Don't forget to read the first or last part if you haven't!
In the last part, we learned of the relationship between the two missing people that disappeared 40 years ago, they were members of the two prominent families of the village, the teacher was a Haguro and the student was a Tatara, and they unfortunately fell in love. This information was gained from the teacher's journal, left behind in a forsaken room, but during our reading, we were attacked. This led to an extended chase scene, with one of the game overs revealing the identity of the attacker: the 'schoolgirl preserved in formalin'. After escaping from her by jumping off the roof (onto a pile of snow), we returned to the night duty room, where two of Yuukas friends waited, but that reunion was short-lived, as another attacker appeared in the middle of their conversation. Now we have to choose how to deal with him.
But before that, I want to show an alternate way to escape the schoolgirl preserved in formalin, because it features the appearance of an unexpected character. Let's begin, shall we?
What do I do? I have a feeling this choice could mean the difference between life and death... I can't make any mistakes...
>Tear off the blazer.
>Tear it off without regard to appearances.
You can see that I already chose all options, but I still haven't shown the bottom one.
>Tear it off without regard to appearances.
It's unpleasant, but I have to bite the bullet and bear with it... I'll probably be able to get this thing... coiling around me off of me... "Eyy!!!"
Ah... The force wrapping around my body loosened! Now's the time! I twisted my body and stood up at the same time... but, "Kyah!!"
My upper body slipped out and I was almost there, but I was bound again... It's cold... however, my disheveled clothing isn't the reason why my body temperature is being stolen away... I have to think... I have to act...
In the meantime, I'll keep losing my body heat... as if my soul is being frozen... Is this death...?
It's too late... I made a wrong choice somewhere... I wonder if Kaoru and the others are safe...? Someone, anyone... please help me...
But it's... too late...
"Aiiieee!!! Kyeee!!"
"Eh...?" Who is... this voice?
"Damned evil spirit! Begone!!"
A hoarse voice echoed in the area. This voice... could it be... that old lady from the bus stop!? "I said, begone! You!"
"Old lady!?" She was... frenetically striking that thing with a broom-like object.
That thing......
Apparently was in pain. But... why?
The old lady chanted something that sounded like a sutra and made symbolic gestures with both her hands. In turn, the thing lurking in the darkness... began to writhe in agony.
"......Yah!!"
"Gah!!" The surroundings... suddenly became calm.
It seems... that thing is gone.
"Huff... this old woman's spell... seems to have worked nicely... However... you..."
"Y-yes?"
"That outfit... is it one of those newfangled fashion things?"
"...Eh?"
I spontaneously shifted my gaze to my lower half... I see... she's talking about this... H-how embarrassing...
"No, calling it fashion isn't..."
"Then, you'd better put on some underpants, if you don't want to look like that..."
"R-right... Thank you, madam. But... why are you here?"
"Well... I was worried about the Haguros' girl... Not to mention that today's the day when the once-a-year blizzard happens... I thought to find what I've been searching for..."
"The once-a-year blizzard...?"
"You didn't know? This blizzard occurs every year on the 25th of the twelfth month. How do you not know this?"
"A-about that... does everyone know this?"
"Yes, everyone from this village knows it. It's common knowledge."
Is that... true...? Then why did Senpai choose this day? She must have known this snowstorm was coming...
"How's the Haguro girl?"
"Eh? Ah, you mean Kaoru?"
"Yes, how is she?"
"Erm... She fell ill... She's resting right now."
"I see... Be careful. Bad things happen to the Haguros, I say."
"Including... Kaoru?"
"That's right. Nothing good... ever happens."
"Madam, do you know why it's like that?"
"Tengu-sama is... enraged..."
"Tengu-sama...?"
"Yes, Tengu-sama... resents the Haguro family... Same as the Tataras..."
"Um, are you...?"
"A member of the Tatara family, yes."
"I see. I've only been here a year... so I'm not familiar with the village..."
"You'll learn soon enough, the horror of Tengu-sama..."
