I'm raising a fox fairy wife in Tokyo

"It will constantly twist its body and limbs in the fields to drive away birds and crows. Due to lack of food and long-term exposure to the sun, its body will become thin and, from a distance, it will look like a human-shaped black shadow that is constantly twisting."

In fact.

All three stories are related to the "countryside" in Japan—as is the case with most modern online horror stories. People living in modern cities have a rather crude stereotype of remote areas, viewing them as primitive and barbaric.

In this respect, it does bear some resemblance to the so-called "Cthulhu mythos" in Europe and America.

Or perhaps it's the same all over the world.

The second story is about the "Adultery Snake Snail".

In another village, deep in the mountains, there is a monster resembling a large snake.

A kind and upright priestess decides one day to lead the villagers to fight a giant serpent.

It can be used in battle.

The giant serpent swallowed the priestess's lower body.

At this moment, the priestess, who was still outside, cried out to the villagers for help. However, out of fear, the villagers decided to offer the priestess to the giant serpent as a sacrifice in order to appease its anger.

Not only that, the villagers also helped cut off the witch's hands.

So that it could be swallowed by the giant snake.

The result is.

The priestess eventually "fused" with the giant serpent, becoming a monster called the "Ganger Snake Snail," which cursed and destroyed the entire village.

"As for the eight-foot-tall gentleman..."

Shijo Maki seemed to remember something, and her face flushed slightly.

mainly.

Not only Fujiwara Chika loves watching that, but it seems that Chizuru loves watching it too.

That's so weird!!

A tall woman, over two or three meters tall, with little kids... it just looks so strange! What's so interesting about that kind of thing?!

"The story of the eight-foot-tall man is probably from Europe."

in the Legends.

She was a black-haired woman who was over two meters tall, possibly even three meters, with a plump figure, wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and a pure white dress.

They will specifically search for the little boy in the countryside.

If you take a liking to someone, you will find them no matter where they are and eventually take them away.

"Her prototype should be the Bloody Countess of Hungary, Marie Antoinette, who maintained her youth and beauty by drinking the blood of virgins in the castle. It's just that I don't know why, after she came to Japan, she became a big sister who hunts young boys."

Oh……

That's it!

Mei listened very attentively, and even took out her phone to quickly type it down in her notepad.

Takakawa Ryu glanced at it and realized it was written in French.

"Although I can understand and speak Japanese, I'm not very good at reading."

Say so.

The French girl with long, smooth, dark gold hair remained expressionless, simply speaking calmly.

"I didn't know there were so many interesting stories on the Japanese internet. What a pity! I must practice reading and writing more in the future."

"I see. So even though Mary is very interested in ghosts and monsters, she has never even heard of such a common legend."

"Ah."

Mei noticed that the boy and girl had exchanged a glance.

"So, let's get back to this 'Twisting Eight-Foot Rascal Snake Lady,' also known as 'Nanami.' Are you familiar with her, Meli?"

Gao Chuanlong walked to the window on one side of the health room and looked outside.

In the dimly lit playground, writhing shadows could be seen everywhere, but Nanami herself had vanished without a trace.

"Ah, I've been investigating for several days now."

As one of the "Three Great Ghost Stories" of Shuchiin High School, the problem is that Shijou Maki and Hayasaka Ai have not gathered any relevant information.

Actually.

They only knew the legend of the "Dollhouse".

"That's normal, because Nanami only died seven days ago, and it only became a ghost story in the last few days."

before.

There is indeed only one ghost story at Shuchiin High School.

"You know, right? As a prestigious school, Shuchiin has always had two types of students: the 'main students' who have been studying at the school since kindergarten and have progressed through the academic years, and the 'mixed students' who transferred in from other schools through exams."

Chapter Forty-Nine: None of Our Business

Students in mixed-use colleges are more likely to be subjected to a certain degree of bullying.

of course.

