I teach kendo in Tokyo

Kazuma considered the vocabulary for a while before asking Jinguji: "Aren't your families familiar with sacrifices and tributes? What kind of tribute should I prepare when I go to visit the shrine in this hot spring town?"

Tamamo smiled and said: "I'm not familiar with all the shrines. After all, human memory has its limits. There are so many shrines in Japan, and there are always things I don't know. To be on the safe side, it's definitely a good idea to prepare some money."

Kazuma: "It's so vulgar to talk about money..."

"Although shrines enshrine gods, they are ultimately run by people. Contributing money will help the operation of the shrine, and the beings being enshrined will also give some face."

As soon as Tamamo finished speaking, Mikako complained: "Suddenly, I feel that the gods are so businesslike! If the shrine cannot continue to operate without anyone to support it, will the gods come out to work to subsidize the shrine?"

Ms. Umashima seemed to be amused by Mikako's whims, and she suppressed a smile.

But Tamamo said seriously: "No. If no one worships a shrine, the gods will also die, leaving only dilapidated ruins that have lost their blessings."

Kazuma frowned slightly: "Human faith is actually the cornerstone of the existence of gods? Then in modern society, as humans believe in other things, will new gods be born? For example, will money worship give birth to new gods? God?"

Tamamo tilted her head and thought for a while: "Well... I don't know. I've never seen it before... I mean, I've never heard your point of view."

What she wanted to say was "I have never seen the birth of a new god before", but considering that Mikako and Ms. Umashima were also present, she changed her story temporarily.

If people's faith can really give birth to new gods, then a new god named Mr. Sai might have been born long ago.

Kazuma glanced at Ms. Umashima. The lady had begun to think that the chat was a bit strange, so he changed the topic: "What time does that shrine open until?"

"Theoretically, you can go to the shrine 24 hours a day to worship." Ms. Umashima smiled, "But if you want to sign or buy amulets, or write on ema, you have to wait until the shrine opens, which is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. .”

Kazuma glanced at the clock in the lobby. It was not yet three o'clock in the afternoon, and he still had time to walk through the hot spring street to see the shrine.

"Then Mikako will be left to you, Ms. Ubashima. I, Danzi and Jinguji will go to the shrine and get some of their plaster back. You can sell it at the community office, right?"

Ms. Umashima nodded: "Yes, they are sold at the social office."

Kazuma: "Okay, eggs, let's go. Just leave the medical kit and everything else. Ms. Umashima will probably have someone take it back to your room."

"I will." Ms. Umashima agreed happily.

Tamamo put the medical kit and bathing supplies in front of Ms. Uwashima, and asked at the same time: "The social office...is it run by the Shinto family?"

"The priest's wife passed away a few years ago. Since then, the priest has rarely appeared at the community office to entertain guests. Now the people in charge of selling things are usually working girls."

Kazuma: "Does the Lord of God have no son or daughter?"

"I have a son who went to university in Tokyo and never came back." Ms. Umashima smiled bitterly. "Even if a place like this is modernized rapidly thanks to the influence of local high-ranking officials, young people are not willing to come back."

Kazuma keenly captured the key information: "There are also high-ranking officials in this hot spring street? Are they members of Congress?"

"He's not a member of Congress, but the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport. That's why tourism development is here."

In Japan, tourism is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport, which releases the "White Paper on Land and Tourism" every once in a while.

There is a high-ranking official who is the deputy director of the Ministry of Transport. It is no wonder that such a modern hot spring street was built in this remote rural area.

Due to geographical reasons, there are quite a lot of hot springs in Japan. Not every hot spring street can receive national-level tourism development. There are many hot springs that no one cares about in the deep mountains of Japan.

Ms. Umashima's words made Kazuma confused: "You said that the tourism development here only started after a senior official of the Ministry of Transport came out. What happened to Ryunosuke Akutagawa?"

"If our area was a tourist resort back then, with people coming and going, do you think Akutagawa-san would still come here to write a book?" Ms. Umashima asked.

Kazuma thought about it and felt that it made some sense. However, he still felt that Akutagawa Ryunosuke had never been here at all, and it was more likely that the anecdote was deliberately created by this place to put money on his face.

After all, He Ma has seen many so-called time-honored brands bragging in his life.

However, there was no basis for this, so Kazuma temporarily suppressed the speculation in his mind. At this time, he noticed another thing: "The girl working at the shrine is a local, right? It seems that not every young person They're all leaving for Tokyo."