Saying so, the old lady began to walk away.
But a blizzard is outside. And it won't stop for a while. What is she going to do...?
"Madam! What are you going to do now?"
"Ah? I... have a place I need to go... the Tengu's Shrine..."
"I-in the middle of this snowstorm?"
"There's something important I'm searching for... A blizzard like this one won't stop me."
"A-alright... Please take care."
"I'll be fine... More importantly, you should be careful... so that you don't suffer Tengu-sama's wrath..."
The old lady left those words behind as she went to leave... Having been left behind, I...
What should I do, I wonder? For now, I'll return to the night duty room...
[Outside of the sudden appearance, this conversation implies something weird was happening even before entering the school.
Anyway, let's resume from where we left off last time.]
In a time like this...
>That's right! There's the old map!
⬢ >That's right! Try a ramming attack!
Let's begin with the top choice.
⬢ >That's right! Try a ramming attack!
...That's right! That item I've had in hand for a while... It can probably be used now... The old... map...
"H-hey, Miki... On the old map... where would this area be?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Remember... that black cat!"
"That... black cat?"
"That cat flew out of the science preparation room even though it was supposed to be locked shut, right? That means... there should be a secret path somewhere!"
"W-wait a minute... This corridor's end is..."
"Be fast!"
"I know! Just wait a minute!"
Our pursuer was slowly but steadily coming closer to us. We... don't have much time.
"...B-behind this wall..."
While looking at the old map, I pictured the floor plan of the modern-day school in my head. There should be a path after this dead end...!
I groped around in the darkness for a doorknob... Okay! My hand caught something!
This... should lead outside...
Outside was... a raging snowstorm as I imagined... However, escaping from that mysterious pursuer is the first priority. I closed the door shut behind us.
With this... we'll be fine for a while...
"Um... Yuuka." Miki called out to me with a trembling voice.
"Hm? What is it?"
"The spiriting away story from 40 years ago... There's still more to it..."
"More...?"
"Yeah... At that time, the Tatara family had reached the peak of its prosperity, but... they were ruined by the 'spiriting away' rumors I told about some time ago..."
"Uhm... The photo and diary from the old science room... Once I looked at that, it clicked for me..."
"Ah, this journal, right?"
"...The Tatara family member who appeared in that journal... Ms. Isami Tatara was, at that time, one of the people who were spirited away."
"And... so was the science teacher talked about in this newspaper... He called himself a Haguro, correct?"
"Isami Tatara and... the science teacher she disappeared together with... The ones who started the fuss about the spiritings away were... like I said earlier... the Haguro family..."
Kaoru silently nodded. Kaoru too is a member of the Haguro family. I wonder what she's thinking.
"The clamoring Haguros... they likely were the science teacher's family... They said... that the Tatara's worship was a sham... that if they were truly faithful, the spiritings away wouldn't have happened..."
"That lead to the Tataras' {downfall} and, in turn, the flourishing of the Haguros..."
"I see... So that's what happened."
"........." Kaoru has been quiet for a while.
"Ms. Kaoru, I'm sorry... This story..."
"...It's okay... It's the truth..." Her reply was somewhat self-derisive.
[Bam]
"Hyih!?" I forgot. Our pursuer... is still in there... That unidentified... person is...
"Kya---------!!"
"Eh?"
"...T-that right now was... Sakura-senpai's..."
"...Scream, wasn't it!?"
"Senpai...!" Before I knew it, I was running.
However... on the other side of the door was nobody. "Huh?" Glancing at the floor, there I saw...
"Eh!? Blood...?"
On the floor was left a large puddle of blood and, leading from it to down the corridor, scattered splotches of blood.
Was this... Senpai's... blood?
"What happened?" Miki poked her face in from the door gap.
"Yuuka... is that, blood...?"
"...So it seems. If we follow this blood, maybe I'll find Senpai..."
We followed the bloodstains, heading further into the hallway. Truthfully, I planned to go in alone, but...
