Chapter 144: Persons of Interest (Bonus Chapter for Recommended Votes)

August 15.
Kyoto.

Much like the plot of Weathering With You, the skies over Kyoto had remained consistently clear for the past few days, as if welcoming the Obon Festival. The bustling streets were no less lively than during the Gion Festival.

Night.
The venue for the Mount Hiei Exorcism Demonstration.

Two commentators were introducing the shrine performing today, Nashinoki Shrine. However, because the scores of Shimogamo Shrine previously had been entirely without suspense, very few people had turned out. Aside from the shrine's own affiliates, there was basically only diligent folks like Arai Takashi.

After all, compared to the exorcism demonstration, tonight's fireworks display was far more appealing.

"Qiao-san, how do you think we should set the odds for tonight?"

Arai Takashi asked timidly, handing a cup of hot tea to Qiao Qiao.

"I don't understand these things."

Qiao Qiao did not drink the tea, only gazing at the screen behind the commentary booth as he spoke.

"However, judging by the strength of Nashinoki Shrine's personnel and the circumstances of this year's event, I'd say it is far more likely they will fail to complete the clearing of all grievance sources. As for the number of grievance sources cleared... it should be somewhere between thirteen and fifteen."

Hearing Qiao Qiao's words, Arai Takashi hurriedly jotted them down in his notebook.

Only after determining the specific numbers for the odds through divination, combined with Qiao Qiao's deduction, did he begin collecting bets.

Beside Qiao Qiao, the five miko of Shimogamo Shrine sat upright, holding identical notebooks in their hands, diligently recording the insights they had gained from watching the exorcism demonstration.

Asano Arisu sat on Qiao Qiao's other side, playing with her smartphone.

Today was the final day of exorcisms. Given the current standing, Shimogamo Shrine was indeed set to take first place in this year's exorcism demonstration.

Tomorrow daytime, the summary and award ceremony would be held at the headquarters of the Kyoto Exorcists Association, and Qiao Qiao also planned to return to Tokyo tomorrow afternoon.

This trip away had indeed gone on for far too long.

Nashinoki Shrine was most famous for Somai, one of Kyoto's three major water sources. Because it had once been the imperial family's private well water used for dyeing garments, it earned the name Somai.

Consequently, Nashinoki Shrine's exorcism arts also carried a touch of Somai's aesthetic.

Under spiritual vision, one could see that as the gohei were shaken, spiritual power rippled outward in colorful hues from every corner of the village, seeping through windows and doors into the houses.

The simulated vengeful spirits were suppressed and gradually fell apart.

As for the grievance sources, they were shot down by the miko wielding Japanese shortbows.

The entire exorcism process was methodical.

However, in terms of speed, it simply could not compare to specialized exorcism shrines like Yasaka Shrine.

It looked elegant, mysterious, and airtight.

Yet in reality, thirty minutes later, the miko of Nashinoki Shrine had only cleared ten grievance sources, and the further along they got, the slower the exorcism speed became.

"Qiao-san is truly amazing."

Arai Takashi calculated the money with his phone's calculator on the side and said to Qiao Qiao.

"Hmm... something is a bit strange."

Qiao Qiao paid no heed to Arai Takashi's praise, instead scanning the exorcism grounds in his state of spiritual vision.

Originally, the grievance sources exuding yin energy and the simulated vengeful spirits were clearly visible to Qiao Qiao, much like torches lit in the pitch-black depth of night.

But now, those grievance sources were becoming hazy and indistinct.

Within Qiao Qiao's spiritual vision, something was overlapping.

"Teacher, are these predictions really deduced through various pieces of information?"

Asano Arisu asked curiously from the side.

Was it really not done using spiritual channeling or divination or something?

"Naturally. This level of logical reasoning is something even a middle schooler could easily pull off," Qiao Qiao answered matter-of-factly.

"?"

Did the teacher have some sort of misconception about middle schoolers?

Asano Arisu tilted her head.

"List possibilities based on phenomena, then eliminate them one by one, and you can easily arrive at the correct answer."

Qiao Qiao said while watching the screen.

"For example, let's say, um, like back at Cat Ramen when the tanuki said a sentence: all the yōkai of Mount Hiei have been driven out."

He thought for a moment before continuing.

"That was on July 13th. At the time, it seemed fine, but thinking about it now, there seem to be a lot of problems."

"July 13th, let me think... Ah, in the afternoon, Maki-neezan and I went to attend the Gion Festival consultations and finalized some related matters for the exorcism demonstration."

Asano Arisu suddenly thought of something else.

"And in the afternoon, the teacher even sneaked Suzuka off to Ninten-do!"

Asano Arisu remembered this grudge crystal clear.

"Ahem, that's not the point."

Qiao Qiao sidestepped the issue.

"The sentence heard on the night of July 13th seemed at the time to mean the Exorcists Association was beginning to expel the mountain yōkai because of the Gion Festival exorcism demonstration, but thinking about it practically, that's actually incorrect."

"First, the Gion Festival consultation took place that afternoon. Even if they were going to expel yōkai, it should have been done after the consultation, once the specific scope of the exorcism demonstration had been determined."

"Second, does an exorcism demonstration really require driving out yōkai in the first place?"

"Over this past month, through my observation, yōkai basically never haunt the areas surrounding the exorcism demonstration venues. Moreover, when this matter was brought up back then, it was discussed as a strange occurrence that had recently happened. I've reviewed materials on the exorcism demonstration from recent years, and none of them mentioned anything related to yōkai."

"In other words, the departure of Mount Hiei's yōkai has no direct connection to the exorcism demonstration."

"Oh, in that case, why did Mount Hiei's yōkai leave?"

Asano Arisu asked, puzzled.

"I don't know," Qiao Qiao answered concisely.

"However, through this matter, we can look at what special events have recently occurred in Kyoto."

"Hmm, if I had to say, it would be those strange statues we encountered during the exorcisms."

Asano Arisu replied.

"Yes, judging from the form of the statues and the feeling they give off, we can temporarily assume these are all related events. So, which of them could be related to Mount Hiei's yōkai?"

Qiao Qiao began to think as well, and quickly formed an idea.

"Among matters involving anomalies, the first thing to consider is the presence of spiritual power."

Most anomalous hauntings are essentially aimed at acquiring more spiritual power or yin energy.

Otherwise, who would brave the wind to commit crimes for no reason?

"Among the commissions processed by the Kyoto Exorcists Association so far, there are over twenty with similar traces. Among those involving spiritual power... it really is only that one, isn't it?"

Qiao Qiao thought of it.

In Tadasu no Mori, those two seven-hundred-year-old matchmaking trees, as well as the trees that had been uprooted and vanished.

The reason the matchmaking trees could not recover was because hundreds of other trees possessing spiritual power had disappeared. To put it another way, those trees all possessed a considerable amount of spiritual power.

Assuming the Mount Hiei incident was connected to the trees of Tadasu no Mori, a conclusion was easily drawn.

"Oh no."

Qiao Qiao stood up.

At the same time, towering trees numbering in the dozens appeared at the venue of Nashinoki Shrine's exorcism demonstration.