The Empty, Foolish Sleep of Sin

The Empty, Foolish Sleep of Sin (虚ろなる愚かなるその咎の眠り) by Aoi Suzuka is the tenth chapter in the Zero Shisei no Koe Comic Anthology.

Story

Yashuu Kuze discovers Kaname Ototsuki approaching the Chamber of Thorns, and kills him for violating the law of the Kuze Shrine. As she turns to go, Reika Kuze emerges from the chamber as a vengeful ghost and attacks her.

In the present, Rei Kurosawa is dreaming of an old manor. She is troubled by visions of her dead fiancé, Yuu, who beckoned her to this place, and she has been visiting it in her dreams ever since. However, she has been unable to meet Yuu and speak to him.

Rei hears someone behind her and turns, raising the Camera Obscura in readiness for a fight, but it turns out to be her assistant Miku. Miku explains that she was also drawn into the manor after she went looking for her brother in a haunted mansion. She says the Camera Obscura was all that saved her, and Rei gives it to her to help them escape the Manor of Sleep safely.

As they wander the manor, they meet Kei, who has been doing research about it, and believes the only way to escape is to find the Tattooed Priestess and subdue her. Rei, Kei and Miku make their way down through the Abyss to the Chamber of Thorns, but when they arrive, Kei and Miku transform into the Handmaidens Hisame and Minamo. Hisame taunts Rei with the camera she gave to "Miku", since she is defenceless without it.

Just as the handmaidens and Yashuu surround Rei, she finds herself back in the corridor where she met Miku at the beginning. Rei's thoughts turn to despair and guilt over her part in Yuu's death, wondering why she can never seem to meet him. She glimpses him in the distance, but when she gets close, he turns into Kaname instead, and disappears. As she stands in confusion, Amane appears beside her and gives her back the camera, pointing out a doorway. Wondering whether this is Yuu's answer, and wishing to speak to him, Rei goes through.

In the final panel, snow is still falling around the Manor of Sleep, cut off from the waking world.

Characters

• Rei Kurosawa
• Miku Hinasaki
• Kei Amakura
• Yashuu Kuze