Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 3 (section)

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Upon walking back from the teahouse, there were trees growing densely out in front and some kind of roof could just slightly be seen peeking through there.

“Akifumi-san, what is that?”

“Oh, that’s the shrine. But it’s a small shrine without a Shinto priest.”

He said and dropped his gaze to his wristwatch.

“It’s still a little early. Would you like to go?”

With the tide not completely ebbed, Pumps Ayako and Kimono Masako said it was impossible to walk, so we headed to the shrine. For the time being, we exited the garden by going to the main building, and once we passed through the garden of the main building, we came out to the road. A [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Torii_Gate|torii gate]] was built a short distance away from the Yoshimi house gate. 

The shrine was fairly neat. I thought it certainly would have been awfully dilapidated since Akifumi-san said it was unmanned. A little happily, Ayako said, 

“Ahh, what a splendid shrine. Though it hasn’t been cleaned properly.”

“Is it splendid? The cleaning is done by my family. We’ve been the caretakers for generations.”

It was a really small shrine that didn’t seem anywhere near splendid. There was a small sort of stage, and there was only a lattice door on the interior.

“Splendid, splendid. This is probably the shrine of a patron god.”

“What’s a patron god?”

“To put it briefly, a god of the land. It’s a village’s guardian god. There’s a kagura hall, or in other words, a place for ancient Shinto music and dancing.”

“Right. In autumn.”

Hmm.

“Young master, young master.”

Now called by Bou-san, Akifumi-san smiled wryly.

Bou-san pointed out three side-by-side tombstones located in the corner of the grounds and asked,

“What’re those?”

“Those are the [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Tohachi_aka_Sanroku_Mounds|Tohachi mounds]].”

“Tohachi mounds?”

“Tohachi mounds, written as eighteen. I’m not sure why, though. I think Tohachi is a sort of play on words since their also called the [[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Tohachi_aka_Sanroku_Mounds|Sanroku mounds]].”

“Why?”

When I asked and pulled on Akifumi-san’s shirt, he replied,

“[[Ghost_Hunt:Volume6_Translator's_Notes#Tohachi_aka_Sanroku_Mounds|Three times six is eighteen]], right?”

“Oh, I see.”

“No one knows why they’re called the Sanroku mounds. But three are here, right? And then there are the ones on the point of the cape.”

“Ah, it was five, wasn’t it?”

Akifumi-san nodded.

“Right. Therefore, there were six on the tip of that cape and maybe one was lost, is what my grandmother says.”

Bou-san was thoughtful.

“Lost mound, huh?”

John spoke to Bou-san,

“A mound in this case is a grave, isn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

“Is there a reason for it not being there? I wonder if it’s not related to the Yoshimi house incident.”

Ayako snapped her fingers.

“That’s it! That mound was the grave of a fox. And then, it was moved without permission when the shop was built. That curse then...”

“I already came to the same conclusion.”

This was said by Bou-san and Ayako puffed her cheeks.

“Is that so!?”

“If it was Naru-bou, he’d probably say, ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself.’ What do you think, Masako?”

Masako tilted her head like a doll.

“What we are calling a fox is not truly a fox. I did not sense the presence of an animal. Not at the shop, nor at the mounds either. Spirits often tell lies, and when they are seen by human eyes, they will often appear taking the form of an animal.”

“Hmm. What else?”

Being asked, Masako made a serious face.

“I feel the presence of many spirits. I do not know what kind of spirits they are. However, I wonder if they’re not a kind of wandering spirit.”

“Masako. Does that mean you don’t know this time either?”

Masako looked away from Bou-san’s amazed expression. And then,

“This is a strange place. I do not sense anything good, but on the other hand, I do not sense anything bad.”

...Wait a minute. Those words.

“I sensed a strange power inside the house as well, however, what I felt was a mix of something very bad and something very good. I have a memory of such a feeling... ”

“Sacred ground?”

When I asked, Masako opened her eyes wide.

“...Yes. That’s right. Previously, when I went to America, I had gone to sacred Native American ground. This feeling is very similar to the feeling of that place.”

“Masako, you’ve been to foreign countries?”

Ah, wealthy people.

