"This is Tsurumi Island. I suggest you enter through the main gate over there, otherwise, it's easy to get lost in the thick fog."
With the help of a man named Kama, arranged by Sumida, the group arrived at the commissioned location: Tsurumi Island.
It was an island shrouded in thick fog. If one entered the mist, visibility might be less than a meter, which was quite exaggerated.
"This place is too strange. In this weather, even if the Maushiro appeared right next to us, we might not be able to find it."
They had encountered extreme weather before, but this was their first time seeing such a dense fog environment like Tsurumi Island. In such an environment, could they really find the Maushiro that Sumida had commissioned them to find?
"This island is always like this. While you are exploring, I will wait here for your return. Once you find the Maushiro, you can come back to me, and I will send you back to Ritou."
"You just said to enter through the main gate over there. Is this a pattern discovered by previous Adventurers who explored Tsurumi Island?"
"No, this is an ancient tradition of Tsurumi Island, not a pattern discovered by Adventurers."
Kama replied indifferently. His words made Lumine quite thoughtful. An ancient tradition of Tsurumi Island? Wasn't it said that Tsurumi Island's civilization had disappeared, and even the oldest documents didn't record it? Why would he know this tradition?
And the way he looked at Tsurumi Island was a bit strange; it felt like he knew some secret.
"Let's go in and explore first. Remember not to stray too far; it's easy to get separated in this environment."
"Since that's the case, let's hold hands and walk forward together."
Lumine took Miss Delezie's hand in her left and Shenhe's in her right. It had been a long time since she had done this. Before, she either held one person's hand or watched the two of them hold hands. It had been a long time since she had held two people's hands at the same time.
She would take this opportunity to make up for lost time and see if she could recover some of the lost friendship.
"Hey, wait a minute. You two can hold hands, but what about me?"
You two can avoid getting separated by holding hands, but what should I do? There are no hands left for her to hold!
"Silly Paimon, you can hold either Miss Delezie's or Shenhe's hand, can't you? Besides, you're just following us, so it's fine even if you don't hold hands."
"Wh-What? You call me silly right away? That's going too far."
"If worse comes to worst, you can sit on my shoulder, or even hug my head. Paimon is very light, as long as you don't move around too much."
"That's more like it."
Paimon happily landed on Lumine's shoulder, swinging her legs and humming the tune she had heard when Kamisato Ayaka danced by the stream earlier.
Just like that, Lumine achieved the achievement of having Miss Delezie on her left, Shenhe on her right, and Paimon on her left shoulder.
"Today is a good day. Perhaps other good things will happen next."
Lumine walked joyfully and soon arrived in front of the "main gate" that Kama had mentioned. Rather than a main gate, it was more like two broken buildings leaning against each other, forming the semblance of a doorway.
As soon as they passed through the gate, the thick fog around them miraculously dissipated, and visibility instantly became much clearer. Even without holding hands, they could see the direction clearly.
"Wh-What's going on? It wasn't like this when we just came over. We just walked through here, so why such a big change?"
Paimon was certain she had been observing her surroundings carefully, but as soon as they crossed this so-called main gate, the view in front of them suddenly became clear.
Although the surrounding fog hadn't completely cleared, visibility was already within an acceptable range. What was the reason for this?
"The ley lines here..."
Miss Delezie seemed to have discovered something. She let go of Lumine's hand, walked a few steps forward, and looked around with a frown.
She crouched down, placed her hand on the ground, and spread her power out, sensing the condition of this island.
Soon, a hazy but remarkably clear voice emerged in Miss Delezie's mind.
"Since you allowed the one-of-a-kind song to flow as blood into this land."
"Then, until I, Kanna Kapatikir, hear that person's... that A-Liu's song again, this land will suffer eternal calamity."
The voice was filled with anger, an unspeakable anger. This emotion even flowed into the ley lines of this land, forming a power that even she couldn't easily dissipate.
Perhaps what was presented before her was related to this power. Kanna Kapatikir must be the culprit who made Tsurumi Island like this, but her reason for doing so... the one-of-a-kind song... blood flowing into the land... A-Liu's song... perhaps all of this was related to the person named A-Liu.
"Miss Delezie, did you sense something?"
