In the middle of the town of Asahina there is a large circular clearing, along which there are wooden street signs marking the directions, the scarlet paint resembling blood in the light of the red moon, and the writing wriggling on the decaying wooden boards.

Riji mentally pronounced the word "town square" in her mind, and countless jumble voices poured into her ears in an instant, turning into an annoying repeater, repeating the contents of the street signs in her ears.

The best way to think about the infiltration from weird talk is not to care.

The mental erosion was sometimes more serious than the physical damage, and she looked away from the street signs, and the noise disappeared with the wind. The sound of leather shoes and sneakers rubbing against the concrete road is particularly clear at night, and the sound of cicadas and frogs in the fields that should be there on a summer night is not heard at all near Rugetsu Station.

The fields were occupied by withered yellow weeds, and the soil that should have been soft and fertile was dry and cracked, as if something had sucked all its vitality out overnight.

I've seen too many abnormal things in weird talks, and Ryji doesn't make a fuss anymore.

"Where are we going next?"

There was less than a third of the amount left in the bottle of the marked potion, and if it was consumed any more, there would be no drop left. There are no materials for refining potions at hand, no crucibles and test tubes, no conditions for rubbing potions with bare hands, and getting lost in the world of strange tales is no different from death.

From just now, Ruiji noticed that the environment was constantly changing, and she clearly did not go back, but the place she had passed by appeared directly in front of her, and there was a kind of beauty of ghosts hitting the wall.

Marking potions is a guarantee that you won't get lost, and compasses and maps don't work in regional weirdos. The remaining amount of medicine reminded her that she could no longer continue to explore the path and waste time and resources.

Sailor Suit Witch - Chiyo Naling, introduced herself to Ruiji when crossing the bridge. They are not familiar enough, they are referred to by their surnames, and they use honorifics with each other so as not to offend.

Yo Na Ridge points to the northeast of the mountain forest.

"There's a shrine over there, so let's go to the shrine first. I've heard that as long as we step through the torii gate, the weirdos can't harass us. ”

At the end of the tree-lined mountain road, there is an even more quaint shrine. It is smaller than Sakuma Shrine and is built on top of a hill and may be less than a hundred square meters in size.

The sacred places where the gods inhabit are usually safe from evil spirits and ghosts, and the sacred places of the Westerners are churches, and the sacred places of the Japanese are shrines, both of which serve the same purpose.

She has an inexplicable affection and affection for the shrine, perhaps because of the shrine at home, and the old buildings surrounded by logs and vermilion torii always bring a sense of stability that is irreplaceable for other things.

The clue to leaving Asahina may be hidden in the shrine on the mountain, Ruiji thought to herself.

"Let's go, there's always a way."

Then came the long walk. First, you will walk through the low, two-story Japanese-style buildings in the same style, and enter the narrow promenade surrounded by greenery and shaded by the sky.

The road was also paved with thick gray stone slabs that were neatly cut, and the road leading to the gods' dwelling was cleaner than in the town, with no grass on either side and no yellow-green fallen leaves piled up on the road.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, Ruiji was shocked by the mountain road that stretched high for half a minute.

Starting from the first staircase, the vermilion torii gate stretches to the front of the shrine at the top of the mountain, and there are more than 100 of them. Although the torii gate is composed of two pillars and one beam, there are subtle differences in color, shape, and height.

The layers of vermilion are spectacular when viewed from the foothills.

The eerie environment and atmosphere tainted the sacred torii gate, which was supposed to be a barrier to keep the filth out, but Ruiji did not dare to step into it immediately. The right eyelid has been beating hard since just now, and the right eyelid is definitely not a good thing.

Some strange stories about the shrine have mentioned that it is not so easy to leave when you step into the torii. It is not an ordinary door, and you must not visit it with the mood of entering and leaving as soon as you want.

In particular, there are so many torii gates on this mountain, so it is suspicious no matter how you look at it. If it is a famous shrine like Fushimi Inari Taisha, there are as many as 10,000 torii gates on the road leading to the main body of the shrine, so it will not make those who want to go up the mountain feel uneasy and suspicious.

Ruiji hesitated in front of the torii, and Yonaling next to her kept urging her, wanting her to make up her mind sooner.

"It's okay, God protects us from society, and it's dangerous to stay outside all the time. Do you want to be a 'person' hanging on a carp streamer? Don't want to, right? ”

"Of course I don't want to, but these torii gates give me a very subtle feeling."

The most obvious reaction is that the closer you get to them, the faster the mana in your body will be lost. Torii is not an auspicious place, but a whirlpool that sucks magic and life force.

She retreated five meters away before the feeling of loss of mana was cut off.

This shrine is very evil, but the most fortunate thing is that there is still a walk-in.

Riki realizes that there might be something wrong with the witch called Yonaring. will bring other witches to places where they suck magic power, and it's hard for people to treat her as a good person.

Having said that, the way back was blocked.

The carp streamers hanging on the flagpole no longer knew when they would follow, blocking the only way to retreat. The wide gaps between the trees also disappeared, and the thick trunks huddled together to become a heavy wooden wall.

The landforms and scenery in the regional weird tales can change at any time, and she has tasted them a few times, and there are only some elegant and easy-going beautiful words in her heart that she wants to offer.

"Top your lungs ......"

Some words cannot be expressed in Japanese, so you have to change the dialect.

A simple sentence was not enough to vent all her dissatisfaction, and she didn't even have the time to scold the next sentence, and the ferocious weird talk turned into a carp streamer grinning, revealing the fangs as sharp as a saw underneath.

Being bitten by fangs is not as light as a little skin injury, at least it has to lack arms and legs, and the head is seriously different. If you can't wait for the witch who has learned advanced healing techniques to rescue and repair the damaged parts, after a certain amount of time, the witch will face disability or death, and the result is quite cruel.

I just learned the level 2 fire attribute spell [Meteor] this afternoon, and there is nothing to hide, so I have to do it when it's time to make a move.

The carp streamer targeted Ruiji and swarmed upward, flying at a very fast speed, like an arrow from a string. The spell build was a second or two later than they could attack.

Before she could swing her sword, the situation was dangerous.

"Whoosh-"

An object flying from the shadows hit the head of one of the carp streamers, followed by the second and third. The pierced flag let out a sharp roar while leaking air, and its body spontaneously combusted without fire.

The items made of cloth and silk turned into ashes under the devouring of the flames, and Ruiji's spell finally completed the construction of the spell, and a huge circular circle with a diameter of six meters appeared in the sky, and in the center of the circle, the golden Latin swirled and jumped, and a dense rain of fire fell from the sky.

Behind the gray smoke, another strange witch walked out.