After school in the afternoon, in the unnatural phenomena research department, Kurihara Narumi explained to Soya the details of how she was being followed.
Yoshikawa held his head and listened for a while. Suddenly he remembered the reception and made another cup of tea for the client.
"Thanks."
When she took the tea cup, she had almost finished speaking, so she stopped and looked at Soya expectantly.
"How about it?"
He stared at the contents recorded in the note for a while and said, "I roughly understand it, but there is one more thing I need to confirm."
Kurihara Narumi put down the tea cup that had been brought to her mouth, "What?"
Zong Gu didn't say anything clearly, he just asked her to close her eyes and open them again when she felt something.
"What kind of feeling..."
"You will understand then."
He spoke so mysteriously that Kurihara Narumi was very convinced.
Sure enough, there should be this kind of nagging atmosphere when it comes to encountering evil spirits... She thought as she closed her eyes.
Her eyes fell into darkness, and her hearing became much sharper. She could hear slight rustling sounds.
"..."
At a certain moment, she suddenly felt that there was something more in front of her.
Kurihara Narumi opened her eyes. There were still Soya and Yoshikawa across the table, but the latter had an extra pendant in his hand.
"really……"
She heard Soya whisper.
"Kurihara-san's spiritual sense is stronger than that of a pure ordinary person like Yoshikawa. But it is still far from the level of a spiritual sense person."
Spiritual Awareness? Spiritual Awareness?
She wanted to ask about the meaning of these unfamiliar terms, and soon discovered that he was explaining to Yoshikawa, "So although she can't see the spirit body, she can still vaguely feel it."
Yoshikawa nodded, seeming to understand.
"So, the thing following Kurihara-san is really a spirit?"
"That's right."
Kurihara became more and more confused as he listened, "Um, Soya-kun..."
"Don't worry, Kurihara-san."
He stood up and said, "It's a little troublesome to explain, but I already know what to do. Now take us to the place where you 'hit evil'."
"Eh...I know."
Kurihara Narumi also stood up. After all, she didn't drink a sip of the tea she made for her, while Soya was asking Yoshikawa for the pendant.
"Okay, give me the amulet back."
"No. This is Akane's thing. Let me wear it for a while."
"...Kirino Control."
"What are you talking about, you lolicon?"
...
After leaving school, Soya, Yoshikawa and Kurihara came to the station and waited for the next train on the Kosai Line.
This client, a grade student, lives in the countryside of Nishi Asai Town, north of Lake Biwa. It takes about twenty minutes to get there by train.
Before departure, Soya went to the Literature Club to find Asagiri Suzu.
And she was holding a heavy book and explaining something to the second-year seniors in the same club.
Seeing that the two of them were deeply engaged in the conversation, he did not take Suzu away, but just asked her to pay attention to safety on the way back.
"Ah, the tram is here."
After waiting for a moment, the three of them got into the car.
"...Look, does this hotel look very high-end?"
Yoshikawa sat next to Soya and showed him his mobile phone, "It's just over Higashiyama, very close to Kiyomizu Temple."
“If you live there, you can also stroll around Gion at night.”
Soya looked at the hotel on the screen, and when she scrolled through the pictures, she saw the name of the hotel.
"'Huaquanfang'?"
"Hmm. During Golden Week, it's hard to book a room in this hotel."
"Yeah."
Zong Gu has little interest, he just thinks that anything is good, but he can't be too perfunctory.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Yoshikawa hummed softly and started chatting with the client sitting on the other side.
As they were both girls, there were naturally more topics to talk about, and Souya was quickly left alone.
"Speaking of which..."
Kurihara Narumi glanced at Sotani and whispered: "Are Yoshikawa-san and Sotani-san actually dating?"
"..."
Yoshikawa was startled at first, then moved closer to her and asked in a lower voice: "Does he and I feel this way?"
When she asked him this question, Kurihara was not sure.
"Um... I just think Yoshikawa-san and Sotani-san look very close, and they just said they were going to Kyoto to rent a house during the Golden Week..."
"..."
Yoshikawa was dumbfounded for a moment, and then quickly explained after regaining consciousness.
"No, no...although we do have to go to the hotel, it's not what Kurihara-san thinks!"
There was a constant rustling sound beside him. Zonggu glanced at the two people huddled together, and then looked out the car window.
