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V7 Story III – Part 06

And so, we headed back to the Mayuzumi household.

Mayuzumi couldn’t have been any quicker. She must really dislike the gods.

The final part of the Operation: God Eradication was a night search of the Mayuzumi manor.

In addition to us, numerous servants were sweeping the mansion, glaring at us with indifferent eyes. It looked like they were also briefed on the situation. Still, Mayuzumi told us to join the search, probably a way of telling us to take responsibility. Clearly Mayuzumi’s brand of harassment.

“Now, then. Let’s join the search, shall we?” I said.

“Can’t we just let these people handle it?” Yusuke asked.

Yukihito, who was from the Minase clan, wasn’t here. He had stayed behind to deliver a message to Shirayuki. This time, there were only three of us: me, Yusuke, and Hirugao, who had tagged along.

Yusuke was assigned to the garden, while I, the mansion. We split up and started searching.

There were many places in the Mayuzumi household that I couldn’t enter, most of which had already been searched by the servants.

As I reluctantly walked down the corridor, I arrived at a familiar area and stopped in my tracks. I parted the scarlet cloth and peered inside. There was no one in the narrow passageway.

Not even a single guard. How could they be so careless? Frowning, I continued walking. As I made it halfway down the lacquered corridor, my vision became distorted, like melting candy.

The red wall suddenly became darker, reminding me of the spirit world, melting into a deep red. The floor turned soft, heaving, and the walls bristled, where a tumor shaped like a baby’s face emerged. The ceiling swelled and drooped. The walls loomed as if to crush me. It was like being in a person’s body, in some damaged blood vessel.

The child in my belly squealed in delight. I swallowed hard. The walls were closing on me fast, giving me no time to escape.

This was like being in the spirit world. What was trying to swallow me up?

Just as I was about to be buried in flesh, the key in my pocket jangled. A surge of heat coursed through my chest as the wall shuddered and then stilled, returning to its former state of damaged boards.

What in the hell was that? Catching my breath, I scanned my surroundings.

It had to be a trap set by Mayuzumi. The border between this world and the spirit realm was thin in this area. It must’ve been disarmed when I was visiting earlier. Without the key, there would be no escape from the corridor’s clutches. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen after that. I shook my head and continued on until I reached the end of the corridor.

I studied the entrance to the staircase. I knew how ludicrous it was to search for gods in here, but if there were any, they could’ve managed to avoid the major cleanup.

Cautiously, I pressed on. There was no one on the spiral staircase or in the earthen corridor. No sign of any god either. Finally, I reached the entrance of the prison cell, where the fox was confined. Just looking inside made my skin crawl.

He would undoubtedly accuse me of coming to kill him, all the while smiling, but no matter what he said, I would never do it. But I felt like running away now would crush my spirit.

I was more than being stubborn at this point. I approached the door, feeling like a child braving the unknown as I grabbed the lock. The spirit world trap told me the key would work. Sure enough, with a screeching creak, the door swung open, and I stepped inside, trying to act calm.

“Asato, are you there?”

I knew it was a stupid question. The fox couldn’t leave.

The fox was sitting in the same position as before, his legs elegantly crossed on the chair.

His gaze was fixed on a corner of the cell, not sparing me a glance.

“Ah, it’s you,” he said in a flat tone.

He didn’t say anything else. Didn’t even ask why I was here. I didn’t know what he was playing at.

Before he could say anything else, I said, “Just so you know, I didn’t come here to kill you. I—”

“Unfortunately, that’s not important right now,” the fox interrupted.

Something was off. He was still not looking at me, not even bothering to conjure up a cynical smile. I followed his gaze, but there was nothing there except a dingy wall.

“What exactly are you… Hmm?”

A possibility came to mind. My eyes flickered to the opposite direction of his stare. And then, I was rendered speechless.

Three gods were frolicking about, running circles around the cell as if they owned the place.

“Asato, don’t tell me… you’re scared of them?”

“Heh, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I absolutely do not acknowledge the existence of such a bizarre creature.”

