That's right, the person who arrived was none other than the "modern Zhuge Liang," Kamisato Ayato. This was the real reason he organized the "test of courage." Yae Miko had her own motives, but they aligned well enough with Ayato's plans, which is why she joined in.
With this cleared up, the Traveler no longer felt wary of the little youkai and decided to visit the site of their "Akitsu Yuugei." There, Lumine and Paimon encountered the "female ghost" from before. This time, Paimon wasn't scared, as she had already met the ghost's "companions." A friend of a friend is a friend, so Paimon dragged her into playing Akitsu Yuugei, the kind with a wager. And then she lost. Though the Traveler was skilled, she was no match for the "administrator."
[Traveler: "You've bested me."]
Ei: "Hm?"
That line sounds familiar. Is that your line? My dear disciple Lucian loves stealing lines, and now you're doing it too? Have you heard his stories? When it comes to stealing lines, Lumine is unbeatable since she barely has any lines for others to steal.
In the story, the Traveler conceded defeat and, per the agreement, had to grant the other party one wish.
[???: "…I hope we never meet again."]
For some unknown reason, despite enjoying their time together, she didn't want to see the Traveler again. With that, she vanished. The Traveler and Paimon had failed socially—how did their succubus-like charm not work?
With no other choice, they returned to regroup with Itto and the others. Itto was with the three little youkai, and they headed to the test of courage venue to meet Yoimiya, Ayaka, and the rest. Everyone was kind-hearted and quickly bonded with the little youkai. Yoimiya, in her social butterfly big-sister mode, was the first to strike up a conversation. Youkai kids are still kids, and all kids fall under Yoimiya's jurisdiction.
Kazuha and Ayaka, though not talkative, were easygoing and soon joined the chat. Meanwhile, a kappa hid to the side, too shy to talk to people. For some reason, though, he had no issue chatting with Gorou. It seemed Gorou had some kind of magic—talking to him felt incredibly relaxing. See that? That's the power of our Miss Hina! Are you ready to admit that "Miss Hina's beauty is unmatched"?
That said, you had to hand it to Itto's networking skills. These were all top-tier figures in Inazuma, and he managed to bring them together just like that. As they were chatting, Itto's lackeys showed up to apologize. Earlier, the three of them had encountered a "ghost" in the Guardian Forest, and now they acknowledged the test of courage's legitimacy.
Itto laughed, saying what they saw wasn't a "ghost"—it was probably these little youkai. No need to be scared; they're allies. However, the fox youkai denied this possibility. There were only three of them, and they were all here.
Paimon was terrified. If there were only three of you, then what did the Traveler and I encounter? It couldn't actually be a ghost, could it? Arataki Itto was spooked too. Could this creepy place actually have real ghosts?
[Paimon clung to the Traveler: "Help, Traveler, we've encountered a ghost—!!"]
In the illustration, Paimon, eyes shut tight, hugged Lumine, her face flushed with fear. Lumine smiled indulgently, patting Paimon's head. Readers couldn't decide who to envy.
[Mamoru & Akira & Genta clung to Itto: "Boss, save us—!!"]
The three grown men latched onto Itto—one on the left, one on the right, and one on his back, all turning into human accessories. The scene left everyone unsure who to roast.
[Itto hugged himself: "Calm down, just calm down! C-c-c-calm down!!"]
[Shikanoin Heizou, exasperated: "So noisy."]
You could only say that human joys and sorrows don't always align—Heizou just found them loud. Looks like when Kuki Shinobu isn't around, someone else automatically takes on her role.
[Heizou: "Relax, even if there was a ghost, you lot would've scared it dizzy by now."]
See? He's definitely channeling Kuki Shinobu, taking over her role of roasting Itto and crew. Faced with this scene, Gorou silently recited the "Heart-Cleansing Mantra" in the story, missing Kokomi. If Kokomi were here, she'd definitely know what was going on. Thoma felt the same, but he was missing Ayato. Hydro characters are the brainy ones, right, Tartaglia?
Based on the current information, even Ei had pieced together most of it. In reality, Itto still hadn't figured it out. He was terrified and sidled closer to Kuki Shinobu. He was already missing the invincible version of himself from the Chasm. Wait, no—fists don't work on ghosts! Fighting types can't hit Ghost types!
In the story, Sayu was so scared she hid. She said this was her usual hiding spot, very safe. Not anymore—while Sayu was still sleeping, unaware, her "secret jungle hideout" for dodging shrine maidens had been exposed by Lucian. Among everyone in the book, only Yoimiya was thrilled, eagerly searching for traces of the ghost.
Readers exclaimed: Isn't this Hu Tao? Haven't we seen ghost-chasing Hu Tao before? In fact, the two girls were neck-and-neck in liveliness, though Hu Tao still took the crown for eccentricity.
Back to the story, Heizou pulled the Traveler aside. It turned out the shrine maiden from earlier had vanished, leaving only a notice board with red writing: "Third round… item… hagoita." Oh no, this was turning into a real Detective Heizou case—a "dead body" had appeared. But no need to find the dead; she'd resurrect herself. What they needed to find was the hagoita.
The items for the three rounds were provided by the three organizers. The dango milk for the first round came from a merchant. The fan for the second round was from the Yashiro Commission, so the hagoita must be Yae Miko's contribution. If Yae Miko's behind it, there's definitely something fishy!
With a mindset of questioning first and questioning again, the Traveler began searching for the hagoita, this time with Heizou. The three little youkai also offered to help, unafraid even if they were up against a powerful evil youkai. The reason was simple: the Mikawa Flower Festival was meant to ensure everyone left satisfied. They held the festival out of admiration for the friendship between Kamaitachi and the human, so they couldn't let it be tarnished. They had to make sure everyone left happy!
After some investigation, they uncovered several issues. The "female ghost" didn't seem to be some powerful great youkai. The aura around her was actually a carefully crafted "special effect," and the floating will-o'-wisps weren't ignited by youkai power. Whatever knocked out the Traveler wasn't youkai power either—it was some kind of pollen. All this suggested the "female ghost" didn't have much power and was just using props to bluff.
With these clues, Detective Heizou deduced the truth. The truth is singular! The "culprit" was Yae Miko!
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Baizhu: About Lifespan
"Similar to the master of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, yet different. I am exploring—or rather, 'expanding'—the boundaries of life and death."