Ms. Umashima smiled slightly: "Hiroko is still young and still attends a high school in a nearby town. During the summer vacation, she goes to the shrine to help. When she graduates from high school, she will probably go to Tokyo.

"More than one person saw Hiroko chatting in a lively manner with tourists from Tokyo. When the town meeting in the hot spring town was held, we aunts all said that it wouldn't be surprising if Hiroko eloped with people from Tokyo."

Kazuma nodded, then noticed Mikako's gaze: "What are you looking at me for?"

Mikako shrugged and turned to ask Ms. Umashima: "This Hiroko, is she good-looking?"

"In general, it can't be compared with Ms. Fujii." Ms. Umashima replied, with an inexplicable smile on her face.

Mikako glanced at Kazuma: "Kazuma, are you very disappointed?"

"No." Kazuma told the truth, "Actually, because the average appearance of the female apprentices is too good, I have no feelings for beauties anymore. Mikako, just take good care of your injury, and Dandanzi and I will go back."

"Slow down~" Mikako waved to the two of them and watched them leave the lobby.

As soon as the two walked away, Ms. Umashima asked: "You didn't throw garbage on the mountain, did you? For example, some rubber products."

Mikako didn't understand why Ms. Umashima suddenly said this, but she still replied: "No. We didn't bring that thing at all."

"Eh... I see. Miss Fujii, it's better to be careful. Young girls' cycles are not yet stable, so it's quite common to win the bid on a good day."

Only then did Mikako realize that Ms. Umashima was driving, and her face turned red: "No, no, no! We didn't do that kind of thing!"

"No? It's a bit unexpected. Usually when a man and a woman come to our place, they go up the mountain to do something. For this reason, I specially set up a basket for throwing garbage on the mountain path and tied it to the tree next to the mountain path."

Mikako: "It turns out those baskets are used for this. I thought they were nests for birds, and I wondered why they were placed in such a low place..."

Ms. Umashima smiled and said, "Miss Fujii is more innocent than I thought. That's great. Is it possible that you can still get close to a unicorn without getting kicked?"

Mikako: "Eh? Unicorn? What the hell?"

Ms. Umashima smiled and said nothing.

**

The moment Kazuma left the hotel, he actually wanted to retreat.

Before three o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun is at its hottest, the hotel's central air conditioner is turned on so hard that the heat wave that hits us when we go out is really harsh.

The heat wave made Kazuma reconsider whether it was necessary to visit the shrine now.

Maybe it’s okay to go tomorrow morning when it’s cooler?

The noisy cicadas seemed to be answering Kazuma's questions.

At this time, Tamamo spoke: "Theoretically, I should know all the famous masters around here."

"You're not pretending now? You just left the hotel."

"If you hear it, it will be thought that you are telling something in a fantasy story." Tamamo waved his hand, "I have rich experience in this kind of thing."

Kazuma shrugged.

"It has been passed down here for hundreds of years, but I don't know. It's possible that the original owner has left or died, leaving a shrine behind, and humans are still worshiping according to the rules passed down."

"According to what you said, there is no need for us to rush there in a hurry today." Kazuma subconsciously steered the topic in the direction of "getting home".

Tamamo shook his head: "This is the best case scenario. It's also possible that something else will come to occupy the magpie's nest after the death of the rightful owner. Anyway, there's no harm in going and taking a look. Maybe we can chat with an old acquaintance."

"A chat between two old ladies?"

"There might be an old man opposite."

"Don't you deny that you are an old woman?"

Kazuma teased, but Tamamo just looked at him with a smile.

"Okay, you're eighteen." Kazuma shrugged.

The two of them were walking down the mountain along the road at this time - when they took this road in the car, they didn't realize how long it was. Now that they were walking on their own, they realized that Hinata Manor was quite far away from the hot spring street.

This kind of "mansion" hanging alone outside a small town always gives people the feeling that serial murders will occur.

If something really happened, Kazuma's reputation would probably get closer to that of the Shinigami elementary school student in his previous life.

After walking for a while, Kazuma couldn't stand the heat any longer, so he said to Tamamo, "Can't you do a spell or something to cool down with some wind?"

"Usually when girls say, 'Come and bring me down the fire,' they mean something else, right?" Tamamo teased.

"You know so much."

"After all, it was Mama-san once."

"Is that setting still there? I thought the joke would be over when Mito Yellow Gate appeared." Kazuma countered.

Tamamo raised her eyebrows: "I really have been a mama-sang."

