...Himeko's route...
Using her current identity as a merchant, Himeko quickly entered Yae Village.
Although Himeko did not know why she had arrived at a village the moment she entered, since a village had appeared, it had to be connected to what Xu Yanwu had mentioned.
"Xu Yanwu told us to find the statue, right?"
Himeko recalled the instructions, then asked a villager beside her.
"Excuse me, is there a shrine or something around here?"
"A shrine? Of course. There's one on the small mountain in our village. It shares the village's name—Yae Shrine!"
The villager spoke with some pride. "The shrine here is very efficacious. Lord Miko at the shrine is amazing too—she even deals with the demons around the village!"
"Demons? Where would there be any demons... But a miko at the shrine? Then there should be a statue inside, right?"
Himeko continued asking.
"Of course! Our Divine Lord is very efficacious! Not only does the Divine Lord keep our village safe, but also blesses us with favorable weather and abundant harvests... Yae Village has been able to live well thanks entirely to our Divine Lord!"
That was what the villager said.
"Thanks to the Divine Lord... It looks like Xu Yanwu had a reason for telling us to find the statue." Himeko looked toward the small mountain in the village, making some calculations in her mind.
"Oh, right. Since you're a merchant from outside, you'd better visit Lord Miko at the shrine first."
The villager reminded Himeko.
"Visit Lord Miko? Doesn't your village have a village chief?" Himeko asked the villager curiously.
"Our head priest serves as acting village chief."
After answering Himeko's question, the villager went back to his own work.
Yet after hearing those words, Himeko felt that... something was off.
A head priest... and