They wouldn't do anything particularly outrageous, like putting dead rats or insects in the shoe cabinet, scattering nails in shoes, or writing graffiti like "go die" all over their desks...

There will be no physical violence, direct verbal abuse, or public humiliation.

Generally speaking...

This means hiding the shoes in the shoe cabinet, making the other person do more work during duty hours and various activities, and completely ignoring their existence to the point of utter isolation.

But bullying is bullying, regardless of its degree.

Moreover, this is simply because Shuchiin High School has a so-called "VIP," namely the "Club Federation," which includes many individuals with an excessive sense of justice.

Therefore, bullies have become somewhat more restrained.

"Nanami is a first-year student in the mixed-age school and has been bullied ever since she entered the high school."

"That's what Mary said."

This quickly made Shijo Maki frown. The soft-hearted girl seemed to have thought of something and asked cautiously.

"It can't be because of that, so..."

Did he commit suicide?

Although being bullied at school can lead to injury, dropping out, or even suicide.

It seems like a very old-fashioned story.

However, if such a thing were to actually happen, it would certainly be upsetting.

"That's not there."

Mei Li decisively rejected Shijo Maki's idea.

"..."

Turns out I was overthinking things!

"Tamura-sensei helped Nanami."

"Eh?"

"There are still many kind people in the school. Mr. Tamura helped Nanami find her shoes, encouraged her, and warned the students who bullied her..."

The plot seems to take a turn for redemption and healing.

Nanami achieved excellent grades in her exams, joined the student council, entered a club, found someone she liked, and fully integrated into life at Shuchiin University.

Furthermore, they are already preparing for the national mock exam and are even confident of achieving a top-30 score.

Just when everything was on track and the national mock exam was about to begin.

"Nanami is dead."

"??!"

"The body was found in an abandoned pond at the school, and the police determined it to be a suicide."

"How can it be?!"

Shijo Maki said in disbelief.

This……

This is too outrageous!

The bullied child, who had clearly found redemption and was about to experience a bright and hopeful tomorrow, suddenly died? And by suicide?

How could a normal person do such a thing!

Unless, things aren't as simple as Mary said, or perhaps—

"I don't think it's possible either."

"Merry said softly."

"Nanami is a junior in the Occult Research Club, and we are quite good friends. So, I don't believe that she was still in the club room after school, having the club president tell her fortune about her love life, and saying that if she ranked in the top 30 in the national exam, she would go and confess to the boy she liked."

"He would come to the school alone late that night and jump into the abandoned pond to commit suicide."

"That's why I've been investigating Nanami's matter these past few days—there must be more to the story about her turning into that kind of thing after death!"

After listening to Mary's story.

In this regard.

Gao Chuanlong asked softly.

"So, what has Ms. Mei discovered these past few days?"

"Ah."

The girl, who had nothing to show for it, revealed a serious expression.

"It was Tamura. I believe it was Mr. Tamura who killed Nanami."

"why?"

Didn't we just say that the teacher named Tamura helped Nanami, who was being bullied and mistreated?

I hope there's no dramatic twist in this story!

"I'm still investigating the specifics. Right now, it's just a guess. So... Takagawa-san and Shijo-san, right?"

"I think the next step in the investigation should be to focus on the staff office."

"But it's too conspicuous for three people to act together. It's best to leave one person here so that they can contact the outside world at any time if anything happens."

"What do you think, Takagawa-kun?"

pick one of two.

Should we take Merry to investigate, or should we take Shijo Maki to investigate?

The girl's words were highly persuasive.

It seems that things have been settled, and everyone has now become a "community of shared destiny," working together to find out the cause of Nanami's death.

And to this.

Takagawa Takayuki's choice is...

"No, we're not interested in Nanami's stuff. Let's go, Shijou-kun, to the clock tower."

"what……"

Shijo Maki, who had almost been tricked by Mei Li, also came to her senses.

Yup!

What does Nanami have to do with me? Although it does sound pitiful, but...

At the boy's prompting.