Hole 3: Grave Robber
The mole had dug a very deep trap hole; and inside Muoru had caught the
helmet, Muoru still tricked them into falling into the trap. He realized that
There was no time.
Hole 3
And how much more pain can her heart endure?
there were, it would probably be better not to use it.
didn’t need to suffer.
Looking at the Crow he’d captured, Muoru launched his questions.
you showed me back when we first met, a fake?”
expression and once again pulling out the mask from somewhere on their
“This is real. I got it from my “hunter” friends.”
‘hunters’?”
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and mocked Muoru the same way they usually did. Then Crow shrugged. “I
difficult to explain my position.”
scooped up some dirt and held it over the hole.
prepared to bury the lower half of their body.
then…I’m a ‘representative from the victims’ association’ so to speak.”
of the hole.
“Well, you sound like you’re screwing around. But if not, tell me, what type of
“About the devils of course. Could there be anything else?”
others,” Muoru said, intending Crow’s words to be just another joke.
Hole 3
“Yes, there are others. Ten of them,” Crow replied quickly with a thin smile.
“Are you talking about Meria?” Muoru asked right away. He couldn’t think of
association?”
yet”
There was no one who suffered at the hands of those monsters like the
time ago and were probably buried in a grave.
come out into the graveyard except at night, we’ve never met. But, I can’t say
speaking in a roundabout way.
ask another question –
around these days,” Crow said something he couldn’t ignore.
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older sister.
the graveyard well, so it isn’t that strange that they would know it, but still…
bobbed-haired person in the hole and sat down.
“Why do you think Maria died?”
had been in the hole. But now they were standing to his side, their voice
How did you do that?
“She probably burned up in the sun.”
that flew out of Muoru’s mouth. ”Yeah, it’s just as you said. Well, it’s not like
misunderstanding I should clear up.
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death hasn’t applied to them. They certainly hate the light, but if it touches
they would simply start moving again…and resume their killing of humans.
keepers who have stolen their powers will die if touched by it. Don’t you
“I couldn’t care less about that. What I want to hear is…” Muoru had started
say…He was completely confused, unsure how he should try and continue, or
Crow sighed.
although Meria is still human, at the same time a part of her is “The Dark.”
both have an equal effect on her. So if light hits her then her grave keeper’s
Muoru craned his head to the side. “Stopping is death?”
“Can you stop your heart?”
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“Idiot, if I did that…”
“Right. Now it’s not just your heart, but also your breathing, your brain, your
always moving from the time they were in their mother’s womb until the last
their body never stops. In other words, the concept of stopping is precisely
Muoru grabbed his chest. “Hmm, so if the monster’s part becomes unable to
human parts also stop moving. And as a result, they die…is that what you’re
“That’s right.” Crow nodded.
Many thoughts were racing around in his head. But overall he was mostly
Hole 3
All this doubtful talk was nothing more than guesswork. But then again who
bridge.
to Muoru was to achieve it.
hands…
Muoru. “You may not believe me, but I really like you Muoru. And I have an
far are you willing to go for her?”
Hole 3
Chapter 2
arms.
clouds hung in the dark sky far above, and even father above than that was
The thick mass of leaves blocked the moonlight, preventing it from reaching
he was taking a step outside the human world and entering into the domain
He kicked off his tattered shoes, stuck his fingers into a depression in the tree
weren’t used to the motion, and he clung to the tree like a frog, sluggishly
grip the opposite side of the trunk, but the tree with ‘the strongest monster’
tried to hold it, there wouldn’t be any bend in his elbows.
to do, this could definitely be called the easiest.
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He finally reached one of the branches jutting out from the tree. Though just
the large-statured Muoru rested his entire body weight onto it, his body
dark leaves.
barely see anything. In fact, he felt like trying to find something within the
murky swamp.
Left without a choice, Muoru started to search with just his palms and his
branches could fill the entire mansion in the corner of the graveyard. Plus, he
Determined, Muoru blindly pushed his way through the thick leaves and
randomly about the water. The sharp, pointed branches scratched his cheeks
nothing of the fact that he couldn’t see anything.
