Nakano Park lay shrouded in silence beneath the night sky. The night breeze rustled through the woods, making the pitch-black branches writhe like claws.
Yamanashi Inaba walked along the woodland path with a sword bag on her back, then stopped in a relatively open clearing.
The bushes behind her rustled a few times, and a large black dog emerged.
The dog stood over half a meter tall and was so emaciated that its skeleton showed clearly beneath its skin. Clods of hardened dirt and other grime matted its black fur, making it look no different from an ordinary stray.
The large black dog stuck out its scarlet tongue, licked its sharp canines, and spoke in a human voice.
"Little girl, you seem to have noticed me in advance? In that case, why didn't you run somewhere crowded? Why deliberately lure me into a deserted park?"
"I can't drag other people into this."
Yamanashi Inaba reached into her collar and took out a white scale threaded onto a necklace.
"I'm looking for a monster with white scales. Do you know one?"
"The scent is too faint to make out, but that shape and color..."
The large black dog twitched its nose and chuckled. "What a coincidence. Teacher sent me to invite you over. You'll get to 'see' that monster very soon."
The large black dog flashed forward, leaving an afterimage where it had stood, and lunged in front of Yamanashi Inaba.
"Though only your head will be coming!"
The black dog opened its jaws, splitting all the way from the corners of its mouth to its chest and exposing a lamprey-like maw packed with sharp teeth.
Clack, clack, clack!
At the last possible moment, Yamanashi Inaba thrust the long sword bag in her hands into the monster's mouth. Its elongated lower