Edited
"Has anyone seen Suzuki-san? Hey, has no one seen her?"
It was Igarashi who asked the SPR team. They were gathered in the dining room.
"So she ignored my warning."
Mai muttered quietly while watching the hysterical woman sympathetically.
She opened her senses to view below. As she expected, Suzuki was already dead. Her body dumped in the room with the bones stored in it and Urado bathing happily in her blood. Mai turned green at the sigjt and quickly pulled her senses away before he noticed her.
"It shouldn't be that she ran home on her own. And there wasn't anyone who saw her leave. Her luggage is also left in the room. Even her contact lens case is also…"
Yasuhara had Igarashi seated next to him. He had the servants bring forth a cup of red tea, then placed the red tea in front of Igarashi.
"Please calm down. Are you a little better? Breathe deeply. Do you take sugar or milk with you tea?"
Igarashi shook her head.
"Just take a sip. Ok, drink, then breathe deeply. Ok?"
Igarashi followed Yasuhara's instructions to the letter. She took a deep breath.
"I'm really sorry. I gave in completely to panic…"
"No need to apologize. I understand that you are very worried about Suzuki-san. When did Suzuki-san's absence start?"
"She wasn't around when I got up this morning. Due to my advanced age she is always by my side. When I woke up at daybreak, she was still sleeping soundly. Then…"
"About what time was 'daybreak'?"
Vaguely mumbling to herself, Igrashi shook her head.
"And what time did you get up?"
"7 am this morning."
It was now 10 am. She had already disappeared for at least 3 hours.
Yasuhara summoned the head servant, and asked if he had seen Suzuki. Including Ohashi, not a single servant had seen Suzuki.
"What was the possibility that she had left the mansion?" was what was put to Ohashi.
"Basically, the front door is locked from the inside, and there hasn't been a scenario where the lock has been opened. I think it's impossible that she has gone outside."
"What should we do?"
Igarashi covered her face with both hands. Yasuhara gently patted sensei's shoulder.
"If that's the case, Suzuki-san must be somewhere in this mansion. Perhaps she only got lost, and is daydreaming where she stands now. It's still too early to consider her missing. In conclusion, let us search a little first."
Yasuhara said that then turned towards Oliver.
"Narumi-kun, is that all right?"
Oliver nodded.
Before noon, everyone but Mai shouted Suzuki's name while splitting up to comb the house. Mai followed the others quietly, knowing there was no point in wasting her voice.
Even after playing the tapes recorded the previous night did not show a hint of Suzuki. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, the cameras were cut off their power source at 7am this morning. As a result, the night vision cameras were of practically no use in their search for Suzuki.
They walked through countless rooms, and even opened things like cabinets to search. Listening closely after shouting for Suzuki which brought no reply. No one could find her anywhere.
Igarashi and Mai went to wake the other psychics up, and questioned them about Suzuki. Not a single person in the mansion had encountered Suzuki.
"I haven't seen her since the séance."
This was Minami's reply. Igarashi grasped his pajamas and refused to let go.
"Can you ask the Professor, Professor Davies? If it's the Professor, he might know of something…"
Saying that, Igarashi started frantically searching for something in her shirt pocket.
"Right, I've been always carrying this…"
Igarashi produced a small, cylindrical object from her pocket. It was a contact lens case.
"Take this to the Professor. If it's the Professor he should know where Suzuki-san is right…?"
"There is no point in asking the 'professor' Igarashi-Sensei. He's a fake and can't help." Mai interrupted then.
Minami snatched the contact lens case with a glare at Mai, and took it towards the Professor who was sitting on his bed looking over. Minami handed the case to the Professor, then exchanged a few words with him in English. The Professor shook his head.
"Apparently he can't see from this type of object." Minami shrugged.
"If that's the case… what type of object can he…"
"The Professors' clairvoyance is limited to items that were worn on the person at the time of disappearance."
"I told you, he's a fake. The real Professor is not restricted by such nonsense. The whole lot of you are fakes." Mai snapped at Minami.
Mai massaged Igarashi's shoulders– Igarashi had covered her face with both hands .
"Let's go." Mai turned Igarashi away from Minami with a glare and escorted her away.
In the end, even after searching into the afternoon, they couldn't find a trace of Suzuki.
Minami then said, "She could have fled home after last night's séance left some frightening memories."
Mihashi said, "Young people these days all lack a sense of responsibility."
"… perhaps it could be that way." Igarashi said softly.
"Yeah. Perhaps she'd gone back. Ah, I'll give her home a call after I get back to check. I really must scold her properly…"
"She didn't leave. She was taken." Mai snapped.
The others ignored her and the search was ended. Only Oliver looked at her contemplatively.
...
"Is doing this all right?"
Everyone was gathered at the Base, and it was Takigawa who spoke.
"There isn't any choice either. The fact is that we couldn't find Suzuki-san too…"
"We could have possibly missed her. Can anyone say for certain that we've searched this idiotically huge house completely?"
"How is that possible? Then are you saying that Suzuki-san has hid herself? If that's not the case, we've already shouted for her, at the very least she'd respond a little, right?"
"And there's the possibility she couldn't respond to us."
"Why?"
"This, I don't know either."
While Takigawa mumbled to himself.
Mai remained quiet.
Oliver spoke softly.
"Only the case for the contact lenses were left; by her own will she got up and went to a certain place – this point is undisputed. Of course, there's also the possibility of leaving through the window or some other method…
What concerns me are those blank spaces… If there are some entry into those hidden rooms, Suzuki-san may have gotten lost there. Whether it is actually errors in measurement or some other reason, it is better to check it once more."
They checked last night's tapes once more, but there weren't any signs of suspicious activity. Having lost the trail, we could only measure the house once more. This time even the thicknesses of the walls were accurately measured. If this still did not match the diagram, then proper measuring equipment would be needed.
...
"Where could she have run off to?"
They were currently in a second floor room when Takigawa suddenly asked Mai this.
"She didn't. She left her room without Igarashi-Sensei and was taken by Urado."
While Mai replied, she used a safety pin and knocked on the wall. It was exactly 1 meter from the floor. Drawing a string from the diagonal of the room, Takigawa picked up a compass.
"What do you mean taken? And who's Urado?"
"Because she fits the profile of someone 25 years and under. Urado is the demon trapping the spirits here."
"Did you say demon?"
"The original owner of this place was sickly and didn't want to die. He built a hospital and other charity works under the guise of good works. But in reality he was taking everyone of the age 25 years and under so he can bath in their blood. He ended up turning into a demon. – How many degrees?"
