Within my heart, …I prepared my thought that perhaps tonight, something will occur once again.
The First Year, the workers were stirred in a frenzy, dismembering and killing the old man; the Second Year, by some method, Mr. and Mrs. Hojou were killed through a faked accident.
…During the Dam War, only the people who were hated as the village’s sworn enemies died on the night of Watanagashi Festival which had deep meaning to the residents of Hinamizawa.
Among the village that a portion of citizens called this “Oyashiro-sama’s Curse,” of course, came to my ears.
When the Dam War ended, for their war criminals to be killed on the night of the Festival must have held some meaning. …That is what I believe.
Then, there must be still war criminals from the Dam War.
……Perhaps that will happen again on the night of the Third Year’s Festival. ……That hunch was right.
When the Festival near its end, the village board officials all crowded around the Headquarters tent.
Then
crack crack the beers were opened, and the left over corn and
motsu nikomi from refreshment stands were use to uplift the atmosphere.
At that time, I was also welcomed by the hospitality of the village board and was at the Headquarters tent.
……That’s why, at the very start of the Third Year’s incident, I should have been present to witness it.
…even so, I wasn’t able to see the start of the incident…
“Huh, Furude-san, what’s the matter? Are you not feeling well?”
All the village seniors were heavy drinkers, but there were a few exceptions. The Priest was one of them.
During the Watanagashi Festival, the Priest is not only the representative but also the takes the role of the Host.
As visitors and guests came, he greeted them, and each time he was offered a drink, so it wasn’t difficult to imagine that by the night’s end he would be beat.
That’s why, when the Priest removed himself from the clatter and sat down drooping over the piped chair, I did not think anything of it.
It was the Village Chief Kimiyoshi who tapped the shoulder of that Priest asking if he was all right.
“…Are you all right? Ah hahahahaha, You’ve probably drank too much! What, you have chest pains?”
“……mmmm… I’m sorry, it seems I a bit tired.”
“Wait, you had a bad heart? It’s not a good sign that it started to hurt so suddenly! Dr. Irie! Doctor!”
“What is the matter? ……Is it your chest? That is not good…”
“…mmmmmmm……, ……uuuu.”
Now that I see him, the Priest was covered in terrible sweat; he was definitely not relaxing in his chair refreshing in the evening’s cool.
……The color in his face was horrible, he should immediately lie on his side, I thought.
“……It might be better if I take him to the clinic. Are you all right? Can you grab onto my shoulder?”
“Hey Hey Someone help himー！”
“It seems the Priest isn’t feeling well…”
“Is there something wrong with my husband? Dear, are you all right…?!”
“Takano-saaaan!! You just came at the right time. The Priest doesn’t seem to be feeling well, so I’ll be taking him to the clinic. I’m sorry, but can you bring the car around here?”
“Yea. That will be no problem. …
giggle giggle.”
And then, the Priest and his Wife went with Dr. Irie towards his clinic.
……I don’t know about the youngens, but the seniors know their bodies well.
It is uncommon for them to push themselves until they feel that terrible.
And for someone like the Priest to drink until he felt sick is a bit unthinkable.
My cumulative experience over these long years, were telling me something. ……Just in case, I thought I head over to the Irie Clinic myself.
I tried to follow them by car, but since the Festival was just ending, all the stands were closing up and heading out, so there was a lot of traffic making it difficult to get out of this temporally setup parking lot.
For that reason, I didn’t arrive to the clinic until after twenty minutes have past since the Priest was carried out.
In these twenty minutes.
If these twenty minutes weren’t there, my posture towards this year’s incident would have been quite different.
…I regretted knowing as soon as I figured out that getting out by car was difficult, I should have walked.
………Afterwards, I could only reflect on this truth.
The Priest disappeared from the Festival grounds, and within the twenty minutes it took me to arrive at the clinic, this year’s curse had been completely carried out.
As soon as the Priest arrived at the clinic, his condition rapidly changed. And he died.
……Later, the autopsy results came back as a heart failure, but there was no way I will swallow that.
I’ve never heard of the Priest falling ill, nor was there anyone not taken by surprised by this sudden turn of events.
And even more so, the Priest’s wife who should have been accompanying him disappeared.
The people at the clinic say, there was no doubt that she was right next to him until his death, but later when they took notice, she was nowhere to be seen.
Of course, she did not return home either.
At this moment, I was suspicious that someone had poisoned the Priest.
……It was because during the Dam War, the Priest was frown upon his straddle position, saying that there was no need to make this big of a commotion as the Dam Construction will eventually be stopped.
…The village seniors were easily grudged and wouldn’t forget this, backbiting the Priest saying he is not worthy of Oyashiro-sama’s Shrine; even I heard these with my ears.
I immediately called for backup, and went searching for the lost wife.
……Just like last year with the Husband and Wife accident, it was plausible that both could be victims.
I even gathered the Young Men Corp, and search the village to the mountains, which resulted
……in vicinity of the Onigafuchi Marsh, an arranged set of sandals and a Will was found.
The Will stated, my husband’s death was due to Oyashiro-sama’s Curse, and I will quell Oyashiro-sama’s anger with my life… Because of the contents of what was written, it was highly suggested that she drowned herself.
The Onigafuchi Marsh from long ago was rumored that anything that sunk into it will never again be returned as the marsh was bottomless connecting to the Demon’s World.
The Police Divers searched thoroughly, however, no body could be found…
The past two bizarre fatal incidents, to the higher ups in Police, may have seemed that they were already solved as individual cases.
……But, this Third Year’s bizarre death, was definitely strange.
In any case, the Priest who felt ill was carried to the clinic. His wife was accompanying him.
And then, within a short twenty minute period, the Priest dies from an illness, the wife drowns herself in the marsh, or possibly disappeared.
The Priest’s death may perhaps been a fatal acute heart attack.
But, for the Wife to believe that was a Curse, and to repent to her God she decides to drown herself all within a twenty minute period is, no matter how you look at it, is beyond unnatural.
The Furude family has no relatives.
And if she was at all to think of her only daughter she would leave behind, no matter how passionate of a Oyashiro-sama follower she was, there was no way she would commit suicide leaving her daughter behind.
……Irie is also hiding something.
But, Irie is nothing more than the village doctor, which means he’s probably nothing more than their pawn.
…If this is a conspiracy, to assassinate the Priest, then there must be a Puppet Master pulling the strings.
The past two years’ incidents may have been forcefully tied to the village, and even I thought that it might have been a bit overbearing, …but this incident was enough to confirm that it was certain that there is a singular purpose grounded in these serial cases…
……This incident has countless numbers of discrepancies amounting, but someone within the village seems to have put pressure on the high command, and just as the past incidents, this incident was treated as an individual case, compellingly forced to be forgotten……
Continuing on for three years, now everyone in the village will rumor that this is Oyashiro-sama’s Curse.
…I have a feeling that this may be the goal of the culprit.
After the War, the Oyashiro-sama’s faith was once antiquated.
……And to return that dignity, could someone be committing these murders as a ritual?
The ones pulling the strings…………are most likely is the Sonozaki Estate.
A few months have past since then.
Concerning this incident, Sonozaki Oryou blurted to all that it was obvious that the Priest would be Cursed, decisively making the Priest incident a part of the Hinamizawa Bizarre Chain of Deaths, otherwise known as the Oyashiro-sama’s Curse.
At first, I just wanted to avenge the old man.
…But, now along with that incident, the traces of the village’s faith marked by these peculiar cases has developed beginning to show its an abnormal outline.
…Damn it. The old man’s killer is human.
……I will not let that be swapped with some ridiculous Curse…!