Chapter 29
3. The Unknown God
It feels like a countryside forgotten since before the war.
Even the roads are barely paved.
Rather than roads, it's more like dry soil covered by overhanging trees from all directions, with the occasional dilapidated house wedged in between.
"This place is amazing. It's barely even on the map. Everything except that station is marked as mountains."
Miyaki mutters in disbelief while flipping open a yellowed guidebook.
"Even if we wanted to ask around, we'd have to find soone here first."
As I look around, my eyes catch a red postbox about as tall as my shoulder. Hidden in its shadow is a tobacco shop so small it could be mistaken for a phone booth. I might be able to borrow the phone.
Circling around, I find an elderly man with brown skin blending into the wooden counter, seated there.
Feeling bad about not buying anything, I use the chance to break a 1,000 yen bill and buy a pack of cigarettes. The shopkeeper neither smiles nor frowns, and along with the cigarettes, he pushes forward a pink telephone.
I hold the receiver to my ear and call Rokuhara, but he doesn't pick up.
Inside the glass showcase, lined up with Short Hope, Golden Bat, and Mine cigarettes, are souvenirs like papier-mâché dogs and kokeshi dolls that seem completely unrelated to this area.
Miyaki dutifully begins asking questions and starts chatting with the shopkeeper. Watching them talk through the glass with only a hole for passing cigarettes reminds of a prison visitation.
"Doesn't this kind of feel like a prison visit?"
There was once a woman who said that. It wasn't Misaki or anyone else I knew. Where, and who did I hear it from?
In a desolate place just like this village, a woman with shoulder-length hair tied back with a black barrette—
"Rokuhara here."
A familiar monotone voice cuts off my thoughts.
"Ah, Rokuhara-san... It's , Katagishi... Nothing unusual so far. I'll still look into the residential area and the New Religion facility just in case..."
I hear Miyaki giggle. The old man behind the glass responds with a faint smile on his stern face.
"City folks probably want to visit the countryside now and then. But just now and then is enough. Try living here. You'll have snakes and weasels coming into your house."
The old man holds a cigarette between his sun-darkened fingers, shaking his shoulders as he laughs. There's sothing familiar about both his coughing laughter and the way he holds the cigarette between his middle and ring fingers.
I shouldn't have t this old man or co to this tobacco shop before. Last ti, I just looked at the abandoned railway and went back.
"Sothing wrong?"
Rokuhara's muffled voice echoes from the receiver.
"No... it's just..."
I keep thinking over whether I should say it.
"This is my second ti coming here, right?"
After a brief silence,
"That should be the case," ca the curt reply.
The phone makes a sound asking for a ten-yen coin. I say I'll hang up and start to put the receiver down, when faint words drift out, barely audible.
"Miwasaki said the sa thing just before being taken into custody in this village."
Before I can ask again, a cold electronic tone signals the end of the call. I hang up the receiver, trying to hide my confusion.
"No, seriously, there's nothing in this village. There's a hot spring, but it's packed with old n and won like a potato wash."
The old man and Miyaki are still chatting away.
"But don't places like this usually have shrines? I like that sort of thing."
Miyaki seems to be doing her job diligently.
"Ah—well, we don't have one here."
The old man groans, placing a hand on his chin.
"Our god doesn't have statues or shrines. Once you make that kind of stuff, people end up praying to the object, not the god. There's nothing here, but the god is just watching over us. That's what matters."
The old man taps the cigarette ash off on the edge of the ashtray.
There are no idols in this village. I've never even heard of a na or legend for the god they worship.
Miyaki looks at . The investigation is going to be tough.
For now, we have no choice but to head for the remains of the religious facility.
Traces of "The Silent Voice" were found quickly.
A mountain path covered by thick forest was paved with asphalt only in that section, with a sign posted saying "Private Property, No Trespassing."
As I climb the mountain path, I look up at the viscous, amber-like light trickling through the gaps in the leaves.
Beneath that light are two cracked feet wrapped in the hem of a long robe. It's the god statue I saw near the abandoned railway.
Getting closer confirms how poorly made it is.
Maybe they couldn't be bothered to sculpt toes, so they stretched the hem like an accordion curtain to cover the feet. It's badly weathered from rain and wind, and I'm worried it might collapse. It lacks any sense of dignity.
A fallen tree crosses the cracked asphalt, and beyond it lies a wide stone staircase.
"Is that...?"
Miyaki murmurs softly.
Amid the forest like a green sea of clouds, a sand-colored three-story building cos into view.
"It kind of looks like a hotel."
"Yeah..."
The vine-covered outer wall has evenly spaced Western-style windows, and the door that seems to be the entrance is off its hinges, leaving a gaping darkness. Behind the building, the torso of a massive statue peeks out.
The wind hits broken glass, creating strange musical notes.
Beyond the staircase is an enclosure made of sturdy iron bars, making it impossible to enter.
