Chapter 121

Uesugi Toru's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

He clicked his tongue, casting his gaze toward the doorway, and a moment later understood.

——This sound was exactly the same as the man's voice he had seen in the corridor earlier.

He just hadn't expected that this man and woman would happen to move into the room right next to his own; otherwise, this man wouldn't have knocked on his door on the very first try.

"The world is so big, why does trouble have to come knocking on my head specifically?"

Uesugi Toru sighed; he had actually already sensed something off about the other woman's aura when he was in the corridor aisle earlier.

But originally he hadn't wanted to get involved.

However, with them making such a racket, if he kept ignoring it, they might interrupt his own business later.

Helpless, he got up, and Uesugi Toru opened the wooden door while still maintaining the appearance of Haku Hannya.

"Tha, thank you!"

The man was stark naked, his body still bearing faint blood stains.

The moment the door opened, the man immediately scrambled on all fours, rolling and crawling into Uesugi Toru's room; he didn't even notice that the guy who opened the door for him was likewise a Yokai.

Nishiyama Ryota leaned against the bedside, clutching the small wound on his neck, panting heavily in terror; cold sweat slid down his body onto the hotel's patterned plush carpet.

He smiled with relief, raising his head to stare fixedly at that back figure standing casually with hands in pockets, looking strong and solid.

Nishiyama Ryota thought to himself that he seemed to have knocked on the right door.

Click, click, click.

But in just an instant, the crisp sound of high heels striking the tile floor rang out, causing Nishiyama Ryota's sickly white body to shudder violently.

He roared: "Close the door! Hurry and close the door! That monster is coming!"

"If you don't want to die, shut your mouth honestly! Chattering away, annoying as hell!"

Uesugi Toru let out a cold snort; that hoarse, deep, and powerful voice echoed layer upon layer inside the room, rendering Nishiyama Ryota behind him utterly silent, like a chick with its neck wrung tight.

Whoosh!

The very moment Uesugi Toru spoke, a slender, translucent-white bone thorn shot from the right side at extreme speed toward his neck.

Ding!

Uesugi Toru calmly lowered his right arm, brushing dust and torn cloth off the Cold Steel Arm Guard, and raised his eyes.

Two or three meters away, a woman with exquisite features and a voluptuous figure likewise gazed at Uesugi Toru with a faint smile.

She swayed those fair long legs clad in black stockings torn with several holes, draped in gauzy translucent silk clothing thin as cicada wings.

The woman spoke with a smile, yet the venomous resentment in her pupils nearly overflowed: "Oh my, Nishiyama-kun, didn't expect you to have quite a few friends."

Uesugi Toru took it all in at a glance, but his heart held not a shred of extraneous thought, only doubt: "This woman... is she human or something else?"

After a simple standoff of two seconds, a prompt popped up above the woman's head——

【Bone Girl (Two-Star)】.

So it's a Bone Girl.

Uesugi Toru recalled the knowledge he had crammed into his brain earlier——

Bone Girls are usually Yokai transformed from female skeletons; their origin mostly stems from women who suffered extreme mistreatment or torture while alive, giving rise to deep resentment that attached to their bones after death.

Therefore, most Bone Girls are revenge-type Yokai; after killing their revenge target, they can attain Buddhahood.

Of course, there are also a minority of Bone Girls whose resentment targets an entire era or society; such Bone Girls turn into high-threat Yokai that kill indiscriminately, and are targets that must be exorcised.

Still don't know which kind the Bone Girl before him is.

Uesugi Toru raised a finger: "Let me declare first, I'm not that naked man's friend from behind; it's just that your luck isn't too good, happening to pick the room right next to mine."

"Since that's the case, could you step aside?"

The Bone Girl's words weren't even finished when another sharp bone thorn groundlessly shot up rapidly from the floor, clearly about to stab straight through the most vulnerable spot under Uesugi Toru's chin and pierce his crown.

