アンデッドガール・マーダーファルス 9話

{pos(332,135)fs35}8 Years Ago This way! Don’t let them get away! Get around them to the west! We’ll herd them to the cliff! Surround them! Mother… It’s all right, Jutte. It’s okay. Mother. Mother! That’s a cliff over there! Damn it! They got away! Hey! Over here! I’m sorry, Mother.

It’s all right, Jutte. This isn’t your fault. Kill them! Kill them! Why? Mother, why? They’re all scared. Of us? They’re scared of the same exact thing we are. So this isn’t your fault. Jutte, dear. Listen to me carefully. No! I don’t wanna! It’s all right, Jutte. It’s all right, my dear. But…

I love you very much. {blur2pos(320,265)fad(381,1)}Werewolves {pos(320,90)blur2fad(313,1)}Episode Nine There’s wolves there, you say? That’s not good. {pos(325,290)c&H0C0A0A&3c&HE7E7E7&fs28fad(376,1)}Western Germany Schnetar You don’t wanna mess with wolves! Flattery just doesn’t get you anywhere with them. Calling out, “Hey there, Mister Wolf!” isn’t gonna make them happy. They’ll just snap at you outta nowhere. What a pain!

Shut up. What was that, Master? Shut up! I thought performing a bit of “Mount Atago” would set the mood. Pretty sure reciting “Mount Atago” while in the Alps will ruin the mood. Do you really think there’s a village up here in these mountains? We should be there any moment.

What’s this place called again? Holdyourdwarfs? Heulendorf. Translated, it means “Howling Village.” Well, that definitely sounds like a place you’d find werewolves. Do you think Moriarty and his goons are also headed there? What’s their organization called? Blanket? Banquet. They might be nearby. You should be on your guard. Who knows when they’ll attack?

Yeah, we’ve got the key and all. Isn’t this exciting? I’ve never met a werewolf. Have you met one, Master? Just once. I believe it was about 150 years ago. Gennai Hiraga wanted to find out what manner of beast could possibly harm me, so he gathered monsters from all around the world.

There happened to be one werewolf in that cage, as well. People always refer to them as terrible beasts, but they’re quite intelligent. They understand human languages, and they’re good at concealing themselves. They can also change between three forms freely. A human, a wolf, and a therianthrope. {pos(90,130)fs10}Jinro Mangetsutei {fs10pos(50,190)}Jinro Mangetsutei

In their human forms, they look more or less like ordinary humans, their physical strength is normal, and a simple knife can hurt them. You’re making it sound like a knife can’t always hurt them. Indeed. Once they don their fur, their physical abilities skyrocket,

And their skin becomes so hard that even bullets cannot penetrate it. When they take their therianthrope form, their bodies become even bigger. They become as big as bears and their fangs and claws grow, as well. Oh, yes! And their senses become fearfully keen! They’ll detect you if you attack them from behind,

And if you run, they’ll chase after you forever! Do they have any weaknesses? Onions, maybe? They’re still dogs, after all. But werewolves hardly ever appear in human villages anyway. I can’t lend a helping hand if they refuse to show themselves. A helping hand, you say?

Stop that. I still have a leg up on you in wit. A leg up, you say? Shizuku… He’s clearly asking for some punishment. One moment please, Miss Shizuku! I was just kidding. Ow, ow, ow! Louise! Louise! Louise! Hello, there. What are you doing here? Hiking. We’re trying to find this village called Heulen-something.

Heulendorf is my village. Two Asians… The Cage User. Are you two perhaps detectives? Ones that specialize in monsters? Good for you, Master! They know about you even here. P-Please help me! My name is Heinemann, and I’m a doctor. Something terrible has happened in our village. A girl was kidnapped! By a werewolf!

I do apologize. We’re not used to outsiders around here. Oh, that’s quite all right. This is basically the treatment we get everywhere. What a lovely village. It’s just rural. We don’t have a school or any shops. There is a giant waterfall deep in the forest, though. A waterfall!

