Chapter 63: First of All, Why Do You Think I’m the Mastermind?
In the end, my insistence on summoning the village chief brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.
At the moment, the police officer’s wife was making the trip on foot to fetch him.
After all, she’d unplugged the telephone line herself.
Under normal circumstances, this was where the inevitable waiting period would begin—a lull in the action during which the unfortunate youths who had wandered into the village gathered together to compare notes and speculate about their situation.
That was simply how these stories went.
The young people who stumbled into Fushijishi Village generally fell into one of two categories.
The first consisted of genuine, unsuspecting victims—lost lambs who had wandered into the village completely by accident, knowing absolutely nothing.
The second group was made up of occult enthusiasts.
Streamers.
Paranormal journalists.
Folklore researchers.
People who had heard vague rumors about a mysterious cursed village somewhere in these mountains and deliberately sought it out.
The first group often appeared under the strangest circumstances.
Somehow, through fate or misfortune, they would emerge from the depths of the forest itself.
For them, it truly was a life-or-death ordeal.
They would have already heard the mysterious guiding voice leading them through the woods.
After finally discovering the village, relief at finding civilization mixed with the horrifying realization that the voice guiding them had belonged to something decidedly inhuman.
That emotional whiplash created the perfect mindset for believing everything the village police officer told them.
Their hearts would surely be pounding for all sorts of reasons as they listened to his explanation.
The second group was different.
They had come here because they wanted mystery.
Whether they ultimately believed in the supernatural or not was beside the point.
Once the officer finished his story, they would naturally begin organizing the information they’d gathered, comparing it against legends and folklore they’d researched beforehand.
If anything…
They might listen even more seriously than the first group.
They had their own goals.
Their own reasons for wanting every detail.
So then…
Which category did we belong to?
We had wandered here, certainly.
But unlike ordinary tourists, we’d already brushed against the supernatural before.
Although I’d unintentionally monopolized the mysterious voice event, surely everyone would now be excitedly discussing the strange phenomena surrounding this village.
…Or so I thought.
Instead—
“Kirishiro. Be honest with us. This is staged… isn’t it? You’re the mastermind behind all this, aren’t you?”
“Don’t tell me this entire village is one of Gouto-kun’s productions? You’ve already bought off the whole place, haven’t you?”
“We’ve got you cornered! Just confess already!”
“Has anyone ever told you three that you have incredibly vivid imaginations?”
For some reason…
The discussion had veered in a completely unexpected direction.
Namely…
They had somehow concluded that I had orchestrated the entire thing.
The village.
The haunted events.
Everything.
Apparently, I was the villain behind the curtain.
“…Why are they more suspicious of him than they’re of me?”
Even the mysterious voice sounded bewildered.
…No.
This had officially become ridiculous.
Granted, I’d deliberately let Kuwajima continue down her path without intervening, so I could understand why they might harbor some suspicion toward me.
But hadn’t they gone completely overboard?
I considered myself a perfectly ordinary university student.
Which meant I was fundamentally the kind of person who got dragged into strange events—
Not the one creating them.
“Let’s start with this. Why exactly do you think I’m the mastermind?”
“Because you’d absolutely be the first person to organize something like this.”
“At first I thought maybe your appraisal skill had simply shown you all this information. But there were too many things that didn’t add up. If we assume Gouto-kun arranged everything himself… suddenly it all makes sense.”
“Exactly!”
As Taketsuru and Meiko piled one wrongful accusation after another onto my head, Kuwajima suddenly gasped.
A look of revelation spread across her face.
“I knew something felt off! The destination on the car navigation system changed even though none of us touched it! But if Kirishiro-kun secretly reset it while we weren’t paying attention… everything fits!”
“And our phones suddenly losing signal? He could’ve hidden some kind of signal jammer in the car. Kirishiro would totally do something like that.”
“I don’t know how he would’ve stopped the engine… but if it’s Gouto-kun’s family, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some experimental technology capable of doing it.”
“You all think far too highly of me.”
The strange part was…
When they listed everything together like that…
It genuinely sounded like something I would do.
Unfortunately…
I hadn’t arranged a single thing.
The only thing I’d intentionally done wasn’t take preventive measures.
I was simply another victim who’d gotten naturally swept into the situation.
Every strange phenomenon here was the work of the owner of that mysterious voice.
