The situation has changed. Rika’s father suddenly reversed his stance in providing assistance to this research. It seems Rika’s mother had enough of the suspicions she held against this facility after Rika’s sudden fever. …I was hoping that the father would somehow be able to persuade and reassure her about this research, but it seems the father was taken in towards her side instead.
Rika’s father didn’t show such an outburst like the mother did, but he did give us a harsh and unrealistic condition to explain them the details of every research and to have us finish every experiment within the next three months.
…Giving us a deadline for research is out of the question. We produce results by sweating and toiling, step by step, for a long time. …To take away time from research is analogous in telling a person, “you can live with water and salt, so why can’t you live with just salt from now on?” What the hell do these dimwits know about research?! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it….!!!
…I can say such vulgarity towards them because they don’t know anything about our research. But the fact remains that they are the parental guardians of the queen carrier. Hence, we were stuck in this situation where we’ve seemed to hit yet another dead end to our plans…
The experiments and tests that we have doing towards the queen was now a vital part of the research for the Hinamizawa Syndrome. Her existence was our compass. To lose her from our research is the same as losing the sense of direction in uncharted waters.
Rika herself is willing to cooperate with our research, but losing parental consent is something than can stall our research into checkmate. …It’s probably best to say that we are stuck in a grave situation…
For the Furudes, all they care is about finding a cure for this disease. …But for me, the cure itself is only a small part of the unknown that needs to be unraveled. I cannot stop here. …Is this the part where our differences caused this predicament? …And what angers me the most is that Irie is also the same as them!!
That man’s flaccid response is that if the Furudes should give up their consent, we should back down from furthering our research via our current methods. …Well that’s obvious. Irie doesn’t have the determination to solve the mysteries of the Hinamizawa Syndrome as I have. He won’t assertively back down from this project, but he’s more than willing to passively do so by jumping on the Furudes’ bandwagon.
…What the heck is the matter with him?! Is that the kind of attitude that is expected of a researcher who is up against one the greatest mysteries mankind will ever know about…?! He is exactly like those men who stepped on my grandfather’s research with their dirty feet!! He’s just a dick who showed interest in this half-heartedly, and became a pussy when he saw blood which caused him to feel guilt for his past actions. He was not even qualified to lay his hands upon such a mystery as big as the Hinamizawa Syndrome. …He’s just a puppet figurehead who was placed above me because of my client’s arrangements. …If I wasn’t female, that man wouldn’t be needed in the first place!!!
Sure, I must give him credit that was able to accomplish finding a cure for this disease. …From Irie’s point of view, he’s perfectly fine with that and he is ready to batten down the hatches. He’s satisfied with just a small feat like that and is willing to throw everything else down the sewer. …You didn’t even have the right to quit my grandfather’s research in the first place…how dare you!! I can feel my anger churning down in my guts…
No, no. Irie’s not the main person at fault here. It’s that bitch, Rika’s mother. If she didn’t started acting like a bitch she was, none of this would’ve started…!!
…Part of the fault may lie within me though. All this time, I’ve built up the social skills and obligations to maintain trust. …But there was just something about her that irritated me, so I didn’t care to socialize with her. …I thought that I was perfectly fine with just Rika and her father.
But the mother began to become a nuisance and started influencing the father’s decisions. …Oh how could I be so careless! The tables have turned! What kind of blunder is this!?
Irie has given me the authority to discuss this turn of events to Tokyo on what to do next. …But it is highly possible that this whole project will be put into hiatus if I inform them about this. This project is being put together because I have been pulling strings with my connections. However, if they hear anything that can hurt their political careers, this whole thing would be gone in a snap of their fingers.
I am this close to showcasing the greatness of my grandfather! Like hell am I going to trip onto something as trivial as this….!!!
…Wait, wait. I still have a little time to think this over. Whenever I get into a jam, I’m usually able to think up of something as I drink my favorite tea and bite on my nails…
I look up into the ceiling and close my eyes. I relax myself. …Reflecting on my past experiences, there were times where I would ask for some advice to someone else, and they managed to figure out a simple solution that I could never think up of. I was able to get overcome such roadblocks that way. That’s how I was able to survive that hellish life in the orphanage. …I’m not going let that bitch’s tantrum get in the way…!!
….C’mon, calm myself. Chill out and think. Get cool, Takano Miyo.
…Perhaps someone that isn’t in my shoes might be able to figure out a different approach to this situation.
But…who? It’s obvious not me, nor Irie. …And I couldn’t possibly discuss this to any of the villagers. …Someone in Tokyo? No, no, that’s not good either. They are the type of guys who expect a return of favor for seeking advice. …Even Mr. Koizumi would probably be disgusted at me for stumbling upon something trivial as this.
…..hey, I got it!! …It was right under my nose! …They are supposed to be my subordinates. What’s stop me from asking advice from them?
I immediately called the leader of the Yamainu (the intel-defense wing of the Irie Facility), Okonogi,
When this project began, the Yamainus were given to me as my subordinates. However, they are SDF, whereas I am a scientist. Since we live in two different worlds, the thought of asking for their assistance had never crossed my mind up to now. He has his job, I have mine. Hence, I never bothered to ask for advice either. But the Yamainu’s primary job was to protect our research and to support our project through various indirect methods. …There was no reason not to ask them for some ideas.
Okonogi: “Oh yeah, what a drag. Heh heh heh.”
