"Hidden Ceremony"
At long last, the Hidden Ceremony, the substitute for the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual, is about to begin. With the exception of the Kurosawa, Kiryu, Tachibana, Osaka and Tsuchihara houses, each of the residences has been shut up tight, and torches lit on Misono. Were the true ritual taking place, the villagers would be assembling on Misono with torches in hand, offering up prayers and singing the Sacrificial Song to send off the soul of the sacrifice. Misono is located directly above the Hellish Abyss, and bears a hole mimicking it. This hole is covered with a boulder called the Sacrificial Stone, which apparently acts as a proxy for the sacrifice. At the same time, at the true Hellish Abyss below ground, Twin Shrine Maidens are sacrificed, the priests surrounding them singing the Sacrificial Song. As none are allowed to view the underground festival, the priests cover their faces with cloth, and the assistants to the festival - those known as Mourners - have their eyes sewn shut. As such, ordinary villagers are unable to do anything but pray at Misono. I am to become a makeshift sacrifice called a "Kusabi". According to the literature, the more intense the suffering of the Outsider sacrificed, the more potent of a Kusabi they make, and the more the Hellish Abyss is subdued. A hidden book I discovered specifically describes this "suffering" as the subject being bound and strung up by ropes, their body then being sliced to ribbons. Am I capable of enduring such suffering...? Why did I remain here instead of fleeing with Munakata when I had the chance? Perhaps I will manage to glimpse the Gate to Hell for myself, but by then, I will no longer be a being of this world. At the very least, I wish to unveil the fruits of Asou's research, the Camera Obscura, to the world. If anyone happens to find this notebook, I ask them to tell everyone of the events of Minakami Village in my stead.
Munakata - it seems as though as I carried out my research, wanting to know more of the Gate to Hell, my everything, even my very soul, was stolen away by it. I pray that you do not choose to follow a similar path to my own. I beg of you,
(unfinished)
Tamashizume: Hidden Ceremony
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The English content of this page features unofficial fan translations. |
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「陰祭」
いよいよ「紅贄祭」の代わりとなる「陰祭」が始まろうとしている。黒澤家、桐生家、立花家、逢坂家、槌原家以外の家は、全て戸を硬く閉ざし、御園には松明が灯された。本来の祭が行なわれた場合、村人たちは、松明を手に御園に集まり、祈りを捧げ、贄歌を歌って生贄の魂を送るという。御園は「虚」の真上に位置していて、「虚」を模した穴があいている。その穴を贄岩と呼ばれる岩で塞ぎ、生贄の代わりとするらしい。同時刻に、地下の本物の「虚」では、「双子巫女」が生贄とされ、それを取り囲んだ宮司たちが贄歌を歌う。地下の祭は、決して見てはいけないもののため、宮司たちは顔を布で覆い、祭を手伝う忌人（イミビト）と呼ばれるものたちは目を縫いつけられている。そのため、通常の村人たちは御園で祈ることしかできないのだ。私は「楔（クサビ）」という一時凌ぎの生贄となる。書物によると、客人を生贄とする場合、客人に与える苦痛が激しければ激しいほど、「楔」として「虚」を抑さえる効果がより上がるらしい。苦痛とは具体的に縄で縛られ吊るされたあと、体を切りきざまれると隠された書物に書いてあった。・・・・・そんな苦痛に私は耐えられるだろうか。なぜあのとき宗方と逃げずにここに残ってしまったのだろう。「黄泉の門」を一目見られるかもしれないが、そのとき私はもうこの世のものではなくなっているのだ。せめて、麻生の研究の成果、射影機のことは世間に公表したい。誰かこの手帳を拾った人がいたら、私の代わりに皆神村での出来事を皆に伝えてほしい。
宗方、私は「黄泉の門」のことを知りたくて研究しているうちに、自分の全て、魂までも「黄泉の門」に奪われてしまったようだ。願わくば、君が私と同じような道を選ばないことを祈っている。どうか （未完）