Passing through the Sakurajima area, the Tamatehako train continued southbound along the coastline, with the rippling blue bay outside the train window.
Looking from a distance, there is a white border between the sea and the sky, which seems to be some kind of building. Zonggu opened the map and looked at it, and found that it was the Xiru Oil Base.
After looking at the boundless blue Jinjiang Bay for a moment, he looked away and looked at Akane Kirino, who was coming over with something.
"Soda?"
"Hmm, it's made with natural hot spring water from Ibusuki. It's specially supplied to Tamatehako."
"Yeah."
Soya took the glass bottle of soda and looked at it in his hand. Akane Kirino turned around to find a bottle opener for him.
"Need not."
He bit the mouth of the bottle, and with a little force, he used his teeth to pry open the cap.
"..."
Akane Kirino came up, opened her mouth, and looked at his teeth.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"I won't do this if it hurts."
"I'll try too."
"Don't mess around."
Souya immediately regretted it.
What are you showing off to her?
Fortunately, Kirino Akane just said it, and then urged him to try the freshly opened hot spring soda.
Under the watchful eyes of Kyoko and Asagiri Suzu beside him, he picked up the bottle and took a sip directly. He felt that the taste and texture of the soda were not special at all.
"How about it?"
"not bad."
"Really?" Kirino Akane tilted her head, "I think it's quite ordinary."
"..."
Zong Gu was silent.
In addition to hot spring soda, Tamatehako also offers cookies, daifuku and other specialty snacks, all of which taste pretty good.
While eating snacks, time passed quickly, and before we knew it, the train had entered the Ibusuki city.
"It's coming." Akane Kirino suddenly said, and at the same time she sat in front of the car window on the other side.
"What?"
"come over."
Just as Soya sat on it, the train was passing by a building that looked like a school.
There were many students standing in the corridor facing the train. They were waving their hands and seemed to be greeting the people on the train.
Also waving at the same time were colorful flags in the hands of some students.
"Are they welcoming us?"
Akane Kirino nodded repeatedly and raised her hand in response, "It's pretty awesome."
"...It's amazing. But isn't it summer vacation now?"
"That's why it's so awesome."
"..."
And the awesomeness doesn’t stop there.
When the train passed through a rural field, Soya saw a row of people wearing yellow shirts standing outside. Like the students in the school just now, they were waving and dancing flags to welcome the passengers on the Tamateko.
"Who are these people?"
"Staff from Ibusuki City Hall. But you don't get to meet her every time. I'm lucky today."
"...Does it need to be done to this extent?"
"This is probably the culture of a tourist city."
In Soya's emotion about the tourist city culture, the Tamatehako continued to move forward and finally stopped at Ibusuki Station.
"..."
On the platform outside, there were more than a dozen welcome people wearing cultural shirts and waving colorful flags.
“Welcome to Ibusuki!”
...
After coming out of Ibusuki Station, Soya and his party didn't go far, waiting for the hotel shuttle bus outside the station.
There is a simple pavilion in front of the station, which is quite large in area. There is a statue in the middle, and a pool is surrounded by a free footbath.
“It’s a natural hot spring!”
Kirino Akane ran over, and Soya followed her, holding her suitcase.
There was a vague heat rising on the surface of the water. I tested it with my hands and found that the water temperature was quite high.
Sitting by the pool, she took off her shoes, turned around and dipped into the hot spring, her shoulders shaking.
"Hot, hot, hot...but it feels so comfortable when it's hot."
Two young girls sat on the other side. After seeing Soya, they gathered together and whispered.
"The shuttle bus won't arrive for more than ten minutes." Hongzi pulled him, "Sogu, come and hang out for a while."
Zong Gu sat down next to her, but he didn't intend to take off his shoes.
"You guys go clubbing."
Kyoko and Asagiri Suzu also sat by the pool, tested the water temperature, and slowly dipped their feet into the hot spring.
Tsukuyomi was not interested in the footbath either, and looked at the souvenir shop behind the pavilion. Or rather, the freezer in front of the souvenir shop.