Yet now it froze in midair, unable to advance an inch.

A wary expression surfaced on the Bone Girl's face: "Get out of my way!"

Uesugi Toru expressionlessly tightened his five fingers, slowly grinding it into a pile of bone powder on the ground, clicking his tongue in displeasure: "Originally thought that after talking it over, letting you go wasn't out of the question……"

"But now." Uesugi Toru clenched his fists and bumped them together, baring his teeth to reveal a ruthless smile devoid of emotion, "I've decided to hammer you into bone ash, punch by punch."

Even a clay figurine has three parts fire in its temper; moreover, Uesugi Toru prided himself on not having said anything excessive after opening the door——yet even so, the Bone Girl twice tried to kill him on the spot.

Although such straightforward, child's-play attacks could never hurt Uesugi Toru.

But this is a matter of attitude.

The Bone Girl's maneuver directly made Uesugi Toru discard the idea of checking whether that guy behind her was actually a scumbag.

"Just as well, let me test how Haku Hannya's physical strength fares after promotion."

Uesugi Toru twisted his neck, emitting a series of explosive cracks.

And Nishiyama Ryota inside the room, upon seeing Uesugi Toru's profile, froze in fright, and immediately afterward, a wave of warmth spread from his crotch, wetting a large patch of that carpet.

"Ghosts! They're all ghosts!"

His body trembling like a sieve, he screamed and picked up the landline phone on the wooden cabinet, dialing the hotel front desk.

Smelling that odor, Uesugi Toru frowned and looked back, thinking this room was unlivable now.

The Bone Girl still seized this opening; her fingertips abruptly transformed into bone thorns and extended, stabbing straight into Uesugi Toru's chest.

It pierced!

She stared fixedly at the Haku Hannya who seemed not to have reacted yet, a delighted look emerging, wanting to drive the bone thorn deeper to pierce through the internal organs.

But immediately the Bone Girl discovered she couldn't push it in any further.

The muscles of this Evil Ghost before her, whose aura was about the same as hers, were simply like forged steel; the sharp bone thorn she prided herself on had only penetrated half a fraction into the muscle before it could no longer advance an inch.

"Physique only increased by 1 point……"

Uesugi Toru glanced at the Attribute Panel, and fed her a line in a bad tone: "Just this little strength, didn't you eat?"

Sighing, Uesugi Toru took off his shirt and slowly spread his arms toward the Bone Girl: "Come on, try to kill me."

"You—!"

The Bone Girl's face twitched; her arms transformed into tall, slender white bone blades, and she roared as she slashed at him.

A pale storm of bone blades enveloped Uesugi Toru in an instant, constantly creating dense, crisscrossing blood marks all over his body.

Scalding fresh blood splattered onto the wall, yet from within the bone blade trajectories woven airtight came a perfectly calm voice.

"Speed's not bad, but your power is lacking by a lot. Still, this works too—flesh wounds heal fast."

That muscular, sturdy shadow lifted his step and crossed the defense line formed by bone blades and bone thorns without any hindrance, revealing himself once more in the Bone Girl's sight.

"Even at full power my Physique only increased by 12 points,"

Perhaps it also has to do with the Bone Girl not being a yokai known for high attack power.

Uesugi Toru brushed his fingertips over the deepest blood mark on his arm; he trembled slightly and shook all the excess blood drops off his body surface, then controlled his surface muscles to forcibly close and stop the bleeding.

In a flash, the wounds the Bone Girl had left on him with all her strength continued to disappear.

After doing all this, Uesugi Toru looked down from above at the Bone Girl, whose complexion was stiff and whose pupils were filled with disbelief, and gave her a faint smile,

"Since you're done hitting, it should be my turn to make a move, right?"

"—A game should be fair, shouldn't it!"

Uesugi Toru raised his fist filled with Corona Qi and swung it down heavily without mercy at the face below that was already showing a pleading expression.

Boom!

Pale bone stubble and delicate human skin flew out together.

