落とし穴１６８堀正月：祀られている神様ともう一人 (Part1)
**Pitfall 168: New Year’s Excavation – The Enshrined Deity and Another**
**Side: Yuki**
And so, having come to the shrine to search for Meue’s wallet—and to see if there might be a substitute victim to take her place—I found myself standing here.
“The wallet isn’t turning up, is it?”
“And it seems there isn’t a substitute victim to be found, either.”
Exactly. We had gone out of our way to check, but we had nothing to show for it on either front.
Well, as for the wallet, the protagonist apparently stumbled upon it by chance while visiting the shrine for his prayers; the original text didn’t provide any specific details on where exactly it had been dropped. More than that, the idea of a “substitute for Meue” was merely a hypothetical possibility. There was no guarantee such a person even existed, and as of now, there wasn’t a soul in sight who fit the bill.
“Do you think it’s possible that someone else has already been cursed?”
“Hard to say. Since it’s a substitute for Meue, if we assume they’re someone struggling to get home and deciding to ‘borrow’ from the offering box, the change would happen during that moment of internal conflict. It’s possible it’s already over, or it could happen later. It’s impossible to tell.”
Personally, I didn’t want to think that Meue had made the decision to steal from the offering box without a shred of hesitation.
“But are there really that many people who would try to steal from an offering box? Especially in this New Year’s crowd?”
“Actually, it seems those kinds of incidents are surprisingly common. Though, with this many people around, a thief wouldn’t stand a chance. Ah, so that means the area would need to be somewhat deserted for it to happen.”
“I think you’re right. After all, Meue-san is primarily looking for her wallet; she wouldn’t just run off to rob the offering box the moment she got back here.”
Ah, that’s a sharp deduction. Then again, if she were the kind of trash who would immediately run off to rob an offering box, she wouldn’t be worth saving anyway.
“Wait. We’re talking about a substitute for Meue, right? If that person is trash… then there’s no need to save them, is there?”
“Ah, surely you don’t mean that? Wouldn’t it be better to observe how exactly they get cursed?”
“Hmm. In a sense, that’s a heartless thing to say, but it would make it easier to grasp how things will unfold. If nothing happens, then so be it.”
“Yes. …But if that’s the case, how long are we supposed to stay at this shrine? We’re supposed to be heading to the convenience store, so if we take too much time…”
Perhaps hearing Taiki-kun’s comment, my cell phone rang.
“Ah, speak of the devil.”
Sudo-san’s name was displayed on the smartphone screen. I decided to just answer it honestly.
“Yes, hello?”
*“Ah, Torino-kun. Isn’t it getting a bit late? Are you alright?”*
“Yes. I just got a little caught up reading a boys’ magazine.”
*“Hmm. Is that a challenge directed at me, who should be a model for all students?”*
“Please, give me a break for the New Year’s holiday.”
*“Hmm. *Sigh*. Well, I suppose it can’t be helped today. Very well. But make sure you’re back within an hour. As your older sister figure, I absolutely cannot permit anything longer than that.”*
“Yes, I understand. I’ll be back by then.”
*“Alright, take care of yourself.”*
With a deadline set by the student council president, the call ended.
“Tch, we’ve been put on a time limit.”
“Considering the time it takes to get back and drop the car off at my place, we’ll be in trouble if we don’t head back fifteen minutes early.”
“True. If we account for potential trouble, we should aim to be back twenty minutes early to be safe. That leaves us with forty minutes.”
I said this while staring at the small shrine, which should have been deserted under normal circumstances.
“It’s surprising how many people gather here for the New Year, even at a shrine this small.”
“Indeed. Well, the head priest did invite us to visit, after all.”
Hmm, the God of Judgment, huh? Originally, it seems they enshrined the sword used for beheading to soothe the grudges of the executed, but somewhere along the line, the perception shifted to a god that destroys evil and aids the good. Well, outside of the battlefield, beheading is something done to criminals, so it makes sense that it became associated with protecting what is “right.”
…Well, who knows how “right” the justice system of the past really was, but if you start saying that, even modern justice makes mistakes. Regardless, the deity enshrined here is likely that kind of “benevolent” god. That’s precisely why, even for such a minor deity…
“I look forward to your favor again this year.”
“Thanks to Dan-sama, we spent the past year without any disasters. Thank you very much.”
That’s how the elderly were praying. It might be a minor shrine, but it’s clearly loved by the locals.
“Seeing things like this, I suppose it’s only natural that Meue-san got cursed.”
“Yeah, it’s so obvious that I’m at a loss for words.”
It’s the very definition of karma. Though, the current Meue isn’t the target of it.
“Tch, I should have brought a stationary camera.”
“Ah, you’re right. It would have been nice if we had an Item Box, too.”
“True. We don’t necessarily need magic, but I would have liked some convenient items.”
In this dream world, all we have is a certain amount of knowledge and some spare funds. That in itself is a cheat, but it’s not like we have an abundance of resources. We’re left racking our brains over the tools we lack.
“By the way, what about our physical capabilities? I was going to try running here earlier, but I ended up stopping.”
“Ah, come to think of it, we haven’t properly checked that yet. Well, with the physical stats from Aulito, it should be somewhat better.”
No, with the physical prowess we had in that other world, there’s nothing to fear. Even if a giant boulder were to fall, we wouldn’t be crushed, so we wouldn’t be taken out by physical means by a mere ghost. Well, I have no idea how the curse-based attacks would work, so even with cheat abilities, I can’t let my guard down. But as Taiki-kun said, having that kind of power is better than not having it.
“Well, for now, we can’t exactly start a physical fitness test right here.”
“Ahahaha. If we did that, we’d probably get the police called on us, so let’s not. We can check it tomorrow while we’re running around town.”
“That’s for the best. For now, let’s keep watch here until our time is up. Oh, shall we get some extra amazake and draw omikuji?”
“Yes, it is New Year’s, after all. That much is fine.”
Since the reason for our serious surveillance had mostly evaporated, we bought some amazake and drew our fortunes…
“Small Blessing (Shokichi).”
“End Blessing (Suekichi).”
Tch, both are mediocre. Well, if you get a Great Blessing (Daikichi), the only way is down, so perhaps the possibility of our luck improving from here is a good thing.
“Let’s see… what does it say? ‘Lost items will be found.’ And ‘Your wishes will be granted if you work hard.’”
“Mine says the same.”
That’s just how omikuji are, I suppose.
…“Wishes will be granted if you work hard,” huh?
I want to say, “Don’t give me that vague nonsense!” but this is a shrine. Moreover, it’s a shrine housing a god who judges the wicked. So, I couldn’t very well go around slamming the fortune down. I decided to tie it up properly.
“Tying it up. Tying the knot. May my wishes come true.”
“Well, there’s no point in holding onto an omikuji forever, so this is fine, isn’t it?”
“I suppose that’s all I can think.”
With that, we tied our fortunes to the rack provided by the shrine, just like everyone else. That should do it.
“*Sigh*… Alright, let’s head back and check on Dan-sama.”