Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 73 The Vicious Curse

As Hideomi Uyama held the manuscript, which he had already read two-thirds of, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

I looked up at my watch and was immediately terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat!

Because Maijo Kyosuke's "Summer of the Ubume" seems to possess some kind of magical power.

Uyama Hideomi unknowingly became deeply involved.

Only after realizing how much time had passed did I suddenly discover that I had been sitting at the table looking through things for more than four hours!

My throat is very thirsty, as if it's dehydrated and dry.

Uyama Hideomi wanted to stand up to get some water, but when he shook the water bottle in front of him, he found that it was empty.

My legs had gone numb from kneeling for so long that I couldn't stand up for a while, and my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

Seeing that Maishiro Kyosuke was still fast asleep, Uyama Hideomi could only sigh, pat his legs for a while, and then slowly stood up, went to the water tap, and drank several large mouthfuls of water.

Having relieved his thirst, Hideomi Uyama glanced at the Japanese food on the table, then at the soundly sleeping Kyosuke Maijo beside him, and at the remaining manuscript of "Summer of the Ubume." Hideomi Uyama hesitated.

Should we eat first, or look at the manuscript first?

Just watch it all in one go, so you don't keep thinking about the plot.

With that thought in mind, Hideomi Uyama stuffed the Japanese food into the refrigerator, picked up the remaining manuscript again, and entered the eerie story of "The Summer of the Ubume"...

-

I (Tatsumi Sekiguchi) accompanied Shutaro Kiba to visit the Kuonji family's former servants, Tokizo and Tomiko, who had served the Kuonji family for a long time.

Tokizo and Tomiko were clearly reluctant to be investigated, but when they heard that Kiba was a detective, they couldn't refuse and could only reluctantly give us a perfunctory answer.

However, amidst all this perfunctory talk, I discovered something interesting: the Kuonji family seems unable to produce male offspring. The current head of the Kuonji family, Kuonji Yoshichika, married into the family.

This indicates that, apart from Kikuno Kuonji, no one else in the Kuonji family is capable of inheriting the family business.

Their next generation is the same; they only have two daughters, Ryoko and Kyoko, and no sons.

That's why Naito or Makirou had to marry into the Kuonji family and inherit their business.

Although I don't know if this clue is related to the incident, it feels a bit strange when I think of the three babies who died mysteriously, the frog-faced baby that Enokizu hallucinated, and the fact that the Kuonji family couldn't have a male baby.

So I asked Tomiko, "Do you know about frog-faced babies?"

Upon hearing my words, Fu Zi's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

"How...how did you know about this...?"

Tomiko collapsed to the ground as if a taut string had snapped, her previously perfunctory expression turning into one of utter terror, as if she had aged considerably in an instant.

Seeing Tomiko's state, Kiba Shutaro became very curious and pressed her for an answer:

"A frog-faced baby? What on earth is going on?"

Tomiko sat on the ground, her face contorted with grief, and began to recount her story in a hoarse voice:

"I... I heard it from the old man. It is said that the ancestors of the Kuonji family were originally sorcerers in the countryside of Sanuki, and they had a prominent status."

"The Kuonji family specializes in praying for people and even keeps a spirit in their home, and it seems that the Kuonji family keeps a child spirit."

"Once, a wandering monk came to the Kuonji family. The monk carried a secret scroll that could cure diseases, and it was very powerful. The head of the Kuonji family was very jealous when he saw the scroll, so he sent a child god to curse and kill the monk!"

"But the monk's supernatural powers were too strong. He turned the curse back into a reverse curse, bringing disaster to the village."

"When the head of the Kuonji family saw how powerful the monk was, he tricked him into reconciliation, invited him to his home, and then gave him toad poison, causing him to die a painful death!"

"As a result, before the monk died, he used a curse to curse the Kuonji family, saying, 'You used frog poison to kill me, so I will use frog poison to curse you, and curse your entire clan to perish!'"

"From then on, any son born into the Kuonji family would have a frog-like face and would not live long. Therefore, the Kuonji family has always consisted of women, and no one is willing to marry a daughter of this family."

When I heard this, I was very surprised and couldn't understand how such a strange folk tale had anything to do with the frog-faced baby that Enokizu saw.

Could it be that ghosts and curses really exist in this world?

Shutaro Kiba wasn't interested in these folk tales and continued to press Tokizo and Tomiko about the incidents involving Kyoko, Makirou, and the mysterious death of the baby.

However, after learning that the three babies had died under mysterious circumstances, each family received a compensation of one million yen.

Keep in mind that this was in 1952, the 27th year of the Showa era. Not to mention one million yen, even one hundred thousand yen would be a huge sum of money. Kuonji Hospital was not a big hospital, so how could it possibly come up with three million yen to compensate the family of the deceased infant?

Tokizo sighed and said that the three million yen was actually brought by Makirou when he married into the Kuonji family. The reason he married into the family was not because he was poor. On the contrary, after Makirou's mother passed away, she left him a large sum of money, which was the three million yen.

When I heard this news, a strange thought popped into my head!

I suspect that the director and his wife of Kuonji Hospital killed Makirou for that huge sum of three million yen!

But when I voiced this idea, I heard Shizang retort:

"Makirou is not worried about how the money is handled. No matter how Mrs. Kuonji and the master handle the money, Makirou will not be angry because he truly loves Kyouko."

I don't understand why Tokizo would say that for no reason, and I don't know how these clues can help me and Kiba.

All I remember is that Tokizo told us something about Ryoko at the end.

Although the Kuonji family always said that Ryoko was in poor health and unable to conceive, in reality, Ryoko was pregnant when she was young, but whether the child was born or not is unknown, as Tokizo was working as a maid.

-

I went home and had a dream.

I dreamt that I became a child, and was being led by the hand by a woman in a kimono, who looked like my mother, to a festival at the beach.

The woman wanted me to look at the night market, but I kept staring at the monks next to me, which annoyed her, and she ended up pinning me down on the beach.

I wanted to apologize, but I couldn't bring myself to call my mother by her name, which angered her greatly.

When I woke up, my wife comforted me and I realized that the person might not have been my mother, but rather Ryoko Kuonji. I don't know why I had imagined her as my mother.

I have no idea what this inexplicable dream is all about.

All I know is that it's time to put an end to this!

I'm going to find Kyogoku-do, Enokizu, Kiba, Atsuko, anyone! I want them to help me solve the mystery of the Kuonji family.

I...I want to save poor Ryoko!

Looking at the remaining hundred-odd pages of manuscript paper, and considering the story's development, Hideomi Uyama realized that the story was about to unfold its final resolution.

However, Hideomi Uyama was completely unable to find any clues related to the case.

What exactly happened to Gengzi? Why was she unable to give birth after being pregnant for twenty months?

Why did Makirou disappear? Naito previously said that Makirou was building an evil laboratory for artificial humans; was that just a rumor?

Why did Ryoko seek help from Tatsumi Sekiguchi? What is the connection between her pregnancy twelve years ago and the story?

Will the vicious curse cast on the Kuonji family by the monk really prevent the Kuonji family from having any sons?

What does all this have to do with the three babies who died under mysterious circumstances?

What did Enokizu see in the secret room?

And most importantly, why does the protagonist of the story, Tatsumi Sekiguchi, always look so awkward?

Depression, aphasia, poor memory, unstable emotions, and even had a dream that Ryoko became his mother?

Given Mr. Maijo Kyosuke's ability to foreshadow events, Tatsumi Sekiguchi's eccentric personality must be a foreshadowing element!

However, Hideomi Uyama really couldn't guess how this foreshadowing would help the story.