The Gifted Vol. 10: In the World of God

By Ryosuke Akizuki

"I was killed by someone. You guys are in danger, too."

What Saya Touma received was an e-mail from the deceased. He had been killed, but it was unclear by whom. His dead body was nowhere to be found for some reason. The only clue was the periodic e-mails sent from him after his death. In order to uncover the truth, Saya turned to her companions for help.

On the other hand, the murderer who should have killed him was also puzzled by the mystery of his dead body not being found. How had his body disappeared from the crime scene?

"No one can put any judgement on me in this godless world. There is no God in this world. I am the god of this world."

The culprit, who had likened themselves to a god and continued to bury their adversaries, was haunted by the illusion of the supposedly deceased. Then, finally, they reached the moment of destiny ...

As mystery, gourmet, and spirituality weave a miraculous harmony, the astonishing story culminates in a brilliant conclusion.
Ryosuke Akizuki, the gifted storyteller, who spent a decade, proudly concludes the first period of "The Gifted" series!!

This work was exclusively written for The BBB: Breakthrough Bandwagon Books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312097353

Book preview

Prologue

... Saya.

From behind the thick, sticky fog, she had a feeling that her name was called.

Saya Touma looked around absently and saw what appeared to be a faint gray figure standing on the other side of the white fog.

... Milo? Is that Milo there?

Saya’s faint voice disappeared as if it were absorbed by the white mist. There was no response from the figure.

... Milo?

Saya took a step toward the figure. However, she had no sense that she was walking. Even when she tried to step forward, she could not move forward properly, as if her body were floating. The figure was so faintly human that it seemed to have melted into the thick fog. There was no sign of life. Saya felt only the gaze of someone staring at her.

She had a vague, somehow very ominous feeling.

Saya took another step toward the figure. Feeling a heavy resistance as if walking through water, she moved forward and soon reached the figure. Even as she drew closer, the gray figure remained no more than a figure.

... Are you Milo?

The figure’s stature looked exactly like Milo Baltsa. Saya called out his name, then hesitantly extended her right hand toward the figure. Once her right hand touched the left shoulder area of the figure, it suddenly turned bright red, as if it were a spattering of fresh blood, and then fizzled out, turning the area around Saya vermilion.

... Hic.

After an inaudible voice sounded in the back of Saya’s throat, her vision was once again shrouded in white fog.

    ***

When Saya opened her eyelids, she was in the dark. She quickly realized that what had just happened was a dream. The clock on her bedside table showed 2:24 a.m.

It had only been a little over three hours since Saya had fallen asleep. She had been awakened by a nightmare for the first time in a long while. Saya sat up in her bed and let out a small sigh. Her palpitations did not subside immediately. I’m sure I had that dream because of the phone call from Chloe Dyrek I received before I went to bed. Saya got out of bed, opened the refrigerator, and took out a plastic bottle of still mineral water. Pouring the water into a mug and sipping it, she felt a little better about her anxiety she had been feeling because of the nightmare.

... I can’t get Milo on the phone.

On the phone, Chloe told Saya this at the outset.

According to Chloe, the night before, Milo told her he might have located the gifted who had sent Jannon Bolstad and Shayna Elfman to their deaths and asked Chloe to stay at the Central Hotel. If the one was the gifted in question, Chloe was to send the person to another world.

However, no matter how long Chloe waited, there was no contact from Milo. Her patience ran out, and Chloe called Milo around 8:00 p.m., two hours after the time specified by Milo.

... The phone you tried to call will not ring because it is out of range or not turned on.

No matter how often Chloe tried to call, she would only hear the same message.

After hearing the information from Chloe, Saya also tried calling Milo’s smartphone herself. However, the message came the same as the one she heard from Chloe.

Could something have happened to Milo? Suddenly, Saya was horrified at the thought. Thinking back, there had been several times when she could not reach Milo. He might just be turning off his smartphone and continuing to investigate something. She wanted to think so. After some hesitation, Saya sent Milo a text before going to bed.

Good evening.

Sat, 25 Feb 22:22

Milo, where are you now?

Chloe is worried about you because she can’t reach you.

When you can get in touch, e-mail or call us.

Saya

Saya waited for Milo’s reply until around 11 p.m., but she didn’t receive any messages from him on her smartphone.

    ***

Saya put her mug in the sink and looked at her smartphone on the desk in her bedroom. Have I received a text message from Milo? With a mixture of anxiety and anticipation, Saya slowly approached the desk, picked up her smartphone, and touched the screen to unlock it with the password. When the screen came up, she saw one message received on the e-mail icon.

