The old man was shocked.

“Performing the sacrifice ritual? But for what?”

Suga nodded.

“Like uncle and the others, I also feel that all this happened because of the Kagohara village Guardian gods. The only way to stop this calamity is to come to it directly.”

The old man’s expression changed to surprise.

“Do you know the meaning of what you said? If you are sacrificed to Gasokami, you may never come back.”

Suga smiled.

“Don’t worry, Uncle. I won’t go there recklessly. I have prepared thoroughly.”

The old man looked doubtful. Suga’s expression turned serious.

“I can only say I might be able to save Ishikari. But we can’t waste time; we have to do the ritual now.”

The old man was surprised; his expression then turned serious.

“Okay, I understand.”

Suga smiled. The old man continued speaking.

“The first thing we should do now is meet the shrine administrator and caretaker in this town. We’ll use my car to get there.”

Suga’s expression turned curious, and he then nodded. The old man put up a sign saying “Closed” in front of his bicycle rental shop, then got into his car parked in a garage nearby; Suga got in and sat in the passenger seat next to the old man. Nellson flew into the car and stood in the middle-row seat of this car. The old man then drove his car away from here.

On the way, Suga looked at the view outside the window, looking lost in thought. Suga was surprised and came to his senses; Suga remembered that he had found a notebook from a person sacrificed ten years ago, which said that he was a member of the shrine administrator’s family, and the part of the note that he deliberately erased.

“Regarding the person who was sacrificed ten years ago, was he related to the family of the shrine administrator?”

The old man was surprised.

“Right, how did you know?”

Suga nodded.

“I found a clue about that in my investigation. Do uncle know why he did that?”

The old man’s expression turned doubtful.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know. I only helped to perform the ritual. Maybe you can ask the shrine administrator’s family member about it.”

Suga’s expression turned curious.

After driving for some time, their car arrived at the area around the shrine where the festival was being held, with the crowd level slightly decreasing from before. The old man parked his car on the side of the road in the space provided outside the shrine area; they then got out of the car. Nellson flew out of the car and landed on the sidewalk, surprising the old man.

“Your pet owl is very smart; he got off with us without being asked.”

Suga smiled and nodded.

“Of course, he had the instinct to follow me.”

Suga and this old man walked to the shrine area; Nellson flew after them.

They walked through the crowd around the shrine, heading towards the area at the back of the shrine. They came to another wall behind the shrine with a double wooden entrance gate. The old man walked past the gate, followed by Suga and Nellson, who flew after them. Another area behind the shrine, bordered by another wall, contains a vast, one-story classic Japanese-style house with traditional Japanese plaster walls and an open corridor along the back of the house. This area has several house buildings, and a warehouse building is on one side of the house. The area behind this shrine is the house where the family of the shrine administrator lives. There is a classic Japanese-style garden around this house, with neatly planted grass, various forms of bonsai, a fish pond, sakura trees, etc., and a traditional Japanese rock garden, with views of the tall trees from the forest outside the walls.

The atmosphere here looks quiet; a man in his 20s wearing a white and black hakama watering the plants in the classic Japanese garden using a hose. The old man walked over to the man.

“Long time no see. Is the shinto priest chief around?”

The man wearing the hakama looked slightly surprised, turned towards the old man, and looked familiar to him.

“Oh, uncle? Yes, of course. Shinto priest chief’s in his office; let me take you all there.”

Suga and the old man nodded. Nellson flew and landed near them, surprising the man wearing the hakama due to Nellson’s unusual appearance.

“What with this owl?”

Suga smiled; he then wanted to explain, but before Suga said anything, the old man who was with Suga answered.

“That owl is Hisoka san’s pet. Its appearance is unique because it was cosplaying.”

Suga was a little surprised to hear the old man speak in his place. The man wearing a hakama expression turned astonished.

“So that’s how it is. It's indeed a unique pet....”

Suga smiled.

“I heard that a lot.”

The man wearing the hakama nodded.

“Okay then, please follow me.”

The man wearing a hakama walked away from here, followed by Suga and the old man. Nellson watched them for a moment, then flew after them.

After passing through the quiet area of the house, they walked along the open corridor behind one of the house buildings, and they arrived at a room with a row of open sliding shoji double doors. Inside the room, an old man wearing a kimono reads a book at a short table in the middle of the room while sitting on a sitting cushion (zabuton). He is the shinto priest chief who manages the shrine. Their arrival immediately attracted the attention of the shinto priest chief, who then stood up from his seat. The shinto priest chief invited them to sit; the man wearing a hakama then excused himself, bowed politely to them, and walked away from the room. Suga and the old man sat next to each other on the zabuton, and the shinto priest chief sat before them. Not long after, Nellson, standing in the open corridor, flew into the room and landed near them, surprising the shinto priest chief. Before the shinto priest chief said anything, Suga immediately explained.

“He is my pet owl who loves to do cosplay like he does now. Sorry if he bothered you.”

The shinto priest chief’s expression turned slightly astonished.

“You don’t need to be reluctant. I don't feel bothered.”

Suga smiled and nodded, Nellson watched them curiously. The old man who was with Suga said.

“Sorry if this is sudden, but I want you to prepare to perform the sacrifice ritual for Gasokami like ten years ago.”

The Shinto priest chief was shocked.

“Did I hear correctly? Why are we doing that ritual again?”

Suga’s expression turned serious.

“I plan to sacrifice myself to Gasokami.”

The shinto priest chief turned to Suga with an astonished expression.

“Do you know the meaning of what you say?”

Suga smiled and nodded.

“Of course, I’ve researched this town’s history enough to know such things, uncle. Also, about Kagohara village.”

The shinto priest chief was surprised when he heard the words Kagohara village. The old man next to Suga replied.

“Maybe you didn't expect it, but he is a government investigator who believes that the existence of Gasokami may be the cause of the missing person cases in this town.”

The shinto priest chief was surprised and turned towards the old man.

“Your words remind me of something….”

The shinto priest chief was silent for a moment in thought, making the others curious.

“That’s right, back in Kagohara village, there was a man who was the only investigator at that time who said that he believed in Gasokami’s existence.”

Suga was slightly surprised as he thought.

“Who uncle means must be Hideyuki Totei. Maybe I can make use of this....”

Suga replied.

“My goal is also to investigate Gasokami, save Ishikari, and stop other victims.”

The shinto priest chief was surprised.

“You mean the girl who went missing yesterday?”

Suga’s expression turned serious.

“That’s right; the only way is to perform the sacrifice ritual to meet Gasokami. We’d better act quickly.”

The shinto priest chief’s expression turned serious; he then sighed.

“Alright then, I’ll prepare everything right now.”

Suga smiled and nodded. The shinto priest chief resumed talking.

“As I prepare everything, you will learn how to perform the ritual from a senior shinto priest.”

Suga’s expression turned curious.

Suga sat cross-legged on a sitting cushion (zabuton) with a short table before him and a glass of tea on the table. Suga was in a spacious meeting room of this house, with Nellson standing on the glossy wooden floor nearby while looking around curiously. This room is in a classic Japanese style with a row of wooden shoji sliding double doors on the wall facing the house's side yard. The shoji door was open; sunlight gently illuminated the entire room. In front of the shoji door is an open corridor with a glossy wooden floor and a row of beautifully carved wooden pillars supporting the tiled roof above it. A row of wooden double sliding doors on the wall facing into the house, some of which opened and showed a corridor inside the house with a glossy brown wooden floor.