"...Where did the culprit intend to go from here?"
"......If he was carrying Sakura-senpai with him, then..."
"Well, let's try looking at the map." Opening the map, we checked to see its destination If the culprit planned on going outside, then...
"Ah"
"W-what is it, Miki?"
"The Tengu's Shrine... Over there, the waterfall's current is intricate... Rumor says that if someone's thrown in there... their corpse will never be seen again..."
"...The culprit might want to throw Sakura-senpai there..." Kaoru spoke dreadful things in whispers.
The bloodstains continued all the way down the corridor. We were following them, but... it seemed likely that what Miki talked about was true.
"It's as we thought..." The bloodstain's path led to the open entrance and continued even further beyond...
"...Senpai... is in danger!" I took a strong step forward in order to summon my courage.
"Kaoru... Miki... You two wait here. I'll... be going in alone."
"W-why, Yuuka!?"
"I don't know... I don't know myself, but... I want to continue alone..."
"...Yuuka..."
"I'm okay, Kaoru. Please don't worry."
"...I understand..." Kaoru firmly grasped my hand, giving me courage.
Why did I speak out saying I was going alone...? Not even I understand the reason.
Whether Senpai is at the end of this path or not... I have no conclusive proof.
If she isn't... Then the cold numbing of my limbs was in vain.
I'm already completely numb to my limbs. It's because of this blizzard. My body temperature is... quite low. Furthermore, I... was wearing very light clothing.
And yet, I continued. I wanted to know the truth, no matter what.
I see! The desire for the truth... That had now become my driving force.
Of course, I'm also doing this for Senpai, but more than that, I'm motivated by an insatiable quest for the truth. Come to think of it, I have always been like this.
Whenever I find something mysterious, something unknown, I always recklessly pursue it in search of the truth.
My parents... I remember them saying something like, 'who does this child take after?'
"Ow!"
The blizzard pierced my cheek. But I couldn't afford to stop walking. Because ahead of me... is the truth...
The Tengu's Shrine... It's only a little more until I reach the truth that lies there... I kept walking as I cheered myself up.
I'm almost... I'm almost there...
Should I call this expected? There was no sign of life in the area, only the roaring echoes of the waterfall reverberating in the pitch blackness.
"Kya-------!"
This scream is... Senpai!?
I turned around in the direction of the voice, but all I could hear was the sounds of the blowing snowstorm and the waterfall, and I could not see, let alone hear, her.
I couldn't hear anything but nature's roar.
[The wings appear, fluttering noises]
Suddenly, a black shadow of about three meters in height jumped out of the snow piled up in front of me. That black shadow spread one of its wings and tried to wrap me in it.
Is it trying to abduct me!? Could this be... the true nature of the spiritings away???
"...Ah..."
My stiffened body isn't doing what it's told...
But, perhaps by natural instinct, I slowly took steps back, avoiding being swallowed by that wing.
This is... a tengu!?
However, as I tardily drew away, the black shadow steadily approached. It spread its large wings wide...
With the snowstorm growing stronger little by little, I couldn't even hear the sound of the snow I trod upon. Even what was in front of me was hard to see due to this curtain of snow.
In any case... I had a feeling that if I let it envelop me, it would be the end. For some unknown reason... and only vaguely, but... that's what I felt.
Slowly... slowly I stepped back...
"...Huh?" Before I knew it... there was no more snow-covered ground beneath me... One of my legs suddenly fell.
And... I lost my balance and fell down the cliff.
It was... exceedingly slow. I seemed to be falling at exceedingly slow speeds.
Halfway through, I desperately reached for a tree growing on the cliff... If only... somehow... I could grab it! But... I can't reach it.
I... fell further down...
"Is this... the end of my life?" Memories flashed and faded before my eyes. ...Is this really the end?
No! I don't want it to end like this! It was just... just a little more until I reached the truth!!
God... save me...
