Yuki led Shiki and Little Fox to the House of Lost, and their speed was very fast, and in a short time they entered the range of the Yokai Mountain. The atmosphere here is different from that of a human village in the four seasons, and in short, there are a lot of yokai gathered here.

Of course, this had no effect on the four seasons, and after traveling through the mountains, they finally came to the House of the Lost.

Although the house is called home, it is actually a village, hidden in the mountains, and it is generally not easy to find it without anyone to lead it.

They descended from the sky.

Shiki saw this small village surrounded by mountains and trees, with simple wooden houses and thatched roofs, which are very similar to the style of a primitive mountain village. But there is also an incongruous landscape mixed with the burned-black wood, the ruins of which occupy more than half of the village. That must have been the result of the fire.

As soon as they landed, there was a noise from the village, and Shiki saw cats.

Cat, cat, cat, cat...... It's all cats.

Countless wild cats came out of the intact house, and in the blink of an eye, the seasons were surrounded by these cats.

The feral cats were of all sizes and coat colors, but the only thing that was unifying was the meow that turned into a chorus around them, and the cats looked very excited.

"That's it! Be quiet!!! ”

As their boss, Orange gave a loud command, and the surrounding cats immediately fell silent.

"Good. Nothing just happened, did it? ”

"Meow~~~"

One of the black cats barked.

"It's okay."

Shiki watched as Orange interacted with the wildcats, while the little fox was already on all fours playing with the cats around him.

"It's quiet over there!"

Orange, who was half-talking, pointed at the little fox and shouted.

"Huh?"

There were four or five cats crawling on the little fox, and when she tilted her head in confusion, the cat above her head fell off.

“……”

"Is that human?"

At this time, the black cat who had spoken back at the beginning asked in a low voice.

It seems that there are many wild cats here that are youkai, but I don't know if any of them can transform into human form.

"He's here to help."

Orange replied, pointing at the seasons.

"Alright, let's all disperse. We're going to work. ”

"Meow!"

The wildcats responded in unison, and then ran away as fast as they had come.

"I want you to help me see who set the fire."

Orange said to the seasons.

"Okay."

"Please, catch that damn guy! It's good that no one was hurt, otherwise he would have been torn to shreds! ”

Orange cursed angrily, something she had said many times on the way.

"Let's go."

Orange walked towards the scene of the fire with Shiki, but stopped as soon as he took a step.

"Hey! Let's go! ”

Orange ran back and pulled the little fox, who had gotten carried away with the wild cats.

"Huh?"

“……”

Shiki thought about it and felt that this was a matter between children, so he didn't interfere.

When you come to the scene of the fire, it is a charred ruin, and you can feel the desolation of it more than you can see it from a distance.

Most of the houses in the village were burned down, which is definitely a pretty strict thing, and it is really lucky to be able to avoid wild cats, and of course it has something to do with the fact that many of them are stronger than ordinary cats.

It is not easy to rebuild such a strict destruction, but fortunately, they are all cats, and everyone does not have to worry about having no place to live.

So now, in addition to the reconstruction work, finding the killer is also a top priority.

"Didn't any cat see the murderer?"

Shiki asks about Orange's situation at the time.

"Hmm."

Orange wasn't at the Lost House at the time, and he didn't hear of anyone from the wildcats afterwards.

"But it's certainly not a natural phenomenon! I've heard several cats say they saw ghost fires nearby. ”

"Ghost fire?"

"Hmm...... Maybe it's not a ghost fire, it's a small glowing fireball anyway. ”

"So you think they set the fire?"

"It's supposed to be a village that someone burned with them."

As they spoke, they stopped in front of a ruined building, which is said to be the first place where the flames were fired.

"I'll check it out."

Leave the orange and the little fox outside the ruins and walk into it in the four seasons. When you step on the charred ground, you can hear a crunching sound, and the fully carbonized wood is reduced to pieces. Ignoring the carbon black below, Shiki leaned down and pressed his hands on the ground.

Moments later, Shiki walked back from the ruins.

"How?"

"Huh?"

"It really doesn't seem to be an ordinary natural phenomenon."

Shiki thought about the information he had read before, and there was only a limit to what he could read after that kind of destruction, but he could make a judgment by using some clues.

"There's an air here that doesn't belong to the wildcats."

Very faint, but indeed the dregs of mana left behind by other creatures.

"Really?"

Hearing this, Orange suddenly became excited.

"Yes, but I still don't know what it is."

In Gensokyo, the four seasons have not felt anything like this.

"Hey!"

Orange's ears drooped in disappointment, and the two tails behind him flicked listlessly.

"Huh?"

As if noticing his friend's depressed mood, the little fox walked behind Orange and grabbed Orange's two tails.

"Meow !!"

Orange exploded, and then she fell to the ground as if her whole body had lost her strength.

"Don't touch your tail!"

"Ahh

Completely ignoring Orange's pleas, the little fox continued to play with his tail.

"Don't! Wait a minute! Meow! ”

"Ahh

Anyway, the little fox has succeeded in making Orange forget about the depression.

Four Seasons didn't care about the fight between the two, but thought about the clues he found before, and he could already determine that it was not an ordinary human setting fire or a natural fire, and there would be magic residues indicating that the other party must be a monster or a cultivator, and he should be able to find something according to this clue. Because Shiki didn't find a human figure in the information residue, this incident made him wonder if it could have something to do with the stolen demon book, after all, there are still a few copies that have not been recovered.

"Ahh Help me! ”

As Shiki was thinking, he heard Orange's cry for help.

At this time, Orange had been completely crushed to the ground by the little fox, looking a little pitiful.

Shiki walked over and grabbed the little fox by the collar and lifted her up.

"Huh?"

"Ha-a-ha! saved. ”

Orange gasped.

"Didn't I tell you several times not to scratch my tail!"

Orange looked like she was about to cry, and according to the conversation, it was not the first time she had been tortured by the little fox like this.

"Huh?"

The little fox winked with a grin, and it seemed that it was not easy to get her to understand.

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