
"Is that... okay?"
"In this line of work, it's not unheard of."
I pressed the cigarette butt into the tilted ashtray.
"Is this village really okay...?"
"The village itself had nothing. Maybe I don't rember it because it was just that uneventful."
I realized I was speaking as if trying to convince soone—maybe even myself.
Miyaki stretched her stiff shoulders from the highway bus ride and took a deep breath.
"True, we haven't t any villagers, and nothing weird has happened. It really does seem like there's nothing here."
"Yeah... but there have been multiple disappearances. The mysterious light that started it all, the new religion—there's no clear connection, but there are leads. Misaki disappeared here too."
"You're right..."
I sensed a shadow on Miyaki's downcast profile and, trying to lighten the mood, stood up with an exaggerated noise.
"Alright, let's start by interviewing the local residents like usual. Then we'll get permission from Rokuhara to enter the remains of 'The Silent Voice.' Either way, we'll need to get down to the village to borrow a phone."
"You don't have a cell phone, right, Katagishi-san?"
"Hardly anyone does. Rokuhara has one for work, though."
"I wish they were cheaper and more widespread."
Miyaki flashed a handheld gaming console from her bag.
"I an, this tiny device is just for gas. Wouldn't it be way more useful if phones were more portable?"
"Probably easier to make useless stuff than useful stuff."
"Or maybe it's because they're useless that they're overlooked..."
Miyaki muttered, barely audible. I asked again, but got no reply.
"Well, shall we get going?"
Miyaki stood up too.
The mountaintop, the color of dead leaves, still showed the giant head of the god statue peeking out. It looked like we could get there without even asking for directions.
While I was distracted by what was above, sothing softer than a stone bumped into my toe.
I looked down. On the ground lay a pair of glasses, only the bent fra remaining with the lenses shattered.
The thin silver rim reminded of the gentle eyes from my mory.
I'd heard that Miwasaki was found in a dazed state sowhere near this village.
Is there really nothing in this village? I felt like a black haze flickered across my vision.
I shook my head to dispel the intrusive thoughts. That's what we're here to find out.
A little ways from the remains of the glasses, I saw a small triangle buried in the mud.
A black ribboned barrette, like the kind hotel or airport staff wear, peeked out from the ground with only the broken tal clasp and decorative tip visible.
I almost stepped closer, but Miyaki's voice hurried , and I turned on my heel.
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