Takigawa stood shocked for several minutes before he measured the angle between the torch-light illuminated compass and the string. And that was only after Mai's third prompting.
"26. – How do you know all this?"
"… Do you want the real answer or my the one I've given to everyone who asks?"
Mai drew a diagonal on the diagram, and recorded the angle while waiting for his answer.
"What's the answer you've been giving everyone?"
"I spent the last month before this case dreaming of it without the aid of my spirit guide. First person view."
"... And the real answer?"
"The dreams are true. That's not a lie. but I've also lived this case before so know what's going to happen before it does. So far nothing has changed much despite warning Susaki-san that she was at risk."
"How does that work?"
John, who was measuring the floor with a ruler, stared up at Mai curiously.
"How did you think I knew who you all are before we met? I lived this whole life before. On one case much later from now, we met something we couldn't handle and everyone died. I was the last. As I died, I made a wish and somehow woke up back at the beginning again."
Yasuhara, who was helping John, who was holding the torch, stood up.
"3.21 meters – So what's going to happen next here?"
Mai shrugged.
"I get a nightmare. 圣-san's assistant will be the next to get taken. We discover Minami's 'Professor' is a fake and we do a seance for Susuki-san. Then we break open a wall and discover the body of one of the people who went missing before this case started. Want me to continue?"
"The Professor is a fake?!"
Takigawa looked devastated.
"You all said it yourself, Professor Davis came across as a young person. Minami's 'Professor' is not a 'young' man by any means. Nor is his psychometric ability limited to things being touched at the time of the person who disappeared. That's just pure nonsense."
John nodded.
"0.35 meters – That makes sense actually."
Mai wrote the numbers on the diagram, while saying.
"And anyway... Didn't the spirits here say 'save me'? It was Urado who wrote 'I don't want to die.' "
John clapped his hands.
"So, why didn't we save Susaki-san before she was taken? We could have prevented it from happening."
"Because solving this case isn't actually what we were hired to do. We're just going through the motions to keep away suspicion."
As they moved to the next room, Yasuhara said.
"Then what is our actual job here?"
"Exposing the fake."
"The Professor?"
"Yes."
"So we're using a fake Naru to catch a fake Professor?"
Yasuhara mumbled to himself while he used the tape measure to measure the floor's dimensions.
Just at that time, John suddenly shouted.
"Wah!"
"What's up?"
Takigawa shone the torch over there. Thry saw John, who had apparently fallen over and was frantically pacing around.
"Over here, the ground has sunk down."
Using the torch they looked closely at the place John was pointing to, and saw that beneath the thick layer of dust there was a slight drop.
"What is this?"
Yasuhara gently removed the dust around that area. There was a rectangular cover made of wood. When Yasuhara gently pressed on it, it sank gently a bit more.
"This is already rotten. It's really lucky that you didn't fall in."
While saying that, Yasuhara gently opened the cover.
Beneath the cover they could see a metal ladder, which extended into the darkness beneath.
"… There's a room beneath."
Takigawa sprawled at the edge, and shone the torch below.
Mai looked at the floor plan, with the light of John's torch.
"This place is near to the wall which we said was strange yesterday. It's located about at the upper end of that place."
"The strange wall… the wall which was 3 meters thick?"
"Yeah."
Takigawa stared down the hole without moving.
"Is it because there are hidden rooms? It's because of these that the diagrams do not match."
"Well, there are lots of hidden rooms here. Mostly behind that wall. But down there is a medical coat with an important clue so go get it please." Mai asked.
Takigawa nodded with a tense expression.
"Right, let's go down to take a look. Young man, could I trouble you to illuminate it."
Handing the torch to Yasuhara, Takigawa climbed down the ladder calmly.
"How's it? Is there anyone?"
"No, no one. It feels like it's a very small room."
Looking from the top, it was a small and narrow room about 3 tatami's length. Relying on the illumination of the torch, they could see some soft things scattered on the floor.
"… Bou-san, the coat is over there in the bedding."
Mai pointed at the things that were piled into a mountain. Takigawa used the corner of a table to prod it.
"The damp is incredible. These floorboards won't do either. They're dripping wet."
While saying that, Takigawa climbed up the ladder. When he got back to the room above, Takigawa held a rag-like item in a hand. He removed the dust. The strong smell of mould from the narrow room burst forth.
"It's certainly an overcoat."
Takigawa, who was ruffling through the garment, suddenly stopped.
"There's a name embroidered here."
Yasuhara shone the torch on it.
It looked like there was something written on the white cloth on the inside of the collar. The words couldn't be clearly seen under the light of the torch.
"We can't see it here. Let's take it to a brighter place to take a look."
They brought the over coat to a room facing the outer side of the building. Takigawa washed the part of the garment with the label in a nearby washroom. With great difficulty they could finally see the words written in ink on cloth which had changed color.
"Miyama Benevolent Hospital Attached Secured Facility"
"Isn't that the hospital built 2 generations before?"
"Why would this type of thing be in this type of place?"
"Didn't Mai already say it? That guy who built the hospital used it to source his victims."
"There should be a paper money note in that pocket. It has a message written on it that we need to show Naru and Lin." Mai pointed at a pocket.
They returned to base, and reported the whole story of finding the overcoat to Oliver. Oliver looked extremely disgusted.
"… hidden rooms… that's a really thorny problem. And the overcoat in question?"
"This one. It's filthy. Mai said there was a note with a message in one of the pockets."
Oliver paid no attention to the filth, and received that overcoat with his white hands. He turned up the label on the collar, and then proceeded to ruffle through the pockets and other places. After repeatedly ruffling through it numerous times, ge found it.
"There's something here."
It was in the inner pocket of the coat. Oliver pulled out a thin sheet of something. It looked like a folded up piece of paper. Oliver gently opened that battered sheet.
"Hey, see here."
Takigawa leaned forward.
Although this paper had turned very black, they could still identify it as a paper currency. Oliver held it against the window to allow the sunlight to pass through the note.
"There're words written on it."
Saying that, Oliver handed the note to Takigawa. Takigawa took the note, and looked at it held to the sunlight as Oliver had done.