As luck would have it, I fell onto a rocky ledge that jutted out a few meters from the cliff.
Perhaps due to a mound of piercingly cold snow, my body seemed to be fine...
...But my consciousness is... getting a little... exhausted...
"...Ah... the sun is rising... in the sky..." From the east... I could see the morning sun rising. That was the last thing I remembered.
[Fluttering of wings, cut to black]
That very same day, I went to the village's hospital.
I had only a minor cut on my hand, but my parents panicked when they saw it, and I ended up in the hospital.
"Um... I..."
"You need to rest. You're a patient." The nurse beside me smiled.
"Uhm... What happened to that case?"
"Case? ...Ah, you mean that incident at the high school. It was so scary, wasn't it~?"
"Ooh, you're awake, eh, sleeping beauty?"
"...Uh... Who are you?"
"Ah, I'm Safuji. A detective from the prefectural police."
"...Is that so...?" He looks like a somewhat flippant guy... The detective had a faint grin on his face.
"Your friend was pretty worried about you." Behind the detective, I could see Miki's figure.
"Yuuka..."
"Seems like this case has quite the deep roots. The feud between the old houses of this village, the Tataras and the Haguros, started well over 40 years ago. What a piece of work."
The detective laughed sarcastically. "......"
"The science teacher's disappearance you girls investigated... It looks like that really was a case of elopement between the Tataras' daughter... the female student and the Haguro science teacher..."
"That was spread around the village as a spiriting away by the Haguro family, wasn't it?"
"Correct. You're pretty knowledgeable, Miki."
"Yeah..." Miki nodded, seemingly with a guilty consciousness.
"Yes, it's just as Miki said. The Haguro family claimed those two were 'spirited away'..."
"If the daughter of the Tatara family, who is supposed to be protected by the Tengu-sama, was 'spirited away', the family's reputation would be ruined, yeah?"
"They ran away, and after much anguish, they decided to commit a lovers' suicide at the Tengu's Shrine..."
"However... One of them survived..."
"...Why do you know all this?"
"Because this was written on the last page of the diary."
The detective called Safuji pulled out the science teacher's journal we were holding. Somehow... it seems like there was even more left...
"You can tell from the fact it was written in this diary. The one who survived... was Ryouji Haguro... the science teacher."
"I didn't know that..."
"Oh yes, I just remembered!" Saying so, the flippant detective slapped his knee.
"From this, we were able to discover Isami Tatara's memento left behind at the Tengu's Shrine. Only hers, however."
"Memento...?"
"Her last love letter... It was found in the Tengu's Shrine. Pretty romantic, isn't it?"
"Was it found in the waterfall?"
"No way! Ah, maybe you don't know? The reason that the waterfall is called the Tengu's Shrine is because there's a cave behind the waterfall."
"Eh!? There's something like that?"
"Yep. It's where this village's guardian deity, Tengu-sama, was enshrined. That's why it was named the Tengu's Shrine."
Miki stayed silent, nodding along.
"The events of back then are now shrouded in darkness... The couple that became the origin of the quarrel between the Tatara and Haguro families... Ryouji Haguro and Isami Tatara..."
"And the surviving Ryouji Haguro's secret return to the village, where he had a child. That was..."
"No way... Is that Kaoru...?"
"Correct..." The detective's face contorted in a grin.
Kaoru is the daughter of the science teacher who was spirited away forty years ago...
Does Kaoru... know about her own father...?
"By the way... About your senpai..."
"You mean Sakura-senpai?"
"Yes, that Sakura-senpai. She's still a bit confused."
"Confused?"
"I don't know what she saw, but... she's still recovering..."
"Um, Yuuka. Sakura-senpai was found holding a tengu mask, she kept mumbling 'teacher... tengu...' over and over.
"That tengu mask... was that what we saw?"
"At the very least, it was different from the thing above the ceiling. Sakura-senpai's mask was green..."
"Also... Your teacher, Mr. Kosugi has gone missing."
