Editing Hyouka:Volume 4 The Ghost, When Examined (section)

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I've often heard the saying, "All ghosts, when examined, are just withered flowers." However, in this modern era, people are unable to grasp the idea of romanticism even after looking it up in a dictionary, withered flowers are rarely treated as ghosts, and apparitions in this world are revealed in succession to be nothing more than withered flowers. It would probably be difficult for us to notice a real specter if it kept its true form.

I was saying that on a bus that was traversing a mountain path in August, when the lingering summer heat was still severe. Fukube Satoshi, who was sitting next to me, nodded in deep thought.

"Interesting. A metaphysical repudiation of the merit of the idea, in the form of a witticism. It really suits you, Houtarou."

Ibara, who was sitting in front, turned around even though she wasn't called. She raised her eyebrows.

"I don't like that way of thinking. I guess I'm not the type to only use my head for everything."

I listened to their responses, took a short while to digest them, and quickly shouted a denial.

"Hey, I said nothing of the sort!"

I was actually intending to bring up some urban legend similar to UFOs and Nessie, or in other words, an extremely common topic of discussion. Specifically, I wanted to talk about the story on TV yesterday, "Reporters on the scene! The truth behind Hamana Lake's giant eel, Hussie<ref>Combination of Nessie and Hamana</ref>!" My phrasing might have been rather indirect, but I didn't think that my words would be misinterpreted so willfully. Just as I was about to explain myself, Chitanda, who was wearing a dress and sitting next to Ibara, turned around and smiled.

"I'm also curious about the true nature of the withered flowers."

It seems that everyone misunderstood. I didn't really want to force everyone to understand what I was saying, so I shut my mouth.

There are four members in Kamiyama High's Classics Club.

And why were all members of the Classics Club on the bus that was making its bumpy journey on the mountainous road? The answer to that, of course, lies in the bus' destination. The final stop, Zaizen Village, is a village in a ravine famous for mountain hiking and hot springs. I would never go hiking, so by process of elimination, we were heading there for the hot springs.

The groan of the bus' engine became louder as the path grew steeper.