Chapter 138: The Ullambana Festival Goes Best with Exorcism

On the way back to Shimogamo Shrine, Ariko Asano remained silent.

Too strong.

That was the only phrase she could use to describe what she had witnessed today.

Even though she had seen similar scenes in movies, the way Maki Araki and the others handled things was just too professional.

Could such a transformation really happen in just three weeks?

This was even more incredible than the [beep] in manga!

Ariko Asano thought to herself.

Seeing the shrine maidens of Shimogamo Shrine now, Ariko felt there was no longer any need to worry about the exorcism demonstration.

What she should be more concerned about was Mount Hiei.

The buildings there must be completely abandoned by now, right?

Especially after seeing that thing.

That ultimate decisive weapon.

It was beyond anything Ariko Asano could comprehend.

Elsewhere, Suzuka was not silent.

In the taxi ride back, she curled up, holding her head, her eyes vacant.

“Exorcists are truly terrifying, exorcists are truly terrifying, exorcists are truly terrifying…”

Probably some unpleasant memories were triggered.

Picking up her phone, Ariko checked the Line group chat created earlier for discussing the exorcism demonstrations and saw conversations about tonight’s event.

Tonight’s participant was Yasaka Shrine, dedicated to the main deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto. The shrine maidens here were known as “Sword Maidens” and naturally, this was a very popular shrine.

Unlike the smaller shrines featured previously, the venue was packed with people, even with cheering squads holding banners.

Due to the event’s setup, tonight’s exorcism demonstration was delayed by half an hour, but this did nothing to dampen the audience’s enthusiasm.

From photos in the group, the Yasaka Shrine maidens could be seen wielding sword bells, conjuring images of the Ten Fist Sword to slash simulated vengeful spirits.

Their attire was not the traditional white robes and crimson hakama but armor resembling that of ancient samurai, in red and white.

Besides swords, some wielded naginata and longbows, looking like warriors straight out of a period drama.

Because of this year’s special vengeful spirit sources, even Fushimi Inari Taisha had faltered, scoring only 72.3. For a shrine that could have contended for first place, this was a dismal result.

It was probably just bad luck in the draw.

After learning about the presence of memetic-like vengeful spirit sources, the following shrines performed better.

For instance, Kitano Tenmangu, where Saori Iguchi served as a maiden, appeared on the sixth day and became the first shrine to eliminate all the vengeful spirit sources.

Though it took nearly fifty minutes, they scored a high 81.6 points.

Currently, the highest score was held by Iwashimizu Hachimangu with 82.1 points.

As a shrine guarding Kyoto’s “Inner Demon Gate” and one of the three great Hachiman shrines of the nation, the deity Hachiman was regarded as a god of war since ancient times, so possessing powerful exorcism techniques was only natural.

However, tonight's Yasaka Shrine seemed to have undergone specialized training.

They swiftly dispelled the sound-manifested vengeful spirit source, ending the battle in under thirty minutes.

In the end, Yasaka Shrine scored 85.0 points, securing first place.

“?”

After bathing, Shrine Maiden Asano, dressed in a plain yukata, returned to her room and was momentarily stunned when she saw the result on her phone.

It wasn’t the score of Yasaka Shrine that caught her surprise, but rather the live photos posted in the Line group, where she happened to notice Jo Hashi quietly sitting in a corner with the Shimogamo Shrine maidens.

Jo Hashi was taking notes in a notebook, while the maidens sat upright, hands on their knees, their bodies tense and eyes fixed intently on a screen.

Since the photo wasn’t deliberately taken of them, Ariko could only glimpse a corner of the scene.

Well, how to put it…

Though Maki Araki and the others were indeed wearing shrine maiden uniforms, their expressions didn’t look like those of typical maidens.

Instead, they resembled some kind of hunters.

Ariko wasn’t quite sure.

She browsed some videos online, then caught up on the new anime episodes she had saved over the past two days.

It was nearly eleven o’clock when she prepared to sleep.

Buzz—

Her phone suddenly vibrated again.

It was a message from Jo Hashi on Line.

“Sensei?”

Ariko immediately sat up, unlocking her phone.

[Jo Hashi]: Thanks for your hard work today. Get some rest early.

[Ariko☆Kira]: Mm-hmm, you too, sensei!

After a moment’s thought, Ariko decided not to mention the photos from today.

Then Jo Hashi sent another image.

After loading, Ariko realized it was the starry sky from the mountain.

Though the phone’s camera quality made the stars barely visible, the photo still conveyed a sense of the vastness of the cosmos.

[Jo Hashi]: The summer triangle we talked about before, though it’s not very clear here. You can determine directions using these three stars and the Milky Way.

Ariko smiled softly upon reading Jo Hashi’s message.

...

August 13th.

The ordinary Gion Festival had ended at the end of July, with the thirty-three yamahoko floats and three mikoshi returning along their original route to Yasaka Shrine.

Today was the first day of the Obon Festival.

Obon, also called the Mid-Year Festival, was colloquially known in China as the “Ghost Festival.”

Legend held that during this festival, the spirits of ancestors would return home to spend time with the living.

The 13th marked the welcoming of the spirits.

From the exorcists’ perspective, Obon was when yin energy peaked and vengeful spirits were at their most active.

Even artificially created vengeful spirit sources and simulated spirits seemed to grow stronger.

Thus, being assigned to conduct exorcism demonstrations during these days was quite unfortunate.

By evening, lanterns along the streets were lit, and every household had ignited their lights.

For a moment, Kyoto was bathed in candlelight, shimmering dreamily in the summer heat’s mirage.

Mount Hiei.

Ariko Asano sat in the front row, somewhat nervous.

Suzuka, however, was quite relaxed, playing a mobile game.

“Is there some metaphysical luck bonus when pulling cards here?”

She muttered, then performed a ten-pull.

As expected, she got nothing.

“Why hasn’t sensei arrived yet?”

Ariko looked around.

Due to last year’s crushing defeat, Shimogamo Shrine had attracted many more spectators this year.

Perhaps people wanted to see just how much worse they could do compared to last year.

Even Takashi Arai’s betting odds were set on whether Shimogamo Shrine could complete an exorcism within an hour.

Ariko noticed that Saori Iguchi of Tenmangu Shrine seemed to be here as well.

Surprisingly, many people were paying attention to Mount Hiei tonight.

About ten minutes before check-in time, Ariko finally spotted Jo Hashi.

He wore ordinary clothes, followed by shrine maidens dressed in red and white garments, carrying olive green camouflage backpacks.

“?”

Why did their clothing look somewhat bulky?

As if they were wearing something underneath those robes?