Chapter 5

It happened in the dead of night. Without prior warning, I was woken up.

“What on earth … is this stench …?”

An animal musk filled our hut with a pungent odor, overwhelming to such an extent that I automatically covered my nose.

I rose from my primitive bed of wood and hay. To prepare for any emergency situations in an unlikely event, I had gone to sleep dressed in my mountaineering gear, even with my shoes still on.

“—Papa’s gone.”

Just then, I heard Yo’s feeble voice. She had awoken before I did, and was completely spooked. The inside of the hut was pitch black. With the only light being the faint, pale blue light of the moon leaking from the slit in between wooden planks, only the barest of our outlines could be seen. I groped through the darkness to locate her position. Before long, I felt the hand of a small child firmly grasping my own.

“He’s gone. I woke up, and he was gone …”

“Everything’s gonna be alright. Let’s search for him together. More importantly, are you fine? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine … but Papa—”

Using my arm, Yo drew herself by my side. Her body was thin. Just a bit, I felt how punishing it must’ve been for her, a child unable to eat adequately for her whole life.

Had Utsurogi gone outside of his own volition, or had he been abducted by someone who marked only him as a target?

“Let’s start outside. There’s no way he could’ve descended the mountain, so he must be within the village.”

But just as I moved to open the door and exit the small hut, my hands froze.

Moving slowly and keeping my footsteps as silent as possible, I peered outside from in-between the wooden planks of the wall.

It was a cloudless night, the radiant light of the moon making it considerably easier to see. 

Right next to the hut were two villagers who stood there like guard dogs. Although both were grotesquely hunched, their gazes were fixed toward our hut, necks held upright.

“… There’s guards.”

There’s no mistaking it. The humans living in this village had some part to play in Utsurogi’s disappearance.

Furthermore, it can be assumed that Yaginuma would be alerted immediately if any movements were observed from our hut.

Out of necessity, we would have to trick these guards. As I surveyed the inside of the hut for any opportunity to do so, Yo opened the door of the entrance slightly. She gently brought out her arm outside. For anyone else, the opening would be much too narrow, but her thin arm slipped right through. The villagers on watch failed to notice the slimmest crack in the door.

Quietly, Yo swung her arm and threw a leftover piece of bread into the faraway grass, its impact making the faintest rustle into the night.

It took less than a second for the guards to react to the sound, then move towards its source, like dogs pouncing on a meal. Yo continued to throw bits and pieces of bread from our hut, gradually leading the watchmen away from our hut. The hardened bits of food were scattered across the ground like rocks on a stony path.

Before long, the sound of chewing emanated from the grass. There was nobody standing guard in front of the hut now. Yo handed me the leftover bread, as solid and hard as a stone slab.

“That’s the bread from last night … I’m surprised you were able to hold onto it without eating it.”

“… I can only eat what Papa says is good for me.”

“He’s taught you well, then.”

With that, the two of us left the hut together.

The moon turned the night sky a deep blue. Through the gloom, the faint outline of vegetation peeked out.

It was cold to the point that our breaths came out as little puffs of vapor. I gave my neck gaiter for Yo to wear, knowing how harsh such coldness could be for children.

Bending low, we hid in the tall grasses as we advanced through the village. I kept Yo’s hand in mine to prevent her getting lost as we searched for her father. Every time a villager made themselves known, we tore off pieces of bread and threw them to divert their attention away from our path before pushing onward. Vaguely, we were going in the direction of Yaginuma’s dwelling.

While there were more villagers out and about now than earlier in the day, they could hardly be called lively. They seemed to be silently picking up stones or weeding, or brandishing their hoes to prepare new plots of land. Considering it was the dead of night, it was way too late for this to be excused as industrial zeal.

Then, the flickering flame of distant torches caught our attention, causing us to duck and hide behind a tree root which sprouted from the ground. The sound of pigs and cows could be heard—the villagers must be traveling with their livestock. Holding our breaths, we waited for them to pass us by.

And then, the villagers crossed near us.

“…!”

Yo suddenly tensed her body as she saw the villagers from her spot behind the roots. Thinking that she was about to scream, I quickly covered her mouth with my hand.

“—shh.”

But in spite of myself, I felt like screaming too.

What were these creatures?—I watched as the hunched-over villagers led their livestock elsewhere. The livestock itself … how should I say—they appeared to be cows, pigs and chickens, but there was an undeniably human aspect to their appearance.

