Episode 09

The Signpost (道標 Dōhyō) is the ninth episode of the Dead Mount Death Play anime.

Official Blurb
Inspector Iwanome pressures Polka into reading his fortune. What does the inspector hope to gain, and what will he do when the reading dredges up secrets from his past? Meanwhile, the date of the Phantom Solitaire's "performance" is fast approaching.

Synopsis
Takumi Kuruya cowers under his desk due to a lunch break visit from Tsubaki Iwanome and Kōzaburō Arase, the former of whom want Corpse God to tell his fortune. Arase declines to have his read since he is suspicious of receiving a bad fortune and instead follows Misaki Sakimiya into the divination room, where he, Sayo Shinoyama, and Xiaoyu Lei will watch the proceedings.

Corpse God informs Iwanome that he cannot divine the location of escaped convicts, something that Iwanome readily says is his job, not Corpse God's. However, if Corpse God happens to have precognition, Iwanome would gladly consult him to prevent future murders. Corpse God replies that he is not a clairvoyant; he can only trace the past path before and the infinite paths in front of Iwanome.

Sayo mutters that she has never seen her uncle look the way he does now; in other words, he "looks the part," as Xiaoyu silently admits to himself, but the Polka impostor could be as much of a fraud at fortunetelling as he is as Polka himself. Xiaoyu considers snitching to the police should he notice Polka doing something shady.

Corpse God begins by alluding to Iwanome's specific police division Community Safety, information that Iwanome knows Takumi can easily look up and feed Polka through a hidden earpiece. This is mostly correct: Corpse God is viewing Takumi's computer monitor through a quadrupedal eyeball. Iwanome is a little more impressed when Corpse God alludes to the various arranged marriage candidates his family wants him to consider.

Then Corpse God alludes to a grievous scar in Iwanome's past that, much like a severed wing, will continue to cripple Iwanome lest it remains unhealed. Although Iwanome asks how he might heal it, he is less interested in doing so than in hearing whether the person responsible for the scar has their own path.

At Corpse God's statement, "Your torn-off wing shall spell out a signpost for you," the pencil Hosorogi shocks Iwanome when it begins autonomously writing a message for him. Xiaoyu, meanwhile recalling the sound from last night, concludes that Corpse God must have been practicing this "magic trick."

Any glibness left in Iwanome drains as he reads the message; he surges to his feet, yanks Corpse God to his own by pulling his clothes, and asks what he knows.

Miyabi Hosorogi tosses Iwanome—whose hair is black, and he wore a matching color outfit—a pack of Marubow's, Iwanome's favorite cigarette brand. Tucked into the cigarette pack is a folded piece of paper upon which a simplified symbol has been drawn. Once Iwanome confirms that he has memorized the symbol, Hosorogi burns the paper and declares that the symbol is both "the signpost we must follow and a one-way ticket to death."
 * Flashback

Faced with an unusually incensed Iwanome, whose hands tremble with ire, Corpse God refuses to explain why he drew the symbol and advises Iwanome to follow his heart.
 * Present

With a concerted effort and a thin smile, Iwanome regains his composure and hands Corpse God money to cover the session and whatever damage to his outfit he may have caused. He bids 'Polka' farewell only to be corrected: "The one who told your fortune here [...]" Corpse God says, "[is] the Corpse God." Iwanome thinks this moniker suits a troublemaker more than a fortuneteller.

Misaki informs Sayo that the visitors are policemen. Xiaoyu considers abnormal Iwanome's reaction and wonders whether the written 'signpost' is related to the sham Polka's secrets. As a pretense for snooping, he announces that he is off to shop for dinner ingredients; Sayo hands him money and asks him to buy shark-themed products.