Mai looked on at them from the side. Quite a few words could have been seen. At first it looked like two lines of text, however only some disjointed words could be seen. From left to right the words that could be identified were, "吧(ba3, used at the end of a sentence, example: OK, right?)、走(zou3, walk)、了(liao3/le4, already)、浦(pu3, beach)、被(bei4, blanket, or indicates done by)、听(ting1, listen)、死(shi3, die)、都(dou1, capital city, or collective, meaning 'all', 'every')、这(zhe4, this)、来(lai3, come)…"
"The meaning is not clear." Takigawa, Oliver and Yasuhara looked confused.
"Do you want to know what it actually says? Or wait until you get the rest of the clues?" Mai asked.
Oliver showed a very dark look. "… so you know what it says, Mai?"
"I said to you when Madoka arrived that it was one of those cases. You're the one who didn't ask for details."
Oliver facepalmed himself to the others shock.
"I'm an idiot. No wonder you were being so distant with me. I'm sorry. What does the note actually say Mai?"
"Those who came to this place have all died. Heard they were killed by Urado. Run away."
"Urado?"
"The person who originally built this mansion. He became a demon and is trapping tebother spirits. Madoka will give you more information about him later and John will find a portrait of him soon. But basically, the only way to solve this case before anyone else dies is to burn the mansion down."
"Before we can do that, we still have another job to do."
"Yeah I know, exposing the fake Oliver Davis under Minami's wing. That'll be solved shortly after 圣-san's assistant gets taken too."
Oliver showed a pained expression before pulling Mai tightly into a hug. He had missed her contact the last few days. The others discreetly turned away.
In the remaining time, they frantically continued measuring. Up until the sun set they had finished a part of the first storey. Handing the numbers to Lin, they went to the Dining Room. While they were eating their food, Igarashi spoke to them.
Igarashi appeared to have spent the day worrying about Suzuki. She had called Suzuki's Tokyo home, but found that Suzuki did not return home, and was currently very worried.
"Should I make a missing person report to the police now?" was what she asked Yasuhara.
Yasuhara would be considered very young even in the role of Igarashi's son. The image of Igarashi consulting one so young showed her discomfiture, and was somehow heart wrenching.
Seeing Igrashi like this made Mai feel bad, so she quietly left the Dining Room and returned to the base by herself, despite the danger. At base, Lin continued to work in silence.
"Lin, I'm done with dinner, do you want to switch shifts?"
"No need." His reply was warm.
"Did you manage to match up the plan I gave you of the lower levels with the ones being drawn?"
"Yes, it matches up perfectly. Though we have no access point to it unless we break a wall."
"Well, we'll be doing that soon enough. Anyway Madoka should be arriving soon."
Lin looked at Mai with blushing expression.
"Why?"
"Research on the case."
"Oh..."
"Are you ever going to tell her?"
Lin blushed deeper.
"... Tell her what?"
"... That you like her... romantically."
Lin smiled lightly.
"She's not ready to hear it yet."
"… No. I guess not. It's still too soon, huh."
"... Yeah."
...
After everyone finished dinner, the SPR team had a meeting at the base. Lin produced the floor plan constructed from the day's measurements. It was nearly touching the outer perimeter of the house.
"There are still blank spaces."
Oliver pointed at the blue colored blanks on the diagram. Large and small, they totaled 18. The small ones were about 1 tatami's size. The large ones could be the size of a few rooms.
"Ignoring the small spaces, I'm very concerned about this large empty space."
That large blank space was at the heart of this mansion. Jutting in and out it formed an 'L' shape. Although it's size couldn't be accurately determined, from the look of the surrounding rooms it was clearly the size of a few rooms.
Oliver took the floor plan for the second floor and made a comparison.
"The second floor hasn't been accurately measured, so it's better not to say anything now… it looks like there is that blank space on the second floor too."
Mai pulled out the floor plan made from today's measurements. Indeed, at approximately the same location on the second floor was also a large blank space. Compared to the corresponding part on the first floor, it was probably only half its size.
She then compared the first and second floors' plans to the third, and they saw that the third floor was only a part of the house. It covered almost exactly the blank area from above, so they understood that the blank area did not extend into the third floor.
"… Isn't it a hidden room? If it isn't then it's a little too large to imagine." Takigawa said.
"Isn't the third floor very suspicious? There's also entry from the second floor, I think there's the possibility of gaining access from above." Yasuhara spoke.
"But surrounding this blank space there are a lot of strange and weird rooms, furthermore aren't they more complicated than at other places? Or rather the area surrounding the blank areas are strange areas."
"Lin, the plan for the underground area, please." Oliver asked.
Lin handed it over and everyone huddled around it curiously. The plan fit perfectly into the blank spaces and the rest of the mansion from underneath the first level.
"When did that get produced?" Takigawa asked confused.
"Mai gave it to Lin the other day."
Just as they were talking like this and randomly comparing the diagrams, someone knocked on the window.
The majority of the members unconsciously stood up and frantically searched for the source of the sound.
Mai headed to the window to the courtyard and opened it.
"Hey Madoka."
Oliver stood up.
Modoka climbed through the window to enter with the aid of Mai and Oliver.
"How's it going?"
"Yeah. I wanted to tell you all about the results of the investigation. It's freezing…"
"How did you come?"
"I rented a car to get nearby, and then I walked over. It's very cold outside."
Wearing the jacket Oliver handed her, Madoka sat down on a chair. Rubbing her hands together for warmth, she looked like a squirrel, and appeared very pathetic.
"… Why would you do something so dangerous? What would you do if something happened?"
"Ah lah, Naru will come to rescue me right?"
"… that."
"It's fine, Naru. Outside is safe enough. Urado is trapped inside and can't leave the mansion." Mai interjected.
Oliver's face was filled with displeasure. Mai giggled while Madoka took out a large notebook from beneath her jacket.
"First is this morning's incident of calling Suzuki-san's home. Buses pass regularly along the road beneath this place. And then, I tried asking the bus and car rental companies. I thought that when she left this building, which mode of public transport would she take? Although it's not impossible to hitchhike."
Madoka spoke while she flipped open her notebook.
"The result of my questioning was that there didn't appear to be any drivers who had seen or met such a person. As expected, Suzuki-san probably never left this building. Regarding this issue, this is all I know. Then about the 2 people who disappeared in this house.
The first to disappear was Matsunuma Eiki, 18 years old, unemployed. That happened on the 13th of February. He and 7 friends, 8 in total, came here at night; no news of him has been heard since. Although they came here frequently, it was the first time they did so at night. They planned a test of courage by exploring the mansion, then when they had a feast within one of the rooms, Matsunuma Eiki left the room, apparently to look for a toilet. Following that he never came back."
