This entrance door to the office turned out to be slightly open. Nellson said in a whispered tone.

“Why is the door ajar? Be careful, Suga.”

Suga nodded, then opened this door cautiously to ensure that there were no enemies in the room behind the door. Suga peeked into the room through the gap of the slightly open door, and no one was occupying it. Suga opened the door and walked in; Nellson then flew after him.

Inside the office, there are shelves, armchairs, long armchairs, bookshelves, a desk with an ergonomic chair, and some armchairs before the desk, everything was dull and dusty, and a window with dull panes that showed a view of the trees amidst the forest’s darkness. Suga walked over to the desk, put his backpack on it, and started examining this desk. Nellson flew after Suga and landed on the desk. Suga started checking this desk and every unlocked drawer but couldn’t find what he was looking for.

“There aren’t any keys on this desk.”

Nellson nodded.

“From the start, this was just a possibility.”

Suga continued examining this desk and found a notebook.

“There’s a notebook here.”

Suga sat on the table and started reading; Nellson walked over to him on the desk and joined in reading curiously. There are several contents in this note that caught Suga’s attention.

 

“August 5, 19xx

As the days go by, many villagers decide to abandon the sacrificial ritual culture of Kagohara village. Many villagers from generations before us have warned that this will anger Gasokami, but they insist on stopping and not believing in Gasokami’s existence. It’s not surprising that afterward there have been many missing person cases occurring in this village, even natural disasters.”

 

Suga opened the following pages of this notebook.

 

“September 14, 19xx

The villagers, including my extended family, decided to leave the village, but I couldn’t abandon my obligations as the Gasokami shrine’s caretaker. Even if I want to leave, Gasokami shrines shouldn’t be abandoned, and objects in the shrine cannot be moved just like that. After I thought about it carefully, I, as the leader of this shrine caretaker family, decided to stay here, or else the calamity from Gasokami would become more serious. After discussing with my extended family members, they agreed for me to stay here.”

 

Suga opened the following pages of this notebook but couldn’t find anything else that caught his attention and came to the last note in this notebook.

 

“January 21, 20xx

I’ve carried this key for decades and started to think that if I died, who would take care of the Gasokami shrine?”

 

Suga closed the notebook with an astonished expression.

“He didn't discuss where the key was. It's hard to believe he chose to stay here even when all the villagers left Kagohara village.”

Nellson looked around him in surprise.

“I wonder what happened to this Shinto priest chief?”

Suga nodded.

“The shrine administrator and caretaker family in Kagohara town may know something. Unfortunately, we may not be able to get there soon.”

Nellson looked around him in astonishment.

"It seems we can search for a clue just around here."

Suga nodded.

Nellson and Suga searched the room and were interested in one of the books on the bookshelf entitled: "The Wanderer." Suga's expression turned curious as he thought.

“The title of this book reminds me of the Wandering Demon….”

Suga was a little lost in thought looking at this book, making Nellson curious, then flew towards him and landed on the bookshelf, surprising Suga and making him come to his sense.

“You found something interesting, Suga?”

Suga nodded and showed the book to Nellson.

"Yes, the title of this book is The Wanderer; it reminds me of the Wandering Demon."

Nellson appeared to remember something.

“That's right, it feels like it's been a long time since I heard the code name the Association gave for Gasokami. Let's read it together.”

Suga nodded, then opened this book and stood with his back to the bookshelf so Nellson could read it, too.

 

“The Wanderer Urban Legend

Kagohara Village has several urban legend stories, some of which are "The Wanderer," this term first appeared when villagers saw one of their relatives or family who had been sacrificed in the Gasokami sacrifice ritual walking around the village at night. This news soon spread; some witnesses said that the wanderer was walking in the area around the Gasokami shrine, and some other witnesses also found the wanderer walking in other places around the village as if they were guarding this village. Unfortunately, the wanderer could not be met because witnesses said the wanderer always tried to go away when approached, and when witnesses met their gaze, the wanderer only smiled at them. Some witnesses even heard the wanderer say, "I'm okay; there's no need to worry about me anymore,” and then just walked away. Because the wanderers were people sacrificed to Gasokami, the villagers thought that the wanderers had something to do with the village's Guardian gods." The villagers believe that if people are sacrificed to Gasokami, they don't die but remain with them indirectly in the Kagohara village.

 

Suga's expression changed to astonishment.

"This urban legend story is similar to some of the missing victims with strange behavior we met, only unlike the story in this book, the missing victims we encountered acted violently towards us, with their appearance also being unusual because they were pale and full of bruises.”

Nellson looked curious.

"Could it be that the missing victims that attacked us were the wanderers like those described in this book?"

Suga nodded.

“Most likely, yes.”

Suga closed the book and returned it to its place.

Sometime later, Suga and Nellson were still in this room, trying to find clues. Not long after, Suga stopped because he vaguely heard the sound of footsteps.

“Did you hear that, Nellson?”

Nellson looked around him in astonishment.

"Yeah, like footsteps sound?"

Suga nodded.

“Damn, we have to make sure it's not the enemy.”

Nellson nodded. Suga took his backpack and katana from the desk and hid behind the desk, followed by Nellson. From behind the corner of the desk, Suga observed the entrance door to this room.

Not long after, an old man wearing dull Shinto priest clothes walked into this room with a key hanging around his neck. This Shinto priest's skin is pale white, with bruises on visible parts of his body. Vaguely, the sound this Shinto priest made was similar to the growl of a beast. This Shinto priest's eyes were black, with long and sharp black nails as if made of metal. The Shinto priest walked with a slight limp towards the desk. Suga and Nellson were surprised to see this Shinto priest. Suga said in a whispered tone.

“That Shinto priest is like those missing victims who attacked us before, the wanderer.”

Nellson nodded, then replied in a whispered tone.

“We better be careful.”

Suga nodded.

The Shinto priest walked deeper into the room and toward the desk, surprising Suga. This Shinto priest walked very close to the desk until finally, he reached behind the desk. However, Suga and Nellson had moved carefully from their place to the right side of the desk. This Shinto priest walked towards the window behind the desk and stood there while staring blankly at the view outside the window.

Suga and Nellson watched the Shinto priest in astonishment from behind the desk. Suga gave Nellson a hand signal for them to leave the room while the Shinto priest looked towards the window. Nellson and Suga walked while crouching carefully; Nellson walked after him. Finally, Suga and Nellson arrived at the room entrance. Suga looked at the situation in the room from the corner of the entrance door and found that the Shinto priest still hadn't moved from his place and stared blankly at the forest view outside the window. Nellson said in a hushed tone.

“Why did that Shinto priest just stand there?”

Seeing the Shinto priest made Suga remember the time he found the police who were about to attack him just standing where he was, looking towards the forest. Suga replied in a whispered tone.

“I don't know, but this situation is similar to the time we were attacked by the strange policeman before. Their behavior is also strangely violent.”

Nellson nodded. Suga continued speaking in a whispered tone.

"But, there was something else that caught my attention: there was a key hanging around the Shinto priest's neck."

Nellson also realized that.

“Could it be the key to the Gasokami shrine entrance?”

Suga’s expression turned serious.

“It’s possible; I can’t think of any other possibility what that key is for.”

Nellson nodded.

“Should we attack him to get the key?”

Suga looked hesitant, then answered in a whispered tone.

“We don’t need to fight him; it’s too risky and may attract unwanted attention.”

Suga fell silent in thought for a moment, Nellson watched him curiously.

“I have a plan; we wait for the right moment to take the key; you then fly toward the key from his blind spot and take it, then fly away and hide.”

Nellson nodded.

“Leave it to me.”