Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

The station was nearby, so the three of them walked.

The gyaru sister spoke in the lazy afternoon with a police patrol drone flying by overhead.

“Is it true the government will pay you a fortune if a gust of wind sends one of those tumbling down onto your head? According to Chatty, it has to actually hit you.”

“I-I don’t like that kind of painful talk…”

Rainy was probably more enjoying the very act of talking then trying to convey any kind of information.

When she realized the trembling wharf roach shrine maiden wasn’t receptive to that topic, she immediately changed topics. With the speed of someone playing a falling block puzzle game.

“So First Icemakers, huh!? They’re huge!!”

“Do you buy a lot of their products for your restaurant?”

“Yes, but that reminds me what Chatty was saying. Apparently there’s a way to tell which of the popsicles is a winner.”

The online shrine maiden bought a fair number of those, so this was a decently interesting topic for her, but she doubted it had anything to do with the Vanishing Canal.

They boarded a train to cross a few of the kilometers-long megafloats to arrive near the large First Icemakers factory near the outer edge. Tsumugi had already changed into her shrine maiden outfit.

The gyaru sister, who had won the right to take the only open seat in a game of rock-paper-scissors, kicked her legs and spoke.

“Oh, it’s already the next station. Mugikko, grab my bag for me.”

“Ugh,” groaned Tsumugi.

Why did Rainy have to put her bag in the rope shelf overhead?

Tsumugi was so short she couldn’t reach it even when she stood up on her tiptoes and stretched. But she didn’t want to admit that out loud, so she leaned forward and tried to reach anyway.

“Nhhh…”

“Hold that pose. And…snap! Got a photo of those huge boobs☆”

“Nyuwah!? Wh-wh-wh-why are you taking a picture!?”

“Look how they’re looming over me. Wa ha ha! It’s like they’re popping out of the screen!!”

Apparently Rainy didn’t care at all that Tsumugi was blushing, teary-eyed, and trembling.

She fanned her overheated face with a hand as they stepped out into the station.

They walked to the site from there. This area was on the outer edge of the city. A few cruise liners were visible in the distant ocean. The tourist population fluctuated based on the season and events, so when New Sea City didn’t have enough beds available, ships would be anchored out at sea to provide more. The tourists would travel to the city on mid-sized aquatic buses, but those only ran at certain times, which had to be inconvenient for the people staying on the ships.

The street was still brightly lit as the gyaru sister spoke.

“Hey, Mugikko. How’s the Shrine Restoration Project going?”

“Call it Shikinen Zotai.”

“What’s that?”

“A system for Shinto shrines to be rebuilt every twenty years. There are less strict versions, like with larger shrines where it only applies to the main shrine that holds the shintai. But if they’re designed with a cycle of construction and destruction in mind, you would think they would have ways of building them cheaply…”

In reality, typing out the cost on a cheap calculator would end up with a glitched(?) output.

“If it’s that hard to raise the money on your own, wouldn’t it be faster to regain the shrine’s religious corporation status?” asked the straitlaced sister, sounding sorry. “Then the government would give you some kind of financial support, I think.”

“Hm? My sister, what in the world is a religious corporation?”

“Shh.”

The online shrine maiden motioned for the sisters to halt their conversation. Apparently the time for talking had ended.

It was in view.

The haunted Vanishing Canal.

The Otsugo Water Level Control Canal was actually a seawater canal running between two megafloats. It was long, but only about five meters wide. An elevated passage, likely for the railroad they had just been using, crossed it overhead. That might not sound like much, but it crossed between two floats that were constantly rocking in waves too small for people to even notice. Ensuring their heights matched had to involve precise sensors, adjustable bridge piers, and plenty more advanced tech.

The space below the elevated railway appeared to be a parking lot rather than some kind of shop. It was surrounded by a construction fence and soundproofing sheets and it looked like there were large trucks parked inside. There was a gap between two of the fences covered by soundproofing sheets. Peeking through there, they saw a prefab hut that may have served as the supervisor’s room.

A quick glance around didn’t show any vases of flowers or pairs of shoes neatly placed side by side.

Tsumugi gave the whole scene another look.

“The control canal is long…but this would be where a First Icemakers worker would cross it on the way home.”

“Hmm, looks like a normal street to me. Is this place really haunted? It’s daytime and sunny.”

The gyaru sister’s carefree comment made the online shrine maiden sigh.

“Have you still not figured out it’s dangerous to assume paranormal phenomena only occur at night? The sun doesn’t burn Malign Spirits or anything like that. You’re thinking of Western vampires.”

“Mhh.”

If there was a Malign Spirit here, Tsumugi had to find it, but when she didn’t know what conditions led to the disappearances, it was safest to investigate while it was light out and she could see everything.

“But can we really believe the stories about the Vanishing Canal?”

“Whaddya mean, my sister?”

At Rainy’s prompting, the straitlaced sister held a hand to her chin and…

“The factory’s time cards only record a time. It doesn’t actually tell you who punched it. So isn’t it possible the people disappeared before leaving the factory’s grounds and not on the way home afterwards? Looking at it that way, doesn’t the factory manager sound awfully suspicious?”

“I don’t think we need to worry about that,” said the online shrine maiden, waving her trifold phone.

No signal. Which was highly unnatural on this collection of artificial megafloats.

The sisters gasped in sync with each other.

“If our phones are dead…”

“Th-then this is the place. One of those Malign Spirit things is making that ringing sound!”