"That was a small hut in the mountains where forest rangers could rest. He didn't know exactly which mountain it was on. When he got close to the hut, some kind of aura jolted him awake. He saw two groups facing off inside. One group was dressed entirely in black: the Managers. His grandmother's letters had described them too. The Managers all wore black. They might be in black suits, casual clothes, or various traditional outfits, but without exception, they were dressed in black from head to toe. The other group consisted of just one person: a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen. Their standoff didn't last long. There were eleven Managers in total. Two tried to run, while the others prepared to fight.
"He remembered it very clearly. The two who wanted to flee said things like, 'I didn't become a soul reaper just to get myself killed,' and, 'I'm just an ordinary ghost.' From that, he and I concluded that the Managers weren't created out of thin air. They might have been selected from among the souls at the transfer station, and volunteering might have been part of it.
"The two who lacked resolve ran off then and there, vanishing straight from the hut.
"The boy didn't pursue them, and the other Managers didn't stop them. The boy seemed completely at ease, while the Managers looked as though they were facing a mortal threat. He heard the boy say, 'The newcomers you found really aren't much to look at. You're already at the end of your rope.' One of the Managers replied, 'We are at the end of our rope. No matter what, you won't let us go.'
"The two sides didn't talk for long before they started fighting. The battle was completely one-sided. The boy seemed