"Kyaaaa—!!!"
Judging from the scream and panicked expression, Kobeni clearly had no memory of what happened before.
Hoshino sighed.
Matters of the heart would have to take their time. Right now, there were more important things.
"Stop screaming and listen."
"First, you would've frozen to death without taking off your clothes. I undressed you in the dark—I didn't see your body."
Hoshino handed over the ruined bag.
"Second, to save you, I destroyed the bag and lost a lot of clothes."
Hoshino pulled out one of his own outfits and tossed it to Kobeni.
"Third, hurry up and get dressed. We're in a rush."
With that, Hoshino turned around and released the giant arms.
Soon, rustling sounds came from behind.
Grumble~
"Ah."
"Eat on my back in a bit." Hoshino said.
"..."
The blizzard had stopped. Hoshino forcefully stuffed a box of sushi into Kobeni's hands.
He carried her on his back toward the shrine.
In the first loop, the shrine had been loading up corpses until the very last moment, but he still had to try. Once it got sealed off, there'd be no chance.
At the main hall entrance, Hoshino set Kobeni down.
"Wait outside." He walked in.
"Mm... ne."
Hoshino turned back.
"Eh?!"
Kobeni hunched her neck with a "What? What happened?" expression.
"Nothing." Hoshino entered the main hall.
He didn't choose to approach the 'sacred object' directly—the ice-blue katana. First, he circled around the hall, trying to find any clues.
Same as the first time he'd entered, after just a few steps he involuntarily grew irritable.
Hoshino didn't believe willpower could withstand this power similar to the primal devil's.
Whenever he couldn't take it anymore, he'd go outside to refresh his state.
Finally, he stopped in front of a rectangular wooden box with elaborate carvings.
He opened the box.
A rich, steady woody fragrance wafted out.
"So it's here after all." Hoshino murmured.
Inside the wooden box, a shrine maiden in red and white robes lay curled up, arms around her knees, spine slightly bent.
Her white hair cascaded like a waterfall, skin whiter than snow, even her eyebrows and eyelashes glowing with crystalline white.
Her eyes were gently closed, like a sleeping snow spirit.
After hesitating for a moment, Hoshino steeled himself and prepared to wake her.
"Ho-Ho-Ho-Hoshino-kun!!" Kobeni's voice called from the hall entrance.
"Hm?"
Hoshino turned his head. Blue light flashed in his eyes.
His vision spun. In Kobeni's horrified expression, the world was dyed ice-blue.
--
Crack.
He lost consciousness.
Eyes opened.
Firelight flickered.
"Knew that would happen." Hoshino muttered to himself.
If anyone could open the box and abduct the shrine maiden, this main hall wouldn't have existed for so many years.
But what if?
Even with very low probability, if the payoff was high enough, it was worth trying.
Unfortunately, it failed.
This time, Hoshino didn't go to the shrine. After asking for directions, he arrived at the hospital on the north side of the onsen district plaza.
At the perimeter, police officers reinforced the cordon while reporters and citizens captured photos with their recording equipment.
Because of the earlier avalanche, half the hospital building was buried in snow. If not for the fir forest buffering it, the entire hospital would've been swallowed.
Under the command of superintendent, the rescue operation was successful. Survivors were gradually being pulled out.
Hoshino circled to the hospital's west entrance where fewer people were. Only one officer stood guard.
"Open the door. I need to get in." Hoshino said.
"You are?"
"FBI."
"..." The officer froze for a moment, then snorted with laughter:
"If you're FBI, then I'm the Prime Minister of Japan. And FBI has no jurisdiction here—this is Japan!"
"FBI can open the any door." Hoshino explained.
"Right, you're absolutely correct. FBI is qualified to open all doors."
The officer opened the door and bowed ninety degrees.
Hoshino walked beside him, patted his shoulder, and said:
"You're not wrong either. You are the Prime Minister of Japan. Go on, go give orders to your former superior. When he's jumping mad, tell him 'Ta-da! I was just joking to lighten the mood' and forget everything."
