Human Souls
"Hm." In the afternoon, I'd heard the details of the incident from the police and headed to the scene to check it out. They said almost everything had been preserved except for some recovered evidence, but this site was even more gruesome than the last one at the café. Blood was splattered everywhere like someone had gone to town with a chainsaw, and even though they'd clearly collected everything thoroughly, bits of flesh were still scattered in places. Made me want to puke, for real.
Combining what the cops told me with what I saw there, I could understand why they'd ruled it not a human-perpetrated murder and contacted Hanasaki. No person could do this.
The latest info was that the autopsy on one of the relatively intact bodies was pretty bizarre too. From the angle and depth of the stab wound to the chest—made with something like a blade—they figured the perp was short, had freakishly long arms, and strength over three times that of an average adult male. Suspicious as hell.
"You're late."
"I told you I had stuff to do and might be late."
"...Adults are watching me, so I can only come out at certain times."
"Then work on your patience."
Nogawa Canon, dressed in her everyday elementary school uniform, gripped something cross-shaped in her hand. At the same moment, a mysterious light shrouded just her vital areas, transforming her into her magical girl outfit. The vibe was all grim murder-solving, so why was the transformation scene straight out of a classic magical girl anime?
And the light conveniently blocked only my line of sight—no matter the angle— which was impressive. Was this science, or some kind of world-enforced contrivance?
"Hmph. So, any info I don't know?"
"Fix that attitude, and you'll regret it later."
Her attitude was a problem, sure, but no reason not to share info. I told her what the police said and described the scene. She listened with a serious expression, then leaped upward and hovered briefly. After a short flight, she returned.
"Nothing special."
"It's been a while already. More importantly, did you find the beast that killed those people last time?"
"No... It hasn't shown up."
She looked a bit anxious. From my perspective, these were enemies that might keep spawning no matter how many I took out, so I wasn't about to rush in and take unnecessary risks. Even if I wiped out the ones circling us now, nothing would change if new ones appeared.
So I planned to slowly uncover their true nature, but Nogawa showed no such leisure in her expression. Was there some urgent reason? External pressure, or a deadline she'd set herself? Not that I could do much for someone who wouldn't open up.
Truth be told, I was pretty pissed at this arrogant brat.
"Nothing to do? I'm heading back then."
"What, you think you can just leave after that?"
"What am I supposed to do?"
She clamped her mouth shut and glared, groaning for a bit before finally speaking.
"...Can you. Track it?"
"Can't promise. I rushed to check the scene to make it on time."
"Do it."
"..."
"...Please."
Her face and neck flushed red—pride or whatever—and tears welled in her eyes. Why couldn't this kid just bow her head properly? No clue about her circumstances or personality made her impossible to predict. She was younger than my sister, sniffling with her head down, and it deflated my anger—I couldn't refuse or tease her anymore.
"You can turn invisible, right?"
"...How do you know that?"
"You vanish way faster than you move."
"I can."
"Then go invisible and follow."
She vanished before my eyes, but focusing my sight revealed her soul trailing me just fine. That magic wand-looking spiritual energy weapon seemed to be draining her soul noticeably. Not a long-term tool, that.
No point telling her to drop it—she wouldn't—so I let it slide. We entered the house where it happened, went inside, and I concentrated.
Touching the essence of souls wasn't familiar yet. Hanasaki said I was improving fast, but each time it felt like I was getting pulled into forbidden territory, so practice wasn't easy.
Deep breath. Opening my eyes again, soul traces appeared much clearer than before. Faded and hazy, but my sharpened vision let me trace the rough movements.
"...What the hell."
"Find something?"
"Wait. Even I'm having trouble believing this."
It had opened the front door. Not broken it, not been let in. A faint trace lingered inside the locked doorknob, meaning it'd picked the lock with part of its body.
Right after entering, it killed the person in the living room. Weird part: the victim's soul was gone. Unjust death for sure, but aside from Ruri, no ghosts had appeared. Clean wipe at the café, and here too.
"Hey."
"Call me Nogawa."
