Chapter 25

**Chapter 25** is the twenty-fifth chapter of the *Dead Mount Death Play* manga.

## Official Blurb

As Phantom Solitaire prepares to take the stage once more, mysteries spanning farther than anyone could imagine begin to unfurl...

## Summary

Tena Sorimura visits the Grocer's cell and attempts to give the Grocer information valuable enough to start the *real* transaction he is after: first, by watching poetic about his special alloy cards; when that fails, by giving advice on how to reduce the risk of a paper cut when handling a wad of money. The Grocer gives Sorimura thirty yen's worth of sweet treats for the confirmation that Sorimura is a "huge idiot" despite being an exception criminal, and then they move on to the real item at hand: the symbol on the scroll of skin Sorimura found.

After highlighting the significance of symbols even in their simplified forms, the Grocer points to one of the symbol's diagonal lines and says it represents a sword; while ancient cavalries throughout Eastern and Central Europe used a similar sigil, the one here is utterly different to them. He refuses to give more information without compensation; when Sorimura tells him to state his price, his response indicates that he is potentially interested or open to accepting something other than Sorimura's money.

At Youtoukorou, Lisa Kuraki says she has not heard Hosorogi's name in a long while. Tsubaki Iwanome acknowledges that it has been a while since *he* said the name, before lodging a complaint concerning Polka Shinoyama (still unaware that the Corpse God is borrowing Polka's Body): as Hosorogi once told him—back when Hosorogi was chief of police—the Community Safety Section protects the pasts, presents, and futures of all children.

Iwanome warns Clarissa that neither of them can afford to "get a kid mixed up in their dispute," which Clarissa denies doing in the first place. However, she outright admits "Polka" is her chance to get an 'in' with important Shinoyama Group figures—and Iwanome admits in turn that is more than enough motivation. Still, he advises Clarissa to investigate given that the kid and high school girl Polka spends time with are in danger; even though the girl has skills, she is currently in the same sort of danger that sent even Hosorogi into hiding.

Clarissa points out that Iwanome is speaking as if he is confident Hosorogi still lives, and Iwanome finishes the conversation that Clarissa can play dumb all she wants—he fully intends to "drain the pus out of the police force" and restore it to a place for Hosorogi to return to.

Once Iwanome and Kōzaburō Arase leave, Clarissa assuages her subordinates' concerns and assures them "Polka" is fine. Then, "I'm sure...*he's* more concerned with money than he is with me."

Xiaoyu Lei, from where he is listening in by a grill, infers that Clarissa must be working with "Fake Polka" and makes plans to investigate those at the bar as well in case they threaten Rozan Shinoyama.

At the abandoned building, Takumi yelps at the news that Hosorogi was an Internal Affairs [I.A.] inspector, a position which he explains to "Polka." Hosorogi admits that he still knew Iwanome and Arase even though he was posted at a different station, and chuckles over the not altogether flattering epithets people occasionally gave him at the time. However, he refuses to show "Polka" and the others what symbol he showed Iwanome without a payment of one million yen, slyly volunteering himself to earn the money for them.

Then, his greediness lessening, he apologizes for inadvertently provoking Iwanome into grabbing the Corpse God's next, and divulges that the symbol has to do with a certain "lingering regret" he has. The Corpse God suggests a deal wherein he releases Hosorogi from all lingering attachments to this world in exchange for letting him put him to work, and Hosorogi thinking of lingering attachments - thinks about how he would like to see Lisa sooner rather than later.

Several days later, the afternoon radio broadcast announces that all has been quiet so far on the day Sorimura's re-debut was expected to haven. A sleepy Sayo Shinoyama wanders in and greets "Polka," Misaki, and Takumi, only to pause at something outside the window. The others gather to look, as do other key players around the city, and find that the sky is filled with blimps marked by the unfamiliar symbol.

As scattered memories swell within the Corpse God, he wonders whether he really was reborn into a different world after all. Though the symbol is a bit different, there is no mistaking it as the emblem of a fallen empire in the Corpse God's home world.