After a while, Kazuma and Tamamo finally arrived at the foot of the shrine.

When I got closer to him, Kazuma noticed that next to the torii gate at the beginning of the stone steps of the shrine, there was a standing sign with an introduction to the shrine.

"Bisoumi Shrine...... Looks like it's dedicated to the god of springs? Kazuma muttered as he continued to look back.

Just now he Ma also complained that the festival here is called the Meiquan Festival, which is a bit like a random patchwork by tourism officials, but I didn't expect the name of this festival to match the shrine.

According to the plaque, the shrine is dedicated to a stone that used to be filled with water from under the rock, but hunters who went to the nearby mountains to hunt began to live near the water source, and then some fields were cultivated.

Later, a Shinto priest came and built a shrine near the stone.

There is no spring water flowing from under the stones, but the water from the well is still sweet.

After reading the contents of the stand, Kazuma turned his head to look at Tamamo.

Tamamo said, "It seems to be a folk belief that has nothing to do with youkai, and there are occasional cases like this. ”

"Occasionally? Isn't it possible that because of the beliefs of the inhabitants, youkai or gods related to them are born? ”

"No, it won't." Tamamo shook her head, "Let's go, let's go see what happened to the plaster made from kappa's scalp." ”

Kazuma looked up at the long stone steps and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"This stone staircase is too long, isn't it?"

"Don't complain, I went to ask you for a talisman to speed up your recovery when you were injured and hospitalized before, but I climbed this stone step a hundred times repeatedly."

"Really? As tall as this one? Is there such a shrine in Tokyo? He Ma looked suspicious.

Tamamo: "Yes. Okay, it's not as high as this, but it's still high. ”

"That's right."

Kazuma looked up at the long stone steps, decided that the long pain was better than the short pain, and suddenly rushed all the way to the top of the stone steps.

He was so fast that he almost crashed into a shrine maiden sweeping the floor.

"Wow!" The shrine maiden was startled, took a step back, and stumbled on her left foot and fell on her right foot.

Kazuma calmed his breath as he looked at the shrine maiden.

This must be Hiroko who works at the shrine.,It's really just like the hotel maid Ms. Kashima said.,It's a relatively ordinary girl.,There are pimples and freckles on her face.,It's not comparable to the beautiful girl with a good body and fair skin in Kiryu Dojo.。

However, if she uses concealer and foundation to cover up pimples and freckles, she can also see that if Hema in her previous life is chased by such a girl, it will immediately surrender to the rhythm of getting married in place.

What about the last life.

Kiryu and Ma deeply realized the goodness of crossing.

After the inspection, Kazuma's breathing was completely calm, and except for the beads of sweat on his forehead, it was almost impossible to tell that he had just completed such a long stone staircase.

He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his hands, and then stretched out his hand to the girl: "I'm sorry, I scared you, I didn't fall and hurt you, did you?" ”

"No, no." The girl took Kazuma's hand and stood up. As soon as she stood up, she let go of Kazuma's hand, and her face flushed.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, looking down.

Wama: "Kiryu and Ma, who came to Tokyo for a vacation, live in Hinata on the opposite mountainside. You're Miss Hiroko working here, aren't you? ”

"Ah, I am." A hint of surprise flashed across Hiroko's face after listening to Kazuma's self-introduction, she raised her eyes and looked at Kazuma quickly, "From Tokyo?" Are you also a member of the Meiji University Fantasy Biology Research Institute? ”

And the horse's eyebrows twitched: Meiji University Fantasy Biology Research Society? Could it be the group of students who had an accident last year that the convenience store uncle mentioned?

He didn't rush to ask, but continued to chat: "No, I'm a ...... of the Kendo Club of the University of Tokyo."

"Kendo Club Ryokan is coming to us? We don't have a dojo here, only hot springs. Hiroko was even more surprised.

"It's not a kendo club, we were invited to the mountains by Saoni Music to create." Kazuma sighed in his heart as he spoke, this kind of situation where the other party didn't recognize him immediately hadn't encountered it for a long time.

