Tokyo Detective

Chapter 413 Offending me and still wanting to leave the mountains
The shrine maiden leading the dance was still the same one, Inugami Miko, but she had changed her clothes.

She wore a white kosode (white robe) on top and a scarlet hakama (loose red pants) on the bottom. Her hair was tied up and adorned with a golden crown. She wore a shrine maiden sash around her waist. Her entire outfit was decorated with golden divine patterns. She held a golden Kagura bell in her hand.

Each movement triggers a bell sound, and the gentle, slow dance is undeniably beautiful.

Naoki Hanyu could only say that watching the dance was quite pleasing to the eye; there was nothing particularly special about it, after all, it was just a few pretty girls dancing.

Naoki Hanyu suddenly looked at the shrine maiden standing next to him, only to see that the girl, who looked to be about 16 years old, was also staring intently at the dancing shrine maiden.

Don't you have class today?

"what?"

The girl, with her slightly chubby and cute face, was momentarily at a loss for words, only giving an answer after Naoki Hanyu asked her again.

"I'm taking a day off today."

"You're taking time off to do part-time work? How much does the shrine pay you?"

"???"

The girl looked at the man in front of her warily. Why was he asking that question? But the man in front of her was really handsome, so maybe it wouldn't be a problem to say it?
"2.8."

"Where is the priestess dancing on the stage?"

"At least 10 million."

Naoki Hanyu nodded.

"Keep up the good work, and maybe it won't be long before you're dancing on it."

"I wish I could dance every day during holidays and festivals."

The girl wanted to continue talking, but she shut up after being glanced at by the head priestess. She wanted to work part-time at the shrine until she graduated from university.

A dozen minutes later, the Kagura dance ended, and the next step was the sacrificial ceremony, in which various offerings, rice, salt, sake, vegetables, fruits, fish, etc., were presented. The old priest solemnly recited ancient prayers.

Whether this entrepreneurship event is useful or not, at least it has a strong sense of ritual.

The next steps are to witness the torii gate with the name of the agricultural society and a blessing written on it, and then climb to the first peak of Mount Inari to offer a sacrifice to the heavens. It is said that this highest peak is the place where the Inari god first appeared when he descended to earth.
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By the time everything was finished, it was already evening. The last rays of the setting sun were blocked by the trees, and some stone statues and altars looked eerie in the shadows.

This isn't just a visual illusion; Naoki Hanyu really did see a ghost.

A black mist appeared deep in the woods, and upon closer inspection, it could be seen to be a blurry human face.

"The shrine is haunted, that's really something."

Although Naoki Hanyu had read some urban legends about Inari Shrines online, they were usually about things like being trapped in a maze or disappearing into the spirit world. It turns out that ghosts really do exist.

Suddenly a figure came into his sight. It was Quan Gongsi, the dog god, who came to the statue deep in the forest and lit three incense sticks. Then the black mist gradually disappeared, as if it had left on its own.

When Inugami Miko noticed that Hanyu Naoki was looking at her, she simply nodded in greeting.

"This shrine is quite interesting."

Shrines, shrine maidens, ghosts—all these elements could be made into a TV series.
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The group walked to their final destination, a clubhouse located next to a waterfall. From the windows, they could see the mist created by the waterfall crashing into a small lake.

They were also to have a feast called the Harvest Feast. According to the shrine, the food came from Mount Inari, and both the vegetables and meat were blessed by the Inari God. Since it was a donation package, no one knew the price of the so-called Harvest Feast.

Anyway, the people at the shrine won't say outright that eating the divine grace meal will bring good health and good luck, but they will imply it in a veiled way.

As expected, 4000 million makes a difference; ordinary companies don't have those last two steps.

Naoki Hanyu was drinking the shrine's homemade sake and found it bland and tasteless when suddenly a figure walked over.

"Hello, Captain Yuzuru."

Naoki Hanyu turned his head and saw a middle-aged man whose appearance could be described as having the eyes of an eagle and the gaze of a wolf.

"you are?"

The man smiled and handed over a business card.

"Kondo Sougo, Executive Director of the Agricultural Cooperative in Kanto."

Naoki Hanyu is quite familiar with this position, after all, he had just killed the former Kanto Executive Director a few days ago.

"Is there something you need, Mr. Kondo?"

"Firstly, I want to get to know Mr. Yuzuru, and secondly, I want to discuss business with him."

Having traveled a long way to participate in the startup festival, Naoki Hanyu already guessed the other party's purpose, but he still asked the question knowingly.

"what business?"

"Mr. Yuzuru owns 6500 hectares of rice paddies, and I believe we will have more opportunities to cooperate in the future, and..."

Naoki Hanyu raised his hand to interrupt the other person.

"I've heard about the difficulties faced by agricultural cooperatives. Do you want to buy the rice I have?"

"As expected, we couldn't hide it from Mr. Yuzuru. As long as Mr. Yuzuru sells the rice to the Agricultural Cooperative, you will be our top-tier partner. We will not let our partner suffer any losses and will definitely buy it at the highest price."

"how much is it?"

Kondo Sougo quoted a price that other farmers could only dream of.

"800 per kilogram, 48000 for 60 kilograms."

今年普通农民的价格也就是60公斤18000到3万左右，土地太贫瘠种出来的大米甚至没有18000，另一方面土地肥沃种出来的一等米甚至达到3万以上。

So even for top-grade Koshihikari rice and Hokkaido's specialty rice, the price is already very reasonable.

Naoki Hanyu shook his head, seeing Sougo Kondo's confident demeanor.

"The price is indeed very tempting, but I already have plans to sell the rice to the government."

Kondo Sougo's eyes instantly sharpened; an ordinary person would feel a strange pressure just from being stared at like that.