“Tch.”
275
of his weight onto his left hand. A chill ran through his body. The ground was
a crucial time like this, then he’d be the biggest fool in the world.
Muoru then reached his right hand into the darkness above…and plucked a
He couldn’t see it, but even in the dark he knew that it was the fruit he was
he had caught a living fish.
one arm. Then he jumped down. When he hit the ground, a rush of pain shot
But he pretty much didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment from his first
The next one though…
thing that would change his life.
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The dark fruit.
It was halfway between an apple and a peach in terms of general shape and
something. As for the color, it looked like it had been painted jet black with
like that suddenly sprouted out and attacked him while it was in his hand.
make them unable to stand under the sun?
hands. It felt exactly like the monster’s sack of flesh he’d pushed before; it
organ from a corpse.
blindly in the dark had instinctually made him uncomfortable. And exposing
up inside him was similar to having to vomit something up from deep within
He felt like chucking the fruit away into a random direction. Instead however,
carnivorous animal.
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He imagined it would taste bitter like bad coffee, but it actually had no taste
even feel its texture in his mouth. From the moment it entered his mouth,
something like sticky mud expanding. It was like his mouth was full of
Then a jolt of terror gave him goosebumps.
A strong wave of dizziness assaulted Muoru and his instincts immediately
up the extremely foreign substance, Muoru’s immune system forced his
Desperately, Muoru covered his mouth with his hand to stop the
gradually….gradually the contents of his mouth started to disappear. Yet they
into the walls of his mouth and permeating into his body’s cells.
his feet.
And before he knew it, his legs became terribly heavy.
278
tried to walk, his ankles felt like they were shackled with an iron chain, or like
Thinking back on it, Meria had always been the same way. He couldn’t recall
Could this be what having the dark inside you feels like?
The shadow that extended from them seemed like it was strangely getting
ground – rather, through the shadow as a conduit, he seemed to feel a giant
….That’s it.
blindfolded. The terror that he was walking over corpses, and walking over
And now, a part of his body had transformed into a fragment of that. Neither
worse, he even saw a hallucination where his core and his heart were being
torn off and automatically crawled back to her body and reattached
monster beneath the ground.
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undo what he’d done.
No matter how many signs, indications, and so on, if they got in his way he
this wasn’t the time to be afraid.
There didn’t seem to have been any other changes so far, but…he had to
From his pocket he drew out a piece of glass. He’d picked it up from the
been broken from the opposite end of the bottle mouth and was sharp and
Decisively, he swung it across the back of his left hand.
As if he’d nicked a vein, a depressingly thick dark blood spilled out and ran
pulsated with each of his heartbeats.
280
to get the feeling that he’d done something extremely stupid to himselfThen
The gash on the back of his hand sealed itself back to normal from the inside,
closed. And other than the sticky blood on the back of his hand, and the
Naturally he felt uncomfortable, but despite the remnants of the pain, his
there.
But of course it was absurd to think a scratch on the back of his hand was
And he absolutely couldn’t fail at what he planned to do next.
Still undecided, he extended a finger, but then he wavered
281
about to do than when he had put the part of the monster into his mouth.
suicide. His fingers trembled. His whole hand trembled. He simply couldn’t
Feeling his resolve begin to weaken, Muoru bit his lip and recalled the feeling
Then he thrust his fingers into the inner side of his leather collar, and with all
The right artery attached to “the witch’s thread” ruptured and a flood of
Unexpectedly there was almost no pain.
endless pure red liquid spilled out from a place he couldn’t see. It was
The right half of his body was colored red before he knew it, and without
dim… he was low on blood.
that should have flowing around his brain to stain the right side of his body.
282
This was different from all the wounds he’d suffered up till now. He felt like
places he should have been drawing energy from were disappearing. It left
-Whether or not it was true, he felt like he was desperately drowning. And in
one knee.
Slowly his shoulders relaxed and with a lurch, he crumbled to his side with his
…then he realized… his vision had cleared without him even noticing it.
The fountain of blood had stopped.
