Volume 2 Chapter 4.1 (1/2)
Chapter 4: Storm
PART 1
Even though Mikoto and Takeu came to visit him in the dead of night, Ogami-san, the Island Chief, greeted them in a very gentlemanly manner. When they asked him about the possible religious motifs of the mass suicide thirty years ago he showed them the island archives, and when they asked him if there are any old ruins on the islands, he took out the island maps and showed them to the sisters. He even took his time and told them about the island history and folk tales going as far as the early Edo period.
It was late after midnight when his stories have ended. He offered them that they could stay the night and leave first thing in the morning, and Shiratori sisters agreed.
Of course they were worried about Sui, but when they returned to the inn in the morning everything was fine, the amulets were working, the futon was nice and tidy. Upon seeing that, both Mikoto and Takeru let out a sighs of relief.
[Her fever seems to have fallen. Her breathe is also a much calmer……] [I wonder if this is the work of the amulets. I just hope her condition will stay stable from now on.]
Takeru looked out the window, her face full of worry.
[The typhoon is fast approaching. At this rate we might wait for the reinforcements from the Headquarters even longer than we expected. But can we really do it on our own?]
The blue and clear summer sky, so beautiful yesterday, was now covered with a thick veil of dark, stormy clouds that were moving fast throughout the sky. The larger and more stable ships were still sailing but the smaller ones were already anchored in the harbor, filling it to the brim almost entirely. Not only it would be hard to receive any kind of backup, but right now even escaping from the island would be virtually impossible.
Takeru was slowly starting to regret that the three of them didn’t leave the island yesterday when they still had the chance to do so.
[What’s wrong? Why are you worried, Takeru? This simply means that we need to do everything that is in our power while we’re still here, right?] […… I suppose so.]
Managing to calm down with those words, Takeru switched her mind back to the work mode and took out the island’s map from inside of her pocket. Thanks to Ogami-san’s help, they managed to pinpoint about forty four possible checkpoint throughout the map that were worth investigating.
[I thought so yesterday, but upon seeing this right now…… So many.]
Said Mikoto while frowning her eyebrows while looking at the map that was now spread across the floor. Takeru was also frowning, but her expression was way more serious than her younger sister.
[Every single of those locations has a potential of being a youma’s nest, Sister. Not to mention that rumors aren’t making our job any easier, or area of search any smaller. That is why……]
Holding a red pen in her hand, Takeru drew two large circles around the certain areas of the island. She basically divided the area of search into two parts.
[Since we don’t have that much time on our hands, let’s do this. We shall divide the checkpoints into two categories. First, the group A which has a high possibility of containing a nest within itself. Next, the group B which seems to be related to youma appearances. There are also places that can fit both of those categories, five in total, and for the sake of investigation we are going to call them C.] [Ugh, my head is hurting from listening alone.]
Mikoto crossed her arms in front of her well-developed chest, looking not all that convinced.
[You decide where to look first, Takeru. I’m going to be your bodyguard.] [Right, so, the first place we shall investigate are those rocks marked as point fifty one on the map.]
***
They started their investigation from the point that was furthest to north-east on the island, which was a small rocky beach, and then they moved west towards a small cape, checking out every single checkpoint they encountered on their way. So far, there were no results. Then they reached a certain point where the detectors started to show some slight response, gradually intensifying their signals as they were getting closer and closer.