This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 327 - 239. Mountain Forest Mansion (4000 words)_2

Chapter 327: 239. Mountain Forest Mansion (4000 words)_2

...

The next day during lunch break at Kyubei High School.

"Speaking of which, it’s almost the weekend again, isn’t it? What are you planning to do, Mr. Temple?" Shen Gu Mirai, seemingly oblivious to the gazes of those around her, pushed her desk up against Beichuan Si’s and started chatting as she picked up her bento.

Beichuan Si hadn’t had a good weekend for two or three weeks straight.

He’d either been doing exorcism work or traveling for it.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that exorcisms were bad.

But Shen Gu Mirai also wanted Beichuan Si to have some free-time.

What could he do with that time?

Naturally, she’d invite him to see a movie, or perhaps go to an amusement park—there might have been a tenth of self-interest in that.

But!

The real intention was to let Beichuan Si experience some high school recreational activities.

This time, having not seen Beichuan Si working on any ghostly incidents, she naturally came over to ask if he had any plans for the weekend.

Beichuan Si finished off his sandwich and took a gulp of barley tea before responding, making sure he’d swallowed completely first, "I’ve already made plans for this weekend."

"Already made plans?!"

Shen Gu Mirai’s body shook slightly, feeling slighted as she looked at Beichuan Si and couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Temple, you shouldn’t have to do any exorcisms this weekend, right? Even so, do you still have other matters to attend to?"

Seeing her somewhat reluctant tone, Beichuan Si looked up and replied, "This weekend, I plan to go camping in the wild with Hui Li and her friends."

"Her friends?"

Shen Gu Mirai latched onto the most important word from Beichuan Si’s statement, "Are they friends of your sister Hui Li?"

"Yeah."

"All girls?" Shen Gu Mirai asked again.

Beichuan Si furrowed his brows slightly, thought for a moment, and then replied:

"They should all be girls, I’ve met most of her friends and I don’t remember seeing any boys."

"Really?!" Shen Gu Mirai’s voice unconsciously rose.

But she quickly felt it was impolite to react so and coughed twice before lowering her voice, cheerfully asking, "Would it be okay if I joined as well, Mr. Temple? It’s been a long time since I last went camping."

"If Aunt Shen Gu and Uncle Shen Gu don’t have a problem with it, I don’t see a big issue."

Beichuan Si calmly agreed.

He had already anticipated that she might ask about the details when Shen Gu Mirai brought it up, figuring they could add one more person to the group.

Since Beichuan Si had already been accounted for, adding Shen Gu Mirai shouldn’t be a problem.

After all, Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Hui Li got along quite well.

"There should be no problem at all, my parents recently went to a symposium, I think it’s about introducing folklore from some place. Now, I’m the only one at home again," Shen Gu Mirai replied.

With the parental go-ahead, there shouldn’t be any other issues.

Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Mirai then discussed some of the details regarding the camping trip.

By the end of the conversation, Shen Gu Mirai, as if suddenly remembering something important, asked, "Mr. Temple, even though it’s camping, there’s a difference between cooking and not cooking, right? Did Hui Li and her friends say they’re bringing ingredients?"

"Since it’s camping, bringing some ingredients should be par for the course. Hui Li should know that, so I didn’t ask."

Beichuan Si answered naturally.

"..." Shen Gu Mirai.

Is that really so?

Shen Gu Mirai couldn’t help but worry.

Was Beichuan Si too confident in his sister?

Seeing his expression, Shen Gu Mirai didn’t want to voice her doubts and decided to wait until after school to ask Beichuan Hui Li for specifics.

The two of them made it to the end of the school day; Shen Gu Mirai couldn’t wait to get home and opened LINE to contact Beichuan Hui Li—

’Sister Hui Li, I’ll also be joining the camping trip, is that alright?’

A little while later, a message came back from Beichuan Hui Li.

’No problem! With Sister Mirai there, Brother Temple surely won’t be too bored.’

In her message, Beichuan Hui Li included some cute emoticons.

"You really have a way with words," Shen Gu Mirai murmured appreciatively as she began typing her next message.

’For the camping area, are you planning to cook for yourselves or just take instant self-heating meals? Mr. Temple seems to be under the impression that you guys will be cooking out in the wild.’

