Main Scenario/The Black Doll

Metro Nishiki Episode
21-1	Senbon Torii
21-2	The Fox Girl
21-3	Ward Sorcery
21-4	Miyako's Secret Art
21-5	Nagashi-bina
21-6	The Black Doll
21-7	The Doll's Friend
21-8	Staring at the Pillar
21-9	Beyond the "Gate"
21-10	I Am Fine

A large number of nagashi-bina dolls were found in the cave. Miyako wanted to talk to everyone about it and everyone gathered at the place where the nagashi-bina were.
Yakutsk's group seemed to be looking for a way in and out of the cave, but they did not find any hidden doors or Nishikese seals.
Currently, the most promising clues were the nagashi-bina that Miyako found and the fox-faced Nishikese dolls. The tension among the Special Steel Squad members were only increasing, as the Nishikese dolls were also involved when they dealt with the Koutetsu Ningyou back in Iris Cloud.
Putra	"Miyako, you said you found the boats?"
Miyako	"Yes. It may be a clue to solving the mystery of this mountain. First of all, look at what's floating in this puddle.'
Vivienne	"What's this? Little dolls on boats...?"
Miyako	"This is called Nagashi-bina, floating dolls, and is a ceremony to drive away bad luck. One asks the dolls to help the requester avoid bad illnesses and injuries, and then one floats them down the river."
Vivienne	"It's a very unusual ceremony. Do these dolls cure illnesses?"
Yoshino	"It's not so much that they cure illnesses, but that they take away bad things."
Miyako	"To put it simply, these dolls are human 'substitutes'."
Putra	"Easy to understand."
Vivienne	"Very easy to understand."
Miyako	"The fox-faced dolls in the cave and these sinking dolls are different. It was people who floated these boats, not demons or evil spirits. These nagashi-bina come from a place that has nothing to do with Senbon Torii."
Yakutsk	"I see. So that's how it is."
Vivienne	"I don't. Can you tell me, Putra, who knows about boats?"
Putra	"No, you should let Yakky explain it to you."
Vivienne	"You don't know at all. Got it."
Yakutsk	"It means that these nagashi-bina are also victims. Unlike the fox-faced dolls, they have nothing to do with this cave. But there is a reason why they are gathered in this cave. If we can understand that, we can understand the purpose of the caster."
Vivienne	"Ah, I had a vague idea that it was something like that."
Putra	"That's not fair! Vivienne you said you didn't get it earlier!"
Yakutsk	"Bozhe, you all really should use your head a little bit."
Miyako	"Sorry, I'm not that good with words..."
Yoshino	"Miyako has discovered an even more important fact: The number of nagashi-bina here is the same as the number of children found in the mountain."
Putra	"So the children's true form, were really nagashi-hina?!"
Yoshino	"Wrong. That's not it."
Miyako	"It's not the same, but there's some truth to it. These nagashi-bina were floated by the children's fathers and mothers. I think there was some kind of force at work there that brought the children together."
Putra	"You mean that when the dolls were floated away, the children also floated away...?"
Miyako	"Yes. That's what I think."
Vivienne	"The children we found here all come from different places, right? Didn't some of them live very far away?"
Yoshino	This is a Nishiki shinpi. The power of Jushin-sama and nature cannot be underestimated."
Yakutsk	"There is no proof that it is Jushin-sama's power and nature. It could be the work of those evil Mist Monsters, or Canaria could be up to something worse."
Queensway	"There are still sub-factions active in the Resistance. Canaria called themselves the extremists..."
Miyako	"It's possible that it's the work of Mist Monsters, but it's unlikely to be humanity's sorcery or magic. If so, the person would have to be more powerful than Islington-sama and Conductor-san. If there were such a sorcerer, he or she would be leading the Railway Army by now."
Yakutsk	"Or alternatively that person would be wanted by the whole world."
Conductor	I think so myself. If this is the work of a person, he or she with strong magical powers would have been discovered somewhere.
Conductor	The magic power that people possess cannot be hidden so easily. The stronger someone is, the harder it is to do so.
Putra	"If it is neither a person nor a god, then it must be a monster. The question is, what kind of monster is it?"
Miyako	"This is a very complicated incident. I have a feeling that there is more than one culprit..."
Putra	"Are you saying that more than one person did this?"
Miyako	"Yes. There are two, or more culprits. And each of them has a different objective."
Miyako	"I feel that there is one who tried to kidnap the children and one who tried to save them at the same time. The clash of the two forces has led to this puzzling incident..."
Miyako	"I have received testimonies from some of the children who were taken into care that 'I've been cured of my illness'."
Vivienne	"If they were cured, does that mean they were sick from the start...?"
Miyako	"Yes, they were. This is a conjecture, but I suspect that all of the children found here were affected by some kind of disease. The children of the families who performed nagashi-bina were collected at the Senbon Torii."
Queensway	"When they performed the nagashi-bina ritual to cure the sick, the children disappeared along with the dolls. That's how it happened."
Vivienne	"A powerful monster targeted the sick children and brought them to the Senbon Torii. I don't know why, but so far it's a convincing theory."
Queensway	"But what made you think, 'there's more than one culprit'?"
Miyako	"Was the culprit's purpose to cure them of their illness? Or was the culprit trying to make them his or her own? When I thought about that, I faced a contradiction."
Miyako	"It is understandable that the culprit would target and kidnap sick children. It is also possible that he or she took away their disease to empower themselves."
