"Hey, I heard someone disappeared on that Spider Mountain again."
"How many times has that been this month? Why do they insist on traveling through Spider Mountain at night...?"
"The terrain on that mountain is indeed dangerous, and I heard wild beasts roam there too."
As several customers ate at the small restaurant and chatted, Keqing immediately thought of something when she heard them... Spider Mountain—wasn't that where Rui, the Lower Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki, the Spider Demon, was located?
So Spider Mountain was nearby?
...That was pretty good news!
Makomo noticed Keqing's strange reaction and looked toward the conversation at the neighboring table. An uneasy suspicion arose in her heart. Could there be demons on Spider Mountain?
Still, she needed to learn more. After hesitating for a moment, Makomo stood up and walked several steps over to the nearby customers, politely asking, "Excuse me, may I ask what happened on Spider Mountain?"
"You don't know? Well, that's understandable. The local town government has suppressed the matter."
"A few people from the neighboring town insisted on going to Mount Natagumo at night, and they went missing."
"There's an unwritten rule: never go to Mount Natagumo at night. They say you'll be Devoured by the mountain god!"
"I heard that people passing by have seen residents who disappeared in the mountains. But they looked neither human nor demon, like they were dead, yet they could still move."
"Could there really be demons on Spider Mountain?"
"Don't talk nonsense. You'll scare the little girl."
As Makomo listened to their conversation, her expression grew increasingly serious.
"Don't be scared, little sister. Those are just baseless rumors."
"Yeah, yeah. They probably just got lost in the mountains."
"Mhm!"
Makomo smiled and nodded, then quickly left and returned to Keqing's side.
Although the