Three days later, according to the Human World’s calendar, it was Golden Week.
The Soul Society did not have this holiday, but it did usher in a new weekend.
Takashi, early in the morning, pulled Ichigo and Rindō back to Junrin’an again.
Without alarming the elders or Kūkaku, they went straight into the woods outside the village.
This strange behavior left Ichigo particularly confused.
“Takashi, what exactly are you up to? Did you leave something important here, and you’re taking us back to find it?”
“You’re actually right. We’re here to find something, but it’s not mine. I don’t even know what it looks like.”
Takashi stood on a large rock, surveying the surrounding terrain, seemingly to further confirm their location in order to pinpoint the search area.
“What is this supposed to be?”
Ichigo looked back at his teammates, puzzled, trying to find an answer.
Rindō shook his head slightly.
Even with his keen perception of others’ emotions, it didn’t mean he could know what was on their minds.
However, one thing he could state for certain.
Takashi wouldn’t do anything meaningless.
“After sharing some information with the Captain of the Second Division, I finally figured some things out.”
Takashi seemed to be answering their questions, and also talking to himself.
“That short-tempered, cold-faced woman was so kind as to share information with you? You weren’t tricked, were you?”
Having won but then being arrested by his own people, Ichigo’s impression of Soi Fon was particularly bad.
“Why do you think I would share cases of supernatural events from the Human World?”
“…What supernatural event cases? Those are just fictional literary works… So, it’s hard to say if she tricked you, but you definitely tricked her.”
“There’s a saying, art imitates life. People can learn many novel things from literary works, and then, well…”
“And then what?”
Ichigo frowned, his curiosity unconsciously piqued.
“Then, when you have someone you’re communicating with in front of you, you can’t help but express your thoughts, and often combine them with your own situation, citing several vivid examples.”
Takashi spread his hands.
“See? The information just came out, didn’t it?”
“…”
Ichigo was dumbfounded.
It took him a while to realize.
Takashi had said that on purpose.
The goal was to induce Soi Fon to connect the information she had investigated with the stories he described, thereby engaging in divergent thinking.
No matter what she associated, she would feel exceptionally excited, because she saw the dawn of the case being solved, and saw more possibilities.
And Soi Fon subconsciously believed this was all Takashi’s credit.
While her favorability towards him greatly increased, she would also involuntarily show off her gains.
And to add credibility and maintain her dignity and authority as a Captain, she would inevitably present genuine and true information as evidence.
Therefore, there was almost no possibility of being deceived by false information.
Unless she was acting the entire time.
But that short-tempered, cold-faced woman had no reason to do so.
“Takashi, you are truly too talented to be a folklorist. If you were a diplomat, then true world peace wouldn’t be far off.”
“Dealing with humans is not as interesting as dealing with supernatural events.”
Takashi said indifferently.
“Alright, back to the main topic. I learned some things from Soi Fon about the two academy students before they disappeared. Combined with the dying words of that Hollow, I roughly understand the reason for their disappearance.”
“Dying words? I remember he seemed to have called out someone’s name.”
Ichigo tried to recall.
“Not the one you killed, but the one I took down.”
Takashi interrupted.
“That guy said before he died that those two academy students seemed to have appeared in Rukongai because of something, and unfortunately ran into a Hollow. I can confirm that thing is somewhere in Junrin’an. Now we need to find it and claim it for ourselves.”
“Wait,” Ichigo asked, puzzled.
“You said claim it for ourselves… would the Second Division agree to that?”
“I kept this secret hidden.”
“…”
Watching Takashi’s matter-of-fact expression, Ichigo’s mouth twitched slightly.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t very shocked, because it was exactly the kind of thing Takashi would do.
However, after learning this, his negative impression of the Second Division Captain couldn’t help but fade considerably.
Perhaps it was… Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
sympathy.
“Based on the Menos Grande’s currently confirmed activity range and the missing Spirit Arts Academy students’ disappearance range, it’s likely in this vicinity.”
Takashi turned to look at Rindō.