Madoka flipped over a page.
"The missing person report was made a week later. The police who heard of this incident recruited the young people in this area to search for Matsunuga Eiki. Although they separately searched the building and its surrounds, they did not find Matsunuma-kun. Furthermore when they prepared to leave and did a head count, they realized they were missing one person. The missing one was Yoshikawa Masaya, 21 years old, farmer. Everyone frantically searched the house again; not only did they not find him, because some of the people saw spirits floating through the corridors and created a ruckus, they gave up the search and went back."
While she spoke, Madoka retrieved a few mini tapes from her pocket, and scattered them on the tabletop.
"These are recordings from witnesses. The fact is, not a hint was found in here."
"… so that's what happened."
"And then," Madoka hugged her elbows and looked at her notebook.
"Regarding the owners of this house. The one who built this house was Miyama Kaneyuki. For generations, the Miyama family was rich and powerful in Suwa. Kaneyuki was the eldest son; at 16 he became the head of the Miyama family. At that time income was practically limited to that from farmers. This place is apparently the location of the Miyama family's mountain villa. When Kaneyuki was 18, he went to Europe for a tour. He returned at age 20. Apparently, after he came back he immediately changed this place into a western villa. That happened in 1877."
Madoka flipped over a page.
"From that time onwards, up until his death from kidney disease in 1910 he always lived here. It should be said that he wasn't good with getting along with other people, because besides leaving a few times on trips, he was always closed in here. He let his wife live in the city residence, but he himself hardly every went back. And despite his dabbling in charity, overall he has never appeared to be a society man."
"Madam,"
Takigawa spoke to Madoka, who had stopped for a breath.
"Don't call me 'Madam'. I'm not such an old fashioned person."
"Then Miss."
"Yes~ (heart)"
"Didn't Mr Miyama own a hospital called 'Miyama Benevolent Hospital'?"
Madoka flipped through her notebook to search.
"Yes. Miyama Benevolent Hospital. Located at the edge of the city, it was an extremely large hospital."
"What about a secured facility in the vicinity of the hospital?"
"There was one. You do know quite a bit. Patient's family members, or recovering patients who do not stay in the hospital, and people who have recovered but have difficulty in their daily living – it was a relatively large facility which accepted these types of people."
While she said that, a complicated expression showed on Madoka's face.
"There were quite a number of assistants there. Apparently it was a place with excellent service. Admission into the facility was free of charge. Meals were also free. Apparently they also distributed necessities to those they did not admit. As long as one lived in that facility, one need not worry about clothing, food or lodging.
People who could work apparently helped with the cleaning of the Hospital, and logistics etc. Although half of Miyama's fortune was lost due to the Panic of 1907, before that, this facility had already consumed a significant portion of the fortune.
There were also hospices and orphanages, a center for tuberculosis sufferers etc. In the end, in Meiji 41 (1908), Mr Miyama started giving up of various industries one by one. When Kaneyuki died, besides farmland and forests, there was practically nothing left."
"Kaneyuki's eldest son was Hiroyuki. Besides giving this building various strange renovations, Hiroyuki's history is comparatively normal. I've brought the detailed histories of his and Kaneyuki's along."
Madoka handed the notes sandwiched in her notebook to Oliver.
"Tomorrow it's regarding the characters of this father and son. I feel that this needs in-depth investigation."
Madoka said that with a school teacher's tone. Oliver looked clearly unpleased.
"Madoka, this is very dangerous. It will do to make a call, don't come near this place."
Madoka tilted her head.
"But isn't meeting face to face better?"
"In any case do not come here."
Being told off so severely by Oliver, Madoka nodded.
"Yes, yes."
"She's safe enough outside, Naru. It's only inside that it's dangerous."
Mai reminded him
"Regardless."
Both Madoka and Mai sighed in defeat.
Lin used the car to send Madoka back. When the others were discussing the strange philanthropist, Lin returned through the window, and then it was discussed it in greater detail. It was 11 when the meeting adjourned and everyone returned to their rooms. Oliver discretely pulling Mai to a hidden corner discreetly supervised by Lin for a kiss goodnight.
Then that night, Atsugi Hideo also vanished.
...
Suddenly being woken up, Mai looked at her watch; it was still 3 am.
"Have you all seen Atsugi-kun?"
圣-san's face was stark.
"Sorry, we were in base until late and went straight to our rooms. We didn't see him between that time and now." Mai answered.
"I haven't seen him since glancing him during the exorcism. Have you guys seen him? He's been gone for 2 hours already."
"Please wait a moment."
Mai put on a sweater on top of her pajamas then left out of the room.
"Let's go to the base."
Bringing 圣-san along, Mai went to the base. Oliver and Lin had already gathered inside the base much earlier.
"Naru, Atsugi-san, he – "
"I've heard it. We're playing the recordings now."
This time, the night vision cameras were still running. Perhaps one of the cameras might have caught Atsugi.
"Naru, we have it."
This monitor was for Camera Number 4. Mai pulled out a floor plan from the mountainous pile of papers on the table, and confirmed the position of Camera Number 4.
"The location is?"
"The west side of the building, near the center."
"Even if you say it out I wouldn't know where it is."
Mai rolled her eyes and pointed on the plan the location of the camera.
"There're no blank spaces nearby, and there're no strange rooms nearby either. Based on the diagram, that shouldn't be a suspicious location."
The monitor for Camera Number 4 showed the figure of Atsugi gradually moving down the corridor. The corridor where the camera was located ran east wards; the corridor at the very end ran northwards.
"That corridor is a blind alley; there are no branches."
"Good, we will go take a look. Lin, let's go. Mai, stay here. Bou-san and the rest will soon be here."
"Yes, alright."
Just missing Oliver and his group, Takigawa, John and Yasuhara had all risen and arrived at the base.
"What about Naru-chi?"
"Gone to look for Atsugi-san."
"Good, we will go to, John."
Takigawa, who spoke to John, also began to leave.
"Young man, I'll leave Mai to you."
"I will try my utmost best."
"Will you only try?"
"Because if Mai goes on a stampede, there's no one here that can stop her."
Takigawa left smiling as Mai smacked Yasuhara over the head none too gently.
"Ow!" Yasuhara rubbed his head.
"Serves you right."
Mai expanded her senses down below again. She was green again when she pulled them back after confirming her suspicion. It was already too late.
