Alright...
"The Mushroom Pile Is Served"
Alright!
The ready-made dinner is complete!
Now all that's left is to wait for Nikaido to return!
Geez! The hell is she doing?
Calm down... I don't need to win here.
What's wrong? Let's have some more fun!
My eye...! Shit!
Come on! Let's fight some more...! Huh?
Where did she go...?
To make a door into this mansion takes a real big shot.
Look. This was made by a devil.
They were apparently asking "where's Risu?"
What? Could it be...!
The boss of the Cross-eyes...?
No use...
Every door is locked.
Damn it!
Risu...
No matter what happens, don't tell them about that man...!
"That man", huh...?
More importantly...
There's something I want you to tell me.
The one who killed me...
Who was it?
I managed to lose the big guy, but...
This mansion is so vast.
Finding a single person here is almost impossible.
The cross-marks on the eyes!
I finally found you!
Risu!
Risu! Are you alright?
Oh? Welcome back, En!
Huh?
Who are you?
Are you okay, En?
Unforgivable...
Unforgivable!
This is bad...!
Stop it, En!
Seems like I was saved thanks to already having En's smoke going through my body.
Hm?
Risu...
Please help me...!
The one who killed me was someone from the Cross-eyes, right?
I saw him just before I got killed.
Th-That's...
Enjoy being a mushroom!
Ah, wait! Wait, wait, wait! Risu...!
Hm? That was...
Ebisu!
Sniffle...
Senpai!
Noi...
Stop En's rampage...
Or he'll turn us all into mushrooms!
G-Got it!
Stop that, you bastard!
For real...
Hm?
Nikaido? You're so late!
Caiman... Please...
Nikaido!
Before the magic goes through my entire body...
Cut this mushroom off with your knife...
Huh? Huh...?!
Half of your body has turned into mushrooms...
Excuse me a bit.
Where's that woman?
How should we know? One of these mushrooms, probably!
That reminds me, where's Kikurage? Don't tell me she turned into a mushroom as well...!
Kikurage...
I'm so glad you're okay...
Need moisture...
All done...
We did everything we could.
Good work. Here's some tea and daifuku.
Thanks.
The surgery went well, but that was a pretty close call.
Good thing you brought her to the hospital so fast.
When I stabbed the mushroom with my knife, blood came gushing out!
I panicked and used the spray I got from you.
I filled that can with smoke that creates those magic doors.
By the way, Doc...
I heard the patched up boy came back to Hole?
That's right.
He cut this lizard's head off the other day!
Apparently he was wearing some crazy heart-shaped mask.
That guy... Just what was he doing in Hole?
There's sort of a connection between that guy and this hospital.
Look!
65 Murdered
The culprit is the patched up boy
It's a story from around ten years ago.
"The First Smoke"
Back then the residents of Hole hadn't yet quietly accepted being practiced on like nowadays.
We were fighting back against the sorcerers.
The neighborhood watch took the lead.
The sorcerer hunt got pretty nasty.
Until that man showed up.
His name is Shin.
His father was a human, his mother a sorcerer.
It seems that his mother was killed by the neighborhood watch right after Shin was born.
Shin kept his mixed blood hidden and lived quietly with his father.
But...
The factory manager did not miss the black particles mixed in his blood that proved him a sorcerer.
The manager told on him immediately.
Anyone who found a sorcerer would be rewarded with money.
It didn't take the neighborhood watch even ten minutes to arrive at the factory.
That's the kid! Kill him!
Huh?
Shin! Run!
Old man...!
I won't let you go!
Move it! You snitching bastard!
After him!
Ow!
Down there! Hurry!
Contact the headquarters and make the posters!
Stop it! My son's not a sorcerer!
Sure, his mother was a sorcerer, but Shin can't use any magic!
His mother was a sorcerer, you say...?
Ah, what are you...?
Taking out the trash.
Shit... That pig of a manager, he sold me out!
This boy is a sorcerer
If you see him, let us know!
Reward money available
Hole Neighborhood Watch
Dad and I need to get out of this town tonight.
Old man?
I knew you'd come back.
Kids are so simpleminded.
We finished cleaning up the trash...
Now it's just you, sorcerer.
Alright! Let's have party and burn him at the stake at the department store square tonight!
We're gonna need a ton of beer!
Let's take the money from this house!
Take the kid.
Come!
Bastard...!
I'll kill you...
Just try it, brat!
I'm starting to enjoy this a little...
And so, Shin killed the three members of the neighborhood watch and ran.
The neighborhood watch went after him, but...
It just resulted in more and more corpses on their side instead.
Days like this continued for three months.
Then one night...
When I was on duty at the hospital with the Professor.
What's this? Whose voice is that?
It's coming from the operating room.
Ah!
I borrowed... Your equipment.
Did you cut up your arms to search for the smoke veins?
Apparently sorcerers who struggle to put out smoke often do this.
You'd get paid if you ratted me out to the neighborhood watch.
Sorry, but those guys are nasty, I won't call them.
And moreover, I'm really interested in your magic!
Huh?
I'm researching sorcerers!
I'll find your smoke veins for you.
Hold still...
But I never thought I'd get to play with a living sorcerer!
