"Hey, cold and cold..."

On the stairs, Takumi Fujiwara, who was still panting, jumped from the ground because of the chilling snow that suddenly got into the back of his neck.

"It's always been weird coming out of the station..."

He stretched out his gloved hand and caught a falling snowflake, with a look of inquiry in his eyes: "Do you think that the snow in Hakodate is a little too cold?"

Although he doesn't like to go out, he grew up in Tokyo since childhood and is no stranger to snow.

In front of him, the hexagonal diamond-shaped snowflake he received in the palm of his hand showed no sign of melting, and seemed unexpectedly "firm".

"Sousuke, look..."

He turned his head to look at Sousuke Araki, who was standing side by side. He seemed to have discovered something, and stretched out his hand to **** back and forth on the other side.

"Hey, what are you groping, I don't have that kind of hobby..."

"Something's wrong, why are your clothes so clean?!"

"Isn't this new clothes, isn't it normal to be clean?"

"Snow, I mean snow!"

Obviously it was the same type of cold-proof clothing that was purchased together. At this time, Fujiwara Takukai already had a lot of cold ice crystals hanging all over his body, and he felt a little wet.

But on Araki Sosuke, not only did he not see a trace of snow white, but he was as dry as new.

"This snow has been 'purified' by you?!"

As the distance got closer, Fujiwara Takukai noticed that the heavy snowflakes in the sky, as soon as they approached the range of one centimeter in front of Araki Sect, instantly melted into water droplets and fell to the ground...

It was as if there was an invisible flame around him, evaporating the snowflakes.

"No, in this snow..."

And at the moment when the snowflakes melted, wisps of black air, as thin as fluff and imperceptible, quietly penetrated into Araki Sosuke's body.

"...There is resentment!"

Seeing the anomaly, even Fujiwara Takumi, who believed in "one more thing is worse than one less thing", couldn't help frowning.

"As expected of the **** child of Meiji Jingu, he discovered the clues of resentment in the snow so quickly."

A middle-aged man wearing a priest's robe and a black hat pushed open the door of his own hall, and bowed to Fujiwara Takukai: "Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine priest Kono Ichiro, I have met Fujiwara priest...According to the contact from yesterday. Time, I guess Your Excellency is about to arrive at this time."

Although he calls himself a "priest official", the burly physique that cannot be covered by the priest's uniform and the stubble on his rough chin give people a shrewd warrior atmosphere.

"This time, I will ask Priest Kono to take care of him."

Slightly embarrassed, he withdrew his indescribable hands from Sousuke Araki, patted the snowflakes on the hem of his clothes, and Fujiwara Takumi returned a salute.

"Who is this one?"

Priest Kono narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Sousuke Araki beside Fujiwara Takukai, and asked softly.

"Ahem, this one is Onodera of the Disaster Prevention Mobile Team who is in charge of assisting me this time."

"Is the newly established disaster prevention mobile team, just anyone has such a momentum, worthy of being the elite transferred back from the Middle East..."

Priest Kono nodded politely.

"Hey, don't be in a daze, and say hello to the priest Kono."

Finding that his friend was still admiring the scenery below the stairs, Fujiwara Takumi quietly tugged at the corner of his clothes.

"There... what place is..."

I don't know when, Araki Sosuke has taken off his sunglasses, and his eyes are looking straight at the cloudy sky above Hakodate.

In his left eye, clumps of black gas were hidden in the dark clouds, and centered somewhere in a gigantic vortex...

"From here, you can see the entire city of Hakodate... I don't know, which location are you asking about?"

Ichiro Kono glanced at Hakodate City, which was covered in thick snow in the distance.

"Zong... Onodera-kun, now is not the time to discuss the scenery."

Following the gaze of Sousuke Araki, Fujiwara Takukai, who did not notice any abnormality, walked to the priest Kono: "Priest Kono, it has been almost 24 hours since the bus disappeared, we should hurry up and communicate about the search and rescue situation. …”

"It's freezing cold outside, please talk to the two of you inside."

Looking away from Sousuke Araki, the priest Kono led the two towards the side hall.

"Yes, no matter how many he is, let's find the little bird You first."

Hearing keywords such as "bus" and "search and rescue", Sousuke Araki took a last look at the strangely shaped "dark cloud" in the distance, and followed the two into the side hall.

...

"Yesterday, after receiving the news that the bus disappeared in the snowstorm, the Metropolitan Police Department immediately organized manpower to search and rescue..."

In the old side hall, a square stove made of hollowed out tatami floor was burning hot charcoal.

"However, this snow disaster is too big, not to mention the wheel marks of the bus, any traces left by creatures on the snow will be erased in a moment."

Sosuke Araki and the two were kneeling around the stove, listening to the introduction from the priest Kono with a serious look on their faces.

"Not only that, communication equipment, compass, direction indicator~lightnovelpub.net~ and even the vehicle's electronic control system, all experienced intermittent failures in the blizzard..."

On the hook hanging from the roof, the old iron kettle was burning with charcoal and whining.

"...Even well-trained search and rescue dogs have become restless for some reason, unable to concentrate on tracking the breath."

This original tatami charcoal stove is very common in old Japanese style buildings.

Although it is necessary to pay attention to the problems of thick smoke and ventilation, it can achieve a heating effect comparable to air conditioning and floor heating, and solve the problems of drinking tea and cooking by the way.

"This harsh environment makes the search and rescue operations that have no clue at all impossible to advance effectively."

Kono priest removed the iron pot with a rag and poured a cup of hot tea for the two of them.

"So, is all this due to grievances in the snowflakes?"

Not in the mood to look at the fragrant hot tea in front of him at all, Fujiwara Takumi asked hurriedly.

The existence of many "spiritual places" has long been proven that even weak grievances, gathered to a certain extent, can indeed interfere with electronic equipment, magnetic fields and the mind of living beings.

"Perhaps it is. Since the 'first snow' that was more than a month earlier, Hokkaido's spiritual activity has become more frequent, and many existences that have been dormant for many years have begun to slowly wake up..."

"There are not many scavengers in Hokkaido, but Wannian Temple is said to be in trouble recently, and it is difficult to protect itself. Even sending scavengers to help search and rescue is insufficient."

Unlike Honshu, where the distribution of slayers is relatively balanced, Hokkaido, which has been largely immigrated to and developed since 1869, and has only been slightly effective after more than 150 years, only has Hakodate Hachimangu, Sapporo Hokkaido Jingu and Mikasa Manenji Temple. Here, the heritage of the slayers is preserved.

Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine, which is located at the gateway to Hokkaido, naturally assumed the responsibility of serving as a contact point for those who come and go.