Hiroko looked at Kazuma again, and then asked, "Sauni Music Invitation?" So are you working part-time at Soni Music? ”

Kazuma thought that his first reaction when he saw me at my age should be like this.

He smiled and said, "No, I'm a musician." ”

"Musicians? Huh? This...... Then you're really good-looking. ”

"I'm eighteen."

When the words fell, Hiroko took a step back, looked at Kazuma from head to toe again, and then shook his head: "I don't believe it, what works do you have?" ”

Kazuma immediately hummed two sentences of his previous work.

Hiroko frowned and muttered as she recalled, "This song is so familiar...... I feel like I've heard it in school, and it seems to be ...... in the mouthpiece that Autumn Sauce bought Ah, kiryu! Are you the one! That and that! ”

He Ma thought that it was finally time for me to pretend to be forced, so he put on a coaxing expression and nodded: "That's right, I am." ”

Hiroko gasped for cold-hot gas.

That's right.

"I'm going to call Aki-chan!" Hiroko turned around and ran towards the building, which was probably run by the shrine.

The mouth of the horse that was directly left was half open.,Looking down at the broom that the girl threw on the ground when she sat on the ground just now.,I thought that this girl is this kind of character.,Big grin is a bit like Mikako.。

No, Mikako doesn't have the shyness she showed in the face of strangers at the beginning.

Mikako is known for her self-cooking, and she has the feeling that she will go up and pat her on the shoulder when she sees anyone, "Hey buddy, do you want to go and burn Night City to ashes together".

Kazuma picked up the broom and leaned against the torii pillar at the end of the stone steps, and then looked back down the mountain.

Amazao was like an old lady, climbing the stone steps one by one.

Kazuma suddenly wanted to rush down and shout to her: "No, you have to go up the stairs in the naval school for two levels, start again!" ”

At this time, Tamamo raised his head, met Kazuma's gaze, and then made a gesture of "you go first".

Kazuma was about to shout "I'll wait for you", when he heard Hiroko's voice from the direction of the social office: "That, I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you, do you have any needs for coming to the shrine?" ”

So Kazuma turned around and walked towards the office and replied, "I'm here to sell a bone-setting plaster that is said to be very spiritual, and by the way, I want to learn about the history of this shrine." ”

Originally, I planned to do so, but now I have to add one more thing: ask about what happened next year.

Hiroko appeared behind the sales window next to the gate of the social office: "I want to buy plasters, Lord God just finished making a new batch yesterday." ”

"Is this plaster really made by the gods?"

"Yes, the god will go to the mountains to collect herbs and grind the medicines. He always said that there are treasures in this mountain. Hiroko replied as she took out something wrapped in a modest cardboard box and placed it on the table, and on the surface of the carton was written with a brush "Mizunn bone-setting cream".

"Is this a real calligraphy?" And the horse asked.

"Originally, it was, but now it's the people from the Tourism Promotion Association who use their printers to get it." Bozi paused, "What else do you want?" ”

"I'm here for inspiration to make music." Kazuma smiled at Hiroko, "It would be nice if you could show me around the shrine." It would be nice to have some introduction. ”

Hiroko tilted her head: "Isn't the introduction all written on the standing sign at the foot of the mountain?" I'm just a part-time worker.,Or the Lord of the Gods saw that I was dependent on my grandmother and took pity on me so I let me work here.,I really don't understand the things about the shrine.。

"Ah, if it's a festival, you can learn more about it at the village office or the tourism promotion association."

"Well, it's okay to take me on a tour of the shrine, right? You're a shrine maiden. ”

Hiroko pursed her lips and thought for a while, then nodded, "Okay, but if I take you to the shrine, you have to sign autographs for my friends." ”

"Is that the girl named Qiu?"

"Aki-chan is a boy." Hiroko corrected with a smile.

