The Island Village, the Murders, and the Daughter of the Abyss
Note: There are swimsuit illustrations.
“If Miss Hijitani had been at the entrance from around 8:07, she would have known I never left for the Kanto University group’s lodging. The entrance has a clear view of our passageway. Even if she was looking outside, she would have heard my footsteps.”
My explanation drew a chorus of understanding gasps from everyone. Hijitani Saori, who had been pondering for a moment, finally nodded.
“I definitely didn’t see you passing this way, Mr. Taira.”
“But couldn’t he have gone before 8:07?”
Professor Honmura Koga threw in a pointless jab. For an academic blowhard, he was being surprisingly irritating.
“I was in my room by at least 8:02. You can see the timestamp on this selfie, right?”
I showed them the photo I’d taken with the open-air bath in the background, then displayed the metadata. The time was recorded precisely: 20:02:36.
“Five minutes is enough time to kill someone, but since we aren’t close and I’m practically a stranger, any attempt to murder Mr. Kimura would have involved a struggle—loud noises, signs of resistance, something.”
In reality, if I’d truly wanted Kimura Atsuhiro dead, five seconds would have been more than enough. But they didn’t know my capabilities, so they nodded along. Only Professor Honmura Koga remained unconvinced.
“That does make sense… Still, the victim was stabbed in the back. Couldn’t it have been a surprise attack?”
This crazy old bastard…! I let out a sigh and spoke again.
“I’m not a ninja. Do you honestly think I could slip into an occupied room without the person noticing, get behind him, and stab him in the back? Besides, the photo clearly shows 8:02:36. Factor in the time to leave the room and return, and we’re looking at less than three minutes total. That’s nowhere near enough time to commit murder. Do I really need to keep explaining this?”
When I fixed Professor Honmura Koga with a slightly irritated glare, he flinched. “Ah… I understand.”
Truthfully, showing them my KakaoTalk conversation with Han Yukyung would have cleared my alibi instantly, but it contained her private, very explicit photos. I wasn’t about to let anyone else see my woman’s breasts. There was also a picture of my fully erect cock in there. Not that showing the dick pic would bother me personally—it would only bruise the egos of the two surviving men from Kanto University.
“Indeed, just as Mr. Taira said, the complete absence of any struggle is peculiar,” Wano Haruto observed. Kimura Atsuhiro had been one of the more physically imposing members of the Kanto University group, second only to his late friend Morisuke. If there had been a fight, he wouldn’t be lying there so peacefully, as if he’d simply gone to sleep.
Wano Haruto fell into deep thought, and the rest of the group followed suit, lapsing into heavy silence. Unable to endure it, Professor Honmura Koga spoke up almost immediately.
“The people whose alibis don’t overlap with anyone else’s from earlier are…”
He glanced at me and paused.
“In the end, it leaves three people, excluding the victim.”
The professor had guts. He’d flinched and backed down moments ago, yet here he was putting me on the suspect list anyway. So the three without solid alibis for both murders were myself, Uchidate Kanimi, and Hijitani Saori.
“If you’re claiming I have no alibi because my movements are unaccounted for during a mere four minutes and thirty seconds, doesn’t that mean you also lack an alibi for this incident, Professor? You disappeared for ten whole minutes claiming you went to the bathroom. And during the first murder, you said you and Mr. Wano were together, correct? Yet both of you claimed to have gone to the bathroom. Either of you could have done it then. Why are you excluding yourselves?”
Irritated by how smoothly he was removing himself from suspicion, I fired back. He had placed me on the suspect list over less than five minutes of unaccounted time, yet he and Wano had both conveniently vanished to the bathroom during both murders and somehow remained above suspicion. It made no sense.
“That’s… ten minutes is admittedly a long time for this latest incident, but during the first murder, the bathroom trip took less than a minute. There simply wasn’t time to commit murder. Wano can confirm it.”
“If the two of you were accomplices, you would each provide the other with a perfect alibi.”
“Ah!”
Clap!
Wano Haruto suddenly exclaimed and clapped his hands, as if something had clicked into place. Thanks to his reaction, the tense atmosphere that had been building between me and Professor Honmura Koga quickly cooled.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered something… I’ll explain once I’ve organized my thoughts a little more.”
How anticlimactic. A short silence followed, but the owner of the inn soon spoke, clearly trying to bring order back to the situation.
“Everyone needs rest, so shall we move the body to the basement for now? There is one more coffin in storage.”
“Let’s do that. Though I heard the custom on this island is to prepare only one coffin per person. Why do you have so many? The one we used for Morisuke seemed quite large compared to your own build, Grandmother.”
Wano Haruto asked the question as if he could no longer contain his curiosity. At his words, the old woman’s face clouded with sorrow.
“Those coffins belonged to my son and his wife… They died in a boating accident. We never recovered their bodies, so the coffins have remained empty ever since.”