“Only once. I attended a seance by invitation of ASPR.”

“ASPR?”

“It’s an American psychic research society. At that time, I had gone to a place referred to as Native American holy ground. This was where Native American souls gathered. It was a sacred place protected by spirits, but it was also the source of a curse that would bring calamity to those who defiled it. The spirits of many were wandering… It’s very similar to the feeling of that place.”

A place to gather souls… 

Bou-san looked back in the direction of the cape behind us.

“In any case, I still want to take a look at that cave.”

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In front of the shop entrance was a beautiful garden. The low hedgerow continued here as well, and beyond was the coast. There was a break at a point in the hedgerow and from there, concrete stairs extended down to the coast. While clinging to the steel handrail, we descended the long stairway along the cliff. At the bottom was a coastline full of pebbles and rocks. Slightly offshore from the coast, there was an area where various sized rocks projected in countless numbers from the surface of the sea. It stretched directly parallel along the coast, and surging waves crashed against the rocks there, halting their momentum, which resulted in the coastline becoming very calm.

“Beautiful water.”

The seawater was clear like glass.

“Here it is.”

Akifumi-san indicated the base of the cliff, which he had now descended. At the base of the cliff, something like a path had been made, which had things such as rocks and stones piled up. We walked along the path, being careful so as to not slip. The path ran along the circumference of the cliff and going around it, the tip of the cliff could be easily reached. From the tip, we walked along a rock and arrived at the entrance of the cave. The tide had completely ebbed, but nevertheless, the water had only fallen to about ankle depth at most, and as a result, Ayako fussed even more. Thus, I told her not to come dressed pretentiously during investigations.

The cave was exactly the same as what I saw in my dream. The ground was covered with stones like a dry riverbed. In the case of the identical bend around the middle, there was also the same small shrine in exact area inside of the bend. However, looking at the shrine now, there wasn’t the same distortion. Although small, the cleaning was thorough. A clean, orderly shrine.

“Masako, how about here?”

When I asked in a whisper, Masako looked up at the high ceiling.

“It’s the same. That mountain and— the sacred ground I saw in America, it’s the same feeling.”

Hearing muttering, I looked back at the cave entrance.

“Even now, spirits are flowing in.”

Bou-san looked inside of the shrine.

“Do you also do the cleaning for this, young master?” 

“Yes. As well as the main building's Buddhist household altar and the shop’s Shinto household altar… Since my family is fussy, my childhood was difficult.”

“Oh?”

“If it’s child’s help, it means cleaning and that sort, right? Childhood was unpleasant.”

“Tell me about it. My house was a temple, too.”

“What about you, Ayako?”

I tried asking.

“Was your house also a shrine, Ayako? Was it difficult?”

“Sorry to disappoint. My home wasn’t part of a shrine.”

“It wasn’t!?”

If so, then why are you a miko!?

“I never helped with anything. You see, besides being raised like a princess, I was an only child, so I got spoiled.”

“...you admit it yourself. Well then, what does your family do, Ayako?”

When I asked, Ayako smiled and combed back her hair.

“Oh, they're doctors.”

EEK!

“As in the wealthy and prestigious kind of doctors?”

“That’s right. We built a private general hospital, so we’re fairly wealthy. The maid did everything for us.”

Why is such a wealthy young woman acting as a miko? When I tried to ask, Bou-san raised his voice.

“Young master, what’s inside here?”

Bou-san was looking inside so that his nose was pressed against the small lattice door of the shrine. Saying, ‘Ah,’ Akifumi-san opened the shrine.

“It’s driftwood. At least, that’s what I think it probably is.”

Contained inside was a wooden stick about thirty centimeters in height. Near the top was rounded and it appeared to be in the shape of a person. There were two small projections that looked like little hands.

“It’s called ‘Okobu-sama.’”

“‘Okobu,’ like the rock?”

“I don’t know… I think it’s different from that. Doesn’t it look like a human somewhat with a head and hands? Also, doesn’t it look like this?”

Akifumi-san lightly raised one hand while hanging the other hand slightly out in front.

“Ah, I see.”

“This is a common pose of Buddha statues, right? I think that’s why it’s enshrined.”