Kazuma's first reaction was to warn the boy named Autumn not to have a snowball fight, but no one could get this "Chainsaw Man" meme in 1981.

So he said, "Oh, what youth." ”

"No, there's no youth unfolding, just friends."

"I know, I know everything." He Ma smiled, "Signing yes, no problem, as long as he doesn't dislike my ugly words." So can you take me to the shrine now? ”

"Yes, yes, I'll come out! By the way, plasters...... Ah,I bought it after visiting the shrine, right?,Then put it here.。 ”

Hiroko ran out again, and then directly began to introduce: "This building, as you can see, is the social office of the shrine, usually I work on the first floor, and the second floor is a warehouse for storing various items. The one-story house connected to the social office is the residence of the family of the god......"

As he listened, Kazuma turned his head to look in the direction of the stone steps.

Tamamo hasn't climbed up yet.

Think about it carefully before in Osaka, when she ran out of the hotel, she was also slow, isn't this acting, but she is really not good at sports?

So she ate my tooth protrusion before, and she really couldn't dodge?

Kazuma raised an eyebrow, retracted his gaze and continued to listen to Hiroko's introduction to the shrine.

"This is the main square of the shrine, and the stalls for the festivals after that are mainly set up here, and at the end of the square is the temple, but the Mijo Shrine is special, and the body of the god is not in the temple. This temple is only a place for ceremonies. The Divine Body is over here......"

Hiroko is really just introducing, what a building is and what it is for, there is no decoration and additional content at all, and the explanation is boring.

Behind the shrine hall is a stone staircase path, which is much narrower than the main entrance, but the density of the torii gate is much higher, and there is basically one torii gate for three stone steps.

All the torii gates are hung with a rope on the top, and the coins on the rope flutter in the wind.

When climbing this stone staircase, Hiroko didn't mean to speak at all, probably thinking that this was an ordinary stone staircase with nothing to say.

Kazuma took this opportunity to inquire, "Why did you think I was a member of the Meiji University Fantasy Biology Research Society just now?" ”

"Huh? Because the people who come here during the peak season are either uncles in suits who look great or wives who wear gorgeous kimonos, and few young people come here. Last year, my older siblings were very conspicuous and talked to me a lot about Tokyo. ”

Hiroko was silent again after saying this, feeling that she was simply answering the question, and after answering the question, she didn't mean to start a small talk with the question.

Hema could only continue to ask: "I heard that there was an accident in the mountains last year, one died and one was injured, is it also this group of young people?" ”

"Hmm." Hiroko's voice became muffled, and although Kazuma could only see her back, he could guess her expression by the sound.

He Ma waited for a few seconds, and judged that Hiroko was not willing to talk more about it, so he didn't continue to ask.

When I got back to the hotel, I asked Akira Hanayama, who was also from Meiji University.

He glanced ahead over Hiroko, and saw that the stone steps were quite long, and it was a little boring to climb the stone steps in silence, so he was going to hum something.

It just so happened that the stone steps and the torii gate reminded him of the folk song "Passage Song" that Tamamo had sung.

"Steal sandals and steal sandals......" and the horse hummed in a low voice, and the first two lines of the song are often hollowed out as "stealing sandals".

Hiroko shuddered visibly, then she turned her head and shouted, "Don't sing!" Shut up! ”

Kazuma was taken aback by Hiroko's sudden emotional change, and subconsciously said "I'm sorry".

Bozi also reacted at this time, she lowered her eyes and said embarrassedly: "I, I am, I shouldn't shout so loudly." My grandmother and I lived together, and when I was a child, my grandmother always told me that I couldn't sing this song in the mountains. ”

Kazuma: "Why?" ”

"Because in the past, people in this village would drink wine to children who couldn't afford it, let them fall asleep, and then take them to the mountains and throw them away. My grandmother said that she didn't do this when she was younger, but after the Great Kanto Earthquake in the 11th year of Taisho, life became difficult again, so she ...... And I started doing it again. ”

Hiroko bowed to Kazuma: "Anyway, I'm very sorry!" However, please don't hum this song in the mountains, it will invite misfortune, last year ......"

