Chapter 60, Chapter 60, Ignorance.

"..."

This development was somewhat unexpected. However, if it had all been predictable, then it wouldn't be considered strange at all.

Tsukino and Chiya sat motionless on the grass, as if they were statues.

This is what it means to sit down where you fall down.

Everything was pitch black, and surprisingly, no illusions could be seen.

The breeze blowing from the surroundings didn't bring much coolness. It was summer now, and the weather was hot; even on a night like this, it wasn't much cooler than during the day.

However, the surrounding air was much fresher than before. The room they were in was originally filled with too much dust, and most of the windows were closed, making the air very stuffy.

And where he is now...

Tsukino and Chiya's fingers gently brushed across the weeds on the ground. The tips of the weeds were sharp, and when they touched them, they could feel a slightly sharp sensation.

Based on these signs, we can roughly determine...

The black-haired boy sitting on the ground thought calmly.

—After falling suddenly from his bedroom on the second floor, he must have ended up in the yard.

Yes, I think so.

Logically, this should have been the most obvious thing. But for Tsukino and Chiya at this moment, they could only judge it by observing these details in their surroundings.

Because right now, everything in front of him was pitch black.

I can't see anything.

"Oh, this is troublesome."

Sitting on the grass, Tsukino and Chiya sighed helplessly.

Especially... no one knows where Wang Ma went.

I had clearly succeeded in catching him back then, but now they've still separated. This strange ability is really cheating.

How is things going with Wang Ma?

He probably won't be as unlucky as me... and suddenly be unable to see anything at all, right? If that's the case, having two temporarily blind people solve strange events is really a bit of a stretch.

However, it's no use thinking about it now. Human nature makes people constantly imagine even worse situations when things are already bad—in other words, scaring themselves.

But in reality, those imagined developments are all things that haven't happened yet, and no one can say for sure how things will turn out. If you keep imagining things like this, the only one who will get hurt is the one who's indulging in these wild thoughts.

However, having temporarily lost his sight, he didn't even know where he was in the yard. What should he do next?

While pondering, Tsukino and Chiya reached behind their backs.

His backpack is still with him, and it contains many useful things. It's great that he can still carry them safely with him.

Tsukino and Chiya stood up and took a dagger out of their bag.

What he held in his hand was not the fruit knife he had used when dealing with the cloth strip man, but the gift that Kagami Kouyachi had given him after calling him back on the day he ate cake at the Kagami Detective Agency before he officially enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy.

Monsters have their own boundaries, and breaking those boundaries will only make things more complicated.

These days, the only incidents that can get Mr. Hikami, who runs the Monster House, to take action are all related to monsters. Although Tsukino and Chiya used to work part-time at the Monster House, they are ultimately human, and the things they are currently involved in are only related to the supernatural, not monsters.

However, Mr. Hidden God has actually done more than enough. Whether it was agreeing to help find a spirit tool that could seal Aurora, or now... this dagger in his hand, which is also a spirit tool, it all signifies Mr. Hidden God's concern.

Tsukino and Chiya gripped the hilt with one hand and gently stroked the blade with the other.

He had an idea for what to do next.

Under the moonlight, in the overgrown courtyard, a black-haired boy holding a dagger stood silently with his eyes closed.

A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling his hair, which had become disheveled from the fall. The black strands of hair rippled in the wind, slightly obscuring the boy's face.

How long had he stood there silently? And why was he doing this? Was he hesitant because he couldn't see? But his expression was too calm, so calm that even though others knew that people's thoughts might differ from their appearances, they would still subconsciously assume that he was calm inside and out when they saw this scene.

Sudden.

In the silence, Tsukino and Chiya suddenly swung their swords in a certain direction ahead.

...Just as I expected.

After swinging the dagger, Tsukino and Chiya felt the sensation of hitting something.

The feeling... it was less like striking something real and more like striking something that was both real and illusory, a mixture of both. Hmm, a strange, yet familiar feeling.

He struck the spirits—ghosts or spirits—that lingered in the spirit realm; any interpretation was acceptable.

Encountering such spirits in situations where strange phenomena occur is a very normal and common occurrence.

When Mr. Hachishiki was caught up in the Death Mark and the Sibito incident, he would occasionally encounter spirit jump faces that would scare or attack him during his investigation of strange events... In a sense, this is just like the jump scare often seen in horror games.

