| We are told the story of how the Goddess Hiruko first appeared on Hitogashima island back in 1732. What had seemed like a miracle to the starving islanders--a dead whale washing ashore--transformed into an exact copy of Haine, an island girl, and proceeded to devour the original. The people could only conclude that this being was somehow divine and worshipped her as Hiruko. Back to the present day, at the shrine, Ushio confirms that priest Karakiri is not a Shadow. He sits down for a talk with Shin. They discuss things like the priest's affinity for MMORPGs. Shin mentions Nagumo's Swamp Man novel, which the priest has heard of. Shin theorizes that Hiruko was originally a alien from outer space, who had the ability to make perfect copies of anything. He attempts to convince Karakiri that Shadow Sickness is real and that is how it got started. But Shin secretly knows that Karakiri is already quite familiar with this topic. He shows him a pair of old photos, taken 70 years ago, that show him (Karakiri) present way back then and he hasn't aged a day. Shin gets to the point and accuses Karakiri of actually being Hishigata Shidehiko--Shide for short. Apparently (a flashback) he was also present when Hiruko copied Haine on the beach. Shin (now holding a revolver) argues that Karakiri/Shide is neither a Shadow nor human. |