That’s great! My two favorite things are anecdotes and waterfalls! Because they both tend to fall into place. Well, your stories definitely don’t. Mister Heinemann, could you tell us more about this incident? Yes. It all started a year ago on a rainy night just before spring.

The mayor’s granddaughter disappeared after going to fetch some water. Her name was Nadia, and she was only fifteen. The next day, we found her body in the forest. Her neck and back were broken, her chest was split open, and her face had been shredded.

One arm had been ripped off, bone and all, and she had bite marks all over. I’ve seen many victims of wolf attacks, but that wasn’t normal. The only thing that can kill someone like that… …is a werewolf, you believe. When did it happen next? Four months later. The woodcutter’s eleven-year-old daughter, Fine, disappeared,

And we found her body two days later. Her body was also in awful shape. Four months after that, Rita, the miller’s thirteen-year-old daughter, became the next victim. Each incident happened on a rainy night, with the girl going missing after leaving her house, then being found in the forest a few days later.

The bite marks on their bodies all matched as well. So they were all done by one culprit. Precisely. Were they actually the girls? What? The corpses you found. Are you certain they belonged to those girls? Yes, there’s no doubt about it. Distinguishing features such as moles and birthmarks all matched. Hmm…

I’ve checked around outside the village countless times, but I haven’t found the werewolf. And then, yesterday… Louise? Louise! Save me, Papa! Save me! Louise! Stay back! Louise! Did it rain yesterday? No, it did not. Well, that’s rather bizarre. D-Do you think so? Louise is a very frail child.

She’s still only twelve and was going to have her thirteenth birthday soon. There are those in our village who say there’s a werewolf hiding among us… That they go mad every four months and target one of the girls. And such a thing has happened in our village before. Has it?

Eight years ago, we found out that a werewolf was hiding among us. We were able to destroy it before there were any victims, but… S-Stop, Gustav! You shouldn’t be violent. You transformed and kidnapped Louise! You did, didn’t you, Cnut?! Of course I didn’t. Why would you suspect me? You’re an outsider.

Th-There are outsiders besides me. Alma, and Doctor Heinemann… Doctor! Did you find anything in the northern forest? No… But I did bring some help. Help? The detectives— Hello, everyone! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance! I’ve traveled here from Japan in the Far East.

I am the wandering comedian, the Cage User, and my name is Tsugaru Shinuchi. My name may mean “the headliner,” but I’m a humble man who’s merely worthy of being the opening act. And this is my master… I am Aya Rindo, though I have no recollection of making this fool my apprentice.

Who spoke just now? Was it you? Over here. What the… What’s inside there? If you wish to see, I’ll allow it. Though I don’t recommend it. You’ll all scream when you see me. None of us are going to scream! We can handle a werewolf or any other monster! Just what are you?

I’m called the Immortal. I seem to have trouble dying. A-A monster… Move! W-Wait, Gustav! Calm down! Shut up! Hey, get the hell out of our village right now! If you really want us to leave, we shall. But, Gustav, if you put down your gun,

I believe that I can find the serial murderer and solve this case. If you’re wondering how… I’ve lived around 900 years longer than you, and detective work can be done even if you happen to be missing everything but your head. You only need eyes, ears, and a brain. Well? What will it be?

She’s quite the looker, but no match for Master. Has she always used a wheelchair? Yes. She was born with the condition, and all the local doctors gave up. But she was smart enough to get around regardless. Please don’t talk about her in the past tense. Er, my apologies. I was just… Now, now…

Could you start off by showing me your daughter’s room? Well, something very lively definitely happened in here. So, Master, where did you want to start? Master? Huh? Right… It’s a bit dark in here. Could you open the curtains on the left as well? Madam, did you light this fireplace yesterday?

N-No… Louise said she didn’t need it. Which means… that perhaps our culprit entered from here. It’s a bit cramped for a person to get through… …but a wolf could jump down. Judging from these pawprints, our culprit isn’t very big when they’re in their wolf form.

So once they got into the room, they turned into a werewolf and made this mess. We already knew that a werewolf was behind this! Tsugaru, let me see your palm. Mister Heinemann… I’d like to compare the bite marks here to the ones on the victims. Please bring me a sample.

