Not a detective

Page 30

Asakawa Riku has disappeared again. Although Chizuko really didn't want to use the word "again," the current situation made it hard for her not to think of what happened that spring.

When did it start? She remembered they were just talking, but suddenly only Chizuko was speaking. She was leading the way without looking back, so she didn't realize when Asakawa Riku had disappeared. She specifically asked the ghost "Kiku" beside her, but Kiku's meaning was that Asakawa Riku was too scary, so she didn't dare to look at him.

The other monsters were probably the same; no one noticed the moment he disappeared, and there were no eyewitnesses.

Just like "disappearing into the shadows," this time it's a genuine disappearance. He didn't just run away on his own; did someone take him away?

The Spider Woman is dead. Could there be someone else with the ability to "teleport"? Or perhaps a monster?

Chizuko closed her eyes and searched her mind. Suddenly, she felt that her "knowledge," which she was so proud of, was beginning to be distrusted.

Does Mikoshi Nyudo have the ability to make people disappear? It seems he can only kill people... or is he some other kind of monster?

This incident was different from the one in the spring. There was no warning or information, and Chizuko didn't know where Asakawa Riku had been taken. She couldn't rush to his rescue and was in a helpless situation.

Although she was unwilling to admit it, anxiety and worry filled her mind at that moment.

This prevented Chizuko from making valid inferences.

...

"President—senpai—Chizuko—"

At the same time, Asakawa Riku was also calling out in the mountains.

From his perspective, [it was Chizuko-senpai who disappeared].

Yes, it happened in a split second. The two were still talking when suddenly the girl's figure disappeared from the spot.

Like Chizuko, he also thought of the Spider Woman's superpowers in that instant.

But Spider Woman is already dead.

He started looking around, wondering if Chizuko-senpai was just teasing him, but after searching the area, he realized that she had indeed disappeared.

Asakawa Riku shouted in a loud and clear voice, even calling out his name. Under normal circumstances, that guy would have been forced out by the endless echoes.

It's probably not a ghost-catching joke.

If it's an escape, probably no one's movements can escape his eyes. Only monsters or superpowered individuals can do that.

Could it be "seeing beyond the Dao"?

He remembered the monster that had just been mentioned.

Chizuko-senpai failed to deal with the vicious guard dog and ended up having a mishap.

He didn't know what kind of death he meant by "if you keep staring at it, you will be killed," or perhaps even disappear. A sense of unease rose in his heart.

The usually calm and languid Asakawa Riku now revealed a sharp, hawk-like gaze, scanning everything around him. Even wild beasts probably wouldn't dare approach him at this moment.

But those eyes couldn't perceive anything strange.

He's not an expert at dealing with yokai; Chizuko-senpai is. And if it's "she" who's disappeared this time, then...

"Let's seek help." Asakawa Riku quickly made the decision.

He remembered that Chizuko-senpai had mentioned that her knowledge of Onmyoji came from her family, and that the shrine itself was said to have supernatural exorcism techniques.

The senior's father is also a priest, so his powers might be even stronger. In any case, if we ask the shrine for help, they will definitely be able to find a solution.

So Asakawa Riku stopped and unleashed his full speed, bursting forward up the steps.

If someone were to witness this scene, they would probably think it was a gust of wind sweeping in, carrying away the fallen leaves and creating a blurry image.

Running on the steep mountain road, Asakawa Riku moved as if on flat ground, even faster than when he experimented on the streets of Tokyo, completely ignoring the effects of gravity.

Like a lightning bolt, it leaps over two or three stone steps in a second, rushing upwards relentlessly.

But after running for several tens of minutes, he stopped.

wrong.

Not right.

He remembered that the mountain was only a few hundred meters high, but at this speed, he could even climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

It's not that high! Why can't we see the shrine at the top of the mountain?

Asakawa Riku's breathing was calm, not panting from the run. He looked at the mountain path ahead, as always, and the fallen leaves around him belatedly fell.

The surrounding area is still a forest, the scenery is exactly the same... wait, it seems the [torii gate] is gone.

Those light red doors haven't stood on either side of the road for a long time. When did the torii gates disappear?

He has strayed from the right path; this is not the way to the shrine, nor is it where he should be.

"So, it turns out, I was the one who was lost."

Summer of the Snow Woman: Chapter 5 - Low Magic Resistance

For some reason, after confirming this fact, Asakawa Riku felt relieved and less anxious.

At least it wasn't Chizuko-senpai who was in danger.

As for himself, there shouldn't be anything that can threaten him.

Instead of going up the mountain, Asakawa Riku walked down the stone steps, hoping to escape his predicament.

He then recalled some things that happened before the holiday.

...

When they were still in school, after school every day, besides reading books in the activity room, Asakawa Riku would occasionally have Chizuko accompany him to do experiments.

Of course, Chizuko always had a somewhat reluctant expression, saying that yokai and shikigami are not things to play around with, and that they also have their own emotions and desires.

She said, "It's like forcing a mouse to play with a cat. Do you think the mouse would be happy to do that?"

However, Riku Asakawa hadn't yet reached the point of showing humanistic concern for yokai; he was more interested in satisfying his own curiosity.

Fortunately, Chizuko is easily swayed. As long as you respectfully call her "President" a few times and satisfy her curiosity, you will still have a few chances to get what you want.

The experimental process will not be detailed here, but the conclusion is as follows:

"Asakawa-kun, you are actually easily influenced by yokai."

"Hmm?" Asakawa Riku was surprised by this.

He originally thought that his "zero inspiration" constitution meant he couldn't observe monsters, and naturally, monsters couldn't affect him either, but it seems that this is not the case.