With just one punch, he smashed the bone shield the Bone Girl had hastily manifested in front of her face along with her human skin into a pulp.

"Sor—"

Boom!

A punch landed, smashing the Bone Girl's upper body into the hotel wall.

Uesugi Toru reached out with a big hand and forcibly pulled the Bone Girl's shattered skull out of the dust and smoke.

He stared at those trembling, weak soul fires and said flatly: "You don't know you were wrong; you only know you're going to die."

Hearing Uesugi Toru's cold words, the soul fires in the Bone Girl's pupils suddenly stagnated.

A wisp of faint clarity leapt out from the midst of her resentment and malice.

I... am I going to die.

Dead.

But if I die, I won't be able to kill Nishiyama Ryota.

He'll just keep living carefree in this society, relying on that face and rhetoric without a single true word, who knows how many more people he'll harm, how many he'll drive to death...

"Can't die, I can't die—!"

The Bone Girl shrieked, and dozens, hundreds of bone thorns instantly surged from her body, all stabbing at Uesugi Toru right in front of her.

The shriek cut off abruptly.

The cold blade light slowly faded; over a hundred bone thorns split in two, revealing the same smooth cross-section.

Uesugi Toru held Kaga Kiyomitsu, looking down at the Bone Girl lying on the ground, and said calmly: "In this world there is no one who cannot die, and I am the same."

The moment before Kaga Kiyomitsu fell, Uesugi Toru felt his ankle gripped tightly by the Bone Girl.

He suddenly felt this voice sounded somewhat familiar, so the descent of the sword tip slowed for a moment.

"At least... please."

The Bone Girl rasped: "Kill Nishiyama Ryota."

Kaga Kiyomitsu grazed her eye socket and sank into the ground.

Uesugi Toru crouched down with slight curiosity and asked her: "Why?"

This was still the first time he had encountered a yokai who actually left somewhat useful dying words—before this, those yokai either ignored his words or just cursed with meaningless drivel.

But this time he didn't give the other party a chance to leave dying words, yet unexpectedly heard them.

And the Bone Girl just happened to serve as his little white mouse for testing his combat power after promoting to White Prajna.

So spending an extra half minute listening to a few lines was no problem.

The Bone Girl seemed not to have expected she could survive, so she blanked for a moment before saying: "It was Nishiyama Ryota who killed me, me when I was alive."

Uesugi Toru had long anticipated this; he stared quietly at the Bone Girl, wanting to know what else she could say.

"Nishiyama Ryota was my first love."

"He had already graduated when we met, but had no job, didn't even do part-time work, and after our relationship was confirmed he started eating mine, living off mine, using mine.

Forced by circumstances, I could only work one extra job after school, then another extra job..."

"—But none of that mattered."

"Because he said he'd go find a job, also said he wanted to marry me in the future, so I desperately worked hard for that kind of future."

The Bone Girl murmured weakly, yet the two soul fires in her eye sockets grew increasingly clear with each word spoken.

"Until one day, when I went home I discovered he was entangled with another woman."

The Bone Girl spoke in a resigned tone: "Immediately after, he chased the woman away, then knelt and swore a poisonous oath never to do the same thing again, and promised to go find a job tomorrow."

"I foolishly believed him."

"Then, for several years, almost exactly the same thing repeated again and again."

"In my hometown, vows are very, very heavy things... so every time I chose to believe him, yet every time my trust was betrayed."

"Until the last time, I again saw a different woman in the same scene, and I finally couldn't endure it anymore."

The Bone Girl murmured: "But what awaited me was not a future free of him, but unfamiliar woods, a shovel, and the pain of being buried under soil."

"—To prevent me from revealing these things and ruining his reputation, Nishiyama Ryota lured me into mountain woods, knocked me unconscious, then threw me into a pit and buried me with soil."

"I'm dead."

By this point, Bone Girl's resentful tone had completely vanished.

