４．Ｔｈｕｒｓｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　２１，　２０１９

While the three were silent, 〈Captain〉 reappeared on the screen. Plastic bags containing lunch boxes hang from both hands. 〈Number 4〉 then returned the video to normal speed.
"Hey, I'm home." Pushing open the entrance door, 〈Captain〉 entered. 〈Number 4〉, sitting cross-legged on the floor, replies, "Welcome home." The other three entered the room one after another, also carrying a large number of bags. Every bag has the familiar restaurant or convenience store logo printed on it. There seemed to be no 'Pandora's box' there, the contents of which were not well known.

"It's roughly 7:00 pm here?" asked Maruta.
"Yes, I believe it was after 7:00."
Quickly observing the convenience store bags, Maruta confirmed that it matched the name of the store that provided the member's sighting. The name of the restaurant was also familiar. It had to be the restaurant where he and Kira had had lunch last week.

"Silva-san," 〈Kirvy〉 said to the room on the right. "We bought a hamburger and fried chickens for you."
〈Mont Blanc〉 reports the same. "I bought a lime soda. Can you drink it, Silva-san?"
There was no response from the room, and for a moment the entire house was silent.

"Is he sleeping?" 〈Shaggy〉 gave them a curious look.
"Is he inside?" 〈Captain〉 turned to 〈Number 4〉, who was editing.
"He's there. I've been here the whole time, and at least he didn't come out during that time."
Before 〈Number 4〉 could finish, stepping forward, 〈Captain〉 lightly tapped on the door to 〈Silva〉's room. "Silva-san, we bought you some food."
Still, no response was received.

"He's probably sleeping." 〈Captain〉 nodded his head and backed away. "Never mind, we'll eat first. He'll come out sooner or later."
"Silva-san, we are eating first." After 〈Kirvy〉 spoke loudly, sitting down in a circle in the center of the room, the five members began to eat dinner.

After the meal, the five left the empty containers untouched and continued chatting for a while. Despite the small, sealed room, 〈Shaggy〉 and 〈Kirvy〉 are puffing on cigarettes.
"Was it raining?" 〈Number 4〉 asked without specifying who in particular.
"It's not raining." 〈Shaggy〉 dropped the ashes into an aluminum container. "How was it over here, Number 4?"
"No, I don't hear any rain, but it would not be surprising if it were to suddenly start raining, I think."
"If it rains, it's gonna be a bummer." 〈Mont Blanc〉 said after hearing what they had to say.
"Sure, the weather in the mountains is changeable." As 〈Captain〉 said this, 〈Kirvy〉 pulled his smartphone out of his pocket.
"The weather forecast is at ....... No, we can't get a signal, so we don't know."

"I'm going to the restroom." 〈Number 4〉 stood up.
"Oh, and after that, I'll go too." 〈Kirvy〉 followed 〈Number 4〉's back with his eyes. "4, I'll be there afterwards, so don't stink up the place."
"That's impossible. It will stink no matter what I serve." Smiling, 〈Number 4〉 walked out of the room.

"Can I open the hallway window because it smells like smoke?" 〈Captain〉 also stood up.
"Wouldn't Silva-san be angry with us if you did that?" Saying this, 〈Kirvy〉 puts out his cigarette.
"No, no. I'll spray to kill mosquitoes." 〈Captain〉 walked through the door to the left, which had been left open, and then returned. In his hand he holds an insecticide spray.

"Silva-san, I'm going to open the hallway window for a moment." There was no response, and they all looked at each other, including 〈Captain〉, who called out to him. From this point on, the place began to gradually become a bit disconcerting.
"But still, too late, Silva-san." Returning, 〈Captain〉 began spraying frequently. Meanwhile, getting up, 〈Kirvy〉 lit a new cigarette.
"We're going over that 'No Trespassing' tag later, right?" In response to 〈Kirvy〉's words, 〈Shaggy〉 said, "What, are you freaking out?"
"That would freak me out. Such a creepy place. There's the ghosts of suicides in there."