"Eh? Mr. Kosugi has...!?"
"Yeah. As soon as Ms. Sakura recovers, we'll interview her." Sakura-senpai... just what in the world happened...?
"Well, I'll be excusing myself. Get well soon." The frivolous-looking detective gave a refreshed smile that didn't suit the occasion and left.
And as if to replace him, Kaoru entered the room.
"...Yuuka..." Kaoru... I wonder how much she heard of the detective's story.
I absolutely didn't want Kaoru to be harmed in any way...
"...Hey, Yuuka..." My body unintentionally trembled with a jump.
"...What was it all about in the end...?" Is she talking about the case? Or...
Kaoru fell silent.
But I was so glad that Kaoru was alive. My heart was slowly filled with relief and pride that I was able to protect my best friend...
With this... my story ends.
That incident was my first encounter with the occult... Much time has passed since then... I am now living a life that is all about the occult.
Three years have passed since then...
As for everyone else after that, Senpai ultimately was still in the process of recovering.
What happened to Senpai...? I still don't know to this day. Is this Tengu-sama's divine punishment?
As for Miki, she enrolled in a prefectural university and is now working a part-time job at a local newspaper company.
According to her, in a few years, she'll probably make her debut as a reporter, but... is that true?
And, Kaoru...
Kaoru graduated from high school. but we ended up losing contact...
Her family moved elsewhere... That's what I heard from Miki.
I moved to Tokyo right after the incident, so I wasn't able to get in touch with her...
But, though I have no proof, I have a feeling that Kaoru and I will meet again.
That time seems to be surprisingly near... so I believe... I wish I could meet you... Kaoru.
Lastly, there's me...
Now... I'm in a wonderful environment where many occult topics exist right next to me.
Yeah... By cooperating in Junya-kun's investigations...
I'm able to live the occult-immersed life I had hoped for.
I'm sure various kinds of stories will be spun out in the future... along with bizarre cases...
[You'd think this was a normal end, but no, still a game over and a D Class finish. Let's see what lies beyond the other option.]
In a time like this...
>That's right! There's the old map!
⬢ >That's right! Try a ramming attack!
Next choice.
⬢ >That's right! Try a ramming attack!
"Okay! Let's try a ramming attack!"
"Eeh... A-are you serious!?"
"I'm as serious as I can be... We have no choice here."
"......Let's try it..."
"...Ah..." [Thud]
"L-let's do it now!" Our ramming tactic... was shockingly effective.
The thing lurking in the darkness... It lost its balance and slumped down on the spot. Seeing the opportunity... the three of us... began to run. "Okay! We can make it!"
"It was a huge success!"
"...Thank goodness..."
"Ahem, it went just as I calculated."
"Really? Wasn't it entirely up to luck?"
"No! Don't be rude!"
"...Fufufu..."
"Alright! Now we can run to the outside!"
"...That's...right..."
"Ah, but, what about Sakura-senpai?"
"...Yeah..."
"We need to look for her..."
However, how should we proceed...?
>Return to the night duty room.
>Go outside.
Going outside will lead to the tengu encounter, but we don't wake up in the hospital, we get the astral body scene instead. There are a few other differences, but they're not anything big. Let's go with the route that drops a bomb on the story.
>Return to the night duty room.
"Ah!"
"...M-mr. Kosugi?" The person standing there was Teacher Kosugi.
"...What is he doing here...?" Kaoru questioned curiously.
I'm certain he should have gone back to the village on the last bus, and yet... Why... is he here?
"It's you girls... Oh, I was so worried."
"Worried...?" No matter how worried he was, in this blizzard?
"Yes... There's something I'm looking for..." He's acting a bit weird...
However kind Mr. Kosugi is, I doubt he wouldn't scold us students for sneaking into the locked school without permission...
Besides that... He's looking for something? Strange... He's... hiding something...
"Teacher... Is that true? That you're looking for something...?"
"Y-yes... I am."
"But... why are you in the night duty room?"
