Traffic was slightly better than before. The bus service had come back online. Ma En saw Hirota as far as the stop, watching as she boarded. The bus pulled away; she turned toward the window to wave, her expression already settled — she'd put the earlier conversation behind her, or appeared to. Even so, Ma En couldn't quite let it go. He watched the bus until it turned a corner and disappeared. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't afford to build his hopes on Hirota Masami's actions in any direction.

Even now, Hirota Masami couldn't be said to have no connection to the Room 4 Ghost Story. She couldn't be called safe. But she was still at the outermost edge of the whirlpool — if she chose to step deeper in because of something he'd said, her own danger would multiply dramatically. More than that: Hirota Masami's situation was specific. Even the Room 3 neighbor friend and Matsuzaemon were apparently holding back, content to wait and watch — so far, no targeted moves against her. But if she entered of her own initiative, that would be a different matter. Something considerably more terrible might result.

The Room 3 neighbor friend had spoken in fragments about "Miyano Akemi" — exactly what had happened in the past remained a mystery. But Miyano Akemi's fate was clearly not a good one. And in the neighbor friend's eyes, Hirota Masami bore an enormous resemblance to that woman. Which meant Ma En couldn't avoid imagining the worst: Matsuzaemon would, in the end, deal with Hirota Masami the same way he'd dealt with Miyano Akemi — obliquely, but Ma En had sensed it: that kind of "dealing with" seemed to touch on some crucial mechanism within the monsters' own ecological system.

The neighbor friend knew a great deal about the monsters. But Matsuzaemon clearly knew more. When Matsuzaemon had ultimately decided to kill Miyano Akemi — had that decision been purely "personal feeling," or had there been "benefit" in it? Ma En felt the motive was probably complex, and "survival" might have been part of it.

If his own arrival, his current relationship with Hirota Masami, were a continuation of the past triangle — neighbor friend, Miyano Akemi, Matsuzaemon — a cycle tied to the monsters' own survival, an ideological and existential ritual simultaneously — then—

Matsuzaemon killing Miyano Akemi. The neighbor friend becoming what he was now. And in the neighbor friend's predicted sequence — Matsuzaemon would kill the neighbor friend first, then "Ma En," then possibly continue to kill Hirota Masami — perhaps there was something meaningful in that order...

Should the sequence itself be the point of emphasis?

He could imagine it, he could suspect it — but he still felt a kind of resistance, something stopping him from pushing the thought deeper. The secrets around these people and monsters felt wrapped in gauze, hazy and suggestive, visible only as outline.

In any case, having formed this hypothesis, every subsequent event would either confirm or undermine it. He felt the pressure of time — and yet he still had patience. For ordinary people, when a mind fills with this kind of dense and tangled urgency, impatience comes naturally. But Ma En had already tasted the bitter fruit of impatience once. He had no intention of repeating it.

The earthquake hadn't fully halted people's daily rhythms, but it had left everyone unsettled. Around a few prominent phone booths, small queues had formed. Ma En checked his beeper and eventually found a worn old booth at the far end of an alley.

The person before him had just finished a call and left with a furious expression — Ma En arrived just as the man slammed the receiver down into its cradle as though trying to drive it through the machine. Coming out, the man glared at Ma En, spat on the ground near his feet, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered away.

Ma En paid no attention to this person. But as he stepped into the booth, the corner of his eye caught the man turning into the alley behind a rubbish bin — his body disappearing from view, but his shadow stopping there.

"..." Ma En pulled his gaze back in, took the coins from his pocket, and fed them into the slot.

With a click, he registered that the man staying in the alley seemed to be watching this direction. Of course, looking that way right now would reveal nothing — just a faint shadow on the ground.

What's this? Surveillance? An enemy?

The thoughts flickered through. Then he reconsidered: he'd been under surveillance the whole time and never detected it — why would he detect it now? Was it genuine observation, or was it simply the strain of the situation distorting his judgment, turning every blade of grass into an enemy?

His current state and the situation he was reading were both, by any measure, not good.

Even if the phone is being monitored... No — there was no point worrying about that. The enemy didn't need to tap a phone line. They had their own network for gathering intelligence.

He began dialing. In the same moment, he checked the ground at the alley's edge again with his peripheral vision. The faint shadow had multiplied. Overlapping, difficult to make out precisely — but something like three or four people were standing there. This development gave him a slight sense of hostile intent, without adding much anxiety. Even if these were monsters that couldn't be overcome by force, he was confident he could slip into the crowded streets. These monsters obviously wouldn't make open moves in broad daylight under public view. If he reached the street, they could follow if they liked — they'd still be bound to human society's rules.

The number he was calling was Katsura Masakazu's personal line.

He recognized immediately: this communication was not coming from Katsura in his capacity as school board chairman, and not in his capacity as an employer. In all their previous contact, everything had been strictly within the school context. The fact that they had no private connection was precisely why this contact struck him as unusual.

