Chapter 10.3: It Appeared III


    A<em>i</em>mere idea, with<em>i</em>no foundation.


    From<em>i</em>the bottom of my heart, I detested myself for being so ignorant. If this was the way things were bound to unfold, I should have learned from either Takenaka or Hirai how to drive away the<em>i</em>spirits.


    How<em>i</em>could a spirit be driven into Buddhahood by a bowl of white rice with disposable chopsticks in it? Now that I became calm, it made me want to bawl out over my own foolishness.


    When<em>i</em>my<em>i</em>shoulders slumped down, the man drenched in blood consoled me with words like, W-Well I dont know exactly know whats going on, but dont lose heart, okay?


    Damn<em>i</em>it, beingforted by a spirit


    Hey, sonny, I want you to hear me out a little bit at a time You still remember me, right? You offered me a towelst night as I was eating a steamed azuki<em>i</em>bun.


    Yeah I remember.


    Because<em>i</em>it wasnt an easy memory to let go of.


    I see, thats good because you are the only one I can rely on now.


    Over<em>i</em>time, my fear gauge, which had been swinging out of control until now, gradually diminished. Perhaps due to this spirits Kansai dialect, which was better articted than any other I had seen so far, it mitigated my fears. From a visual perspective, though, elements<em>i</em>of fear were still at<em>i</em>y.


    After all, I was still fearful of him.


    When<em>i</em>my face remained tense, the bloodied man approached me with a frown on his face and his mouth agape.


    Whats up, sonny? Arent you one of those people who can see specters too? How long are you going to be afraid of me? Its not that unusual, right?


    Please<em>i</em>look at your own reflection in the mirror before saying that.


    When<em>i</em>I informed him that, he made a sound as if he had realized something. He backed away from me and sped his hands together, wearing an ufortable expression.


    M-My<em>i</em>bad, my bad, I forgot about this. No wonder youre terrified of me, Ill take care of it now, okay?


    With<em>i</em>that, he closed his eyes firmly. Although he didnt exhibit any signs of performing anything exceptional, the wounds and the blood<em>i</em>that had been dripping from his body disappeared slowly, as if ying in reverse, and within a few dozen seconds, the bloodied man returned to his ordinary, young mans appearance. Though that being said, he was still slightly translucent.


    Hows this? Youre not scared anymore, right?


    Wow


    Indeed, it<em>i</em>became much less terrifying, I supposed Spirits were able to freely retract and release blood, huh?


    Well, its not like that, Im merely trying to imagine myself as I was back when I was normal, rather than withdrawing or releasing blood.


    I<em>i</em>was<em>i</em>clueless as to what was going on, but apparently, this guy had no malicious intentions against me. Nevertheless, what was it otherwise?


    Numerous<em>i</em>uncertainties crept up on me. The customer, this guy who showed up yesterday was undeniably not transparent and had his feet onst night. The manager and I thoroughly confirmed that.


    Nheless, the lower half of his body was thinner now and the whole thing was see-through. Perhaps if I reached out my hand, it would<em>i</em>pass through like air. ording to the man himself, he undoubtedly came to that convenience store yesterday.


    So that<em>i</em>would mean


    You youre dead?


    I see, so that was the case.


    Oh Apparently, this young man sumbed to his death after that, bleeding profusely.


    Well, in that<em>i</em>condition, it was not unreasonable for him to have died.


    What<em>i</em>a mess, we didnt do anything as if it was someone elses problem, but we should have called an ambnce right then and there.


    Although<em>i</em>I didnt have any idea what kind of tragic oue he suffered, with the way his appearance was, he probably fell off his bike and


    I<em>i</em>carefully sped my hands in front of my chest with the utmost consideration.


    I dont have<em>i</em>any incense sticks in my house but At any rate, my condolences


    No, no, no, no, no! Dont write me off arbitrarily!!


    The<em>i</em>disposable chopsticks that were stuck in the rice snapped on their own.


    Huh? What<em>i</em>was<em>i</em>this? Psychokinesis!?


    Write<em>i</em>you off? But isnt that the case?


    Im<em>i</em>not dead yet!


    Youre all transparent, you know?


    I-I am transparent but still! I am not dead yet!


    A<em>i</em>friend of mine once told me that all spirits who die in an ident say that.


    Should<em>i</em>I make him understand this but I didnt know how much I could do. Would calling a specialist be better?


    Noooo! Like I said, I am not dead yet! I am in a state of suspended animation!


