"Phew, Kurama Temple is up there..."
After a long ride, once they finally parked the motorcycles in the lot, both the driver and passengers let out a sigh of relief.
Kurama Temple was located on Mount Kurama. No matter what transportation they chose, it took fifty or sixty minutes to get there from the city center. They had not been riding slowly, yet it had still taken them an hour.
"This is the west gate. Normally, visitors enter through the Niōmon Gate because it's closer to the transit station, but this way is a little closer if you're heading straight for Kurama Temple." Having commuted by motorcycle for a long time, Heiji Hattori pointed at the mountain path ahead with practiced confidence.
As he spoke, he led Conan toward the sign across the way.
Hanging his helmet from the bike, Conan followed while glancing at the motorcycle parked on the other side.
After all their detours around Kyoto and Yoshitsune sightseeing, it was already getting late.
Normally, tourists stayed in central Kyoto, so at this hour, few visitors would still be lingering at Kurama Temple. There were only two or three vehicles in the entire parking lot.
Yet directly opposite where they had parked, there was another motorcycle...
"Are there a lot of people riding motorcycles in Kansai?" Conan couldn't help asking quietly.
"Not really," Tangze answered. "Motorcycles are mostly ridden by young people, and they're really only convenient for traveling alone. Motorcycle riders are still a minority."
A nimble vehicle for one person...
Conan silently filed that away, then followed Heiji Hattori and Okita Soji, who were leading the way, toward Kurama Temple's inner grounds.
"They say it's only five hundred meters, but five hundred meters on a mountain road really is much harder than five hundred meters on