He had a premonition that Katsura would say something that would surprise him.

The call connected almost immediately — as if Katsura had been waiting by the phone.

"Principal, it's me — Ma En."

"Good morning, Ma En-sensei. You weren't hurt in the earthquake earlier?"

"I'm fine. Has something happened at the school?" He asked, though he didn't actually think that was it.

"No — no buildings collapsed, no teacher or student casualties."

"That's good. Is school in session today? I can return."

"...I recall you requested three days of leave. This is only day one." Katsura's voice paused. He said this as if it carried a second meaning.

Ma En felt he'd just touched the core of this call.

"I finished what I needed to do — so I came back."

"Finished? Did you finish it well?" Katsura's voice had a suppressed quality. Before Ma En could respond, anger came through the line: "It couldn't possibly be finished! Tell me — what exactly have you people been doing!?"

Ma En paused. He wasn't yet clear on the cause of Katsura's anger, but the premonition was being confirmed. The emotion he'd been suppressing settled on its own — he felt no resentment at Katsura's sharp tone, and no sense that Katsura was wrong to use it. Katsura was, in normal conditions, warm-natured — a man of genuine weight, with genuine reserves. Seeing him this angry was rare.

"It was private matters," Ma En said.

"Private? Dangerous private matters?" Katsura pressed. "Tell me honestly — what have you and Kamishima Kousuke been doing? What have you done to Matsuzaemon? Don't try to brush me off with 'private matters.' Kamishima Kousuke has been investigating Matsuzaemon all along. The moment you took leave, the reason you gave touched on Matsuzaemon. Did you think I'd make nothing of that? I told you before — don't get entangled with Matsuzaemon. Japan's own Red Party, with all its local resources, hasn't been able to handle him. What's one international Party member worth in comparison?"

Matsuzaemon.

The name hit him. He couldn't help a jolt of surprise — not at the name itself, but at the timing. And more than the timing — it was Katsura Masakazu himself bringing it up, with Kamishima Kousuke's name folded in alongside.

Connecting these people together like this was clearly no small matter. And from Katsura's tone and the words he was choosing, Ma En felt the situation widening.

This fast?

"What's happened? I haven't seen Matsuzaemon at all. I haven't seen Kamishima Kousuke either. I went to Kanagawa — genuinely private business." Ma En answered honestly in nine parts out of ten. "Please tell me what's happening — what is the current situation? Is there news of Kamishima Kousuke? Or has Matsuzaemon caused trouble for you?"

Perhaps steadied by the calm, steady sincerity of Ma En's tone, Katsura went quiet for a moment before responding, his voice dropping somewhat.

"There's no news of Kamishima Kousuke at all. It's just that the circumstances around you and him — your connection to each other, your respective identities — make things particularly sensitive right now."

"Right now?"

"You genuinely know nothing. I've said it before — don't get tangled up with Matsuzaemon, don't pay attention to Kamishima Kousuke." Katsura's voice had the quality of blaming someone — perhaps himself, perhaps Ma En and the others. "Nothing to be done. I always knew: obligations of personal debt are the heaviest kind."

He went on venting for a while. Ma En listened without comment, feeding more coins into the machine to extend the call. He didn't push. He simply let his breathing grow slightly audible — letting Katsura know he was listening, present, attentive. A little over a minute passed, and Katsura's voice stopped, his mood having settled a little.

"I don't know what's going on between you two. I don't want to know what you and Kamishima Kousuke are doing. Whatever conflicts exist between the Red Party and the Imperial Party — those conflicts should not be drawing in schools and teachers and students who have nothing to do with any of it. When you were investigating Matsuzaemon — did you consider this? Why, after dealing with him so patiently all this time, is there suddenly a major move?"

"A major move? No — I'm quite unfamiliar with Japan's Red Party's internal affairs. I only arrived in Japan a month ago." Ma En said. "I haven't taken any major action. But listening to you, I find myself thinking: if something major really has happened, that's not entirely unexpected, is it? When a storm gathers, the wind fills the trees first."

Silence on the other end. Heavy breathing. A long exhale. Then: "I hope I can trust you, Ma En-sensei."

"You can trust me, Principal. If you don't tell me what's happened, I won't be able to do anything for you — even if I want to." Ma En applied the old but effective approach. "Another person is another source of strength at a time like this, isn't it? Right now I'm not a civil servant, not a politician — just a teacher at your school. I agree with what you've said before: whatever happens politically, it should never intrude on the school and on students. But Matsuzaemon's moves seem to have already crossed a line? Do you believe that I — or Kamishima Kousuke — did something to provoke him?"