Miyako	"But if the culprit wanted to go that far, why allow the children to be rescued? As soon as the disease is cured, they're all theirs. The culprit can simply congregate all of them like these nagashi-bina."
Yoshino	"But the children were easily rescued and went home."
Miyako	"Yes. That's why I deduce that there were 'one who tried to kidnap them' and the other 'one who tried to protect them'. I think that both exists."
Conductor	That's a good theory. It's refreshing to see a fresh perspective on this when we're the ones pursuing Phantom Mist and mist Monsters, as we tend to blame everything on Phantom Mist. A biased mindset can overlook a lot of truths. In Iris Cloud, this oversight also led to the Giant Tree crisis.
Conductor	But I think there is still nothing conclusive about Miyako's theory. The nagashi-bina dolls here are an important source of reference point, though there are also several unsolved mysteries.
Conductor	One is that fox-faced girl.
Conductor	The other is the mysterious presence that you sensed, Miyako.
Conductor	Also we don't know why this cave exists. Rather than finding the way to escape, I am more curious to know the meaning of this cave being here.
Miyako	"Conductor-san is right. There must be a reason why we're here..."
--Yoshino-chan, Yoshino-chan.
Yoshino	"?"
Yoshino	"Did someone call Yoshino just now?"
Miyako	"No, I didn't call you."
Yoshino	"Oh? Did I imagine it?"
--Yoshino-chan, this way.
Yoshino	"Not an imagination. Yoshino heard a voice from over there."
Yoshino said this, but I heard nothing that Yoshino here. 'This way,' Yoshino said, heading towards a rock wall lined with fox-masked Nishiki dolls.
-It only took a few seconds from the time Yoshino started walking to the time she found 'it'. We just stood there and watched Yoshino's back, but Miyako reacted differently.
Miyako immediately chased after Yoshino and grabbed her by the neck.
Miyako	"Yoshino-chan, no!!"
Yoshino	"Eh...?"
Miyako pulled Yoshino back by her neck with all her might, and Yoshino fell butt-first on the ground.
Although she walked there by herself, Yoshino seemed completely unaware of what's she's doing herself.
Yakutsk	"Yoshino, what have you got there in your hand...!?"
Vivienne	"That's right. You shouldn't have touched such a thing without examining it carefully. Also why are you trying to use so much force? Here, pick your own ears and tail back up...?"
Yoshino	"Eh? But Yoshino, didn't do anything."
Why did I pick 'it' up with my hand? Why did I try to unleash sorcery? Yoshino did not understand at all.
The 'it' that Yoshino was holding in her hand was a Nishikese doll. 'It', too, was slightly different from the other dolls, who wore red kimonos and white fox masks.
-Yoshino was holding a Nishiki doll with a black kimono and a black fox mask.
Obviously, it's something bad. Yoshino was about to use some kind of tremendous sorcery with it in her arms.
Miyako	"Everyone, stay where you are. Do not touch Yoshino-chan until I say it is okay."
Miyako rushed to Yoshino with an unusually agitated expression on her face. We decided to stay where we were and watch them, as Miyako had instructed.
Miyako	"Yoshino-chan, can you hear me? It's me. It's Miyako. You know who I am, don't you?"
Yoshino	"Of course, Miyako. How can Yoshino not know who Miyako is?"
Miyako	"Then let go of the doll right now. Look into my eyes. Okay? Relax your hands. Lay down your ears and tail and suppress your magic."
Yoshino	"What's wrong, Miyako? It's kind of scary..."
Miyako	"Enough. Look into my eyes. Listen to my voice."
Miyako	"You are not thirsty. You don't want water."
Miyako	"Let go of the doll gently, with your mouth closed. Sink into a deep sleep with yourself on my back."
Miyako	"......"
Miyako	"...No water, okay? Okay? Listen to me, okay?"
Yoshino	"Water...?"
Yoshino	"Water, I want some water..."
Miyako	"No, listen to me..."
Yoshino	"No, I want some water."
Yoshino shook off Miyako's attempts to restrain her and ran towards the puddle of water with nagashi-bina in it.
She said, 'I want some water'. She seems to be trying to drink water...
Miyako	"STOP!!"
Miyako finally attacked Yoshino with her sorcery. She did not hesitate. She probably wanted to stop Yoshino at all costs.
...but Yoshino did not stop and jumped straight into the water.
Vivienne	"YOSHINO!"
Putra	"She didn't float up. T-This is not just a puddle! I'll dive under and save her!"
Miyako	"No, you cannot. Never touch that water. You'll be cursed."
Putra	"THEN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!? Yoshino, she's not coming up!? We can't just leave her like this!"
Miyako	"I'll go. Everyone stay away from this puddle and wait for me."
Vivienne	"Miyako are you sure? You are sure you can handle this?"
Miyako	"I am not sure. I don't know about that."
Vivienne	"Oh, non..."
Miyako	"But I'm not afraid to touch the curse. I'm the only one who can go in there and be safe. I have no choice but to go."
Putra	"Does that mean Yoshino won't come back...?"
Miyako	"I don't know either. I'll go and check now."
Miyako	"Maybe Yoshino-chan will be alright..."
Vivienne	"She's gone..."
Putra	"I can see the bottom of the water but I can't see Yoshino and Miyako. They must have gone somewhere else..."
Yakutsk	"Putra. Get away from there. Do exactly what Miyako told us to do."
Yakutsk	"Miyako is a good soldier. We can trust her. She was more calm and brave than anyone else."
Queensway	"Let us do what we can here. Stay alert so that if anything happens, we can respond immediately."

Metro Nishiki Episode
21-1	Senbon Torii
21-2	The Fox Girl
21-3	Ward Sorcery
21-4	Miyako's Secret Art
21-5	Nagashi-bina
21-6	The Black Doll
21-7	The Doll's Friend
21-8	Staring at the Pillar
21-9	Beyond the "Gate"
21-10	I Am Fine