I get through the night by counting how many lanterns have been lit.
Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
Four more lanterns were lit last night. I count them because I can't get through the night any other way.
Amamiya SoichiroFour exactly. By the end of the month, that'll be twenty.Sakaki GennoshinYou say that number as though it were something to be proud of.
Granny SuzuGennoshin, stop counting lanterns and go to sleep.Sakaki GennoshinI always hear what you say too late, Granny Suzu.Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
I went and looked at the red stamp in that drawer again today. Erasing a name always takes just the one stroke of ink.
Amamiya SoichiroThe day that stamp comes down, I'll pay generously for the land.Sakaki GennoshinYou'd put a price on another man's funeral too, it seems.Granny SuzuGennoshin, that was a room an old woman should have gone into, not you.Sakaki GennoshinYou can't even climb the mountain anymore, Granny Suzu.1 more here. They open when your story reaches stage 4.
Into the storySakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
I've stopped counting the lanterns. I thought counting was a kind of prayer, but somewhere along the way, it became an excuse instead.
Akagi JinEvery time I pass on patrol, the office light is still on till dawn. Please get some sleep.Sakaki GennoshinA man who knows the price of every lit lamp can't seem to put out his own. Laughable, isn't it.Granny SuzuYour teacher stopped counting at exactly your age too.Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
A chipped bell turned up at the bottom of the storehouse. No one had rung it in twenty years, they said, and yet the handle was worn smooth.
Granny SuzuThe chip came from my own hand. Don't fix it, just use it as it is.Sakaki GennoshinI'll use it as it is, then. A chipped bell carries farther than a whole one.
ChiyoCustomers keep saying a bell rings on the hill every night lately.Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour YouI wrapped the chipped bell in cloth and sent it up the mountain. Carrying it up myself would only have become another excuse, so I set it on the officer's bicycle rack and turned back.
Akagi JinI saw how slow your hand was to let go of it, Priest.Sakaki GennoshinYou have no gift at all for seeing something and pretending not to.Granny SuzuThat bell wears thin at the handle first. Whoever wore it thin is its true owner.Sakaki GennoshinAnd I'm the one who left that owner's place empty for twenty years.Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
An envelope arrived from the branch office. The company's name was still printed on the front, and I spent three days just reading that name over again.
Amamiya SoichiroYou have to open the envelope to know its price, Priest.Sakaki GennoshinI won't ask how much your ledger has that name down for.
Horie TatsuoA page stamped with the same type landed on our newspaper's desk too.Sakaki Gennoshin@sakaki_gennoshinI Shall Not Devour You
On the morning of the first frost, they say the name Shiranui appeared in the inn's register, and the same nail box from that night twenty years ago came along with it.
Shiranui AzusaThe same box, yes. Only this time I made sure to bring enough nails.Sakaki GennoshinWhat was lacking that night was never the nails.
KohakuThat box came all the way up to the foot of the mountain path last night, and then turned back.Sakaki GennoshinNot turned back. Just taking its measure, I'd say.
