Chapter 9: Encounter! A Straight Left To His Face!

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Chapter 10: Groping in the Dark, Completely at a Loss, Surrounded by Enemies on All Sides

**Chapter 9: Encounter! A Straight Left To His Face!** (**遭遇！あいつの顔に左ストレート！**, *Sōgū! Aitsu no kao ni hidari sutorēto!*) is the nineth chapter of the spin-off manga series of Zombie Land Saga, titled “Zombie Land Saga Side Story: The First Zombie”.

## Synopsis

The mysterious detective Higashino is planning something against Sagako. Will the Busters be ready?

## Plot

A rookie policeman follows Higashino on orders from his superior, since he had a lot of freedom of movement from the first day he was in Saga. The chief of the police station assigned Araki as the detective's partner to monitor his actions.

Higashino questions him about Araki's officer title, who carries on a family legacy of being a policeman from his parents. The detective asks Araki if he has heard of the “Sagakos” a type of U.M.A (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) in Saga. He replies that he only knows that there is a group of occultists in Saga who deal with supernatural matters. Keiji assures him that the Sagako are real and that it is his duty to find out what these creatures offer to humans. On Araki's part, he tells him that he won't earn points by investigating supernatural phenomena.

Back at the Sagako Busters' mansion, Anna tells them more details about Keiji, who came to Saga after being demoted and is now searching for information on Sagako. Even to Anna, who has known him for a long time, Higashino is someone unpredictable. She asks MJ what would happen if someone used guns on a Sagako, since he's shot a Sagako before. MJ doesn't look thrilled to hear those words and explains that the souls of a Sagako must be purified and if it is not done, the curse will come back with even more force. In other words, if they are not sealed into an onion properly, the curses will become much more powerful.

In Yuko's words, the Sagako have their reasons for appearing. According to her, the Sagako are not born to do evil, but instead borrow the forms of living beings that they take for a reason. It is as if there is life in them. Even if it wasn't possible to speak to them as such, Yuko wants those creatures to at least know, that she wants to understand them and send them a message. If they are sealed and cared for with much love, it would be possible to communicate with them. By being sealed in the onions, the souls of the Sagakos lose their power and become purified, and if cared for with love, the feelings of the sealer would pass on to the Sagakos.

In order to stop Higashino and his plan against Sagako, the group will split up and seal Sagako away before Higashino does anything to them.

Higashino begins to investigate sightings of Sagako and quickly comes to the conclusion that Sagako appear in either crowded or prosperous areas, so he heads to one of these areas himself. Before leaving, he is approached by Araki, who must keep an eye on him to avoid being scolded by his boss. Higashino tells him to guide him to a popular area, or one that will be prosperous in the future.

They both arrive at a forest, where the policemen find a crowd of Sagakos in that area, and Higashino begins to observe them “intently”. He grabs one and throws another for Araki to catch. The Sagako starts crying, which misses Higashino because they don't attack him. Sagako seems to be crying tears of acid that destroys the surrounding grass. The detective thinks that they could use it as fertilizer and sell it to the agricultural industry. To get a closer inspection of the Sagako, Keiji tries to open one of them with a rock, but is hit by the Sagako he was trying to hurt. Angered by the response, he pulls the gun from him and begins shooting all the Sagako in the area as he wallows in the pain he just inflicted on them.

The shots call the attention of Eikichi, who was near the area. Seeing the body of one of the Sagako rolling down the hill, he searches for the detective and is horrified to see the bodies of Sagako. Angry and incensed, he goes to confront Higashino about what he did. He is not only not helping anything, but he is destroying his sister's dream by not purifying those souls. Keiji wastes no time and punches Eikichi, insulting the entire legacy of the Sagako Busters group by calling the group fake heroines of justice who think they help the world.

After insulting and hurting Eikichi badly, Higashino leaves the place while Araki tries to calm him down a bit about the situation. The chapter ends with Eikichi knocked out and passed out in the forest.

## Features

### Characters

* Saga Sagako Busters
	+ Tae Yamada
	+ Jofuku
	+ Eikichi Hyodo
	+ Yuko Hyodo
	+ Anna Shuri
	+ Hanako Hakase
* Keiji Higashino
* Araki (debut)
* Sagako Curses
	+ Spider Egg Sagako

### Locations

* Saga Prefecture
	+ Saga Sagako Busters' Mansion
	+ Karatsu Police Station
	+ Karatsu Forests

## External Link

* Gaiden Chapter 9 Unofficial English Translation

## Trivia

* It is revealed that if a Sagako were to be taken outside of the Saga Prefecture's borders, they will explode, resulting to their demise.
	+ This is also hinted to be the case for Zombies in Kotaro Tatsumi's dialogue in “The Acoustic SAGA of Love and Youth” about rejecting work for Ai Mizuno that involves going outside of Saga.