The Difference Between Apparition and Uninvited Guest
While Lise stood frozen in confusion, the man’s hand shot forward like lightning and seized the empty air.
Even with the distance between them, she felt an invisible grip clamp down on her collar, cutting off her breath with a sharp choke. Her body lurched forward as though dragged by that unseen hand, heels scraping across the floor and leaving long, helpless tracks.
Creeeeak.
As she was pulled along, Lise instinctively raised both hands to her throat, trying to tear away whatever was strangling her. But there was nothing to grasp. All she could do was cough and wheeze, staring down at the floor while her body was dragged forward in utter helplessness.
The only thing in her line of sight was the familiar floor of the shrine. Huh? Why is the pillar…
That was when she noticed something strange. The base of the shrine pillar had been excavated. From the sheer volume of wet soil piled around it, the digging had reached all the way to the foundation.
But the man had no interest in answering her silent question. He never slowed, continuing straight toward the main hall.
Creeeeak.
The moment they reached the main hall, the doors swung open by themselves as if they had been waiting. Inside, a man hung suspended.
“Li… Lise!”
It was her father, Saigo Kenji. Bound to a crude log that must have been dragged in from somewhere, he saw his daughter being hauled across the floor and screamed her name as if vomiting blood.
Watching her gasp and struggle, he glared at the man and roared.
“You demonic monster! Release my daughter right now!”
His voice overflowed with fury. Yet the man didn’t seem the least bit threatened. He simply smiled, bright and cheerful. At first glance the smile looked innocent, but something about it filled the air with such dread that merely seeing it twisted the stomach with foreboding.
“As you wish.”
The man dragged Lise directly in front of Kenji and spoke those words.
“Are you mocking me?!”
The casual reply only inflamed Kenji further. It sounded like a lie delivered without the slightest shame.
But the man stared straight into Kenji’s bloodshot, vein-bulging eyes. His gaze was calm, as though begging to be believed, as though every syllable he uttered contained not a trace of falsehood. Those tranquil eyes seemed to declare his absolute sincerity and purity.
“You and your daughter will be released.”
The man’s pupils never wavered.
“I have no intention of harming either of you.”
They remained perfectly still.
“In fact, this may even prove to be a blessing for you both.”
“Oh God…”
“Yes. I came here to grant you good fortune. Doesn’t that deserve gratitude?”
Kenji understood then. In those eyes—deep as the ocean and still as stone—there was only truth. The same man who had approached him with a kindly face, choked him unconscious, tied him to a log, and dragged his daughter like a dog using some invisible force was speaking nothing but the truth. He felt it in his bones.
How was this possible? How could every word be true?
The weight of the spirit bound into the man’s words was immeasurably heavy and impossibly pure. It defied all of Kenji’s common sense.
“Still… shortcuts are always faster and easier. So I’ll make you a single offer.”
The man muttered something incomprehensible, then grabbed a fistful of Lise’s hair. He yanked her forward until she was directly in front of Kenji’s eyes.
“Will you tell me the true name of the Shintai?”
At the words true name of the Shintai, both father and daughter froze solid.
A name carries power. That rule applied even to a Shintai. It possessed more spirituality than a mere sacred object, yet lacked the full intellect to be called a true spirit. Isolated from external stimuli, the only bridge that could reach it was its name.
Observation and interaction were inseparable. To know the Shintai’s name was to be recognized by it. Mutual recognition meant mutual influence. In modern terms, the Shintai was an intranet, and knowing its name was equivalent to possessing the login credentials.
“…What do you intend to do with that knowledge?” Kenji forced the heavy words from his lips.
“What changes if you know it?”
The man only answered with a playful counter-question. No real reply came.
“…I cannot tell you.”
“I expected as much.”
He gave a small laugh and produced two objects from his pocket. One was a bell no larger than a fingernail. Cheaply made, its surface was rough and poorly finished. Rust and grime coated it; black tarnish mingled with greenish clumps of filth, making it look like something abandoned for years in a forgotten corner.
The other was a tiny plastic bag. Inside were several different substances: white powder, something resembling dried herbs, and sheets of paper so thin they were almost translucent. The white powder looked like baking soda yet sparkled with sharp, icy crystals. The herb powder resembled ground mugwort but had clumped into uneven spheres.
The man shook the plastic bag in front of Kenji and sneered.
“Not even a proper shaman, yet you carry these. What, were you hoping to enter a trance and perform some ritual?”
“H-how did you—”
“How could I miss the vile stench these things give off? They were easy to find.”
Kenji’s face turned deathly pale as he looked at his daughter. Lise mulled over the man’s words, then suddenly remembered something. Her eyes widened in horror.
“Father! You’ve been taking drugs?!”
“L-Lise! No, that’s not—!”
Kenji tried to explain but the words died in his throat. He looked away from her, then shouted at the man as if to change the subject.
“You bastard! Are you threatening me? No matter how much you threaten me, I will never tell you the name! Just kill me instead!”
The man burst out laughing at the furious scolding.
“Why would I kill you? You must live. I’ll make certain of it.”
But information had to be extracted, so he had prepared this.
Muttering to himself, the man shook the small bell.
Jingle.
Floating in midair, the dirty little bell produced a pure, crystal-clear sound that seemed to wash the soul clean. The tone echoed through the entire building like a temple bell and spilled out into the surroundings.
Clang—
The ringing that called for someone stirred the thing waiting outside.
It slithered across the damp soil like a snake, belly pressed to the ground. It performed handstands on the stairs using broken fingers, then stretched its rigid, petrified feet like tentacles from a seated lotus position, leaving muddy footprints everywhere it went.
“Ah… ah…”
A nightmarish figure that looked as if it had been pickled in salt for a century. Though horribly emaciated, the skin that had not fully rotted hung slack over bones. From its hollow eye sockets, black salt contaminated with bodily fluids poured endlessly like falling sand. The body had shriveled beyond recognition of its original size. It crawled forward, twisting like a serpent even while attempting handstands, leaving meaningless footprints across walls and floor.
“I was pondering what method to use when I noticed a human pillar. Burying a living person beneath a pillar as a living sacrifice is quite rare these days. How fortunate.”
Lise felt as though she were trapped in a nightmare with her eyes wide open.
“And it turned out to be a child. So I gathered the scattered souls and stuffed them inside to create a Saetani. There were so many souls that it formed quite easily. What do you think? Rather convincing, isn’t it?”
Human pillar? Saetani? She understood none of it.
Save… me…
She didn’t want to understand.
The salty smell… the rotting stench…
In her confusion, Lise watched the horrific evil spirit draw closer. From the gaping hole in its face came the odor of salted meat. Its mouth stretched wider and wider, releasing an unbearable corpse stench. The maw tore open larger, ever larger, until it ripped the entire face apart and gaped like—
A flower.
It looked exactly like a flower.
“Lise!”
That was the last thought Lise had before the spirit’s mouth swallowed her head whole.
『Lise! Remember everything I told you!』
『Never speak the name!』
『No matter what tricks he uses, never give in!!』
“Lise! Lise! Class is over!”
Lise felt someone shaking her body. She forced her heavy eyelids open and lifted her head slightly. The face swimming into view belonged to Airi.
“Why are you so sleepy that you’re skipping meals and dozing off?”