Her words came to an abrupt end.

Kazuma: "Are you saying that last year, the students of Meiji University sang this song in the mountains, so there was an accident?" ”

"I didn't say that!" Hiroko hurriedly denied it, "It's just that when they came last year, it was also when I took them to visit the shrine, and it was also when I walked this stone step to see the body of the gods, and Miss Akanishi also sang this song......"

Miss Akasai, it seems that Akasai is the surname of the "Doctor Monster" girl mentioned by the convenience store uncle.

Hiroko continued, "Miss Akanishi is very familiar with yokai things, and after I told her about my grandmother, she assured me that it would be fine, and that folklore is based on what really happened in the past, but in the end it is just a legend. ”

Kazuma suddenly felt that what Miss Akasai said was a little familiar.

It reminds me of a youkai who has been using science to explain supernatural events and prove that youkai don't exist.

Hiroko looked at Kazuma: "Miss Akanishi and their group ended up having an accident, although it may just be a coincidence, but I think Kiryu-san should stop singing, it's unlucky." ”

Hema: "Would you rather believe it than believe it?" ”

"Huh?"

"A Chinese proverb."

"Huh? Ah, that's right, it's a student at the University of Tokyo, it's amazing. ”

He Ma suddenly felt that the identity of a student of Tokyo University was very useful, whether he spoke a Chinese proverb or made an accurate judgment on the international situation, the people around him would only sigh that "he deserves to be a student of Tokyo University".

The idea that Tokyo University students are necessarily elites is deeply ingrained in the DNA of the Japanese.

Do whatever you do with the horses, and their DNA will move.

Hiroko turned around and continued to lead the way, but this time she took the initiative to speak: "Miss Akanishi, they give me the feeling that they are very similar to Kiryu-san, they are very knowledgeable, and they can casually say very profound things or share knowledge that I have never heard of. ”

Meiji University, once known as the Imperial Twin Powers along with the University of Tokyo, is now over, but the prestige of the university seems to be still there.

"The deceased Watanabe-kun spoke English very well, always holding an original English book, and taught me a lot of English slang......"

He immediately memorized a poem by Byron in English, and then asked, "Is it better than my English?" ”

Hiroko looked back at Kazuma in surprise: "Uh...... I'm sorry, but I can't tell which of you has better English because I have terrible English. ”

"Then Watanabe-kun's English is better." And Ma said so, after all, everyone is dead, "I heard that there is another one who has become a vegetative person?" ”

"That's Shigeru-kun, Shigeru Oda."

Kazuma caught a detail from Hiroko's brief answer: "When I said that the dead one was Watanabe-kun, and the vegetative one was Shige-kun, Hiroko, are you more familiar with this Oda-san?" ”

Hiroko nodded: "Well, Watanabe-kun has an aura of rejecting people thousands of miles away, while Shige-kun is easy-going and loves to laugh, and he is Miss Akasai's boyfriend." ”

Kazuma: "So Miss Akasai came down from the mountain and cried miserably, mainly because of Mao-kun?" ”

Hiroko was silent.

Kazuma felt his old detective's instinct — well, the future detective's instinct pulling the alarm.

He had an unprovoked association: Falling off a cliff, is it ......

"Fellow college students, did anyone see the moment Watanabe-kun and Shige-kun fell off the cliff?" And the horse asked.

"No, they scattered around the mountains to find that, it's that ......"

"Mallet snake."

"Yes, the mallet snake, they were scattered in search of the mallet snake, and when it was almost dark, they gathered together, and found that there were two people missing. Their minister, Takei, immediately decided to go down the mountain and report to the Tourism Promotion Association and the village office to request a search and rescue. ”

"It was the right decision." And Ma appreciated.