She seemed to have finally found that hardworking, upward-striving self from when she was alive, cheerfully using honorifics as she said: "So please, Teacher, do not let that worthless scum who isn't worth dying for off the hook."

"Of course, don't let me off either out of pity because of that."

Bone Girl raised her broken fingers and pointed at herself: "To get close to him, I deceived him, tortured him, and even killed one of his lovers."

"For killing someone who didn't deserve death out of my own selfish desires, I'm certainly not anything good either."

She looked steadily at the White Hannya before her and said seriously,

"Evil Ghost, that's all I wanted to say."

—Love-struck brains really are harmful.

Uesugi Toru's first reaction was this, but he soon fell into thought—was Bone Girl really just a simple love-struck brain when she was alive?

What kind of love-struck brain could last for years, and still choose to believe even after being betrayed several times?

This Bone Girl seemed to have actually been a good girl when she was alive.

Uesugi Toru felt a bit of regret, gazing at her clear soul fire, then thought for a moment and said: "As for any other last words, if they're not excessive, I'll help you complete them too."

"Then, Evil Ghost, could you please let me go?"

"That won't do." Uesugi Toru shook his head. "Didn't you say that yourself?"

So Bone Girl smiled: "Be that as it may, but if there's a chance to scrape by and survive, I think no one would give up, right?"

Pausing for a moment, Bone Girl reported a detailed address, then said softly,

"Then please, Evil Ghost, scatter my ashes under the sakura tree at my home. Don't worry, it's very close by car—only an hour to get there."

"Alright."

Uesugi Toru drew Kaga Kiyomitsu once more, aiming it at Bone Girl's eye sockets.

She tilted her head back, as if by doing so she could see the azure sky through the ceiling: "I wish I had gone to Tokyo in the first place……"

The pale sword blade fell.

……

"Don't come over! I warn you, Evil Ghost, don't come over! The Onmyoji of the Special Affairs Division will be here soon!"

In the room, Nishiyama Ryota, wrapped in a white bath towel, held scissors and kept waving them at Uesugi Toru, who was slowly walking over from the doorway.

Hearing the three words "Special Affairs Division," Uesugi Toru couldn't help but smile.

He dispelled the state of the White Hannya Incarnation, returned to human form, and silently gazed at the stunned man, asking puzzledly,

"Why should you be afraid, Nishiyama Ryota?"

Evil Ghost… turned into a human?

Nishiyama Ryota didn't react for a moment, but he soon revealed a hideous expression and shouted madly: "Murder is a serious crime in human society! If you kill me, you absolutely won't escape, even if you can turn into a human!"

"Then why do you think you can escape?"

At some point, Uesugi Toru had already come before him, tightly gripping the wrist of the hand holding the scissors, and saw the intense fear and regret in the other's pupils.

Uesugi Toru shook his head regretfully.

"You're not even willing to retort… clearly that was just her side of the story."

Nishiyama Ryota struggled to twist his right wrist, trying to pull the scissors out from that iron-clamp-like palm to attempt a counterattack.

"Also, you seem to misunderstand the power gap between you and me. Is it because my appearance is too friendly?"

Uesugi Toru's right hand exerted a little force, causing Nishiyama Ryota's five fingers to loosen and twitch, and he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Uesugi Toru let go, looking down at Nishiyama Ryota, who fell onto the carpet like a pool of mud, clutching his twisted wrist, and listened to him scream,

"Damn it! Damn it! How much did that stupid woman Goto give you! I'll give you double, no! Ten times!!!"

Nishiyama Ryota screamed: "Did you hear that? I'll give you ten times the price!!!"

This guy, has his brain gone bad?

Regarding Nishiyama Ryota's behavior of non sequiturs, Uesugi Toru felt genuine confusion.

But never mind.

There are plenty of people in this world who think money can solve all problems, and it's not like we're missing this one.

As long as I confirm that Bone Girl didn't deceive me earlier.

