Campione 03

by Tale of the Beginning

  “Curse... If it were a detective story, then there must be some sort of shocking trick right?”

  Godou did not dislike the detective story genre, but his grandfather simply shook his head and laughed wryly.

  “Too bad, there was no trick revealed. It was just by luck that we were there on our trip. We were all in a great panic. The only calm person was Lucretia Zola. She went out that night, only coming back in the morning exhausted. When she returned, she made a 'prophecy,' that from that day onwards, nobody would die like that again. Everything was resolved.”

  Such an unbelievable story. It all seemed like a lie.

  But the grandfather did not appear to be joking. Takamatsu-sensei also had a serious face.

  “Seems like an amazing person... By the way, why did she come here to study?”

  His interest piqued, Godou could not help inquiring further.

  “It was to study Japan’s ancient legends—especially legends about Yamato Takeru[4]. Actually, she was more knowledgeable about such myths and stories on legendary swords than us. Before coming to Japan, she had been researching the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table at a London university.”

  “This doesn't make sense, why would she deliberately leave a university in London to come to Japan?”

  “Who knows, if you asked Lucretia Zola personally, all she did was smile and say she had her reasons.”

  “That means many things happened between grandfather and this woman.”

  Back when grandfather was a graduate student, he was only engaged to grandmother and they had not married yet. That grandmother subsequently forbid grandfather to see Lucretia Zola-san, which is why Takamatsu-sensei was now showing such a pained expression.

  With this, Godou finally understood the whole story.

  “Many things? Please do not speak so ill of me. We were just friends with mutual respect who just happened to have opposite genders. Chiyo and Takamatsu really shouldn't have had such strange misunderstandings.”

  Such an honest sounding answer, it definitely cannot be trusted. Godou let out a sigh.

  ...Recalling the deceased grandmother's oft repeated words:

  'Godou, you must never become like your grandfather. Though he is an amazing person, he had a fatal flaw from the very beginning... Ever since you were very young, Grandma has always worried about you since you resemble your grandfather so much. Even though he usually seems like a decent man, he is noted to do things lacking in common sense sometimes... Oh dear, I am so worried.'

  How could she say such things to Godou who had not matured yet?

  The cause of grandmother's worries, was the womanizing husband who stayed with her throughout all these years, and definitely not Godou’s own actions. Godou thought to himself as he stared straight into his grandfather's eyes and spoke.

  “Hey, grandpa, before I talk about other problems, isn’t this a promise you have made with grandma? Why not just give it up. Please cancel the trip to Italy.”

  “That, I cannot do. Even if it is very unfair to Chiyo, a promise with an old friend is also very important. I’ve already promised her that I will personally bring the item to her.”

  A promise to a friend.

  If that was the case, Godou had no rebuttal.

  Despite being such a Casanova, grandfather had never betrayed the trust of his family. This too was one of the reasons why his male friends admired him. Whether male or female, Kusanagi Ichirou will never act unjustly towards a friend. The moment he hears that a friend requires aid, he will immediately rush over to help, even if it is outside of Japan. He possessed a chivalrous heart.

  A person who valued relationships above all else.

  Godou respected and admired this aspect of his grandfather's character, and wished to become such a person himself as well if possible.

  “...That woman's possession, what is it? You just described it as something precious.”

  “About that, in the village where the curse incident happened, didn’t she leave something behind? ...That night, Lucretia Zola had visited a shrine which was burned down by disrespectful locals, presented this item as an offering. After that, the curse stopped... Perhaps the curse and the witch are real after all?”

  Facing Takamatsu-sensei’s inquiry, grandfather left his seat and quickly came back.

  Carrying a flat object wrapped in a purple cloth.

  And then he placed it on the table and unwrapped it.

  A B5 sized stone tablet, on it was a childish drawing. It should be a picture of a man with both his hands and feet locked up, distributed on the edges of this drawing were drawings of a bird with its wings spread out, the sun, moon and stars.

  The tablet was well-worn in appearance and even had signs of being burnt.

  “...A lithograph, could this be very ancient?”

  Godou gave his honest opinion.

  A carving left behind by primitive peoples of some place. If that's the case, it made sense.

  "Probably not. For it to be an artifact unearthed from some archaeological site, its condition is too good... Though you can't rule out the possibility it is the work of some avant-garde artist."

  Looking at the stone tablet with interest, grandfather answered.

  “Ichirou, how did this thing come into your possession?”

  “Actually that village was vacated more than ten years ago. The person who managed the shrine was troubled over how to handle the stone tablet. They had no idea how to locate the owner but was able to recall the face of one of the accompanying students, and that student turned out to be me. Through various twists and turns, they were finally able to get in touch with me.”

  “After that, grandpa decided to go meet that person.”

  This perfect coincidence made Godou's heart stir with feeling.

  As a scholar in folkloristics, Kusanagi Ichirou had publications, thus his name was recorded in the university where he worked at the time. By getting in touch with the university, they were able to find grandfather's contact information. If grandfather had been an ordinary person in an unassuming occupation, most likely they would not have found him.

