Chapter 10.3: It Appeared III
Aimere idea, withino foundation.
Fromithe bottom of my heart, I detested myself for being so ignorant. If this was the way things were bound to unfold, I should have learned from either Takenaka or Hirai how to drive away theispirits.
Howicould a spirit be driven into Buddhahood by a bowl of white rice with disposable chopsticks in it? Now that I became calm, it made me want to bawl out over my own foolishness.
Whenimyishoulders slumped down, the man drenched in blood consoled me with words like, W-Well I dont know exactly know whats going on, but dont lose heart, okay?
Damniit, being comforted by a spirit
Hey, sonny, I want you to hear me out a little bit at a time You still remember me, right? You offered me a towel last night as I was eating a steamed azukiibun.
Yeah I remember.
Becauseiit wasnt an easy memory to let go of.
I see, thats good because you are the only one I can rely on now.
Overitime, my fear gauge, which had been swinging out of control until now, gradually diminished. Perhaps due to this spirits Kansai dialect, which was better articulated than any other I had seen so far, it mitigated my fears. From a visual perspective, though, elementsiof fear were still atiplay.
After all, I was still fearful of him.
Whenimy face remained tense, the bloodied man approached me with a frown on his face and his mouth agape.
Whats up, sonny? Arent you one of those people who can see specters too? How long are you going to be afraid of me? Its not that unusual, right?
Pleaseilook at your own reflection in the mirror before saying that.
WheniI informed him that, he made a sound as if he had realized something. He backed away from me and clasped his hands together, wearing an uncomfortable expression.
M-Myibad, my bad, I forgot about this. No wonder youre terrified of me, Ill take care of it now, okay?
Withithat, he closed his eyes firmly. Although he didnt exhibit any signs of performing anything exceptional, the wounds and the bloodithat had been dripping from his body disappeared slowly, as if playing in reverse, and within a few dozen seconds, the bloodied man returned to his ordinary, young mans appearance. Though that being said, he was still slightly translucent.
Hows this? Youre not scared anymore, right?
Wow
Indeed, itibecame much less terrifying, I supposed Spirits were able to freely retract and release blood, huh?The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
Well, its not like that, Im merely trying to imagine myself as I was back when I was normal, rather than withdrawing or releasing blood.
Iiwasiclueless as to what was going on, but apparently, this guy had no malicious intentions against me. Nevertheless, what was it otherwise?
Numerousiuncertainties crept up on me. The customer, this guy who showed up yesterday was undeniably not transparent and had his feet on last night. The manager and I thoroughly confirmed that.
Nonetheless, the lower half of his body was thinner now and the whole thing was see-through. Perhaps if I reached out my hand, it wouldipass through like air. According to the man himself, he undoubtedly came to that convenience store yesterday.
So thatiwould mean
You youre dead?
I see, so that was the case.
Oh Apparently, this young man succumbed to his death after that, bleeding profusely.
Well, in thaticondition, it was not unreasonable for him to have died.
Whatia mess, we didnt do anything as if it was someone elses problem, but we should have called an ambulance right then and there.
AlthoughiI didnt have any idea what kind of tragic outcome he suffered, with the way his appearance was, he probably fell off his bike and
Iicarefully clasped my hands in front of my chest with the utmost consideration.
I dont haveiany incense sticks in my house but At any rate, my condolences
No, no, no, no, no! Dont write me off arbitrarily!!
Howiunfortunate.
No, dont end with the word unfortunate!
But, from what you told me, that was already the end for you.
Even if you were fortunate enough to evade immediate death at that stage, if you were to be crushed by a falling tree, your body would have sustained a significant amount of physical damage as a human being. Furthermore, you would have already lost a lot of blood.
Realistically speaking, a few hours might be all it took for your life to end and now it was already a whole day
You better be ready for this.
I put my hand on my forehead and groaned briefly, then picked up my home phone. In this case, I wondered if I should call the police instead of the hospital
Hey, wait a minute. Who are you going to call?2s
Who? The police of course Theyre going to search for the corpse.
Police!? Body search!?2swq
Thats the quickest way to recover a corpse.
Look, Im still alive! Hold on, the police are not good, you cant call the police!
Ah!? This is not the time to say that!?
No I dont think its that big of a deal to inform the police.
Hey, was I the only one who thought it was a major deal?wed
I have my own reasons for not wanting to bring the police into the matter.
What kind of reasons?2ew
About thatTranslator: MadHatter
Guess Ill just have to tell you, I heard him muttering quietly.
Hey, sonny I came here to request you to do something for me.
He stopped sitting cross-legged and fixed his eyes on me intently.
Im terribly sorry to ask you this out of the blue, sonny, but would you mind accompanying me on my search?
I refuse.2wqas
Thats too immediate!
The volume of his voice and timing were perfect. It was a wonderful move.
Notwithstanding, I absolutely could not do what this man requested of me.
Recently, troubles abounded and I would like to avert them if at all possible.
I beg you, sonny! Search my body with me!2w
Dont say anything vivid! I absolutely hate it!
Dont say that! Im going to rot if you dont!fwecds
Youre getting too vivid! 34rewf
Please! Please, I beg you! I know Im being unreasonable, but I really need your help! You know Im in a great deal of trouble!
If you say that, Im in more trouble than you! Impossible! I cant do it!
Do something about it! The last words I uttered were, What the hell is thisssssss Im so ashamed that Im going to cry!!
Wow, thats so lame, that last line.