"Why did you choose me?"
"You bear the mark of the Fire Temple. You have an affinity with me."
Yuuji Kanbara jolted awake, cold sweat beading densely across his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked around the meditation room in bewilderment and doubt.
The Buddha statue, wooden fish, and meditation cushion were all familiar furnishings.
Had that just been a fleeting dream, his daytime thoughts haunting his sleep, or had his soul left his body?
Yet the parting instructions of that unknown divine being still rang in Yuuji Kanbara's ears.
The Fire Temple was the Buddhist temple where Holy Monk Chiriku practiced. That divine being had pointed this out, leaving Yuuji Kanbara unwilling to take the matter lightly.
Moreover, the being had said there was an object left at Senso-ji that could shelter all living beings.
Was it true?!
Recalling the location the unknown divine being had indicated, Yuuji Kanbara felt his heart pound. Without even bothering with his morning devotions, he rose and left the meditation room.
"Lay practitioner Kanbara, you haven't finished your morning devotions."
The novice monk waiting outside the meditation room saw Yuuji Kanbara push the door open and hurry out, and politely reminded him.
The Metropolitan Police Department had thoughtfully asked Senso-ji to assign a novice monk to look after Yuuji Kanbara's meals and daily needs during his practice at the temple.
"Just a moment. There's something I need to check."
"But the abbot instructed..."
Before the novice could finish, Yuuji Kanbara interrupted impatiently, "I understand. I won't leave Senso-ji."
The novice's expression shifted slightly, and he hurried after him, staying close on his heels.
Perhaps because Yuuji Kanbara was a veteran who had worked at the Metropolitan Police Department for twenty years, whose background they knew thoroughly, and who had both elderly relatives