Mushi-shi>10.The White Which Lives Within the Ink Stone

Boy #1: It's okay, don't worry. The doctor's out examining my grandma right now. See? I told you there was a lot of neat stuff in here.

Boy #2: Wow. Creepy.

Boy #1: Hey! What's this?

Girl: Hmm? Wow. What a pretty inkstone.



MUSHI-SHI 10.
The White Which Lives Within The Inkstone 硯に棲む白(すずりにすむしろ)



Girl's Father: Doctor! Doctor, please! Come quick! Doctor, it's my daughter! Doctor, please! (muffled shouting)

Girl's Mother: Just after the sunset, she started complaining about how cold she was. The boys that live nearby whom she was playing with have the same symptoms.

Adashino: What is this? Her body temperature is extremely low.

Girl: Mommy, I'm cold. So cold... Could you get me another blanket?

Girl's Mother: Be right back.

Adashino: Even her breath is cold.

Girl: I'm freezing...

Adashino: Ice?

Girl: Doctor, I-I'm sorry... We went... we went into your storage shed today.

Adashino: (gasps) You didn't touch anything in there, did you?

Girl: Yes, sorry... An inkstone...

Adashino: An inkstone...


Ginko: Hello? Anyone home?

Adashino: Hey, Ginko, over here. Thanks so much for coming.

Adashino: It was careless of me. I've tried not to let the villagers see anything inside my storage.

Ginko: How are they?

Adashino: They're getting weaker. I've been having them drink hot water to keep warm, but... This is it. I bought it from a friend of mine, a collector. It's really quite beautiful, but I think that might be made from some type of mushi fossil.

Ginko: Mushi fossil? I'm not sure if there even is such a thing. They usually don't leave behind any remains. Next time, if you don't know enough about something strange, then don't buy it. You're just asking for trouble. Keep in mind that the things you collect are considered paranormal.

Adashino: It was foolish... Sorry...

Ginko: This isn't a fossil. The mushi seem to still be alive. So, what'd those kids say they were doing?

Adashino: What did you do with the inkstone?

Girl: We rubbed an ink stick on it.

Boy #1: Hey, what'd you find?

Boy #2: What is it? It looks like an ordinary inkstone.

Boy #1: No way! I bet it's some kind of magic inkstone.

Boy #2: There was some water back over there.

Boy #1: Get it and find an ink stick!

Girl: Maybe we shouldn't... The doctor will get mad.

Boy #1: Come on. Just a little bit.

All: Huh?

Boy #2: Did something cold just come out of it?

Girl: Yeah, I felt it in my mouth when I was breathing.


Ginko: When rubbed, the mushi reproduced, entered the children's bodies and is now freezing them from the inside. But that's not enough to determine which mushi we're dealing with.

Adashino: Is that so...

Ginko: Doesn't the previous owner know anything?

Adashino: Not any more than what I've already told you. And from what I understand, all of the other previous owners... died after using it.

Ginko: So the only one left who might know something is the one who made it.

Adashino: There's an inscription on it. I'm sure it will help you find the maker.

Ginko: I'll check it out. And I'll need to borrow this.

Adashino: Thank you.

Ginko: Yeah.


Ginko: (sighs) I must be getting close. It should be around here somewhere.

Woman: Ah, she lives over there. But she doesn't make inkstones anymore.

Ginko: Hmm... Why is that?

Woman: I'm not sure. She just stopped one day. I hear she was quite skilled. She lives alone. No family.


Tagane: Who are you? What do you want?

Ginko: Are you the one that made this?

Tagane: (gasps) Yes, that's my inscription. What's this about? Is something wrong?

Ginko: Yes, there are children suffering because of this inkstone. I need you to tell me everything you know about it.

Tagane: (relieved sigh) Thank you... Thanks for coming. I've been looking for this inkstone for a very long time.

Tagane: From what I know, there have been three people who have used that inkstone. I've heard all three died less than a month after using it. It all started soon after my father, a well-known inkstone maker, fell ill. I had a fiance. He lived in a town one mountain's crossing away and was one of my father's customers. Both he and his parents were opposed to me carrying on my father's work.

Tagane's Fiance: Tagane, are you sure about this?

Tagane: You of all people should know. My father and I are the only ones who can carve these. I don't want to give it up.

Tagane's Fiance: But you can't handle all this on your own. And when your orders take too long to complete, business will decline.

Tagane: Listen. Soon I'll make an inkstone that rivals my father's work! Please... have faith in me.

Tagane's Fiance: I'll come again.

Tagane: That became my plan. I knew if I could make something like that, I would win his approval. I put everything I had into the art of making inkstones, but even so, I never made anything I was satisfied with. Then, one day, I discovered that rock. It was enchanting. I began working on it with a passion. And the inkstone I created from it was a brilliant masterpiece.

Tagane's Father: It's beautiful work. Let's rub an ink stick on it and test it out.

Tagane: (gasps) (chokes) (coughs) What... what was that?

Tagane's Father: What's wrong?

Tagane: Was that smoke? Something came out of the inkstone. Look! It's right there!

Tagane's Father: I see nothing.

Tagane: Uh... Huh...?

Tagane's Father: The ink texture is good as well. I can rest assured now that you can continue my work.


Tagane: Several days passed after I inhaled that smoke, it didn't seem to have any effect on me. I was the only one that saw it. I hope my fiance will reconsider once he saw the inkstone.

Tagane's Fiance: All right then. Would you mind if I borrowed this? I'll need it if I'm going to try and convince my parents.

