After having a simple lunch at Sherlock's house at noon, the two hurried out again that afternoon, fully equipped, to the Time Vessel Association's headquarters.
Unlike the Gojo Clan's family ceremony, which they could only sneak into, the Time Vessel Association, a legal cult peculiar to Japan, had announced its New Year plans to the public and opened them to everyone.
The reason the two had chosen to visit the Gojo Clan that morning for some entertainment was simple: according to the New Year festival schedule published by the Time Vessel Association, the entire morning was devoted to a large-scale blessing address by its leader.
To put it nicely, it was a blessing ceremony; to put it less nicely, it was a ceremony for the leader to brainwash his followers. Most importantly, it was open to the public, making it the best opportunity for all sorts of cults in Japan to recruit more members.
After the morning address came the Time Vessel Association's "holy communion" at noon.
Similar rituals existed among religions all over the world, but to Sherlock and Shoko, the Time Vessel Association's "holy communion" could be considered the ultimate expression of Suguru Geto's disgust for "monkeys."
It was nothing more than a fist-sized piece of black bread and a bottle of milk.
Of course, although Sherlock and Shoko thought little of this "holy communion," the Time Vessel Association's followers considered it a treasure blessed by their leader, especially after Suguru Geto fed them some spiel about "remembering past hardships to appreciate present happiness."
Although the black bread and milk they received were completely out of proportion to the offerings they usually made, every one of them accepted them with gratitude.
All one could say was that things in Japan certainly had to have their own Japanese characteristics.