Over lunch at the curry restaurant "Nancy," Arase—once Iwanome gives him the go-ahead—asks Iwanome what came over him earlier. Iwanome admits that he lost control, which Arase says is unlike him. Threatening people, Arase says, is his domain as the stick to Iwanome's "poisoned carrot," to quote Iwanome's own words. He asks what was written on the paper. Iwanome needs a few minutes to collect his thoughts before answering, though Arase does not mind; he is relieved that Iwanome is himself again.

Xiaoyu watches the men leave the restaurant on a nearby rooftop and decides to shadow them for a bit longer since he has already finished shopping.

A mobster inputs a safe's combination inside a burning building while rueing a turn of fate: he had laughed at the news of the Shinoyama estate arson, but he never expected this building to follow suit. A subordinate, aware that his colleagues are succumbing to the flames as they speak, asks why his boss is bothering to open a fireproof safe—could it be, he says, voice changing, that his boss does not want the cops or firefighters to discover what is inside?

The boss snatches up a rolled parchment scrap and looks behind him to see his subordinate, a large man wielding a fire safety umbrella, standing before the other subordinates' burning corpses. The boss becomes yet one more while Fire-breathing Bug sings a nursery song about marching toys. Once he finishes, he begrudgingly tells a "damn summer bug" to do as it pleases before he leaves.

Said, "damn summer bug," Phantom Solitaire emerges from behind a burning stack of banknotes to claim the parchment for himself. The parchment seems to be made out of the skin—sheepskin, Solitaire guesses, only to reconsider. Human skin? Solitaire holds it aloft to admire the familiar-looking symbol drawn upon it. He decides this potential 'bug' shall be the theme of his comeback performance.

In the Abandoned Building's a common room, Takumi asks why the detective "lost it" and what the spirits haunting him told Corpse God. Corpse God replies that no spirits were haunting him, such spirits being rarer than Takumi might assume, and that he did not "make up" the signpost either.

At the Youtoukorou bar, Arase and eavesdropping, hidden Xiaoyu listen while Iwanome asks Lisa Kuraki why she hid "it" from him. He talks of how he had lost hope even though everything in him screamed that "you-know-who" would not "give up the ghost" so easily before telling Lisa to stop playing coy since she is the only person in Shinjuku who could have spent five years successfully erasing any traces of another's existence.

He points out that Lisa is connected to Polka, the person who gave Iwanome a message with contents that only his and Lisa's mutual friend could have known about, with Lisa one of the only people besides Iwanome to whom their friend might have talked about said contents.

Lisa insists she does not know what Iwanome is talking about and asks who this mutual friend is. Annoyed, Iwanome reiterates that she should stop playing dumb. He is speaking of her "precious senpai" and his fellow rogue inspector-in-arms: Hosorogi.

Corpse God explains to Misaki, Takumi, and Sayo that he does not know what Hosorogi wrote because Hosorogi told him he would handle it. Hosorogi writes that Shinjuku has a surprising amount of depth for such a small pond.

Lisa feels nostalgic for Hosorogi's name and observes that Iwanome's emotions seem bittersweet. Iwanome replies that this is partially due to Lisa's involvement with a child—Polka—since protecting children has been paramount to Community Safety since Hosorogi's reign. Lisa slyly points out that if Hosorogi is alive, as Iwanome suggests, then this implies Hosorogi himself has recruited a child despite his policy. Iwanome supposes Hosorogi might have done such a thing out of desperation, assuming it was not Lisa's idea, and even then, Iwanome still has complaints that he would prefer to make to Hosorogi's face: involving children in the police's "screwed-up problems" is simply inexcusable.

Lisa claims she does not recall recruiting any children, for she is merely renting a building to Polka as a favor to him...and as an opportunity to curry favor with the Shinoyama Group. Plausible, Iwanome says, but not convincing since Lisa would not have told Polka about Hosorogi in such innocuous circumstances. She would not risk Polka or Misaki becoming curious and doing some digging, for they would surely find themselves in the same sort of danger that sent Hosorogi into hiding.

