"What do you mean, you can't exorcise Urado?" "He isn't lingering because he wants to satisfy some grudge." "He just wants to extend his life." "I don't know how he brings people through walls, but he hunts because he needs prey." "You can't call him a ghost anymore." "Demon... devil... goblin..." "that's the kind of monster he is." "B-but..." "I know how to hunt ghosts, but I don't know how to hunt monsters." "Exorcism is impossible." "Or is there anyone here who knows how to hunt him?" "Even so, are you just going to cast aside Suzuki-san and Atsugi-san?" "They're all dead." "There is no hope." "But..." "He does have one weakness." "Urado is trapped in this house, where he carried out his butchery." "He is unable to leave this house." "Now that you mention it, Miss Madoka did say that the area around the house was safe." "If we call the police, and dismantle the house, they can locate the missing persons." "However, that is not our job." "Naru, it's not like you to just run away like this!" "I'm not running." "Our job has just been concluded." "So what you're doing isn't running away from it?" "No, it isn't." "I didn't tell this to anyone, but the truth is..." "I've heard that the Minami Psychic Research Council has been walking around with a fake Dr. Oliver Davis." "I'd like you to look into it for me." "That was the real reason why Madoka hired us." "As such, our job is concluded." "There's no reason to risk any danger by staying here." "We're pulling out." "You tricked all of us!" "It's what you might call a strategic secret." "There are some people here who cannot keep things to themselves." "You mean me!" "?" "Well excuse me!" "Unlike you, Naru, I hate to deceive other people." "And as such, I'm sorry, but our manager is an imposter, too." "He's the real one." "Mai!" "Start getting ready to strike camp." "Right, Manager Shibuya." "I wonder if we really ought to be leaving." "What do you think, Masako?" "Masako?" "I would prefer not having my name-suffix dropped by the likes of you." "The likes of me?" "Why do you hate me so much?" "Tell me what your reasons are." "Look, you..." "Why..." "Why are you the only one that Naru drops name-suffixes for?" "Huh?" "He calls myself and Matsuzaki-san by our last names." "Why is it that you're the only one he gives special treatment to?" "Special treatment?" "Earlier, you two were arguing like you were pretty close." "Masako, you weren't, by any chance, jealous?" "I-I wasn't particularly jealous..." "Masako, you're so adorable!" "Still, I don't think it's any use being jealous of me." "After all, Naru just treats me as especially dumb." "I mean, Masako, you're the one he gives special treatment to." "I am?" "Yep." "You've got something on Naru, right?" "I wish I didn't know what I've got on him." "What do you mean?" "Naru has a lot of pride, after all." "He can't bear that someone would have anything on him." "That's the reason why Naru doesn't like me." "But even so, I don't think that Naru particularly dislikes you, Masako." "Masako?" "Where are you going?" "You can't go alone." "I'll come with you." "No, stay there." "I just want to get some air outside." "I'll be in the hall, so stay there." "But..." "Mai..." "I really don't like you." "She says she doesn't like me." "Special treatment, huh?" "I didn't think anyone would look at it like that." "Why are you the only one that Naru..." "Masako is an ordinary girl, too, isn't she?" "Ah, that feels better." "You're finally out." "Hurry and get packed." "Yeah, I know." "Huh?" "Where's Masako?" "In the hallway..." "The spirits here prefer younger people." "Make absolutely sure you're never alone." ""Vlad"" "Mai?" "Masako!" "Answer me!" "Masako!" "Masako..." "Why did you let her move around by herself?" "I'm sorry." "What are you two doing here?" "We got a message at the hotel that you were striking camp, so we came to help." "We had no idea anything like this was going on." "In any case, let's search that empty space." "Right." "You betcha." "Shibuya-san, where are you?" "You go on ahead." "I'm going to go check Hara-san's bags." "But Masako wasn't in the empty space." "This is bad." "Half a day has gone by." "Is the X floor all that's left?" "Yeah." "Here, right?" "All right, let's find a place where the walls are thin." "I should have tried harder to stop her earlier." "What should I do?" "If anything happened to Masako..." "If you're tired, why don't you take a short nap?" "But..." "And look, it could help us collect some information, couldn't it?" "Whether or not Masako is all right?" "Maybe so." "Sure." "Mm-hmm, I'll try." "It's the same dream as always." "Look at how many spirits there are!" "Are all of these the spirits of those who were killed in this house?" "Naru!" "Is this any time to be so delighted?" "Say, have you seen Masako?" "She's okay, right?" "Naru!" "I've seen this door somewhere before." "Is this..." "This was in that last dream." "Masako!" "Masako!" "Mai..." "Thank goodness you're safe." "Are you hurt?" "Naru was just..." "Naru was just here, comforting me." "He was smiling so handsomely." "It's all right." "Isn't that strange?" "Good for you." "Masako..." "This is a dream, right?" "I thought that maybe I was dead, and I just didn't know it." "Don't say that!" "You can't give up!" "Here, hold this." "What is it?" "The key to the house I lived in a long time ago." "After my dad died, my mom kept it as a good luck charm, and now, it's my good luck charm." "It's easier to believe when you have something there, right?" "Masako, you're