—There was a petite humanoid pecking the ground, its mouth hardened and elongated like the beak of a chicken. It crowed as it picked out insects from the ground, its legs scaly and neck jerking to and fro like a chicken.

—A hulking cow of a man pressed his oval-shaped face into the ground, mindlessly grinding grass in between his teeth as he mooed the whole time. Standing on all fours, the nails of his feet and hands were thick and clunky like hooves, and those hooves plodded the creature behind the villagers as they tugged on a metal ring pierced through his septum.

—Another humanoid figure sniffed through the air with a pig-like snout, retrieving stray grains of wheat that were strewn on the ground, oinking all the while. Though similar in appearance to the cow-villager, it was smaller, more agile in its form. Fitted with a collar, it weaved all directions to gather and collect.

Combined, there were approximately ten heads of livestock—or should I say people?—following villagers with torches in-hand. No doubt, they were heading towards the wheat fields.

“Did, did you see that …?”

Her grip on my sleeve as tight as a vice, Yo asked me this question timidly and gingerly.

“… Yep, I saw it clear as day.”

Nonhuman entities—which really was the only way I could have possibly described them, followed themselves one after another. A bone-deep chill ran down my spine, as if I was witnessing all Hell breaking loose right in front of me.

“This village, it’s demented—!”

This was not the hallucinogenic side effects of a poisoned crop, or anything of the sort. It was something far graver. Humans were being transformed into completely different forms, and the villagers went about their lives as if such a thing was only natural! At this point, this was a matter that could be aptly described as monstrous.

“We need to find your Papa and get off this mountain as soon as possible.”

Crawling out from the tree roots with Yo in tow, I proceeded in the direction opposite to the one headed to by the procession of livestock. We kept our distance in an effort to avoid discovery by the humans-turned-animals.

The path led to the edge of the settlement. Flat-structured roofs stretched downstream along the river’s bank. The trees around it were so dense, you’d almost always fail to see it unless you were up close.

“A stable …”

Rather than the actual structure of the building, it was the stench that wafted towards me that allowed me to determine this. It was an animal musk which pervaded the air as the herd of villagers passed by. Moreover, this odor was—

… The same smell which lingered in the air inside the hut when Utsurogi went missing.

An ominous chill ran down my spine. The fact that this building was built to be concealed also weighed heavily on my mind. If this was a facility which needed to be out of the public gaze, it couldn’t have just been a regular stable—

We approached closer to the stable, intent on investigating its interior.

There was a whiff of another aroma mingling with the animal musk as we snuck our way towards the entrance. A splendid and appetizing aroma ill-fitting for such a place—

After I kept Yo from going further with my hand, I peered carefully into the stable.

There definitely was the aroma of the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’. There was no mistaking that rich, sweet fragrance. Nevertheless, this spot was unbefitting for preparing that ancient wheat which was supposed to be a rare crop.

“… There now, don’t stop eating.”

Next, I heard a voice. It was Yaginuma’s. Crouching low, I peeped through the slits in-between the unbarricaded walls. Yaginuma was noisily scooping up kernels of wheat from a bucket placed at his feet. Right beside him, I saw the contour of a bulky body which appeared to be Utsurogi. Right now, it seems as though he is being fed these kernels by Yaginuma. Only the grinding sound of wheat being devoured and chewed could be heard.

“It took longer than I expected, but now you’re one of us too,” murmured Yaginuma happily. “Don’t fret. In time, both Yo and Mr. Kishibe will also eat the wheat. Then, everything will be all right. Everything will turn out well.”

After making his rounds, finished with giving out feed, Yaginuma stepped out of the stable with an empty bucket in-hand. He washed the bucket in the nearby waterway, then returned straight back to the settlement.

“—Let’s go.”

We immediately snuck inside the stable. Staying alert for any sign of the other villagers, we made our way deeper into the stable interior. From the darkness of the inside of the stable, partitioned by wooden planks and poles, the huffing of a beast could be heard.

“Where are you … Utsurogi—?”

I quietly called out, unable to shout any louder for fear of being discovered by Yaginuma and his party …

“—Papa.”

Upon saying this, Yo let go of my hand and broke into a run, unable to endure any longer. She disappeared into the darkness.

“Wait, don’t go off all by—”

But before I could finish my statement and say ‘yourself’, I heard it.

“Papa!?”

