“Ummm,” Glenn had thought of something.
“What is it?!” Cottingley snapped, his voice rising.
“Maybe…this Dullahan has lost its head.”
“What did you say?!”
He thought the Dullahan’s strange response might be because her ears and eyes were in another location.
“I-indeed it is not here, but it’s part of her body! That is not something you just lose track of!” Cottingley insisted.
“Well, I do know someone who had that happen to her,” he said, remembering when Kunai, who was made of patchwork flesh, had lost a body part. “Maybe she can’t respond properly because she doesn’t have her head.”
“Ahhh, right, humans listen with their ears and speak with their mouths. Yes, that is precisely why humans cannot feel sympathy.”
“But the rules could be different in the Underworld. I don’t think we should be struggling to come to a mutual understanding…” Glenn added.
After all, he was conversing with Cottingley with no problem. It was Cottingley himself who’d said they could do so because this was the Underworld.
“Hmph. It is true that this conversation is taking place through the means of your soul. However, it is only your soul—all thinking is done in the head. Without a head, she can’t respond properly. Even autonomous behavior is difficult. This body is only confused because she’s lost her head,” Cottingley finally worked out.
“I see,” Glenn responded.
“Then that means we must search for the head,” the fairy said, giving her breasts another slap. Glenn wondered what he disliked about her body.
Cottingley then walked away without so much as a glance at the scared-stiff, headless torso. Glenn hastily went to follow him, but then stopped short.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” Cottingley coaxed. But Glenn didn’t move.
“Why don’t we bring her along?” he suggested.
“What…did you say?”
“Even if we start searching for her head, we don’t have a single clue where to start. Maybe her body has an idea as to where her head might be.”
Once, when he was searching for Kunai’s body, her scattered body parts had told him where her torso was. It was possible the same principle could be applied to the Dullahan. Above all, this was the Underworld, and they were dealing with a being that was similar to fairies. He didn’t know how much he could count on things working the same way they did in the living world.
“This body that can’t even communicate is going to help us?”
“Well—yes.” It was also difficult to communicate with fairies in the living world, but Glenn decided to keep that thought to himself, not knowing how much it would anger Cottingley.
“Well…if you insist.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Deciding it would be pointless to call out to the Dullahan, Glenn took her by the hand.
It seemed a little surprised. The hand was ice cold. Its chill, despite the humidity of this world, reminded Glenn that Dullahan Molly was dead. This probably meant souls didn’t retain heat.
While the Dullahan seemed confused, she followed Glenn more or less obediently without resistance.
Well…I wasn’t expecting this turn of events…
As Glenn pulled the Dullahan’s body along, he noticed she didn’t seem to have any thoughts of her own. But perhaps that was only natural without a head.
“Unbelievable! How could a reaper lose their own head…? I do not understand! The Underworld is really beyond our knowledge of the living!” Cottingley was hopping mad as he traveled down the streets of the Underworld with Glenn and the Dullahan.
“So even you don’t know everything about the Underworld, Mr. Cottingley?”
“It may be close to the Fairy Realm, but I have nothing to do with this place, after all. If I didn’t have orders to save you after the strange way in which you died, I would never have come here.”
“Thank you very much,” Glenn told him again.
“Don’t misunderstand. I am not a fan of this Dullahan’s scheme…and I also feel sorry for the newly engaged Lady Saphentite. If you were to die naturally, there would be no way I could help.”
“R-right.” Glenn thought about how he would arrive here someday. But it wasn’t his time yet. Regardless, he understood they couldn’t do anything unless they found the head of the Dullahan he was leading along.
“Mr. Cottingley, do you have an idea where to look?”
“Of course, I do not! How would I know where she dropped her head?!”
“Yeah…” Glenn looked back at the Dullahan he was leading.
She was still gripping her weapon, looking uneasy, while he pulled her along by the hand. He still saw no signs of anything resembling autonomous thought. She wouldn’t even answer his questions, so he had no idea where to look.
But her body is so stiff…
As he walked, holding that soft yet ice-cold hand, Glenn thought the body must be anxious and jumpy without its head. Cottingley flew ahead, his wings buzzing. Glenn didn’t think they would find the head by searching aimlessly, but he said nothing.
The Underworld was hot. But it only felt that way to Glenn because he was so cold. One’s sense of warmth was only relative, and he thought this air might actually be cold, too.
“Mr. Cottingley, are you hot?”
“What? Hey, don’t try to compare me to the dead like you. It’s on the verge of cold here.”
“I thought so…”
“You barely have any heat left in you. And once that temperature drops, you’ll be the same as a ghost. Be careful.”
Thankful for the advice, Glenn continued to ponder. He had even more questions now. Namely, why was the Dullahan’s hand even colder than his own?
“Hey…I just thought of something,” he said.
“What is it?”
“Maybe the Dullahan’s head fell into the canals.”
“What? Hmmm…go on, explain,” Cottingley directed pompously.
Glenn continued, “Since her hands are so cold, I thought she might be in a cold place.”
“Hmph.”
“The way she’s stiff and trembling reminds me of how a body responds to cold. At first, I thought the body was just frightened due to losing its head. But then I thought, maybe it’s because the head is in a cold place.”
“So, you thought of the canal—I see.” Cottingley nodded.
However, this theory was based on Glenn’s limited knowledge. The only place he could think of that would make her cold was the canals, but the Lindworm he was currently looking at was just something he’d constructed in his mind.
“These aren’t exactly the same as the waterways in Lindworm,” Cottingley continued, “but water is definitely flowing through them. According to various mythologies, there is a river in the Underworld that serves as its border. The reason is obvious—there is a river through which souls actually flow to the Underworld.”
“As I thought…”
“We can search at the water’s edge, but you need to be careful. This canal isn’t like the waterways of Lindworm. Think of it as a river that is even deeper than you could ever imagine.”
“Uh.” Glenn grimaced at the warning. If the Dullahan head was the same as a human head, it should have the buoyancy to float. He wanted to believe it wouldn’t be hard to find, but once again, those were the rules of the living world. He didn’t know if they applied in the Underworld.
“Be careful, then,” Cottingley instructed as he led the way into the canal.
“Right,” Glenn said, following.
The mist in the canal was thicker than on the road. The structure of the canal didn’t look very different from Lindworm’s, but the water was a bit cloudier, and he couldn’t see the bottom. Glenn shuddered at the thought that this was the river of the Underworld.
“Let’s go.” He braced himself and advanced along the river.