Meanwhile, not far away, a strange-colored butterfly was fluttering through the skies above what had once been Kagekake Village. It had black wings with a bright, neon-pink pattern. This was the right eye of the girl who’d given Kakeru the embroidery kit in the first place.
“Hmm… Looks like some fun stuff is happening here,” the girl said.
She smiled wickedly as the butterfly showed her what was going on.
Her name was Nozome. She was a demon who thrived on human despair. It had been a year since she and her partner, Nieno, last visited this town.
“Once that boy I gave the Shadow Embroidery Kit to sees what he’s done, it won’t be long before he despairs. Let’s take a look…”
She opened her suitcase, took out a book with a plain black cover, and began flipping through the pages. It was a catalog full of magical items that only Inhumans were permitted to read. The index listed five regular products and one sample product. All the regular products had a symbol next to them—a crossed-through heart, just like the one on Nozome’s eye patch. But there was nothing next to the sixth item yet.
The symbols were called Despair Marks, and they indicated when a human using a product had fallen into despair. If Nozome could earn one for the embroidery kit, she’d have a full set of six. That would entitle her to a special reward—a perk. She’d get a wholly original item to help her fulfill her own desires.
“I always seem to mess up on the sample products, but I think I might actually pull it off this time!”
Her voice became livelier as she continued scanning the town so thoroughly infested with Shadowless.
Nozome’s fondest desire was to erase the fact that she’d once been a human. Ironically, her partner had been human once, too, but he’d lost his memory of that time. She was a little jealous of him for that.
Among the different kinds of Inhumans, demons were created from people who had never been wished happiness while they were human. Because of that, they’d become unable to wish for the happiness of others, too. In a sense, Nieno’s amnesia was actually a blessing. He was probably better off not knowing what had happened to make him an Inhuman.
But in spite of that, he seemed to want to recover those memories someday. It felt like a waste to Nozome. Whatever the story was, it was sure to be a tragedy.
“Ahhh… The air’s nice and fresh out here, huh? You really can’t beat the countryside in the summer.”
Nozome took a deep, deep breath, soaking in the dazzling sunlight and the warmth it brought.
“We haven’t got that final Despair Mark yet, so let’s take it easy and hang around a little longer. We can play in the river during the day, look at the stars at night, and… Okay, holding a festival with all the townsfolk in this condition is probably out of the question, but we can still have fun.”
She looked at her partner for confirmation. However, Nieno wasn’t listening. He had his back to her and was curled up trembling on the ground.
“I don’t…feel very well…,” he managed to choke out in a strained voice.
She had to take his word for it. Looking at his face wouldn’t tell her anything. Not because he was turned away or because his hat was pulled down low. It was because Nieno didn’t actually have a face. He just had the shadow of his decapitated head stitched onto his body with black threads. Even without being able to see any expression on his face, Nozome could tell he was suffering.
Come to think of it, he got like this when we arrived here last year, too.
That was why they’d had to leave town in such a hurry. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but now…
“Are you gonna be okay, Nieno? Should I use my door to take us someplace else so you can rest?”
“Y-yes, please… Thank you…”
Nieno picked up his briefcase and shakily got to his feet. Nozome crouched down in front of her suitcase. She opened the pair of double doors on the front, revealing an endless cave filled with innumerable shadowy hands. Helping Hands, they were called. They could take you anywhere you wanted to go, in this world or any other. They were a handy little extra that had come with the suitcase.
“All right, then… Pardon me for going first,” said Nieno.
He gave a brief bow and reached for the Helping Hands.
But just then, Nozome felt a strange, prickly sensation on the back of her neck. The very next moment…
“Whoa, what is that?!” she yelped.
“…!”
Suddenly, a huge mass of shadow was towering in front of them. Before they could do anything, it swallowed Nozome’s suitcase whole.
The two Inhumans took a step back. Nozome moved a little too quickly and fell to the ground.
“Oof… What is this thing? Since when did this town have something like that wandering around in it?”
Nozome gulped. Now that she’d gotten a better look, the thing that had eaten her suitcase was only one part of the creature. The rest of it was so ridiculously large that she had to crane her neck to look all the way up at it. Where had it been hiding this whole time? She hadn’t seen it anywhere during her butterfly’s trips around town.
Another segment of the giant shadow stretched out toward Nozome, biting into the shadow of her hand. She quickly shook it off, but it tore away half of her left hand’s shadow in the process. That part of her hand felt weird now, like it wasn’t a part of her anymore. The catalog she’d been holding fell to the ground with a thud.
This thing eats shadows? Is that why it snapped up my suitcase first? Did it think the Helping Hands looked like a tasty snack?
She glared at the shadow monster, a cold sweat starting to form on her brow. She didn’t really know what was going on, but she probably shouldn’t let any more of her shadow get eaten.
“Nieno… For now, I think we should—”
She turned to where her partner had been a moment ago, but Nieno wasn’t there anymore.
“Huh?”
Confused, she turned her neck to look behind her. Nieno was already a decent distance away, and still running. Apparently, he’d grabbed his bag and made his escape while Nozome was thinking things over.
“Urgh! Why, that little…!”
With a low growl, Nozome leaped to her feet. There was no time to pick up the catalog or try to get her suitcase back. She just ran as fast as she could.