"Ah, I can't see Lake Biwa anymore."
More than twenty minutes later, the tram arrived at Nishi Asai Town and stopped at Nagahara Station, where the three of them also got off.
Before leaving the station, Kurihara Narumi bought some donuts from the bakery nearby, saying they were her favorite desserts, and gave Soya and Yoshikawa a piece each.
"It's a long walk from the station to my home, so let's replenish some energy first. In fact, there was a bus service originally, but it was canceled when I was in Form One."
"Why?" Yoshikawa asked.
"I don't know, maybe it's because there are fewer and fewer people living here." She took a bite of the donut, "But it has indeed become inconvenient for those of us who have not moved away.
It’s over.”
"If the bus hadn't been canceled, Kurihara-san wouldn't have encountered this kind of thing."
"That's not the case. The stretch of road where I hit the enemy didn't even reach the bus stop yet..."
The two of them were chatting while walking. Sogu followed behind and did not participate. He just decided to buy some donuts when he went back.
Not long after leaving the station, the tall buildings around them suddenly decreased a lot, showing their original appearance to the two newcomers.
At the end of April, half of spring has passed.
The mountains and fields in the distance are lush and green, with roads crisscrossing the fields, cutting them into pieces, making everything green as far as the eye can see.
The road is smooth and smooth, but it is quite empty. There are not many people on the road. The houses in the countryside are scattered in the vast fields, and the road is like the veins on the leaves.
"This is the former bus stop."
"It's very worn out..."
"It's abandoned after all."
After passing the mottled stone bridge, there is a small river only a few meters wide at the bottom. Not far after crossing the bridge, the main road at the foot of Zonggu extends a path to several houses at the foot of the mountain in the distance.
This was his first time here, but he unknowingly became the guide. Yoshikawa pulled him and pointed at Kurihara Narumi who walked onto the path.
"Where are you going? Kurihara-san's home is over there."
He turned to follow.
Looking up, there was a medium-sized dirt slope not far away, with a forest on it. The path bypassed the woods, and the section of road that Kurihara Narumi said would cause trouble was right on the other side of the woods.
"I've been afraid of passing by that place since I was a kid."
The amulet was still hanging on Yoshikawa's chest. Looking from a distance, Soya didn't see anything for the time being.
"Go over there."
Kurihara Narumi walked in front, and the three of them walked along the path and gradually approached the woods.
Halfway along the way, Zonggu picked up a thin piece of bamboo and waved it in his hand.
Yoshikawa glanced at it a few times, "Weapon?"
"Well, let's make do with it."
"...will it be dangerous?"
"Let's take it first."
When she asked this question, Kurihara Narumi in front also stopped after hearing it.
"Is bamboo useful...I brought a knife in my schoolbag, do I need to take it out?"
Zong Gu quickly refused, but she still took out the knife and shined it in the sun.
"Put it away, it's too dangerous... Has Kurihara-san been carrying a knife to school lately?"
"Well, let's use it for self-defense."
Knives were too dangerous after all, but Soya also understood her fear.
Rather than persuading, it is more practical to resolve the issue at hand.
"Believe him." Yoshikawa stepped forward to comfort him.
She still remembered the last Warring States Armor Incident, where the spirit gentleman suddenly mutated after being exposed to the weapon.
"Um."
Kurihara Narumi nodded and put the knife into her bag.
The three of them continued walking forward, and soon came to the vicinity of the woods. Soya, who was a few steps behind, was observing both sides, while Yoshikawa walked in front, always paying attention to Kurihara's expression next to him.
She was obviously a little nervous, but she never stopped.
It wasn't until the two of them were about to leave the woods that she suddenly said: "Disappeared."
"Eh?"
Kurihara's face was filled with relaxation and confusion, "I didn't feel like I was being followed today."
"Yeah."
Yoshikawa thought it might be because Soya was there, but when he turned around, he realized that he had stopped a long time ago.
"Soya?"
"..."
He stood on the roadside, lowered his head slightly, and waved to the two of them, motioning for them to come over.
"Kurihara-san."
"how……"
Kurihara Narumi came back and found that Soya had lost the thin bamboo.
"'Meimei, did you have a good time at school today?'" He looked at her, "Kurihara-san's grandmother said so."