*location is inside a Japanese style room of a traditional Japanese restaurant*
"Yo, Nakagawa-kun! It's been a long time. Have you been doing that recently? You know, that. Wahahahaha."
"No no, not at all anymore. People sure don't like getting old, don't you think?"
"You gotta concentrate when you do clays, if you put it off for too long, your senses gets dull, then there's no point!"
"Sir, allow me to introduce to you, Major Takano."
"Pleased to meet you. Thank you very much for offering me some of your time out of your busy schedule today."
"Ahh, it's not as if I made time just because of you or anything. They told me you get to eat some delicious raw uni (sea urchins) here, you see! Uni are great, you know? Rich in vitamin A, which is great for skins and stuff. Women love them, right? Uni! Wahahahahahaha!"
I'll admit that sea urchins are rich in vitamin A, but still, it's nothing to fuss about when you compare them to spinach.
......Well, none of that really matters, I guess.
...I just felt like criticizing since he's somewhat of an unpleasant man, that's all.
The men here today are the directors of the Alpha Project, who holds the fundings of Irie Institution.
Or perhaps people who can offer their opinions to those directors.
...Simply put, they're the new owners of Irie Institution.
......But, above that, although not as much as Grandpa Koizumi was, they are also the leaders and masterminds behind various fields.
I'll have to be careful to not act rudely in front of them....
Of course, there's no way someone like me would've had the ability to call them in.
We managed to create this chance by using the influence that the Koizumi faction once had.
Grandpa Koizumi, who used to lend me his full support to make everthing go my way, is no longer around.
......Starting from here, in a truer sense, I'm really going to have to open up the path on my own now.
However, today is not my solo stage.
Since I cannot cause the people who offered me this meeting to lose face, I can only accompany them in their drinking session and wait until I am given my chance to perform.
My biggest goal today is to explain to them just how impressive of a research topic the Hinamizawa Syndrome is, and to obtain an indefinite extension for the research.
Since these people don't look at anything except social connections, they're not understanding just how much potential the Hinamizawa Syndrome has.
They're not understanding just much research fundings is needed for this.
This research is not simply a study of the existence of an unknown parasite, it is something that might overthrow the very basic knowledges of human anthropology.
It's something that can't be signified enough even with a Nobel prize.
......It might be difficult to explain that to these uneducated people, but I have to do it.
For that purpose, I have spent a long time creating easy to understand support documents, so as to not confuse amateurs.
......Since we do not like contact with the ignorants, sometimes we would create confusing documents on purpose, but that's not the case this time.
Without looking down at them, I'll have to gain their understanding in a true sense, that's why.
Becuase of that, the documents that were made to be easy to understand has piled up quite high.
...To be honest, it's a really a waste to spend the time relaxing and picking away at traditional meals like this.
I want to hurry up and get to the main topic, so I can explain sincerely and carefully to them so that they can understand.
......But there's also a saying that goes "an anxious begger gets little".... I can only wait patiently for now.
"Yeah. To be honest, I don't think the Alphabet was all that geat up to this point. In the end, it's really nothing more than a sandbox play for those old men who still thinks we're in the Pacific War, you know. A sandbox where those old men uses connections that they don't own to draw the dream of a Japanese Empire revival. Can you imagine just how much public funds were wasted for these old geezers' delusions!?"
"From what I heard, they're pinning investigators on people like Okuno-sensei, and is trying to catch them for embezzling from the old board of directors."
"Wahahahahahaha. That's what you get for trying to suck up to those old men to get their juicy loots. Either way, none of this can be made public, so they'll probably be held responsible or demoted in another form... Really, this is the bill that Japan is paying for now for letting these ghosts of the war run around freely all these times! Man, the juice from this grilled uni is unbelievable! Uhahahahahaha!"
"This is hard for me to say.... I am really sorry to ask you for something like this in the middle of all this, but if I may have a moment of your time...."
"Um, you're from that Irie Instution, right? If I remember right, you people are doing some research on some local disease over at Nagano or Gifu or something, right? Uh, so what happened with that again?"
"The decision of the board is a halt in research for military application. Also, the entire research itself is to be shut down gradually over three years... Ah, sorry, that's still being decided right now. But still, either way, the research is scheduled to be closed down within a few years."