"Let's look for a back entrance."
I signal to Miyaki and enter an animal trail to circle around the building.
As we move through the forest, careful not to slip on the muddy ground, the iron fence shows no sign of ending.
"What kind of religion was 'The Silent Voice' anyway?"
Miyaki asks, breathing heavily as she steps over a raised rock.
"Most cults are just about making money, no matter what slogans they use... But apparently, they also talked about exorcising evil spirits or offering salvation."
"It's a strange na for a group, isn't it?"
"Probably ans 'Shut up and listen to the voice of god.'"
"Even Christianity has that whole 'Don't take the na of God in vain' thing, right?"
A vine bearing brown fruit swings out and slaps my cheek.
"And it seems the god in this village doesn't allow idol worship either. I wonder if there's a connection..."
"Who knows..."
I'm getting winded too. I've seen twisted gods ford by blending various beliefs, but this god feels different.
No matter how far we go, its true form remains like mist—completely elusive.
"In any case, 'The Silent Voice' has been dismantled."
I cut off the conversation and quicken my pace. The back of the god statue is directly ahead. We must be halfway around.
"Can I ask you sothing weird?"
Miyaki's voice calls from behind .
"Katagishi-san, your wife wasn't one of their followers, right?"
I feel like my heart was slapped with a cold hand. I just answer, "No," and Miyaki says nothing more.
"I used to wonder if she was."
Unable to bear the wind that sounds like a scream and the silence, I speak up.
"When I heard she went missing in this village, I thought maybe so remnants of 'The Silent Voice' were still around, and Misaki went to them for help. She was struggling..."
Light filters through the remaining stained glass in the building, casting flickers of rainbow-colored shadows at our feet.
"When Misaki disappeared and I checked her drawers, I found a prescription from a psychiatric clinic. She never said anything to , but apparently she had hallucinations and was getting help. She was from that village. Maybe she saw sothing she thought I wouldn't believe."
I never noticed a thing.
"So she turned to religion?"
"She probably thought it could help more than I could."
I ant to laugh, but only a hoarse breath ca out.
"Do you bla yourself, Katagishi-san?"
Her footsteps grow louder, and Miyaki cos up beside .
"People who disappear never tell us anything. It's easier to bla ourselves than to seek the truth. But that's just like putting a comforting label on the supernatural to make ourselves feel better."
Miyaki looks straight at .
"You can be really harsh sotis, you know that?"
This ti, I manage a proper smile.
Even though we were walking in step, at so point Miyaki had taken the lead.
"Hey, can I ask sothing weird too?"
"What is it?"
It's sothing that's bothered ever since we were trapped underground in Misaki's hotown.
Miyaki has saved many tis at crucial monts. But that ti was different. It was sothing special.
"When we were almost caught by the god of Kodoku in that underground place, you jumped in front of , right? It looked like the god flinched. Are you from a family of diums or sothing?"
Miyaki blinked in confusion for a mont, then burst out laughing.
"A dium? ?"
When she laughed out loud, I realized how ridiculous my question had been.
"Don't laugh, it really looked that way..."
"Not even close."
Miyaki wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and caught her breath.
"So it was just a bluff?"
"Not exactly."
The lingering smile on her face faded slightly.
"Then what was it?"
"That god feeds on human fear, right? I don't have anything left to be afraid of."
"Nothing left..."
Sothing hit the tip of my shoe, and I nearly tripped.
Looking down, I saw a pink backpack leaning against the root of a tree. I crouched and brushed the dirt off the vinyl surface.
A green rabbit-like character was printed on it.
"What the heck? This is pretty old."
"Not really."
Miyaki crouched beside .
"That's a character from a kids' ani that aired around spring this year. It was so cute that even adults were buying the rchandise."
That would an it's at least a lost item from this year.
It's not a mountain that attracts hikers, and even if soone forgot it, would they really leave the whole thing behind?
Maybe a villager slipped while exploring and had to be taken away by ambulance, leaving their stuff behind. Not impossible, but locals wouldn't co here with such a big load like a backpack.
A bear or wild dog showed up, and they panicked and ran, dropping their stuff. That seems most likely.
When I looked up, I realized we had returned to the first stone staircase. We had gone full circle.
"If wild animals are around, it could get dangerous. Maybe we should wrap this up."
As I stood up saying that, I heard Miyaki gasp. I thought sothing had shown up already, but that wasn't it.
I gasped too.
I hadn't noticed when we arrived, but among the brown of the leafless trees, several colors stood out.
A sky-blue down jacket hanging from a thick branch.
A burgundy pochette stuffed into a tree hollow.
An orange sweater, buried in dry leaves, now mostly gray with mold.
Black and white gingham sneakers wedged between the frayed roots.
Clear traces of people were scattered all around.
From above the forest, the god statue looked down on the corpses of belongings that had lost their owners.
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