From the back seat of the old Ford, the faint rustling of fabric and the low, cheerful chatter of Kagamihara Nadeshiko drifted continuously forward. Occasionally, a strange, stifled squeal from Hitori could also be heard. Whether it was merely Asakura's imagination or not, a faint, sweet citrus scent seemed to waft through the air—elusive yet distinct—stirring a ticklish sensation deep within him.
However, as a proper gentleman, he strove to restrain himself from glancing back, instead merely adjusting the rearview mirror with an air of studied nonchalance.
The drawback of the Undetectable Extension Charm became glaringly obvious at this moment. The space required for the girls to change clothes was evidently far greater than that of a standard vintage car's back seat; consequently, even after the interior had been magically expanded, the rearview mirror revealed nothing but the occasional fleeting glimpse of a fluttering hem.
Before long, however, Asakura's slightly disgruntled mood was completely eclipsed by the scene unfolding outside the vehicle.
Raindrops drummed furiously against the windows, and the wind howled like the low growl of a beast. The swirling storm clouds, borne upon the typhoon's gale, swept in to blanket the sky entirely. The world outside grew dim and oppressive; the very air seemed to have been compressed into a leaden weight, leaving one's chest feeling tight and making it difficult to breathe.
No—that last part was likely just due to the atmospheric pressure.
Asakura took a deep, steady breath.
Sure enough, that faint, sweet citrus scent lingering in the car had not been a figment of his imagination.
Although he couldn't say for certain whose scent it was, his mood—which had been growing somewhat gloomy due to the typhoon—brightened considerably in an instant.
"By the way, have I ever told you the ghost story about the 'Umi Bozu'?" he asked, speaking up to help dispel the slightly stifling atmosphere that had settled within the car. "Didn't we just talk about this?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko's voice rang out. "Huh? Don't tell me you've lost your memory, Asakura-kun?"
"What we discussed earlier pertained to the past—or rather, the ancient myths and legends associated with the Umi Bozu. Those aren't really the same thing as the kaidan—the strange tales—that only emerged in modern times."
Asakura explained, "If I had to use an analogy, one is like an ancient text—something akin to Kojiki—while the other is merely a sensationalist video cobbled together by some third-rate, mass-produced clickbait account."
"I see! That makes perfect sense!"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko leaned her head forward from the back seat, resting her chin on her arm—which was as fair and smooth as a lotus root—while propping that arm against the backrest of the passenger seat. It appeared the young girl had already changed her clothes; now, looking quite curious, she asked, "So, what exactly is the story behind the Umi Bozu kaidan?"
Asakura glanced back and noticed that although only a small portion of Hitori's face was visible, her expression seemed to betray a hint of curiosity as well.
So, he began: "If we trace the origins of this particular kaidan, we have to go back to the Taisho era—or perhaps even further into the distant past. Back then, the fishing industry wasn't nearly as developed as it is today; fishermen living along the coast would still head out to sea in their small boats to make their catch. Furthermore, because many professions in that era were passed down from one generation to the next, most fishermen's sons would follow in their fathers' footsteps, being taken out to sea from a young age to learn the craft of fishing."
"This might seem a bit out of the blue, but tell me, Kagamihara-san—do you happen to know what the ten most dangerous professions in the world are?" Asakura asked suddenly. "Well, that certainly came out of nowhere..." Kagamihara Nadeshiko paused for a moment, then offered a casual guess: "Lifeguards... or something like that?"
"Depending on the era and the criteria used, the answer might vary slightly; however, a few professions consistently make the list—occupations like firefighters, coal miners, and war correspondents... And among them, there is one spot that is invariably, immovably reserved for Alaskan crab fishermen."
Asakura continued, "In Japan's underground loan shark circles, there's a dark joke that goes something like: 'If you rack up a debt you can never hope to repay, you'd better head out to sea and catch crabs.'"
"But what does that have to do with the Umi Bozu?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko was still a bit baffled.
"Asakura-kun... I think you're trying to say that... fishing is just as dangerous a job as crab fishing... right?" Hitori ventured. However, lacking confidence, her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, until by the end, it was barely a mosquito-like whisper—nearly drowned out by the sound of the torrential rain outside the car.
"Exactly! Well done, Hitori—we really are on the same wavelength!" Asakura praised her loudly and enthusiastically.
"A-woo..."
The girl shyly pulled her head back, curling herself into a tight ball in the back seat.
Yet, it was clear she didn't actually mind Asakura teasing her in this way; judging by the awkward, lopsided smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she actually seemed rather pleased.
"Asakura-kun, you really do enjoy teasing Gotō-san, don't you?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko watched their interaction with a beaming smile.
"Don't you think Hitori looks absolutely adorable when she's being picked on?" Asakura asked, sounding completely unapologetic.