Also standing up, 〈Shaggy〉 put his hand on the knob of one of the doors.
"Only this door doesn't open from the beginning.【Fig.4-①】" 〈Shaggy〉 turned the knob a couple of times, then gave up and sat down on the floor again.
"You're going already?" 〈Kirvy〉 asked, to which 〈Shaggy〉 responded by taking out a cigarette.
"No, not yet, but I thought if I opened it, I'd see the 'No Trespassing' tag."
"Don't do it. Don't mess around with that stuff." Just as 〈Captain〉 spoke sharply, 〈Number 4〉 returned.

His mouth spat out the first specific words that day to describe the strangeness of the site.
"My ring is missing." 〈Number 4〉's face is plastered with a greater sense of anxiety than the situation itself.
"Don't you have your ring?" asked 〈Captain〉.
"No. I left it in the restroom at the end earlier, so I just went to get it. But I can't find it."
"Maybe it's because it's dark." 〈Shaggy〉 points out.
"I've checked everywhere with my cell phone light, but it's not there."
"Did you really leave it in the restroom?" said 〈Captain〉.
"Yes. there was a small ledge above where the toilet paper hangs, so I definitely put it there earlier. But now I see it's gone."
"When?" 〈Kirvy〉 asks this time.
"About two hours ago. That is when Silva-san set the video camera there. I was just going to the restroom at that point."

Silence descended, sweeping away their previous joyful travel mood.
"Why don't we call Silva-san?" 〈Mont Blanc〉's face is stiff with tension.
"Silva-san?" 〈Captain〉 rushed to the door of the room on the right and rapped on it hard. "It's time to get up."
The atmosphere in the room was at once tense.

"Hey, Silva-san." 〈Captain〉 knocks repeatedly with his fist. "I know you are there. If you don't come out, we'll force it open from here."
"Even if it's a prank, isn't it too long?" 〈Shaggy〉 said with a straight face. 〈Kirvy〉 agreed. "I have no idea what's going on."

"Silva-san, what's wrong? Are you sick?" 〈Captain〉's last call to him was lost in vain. For the next ten minutes, the five wandered around the room, helpless.
"You all don't open the door very often." Maruta looks impatient.
"At the time," In reality, 〈Number 4〉 looks slightly frightened, just as he does in the video. "We still thought it was a prank by Silva-san. I thought he would come out of the room dressed as a ghost. I rather hoped it would be so. I think the other members thought the same way. So there was still a possibility that we could ruin the project, so we couldn't take any rash action."

"No, we can't." 〈Captain〉, who had apparently gone outside for a while, came back. "The window of his room is locked. The lights inside are off."
"Why don't you make a phone call?" Saying, 〈Mont Blanc〉 then immediately switched to a sullen expression. "No. It's useless. We can't get reception here."

"Okay, let's smash it." 〈Captain〉's words brought the five together in front of 〈Silva〉's room.
First, 〈Captain〉 slammed his shoulder into the door. The vibration caused the image to shake vertically.
"I'll do it." After 〈Kirvy〉 replaced him, he slammed his huge body against the door in the same manner. The four of them watched in silence. No one spoke lightly any longer.

"Did no one have a key to the door?" Maruta asks 〈Number 4〉.
"No one had it. The door was closed by turning a thumbturn from the inside. It could not be opened from the opposite side without a key. Probably the same is the door that Shaggy-san was messing around with earlier. Because all the doors inside looked the same."
Maruta made a complicated face, then looked at the screen again.

Meanwhile, 〈Kirvy〉's repeated body attacks eventually created a narrow gap between the door and the door frame. 〈Captain〉 then grabbed the door through the gap and pulled it with his full weight, finally opening it.
"Silva-san, what happened?" 〈Captain〉, who was the first to enter the room, shouted. Although the video did not allow for a detailed observation of the room to the right, it did confirm that the lights in the room were off, as he had reported beforehand. He crouched down in the room and repeatedly tapped 〈Silva〉, who was apparently lying on the floor, with his bare hand.

When four people tried to enter in succession, 〈Captain〉 stopped them with a stern tone.
"Don't go in. Oh no, he is unconscious." 〈Captain〉 paced back and forth, his footsteps echoing in the darkened room. Apparently, he is carefully inspecting the room. The backs of four people peering into the room through the doorframe indicated an unusual and urgent situation.

