Dekin no Mogura: The Earthbound Mole (出禁のモグラ)

Mama! We'll be together forever. That's right, but Mama's getting old. Don't say that. I know. Even if you go up to the sky, I'll sacrifice the islanders and bring you back to life! I saw it in an anime. There's nothing you can't do as long as you have faith. That's what you taught me, Mama!

Oh, my. You've never stopped dreaming, have you? But that's what makes little boys so cute. I'm sure you can do it. Mama believes in you.

The Beautiful Love of a Parent and Child

People with brains who offer their opinions are the enemy of peace.

That's why I tried to get the Moris to leave the island, but they just won't do it.

It's the father.

He's a little guy who seems carefree, but he's pretty sharp.

That's right.

We've painted the Moris' son as someone constantly faking suicide attempts,

but the Kiriharas' father might've realized it's not true.

Well, we have various methods at our disposal.

The other islanders will believe anything we say.

We can lie to them as much as we need.

What'd you learn? Tell me.

In other words...

The island's royal family does whatever it takes to stay in power.

They make the islanders dependent on them and rob them of their judgment.

That family are pros at cleverly manipulating people's minds and controlling them.

On top of a supernatural ritual that engenders a sense of unity,

Waaah

Waaah

Bounce Bounce Bounce

Bounce Bounce Bounce

instilling an even greater sense of unity with an "us versus them" story

is particularly clever.

Those they deem useless or impudent are driven to desperation and disposed of.

They don't care if they die.

Worst of all are the boss lady, her Oedipus complex puppet,

and that strong-willed walking minefield.

My island's even shadier than I thought.

Simply put, they're a crazy bunch.

What do they think other people are?

Mori-kun's one of their victims.

I'd bet this island has produced countless victims.

They've made the merfolk bigger.

Swell

Swell swell

Swell swell swell

I knew there were surprisingly few spirits on the island.

When we arrived at the harbor, they even stared at us.

Most of them probably get swallowed up by the merfolk.

In other words,

Where bodies wash up

this place has always attracted spirits.

The spirits that end up there form a single blob.

It's a pretty standard type of ghost in ghost stories.

Very little sense of self

It has a propensity to attract spirits with strong negative emotions.

It's a ball of regret, so it craves company.

So lonely

Any friends around?

Ball of regret

It absorbs every spirit it can and eventually begins luring in the living.

Those in a weakened state are especially susceptible.

I can't be satisfied

Anyone will do, please be my friend

Growing negativity

That produces haunted spots where accidents frequently occur

Sad people who exist only to become victims at the start of movies

or places that bring about death.

And the most important part in all of this is...

What did the royal family do to Mori-kun to drive him to desperation?

Episode 10 "True Worth"

We should go check on him ASAP.

He needs a doctor, but the merfolk could lure him into the ocean first.

The barrier between his mind and the merfolk isn't clear anymore.

In fact...

That's probably why he was hanging out in a place with a view of the sea yesterday.

Should we mind our own business?

Honestly, I don't know.

But Yae-chan, I know you'll regret not doing anything, even if there's nothing you can do.

Essay Contest Kirihara Yaeko

Call it being a busybody or being self-serving. I can't deny that.

But at the very least,

I've seen too many people who die without anyone noticing,

and others who feel regret because they didn't notice.

I'm going.

Yae-chan!

Take someone with you.

It can be just Magi, but if you don't mind, take me, too.

Better to go with someone who doesn't know the island's rules.

They just have to be present.

I'm going to continue investigating the merfolk like I originally planned.

You all know what I look like.

The Face of Death

I'm not suited to dropping in on someone and getting them to open up.

Let us know if anything happens.

Do you understand what's going on?

Oedipus complexes are gross.

Honestly, good enough.

There he is! Mori-kun!

Wait! Don't run away!

Wh-What's going on?

Eh heh heh

Um, I wasn't sure how to start, so I thought I'd pull you close.

Can we talk?

It'd be scarier if we didn't.

Sorry to be so frank, but did Yui-chan do something to you?

Um, what makes you think that?

Uh, a woman's intuition?

These people don't know the island's rules.

That's the reason I realized it.

This island is weird.

I thought you might want to talk to people who think that.

What do you think?

I moved here six years ago.

Chatter chatter chatter chatter

The students on the island took the boat every morning.

Everyone was considerate and kind.

You were popular!

People said a boy who looked like a TV character had arrived.

This cosplay would look great on you.

You're right.

I felt pretty good about it.

That's when the island's princess asked me out.

Top Chat What's up, guys? Dokumayu Acherontia here! Today we're gonna play some Boogie Crush!

I turned her down simply because she wasn't my type.

Around the same time, my father had his incident at the factory.

Mori-kun is cute.

He's so nice, too.

Yeah.

But he's too handsome.

I'd be worried about him cheating.

I recently saw a video on the qualities of cheaters, and it described him to a tee.

What?

He's always surrounded by girls.

There's no way he's not fooling around with them.

We tend to assume beautiful people are beautiful on the inside, too.

Oh, I don't have any proof.

I'm just speaking hypothetically.

Mori-kun's close with Hayashi-kun, don't you think?

A little too close, right?

What?

Tee-hee

They're both pretty, so maybe they really are like that.

Don't you kind of hope they are?

It makes me want to root for them.

Mori-kun made a move on me once.

I rejected him, of course.

But since he's normally so nice, I was a little surprised.

Maybe Mori-kun's like that because he wants to get close to otaku girls.

All the girls are obsessed with him because he's like a fictional character.

Blah

True. He definitely presents himself that way.

Blah blah

There's no way it's not on purpose.

Don't talk to us again.

Stay away from Yui-chan.

You should flirt with boys more!

What? You don't want to?

Sorry, Mori. I don't like how the girls jeer at us when we hang out, so don't talk to me again.

Stay away from Yui-chan!

People fuss over you because you're beautiful. You should just enjoy it.

It can't be helped since you've got a handsome face.

Do you like boys?

Do you like girls?

You worry about it too much.

What? You don't want to? Isn't that homophobic?

Cute, cute, cute, cute!

Flirt with boys more!

I heard he's a cheater.

Isn't that homophobic?

The rumors spread among the islanders eventually became the "truth"

and spread among the other students.

The more I denied them, the more "true" the rumors became.

Samejima Yui.

I was certain she'd started the rumors,

but no one remembers where rumors come from on this island.

I never cheated on anyone. I wasn't even dating anyone.

I never discriminated against anyone either.

I wasn't trying to deny anyone's preferences.

But every day, I was forced to recognize that alternate reality.

Maybe I was wrong for not conforming with their rumors.

Casually making baseless suggestions to incite the public

and drive a person to desperation...

It's a method she understands well.

Mori-kun, I'm attending a college in Tokyo.

Let me know if you find any more interesting VTubers.

I'm going to check out the Tokyo Game Show.

Really? Wow.

My one kind friend with common interests who would rather talk about games than the rumors...

Don't leave me behind.

Everyone else's version of "reality" will become the same.

Who am I, anyway?

This isn't even a big deal.

I'm weak. I'm sorry.

Nobody believes me.

Everyone goes through hard times.

I want to die