Where Lisa is not convincing, Iwanome seems convinced that Hosorogi is alive. Iwanome confirms that he is and asks Lisa to tell Hosorogi that Comps-3 will flush out police corruption so that Hosorogi can return to an incorrupt police force. Once Iwanome and Arase leave, Lisa's lovers, Koruto Ichinose and Izuna Ajijō ask Lisa if the situation is really all right; what if Ichinose asks, Corpse God has encountered Hosorogi's soul? Lisa assures them that the situation is acceptable, opining that Hosorogi is far too money-obsessed to think of her. Xiaoyu decides to investigate Youtoukorou's staff, determined to vanquish anyone who might try to approach [[Rozan Shinoyama.

Takumi is taken aback to learn that Hosorogi is an Internal Affairs [I.A.] inspector, which he explains to Corpse God as a law enforcement officer investigating internal corruption. Corpse God compares Hosorogi to Jangrad Dimorigh XIV, the Imperial Dazzling Corps' Office of Audit and Arrest deputy commander. Misaki excitedly asks if Hosorogi used to boss Iwanome and Arase around; Hosorogi says they knew each other but were in different divisions.

Takumi expresses skepticism at the idea of Hosorogi ever acting like a proper inspector. Hosorogi smugly recalls how he used to be called "the delinquent inspector" and "the filth who hunts dirt" before demanding one million yen in exchange for telling them what he wrote on the paper. He apologizes that his message incited Iwanome to seize Corpse God and confesses that the message involves one of his lingering regrets.

Corpse God tells Misaki and Takumi that when he had made a pact with Hosorogi, he had promised to resolve some of Hosorogi's regrets in exchange for Hosorogi's services. Takumi imagines that Hosorogi will "move on" should his regrets be resolved, though Hosorogi claims he will honor the pact. Privately, he tells himself he will have to "face up to Lisa" sooner or later.

In a security guard's uniform, solitaire returns to Tokyo Penitentiary to purchase information about the symbol from the Grocer, the incarcerated supposed fifth-generation head of a century-old family mercantile business. Grocer says he recognizes the symbol and will accept adequate information as payment.

Solitaire offers him two pieces of useless information whose sum total is "a master criminal is actually a fool," which is worth thirty yen's worth of snacks. Still, Grocer offers Solitaire a free product sample: the symbol is similar but unrelated to an insignia used by an old Central-Eastern European knight order, and one of its diagonal lines signifies a sword. As for the price of the full product, Grocer is willing to negotiate it based on Solitaire's circumstances.

The morning of Solitaire's scheduled comeback performance finds Takumi, Polka, Misaki, and even Sayo awake with varying anticipation levels. Sayo draws the attention of the others to the window just as the channel host 0n Solitaire's antique radio announces breaking news from Shinjuku.

Across the city, Lisa, Iwanome, Arase, Lemmings, Rozan Shinoyama, Kiri Shinoyama, Shizuki Shinoyama, Kazuki Shinoyama, Takeru Shinoyama, Bao, Taipei, Yochigi, and Corpse God's crew stare at the sight of dirigibles—all of which sport the simplified symbol, albeit with an additional horizontal line—invading Shinjuku's airspace.

"How...? I thought I reincarnated to a different world," Corpse God murmurs, utterly stunned from where he stands next to Sayo. Misaki asks him if he recognizes the symbol; he says it is the emblem of the fallen empire from which he hails.

Adapted From

 * Chapter 23
 * Chapter 24
 * Chapter 25

Adaptation Changes
Among others...


 * When Xiaoyu prepares to follow the detectives in the manga, his over-sensitive microphone picks up some background chatter from other people in the area. One of the overheard remarks is that "Majiri-san's apparently coming to Tokyo." Xiaoyu does not have such microphone issues in this episode, and thus the remark is not heard.

Trivia

 * The Japanese children's song sung by Fire-breathing Bug might be " おもちゃのマーチ" (Omocha no Māchi), or "Toy's March".
 * This episode marks Hosorogi's first audible speaking role.