That night. The priest, who is the head of the Furude family, said there's a family meeting, and called his wife and Rika into the room.
It is Hinamizawa's tradition for the gosanke to gather and discuss about the village's issues.
In addition to that, it's not uncommon for big families like the Sonozaki or Kimiyoshi family to hold relative or family meetings beforehand, in order to sort out opinions among themselves first.
......However, the Furude family has lost all of its family branches, with only a family of 3 left in the main family now.
That's why, up until now, they have never held anything like a family meeting.
"What's the matter? All formal like this...... Is this about the dam?"
The most important problem facing the village right now is the dam problem.
The priest's wife believed that the talk that the priest is about to start right now must be related to that.
...And since he called the whole family together just to say it, there must be a significant decision within it for sure.
......For example, they're going to join the retreatists or something like that. That's the kind of talk the priest's wife was expecting.
"......No, it's not about the dam............ But it's a very, very serious problem that concerns this whole village, no, it concerns even the ancestors of this village too."
The Furude family has served in priesthood and worshipped the village's protector god, Oyashirosama, for generations.
...If the head of this family is making a statement like this, then there is no doubt that it must be a very serious issue.
And yet, if it's not about the dam, just what can it be....?
"...I was married into this family. That's why I want you and Rika, who carry the true bloods of the Furude family, to listen very carefully............... The two of you are not normal human beings."
"......I'm the reincarnation of Oyashirosama, right?"
"Rika, you mustn't say that out loud! ...Honey, let's talk about this later when Rika's not around. It's enough to have the elders from the village hall planting weird ideas into Rika,"
"About that, talk of Rika being the reincarnation of Oyashirosama...... It appears to be true after all."
"Haa...?!"
"......It's going to be a long story. The two of you be quiet for a while and listen to what I have to say."
No idea what the talk is going to be about, a dumbfounded expression appeared on the wife's face. However, Rika was completely calm with her usual carefree expression.
The priest waited until his wife regained calmness, and began to talk....
"There is a type of sickness in this village that has been here since a long time ago...... It's a special kind of sickness that only exists in this area, a local disease, you can say... And everyone who lives in this village has caught it. Not just the people living in this village right now, our ancestors who has lived here in the past, all of them have been living with this sickness all these times as well."
"No way.... But we're all living normally like this, aren't we? A sickness only for this village, I have never heard of anything like that...!"
"Calm down....... This sickness, you see, doesn't cause any problems as long as you're inside this village. However, if you leave this village and go somewhere far away, it'll act out.... Do you understand?"
"H... how do you expect me to understand? I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"......It's the same as Oyashirosama's Curse."
Completely opposite of the flustered wife, Rika said in a calm voice.
"That's right. It's the same thing as the curse that'll befall upon you if you leave this village....... In other words, the Oyashirosama's Curse that our ancestors have feared throughout all these generations is caused by a local disease that exists only within this village."
"That's impossible. Because, we have left the village on occasions ourselves too, haven't we? Same for the other villagers too. There are people who went far way for work, there are even people who went overseas!"
"Yeah. Apparantly, that's because the sickness has gradually weakened over a long period of time. That's why, if we give it even more time, it'll eventually disappear altogether...... However, it seems that this process has been messed up due to the dam war....... Everyone knows that the village is in an excited state right now due to the dam war, almost like having a fever, right? It seems that this state of excitement and emotional instability is making the sickness worse."
"I'm not... really sure what you're saying but... you're suggesting that all the things that were referred to as curses throughout all these times.... are the works of that disease?"
"That's right. All of Oyashirosama's decisions were decisions made to protect the villagers from this sickness."
"......No way...! Then you're saying that Oyashirosama's true identity is not a god... but a disease instead!? Impossible!! How can we explain that to the ancestors of the Furude family!?"
"Calm down. The faith of Oyashirosama isn't going to change. That fact that Oyashirosama is watching over Hinamizawa remains the same....... It's just that a disease that can replicate Oyashirosama's Curse has existed in this village for a long time, that's all."
"I can't accept that!! How can we explain something like that to our ancestors who have passed away?! This is a desecration of Furude family's hundreds of years of tradition, no, it's a desecration of Oyashirosama!! Who planted an idea like this into you? This is completely unacceptable!! First of all, is there even proof that says such a weird sickness actually exists!?"
"............There is!"
"And what kind of proof is that? From who!?"
"It's from someone belonging to the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Infectious Disease Prevention. The pathogen has already been identified, and they're in the middle of researching for a treatment method right now.... Last week, I got to see the documents and samples in person. The person from the Ministry of Health seems to be referring to this disease as the Hinamizawa Syndrome."
".........I don't believe it......!!"
"It appears that the Hinamizawa Syndrome is completely harmless as long as you live you life normally. However, if you move far away from Hinamizawa, it can become easy for the disease to break out if you ever become mentally or emotionally unstable. When the disease acts out, you can become possessed by your own delusions. At worst, it's even possible for you to go mad...... They say that this disease was discovered during the war. They say that a great scholar noticed that an abnormal disease occured only in soldiers who came from Hinamizawa, and has been researching it throughout all these years....... They went into details about the research but, ...Sorry, the contents were really difficult to understand so I can't explain any better than this. If you don't believe what I'm saying, you can go and ask them yourself too....... Because in the beginning, I thought they were being ridiculous and trying to desecrate Oyashirosama too, just like you."