not dead, and you're not dreaming." "You can actually feel the key and everything, right?" "Wait here, and believe for absolute sure that help is coming." "For sure, now..." "For sure..." "Ayako..." "I had one of the dreams I always have, and Masako was in it." "Masako was alive." "She was safe." "Really?" "Mm-hmm." "I promised her that we would save her." "That'd we'd be sure to save her." "Sit tight, Masako." "We're coming to save you, right now." "That ceiling would match up with the floor of the 1st floor, huh?" "It could be that this was the main building that Kaneyuki lived in, right?" "Is this the place that you saw in your dream?" "Mm-mm." "The room had a fireplace, and a closet on the right side." "This is it." "No doubt about it." "There should be a passageway inside that closet." "If it's like it was in my dream, there should be a hedge up ahead." "Is this the hedge maze?" "Sure enough." "Which means..." "There's another door." "I see now." "The reason why the floor in the center area was elevated was to cover up this place." "This is where..." "Mai!" "H-hey!" "Masako?" "Ow..." "Mai?" "Masako!" "Thank goodness!" "Are you okay?" "Yeah..." "You really did come, huh?" "Come on, let's get out of here." "Mai..." "What?" "That blood..." "I put my arm in it earlier..." "Is all of that... blood?" "No!" "U-Urado..." "I don't want to die..." "Don't tell me that blood is from those missing persons!" "I don't want to die..." "We have to get out of here." "Naumaku san manda bazaradan kan" "Rin... pyo... to... sha... kai..." "I don't want to die..." "Rin... pyo... to... sha... kai..." "I don't want to die..." "jin... retsu... zai... zen!" "Now, Masako!" "But there's a wall behind me!" "These hands..." "It's those two!" "This is how everyone else was killed." "He's there..." "Mai!" "No!" "Stay back!" "Stay back!" "Urado?" "You okay?" "Monk..." "Masako?" "I'm all right." "Let's get out of here at once." "Urado has not been destroyed." "I just startled him a little." "Go out through that window!" "At least get out of the house!" "You got it!" "Geez, we told you, don't go acting on your own!" "Uh-huh, I'm sorry." "Though, as a result, we found the folks who had gone missing." "Where were they?" "They were stacked up in a room on the second floor, like they were things..." "Their throats looked awfully painful." "There were countless sets of bones on the shelves in the room before it." "From the people that were killed?" "Probably." "It looked like after their blood had been drained, they were cremated in an incinerator, and then neatly lined up." "There's no way a single person could have disposed of that many of them." "I'm guessing that Mr. Hiroyuki wanted to keep that hidden." "That many people..." "Masako..." "Thanks for this." "Wah!" "This is" "W-what!" "?" "But I was sure that was a dream..." "Past sight, clairvoyance, and now astral projection?" "You're adding up these talents fast, huh?" "Talents?" "Speaking of talents, Lin-san..." "Yes?" "What was that earlier?" "You tossed something out back then, when saving Mai, right?" "Those were my shiki." "Oh, that's what those were." "What are shiki?" "Putting goblins or spirits that you've caught to work for you is called ekiki, and shiki are the spirits in one's service." "How cool!" "It's starting to get light out." "Naru, you dropped something." "A comb?" "Oh, that's mine." "What!" "?" "W-why might you have been carrying that, Naru?" "Not saying anything, huh?" "Good grief." "Ow, man, how embarrassing!" "He was that concerned about her, huh?" "How kindhearted of him." "What a great story." "No, it's not!" "The former family head did all that?" "Unfortunately, we cannot exorcise Urado." "You should lock the house up tight, and let it dilapidate away, like the last family head said with his dying words." "The only other thing I think you could do is purge it by fire." "You can purify it by burning down the whole house." "Understood." "Thank you very much." "And so, we left the Miyama mansion behind us." ""Mountain fire in Suwa"" ""Mountain fire in Suwa" A little while later, there was a short article in the newspaper" ""Mountain fire in Suwa" that reported the fire." ""Mountain fire in Suwa" Compared to the facts of the case, it was far too short an article." "Huh?" "You're leaving already?" "That's right." "It's too bad, I was really starting to get along with everyone." "Now that neither Naru nor Lin-san are here, this is the perfect chance for me to ask her about some things!" "Um, Mori-san..." "What?" "What sort of folks are Naru's parents?" "By any chance, are you conducting a background check?" "N-no, it isn't like that." "His father is a para psychological researcher." "Eek, there's two generations working like this?" "But you know..." "Naru may not say anything about himself unless he's asked, but it's not as though he's particularly secretive about it." "He's just going through a bit of a situation right now, that's all." "Situation?" "Do you want to know?" "The truth is, Naru and Lin have eloped." "Wouldn't it be funny if it were something like that?" "It sure would, huh?" "You're joking, right?" "Naru has Masako, and all." "Huh?" "Really?" "I mean, he was holding her comb." "Ah..." "Is that why you've been so glum, Taniyama-san?" "You've got it all wrong." "Naru does worry about his friends, at least." "He's not good at outwardly expressing it, but he's not a robot, either." "Oh, so there wasn't any special meaning to it?" "Probably not, anyway." "Next time:" "File 8, "The Cursed House" #1"