夏のスペシャル ２０２５年度 夏の怖い話 その８ (Part1)
Side: Yuki
"Phew. It feels good to be in the air conditioning."
"It really does. Though, I suppose it’s chilling in a different sense. It’s not like the actual temperature is low, though."
We returned to the house we’re using as a safe house to take a break while chatting about such things. We decided to take a breather to check on the mental state of Ryushi, Orelia, and Prof after they saw that ghost—or rather, to help them recover. From where I’m sitting, none of them seem to have taken too much of a psychological hit. They’re currently snacking on some light refreshments and chatting away. Sweet things are good for the soul. Well, except for Alfin’s cakes; those tend to shave years off your life.
*Clink.*
As I was thinking that, the glass of water with ice in it chimed.
"Oops, better stay hydrated."
"Right. It would be a disaster if we collapsed."
We both took our glasses and drained them in one go, then refilled them from the plastic bottle.
"So, we’ve filled four out of the six slots on the stamp rally card."
I placed the stamp sheet a little further away so it wouldn’t get wet from the condensation on my glass.
"We’ve filled more than half of the required spots, but there’s no discernible pattern to the stamps themselves."
"They’re just local mascots striking different poses, aren't they? Plus, there are just these house numbers."
"Numbers, huh? You’d think they’d be a hint, but... well, no use dwelling on it now. Still, you’d think completing the rally would reveal something, but the sheer number of them is..."
"I know, right? Why are there twenty-four?"
That’s the thing. The houses we’re supposed to visit—the ones suitable for inspection—aren't limited to just six. There are twenty-four of them scattered about. We’d just stopped at four at random, but if we only needed six, that should have been enough. Yet, there are twenty-four.
"Though, if we assume we need to collect different types of stamps separately to escape, twenty-four would cover four people."
"I suppose that makes sense if you think of one sheet as being for two people."
"Yeah, that would be eight people. But they would have told us that from the start, right?"
"True. That would be awfully unkind, and besides, we’d run out of stamp sheets."
We’ve already filled eight of the ten sheets we have, just in case we lose them. If we can’t replenish them, clearing the game becomes impossible. I doubt the game would be that unreasonable. If it were, we’d just go ahead and smash the game to pieces. We know each other well enough to know that much.
"Is there a way to restock? The prize exchange for the stamp rally is at the town hall branch, after all."
"What even is a 'town hall branch,' anyway?"
"It’s probably like... you know, a tourist information center?"
"Ah, I’ve heard the name, at least."
"In famous tourist spots, they set up information centers outside of the main town hall. Though, this pseudo-town doesn't seem to have any tourist attractions..."
"…Or so it seems."
Taiki-kun and I reached the same conclusion.
"It seems like there might be something there, despite the appearance. That might also explain the twenty-four locations."
"I think you're right. In that case, should we stop visiting the houses for now?"
"Yeah. We’ve got the newspaper, so we might as well take a break and gather information here. We also need to check the footage of the apparition Ryushi and the others saw, and then head to the town hall branch."
"Right, the footage... I’d forgotten about that."
Taiki-kun’s face twisted into an expression of pure distaste. I get it. No matter how used to this other world we’ve become, we don't exactly enjoy watching splatter films, and we haven't exactly become experts at handling spiritual horror. It’s natural to feel a sense of rejection toward watching something like that.
"We won't be affected by watching the footage, will we?"
"Hard to say, but I doubt it’s anything lethal. Besides, if it tries to attack us, we can assume we’re allowed to use force."
"Ah, I see. In that sense, I suppose that’s a relief."
"Exactly. If they’re the ones making the first move, it’s fair game."
It’s a bit of a stretch in logic, but if we don't take that stance, Luna will just get carried away. Plus, there’s the hope that checking the apparition Prof and the others saw might provide a hint.
"So, where should we start gathering information?"
"The newspaper first. Remember, it had details about the incident at the inn last time."
"Oh, right. Though it didn't really contribute to our escape."
"That’s because Hairen ruined the mystery-solving. And we just beat the apparition to a pulp with Taizo-san in the lead."
"That was quite the spectacle."
Yeah, Taizo-san’s Satsuma Jigen-ryu—or rather, his 'always-on-the-battlefield' mindset—led him to treat a chair leg like a sword and swing it with everything he had. The enemy, the apparition, took the 'Chest' strike head-on and looked like it was in genuine pain.
While chatting about that, I unfolded the newspaper we’d scavenged from the abandoned house. I’d made sure to brush the dust off at the entrance, so it was fine. If there was any dirt left, we could just wipe it off later.
"…The date is 2009."
"A bit ambiguous. Still, it’s definitely from recent years. Not as far back as Taizo-san’s era."
"Come to think of it, the TV and such were surprisingly new. It’s a flat-screen, too."
"True. Not a CRT."
Taiki-kun and I looked over at the flat-screen TV in the room, realizing it only now. In a way, that’s proof of the era. As I was thinking that, Taiki-kun suddenly spoke up.
"Yuki-san. Do you think the TV will turn on?"
"The power should work, right?"
I mean, there’s the question of where the electricity is coming from, but the lights in this house work, and the refrigerator and air conditioner are running just fine.
"No, I don't mean the power. I mean the channels."
"Huh? No, surely there wouldn't be a signal..."
"..."
I couldn't deny it entirely. We hadn't been in an environment with a TV until now. We’d had radios play unnaturally, so it wouldn't be strange if the TV worked, too.
"Shall we check? We’ve got time."
"Yeah. Let’s see, where’s the remote..."
Fortunately, the remote was on the table. We decided to try turning on the TV before looking at the newspaper. It started with a burst of static, and the sound of white noise filled the room.
"Eh? What is this?"
Ryushi and the others, who had been resting on the sofa in the living room, looked at the TV in surprise.
"Ah, sorry. I thought it might work, so I turned it on, but it’s not picking anything up. Just snow and static."
"Wait a second. Static is from the analog broadcast era, right? Was 2009 even analog? And isn't it weird for a flat-screen to be picking up analog static?"