Do anything weird and I'll knock you out!
We're gonna get killed if the neighborhood watch finds out about this, Kasukabe.
Should probably give him some antibiotics...
Are you really fine with no anesthesia?
No need for that at this point!
Listen, you. I understand how you feel, but you should stop killing people already.
Your father in heaven is probably be really sad too.
You think such lame preaching is gonna get me to stop?
Our family motto is "if you get hit, make sure to return the favor"!
There it is!
I found the veins in both arms. With this you should be able to use magic.
Hey, boy! What should we do with your chopped up arms?
Attach all of them again.
Even if I did such a stupid thing they'd never go back to how they were.
They're just gonna rot bit-by-bit.
In the world of the sorcerers...
There must be people who can cure injuries and illnesses.
I'll get them to heal me.
Gyoza!
Wouldn't you want some gyoza...?
Gyoza... Gyoza...
What are you going to do now?
Central Hospital
After I'm done with some business, I'm going to the sorcerers' world.
That so? If you don't mind, would you like to show us your magic once?
Got it. I promise.
See you.
Central Hospital
Hungry Bug Gyoza
Wouldn't you want some gyoza...?
Hey! You thief!
A few hours later...
46 neighborhood watch members were brought to the hospital.
Wh-What the hell is this? They're in pieces, but they're still alive!
This is magic... That boy did this!
This was the "business" he was talking about...?
Well, he did keep his promise.
To treat those chopped up people, a magic victim ward was established in a hurry.
The neighborhood watch disbanded after that incident.
Nobody has stood up to the sorcerers since then.
But as expected, that guy really didn't grow up to be a decent adult at all.
Well, something like that would twist anyone!
Hm?
"Manhole Elegy"
Did you know, Caiman?
Sorcerers are weak to the rain in Hole.
Good grief, it's raining?
Asu said he doesn't know the sorcerer who gave Caiman the lizard head...
Does that mean that just finding the guy who cast the magic on Caiman is not good enough?
I don't get it. I don't get it at all.
What is troubling you?
Wouldn't using your magic be the fastest shortcut?
If that ends up being the only way...
Huh?
Miss Nikaido! It's time for your meal!
Don't kick the door!
Hm? What's wrong?
Just now, someone was outside the window...
More importantly!
Eat these gyoza I made!
How is it?
The wrapping is burnt black...
There's no thickener and the minced meat is tasteless and raw...
Does that mean... That they're bad?
Don't you get the hospital food from the center?
Since when has Caiman been cooking?
The number of patients started to rapidly go down last month.
One large deluxe mix pizza, please.
- You're the only one hospitalized...
So we've temporarily suspended the orders from the center.
Thank you for the order! That'll be 3,500 yen!
Recently the practice victims have been disappearing more and more in Hole.
- Thanks, put it on my tab.
Mass disappearances? I wonder if it's because of the magic?
Thanks to that, the hospital is not doing so good lately.
Shut up!
Here!
Oh, by the way, Caiman.
Huh?
Do you recognize this?
Huh? Nope, what's that?
I think it's something like a pass high-level sorcerers receive from devils.
Why would Nikaido have something like this?
You're just going to tell me Nikaido is a sorcerer again!
That's just how it is, Caiman.
We operated on her with our own hands.
The bodies of sorcerers and humans are different.
What's wrong, Caiman?
I heard a scream just now!
Nikaido!
Shit...!
Nikaido!
Wait!
Wait up! You...!
This is...
That alley!
Moron! That leads to a dead end!
Wait up, you...!
Nikaido... Why isn't she resisting?
Even if she's sick, if it's her...
Sorcerers are weak to the rain in Hole.
Ow!
Squee!
Squee! Squee!
Goddamn monster!
Is this caused by the magic smoke mixing with the rainwater?
You...!
So hard!
Huh?
Corpses? Could they be the missing practice victims?
Squee!
That hurt!
No!
It's not there! Why isn't it there?
M-My black gemstone...
Stop it!
You bastard, I'm gonna kill you!
Jo-Johnson!
Squee!
H-Hold him down, Johnson. Just like that.
You bastard! What are you doing with Nikaido?
F-For the sake of these black gemstones.
If you collect the gemstones that are inside the p-practice victims' bodies...
You can become a sorcerer...
B-Black gemstones?
Those are just waste!
B-But for some reason this woman didn't have one...
S-So I'm taking the one inside you... Lizard-man!
As if I'd let you!
Go fetch, Johnson!
Squee!
I... I saw you.
That day... I came out of the manhole... and you were there.
You had a human face.
You saw it?
My face before the magic was cast on me?
That woman was there too...
Nikaido was?
I... Wanted to become a sorcerer...
To get away from this filthy town...
Hey! What do you mean? Did you see him?
The one who cast the magic on me? Hey!
Lately, because of some baseless rumors...
The amount of youngsters who wish to become sorcerers has increased.
You could say he's another victim created by Hole's distortion.
Do you want an umbrella?
Yeah...
Squee?
What we learned from the sixth curse:
1. Shin is mixed race.
2. Hole used to have a neighborhood watch.
3. The currency in Hole is yen.
And what you will learn from the seventh curse...
That's still a mystery.
That is...
DOROHEDORO