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「The Blue Wolf」第12話、読了しました。古代生物アンドリューサルクスの復活というスケールの大きな設定に、現実の獣害問題や生態系の再生というテーマが重なって、すごく引き込まれました。レイコさんが最後に選択した道——父親を止め、自らも炎の中に消えていくまでの流れには胸が詰まりましたね。「人間も生態系の一部」という彼女の言葉が、重く心に残っています。そしてラストに登場した謎の少女と「ノベル・ルネサンス」の存在……次が気になって仕方ないです🌷
As the sun began to dip low, the smartphone of an elderly farmer — who was chatting with friends at a coffee shop in a small town’s shopping district — suddenly chimed.
He picked up the phone, which was beeping insistently, and opened the app. Scratching his head, he turned to a somewhat younger fellow farmer.
“Say, is this a notification that the trap has been triggered?”
The man in his thirties glanced at the screen and replied with a tone that suggested, “I told you so.”
“That’s right! Well, Mr. Yamada? It’s handy, just like you said, isn’t it?”
The elderly farmer, addressed as Yamada, spoke with an impressed look on his face.
“My, what a convenient world we live in now. To think we can tell if something’s been caught in a trap ten kilometers away …”
“Let’s go check it out right away. If we hurry, we can just barely make it before dark. Mr. Tanaka!”
The younger man called out to another friend, a middle-aged man.
“Mr. Tanaka, you’re in the hunters’ association, right? Could you come along with your hunting rifle — just to be safe?”
Tanaka nodded as he rose from his seat at the counter.
“Sure thing. If we stop by my place on the way, I’ll grab my rifle.”
Yamada took his car keys from his jacket pocket and stood up.
“Alright, let’s take my car. Sorry to drag you two into this business with my field.”
Tanaka replied with a laugh.
“Don’t worry about it. We help each other out. My fields are suffering from serious wildlife damage too; it’s not like this is someone else’s problem.”
The three men then got into Yamada’s four-wheel-drive vehicle and drove along the roads of the Shinshu highlands — entering the heart of winter — heading toward the farmland at the edge of the mountains.
By the time they arrived at Yamada’s field — from which Mt. Asama, capped with snow, could be seen in the distance — the sun was already dipping below the mountain ridge.
Beside the field stood a metal cage, roughly two meters square, meant to hold the wild boars that ravaged the crops … or so it was supposed to.
Instead, the large cage lay toppled on its side, its door mangled and destroyed. Yamada grimaced, his voice rising in a near-scream.
“Did it get smashed? Did it escape?”
Sato, the youngest of the three, stared at the ruined cage.
“No, this wasn’t a boar’s doing. Even a bear shouldn’t be able to wreck that cage so easily.”
From the woods a few dozen meters away, the sound of snapping branches echoed loudly. Led by Tanaka, who had his hunting rifle at the ready, the three men approached the forest, which was already shrouded in darkness.
Something dropped heavily in front of them — a bloody lump of flesh. Tanaka stared at it, his voice trembling.
“It’s a boar’s head. And it’s been crushed. A bear, after all? No … even a bear wouldn’t do something like this…”
As they drew closer to the edge of the woods, a wet, crunching sound — like something tearing through flesh — rang out. Tanaka pressed the stock of his rifle against his shoulder, bracing himself for action.
A low growl rumbled through the air. A pair of gleaming eyes flashed into their field of vision. They were positioned higher up than even Sato, the tallest of the group.
“Whoa!”
All three men cried out in fear and scrambled backward. The beast spun around, its fur rippling and its long tail swaying, before vanishing into the depths of the forest.
“A … a wolf? No, there’s no way a wolf that huge could exist!”
Tanaka muttered. Sato spoke in a strained, terrified voice.
“I-it’s a monster!”
As if those words were a signal, the three of them raced toward their vehicle. A howl-like cry reverberated through the area, shaking the ground, as if pursuing the car that was fleeing in a desperate scramble.
Two days later, a six-seater van was parked at a roadside station near the scene. Inside were Professor Watari and Associate Professor Toyama from Teito University of Science, Tsutsui — a reporter from the Teito Shimbun — Assistant Inspector Miyashita, and Matsuda, an officer seconded from the Self-Defense Forces.
The five members of the Watari Laboratory — commonly known as “Watari-ken” — were taking a break, each holding a drink. Tsutsui approached Toyama and asked, his tone full of curiosity:
“Dr. Toyama, what kind of creature do you think is responsible for this?”
Toyama replied while warming his hands on a cup of hot black tea.
“I can’t even guess until I visit the site myself. It’s certainly not a species native to Japan, though — after all, they wouldn’t be asking our lab to investigate if it were.”
“Witnesses seem to be saying it might be a wolf.”
Prof. Watari, also holding a cup, stepped up beside them. Toyama glanced into Watari’s cup and remarked:
“Bancha tea — that’s a rather austere choice, Prof. Watari.”
“It’s hojicha tea, not bancha. But that’s beside the point. What about the possibility of it being a wolf?”
“I can’t say for certain, but it’s unthinkable. Based on calculations regarding the height of its eyes, the head and torso alone would measure five meters in length. That makes for a total length of six meters including the tail. There is no wolf of that size anywhere in the world. Besides, the Japanese wolf went extinct at the end of the Meiji era. The prevailing theory is that the Ezo wolf of Hokkaido died out around the same time.”
Miyashita tossed her empty cup into the trash can and spoke.
“Couldn’t it have been a case of mistaken identity by the witnesses? It was getting dark, and the light was dim.”
Watari stroked his beard as he replied.
“I certainly hope so. Even though we’ve become an investigative team specializing in paranormal phenomena, as a scholar, I’d rather not get involved in that sort of thing. By the way, where did Matsuda go?”
Tsutsui pointed toward the shop and answered.
“He went over there, saying he wanted to stock up on food just in case. Come to think of it, he is taking a while.”
“Let’s go check on him.”
With that, the four of them walked toward the shop.
In the section of the shop displaying vegetables, fruits, and wild mountain greens, Matsuda was deep in conversation with a middle-aged woman.
Watari tilted his head as he looked at the shelves of produce.
“The stock is awfully low. And the prices are high, too. Was there a poor harvest this year?”
Hearing his voice, Matsuda turned around.
“Oh, Prof. Watari. I was just asking this lady about that very thing. Apparently, it’s due to crop damage caused by animals.”
