Yuko at Dusk

However, her mother answered this question very carefully on the phone.

The Ley Line are located in the basement of the Old Schoolhouse, where you can even see the remains of Kanoe Yuko from back then.

If Kanoe Shizuuko hadn't been thinking of atoning for her sister back then, and if the higher-ups hadn't been happy to let a harmless Vengeful Spirit replace the cursed object, Kanoe Yuko would have almost been exorcised ten years ago.

"Basement?"

Hiiragi Inori was taken aback. "What basement? I searched so carefully, and my Spirit Vision were on the whole time, but I didn't find any basement anywhere."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone before a reply was given.

"Based on my judgment, Kanoe Yuko was very unwilling to have people see where she died, so she would subconsciously try to cover up the location of her death."

"I searched for a while and used some Spiritual Power to find it. I think that Ley Line is still in the same location, but it has been hidden better."

Her mother seemed slightly worried when she said this.

Such stealth ability is at least at the first level. Even if the other party has been emotionally stable for more than half a century, one should still be more careful in this era.

Her mother also said she could come along to investigate if needed.

However, Hiiragi Inori politely declined this offer.

"Now that I know the problem, I know what to do. I won't be back for dinner tonight. Remember to leave the door open for me later so I can come back after I've finished my business."

After hanging up the phone, Hiiragi Inori stood at the top of the hillside, looking down at the Old Schoolhouse.

"Looks like I'll have to change my clothes," Hiiragi Inori, touching her backpack. She realized she had wasted so much time and would need an extra day of rest after dealing with this.

When Hiiragi Inori reappeared before Miyauchi Hiyage and his group, she had changed into the traditional Miko Robes passed down in her family.

Not only Miyauchi Hiyage, but even Fujimiya Miki and Itou Kaiji could sense that the other's demeanor had changed.

If Hiiragi Inori used to look like a listless woman, now her eyes seem to have a sharp glint in them.

Even the Miyauchi Hiyage could vaguely see a faint white light emanating from around Hiiragi Inori, which was probably the defensive ability attached to her Miko Robes.

It seems that the search over the past hour or so has made the other party a little more wary.

Wearing this battle suit, even if I encounter Shadow Yuuko going berserk, I should be able to hold out for a while.

Thinking this to herself, Miyauchi Hiyage still feigned confusion and asked, "Miss Hiiragi Inori, what's going on?"

"Ahem," Hiiragi Inori lightly, "This is a necessary ceremony. You can wait for me outside the Old Schoolhouse. I'll take care of it quickly."

She mentioned that the remains of Kanoe Yuko might be hidden in the Old Schoolhouse, and now she was going to find the location of those remains and pray for them.

Upon hearing these words, Itou Kaiji instinctively took several steps back.

Even if there were no ghosts, he didn't want to see other people's corpses in reality.

On the contrary, after hearing this, Kanoe Kirie finally mustered up her courage and stepped forward to ask Hiiragi Inori if she could also go in.

Hiiragi Inori glanced at the other person.

It turns out that this girl also seems to have some signs of Spiritual Power, and she looks familiar, as if I've seen her somewhere before.

"Who are you?"

She looked at Miyauchi Hiyage and assumed that this person was one of Miyauchi Hiyage's employees.

Miyauchi Hiyage then gave the other party a brief introduction to Kanoe Kirie.

After learning about the connection between Kanoe Kirie and Kanoe Yuko, Hiiragi Inori blinked.

It turned out to be a photo of Kanoe Yuko that she had seen before, and the girl in front of her with short hair looked 90% similar to her.

However, since they are descendants of Kanoe Yuko, this connection might make it easier to find the basement containing Kanoe Yuko's remains.

Moreover, compared to Miyauchi Hiyage, who has already been reserved by Sorcerers, Kanoe Kirie, although a bit younger, clearly has a much closer relationship with the Shinto side of the Shinto sect.

If the other party has good talent, then it is indeed possible to find an opportunity to bring them and the Kanoe Family back to the Shinto.

Thinking this, Hiiragi Inori nodded, indicating that she could, but she would have to follow her instructions from now on.

"What about you? Do you want to come with me?" She was referring to Miyauchi Hiyage and his group.

Miyauchi Hiyage glanced at the time.

After all that trouble from Hiiragi Inori, it's almost dusk.