"It must be very comfortable to eat ice cream and soak your feet at the same time."
"I think so!"
Akane Kirino turned around, "Soya..."
"..."
Soya glared at Tsukuyomi, stood up and walked over.
I bought a bag of ice cream and when I finished eating, the hotel shuttle bus had already arrived outside the station.
The shuttle bus is a small bus with the name of the hotel printed on both sides of the bus: Bailang Pavilion.
"Get in the car."
It takes about ten minutes to drive from the station to Bailang Pavilion.
The hotel is located on the seaside, facing Jinjiang Bay and surrounded by green pines on the other side.
The area is quite large, and there are facilities such as gardens, swimming pools, large indoor hot springs, sand steam hot springs, and open-air hot springs inside. There is nothing nearby, and the hotel provides one-stop services.
The shuttle bus stopped outside the hotel, and Soya and his entourage walked into the spacious hotel lobby, and someone immediately came to greet them.
Check-in at Bailang Pavilion started at three o'clock in the afternoon, and it was just a little after three when they arrived, but there were not many people in the lobby.
The staff who led the way said that most of the guests who came early were hanging out or visiting the local cultural heritage museum that is part of the hotel.
Surrounding the courtyard spring pool, there are four residential buildings of different room types in the hotel, namely Hanazuma-den, Satsuma-den, Ikeden and Rikyu, connected by a cloister.
The room was very large. A group of six people booked two adjacent Japanese and Western-style rooms.
Although there are two beds and four futons on the floor in a Japanese-Western style room, which is completely suitable for living, when Kirino Akane booked the room, Soya strongly requested two rooms.
"Wouldn't it be a waste? One night's stay is almost 20,000 yen?"
"Open two rooms and I'll pay for them."
After checking in, a young female staff member showed them the way, and several people helped carry their luggage.
Walking through the corridor, bypassing the courtyard, and arriving at the room on the third floor of the palace, the staff did not leave until the luggage was properly put away.
There were snacks on the table. After Tsukuyomi sat down, he opened a pack and ate it.
Zonggu walked to the window, opened it, and looked at the bay in front of him.
The cost of nearly 20,000 yen also includes food and accommodation, and the dinner is said to be Michelin-level Kaiseki cuisine, so it seems quite worth it...
Just as Zonggu was thinking, he heard the sound of a window opening next to him.
He looked over and saw Hongzi sticking her head out, smiling at the corner of her mouth, and extending her hand this way.
"Don't be stupid."
There should be at least four or five meters between the windows of two rooms.
She hummed softly and looked forward again.
"The sea... I wish I could live here forever."
"This is not what you should say when you first move in."
Hongzi smiled, turned around and said something, winked at him and then retracted his head.
Kirino Akane then stuck her head out and puffed her lips when she saw that there was no trace of Soya in the window next to her.
The snacks provided by the hotel were purple sweet potato-flavored pastries. Four packages were placed on a low table that could seat four people. Tsukuyomi ate three packages alone, and Soya quickly snatched the last package.
Being deprived of food, Tsukuyomi became idle and lay down on the tatami.
"What are you going to do next...are you going out today?"
After taking a bite of the pastry, Zonggu shook his head slightly.
They will stay in Kagoshima for two days, and spend the rest of the day in this huge hotel.
"We are here today. We will leave tomorrow morning and visit Kagoshima City. In the afternoon we will go under the volcano of Sakurajima to visit Tsukuyomi-sama's shrine."
"..."
Tsukuyomi held his head with one hand and said, "I actually built my shrine in such a dangerous place. I really don't know what you humans think."
"It's casual. A god with no sense of existence, just choose a place casually."
"..."
Tsukuyomi rolled his eyes.
“It tastes pretty good…”
After finishing the pastry, Zonggu licked his lips and prepared to go to the next room to see if there was anything left.
As soon as he stood up, the door was opened.
Kirino Akane had already changed into the hotel's yukata and was standing outside.
"Sogu, why haven't you changed your clothes yet?"
Behind her were Hongzi and Kyoko, and Asagiri Suzu also stuck her head out from the other side and looked at him.