“You mean wild animals ravaging the farmland?”
The woman who had been talking to Matsuda spoke up energetically.
“Exactly! We’ve got wild deer, boars, and monkeys in the mountains around here. Look at my field — just take a look at this.”
She pulled a tablet out from behind the counter and showed them a series of photos. They revealed a field where the soil had been churned up everywhere, with the mangled remains of vegetables and fruits scattered across the ground. Watari grimaced.
“That’s terrible. The losses for the farmers must be massive.”
“Oh, it’s a huge loss, all right,” the woman said with a sigh. “In some places, they’ve even smashed right through the greenhouse walls. Some farmers have strung up electric fences to keep wild animals out, but the cost is just astronomical.”
Matsuda bought a bag of apples, and the five of them left the shop and headed toward their car. Just before getting in, Watari gave instructions to the other four.
“We’d better put on our cold-weather gear. It might be bearable during the day, but it gets cold around here once the sun goes down.”
Upon arriving at the scene of the incident, the five of them listened to a briefing from a local police officer while their breath misted in the chilly air.
The officer, wearing a ski jacket over his uniform, spoke to Miyashita.
“We simply can’t figure out the cause. Is it even possible to smash an iron-bar cage like this? Experts say it looks like it was crushed from above.”
Miyashita, herself a police officer, took the lead in listening and asking questions.
“From above, you say?”
“Yes. Apparently, the iron bars were bent vertically. If something had smashed into it from the side, they would have bent sideways. In any case, that cage shouldn’t have been weak enough for a wild boar to break.”
Toyama, who had been walking around examining the ground, suddenly stopped. He called out to the officer.
“Are there any ranches or farms keeping horses around here?”
The officer immediately shook his head.
“No, there aren’t any horses in this immediate area. You might find some in Karuizawa —it’s a tourist spot a bit further away — but not here.”
Watari walked over to Toyama and asked, “Did you find something?”
“Look at these tracks.”
Toyama pointed to the ground, where there were several indentations that looked like footprints. Watari tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Are those hoofprints?”
“Yeah. Given the size, I can only assume they’re from a horse. But horses aren’t carnivores, obviously.”
“What about the head of the dead boar?”
“It looks like the whole head was crushed by a bite. A carnivorous animal like a wolf would normally go for the throat to bring down its prey. I have less of an idea than ever what kind of animal this could be.”
Afterward, the five of them drove their van up the mountain road to survey the area believed to be the giant creature’s territory.
The road ended near the edge of the forest, so they split up to see if they could find a way in. After about ten minutes, they regrouped by the car. Matsuda, who had ventured the furthest into the woods, shook his head.
“No good. The car can’t go any further.”
Watari crossed his arms and said, “Then we have no choice but to go on foot from here.”
Toyama objected, looking as if he were on the verge of tears.
“What? Wait — isn’t it dangerous to walk without at least a map?”
Tsutsui pointed to a spot a short distance away.
“I see a large house over there. If they’re locals, maybe they’d let us take a look at a topographical map.”
As they drove toward the house, the wind picked up and snow began to flurry. The snowfall intensified, soon obscuring their visibility.
The house they arrived at had an imposing Western-style stone exterior. A three-story structure towered at the far end of a garden vast enough for a soccer match, topped with a large brick chimney.
“This isn’t just a house; it’s a mansion,”
Watari muttered, gazing up at the building. Just as they hesitantly stepped into the unfenced garden, a figure appeared from the side of the building.
She was wearing an elegant, old-fashioned dark green dress. The hem of the voluminous skirt reached her ankles; she looked like a young lady of the aristocracy from a bygone era.
Her long hair, cascading down to her shoulder blades, swayed in the wind as she gave a slight bow and asked, “May I help you with something?”
Watari approached her, taking out his business card.
“I apologize for the sudden intrusion. We’re from a university research lab. We’re hoping to head deep into that forest over there, and I was wondering if we might borrow a map or a topographical chart — something of that sort.”
She accepted the card, glanced down at it, and spoke in a pleasant tone.
“Are you, by any chance, the people who have come to investigate that wolf-like animal everyone’s been talking about lately?”
“Yes, that’s right — but how did you know?”
“It’s the countryside around here; news like that spreads in a flash. But it’s far too dangerous to go into the forest in weather like this. A blizzard at this time of year usually doesn’t last long — it should let up in an hour or two — but even if you’re heading back to town, you’d be better off waiting until the snow eases up. If you’d like, why not rest here for a while? I can’t offer much in the way of hospitality, though.”
Watari turned and looked around. The snow was intensifying, turning the entire field of vision a stark white. He turned back to her, bowed his head, and spoke.
“In that case, I’d be grateful to take you up on your offer. My name is Watari. And these four here are … well, sort of like my assistants.”
She smiled and gave a polite nod in return.
“Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Reiko Yamagiwa. Now, please, come this way.”
Prompted by Reiko, the five of them headed toward the mansion’s entrance.
The interior was magnificent — the sort of place where the word “antique” felt more fitting than almost anywhere else.
As they sat at a large table in the drawing room — easily big enough to seat ten — Reiko arrived carrying a silver tray with a large teapot and enough teacups for everyone.
Matsuda helped distribute the cups, each filled with hot tea. Upon picking up his cup, Tsutsui couldn’t help but exclaim:
“Wow, these look like really high-end cups. It feels just like a European aristocrat’s mansion.”
Reiko chuckled as she replied:
“Oh, it’s nothing quite so grand. Apparently, this house was built during the Taisho era as a holiday home for a foreign merchant. My father bought it about ten years ago, and we’ve been using it ever since — making do with it while we gradually renovate.”
Watari took a sip of tea and spoke to Reiko:
“Have you lived here for a long time? If so, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“I moved here with my father ten years ago. However, I was away from home while attending university, so in reality, it’s been six years.”
“Have you ever heard of any local legends or folklore in this area? Something like a story about a giant wolf, perhaps?”
Reiko tilted her head thoughtfully for a few seconds, then gracefully shook her head.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that. My father is a scholar — a man of the sciences — so he had no interest in those kinds of stories.”
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the entrance to the drawing room.
“And my daughter has no interest in such unscientific nonsense. Once the weather clears, I expect you to leave at once.”
