Chapter 9: Shiosai-sama
“That was a big help, foolish brother. Now the profits will return.”
“Good for you, foolish sister. I hope you run into difficult customers.”
Otoya, who was loading the car, pinched the cheeks of his sister, Riko, and they started a light-hearted fight. Perhaps they are close because they argue like this.
Houzuki, who doesn’t have any siblings, thought she wouldn’t be able to argue if she had any. With her reserved personality, she might not be able to say anything even if her younger siblings bullied her.
Watching Otoya and Riko’s interaction from the top of the car, Yuiru was grinning as if he found it amusing.
“You two are quite close, Otoya. It’s refreshing to see, especially since I didn’t even know you had a sister when I was alive.”
“Yuiru, do you really want to be left behind?”
“Stop, stop, if I’m left here, I won’t be able to return.”
Yuiru, sitting cross-legged on top of the car, was glared at by Otoya, who growled in a low voice. Houzuki, smiling wryly, raised her face to the sea breeze that brushed her cheeks.
When she looked back, she saw the beautiful blue sea stretching out endlessly. The waves were calm, and the boundary with the clear sky was so beautiful that it contrasted sharply with the malevolent sea that showed its evil face at night.
Zaza~n, zazaza.
Zaza, zaza~n.
Zaza~n, zaza~n.
The sound of gentle waves struck Houzuki’s ears.
“Um, Riko-san?”
“What is it?”
Houzuki asked Riko, who had shifted from pinching Otoya’s cheeks to wrestling with him, timidly.
“Um, is there a way for the dead to return around here, maybe due to some custom or tradition?”
“There is.”
“What?”
“There is.”
Riko repeated the same thing to the surprised Houzuki for emphasis.
“I don’t live around here, so I don’t know all the details, but according to the old folks, you have to make a request to a deity called ‘Shiosai-sama.'”
“Shiosai-sama…”
Houzuki, feeling a chill as she said the name, asked,
“What kind of deity is that?”
“I don’t know. But it’s said to look like a spider, which is why the people around here treat spiders with such reverence.”
Riko continued, “Oh, by the way, the method to bring the dead back to life involves offering a sacrifice to Shiosai-sama.”
“A sacrifice?”
“You throw the sacrifice into the sea. They say that if you do that, the deceased will come back as a baby and return to the mother’s womb.”
Riko, smiling awkwardly, said,
“It’s just a baseless rumor, but pregnant women, in particular, seem to believe it foolishly. They genuinely think that their lost child will return to their womb.”
“I see…”
Houzuki couldn’t say anything more.
The ghost of the pregnant woman from last night—could she have believed that rumor? Had she been deceived by Shiosai-sama and dragged countless humans into the sea as sacrifices, over and over again?
Did any of those sacrifices become the child she wished for? It’s a mystery now lost to the dark, especially since some malevolent spirit has devoured every last bone.
“Hey, we’re leaving. Kasugadani, you get in the car too.”
“Yes.”
“Irune, get off the car’s roof. It’s dangerous.”
“Nobody can see me.”
“I meant I will be in danger. Get off or I’ll sprinkle you with salt.”
“Are you trying to exorcise me!?”
Ignoring the commotion on top of the car, Houzuki quickly climbed into the back seat. It was quite hot inside, probably because it was summer. Towako, who had gotten in first, was staring out the window to pass the time.
When Houzuki also glanced out the window, she noticed something peculiar.
“……?”
Someone was standing on the cliff by the sea. Their long black hair was blowing in the sea breeze, and the hem of their white dress was fluttering.
That someone, who had been gazing out at the vast sea from the cliff, suddenly stumbled and fell off.
“Gasp!”
Houzuki gasped. The person hadn’t just fallen; they had been pulled in.
Entangled and dragged down by spider legs that reached out from the cliff.
“Houzuki-chan?”
“Towako… did you see that?”
“See what?”
Towako seemed to have been looking in a different direction and hadn’t seen what had just happened.
If Houzuki was the only one who had noticed that sight, then there was no point in her bringing it up. The person in the white dress must have been pulled in by Shiosai-sama.
Was she also waiting for someone to return, or was there someone waiting for her to be sacrificed?
“Damn Otoya, there’s no need to get that angry at a ghost……He even sprinkled me with salt…… now my hair’s all gritty……”
Yuiru, scratching his silver hair furiously to shake off the salt, noticed Houzuki’s unusual behavior as she stared out the window.
“What’s wrong, Houzuki? Did you see something in the sea?”
“Hey, Yuiru.”
“What is it?”
“Can you eat Shiosai-sama?”
The answer from the evil spirit that even devoured gods was,
“Impossible.”
“Even you have something you can’t eat?”
“If it’s a god forgotten by humans, maybe. But a god that still receives faith from humans can’t be eaten.”
Settling into the passenger seat, Yuiru continued,
“No matter how much harm they cause, as long as there are humans who believe in them, they will be worshipped as gods. Humans really are a troublesome lot.”
“…Yes.”
Gazing at the blue sea where the horrifying god known as Shiosai-sama resided, Houzuki murmured,
“It really is terrifying.”
