The room finally went quiet.
"Haaah… this game's getting kind of dull."
"What more do you want, you pervert? I'm exhausted after work every day. I could be home resting right now."
"Didn't I tell my dad to help you get promoted to head nurse?"
"That was years ago. You think I owe you for life?"
"C'mon, my dear sister-in-law, please—just a bit more of that married-woman spice…"
"Hmph. You dead man~"
Outside the door, Hoshino's forehead was full of metaphorical black lines.
So many elements… I wanna play too.
Beside him, Higashiyama had most of her head tucked inside her winter coat, only the tip of one red ear sticking out.
"Kobeni-san." Hoshino leaned closer.
Kobeni turned her head slightly, revealing one wary eye.
"So you're the Kobeni Higashiyama who wants to get into college, huh?" Hoshino rubbed his chin with a serious face. "Me—the president of the University of Tokyo. You—know what needs to be done, right?"
"Idiot."
Hoshino grinned. "Actually, we'd fit perfectly as a poor high school senior and her cram school teacher. Or the classic 'freshman and flirty senior' setup."
"…" Kobeni buried her face back into her coat and refused to engage.
"Hand me the mirror," Hoshino said. "I'm gonna punish those two bastards for not inviting me to play."
Kobeni pulled one hand from her pocket and wiggled it slightly.
He took the mirror from her, taking the opportunity to brush his fingers against her small hand before pressing his ear to the door.
"What kind of filthy, depraved humans are these?!" he muttered dramatically.
Covering his eyes with one hand, he slid his pinky down to uncover his left eye. "The Muscle Devil cannot stand idly by. Justice must be served!"
Inside, the couple had no idea what was going on outside. They were still cuddled up, tweaking their script.
Finally, the man said, "Come in through the door—it'll feel more real that way."
"I'm not going out there."
"You don't need to. Just start from the door and walk in."
"Pervert."
Tap tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap tap.
"Nurse Sayuri, what brings you here so late? A new patient?"
"Director Tanaka~ Long time no see! I heard you're about to be promoted to vice director?"
"Spit it out. I don't want any bad rumors spreading."
"Tch, damn—Director Tanaka, my husband can't lose his job! He studied medicine for years, our student loans aren't even paid off, and we've got two kids in school!"
"Sayuri, this was the director's decision."
"But you're his right-hand man, a top grad from Tokyo U! If you put in a good word, my husband won't get laid off. Our whole family's lives are in your—AH! Spider! There's a spider!"
The script suddenly went off-track, but that only made Tanaka more excited.
He loved improvisation.
"There's really a spider!"
Following her trembling finger, Tanaka saw a big brown spider the size of a palm crawling on the floor.
"Nurse Sayuri, what's wrong with you? As a proud woman, a nurse, afraid of a mere insect? Clearly you failed your training. I'll have to educate you properly later!"
He shooed the spider away and got even more excited, wondering what new kinks this could lead to.
"Huh? What's this?"
Lying where the spider had crawled was a small round mirror glinting faintly.
Didn't see that when I came in… Must've dropped from her pocket, Tanaka thought, his lips curling into a sleazy grin.
Picking it up, he turned around, face suddenly serious, and said in a deep, accusatory tone, "You… brought a listening device? So you're not just a married nurse, but also…"
He raised his voice: "An undercover agent investigating hospital corruption! You think you can—mmph! Mmmph—"
Before he could finish, countless muscle fibers shot out of the mirror and wrapped him up tight like a meat dumpling.
The sudden change made Sayuri scream.
Another muscle fiber darted toward her, too fast to cover her mouth, and went straight into it instead—poking her throat.
"Ugh—mmph, mmphhh!"
Her scream turned into gagging, then muffled choking as the fibers sealed her mouth.
Click click. The door opened.
Hoshino strode in with a dead-serious face.
He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, then slowly unwrapped the fibers around Sayuri's mouth.
"Who are you?" Sayuri asked nervously.
"Heh. Heh. Sayuri-san, have you forgotten me already?."
Hoshino raised a finger to touch just below his nose. "Take a good look at this face. I'm sure you'll remember soon enough."
"…"
Her expression froze.
What the hell—some snot-nosed brat now wants in on this too?
Men. From birth to death, not a single one's worth a damn!
