Suga looked at Mazo with an astonished expression.

“Oh, but I was just given a mission to investigate a case related to the data from one of the Association members stored here.”

Mazo’s gaze shifted from his book to Suga, then smiled.

“Were you also granted special permission to access the member archives?”

Suga looked doubtful.

“No, but sure….”

Suga had not finished speaking; Mazo’s expression turned deadpan and interrupted Suga’s words.

“Then you can’t.”

Mazo’s attention returned to the book he was reading, then continued to speak without looking at Suga.

“This place is sacred; a lot of data of the deceased Yokai Controller Association members are stored here; this place is indirectly a graveyard for them. So, I hope you can respect them, or I’ll teach you a lesson.”

Suga swallowed hard and nodded. Suga looked at Nellson and smiled awkwardly.

“Then we go, Nellson.”

Nellson nodded. Suga turned and walked towards the entrance, Nellson watched Suga and prepared to fly to follow him. Hearing Nellson’s name, Mazo’s gaze immediately fell on Nellson.

“Wait a minute Suga; you said the owl Yokai’s name was Nellson?”

Suga was slightly surprised and stopped his steps, then turned back towards Mazo.

“Yes, he is my Yokai partner.”

Suga looked at Nellson for a moment while smiling, then looked back at Mazo; Nellson looked back at Suga curiously. Mazo appeared slightly surprised to hear that.

“So, you’re the son of Yamazaki and Kanae?”

Suga’s expression turned surprised.

“Yes, Mazo san, you just found out?”

Mazo answered.

“Yeah, I just found out that their son is also a member of this Association.”

Suga smiled.

“That must be because the Association guards the information of their members.”

Mazo sighed.

“Alright, you may come in.”

Suga was surprised because Mazo suddenly changed his mind.

On the other hand, Mazo unlocked the short double doors merged on the front desk and opened them for Suga. Suga looked a little surprised because of this, he then walked to the archives area, Nellson flew after Suga and then landed on the front desk. Mazo looked at Nellson with an astonished expression; Nellson looked back at him in astonishment.

“I only know Nellson is Yokai's name, but I don’t know if he’s an owl Yokai.”

Nellson just looked at Mazo curiously and didn’t answer. Suga smiled.

“Yes, is there something that interests Mazo san?”

Mazo looked slightly surprised to hear that.

“Yes, that is so.”

Mazo took something from the front desk drawer, then placed a small board with the words “Closed temporarily” on the front desk. Mazo turned to Suga.

“So, what do you need?”

Suga replied.

“Data from members who carried out missions to Kagohara village in 1987.”

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Mazo nodded, took two lantern-shaped lamps from the front desk shelf, and lit them. Mazo handed one of the lanterns to Suga, who received it with an astonished expression.

“Follow me, I’ll guide you.”

Mazo walked in between the rows of tall shelves. Suga followed Mazo, Nellson then flew after Suga.

Mazo and Suga walked through the tall shelves filled with documents, books, and scrolls on their right and left while being assisted by the lighting from the lanterns in their hands. Nellson flew after them while occasionally perching on the tall shelves. Suga was amazed at how neatly these documents, books, and scrolls were arranged. Boards with the words of the year and month that group these archives are also attached to these shelves. The deeper they went, the older the year and month on the shelves got. Suga appeared to have something bothering his mind.

“Why did you change your mind and want to help me, Mazo san?”

Mazo answered without turning to Suga.

“Because Yamazaki and Kanae used to be members of this Association. My memory is still clear like it was just yesterday; Yamazaki made a mess when breaking into the archives area, and of course, other messes that I can’t possibly mention all of it.”

Remembering that made Mazo smile.

“Different from Yamazaki, Kanae is a disciplined, calm, cheerful, and smart person. Somehow, they can like each other. One thing they have in common, Yamazaki and Kanae are very kind persons.”

Not long after, Mazo's expression turned sad for some reason, but he hid it with a smile. Suga looked a little surprised to hear that.

