Record of Cursed Calamity - Departure: Chapter 1, Episode 7 (Part 2)

Though no one had said anything, everyone fell silent in unison. The sound of the marker running across the whiteboard. Such a small sound fueled Mikage's tension.

The sound of the pen stopped, and Kuon moved his body to the side of the whiteboard.

There are those who make a living sealing calamities within their own bodies
As they face the raging heavens, earth, rivers, and seas
Many calamities dwell within them

The dwelling calamity
Sealed within the barrier worn upon the body
Is a power beyond human understanding
And they are shunned as mysterious beings

Avoiding human eyes, they live in the shadows
Living with the calamity, they learn to use their mysterious power
To destroy the writhing filth

They travel to lands where power has waned
Purifying the spreading filth
And hide in the shadows once again
Before long, those people
Came to be called Shukusai (Calamity Dwellers)

Mikage sent the text Kuon had written into her thought process, converting it into modern language in her mind. She pushed the incomprehensible parts to the corner of her head for now. The answer derived was,


What is a Shukusai?
A person with a calamity dwelling in their body
Wearing a barrier on their body
Sealing that calamity inside


--There is no way that could be true.


Mikage questioned the answer she had arrived at. However, she had just seen with her own eyes what had appeared on her body.


--Is that the barrier worn upon the body?
But I couldn't see anything like that until now


'You only believe in what you can see with your eyes.'


She remembered the words Kuon had said to her a few hours ago. In other words, if it was something she could see, she would believe it. That was what it boiled down to.

Old Man Fortune-Teller had made what was invisible visible. However, just because she could see it didn't mean she could readily accept the reality thrust upon her.

Mikage hunched her back against the cold that still hadn't faded. Her gaze was fixed on the whiteboard filled with black characters. She stopped moving and reread what was written over and over again.

'...Well, young lady. Do you understand the meaning of what's written? And what happened to your own body?'

An ambiguous nod that could be taken as either vertical or horizontal. Old Man Fortune-Teller smiled at the movement Mikage showed. And then,

'It's only natural that you don't know of the existence of Shukusai. As it's written there, they are people who have lived in the shadows. Just because you were born into that lineage doesn't mean it's always passed down. Who it's passed to, I don't know. Even the person who inherits it might go their whole life without noticing the existence of the calamity. Like you, young lady, it's normal not to notice. Those who notice the existence of the calamity, those who are guided by those who noticed—I give such people a trigger, and sometimes teach them how to deal with the calamity. That is this old man's job. Still, it's been a long time since I've met a Shukusai... right, Kuon?'

Mikage cast her gaze toward Kuon, who had been addressed. She was curious about Kuon's reaction to the answer she had come up with.

Kuon reached into his chest pocket and took out a scrap of paper. An aerial photograph of Kono Lake.

'Do you understand the meaning of showing you this photo?'
'...I feel like I understand that I only believe in what I can see.'
'You felt your other senses sharpen the moment your vision was blocked, didn't you? Humans rely heavily on information gained from their eyes. If that is taken away, you have no choice but to sharpen your other senses.'

Stopping his words and returning the photo to his chest pocket, Kuon shoved both hands into his jeans pockets.

'By blocking sight and hearing, the two senses you primarily get information from, and sharpening your sense of smell and touch, I shook you and the calamity dwelling within you.'
'Shook?'
'The scent of snow, the sensation of rain... things that have always been inside you. You felt them more strongly than usual. And you connected with the consciousness of the awakened calamity. You touched what is inside you. If you have noticed the existence of what sleeps in your depths, the rest depends on you.'
'Depends on me... does that mean I can go back to my life as it was?'
'Are you afraid to face what dwells in your own depths?'

For a split second, Mikage's breath was stolen.

Kuon's gaze. It was truly serious. The dissatisfaction with Kuon that had been swirling in her mind was stirred up.

His rude way of speaking and attitude. Actions that didn't seem to consider the other person's state of mind. Thinking back, it was still infuriating. But that was just a tiny bit of information she had been given. She didn't know everything about Kuon. Had her resentment taken precedence and clouded her own vision?

For the first time, she could sense his intent from Kuon's expression. He was seriously trying to convey something. That intent.

'It's not that I'm afraid... I don't have confidence.'

Mikage voiced her honest feelings.

'Confidence?'

Kuon's gaze continued to pierce her. He wouldn't let her give an ambiguous answer.

'The answer I came up with... confidence that I can believe in it. There's no proof that being a Shukusai is the truth... because, because no matter how you think about it, it's strange, that kind of story.'
'Didn't you understand the meaning of those words?'
'That is...'

She couldn't bear Kuon's straight gaze and his words. Mikage dropped her gaze to her knees and reached her right hand toward the stone hanging from her neck.


--Grandma... What should I do?


The cold sensation she felt. The pouring rain. The scene she had seen. If it was the calamity that made her touch those things, what would it mean to face it?

Her self-questioning wouldn't stop. No answer came. Mikage just gripped the stone tightly.


'Where is the boundary line of truth?'


Kuon's voice rang out sharply. Mikage looked up involuntarily. What her eyes caught was a black silhouette standing in front of the door.

'The boundary line of truth... what are you talking about?'
'What is the reason for looking away from the truth?'

He said this as if to cut off Mikage's words, and a few seconds later, Kuon left the room.

'...Mikage? Are you okay?'

Saka's voice hit her, and Mikage finally moved her gaze from the door where Kuon had disappeared.

'Kuon is really unsociable, you know. But that's normal for him. If anything, he's talking quite a bit today. Don't worry about it!'

At the bright concern, Mikage regained her smile just a little.

'Well, don't think too much about it. In the end, it's intuition. What you want to do... that's an answer only you can come up with, young lady.'

Old Man Fortune-Teller's voice. The sound was light. Drawn by that, Mikage moved her mouth.

'Old Man, what do you think? Do you think I'm a Shukusai, and because of that... I'm involved in what's happening in Kono?'
'What about you, young lady? Can you say you're not a Shukusai, that you're not involved?... It's harsh to say this, but you don't know the details about your own birth, do you?'
'...Yes.'

Nodding at the small, weak reply Mikage let out, Old Man Fortune-Teller stood up without warning and headed for the door.

'Even so, Kuon thinks of you as important. You're comrades who carry the same fate... well, he's quite difficult to deal with, but please take care of him.'

Old Man Fortune-Teller left the room. Following him, Saka did too. The presence of people vanished, and the room temperature seemed to drop all at once, so Mikage rubbed her arms with her palms and moved to the window. Touma had disappeared at some point. Mikage was alone in the room.

She opened the curtain just a little and exposed her body to the setting sun. In that state, she looked at the whiteboard. Kuon's writing. Mikage's heart was drawn to the elegant characters.


Dwelling calamity
Applied barrier
The fate called Shukusai

The tangled threads of fate
What is needed to untangle them
What is needed to know the truth

What I
What I
Want to do


'...I want to talk to Kuon. I have to talk to him.'

The answer to reach the truth was calculated within Mikage.


<< Continues to Chapter 2 >>