Faced with power, Sayuri could only cooperate, forcing a sweet smile. "Oh, Director, it's you."
"Hmph! Insolent woman!"
Hoshino scowled. "Look again!"
"You are…?" she asked, confused.
There were only three roles in the script. If he wasn't the director, who—
A light bulb went off.
"My husband?"
"I am the Emperor of Japan!" Hoshino declared with regal gravitas.
The actual hell— Sayuri nearly fainted from rage.
"Sayuri-san, you wouldn't want the whole nation to learn about your little secret, would you?" the self-proclaimed Emperor threatened.
"Kuhuhu…" Kobeni trembled, shoulders shaking inside her coat as she tried not to laugh.
Hoshino reached over and smacked her lightly on the back.
She looked up, startled.
"Why're you still hiding in there? You huffing your own farts?"
"…"
Dropping the act, Hoshino used his Authority of Control to subdue Sayuri and then hauled the trussed-up Tanaka in front of him.
The man didn't resist at all, which surprised Hoshino.
Just to be safe, he sprouted two extra arms and pounded the punching bag for a solid two minutes.
By the time he undid the bindings, Tanaka was barely breathing.
Hoshino's eyes swirled like whirlpools. "Do you know any women who've gotten pregnant in the last three months—but with… irregular pregnancies?"
It was just a casual question to save time filtering through leads.
Unexpectedly—
"You're looking for… the Silkworm Devil's host?"
"Oh? Yeah, that's right!" Hoshino's eyes lit up. "Who is she? Where is she now?"
Next to him, Kobeni perked up too, her eyes sparkling.
"Her name's Misaki Suzuki. She's in the Onsen District," Tanaka said weakly.
I knew it.
Misaki Suzuki was the pregnant woman who had checked into the Yukimi-sou ryokan around the same time as them. She seemed pretty close to the inn's owner.
Ever since she'd claimed to be in mid-pregnancy, Hoshino had suspected something, planning to check on her if other leads failed.
There were plenty of reasons he hadn't acted sooner.
He wasn't exactly a saint, but slicing open a woman's belly to pull out a Devil—right in front of her loving husband—wasn't something he could stomach.
"Can Misaki Suzuki still be saved?" he asked.
Tanaka shook his head. "No. When the Devil is born, it drains all of the mother's nutrients."
"What if we kill the Devil before it's born?"
"During pregnancy, the mother and Devil share a life link. It lasts until ten days before birth," Tanaka explained. "After that, the mother's death won't affect the Devil's birth—but the reverse isn't true."
"So that's why it chooses women from wealthy families as hosts?"
Misaki looked barely in her thirties, yet she had a son about Mai Asakura's age. She'd clearly spent money maintaining her looks.
"Not only that—her husband, Masao Yamada, is the head of the Okura Village Neighborhood Association," Tanaka added.
In Japan, the Neighborhood Association was the local self-governing body, kind of like a community committee responsible for local events, festivals, and neighborhood affairs.
"The Okura Snow Story!!"
That festival was organized by the neighborhood association!
Suddenly, everything clicked.
The Silkworm Devil had escaped during the blizzard in Nishikawa Town. Then there was the Guinness record, the giant snowman, and how the Snow Story festival had been moved up earlier than usual…
Hoshino narrowed his eyes. "The Devil can influence its host, can't it?"
"To a certain extent, yes—it can affect the host's mind."
Of course. They were all working together to make sure the festival happened early—and smoothly.
All to build that thirty-meter snowman.
But why obsess over a thirty-meter snowman?
Hoshino didn't know. Didn't want to know. It was already beyond his pay grade.
That blizzard alone was way outside what a 2% or 1.5% Contractor could do.
The Blizzard Devil was definitely in Okura Village.
And the sleepwalking phenomenon? Probably another Devil's doing.
Along with the Silkworm Devil and who-knows-how-many Contractors…
They were all working toward one goal.
Something terrifying.
Two days. Just two days until the Okura Snow Story.
Hoshino had made up his mind.
Screw the official agencies, the local authorities, the villagers of Okura—even Himeno, who'd been missing this whole time.
He didn't care anymore.
Tomorrow, he'd find the Silkworm Devil as fast as possible—then grab Kobeni and get the hell out of this cursed place.
Knock, knock.
Someone was at the door.