"What do you mean, haha?" Yuriko replied with a forced laugh. "Of course I'm human. My mother just comes from the south, is all."
"Have you ever been there, my lady?" she asked, her fake smile gone, replaced by a faint but unmistakable stare. "It wouldn't be so shocking to you with how well educated you are at your stature. Or is it something else?"
They exchanged stares before she replied,
"I have been a shrine maiden since childhood, so I'll admit I know little of the outside world. You'll have to excuse me for that."
"I believe we're getting sidetracked, aren't we, my lady?" Kanami said, trying to ease the tension.
"Of course," the priestess replied. "I'm very chatty, so I usually stray from the matter at hand. Please forgive me."
"So," Kanami said nervously, "will you accept them?"
"I see no reason not to," she replied. "In fact, they can join right now."
"But we haven't brought over any clothes or essentials from home yet," Takae said. "Shouldn't we leave and come back another day?"
"That won't be necessary," she replied. "In here, we provide all clothing and sustenance for our maidens, so there is no need for that."
"If you are unable to prove your resolve by abandoning your comforts on a whim, then it makes me doubt whether you are suited to this lifestyle or not. But it is still up to you."
Kanami turned, expecting them to hesitate since they hadn't planned for this, but almost simultaneously they both agreed to stay.
"Great. Then we will leave you some time to say goodbye to your cousin, and the maiden here will guide you accordingly," she said before rising.
The maidens and the three of them followed suit, and they all bowed slightly as she walked away with one of the two maidens.
The other guided them out of the main temple and watched from a respectful distance as the two said their goodbyes to Kanami.
"Please stay safe in there," she said. "And don't do anything reckless if you don't need to."
"We will," Yuriko replied.
"And," Takae said, "pass our regards to Izumi and the others. Tell them that we made it in without any problems."
She nodded before walking away toward the gate.
The two stood and watched until she was out of view.
"If you would follow me, then," the maiden said as they turned back to her, "I will show you around. Also, please take this time to ask any related questions you may have."
They followed her as she walked through the rows of buildings.
She would point to one and say, "This is the main kitchen and the dining hall,"
or,
"These are the general sleeping quarters."
They passed by several buildings before Takae said, "Excuse me, but how exactly will we be doing rites and rituals? Will we be joining the rest of you even though we have no prior knowledge?"
"Of course not," she replied. "You will be assigned to a senior sister who will guide you through the rites and rituals over time."
"This place really is big," Yuriko said. "Are there servants here too?"
"No, there aren't," she replied. "Aside from our duties to the shrine, we all take on some kind of household duty to keep the shrine functioning without any need for outside help."
"The senior sister who will be guiding you is probably at work on her duties right now," she continued. "Since the general tour is over, I will introduce you and let her take over from there. Is that alright with you?"
They nodded and followed her as she guided them to the northeast corner of the compound, an open field with rows of laundry hanging out to dry.
The white and red sheets fluttered in the wind. That, coupled with the falling leaves, gave off a surreal atmosphere.
As the sheets fluttered, they could make out the silhouettes of women doing the laundry beneath them.
The maiden locked onto one of them and walked straight toward her. They followed behind, maneuvering around the wet clothes and sheets.
She stopped in front of a girl who was in the middle of doing the laundry. Once she caught sight of them, she rose and bowed.
Then she adjusted her raised sleeves a little to keep them from falling before she asked, "Might I ask what brings you here?"
"You have some new junior sisters at the instruction of the priestess," the maiden replied. "I will let you take over from here. Make sure they settle in as quickly as possible, and please keep an eye on them at all times to avoid any accidents."
"Of course," she replied, and the maiden turned to leave.
Once she was gone, the girl turned to the two of them and said, "My name is Leina Tsukino, but you can just call me Leina. It's nice to meet you."
"Same," Yuriko replied. "I'm Yuriko, and this is my sister Takae."
"You seem nervous," she noted. "First-day jitters?"
"We weren't expecting to be accepted so quickly, so we are a little anxious, is all," Takae replied, passing her left hand over her head.
As she did, Leina noticed the bandages around her wrist and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Takae quickly hid them away, saying, "It was just a minor accident, but it left some ugly scars, so I keep them hidden."
"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied, "but it isn't something that you should dwell on too much. Beauty is what you make of it."
"Thanks," Takae replied with a faint smile.
"Come on, let me get you some clean robes and something to eat too," she said as she rolled up her sleeves.
"But the laundry?" Yuriko asked.
"I can always come back to it later," she replied. "Besides, I've been looking for an excuse to take a break, and now I have one."
"Come this way," she said as she turned to leave, and the two followed her.
As they were walking, Takae thought to herself,
"So far everything has gone according to plan, but I don't see anything outwardly suspicious about this place at all."
"That priestess, though... she was unusually interrogative, almost like she was testing us," she thought as she looked at Leina from behind. "At least our senior sister turned out to be someone so nice. I think we can learn all that we need to know about this place from her without any problems."
She took a deep breath.
"Let's see whether you really were up to something or not, Lloyd, with this plan of yours."