"Ahh, ahh! I remember now, I remember now! Irie Institution had a pretty bad reputation even with the old board of directors, I think. After all, it sucked up a huge amount of fundings without any form of checks. For some reason, someone high up kept on pushing for this project, you see. Due to that person's involvement, nobody could say anything in the end, and the whole thing was left alone....... But well! You know, that person loved flirting around with women, so maybe that had something to do with it, wahahahahahaha!"
Are you trying to say that I hooked up with Grandpa Koizumi using my body?
...That's the same as an insult towards us both.
......But I'll endure it. I can't it show on my face just because of something like this.
"......And so today, as we would like to explain about the research contents of the institution, in hope for a reconsideration of the board's decision, we have asked to have a moment of your time. We would like to thank you sincerely for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend this meeting today...."
"Well, I guess they don't give out uni for nothing! Wahahahahaha!"
While being careful to not rush, I explained to them just how much meaning the Hinamizawa Syndrome carries.
The fact that Hinamizawa Syndrome's potential is not limited only to small things like military application, but having a much much more important meaning.
...The fact that it may even provide an explanation for various ideologies and religions.
And the fact that it may even shake the very definition of a human being. Slowly, I explained them all.
Although I'm not confident that these boorish men could understand them all, as long as they can understand, then that's good enough.
...All they need to understand is how much of a magnificent discovery the Hinamizawa Syndrome is....
"Thank you, Major.................. Hmm, I see.......hmm."
"We would like to discuss about this for a bit, so may we ask the Major to leave the room for the moment?"
"...Yes. If you will excuse me then."
I guess it's obvious they can't discuss about it in front of the person concerned.
...I left all the documents with them. All I can do now is hope they would accept them in a good way.
I left the room and closed the sliding screen door....... There's a room next door used for preparations, so I'll be heading there.
But... my foot stopped....... It's really against normal manners, but I listened in on them from across the sliding door.
"Really... wahahahaha, now, how do I say this... I guess there's no other way to describe this other than saying I feel bad for everyone from the previous board of directors."
"...No, hahahaha. You see, Koizumi-sensei really pushed for this strongly, so...."
"I have met Koizumi-sensei once before when he was positioned as the founding director of XX pharmaceuticals, and he seemed like a very intelligent person to me back then too......Mmm~"
"I guess you just can't win against aging! It makes you realize just how important final moments are for humans."
"But you know. It's true that Hinamizawa Syndrome is a very rare disease, so it certainly doesn't mean that all of this is a delusion...."
"Isn't Irie Institution already succeeding in understanding the disease and producing a treatment? That's enough for me."
"For modern Japan, we must be careful with events that might agitate our neighbouring countries. Among them, the most sensitive ones are military related, don't you think? At the very least, we must immediately erase the fact that a research for military purposes has been commencing for these past few years."
"Is that seperate from the halt in military research?"
"That's right. Even if we stop the research immediately, the fact that Hinamizawa Syndrome is a research for the development of a biological weapon remains. No matter what purpose it was for, we must cover up the fact that Hinamizawa Syndrome was ever researched on..... If possible, it would be desirable if Hinamizawa Syndrome itself disappears."
"True. If we leave this disease behind, people who are interested will begin to appear eventually, there's no guarantee that someone won't show up and dig up the hole that we have finally filled up. Our best bet is to follow the decision of the previous board, and as soon as Irie Institution eradicates the disease, have them destroy all evidences of the research before disbanding."
"Hmm. So that's the conclusion we have reached after all. The problem is not whether this research is worthy of a Nobel prize or not, but the fact that it's a useless research for the post-war Japan."
"Besides, the disease has existed since the ancient times to begin with, and we have made it this far without any problems, right? Right from the beginning, I thought this research was poking around the bushes too much."
"I agree. I have no doubt that this disease called Hinamizawa Syndrome actually exists......But this, this discoverer named Takano is exaggerating the disease too much!"
"When I was reading the documents, I thought of him as someone with some pretty unique thinkings too. First of all, I have never heard of a parasite that would affect people's thoughts. No matter what, that's just too much."
"If we can explain religions with this, then the Buddha and Jesus Christ are all, what was it? They would all end up being Queen Carriers. If we reveal something like that to the world, we'll get bashed to hell by every nation in the world."
"Religion is quite scary nowadays, after all. Wahahaha."