"What about the Mito Yellow Gate? Don't try to excuse it with a smile. Tell me the truth, have you ever seen the real Mito Yellow Gate?"

Tamamo was unmoved and just laughed.

Kazuma had no choice but to give up.

At this time, Tamamo suddenly spoke: "The real Mito Komon is completely different from the legend. He is actually introverted and a bit neurotic. Folklore has beautified his image, and dramas such as Joruri are based on this." After further beautification, the Mito Yellow Gate, which is now well-known to every household, was created.”

Kazuma: "You have indeed seen it."

"So so. But when I met him, he had not yet made up his mind to travel around the Japanese archipelago, and the prototypes of those popular stories had not even happened yet. In addition, there was no news at that time, and even with my power at the time, I could only control Edo. Information in the city often takes a long time to reach me once it leaves Edo."

Kazuma said: "So, you are saying that when you see Mito Huangmon again, he will already be a famous and legendary person?"

Tamamo spread her hands.

While chatting, the two finally reached the foot of the mountain.

Three middle-aged men wearing the armbands of the "Hot Spring Town Tourism Promotion Association" were planting flags on the roadside.

The flag says "Schönbrunn Festival", which seems to be the name of the festival that will be held in this place.

To be honest, the name Schönbrunn Festival sounds like it was thought up by a bureaucrat in charge of tourism.

Because it is a hot spring town, the festival is naturally titled "Beautiful Hot Spring", which is too simple and crude.

When Kazuma was internally complaining about the name of this festival, the three middle-aged uncles saw Kazuma and Tamamo.

One of the uncles greeted him warmly: "Are you the guests who live in Hin Grange halfway up the mountain? Are you the staff of Sonny Music, or the famous artists they invited?"

Kazuma: "I don't know if I'm a famous artist, but I am indeed a musician invited by Sony Music."

In fact, he is Wenzhao Gong, but Kazuma shamelessly boasts that he is a musician.

No one can expose him anyway.

The uncle immediately extended his hand enthusiastically: "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. You should write more songs that can reflect the customs and customs of our place. Maybe the album cover should use a photo of the scenery here, over there at the village office There are many.”

Kazuma glanced at the uncle's armband: "Aren't you from the Tourism Promotion Association?"

"Yes, but I usually work in the village office. This village is very small, and many people hold multiple jobs. When the tourist season comes, I will be so busy that I want to borrow the hands of all the cats in the town."

"I want to borrow the cat's hand" is a Japanese proverb that describes a state of being extremely busy.

The uncle is obviously busier, and he needs to borrow the help of all the cats in the town.

Kazuma: "It seems like the business is going well. There's no need to ask me to promote it."

"The peak season is indeed good, but there are only a few days in the peak season in a year. We hope there will be more tourists during the non-peak season. In this situation, if you get sick during the peak season and fail to open for business, your entire year's income will be wiped out. ”

The uncle scratched his head and added: "After all, more than half of the people in this hot spring street are over fifty years old. It is a place full of old men and old ladies."

Kazuma: "Aren't there any young children?"

"No. Look at this hot spring street. It looks like there is an elementary school and a middle school. Children in the village have to walk a long way to the town to go to school, so many couples of childbearing age simply moved away."

At this time, Kazuma thought of Hiroko who was working at the shrine, and asked, "Aren't there girls like Hiroko out there?"

"At Hiroko's house, there are only her and her grandma. Her father left for Tokyo and then lost any news. Only anonymous remittances came back occasionally. So Hiroko can't leave."

As soon as the uncle finished speaking, another uncle behind him made a dissatisfied voice: "When those women were biting their ears, they said it wouldn't be strange for Hiroko to run away with a pretty boy from Tokyo at any time. Huh! Hiroko won't throw it away. Here’s her grandma.”

The third uncle joined the conversation at this time: "But, Hiroko's grandma has been bedridden for more than a month, right? I'm afraid this winter will..."

The uncle who first spoke to Kazuma made a loud voice: "Hey! Hello! What are you talking about! While the old lady is still alive, wouldn't you wish her a long life?"

The uncle who just made a mistake said "I'm sorry", lowered his head and continued working.

"You continue to do your business," Kazuma said to the three of them, "Let's go to the shrine to see it."

"Oh, walk slowly! By the way, the ointment for bruises at the shrine is very effective, and the tourists who come to us every year are full of praises."

Kazuma nodded his thanks, said goodbye to the three uncles with Tamamo, and walked along the main road of the hot spring street towards the shrine.