These accusations were completely baseless.
Utter slander.
“…Or maybe your everyday behavior is just bad enough that this level of suspicion feels justified?”
My everyday behavior, thank you very much, was perfectly proper for an ordinary university student.
If anyone wanted to deny that, they should first present evidence.
Data.
Objective proof.
Otherwise…
Did they really intend to make enemies of every single textbook light novel in existence?
“Your subject is way too broad…”
That’s not the point.
“All right, calm down. Which explanation sounds more natural to you? That I painstakingly engineered every single one of these tricks… or that the local guardian deity is causing these supernatural phenomena?”
“Your setup.”
“Gouto-kun.”
“My vote goes to Kirishiro-kun.”
“Are those really the words of my best friends and childhood friends?”
People believed what they wanted to believe.
Apparently, encountering genuine supernatural phenomena had thrown everyone into such complete confusion that they’d begun reaching even stranger conclusions.
If they’d just calmed down for a moment…
Surely they’d realize the odds of me spending an absurd amount of money to orchestrate an elaborate fake haunted village simply to drag them into an ordinary summer event weren’t actually that high.
After all…
It would cost money.
My income still consisted of my monthly allowance and the occasional Light Job.
Buying an entire village was—
…Well.
If I absolutely wanted to, it wasn’t technically impossible.
Hmm.
Perhaps that wasn’t the strongest argument after all.
There was no proving a negative.
Nothing in the world was harder than proving you hadn’t done something.
Realizing the conversation was heading somewhere increasingly troublesome, I turned toward the police officer, who had been staring blankly at our exchange the entire time.
“Officer, could you please explain it to them? Tell them this is our first time meeting, and that everything happening here is simply the village’s naturally occurring supernatural phenomenon.”
“Well… before that… I think the more pressing mystery is why they’re accusing you in the first place… Also… how do you even know about the village chief?”
“A hallucination showed me.”
“…?????”
Now the officer was looking at me as though I’d become some kind of previously undiscovered species.
Wonderful.
I’d somehow managed to become isolated on all sides.
See what you’ve done, Hallucination?
This is your fault for showing me information I never needed in the first place.
──────
【Me @ Apparently Appraisal Skill★】
One Comment:
“Maybe the reason nobody believes him when it matters… is because he naturally acts like a lunatic every single day.”
“…Honestly, that theory has merit.”
──────
Who are you calling the Boy Who Cried Wolf?
Why had we come all the way to a cursed village only to start playing Werewolf?
Finally giving up, I sighed.
“Fine, fine. Let’s do this instead. Until the village chief arrives, I’ll answer every question honestly. Ask me anything that can be answered with a simple yes or no.”
If that was what it took to prove my innocence, then so be it.
Taketsuru looked slightly taken aback.
His tone softened just a little.
“And what proof do we have that you’ll actually tell the truth?”
“I swear upon the name of Kirishiro Gouto that every answer will be truthful. Meiko—you’ll serve as witness.”
“Sigh… Fine. I witnessed it. Taketsuru-kun, Gouto-kun really will answer honestly. One of his core principles is never lying to himself. If he’s sworn on his own name, then he’ll stick to it.”
As she spoke, Meiko reached out.
One finger rested lightly against my neck.
Another touched my wrist.
She looked as though she were checking my pulse.
“Still… just in case. I’ll know if you lie.”
Modern kunoichi could apparently function as human lie detectors now.
Then again…
People always said a woman’s intuition was frighteningly sharp.
And Meiko possessed absurdly keen insight to begin with.
Perhaps this, too, fell somewhere within that broad spectrum.
Taketsuru looked me straight in the eyes.
Then he began.
“Everything happening in this village… is it something you arranged?”
“No.”
His eyes widened.
“Then the GPS changing, our phones losing signal, and the car engine dying?”
“No.”
“…Did you know about this village beforehand?”
“No.”
“Then… did your appraisal skill tell you?”
“Not appraisal. Hallucinations. Yes.”
“…………Is the reason the telephone doesn’t work… because the line’s been disconnected?”
“I don’t know.”
I knew the cable had been unplugged.
That much was obvious.
But even if someone reconnected it…
There was a good chance the phone still wouldn’t work.
The mysterious voice had managed all kinds of supernatural feats already.
Preventing outgoing calls even after reconnecting the line didn’t seem beyond its abilities.