Also, please tell Shizuku, who went to put our belongings in your home, to bring something the size of a ball that’s all right to get dirty. A ball? I mean, something as big as me. All right. Madam. When was the last time you were in this room before it was torn up?

Right after dinner. I was in the living room. How did your daughter seem? How? I’d say normal. She’d gotten herself into bed and was reading a book. So your daughter was able to get in and out of her wheelchair without assistance. And what were you doing in the room?

Um… I put her blanket over her, added water to her pitcher… And then I shut her curtains. Were her windows locked? This window was properly locked. This one is a fixed window. It wasn’t made to open in the first place. Tsugaru, show me the window. The one that’s broken. Sure thing.

So they ran away through here. It appears so. Madam? Was there anything missing from this room? They sure did make a mess… but nothing’s missing, I think. I see. I’m starting to see the big picture. Lady Aya. Shizuku, did you manage to get up there? Yes.

Any sooty footprints up there? Either a wolf’s or a human’s? There are not. So they did escape through the window… Then try dropping the item through the hole. You can do that gently. Hey! This is my pillow! Come on now, Miss Shizuku! Why would you drop this down there?!

I was told to fetch something it was all right to get dirty. It’s not all right to get this dirty! Master, say something! Thank you, Shizuku. You may come down. Why are you thanking her? Honestly… Here’s something with a bite mark. Definitely the same culprit. Oh, dear.

Oh? Did that throw off your theory? I was thinking that it could be a copycat, but… Gustav, did Louise go out often? She didn’t go out much. When she did, either I or Deborah would push her wheelchair. And she would have people in her room every now and then.

Why does any of this matter? What I want to know is who the hell this insane werewolf is! That’s incorrect. The culprit is sane. That I’m certain of. But then why did it make this mess? To intentionally create the impression of insanity, I believe.

There’s all this blood on this bed, yet not a single drop on their escape route. Which would mean our culprit had wrapped Louise up in something. But none of the blankets are missing from the room. Which would mean that our culprit brought in a bag to wrap her up in.

Do these sound like the actions of an irrational werewolf? Why would they go after Louise?! She hasn’t done anything! Pardon. The lock on the shed is broken. Y-Yes. About a year ago, my old hunting rifle was stolen from there, as well as some ammunition. Did you ever find them? No.

I’m sure the thief came from the city and sold them off. A year ago is when these incidents started happening. Are they related? No. There’s no werewolf that could shoot a gun. I’ll keep that in mind. Now, then… Let’s go visit the mayor. Hey, do you think Louise is still alive?

What do you think? I’m not getting my hopes up. But maybe, if the culprit isn’t insane… In my own estimation… You won’t see her alive ever again. Do you know who the culprit is? I have them by the tail. This village is nothing more than a feed trough.

For hundreds of years, they’ve climbed up the cliff along the waterfall to eat us whenever they please. I don’t care if you’re foreigners or monsters. Find the werewolf. There are those who left here because they were too scared. At this rate, this village is done for. Do the werewolves live there?

According to legend, their village is hidden at the waterfall’s base. A village called Wolphinhel. Not the Forest of Fangs? I see. So that’s what you’re after. You’re looking for the werewolves! To be precise, we’re after the ones looking for the werewolves. That place is forbidden.

And even if you go down there, it won’t do you any good. You need a key to find them. A black jewel that the dwarves created… Why the heck do you have that?! So how exactly do we use this key? I won’t tell you.

What’s the Forest of Fangs? It’s not the name of the werewolf village? There is no place called the Forest of Fangs in this world. But you must find the Forest of Fangs to get to the werewolf village. I see. Then how about this? I will name the suspect within two days.

If I am able to do that, you will tell us how to find the werewolf village. What do you think? Very well. I accept. It appears as though we have an agreement. Then let us talk about the incident. {pos(317,290)c&H0C0A0A&fs28fad(376,1)bord1.5fsp.5}Schnetar Station Welcome to Schnetar Station. Are you here to see the sights? We’re exterminators.