"..."
"Mm, understood." The officer responded calmly, straightened his collar, and walked toward the superintendent at the main entrance who kept cursing.
"Uwu..."
Hoshino looked at Kobeni.
"Wah?" Kobeni stepped back several paces, hands pulled to her chest with a "So scary, it's not my fault" expression.
"Who are you?"
"Huh?"
"Speak."
"Hi-Hi-Hi-Higashi... yama Ko-Kobeni."
"And me?"
"Ho-Ho-Ho-Hoshino... kun?"
"What's our relationship?"
"...Co-colleagues?"
"Let's go."
Hoshino entered the hospital and controlled a doctor to come to the pharmaceutical storage.
"I need oral sedatives. The colorless, odorless kind that takes effect immediately."
The doctor shook his head. "Among non-controlled substances, nothing meets your requirements. Midazolam comes closest—lighter smell but slightly bitter."
"What about controlled ones?"
"We have those."
The doctor went to a small corner of the storage area. After some fumbling, he pulled out a small bottle and handed it to Hoshino.
"GHB. Colorless, odorless liquid. Hard to detect when dissolved in water. Started being used as a 'date rape drug' in 1990. Just became an officially controlled substance in early February this year. We haven't had time to dispose of it yet. Two bottles still in stock."
"Give them all to me." Hoshino commanded.
Someone couldn't help but go "Uwah."
"No 'uwah'-ing."
"Eh? Mm... mm-ne."
Hoshino walked out of the hospital. Two crows perched on a second-floor window. Several rats burrowed into the shadows.
Not here?
From the information given in the first loop, this avalanche was most likely caused by a clash between Devil Hunters and 'organization' members.
The Devil Hunters lost.
But Hoshino deduced that some survived, and quite a few at that. That's why there was a second blizzard.
"They can't have gone far. Most likely in or near the hospital, but I haven't found them..."
Thinking carefully, for this group to escape capture, they must have Authorities related to evasion or concealment.
Hoshino decided to leave and proceed with the next step of his plan. His animal control had much greater range than people—they could be left here to continue searching.
---
Yukimi-sou Onsen Ryokan.
"The east-side room." Hoshino said.
Mai Asakura nodded. "Do you have a reservation?"
"No."
"Alright, let me calculate for you."
As expected, his sleeve was soon tugged. Hoshino glanced over.
"No-no-no-no..."
"Trust me."
"Eh? Ah, ah? Ah! O-okay." Kobeni nodded in agreement with a wronged expression.
Why is she so obedient?
Hoshino had expected to spend considerable effort explaining.
Does she still have her memories?
But it doesn't feel like it.
Thinking about Kobeni losing their memories together made Hoshino frustrated.
Of course, there was something even more frustrating.
To stop the primal devil's descent, he'd have to face two devils and six contractors.
What use is an hourglass? Would've been better to get a key that opens any door!
Hoshino looked at Mai, who seemed possessed, and asked irritably:
"Does it take this long to calculate?"
If he'd been half-convinced before, now he was absolutely certain Mai was problematic.
She seemed to be writing and calculating in her notebook, but kept shooting malicious glances at the two of them.
"Sir, that'll be 25,000 yen total. Will you be paying by card or cash?"
"Cash." Hoshino handed over the bills.
"One moment please."
"Mm."
As Mai Asakura returned to the counter, Hoshino used his peripheral vision to observe the owner and her daughter, trying to find the problem with them.
Creak.
The ryokan door opened.
Cold wind snuck into the inn, lifting Hoshino's bangs.
He looked over.
A middle-aged couple entered.
The woman had beautiful features, cunning light flashing in her eyes, her abdomen slightly swollen—hard to notice unless you looked carefully.
The man had a scholarly appearance with glasses, looking at his wife with utter adoration.
Before they noticed, Hoshino withdrew his gaze.
His lips curved into an imperceptible arc.
"Seems... not bad?"