Beichuan Hui Li went silent on the other end.

This ominous silence instinctively gave Shen Gu Mirai a bad feeling. Just as she was about to ask again, another message arrived.

’What should I do? I forgot to tell Brother Temple that we’re just bringing some snacks.’

Then you’re dead.

The moment Shen Gu Mirai imagined Beichuan Si with utter faith that his sister couldn’t possibly be the Salty Egg type, she couldn’t help but feel a twitch in her heart.

Mr. Temple... your sister... is definitely a Salty Egg.

Given the circumstances, there was no choice but to postpone buying the groceries until tomorrow.

With her around, there wouldn’t be the slightest problem in whipping up a tasty meal outdoors.

She sent out a message with ease and then lifted her gaze to peek at the weather outside.

Hmm.

The sky was clear, and a soothing breeze blew. It was a fine sunset at the start of spring.

"Tomorrow—should also be good weather, right?"

She thought to herself.

...

Beichuan Hui Li shared everything that had happened with Beichuan Si.

However, Beichuan Si didn’t express any opinions. Instead, on LINE, he indicated that he would go and buy the groceries alone tomorrow.

And with that, the matter was simply passed over.

After all, it was a celebration... Had it been any other time, Beichuan Si would have sat Beichuan Hui Li down and preached to her for half an hour.

But it was a celebration.

Since it was a celebration, it was a bit heartless to give Beichuan Hui Li a lecture, so Beichuan Si decided to ignore the incident.

"Groceries for seven people, and they’re for dinner too..."

Beichuan Si wandered the shopping street, bagging each of the items he needed.

Drinks, chicken, curry packs...

Shopping for these ingredients was a one-person job.

On the other hand, Beichuan Si had tasked Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Hui Li’s group with renting tents, sleeping bags, and other gear in advance, and setting up camp at the destination.

Meanwhile, Otomoto Ai, Sakura Miori, Takigawa Nanako, and Sakurai Saki, the younger girls, were sent to buy plastic cups, bamboo skewers, and fetch a frying pan and other utensils.

After selecting the final grocery item, Beichuan Si glanced at the time.

It was ten o’clock in the morning.

Two hours had passed since he arrived at the shopping street at eight.

And...

"Is it raining?" Beichuan Si frowned involuntarily.

Dark clouds gathered overhead, looming and swirling like an ominous haze, nearly too thick to disperse...

Elsewhere, the tent-setting duo, Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Hui Li.

The mountain trail was flanked by a continuous stretch of dense forest, which, under the deluge of heavy rain, had turned the already treacherous path into a muddy quagmire.

"How come it’s raining?!"

Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Hui Li were carrying tents when the rain surprised them, forcing them into a bit of a panic.

The weather reports from the meteorological station had proved unreliable.

Shen Gu Mirai couldn’t help but think this.

After all, last night’s weather forecasts had been clear—no rain today.

But did this look like no rain?

The curtain of rain poured down incessantly, drenching Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Hui Li from head to toe in a short while.

The key issue was that it was still springtime; getting drenched could easily lead to a cold.

And the camping site was up in the mountains, some distance away from their current location.

The immediate priority was to find shelter from the rain.

Shen Gu Mirai narrowed her eyes, scanning the dense forest for a potential refuge.

"Sister Mirai! There’s a western-style house over there!"

Through the relentless rain, Beichuan Hui Li, with keen eyesight, spotted something and shouted aloud.

She pointed into the depths of the dense forest.

Following Beichuan Hui Li’s pointing, to the left of the mountain trail there was a narrow path.

The path snaked its way deeper.

Through gaps in the forest branches, Shen Gu Mirai clearly saw the western-style mansion, its façade slick with rainwater.

A western-style house in the midst of a mountain forest?

Shen Gu Mirai furrowed her brows but before she could contemplate further, Beichuan Hui Li pulled her along.

"We’ll catch a cold if we don’t find shelter soon, Sister Mirai."

"Yeah."

That made sense.

Though slightly hesitant in her heart, Shen Gu Mirai ultimately decided to head towards it.

The two quickened their pace, making their way towards the western-style house.

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