I carefully approached the entrance of the temple, holding my cane as a weapon, as I occasionally heard the sound of things toppling over, suspecting that the sound could be coming from inside the temple. With my right hand, I slid the door open slowly and peeked through a small gap, but it was too dark to see anything. As I fully opened the door, the dusty parts of the temple were stirred by the wind, causing me to cough.
After shaking off the dust that made me cough, I took my first step into the temple, cane in hand. The temple remained intact, with nothing toppled or broken. Once I realized that there was nothing inside the temple, I was about to leave and check my grandfather's workshop. However, another sound came from within the temple, and when I turned my head and looked behind me, I noticed a chest lying on the ground.
"It wasn't here before, and what's this?" On top of a small chest, there were papers wrapped with peculiar writings. As I was about to touch the chest, I felt a slight electric sensation at my fingertips. Initially causing me to retract my hand, I placed my cane in front of the door and used both hands to slowly unravel the wrapped chest.
I didn't know that my grandfather had such a chest before. After removing all the bandages, I unlocked the chest and slowly lifted its lid, which emitted a piercing sound that pierced through my ears.
Due to the high-pitched sound, I had to drop the chest from my hands, and in an instant shock, I covered both of my ears with my hands. When I looked at my hands, I noticed strange writings extending from my fingertips to my wrists, and these writings closely resembled the writings on the chest. As I witnessed the writings gradually disappearing from my hands, I was on the verge of screaming in fear.
When I looked at my hands repeatedly, I couldn't see those writings again. I don't know what they were, but I can feel strange sensations stirring inside me. As I began to feel uneasy, I quickly left the temple, forgetting to even lock its door, and rushed to my own room.
Before lying in bed, I glanced at my trembling hands once again. They didn't appear any different from normal hands. Perhaps I had experienced a hallucination, but I could sense that something was off. Shaking my head from side to side, I stopped dwelling on negative thoughts and lay down in bed, closing my eyes.
...
As I drifted into sleep, I found myself in a dark place.
"Where is this?"
I started to contemplate on my own. I was certain that I was having a dream, but this felt more like a memory than a dream. As the dark space slowly began to illuminate, I found myself in the living room of my home.
My grandparents were still alive in the living room, but their faces bore an expression of worry and fear. As I fully opened the door to enter the room, I noticed that besides my grandparents, there was another man in a suit and two more suited men standing beside him.
"Who are these?" I wondered, trying to comprehend who could be intimidating my grandparents. While contemplating this, the man in the black suit with a red tie, sitting on the couch, began to speak with a sinister smile.
"Goya-sama, you know it's not good for you to distance yourself from the organization, don't you? Our boss has set their sights on you. They want us to keep an eye on your every move."
"A typical move from Azuma."
"Tch... Don't you dare mention our boss's name again. Anyway, I came here today to discuss business."
"Business? Is this something that our 'So-Called Boss' wants?"
"No, it has nothing to do with them. If they were to find out, they might be furious with me, but I won't let them find out."
"What do you want?"
"I want your special ability. I want you to pass 'Decay' to me."
"Hahahaha... You're joking, Kid! I won't give such a thing to someone like you."
"Hmmm... Well, I guess I have no choice but to take it by force." As soon as the suited man snapped his fingers, the other suited men on either side of him vanished and appeared next to my grandparents, replacing them.
"One last time, I hope you don't mind if I ask politely. Goya-sama, will you pass on the power of Decay to me?"
"Tch... I'd rather die than pass on this power to you."
"Oof... You're becoming quite troublesome." The suited man slowly stood up from his seat and approached my grandfather, extending his right hand towards my grandfather's chest.
A shockwave suddenly occurred, and a huge hole appeared in my grandfather's chest. When I witnessed how my grandfather died, my eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"Well, don't you want to speak up, madam?" The suited man looked at my grandmother and asked, to which my grandmother spat on the suited man. Then, in the same manner, the suited man directed a shockwave towards my grandmother's abdomen, creating a large hole.
"Extract Goya's special power." The suited man took out a parchment from the inner pocket of his jacket and handed it to the other men.
One of the men took the parchment and placed it on my grandfather's hands, waiting for a while, but nothing was written on the blank parchment.
"Sir, Goya doesn't possess the ability."
"What?!" The suited man furrowed his brows in anger and yelled, clenching his fist and striking the table next to him, shattering it into pieces.
"Search every corner of the house immediately. If you find anything important, report it to me right away."
"As you command..."
The image was slowly becoming blurry and dark. What was happening? I wanted to see more. My eyes opened involuntarily, and I found myself breathless and sweating. What I had seen was not a dream. It was the last memories of my grandfather before his death.
Now I recognize the person who killed my grandfather. But what was that thing he used? There was nothing in his hand, yet a shockwave emanated from his palm.
Though I struggled to believe what I had seen, it seemed that what I witnessed was real. But why did I see them yesterday? Could it have been caused by the chest?
I immediately got up from my bed, went downstairs to open the backdoor, stepped into the garden, entered the temple, and searched for the chest I dropped yesterday. Even though I meticulously searched every corner, I couldn't find the chest I saw yesterday.
Perhaps someone had entered the house because I left the door unlocked. But why would they only steal the chest?
There are so many questions troubling my mind. But before anything else, I need to satisfy my hunger. I haven't had a proper meal in nearly two days, and then there's school...
Maybe I won't go to school today.