Hole 3
He stood up straight, feeling just as strong as he normally did. He simply
But as Muoru stood there, with a body drenched in blood, slowly, a genuine
Hole 3
Chapter 3
At any rate, he was only a mole specializing in the digging of trenches. He
naturally result in limited answers even if he just tried to guess.
think about things as he dug holes. Plus, he’d heard some stories that had
So now he had new questions about his situation, with different hypotheses
First, I’d like to emphasize the fact that I didn’t kill 2nd Lieutenant Hedger
And I swear, my old companion, the shovel labeled ”Case #50357: Dangerous
storage area, which was probably more like a junk room anyway, definitely
Someone else was the killer.
Hole 3
Somewhere in the world was the person who had removed Muoru’s shovel
bloody companion in the trash pile and then falsely blamed him for the
During his trial no one had even satisfactorily looked into his potential motive
companions for a bit of information, they would have probably gotten
was rebellious so he was often physically punished by the lieutenant” or “The
clean up the horse dung all by himself”.
was the target of his bullying. In fact, there were most likely no ends to the
So, even the true culprit’s motive stemmed from a grudge towards Hedger.
At first Muoru thought that the thought of killing the man had only come to
really true?
resentment?
286
was merely thinking ‘hypothetically’, What if the true criminal’s goal was
him come here?
But it went without saying that this graveyard was definitely an abnormal
obscured. So, he could only make a judgment based on what he had
Which brought him to Crow’s first piece of testimony- “That old man is
once they become unable to deal with the devils, they soon become useless.”
there were many cases where the laborers soon became useless, then it was
having physical strength, would be able to keep a secret and cause no further
object to the idea of employing a former mole shackled with a prisoner’s
And…
Dark’s power.
287
preparation was definitely important…perhaps, Meria was something like a
So if possible, they found someone who seemed to be able to withstand
tolerate harsh labor then that was probably like killing two birds with one
their body changed to The Dark they wouldn’t be able to leave the graveyard.
In the end that reason was mostly unrelated to his hypothesis.
That was where another piece of Crow’s evidence came in. – “The demons
hunting or luring out humans, they don’t appear before them at all.”
had come to the graveyard. So, in other words the attack had been planned.
people probably had a way to summon the monsters.
the monster was no different than sticking one’s hand intentionally into a
Hole 3
But in this graveyard…there was a grave keeper.
the monsters, nor did he know if that act exposed the graveyard or the grave
wishful thinking?
that these days. What I do know is that the people who take down the devils
masked companions make their living off that.”
temple organization, but from one human’s wallet. The true identity of that
shrouded in mystery. But some reasons for only one individual to provide the
“a very fair payment” to the person who took down the monster.1
register.2 They were humans that didn’t exist. So it must have been simple
1
Muoru’s skepticism with the current payment scheme run by Daribedor.
Probably the same as in other countries, but in Japan everyone must register their identity with a so-called
families, basically the author is saying Meria has no family. Which would explain why in Japanese she is
Hole 3
Even Muoru smiled in sympathy. It was a very easy story to understand.
the awfully extravagant furniture and decorations.
graveyard would generate a large amount of money for the caretaker.
murderous feelings he’d once harbored towards Hedger were now burning in
new companion in his hand was screaming to be used for a far more
However, if he did that then this time around he’d be facing a genuine life
name from the false accusation. And he wouldn’t be able to disclose any
had was his own body and his feelings for Meria.
290
Suddenly Muoru felt a shift in the atmosphere. He strained his eyes and
towards the sea of gravestones, then the trees in the dark forest, but again
monster with many legs, or anything that could be called their kin.
Muoru looked down at the hole he’d dug at his feet. It was so comically large
looked more like a ruin excavation site or a large-scale underground trench.
approached, anyone would be able to recognize it no matter how far away it
But did that kind of thing really exist in this world?
“Mr. Prisoner,” a husky voice said.
gripping a black pistol in his shaking right hand, with a finger that looked like
Hole 3
“Answer me! Where did you hide the grave keeper?”
man’s direction.
smile. “I mean, how many places could there possibly be to hide here?”