In layman's terms, it's equivalent to "zero magic resistance".

Yes, although Riku Asakawa had trained his body to the extreme, he was still unable to resist the effects of those mechanisms and concepts when facing monsters and superpowers.

The fact that the Spider Woman could even teleport him directly from a distant place is enough to prove that he has very weak resistance to this kind of "magical attack".

"why is it like this……"

He was somewhat dissatisfied with this conclusion. If it weren't for the monsters' fear of him, wouldn't he have become a sitting duck for these strange creatures, completely at their mercy?

Chizuko said, "However... your physical defense is very strong."

She seemed to understand this common metaphor.

That's right. Asakawa Riku's body won't be directly harmed by monsters, just like when a mountain spirit bites his finger, it won't have any effect.

The only thing to worry about is "magical attacks".

"Although monsters fear you, this fear will turn into aggression once it reaches a certain limit. In a sense, monsters are born from the human heart and inherit human emotions, joys, sorrows and anger. They are in common with human nature. Fear and anger are only separated by a fine line, which is a lesson I learned from my past experiences."

Chizuko-senpai said with a serious expression that she had experienced the same thing in the past year.

Her fear of the "witch of the mystery club" turned into aggression, causing her to suffer from being ignored and bullied by the entire school.

The instinct to be threatened and to eliminate that threat is one that has existed since ancient times.

The same applies to Riku Asakawa. When he poses a threat to the yokai, some weaker yokai will flee in fear, but some powerful yokai may also feel anger.

How dare you, mere human beings—

"You're easy to spot, Asakawa-kun."

He remembered Chizuko-senpai looking at him seriously and saying, "Please make sure you take good care of yourself."

...

"I still got infected." Asakawa Riku finished reminiscing and gave a helpless bitter laugh.

He had been walking down the mountain for a long time, but the scenery before him was still the same, unchanged.

No matter how long you walk, you are surrounded by dense forests, and the winding mountain road goes downhill with no end in sight.

He was certain that he hadn't walked for that long when he went up the mountain.

Neither the way up nor down the mountain is passable; it's like a maze of stairs where you're trapped in a dead end no matter which way you go.

Even if he ran at his maximum speed, he couldn't break the cycle. It seems that brute force with speed won't work.

I took out my phone and saw that there was no signal. I couldn't make calls or connect to the internet, so there was no way to call for help.

It's like the setup for a traditional horror movie.

In short, going up was not an option, and going down was not an option either; this path was blocked, and he was in a complete predicament.

If the Tsuchigumo incident a year ago left him locked in a dark basement, now he is locked up in this mountain.

Although the air here is fresh, the sky and earth are vast, and the natural scenery is breathtaking, it seems like you can go anywhere, but in reality you can't go anywhere.

There's something wrong with this mountain path; no matter what you do, you'll end up back where you started. This was the only reasoning Asakawa Riku could come up with, and he could only describe it as a "ghost wall"—if Chizuko-senpai were here, she probably could accurately name the monster.

"When dealing with monsters, you must strike first, crack their tricks and mechanisms, and solve the problem without fighting."

I remembered what she said.

Asakawa Riku shouted "I've seen through you!" at the air a few times, but it seemed like he was just amusing himself. In the end, he didn't even know what this guy's name was.

This is really troublesome. If it were a regular monster that could fight with hands and feet, it would be easier to deal with.

He knew he couldn't continue along the mountain path, and wondered if he should just find a cliff and jump off, which would surely free him from the prison of the mountains.

But even he would fall to his death from a height of several hundred meters; in that case, only a corpse would escape...

Lost in thought, I felt less hot.

It's getting cold.

Asakawa Riku was wearing short sleeves today, and suddenly felt a chill in his arms. He remembered that the temperature in Tokyo today was around 30 degrees Celsius, which was considered the height of summer.

So, it's getting dark.

Looking up, the blazing sun was no longer hanging overhead, but had begun to set in the west. Although this could indicate the location in the west, was it really useful here?

The surrounding light also dimmed, birds fluttered their wings as they returned to their nests, and the cicadas continued their incessant chirping until everything quickly went dark.

Asakawa Riku remembered that he left home very early in the morning and that the time to meet with Chizuko-senpai was definitely no later than 10 o'clock.

It's impossible that it's already evening in such a short time. Could it be that the repetitive scenery and paths have unconsciously confused our sense of time?

Or is this also the power of the monster?

The evening breeze rustled through the forest, making the leaves whisper in the wind. This was probably the reason for the cold weather; the temperature difference between day and night in the mountains was quite significant.

Asakawa Riku doesn't need to worry about getting injured from hypothermia; it's impossible for him to freeze to death in the summer. However, the visibility around him is decreasing step by step.

As dusk falls and night quietly descends, unlike the fresh and natural beauty of the forest during the day, the mountains at night are filled with a terrifying and cold atmosphere.

Continuing like this and waiting won't solve anything.

"Consider it an adventure."

Asakawa Riku smiled, chasing the setting sun in the west, leaving the mountain path and heading deeper into the forest.

Summer of the Snow Woman: Chapter Six - Characters Appear

It seems to be getting colder and colder.

Asakawa Riku stepped on the muddy ground and couldn't help but think that way.

The evening breeze swept through the woods, creating what is colloquially known as a "chilling wind," causing the leaves to rustle eerily, which was particularly unsettling for passersby.

Through training, his physique is extraordinary, making him more resistant to heat and cold than others. Even swimming in water in winter has no effect on him.

But Asakawa Riku still felt that the cold was a bit too abnormal.