"But I still have to say…"

This time Uesugi Toru did not take out Kaga Kiyomitsu, but instead took out the Rusted Cleaver he hadn't used for a long time.

The blade had gone dull, but that was just right.

"Scum like you, dying a hundred times isn't enough."

Shrieks rose and fell like a roller coaster.

……

Uesugi Toru put away the blood-stained cleaver and stomped the head, filled with resentment and terror, into pieces.

Then he drew the blade of Kaga Kiyomitsu out a little, letting "Separation Sorrow Domain" completely erode everything related to Nishiyama Ryota.

If what Nishiyama Ryota said was true, and the Special Affairs Division people would come later, then Uesugi Toru didn't want to make things too difficult for them.

—So it was better to destroy some obvious evidence first.

After doing all this, Uesugi Toru then looked at the prompt that had popped up earlier.

【You killed the Two-Star Demon Bone Girl, gained 265 Soul Ash!】

【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting to slay Bone Girl; Kaga Kiyomitsu's quality slightly increased!】

【Your Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting has reached the Promotion Threshold!】

【180】【Next, your Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting must slay a demon of at least Three-Star or above to advance to Epic Level!】

【Next, your Kaga Kiyomitsu: Blade of Parting must slay at least a three-star Yokai to advance to Epic Level!】

【Note: Before that, Shousatsu Talent is invalid!】

【You have obtained Bone Woman's Wish (Special Item)!】

"You want to use Kaga Kiyomitsu to slay a Three-Star Demon?"

Hearing Uesugi Toru's words, the Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand responded with a cheerful humming sound, as if looking forward to a great battle.

Three-Star Demon.

The conventional thought would naturally be for him to enter Edo Castle, catch a not-too-strong Three-Star Demon, then open fire with full force and slay it.

"But since I'm already a seed of the Special Affairs Division, why would I need to go through so much trouble?"

Uesugi Toru tapped the sword hilt and thought: "It's just a Three-Star Demon, not a Ghost God Level existence or anything... I'll just tell Nanjo Sister later to have her beat the demon half-dead, then I'll come and reap the kill."

Hey, having a backer means you can do as you please.

But Kaga Kiyomitsu might end up disappointed.

After casually glancing at the meager improvement of the three skill proficiencies, Uesugi Toru took out 【Bone Woman's Wish】.

The white jade small box fell into his hand.

Uesugi Toru opened it and found it contained a pile of pure white bone ash.

【Bone Woman's Wish (Special Item)】

【Usage: Bury "Bone Woman's Wish" in the graveyard the Bone Girl expects, and the one who buries it will randomly gain one permanent enhancement effect.】

【——Everything she expected was but foam and illusion, everything she hoped for was like a dream shattered. The only wish left in her life was to return her soul to her homeland.】

"Quite generous, huh."

Uesugi Toru solemnly closed the jade box and put it back into his Storage Backpack.

Originally he thought that with such a short drive it wouldn't take much time, and he could just bury it for her on the way back, but he didn't expect there would be an extra reward.

This made Uesugi Toru a bit embarrassed, so he had to take it seriously.

After Kaga Kiyomitsu corrupted everything related to Nishiyama Ryota into a pale color, Uesugi Toru took out spare clothing from his Storage Backpack and put it on.

Then, leaning against the doorframe, he waited for the Special Affairs Division Onmyoji to arrive.

About ten minutes later, Uesugi Toru saw a young man wearing a gun and a Special Affairs Bureau Uniform hurry up from the stairs.

But in Uesugi Toru's perception, this young man's Spirit Power Quantity was even less than one star, and his physical strength was barely adequate, not much different from an elite among ordinary people.

——But he even buttoned his clothes wrong.

What, the Toshima District Special Affairs Bureau branch sent such a Rookie over, are they complaining there are too many people and not enough salary to go around?

"Hey!"

Uesugi Toru called out to stop him.

The young man shuddered, and subconsciously both hands went toward his waist, wanting to draw his gun.

