284 Murderers

It was nighttime at Unto Shrine.

That morning, Kimura Kazuki and his group left Sakagami Village for the nearest town to have breakfast. After their meal, they returned to the village by noon with a generous supply of groceries. This time round, they were sensible enough to bring back a sufficient amount as the long distance between the village and the town did not do them any justice in the event of hunger strike.

However, when night fell, Kimura Kazuki knitted his brow in concentration. 

"Kimura-sama…" Sei Shigeru's voice beckoned through the door in a slightly dignified manner.

When Kimura Kazuki stepped out of the door, he saw Sei Shigeru, Harunaka and the other two standing next to each other.

When Asuka was out in the morning, he bought a deck of cards and invited Harunaka for a card game to pass time during the evening. Initially he intended to invite Kimura Kazuki to join the fun despite knowing that his strengths would have daunted Asuka and Mei. Yet, since both siblings had known Kimura for a while, everyone knew Kimura Kazuki had a warm persona beneath his cold front. On top of that, they were a bunch of youngsters altogether. Apart from his strengths, both of them were keen to mingle with Kimura Kazuki as well. After all, a person with such notable influence would benefit them in some ways, especially through his advice.

Yet Kimura Kazuki was only good at the game "Struggle with the Landlord", and he knew for sure that Asuka, Mei and Harunaka did not know how to play, so he turned down their offer.

Now that he was out, he looked at Sei Shigeru without greeting him. He looked around and confusion filled his head. 

At the moment, the surroundings of Unto Shrine was swamped with the villagers of Sakagami Village. Their silent gazes were filled with rage. The moment Kimura Kazuki appeared and everyone was present, a scrawny white-haired old man in clutches with a very distressed look said, "I am the chief of Sakagami Village, Tarou Sakagami."

"Hello, Mr. Tarou." Sei Shigeru gently nodded his head. With reverence, he asked, "Is there anything urgent, Mr. Tarou?" Even though the question was directed at Tarou Sakagami, his eyes were fixed upon Grandma Sakagami who accommodated them earlier on. She was a familiar figure to his group and he hoped that she would shed some light on the existing incident for them.

Grandma Sakagami understood his cue, yet she heaved a gentle sigh. Looking perplexed, she kept quiet.

"This morning, I sent my son up Mount Unto to invite you guys for breakfast…" Tarou Sakagami started banging his clutch against the floor. He then thundered, 'Yet when night came, he did not return. Tell me! Did you guys conspire against him?"

After all, Kimura Kazuki and his group were there to investigate the incident at Unto Shrine. It made sense to have them rushed back for this matter. She believed that by telling them about the news of the chief's son being killed, they would return and continue the investigation. Previously when she was back to the village, she had even added Harunaka and others up on Line as friends. Even though the signal reception in the village was poor, it should not be a problem to send a text message.

Who would have thought that before she broke the news, Kimura Kazuki and the others had already turned up. That was good for her too because she no longer had to risk exposing herself.

Someone is dead? Kimura Kazuki and Sei Shigeru looked at each other. They were thinking of making use of this evening's move to discreetly slip into the rooms of the villagers to find some clues. They were left with no choice because the "tradition" of Sakagami Village was too peculiar even after the disappearance of the Majin at Unto Shrine. They wanted to find out whether this tradition was really the culture of Sakagami Village or a tradition with an unnatural cause.

No one expected for someone to be dead now.

Kimura Kazuki had a thought suddenly. Did Tarou Sakagami's son meet the silhouette that he saw on his way to the mountain at midnight?

Sei Shigeru's face changed. Clearly, he too remembered about the silhouette that was told by Kimura Kazuki that morning. If the chief's son is dead, could he have been killed by the silhouette? Then what was that silhouette? Could it be the Majin who had broken the seal?

Apparently, Sei Shigeru did not realize but it turned out that his blind guesses led him to the truth. Yet, this was no surprise because Sakagami Village might be peculiar but the number of people in the village was small. It was easy to see through everything. Moreover, it was easy enough to find out about what really happened in Sakagami Village. This was exactly the benefit of a lowly populated village because technically speaking, it was hard to conceal any secret.

While running through his thoughts, Sei Shigeru revealed an apologetic expression. "I am terribly sorry, chief of Sakagami Village. In the morning, we left for a small town to have breakfast. We were unaware that your son was at the mountain. On the way back, we did not see him at all. I believe we have missed him.''

Tarou Sakagami shouted in humiliation, "You are just as old as I am and you dare tell me that you have gone to a small town to have breakfast?! The distance between Sakagami Village and the small town is about seven to eight thousand meters apart! Are you saying that right after breakfast, you came straight back to Unto Shrine by noon?!" If Tarou Sakagami was not old-fashioned, he would probably have already cursed, "Damn your mother, you motherf*cker! I will f*ck your mother!"

After the speech, the villagers glared at them as well.

Apparently, everyone found it hard to believe that this white-haired old man standing in front of them could walk seven to eight thousand meters, not to mention walking right back after breakfast. Was this supposed to be a joke? Going to and fro like that would be over 10 kilometers!

Sei Shigeru gave an ironic smile, thinking that these people obviously did not know the power of an Enchanted Talisman.

"We did go to the small town this morning.'' Kimura Kazuki stood up and said lightly, "If you don't believe us, feel free to send someone to travel with us to the small town tomorrow morning, and ask the local shop owner for details. We would also be travelling by foot, then you will believe us.''

"We usually rest in the morning, what makes you think we would travel to the small town with you?'' Without waiting for the chief of Sakagami Village to say anything, Grandma Sakagami stood out of the crowd and sighed. "Please leave… I believe you guys are not the murderers of Mushiya. Mount Unto is filled with beasts and that Mushiya fellow rarely goes deep into the mountain, plus he was not the best in navigating routes, so I believe he must have ran into a wild animal unexpectedly. It has been a while since outsiders visited Sakagami Village. Ironically this incident happened when you guys were around. I suggest you all leave right now else none of us in the entire village could have proper rest.''

"How could you let them go!'' Tarou Sakagami raged. "Mushiya was my filial son. Now that had disappeared on Mount Unto, and the murderers are right in front of us now. Letting them go without even punishing them, is this some sort of joke?''

Otome Sakagami let out a sarcastic laugh in her heart the moment she heard those words. Tarou Sakagami and Mushiya Sakagami were never on good terms and were not that close too. After all, if Tarou Sakagami had lost a son, he still had two more sons. Otherwise, why would he have sent Mushiya up the mountain when he knew that it was a scorching hot day? Did he not know that it was too mentally and physically taxing?

Based on the situation, it seemed that they were just looking for an excuse to chase away Kimura Kazuki and the others. If she had not killed Mushiya, these fellows would have probably killed Mushiya themselves and blamed it on Kimura Kazuki and the others.

According to Otome Sakagami's personal judgement, she believed that the people of Sakagami Village had gone mad from trying to break the curse. Still, her consent was required if Kimura Kazuki and the others were to express their wishes to leave.