Sū ěr, meanwhile, had run very fast.
He wasn't without experience dealing with children. In Riku's world, where manpower was scarce, everyone had experience looking after the settlement's young. But that world was special; they weren't so much "caring for children" as they were "teaching little adults" forced to mature by their environment.
Those children didn't cry or throw tantrums; they were sensible enough to do what work they could. Sū ěr had enjoyed looking after them. Even so, he knew they were an anomaly; if possible, he would have preferred them to show the innocence of their age—even if he didn't particularly like kids.
They were simply too noisy, prone to destroying everything they touched, and some even rolled around on the ground... a total nightmare.
Though biased, it was enough for Sū ěr to fear them and keep his distance. After all, for children growing up in a peaceful world, such behaviors were all too common.
Because of this, when the black-haired girl charged toward him with a shriek that almost pierced his ears, Sū ěr abandoned any thought of explanation and chose to flee at light speed. Just the thought of being caught and unable to leave made his scalp tingle.
Well, there was also the fact that he didn't know how to explain himself. He had, after all, dismantled an ancient relic. He would just have to compensate them once he figured out this world.
Birds hopped along the utility lines; in the city, they didn't fear humans. Now, they tilted their heads curiously at the strange bipedal beast below.
"That shrine over there?" A girl with braided hair and glasses spoke slowly, deep in thought. "If I remember correctly, it's called the Higurashi Shrine."
"Higurashi Shrine..." Sū ěr chewed on the poetic name. "Could you tell me more about it? Like, has it ever been famous for any miraculous occurrences?"
"Um... excuse me, but are you a tourist from abroad?" Instead of answering, the girl asked with curiosity.
"Well, I am indeed a tourist. I've always been curious about Japan's unique shrines, so... haha, actually, I wanted to pray for my romantic luck. Maybe a foreign deity will be more effective," Sū ěr said with a bright, somewhat bashful smile, sounding like a youth troubled by love and speaking with a sort of reckless abandon.
[How shameless~]
'Shut up.'
Sū ěr had a brief mental skirmish with Think, which ended with Sū ěr receiving a spiritual "kick" that left him slightly dizzy.
"Sir?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing. I just spaced out for a second. Sorry, please continue."
"Actually, it's nothing much. With your looks, I doubt finding love is difficult. You just need to try more... By the way, your hair is very beautiful," the braided girl praised with a smile. It wasn't just flattery; this man who had suddenly appeared from a street corner to stop her for a chat really did have a hair color she liked—shimmering under the sun.
Yes, after fleeing the Higurashi Shrine, Sū ěr had picked an easy-to-talk-to passerby to question.
"Hahaha, it feels great to be praised by such a beautiful student. Isn't there a saying? A student's words are sincere; they always speak their minds. I'll thank you for the blessing first, haha," Sū ěr praised her back brightly, then pointed toward the shrine. "About that shrine..."
"That shrine? Actually, compared to the other shrines in the city, the Higurashi Shrine is quite low-key. Some people even thought it was abandoned like the White Snake Shrine. But when they went up at night to check, they found people living there. Supposedly, it gave them quite a scare and caused a stir on the forums," the girl recalled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Oh? Why? Did they encounter something supernatural?" Acting like someone who had been curious about the paranormal since childhood but could never find it, Sū ěr eyes lit up—the "dog eyes lighting up" trope. He gestured with his hands. "What was it? A ghost? A yokai?"
"Pfft, Sir, you know quite a bit about our country's legends. Don't foreigners usually say 'ghosts' or 'demons'?" The girl was amused. After all, Sū ěr platinum-blonde hair and tall stature made him look distinctly non-Asian.
However, his Japanese was unexpectedly good. Though she didn't mean any offense, most foreigners she met had a very strange accent.
The answer was simple: Sū ěr was cheating via the "World" itself.
"Well, there are demons, but they probably don't govern countries this far away," Sū ěr joked back with a laugh. "So, what did those people encounter?"
"I'm curious if yokai and ghosts exist, too, but the truth is it was just a case of 'people scaring people'," she said with a slight hint of regret. "If there's anything special about that shrine... hmm, I remember there's a massive Goshinboku on the hill behind it. But the backyard is never open to outsiders, so no one has ever gotten close."
"Goshinboku?" Sū ěr repeated.
Though it sounded mystical, a Goshinboku wasn't rare. In Japan, any ancient or massive tree is called a Goshinboku. Even Sū ěr knew this.
"Sorry, my description was imprecise," the girl added immediately. "It's special because that tree is truly massive... truly."
As she spoke, she pointed directly toward the shrine.
Following her finger, Sū ěr finally noticed something. In the dense forest behind the shrine, what he had previously mistaken for a whole forest was actually empty except for a single tree.
It was so massive that even ten people holding hands couldn't encircle it. Its crown alone was so large that Sū ěr had mistaken it for an entire woodland. It was a literal "one-tree forest."