Ayako and Masako had both gotten up and had finally arrived at base then. The two of them waited nervously, while Mai watched the cameras. Before 7, Oliver and co returned. They said they couldn't find Atsugi and that corridor was clearly a blind alley.
After breakfast they had a meeting. This time the decision was to have everyone search that blind alley for secret passages in the hope of finding a secret path. None was found, despite all efforts to search.
As though appointed, all of the psychics had gathered at the Dining Room. Twenty people less two. Everyone looked exhausted.
"Really, what exactly is going on in this house?" Imura said in a disdainful tone.
Igarashi looked towards Minami. "Can't Professor Davis do anything for us?"
圣-san looked up at once. "Oh yes… if it's the Professor…"
Minami looked obviously unhappy. "The Professor's clairvoyance has limited scope. I asked just now, the Professor said he couldn't feel a thing."
"In that case, could you please call other people here." Igarashi said forcefully.
"Don't you have other friends? Won't it do to call anyone who could help?"
"Even if you suddenly tell me so, I can't do anything: because everyone lives overseas."
"This is an urgent situation. If it's you then won't there always be a way? Or are you saying that on the first day, the things that you said about being able to get the help of Geller or Taunus was all hot air? Or was that girl right? Is your professor a fake?"
Iragashi's last statement draw a few gasps from the listeners around them.
Minami looked angered. "Alright. In conclusion let me make an appointment first. However, as they are all busy people, it would be very troubling to organize a time for them to come here."
"Are you making excuses and shirking responsibility?"
It was Imura who spoke.
"What did you say?"
"You're planning to say that then run away, right? Even if you say you will call them here, they will not come. Because you won't call them at all. You don't even know them at all, isn't that right?"
"You're insulting me."
圣-san stood up and spoke. "Please make an appointment then, Minami-san. If you'll tell me the telephone number, I'll make the call, shall I?"
With that said, 圣-san stood there and laughed.
"That's great, I'll make the call. Please tell me the telephone number. Because the one missing is my medium, it's only polite that I make the appeal to them."
"I can't tell the telephone number to other people."
"If that's the case, you make the call, then allow me to speak. Because it's only polite for me to make the request."
Minami put on a shocking expression and stood up.
"You're dishonoring me. This is an extreme insult. If you all are still suspicious then so be it. Regardless, I refuse to allow my busy friends to be worried over this. I think that this issue is one I can solve on my own."
Minami urged the Professor, who was looking around, perplexed.
"Let's go. I'd let it go if it were only me, but they even insulted the Professor. Really, it makes one exceedingly unhappy."
With that parting shot, Minami left the Dining Room. Behind him followed his 3 assistants and the Professor. And a very strong suspicion of Minami was left behind.
...
After the unpleasant breakfast, the psychics said they'd search through Atsugi's belongings while separating to exorcise the building. Meanwhile SPR returned to the base.
Takigawa hugged his head.
"Is there still time to save him?"
When everyone hung their heads in deep thought, Lin spoke.
"Naru."
Lin had used the figures from their measurements and constructed a 3-D image of the mansion.
"How's it?"
"Please look at this."
The monitor showed the vertical aspect of the west side of the mansion. The stones on the wall were white; the window frames and glasses, folding doors etc were drawn with blue lines. Lin brought up a photo taken with an idiot-proof camera next to the diagram. He used a similar angle to view the house. Ignoring the minor details, the building in the picture and the diagram were practically the same.
"It's this part."
Lin pointed to the block that had stuck out from the northern side.
"Ah!" Takigawa shouted and ran over.
"… It's taller than the rest." Said Oliver calmly.
Indeed, the photo and the 3D image were similar structures. That is, besides the protrusion of the roof height on the northern aspect.
In the photo, the roof at that part was slightly higher than the surroundings. However, on the computer image, the height of the roof was lower than that of the rest.
"Is it an error in measurement… or…"
Following Oliver's words, was Takigawa.
"A hidden room."
"Mai's hidden room?"
"If that's the case, then it's below."
Oliver mumbled. He asked Lin to bring out the floor plans.
The image on the monitor changed; the first floors' floor plan appeared. The troublesome area was enlarged. Oliver looked at it with intense concentration.
"An extremely large blind alley was built around the North block. Here and here… in total there are 8 sites where there are stairs. Up to the end of the corridor, there are 4 that ascend, and 4 that descend. We have been confused by the stairs. Count it carefully. There are more steps that ascend.
As Mai showed in her fourth plan, this area isn't a 3 storey structure, but a 4 storey structure. We had planned to walk around the first floor, but without knowing we'd ended up on the second. There are rooms beneath this first floor."
They rushed to the North Block, and once again measured accurately the number of steps and the height of the steps.
There were 26 ascending steps, and 18 descending. And, compared to normal staircases, each ascending step was 2cms taller, and each descending step 2cm shorter.
That is to say, in the course of ascending and descending the 8 flights of stairs in the corridor in the North Block, they had ascended approximately 4.5m, and descended a little over 2m. As the building was itself about 1m above the ground, there would be about 3m of empty space between the floor of the north block and the ground.
"What in the world is going on with this house?"
Takigawa hugged his head again.
They frustratedly re-measured the various locations. Because there was also the possibility only some steps had different heights from others, they had to measure every single step.
Furthermore, to add to their troubles, upon measuring, there really were some steps that had a different height at certain parts.
"Mai. 16.52cm."
"Yes."
Mai entered the number onto the little black board. The constant writing caused her hand to get slippery and she dropped the pen.
It rolled and rolled and rolled. Mai stared after it with a sigh and began to follow it.
"What are you playing at?" Takigawa yelled from the end of the corridor as Mai moved away.
"Watch the pen." Mai yelled back and pointed to the rolling pen.
Yasuhara suddenly spoke.
"Mai is that pen still rolling?"
"Yes it is. The ground is slanted."
"Ah." Takigawa, John and Yasuhara shouted in unison.
"Don't we have a spirit-level?" Takigawa asked.
"I recall that we have one." John said.
They hurried back to base, explained the situation to Lin, who remained behind to take care of things, took the spirit level, and ran towards the troublesome corridor in the darkening house.
And then they measured.
The corridor that caused Mai's ballpoint pen to roll away had a slope of around 5 degrees. According to what Yasuhara said, with a 20m corridor sloping at 5 degrees, one end of the corridor would be about 2m higher than the other.
...
In the end, before sunset neared, they went to measure the stairs. Step by step, they carefully measured, then recorded it faithfully on the diagram. Then, during this process, John found that.