"Ah... I was thinking of borrowing these boots..."
"Boots...?"
"Yes... There's a blizzard outside, isn't there? I don't think I'll be able to walk in my normal shoes."
"......" Not just me, but Kaoru and Miki looked at him with suspicious eyes.
"Since I'm done searching... I'll be going home. Regrettably, there's that blizzard outside... I need these boots... to go home, don't I?"
I don't think boots would help with this blizzard...
In the first place, his being here is strange by itself... That means...
Regarding Mr. Kosugi
From the beginning, Mr. Kosugi being here is... strange. Because...
>He should have gone home on the last bus.
>Not a lot of time passed since we left the night duty room.
Both should be correct, so let's go with the bottom option since it's different.
>Not a lot of time passed since we left the night duty room.
We left the night duty room, then were attacked in the darkness... Until we came back, it was 5 to 10 minutes at best. Teacher couldn't have come here in this amount of time.
Because...
>He couldn't have come here unless he passed through the place where we were attacked.
>It's temporally impossible.
Again, both are correct, but I think talking about the route is more important than reaffirming the time issue.
>He couldn't have come here unless he passed through the place where we were attacked.
The corridor where we were attacked... Unless he passed through there, he couldn't have come to the night duty room.
Since there exists no other route to get here...
That would mean that, if we're to believe Teacher's words...
>He came here through a hidden route.
>He decided to pass through the hallway where we were attacked.
There is a hidden route, but I have a theory that he was the attacker.
>He decided to pass through the hallway where we were attacked.
Teacher decided to pass through the hallway we were attacked in... Would Mr. Kosugi do such a thing?
Perhaps Teacher didn't go that route?
The answer deduced from that is...
>Teacher came here through a hidden route. (Conclusion)
>Teacher was in this room from the start. (Conclusion)
Again, both choices are correct, the hidden route is the attic, which is where the mysterious thing, which probably was the attacker, hid, but that makes me wonder what exactly that was, since the mask Sakura had in the previous ending didn't look like the thing in the attic. Anyway, I'll go with the bottom one to avoid confusion.
>Teacher was in this room from the start. (Conclusion)
Teacher was in this room from the start! Come to think of it, when Senpai opened the night duty room door... it didn't seem to have been locked in the first place.
Furthermore, the room had been warmed... It was like someone had been there at least a few minutes before. Perhaps Teacher had been lurking here since then.
That... is the only answer!
"Teacher... The truth is that you've been here since the start, isn't it?"
"...W-what are you saying?"
"Actually, we were attacked by an unidentified person some time ago..."
"W-what!?"
"Moreover... it was in the corridor right outside..."
"......"
"If you don't know about that, it would mean you had been in this room from the beginning."
"Mh......"
"Or where you the one that attacked us, Teacher?"
"Don't say such foolishness! Why would I..."
"Then please answer us honestly!"
"What's the matter, Teacher!? Answer us!"
"......"
"Please... answer us honestly, Teacher!"
"......Be quiet......"
"...Be quiet!!!"
"Kyah!?" Teacher took out a large blade from his breast pocket and pointed it at us.
"It's too late... It's been done!"
"Done? What's done!?"
"My plan to kill you!!!!!"
Declaring that, the person Teacher aimed at...
was Kaoru.
"M...me......?"
"That's right, I carried out this plan in order to get revenge on you!"
"...Revenge...? W-what do you mean...?"
"You should know that very well."
Next, Teacher pointed at Miki. "M-me? I know...? Uhm..."
"What is he talking about, Miki?"
"The grudge... towards the Haguro and Tatara families... Tengu-sama's grudge...?"
"Correct. That's why I vowed revenge!"
"But... Kaoru has nothing to do with that..."
"She does! This girl...! The other Haguros can be forgiven, but this child..."
"T-teacher... In any case... please put away that dangerous thing..."
"Shut it!!!" [swish, swish]
"Kyah!"