“Rindō, could I trouble your animal companions for help? I don’t think we’ll find it through normal means, otherwise, the Onmitsukidō wouldn’t have been busy all night without even knowing where the bodies are.”
“You mean the two Spirit Arts Academy students’ bodies and that thing are together?”
Ichigo subconsciously looked around, trying to spot something different in the dense mountain forest.
But he couldn’t.
Takashi couldn’t either.
The only one who could was Rindō.
Rindō didn’t disappoint Takashi and unhesitatingly took on the important task.
But it would take some time.
After all, no one knew what that thing looked like.
They could only first find animals that had seen the two Spirit Arts Academy students, and then use them to pinpoint the last location where they disappeared.
Most of the day passed unknowingly.
As the news spread among the animals in this area.
Finally, before the sun set, a skylark brought good news.
It had seen the two Spirit Arts Academy students.
And it had personally seen a monster follow them into a cave!
“If we make a lot of money later, I’ll definitely arrange the best bird food for your bird friend.”
Takashi’s spirits lifted.
Ichigo, beside him, also breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting a result after waiting most of the day.
“By the way, so that was your plan all along. It’s really not like your style.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s too normal.”
“…Then I’ll tell you something else that you’ll find very normal.”
On the way to the incident site, following the skylark, the atmosphere was originally quite relaxed and pleasant, but Takashi’s few words made Ichigo unable to feel relaxed or pleasant anymore.
“Right now, we’re still living off the Spirit Arts Academy’s honor student stipends. We can’t even afford a single Human World outfit. Hachihara has treated us to so many meals for free. Even though she’s a friend, do you want to keep freeloading?”
“A Shinigami’s basic salary has the purchasing power of 200,000 Japanese yen in the Human World. Only when you reach a seated officer can you barely save money. Promotion to Captain is about ten times that of a regular squad member, but those are all very distant for us.”
“So, if we can achieve financial freedom at this stage, or at least have some income coming in, we can improve our quality of life before becoming Captains.”
“I really want to hire a few maids to take care of my daily needs. Not only is it convenient, but it also frees up time and allows me to focus on my training.”
Takashi’s words struck a chord, and Ichigo couldn’t refute them at all, even having to admit that what he said made sense.
Subsequently, the three arrived at the dense forest on the cliff at the foot of the mountain.
Takashi immediately noticed something was off.
“No wonder it’s hidden so secretly; there’s a barrier.”
It could only be described as extremely clever, a level they, as Spirit Arts Academy students, couldn’t imagine at this stage.
The barrier concealed the cave entrance.
Even a large-scale search with many people would find it difficult to detect.
Because only by personally touching a certain spot on the ground could one feel the existence of the barrier, and then discover the cave entrance.
But besides its secrecy, it had no other functions.
They almost unhinderedly passed through the barrier.
They descended along the stone steps.
Before long, the view suddenly opened up, as if they had discovered a small world.
“It’s so big,” Ichigo exclaimed.
Takashi was also observing.
This place, hundreds of meters deep underground, had been hollowed out by unknown means, creating a massive space no smaller than a modern stadium.
The rock formations were rugged, bright as day, white steam was rising, the temperature was slightly higher than outside, and it was a bit humid…
Such an environment couldn’t help but bring to mind Yellowstone National Park with its volcanic features.
Especially the small waterfall directly ahead, thundering as endless water plunged into the pool below, from which the heat and humidity originated.
The three cautiously guarded against sudden changes in the unfamiliar environment while searching the area.
But they searched and searched, finding nothing.
They finally arrived at the edge of the pool.
Listening to the white noise of the waterfall, Ichigo was about to say something when he saw Takashi silently draw his Zanpakutō, cut his fingertip, and place it in the water.
He quickly called out:
“Hey, Takashi, what are you doing?”
Rindō also cast a puzzled and concerned gaze. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Takashi silently withdrew his hand and showed them his injured finger.
“The wound… disappeared.”
Ichigo’s pupils constricted.
He hadn’t seen any signs of Takashi using Kaidō to heal it.
Which meant…
Ichigo and Rindō subconsciously looked at the steaming pool, which resembled a hot spring.