"Is he dead?" 〈Kirvy〉 says in a tearful voice.
"Silva-san," 〈Mont Blanc〉 said, his voice trembling, but there was no response from inside.
"Is there a fire outside the window?" When 〈Number 4〉 pointed toward the back of the room, all but the 〈Captain〉 turned their heads in that direction.
"Oh no, it's burning, it's burning!" 〈Shaggy〉, shouting, called 〈Captain〉, who was still in the room, back with a loud gesture.

The 〈Captain〉, who had just come running out of the room, said with a devil-may-care look on his face, "You guys, get out. Come on, come on!"
〈Number 4〉 immediately grabbed the camera, which muddied the images beyond recognition.
"Forget about that. Just get the hell out of here." 〈Captain〉's exclamations, the crackling of fire, and the sound of confused footsteps all flowed from the speakers in a haphazard fashion. Maruta reached for the laptop and turned down the volume of that sound, which was not appropriate for the occasion.

"I said earlier that," 〈Number 4〉 stopped the video at this point. "It was 'not grotesque,' but actually, there will be a little bit of a dead body in the images later on. What do you want to do, continue?"
Maruta and Kira nodded silently. The three of them were in stark contrast to the sounds of revelry coming from all parts of the pub.

〈Captain〉 and 〈Kirvy〉 are carrying a human body, completely drained of strength, against the backdrop of a house engulfed in flames. 〈Silva〉's neck, arms, and legs hang down from his torso as if they are about to fall off.

The subject of the video quickly moved from the body to the burning house. Through the open front door, they can already see the flames licking the room. Developing independently of the emotions of the panicked people, it seemed as if those were the will of hell that repelled all mercy.

"You guys," A glimpse of 〈Captain〉, panting with his hands on his knees, is glimpsed at the edge of the screen. "You two stay with him. I'm gonna go down to the city and call an ambulance. Does anyone have a cell phone?"
"I have it." 〈Captain〉 took it from 〈Kirvy〉 with one hand as if to snatch it away.
"Are we here to stay?" 〈Mont Blanc〉 is about to start crying.
"Hold it together," said 〈Captain〉. "Anyway, we'll be right back. Keep your eyes on him."
Maruta presses his ear to the speaker to make sure he doesn't miss a bit of audio. Since 〈Number 4〉 was simply holding the camera at this time, the drastically shifting images no longer made sense.

"Wake up, Wake up!" 〈Mont Blanc〉's voice is heard intermittently.
"At this time," Only Maruta's gaze turns to 〈Number 4〉. "Perhaps Mont Blanc-san is artificially breathing?"
"Yes, he did. Me and Mont Blanc remained there. For some reason, Kirvy and Shaggy followed Captain."

As Maruta moved away from the laptop and leaned against the wall, 〈Number 4〉 called him to a halt.
"Maruta-san, there is more to come. I especially want you to see this last scene."
Having been told to be attentive in the current case, Maruta could not think of any reason to refuse. Leaning forward again, he stared at the screen.

The fire, still unabated, was relentlessly searing the dark sky. 〈Silva〉's body seems to be lying on the side, but it was not captured on screen at this time.
"Here, look closely." 〈Number 4〉 pointed to the center of the screen with a tanned finger. "Do you see that something is shining small?"
Slightly above the burning and crumbling house, just in the woods at the back, where 'the ghosts of the suicides were coming,' Maruta saw a blue light flashing erratically.

"Indeed, something is glowing behind the house." As he said this, Maruta felt fear crawling up from under his feet. Kira also brings his face close to the screen. While the three of them were gazing into that one spot, the unidentified fire was blinking without revealing its law.

"Over there, something's glowing." 〈Number 4〉 said to 〈Mont Blanc〉, who was outside the frame.
The roof of the house, engulfed in fire, collapsed with a roar. From this point on, the images began to oscillate again, diminishing their value as evidentiary material.
"This place is bad! This is not normal!" 〈Mont Blanc〉's voice sounded distraught. Then there is the rough breathing and two footsteps running out onto the grass.