Shenhe stepped forward. Seeing Miss Delezie's frowning expression, she knew she must have understood something through her abilities and asked.
"Yes, but I haven't sensed much yet. It seems to be missing some conditions; otherwise, I can't understand more."
"Conditions? Is that the next objective?"
"Probably. It might be related to what we're looking for this time, that Maushiro. Observe your surroundings carefully and try not to miss any details in the corners."
"Mhm."
"Kanna Kapatikir, could he be the owner of that feather?"
If the owner of that feather really was Kanna Kapatikir, then the condition she lacked might be it.
Thinking this, Miss Delezie looked at Lumine, wanting to borrow that feather, only to see her and Paimon talking to a small boy.
"What are you doing? Who is he?"
This was an island quite a distance from Inazuma. Ordinary Children couldn't come here. What was going on with this boy?
"His name is A-Liu. He says he lives on Tsurumi Island."
"...A-Liu?"
This name appeared in the voice she had just heard, didn't it? According to the content of the words, A-Liu should no longer be here, but he was standing here perfectly fine. Why?
Miss Delezie took a few steps forward to reach A-Liu. Seeing such a beautiful older sister approach him, A-Liu, while shy, also took a few steps back in fear.
"Do... do you need something, big sister?"
"...Can you tell me, besides you, is there anyone else on Tsurumi Island called A-Liu?"
"Eh? N-No, there isn't. I'm the only one on the island called that. Why do you ask, big sister?"
"...Nothing."
She didn't expect to find the key person so quickly. No... perhaps it was precisely because he was special enough that they discovered him so quickly.
Someone who should have been gone long ago, yet could appear so vividly before them, was probably due to the unstable ley lines of this place supporting his existence.
"Do... do you like to sing a lot, A-Liu?"
"Eh? How... how did you know? Hehehe~ Actually, it's just a little hobby of mine. I don't do things I can normally do. When I'm bored, I sing to myself. Kapatcir really likes my singing, and he'll be coming to The Rite this time too."
"I see..."
Miss Delezie nodded, took a few steps back, and left the space to Lumine and Paimon, letting them chat with A-Liu.
Lumine saw that Miss Delezie seemed to have discovered something. After chatting with A-Liu for a bit, when A-Liu invited them to join The Rite, she took the opportunity to go to Miss Delezie's side and ask about the situation.
"Miss Delezie, did you discover something? Is there something wrong with A-Liu?"
Compared to them, Miss Delezie could gather information about Tsurumi Island through her own methods, and it was for this reason that Lumine hadn't disturbed Miss Delezie when she touched the ground earlier.
Miss Delezie had asked A-Liu so many questions just now, she must have known something and wanted to confirm the accuracy of the information through A-Liu.
"Yes, he does have some issues, but not in a bad way. He's not a bad person, you can rest assured about that."
A-Liu's identity as a 'good person' was definitely not in question. Rather, he was the most innocent one. The problem lay with the other existences on this island.
This was what Miss Delezie had deduced based on the current clues. She didn't understand much of the situation yet. First, she would see what A-Liu intended to take them to do, and understand what The Rite A-Liu mentioned was about.
The Rite should, in theory, be a lively and very interesting event, but... Miss Delezie always felt that this The Rite was not as simple as it seemed.
"Everyone says I'm the protagonist of this The Rite!"
A-Liu said this, but she suspected that The Rite here was definitely not like the The Rite Yoimiya often spoke of; it might be more cruel, more bloody.
"Oh, right, Lumine. Give me that feather for a moment. I want to see if I can see more through that feather."
"Eh? Does this feather have such a use? Here you go."
Taking the feather, Miss Delezie found a spot to re-explore the ley lines of this land. Just as she had thought, the feather contained a power that made the force that had previously prevented Miss Delezie's exploration disappear.
But even so, Miss Delezie couldn't see many scenes. The ley lines here were too unstable, and only one scene after another appeared before her.
"!! Th-This is?!"
A terrifying aura surged from Miss Delezie. The last time she felt this aura was when she was dealing with the Doctor.
Lumine and Paimon also noticed the anger and killing intent emanating from Miss Delezie. While surprised, they were also a little curious.
What did Miss Delezie see to make her so angry?
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