His behavior was clearly at odds with his words. He was avoiding the gods. I picked one up. The fox’s gaze shifted a little. When he saw what was in my hand, he turned his face away again.

“Can I throw this over there?” I asked.

“What happened to your usual hypocrisy?” There was ice in his voice. “I didn’t know you were such a heartless creature, nor did I want to know.”

I bent down and gathered all three gods, placing them in a plastic bag. The fox’s expression remained stoic, but his shoulders relaxed slightly.

I wasn’t expecting to find something common between him and Mayuzumi.

“Well, I just came here to round up these things, so I’m going back now. See you.”

I felt stupid for being terrified. Raising a hand, I opened the door.

“Odagiri.”

“What?”

I looked over my shoulder. The fox was frowning.

A moment later, he said, “Are you sure you don’t want to kill me?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “There’s no need to kill someone who’s scared of these things,” I said, swinging around the plastic bag with the gods.

The fox fell silent. Before he could regain his composure, I left the cell.

Holding back the urge to laugh, I started walking. The fear that had been gnawing at me for a long time was gone. And I found it amusing. I was really glad I didn’t run away.

As I headed to the stairs in high spirits, I spotted someone watching me silently.

A small shadow sat on the stairs, gray hair flowing over the steps. She was resting her chin on her knees. She inclined her head, her large eyes blinking.

“Hirugao… weren’t you with Yusuke?” I asked.

“Odagiri.” She giggled. “Well, you see, I followed you!” she replied proudly.

I wondered how she got past the trap, but immediately came upon the answer. She must’ve been following me close behind earlier.

Hirugao stood up and wrapped her arms around mine. We went up the stairs together, and as we made it to the lacquered corridor, we joined hands.

“Yusuke must be worried. Why did you follow me?” I asked as we walked.

“Hmm… I thought I had to!”

I couldn’t tell if she had taken to me or Yusuke.

As soon as we made it outside, we headed straight to the garden. Yusuke had been running around looking for Hirugao. When he saw us, he rushed over, looking relieved.

“Hirugao!” he cried.

“Yusuke!”

Yusuke hoisted Hirugao up, and she beamed with joy.

The moon hung in the night sky, casting its light upon them as their shadows twirled in circles.

Smiling, I pulled out a cigarette, placing it between my lips before lighting it.

I took a small drag and declared, “Operation: God Extermination is over.”

I exhaled smoke into the air, disturbing the white of the moon.

As I watched them laughing, I asked, “So, how are we going to get back?”

It was getting late, and the servants had wrapped up their search.

The Mayuzumi clan’s garden was completely silent.

---

He knew.

There was only himself left.

They were once one and whole. And so it was only natural that he knew their fate.

Back when they were still whole, he suffered a grave injury, pushing him to the brink of death. In order to survive, he sought out his creator, thinking that he could pull through his critical condition with the power of the one who brought him to life. But his hope had been cruelly dashed. His journey to trace the footsteps of his creator had come to an end.

Yet it was also the beginning of a new evolution.

Birth, rebirth, proliferation.

And then, he became them.

But now, he was the last one left.

Their total number was never that high. As if it were destiny, they were swiftly eradicated by humans who had ties to their maker. The humans were unaware that they had all been annihilated, except for one.

He became them, and then he was alone once more.

He didn’t feel sad. He never had any emotions. But he possessed a survival instinct, and he was determined to survive. Seeking a safer place to hide, he began to move.

As he crawled from behind the kitchen detergent, he saw a human in front of him, and in that instant, he knew.

This human was the greatest threat of all the ones he had ever encountered.

Her huge pigtails swayed as her large eyes locked onto him.

That was the last thing he ever saw.

Splat!

And then he was crushed.

What had killed him was a primitive weapon—a rolled-up newspaper.

The human—the victor—snorted.

“Nanami-san, was that a cockroach?” asked a different human.

The girl briefly glanced at the thing she had just crushed, checking its identity.

“It was,” she answered with a bright smile.

Using the newspaper, she picked it up and tossed it into the trash can.

Clunk!

The trash can shook.

Their evolution had come to an end.