A tall man, roughly the same age as Watari and dressed in what looked like fur mountaineering gear, walked toward the table without making any effort to hide his displeasure.
Toyama was startled and rose from his chair upon seeing the man’s face —framed by a shaggy mane of white hair reaching his neck and a white beard covering his cheeks and chin.
Toyama pulled a business card from his pocket and hurried over to the man.
“Could you be Dr. Yusaku Yamagiwa? Formerly a professor at Kyoto University of Advanced Technology?”
“How do you know that? Who are you?”
“Yes, I am a biology researcher myself.”
Dr. Yamagiwa merely glanced at the card Toyama held out; he made no move to accept it.
“Hmph. Teito University of Science, eh?”
“Yes. There isn’t a single researcher in the field of biology who doesn’t know your name, Doctor. It is an honor to meet you.”
“That’s ancient history. I have no interest in the outside world anymore. It’s a nuisance having people barge in uninvited!”
“Father!”
Reiko stood up and raised her voice.
“I invited these people into our home. They are our guests. That was rude of you.”
Scowling, Dr. Yamagiwa turned his back on the group and strode toward the inner part of the mansion, calling out as he went:
“I’m shutting myself in my study. Don’t let anyone through until tonight.”
The drawing-room door slammed shut, and Reiko bowed to the five of them.
“I am terribly sorry. My father is … well, he’s a bit of a misanthrope.”
Watari replied with a smile.
“Not at all, please don’t worry about it. After all, we are strangers who barged in out of the blue.”
Reiko spoke again, a look crossing her face as if she had suddenly remembered something.
“I am not sure if this will be of any use, but I have an old document here. Please wait a moment.”
As Reiko left the drawing room, Tsutsui asked Toyama with a tone of keen interest, “Do you know that man?”
“No, we’ve never actually met; he’s just famous among us biologists.”
“What kind of person is he?”
“A genius in genetic research. Rumor has it he became a multimillionaire at a young age by collaborating with the medical field to develop several groundbreaking drugs. He’s a legendary scientist who suddenly resigned from his university post about ten years ago and vanished from the public eye.”
Just then, Reiko returned, holding something that looked like a small envelope. She handed it across the table to Watari, who opened it and took out the contents: a piece of film, roughly two centimeters square, framed in cardboard.
“Microfilm. That’s a blast from the past. May I borrow this?”
Reiko nodded and said, “Yes. I hope it proves useful.”
Watari looked out through the window and remarked, “The snow seems to have let up quite a bit. I suppose it’s time for us to be going.”
That night, gathered in a room at the inn where they were staying, the group loaded the microfilm into a reader and projected the image onto a laptop screen.
The surface of the pale, grayish paper was densely packed with rows of alphabet characters written in ink. Watari looked at them and said,
“It’s the Latin alphabet. I wonder what language it is?”
Tsutsui chimed in from the side. “I think it’s French. I took French as my second foreign language in college, after all.”
“What does it say?”
“Hmm … the grammar is slightly different from the French I learned. There are a lot of words I don’t recognize, too. It might be a very old French dialect.”
“Then get to work on it already!”
“Eek! I’m so sorry! I don’t know what this is about, but I’m terribly sorry!”
“You should at least be able to figure out what this is about! A newspaper company like yours must have plenty of connections with humanities scholars. I’m telling you to get in touch with a French expert, send them an image of this, and have them decipher it!”
The next morning, an email arrived on Tsutsui’s computer. It contained the Japanese translation of the text from the microfilm, prepared by a linguist from western Japan.
The men — Watari and the others — gathered in the room where they were staying. Tsutsui forwarded the email to the other four men’s laptops, and they each examined the contents.
The email began by noting that the text appeared to be written in a form of French used in the Lozère department of France around the mid-18th century.
After reading through the content, the group collectively tilted their heads in puzzlement. Miyashita broke the silence.
“So, it’s a letter from a Russian aristocrat to a French aristocrat, isn’t it? It mentions sending something.”
Tsutsui responded.
“That would place it in the era before the French Revolution. It also states that the shipment was originally obtained in Mongolia.”
Matsuda spoke up.
“Could the item being sent be a living creature? And a live one, at that? I suspect the mention of a ‘server’ actually refers to someone responsible for feeding it.”
Toyama muttered as he quickly operated his laptop.
“Could this be related to the Beast of Gévaudan?”
Watari turned his gaze toward Toyama and asked: What exactly is that?”
“Between 1764 and 1767, there was a series of incidents in the rural French region known as Gévaudan that claimed over a hundred victims. A monster resembling a giant wolf reportedly attacked people one after another. It’s the affair commonly known as the Beast of Gévaudan.”
Watari stroked his beard as he spoke.
“It bears a resemblance to our current case. Fortunately, though, we haven’t suffered any human casualties here.”
Matsuda asked Toyama: “What kind of monster was it, exactly?”
“Records only describe it as a wolf-like creature the size of an ox. There are accounts describing its face as monstrous, but the specific details of its bizarre appearance haven’t been passed down.”
Miyashita spoke to Toyama. “So, what ultimately happened to that monster?”
“That, too, remains unclear. Even the King of France took an interest and dispatched hunters who managed to kill a large wolf. Yet, the attacks continued even after that. Whether the beast was truly a wolf or something else entirely remains a mystery to this day.”
Tsutsui murmured, seemingly to no one in particular.
“Does this mean that the Beast of Gévaudan has reappeared here in this part of Japan?”
Shortly after noon that day, a young woman was riding her motorcycle along a prefectural road on the outskirts of town. Clad in a full riding suit and enjoying a long-distance tour, she had taken a wrong turn and lost her way.
She dismounted at a spot with a route map to figure out how to get back on track when two sports cars — their engines roaring loudly — pulled up and boxed her in.
Three men stepped out of the vehicles; they sported flashy bleached-blonde hair and multiple piercings. One of them approached her with an overly familiar air.
“Hey, babe. What’re you doing out here? Wanna have some fun with us?”
Sensing immediate danger, she tried to hop back on her bike and flee, but another man circled behind and kicked the rear wheel, knocking the motorcycle over onto its side.
“What do you think you’re doing? Stay away from me!”
Grinning lewdly, the men raked their eyes over her body. Exchanging glances, they spoke in crude tones.
“Looks like there’s nobody around here.”
“Heh heh, so, wanna have a go right here?”
“Sounds good. Hey, drag her into those bushes.”