”
directly. ”Well in that case, why don’t you hide yourself? I don’t think the
men.”
Though Muoru’s legs were extremely heavy, he took a long stride towards
Daribedor fired two bullets, the first burrowing to the right of Muoru’s navel
Hole 3
From that point, Muoru felt a cramping sensation, as if bizarrely powerful
Daribedor’s neck, and like he’d managed to do with Crow several days ago,
Daribedor screamed. Maybe it was because of his hatred for the man, but to
something.
face.
A bloody froth came up Muoru’s throat and bubbled out his mouth. The pain
inside of the small opening in his torso, his stomach was ripped open causing
Muoru could hear the man shouting out some profanities from the bottom of
he’d made the hole with a water well in mind, no matter what the old man
him.
This was probably the first time he’d ever experienced pain like this in his life.
293
kill him. But before long he became able to stand, and as soon as his legs
Once again the wind seemed to have gotten stronger. And Muoru felt a chill
fast. The wind blew through the trees, stirring up the branches and making
Though Muoru’s time was limited, he couldn’t do anything but wait.
Somewhere far away, Muoru heard Dephen howl. Crow had taken that damn
but when Crow’s childlike hands caressed the animal, it became docile as if it
seemed brighter than usual.
just laughed and jumped atop the dog’s back. If Muoru had done that,
I wonder what Crow is doing now…
If he thought about it rationally, something as absurd as “The victims’
Hole 3
But in order to steal the power from Meria – and so that she wouldn’t be
All so that he could do…to Meria.
Muoru twisted his head and looked around his surroundings. Suddenly, the
Though at first he thought it was just in his imagination, all of a sudden the
sensation, just like the night when his skin had gotten goosebumps after
when and from where whatever kind of wind came to attack him, he stood
Then a metallic screech quickly touched his ears. It was definitely unclear and
wheel. But it was clearly a terribly unpleasant sound.
his shadow seemed to blur. Then Muoru looked up and saw a darkness
…Far above in the starry sky, a thin rift in the clouds, like smoke, wove its way
horrifically long body from side to side as it flew, wingless, through the air.
295
but in defiance he grabbed onto his knees and stared at the existence he
The creature in the sky was a giant serpent made of thousands of swords.
from Muoru’s perspective, watching the creature swim through the air
way down from the heavens was so large it initially seemed to cover the
of a falling arrow. And as the distance between them shrank, the creature’s
Its body was like a magnet dropped into countless, sharp sewing needles - no
hiltless double-edged swords. Though at a glance they certainly looked like
of the blades was so large that Muoru couldn’t possibly wield them, even if
Also the blades were vibrating with the same high speed as a chainsaw, giving
and narrow body. As the monster’s body slithered back and forth through the
high-pitched shrill. At the same time, violent blue sparks, like electricity,
and cut through the night.
thunderous judgment raining down from heaven.
296
He was like a mole caught in a tornado or something. And the moment it
giant mixer, scattering his consciousness. But before he lost all sense of
—-It was a maddening pain.
help but smile.
And if the two of them lived in different worlds, then he would go over to her
his entire life. None of that mattered to him… only her.
now and there was no escaping that. But he was sure of one thing: after this
He really was smiling, even though it seemed like all of his methods, his
only reason he had gotten close to her in the first place was to escape from
Hole 3
His body parts that were flung and scattered about were slowly reattaching
watched the faceless giant serpent use its body of countless blades to turn
The vibrating double-edged swords were terribly sharp and easily able to
seconds Muoru was cut into a thousand pieces of meat. Then as his body
happened again. And again.
organs and the color of blood in the distance. He saw the cross section of his
was grateful he’d put down his helmet before the ordeal.
pure red darkness as time seemed to move slowly. But soon after, the horrific
were leaving his skull in an act of rebellion.
Muoru smiled as he screamed. Most people who tasted that kind of pain
experience too. And so maybe that was one way he could get close to her.
