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V13 Story II – Part 03

When we arrived at the Mayuzumi clan’s main residence, I was taken aback by the sight before me. A tall, earthen fence loomed ahead, stretching far to the left and right, curving out of sight at the edges of my vision. It was as tall as two grown men, crowned with a steep roof. The gate, heavily studded with nails, was firmly shut. There was no intercom or doorbell in sight. The place felt more like a prison than a fortress. It was hard to tell at first glance, but something was definitely off.

The fence defied the usual standards of Japanese architecture.

I knew the Mayuzumi estate had been completely destroyed once. Yet here it was, standing as if nothing had ever happened. I touched the fence, knocking on it with my fist. Though it looked old due to the paint, the construction was new. It appeared to be an earthen wall, but the inside was likely concrete. A sense of unease crept over me. This was meant to hide something.

The main family was concealing something within. And I had witnessed that horror before.

Flowers sprouting out of skulls like they were vases. Kotori’s crimson flowers had devoured the mansion and its inhabitants, destroying the main family. Much time had passed since then. The bodies must have been recovered by now, but it still felt like I was staring at corpses under a shroud. How many people did Sadashita dispatch to rebuild this? This was no ordinary effort. As I knitted my brows, I realized something.

The Mayuzumi estate was vast. The sky above it was wide open, impossible to cover. Anyone could easily see inside the grounds from the air. What was the point of such a high fence?

As I pondered, Asato fell in beside me. He lightly tapped the wall with his fist and turned to me. “You don’t need to worry about prying eyes from above, Odagiri. This place isn’t on any major flight paths. Even if someone saw it, they’d instinctively look away, and their minds will replace the sight with something more pleasant. But if someone were to wander in, it’d be a different story. It’s impossible to look away from what’s in front of you or the anomaly around. They can’t have people instinctively avoiding this place but still peeking in because of it. This fence is to prevent that. The gates of hell should stay shut.”

My frown deepened. The crimson flowers that had bloomed across the area should have withered by now. The sky above was still tinged with red, more so than anywhere else. But a considerable amount of time had passed since Kotori’s attack. The Mayuzumi clan had ample time to clean up. I couldn’t believe anything so dreadful remained to warrant the term “hell.”

Sadashita’s words echoed in my mind. “If possible, I want you to break the new curse plaguing the Mayuzumi clan.” I wondered what he meant by that.

I set my bag down and placed my hand on the gate. No one else was around. No voice called out to stop us. We had taken a taxi to the Mayuzumi estate, but at the start of the usually accessible private road, the car was stopped. A man who looked like a worker informed us that the area was off-limits, transferred us to a different car, and took us to the house. After unlocking the gate, he drove off.

A closer inspection on the riveted door revealed faded inscriptions. Resembling wood grain, it looked like a prayer of some sorts. I couldn’t tell how effective they were, but there was no doubt something ominous was sealed inside. Asato stepped back, giving me the floor.

“You’re right, Odagiri. Something dreadful is sealed in here,” he said with a grin. “If you asked me where the Mayuzumi clan’s hell is, I’d say it’s right here.”

His words sent a chill down my spine. I swallowed hard. Steeling myself, I gripped the gate.

The door groaned open. Instantly, a rush of strange air surged toward me.

The air inside was thick, foul, and sickly sweet. It clung to me like warm breath, enveloping my entire body. As I took in the shocking scene before my eyes, a realization hit me.

Sadashita called this a gamble. He had fully anticipated the possibility that we might die, settling everything in the process. That’s why he agreed to help. And one more thing became clear to me.

This hastily built fence and gate weren’t for hiding something. They were the walls and lid of a coffin.

Dry skulls were lined up amid red flowers.

It was a beautiful, yet incomprehensible sight. It reminded me of old foreign photographs depicting dark rooms where remains were neatly arranged in rows. A catacomb. Or maybe not. This place was too desolate and open to be called one.

Debris was scattered around, and a huge crimson flower bloomed up above.

