Tsukiyomi Ruri didn’t resist that; rather, she liked having her hand held by Izumi Shirayuki, which gave her a peculiar sense of enjoyment.
On their way to the room, they ran into Fujiwara Misa, and Izumi Shirayuki asked her to prepare some tea and bring it over.
After entering the room, Izumi Shirayuki said with great interest, “When Fujiwara-san comes, I’ll ask her about the ghost incidents.”
“Then I’ll play a game first. I need to use up my stamina.” Tsukiyomi Ruri took out her smartphone and said.
“Use up stamina?” Izumi Shirayuki tilted her head. “Which game are you playing?”
Tsukiyomi Ruri directly showed her smartphone screen to Izumi Shirayuki.
Izumi Shirayuki looked at it and said curiously, “The graphics are quite good, and it looks interesting. I’ll download it later and try it out.”
“It’s a huge money sink.” Tsukiyomi Ruri warned.
“I have money.” Izumi Shirayuki said this without any sense of pride; rather, it was just a matter-of-fact thing, as it was only natural.
Tsukiyomi Ruri recalled how Izumi Shirayuki had a driver chauffeur her during the ghost incident investigation; she was indeed an Ojou-sama.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door; Fujiwara Misa had arrived.
“Come in.” Izumi Shirayuki called out.
The door opened, and Fujiwara Misa walked in; her mature figure was very appealing under the yukata’s contours.
“When you need to eat, you can come find me. If you don’t want to go out, you can also call me; here’s my number.” Fujiwara Misa said as she served the tea and snacks, leaving a business card.
“Wait, Fujiwara-san.” Izumi Shirayuki stopped Fujiwara Misa.
“Is there anything else I can help with?” Fujiwara Misa asked with a gentle smile.
Izumi Shirayuki asked, “Fujiwara-san, I heard there are ghost stories about this inn…”
Before she could finish, Fujiwara Misa’s face turned pale.
Biting her lower lip, Fujiwara Misa bowed and said, “Dear guests, I know this rumor might worry you, but there definitely aren’t any real ghosts like that. Please believe in our inn. Also, I can reduce the cost of your stay, so please don’t check out.”
Clearly, the scarcity of guests recently had put a lot of pressure on Fujiwara Misa.
“I don’t intend to check out.” Izumi Shirayuki smiled and said, “Actually, I’m very interested in the ghost stories, so I’d like to learn some related information from you, Fujiwara-san.”
Interested in ghosts?
Fujiwara Misa didn’t know what expression to make toward Izumi Shirayuki for a moment.
She couldn’t help but glance at the other cute little girl.
That little girl was holding a smartphone, from which came the sounds of a pay-to-win mobile game…
Retracting her gaze, Fujiwara Misa said to Izumi Shirayuki, “Since Izumi-san just wants to ask questions, I have no reason to refuse.”
Izumi Shirayuki was very pleased and immediately took out a pen and paper, asking questions while taking notes.
For Fujiwara Misa, answering Izumi Shirayuki’s questions was also a form of venting, after all, since the ghost stories began, her guest count had dropped drastically, and her income was declining at a visible rate, so she felt very distressed inside.
“During this period, have you really not had a single guest?” Izumi Shirayuki asked.
“It’s not like there’s been absolutely no one; occasionally, people still come, but they end up encountering the so-called ghosts and then leave. Those are the ones who spread the ghost stories. There are also people who haven’t encountered ghosts, but they stay for a very short time, usually no more than a day, and then leave…” Fujiwara Misa said slowly.
“Are there any guests who left a deeper impression on you?” Izumi Shirayuki asked.
“Yes.” Fujiwara Misa nodded.
“For example?” Izumi Shirayuki continued.
“For example, you, Izumi-san. You’re the only one who still wants to learn about the ghost incidents.” Fujiwara Misa answered honestly.
Izumi Shirayuki: “…”
She had to rephrase: “Apart from me, is there anyone else who left a deep impression on you?”
“Yes.” Fujiwara Misa said again, “There’s a female guest named Hino Kaoru. She heard about the ghost stories but didn’t care at all, and she comes every two or three days. Maybe that’s because she hasn’t encountered a ghost herself. If she did, perhaps she wouldn’t come back either.”
Saying this, Fujiwara Misa looked a bit dejected.
“Fujiwara-san, do you believe that ghosts really exist?” Izumi Shirayuki asked while taking notes.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, but…” Fujiwara Misa looked like she was about to cry. “But these days, I’ve installed surveillance cameras in many places, yet guests still encounter ghostly things and run away in fear, while the cameras show nothing. If this continues, I don’t know if I can hold on any longer.”
“You yourself haven’t encountered any so-called ghosts, right?” Izumi Shirayuki asked.
“That’s right, I haven’t.” Fujiwara Misa shook her head.
“Do you think this might be your competitors sabotaging you? If so, which competitor do you find most suspicious?” Izumi Shirayuki continued recording.
“I have indeed suspected that…” Fujiwara Misa said slowly.
The two talked for quite a while.
Fortunately, there were no other guests at the inn right now, otherwise Fujiwara Misa wouldn’t have been able to chat for so long.
It was said that the hot spring inn originally had other employees besides Fujiwara Misa, but those employees had also encountered the so-called ghosts and quit out of fear, so now only Fujiwara Misa remained at the inn.
After understanding the situation, Izumi Shirayuki said, “My questions end here. Thank you.”
Fujiwara Misa nodded and left the room.
After Fujiwara Misa left, Izumi Shirayuki held out her notebook to Tsukiyomi Ruri and asked, “Ruri-san, do you think there’s anything noteworthy about the ghost incidents?”
Tsukiyomi Ruri thought for a moment and said, “I can’t see anything for now, but if it’s really as Fujiwara-san said, as long as we stay a bit longer, we’ll encounter these so-called ghosts, and then we’ll naturally understand what’s going on.”
Izumi Shirayuki nodded. “I think so too. I’m really curious: what does a ghost look like?”
Why would a normal person be so eager to encounter a ghost?
Tsukiyomi Ruri couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”
Izumi Shirayuki chuckled and said, “Didn’t I say from the beginning that I don’t believe real ghosts exist? The so-called ghosts must be someone in disguise, so there’s naturally no need to be afraid.”
Hearing this, Tsukiyomi Ruri thought that seemed to make sense.
“Oh right, I’ll send the information I just got to Yuzuki-san and Keiko-san.” Izumi Shirayuki picked up her smartphone and started operating it again.