The spirits that appear in places of spiritual disturbance are either people who died in the same place in the past, or they were attracted there by the phenomenon of spiritual disturbance.

Spirits are different from monsters; these spirits are most likely created under the influence of monster forces. Compared to monsters, which are not to be underestimated in terms of danger, these spirits are much weaker.

Unlike the strange phenomenon of being unable to let go of obsessions, a woman's sincere prayers can sometimes directly send these spirits away to attain Buddhahood.

While it's true that spirits can cause harm, they often serve a frightening purpose in these haunted places.

In short, they are not very dangerous. Unless they are the kind of spirits that are clinging to a person's body and preventing them from leaving, you can simply ignore them and continue your journey.

However, their difference from the bizarre is not only in terms of the level of danger.

To harm a supernatural being, generally speaking, a fruit knife bought from a convenience store will suffice. In other words, ordinary physical attacks are effective. However, this isn't always the case against spirits. Sometimes physical attacks are ineffective against such beings, and even touching them is impossible. But other times, they can materialize and seize people.

...That's a bit of a problem. But the spirit dagger that Mr. Hidden God sent earlier is quite suitable for this situation.

Tsukino and Chiya merely swung their daggers to repel them, causing them to retreat in fear. Although they were somewhat injured, it was not serious enough to cause them to completely disappear.

Although he's not very good at exorcising spirits for Tsukino and Chiya, once the strange phenomenon is resolved, the spirits that appeared due to the influence of the spiritual barrier here might also attain enlightenment along with the strange phenomenon, so for now, all they need to do is shoo them away.

Although I can't see them now, I can sense the presence of those spirits. Hmm, how should I put this? Let's just call it... a fighting instinct?

Since they couldn't determine their exact location for the time being, and standing still wasn't his style, Tsukino and Chiya decided, after some thought, to simply follow the path where these spirits were.

Where will he ultimately be led if he follows these spirits that appear due to spiritual obstacles?

With that in mind, Tsukino and Chiya took a step forward.

Although they couldn't see anything in front of them, Tsukino and Chiya's steps were unwavering. He used his dagger to swat away the spirits that occasionally appeared and walked forward.

He pondered whether the trouble was that he couldn't see anything at all, or that when he could see something, the surrounding illusions would always appear and cause disturbance.

Hmm... it's definitely better to be able to see. In the current situation, finding someone is a bit troublesome. But shouting loudly in the most primitive way isn't very convenient either; it might attract the police.

The journey wasn't without its bumps and stumbles. Tsukino, Chiya, and Ohma Kokichi had previously walked around the courtyard, so Chiya had a general idea of ​​its layout.

After a few stumbles, he is now able to roughly determine his current location.

We're getting closer and closer to that well.

Tsukino and Chiya continued walking forward, and after encountering Rei, they skillfully wielded their swords. Suddenly, an image appeared in his previously blank vision.

That is...?

Tsukino and Chiya were startled, but their movements did not falter. While successfully repelling the spirit, they observed the scene that appeared in their field of vision.

This is truly a novel perspective.

Tsukino and Chiya simply stood still, without moving their eyes, but the scene before them shifted. He was standing on the grass, and what should have been a courtyard was now water and a cramped space.

This is someone else's... or something else's perspective.

It was clear that there was little light around the location, and it was still nighttime, but everything that the eyes could see was surprisingly clear, at least clearer than what the human eye could see at night.

Water, damp interior walls, cramped environment.

This is inside a well.

Is this from the perspective of the ghost of the Sarayashiki? But something still doesn't feel quite right.

Speaking of which, the previous videotapes were also... Although they could be explained by supernatural phenomena, if we really want to consider perspective, who exactly filmed those videos? Or rather, from whose perspective were the scenes in the videotapes presented?

The Chishima family is a family of three, and the videotape shows all of their family members.

No, that's not right.

Besides those three people, there was another member in the Chishima family, and that was...

Suddenly, Tsukino and Chiya, who were still pondering, paused slightly.

Suddenly, Wang Ma Xiaoji's face appeared in his field of vision.

In a subtle way, their eyes met.

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Author's Note: When this chapter was published, I was already watching the Detective Conan movie (what the heck x).