“You know my parents, Mazo san?”

Mazo’s expression changed in surprise as he looked toward Suga momentarily, then looked back to the front.

“Of course, they are at the top ranks of the Association’s best Yokai Investigators.”

Suga was surprised; he then smiled.

After passing several archive shelves intersections, they turned right and walked straight ahead until they finally arrived at their destination, a row of tall shelves with a 1987 inscription board.

“Alright, we’d better start looking if we don’t want to stay overnight in the archives room.”

Suga nodded. They searched these shelves, even using a sliding ladder to retrieve the files on the higher part of the shelf. Nellson was perched on the top of the shelf in front of the one they were checking while watching the two of them curiously.

Sometime later, Suga found a document with the words “Kagohara village” on the side of the document. Finding what he was looking for made Suga a little surprised as he thought.

“So, it’s true that what happened back then raised suspicions by the Association if it had anything to do with Yokai.”

Suga looked at Mazo, who was still busy looking for files while going up using the sliding ladder.

“I managed to find it, Mazo san.”

Mazo turned to Suga. Mazo returned the file in his hand to the shelf before him.

“Good, I thought I’d stay overnight in the archives.”

Mazo came down from the ladder.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Suga shook his head.

“This document is enough, Mazo san.”

Mazo nodded.

The current time is 10:00 pm. Suga and Mazo walked together with Nellson, who flew after them while perched on a shelf and arrived back at the front desk. Mazo opened a short entrance door at the front desk and walked out with Suga. Suga returned the lantern he brought to Mazo.

“Thank you for your help, Mazo san. I’ll excuse myself.”

Mazo nodded.

“Yes, there’s no need to be reluctant.”

Suga smiled and nodded; he then walked away from the archives. Mazo appeared to remember something.

“Oh right, Suga.”

Suga stopped his steps, then turned to Mazo. Mazo looks a little awkward.

“Come any time if you want to see the archives of Yamazaki and Kanae.”

Suga was a little surprised; he then smiled.

“Of course, uncle. See you later.”

Suga walked away from here; Nellson then flew after him. Mazo watched them with a smile.

The night was getting late, and Suga was sitting on one of the sofa groups in the guest hall of the Yokai Controller Association headquarters. This time, only Suga was left sitting with Nellson standing at the short table before him. Suga opened the document he got from the archives, Nellson then flew and perched on the backrests of the sofa to also read this document. The first page of this document shows the member information of the Yokai Controller Association with a black and white photo of a man wearing a shirt, long jeans, boots, and a Yokai Controller Association overcoat with a different design since it was from decades ago:

Name: Hideyuki Totei.

Gender: Male.

Age: 35 years old.

Position: Deputy head of Division 3 of the Yokai Controller Association.

Membership Status: Missing in action.

Seeing this person’s membership status made Suga surprised.

“Missing in action?”

Suga opens the next page, which contains photos Hideyuki took while investigating the Kagohara village case.

Among them is a photo of how severe the landslide cut off access to Kagohara village; the ground piled high and collapsed the road. Photos of forest areas that look shady and dark with big and tall trees, photo of a fairly wide river basin with a small wharf nearby, and a blurred photo of a swamp, all located around the Kagohara village area, as well as some blurred photo of the buildings such as a hospital and village hall. Suga opened the investigation log written by Hideyuki.

“Investigation log, date: October 5, 1987

Case: 15 people have gone missing in Kagohara village.

The first day of my investigation into Kagohara village after yesterday’s shocking news about 15 people gone missing. Today I will first explore the areas of the village. After getting enough photos, I also interviewed some of the villagers who passed by during my activities or whom I met on a special basis. I received all kinds of stories from the villagers, but they had some strange things in common: Seeing their deceased or missing relatives walking around the village and how frightened their expressions were when they told it as if they knew something. I tried to get more information from them, but they didn’t want to discuss it. There is no other choice; if I want to find something out of this case, I must try to find it myself.”