"First reaction is actually to draw a gun?" Uesugi Toru, having crossed over ten meters, pressed the young man's palm and smacked his lips, "Are you sure they didn't send a Record Clerk?"

Because usually, when an Onmyoji is frightened, the subconscious action should be to summon a Shikigami or cast a defensive Yin-Yang Technique, while a Samurai would place his hand on the sword hilt...

In the Special Affairs Division, the only ones whose first reaction is to draw a gun are clerical staff whose own abilities are insufficient but who are equipped with Exorcism Guns.

"I am Uesugi Toru. I just resolved the Spiritual Event at the hotel, exorcising one Two-Star Demon Bone Girl, with no casualties around for now."

Uesugi Toru patted his shoulder: "If you have any extra questions, you can go find Nanjo Ai, the Onmyo Daizoku of Arakawa Ward currently stationed in Yokohama. I am her subordinate."

The young man was stunned for a while, then holstered his pistol at his waist, bowed deeply to him and shouted loudly,

"——Yes! Senior!"

This young man's vigilance could almost be said to be nonexistent... He actually put back his only weapon that could harm a demon based solely on Uesugi Toru's words.

"Forget it."

Uesugi Toru shook his head.

The development of the Special Affairs Division here was not something he should worry about; Nanjo Ai and other high-ranking Special Affairs Division officials would handle it.

Hearing the gradually rising noise around him, Uesugi Toru did not linger here, moved extremely quickly to leave the hotel and walk onto the street, and used a mobile phone app to call a taxi.

——As for the hotel's compensation, let the local Special Affairs Division worry about it.

After getting in the car, Uesugi Toru actually discovered the driver was an old man with a face full of wrinkles and white hair, at least sixty or seventy years old.

The old man narrowed his eyes, looked at the mobile phone navigation for a while, then unhurriedly asked: "Going to Yuhara River Town, right?"

"Yes."

Uesugi Toru nodded, then saw the old man's driver's license beside him and discovered he was already sixty-eight years old.

What an aging society.

Now seventy has become a good age for striving.

The old man spent another while confirming the route, then while driving said with a smile: "Young man, are you going there for tourism? You must definitely try the hot springs of Yuhara River Town..."

"No. Just helping a friend with some business."

Uesugi Toru responded flatly, killing the topic with just one sentence, causing silence to fall inside the car.

But Uesugi Toru was also happy to have leisure.

If he had to keep interacting with an old person who took forever to say a single sentence, it would probably be quite torturous.

Just as Bone Girl said, in just over an hour, the car went from the Toshima District city center to a remote country road where few people tread.

The old Toyota slowly stopped beside a wooden sign reading "Yuhara River Town," and the old man in the driver's seat slowly opened his mouth,

"Young man, we've arrived."

Uesugi Toru thanked the old driver and got out of the car, then saw the old man pick up his mobile phone again, narrowing his eyes and operating it with difficulty.

Such an old person still has to come out and drive a taxi to earn a living...

Ding.

Uesugi Toru hadn't even had two seconds to reflect before the five-digit fare displayed on his mobile phone from the payment scattered all his thoughts just now.

Tch, with a retirement job like this I'd come do it too.

The Toyota car behind him slowly departed, and Uesugi Toru set his gaze on the wooden sign and muttered to himself,

"Yuhara River Town, 4-chome, 2-1."

The village's location was right; next was just to follow the house numbers and search house by house.

Uesugi Toru entered Yuhara River Town, and before long discovered this village seemed a bit different from the traditional Japanese farming village in his impression.

Normally speaking, a farming village like this surrounded by mountains and fields should be very backward.

——The entire village had only one convenience store, the streets were sparsely populated, and the village only had an elementary school at most plus a junior high school.

But Uesugi Toru discovered the crowds coming and going on the streets were unexpectedly many, and many were young people in their twenties and thirties, among whom there were even a few foreign faces.

