“What did you make of that?” Shiki asked Senri as they walked out of the gate to the Sho family abode. He was referring to the old lady’s comment about the sea god being on the rampage.
Senri appeared to think to himself for a while, staring up into space, but he never actually answered.
Shiki decided to pose a question to Cho instead. “Is the sea really that rough?”
“Well, yes,” Cho said, stroking his lightly bearded chin. “I have noticed how much choppier it’s become as of late. I can understand where the old lady’s coming from. I get the feeling that the sea god is going wild too. I don’t know if it’s a sign that something bad is going to happen though…”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were a shrine maiden as well!” Shiki commented jokingly.
Cho didn’t laugh. “I was a seafaring mourner.” “A what?”
“An oracle for sea voyages,” explained Senri, turning his head. “It’s a custom over in Ake. Whenever they go out to sea, they must always be accompanied by one man whom they force to live like a mourner. This man doesn’t comb his hair or rid it of lice, and he allows his clothes to become soiled with dirt. He’s not allowed to consume meat, nor is he permitted to go near women. That man is called a ‘seafaring mourner’ since he dresses like and resembles one. If the voyage goes well, the seafaring mourner is rewarded—but if they encounter difficulty, he’s killed.”
“What?!” Shiki was shocked. They kill him? How disturbing.
“It’s a way of offering prayers to the god,” Senri explained further. “The man would humble himself like a mourner and pray for the safety of the voyage. If they found themselves in danger, the seafaring mourner would be killed for not showing enough restraint.”
“I always exercised plenty of restraint,” said Cho, “but once, our boat found itself in a storm, and I was almost killed. Not wanting to be murdered, I jumped into the water. It’s better to die in the sea than be slain by another’s blade. I’m a seaman, so if I’m going to die anywhere, I’d prefer it to be in the sea.”
“But you survived, didn’t you?” asked Shiki, before realizing how redundant this question was—the man in question was standing right in front of him.
“I did. I washed up here and the islanders came and nursed me back to health. The sea merchants found me extremely useful since I could understand the language of Ake.” Suddenly, Cho appeared to remember something. “That reminds me…”
“What is it?” Senri asked.
“There’s a beach where people tend to get washed up. It’s where I was found too. It just so happens that the sea currents carry people there. Of course, it’s not just humans that get washed ashore, but also other things too, like bits of wood from shipwrecked boats or discarded containers. The dead as well.”
People who fell out of boats and drowned, people who were overwhelmed by waves while fishing, people who threw themselves off headlands—according to Cho, their bodies washed up on that very same shore.
“But recently, there’s been a complete lack of corpses drifting onto the beach.”
“Isn’t that just because nobody has died?”
“No. It wasn’t just human bodies that washed ashore, but different fish as well—deep-sea fish and big sharks from faraway shores. Nowadays, you don’t even see any of them. It’s all very peculiar,” Cho said.
“Could it be because the sea currents have changed?” Senri contemplatively placed his fingers on his chin.
“If that was the reason, then nothing would be washing ashore whatsoever—but pieces of wood and bowls and such show up, just as they always have. There’s been no change there.”
“I see…” Senri pondered this for a short while before swiftly looking over at Cho. “I’d like to see the area where the underwater volcano lies. Do you know anywhere that I could get a good view of it from?”
“The headland ahead of us should be a good spot for that.” “Could I ask you to take us there?”
“It’d be my pleasure,” responded Cho as he began to walk ahead.
There was a singular road leading from the hill where the Sho family home stood on the headland, so it didn’t seem like it would take long to get there. The narrow road took the men through a thick forest. When they came out on the other side, they felt the sea breeze blowing against their skin. The waves sounded much louder here, and there was a large expanse stretching out in front of them. They were now standing on top of a rugged, rocky headland.
“It’s around there,” said Cho, pointing out to shore.
Shiki, however, couldn’t tell how the area he was pointing at differed from the sea surrounding it. It wasn’t as if the water was a different color, and the current didn’t look any different either. “You wouldn’t know just by looking at it,” said Senri. It seemed
like he was thinking the same thing.
“At dawn, fishing boats gather there—so you’d be able to tell then,” Cho explained.
“I wouldn’t want to get in the way of their fishing, so could you take me out there during the daytime?”
“Over there?” Cho asked questioningly. “Yes,” Senri replied with a nod.
“I’d be happy to, but…unless you dive underwater, you won’t see any more than what you can see from right here.”
“That’s all right. I’m just obliged to check everything properly,” replied Senri.
“Well, I can’t say I envy you.”
Shiki listened to the two of them chatting behind him as he stared down at the view beneath the headland. Below them was a beach where he could see children picking up shells. They were mostly boys, but there were some girls too. With them was one lone man.
Shiki grasped onto his arm. He could sense his younger sister behind him, pulling at his sleeve.
…Hakurai.
The man on the beach was, without a shadow of a doubt, Hakurai—the main reason his sister had been killed, and Shiki’s archenemy. His arms shook.
“Cho, sir…” Shiki began, pointed down at the beach. “Are they local to this island?”
“Hmm? Who? Oh, them? They’re sea swallows. They live in the nearby caves, like the old lady from the Sho family said. That’s only at this time of year though. They don’t stay in one place for very long, after all.”
“Will they stay here for a while?”
“Until the beginning of spring, I expect.” “I see,” said Shiki, clutching at his sleeve.
“Do you need to speak to them about something? I can take you down there if you’d like.”
“No, there’s no need for that.” Shiki replied in such a stern and serious voice that it left Cho looking visibly startled. Noticing this, Shiki reiterated himself in a much gentler manner. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Really, it’s fine.”
Suddenly, Senri sneezed. “It really is chilly up here, isn’t it?”
The headland provided no barrier against the wind and was fully exposed to the elements.
Cho looked worried. “It’s not good to stay out here in the wind. I know a house where you could stop for a rest.” It was a common belief that illnesses were carried by the wind.
“A house?” Shiki repeated.
“Jakuho’s house. I’m sure he’s put preparations in place so that you are able to stay there.”
“That would be wonderful.”
The three of them left the headland behind and decided to go back in the direction of the port, near to which Jakuho’s residence was located.
Just before they went into the forest again, Shiki turned toward the headland one more time—but all he could see was the blue sky stretching out above him.