301 Kanayama

"Big brother Kimura, you're finally here." Ikioi Ito had an expression full of longing on his face, and upon seeing that Kimura Kazuki had arrived, he immediately went up to greet him excitedly.

Kimura Kazuki glanced at him knowing that this fellow was extremely cowardly. However, at the same time, he was curious as to what exactly was causing trouble in the Kobayashi Village.

"Kimura-kun, Harunaka-san."

Upon noticing Kimura Kazuki and Harunaka's arrival, everyone greeted them in succession, especially Tomoya Saito who had the most complex expression on his face. Ever since he had lost to her in the Jade Dragon Flag Competition, he would no longer suck up to Katsuki Sugawara whenever he met her.

After all, he had already promised Kimura Kazuki. Since he lost, he had naturally lost the right to go after Katsuki Sugawara.

The days of abstaining from sucking up to her were just so difficult to bear. 

Tomoya Saito did not know that Katsuki Sugawara and Yayoi Momoi were a Yuri couple.

Originally, Katsuki Sugawara was not going to come to Kobayashi Village as she still needed to attend tuition classes during her summer break. Yayoi Momoi's results were fantastic and if the two of them wanted to enroll in the same university, she needed to put in the extra effort. She did not want Yayoi Momoi, who could easily enter a reputable university, having to go to a normal university with her when the time came to fulfill their aspirations.

However, Yayoi Momoi had an even stronger desire for practice. Hence, when she found out Ikioi Ito and the others were going to search for traces of a monster during their summer break, she dragged Katsuki Sugawara along with her.

Katsuki Sugawara did not need to think twice about being able to be with the person she liked during her summer vacation and agreed immediately.

After greeting them, Kimura Kazuki had Ikioi Ito and others explained the situation in detail to him again as everything had only been roughly stated in the group chat, making it very easy to miss out on details.

Meanwhile, Harunaka took a look around at her surroundings. This was her first time visiting Kobayashi Village.

This village was similar as described on the Internet and was a great tourist attraction to visit during the summer holidays.

Soon enough, Kimura Kazuki arrived at the hotel that Ikioi Ito and the others were staying in. It was a treehouse hotel built upon four giant trees surrounding it and had a very artistic taste to the large spaces that it housed. Going up the stairs, there was a tea booth in the middle for hotel guests to enjoy the shade and relax. While further in the distance, there were hanging wooden bridges linked to other treehouses, giving out a sense of novelty.

"The day before yesterday, before Daisuke Kojima left, did he say anything to you all?"

"Not really," a young man with slightly darker skin said worriedly. According to Ikioi Ito's description, that person was most probably Amagasaki, the leader of the group. "At the time, it was midday and Daisuke invited us to join him for some sketching, but we all had plans, so we didn't go with him."

Makoto Honda paused momentarily, jotting down notes in his notebook before looking at Amagasaki with his brows furrowed. "Did Daisuke Kojima not know about your holiday plans? According to what you've said, you should be staying in the same dorm as Daisuke Kojima. But as far as I'm concerned, both of you don't seem really close?" 

Amagasaki replied awkwardly, "It's true that we're not that close… After the first month of the university in the dorm, I got a girlfriend. Then after that, certain things just weren't that convenient to do there, so I rented a room outside of campus. Although Daisuke Kojima was my dorm-mate, the only one I was close to was Hayato. As for this summer vacation, it was supposed to be a social gathering between dorms." 

Following Amagasaki's explanation, Makoto Honda more or less understood the situation. 

This visit to Kobayashi Village had initially been Amagasaki and his girlfriend, Hinako Hirai's arrangement. However, both of them were extroverts who liked excitement, so Amagasaki had the bright idea of inviting his dorm-mates while Hirai Hinako invited hers. Therefore, it had turned into a socializing holiday between dorms.

However, Daisuke Kojima was slightly reclusive and did not like to socialize with others. He had not accepted Amagasaki's invitation and so he had not known that their first stop of the holiday was Kobayashi Village. Thus, when Amagasaki had bumped into Daisuke Kojima at Kobayashi Village, he was caught by surprise.

After that, he came to understand that aside from seeking a solo vacation, Daisuke Kojima was also visiting Kobayashi Village because the scenery here was very suitable for sketching. After all, many university students who majored in arts would choose Kobayashi Village as a sketching location. 

When the two of them had bumped into each other in Kobayashi Village, Daisuke Kojima had also felt somewhat awkward. Amagasaki, on the other hand, had felt as though they were fated to meet, and immediately had a conversation with him, convincing Daisuke Kojima to join them while he was there. This time, Daisuke Kojima did not reject him because declining his invitation again would have been rather rude. 

Hearing that, Makoto Honda nodded slightly. So that explains it. 

Daisuke Kojima had a different objective from Amagasaki and the others. Moreover, Amagasaki had never expected to meet Daisuke Kojima at Kobayashi Village, so it was only reasonable and fair that he was not included in their vacation plans.

However, Makoto Honda did not only speak to Amagasaki. After all, nobody knew how Daisuke Kojima had disappeared and from Makoto Honda's point of view, the case was very likely to be a homicide case upon ruling out instances of suicide and accidents.

Of course, after his inquiries, homicide was most likely ruled out as well, and there was a higher possibility of him getting into an accident. After all, the place that Daisuke Kojima had gone to was Kanayama. The name Kanayama had been chosen by the chief of Kobayashi Village in hopes that Kobayashi Village would develop and grow to become more prosperous each day.

Although Kanayama had been named by them, the people of Kobayashi Village would not normally visit Kanayama. According to the legend, there was a monster on Kanayama that fed on humans.

However, Makoto Honda did not really believe that, and as for the monster that ate humans, it was probably some ferocious wild animals.

Kanayama itself had restricted entry and there was even a sign at the bottom of the mountain that stated so. Hence, it was obvious that Daisuke Kojima had little regard for his own life, hence he would still go up to the mountain for sketching.

As he was making inquiries, Makoto Honda looked up to see the presence of Kimura Kazuki and others who were staring at them curiously. At the sight of this, he could not help but smile. 

Kimura Kazuki flashed him a smile in return but did not prolong his stay there. With the strength of his hearing, he had clearly heard the conversation between the two people.

It was quite obvious that there was not much useful information in their conversation. Yet, this was understandable. Based on Tomoya Saito's statement, there was a strong possibility that there was a monster on Kanayama.

As for what kind of monster it could be, he would have to investigate at night. 

He initially wanted to hike up Kanayama immediately to check it out, but since the police were here, they would definitely go up Kanayama to search, and would only return to the village around nightfall at the very least. 

After all, Kobayashi Village was quite a famous tourist attraction. Hence, regardless of whether it was the authorities or Kobayashi Village itself, an explanation had to be given to the other tourists in the area. Otherwise, if this incident was not resolved, it would leave a mark on Kobayashi Village even if it was not responsible for it.