บท 185: The Department of Mysteries

Ryo Otake remembered everything from the incident that happened seven years ago. 

It was his first encounter with the supernatural. In the beginning, the police had assumed that it was just a plague or viral disease, or perhaps it was the work of a ruthless criminal. 

It was not until the end that they found out it was a Tsukumogami that was killing those people. 

The Tsukumogami had used its power to make people feel extraordinarily energized, so everyone in the village would start to expend their excess energy on manual labor. When people were working hard, and in high spirits, they would become the food of the Tsukumogami. In other words, the Tsukumogami fed on human vitality. 

As Ryo Otake described the appearance of the dead bodies in his deep voice, Rei Takamori felt inexplicable chills crawling up his spine. He could not help but ask, "Was the case solved in the end?"