The woman screamed as the three men grabbed her. One of them delivered a brutal punch to her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her and rendering her unable to make a sound.
She was shoved down into the thicket beside the road, and the men’s hands reached for the zipper of her riding suit. Just then, the man standing at the back was lifted bodily into the air. His feet rose about ten centimeters off the ground.
With a sound like a watermelon being smashed open, the man’s body — severed at the neck — dropped heavily to the ground.
Alerted by the noise, the remaining two men turned around to find the massive jaws of a beast, featuring two protruding fangs, right before their eyes.
From those jaws, the head of the first man — crushed and mangled — was spat out, rolling across the ground.
The two men screamed and tried to flee, but the giant beast pursued them; it clamped its jaws around another man’s head and crushed it instantly.
The last man, his legs turned to jelly, collapsed onto the road, sitting hard on the ground. The female rider also crawled back onto the road.
It looked like a gigantic hound. However, its jaw was flatter and wider than that of any canine, and its fur shimmered with a faint blue hue.
The beast brought its snout close to the woman, who lay frozen and unable to move. She braced herself for death, her body rigid with terror.
Yet, after sniffing her, the beast simply pulled its snout away without harming her and turned its gaze toward the remaining man.
Just then, a piercing, high-pitched sound rang out — a noise like a whistle’s pitch amplified to an ear-splitting level — causing the woman to instinctively cover her ears with both hands.
Suddenly, the blue beast tore its gaze away from the pair, twisted its neck to look behind it, and let out a low growl.
Leaving the man and woman sitting on the ground, the massive blue beast spun around and sprinted up the wooded slope.
An hour later, Miyashita and Toyama were at the Karuizawa Police Station. The bodies of the two men who had been mauled to death while attempting to assault a female motorcyclist had been brought there, and the surviving man was being held in custody there as well.
A uniformed officer, apparently the section chief, scowled at Miyashita and spoke in a brusque tone.
“By what authority is a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department sticking the nose in here? This is the jurisdiction of the Nagano Prefectural Police. Go on home — scram.”
Miyashita persisted, holding out Watari Laboratory’s business card.
“Could you please check with the Prefectural Police Headquarters? Just mention the name Watari-ken. Try the Chief of the Public Safety Commission Support Office, for instance.”
The officer made a loud, ostentatious clicking sound with his tongue, snatched the card, and disappeared into the back room.
A few minutes later, the uniformed officer came sprinting back and snapped a salute at Miyashita.
“I — I am terribly sorry! I have received orders to provide every possible assistance!”
Miyashita pointed at Toyama and spoke to the officer.
“In that case, please allow this doctor here to witness the forensic autopsy. Also, could you tell me which hospital the female victim has been admitted to?”
An hour later, Miyashita and Tsutsui were in the hospital room where the female motorcyclist was staying.
Fortunately, the assault had been thwarted, and she had sustained no significant physical injuries.
Her attending physician, deeming her emotionally stable, had granted Miyashita permission to speak with her. Miyashita sat by the bedside, listening carefully so as not to agitate her, while Tsutsui stood behind her, taking notes. Miyashita asked her questions in the gentlest tone possible.
“Please, only if you can recall it … I watched the security camera footage, and it didn’t look like that large beast was trying to attack you. Is that right?”
The woman sat up in bed and answered. “Yes, it seemed like it caught my scent and then immediately pulled his face away.”
“Were you wearing anything with a distinctive scent at the time? Perfume, for instance?”
The woman shook her head. Miyashita changed the line of questioning.
“When the third man was about to be attacked, it looked as though you covered your ears. Did you hear something?”
“There was a sound — a high-pitched sound that seemed to pierce right into the depths of my ears.”
“One last question. That large beast — it was blue. Is that correct?”
The woman nodded silently. Miyashita and Tsutsui thanked her and left the hospital room.
That night, the five of them gathered in the men’s room at the inn to organize the information they had gathered. Watari spoke first.
“The situation we feared most has come to pass. We finally have a fatality. Were the victims locals?”
Miyashita answered.
“All three were travelers from the Kansai region. Apparently, they were young men with a history of bad behavior.”
“Toyama, what was the condition of the bodies?”
Toyama explained, wearing an expression that suggested he didn’t even want to recall the details.
“It seems they died instantly after having their skulls crushed. However, there were no signs that any flesh had been eaten. It doesn’t appear the beast attacked them for food.”
Tsutsui hesitantly raised her right hand, and Watari gestured for her to speak. Tsutsui opened her notebook and began.
“I asked headquarters to look into Dr. Yamagiwa. His wife passed away eleven years ago — Reiko’s mother.”
“How did she die?”
Answering Watari’s question, Tsutsui continued.
“It was a car accident. While driving on a mountain road, her car collided with a deer that had darted out; she lost control of the wheel and plunged off a cliff. It seems she died instantly. Since it was an unusual type of accident at the time, an article about it appeared in the local edition of our paper.”
Matsuda rested his chin on his hand and murmured.
“We really can’t underestimate the danger posed by wild animals. I wonder if global warming is throwing the ecosystem out of balance?”
Watari replied.
“The ecosystem of the Japanese archipelago was destroyed long ago. More than a century ago, in fact.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Japanese wolf went extinct by the 1910s at the latest. With the disappearance of the predator that had sat at the top of the food chain in the mountainous forests of the Japanese archipelago for millennia, populations of herbivores like deer and wild boars exploded. Crop damage caused by wild animals was already an issue by the end of the Showa era, but it has become increasingly severe recently.”
“Why did it take a whole century for that to happen?”
“Just because natural predators are gone doesn’t mean herbivore numbers skyrocket the very next year. It likely took several generations of breeding for the population to finally exceed the ecosystem’s limits — and we may be seeing the result of that now.”
“Prof. Watari …”
Miyashita spoke in a serious tone.
“How did you figure out that Dr. Yamagiwa was involved in this?”
Watari answered while repeatedly stroking his beard — a habit of his when deep in thought.
“I didn’t know for sure; it was just a hunch. A mysterious giant creature and a genius biologist — it’s only natural to suspect a connection, isn’t it?”
Miyashita continued.
“I had the National Police Agency look into it. Dr. Yamagiwa was once a member of the Japanese Wolf Promotion Society. Shortly after his wife died in the accident, he began aggressively advocating for the reintroduction of wolves, leading to fierce clashes with cautious members. Although he wasn’t prosecuted, he was expelled from the group after punching a member who opposed his views.”