Okonogi used to talk in the standard language, but he has assimilated the regional Hinamizawa dialect. It seems to be rule number one in their undercover handbook to “fit in” to the region.
Takano: “So, with her yapping around, not only will they forbid us from obtaining the help of the queen, but there’s also the danger of her exposing this entire project. ….Can the Yamainus figure something out?”
…I threw this at Okonogi half-heartedly as I wasn’t going to expect any good ideas from him with his frank attitude. …But….
Okonogi: “No problem. The Yamainus will eradicate the root of the problem. Just give us time, and we’ll make it happen cleanly.”
Takano: “…Eradicate?”
Okonogi: “Well, we’ve gotta make sure the police don’t get in our way. It’ll take a bit of time, but it ain’t gonna be something we can’t handle.”
I was dumbfounded. …All this time, I was pondering how to persuade the mother… …But the leader of the intel-defense team, whose primary function is to protect the secrecy of this project, was easily able to conjure up a solution befitting their specialized task.
Takano: “….So that means…you are going to…kill her?”
Okonogi: “Wasn’t that the contract that we had when this whole project began? ‘Protection of the secrecy of this entire project by whatever means necessary.’ Of course, we can’t act on our own will, so we need to get approval from you though.”
That’s right. To them, the solution to this problem is simple. Rika’s mother is causing trouble to this project, and not only she is interfering with our research, she might jeopardize the entire research itself by exposing it to the public. Solution? …Eradicate her.
Takano: “…..That….that is great idea…. Can you guys handle it?”
Okonogi: “Hey, that’s what we’re here for. Finally! We haven’t seen such a big job since that kidnapping of the minister’s grandson!”
That’s right. …These are the experts who were able to kidnap the Minister of Construction’s grandson and extorted the halt of the dam construction. It has been several years since that, and I have forgotten what a brilliant job they were able to perform.
That’s right! Why didn’t I think of this before…?! …I have the Yamainus underneath me…!!!
Takano: “…Can this be done immediately?”
Okonogi: “If it’s just killing her, I can do that this evening. But, that’s bound to cause commotion. I highly suggest that we take a little bit of time so we can observe the surroundings and formulate a plan in order to make it seem that she disappeared without a trace.”
Just like a cat’s eyes opening under a bright area, …I felt my own pupils enlarging in surprise. All this time I was having this huge headache like an idiot, pondering how to bring down my enemies or persuading them to my side. All I had to do was just order this man standing in front of me, and all of my problems can be solved…!! The feeling was like being a little bird taking its first flight….
…Oh, what a great feeling this is! I can have that hysterical and nuisance mother of Rika’s disappear without a trace by just giving an order!! This is all thanks to Mr. Koizumi. …Ah, what a wonderful present and power he has given me…!!
I was told from the beginning that all humans are created equal. But, having the power to decide one’s death or to spare their lives is…indeed a sign that I am above being just a petty human. …The sensation of knowing that I was above the human hierarchy rushes through me…
Okonogi: “So, you want us to just eradicate Furude Rika’s mother only, right?”
Takano: “Huh? Oh yes…no, wait a sec….”
Did he just say Furude Rika’s mother only? …I was jolted by yet another adrenaline rush. If it’s possible to eradicate others at the same time…perhaps it might be a good idea to get rid of bothersome father as well… Rika herself has been supportive from the start. And the Furude family has no relatives. If both of her parents die, she’ll need to be supported by someone else. …The Irie Facility has more than enough resources to support her financially. Furthermore, it might be even possible to bring Rika to our side than just being a supporter…
All my problems are instantly melting away like ice… All the things that I was worried about are becoming like a joke…. All this time, I had subordinates who had all this power, yet I was blind to utilize their usefulness…. Gradually, I began to relax. I started to feel the calmness that I usually am coming back.
….Yeah, let’s eradicate both of Rika’s parents. …The queen is my guinea pig. And a guinea pig does not need a guardian to look over it.
Hey, wait a minute….it’s almost the Watanagashi Festival…
Wouldn’t it be possible…to have the people believe that it was the Oyashiro-sama’s Curse if they were to die on that day…? …That dismemberment murder two years ago and that accidental fall last year was also rumored by the community of being a curse because they coincidentally occurred during Watanagashi. …Then if their deaths also occur at this year’s Watanagashi, then it is surely lay the grounds of being the Oyashiro-sama’s Curse for three years in a row.
The miracle of the Oyashiro-sama, and its curse. …I get to build that… It’s the chance that I’ve been waiting for all my life – the first step into the realm of the gods who get to play with human fate like rolling a dice.
The two incidents that occurred two years in a row are rumored to be a curse. However, not everyone believes in it. But if it were to happen for three years in a row, no one will doubt it as being a curse. …From then on, everyone will say that it was a curse for something that I pulled strings on. It’s like saying that I myself am the Oyashiro-sama. The revenge that I vowed against god is slowly coming into place…
Takano: “…Don’t you think having them disappear itself to be rather boring?”
I began to chuckle in my usual tone. Okonogi seemed to have caught my drift as he began to smirk.
Takano: “We’re going to create our own Oyashiro-sama’s Curse. ….chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle.”
I’m not going to kill her; that's just a waste. I’m going to cut up that hysterical bitch alive just for the heck of it. Of course, it’s not going to be just for fun. Her analysis is going to very important for our research. Why? Because she’s the former queen, that’s why…!!!