It is very dangerous for laymen to climb the mountain at night, so it is better to leave it to the mountain people and a professional search and rescue team.

"Everyone went into the mountain to find it early the next morning, and it was dawn to find two people under a dirt slope, and it was too late."

Hiroko's voice became so low as she spoke that Kazuma barely heard her. Her gasps as she climbed the stone steps almost drowned out her voice.

It seems that recalling the events at that time made Hiroko very painful, but Kazuma continued to ask: "How was Miss Akanishi's condition during the search and rescue?" ”

"Huh? Yes, of course...... Anxious and sad. ”

"You see?"

"At that time, I was the only young girl in the entire hot spring town, so the adults at the village office asked me to accompany Miss Akanishi. Although Miss Akasai was so anxious that she couldn't sleep and vomited, she kept showing herself strong until the next day when the two were carried from the mountain to the hot spring town, and she broke down and cried. ”

Kazuma silently memorized Hiroko's words in his head.

In fact, he wanted to take out a notebook and write down the main points, but that would be the case of the criminal police investigating the case, which might make Hiroko nervous and unwilling to elaborate.

He wanted to continue asking questions, but the stone steps had already come to an end, and Hiroko stepped on the last stone step, leaning down and gasping for air with his hands on his knees.

"This stone step is obviously not longer than the stone steps in front of the mountain, but why is it so hard to climb?" Hiroko muttered quietly, "Kiryu-san, you let me slow down." ”

And the horse was nothing, he looked around.

In front of him was a glade, the ground had been artificially leveled, but there were no floor tiles.

At the northernmost end of the clearing, there is a large stone with a rope tied to it, and each knot is hung with a royal coin.

That should be the Misensen Shrine's goshomon body.

Hiroko calmed her breath, straightened up and introduced: "This is our Imperial God Body, I said it is not suitable, but it is really nothing to look at." ”

And the horse nodded.

The shape of this stone is not strange, the color is ordinary, there is no inscription or other features, except for the note rope, it is just an ordinary large stone.

I felt that I was going to build a shrine, so I would like to use the largest stone near the spring outlet as a god.

But it's all here, and it's a loss if you don't take a closer look.

So he and the horse went forward and were about to touch the stone, when suddenly they found something like a ditch under the stone.

"What's this ditch?"

"Ah, the waterway, it is said that before the Meiji Restoration, there would be spring water flowing from under this stone, and the water that flowed out would be stored in this ditch first, and when it was almost full, it would naturally flow down the mountain through the waterway behind it."

Kazuma stretched out his head and looked behind the stones, and sure enough, the ditch that surrounded the stones was connected to a channel that was not too wide.

Judging from these facilities, the amount of water from the spring was not good when the shrine was built, and the village should have been supplied with drinking water from wells.

What about those hot springs on Hinata Sho Mountain?

It can't be a bomb from the U.S. military, right?

The U.S. military is full of food and is holding on to blow up the mountains?

Could it be the same as those hot spring hotels in China that He Ma had been to in his previous life, and it was warm water boiled in the boiler room?

Of course, it is also possible that violent geological movements have caused new hot springs to appear, such as the Great Kanto Earthquake mentioned by Hiroko just now.

If it is true that Ryunosuke Akutagawa likes to come here, it may be true in terms of time.

Kazuma was thinking about it, and Hiroko's voice interrupted him: "That, have you finished reading it?" It's not early, and I'm in a hurry to go home and cook for my grandmother......"

"Okay, I'm done." Kazuma decisively ended his thinking and walked towards the stone steps.

Climbing such a long way, just to see a broken rock, no wonder Hiroko is reluctant to take people to visit.

When they went down the stone steps, the two of them were much faster, and they just chatted a few words about music and "Qiujun" and finished.

After the two of them came out from the back of the palace, Kazuma saw Tamamo standing under the torii gate at the entrance of the shrine at a glance.

She was obviously climbing the stone steps and was out of breath where she was resting, but she gave people the feeling of being one with the torii, as if she was part of this shrine.

