Smack!

On the eaves of the roadside, a large patch of snow suddenly loosened, then slid down and hit the ground.

Snow splashes.

Starfish was startled, looked at it in a daze, and was pulled into the middle of the road by Naruse.

"There are no cars on the road, don't get too far behind."

"Ah...... Oh. ”

Leaving the hotel, a few people walked down the hot spring street in the snow valley, and the surroundings were not as quiet as expected.

- There is only one access road and less than 200 meters on the street, and there are a lot of tourists.

"It looks like a tour of Southeast Asia...... I guess it's Thai. Morimi said, looking at a group of tourists in front of him.

Naruse looked twice and nodded.

Hikaru Takikawa turned around and folded his hands.

"Savadika ~ Is that so?"

She laughed, "That's it." ”

Leaving the hotel and walking all the way, they had already met two or three sightseeing groups, all speaking languages they didn't understand.

Along the not wide road by the river, several people continued on their way.

"It feels pretty ordinary." Takikawa said, "I don't know why those foreigners are so excited. ”

"Those who come from tropical and subtropical countries have never seen such thick snow."

Morimi looked at one of the tourists in front of him who was staring at the snow on the side of the road and talking excitedly, "Other than that, it feels like this place is really ordinary." ”

Starfish slowed down and walked with the two of them.

"It's like this during the day, it looks more ...... Naive. But at night, when the lights come on, it's a fantastic feeling. ”

Morimi smiled, "Is that what you say on the Internet?" ”

"Hmm...... After all, it's my first time here. ”

After walking a little further, Naruse looked back at them, "It's time to get to Noto's house." ”

The three of them raised their eyes, and across the small river that runs through the snow valley and the hot spring street, there was a three-story inn with a large area and a luxurious and retro style.

The starfish stared intently for a moment.

"It's really like the oil house in "Spirited Away......"

Morimi also raised his head and looked at it intently.

"'Kido Sasakomon', what does that mean?" Hikaru Takikawa asked, pointing to a giant standing sign in front of the Noto house.

Naruse looked over, "Kido Sazo Gongmon is said to be the ancestor of the pioneer of Silver Mountain, and he must have been the one who discovered and developed the silver mine hundreds of years ago. ”

"I see."

Notoya is so famous that most visitors to Ginzan Onsen do so for the sake of taking pictures, as the river directly across from the inn and the small bridge leading to the inn are filled with people taking pictures.

"Let's take a few pictures, too." Hikaru Takikawa said, "Right here." ”

The guardrails and chains by the river are already covered with snow, and several girls huddle together with their backs to Noto, and Naruse is in charge of taking pictures.

And he was holding his phone, squatting lower and lower.

"Don't shoot us too high."

"No...... It's that there are too many people in the back. ”

Naruse was a little helpless, adjusted it again, and finally found an angle that would not shoot the tourists behind him.

Click!

"Let me see...... Not...... It's a little subtle. ”

"There are too many tourists in the background."

Naruse couldn't help it, "Let's just take a stroll around here first, and if you want to take pictures, let's come back when there are fewer people." ”

He put away his phone, "Now it's basically tourists crowded here, and they will leave at night." ”

"Okay." Several people also had no opinion.

After squeezing across the red wooden bridge full of tourists, and taking a closer look at Notoya, Naruse turned around and was diagonally opposite a shop called "Edoya", which is rare in a hot spring town full of inns.

When the girls had seen the same, he suggested that he go there for a walk.

"Okay."

When you come to Edoya, you will find that it is full of handicrafts and looks like a souvenir shop.

"There's a lot of stuff out there."

One of the shelves is filled with beckoning cats, all of different sizes and colors, all of which are very cute.

Naoko approached and looked at it for a while, and couldn't help but take out her phone and prepare to take a picture.

When she was about to take pictures, she suddenly came back to her senses and looked at the old woman sitting not far away, "Excuse me, can I take pictures in the store?" ”

The old lady was the shopkeeper and nodded with a smile.

Click!

On the other side of the shelf, there were many Zashiki boys, and the starfish picked one up and looked at it, and then looked at the price tag of the post below, and one of them cost more than 3,000 yen.

"It's so expensive......"

"It's handmade, and of course it's not cheap." Morimi said on the side, holding a red Dharma in his hand.

"That's right......" Starfish played with it for a while, but put it down.

She looked at the thing in Morimi's hand, "What about this Bodhidharma?" ”

"One thousand and eighty yen."

"Ah, it's cheap, and the workmanship is a little worse......"

"Be quiet."

In addition to these handicrafts, there are many Yamagata specialties on the other side of the shop.

For example, jams and juices made entirely from Yamagata native fruits, or local rice in two packs.

"Two packs, 380 yen, both of them are new rice this year, do you want to buy one?" Naoko swept the vacuum-packed rice in her hand and looked at Naruse.

He took it and looked at it.

"Yamagatata's rice...... Buy it back to eat or keep it as a souvenir? ”

Naoko laughed, "It's all right." ”

"Buy it."

There was plenty of time, and a few people were not in a hurry, so they walked around Edoya for more than half an hour.

At the time of checkout, Naruse also took the Zashiki boy that the starfish had just taken a fancy to.

She looked at him.

"Is that it?" Naruse asked.

Only then did she confirm that he was going to give it to her, and she looked at Naoko and saw her smiling, before nodding.

"Hmmm......"

After settling the bill, Naruse took the rice and handed the Zashiki boy to the starfish.

"Thank you......"

"Let's go somewhere else."

There is also a souvenir shop next to the Edoya, but most of the inside is made of papier-mâché sculptures.

Seeing a nesting doll of a Zashiki boy, the starfish compared it with the one in his hand, and felt that it was better looking at himself.

She took out her phone and tried to take a photo of the comparison, but was stopped by the shopkeeper in a panic.

“No photo！ No photo…… s！ ”

Starfish looked at him blankly.

Naruse immediately walked over and pulled the starfish behind him, "I'm sorry. ”

After the shopkeeper chattered with him for a long time before walking away, Starfish asked in a low voice, "Why did he speak English just now?" ”

"Because he thinks that if he were Japanese, he should be able to understand Japanese."

He pointed to the sign standing next to him prohibiting photography, "although there is also an English note underneath." ”

“……”

Starfish blushed, "I didn't see it." ”

"It's fine." Naruse glanced at her and smiled again, "You better continue to pretend to be a foreigner, so as not to be nagged." ”

"Hmmm......"

"Communicate with us in English."

“…… Can't do it! ”

A few people wandered around the store for a while, and although the store didn't have as many things as Edoya, it was still a good way to kill some time.

"This one looks pretty cute, what do starfish think?" Morimi picked up a Dharma and said.

Starfish glanced at the shopkeeper who was staring at him, and a smile appeared on his face, "Yes......"

Morimi looked at her, not knowing why.

It took another few moments before a few people left the shop.

Starfish finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"There's a tofu shop in front, do you want to go in and have something to eat?" Hikaru Takikawa pointed to the shop in front of him.

She immediately responded, "Okay. ”

(End of chapter)