Kondo Sougo absolutely did not want to see the government's pressure lessen while the agricultural cooperatives' pressure increased. "Minister Hanyu, please reconsider. Our agricultural cooperative is very sincere. Don't you want to be a good friend of the agricultural cooperative just because you're involved in agriculture?"

This subtle threat made Naoki Hanyu a little uncomfortable, especially the aggressive look in their eyes, which made him even more annoyed. These guys didn't know that his subsequent actions were aimed at the agricultural cooperative.

Naoki Hanyu, now known as the Ghost Ship Maker, patted the other person on the shoulder and, without anyone noticing, took out the hilt of his demon sword Muramasa, nudged it, and then sheathed it.

In an instant, two curse buffs were applied to the target, but unfortunately, Kondo Sougo did not actually grasp the hilt and draw the sword, so the curse of the demon sword only had half the effect at most.

Naoki Hanyu said calmly.

“I’ll think about it some more. You should also go back and think it through. After all, 48000 isn’t enough to sway me.”

Kondo Sougo frowned. The worst thing about doing business is having to guess the other party's reasonable price.

"Mr. Yuzuru, you can make your request."

"I haven't decided yet. You should come back to me when you've decided on the price."

"."

Kondo Sougo knew that the other party was trying to raise the price or even just give him a perfunctory response, and there was nothing he could do about it. He also felt a chill just now, which came and went quickly, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Kondo Sougo, being a respectable person, didn't pester him, but instead extended his hand and said...

"In that case, I will visit Mr. Yuzuru again in a while, and I hope that we can cooperate then."

"I also hope that everyone can cooperate."

The conversation ended with them shaking hands, and Naoki Hanyu watched as the other person left with bodyguards.

It was already dark outside, and the Inari Shrine was only illuminated by streetlights, but someone was harboring ulterior motives.

"Wishing you a happy encounter."

After all, people who are down on their luck are bound to encounter something.

Because Mount Inari has narrow roads that are not suitable for driving, Kondo Sougo and his companion had to walk down the mountain, a journey that took about half an hour.

Throughout the entire process, Kondo Sougo maintained a somber expression. Despite his high position as the new Director of General Affairs of the Kanto Region, his first task upon taking office was to tackle a major problem. If he couldn't resolve the issues left by Nishimura Takamori, he probably wouldn't have more than half a month left in his professional career.

Time was clearly very tight, and his connections and abilities were not as good as Nishimura Takamori's.

Suddenly a mountain breeze blew by, and Kondo Sougo felt a chill all over his body. A sudden urge to urinate surged up in his heart. Seeing that no one was around, he decided to find a corner to take care of it. It was just too urgent. It was strange that he had such good kidneys.

"I need to use the restroom. You wait here for me."

The burly bodyguard nodded.

"Yes."

"Yes."

A faint echo came from behind, but neither of them noticed it.

Kondo Sougo sneaked into a corner of the woods in the dark to relieve himself, and when he turned around after finishing, he was stunned.

On the left, there was a dilapidated torii gate. Behind the torii gate was a pile of stone statues, including Buddha statues, faceless goddess statues, and some Asura statues. Their ancient and dirty appearance proved that these things had been there for a long time.

In addition, there are other stone artifacts, such as stone platforms, stone lanterns, and stone tablets, which have turned from red to faded white and are now scattered haphazardly among the old torii gates.

At first glance, this place gives one the eerie feeling of a cemetery, and upon closer inspection, a strange sense of disorientation arises.

"Was this place there just now? Why didn't I notice it?"

Kondo Sougo didn't say anything, only that he hadn't noticed because it was dark. Just as he turned around and hurried back, a black figure suddenly flashed behind him without a sound.

When Kondo Sougo left the woods, he discovered that his bodyguard had disappeared, even though he had already told him.

"Uchiyama, Uchiyama, why aren't you coming back?"

The empty mountain road was so quiet that even Kondo Sougo felt a little uneasy.

He picked up the phone again and dialed the bodyguard, but no one answered.

Kondo Sougo frowned.

Why can't I get through?

He tried several times but gave up and just kept walking down the mountain.

But what happened next made him feel strange. More than ten minutes passed and there wasn't a single person in sight. Even the streetlights were free of flying insects.

Just as Kondo Sougo was carefully observing the streetlights, the bulbs hanging on them suddenly flickered and went out, plunging a section of the mountain road into darkness. Within seconds, the streetlights lit up and went out again, and this flickering made Kondo Sougo feel a real sense of fear.

The mountain road was deserted, with only the flickering streetlights. Being all alone seemed like the worst possible experience.

Kondo Sougo quickened his pace, intending to leave as soon as possible. He had been walking for more than twenty minutes and estimated that he was almost at the bottom of the mountain.

Ten minutes later, Kondo Sougo froze, staring at the endless mountain road. He realized that something was wrong with him.

This situation could certainly be due to him getting lost in an unfamiliar place, but it could also be due to encountering something.

Kondo Sougo was tired of walking this damn mountain road, so he took out his phone to call the driver outside the shrine, but he still couldn't get through. He couldn't even get through to the police either.

"Damn it, maybe there's just no signal in the mountains?"

At that moment, cold sweat poured down his forehead. Was there really no signal?

Just then, a wooden house that looked like a small shop appeared by the roadside. The light inside cast a dark shadow, leading the agricultural cooperative executive to believe that someone was inside.

But just as Kondo Sougo approached the cabin, the shadow inside turned around and gradually enlarged its shadow on the glass, eventually appearing to press against the frosted glass door, causing Kondo Sougo to slow down. It was too eerie.

The next second, accompanied by a loud noise, a bloody handprint appeared on the glass, and at the same time, a hand reached out from behind Kondo Sougo.

(End of this chapter)