    In<em>i</em>a<em>i</em>state of suspended animation, eh that means youre literally dead.


    When I left him alone, he started to lose his temper, but thanks to the fact that he looked normal again, I honestly wasnt that freaked out.


    Like I said! In in words, I am not a specter now. I am simply an astral body that is dying and has left my physical body.


    Astral you mean, youre talking about astral projection?


    It<em>i</em>was<em>i</em>a phenomenon that often apanied a near-death experience, in which the spirit left the body and began to operate.


    Well, something like that.


    The<em>i</em>young<em>i</em>man folded his arms while sitting cross-legged and nodded his head.


    Its kind ofplicated, isnt it?


    Yeah, its the greatest event of the century.


    Despite this, you seem rather level-headed.


    I<em>i</em>dont want to waste time fretting about it.


    Unexpectedly, he<em>i</em>seemed to possess a cool head.


    So, what<em>i</em>is a false specter like you doing here?


    Isnt that obvious? Dont ask me silly questions, sonny.


    Turning<em>i</em>his sharp eyes to me through a gap in his drooping bangs, he said, I have business with you, sonny.


    Oh, I knew you would say that. Before kicking him out, I decided to at least listen to what he had to say. I inquired of the young man, who had been in physical form untilst night, what on earth had happened to him following that night.


    Its a long story


    It<em>i</em>was indeed a long story.


    The<em>i</em>story could be summarized as followed:


    Apparently, the young man had been searching in the sea of trees for some reason.


    The reason<em>i</em>why he was searching was apparently beyond the grasp of ordinary people, so it was kept secret, but it seemed that he was not fighting with some bandit with a spiked bat in his hand.


    During<em>i</em>the search, he got caught up in an unforeseen ident and, sensing the danger, came back to the convenience store and that was when he came in contact with us.


    Having<em>i</em>managed to catch his breath and resume his work, he dived into the sea of trees again, but this time he struggled against a thunderstorm that unexpectedly descended on<em>i</em>him.


    And<em>i</em>thenNot shared on aggregator sites


    The<em>i</em>most massive lightning strikended directly on him, and he was caught in arge tree that snapped and fell, getting trapped under it


    That<em>i</em>was<em>i</em>all he could recollect.


    How<em>i</em>unfortunate.


    No, dont end with the word unfortunate!


    But, from what you told me, that was already the end for you.


    Even if you were fortunate enough to evade immediate death at that stage, if you were to be crushed by a falling tree, your body would have sustained a significant amount of physical damage as a human being. Furthermore, you would have already lost a lot of blood.


    Realistically speaking, a few hours might be all it took for your life to end and now it was already a whole day


    You better be ready for this.


    I put my hand on my forehead and groaned briefly, then picked up my home phone. In this case, I wondered if I should call the police instead of the hospital


    Hey, wait a minute. Who are you going to call?2s


    Who? The police of course Theyre going to search for the corpse.


    Police!? Body search!?2swq


    Thats the quickest way to recover a corpse.


    Look, Im still alive! Hold on, the police are not good, you cant call the police!


    Ah!? This is not the time to say that!?


    No I dont think its that big of a deal to inform the police.


    Hey, was I the only one who thought it was a major deal?wed


    I have my own reasons for not wanting to bring the police into the matter.


    What kind of reasons?2ew


    About thatTrantor: MadHatter


    <em>Guess Ill just have to tell you</em>, I heard him muttering quietly.


    Hey, sonny I came here to request you to do something for me.


    He stopped sitting cross-legged and fixed his eyes on me intently.


    Im terribly sorry to ask you this out of the blue, sonny, but would you mind apanying me on my search?


    I refuse.2wqas


    Thats too immediate!


    The volume of his voice and timing were perfect. It was a wonderful move.


    Notwithstanding, I absolutely could not do what this man requested of me.


    Recently, troubles abounded and I would like to avert them if at all possible.


    I beg you, sonny! Search my body with me!2w


    Dont say anything vivid! I absolutely hate it!


    Dont say that! Im going to rot if you dont!fwecds


    Youre getting too vivid! 34rewf


    Please! Please, I beg you! I know Im being unreasonable, but I really need your help! You know Im in a great deal of trouble!


    If you say that, Im in more trouble than you! Impossible! I cant do it!


    Do something about it! Thest words I uttered were, What the hell is thisssssss Im so ashamed that Im going to cry!!


    Wow, thats some, thatst line.