"...Yes — I've believed that. Perhaps I was wrong, but I don't know whether to trust you, Ma En-sensei, because I don't trust Kamishima Kousuke — and you came through him." Katsura said quietly. "But perhaps I should extend you a bit more trust." He paused. Ma En waited. Then the line delivered this:

"Matsuzaemon has begun to move. After being assigned to this district, he appeared to be going through a period of diminishment — you can imagine what kind of political assault he'd been subjected to. He was viewed by the radicals as a key operative, yet after the demotion he stopped expressing opinions, stopped meeting with political figures, stopped making any strong statements. Everyone thought he might be deflated, genuinely defeated. But at this morning's assembly session — during the earthquake — he forced his way in and seized the podium. He delivered a speech about the two-party government. Most people were concerned with the earthquake and paid little attention. But he was serious about it. He notified me."

What?

"What?" Ma En couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. In his judgment, this was not the act of a mature political operator. But Katsura's tone pushed him toward a different reading.

"You mean: Matsuzaemon hasn't gone mad. He's staging a demonstration — issuing an ultimatum. What gives him the confidence to do this? What is he demonstrating against the two parties?" He kept his voice level. "He's expressing dissatisfaction with both parties?"

"No. He's co-opting the Imperial Party — deliberately manufacturing political conflict with the intent to escalate it." Katsura said with certainty. "Matsuzaemon is not someone who acts without purpose. He's not just a man with words. It's precisely because his execution capacity matches his hardline stance that the radicals viewed him as a key operative — a vanguard figure. His ability to get things done gives him enormous weight within radical circles, and he has many followers. And the Imperial Party has been privately supporting him."

"And then?" Though Katsura had described Matsuzaemon's situation quite plainly, nothing exceeded what Ma En had already envisioned. That Matsuzaemon had political skills had always been predictable. "What do you think he wants to do? How does he co-opt the Imperial Party, stir up conflict?"

"He performed the role of speaking for the Imperial Party — said things calculated to stir up popular sentiment. To educated ears, it's laughable — but to the Imperial Party's ordinary supporters, it's exactly what they want to hear. You know what proportion of Japan's population supports the Imperial Party? Half — that's the very foundation of the two-party system. Japan has always placed immense respect on tradition; it carries a very deep culture of faith, and the Imperial Party represents that faith." Katsura continued: "Matsuzaemon's words exploit that faith to break the balance both parties have worked so hard to maintain. Yes, the two parties have plenty of conflicts — they represent different class interests — but once the balance is lost, Japan could very well see civil war. And that is what none of us can accept."

"Matsuzaemon has that kind of reach?" Ma En was still not quite certain. Matsuzaemon had been demoted, after all — sent to Bunkyo District. Both Kamishima and Katsura had implied as much. In theory, his current aggressive behavior looked more like a cornered animal's dying thrash, manufacturing chaos to create an opening.

Even viewed that way, however, the implications were chilling. Because no one could know what he would actually do next — and whatever it was, it would almost certainly harm ordinary people. This was probably the very reason those who pushed him out had stopped short of further action: the cost of cornering him further was too uncertain.

But if Matsuzaemon were resisting not as a human being, but as a monster...

"I don't know what that madman will do. But after speaking with other school administrators in Bunkyo District, my read is that he'll target the schools." Katsura said. "In the worst case, he may choose to incite students — and once that gets started, it becomes leverage over the Imperial Party. If students get drawn into this, it becomes a crisis that can't be ignored."

"So right now he's only made the speech — or has he actually moved?" Ma En confirmed.

"He has... or perhaps it's already begun, but these things take time." Katsura said gravely. "For people like us, the school is hope. I certainly believe both parties will handle this problem. But if students are genuinely drawn in — that's something none of us can accept. You're a teacher too, Ma En-sensei. Can you imagine — your own students being dragged into a lie, being manipulated by someone like this?"

"Yes, I find it deeply repugnant." Ma En answered with full sincerity. "History has demonstrated clearly — we can't count on students to independently see through conspiracies, ignore manipulation, and stay separate from conflict on their own."

"Yes. We have to protect them. We have to protect the school." Katsura emphasized. "I don't know what you're capable of, Ma En-sensei. But as you say — another person is another source of strength. Maybe you really can do something. I hope everything I'm imagining is only our own misjudgment. I hope Matsuzaemon doesn't have this kind of reach. I hope we've been worrying for nothing. But—"

"But as you say, we have to be careful and prevent it from actually reaching that point." Ma En said flatly. "I'll handle it. To the best of my ability."

A pause on the other end — the emotional pressure slightly eased. "Then — do you want to meet Matsuzaemon face to face? I can arrange it. The decision rests with him, but if you feel it's necessary, I'll do everything I can to make it happen."

"..." Ma En hadn't anticipated that Katsura would raise this, and at this moment. But he felt it was genuinely necessary — he needed to see this Matsuzaemon. "Thank you — I'd appreciate that."

"Whatever you plan to do, I hope you can move quickly, Ma En-sensei. Matsuzaemon's behavior is absurd — and that's exactly why it's the greatest abnormality. We can't wait for a madman to stop himself."