It had overtaken the cherry trees in the garden, wrapping around their trunks and using them as support. The roots and stems, now part of the trees, were entwined with human bones. The countless skulls covered by plants created a scene that seemed straight out of the apocalypse. It was both gorgeous and decadent. Comical, yet terrifying. I couldn’t help but wonder how such a place had remained hidden from the outside world.

The massive flower, with its thick petals, was much larger than the cherry blossoms.

I stood there, speechless, as crimson petals fluttered down around me. They resembled cherry blossoms but were as large as a child’s hand. The roots on the ground looked like giant serpents or parts of an enormous creature beyond human comprehension.

It was an intensely organic scene, teeming with life, yet the place was shrouded in a serene blanket of death. The bones, entirely stripped of flesh, were oddly dry, while the ground was soaked with blood, reflecting the red sky and lazily drifting clouds above.

Fear gave way to shock. My thoughts struggled to keep up. I stared dumbfounded at the wet yet bone-dry scene before me. Everything seemed mismatched, eerie, and ambiguous. I knew a place similar to this, where life and death were seamlessly intertwined, creating an atmosphere of sheer madness. The wind, tinged with the smell of iron and warm against my cheek, felt as dry as a summer breeze. An unexpected wave of nostalgia washed over me.

This place was very similar to the spirit world.

Uka stirred inside me. Asato tapped my shoulder, startling me so much, I jumped. I turned quickly to find him wearing a serious expression, much to my surprise.

“Sorry to bother you, Odagiri, but you should be a little more cautious.”

Asato looked up, narrowing his eyes at the crimson tree. Having spent his childhood at the main estate, he likely had many acquaintances among the dead. Yet, he showed no particular sign of sorrow. Very casually, he lifted the bottom of his sneakers. Sticky red strands stretched out, then snapped.

“I see. Just as I thought. There is more than just a crack here. This place is wide open. The red flower has partially transformed this area into the spirit world. You and my sister prevented flowers from blooming at three locations by killing Kotori, didn’t you? Without the girl who sows the seeds, the flowers should naturally wither, preventing the land from turning into the spirit world. But this place is different.”

Asato’s words brought back memories of our past efforts to wilt the crimson flowers. Clenching my left arm tightly, I thought about the potential tragedy had the flowers fully bloomed.

Mayuzumi, sitting on the leather couch, had once explained, “It will be worse than just the scales tipping. If numerous flowers bloom in regions where the boundary between worlds is already blurred, resulting in mass casualties, the two realms will merge entirely.”

“If they all bloom at once, there will be chaos. Those flowers eat humans.”

“It’s like offering a mass sacrifice at the border between worlds. The source of the aberration won’t just move. Everything in the affected area will be assimilated into the spirit world. If the boundary is breached, areas where flowers bloom will be engulfed completely. In short, the door to the spirit world will open. Those caught up in it will find themselves in grave danger.”

“Even after the girl who sowed the seeds was killed, the flowers continued to grow, using the corpses as nourishment. The flowers intertwined into a giant one, but with the girl dead, their number didn’t increase. The boundary became blurrier, but the spirit world didn’t fully open. By that time, Sadashita had given up on recovering the bodies, covered the house with a fence, and completed the evacuation. That man makes decisions quickly. People who are sensitive to fear tend to have higher chances of survival. So, although a door to the spirit world partially opened, no one got caught up in it.”

“It might not matter to me, but for someone like you, it could be a silver lining. The corpses here have been reduced to just skulls—flesh eaten and blood sucked dry. The flowers are on the hunt for new prey. But you have a demon inside you, and I have supernatural abilities. We’re in a state of glory right now. If these creatures have the instincts of carnivores, they probably won’t attack us. Still, if we let our guard down, we might end up like those trapped here.”

Asato shrugged. I glanced around. The crimson petals all around us resembled the thick lips of a woman. Cradling the skulls, they stirred in unison as if to mock us.