That was near the center of the building, in the middle of a short flight of stairs. Along the corridor there were about 10 steps ascending. There was a room directly facing the top of this flight of stairs. From there onwards, the corridor split into slightly narrow left and right branches. Where the corridor was wider; the walls on both sides were covered with whitewash.
From where Mai stood, around her chest height, there was a 10cm wide protruding panel. It was engraved beautifully with a relief sculpture of creepers. Beneath that decoration…
"There's a door here."
John, who had squatted down to measure the height of the step, spoke. Looking closely at it, on the wall, next to where John was squatting, beneath the relief sculpture, half a door could be seen.
The door was the same color as the white wash. Due to the protrusion of the relief sculpture, it blocked our vision of this door previously.
Half of the door was covered by the stairs. Even like this, from a higher position, a small door handle could be seen. John grabbed this handle and pushed. The door opened easily inwards.
Mai shone the torch into the dark room.
"Urado's portrait should be inside there."
The room was narrow about 3 tatami's size. The floor was covered with dust; there wasn't a thing that looked like furniture. Although there was a window on the inside, no light shone through it. It was clearly sealed from the outside.
John jumped into that room. The dust was all stirred up; John coughed a few times gently.
"Is there anything inside?"
Although Takigawa spoke to John like that, the room was just like what they saw with our first brief sweep with the torch: besides the dust, there was nothing.
"There's a frame hung on the wall."
Takigawa and Yasuhara stretched their necks to see the large frame pointed out by John.
"Besides that, there isn't anything else, is there?"
"No."
John removed the frame and passed it back out of the room. Mai took the dust covered frame, then Takigawa and Yasuhara pulled John up from the room.
There, Mai carefully rubbed the dust on the frame, revealing the vague hint of a portrait.
After rubbing the dust even more carefully, the canvas became uneven, and the remnants of an oil painting appeared. A male was drawn on it: a frail, shrewd looking man of about 40. His hair was neatly combed, and he wore a black overcoat over his black kimono. Mai shuddered on seeing him.
"There's a signature here."
Takigawa pointed to the bottom left corner of the portrait. Sloping yellow lines were written there. Rather than calling them lines, they should be called patterns made from lines. As for what was written above, we all couldn't see clearly.
"… this is the Kaō."
"Kaō?"
"Aah, a Japanese style signature. It's a stylized method of writing Kanji etc. … I really can't see a thing on this one."
Takigawa tilted the frame. He turned the portrait around to look at its back.
"There's something written here."
On the frame was a row of black words written vertically.
"March, Meiji 32. Self Portrait. 浦户(Urado)"
These words were written in neat calligraphy.
"March, Meiji 32. Self Portrait. Urado. Is it?"
Takigawa looked a few times at the signature on the right side.
"No wonder. This word looks like the word '浦' (Ura)."
That is to say the Kaō was designed from the character '浦'.
Yasuhara thought for a moment.
"That's really strange. Normally aren't signatures made from first names? '俊树(Toshioki?)' and what not. This is a surname, right?"
"There's that too."
"It's not his real name. Just the name he called himself." Mai answered.
"If the self portrait of this person is here as decoration, this Urado person should be a relative of Mr Miyama." Yasuhara mused.
"His father." Mai shrugged.
"Let's show Naru and see what he says."
Takigawa returned the portrait to its frame as he said that. Then, he patted John's shoulder.
"Come, John. Let's go measure this room."
The two of them carried tape measures, crawled into that narrow room and measured the dimensions and direction of the room. Then they started measuring if the floor was sloping or not, and what height the floor was from the staircase.
While they were measuring, Mai looked once more at that picture. She did not look forward to that night's dream.
When they returned to base, the sun had long set; hence they were severely scolded by Oliver.
"Didn't I tell you to return before dusk!"
"Sorry, we lost track of the time." Mai said as she kissed his cheek in apology.
After Mai showed the frame in question to Oliver, his attitude changed slightly.
"March, Meiji 32, Self Portrait, Urado."
Oliver repeated.
"The signature… Ura."
Oliver suddenly raised his head. He searched the tabletop and pulled out an envelope. He pulled out the paper money from the envelope.
"What's up?"
"It is '浦Ura'."
Oliver let the light shine through the note.
Oliver handed the note to Mai. She looked at the note with light shining through it. Takigawa's head also moved closer.
Amidst the overlapping blotches were words written with a fountain pen or something. Near the center was the word '浦Ura'. After looking at the words nearby…
"Isn't this '户(do?)', next to it?"
"It's true. This is '户'."
"… Urado."
Takigawa picked up the envelope on the table as he spoke. The characters they had seen yesterday were written on it.
'吧(ba) 走(walk) 了(already) 浦(Ura) 被(by) 听(hear) 死(die) 都(all) 这(this) 来(come)'
Takigawa wrote the word '户' next to the word '浦'.
'吧(ba) 走(walk) 了(already) 浦户(Urado) 被(by) 听(hear) 死(die) 都(all) 这(this) 来(come)'
"Why are these words written…? '被(by) 听(hear)'… this is '被 听(listened by)' right? '浦户(Urado)' '死(die)' '都(all) 这(this) 来(come)'… '来这里的都 (all who came to this place)'…?"
"What type of speech is this considered?"
"Read it backwards. You're reading it like it's from the current era." Mai commented as she stroked with the yellow snake curled around her wrist.
"Ai?"
Yasuahara took the envelope, rubbed off Takigawa's words, then rewrote the words from:
"吧(ba) 走(walk) 了(already) 户浦(do-ura?) 被(by) 听(hear) 死(die) 都(all) 这(this) 来(come)"
To:
"来(come) 这(this) 都(all) 死(die) 听(hear) 被(by) 浦户(Urado) 了(already) 走(walk) 吧(ba)"
Everyone tilted their heads.
They looked at the note with light shining through it several more times.
"This and this are joined together… between these two words there is a word…"
They mumbled to ourselves while they re-wrote the words beneath it again.
"来(Come)? 这里(This place)? 全都死了(Have all died) 听说是被浦户(heard it was Urado who)?? 的(particle)? 走吧(go)"
"How is it?"
The men took turns reading the paper passed around by Yasuhara.
"The first sentence should be comprehensible." Yasuhara mumbled.
Takigawa spoke with a stiff voice. "I think it's comprehensible too."
"Isn't this 'come to this place… have all died'?"
"Ah!"
