Chapter 23

**Chapter 23** is the twenty-third chapter of the *Dead Mount Death Play* manga.

## Official Blurb

Polka reads a fortune while the criminals plot out their next moves...

## Summary

In Shinjuku Station, Tsubaki Iwanome reviews what the police know about Polka Shinoyama with Kōzaburō Arase and Saki Aikawa: his and the so-called Misaki Sakimiya's footprints at the "human knots" crime scene; his connections to Misaki, Takumi Kuruya, and Youtoukorou; and his current living and occupational situation. In addition, they still do not know what "Polka" (really the Corpse God) meant when he said "My parents sold me, so I wouldn't really know" to Arase.

The chapter returns to where Chapter 22 left off: with Iwanome and Arase greeting "Polka" at the abandoned building, having caught him in the middle of dressing for his fortunetelling job. Iwanome assures the Corpse God and his friends that they are not here to make arrests, having decided today to forgive and forget Misaki kicking Arase in the gut. Arase and Misaki smile at each other; Takumi, still hiding under his desk, thinks that Iwanome is probably planning on using the incident as future leverage if he is using qualifiers like "today."

Iwanome continues that he and Arase are here to ask about the fire at the Shinoyama mansion—or, they would be were they not on their lunch break and in a private residence. In lieu of questioning, they would like their fortunes told. At least, Iwanome is; Arase declines on the grounds that it is "not really his thing" and the risk of the fortune being a worst-case scenario.

"Polka" invites them into the reading room, where he and Iwanome take their seats at the table while Arase, Xiaoyu Lei, and Sayo Shinoyama watch on the sidelines. Iwanome pointedly says that he "trusts" the Corpse God will file the appropriate paperwork for his business within the month, but promises not to lecture him further for now. Meanwhile, Takumi finally crawls out from under his desk. Recognizing Iwanome as Iwanome from the Community Safety Division, he silently complains about how they are getting nothing but handfuls.

Iwanome requests that the Corpse God "guide" him, but "Polka" states outright that he cannot divine the location of fugitives. Nor can he predict the future, or so he declares when Iwanome brings up preventing future homicides; all he can do is "see the course of [one's] path. The path [one has] walked to get here, and the range of countless paths that extend beyond that."

His Evil Eye glowing unseen underneath his veil, he sets to work. Sayo comments that she has never seen Polka "look like that" at home, and Xiaoyu privately admits the impostor at least knows how to look the part. He further muses that he could tip the two cops off about whatever dark secret the fake Polka may be hiding.

Corpse God first divines that Iwanome is with the Community Safety Division, the divination itself described as "countless hands [simultaneously] giving warnings and protecting," both shield and steel cords. Iwanome deduces at once that this is a hot reading, considering the possibility that Takeru might be sending him intel via a transmission under a hood. In reality, the Corpse God is reading off of Takumi's computer screen via his eyeball spy.

Corpse God's second divination comprises "dozens of images of young women sent from the home of [Iwanome]'s ancestors," which Iwanome infers is referring to his various arranged marriage proposals. When Corpse God says that Iwanome has a "deep scar from [his] past," Arase perks up, listening intently as "Polka" continues, "As long as that injury weighs on you...you will continue to walk submerged."

Iwanome is silent for a moment, before lightly replying that this is 'interesting' and asking whether "Polka" will show him a way to erase his scar. The Corpse God asks if that is what he wants, and while Iwanome admits he does not know, he *is* interested in a path that can lead him to the "guy" who gave him the injury in the first place.

"Polka" answers that the "shredded wing will spell out the signpost," which is Miyabi Hosorogi's cue to write down the 'signpost' on a blank sheet of paper. Iwanome's heart skips a beat at the sight of a mechanical pencil moving on his own and admits to being spooked, but he trails off as he realizes just what the pencil is writing. Meanwhile, Xiaoyu realizes this must be the same thing he heard writing the night before, presuming that the impostor must have been practicing the magic trick at the time.

Iwanome crumples up the paper and leaps to his feet so forcefully he knocks his chair over, yanking the Corpse God close via his clothes in one swift movement. While Arase stares at him on the sidelines, Iwanome asks the Corpse God "what [does he] know" and "why did [he] write this," referring to the symbol on the paper.

In a building currently on fire elsewhere in the city, multiple men head for a certain office room (the sign within reading "Yougangumi") and open the keypad-locked door. The man in the lead—portly, middle-aged, and dressed casually where the others are in suits—orders his men to watch the passageway while he completes his objective in the room. Cursing "that bastard," and wondering at how "this building" is on fire so soon after he laughed at the news of the Shinoyama home's arson, he punches in the code for a keypad-locked safe and puts his finger on its scanner.

A man asks if the safe is fireproof; without turning around, the boss says that he cannot let the police or firefighters see what is inside the safe: a single, weathered scroll of parchment. At the question, "Is it...something...nasty?" he turns around to demand quiet—only to see the Fire-breathing Bug standing over his subordinate's corpses.

The Bug enters the safe-room and approaches the boss, his motto (calling card) etching itself into the ceiling (or wall, or floor) of its own accord. As the building burns, he sings a ditty about toy soldiers marching "rat-a-tat-tat"; as he turns to leave the burning safe-room, he mutters to Tena Sorimura the same thing he told him before: "...Foolish...moth. You can fly into the flame...For all I care."

Behind him, Sorimura ignores the stacks of money wads in favor of the parchment scroll the boss was after. However, in unfurling the scroll he realizes at once that it is not parchment—but he does not think it pigskin either, and finds himself thinking it just might be *human* skin. As he stares at the scroll's contents, he muses that this must be the 'bug' the Fire-breathing Bug spoke of before.

Outside the building, firefighters call for whomever is in the window to exit posthaste. Seconds later, Sorimura crashes through the window—exclaiming that he is innocent to the firefighters in the ladder perch—before making his getaway via a cluster of balloons. Though initially bewildered, the firefighters forcibly put him out of mind so that they can resume checking for survivors.

After making it to a small rooftop, Sorimura holds the unfurled scroll up to the moonlight to have a good look at its contents: the same symbol which Hosorogi drew for Iwanome. With this, Sorimura has finally decided on the material for his comeback performance—and he is ready to "get the whole world pumped."