After some time passed, the atmosphere returned to quiet; Suga put his hands away from the front of his face and found something very unusual before him. It appears that this wharf actually has two buildings. The building that just moved and stopped on Suga’s left is a classic Japanese modern-style building like the building on Suga’s right that he came to before, but it is twice the size. There is also a car parked here, which looks dull, shabby, and dusty. Suga looked around him with a shocked expression.
“What the hell is going on here... suddenly, there was an area that slid closer to us.”
Nellson looked at his surroundings with a vigilant stance.
“Is that area is Kagohara village? We should be more careful, Suga.”
Suga looked at Nellson.
“I think so too. Have you ever experienced something very unusual like this, Nellson?”
Nellson shook his head.
“No, this is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this. The sunlight that was still shining brightly on us suddenly dimmed because something covered the sky and the village that suddenly moved toward us.”
Suga nodded.
“This might have something to do with Gasokami....”
Suga’s expression turned disturbed.
“What kind of Yokai has this kind of power.”
Suga looked around and realized that there was now a rusty metal board with two supporting poles illuminated by lights above it. Suga took out his smartphone and found that there was no phone signal here, even though there was before. Suga put his smartphone back into his overcoat’s inner pocket, then took out his flashlight and illuminated the surroundings.
Suga walked towards the car parked here while carrying his backpack on his left shoulder, a katana in his left hand, which also holds a flashlight. Suga tried to open the car door, but it was locked; Nellson then landed on this car’s hood. Suga tried to peek into the vehicle from the dull window and found that the car was empty. Suga’s attention was then focused on the building nearby that had moved close to him before.
“Let’s check that building, Nellson.”
Suga walked towards the building, which had a wooden sliding entrance double door and one slightly rusted roller shutter door. Suga arrived in front of the entrance door, Nellson flew after him and landed near Suga. Suga opened the entrance to this building, which turned out to be unlocked.
Inside this building, it was dark; Suga pointed his flashlight at all corners of the room. It turns out that this building is a boat repair shop, with several boats displayed on metal frame supports with exposed engines or damaged hull parts and chains that hang a boat engine from a metal frame. There is also a work desk here with boat engine parts scattered on it, as well as drawers containing various kinds of tools in a mess.
Suga walked towards the work desk and noticed that there was a torn piece of folded paper lying on it. Suga looked curious; he then opened this paper and realized that it contained writing that he recognized and with a date from about ten years ago. Nellson looked at Suga curiously, then flew after him and landed on the work desk.
“What did you find, Suga?”
Suga turned to Nellson.
“I found a note with a date on it from about ten years ago. I remember this handwriting; this note was written by the same person who was sacrificed himself ten years ago.”
Nellson was surprised.
“So, he also arrived here too? What’s in the note?”
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Suga and Nellson then read the contents of this note together:
“March 24, 20xx
I really don’t understand… I find it very difficult to believe what just happened, but it’s undoubtedly real. I came out of the guard wharf post building to find that the clear afternoon sky was suddenly covered in grayish-black smoke, the shining sunlight turned dim, and Kagohara village was moving towards me. What happened? Is this Gasokami doing? I don’t know because I didn’t see Gasokami or any creatures. Should I look for Gasokami? For now, I’ll try checking out the village to understand better what happened….”
The writing on this note ended; Suga’s expression turned serious.
“The man who sacrificed himself ten years ago has indeed arrived here, and it seems he then headed towards the village?”
Nellson nodded and watched Suga curiously.
“I wonder, what happened to him?”
Suga’s expression turned curious.
“If we check that village, we might be able to get other clues from him.”
Nellson nodded. Suga kept this note in the inner pocket of his overcoat. Suga took a cursory look at this room and didn’t find anything else that caught his attention.
“There’s nothing more we need here. Let’s go, Nellson.”
Nellson nodded. Suga walked out of the building, Nellson then flew after him.
In the front of the building, Suga looked around with his flashlight; his attention was drawn to the metal board before.
“Let’s check that metal board, Nellson.”
Nellson nodded. Suga carried a bag containing his supplies and walked over to the metal board, which turned out to be a fairly large map with several districts separating it, with the title “Kagohara Village Map” written above it, making Suga and Nellson surprised when they saw it.
“It turns out our guess was correct; Kagohara village is now before us.”
Nellson nodded.
“What are we going to do now, Suga?”
Suga turned to Nellson.
“We’re going to check further into the village area to find Ishikari’s whereabouts and get her out of here.”
Nellson looked at Suga astonishedly.
“Get out of here? How? We might be already trapped here.”
Suga looked around him with a disturbed expression.
“We’ll think about that later.”
Nellson nodded. Suga took out his smartphone from his overcoat’s inner pocket and then took a photo of the Kagohara village map before him.
“I have taken a photo of this village map; fortunately, this smartphone is reliable because the association has modified its battery to last a long time.”
Nellson watched Suga curiously. Suga checked the map on the board to determine his direction, and his attention was drawn to the position of Gasokami Shrine on this map, which was not very far from his current position.
“Gasokami shrine, let's go there first, Nellson.”
Nellson appeared to realize something.
“Gasokami shrine, doesn’t that shrine contain the painting of Gasokami?”
Suga nodded.
“Right, time to find out clues about it.”
Suga checked the map again and realized something.
“Based on this map, apparently, there are three Gasokami shrines in total, which are found in several parts of the village.”
Nellson looked at the map on this board curiously.
“It seems that the villagers really respected Gasokami and built several shrines for him?”
Suga turned to Nellson and nodded, and checked the map again.
“Let’s check the nearest shrine on our way.”
Suga walked away from here while looking around warily. Nellson watched Suga for a moment, then flew after him.
Suga walked with the help of his flashlight through a wooden open entrance gate to Kagohara village. They are then walking on a stone road with quite tall vines growing up to the middle and along this road. This road is as wide as one car lane.
Suga walked through dense, large and tall forest trees on the right and left of the road. Nellson flew ahead of Suga and landed on the ground; for some reason, his breath became a little short. Suga walked past Nellson while watching him and noticed that there was something unusual about him.
“Are you okay, Nellson? You look like you’re exhausted.”
Nellson looked at Suga.
“Yeah, for some reason, it seems like the closer we get to the village, I feel like the air here is getting heavier and makes me a little tired. Maybe I won’t be able to change my body size larger for a while.”
Suga was surprised; he then tried to feel his surroundings and see if there were any changes in his body, only to find that he was completely fine.
“Somehow, I don’t feel the way you feel, Nellson. Can you fly?”
Nellson nodded.
“Yeah, things like walking and flying won’t really affect me.”
Suga crossed his arms with a curious expression.
“This is an unusual thing... is there something about this place that is affecting Yokai? Have you ever experienced something like this before, Nellson?”
Nellson shook his head.
“It’s the first time I’ve felt like this, and it surprised me a little.”
Suga nodded.
“That means we can’t fly together for a while.”
Nellson nodded. Suga continued walking, Nellson then flew after him.
Suga walked along this road and passed a dull and dusty abandoned car. Suga watched this car for a moment. Suga walked over to this car, opened the door, and found that the car door was unlocked. Suga looked into the car, but the car key was not there.
“I wonder, can this car start?”
Nellson landed near Suga.
“You think about driving it around the village?”
Suga smiled.
“Good idea. We could travel around faster, hahaha.”
Suga laughed casually. Nellson looked at Suga curiously.