“I think I know what this place is,” Takashi said, standing up, his tone faint.
“A hot spring built by Kirinji Tenjirō, a healing facility that combines the best of Kaidō techniques.”
“Never heard of that name,” Ichigo and Rindō said, looking bewildered.
Of course, they hadn’t heard of it.
Even many people didn’t know that the hot spring Urahara Kisuke built in his secret base beneath the Sōkyoku was modeled after this very hot spring.
However, Takashi only knew that Urahara’s prototype was located somewhere in Rukongai, but he didn’t know the exact location.
He hadn’t expected to stumble upon it this time.
Suddenly, Takashi’s gaze sharpened.
Ichigo and Rindō also noticed.
Two severely damaged Spirit Arts Academy uniforms floated on the water.
Although there was no warning, it was within reason.
“Hey, Takashi…” Ichigo said, looking at the two uniforms.
“Hmm?”
“They probably didn’t come here for no reason, right?”
“Indeed.”
Takashi’s face was expressionless, and his tone was flat, as if he were talking about someone else’s business, yet it concerned them.
“Although it’s just a guess… the Class Two students are of noble birth, and the Class One students are from Rukongai. They don’t know each other and have no connections. However, because of our existence, this year’s Class One has received exceptionally high attention.”
“You’ve seen the attitude of nobles towards people from Rukongai.”
“The two missing Spirit Arts Academy students had similar entrance exam rankings. One could say that if their rankings were swapped, the candidates for Class One would change.”
“Perhaps because of this, the missing Class Two student not only disapproved but also harbored deep-seated resentment.”
“So, he fixated on the other missing student, attempting to find an opportunity to expel him from the Spirit Arts Academy and take his place to fill the vacant spot.”
“But during the surveillance, he discovered the other party’s suspicious movements, followed him, and found this place.”
“As for how the missing student from our class knew about this place, it was either good luck or he heard it from someone else.”
“Upon discovering the magical properties of this place, both wanted to claim it for themselves, but they didn’t expect a Menos Grande to be following them. As a result, neither gained anything good… No, it’s hard to say.”
Takashi suddenly thought of something and narrowed his eyes.
“That Menos Grande being able to hide from the Seireitei’s gaze and lurk in Junrin’an might be related to it devouring a Zanpakutō and soaking in this hot spring.”
“You’ve made me not want to go in and soak anymore,” Ichigo said with a disgusted look.
“What are you afraid of? This is flowing water.”
“It’s still disgusting… But speaking of which, Takashi, on the way here, you said you wanted to use this opportunity to make money. It seems your plan is going to fall through~”
“What are you talking about?”
Takashi looked at Ichigo, who was gloating and making a pun, and remained very calm.
“Who said we can’t make money from this?”
“Huh?! No, do you actually want to open a public bath?!” Ichigo was stunned.
“That’s too much trouble. It’s better to just bottle up the hot spring water here and take it back to use as medicine. You’ve seen how astonishing its healing effects are.”
Takashi’s eyes sparkled with shrewdness.
“Will people buy it? This is too… strange.”
“Why wouldn’t they? Imagine if someone got injured protecting you, collapsed on the ground unable to move. You could defeat the enemy but couldn’t save that person. At that moment, let alone hot spring water, even something stranger and of unknown origin would be used without hesitation. Am I wrong?”
“…”
Ichigo’s breathing hitched, and he was lost in thought, as if resonating with the scenario Takashi described.
“No… you’re not wrong.”
“So, the job of transporting the water is yours. I’ll contact the buyers,” Takashi said, patting his shoulder with a look of satisfaction.
“What?!”
“If you have objections, I can do it myself. But don’t come asking me for money then.”
“…I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, but who do you plan to sell it to? Don’t get us reported.”
“Sell it to whoever has money.”
To Ichigo’s grumbling, Takashi maintained his usual matter-of-fact demeanor.
“Being reported is impossible, because the person in question is the one who handles reports.”
“…”
Ichigo and Rindō exchanged glances, and the unfortunate figure still patrolling Rukongai came to mind.