Chapter 29

Chapter 29 is the twenty-ninth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Synopsis
The day after Chapter 28, the Corpse God opens his fortune-telling business for customers. Soon enough, Sayo Shinoyama spots four customers lining up for fortunes outside the front door.

While the Corpse God is changing into his work uniform, Takumi Kuruya relates what he found during his overnight research into the symbol and related matters. The "craziest thing" he discovered was that it was also a "real handful of a case" for the public safety department; as he places a lead refill for Miyabi Hosorogi down on his desk, he adds that Hosorogi went missing while he was pursuing it.

Hosorogi confirms this to be true, clarifying that he was killed in this building when he almost had "them" by the tail. Furthermore, he suspects he was killed by a hired assassin rather than one of his targets. Takumi asks if he thinks the criminal was on the police force, but Hosorogi refuses to answer on the grounds he is not "certain" who is involved and does not want to involve the Corpse God's group in his "drama" (though Takumi points out they are already quite involved). The Corpse God personally is fine with being involved, but worries what will happen to the real Polka Shinoyama and the other Shinoyamas if he does.

Xiaoyu Lei, who has been eavesdropping on the conversation while preparing food in the kitchen, concludes that the 'impostor' Polka is pretending to have gone missing and is connected to someone named 'Hosorogi.' The references to police corruption lead him him to wonder just what "these little scoundrels" are tackling; after he assures Sayo that he will bring her food son; he notes unusual pauses keep peppering the conversation—and the recurrent sound of a pen scratching.

Hosorogi writes that he was able to communicate what he needed before he died to the "right person"—Tsubaki Iwanome—and states his last lingering attachment to the world: he wants this case to be left to Iwanome, who had been working on the case with him while he was alive.

In a new "special investigation HQ for all matters concerning Tena Sorimura," Iwanome briefs his new investigation team on his approach to tracking down Sorimura; because Sorimura tends to closely watch whatever interests him, Iwanome plans to follow the symbol Sorimura painted onto the dirigibles. If he and his team do that, there is a good chance they will cross paths with their target.

One of the investigators quietly wonders why a Shinjuku branch officer is here, and his colleague directs his attention to Kōzaburō Arase and Tozawa sitting nearby. Disgruntled, the colleague grouses that these men have some nerve showing up after "the mess" they made of "our men" and the Bureau.

At the fortunes shop, Tena Sorimura—having disguised himself as "Shouta Yamanoura," an average but real citizen—has his (Yamanoura's) fortune read. The Corpse God warns him that the 'ship' he is on is in danger of running aground on ostentatious coral reefs and that he should find another vessel to board before it is too late, something Sorimura privately interprets as a reference to the accounting fraud at the real Yamanoura's company.

Outwardly, Sorimura remarks that he said nothing of this on his survey form and that the Corpse God is 'right on the mark'; inwardly, he has yet to be convinced this is more than just a simple hot reading. Although the company's accounting fraud has not yet reached the media, he assumes that the hacker Takumi Kuruya was skilled enough to dredge up the information in such a short amount of time.

Sorimura recalls the conversation the other three customers—Saimyouji and two young ladies—while they and he were filling out their survey forms: Saimyouji had claimed to be an occult fan looking for the 'real deal'—the precise reason Sorimura himself has come—and that this was to be his second visit; during his first reading, the fortune-teller had referenced a leg injury that only Saimyouji's work friends knew about.

Such promising words had had Sorimura excited right alongside the young ladies, but now—sitting in front of the Corpse God—he feels great disappointment at the thought the fortune-teller may be an ordinary human after all. When the Corpse God asks if he has any questions, Sorimura—citing an interest in the two hundred million yen reward—asks if the Corpse God can divine the truth behind the symbol Phantom Solitaire wants information on.

The Corpse God states his eyesight does not reach that far—but that he can say something is "off" about the symbol, and that he can borrow upon the "power that destines souls to wander this Earth" to shed some light. Hosorogi begins writing on cue, and Sorimura's conjurer-of-tricks side is quite impressed that the pencil is applying pressure—and then he starts upon seeing just what the pencil has drawn: the symbol he painted on the dirigibles, albeit without the horizontal line.

The Corpse God announces that the original symbol never had the horizontal line, and Sorimura's heart races at the revelation—but he pauses to consider the following: if the Corpse God is with some 'mysterious organization,' would he really be so willing to readily disclose such information? It hits him that they could be testing him this instant, and he forcibly tries to calm down.

Meanwhile, the Corpse God is aware that saying anything else would be taking this farther than what can be excused as 'fortune-telling'; even so, he feels sick at the thought of letting the wrong symbol spread and as such cannot allow it to do so. However, he is aware that his efforts are futile unless he can point it out to Solitaire himself.

As "Shouta Yamanoura" stands to leave, the Corpse God stops him and asks if he remembers a girl in a wheelchair who had a long braid of hair. Sorimura stills; the Corpse God continues that, although he cannot tell what the girl is saying, he can see she the girl is clearly worried about the path "Yamanoura" is taking. With his Evil Eye still on her, the Corpse God thinks to himself that the girl—whose spirit seems incapable of conversing—must have been in the wheelchair for a long time if her ghostly form is manifesting it.

Sorimura says the girl must be his guardian angel and that he will return if he thinks of anything, so the Corpse God decides not to send the girl to rest the afterlife for the time being. Once outside the room, Sorimura closes the door behind him with his curiosity newly piqued and himself certain that the fortuneteller is no fraud. He wonders how the fortuneteller knew about her...and just how far the fortuneteller can see.

It is raining when Sorimura exits the building's front door, and he finds the two young ladies from before taking their leave as well. The brunette offers her friend her umbrella while she herself dons a raincoat, and Sorimura—upon seeing the Fire-Breathing Bug's signature phrase "Watch out for fires" written on the raincoat's back—realizes the Bug has zeroed in on 'this place' as well. Meanwhile, the Corpse God muses on the odd coincidence of being asked the "same thing by two people in a row."

Trivia

 * The brunette's face is concealed throughout the chapter, likely deliberately so in light of the chapter's end.
 * When Sorimura-as-Yamanoura speaks of Sorimura's reward, the Yen Press translation writes the sum as "two hundred million yen." However, in the Yen Press translation of Chapter 27, Sorimura himself cited a reward of "300 million yen" (with 300 in numerals, whereas this chapter wrote "two hundred" out). Whether one of these sums is a typo on Yen Press' part or a creator mistake (or neither) remains to be seen.
 * The translation for the individual release of this chapter originally spelled Sorimura's alias as "Shota Yamanoura." However,the volume release updates the spelling of 'Shota' to 'Shouta'.