  In fact, it took a lot for them to find each other again.

  Godou could understand the feelings of grandfather who wished to return the stone tablet to the original owner.

  However, he could not let him break the promise with grandmother like that.

  After some consideration, Godou made his decision, the tablet will be delivered some other way.

  "OK, I get it — I will take this stone tablet to Italy. This way, grandfather can keep his promise properly."

  Seeing Godou make such a proposal, his grandfather showed great interest in his eyes, while Takamatsu-sensei looked very worried.

  "Godou, are you serious? Do you know any Italian?"

  "Nope, none at all. But things will work out somehow, no problem."

  Godou already had several experiences of being taken overseas by grandfather.

  The places visited were mostly Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam or Thailand. Getting separated from grandfather then meeting up several days later had also happened. Every time it occurred, Godou had to spend over half a day alone with no money and the difficulties of a language barrier. In severe cases, he had to wait for several days.

  Having experienced such situations numerous times, Godou actually became used to it.

  Language barriers could be handled by body language. This proved to work surprisingly well for communicating even though complicated meanings could not be expressed, but it brought him close to others.

  Other Japanese would probably freeze if they met a foreigner in the streets and had to converse in English. In such situations, Godou would appropriately make use of however much English he knew to establish a fragmented dialogue.

  ...By the way, the younger sister Shizuka had also gone travelling overseas with grandfather a few times.

  But she never met the things that happened to her br
other, making Godou suspect if his grandfather deliberately set him up to train his grandson.

  "Hoho, Godou wants to go in my stead... Can I really entrust this to you with confidence?"

  A teasing smile appeared on the grandfather's face.

  "That's right, a man keeps his word. It's currently spring break, so I'm bored to death anyway."

  "The place Lucretia resides, though considered Italy, is actually an island in the Mediterranean—Sardinia, and is located deep in the countryside of the island's interior. I think you will have it rough."

  As he watched his grandson's declaration, the nature of the grandfather's smile changed.

  It gave off a feeling of praise but at the same time like playing a joke. It was a smile mixed with complicated emotions, a very joyful smile.

  "I understand, then I will leave everything to you. Handle it well."

  Picking up the stone tablet from the table, he placed it in Godou's hands.

  Part 2

  On the south side of Italy, a vacation island floated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

  This was Sardinia, an island about the same size as Shikoku[5], its population was roughly one and a half million of which over half was concentrated in the largest city there, Cagliari.

  Enclosed by crystal clear seawater, the surrounding natural environment was also very beautiful.

  The biggest industry on the island was tourism. Every summer, it was crowded with tourists whose purpose was to vacation in Europe. Particularly on the northeastern side, the sea shore as beautiful as an emerald was renowned as a vacation spot exclusive to the upper class nobility.

  However, Godou kept his plans to come here a secret from his younger sister.

  "What is going on... Onii-chan. You suddenly tell me you're going travelling. Could you have forgotten your promise to me? You're the worst."

  Thanks to his grandfather, Godou suffered severe scolding from his sister.

  All because of the grandfather's suggestion.

  'You can tell the truth, but I don't recommend it, Godou. If Shizuka knew you were going to a prime vacation spot in southern Italy, what would she think?'

  'She would want to go, or rather, she will insist in tagging along?'

  'Exactly. But even though it's Europe, travelling in those countryside places can be very troublesome. The most prosperous streets of the city would be fine, but that place is even more deserted than this shopping street in Nezu... So, I will ask you a question, travel casually alone in the countryside or bring a troublesome sister and devote your efforts to taking care of her, which will you pick?'

  'Of course alone.'

  He had replied without thinking.

  In the end, an excuse was made to cover things up. Shizuka was told he was going to an acquaintance's Zen monastery, to work odd jobs for a week.

  But for some reason, Shizuka scolded him with exceptional fury.

  While Godou was preparing his luggage in his room on the second floor at home, Shizuka suddenly burst in.

  "There's no helping it, mother ordered me to go there in her stead."

  "Mother's orders? ...Then it can't be helped, she must have thought it was too troublesome and pushed it onto Onii-chan, that's so willful of her."

  "...Yes, your willful character is probably inherited from mother as well—ouch."

  "What a rude thing to say! I don't have that kind of personality like a queen!"

  Clearly he was already off the hook by blaming his mother's interference, but Godou made an unnecessary comment.

  Stepped on by Shizuka, Godou knew he had to be more careful with his words.

  By the way, the monastery he was supposedly visiting was located deep in the mountains of Chichibu. Apparently there was once an ancestor of the Kusanagi family who was an abbot there, but he continued his life of indulgence despite monastic vows.

  The monastery still maintained the tradition of drawing water from a well to use for cooking.

  But at the same time, it was equipped with an industrial scale refrigerator that one would find in a winemaking business, which was stocked full of alcohol purchased from the liquor store at the foot of the mountain. Furthermore, they eschewed alcohol euphemisms like 'soup of wisdom'[6] and openly ate meat and drank alcohol.

  All past abbots have been strange characters, and every single one of them was an intimate friend of the Kusanagi family.

