Chapter 26: The Web of Mystery
After confirming that it was just a kitsune mask, Kagehara Tetsuya relaxed.
For a moment, when he first saw the mask, he had thought someone was hiding there, ready to attack him. He had almost thrown the flashlight at it.
He remembered this kitsune mask well. During the ghost story gathering, everyone had worn one. At the time, when the club was discussing about the trip, senpai had suggested preparing masks to enhance the atmosphere. After everyone agreed, she had tasked Ueno Junko with handling the arrangements.
After the ghost story gathering, he had kept the mask on for quite a while—when he went to the bathroom, when he went to Room 216 to deal with ĹŚshima Masaki’s body.
Later, when he went out to buy the items he needed for his disguise, he had left the kitsune mask in his room. Around 2 AM, he had been awakened by Tanaka Kana’s scream and rushed to the second floor. At that time, he had grabbed the mask and brought it back to the villa.
Since then, the mask had been sitting on the cabinet in the entrance hall. With so many things to handle at the time—preparing for his school disguise, dealing with the severed head, and even considering senpai’s situation—the mask hadn’t been a priority, so he had ignored it.
"Why is the mask here now?"
Tetsuya frowned. The kitsune mask was now in the corner to the left of the security door.
There, the outer wall of the security door and the cabinet pressed against the left wall of the entrance formed a recess about thirty centimeters wide. The mask was tilted forward, stuck in this recess, so when viewed from below, it seemed to be staring down at him.
"Did that thing put the mask here on purpose, as some kind of prank?" Tetsuya shook his head. He didn’t think that thing would be so frivolous.
He casually picked up the mask and examined it. It was indeed an ordinary mask—no hidden compartments, no unusual smells. The only thing out of the ordinary was that the surface was damp, likely from the rainwater that had blown in when he opened the door earlier.
"Does everything that happened tonight have something to do with this mask?"
"In the legend of Lord Mask-Taker, Hanako is said to make a special kind of mask. Could this mask contain some kind of mysterious power?"
Tetsuya closed his eyes, conjuring up a series of bizarre images in his mind.
In the darkness, the kitsune mask suddenly glowed, and then a massive, heavy creature with a sticky, foul odor emerged from it. The creature might have been grotesque, wearing the kitsune mask on its face. It then teleported to the basement stairs, making a noise.
Strangely, it left no trace on the stairs.
After that, it might have approached his unconscious body, done something, and caused his hair to grow rapidly.
Once it was done, instead of leaving the way it had come, it opened the security door from the inside, transformed into a small creature like a cat or a dog, and slipped through the crack.
During this process, the mask naturally fell off, blown by the wind into the corner, while rainwater seeped in through the door crack, wetting the rug. The creature then closed the door from the outside and disappeared into the night.
"This is too bizarre."
Tetsuya couldn’t bring himself to believe such a strange story, even if the creature that had suddenly appeared didn’t seem to have any ill intentions toward him.
"If it had wanted to kill me then, it would have been easy…" This thought, of course, could also be valid.
The feeling was deeply unsettling.
He believed that even if there were phenomena or abilities in the world that science couldn’t explain or the human mind couldn’t comprehend, there must still be some kind of rules or limitations. These phenomena or abilities couldn’t be omnipotent.
For example, ancient people couldn’t understand earthquakes, so they attributed them to the power of gods and spirits. But after long observation, they discovered many patterns—like where earthquakes were more likely to occur and which animals behaved unusually before an earthquake.
The face-swapping and the legend of Lord Mask-Taker certainly contained elements that modern science couldn’t explain, but there had to be some kind of rules or limitations. He just hadn’t discovered them yet.
"Maybe I should visit that hot spring inn again tomorrow."
At the inn, his voice had swapped with senpai’s, but he had been asleep that night. Even if something strange had happened, he wouldn’t have noticed. After waking up, he hadn’t had time to think about it, as he had been busy dealing with the detectives. He might have missed some clues.
"While I’m there, I should ask the clerk if he smelled anything or heard any strange noises around midnight."
Although the events of that night seemed bizarre on their own, he still had a chance to figure things out.
After all, there were still five of Hanako’s wishes left. He had five more opportunities.
The night was deep, and Tetsuya didn’t waste any more time. He went back to his bedroom, took a cold shower in the dark, and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up again, the power had been restored. As he prepared breakfast, he received a call from Kishida Masayoshi.
"Yomikawa-san, I hope I’m not disturbing you by calling so early?"
Tetsuya knew this was likely about his request to participate in the investigation. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder and said, "Officer Kishida, you must have something important to tell me. Please go ahead."
"Earlier, you mentioned wanting to be involved in the investigation of the murder at the inn. Is that still your intention?" Kishida’s tone was somewhat resigned, as if making a final, futile confirmation.
"My thoughts haven’t changed. If you find it too troublesome, I’ll take action on my own, though it’ll be quite inconvenient," Tetsuya said, using a strategic retreat.
"Well, I don’t find it troublesome. I’ve already arranged a time to visit ĹŚshima Mana this evening. If you’d like to join, contact me after school."
It seemed Kishida was really concerned about the Tanaka Erika case. After thanking him, Tetsuya suddenly asked, "Officer Kishida, do you have any leads on how Kagehara-kun and Hasebe Koichi disappeared from the hot spring inn?"
"We’re still investigating. Do you have any thoughts?"
Tetsuya hummed and explained, "I wouldn’t call them thoughts—just some half-baked guesses. It’s not convenient to discuss over the phone, so if it’s not too much trouble, could we visit the hot spring inn after meeting with ĹŚshima-san? It would be even better if we could speak to the staff who were on duty that night."
"Alright, I’ll arrange it," Kishida said. There was the sound of flipping pages on his end, likely checking his schedule for the evening. "Also, I want to remind you, Yomikawa-san, to be very careful about your safety. If anything happens, contact me immediately or call the police."
After thanking him and hanging up, Tetsuya thought to himself: Heh, this man is really easy to fool. I’ll give him some hope while he’s still useful.
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