After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

The voice no longer speaks to them
. That’s all I can tell you now.” Buzzcut 
paused. “And this unhappy turn of events was brought about by the publication of 
Air 
Chrysalis
.” 
Komatsu posed a question. “And did Eriko Fukada and Professor Ebisuno expect 
that by making 
Air Chrysalis
public, they would bring about this 
unhappy turn of 
events
?” 
Buzzcut shook his head. “No, I don’t think Professor Ebisuno knew things would 
turn out this way. It’s unclear what Eriko Fukada’s intentions were. Saying it was 
unintentional is just conjecture. But even if you assume it was intentional, I don’t 
believe it was her intention.” 
“People read 
Air Chrysalis
as a fantasy novel,” Komatsu said. “A harmless, 
dreamy little tale written by a high school girl. Actually the novel was criticized quite 
a lot for being a bit too surreal. No one ever suspected that some great secret, or 
concrete information, was exposed in the pages of the book.” 
“I imagine you’re right,” Buzzcut said. “The vast majority of people would never 
notice. But that’s not the issue. Those secrets should never have been made public. 
In 
any form whatsoever.
” 
Ponytail stood rooted to a spot in front of the door, staring at the wall, at some 
prospect that no one else could see. 
“What 
they
want is to get the voice back,” Buzzcut said, choosing his words. “The 
well hasn’t run dry. It has just sunk down deeper, where it can’t be seen. It will be 
quite difficult to restore, but it can be done.” 
Buzzcut looked deep into Komatsu’s eyes. He looked like he was measuring the 
depths of something inside, like eyeballing a room to see if a piece of furniture would 
fit. 
“As I said earlier, all of you have wandered into a minefield. You can’t go forward, 
and you can’t go back. What 
they
can do is show you the path, so you can get out 
safely. If they do, you’ll have a narrow escape, and they’ll peacefully manage to get 
rid of some bothersome intruders.” 
Buzzcut folded his arms. 
“We would like you to quietly withdraw from all this. They aren’t really concerned 
if you leave here in one piece. But it will present problems if we make a lot of noise 
here right now. So, Mr. Komatsu, I will show you the way to retreat. I will guide you 
back to a safe place. What I ask for in return is the following: You must stop 
publishing 
Air Chrysalis
. You won’t print any more copies, or reprint it in paperback. 

---

688
And all advertising for the book will cease. And you will sever all connections with 
Eriko Fukada. What do you say? You have enough influence to handle that.” 
“It won’t be easy, but maybe I can manage it,” Komatsu said. 
“Mr. Komatsu, we didn’t bring you all the way here to talk about 
maybe
s.” 
Buzzcut’s eyes grew even redder and sharper. “We’re not asking you to collect all the 
copies of the book that are out there. Do that, and the media would jump on the story. 
And we know your influence doesn’t extend that far. We would just like you to 
quietly take care of things. We can’t undo what has already happened. Once 
something’s ruined, it can’t go back to the way it was. What 
they
would like is to 
remove this from the spotlight. Do you follow me?” 
Komatsu nodded. 
“Mr. Komatsu, as I have explained, there are several facts here that must not come 
to light. If they did, all those involved would suffer repercussions. So for the sake of 
both parties, we would like to conclude a truce. They will not hold you responsible 
beyond this point. Peace will be guaranteed. You will have nothing further to do with