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Somekichi's Red TraysAuthor: Kunieda Shiro

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Original Title染吉の朱盆
Author国枝 史郎
GenrePopular Fiction
Author TypeMale Author
SummaryBeneath a frost-laden full moon, a shadowy samurai strikes with lethal precision, leaving behind a twitching corpse clutching a crimson-lacquered tray. These enigmatic Red Trays, inscribed with fragments of poetry, mysteriously find their way into the hands of Lady O-nui—a noblewoman of haunting beauty—igniting an obsession to complete the verses. As more bodies fall under the same moonlit blade, each death deposits another tray at her doorstep, their golden inlays whispering *“Love they call it, my name has already risen up, unknown to others…”* Yet the artisan who crafted them, a disfigured master lacquerer consumed by unrequited passion, withers into oblivion, his creations both treasure and curse. \nA decade later, Detective Okahachi stumbles upon a chilling pattern: young men vanish, only to return emaciated and entranced, murmuring of a desire to return *“there.”* His investigation unravels threads connecting blood-drained corpses, forbidden art, and whispers of a decaying mansion where Lady O-nui’s ghostly yearning lingers. Within its overgrown walls, a macabre secret festers—one where beauty masks horror, and obsession transcends death. Will Okahachi survive the lure of the Red Trays’ siren call, or become another verse in their tragic legacy?
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