He recalled what the old driver said before about definitely having to try the hot springs here.

"Is it because the hot springs caused tourism to flourish……"

Uesugi Toru followed each household's house number and began searching one by one, but even after he completed two full rounds he still hadn't discovered a house corresponding to the address the Bone Girl spoke of.

Strange.

Uesugi Toru asked an elderly passerby: "Grandma, do you know where the house at 4-chome, 2-1 is?"

But who would have thought the old person's face changed instantly upon hearing this address, her originally amiable face immediately wrinkling into a knot, she waved her hand and retreated,

"Don't know! Never heard of it! There's never been this house number here!"

The old person seemed to have cursed some dirty words, then hurriedly left like she was avoiding a plague god.

Uesugi Toru stared at her back, brows furrowing slightly.

Next, Uesugi Toru randomly found a dozen or so local elderly in Yuhara River Town.

Originally, these elderly all responded enthusiastically to him, this "tourist."

But as soon as Uesugi Toru gave this address, these elderly all avoided him like the plague, not willing to say a single word more and hurriedly left.

"Something's fishy……"

Under the evening sun, Uesugi Toru paced irritably, wondering whether to release the Hundred-Eyed Demon Eyeball and use process of elimination to determine the house's location.

But as he walked, Uesugi Toru suddenly discovered the surroundings had grown quiet.

He looked behind him and discovered he had actually unknowingly walked into a forest dense path.

Looking back again, an old weathered signboard deeply carved with the four large characters "Goto Bathhouse" came into view.

Goto——seems to be the Bone Girl's surname.

Uesugi Toru shifted his gaze slightly more, and on the old, even somewhat rotten house number he saw the address "4-chome, 2-1."

What a coincidence.

Right now happens to be Oumagatoki, and the place he had searched for so long without success also just happened to suddenly appear before him at this moment.

"Coincidence, huh."

Uesugi Toru laughed aloud, placing the pale, solemn cold Hannya Mask on his face, and just like that swaggered through the Goto Bathhouse's front gate and walked inside.

Uesugi Toru looked around once, asking loudly: "No one to welcome guests?"

No one responded.

In the silent Goto Bathhouse only dust was stirred up by the door wind and struck Uesugi Toru's hem.

The startle deer in the pond had long since dried and cracked, not a drop of spring water remaining; the wind chime's cord by the door had snapped, the faded bell lay on the pebble-paved ground, utterly silent.

It seems although this bathhouse has strange aspects, by now a long time should have passed since that era.

The entire Goto Bathhouse was unexpectedly large.

Normally a bathhouse you push open the door and enter the front desk, immediately behind which are divided male and female baths, but Goto Bathhouse actually still left a twenty-to-thirty-meter small path between the threshold and the bathhouse proper.

The Bone Girl's designated location was under the sakura tree in the courtyard, so Uesugi Toru didn't enter the house but circled the courtyard several times.

Finally, he stopped before a tree that had long since withered, a bare, stunted black tree.

"This is the sakura tree she spoke of that would grow tall and large, incomparably conspicuous……"

Uesugi Toru took out the jade box, and upon seeing it emit a faint fluorescence, sighed.

It seems the Bone Woman's Wish's final annotation didn't seem to have any exaggeration, simply depicting the facts plainly.

He crouched down, took out the rusted firewood knife and began digging soil.

Before long, a damp small mound of earth piled up beside Uesugi Toru's foot, and when he wanted to continue digging deeper the firewood knife transmitted the sensation of hitting a hard object.

Hm?

What would be in the surface soil?

Uesugi Toru reached out and clawed at it, grabbing out from the earth mound a small pink iron box bound in layers of tape with a label stuck inside.

After brushing all the mud off it he narrowed his eyes, seeing clearly the meaning of the crooked characters on the label.

——【Goto Yako's Wish Box】.

Uesugi Toru was slightly stunned.

Goto Yako?

Goto……

Yako!?

(End of Chapter)