So…
“I don’t know.”
That was the honest answer.
Taketsuru glanced toward Meiko.
“Nekoyanagi-san. Any lies so far?”
“Not a single one…”
Naturally.
If I said I’d answer honestly…
Then I answered honestly.
The fact remained that I had nothing to do with any of this.
Though admittedly…
Had they asked whether I knew a way to resolve everything immediately…
That would’ve been considerably more difficult to answer.
Taketsuru had become so fixated on proving I was the culprit that he’d overlooked the more fundamental questions.
Just as I was thinking that, Kuwajima—who had silently watched the entire exchange—hesitantly raised her hand.
“Then… does that mean… the supernatural phenomena in this village… are real?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes flew wide open.
“Th-Then… the curses… and everyone saying we can’t leave the village… that’s all true too?”
“Yes.”
“““NO WAAAAY!?”””
I’d been telling them that from the beginning.
Three pairs of eyes immediately snapped toward Meiko.
She vigorously shook her head.
No.
I hadn’t lied.
Not once.
Everything happening in this village was genuine.
This place truly was filled with inexplicable phenomena.
“W-Wait… seriously!?”
Even the police officer looked genuinely shocked.
Why were you surprised?
Sure, I understood that from his perspective this was supposed to be a tourism campaign.
But he absolutely wasn’t supposed to blurt that out.
At the very least he should’ve calmly folded his arms and said something like:
“See? I told you.”
Where was his professional pride as a performer in a cursed village attraction?
Thanks to that outburst, Taketsuru and the others immediately started looking suspiciously at the officer again.
This was bad.
Just as I was wondering how to salvage the situation…
Niwashita-san, who had been quietly watching our exchange the entire time with her usual peaceful smile, finally spoke.
There was only the slightest hint of concern in her voice.
“Hey, Kirishiro-kun. Will Yuu-kun… or the rest of us… be in any real danger?”
“No.”
Strictly speaking…
I already knew that if anyone did end up in genuine danger…
I could simply summon the Holy Sword.
Besides…
This was ultimately just a village revitalization project where the villagers and the owner of the mysterious voice were working together.
There was no reason for anyone to die.
Even if someone smashed that shrine…
The local deity probably wouldn’t become genuinely enraged.
After all…
That was simply part of the attraction.
At worst…
Some reckless streamer who insulted the guardian deity too enthusiastically would end up getting roasted online.
Actually.
From that perspective…
Kuwajima might genuinely be in the most danger.
Yes.
She should probably watch herself.
“Then… all we have to do is enjoy the village?”
“Yes.”
“Mm-hmm. In that case, I’ll treat this as a nice opportunity to relax while looking for anything useful for my research.”
Out of everyone present…
Niwashita-san turned out to have the strongest nerves.
Once she’d confirmed there was no real danger…
She immediately accepted the situation and decided to enjoy herself.
Given her background in fieldwork, she’d probably already noticed one or two things around the village that piqued her academic curiosity.
An ordinary university student naturally had a talent for noticing the interesting oddities hidden within a traditional village.
A perfectly ordinary gift.
Her attitude quickly spread to the others.
Watching her remain so relaxed seemed to drain the tension from the room.
“Well… if Sumire-neesan says so…”
“Maybe we got dragged into something troublesome, but if we don’t find a way to enjoy it anyway, it’d be an insult to summer.”
“If we think of it as getting to experience a real cursed village… then maybe this’ll end up being a memorable summer after all… right?”
My best friends.
My childhood friends.
They really were remarkably adaptable.
Good.
One of the greatest talents an ordinary protagonist could possess was the ability to restore their mental equilibrium almost instantly, no matter how bizarre the situation became.
“Um… excuse me? I’d really appreciate it if you’d all feel at least a little more terrified for your lives. Otherwise this is kind of discouraging… Hello? Is anyone listening?”
The mysterious voice kept complaining.
I ignored it.
Thus, having united under the shared objective of confronting the village’s curse…
The person we’d all been waiting for finally arrived.
An elderly man slowly stepped into the room.
“S-So… you youngsters are the ones who wandered into our village?”
“We’ve been waiting for you. Now then, shall we begin the negotiations? I look forward to working with you.”
“N-Negotiations…?”
An unexpectedly long opening act had delayed things.
But now…
The real cursed village story was finally about to begin.