... Milo?

Saya immediately opened her e-mail application. Then, at the top of her e-mail history, she saw a single e-mail from her own e-mail address.

... Eh?

Saya hesitated for a moment, not understanding what was going on, but then opened the e-mail.

Re: Good evening.

Sun, 26 Feb 02:05

Saya, I was killed by someone.

You guys are in danger, too.

Milo

... Milo was killed? That’s ridiculous ...

After reading the e-mail, Saya was struck dumb with amazement for a while. However, she soon came to herself, sprung up, and called Milo.

The phone you tried to call will not ring because it is out of range or not turned on.

... No way, that’s impossible ...

Saya quickly regained her composure and wrote a reply to Milo’s e-mail.

Re: Good evening.

Sun, 26 Feb 02:43

Milo, where are you now?

It’s a lie that you were killed, is it?

Saya

Saya finished writing the e-mail and immediately hit the send button. Then, with a ringtone, the e-mail she had just written appeared at the top of her incoming message history.

... Eh? That’s what happens, of course. ... But what’s going on?

She replied to the e-mail from her own e-mail address, so she understood that the e-mail would be sent to herself. If so, how did the e-mail from Milo get to this smartphone?

... No way, is that really an e-mail from the dead ...?

Saya was astonished and collapsed on the place.

Chapter 1

On Sunday, February 26th, Nanami Kilian was having a late breakfast with a feeling of elation mixed with some guilt. She was aware that her feelings were still a little high after last night’s surprisingly easy murder of Milo, whom she had considered a difficult opponent. On the other hand, she felt a slight sense of guilt toward Saya for losing Milo.

Nanami smeared blueberry jam on freshly baked hard round bread and brought it to her mouth, picked cheese and salami prepared on a small plate, and absentmindedly watched the TV news. When Nanami woke up, her mother was not in their house. She probably went to church. Ever since the divorce from her father, her mother seemed to have become strangely religious. On the contrary, Nanami herself didn’t believe in God anymore. She had learned from experience that even nothing would improve the situation, even if they clung to God.

Nanami sipped her tea and used the remote control to change the TV channel. None of the news programs seemed to cover Milo’s accidental death the night before. Is it because they have yet to compile all the information on the case? Or is it deemed not worth reporting in the first place?

Nanami looked at the contact list on her smartphone at the dining table. It was before Nanami had been summoned to the Central Hotel that she had last talked with him ... Milo Baltsa. She had earlier tried to remove his name from her contact list, but somehow missed the opportunity due to the complete lack of news coverage of his death. Nanami turned off the TV, shoved her smartphone into her pocket, and sat up. Then, after cleaning up breakfast, Nanami returned from the living room to her room and booted up her notebook computer. She searched the Internet for articles about the incident that occurred the day before, suicide-related articles, and articles related to the Central Hotel. Still, she could find no information about Milo’s death.

... Even if the body has not been identified, it still seems likely to be reported as an incident.

Nanami recalled when her friend Marva Collet committed suicide. Because Marva was a celebrity, the press coverage after her body was found was unusually heated. However, Nanami remembered that on the day her body was found, there was only a small mention in the news and a few articles scattered on the Internet. Even though Milo was not a celebrity, if he jumped from the Central Hotel, the impact of the incident would have been enough to warrant an article on the Internet. The article has not been posted on the Internet because the incident has not yet been made public or the body has not yet been found ...?

... Has Saya not noticed that yet?

Nanami stopped searching and thought about Saya, who was supposed to be in her room in the girls’ dorm. Calling Saya to check on her was tempting, but Nanami reminded herself that such an act would be unnatural. Nanami then tried to imagine Saya breaking down in tears upon learning of Milo’s death, and wondered how she could comfort her. However, there was no way the person who killed Milo would have any words to say to her.

After all, I can say nothing to her ... in my position.

Nanami stopped thinking about it further when she pictured herself at a loss by Saya’s side.

    ***

Yoma Fialka had been in the catacombs spread out in the basement of the Cutrofiano Church since 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. The time was about 5:30 p.m. The last guest of the hourly tour was about to climb the stone steps to the ground.

It was early that morning when Yoma received the request. The clerk at the catacombs’ ticket booth had a sudden fever and could not go to work, and a replacement could not be arranged immediately. So, Yoma was requested because the demonic possession case with the Ouija board, in which she had been involved, was settling down. Depressed by Shaina Elfman’s suicide, Yoma initially considered turning down the request. However, she decided to accept the offer,