Tsutsui asked, “Reintroduction of wolves? What’s that about?”
Toyama answered in his place. “There are wolves on the Chinese mainland, too. There’s a plan to capture them and release them into Japan’s mountainous forest regions to restore the ecosystem as it existed when wolves were still present. It hasn’t actually been carried out yet, though.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? Don’t wolves attack and eat people?”
“Western fairy tales have certainly fostered that image, but historically speaking, there aren’t actually that many records of wolves attacking humans — even in Europe. It’s more accurate to say that humans encroached on the wolves’ habitat as populations grew, forests were cleared, and farmland expanded. It was only after that happened that damage to livestock and humans caused by wolves became a noticeable issue.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, I suppose my only image of wolves comes from stories like ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.”
“There are actually very few records of Japanese wolves ever killing and eating humans. Of course, since they are carnivores, the risk isn’t zero. That’s precisely why there’s such deep-seated caution regarding the reintroduction of wolves in Japan — and why it still hasn’t happened.”
Miyashita chimed in.
“Regarding the beast in question, the witnesses testified that it had blue fur. Dr. Toyama, is there any such thing as a wolf with blue fur?”
Toyama shook his head, then suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” and began searching for something on his laptop.
As he typed, Toyama muttered to himself.
“Originally from Mongolia … hoofed footprints … carnivore … mammal … Found it!”
Toyama turned the laptop screen so everyone could see. The other four gasped at the illustration displayed there. Watari murmured in a low voice.
“The Blue Wolf and the White Deer … so that’s it.”
“What is that?”
Tsutsui asked. Watari answered without taking his eyes off the screen.
“It’s an ancient myth of the Mongol people. Long ago, a blue wolf and a white deer came from the eastern and western edges of the grasslands, met, and produced offspring. The myth holds that they were the ancestors of humanity.”
“Huh? Humans were born from animals?”
“It’s a form of totemism. Myths that revere large or powerful animals exist all over the world. And the creature that inhabited what is now Mongolia during the Eocene epoch was …”
Watari paused and glanced at Toyama. Toyama gave a slight nod and continued the story.
“This is a species known as Andrewsarchus, considered the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammal in Earth’s evolutionary history. This right here is one. It lived between approximately 45 million and 36 million years ago — meaning, of course, that it ought to be extinct.”
Matsuda peers at the computer screen and speaks to Toyama.
“But, Dr. Toyama, the creature in this illustration isn’t blue.”
“We’ve only found a few skull fragments and teeth of Andrewsarchus, so a lot of what it was actually like remains speculative. There’s certainly no way to know its fur color from fossils.”
“So, it’s a sort of prehistoric wolf?”
“No, it belongs to a completely different evolutionary lineage than wolves. Comparisons with close relatives suggest it was an artiodactyl — an even-toed ungulate — meaning it had hooves. If I had to put it simply, it’s a distant relative of the cow.”
“But surely a cow and a wolf look nothing alike?”
“It’s called convergent evolution. Creatures from entirely different lineages can end up looking alike if they share similar environments or diets. The clearest examples are sharks, the ichthyosaurs of the dinosaur era, and dolphins. They’re fish, reptiles, and mammals respectively, yet they share a similar form, don’t they?”
Watari speaks, stroking his beard again.
“So, Andrewsarchus survived in the remote reaches of the Mongolian Plateau. A Russian aristocrat happened to capture it alive and sold it to a French aristocrat. I suppose that microfilm is the record of that transaction.”
Matsuda asks another question.
“But Prof. Watari, what was the purpose of such a deal? If that creature really is what we think it is, it seems far too dangerous.”
“It might have simply been the whim of an eccentric who wanted to keep a rare beast. Then again, there’s also the possibility it was imported as a weapon.”
“A weapon?”
“A carnivorous beast of that size would have posed a significant threat to enemies in 18th-century France. The way politicians and military men think hasn’t changed much throughout history.”
Miyashita murmurs. “An Andrewsarchus was brought to France, escaped, and became the Beast of Gévaudan. Come to think of it, Dr. Yamagiwa has frequently traveled to Europe — including France — over the past twenty years or so. I wonder if he managed to get his hands on an Andrewsarchus offspring somewhere along the way?”
Toyama replied: “It might not necessarily have to be a living specimen. If it had been secretly taxidermied back in the 18th century, its state of preservation would be far superior to that of a fossil. With modern genetic analysis technology, reconstructing its DNA would be possible.”
Miyashita added: “According to the testimony of a woman attacked by a thug, a high-pitched sound rang out, and that blue beast suddenly fled the scene. If that sound was something like a dog whistle, there’s a possibility that someone is controlling the monster.”
Watari spoke last: “We have to go return that microfilm anyway. Even if they’re the enemy, maybe we should try venturing right into their den.”
They dedicated the entire following day to preparations. Matsuda made a round trip by helicopter to the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Somagahara Camp in Gunma Prefecture to procure heavy weaponry.
A specific substance Toyama had requested through Matsuda was airlifted in from the National Defense Medical College on a separate helicopter.
Tsutsui and Miyashita utilized media and police networks to trace Dr. Yamagiwa’s movements over the past decade. Their investigation revealed that the doctor had apparently transported a large quantity of experimental equipment into that mansion.
Watari and Toyama conducted a meticulous re-examination of the ground at the site where the Andrewsarchus had appeared.
The next day, the five of them drove to Dr. Yamagiwa’s mansion. Stopping the vehicle a short distance away, Matsuda and Miyashita decided to approach the estate stealthily along the edge of the surrounding woods to conduct reconnaissance from the outside.
Just as the group was about to split up, the sound of rustling branches echoed from the nearby forest; accompanied by a low growl, a pair of enormous eyes suddenly appeared at close range.
Matsuda opened the golf bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out a machine gun. He loaded a drum magazine and braced the weapon against the car’s roof using its inverted-V-shaped bipod.
Toyama suddenly splashed a liquid all over himself, Watari, and Matsuda. Just as Watari, face flushed red, was about to complain, a massive beast covered in blue fur burst from the woods and charged straight at the group.
Frozen by the sudden turn of events, the five watched as the Andrewsarchus’s snout loomed before them, hovering just slightly above head height.