"...Actually, just a tiny bit." The pink-haired girl gave a slightly sheepish smile, making an "OK" gesture with her hand—though she left a barely perceptible gap between the tips of her thumb and index finger. "Really, just a tiny bit."
"An enormous bit—right? I get it," Asakura said, nodding with mock seriousness. "Still, teasing someone just because you like them—it feels a bit like something an elementary school boy would do..." Kagamihara Nadeshiko continued. "Or perhaps, Asakura, you're one of those types... Hmm, I remember the Club President mentioning it once—the kind of guy who enjoys being sadistic... Ah, right! A 'sadist,' isn't that the word?"
"That's incredibly rude!" Asakura protested indignantly, slapping the steering wheel. "What we have is pure love!"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko glanced at Hitori, who was curled up in the back seat muttering incoherently, and cast a skeptical look at Asakura.
Asakura gave a dry cough and said, "Anyway, rather than dwelling on that topic, let's get back to talking about the crab fishermen."
"Speaking of which, even though King Crabs are practically an invasive nuisance these days, they're still so expensive! I really wish I could just gorge myself on them to my heart's content someday!"
"Exactly! It's just sheer laziness that something so overpopulated hasn't dropped to dirt-cheap prices yet... Wait! That's not the topic we were on!"
Asakura realized he had somehow let Kagamihara Nadeshiko steer him completely off track.
"Weren't you the one who went off-topic first, Asakura?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko asked, fixing her gaze on Asakura. He simply turned his head away in silence, refusing to meet her eyes. "All in all, in that era, venturing out to sea to fish was an incredibly perilous undertaking. A single slip-up could easily cost you your life in the vast ocean—leaving no trace behind, not even a body to recover. And among them, the children with little to no seafaring experience were the ones most vulnerable to such mishaps," Asakura continued. "Whenever such tragedies struck, the mothers these children had left behind at home would be utterly inconsolable."
"As you are well aware, Japanese Shintoism speaks of 'eight million deities'—a concept implying that almost anything can be revered as a god. Indeed, the Goshintai—the sacred objects enshrined in many shrines—are sometimes nothing more than fragments of yokai themselves. Under these circumstances, when prayers directed at orthodox deities proved futile, those desperate women naturally developed a faith in the colossal sea monster known as the 'Umi Bozu' as a means to safeguard their children at sea."
"The precise details are impossible to verify today; however, it appears that sometime between the Taisho and Showa eras, the women in this vicinity began to have recurring dreams—dreams in which they encountered this so-called 'Umi Bozu,' who then imparted to them a peculiar ritual."
"Thereafter, whenever their children set sail, these women would present them with a bracelet—a bracelet into which they had woven strands of the child's baby hair and half of their umbilical cord. This object symbolized the primal bond between mother and child, serving as a talisman intended to protect those who ventured out onto the waves."
"Yet, even with such precautions, some children inevitably perished in the unpredictable depths of the ocean. In such instances, the bereaved mothers would retrieve the remaining half of the umbilical cord and, adhering to the ritual revealed in their dreams, call out to summon their children back from the sea."
"And... did those children return?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko couldn't help but interject, her voice trembling slightly. "The mother in that folktale did indeed get her child back... though it wasn't the human child she had lost, but rather a lump of flesh—roughly the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child—that had washed ashore," Asakura recounted. "Under her care, the lump of flesh soon sprouted limbs and a head—one said to bear a resemblance to a fish. However, the moment it let out a human sound, the villagers—who had finally reached the limits of their endurance—stormed into their home, intent on executing the fish-headed, human-bodied monster."
"Thanks to the mother's desperate, life-or-death resistance, the monster managed to flee back into the sea; amidst the raging storm, it was carried away by a massive, black human head floating upon the waves. As for the mother, she was executed by the terrified villagers. In the aftermath, the villagers banded together to forcibly eradicate the local worship of the Umi Bozu... Yet, even after all that, whenever a child was lost at sea, there would inevitably be a mother unable to resist the urge to perform the Umi Bozu ritual, hoping to summon her child back to her side—though the ultimate outcome of such attempts was never recorded in the folktales."
Asakura sighed and continued, "It wasn't until the Showa era that the fishery resources in the nearby shallows began to dwindle. Unable to venture into the deep ocean for their catch, the fishermen were forced to abandon their trade and seek new livelihoods. Naturally, once there were no longer any fishermen's children going out to sea, there were no longer any children to be lost to it; thus, the legends of the Umi Bozu finally came to a temporary close."
"So that is the story..." Kagamihara Nadeshiko nodded thoughtfully. "No, the story isn't over yet. In fact, everything I've told you so far was merely the backstory; what comes next is the true essence of the urban legend."
"There's actually more?!"