".........................."
"They say that the Irie Medical Clinic was created to research this sickness. On the surface, that place is just a clinic, but apparantly it's really a secret research lab built to study the disease."
"Researching in secret, doesn't that sound ridiculous!? If it's something done by the Ministry of Health, why don't they just do it out in the open!?"
"No, it seems that won't do. For example, think about leprosy patients in the past who have been misunderstood and forced into seperation, and how they are still being misunderstood and discriminated even now.... If all of Japan finds out that everyone from Hinamizawa has contracted a weird disease and can go mad at any moment, it'll be chaos, right? The Ministry of Health has taken that into consideration, and is aiming to develop a treatment while keeping this disease under tight lids.
Don't get me wrong, they're not putting us on display or anything. They're trying to eliminate this disease and free this village from the sickness....... It's a different story if this was the past, where we could feed and support outselves. But nowadays you can't make a living without leaving the village. If there's a disease that can be triggered simply by leaving the village, then you realize just how dangerous that will be for the villagers, right?....... I'm repeating myself now, but the recent anti-dam conflicts has put the village itself into a very excited state, which is a very bad state for Hinamizawa Syndrome."
"......If the villagers go crazy and do something terrible, then there will be lots of media here with a splash splash."
"That's right. If something like that happens, it'll be too late."
"............I don't believe it.... I can't believe it even if you tell me all of this right now.... Are they really from the government? Are you sure you're not being tricked by some weird fraud?"
"I don't blame you for not being able to trust me....... The research lab said earlier that we can go take a look anytime we want. I already had a look, and those aren't the level of a fraud...... Even the big hospital at Kokura doen't have such large-scale equipments......... If you can't believe what I said, you should go to the research lab and ask for the details. They can probably explain this better than I can. They also said that if you still can't believe it even with the research lab's explanation, they can explain it to you at the National Research Instutute at Tokyo, or even at the Ministry of Health's central office."
".............................But, besides me believing it or not... what does any of this have to do with us?"
"The Furude family is said to have inherited the blood of Oyashirosama. And they say that if a girl was born for eight continuous generations, then that eighth generation girl would be the reincarnation of Oyashirosama."
"......Mii"
"That's right. I'm the seventh generation. Rika is the eighth generation. But what does that have to do with the disease?"
"Yeah......... This disease called Hinamizawa Syndrome is apparantly caused by a type of parasite. Although we call them parasites, they're incredibly small, so small you can't see them with the naked eye....... And they say that a leader position exist among these parasites."
"It... it can't be, are you saying that it's the Furude family!?"
"It appears that these leader parasites are inherited throug generations only by people with a direct bloodline to the Furude family. In other words... the previous generation is you, and right now, it's Rika."
"......Mii"
"R, ridiculous!! This is crazy talk after all, don't you think?! First of all, why is it something so disgusting like parasites!?"
"Like I said, calm down!! I'm not good at explaining things. Listen to what the experts have to say. In any case, according to them, in order to research for a treatment of this disease, studies into the leader position is required."
"I don't want to!! I have absolutely no intention to participate in such a weird research, and I won't let Rika get involved in this either!!"
"I'm telling you to calm down!! According to their research, it's the seperation from the leader position, not the village, that causes the Hinamizawa Syndrome to act out....... When you were little, there were times where you were told that you have divine powers, right? Elders who went on long trips and got migrains would have their headaches disappear immediately after they came to you for cleansing, that kind of divine power. That's the proof of the leader position right there. Furude's blood has the power to save the people who have acted outl. And that's why they say it's so important to study into it in order to discover a treatment."
"......If they study me, can everyone in the village be saved?"
"That what they're saying."
"......Does everyone have this sickness? Me too? Everyone else too? Satoko too?"
"...Yeah. Not just everyone who lives in this village, people like our relatives who live in Okinomiya are includeed too. The number of infected people are probably in the thousands. It's because this is such a serious disease that the ministry spent all those money to build a specialized research lab."
"I, I object! How can you turn Rika into a sacrifice for such a suspicious research!?"
"......I'm okay with that. If Satoko can be saved with me becoming the sacrifice, then I'm all fine with it."
"Rika, you be quiet!! In any case, I absolutely refuse! I'm going to go see the people who planted such strange ideas into you, and refuse them directly myself. I won't let Rika get killed for some bizzare experiment!! Besides, Rika is the lone-decendant of the Furude family, remember?! If something were to happen to her, Furude family's blood will end up dying here, you know!? And you too, you have to think more about the Furude's position too!! This is why people in the village call you a pacifist...!! After all, don't you think this is weird!? The Ministry of Constructions is trying to sink the village under a dam. And the Ministry of Health is trying to cure a disease. I don't get what's going on anymore!!"
"The Ministry of Health has warned that a change in environment can cause the disease to break out very easily, and they're trying to get the Ministry of Construction to halt the dam project right now... Like I said, you should get them to show you their research lab too. There's no way they would build such a huge facility in a land that could be sunk under a lake."
"......Kuaaaaaa...."
Rika makes a big yawn.
For a little girl like Rika, it must be far beyond her bedtime now.
"......I will go to sleep now...... Daddy, please tell those people that I'm willing to help out anytime."
"R, rika!! You can't make a decision like that on your own without my permission!!! Rika! Wait, Rika!!!"