The Andrewsarchus sniffed each of them in turn, pulling away first from Tsutsui and Miyashita. It then sniffed Matsuda, Watari, and Toyama before turning its back on them and racing off into the forest.
Watari restrained Matsuda, who was hesitating over whether to fire the machine gun.
“Don’t shoot yet. It’s best not to make a rash move until we’ve fully ascertained the truth of the situation.”
Sniffing his own clothes, Watari turned to Toyama with a look that suggested he was ready to snap at him.
“Hey, what is this? What did you spray?”
Toyama held up a plastic bottle of chemicals and answered.
“It’s estrogen. A synthetic version, though.”
“Estrogen?”
“Commonly known as a female hormone. It seemed like the creature wouldn’t attack humans — specifically women.”
Miyashita’s expression shifted to one of sudden realization.
“So that’s why the creature immediately backed off from the woman on the motorcycle? Is that it, Dr. Toyama?”
“It might have been raised by a human woman. That’s why it doesn’t attack women who carry that same scent. Well, it was a gamble, but it looks like it paid off.”
Watari clapped his hands together and gave the order.
“Alright, let’s move in as planned.”
Matsuda shouldered his machine gun, and Miyashita, pistol in hand, ran to infiltrate the grounds from the back of the estate.
Meanwhile, Watari, Toyama, and Tsutsui drove straight to the front entrance of Dr. Yamagiwa’s mansion.
After they announced their visit via the intercom, Reiko immediately came out to greet them and ushered the three into the drawing room. Once Reiko stepped out to fetch some tea, Tsutsui whispered to Watari and Toyama.
“If Dr. Yamagiwa is the mastermind behind this incident, there’s a strong chance Reiko is an accomplice, too. But she was the one who lent us the microfilm that held the key to the case. Isn’t her behavior contradictory?”
Glancing sideways at the drawing room door, Watari replied in a low voice.
“Well, that’s exactly what we’re here to find out. We’ll know soon enough.”
Before long, Reiko brought over a teapot and cups, placing them on the table; she sat down opposite Watari, and the two began to converse.
Watari handed her the envelope containing the microfilm across the table and said.
“Thank you for this valuable item. Thanks to it, it seems I’ve begun to understand a number of things.”
“And what have you discovered?”
“You’re wearing a pendant with a rather unique shape. That ornament hanging at your throat is quite intriguing.”
“Oh? Is there something about it?”
“It looks just like a whistle. A dog whistle, perhaps? For instance …”
Watari spoke in a low voice to Reiko, whose expression remained a calm, gentle smile.
”… Are you using it to control a blue wolf?”
“Heh heh heh. You truly are a top-tier researcher. Just how much have you managed to uncover?”
“Your father — Dr. Yamagiwa — is conducting some sort of secret experiment here. What is the reason for needing to resurrect Andrewsarchus in the modern age?”
“I shall answer that myself.”
Suddenly, a section of the wall slid sideways, and Dr. Yamagiwa appeared from a hidden doorway.
“To save this country’s ecosystem. We Japanese, having driven the wolf to extinction through overhunting, have a duty to provide a substitute for them. Yet, even for someone like me, unilaterally reintroducing wolves is impossible.”
Toyama spoke, his face showing a rare flash of anger.
“That hardly justifies resurrecting a creature that was supposed to be extinct!”
Dr. Yamagiwa continued, his tone unconcerned.
“More than a century has passed since the Japanese people drove the wolf to extinction. You are surely aware of how the country’s ecosystem has collapsed and the extent of the damage wild animals inflict on farmers. Even if we were to reintroduce wolves, we would need a pack of several hundred. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the gray wolves from the continent wouldn’t attack humans.”
“So, Andrewsarchus?”
“A single one of those creatures culls enough herbivores to feed dozens of wolves. If their numbers are kept low, humans can control them. First, I have to accustom them to people. Reiko here raised the one we have now from a cub, so it won’t attack human women. Now, how do we ensure they don’t attack men, either? Are you familiar with the anti-alcohol drugs used to treat alcoholism?”
“You mean the medication that makes people feel sick if they drink alcohol? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’ll mix a chemical into the Andrewsarchus’s feed that triggers a sensation of discomfort whenever it consumes human flesh. Naturally, it’ll stop attacking humans — at least for the purpose of eating them. After all, a fair number of bodies from missing persons cases turn up in Japan every year.”
“That’s pure fantasy! Is it even possible to create a drug like that?”
“It’s already finished. It’s circulating in your bodies right now.”
“What!”
Toyama tried to stand, but his knees buckled and gave way. Watari and Tsutsui attempted to rise as well, only to slump onto the floor, clutching the edge of the table. Wataru groaned in frustration.
“Damn it … that tea…”
Dr. Yamagiwa addressed the three of them, wearing a faint, smug smile — the first sign of human emotion he had shown.
“The toxicity to humans is mild and temporary. You won’t be able to stand or walk for about thirty minutes, but you’ll recover soon enough. And then, you shall serve as feed for the Andrewsarchus.”
While Dr. Yamagiwa and Reiko used an old-fashioned elevator to transport Watari, Toyama, and Tsutsui — loading them onto a cart one by one — down to the mansion’s semi-basement, Miyashita and Matsuda scouted the surrounding grounds.
At the rear of the mansion, they found a large shuttered entrance that appeared to lead to the basement; the ground directly in front of it was worn smooth — devoid of withered grass or moss — suggesting frequent traffic.
Observing this, Miyashita remarked: “It looks like large vehicles have been passing through here repeatedly for quite some time.”
Matsuda replied, scanning the area with his machine gun held at the ready in both hands.
“I wonder what they were hauling? If it was just for that — that giant beast thing — I wouldn’t think they’d need such massive amounts of supplies.”
“Let’s try sending a message to Prof. Watari and the others. By now, they should be well into their conversation with Dr. Yamagiwa.”
They waited a few minutes, but there was no reply from any of the three. Even if they couldn’t answer a call, the system was designed so that a simple tap on the screen inside their pockets would send a signal acknowledging receipt of the message.
Miyashita and Matsuda exchanged glances. Miyashita spoke:
“We should assume something has gone wrong. Mr. Matsuda, if it comes to it, can you smash through that shutter and storm the place?”
“Leave it to me. With this machine gun, I can blast a hole big enough for a person to fit through.”