"Rumor has it that sometime within the last few years, someone spotted a 'strange, shadowy figure with a fish's head and a human's body' down by the coast," Asakura recounted. "Instantly, panic spread among the local residents—especially the elderly, who were quick to declare: 'It's those children! The Umi Bozu has brought those children back to exact their revenge!' For a long time afterward, rumors ran rampant in this area that the Umi Bozu would appear to unleash natural disasters, such as typhoons. This notoriety actually earned the legend a considerable amount of fame—otherwise, it wouldn't have been included in Ryunosuke's app or Saori's Compendium of Urban Legends—and it even gave a surprising boost to the local tourism industry."
"Why does that sound suspiciously like a conspiracy hatched by the local city hall's tourism department...?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko muttered.
"If only that were the case."
Asakura spread his hands. "The tourists get their fun, the city hall gets its political achievements, and the beach resort rakes in the cash—it's a win-win-win."
However, if this wasn't merely a fabricated tale—if this stretch of ocean truly harbored not only the ancient yokai known as the Umi Bozu, but also lesser fish-headed monstrosities akin to its minions—then the inherent danger of the area had just skyrocketed.
"Anyway, if you two don't mind, I plan to just sleep in the car tonight. If you do mind, though, I can drive you to a nearby hotel."
Asakura offered.
"No, no, that's fine! I've never actually slept in anyone's car other than my sister's before! This is the perfect opportunity to give it a try. Besides, with this wild storm raging outside, it'll make for a truly unique experience!"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko seemed inexplicably delighted by the prospect.
"A-and... being with Asakura-kun... makes me feel safer."
Hitori wasn't typically the type to be easily spooked by ghost stories. However, what Asakura had just described wasn't a mere ghost story; if those fish-headed monsters actually existed, the young girl felt certain she would be terrified. She felt far more secure staying right there, by Asakura's side. "Since you've all said as much, then let's leave it at that," Asakura said. As he spoke, he pulled a whole bag of snacks from the storage cabinet in front of him. "Although we can't exactly throw a pajama party inside the car, I did bring along plenty of snacks and sweets—feel free to help yourselves."
"Really? In that case, I won't hold back!"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko's eyes sparkled with delight; the sheer anticipation she showed toward the snacks and treats gave Asakura the fleeting illusion that he was actually looking at Yanami.
As it turned out, her appetite truly did rival Yanami's.
She polished off the better part of the large shopping bag full of snacks that Asakura had brought. The leftovers weren't left behind because she couldn't eat any more, but rather because—being a polite young lady—she felt it would be rude to devour everything herself, so she specifically saved the remainder for Asakura and Hitori.
And even after all that, she still wore a regretful expression, as if wondering how she had managed to get full so quickly.
Afterward, the three of them chatted idly, passing the better part of the night in conversation.
Eventually, Hitori—the quietest of the group—was the first to drift off into a deep slumber. Soon after, Kagamihara Nadeshiko could no longer fight off her exhaustion either; she simply burrowed into her sleeping bag and fell asleep as well.
That left Asakura all alone, silently keeping watch over the sea—with absolutely no intention of making a late-night move on the girls sleeping in the back seat.
The rest of the night passed without incident.
As dawn approached, the typhoon officially made landfall. The surrounding trees were whipped about by the wind, thrashing wildly like those inflatable tube dancers outside storefronts. Even the trusty old Ford began to feel unnervingly light and buoyant, as if it might be blown right over at any moment.
Asakura, having gone the entire night without sleep, had no intention of waking the girls. However, the booming thunder proved to be a far more effective alarm clock than any mechanical device—perhaps due to the proximity of the lightning strikes, they could even faintly feel the ground vibrating beneath them.
Moreover, after enduring a full night of wind and rain, Asakura suddenly noticed that the old Ford had actually lost one point of durability.
Considering the vehicle had a total durability of only five points to begin with—and seeing that the typhoon was only intensifying—Asakura had no choice but to reluctantly abandon his vigil by the shore. To prevent the old Ford from running out of durability and self-destructing, he decided to head for a nearby inn instead. They hadn't even set off yet when Hitori—already roused by the thunder—suddenly stammered, pointing ahead: "Th-there... is that a figure over there?"
"Would anyone really be out and about in a storm like this?"
Kagamihara Nadeshiko, who had still been feeling a bit drowsy, was startled by Hitori's sudden outburst. She promptly stuck her rear end up in the air, leaning over the seat to squint in the direction Hitori was pointing.
But aside from the torrential downpour, she couldn't see a thing.
"There's no one there?" she asked, frowning in confusion.
"Huh?" Hitori took another look. Sure enough, a figure stood silently amidst the violent curtain of rain, appearing completely unaffected by the storm.
C-could it be... was she just imagining things? The young girl couldn't help but wonder, a sense of unease fluttering in her heart.
"I see it too," Asakura suddenly spoke up.
Hitori breathed a sigh of relief, while Kagamihara Nadeshiko looked even more bewildered.
