The next day, the group chases after the monster, and nagatsuka pushes them off the cliff. The monster explains that he threw the bottle into a river hoping that someone would find it and read it. He says that if someone does find the bottle, the heavens will have decreed that the monster is guilty of his crime, and then there will be no punishment for him. He adds that if they are doomed to die, he can choose how he meets his end, even if it is the curse that has taken their lives. He tells the group that he was seriously injured in the chase, and that if he had managed to push them off, they would have been killed by the curse. He explains that if the curse were true, he would at least be able to choose how to meet his end. He also says that he cannot forgive himself for killing his friends. He then tells the story of how the monster took the note from him and gave it to his wife. She would have found the bodies, and she would have testified that she was Hiiragi , the woman who gave him the note. He would have left her a note on his death, but he would not have been able to bear the reputation that would result from such a reputation. He did it again before his suicide, and it is possible that he might have decided to kill himself again. The group deduces that the killing of rikka was part of his offer to Hiiraki , but that she reminded him of her, and they were longed to by the giraffe shrine. He obtained the police report by the usual method, but of course, all previous luck was coin-dence, not curse. The chapter ends with the monster saying that he is the goddess of the monsters, but she is also the "god of wisdom" to the monsters.