Ryuk crouched at the foot of the bed, his hands resting on his knees, listening quietly.
Kannazuki said no more. He folded the decision-making chain diagram on the A4 sheet twice and slipped it into his pocket.
"Not writing today?"
"There's no rush."
Ryuk grunted, floated up from the foot of the bed, and circled the ceiling.
"I've seen something like that diagram you drew."
"When?"
"A few hundred years ago, I guess.
Back when you humans were still hacking at each other with swords, one guy who got the notebook drew something pretty similar-listed all the nobles in a country, starting with the king and writing names down rank by rank."
"What happened next?"
"He spent three days and three nights writing and wiped out that country's royal family and ministers."
There was no emotion in Ryuk's voice, as though he were telling a joke that had nothing to do with him.
"Then that country spent sixty years in a civil war."
The pen in Kannazuki's hand stopped.
"He thought that if he killed everyone at the top, the people below would behave.
Instead, the people below fought for those positions even harder than the ones above had."
Ryuk shook his head, the curve of his mouth flattening.
"What happened to him?"
"He died, of course.
It was a civil war. Someone had to take the blame.
They had five horses drag him around the square. All his limbs-"
"Enough."
Kannazuki set his pen on the desk and leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach.
Ryuk studied him for a few seconds. "You're different from that guy."
"How?"
"He started killing on the third day after he got the notebook.
You've had it for three months and killed over a thousand people, and you're only