"Hitori and I can see it, but you can't, Miss Kagamihara... Tsk. Looks like it's not human," Asakura clicked his tongue, though his tone betrayed nothing but excitement.
"Huh..." Kagamihara Nadeshiko let out a small, disgruntled sound.
Both Asakura and Hitori were wielders of Curses. Leaving Asakura aside for the moment, even Hitori—ever since acquiring her own spell—had found her innate connection to the supernatural enhanced; if she so chose, she could now perceive things that remained invisible to ordinary people.
However, the young girl typically spent her days holed up in the small closet-room at home, playing her guitar, and never gave a second thought to such esoteric matters. Consequently, she hadn't realized this newfound ability until now.
"Ah, he's moving," Hitori remarked, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the shadowy figure.
"Let's chase him."
Asakura immediately started up the old Ford and sped off in pursuit of the figure's retreating back.
Originally, she had resigned myself to returning empty-handed this time; I never expected to stumble upon such a discovery.
"Is it really okay to just charge straight at them like this?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko asked, clutching the backrest of Asakura's seat in terror—her knuckles turning white from the sheer force of her grip. "Won't they spot us?"
"That guy is coming specifically for us," Asakura replied, unconcerned. After all, the figure had been tailing their vehicle for quite some time; it would be downright supernatural if they hadn't been spotted by now.
Between the typhoon raging outside and Asakura's rather aggressive acceleration, the entire car was rocking violently.
Caught completely off guard, Hitori let out a shriek as she tumbled helplessly across the back seat. Fortunately, Kagamihara Nadeshiko was there to help steady her; otherwise, Asakura suspected that by the time he finally caught up to that shadowy figure, he'd have to literally pry the girl out from under the seats.
The shadowy figure—visible only to Asakura and Hitori—would flicker into view periodically, only to vanish abruptly after drifting a short distance. This pattern repeated several times, wearing Asakura's patience thin to the point where he was tempted to just blast the thing with a single cast of his composite spell, [Ripple].
Finally, just as Asakura completely lost sight of the figure, he realized his old Ford had come to a halt outside the courtyard of a small inn.
"Oh well. Let's just head inside and take shelter from the typhoon for now."
"Is it really safe for us to get out in this torrential rain?" Kagamihara Nadeshiko couldn't see the shadowy figure anyway, so she had no objections to Asakura's decision; she simply voiced her concern: "Even with an umbrella, we're going to end up soaked to the bone!"
"Don't worry—I'm a magic user, remember? Just follow me out."
With those words, Asakura stepped out of the car first.
Gritting her teeth, Kagamihara Nadeshiko followed suit, stepping out alongside Hitori—who still seemed dazed and hadn't quite recovered from her chaotic tumble across the back seat moments earlier. Still reeling—her eyes spinning in dizzying circles—Hitori mumbled: "It... it feels just like being inside a washing machine... Gurgle, gurgle... spinning round and round..."
Upon stepping out of the car, Kagamihara Nadeshiko felt as though she were encased in an invisible glass dome; the rain couldn't touch her at all, and the terrifying gusts of wind—strong enough to send her staggering—were completely imperceptible. Instead, she found herself able to observe the raindrops pattering against the air right in front of her at incredibly close range—a sensation that instantly filled the young girl with delight.
"Alright, enough playing around. Hitori looks like she's about to faceplant right into a puddle," Asakura said with a helpless sigh.
"Ah, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have let go—Miss Gotō!" Kagamihara Nadeshiko quickly rushed to steady Hitori once more, lest her companion drown in one of the small puddles pooling on the ground.
Hitori: "Gurgle, gurgle..."
Asakura snapped his fingers, and the battered old Ford—now down one durability point—swiftly sank beneath the earth.
Come tomorrow, it would be as good as new again.
Led by Asakura, the trio soon knocked upon the door of a nearby inn. Judging by the young man—who looked no older than a high school student—sitting behind the front desk, the establishment appeared to still be open for business.
"Excuse me, we'd like to check in," Asakura said to him.
"Right. The rates are listed here. Do you have a reservation? If not, I'll need to register your names..." The young man—looking rather weary—began reciting his lines in a rote, mechanical manner. Then, he paused, freezing for a moment as if suddenly realizing something; his expression grew increasingly rigid as he stared at Asakura.
Asakura, meanwhile, cast an imperceptible glance down at the young man's lower leg.
To his eyes, a faint, shadowy black hand was currently clamped around the innkeeper's calf.
Yet, it was nothing more than a hand—there was nothing else attached to it.
Asakura smiled.
It seemed this place was indeed the lair of that shadowy entity.
"Asakura," he announced clearly, pointing to the guest registry booklet the young man had produced. "My name is Asakura Takuma."
In the very next instant, the shadowy black hand was consumed and incinerated by invisible flames.