Chapter 86

Chapter 86 is the eighty-sixth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Official Blurb
Editor's note: It is the Shibuya mediator who is new, not Shinjuku's Lisa Kuraki, so the blurb may be mistaken. The text below is as it appeared on a retailer website on July 15, 2022.

As the new Shinjuku mediator strives to keep the balance between the Agakuras and Shibuya, the Corpse God is unexpectedly reunited with a familiar face!

Short Summary
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Synopsis
Wind gusts over the ravages that mar a castle's courtyard: here, a hole in the steeple; there, a crater in the groundstone; all about, bodies—and two empty suits of armor, impaled by poles high above the grim tableau. At its fringes lingers its culprit: the vampire "Godhead Restorer" Riddhe Malacougar, whom Easlies Swordfrail calls out to with her usual insouciance. "To think," she says, "you'd decimate the entire country of vampires."
 * Flashback

Majiri Agakura presses a finger to her lips as Corpse God, startled with recognition, murmurs 'Godhead Restorer' out loud. With the likes of Taipei, Bao, Kazuki Shinoyama, and Shizuki Shinoyama listening in, Corpse God haltingly lies to Rozan Shinoyama that he mistook her for someone else. Takeru Shinoyama explains to Majiri that "Polka" is—despite his age—his biological uncle whom he will—"if...[he] has the chance"—introduce to her later. To his approaching wife Kiri Shinoyama, he explains that Majiri is—despite her age—one of his business associates. Kiri's teasing of her husband leads Majiri to remark on the preciousness of family—provided the family gets along, she adds, flashing Corpse God a narrow-eyed smile.
 * Shinoyama Manor

Corpse God stays quiet, mentally comparing her to the vampire he met. Easlies had told Riddhe that Corpse God was akin to her younger brother and certainly not her 'heir', something of which necromancers have no need. Riddhe had cooed approvingly at the sweetness of Easlies' perspective, for it contrasted so very sharply with that of the "blood bags who abused sister Silk...in order to impose succession on me." If Majiri Agakura is somehow the country-destroying disaster that was Riddhe Malacougar, an obvious question arises: how could she have made her way to Earth?

Yumeji Agakura apologizes in advance for his clumsy manner of speaking, which he attributes even more to his insular upbringing and poor language class performance than he does to his youth. Only now does he notice, with some surprise, that several others in the room are also contenders for the youngest person present: two are the Atelier snipers, who guard Rushia "Andalucía" Andou, Roppongi's mediator; another is Misaki Sakimiya, whose uniform indicates that she is a fellow high-schooler. On that note, Yumeji cheerfully apologizes for causing the meeting to be scheduled at night on account of his summer classes.
 * Mediators' Table

Gioacchino Soldati, Ikebukuro's mediator, comments that he did not know the Agakura Clan was so deeply involved in Shibuya that one of its members could take over mediating it from Kuon Higuro. Lisa Kuraki emphasizes the fact that Agakura has been closely involved with Higuro himself, at which Andalucía feigns surprise. Neither Lisa or Gioacchino are fooled by this as opposed to Akihabara's Katashiro, who is privately relieved that he is not the only one out of the loop. When Andalucía presses Yumeji on this affiliation, Yumeji says that Majiri only told him that he would be taking Higuro's place, and that she and Higuro have had little personal interaction. Then Yumeji presses back: exactly what would the issue be, he asks, if he had personally contributed to Higuro's disappearance?

Values such as ethics and customs, suggests Gioacchino—neither of which Higuro possessed, Andalucía quips, while Lisa says she has no issue with the replacement as long as Yumeji proves himself a better mediator than that nuisance. What she might have an issue with instead, however, is the matter of Momoya Agakura kidnapping her man on said nuisance's orders. Yumeji counters that the Agakuras could easily take issue with the nearly fatal injuries that Momoya sustained during the incident; in fact, Majiri gave Yumeji permission to take issue with it if he so desires, but, out of respect for his new responsibilities as "Shibuya," he shall not condemn his mediators to certain death at Agakura's hands.

Yumeji's tough talk fails to intimidate the mediators, so he is quick to take stock of the actual opposition: their bodyguards. As his gaze sweeps over each pair, it lingers on the enigmatic Kazami Asaura and stops at Misaki, whose Majiri-esque vibes abruptly render Yumeji the mediator intimidated. Katashiro laughs as if to capitalize on this intimidation, as if to say, that's right, you could be killed by me at any moment—or so Yumeji thinks. Katashiro has actually laughed at the memory of seeing Higuro on Solitaire TV, and, now that he notices Yumeji eyeing him, privately assumes Yumeji is understandably nervous in the midst of all these "like, totes s-p-o-o-k-y" people. Upon advising Yumeji to relax, Katashiro declares that he does not suspect the Agakuras, though he refuses to elaborate why. Once more, Yumeji suspects an ulterior motive in Katashiro when Katashiro is only being kind; he sympathizes with Higuro over his thorough humiliation courtesy of Solitaire, so—regardless of Higuro's bad attitude—he cannot fault Higuro for wanting to lie low in the aftermath.

Lisa concedes that Agakura would probably admit to killing Higuro if they did such a deed, though she still expects Yumeji to at least acknowledge how the Agakuras struck first. This Yumeji does by way of an apologetic bow and a diplomatic remark on the imbroglio being a mutually emotional one. At this display of ignorance, Lisa reveals that Misaki was the one who almost put Momoya into an early grave. Yumeji's chair clatters backward as its occupant makes to stand, but Kana stops her brother with a hand on his shoulder and a mutter in his ear: Majiri wishes for Misaki to become an Agakura, she says, so stay put. Momoya mentioned that Misaki is Solitaire's pupil, so stay put. "Solitaire's pupil?" yelps Yumeji, which causes a stir in the other mediators.

Huffing a laugh, Lisa further extends her conciliatory branch by acknowledging that the Agakuras are themselves in a fractious situation, as they are preoccupied with the Shinoyama Group's guards on top of the recent mediator business. Yumeji assures the mediators that the Agakuras' business with the Shinoyamas will not interfere with the mediators' business. Like before, neither Gioacchino and Andalucía believe Yumeji whereas Katashiro is out of the loop, obviously wondering if he has seen Kana somewhere before. Gioacchino silently decides to investigate just what "Shinjuku" is hiding with regard to Polka Shinoyama.


 * Shinoyama Parlor

In the privacy of Rozan's parlor, bodyguards notwithstanding, Rozan asks Corpse God about the exchange he had with Majiri in the hall. Corpse God wonders if Majiri used an overt shushing gesture for the purpose of Rozan seeing it; if anything, Rozan muses, Majiri was directly demanding him to be quiet as well. Even at the time, Rozan felt discomfort over addressing Majiri as a young lady—which has him wondering if Majiri is much older than his seventy-nine years. Corpse God affirms his suspicion, but requests that they postpone discussing Majiri in favor of discussing Canomuchelin Redrazhalf, Polka's mother—and his.

Referbacks

 * Volume 6, Episode 6 relates two rumors:
 * One: that Riddhe Malacougar was a "legendary vampire martial artist" who "massacred those who had framed her older sister"—"Crimson Snow" Silk Malacougar.
 * The other: that Silk was one of the aristocratic vampires who turned her assassination "side job" into her main profession after she was driven out by the ruling class.
 * A panel depicts Majiri standing near two containers that respectively hold a pair of limbs submerged in liquid. It is implied that these are Xiaoyu Lei's limbs.