"If there are parasite that live in animal brains, then I suppose it's not unreasonable to say that there are parasite that live in human brains too. But for them to control the thoughts and personality of their host, wahahahahaha! That's just a little too unique, if you ask me!"
.......Peeking in from the gap in the sliding door...... I'm trapped within an unbelievable sense of deja vu.
It should've been my first time experiencing this... yet it feels like this wasn't the first time.
I'm not really sure, but that memory is really sad, and painful......eh..............eh, eh? Why are..... tears.......
Before I realized it... the other side of the sliding door is no longer a tatami-floored dining room...... but a very very nolstalgic carpet room instead.
It became that room, where the smell of dust mixed with the smell of some evaporated medicine made for a weird odor, but released a very soothing air of comfort.
Over there............ is the grandfather that I have missed so much.
The article that he poured his heart into denounced... and unable to even show his tears, there's grandfather.
This is not an illusion.
......Because, within the documents that I left with those men today, there were a lot of references to the articles written by grandfather.
...So it wouldn't surprise me even if grandfather was standing right there, explaining it to those men himself.
...And together with my tears from seeing the nolstalgic sight of grandfather...... I also watched those men insulting and ridiculing his great work....
A sight that has occured once before.
And a sight that should've ended then....
Yet, for some reason, the same sight is repeating itself in front of me again....
I can only peek through the sliding door blankly at this strange world where reality and illusion overlaps.
"That Major is a little weird too, and Koizumi-sensei is weird too for believing something ridiculous like this... but I suppose the weirdest one is this thesis article written by the discoverer, isn't it?"
"It's mixed with expectations and delusions, this looks to me more like a fiction than a thesis. Speaking of which, I think this article will probably get accepted better if you just take it to some publisher somewhere and turned it into a book."
"True true! I have a friend who's the head of a publishing company. I bet he'll love reading this. Wahahahahahaha!"
"This is not a laughing matter, everyone. After all, a huge amount of funds have been lost to this absurd research over the past few years.... The worst of it all is the fact that equipments for gassing the villagers in the case of a hazard has been prepared. This is something that our citizens must not know about."
"It's scary enough that a plan like that exists, for the necessary equipments to actually be prepared, forget overseas, even people from within our country might turn against us! On top of that, the cost for maintaining these gas killing equipments is crazy...!"
"Isn't it obvious that it's not really the maintenance fee? It's probably just a fake project used to channel money through or something. Besides, what was it? A disease where the death of 1 girl will cause a whole village to go mad? What kind of comic are you talking about?"
"Exactly, exactly! To swallow this childish story whole and letting huge amounts of fundings to flow out, that just won't do! If there's anyone who actually believed this document, then they're simply idiots!"
While saying that, he made an exaggerated gesture and placed the documents down violently.
......Maybe it's more fitting to say that he slammed them down rather than placed.
Because the document papers did not get placed down neatly, but fell and scattered all over the floor instead.
"I know, wahahahahaha! Ah, excuse me, I'm going to the washroom!"
Saying that, the man stood up, and...... stepped on it with a crush.
It was not the documents on the tatami......... but grandfather's article on the carpet.
And there...... filled with heart-tearing sadness, is grandfather. And yet, unable to let it show on his face, there's grandfather.
Grandfather's expression didn't look any different.
......But... it looked crumpled to me. The walls of the study room used by grandfather crumpled itself sadly.
"...................!!!"
I flew into the room.
... And then, I grabbed onto the old gentleman's foot. It's not that I hate him,
well no, if you ask me whether I hate him or not then I'd say yes, but... that's not it, that's not it.
"Don't step on them...!! Don't step on them...!! Grandpa worked really hard to write them, so... don't step on them with your feet...!!"
"......whoa......uwa......excuse me............"
I wanted to get those feet away from the scattered papers, which are still being stepped on even now.
...But those feet are stiff, as if they have grown roots, and refused to back off simply from someone like me pulling on them.
That's why I clinged onto them, and pleaded.
I tried pulling the articles out from under his soles. But I can't get those feet to back off, and I can't pull the articles out....
"Don't step on them...... Don't step on theeeem....... Grandpa's, d...don't step on theeeeem........."
The room became completely silent, only the sound of my sobbing voice resonated throughout.... Just like back then....