Since the theme of this issue is "Twilight Maiden," then Miyauchi Hiyage's focus should naturally be on twilight.

Besides, dealing with that Shadow Yuuko who's full of hatred and could lose control at any moment, and who's not even good-looking, is nowhere near as interesting as dealing with a black-haired, straight-haired, mature ghost.

Then Miyauchi Hiyage looked at Itou Kaiji.

"I'm filming a sunset scene here, hoping to run into the 'ghost' we saw yesterday again. Kaiji, since you're a guy, why don't you come along and help out at the Old Schoolhouse? You can also work up your courage. I'll give you a raise later."

Chapter 176: Dusk

Itou Kaiji followed Hiiragi Inori and the others inside, his body trembling with fear, his eyes gleaming with a thirst for money.

After they all entered the Old Schoolhouse, Miyauchi Hiyage began preparations for the evening that would follow.

With no one else around, Fujimiya Miki stuck even closer to Miyauchi Hiyage.

"You let Ito get involved in this kind of thing, aren't you worried that something might happen to him?" Fujimiya Miki tentatively asked Miyauchi Hiyage.

Miyauchi Hiyage shook his head dismissively at this.

After obtaining the Card Master template, he saw the fate of those around him that very day.

Although their fates became uncertain due to their interactions with him, he could still see things quite clearly regarding their safety.

Itou Kaiji is still the same guy who always manages to escape from seemingly hopeless situations.

He would then be unable to live a normal life.

If Miyauchi Hiyage hadn't met him, or if it had simply changed his future—being forced to gamble his life on a ship due to high-interest loans—he would have been in a different situation.

So either the other person continues to live a life of poverty but still manages to make ends meet, or they are forced into a desperate situation and then successfully turn their life around and become rich overnight.

However, even if you become rich overnight, you can easily be brought back to reality overnight due to an inflated ego, and your life may even be worse than before.

And you can never shake off the thrill of gambling with your life.

But now that Miyauchi Hiyage Himakage has recruited him and made it impossible for him to live a normal life, his destiny of surviving against all odds can play a greater role.

Somewhat similar to Mr. Satan from Dragon Ball or King from One-Punch Man, although their actual strength is insignificant on set, and even the aftershocks of a battle could kill them on the spot, they manage to survive to the end thanks to sheer luck and crucial choices.

Of course, Itou Kaiji's fate isn't that good; he has to be in dire straits to trigger this passive ability, and he'll suffer some hardships along the way.

Thinking this, Miyauchi Hiyage said to Fujimiya Miki, "Although Kaiji does look like a good-for-nothing hoodlum, when it comes to the crucial moment, the perseverance and determination he shows are quite strong."

"He's been living too comfortably lately, so in order to unlock his potential, we're going to put a little pressure on him."

Fujimiya Miki knew that Miyauchi Hiyage was always very good at judging people. When Koshigaya Suguru was five or six years old, he took him to do all kinds of handicrafts, which enabled him to become a master of handicrafts with MAX hands-on ability in just a few years.

Similarly, Miyauchi Hiyage immediately saw that Kaede Kagayama, who kept saying he didn't like children, actually adored Renge and almost treated her like his own daughter.

But after carefully recalling Ito Itou Kaiji's appearance and personality, she still found it hard to believe that someone like that, whom Miyauchi Hiyage had found to play the clown in the video, could still show perseverance and determination.

However, out of trust in Miyauchi Hiyage, she did not express any doubt.

"So what exactly is Miss Hiiragi Inori's identity, and what is the situation in this Old Schoolhouse?" she continued to ask about this matter that she was more concerned about.

"Miss Hiiragi Inori is indeed a shrine maiden from that shrine. We even went to pay our respects there a few years ago. She's one of those two purple-haired shrine maiden sisters. Hiiragi Inori is their older sister," Miyauchi Hiyage reminded Fujimiya Miki.

"As for the Old Schoolhouse," he said, handing his modified Camera Obscura to Fujimiya Miki.

"This camera is the one that helped me capture that ghostly figure."

Fujimiya Miki couldn't help but feel a little puzzled by this.

This camera seems to be the same instrument that Miyauchi Hiyage used for a year or two.

"It was working fine at first, but ever since I went to Tokyo to get a new lens for it, I've been able to see some unusual things occasionally."