“I see. Forgive me for asking something so painful.”
The mood had grown heavy. With an awkward expression, Wano Haruto went to fetch the coffin. Once he returned with it, we placed Kimura Atsuhiro inside, and the two of us carried it down to the basement.
“I apologize for my professor’s stubbornness. In my view, Mr. Taira is the least likely culprit. You have no prior connection to us, and while your alibi has gaps, both windows of time were far too short to commit murder.”
On the way down, Wano Haruto offered the apology. It wasn’t his place to apologize, but I appreciated the sentiment.
“You have nothing to apologize for. Have you found any clues yet?”
“A few puzzle pieces are beginning to fit, but the decisive one is still missing.”
We continued talking as we reached the underground chamber and set the coffin containing Kimura Atsuhiro’s body beside Morisuke’s. We were about to head back up when I noticed Wano Haruto had opened the coffin again and was staring at the dead man’s face.
“Aren’t you coming up?”
“We weren’t close, but we did know each other. I’d like to offer a prayer for him before I go.”
In that case, I wasn’t going to drag him away. I told him I’d head up first and began climbing the stairs.
“Medicine… perhaps…”
I heard Wano Haruto murmur softly behind me, but I couldn’t make sense of what he meant. When I reached the first floor, everyone had already retreated to their rooms. The situation felt dangerously complacent—everyone simply scattering without any plan.
In truth, what happened to the Kanto University students didn’t concern me. And even if the killer tried to attack me, I could handle it easily. There was nothing to worry about.
“Time to rest.”
After that pointless back-and-forth about alibis and hauling a corpse down to the basement, it was already ten o’clock. Although my usual routine involved staying up all night having sex, tonight I would sleep early. There was a high chance I would meet the Daughter of the Abyss tomorrow, so I needed to conserve my strength.
I entered my room and threw myself onto the futon. The soft, warm bedding pulled me under almost instantly.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Guest, breakfast is ready.”
“Mmm…”
I opened my eyes at the sound of Hamahata Konoka’s gentle voice. The time was… seven in the morning. I’d slept nearly nine hours straight. It had been a long time since I’d slept that deeply.
The sliding door rattled open, revealing Hamahata Konoka carrying a tray. She quietly set breakfast on the low table beside the bed. The aroma told me it was seafood porridge. She had followed my request for three portions perfectly—she’d brought a small pot large enough for all of us.
“If you finish it, I’ll bring more.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
I scratched at my messy bedhead and tasted the porridge she had ladled out. It was delicious. The rich, concentrated flavor of the ocean seemed to spread through my entire body. Being a porridge, it felt like it was absorbed almost instantly, from head to toe.
“This is excellent.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
“Will the inn staff be attending the island ritual?”
“Yes. The entire village helps support the ceremony. Our Chooten Inn is no exception. So dinner will be served at the shrine tonight.”
I see. The inn was participating in the ritual too, which meant dinner at the shrine. That worked out anyway, since I was expected to serve as the offering and would need to be there.
“I was asked to act as the offering at the shrine, so I need to be there by six.”
“Really? Wow! I’ve never heard of that before. We’ve always used plain rice cakes shaped like people, but it seems you’re receiving special treatment.”
Hamahata Konoka looked genuinely astonished. Of course she would be. It wasn’t every day someone received a personal invitation from the Daughter of the Abyss.
I refilled the seafood porridge twice more, then used the shower facility in the corner of the hot spring area to wash up and brush my teeth. Later, before lunch and heading to the shrine, I would need to purify myself properly in the baths.
The rain continued to fall. With nothing else to do, staying cooped up in my room quickly became unbearable. I grabbed the umbrella I still hadn’t returned and left the room for another walk.
“Ah, come over here for a moment.”
As I was leaving the guest quarters, Professor Honmura Koga called out to me. He acted as if yesterday’s confrontation had never happened, his face completely relaxed.
“You’re heading to the shrine this evening as well? The inn said they’ll be serving dinner there tonight because of the ritual. We can’t leave someone without an alibi alone, after all.”
“The shrine asked me to serve as the offering, so I’ll be going there too.”
Professor Honmura Koga’s eyes widened. “What?” Then his gaze ignited with pure academic hunger as he began bombarding me with questions.
“How does the shrine even know you? How did they assign you this role?”
“Can the position of offering be transferred? Couldn’t I do it instead?”
“I heard there are parts of the ritual that ordinary people aren’t allowed to witness. Couldn’t you let me see them?”
“Would it be impossible to bring a camera inside to record?”
The man was practically frothing with obsession. Of course, my answer to every question was the same: ask the shrine. They would likely reject most of his requests, but the moment I mentioned attending as the offering, he had swelled with hope that he might become part of the ceremony himself.
“If you manage to please Lady Shinkaihime, she might change her mind.”
Leaving him with only that single remark, I headed out for my walk.
— Illustrations I made because I suddenly missed Aris —
