Minamoto Wakasei picked up the lantern. It had been battered by the torrential rain, and water had leaked into the base, extinguishing the flame. Yet Minamoto Wakasei recognized it instantly: this was the very type of lantern carried by the girls participating in the Miko Festival.
A trace of a scent intensely familiar to Minamoto Wakasei still lingered on the lantern... or perhaps it was merely his imagination, fueled by a mounting sense of foreboding that was gradually turning an unthinkable suspicion into reality.
With a dazed expression, Minamoto Wakasei walked toward the fork in the road on his left. This was the western entrance of the town Matsuko had mentioned. To the right lay the path into town, while a few hundred meters straight ahead stood the school Minamoto Wakasei had once attended. To the left, however, was a rugged mountain path leading one kilometer up to the home where he had boarded during his childhood.
Chapter 645