Shinrei Tantei Yakumo Volume 11 Prologue

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo volu 11 - prologue

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Shinrei Tantei Yakumo novel translation

Volu 11 - Worth of a Spirit

I’d like to ask those who deem my actions brutal.

What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones?

I will offer everything—

That is all.

prologue

A square shaped hole on the floor.

No, this was no ordinary hole. Though enveloped in darkness, the man could make out a ladder extending underground from the mouth of said hole.

He happened to find this door on the floor by re coincidence.

Had nothing been there, surely he would’ve just thought that the colour of the floor was slightly different in that area. It wouldn’t even cross his mind to approach it.

Yet his ears had caught sothing strange earlier.

Clunking noises, like tal being hit.

He had gotten closer after following that sound, and when sharpening his vision, he noticed there was a door in the direction of that noise.

He should’ve ignored it, but nevertheless, his curiosity over the door overpowered all else.

By the ti he ca to his senses, he had already opened the door.

“What’s this?”

“There’s a basent area.”

“Don’t you guys feel creepy?”

The other students that were with him ca closer, talking to each other and comnting with enthusiasm.

Just what actually lies underneath here?

Led by overwhelming curiosity, he intended to go down that ladder. But at that mont, sothing grabbed his arm.

It was a female student from the sa seminar as him.

“You’re going in there?”

“I heard a strange noise just now,” he replied before lowering one foot, stepping onto the ladder.

Next, putting a hand in his pants pocket, he took out his phone and descended the ladder one step at a ti whilst relying on the small light from his phone.

Reaching the end of the steps, he arrived in an open space.

Even so, the small light from his phone wasn’t enough to look at his surroundings in its entirety.

“What is this place?”

“Feels scary.”

Voices echoed.

While difficult to see because of the darkness, apparently the other students followed after him despite complaining in the process.

Using the light from his phone, he illuminated the room.

It was an old room, with both its walls and floor made out of bricks, and an area roughly the size of a large classroom. On one side of the wall were bookshelves storing a sizable number of books as well as docunts that were poorly arranged. On the wall across it were shelves lined with dicine bottles. Then, placed in the middle of the room was an old operating table.

Only thing was—

No one was there.

Perhaps the noise he had heard earlier had rely been his imagination.

However, when he changed his mind and was about to head back, he discovered sothing strange.

That object resided in one corner of the room.

It appeared to be a box.

“What…is this?” he said as he approached the box.

The box was fairly old and made out of tal. Nearly every part of it had rusted.

Did this box used to store equipnt?

No, that would be strange.

Sothing that looked like a talisman had been pasted on the box, and it wasn’t just one. The darkness made it hard to tell for certain, but there had to be at least thirty of them.

That wasn’t all. Sothing had been written on top of the lid.

Not with a marker or the like. The letters had been carved directly onto the tal.

He lifted his phone, casting a light over it, and read the letters.

This box shouldn’t be opened.

That was what it said.

Could this be soone’s prank? No, for a prank, this seed like a lot of effort. Soone had been afraid of sothing, and had locked whatever it was inside this box.

By reflex, he reached out towards the lid.

“Is it fine to touch it anyhow?” asked one female student.

Under normal circumstances, he would’ve stopped his hand by now. Yet for so reason, he couldn’t resist the force of the box pulling him.

His fingers trembled slightly.

As if led by sothing, the man placed his palm on the lid of the box.

His fingers were greeted by the rough sensation of the rusty surface combined with the coldness of the tal.

You wouldn’t be able to return after opening it, a voice said to him.

A voice that sounded like it had spoken directly to him from within his eardrums, or from inside his brain. That might have been a sign that he had to stop here.

And yet—

He drew out his strength, attempting to open the lid of the box.

Several talismans ripped in the process and the lid opened alongside the creaking sound of tal rubbing against each other.

A powerful sll invaded his nose and he spontaneously turned his face away.

As he lifted his phone to peek into the box’s contents once more, he felt a piercing gaze from behind.

He turned around to find a man standing there.

Both of the man’s eyes were dyed blood red—

Along the riverside road that was part of her school commute, Sana squeezed the brakes on her bicycle.

Her bicycle ca to a stop with a high-pitched squeak.

Still on her bicycle, she turned her face in the direction of the river.

My eyes weren’t deceiving .

A girl was standing at the edge of the river.

However—

The girl’s condition was unusual.

She gave the impression that she was about to commit suicide by jumping into the river.

Not even Sana knew why she felt that way, even though she had rely seen the girl from the corner of her sight while cycling.

Besides, what should she do if the girl was contemplating suicide?

Even that was sothing she had no idea about.

It felt strange to call out to her even though the girl wasn’t doing anything in particular. Yet it would be all too late if the girl had already jumped into the river.

What should I do?

While she was thinking, the girl slowly turned her neck to look in her direction.

With her head lowered and her hair hung loosely, Sana couldn’t see her face very well.

Cold breeze blew along the riverside, making a wuthering sound as dusk drew near. On the opposite side of the river, a white heron flapped its wings and flew away.

Was it her own imagination?

Compared to before, the girl’s figure appeared larger—

No, it wasn’t just her feeling. That girl was slowly walking towards her.

As the girl drew closer, Sana noticed sothing.

The girl’s black hair was sopping wet. And not just her hair. Her uniform blouse and skirt were soaked through as well, almost like she had just co out of the water.

Drip, drip—Sana could almost hear the sound of water droplets falling from the girl’s body.

Before realising, the girl had already closed the distance between them until a re five tres apart remained.

At this point, Sana noticed another peculiar thing.

The girl was barefoot.

In the middle of winter, had she really been walking around barefoot? No, regardless of the season, it would be unusual to walk outside barefoot.

“A-Are you alright?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Without answering Sana’s question, the girl extended both of her hands.

Her hands were so pale and skinny they felt impossible to belong to a living breathing human. Droplets of water dripped from the tip of her fingers.

“……”

The girl was saying sothing.

Even so, Sana couldn’t catch what the girl had said over the sound of the wind.

Once again, the drenched girl moved her lips that had turned purple.

This ti, Sana was able to hear her clearly.

“I… never wanted that…”

Sana couldn’t understand what the girl wanted to say. Yet her words sounded terrifying, reverberating through her eardrums.

This isn’t normal.

Sana lifted her feet onto the bicycle pedals and rode the two-wheeled device with all her might.

She wanted to get away from the girl as soon as possible.

If she stayed there any longer, she might get dragged into the river by the mysterious girl. Consud by that thought, Sana pedalled her bicycle using all her strength.

“I never wanted that…” said a voice next to her.

Eh?

She was currently cycling as fast as she could. Catching up on foot would be impossible. And yet, the voice sounded right beside her.

Unable to bear it anymore, Sana scread—