Edogawa Nishiguchi Ayakashi Clinic - Chapter 35
“You don’t want to go?”
“Are we supposed to entertain guests in Ginza!?”
“Of course not.”
“We’re not!? Then what are we doing in Ginza!?”
“We’re gonna change clothes, of course.”
“Chairman, are you saying you live in Ginza too!?”
“You’re funny, Azuki-chan. We’re just gonna buy clothes there.”
So you’re saying we have time to buy clothes and even change!?
In Ginza!?
“Ms. Nanakida. I’m terribly sorry, but could you kindly put your seatbelt on?”
“Ah, yes! Sorry, I’ll put it on immediately!”
“Impressive, Mr. Hatta! You’re definitely a yatagarasu.”
I wonder what yatagarasu are.
I snuck the handbook in my bag, but I wonder if it’s ok to look?
“Go ahead and take a look.”
“Eh, Chairman can read minds too?”
“Nah, it’s just written all over your face.”
How embarrassing.
I even wanted to appear like a cool beauty like that extraordinary career woman I met the other day. It’s impossible anyway, so let’s just forget it.
[An Illustrated Guide to Ayakashi by Region]
Yata, ya, yatagarasu — A three-legged, giant crow.
A crow, huh…. Huuh!?
Emperor Jimmu’s guide!?
What the heck, isn’t he very ancient!?
Oooh, so rather than ayakashi, their kind are closer to gods.
So they serve as someone who guides people in the right direction.
I wonder if that’s the reason why he’s awfully polite.
“Hey, Mr. Hatta, long ago… you used to be a chauffeur for the French consulate, right?”
“Really?”
“That was quite long ago.”
“It was amazing, you know? His doratek.”
“What’s that? That dora something…”
“It’s short for Driving Technique. When the President was about to be late to board the plane for a meeting in England, he flew the car all the way to Narita.”
What, what?
The conversation seems to have shifted to global affairs.
“Can you imagine? If the President of France got into an accident because of that, it would’ve been an international problem, you know?”
“Hahaha. It was only thanks to the diplomat license plate.”
Although I could only see Mr. Hatta’s back from where I was sitting, I could detect that there was some pride in his voice even though he appeared to be a little embarrassed.
“When that president resigned, you were told to stay in the consulate, right?”
“The President treated me and my family very well. That’s why I ended my service the same time he resigned.”
“Just the times, then.”
“Yes. For an ayakashi, we can’t fight time.”
“But you couldn’t just quit your driving job, right?”
“I have passed this road many times during my time serving the President, so rather than being unable to forget, it’s more like I don’t want to forget.”
“Is it because you’re part yatagarasu?”
“It could be.”
While being a quarter yatagarasu, his job as a chauffeur for the French President disappeared.
Long, long ago, his kind was an existence closest to a god, so it must’ve hit him really hard.
“What’s wrong, Azuki-chan? You look pensive.”
“It’s just… it’s kind of hard to let go of such things, isn’t it?”
“Well, if you’d like to exist forever, then you can only be a pure-blooded ayakashi.”
“But it’s impossible even for them, right?”
“That’s why my old man and the others chose to produce offspring who are either half or quarter ayakashi.”
“But for people who are only a quarter ayakashi, won’t their blood thin out to 1/8th or 1/16th someday?”
“They would.”
“Then… Won’t they disappear eventually?”
“I do hope so.”
“… Eh?”
He hopes so?
Does that mean it’s better for ayakashi to disappear altogether?
Or did he mean that they won’t disappear?