The mansion’s semi-basement was a spacious area, roughly 100 square meters in size. Watari, Toyama, and Tsutsui lay sprawled across its stone-paved floor.
Their limbs were numb, making it impossible to sit up, though they had no trouble breathing. It appeared to be a drug that induced temporary, mild muscular paralysis.
Dr. Yamagiwa stood looking down at the three of them, a shotgun dangling loosely in one hand, while Reiko stood behind him, rifle at the ready.
Watari desperately twisted his prone body, lifted his head, and shouted at Dr. Yamagiwa.
“Why, Doctor? What is the point of going to such lengths to resurrect an Andrewsarchus? That specimen isn’t going to live forever, is it?”
Dr. Yamagiwa slid aside a large curtain in the corner of the basement. Behind it stood five cylindrical devices, each about a meter tall.
Parts of the devices’ casings were transparent, allowing a view of the interior; inside the clear fluid, something resembling a quadrupedal fetus could be seen stirring.
Toyama, who had finally managed to shift his position while lying on the floor, gasped in astonishment at the sight of the devices.
“Artificial wombs! You’ve gone that far?”
Dr. Yamagiwa spoke with a triumphant smile.
“Of course, the current specimen will eventually reach the end of its life. But the Andrewsarchus that succeed it will be born one after another. They will restore the ecosystem of the Japanese archipelago — an ecosystem humans destroyed. I do this so that there will never be another victim like my wife.”
Toyama retorted, his face flushing red.
“You’re wrong. Andrewsarchus isn’t a Japanese wolf; it’s a completely different species. That won’t bring Japan’s nature back to the way it was.”
Dr. Yamagiwa shouted, his anger flaring openly.
“It was the opposition of the foolish masses — people like you — that prevented the reintroduction of wolves. And look at the state of this country’s ecosystem now. Crop damage caused by wild animals is only getting worse. Bears, driven by food shortages, frequently appear in inhabited areas, and attacks on humans are on the rise. If science doesn’t solve problems like these, what is it for?”
Dr. Yamagiwa turned toward Reiko and issued a command.
“Reiko, summon the Andrewsarchus.”
Reiko hesitated. Dr. Yamagiwa snapped at her.
“What are you doing? Hurry up!”
Reiko picked up a small, rod-like object attached to the thin silver chain around her neck. It had three small holes in it.
She covered two of the holes with her fingers, pressed the tip to her lips, and exhaled forcefully.
A sharp, high-pitched whistle rang out. As Dr. Yamagiwa operated a lever on the wall, the shutter began to rise with a creaking sound.
“Father, please reconsider,” Reiko said suddenly to Dr. Yamagiwa.
“That creature has already killed two ordinary people. Shouldn’t we have given more thought to whether an ancient animal could truly coexist with modern humans?”
Dr. Yamagiwa replied in a tone that brooked no argument.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My discovery of the Andrewsarchus specimen — secretly preserved in France — was a miracle, a sign of divine guidance. If we let this chance slip away, this country’s ecosystem will eventually collapse. I am the one who will save Japan from that crisis!”
Heavy, thudding vibrations traveled from outside through the floor of the underground chamber. A low growl grew steadily louder as the source approached.
Through the square opening where the shutter had fully risen, the head of a massive beast — covered in blue fur — pushed its way in.
Sharp fangs, protruding downward from the corners of its mouth, gleamed white.
“You mad scientist!”
Watari shouted at Dr. Yamagiwa as he braced his right hand against the floor and struggled to lift his upper body. Dr. Yamagiwa spoke, looking slightly impressed.
“Oh? The poison is already wearing off? Remarkable stamina for your age. Well then, shall we test whether this fellow prefers live prey or dead?”
Dr. Yamagiwa pointed the muzzle of his shotgun at Watari. A sharp bang echoed through the basement.
Toyama and Tsutsui, who had instinctively squeezed their eyes shut, tentatively opened them to find Dr. Yamagiwa lying on the floor.
Blood was slowly spreading across the ground from his left chest; it looked as though his heart had been pierced from behind.
Thin wisps of smoke rose from the barrel of Reiko’s rifle. Miyashita and Matsuda dashed past the Andrewsarchus and burst into the basement.
Miyashita took in the scene at a glance, instantly grasping the situation; she leveled her pistol with both hands and confronted Reiko. Matsuda aimed his machine gun at the Andrewsarchus’s head and opened fire.
The bullets struck near the beast’s right eye; the blue creature roared, recoiled, and fled the basement.
Watari sat up, crossing his legs on the floor, and asked Reiko,
“Why, Reiko? Did you save us?”
Keeping her rifle trained on Miyashita to keep her at bay, Reiko answered in a calm voice.
“I should have stopped my father sooner. It was my responsibility, and I failed to do it. After losing my mother in that accident, my father became a different person. He became obsessed with the idea of reintroducing wolves to restore this country’s ecosystem.”
Matsuda carried Toyama and Tsutsui over and set them down beside Watari. The numbness in their bodies had largely faded. Reiko continued.
“But because my father was a scientist, he failed to understand the most important thing: that human beings are also part of the ecosystem. If the frequent wildlife attacks we see these days are a punishment from nature, then we ought to accept them — as the descendants of the people who drove the wolves to extinction.”
Reiko backed away while keeping her rifle raised, then spun on her heel and sprinted through the doorway leading to the upper floors.
There was a sharp click as the door shut and locked behind her.
Miyashita gave chase, but the closed door wouldn’t budge, making further pursuit impossible. Matsuda called out to her loudly.
“Our priority is getting everyone out of here. Ms. Miyashita, please help me.”
With his machine gun hanging across his chest, Matsuda hoisted Tsutsui onto his back and supported Toyama with his left arm as they left the basement. Watari followed behind with unsteady steps, Miyashita supporting his back.
As they were crossing the spacious garden in front of the entrance, Miyashita twitched her nose and grimaced.
“What is that smell? Is that… gasoline?”
The front door opened, and Reiko stepped out into the garden, rifle at the ready. She pressed a silver tube hanging at her chest to her lips and blew a sharp whistle.
The Andrewsarchus emerged from the woods to their side, moving with a slow, lumbering gait. Ignoring Watari and the others entirely, it shambled toward Reiko.
As the beast reached her, Reiko stroked the jaw of its head — its right eye destroyed and the fur matted with blood. The blue beast let out a soft, whimpering sound, much like a puppy seeking affection.