Miyauchi Hiyage gestured for Fujimiya Miki to take a picture of the Old Schoolhouse.

Although Fujimiya Miki was a little nervous, she still took a photo as instructed by the Miyauchi Hiyage.

Looking closely at the footage displayed on the camera, Fujimiya Miki's eyes widened slightly.

The area around the Old Schoolhouse appears to have some slightly unusual fluctuations in the photo.

Although she didn't know what was causing these fluctuations, just looking at the distortions in the photos made her feel a little nervous.

"So, you decided to film those videos after you noticed this change... Did you deliberately put those scenes in the videos to attract the attention of 'those people'?"

"I do have that thought, after all, you know what I found in my family's warehouse back then," Miyauchi Hiyage Fujimiya Miki. "Not just my family, but your family also has some corresponding records, right?"

The other family didn't mention the Demon Slayer Corps. It seems that only the Miyauchi Family had a closer connection with the Demon Slayer Corps. However, the Fujimiya family did record that someone in the village was killed innocently and that the murderer was eventually taken down by a wandering samurai.

Seeing Fujimiya Miki, Miyauchi Hiyage continued, "So, it seems that this world still hides many secrets, and because of these videos, it seems that I have already been reserved by some force over there?"

Not only does the world hold many secrets, but you also hide many things.

This was the idea that came to Fujimiya Miki's mind.

She remembered it too.

When Miyauchi Hiyage led them around Saitama Prefecture, they did indeed visit many strange places and made them do many strange things.

The Takanomiya Shrine is also located here.

When Miyauchi Hiyage saw the two purple-haired shrine maidens, he took the initiative to approach them and interact with them. In the end, they even took several photos together in front of the shrine.

This is something that Miyauchi Hiyage rarely does when visiting other shrines.

Previously, Fujimiya Miki thought that Miyauchi Hiyage might simply find the two middle school-aged shrine maidens rather special.

But now it seems that Miyauchi Hiyage Himekage had already noticed something before.

Thinking of this, she simply took Miyauchi Hiyage's hand gently.

"How confident are you?"

She was referring to whether Miyauchi Hiyage could guarantee his safety after coming into contact with that world.

Miyauchi Hiyage smiled, sensing Fujimiya Miki's slight tension, and released a Ripple into Fujimiya Miki's body to help him relax a little. "It's alright."

What Miyauchi Hiyage meant by "barely" was probably equivalent to "relatively stable."

It seems that a lot has really changed about him in the past month.

So much so that they can still show such an attitude when faced with a world that is completely unknown to ordinary people.

Fujimiya Miki actually wanted to ask many more questions.

After all, she was also filled with curiosity and worry about that unknown world.

But feeling the warmth coming from the other person's palm, Fujimiya Miki felt much more at ease.

Since Miyauchi Hiyage hadn't fully explained things to her, she decided not to press the matter further.

However, such quiet times never last long.

As the sky begins to turn yellow, dusk is approaching.

Fujimiya Miki voluntarily let go of his hand, indicating that it was time to start working.

Miyauchi Hiyage also turned to look at the school gate.

As dusk approached, the illusory figure seemed to gradually emerge.

Of course, the Twilight Hour has not yet arrived, so only he can see the other party's semi-transparent figure; Fujimiya Miki, cannot.

However, Miyauchi Hiyage allows Fujimiya Miki to use her Camera Obscura to capture the "abnormal fluctuations" around her, giving her a slight sense of participation.

Following Miyauchi Hiyage's suggestion, Fujimiya Miki also tried taking a picture of the school gate with his camera.

"There seems to be some subtle distortion here as well," Fujimiya Miki told Miyauchi Hiyage after discovering the problem with the photo.

"Should we call Ms. Hiiragi Inori out?" Although the power of the Ripple in her stamina had warmed her body considerably, Fujimiya Miki still instinctively thought of finding a professional to handle the situation.

"That Yuko has existed for half a century. In all that time, she has never harmed anyone. Even if she really is a ghost, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"A chance to learn the true thoughts of the deceased from their ghosts—this is a rare opportunity."

As Miyauchi Hiyage said this, he waved to Fujimiya Miki, telling her to stand still and take a picture, while he walked towards where Yuko was.