"Perhaps it refers to the people who came to this place. But it's not too clear if there are 2 or 3 words in the space in between. "
"If that's the case then the last sentence should be simple."
Ayako said with extreme displeasure.
"This is a message left for a certain person. 'The people who came to this place have all died. … run away'…"
Mai repeated the phrase she had spoken the previous day.
"Those who came to this place have all died. Heard they were killed by Urado. Run away."
While everyone was deep in thought, someone lightly tapped the window. When everyone turned to look at the window, Madoka was already standing there.
"Madoka! … Haven't I already told you how dangerous this is, and not to come near to this place?"
Opening the window, Oliver spoke in a cool voice.
Madoka raised her hand.
"Stop. How about letting me in first?"
Oliver pulled Madoka in with an extremely displeased expression. Madoka, who jumped in with a thump, said with a smile,
"Greetings to everyone."
"Madoka. I should have already told you not to come."
"Ah la, of course it's because there's no danger that I'm here. I'm not as stupid as Naru."
Madoka, who had sat down, took out a few cans of coffee from a convenience store bag and distributed it to everyone.
"… and then?"
While Oliver's cold gaze observed these, Madoka, who had loosened the tab on the can, passed the can towards Oliver.
"Help me open it (heart)."
Stiff-faced, Oliver pulled open the can. After passing the can back to Madoka..
"Why is there no danger?"
Madoka did not hesitate at all.
"This is a child's playground."
"… What do you mean?"
"I say, isn't the front garden of this house a large field? It looks like the children all come here to play."
She said that and flashed a smile.
"Apparently that place was suitable for the neighborhood children to practice baseball or soccer, so that location was often used. It looks like because of the disappearance incident around February that those activities ceased. Of course, there hasn't been any incident of a child disappearing. That's why I said that there's no danger up to the gardens."
Madoka shrugged as she said that.
"Apparently they've always forbidden children from entering the house. This place is also a famous haunted house, so although incidents of children secretly entering the house out of curiosity have happened before, no one had gone into the depths of the house. At the most they took a turn around the room by the window, and then stopped their activities just like that."
Madoka stared at Oliver with a challenging look.
"That's why I said, the dangerous part is the inside of this house. The outside of the house is safe."
"That's only for the day time right?"
"Ah la, one will inevitably tangle with a little danger in the work of a ghost hunter. I haven't done anything more dangerous than living in a house with a bad record."
"… and then?"
"You aren't here just to see our faces, are you?"
"Ah, right, right."
Madoka clapped her hands and retrieved a notebook from her sweater pocket.
"That… Atsugi-san hasn't been sighted nearby too. He hasn't taken a bus or rented a car either."
Madoka said that while she turned a page.
"And about the Miyama father and son situation. First up is Mr Kaneyuki."
Oliver's cold gaze somehow made one feel that he isn't listening at all. Although Lin, Madoka and Mai all knew better.
"He was apparently severely mysophobic. It was said that there was a dishonest incident at the silk factory. Apparently one of the staff misappropriated the wages of a worker or something. Then, that worker was dismissed for no good reason. His eldest son was also working in the same factory and was also sacked. His third son was a staff member of the hospital, and was also sacked. And the owner of the house they lived in was Kaneyuki, so they were all evicted. – it doesn't stop here."
"There's more?" Takigawa was shocked speechless.
Madoka nodded, smiling.
"There is. His married daughter and her husband also rented their house from Kaneyuki, so they were also evicted. The convict's parents were also Kaneyuki's tenant farmers, and were also evicted."
"That's really despicable…"
"Isn't it? This is turning into a theme here."
Saying that, Madoka flipped over a page.
"Therefore, Mr Kaneyuki really disliked interacting with people, and completely did not allow anyone to come near this mountain villa. Apparently even if there was an urgent matter he would also be unreachable. Unless Mr Kaneyuki contacted the outside, there would be practically no way otherwise.
Apparently he had employed a maid, but it's said that she wasn't employed from Suwa but from somewhere else; it was something like that. The son, Mr Hiroyuki, was also a famous eccentric. However one puts it he is the person who renovated this building endlessly. Regarding the renovations, Mr Hiroyuki had said some words that made others concerned…"
"Words that made others concerned?"
"Yeah. When he was asked about the reason for the renovations, apparently he said: 'Because there are spirits escaping; this is to make sure they don't escape.'
That's all I've found out."
With a clap, Madoka closed the notebook. She tilted her head as though very troubled.
"However we put this, these events are of days long past, and there are already very few people who remember these incidents. Because of the era, I think it is already very good that I've found out this much."
Oliver did not speak.
Takigawa cut in.
"Miss, do you know of Kaneyuki's friends?"
"I've investigated it a little… But I've heard he practically has no one he would call a friend."
"I'm afraid there should be a person called Urado amongst them."
Takigawa picked up the frame which was sitting in a corner of the room.
"The person in this painting. According to the date on the back as to when this was painted, this should be somebody Mr Kaneyuki knew…"
Takigawa's words had not reached the end before Madoka glanced at that painting,
"Ah la, that is Mr Kaneyuki."
"Was Mr Kaneyuki's pseudonym Urado?"
"Didn't Mai already say it earlier?" John pointed out.
Takigawa looked repeatedly through the photocopies of the photos Madoka had left behind.
It was a photo of a person standing beside a door post hung with a plaque, 'Miyama Weaving Factory'. Regardless of how one looked at it, one could see the model for the self-portrait was definitely Mr Kaneyuki.
"Although he's a philanthropist, he's also an eccentric – this man."
"Exactly."
Oliver's expression turned a little severe.
"He's only an eccentric. 'The people who came to this place have all died'. 'This place' would definitely have to be this mountain villa, right? What happened here? 'Heard they were killed by Urado'. That isn't philanthropy. That is a cover for a serial killer."
Oliver's tone of voice was strangely unsettling.
"But one thing is clear for sure." Ayako said.
"What is…?" Mai asked.
"Ah la, have you forgotten already? It's what the spirits said during the séance
'Save me' 'I don't want to die' – Those were definitely the spirits of the people who died here."
"Only the words 'save me' was by the spirits. 'I don't want to die' was written by Urado himself."
"How do you know that?" Ayako asked.
"Because I saw him and the other spirits during the seance. They saw me too."
Oliver dropped everything he was holding and stood up shocked.
"Why didn't you say something?!"
"What would I have bothered saying? Bou-san had already chanted to scare him off before I could." Mai shrugged her shoulders.
