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"That"s it for me? So I only had to come here?"

Yasuhara laughed at Takigawa"s grumbling.

"Now, now. Isn"t it great that you didn"t work at all?"

"That"s true, but the old man is a little hurt."

"If you want to work, I think there"s some dismantling work to do after this?"

"I, I want to do work that makes more use of myself."

"Isn"t that work that makes use of your physical strength?"

"Sob sob sob. No way, I don"t want to do that."

"Even if Takigawa-san pretends to cry, I think that I feel for you."

"The boy feels for me huh."

"Well, you may have any amount if it"s only compa.s.sion. My good faith and courtesy aren"t frugal."

"W-Why you."

Mai giggled.

"The case has been settled without any damage, so isn"t it fine?" she said, then turned her head to Naru who was in thought in front of the equipment.

"Naru, it"s fine to prepare the withdrawal, right?"

While she said that, Mai"s hand was already holding the equipment"s connector.

"No. -- Let"s watch the situation for one more night."

"Eeeh. Why?"

Because she was delighted at going home and sleeping at ease, Mai couldn"t hide her disappointment.

"Because I"m not satisfied with the explanation."

"Not satisfied with what?"

"I don"t know."

"What"s with that-"

Naru was indifferent to Mai"s objections.

It was something like a small thorn. Why did the inhabitants in this house not settle down, why did they leave and say things like "something appeared" -- Why were mirrors and not gla.s.s placed in the windows altogether?

Yasuhara"s investigation, Mai"s words and deeds, the price of the house that was far too cheap and what was said about Reiko"s things.

He recollected just about all the small catches. Those were just trivial things that he didn"t know why it weighted on his mind at all, but if that was only so much he wouldn"t be satisfied no matter what.

"What, Naru-bou. Could it be that you"re taken in by the rumoured appearances Yasuhara told us about?"

Takigawa peered into his brooding profile.

"... ...It"s not that I"m being taken in, but... ..." Naru said and looked at Takigawa. "Bou-san, if you were to replace a window gla.s.s with a mirror, at what kind of time would you do it?"

Takigawa looked blankly.

"When I have no mirror and there"s no surplus of walls to hang a mirror on."

"What if there was?"

"I guess it would be when the room is narrow and I want to make it look wider."

"What if it isn"t that narrow."

"Hmm. ... ...Interior."

"What if all the windows in the entire house are mostly like that."

Takigawa gaped.

"The entire house? That"s just idiotic."

"What if it is like that, what would be the reason for doing so?"

Takigawa pondered.

"If you"re okay with a somewhat crazy reason, there has to be some kind of intention to try to make a mirror image."

"There are only windows. The other windows aren"t windows that reflect the inside of the mirror."

"In order to observe the inside of the house by means of the figures that appear in the mirror."

"Other than that?"

"If the mirror isn"t the main point, ... ... then it"s because of not wanting to see the outside."

After saying that, Takigawa corrected himself.

"It"s not that. If it were so, it would be fine to just append curtains or blinds. -- It"s because someone"s watching from the outside."

"Why?"

"In a situation where one become anxious about they"re being watched from the outside, I suppose it would be unpleasant to have gaps between the curtains and blinds."

"... ...I see."

"What could this riddle be about? You"re not saying that the windows of this house all have mirrors?"

"You"re right on."

"That means a cause for no s.p.a.ce for people to peep in from the outside, doesn"t it?"

Mai poked Takigawa.

"Why do you know that?"

"Eh? Isn"t Naru-bou concerned about this? If someone was peeking in from the outside, which is something other than a spirit, he would be able to decide on the withdrawal, right?"

"Ah, I see. Bou-san, you"re smart."

"Hohoho. Are you getting a better opinion of me?"

At the same time when Takigawa said that, it suddenly became dark.

"-- Ah?"

The one who let out a sigh was Naru. The electric light in the room had gone out and the corridor had become pitch dark as well, but it was bright inside the base because the computer was operating on a different source of electricity.

"The breaker fell out. -- Lin."

Naru threw the electricity parts he had taken out some time ago.

"Replace it. I can"t stand this annoyance."

It happened when Lin answered, "Yes", and stood up.

-- A woman"s scream could be heard.Back to Chapter 6.5 | Forward to Chapter 7.2