The Hiiragi Family Shrine Maiden from Takamiya Shrine

After all, even she has rarely seen her grandmother smile so happily in recent years.

The only problem was that she had no prior impression of the other person.

I don't know what kind of personality this guy has, but I hope he's a pretty brave guy.

After all, she had been seeing some unclean things at school for the past month, which made her, who was already quite timid, pretend that she hadn't seen anything.

As she was pondering this, she met this boy through her grandmother's introduction.

She first breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately felt a little short of breath again.

It's fine as long as it's not a fiancé or anything.

Although she was pretty, it was their first meeting, and she didn't want to decide on such a major life event so early...

Hmm, are you here to film a video?

Their Seiwa Academy has a pretty good reputation in this area, right? As a secondary school, it has a relatively high college entrance rate, so they probably don't need to promote themselves locally anymore.

Wait, are they going to film that Yuko?

Upon hearing this, Kanoe Kirie immediately sensed that something was amiss.

Having been enrolled for a month, she naturally knew that the "Evil Spirits" she occasionally saw at school was most likely the "Yuko" who had been passed down by word of mouth among generations of students.

So, are these two people really not afraid of death? Why did they come here to film Yuuko's story?

Kanoe Kirie wiped his forehead to make sure he hadn't misheard his grandmother.

"Although my granddaughter is a student of Chengjiao, I haven't talked to her much about Sister Xizi before, so she doesn't know much about what happened back then," Kanoe Shizuuko nodded to Miyauchi Hiyage, indicating that she would go and explain the details to her granddaughter.

Miyauchi Hiyage nodded, and at the same time took the opportunity to look at Kanoe Kirie.

It has to be said that in anime and comics, characters are mainly distinguished by their hairstyles and clothing.

In the anime, this standard tomboy hairstyle makes it hard to imagine that the person has the same face as the girl with long, straight black Kanoe Yuko.

In reality, however, such similarity goes beyond just a hairstyle making it indistinguishable.

The moment the other person walked in, Miyauchi Hiyage subconsciously thought he had seen Kanoe Kirie again. It was only when he realized the other person's short hair and undeveloped figure that he remembered that there was indeed such a person in the original work.

However, he was able to realize that the two looked exactly alike because of his enhanced physical abilities, which gave him super vision, and because he had carefully observed the other person's appearance at close range using his Spirit Vision.

Although Fujimiya Miki, who was sitting next to him, had also seen Kanoe Yuko's figure from afar at dusk the day before yesterday, she was only a couple hundred meters away. She was lucky to have noticed her general features at that distance, and obviously she didn't see what Kanoe Yuko's face looked like at the time.

Otherwise, she would probably have screamed out the moment she saw Kanoe Kirie.

As the grandmother and granddaughter walked into the bedroom, Fujimiya Miki quietly leaned close to Miyauchi Hiyage's ear and whispered, "I think that chairwoman seems to be hiding something, and her attitude towards her granddaughter seems rather strange."

She continued, and needless to say, what she had been hiding was the truth of what happened back then. As for her attitude towards her granddaughter, it was because the other party could never face the fact that her granddaughter had a face that looked exactly like her sister's.

However, the Fujimiya Miki noticed these places shows that he has a keen eye for observation.

In contrast, Miyauchi Hiyage looked at a certain unfortunate rogue behind him.

If it were Kaiji in adversity standing here, he would definitely notice these things while in a state of high concentration.

But what appears here now is Kaiji, who has no worries about food and drink and has amazing teammates by his side. Basically, anyone who comes here can swindle a large sum of money from him.

Judging from his dazed look, he definitely didn't notice anything.

However, Itou Kaiji can continue in this state. I wonder how he will react when he sees the real "ghost" for the first time tonight.

Miyauchi Hiyage thought to himself, and then gave Fujimiya Miki a perfunctory reply.

"The story from back then was a bit strange. After all, as the heirs of the Kanoe Family, even if it had fallen into disrepair, such a sacrificial ritual was not something that ordinary villagers could just decide on by randomly finding a passerby."

"Normally, it should be Kanoe Yuko, who is the heir to the shrine, who should choose the person to be sacrificed. However, because Kanoe Yuko was unwilling to do this, the angry villagers sacrificed her to the gods instead."

"This kind of development should be more reasonable, but according to what the chairman said yesterday, from the beginning, the villagers chose someone else to make this choice, and in the end, that person chose Kanoe Yuko. Why do you think that is?"

Fujimiya Miki wasn't stupid; she quickly pieced together the truth, and her expression turned slightly grim. "You mean, back then it was this chairperson...?"

"Who knows? All these years later, they're still spreading ghost stories about their sister, and they always look regretful when they mention her..."