After Madoka left, Mai and the others returned to their rooms. Mai was unsettled, knowing that she would be dreaming that night.
...
The dream began when Mai woke up suddenly in the middle of the night.
'Oh dear' She realized her arms and legs were stiff and could not move.
Mai stayed very calm, knowing she was dreaming. As though nothing was wrong, she looked around and confirmed that Ayako and Masako were both fast asleep.
Mai's back rapidly turned cold. Breathing started becoming difficult. Cold sweat covered Mai from head to toe. She felt dizzy and disorientated. Mai knew that the spirit who's memory this belonged to was now possessing her.
A soft sound came from the outside; the room's door opened.
Mai's body still could not move. Only her head could turn towards the door. Black figures entered the room.
They were unquestionably human figures. There were 2 of them and those 2 figures quietly approached Mai.
The figures stood on Mai's two sides. In the darkness, Mai could vaguely see their faces. Male. The 2 men grabbed Mai's arms and pulled her into sitting position.
Mai was dragged into standing position. Her 2 arms were held separately by the 2 men as they walked. The spirit possessing Mai induced feelings of horror and fear inside of her.
It was pitch-black outside the room. The corridors clearly should not have any electrical lighting. She was dragged down the corridor in the darkness. After walking a long distance, the men opened a door.
The room inside was a relatively spacious room. Mai wasn't sure where the light came from; there was a magical glow as though being under a full moon. The furniture in the room was arranged neatly. In any case it looked like very expensive furniture; it really made one feel that there was someone living here. However, there was no one in the room.
The men dragged Mai into the room and silently brought her in front of a closet on the right. After opening the closet, there was a corridor inside. The long, dark, narrow corridor extended endlessly inwards. Its narrowness and darkness was somehow nauseating.
Mai's arms were grabbed again and pulled inwards. Gradually, the corridor became a long narrow gravel path sandwiched by hedgerows.
Step by step she walked on the gravel path. She lifted her head and looked at the 2 men on both sides. The surroundings were clearly very bright but she could not see their faces.
Mai lifted her head and looked at the hedge rows on both sides. Those hedgerows were made very tall. They extended upwards far above Mai's head.
Following the hedgerows twisting and turning they walked forwards. The path once again gradually turned into a corridor. A faint scent of blood wafted through the air. That wasn't all. The stench of something rotting and burnt flesh also permeated the air.
There was a door in a jutting out portion of the corridor. The men opened the door. Inside there, too, was a spacious room.
This room should be the main hall. In the spacious room there was a staircase and countless doors. Suddenly Mai gagged as she smelt the stronger scent of blood. She was dragged up the stairs, and inwards the distance of about 3 doors, and brought into the innermost room.
That room looked like a bathroom of sorts. It was a small room laid with white tiles. On the wooden planked floor, the 2 men let go of Mai's arms, then suddenly started taking off her clothes.
The clothes Mai was wearing had somehow turned into a dark blue kimono. After she was stripped naked, she was brought into a deeper room.
That was a room about 12 tatami's size. Like the small room, it was covered with white tiles. In the middle of the room, there was a bathtub that was as white as the walls. It was like those seen in foreign films; an antique bathtub placed on the floor.
Then, a red colored substance flowed on the floor.
An overwhelming smell of blood and a sharp stench of decomposition made Mai unable to breathe. She forcefully held back her nausea. Her feet stepped on a lukewarm fluid. Stepping on that sticky substance the spirit inside Mai trembled with fear. A whole face of that wide room was stained red.
With much difficulty, Mai stepped once more onto the white tiles; a red foot print remained on the tile. Looking closely, she could see there were some white fluffy things in the blood. It looked like minced pieces of meat.
Mai looked towards the inside of the bathtub; inside there were some red things. After the red fluid dripped onto the floor, long blood stains detailed the white shiny porcelain surface.
The men took Mai into the depth of the room. There was a small bed. It was just like the metal beds used in the hospital. Tiles covered the place where there should have been a mattress. Both the metal and the tiles had turned mushy because of the red substance.
"… No."
The spirit inside Mai spoke. Mai was pulled backwards.
The men forcefully dragged Mai onto the bed. The spirit inside Mai started to scream and resist. She desperately bit the 2 hands grabbing Mai, but she was still forcefully pulled onto those tiles. After being pulled onto those tiles, Mai's back felt the cold, slippery sensation of the tiles. The disgusting sensation of slippery, lukewarm blood and the soft fragments of meat or something against her back caused a sensation of horror.
"No!"
Both Mai and the spirit wanted to escape and tried to move her body, but the blood in Mai's body had apparently solidified. As though her whole body was drenched in blood, an overwhelming stench surrounded her.
They placed Mai in the opposite direction of the bed, with her head going where the feet usually go, then pressed her down with a force that made Mai's bones and joints groan.
"No! Let me go!"
They pulled Mai's hands as though trying to break it then tied her hands to the metal post with rope.
Both her legs were also secured.
"No! Save me!"
A coarse rope went around Mai's chest, and her upper body was also tied down. It had turned into a position with Mai's throat facing backwards, and her head dangling off the end of the bed.
The men left. Mai was abandoned there, tied securely to the bed, maintaining a posture with her head dangled backwards. She felt the blood which had solidified in her body rush to her head due to gravity.
Mai's teeth were still chattering. She opened her closed eyes.
– White light.
One of the men stood by Mai's side; the other stood besides her face. The man beside her face grabbed her hair. He pushed down forcefully; as though convulsing, Mai's neck bent backwards.
Mai was unable to close her eyes or move her body. She could only shiver there and look on blankly at the things passing in front of her eyes.
White porcelain. Red fluid spurted onto the ceiling. It was in the shape of a blotch.
Suddenly that man let go of Mai's hair. The man straightened slightly.
She sensed the man bending his waist to check the position of the bucket. The gleam of the knife he held in his hand flashed across her eyes.
The man looked up.
The man reached out and grabbed Mai's hair again. He used a force as though attempting to break her neck to pull her into a posture where her neck was exposed. – Once again.
White light flashed across her eyes.
The man reached out.
Ice cold fingers touched Mai's exposed throat.
The man lifted his hands. An ice-cold item pressed against her throat. It was a thin, sharp item.
The man's hands started moving.
Mai sensed the thin, ice-cold item sliding on her throat. A biting pain washed through her entire body.
At once a warm wet substance rushed forth from her throat and down her neck. Her vision was stained bright red. Finally she sensed the pain of her neck being cut.