Hiroko opened her mouth and looked at Tamamo: "Huh? This...... It's all strange and Massan singing wildly, and the monster has found it! ”

"No, no, that's my house...... My apprentice, Jinguji Tamamo, is a human being. ”

Actually, it's not, but it's set like this.

"Huh? Is it human? I saw her so beautiful, I thought she was a demon fox in the mountains......"

It's the demon fox in the city.

"Demon fox or something, does it really exist?" And the horse asked.

Hiroko: "The old people say that there exists, and it is ......"

"Love to eat the hearts and livers of beautiful girls?" Kazuma said what Grandma Noda had heard.

"Yes, yes! My grandma used to say that. ”

It seems that the old lady of this hot spring street will talk about the demon fox who loves to eat the heart of a beautiful girl.

Jinguji Tamamo also noticed Kazuma's side at this time, but she didn't seem to be wearing glasses and couldn't see who it was.

Then I saw her bend down and touch the pedestal of the torii gate of the shrine for a while, and then she felt the glasses open and put them on, and then looked this way.

Kazuma wanted to hide her glasses next time to see how she could only do divination if she couldn't find them.

Tamamo, who put on his glasses, waved at Kazuma and shouted in a voice that happened to be heard, "How is it?" ”

"The Imperial Divine Body is really a stone, mediocre." And the horse responded.

As for the Meiji University Fantasy Biology Research Association, I'll wait until I get back to the hotel and then follow the Tamamo plate.

Tamamo walked towards Kazuma, and the three of them met in the square in front of the shrine palace.

"This is Miss Hiroko." Kazuma introduced, "And this is my apprentice Jinguji Tamamo, who has just been introduced." ”

"Hello." Tamamo bowed to Hiroko, "My master has bothered you. ”

"No, no, no," Hiroko, who may not be used to being used with honorifics, seems a little flustered, "I'm a shrine maiden, and although I'm a shrine maiden who works part-time, it's my duty to take people on a tour of the shrine." ”

"What a cute shrine maiden." Tamamo laughed.

"No, no, I'm far from you."

Kazuma: "She just thought of you as a demon fox who came out of the mountains to fight for her teeth." ”

Hiroko's face turned red: "This...... That's because, because you're so beautiful! ”

"Thank you. I'm often said to be in front of the big demon fox Yuzao. ”

And the horse "ahaha" dry laughter a few times.

"You...... Don't you want to see the Divine Body too? Hiroko asked cautiously.

"No, I feel like I've done enough exercise today. Don't want to climb the mountain anymore. Tamamo didn't have a front, and decisively refused.

Hiroko also breathed a sigh of relief, she turned around and walked to the social office: "Then I'll pack a drop of medicine for you, is there anything else to buy?" We have amulets here to bless study, work, and love, and we can also write ema. ”

Hema: "Did you miss a request?" ”

The income generated by the shrine is generally made up of three axes: amulets, asking for lots, and writing ema. As for going to the gate of the palace to ring the bell and throw the money, it is usually a hundred yuan coin at a time, unless it is a large shrine where incense is thriving, otherwise there is no income.

Hiroko stopped at the door of the social office, turned around and smiled awkwardly: "I won't untie the sign, I can't solve it if you ask for it, I have to wait for the god to come back." ”

Tamamo: "The shrines in Tokyo have written the meaning of the signature directly in the vernacular, so there is no need to unsign it." ”

"Ah, Tokyo is so advanced, we don't have it yet." Hiroko smiled awkwardly.

At this time, her eyes suddenly looked at the entrance of the shrine.

Kazuma and Tamamo also turned their heads to follow his gaze.

A man in a mountaineering suit has just climbed the stone steps.

"Divine Lord San, you're back." Hiroko bowed to the man.

"Hmm."

The man nodded, then turned his gaze to Kazuma's side.

His eyes widened suddenly: "You are!" You're that Kiryu and Ma! ”