"How's the situation?"
"When your father takes action, is there anything that can't be done?"
Looking at Misaki sleeping peacefully on the bed with a faint smile, Isaac put the gem back into his pocket.
"The bone pain caused by leukemia isn't the fatal cause. The real problem is the damage to her internal organs. What you did before was just emergency relief, easing her pain, not a real cure."
"I never learned alchemy to treat illnesses."
"Then why?"
"To cheat at cards."
"…You've got to be kidding me."
"You think it's a waste of talent?"
"No, I'm just surprised you'd use alchemy for something like cheating. You probably never won a single game against me, did you?" Isaac gave Rinji a very strange look.
"Damn it, don't remind me."
"You still need more practice. I can see you've got talent, but you're not working hard enough," Isaac said with a smile. "But that's better, at least compared to me, who had to study alchemy desperately for war."
"But in the end, I still walked your old path."
"That couldn't be helped."
After those words, Isaac looked again at the sleeping Misaki.
From the moment he entered the room, he had felt something strange around her. Not only her, ever since arriving in Yomiyoma, Isaac had already sensed several people carrying that same aura.
This small, remote town gave him an odd feeling from the start.
"Rinji, how long have you been in this town?"
"Just one night in the hospital with Misaki."
"Did you feel anything strange about the place?"
"Not at all," Rinji said. "If I had to describe it… maybe oppressive. The people here look normal enough, but there's this heavy, suffocating atmosphere."
Or rather, it was the Yomiyama of this era that felt oppressive. In his own time, the city gave off no such feeling. Twenty years later, Yomiyoma would be a highly modern, comfortable place to live.
"I feel about the same," Isaac muttered. "If I had to compare, the atmosphere is like those cursed little towns in early 20th-century Europe."
"What kind of comparison is that?"
"Just a thought. Maybe this town really does have some kind of curse."
"You actually believe in curses and that kind of pseudoscience?"
"I've seen too much. Gods, ghosts—I've met them all. Alchemy itself is just pseudoscience to ordinary people. But once you understand its principles, you see it's not so mysterious after all. If something exists, it has its reasons. Things science can't explain today will eventually be explained in time."
"…Dad, you don't think my coming back twenty years is because of this so-called town curse, do you?"
"Not necessarily."
Isaac raised a finger.
"Think of it this way. If you're designing a competitive game, would you add a character that breaks the balance?"
"Of course not. The game would be unplayable. Well, unless you count pay-to-win VIP characters, that's different," Rinji said matter-of-factly.
"Exactly. You're that kind of balance-breaking character, no matter where you go. Curses are aimed at ordinary people. They don't target people who are obviously impossible to handle. So your coming to this era probably has nothing to do with the town's curse. Besides, we don't even know if a curse really exists here."
"True, but it's worth investigating."
"I'll spend these two weeks here with you. We'll investigate together," Isaac said with a smile. "Think of it as an early father-son trip."
"That actually sounds fun." Rinji grinned too. Investigating a mysterious case with his father in his youth was dramatic in itself.
---
After a short stay at the hospital, Isaac left. He had originally only come to investigate the so-called hacker who had infiltrated the organization's satellite, not to remain in Yomiyama long. But since Rinji had shown up, he decided to stay for now.
He found an inn in town, booked himself a room, and also reserved one for Rinji.
Rinji stayed in the hospital. Maybe once Misaki woke up, he could ask her about strange things happening in the city.
But Misaki slept deeply, showing no sign of waking any time soon.
Before she woke, another girl arrived—the eyepatch-wearing Misaki Mei.
"So it's you."
Seeing Rinji, Mei politely bowed, then placed the flowers she brought at Misaki's bedside.
"Hello, Misaki-san."
"Thank you very much for staying with her."
For once, Mei showed a faint smile as she looked at Misaki's sleeping face.
"Because you came, the 'color' around her is fading."
"What color?"
"Nothing."
"You chuunibyou girls are really good at acting mysterious."
Rinji laughed it off, not pushing. But since Mei was here, he had something to ask her.
"Misaki-san, can I ask you a few questions?"
"Please do."
"Lately, has anything strange been happening in Yomiyoma?"
"Strange?"
"Yes, like… curses, for example."
Rinji scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He wasn't used to saying words like that.
"You know about your sister's situation. First, she almost fell from the Ferris wheel. Then last night, hospitalized with leukemia, she suddenly developed complications. Even if you say those were coincidences, this morning she had another life-threatening complication. It's like the Grim Reaper suddenly decided to work overtime."
Mei's expression flickered for just a moment before returning to calm.
"So… it's begun."
"Huh?"
"This ties into a legend at our school. Do you want to hear it?"
"If you're willing to tell me."
"Yes."
Mei's lips parted, her voice quiet but steady.
"It's about a story passed down in Yomiyama North Middle School, Class 3-3, from twenty-six years ago to this day. A ghost story. A curse."