Miyauchi Hiyage shook his head.

Fujimiya Miki frowned slightly. "Since you guessed it, should we revise this document?"

She had initially thought the chairman was quite reasonable, but after learning the truth from Miyauchi Hiyage, her feelings towards him involuntarily changed.

Miyauchi Hiyage waved his hand dismissively at this.

"I think the reason the other party called her granddaughter into the bedroom is that she intends to tell her the whole truth about what happened back then, and then have her granddaughter tell us."

"But you know me, I'm not a detective. Uncovering the truth has never been my job. My goal is to make videos that are popular and profitable."

Upon hearing this, Fujimiya Miki shrugged slightly, seemingly not quite believing Miyauchi Hiyage's words.

If it were Miyauchi Hiyage from a month or two ago, his statement would have been about 70-80% credible.

But now, this Miyauchi Hiyage...

Once other pursuits have taken hold, money is probably no longer what the other person is after.

However, she is currently unaware of what Miyauchi Hiyage is pursuing.

But in the past few days, she had made up her mind that no matter what Miyauchi Hiyage wanted to do, she would continue to follow behind him and watch him closely.

Seeing the meaningful smile that Fujimiya Miki gave him, Miyauchi Hiyage said nothing more and continued to calmly drink his tea.

Compared to the calm outside, the atmosphere inside the bedroom became much more subtle and tense.

"So... back then, the person who caused Grandma Yuko's death... was you, Grandma?"

Kanoe Kirie listened to the story with a look of utter shock.

Before this, she did know that her grandmother had a sister she had cared about her whole life, and that this sister was the prototype of "Yuko" in the current Seiwa Academy.

However, she believed that her grandmother was always worried about her older sister, which was why she had allowed that old, dilapidated Old Schoolhouse to remain.

Until today, she learned the truth from her grandmother, which shocked her greatly and shattered the beautiful image she had of her grandmother since childhood.

Did my grandmother really do such a thing when I was young?

Even though he is only 13 years old this year, Kanoe Kirie can feel how outrageous his grandmother's actions were back then.

Seeing the complex expression of shock, doubt, fear, and apprehension on her granddaughter's face, Kanoe Shizuuko sighed softly and gently touched her granddaughter's cheek.

"You really do look exactly like Yuko-neechan. Seeing you now always reminds me of how foolish I was back then."

She paused, then continued speaking to her granddaughter, "I originally thought I would carry this matter to my grave and never tell anyone, but now things have changed."

"You should be able to see it too, that 'guy's' hideous appearance. Actually, more than ten years ago, it wasn't as eager to make a move as it is now..."

Kanoe Shizuuko told her granddaughter that years ago, in order to let her sister rest in peace, she went to some temples and special organizations, and in the process, she met some truly capable people.

"Back then, some people came to check on Sister Yuko's situation, but because Sister Yuko's Spiritual Body was still relatively stable, at my request, we did not exorcise Sister Yuko's Spiritual Body."

"But in the last ten years, especially in recent months, she has become increasingly irritable. If this continues, I worry that one day she will target the students at the school."

She explained the origins of Miyauchi Hiyage to her granddaughter, also mentioning that he was likely assigned by a special organization to deal with Yuuko's Spiritual Body.

"I was thinking that the people from that organization hadn't checked on Yuko's situation for almost ten years, and I should contact them again. I didn't expect them to come over, and they seemed to have kept up with the times a lot more than before. They even helped to record these things as stories."

She shook her head, indicating that she was too old and had tried countless times over the years, but had not been able to get a response from Yuuko's Spiritual Body, let alone gain her understanding.

"But you are different. You can also see Sister Xizi's Spiritual Body, perhaps even more clearly than I can. And with your appearance, you must have inherited the bloodline of our Kanoe Family."

"Perhaps through this opportunity, you can also enter that world again and rebuild the shrine that our Kanoe Family ancestors protected."

Because of his grandmother's explanation, Kanoe Kirie knew that the Kanoe Family had guarded a certain shrine here for generations, until the shrine was abandoned a hundred years ago, at which point they became the local landowners.

But at this age, being exposed to things like "bloodline" and "ancestors" is still a bit too much.

In response, Kanoe Shizuuko patted her granddaughter's head again, saying that it didn't matter if the other party was unwilling, she just wanted to tell the truth that she had kept in her heart for half a century.

"I will go there tonight too. If Sister Yuko still cannot rest in peace, I think I should give my life to help her resolve this hatred."

It could be said that she told her granddaughter these shameful past events with the thought that she wouldn't live past tonight.

In fact, she had already written her will last night.

Upon hearing the farewell tone in his grandmother's voice, Kanoe Kirie quickly shook his head, trying to stop her from having such thoughts.

