I was a bit puzzled.
A show about the paranormal?
Was this what they meant by a mystery-themed episode?
Suddenly, the guests that had been gathered made even less sense to me. I really didn't see what Master Osagawa could possibly have in common with the paranormal, and since he still hadn't arrived, I couldn't ask him in person.
"Anyway, Sakai-san will explain everything again in a few minutes," Mr. Nakatsuki reassured me. "So if you have any questions, you can ask him."
Mr. Sakai... I had already read this name in the file that the TV station had given us.
It was the producer of the show, who would be present during the whole shooting with the technical team. I hadn't met him yet, so I didn't know who I would be dealing with, or how to behave. I hoped he wasn't too difficult to read.
We were walking towards the entrance of the guesthouse, when a young man, cell phone mounted on a stick in his hand, came to meet us.
"Oh, here we see two more potential participants for this adventure!" Exclaimed the young man, while addressing his phone screen.
Mr. Nakatsuki frowned, and we suddenly found ourselves being filmed by the newcomer.
"So guys, who are you and what role do you play in this story? Do you also believe that what they say about this place is true? Do you hope to catch a glimpse of something?" He asked without any respite between his questions, neither for his interlocutors, nor for himself.
I didn't answer anything, continuing to stare at the cell phone whose lens was pointed at us; and Mr. Nakatsuki pinched the bridge of his nose while squinting his eyes.
He must have been annoyed.
"We're here to assist in the production of the show, not participate in it," he replied angrily.
"Oh..." Said the young man in a disappointed tone, before tapping on his phone screen to stop the recording in progress. "I thought you were guests too... Too bad, I guess I wasted space on the memory card for nothing..."
The three of us heard the sound of a car door or trunk being closed, and turning around, we saw a young woman walking toward us.
She was wearing a beige jumpsuit, big brown boots, and a name tag on the front of her shirt.
"Oh, you must be the people from the publishing house?" she wondered, looking at us.
Mr. Nakatsuki and I nodded silently and introduced ourselves.
"We're here to make sure that Osagawa Sensei is properly portrayed in the program," my temporary supervisor explained.
"It seems to me that the author hasn't arrived yet..." She mused aloud.
"Hey? You represent this guy?!" Exclaimed the boy still present at our side. "If I expected that!"
Immediately, the young man extended a hand towards us, and smiling, introduced himself in turn.
"I am Kitta Kitta!" he exclaimed. "I have more than one million subscribers on Utube!"
Mr. Nakatsuki didn't take note of the ridiculous pseudonym, and after considering for a long time the hand that was extended to him, exchanged a handshake with the individual who happened to be the influencer from the social networks.
"It's guys like you that I need, to ensure my promotion!" He exclaimed with envy while shaking my manager's hand. "How would you like to drop this old fart and come work for me?"
This out-of-the-blue proposal made my supervisor cough with embarrassment.
Not only was this guy much younger than us, but he wanted us to advertise him?
Did he even have a clue about our work as editors? We were proofreading texts all day long, monitoring the performance of contracted authors, and that was about it.
He greatly overestimated our responsibilities, and Mr. Nakatsuki certainly didn't have the patience to explain this particular point to him, because he immediately refused the proposal.
"Not a chance," he said, letting go of the hand that was still holding his.
I also suspected that he refused because it was too unstable a job compared to his current situation, but also because the young man's attitude was getting on his nerves.
A phone started to ring, and after a few seconds of uncertainty, my superior picked up the phone and walked away from our little group.
"You should be heading inside already, since we've started assigning rooms," the young woman then explained. "That man from the TV station has already started giving orders..."
The silver badge pinned on her chest displayed the name Iwakiri, and from her general appearance and speech, I deduced that she was one of the employees of the Onyu guesthouse.
She smiled at me, before entering the building, followed closely by the young man continuing to film himself with his telephone mounted on a rod.
Already two people that I had difficulty to figure out. It was not going well.
Seeing that Mr. Nakatsuki was pacing at the other end of the clearing where we were parked, I decided to look at the building that was facing us.
The guesthouse was a huge, old-looking building with two floors in addition to the first floor. A small ornamental garden with a pond was at the back, and in front, a few stone slabs on the dusty ground outlined the front of the building.
Its roof, steep and old, seemed to be made of black tiles, the material of which was unknown to me, and where dry grey moss had grown between the interstices. As for the facade, it was very well made, the walls as well as the doors and windows being entirely made of wood. Even the sign next to the entrance indicating the name of the establishment was a huge piece of wood, varnished and polished with care; the characters engraved on the surface highlighted by a shiny black and green varnish.
I shivered.
The temperatures had cooled, and the weather, gradually darkened. Large gray clouds were blocking the sun's rays, announcing a gloomy and uncertain weather. I almost regretted not having taken several sweaters in my luggage, even if I had already been sufficiently foresighted to think of taking even one.
Then I heard footsteps behind me, and, turning around, saw Mr. Nakatsuki approaching, with a shifty look and a frown. He looked worried, and my observation was confirmed when he sighed heavily before speaking.
"Osagawa sensei just called me. Seems he broke the gearbox of his car in the vicinity of Hamamatsu and won't be able to join us until tomorrow evening at the earliest, while a garage repairs his vehicle..."
Oh. That was bad news.
"Why doesn't he rent a car?" I asked uncontrollably.
"His car is an automatic, so he's not used to driving a manual anymore..." He replied, shaking his head.
So we were supposed to assist an author who wasn't even there?
What were we supposed to do in the meantime?
"Ah, the production team will be upset, since it will delay their shooting schedule..." Mr. Nakatsuki grumbled.
And our own schedule, for that matter.
However, on second thought...
"Even if Osagawa sensei doesn't really like to be driven, he's close enough for one of us to go and get him..." I observed aloud.
"Hmm, that' s right..." Mister Nakatsuki conceded. "But it will probably have to wait until after the general meeting with Sakai-san. We don't want to piss him off."
Easy to say...
Even without having met this man, I already knew that he wasn't going to appreciate the unexpected absence of one of the stars of his show.