Just as the group reached the boundary separating the garden from the road, Reiko spoke up.
“Everyone, there is one more thing I need to tell you. Even though my father was a wealthy man, he couldn’t have conducted an experiment like this entirely on his own. It seems he was a member of a secret society — some kind of clandestine organization.”
Watari planted his feet firmly and turned to face Reiko. “A secret society? What kind of organization is it?”
“He didn’t tell me the details, either. I’ve only heard the name once. That name is … ‘Novel Renaissance’.”
Once they were clear of the garden grounds, Miyashita released Watari, then leveled her pistol and turned toward Reiko.
“What do you intend to do now? You won’t be able to escape the police.”
Reiko answered while affectionately stroking the muzzle of the blue beast that had nuzzled up close to her face.
“I have no intention of running. In the end, this creature killed people. I must atone for that sin.”
Reiko raised her rifle and pulled the trigger, aiming at the corner of the garden. Immediately following the sharp crack of the gunshot and a spray of sparks, orange flames erupted along the garden’s edge, encircling the entire estate and beginning to spread.
“Come, Bleu.”
Soothing the blue beast — startled by the sudden flames — with gentle strokes, Reiko began to walk slowly toward the mansion.
“You’re going back to where you truly belong. I’ll go with you.”
As if sensing its impending death, the blue beast walked alongside Reiko. Watari and the others could only watch in silence as Reiko and the Andrewsarchus vanished beyond the wall of fire, disappearing into the mansion that was already being consumed by the blaze.
Gasoline must have been scattered everywhere; the mansion was instantly engulfed in flames, and the roof began to collapse as it burned. From within the towering inferno, a sound like a long, mournful howl echoed briefly.
Two days later, Watari, Toyama, and Tsutsui — having undergone medical checkups at a local hospital just to be safe — were driving back.
Spotting a small shop in a rural village along the way, they pulled over to buy some bread for lunch.
It was the sort of place that felt like a quintessential country general store. The elderly woman tending the shop seemed to view them as rare visitors and engaged them in casual small talk; while chatting, Watari noticed the condition of a plastic greenhouse some distance away and asked her about it.
“That greenhouse over there — it looks like there are holes in the walls here and there.”
“Oh, that? They grow strawberries in there. Apparently, a bear tore it up.”
“A bear?”
“They say the acorn crop in the mountains was poor this year. Deer and wild boars are ravaging the open-field vegetables and fruit, too — it’s just one disaster after another for the farmers around here.”
“Doesn’t the local hunters’ association handle culling them?”
“They do try, of course. But do you know the average age of the hunters’ association around here? I believe it’s over sixty-three. Young people these days don’t want to get hunting licenses. In the end, it’s just a game of cat and mouse.”
Back at the car, Watari tapped Toyama on the shoulder and asked:
“So, Dr. Toyama — as a biologist, what do you think of the theory that this ever-increasing damage caused by wild animals is nature’s punishment for humanity? Should we simply accept it with resignation?”
Toyama gave a wry smile and replied:
“Don’t ask such mean-spirited questions, Prof. Watari. Biology, too, is merely a discipline pursued for the sake of humanity. In that sense, you and I are ultimately no different from Dr. Yamagiwa.”
Gazing toward the mountains, Toyama spoke with a rare seriousness in his expression and tone.
“Answering that question isn’t the job of a scientist. It’s a job for philosophers or religious leaders.”
On the morning of that same day, on the top floor of a high-rise apartment building in Roppongi, Tokyo — in the dining area of a residence-cum-office that occupied the entire floor — a young girl was eating breakfast.
Three large computer monitors lined the table, displaying information in English, French, and Chinese that scrolled upward in a continuous stream.
The girl, who appeared to be around ten years old, occasionally glanced at the text on the monitors as she ate her way through a meal of a bread roll, bacon and eggs, a salad, and tea.
She had long, straight black hair reaching down her back, a complexion typical of the average Japanese person, and a build appropriate for her age; she was dressed in a simple child’s dress.
She looked like an ordinary girl one might see anywhere.
However, her eyes were a clear, translucent blue — eyes that betrayed a cold, sharp intelligence far beyond her years.
As she finished her meal, a woman in her thirties dressed as a maid, who had been standing nearby, refilled her tea. The girl picked up her smartphone and quickly switched it to call mode.
When the other party answered on the third ring, she stated her business rapidly in a high-pitched, childlike voice.
“Please transfer funds from my account at the New York investment bank to my account at the Tokyo securities firm. I’m going to make a purchase as soon as the Tokyo market opens. The amount … let’s see … make it 100 million dollar — no, better make it 120 million dollar, just to be safe. Also, have the lawyers come over at eight o’clock tonight. Right, thanks.”
Just as the call ended, a woman in a maid’s uniform handed the girl a wide envelope.
“Here is the investigation report you requested the other day, Boss.”
“Ah, right — the one regarding that ‘Watari-ken’ details.”
“It’s rare for you to request everything in hard copy, Boss.”
“Even if you delete digital files, traces tend to remain somewhere. Just a precaution.”
The girl opened the envelope, took out the five documents inside, and scanned through them one by one.
“Oh, a distinguished-looking older gentleman. He’s actually kind of my type. This one looks a bit frivolous, though. Wait — a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department? And a counter-terrorism specialist, at that. Here’s a city news reporter for a national newspaper. And … the Self-Defense Forces!”
With a movement as lively as a child’s, the girl hopped off her chair and headed toward the door of the adjoining room. As she opened it, she spoke to the maid.
“I’m going to focus on work now; don’t let anyone in until lunchtime.”
The maid bowed deeply in response.
“Understood, Boss.”
The room she entered contained a desk with luxurious furnishings, and one entire wall was made of floor-to-ceiling glass, offering a view that looked down over the city of Tokyo.
Gazing out the window, the girl murmured to herself.
“Watari-ken … I might have underestimated them. The Cabinet Secretariat is pulling the strings behind the scenes there.”
She sat at the desk and booted up a high-performance PC equipped with three monitors. Behind her chair stood a fireplace — purely decorative.
Mounted on the wall above the fireplace was a large metal plaque, engraved with text and a design resembling a European noble family’s coat of arms. The gold-inscribed lettering read:
“Novel Renaissance.”
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