"Ugh..."
Escher woke up in a haze, struggling to adjust to the dim light inside the room. He had no idea what had just happened, and could only use the faint glow of the furnace fire to survey his surroundings.
The room was in shambles, stained everywhere with blood, and a piece of an *ofuda* was still stabbed straight into his own stomach. By the flickering firelight, he checked the scratches covering his face and the hard clump of flesh he was still clutching in his palm. It seemed Niwa's heart was his.
Chapter 148