Tagane: Do you mean it?

Tagane's Fiance: Yes. Once I have their approval on this, I'll send you a letter.

Tagane: I received a letter a month later. But the letter was to inform me that he had died. On the day I delivered the stone, he began complaining of chills. It seems he contracted some sort of strange disease that continuously lowered his body temperature. Believing that the inkstone was cursed, his family decided to sell it to an antique store. I went to the store, but it had already been sold. The owner had no record of the buyer, so I lost track of its whereabouts. But a rumor later came to the store from one of its antique dealers.

Man: Another person has died because of that inkstone...

Tagane: Not long after that, my father died. I haven't made another inkstone since that day. I'd like to help you, but I've already told you everything I know about it.

Ginko: Actually, you have helped. I think I know what it is now. Thank you.

Tagane: Hey, where are you going?

Ginko: Sorry, but I'm in a hurry.

Tagane: Wait! I beg of you. Let me buy that stone! That way, I can destroy it myself.

Ginko: I'm sorry, but it's not mine to sell. But if you like, you can come with me.


Girl: (shivering)

Ginko: You're just asking for trouble. The things that you collect are paranormal.

Adashino: I know, I know, I just...

Ginko: I see. So you finally started to learn your lesson.

Adashino: You're back! If you're going to give me a hard time, I hope you at least found out--

Ginko: Don't worry. I'll save them.


Adashino: So coal, a portable stove... and what else?

Ginko: A pot. And do you have a backpack?

Adashino: Mmm, yeah.

Ginko: The mushi inside the inkstone is called Kumohami, or cloud eater. They look like a nimbus cloud, and just like their name implies, they eat the moisture and ice in the atmosphere, and turn it into snow and hail. It's the reason you see hail fall from time to time when there isn't a cloud in the sky. But they can't move on their own; they rely on the wind to carry them. If enough time passes where the sky is cloudless, they freeze and condense themselves and fall to the earth to hibernate. After centuries of remaining in hibernation, the mushi turns into stone. In this case, they were fortunately discovered, and used as an inkstone. Each time they're given water and have the surface rubbed, they reproduce.

Adashino: So what do you suggest we do?

Ginko: Tagene, when you delivered the stone to your fiance, you crossed a mountain, didn't you? That must be the reason you survived after inhaling the smoke. We need to take these children to the closest and highest mountains.


Adashino: It's worse. Give her some hot water.

Girl's Mother: Right. Oh, no, the water's gone cold.

Tagane: I'll run ahead and boil some for you.

Girl's Mother: Thank you so much.

Girl's Mother: Doctor, do we have to climb much further? It's becoming difficult to breathe, and it's so hard on the children.

Adashino: Ginko, please.

Ginko: Just a little higher.

Girl: (groaning)

Ginko: (gasps) Listen! Everyone! Hold your breath!

Girl's Mother: (pants) (gasps) Sweetheart, are you all right?

Girl: I think so. I'm not cold now.

Adashino: Temperature's back to normal. (sighs) It's over...

Boy: Father, I don't feel cold anymore.

Boy's Father: Hey, you had me worried there.

Tagane: But how... how did you know?

Ginko: It was the air pressure. These live in the stratosphere, where the clouds are. With that being the case, it stands to reason that their weight is similar to their habitat. Closer they are to it, the more they're drawn to it. Your village sits at a high altitude, so the smoke you inhaled most likely escaped little by little. And when you crossed the mountain to deliver the inkstone, it probably escaped completely.

Tagane: Thank goodness... Thank goodness...


Tagane: The problem still lies in the fact that you collect these dangerous things as a hobby. I'll be responsible for destroying it.

Adashino: I told you, we know how to deal with it now, so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Tagane: Oh really? I guess the same thing goes for the rest of your collection?

Adashino: That's none of your business. (sighs) Hey, Ginko. Explain to her, okay? If she destroys that inkstone, then she'll be killing the mushi inside of it.

Ginko: Hmm... Yeah, he's right about that.

Adashino: (sighs) It's not the mushi's fault; they're innocent. Besides, look at it. That inkstone is far too beautiful to destroy. And seeing as how you made it, don't you have the least bit of attachment to it?

Tagane: I do, but...

Ginko: But you feel responsible for unleashing the dormant mushi out into our world, don't you? There is another option: Why not release the mushi from the stone?

Tagane: (gasps)

Adashino: Hey, that's my inkstone you're talking about!

Ginko: If I were you, Adashino, I would let this one go. This whole situation is partly your fault. Besides, it's really a fast-class inkstone. It'd be a shame not to use it.

Adashino: (grumbling)


Villager: What's this?

Girl: Huh? It's hail!

Villager: But there's not a cloud in the sky.

Villager: Where's it coming from?

Adashino: Hmm... The repair costs of all of the roofs of this village are going to be huge.

Tagane: Then you can bill me, I'll pay it. Even if it takes me a lifetime.

Adashino: What will you do? That's a lot of money.

Ginko: She can go back to making inkstones. With work like hers, I'm sure she'll be able to pay it off in no time.

Tagane: Well, maybe.

Adashino: If you do, then I'm going to order one from you. And I don't mind if it has mushi inside.

Ginko: Come on. You're not just going to give up on it, are you? After all this...

Tagane: No, you're right... But the first one may take me a little longer than used to.

Adashino: How long do you think it'll keep hailing like this?

Ginko: It's hard to say. The mushi hasn't had a meal in a long, long time.