"Nogawa. Have you fought those things properly?"
"Yeah."
"Any weird traits? Like, human-like?"
"High intelligence."
Why the ominous hunch? Wild guess maybe, but: Ruri's soul lingered because she wasn't killed by a Gloomy Beast. The café manager and this victim both died to the same beast form. Soul vanished after manager's death, then it showed as human and killed again.
Chaining it together painted a creature that absorbed human souls to multiply. Gave me chills—I rubbed my neck and turned to Nogawa.
"This way."
"...Your eyes changed color."
"Constitution thing. Ignore it."
I opened the door to the backyard, following the faint, smudged traces on foot. She struggled to keep up at my running speed bare-bodied, so midway she flew instead, panting a bit.
Once locked on, even faint traces were clear, so I ran straight to the forest with the abandoned building where Fujiwara Yuu was bound as a zashiki-warashi—no, bound spirit.
Eyes strained too long? Head hurt a little, but since I was here, might as well finish.
"Nosebleed."
"Huh?"
For real. Nogawa, flying beside me, reached for her waist like to grab something, but her skimpy magical girl outfit had no pockets. I pulled a handkerchief from mine, wiped under my nose—dark red blood, more than expected.
Whatever. Couldn't bail after running nearly 30 minutes over nosebleed. I waved off the guilty-looking Nogawa and pointed ahead.
She unusually fussed, staring back without moving, so I pinched my nose and went with her. Deeper in. Into the denser forest.
"Found it."
"Getting battle-ready."
"Yeah."
I lacked proper spiritual attack methods yet. Drew my wooden sword to at least protect myself, but it wouldn't cut it. Nogawa fired a preemptive spiritual blast from her wand-cannon. Something humanoid burst from the bushes, grabbing trees and rocks with disproportionately long limbs for its squat body.
I left the fight to her and refocused on the soul. She bombarded with energy shots or explosive bullets; the Gloomy Beast dodged nimbly, then fully revealed itself and howled.
Yes. Now. My eyes caught its soul—I compared to human ones I'd seen.
"...My hypothesis was right."
"What're you—ngh!"
"Hold it off a bit. Might be impossible, but I'll do my best."
She didn't ask what, just focused on defense. Separate it. Isolate the human soul. Couldn't restore or revive, but at least let it pass on as human in its final moment.
"Nogawa!"
"Your hands are really bloody!"
I charged with wooden sword; she dropped defense, rushed with me, smashed its guard, cleared my path. I touched its body, extracted the shattered, stained, but pure human soul.
"Hrgh."
Vision went red—blood from eyes? Nose gushed past the block. Internal damage too; metallic tang filled my mouth.
But success here would open a path. Seemed like seconds, felt eternal. In my sight: a broken half-soul, but purely human.
《Huh...》
"Knew it was the manager's soul, cough, confirmed. Hack."
Damaged soul? Her spirit gazed blankly at the sky, saw me, smiled faintly, and faded. Core-less, the Gloomy Beast crumbled to dust.
Done. Damn it.
"We got it..."
"Ngh. See? Good call telling me."
"...Yeah. Th-that. Um. Thanks... "
Flushed red again, she bowed deeply, released her transformation. Wiped the blood from my face with my handkerchief—without avoiding eyes, nose, mouth—then pocketed it.
"...Ruri passed on the same way?"
"Didn't get eaten, maybe. Her soul was much clearer, intact."
"I see."
Late night, exhausted, she unwittingly leaned on me—then blinked, jerked away, pointed accusingly, and yelled.
"S-see ya later! Neither of us can solo 'em completely! Let's team up for a while!"
"Y-yeah. Gotta report to someone, but I'll fudge it."
She bolted without reply, vanishing into the distance. Worried she'd get lost? Nah, she'd transform and fly if needed. I shrugged it off.
"Body can't handle it yet."
Blood pouring from every facial hole after a bit too long? What a mess. Needed body reinforcement training. And tomorrow, how to lie to Hanasaki? Solved the problem, but just added worries.