A short time later, Mrs. Yoshino, the owner, brought a worn-out cardboard box from the bedroom, which was filled with old photo albums with a sense of age.

Japan's first photo studio opened in Osaka in 1865, and it became popular ever since, and the witch who opened the studio became a pioneer of photography in Japan.

The first album dates from 1866 and chronicles the life of the Yoshino family over the past 100 years. Several of the albums feature photographs of family members wearing priestess costumes attending the festival in the square in front of the town.

"This is a commemoration of our family's participation in the goddess festival more than a hundred years ago, and it was photographed by a witch who likes to take pictures, which generation she is my wife, I can't remember the specifics."

The black-and-white photograph is set against the backdrop of a large group of witches in uniform in uniform and the scene is quite pompous, to say the least, several thousand.

"In my generation, the family has suffered many misfortunes. My wife was not a person who was content with the status quo and wanted to live in the big city, and I lived with her in Tokyo for a while, and she later became a weird witch. As you know, talking about witches is a high-risk profession, and that stupid person has few skills, and in less than half a year, her body was sent back to Asahina Town by the Witch Association in a coffin. ”

Mrs. Yoshino's attitude is very free, even when she talks about the death of her partner, she is only light-hearted, brush-by-pass, and even uses a little playful tone.

Riki and Moon listened quietly. The content has not yet reached the key place, so it is a matter of gossip, and there is no need to interrupt others.

"It happened in 1970, when my twin daughters were 18 years old, and I kept them with me to stop them from leaving Kansai. I told them that the outside world was dangerous, and that their other mother had died in a battle with Weird. It's hard to raise two children on their own, they're old enough to go to college, and there's no way I'm going to keep them in Asahina for the rest of my life. ”

Turn the page of the photo and turn to a new chapter.

Two beautiful high school witches stood at the entrance of Shiga University's High School, with a sign reading "Celebrating Graduation", and Mrs. Yoshino, who was not so old at the time, stood behind them, a family of three with a smile of satisfaction and happiness on their faces.

Since then, though, there have been no new photos, and the back of the album is all blank pages.

Ruiji has a hunch that the key place is coming.

"In order to earn more money for my daughters' college education, I went to the shrine on the mountain to ask for an errand and help prepare the tools for the festival and the usual rituals and rituals. My wife used to be a carpentry witch who passed on her skills to me, but then it was my turn to do carpentry to support my family, and I began to receive orders from surrounding villages and towns, including those at Asahina Shrine. ”

The topic is finally pushed to the climax, and a locked photo album is revealed. It's much thinner than a photo album with life photos, with only a dozen photos in it, and the subject is the same object.

The light brown rectangular wooden box is carved with many intricate patterns on the surface, depicting in detail the contents of the descent of the goddess.

"It's ...... Coffin? ”

There is also a matching lid next to the large wooden box, which looks like a container for the burial of the deceased. No matter how fancy the pattern on the surface of this thing is, it is still an unlucky thing in nature.

The people of the Celestial Empire are more reluctant to pass by the door of the coffin, and others try to close the door when they go out of the funeral, so as not to be contaminated with bad luck.

"There is no cemetery in the shrine, and Shinto believes that death is an impure thing, so this coffin should not be buried in the shrine."

Months found blind spots.

Since it can't be used, why did the shrine order such a large coffin? It can't always be used for miscellaneous items.

"You can't bury it in a shrine. The final result is to sink into the sea at the back of Asahina Town, along with the offerings to the Shrine of the Mountain, in order to obtain the blessing of the Priestess for the next three years. ”

Lady Yoshino's voice became muffled, with a hint of anger in it, and her chest rose and fell more violently.

"Those superstitious bastards really believe in the so-called goddess, the goddess...... It's just a weak witch who was defeated in the Battle of Yagawa and fled to the mountains for fear of being pursued by the Oda army.

At that time, Omi was conscripted in large numbers, and weak witches, who were not originally considered, also became the targets of conscription. She saw the defeat of the coalition and knew that Oda Nobunaga was a ruthless person who hid in Enryakuji Temple, so she came to Asahina Town by mistake and was taken in by the mayor at the time. ”

Strong emotions echoed in the old man's chest, and she could not calm down for a long time.

Even though Rydge knew that she was a weird talker, and she had already merged with the regional weird talk, she could feel the same emotions. Emotions are real, they are not deceptive catharsis.

Wait for Mrs. Yoshino to calm down before continuing with the topic just now.

"I'm sorry, I lost my temper. I just can't understand how such a stupid thing can go on for more than 400 years. In Asahina Town during the Warring States Period, the townspeople were all ordinary people without magical powers, and the descendants were digested internally, and everyone married each other, and so did the offspring. The arrival of the weak witch changed the structure of Asahina Town that had been stable for hundreds of years. ”

"She's not going to be the daughter of the mayor's family...... After all, witches and ordinary people form families, and if they seek the blessing of the Tree of Origin, they can also give birth to new witches, although they are also weak witches. ”

Richie thought of some indescribable images.

In the middle of the night, the injured witch and the ordinary girl who took care of her stay together to discuss a plan, and then discuss an extremely noble and sacred topic, which will change the blood composition of Asahina Town......

It's dramatic, but nothing is impossible.

The hazy kindness will make the weak witch want to repay the mayor who took her in through practical actions, and distribute her weak witch blood to this group of poor people who have no magic power, and then the whole town will become weak witches.

From ancient times to the present, there has been no rule that each witch can only be combined with one person or one witch.

Then, Rij's bold guess was confirmed.

"You're right. The town of Asahina was closed to an incredible extent, witches were introduced to Japan between the Asuka and Nara periods, and the people of Asahina Town had enclosed themselves in the mountains and forests for generations, and they did not know that there were witches in the world until after the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

The weak witch knew some magic, and the people in the town were illiterate and worshipped her as a goddess, and every family wanted their daughter to obtain the blood of the goddess, so the room in the mayor's house was lit up all night until early in the morning. ”

At this time, Yue put down the teacup and asked, "How do you know such a detailed content, madam?" It's like you've experienced it yourself. ”