Hole 3
Then he screamed from the shock of having his body torn to shreds and flung
and if he had the limbs to writhe, then he clawed at the ground like a
thought of the color of her hair, her honest blue eyes, the taste of when he
against him, and the sound of her heart on his back. Those thoughts helped
The instant his face was bisected like an apple, he saw that some of the
sign that maybe the hell wouldn’t go on forever. As his consciousness
right arm and tried to stop one of the swords from attacking him. When he
slipped diagonally down from his right shoulder to his torso.
and tumbled to the ground. Countless of the giant serpent’s swords still
This needs to be settled by dawn. The blood loss was causing his
now, Muoru thought. Until the lower half of his body returned he couldn’t
Muoru opened his eyes and looked up. The clouds had dispersed without him
And the starry sky was beautiful.
299
“So tell me…what are you willing to do for her?”
Crow grinned. “Right. Now that’s a good answer…thank you.” Their tone was
seemed….dare he say it, cute. Of course “cute” for Crow had a different
Unconsciously, Muoru’s bent mouth opened to speak. “You’ve never shown
“Well, don’t sulk about it. I think your passionate heart is embarrassing.”
insult, but for some reason he completely missed. He figured if he put all of
sneered as Muoru exhaled in frustration, then jumped back onto the
But their smile soon vanished. “If you’re ready to abandon your life as you
of the girl’s power – half of the curse.”
Hole 3
There was not even a hint of confusion for Muoru. He was resolved the
conviction that he also felt a bit of hope.
them, if the world thought they weren’t supposed to be together then
this method would grant him his wishes.
“Essentially only one person can be bestowed with the power of the grave
Crow answered as they crossed their thin legs. “But in order to do that, you’ll
Muoru couldn’t believe his ears.
…what was this idiot babbling about? For a moment Muoru was at a loss, but
under the sun or something? … I can’t do that.”
“So, as I thought…”
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The Dark’s power. It may be weaker than exposing her to the light, but it’ll
where the souls of humans sleep. Please… think about it deeply. You should
As Muoru stared at Crow, he bit his lips and started thinking.
He thought about the graveyard that stretched out beneath his feet.
Then the gravestone Crow was sitting on.
“You understand now, don’t you?” Crow asked, reading the change in
Muoru nodded.
302
her power, in the end—” Without hiding their large smile, Crow explained the
After hearing it, Muoru turned completely red and spluttered out, “Is that
“It should be all right. And I think you’ll be happy when it happens.”
idea. So, with feelings of uneasiness leaking into his words he asked, “Is it
“It’s okay, it’s okay….well Meria certainly won’t agree in getting you involved
warping as if trying to put up with some kind of pain. “Maria really valued
that- in fact when it comes to that and only that, I’m telling you the absolute
“….However, Maria wasn’t very patient. No, it’s more like she didn’t have
not dying…they all proved to be too much for her to handle. And that’s why
“Sure, it’s easy to think that such a feeling couldn’t be helped, but….in the
horrible fate.
303
though they weren’t related by blood.
to grant Maria’s wish. I want Meria to be happy.”
Although he’d went so far as to throw Crow into a trap to try and get
come from were quite different from those governing the monsters and the
nothing about. Even if he tried to think about how to fight those rules, his
could save Meria.
as well.
and suffering?
selfish, he still wished for such a future. And if someone could see him now,
though far from being unable to escape, as a trade-off he would never again
Would I really be happy?
304
he wasn’t even trying to think about all the things he’d considered until now.
that he felt he’d passed each day only thinking about how to live longer. But
his mind.
have to go through a lot of terrible suffering.” Crow then lowered their head
“Umm.” Muoru laughed weakly, feeling a bit embarrassed about what he was
unable to do anything is far more painful.”
305
The final stars disappeared.
In the pale sky the nearest star, the sun, seemed to be approaching. He could
horizon. And sure enough the first light of morning finally arrived, with his
His body was already sensing his ominous fate. It was a sensation completely
the feeling was a pain which seemed like someone had directly stuck their
cord and brain stem and squeezed them tightly.
double-edged blades had severed Muoru’s body, inflicted fatal wounds, then
throughout the night.
when Muoru realized that the blood spewing out of his mouth was gradually
I made it through.