  As a side note, Grandfather Ichirou once trained there, but ended up committing all sorts of travesties, culminating in an immoral relationship with the widow of a rice shop, leaving him no choice but to flee to Shanghai. Despite dating back to the Taishou era[7], these kinds of philandering exploits continued to be the talk of the monastery whenever Godou visited.

  ...Due to that kind of environment, little sister Shizuka stayed far away from that place unless obliged to take part in Buddhist rites.

  Which was why it made for a viable excuse.

  Thanks to grandfather's explanations, Godou was able to reach an understanding with his mother without paying any price. Normally, this would require being at her service for three hours or more.

  Everything was ready.

  But Shizuka was unhappily glaring at Godou—why?

  "But didn't Onii-chan promise me beforehand? Couldn't you have thought up a way to refuse? So dense and slow, damn it! You're the worst!"

  "P-Promise? That thing earlier counted as a promise?"

  Godou was greatly surprised.

  He suddenly recalled Shizuka's words a few days before the school closing ceremony.

  'Onii-chan, are you free for spring break? You must be very free for sure, without club activities or a girlfriend. Yes, it is decided you are free! So listen carefully, I happen to have a free slot in my spring break, so I plan on sharing this precious time with you, Onii-chan. First accompany me to go clothing shopping. Next there's a new coffee shop opened in Ni-choume[8], we should go there. Next is...'

  Just like that, his sister forced her plans on him.

  If he was actually free, he didn't mind spending time with his sister.

  At the time he had paid little attention as he listened, so it didn't register.

  "Didn't you say something like 'as long as I'm free'? To think you'd rather run off to a monastery instead of putting effort into squeezing time out for your cute little sister... Onii-chan, you have failed as a brother!"

  "How could one fail as a brother so easily?! Besides, who goes around calling themselves cute?!"

  Godou at least tried to tell her off.

  He did wish his sister could act a little more lady-like.

  But from an objective standpoint, it was undeniable that Shizuka was the cute type, because she greatly resembled the beautiful mother who was renowned for her looks.

  ...As a side note, the mother's skill with makeup had already entered the territory of gods.

  Definitely in the realm of godly skills, to that Godou offered his utmost respect.

  "After all, I can't possibly spend the whole spring break there. Why don't I accompany you to go out when I return home, is that ok?"

  "Clearly you forgot the promise, and now you're trying to weasel out of it? It's not simply 'accompany you', but I am going out for the sake of accompanying Onii-chan, don't get it wrong!"

  Sigh, this sister was making decisions on her own again.

  But having known her for so long, I had grown accustomed to such willfulness.

  Godou laughed wryly as he reminded himself not to speak without thinking.

  "Ah, right, do you still remember Yui? My friend, the one who was relatively short."

  "Yui? Yui... Is that the girl who used to come and play all the time? Now that it's mentioned, she did come to cheer for me at the competition once... Yes, I didn't forget."

  Faced with the name that suddenly appeared, Godou felt greatly troubled.

  Though the child with that name often followed behind Shizuka, Godou had little impression of her.

  "Onii-chan
, the way you are, it's not surprising you completely forgot her."

  "I didn't completely forget, there are still some lingering impressions in my mind."

  Godou tried to refute Shizuka's mockery of him.

  "Don't force yourself, Onii-chan, you're not someone who notices my friends... Actually it's Yui who said it, if Onii-chan is free during spring break, she wanted to go out and have fun with you. How's that? Are you interested?"

  It felt like his sister was deliberately playing a joke on him.

  Go out with his sister's friend? Why must he do something like that?

  "No, not really... I'm not interested, I think she would find me boring instead. Forget it, help me refuse her."

  "Oh really, it's not easy to have someone offer you a date, what a shame."

  Teased by Shizuka who suddenly seemed inexplicably happy, Godou sighed as he shook his head.

  "Don't call it a date, it's just going out for fun... Spending time with someone like me will only make her bored. I don't know what your friend is thinking."

  "—You're right, someone as dense and boring as Onii-chan... Clearly so unreliable and ridiculous all the time, but extremely serious in strange areas, a normal girl cannot take a fancy to you... Girls like your sister who would spend time with you are extinct. You should show me some gratitude."

  "Yes, yes, I know. Shizuka is my cute little sister, and I have troubled you all this time. Is that acceptable?"

  "Your tone of voice is not serious enough, and there's no sincerity, and the lines are too ordinary, completely no good. Out of a hundred, I can only give you fifteen points. Try harder, Onii-chan!"

  She looked like she was complaining, but her mood seemed to be great. Though she was my sister, she was impossible to understand.

  "Onii-chan's good qualities are probably limited to that physical stamina that rivals a cart horse as well as playing baseball with... I'm sorry, I said something wrong."

  Originally in a good mood, Shizuka suddenly stopped.

  Godou put his hand on his depressed sister's head and caressed back and forth.

  "Actually I'm not that amazing at baseball. It's ok, pay no mind to it. I am really grateful to have a cute little sister like you. You don't have to be so concerned."