Dendera Ryuba, Episode 31

――When she gave birth to her sixth child, Anri finally gave up.
“I cannot escape.”
――Deep in her heart, she heard the sound of a heavy lock clicking shut. The moment she heard that click, as if she had just realized it for the first time, Anri looked at the face of the newborn baby in her arms. She knew that after she gave it colostrum and the group of judges arrived, it would be taken to some house within a few days, but seeing its small, round head with the fine, downy hair clinging to it, and its unfinished, squirming face that had not yet become human, Anri smiled at the baby for the first time with a look that seemed to have lost her sanity.
“Are you cute, little one?”

――――＊――――

“Dendera ryuba, ...”
Anri hummed the song that had suddenly slipped out of her mouth. It felt like a song she had heard somewhere, sometime. That’s right, it was the song the middle school girls were singing on the bus on her way to this village.
The caretaker woman, who had keenly overheard the song coming from Anri’s lips, hurried over and said this:
“Anri-san, do you know that song? That is the song of the Dendera Dragon passed down in this village.”
“The Dendera Dragon?”
Anri frowned.
“Yes. It’s a dragon god, but here it’s called the Dendera Dragon. It’s enshrined over there at Omori-sama. It’s an ancient god, from who knows when.”
As the woman said this, she opened her left palm, made a fist with her right hand, and held it over her palm.
“The Dendera Dragon comes out, but...”
Then she began to sing while skillfully changing the shape of her hands. A fist, a thumb, a bent index and middle finger, and then a fox shape—the hands repeated a fixed sequence of shapes.
“This fist here is a stone. It means a stone thrown. In the old days, people would wrap stones in letters and throw them, or leave them on the road.”
“Letters to lure people in, I suppose.”
Anri said, with a look as if she were possessed by something.
The caretaker woman was a little intimidated by this, but she pulled herself together and continued.
“And then this, the thumb. The thumb means a man.”
“A beautiful man who draws women in.”
Anri said in a possessed voice. She felt as if the voice was not her own.
“And then this is sushi. It also meant a man and a woman together.”
“Leaving them alone to let love grow.”
Anri said. The woman continued, watching Anri’s complexion.
“And then this, a fox. The fox is a messenger of the gods.”
“The fox determines the fate of the two lovers... or, it is the guide that opens the door to the underworld.”
“...”
“Isn’t that right?”
Seeing the signs of an eerie light in Anri’s eyes, the caretaker woman shuddered.

…Thinking back, Anri thinks that perhaps she really did lose her mind at that moment. She shuts herself in the dimly lit room, tracing the black edges of the tatami mats with her fingers, while using the fire tongs held in her other hand to stir the charcoal in the brazier in front of her. In the dim light, the black charcoal flips over and turns red.
Anri rolls her eyes toward the transom window on the upper left and thinks to herself. Her eldest son, Tatsutatsu, is almost fifteen... Not yet. Not yet. But soon. If things go on like this, he’ll be of age soon. When he’s of age, I’ll have to find him a wife, won’t I? ...That means I have to start preparing soon.

The sliding door opens quietly, and a woman enters. It was Kaoru. Anri had moved to the main Omori residence last year. At that time, she had chosen Kaoru as the woman to take care of her personal needs.
“What is it?”
Anri asked, yawning languidly. Kaoru answered while bowing her head.
“Um, it’s about Sumitatsu-san...”
“What about Sumitatsu?”
Anri’s voice is tinged with annoyance.
“Well, he is saying that he would like to be moved to a more comfortable place than where he is now...”
Kaoru stammers, finding it difficult to say.
“Hah. And here I was wondering what you were going to say.”
Anri sighs as if exasperated.
“How brazen. You came all the way here just to tell me that?”
Kaoru, intimidated by Anri’s anger, can no longer speak.
“I must punish him.”
Anri stands up roughly and puts her hand on the sliding door. Kaoru follows behind in silence.
The main Omori residence is located just behind the Omori Shrine, which enshrines the Dendera Dragon. Anri, who now holds the greatest power in the village as the “Great Mistress” for having six children on her own and bringing healthy babies to every house in the village, is confined to the back room. From there, if one goes through the corridor and opens the wooden door at the back entrance, Sumitatsu’s location is just a stone’s throw away.
In the middle of the backyard, there was a sturdy, all-wooden hermitage. At first glance, it looks like a storehouse, but that was due to its special construction, which had only a few small windows for light. In fact, this building is quite old, dating back to the time when the mountain people were rampant in this area, and it is said that it was once used as a granary or to imprison those who broke the village laws. I heard that during the Genpei War, which is said to be the time of the village’s founding, it even hid refugees from the Heike clan. Kimitatsu, who was supposed to be the head of the Seina family and is now deceased, had also been imprisoned here since he was born.
The only people who held the key to that hermitage were the village chief and Anri. When the previous head of the Seina family, who was also Sumitatsu’s uncle, the village chief, handed the key to Anri, he said this:
“This is a mysterious place... Anri-san, you know that when a strange baby was born in the past, the people from Abata would come and take them all away, right? Those babies were actually all buried behind or around this hermitage. No one knows this except for a few people from Seina and Abata.
It’s fine for children born dead, but the babies who were born with strange appearances and were still alive were killed and buried by the people from Abata. Since long ago, Buddhist teachings never reached this village, so they were buried as they were, without any gravestones or monuments... That’s why the souls of the dead babies from long ago are wandering around this hermitage. I think Kimitatsu, who was locked up here and lived here since he was a child, must have been able to see them and suffered.
…Actually, Kimitatsu’s situation was truly a pity. I think you know, but we originally intended for you to marry Kimitatsu, Anri-san. ...But that fool Sumitatsu did as he pleased... But once Kimitatsu died, there was nothing we could do. Sumitatsu was the only male left with the direct bloodline of the Seina family. We had no choice but to let him inherit the house.”
――Anri-san, thank you for bearing two such good children for the Seina family. I cannot thank you enough for this...
Saying this, the village chief took Anri’s hand and entrusted her with the key to the hermitage that had been gripped in his hand.