306
And each of the creature’s blades, which were densely packed together like
that the monster had rampaged through not only had sharp gouges in the
graves had been mowed down in the attack.
when the sun rose neither he nor the monster would be able to move within
Hurry…
He ran to the place right beside Maria’s grave, at the feet of the tree where
Well …he tried to run.
dragging a giant steel ball and chain. In fact, no matter how much energy he
body to go a bit faster seemed to exhaust all of his energy. His cumbersome
His surroundings were already so bright that there was no need for an oil
Hole 3
How much longer until sunrise?
his body did not follow suit.
reach his destination. At first glance it didn’t look like there was anything
side of Maria’s final resting place.
Muoru carefully slid the tip of the shovel into the ground.
….Yet on the fifth scoop, as if he could no longer tolerate the wait, he threw
both of his hands to claw at the ground.
Don’t forget. Don’t forget the first time you met Meria.
308
burying him in the hole he’d just dug out.
Muoru’s fingers curled around a strand of light brown hair, filthy from all the
filthy strands…but, compared to everything else he’d done, dirtying her hair
Still, she would probably consider all the things he’d done up till now
In the dim light of early dawn, Muoru dug out the girl he’d buried with his
It was all selfish.
He needed the power of the grave keeper and since more than one person
grave keeper, Meria. She was human, but at the same time a part of her was
words, put her in a death-like state. But of course, he couldn’t leave her like
Hole 3
Once he had dug out her entire body, he rested her back across his lap.
laughing voice.
he wiped them, but no matter how many times he repeated the movement
current situation, painfully repeating the same thing over and over again but
He cupped his left hand under her chin and pulled her unconscious body
Then like a grave robber, Muoru stole a kiss.
felt a bright white light radiate inside his eyelids. He tasted dirt and the rusty
apple.
for her, he unconsciously stayed in that position, in that kiss for a while.
her mouth.
Hole 3
…
…
311
312
Burying Meria in the ground that the monsters were sealed within was the
only had to give half of the substance that had dissolved within him back into
he could confirm that Crow hadn’t been lying. But the way he had to return
“Good morning, Meria.”
Muoru’s grasp. The clumps of dirt still attached to the hem of her robe
understood he had done something to her.
was taking everything she had just to say his name.
know what to say. Soon after she turned red, but whether it was due to the
wasn’t sure.
He’d seen her crying, smiling, troubled, and embarrassed, but maybe this was
Why in the world do I think she’s also cute when she’s angry?
313
“I’m sorry.”
his right hand.
The first night when he’d seen Meria’s secret, when he’d asked her if they
the one covered in blood.
As Meria looked at his hand, which was stained a deep crimson despite not
disappeared from her face and a look of sadness replaced it.
Even so, an extraordinary relief was spreading in his chest.
Hole 3
“It wasn’t for you,” Muoru said with a smile. “It was for the money.”
the past that damn old man had embezzled all of the reward that should
Daribedor employed, prisoner 5722 refused to be put in the same position.
could buy his freedom…or maybe have a castle built.
back of his hand, as if to say, “Don’t lie to me!”
Right, it wasn’t that much of a lie. But the fact that his actions had made it so
than enough of a reason for his actions. Of course with her blue eyes staring
“You’re really not an honest mole.”
a nearby gravestone, looking down at them.
meeting one another?”
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“…Y…You…what…?” Meria seemed strangely flustered, and the color
“No, this isn’t the first…your way of speaking and the color of your eyes is
Meria suddenly tried to stand, but because she’d been buried for so long her
off the gravestone with a smile on their face as they reached down towards
With a face mixed with confusion, Meria tried to grab Crow’s small hand. But
running start…making Meria’s hand grasp nothing but air. Their movement
time neither Meria nor Muoru who was standing behind could even pretend
“Sorry, but though I may be Maria, I’m also not Maria—I’m Crow. All the tens
spirit born from the pieces their souls left behind. So again I am Maria, but
“However, not only does it seem like her p