Teacher swung the blade... and it grazed my hand. Blood is oozing... from the back of my hand...
"Now that it's come to this... I'll kill you right here!" Teacher raised the blade... and faced Kaoru... Then he...
[Bam] "Uwaaaaahhhh!!!"
"S-senpai!?"
Out of nowhere, someone jumped down from above the ceiling... it was Senpai. Aiming at Teacher's back... she threw a kick...
"Guah!?" The blade he was holding was sent rolling, stopping at our feet.
"Teacher...! Please... stop it already!"
"You...! Sakura... you traitor...!"
"Eh?"
"S-Sakura-senpai?" No way... Senpai was his accomplice...?
"I was never interested in following your plan from the beginning."
"Sakuraa... You...!!"
"The police are going to come here soon! It's already over!!"
"S-senpai... Are they really coming... from the village?"
"Yeah, it's pretty cold, but..." Saying so, Senpai threw a wink at me.
"Shit...! Shit...!"
"......Teacher......" Kaoru offered a look that can't be described as pity or sadness.
"Well then, it's time to go home... Right, guys?"
"...The adventure... is already... over...?" Kaoru mumbled sadly.
"Haha, that's what a person who was almost killed would say, huh? That's right. It's all over."
"Senpai..."
"Oh, yeah. You guys go on ahead..."
"What are you going to do, Senpai?"
"...I'll bring him with me. We're more or less accomplices, after all."
"It's inevitable. I have to... pay for this crime."
"...Ms. Sakura......"
"Kaoru, I'm sorry that you had to suffer through this."
"......No... Thank you for this..."
"That's good then! Anyway, you guys should leave before you get yourself in trouble!"
[Sirens]
"See, they've come! Quick, quick!"
"...But, Senpai..."
I hesitated, feeling that if I left Senpai here, I would never see her again.
"Never mind that, just go! It's an order, Yuuka!"
"A-alright..."
Thus... we left the school building behind. Once we confirmed that the police entered through the front entrance, we immediately turned to the back door.
At that moment...
"Kya------------!!!"
"Eh?"
"Wasn't that... Sakura-senpai's voice... just now?"
"S-senpai...!!"
Did something happen to her...? We were really worried, but... we didn't turn back.
We felt like that might have ruined Senpai's consideration, who went to the trouble of sending me off...
From the back door, we traveled along the waterfall named the Tengu's Shrine, then we descended to the village. For some reason... everything felt like a dream.
As if... a single night's dream...
That same day, I went to the village hospital.
I had only a minor cut on my hand, but my parents panicked when they saw it, and I ended up in the hospital.
"Um... I..."
"You need to rest. You're a patient." The nurse beside me smiled.
"Uhm... What happened to that case?"
"Case? ...Ah, you mean that incident at the high school. It was so scary, wasn't it~?"
"What was so scary?"
"Well... They say that the accomplice was a high school student! ...By the way... aren't you a high schooler, too?"
"...Well, yeah."
"That could have been one of your classmates, you know?"
"......"
"Oops! You'll have to talk to me about that."
"I'm Safuji. A detective from the prefectural police."
"...A detective...?"
He looks like a somewhat flippant guy... "I'm collecting accounts from all the related parties."
Behind the detective, I could see Miki's figure. "Yuuka..."
"Were you interviewed, too?" Miki silently nodded.
"Seems like this case has quite the deep roots. The feud between the old houses of this village, the Tataras and the Haguros, started well over 40 years ago. What a piece of work."
[From here, the scene continues like the one before, with some small differences, but all characters' fate remained the same. So I'll skip it.]
And I'll end it here. The Dead End Route is over, and with it, almost all game-overs in the chapter. Almost all of them. But that'll hopefully be quicker than this. Also, if you're wondering how much into the chapter we are, it's 65% percent according to the game itself. It will likely take 2 more posts to reach the end. I can't wait to learn what's the deal with the 'evil spirit' and the tengu.
Anyway, see you next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment