Cracking sound.

The sound of torrential rain and strong winds crashed into the prison from the outside. Blowing on the glass.

Through the window in the hallway, you can see the cold and massive building shadow rising silently in the rain.

After getting rid of the weirdo he met on the way to the interview room.

As the guards progressed deeper into the prison, silently surveying their surroundings, Rosetta caught a glimpse of herself through the reflection of glass.

At that moment, he saw an iron-gray dim light flash under his eyes, but as if it was still unstable, it turned into a hidden place.

Rosetta pondered in silence.

Since the symptoms of insomnia have become more and more severe in the past few years, this abnormal phenomenon of sudden change in pupil color has often appeared in his body.

Others can't see it, and there is nothing wrong with going to the hospital for a physical examination.

This unexplained anomaly that appeared in himself was also the reason why he believed that there were certain anomalous forces in this world.

And just now.

Could it be that because of this, the strange man who called himself Ishiizaki stopped him?

Rosetta couldn't be sure.

During the short time he came into contact with Ishiizaki, he was ostensibly silent, and even the nearest Arakawa Reiko did not notice anything unusual about him, but only he knew how serious a warning his intuition was caused by the existence of the 'beast'.

"What's wrong with you? Do you know that person? ”

At this time, Reiko Arakawa finally asked suspiciously because of Rosetta's behavior of dragging her away.

"No, I don't know." Rosetta denied it, glanced down at the business card in his hand that Ishiizaki didn't know when, and asked casually, "Speaking of which, Miss Arakawa, have you heard of the company Clams Pharmaceutical?" ”

As a reporter, Reiko Arakawa still has some special news channels in this regard, and after being stunned for a moment, she quickly replied: "Rashi Pharmaceutical? Oh, you say that the local company seems to be about to be acquired by a company owned by the new religious group 'Divine Foot Association', which has become popular recently? Do they have any problems? ”

It seems that it is the instinct of being a journalist, and when it comes to this kind of topic, Reiko Arakawa sharpens some of her instincts, and even wants to talk to Rosetta in turn.

However, Rosetta's interest in Ishiizaki's background seemed to end here, and he calmly controlled his curiosity, and did not mean to ask or answer at all, but pointed to the place where the light was shining not far in front of him and said, "The interview room is almost here, Miss Arakawa, let's go meet the great writer first." ”

“…… All right. ”

Seeing that business was ahead, Reiko Arakawa could only nod regretfully and stop for the time being.

-

Soon.

Antgawa City No. 3 Prison, Prisoner Interview Room.

Through the one-way transparent glass wall, Rosetta met for the first time this "great writer" whose works are well-known in the local literary circles of Yingzhou.

From the outside, this great writer, who is almost forty years old, seems to fit everyone's impression of the word 'well-mannered'.

First of all, although there are a few wrinkles at the corners of the eyes due to the etching of time, it still has the handsome face of the past, then the deep eyes with a melancholy temperament under the rimless glasses, and then the low, hoarse, with a fatal elegance and magnetic voice.

A crimson suit, a blue-gray tie, and a tall and straight figure.

Plus an anthology of poems by Arthur Rimbaud, whom he never left behind.

- These are the people who make up Masao Tsubakiyama.

Even though Rosetta had imagined this meeting on the way before, he could not have imagined that this man, who was more like a scholar and a poet, would be a serial murderer who had committed seven ritual murders with extreme cruelty.

There were no handcuffs, no incarceration, not even prison guards watching.

The man sat leisurely in his chair with a book in his hand, reciting the verses reverently and silently, until the door of the interview room was opened by Rosetta, when he put down the book in his hand, folded his hands on his lap, raised his head, and looked at the visitor with deep blue eyes that were reminiscent of the sea.

"First meeting, Mr. Tsukiyama."

Following Rosetta, Reiko Arakawa also walked in, and as a real TV person, she was of course the first to say:

"I believe that the people on the Foundation side should have told you in advance, I am the editor and reporter of the TV station, Reiko Arakawa, who is responsible for the matters related to the filming of the program with you this time, and the one next to me is the folklore professional you are looking for, Professor Umi's most proud student, Mr. Rosetta, who came from Dashun to study, he is also an absolutely professional folklore scholar."

"Oh? Did you actually find Professor Umi's students? ”

Masao Tokiyama's eyes lit up, and he said with interest, and his deep blue eyes, which were as gloomy as the sea, suddenly glanced at the whole body of the tall and thin young man in front of him.

"Hello, Rousanne."

He put his hands together on his lap and said in a slightly stiff Dashun Yasin voice: "I am Masao Tsukiyama, your employer, and I also know Professor Umi's status in the Yingzhou folklore world, and since you are his student, you must be trustworthy in your professional ability." ”

At first glance when he heard the local accent in a foreign country, Rosetta was a little surprised: "Mr. Tsukiyama, do you still understand Dashun's official language?" ”

"There's not much entertainment in prison, and in my case, only writing and reading can pass the time, and learning more languages is just convenient for reading and writing, which makes Rosang smile."

Masao Tsubakiyama smiled slightly and changed the language back.

"I think that language and writing are a cruel inheritance, and the whispers of the dead souls left over from ancient times, as long as you learn them, those things rooted in culture will infect and reshape people."

"Learn the language, read the books."

"These acts are to kill oneself as a 'beast', to obtain precious 'humanity' from the vast symbolic system of culture, and to domesticate people into 'human' appearance."

Masao Tsubakiyama closed his eyes, smashed his mouth, and muttered in a low voice as if tasting something, "I like these things, they give me a brief sense of being human." ”

It's like a devout congregant confessing in church.

In the prisoners' interview room, where the sound of wind and rain could not be heard, the great writer looked at the seat behind Rosetta and Reiko Arakawa as if there was a non-existent 'priest' there, and then he lowered his head and muttered:

"I think I'm going to repent. Because I am in hell, not on earth, I have heard the voices of the dead calling out to me every day in the past. ”

"Go down, go down, O man, fall down......"

"Fire, flooding, can't survive, can't ...... death"

"O man, fall quickly, fall to the bottom of hell, listen, the dead begin to sing, in the pool of blood, in the sea of fire, in the needle mountain......"

Bang.

Thunder rolled through the stratus clouds, and blazing white light shone in.

Seeing Masao Tsubakiyama still muttering something in front of him, it was not until this moment, feeling the chill of Morimori rushing up from the tail vertebrae, that Rosetta saw the whole face of this seemingly gentle writer clearly through the thunder light.

- He's crazy.

In the blink of an eye, Rosetta's always calm gaze collided with the eyes of Masao Tsubakiyama, who slowly raised his head.

From the seemingly calm gloomy blue sea, he could faintly see some madness lurking deeper beneath the surface.

Perhaps, it is driven by some kind of 'feeling'.

Suddenly, Rosetta said calmly, "Mr. Tsukiyama, I heard Miss Arakawa say that you came to me to finish your new book. ”

"Yes." Masao Tsukiyama looked up again and returned to his normal posture, and he didn't seem to mind getting straight to the point: "I wanted to create a work that was similar to a semi-autobiographical work based on the strange tale of 'Seven Jizo', and that required the help of a professional who knew enough about the place, the customs and strange tales of that era." ”

He smiled, his voice tinged with a lethal grace and magnetism.

"As a student of Professor Umi, I absolutely believe in your professionalism as a folklorist, Rosan."

Hearing this sentence in his ears, Rosetta faintly felt that it had another meaning, and couldn't help but exhale, then looked away, turned his head to look at Reiko Arakawa next to him, and said, "It seems that Mr. Tsubakiyama is going to discuss it with me for a while." ”

"I know, then I'll go out and clean up first, and then come in and talk to Mr. Tsukiyama about the TV station about the filming of the program?"

Reiko Arakawa asked, but she obviously already had an answer in her heart.

She could see that the great writer seemed to prefer to focus on the creation itself more than other mundane things.

"So let's do it first." Rosetta nodded.