I never expected that my grandmother would still have such thoughts during our meeting today.

She wiped her eyes and then said that she was fine and that she would go alone tonight.

No matter what, the old woman in front of her is her grandmother.

As her grandmother's granddaughter, she felt it was her duty to bear the blame for her grandmother's sins.

Kanoe Shizuuko simply smiled and hugged her granddaughter before continuing to give instructions for her "final affairs".

"You should keep in touch with that boy named Miyauchi Hiyage. He's from Asahigaoka's side, and I think Asahigaoka's been the one who led the changes there over the years. Now he's made contact with those organizations again. Although I don't know his strength, I think that since they sent him to handle Yuuko's matter, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Chapter 174: The Hiiragi Family shrine maiden from Takanomiya Shrine

Under Kanoe Shizuuko's warm hospitality, Miyauchi Hiyage once again enjoyed a sumptuous lunch at the Kanoe Family.

Kanoe Kirie always seemed absent-minded while eating, probably because she hadn't yet accepted the truth of what happened back then.

Kanoe Shizuuko did inquire briefly about the arrangements after the filming ended that evening.

Itou Kaiji was only focused on eating, found it a bit strange.

What are the arrangements after filming ends?

Shouldn't you go home and rest after filming?

Could it be that this old lady has some special activity she wants them to experience?

Itou Kaiji pondered this in his mind.

Miyauchi Hiyage nodded to the other party.

"I contacted professionals last night, and according to their reply, they should be arriving this afternoon."

Although Kento Nanami told him to only call the contact number when he encountered trouble, Miyauchi Hiyage, being the steady person he is, naturally made contact with them last night using the contact information Kento Nanami left him.

It's clear that the Jujutsu Society is currently facing a shortage of personnel.

The Sorcerers who received the call, whose level was unknown, was indeed very respectful to Kento Nanami hearing his name, but he probably really couldn't find the time to come and check on the "Vengeful Spirit" that had been stable for more than half a century.

However, the Sorcerers contacted him again this morning, saying that he had outsourced the matter again and helped Miyauchi Hiyage contact another shrine in Saitama Prefecture with a long history, and found a shrine maiden there to help.

It seems that Kento Nanami had spoken to this Sorcerers about something.

The Sorcerers casually mentioned on the phone that the priestess possessed near-Level One strength. When Miyauchi Hiyage feigned confusion and pressed for answers, the sorcerer simply brushed it off with a perfunctory response.

If it were a shrine maiden, Miyauchi Hiyage wouldn't have cared much.

However, after Miyauchi Hiyage performed a divination with the cards that morning, he had a vague feeling that he might know that shrine maiden.

Thinking back on the shrines she had visited in the prefecture over the years, Miyauchi Hiyage couldn't help but feel a strange sense of unease when she thought of a particular shrine, wondering if it really was them.

After resting for a while after dinner, Miyauchi Hiyage and his group took the silent Kanoe Kirie back to the Seiwa Academy and began some simple filming work. They spent the day introducing the situation of the Seiwa Academy and the story from half a century ago.

Around 3 p. m., Miyauchi Hiyage, who had almost finished the preliminary preparations, finally received a call from the shrine maiden.

Although it wasn't a familiar voice, it was indeed a familiar surname.

In Japan, the surname Hiiragi is hardly considered a common surname, let alone for the Hiiragi Family, who also own a shrine.

"So, it really is the Hiiragi Family I remember. I thought that in this world, Takanomiya Shrine was just a relatively obscure shrine, but I didn't expect it to be connected to the Reverse Side World after all. I just wonder if it was the eldest or second eldest sister from their family who came," Miyauchi Hiyage muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear after hanging up the phone.

Perhaps in this mixed world, those families that have managed shrines for generations must have some connection with the Reverse Side World.

However, before this, it was indeed difficult for Miyauchi Hiyage to associate the early Kyoto Animation anime "Lucky Star," which made references to other works, with supernatural powers.

But after actually answering the call, Miyauchi Hiyage thought about it carefully for a while.

In his memory, the protagonist, Izumi Konata, was protected by the spirit of her mother in her home. She even created a ghostly photo because she wanted a picture of her husband and daughter together.

And indeed, the Hiiragi sisters Hiiragi Kagami Hiiragi Tsukasa, do run a shrine in their home.

Moreover, although their family's Takanomiya Shrine was not a very famous local shrine in this world, Miyauchi Hiyage discovered the shrine by chance while taking everyone on a spring outing. She then went in to pay her respects and greeted the two sisters who were working part-time as shrine maidens at the time.

However, the prototype of this shrine, Washimiya Shrine, was once known as one of the oldest large shrines in the Kanto region.

In mythology, Yamato Takeru also visited this shrine.