Yo’s shriek reached my ears. I quickly dashed toward the direction of her voice, leading myself towards a cowshed at the back of the stable, with Yo inside. The width between each wooden picket was wide, the space wide enough for a small child to squeeze through. Inside, Yo fell bottom-first onto the hay as a massive cow gnawed on the sleeve of her shirt.

Mooing, the gargantuan cow continued to lean on Yo, and would squish her if it didn’t stop.

“What the, is … is that a cow—?”

Coming up close, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Burly limbs protruded from a monstrous body reaching nearly two meters tall, flint-like hooves tipping each arm and leg. The entire body, from belly to back, had fur sprouting from all over, an uneven patchwork of mottled hide and exposed skin. Its oval face was indisputably one belonging to a cow, yet the portion of fur on the head was unusually frizzy and puffed up. Furthermore, its face was unmistakably Toshiya Utsurogi’s.

Two swollen buds were developing on its forehead. Covered in a pouch of thin skin, the nubs grew bigger and bigger, developing at an astonishing speed. Eventually the membrane burst. Dripping with blood which had squirted out from the sacks, an impressive set of horns now jutted out of its head, pale pink in color.

It was as if the mythological Minotaur had suddenly sprouted from page to reality. The scraps of clothing Utsurogi had worn clung limply on its body.

“—No, this is Utsurogi! ‘Heaven’s Door’!”

Invoking my ability, I wrote over the description within it.

‘I will stay away from Yo Utsurogi. I will not crush her.’

Immediately, the bull Utsurogi stopped leaning on Yo, and sprawled out onto the hay with a heavy thwump. I immediately reapplied ‘Heaven’s Door’ and started to investigate Utsurogi’s account.

In doing so, I encountered something quite odd as I perused through.

‘Odd. When I’m eating that wheat, I can’t stop. Even though I should be in pain, I can still eat more. Eating and vomiting like my stomach’s become bigger and eating more regardless. What’s happening …? Is this wheat actually safe to—feed my daughter and Rohan? Tend the wheat together. Feed them. Make them farm. Feed them. Make them one of us—’

“What in the world … The inner workings of his mind are being ‘modified’ at an incredible pace …!”

The contents of Utsurogi’s pages were being replaced at a blinding speed.

Put simply, moment by moment the matter and substance that formed the man named Toshiya Utsurogi was now making an endeavor to reconstruct itself into a completely different entity.

‘Wheat and livestock.’

‘Paradise.’

‘Bull.’

The tone of his account rapidly regressed, and soon the details of the afternote earlier vanished too.

And then, it was entirely reworked. Half human and half beast, the oversized bull—which had supposedly been Utsurogi once, shoved its head into the feeding trough, starting to eat the remaining wheat porridge with gusto.

“Papa … Papa …”

But he paid no mind towards Yo, who cried next to him. Perhaps, he was no longer able to recognize his own daughter …?

The processions of the villagers and cattle from a little while ago flickered in my mind’s eye. An eldritch herd, distinguishable neither as human nor animal—they must also be like Utsurogi, villagers who had metamorphosed through eating the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’.

In other words, Yaginuma was using the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ to turn humans into livestock comparable to slaves, exploiting them to cultivate the ancient wheat.

But then how does that explain …?! There wasn’t a word written in there that he was able to do such a thing when I consulted Yaginuma with ‘Heaven’s Door’—?

Yaginuma himself possessed no ability to create such an extraordinary phenomenon, nor had there been any mention of knowledge pertaining to the marvel that feeding the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ could transform the mind and flesh.

Nonetheless, his earlier words and actions left little doubt in my mind that Yaginuma was aware of this phenomenon.

It made no sense. Shozo Yaginuma was supposed to be unaware of the abnormalcy of the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’, and yet he had used that ability to its fullest extent, turning humans into livestock and dominating them.

No, wait.

My intuition set off alarm bells. I recalled moments ago, when the statement that had been written by ‘Heaven’s Door’ was quickly overridden with furious speed.

“Neutralizing the ability of my ‘Heaven’s Door’ and rewriting the inner workings of humans. There’s no way—”

When I came to realize this idea, another conclusion came into my mind.

If the override within Utsurogi had quickly been negated, then there was also the possibility that Yaginuma had nullified the alterations made on him by ‘Heaven’s Door’ as well.

“—Mr. Kishibe. Hearing that you two disappeared from your lodgings, I expected you two to definitely come to where Toshiya was.”

When we turned around, Yaginuma stood there with a torch in hand.

Behind him, villagers were also holding torches as they completely encircled the stable.