Asakura thus carried Fujiwara Chika around the shrine, but found nothing.
If there was anything strange, it was only that this shrine, despite being located in the mountains and seemingly uncleaned, was surprisingly clean. Not even a single fallen leaf could be seen within the torii and shimenawa area.
"It was like this the last time I came here." Fujiwara Chika whispered into Asakura's ear.
"Hmm..." Asakura made a strange hum.
"Did you find anything?" The girl asked nervously.
"You're heavy. I feel like I can't carry you anymore." Asakura said in a deep voice.
"Cheer up, Exorcist-san, you're a boy!"
"Do you have some misunderstanding about boys? And my bones are hurting from being poked..."
"Ugh, that's because of that Evil Spirit! Otherwise, Chika would be a plump, bouncy beauty!"
"Making a 'punipuni' sound, rather than plump, it's more like fat..."
Asakura was about to offer his opinion on the girl's words, but the arm that had been gently wrapped around his neck suddenly tightened significantly. Feeling that continuing would lead to being strangled by her, he had to swallow the rest of his words.
"Cough, compared to this, it's more important to focus on finding the problem."
"Then how do we find it? Should we look at the go-shintai?" Fujiwara Chika asked softly.
"Already saw it. It's a female skull." Asakura answered casually.
"Oh... Huh?!" The girl subconsciously responded, then immediately reacted: "A, a skull?!"
"It's a skeleton head."
"I'm not surprised by the definition of a skull!" Fujiwara Chika patted Asakura's shoulder, but because of her weakness, the action lacked vigor and instead seemed like she was acting spoiled: "When did you see it? Why didn't I see it?"
"Just now, I took a look while checking the offering box." Asakura replied.
"As a go-shintai, that kind of thing must be really bad, right? What if we just destroy it directly?" The girl suggested.
"If we destroy it directly, this shrine will probably disappear immediately." Asakura speculated.
"Isn't that great? It's Mission Complete right away!" Fujiwara Chika said in surprise.
"No, that would be putting the cart before the horse." But Asakura shook his head.
What resided in this shrine was by no means a god, but some kind of monster. And monsters do not disappear out of thin air. Destroying the go-shintai would only cause the other party to lose its anchor, but it would not eliminate its physical form; it was a clever trick.
In a horror movie, it would be the kind of breakthrough that the protagonists suddenly discover when they are in desperate straits, which allows them to reverse the situation and barely survive. But doing so would lead to an end-credits scene where the monster revives, a temporary solution.
Even if the go-shintai were destroyed now, causing the shrine to disappear, as long as some time passed—perhaps a few years, perhaps a hundred years—as long as the monster residing in the shrine could find another anchor, this strange shrine would still reappear.
If it were ordinary people who had no means to fight monsters and could only use such clever methods, then so be it. But Asakura was not afraid of such monsters. For him, it was better to go straight for the kill and eliminate the other party from the root.
"If that doesn't work, we'll just have to execute Plan B." Asakura said.
"Plan B? What's that?" Fujiwara Chika, who was on his back, asked curiously.
"How did you see those spirits?"
Asakura didn't answer directly, but instead asked back.
Immediately, the girl's expression showed sudden realization: "You mean you're going to make a wish here?"
Then, she looked suspicious, "But will that really work? Isn't what you're doing, Exorcist-san, like a chef asking the ingredients to come out and meet him?"
"I wouldn't use such dirty ingredients."
Asakura first protested for his food hygiene, then said nonchalantly, "Anyway, try everything you can. Maybe it'll work."
Fujiwara Chika thought about it and felt that it indeed made sense, so she stopped speaking and waited for Asakura to go forward and worship.
But Asakura didn't run directly to the offering box. Instead, he stood still, not knowing what he was thinking.
"What's wrong?"
Fujiwara Chika asked, puzzled.
Asakura didn't answer, just smiled.
The next moment, powerful flames rose from the ground, enveloping their bodies.
Fujiwara Chika was startled, almost falling from behind Asakura.
After all, she had seen how terrifying Asakura's flames were before.
However, the girl quickly calmed down, because the flames enveloping her didn't bring the burning pain she expected; instead, they gave her a warm feeling.
Moreover, if one looked closely, they would find that the flames formed a windbreaker or cloak-like effect on both of them.
"This is..."
"Cursed Flame Scale Armor, a precaution just in case."
Asakura said calmly, "Even against attacks from unknown entities, it provides a certain level of defense."
It even has a counter-armor effect; if the unknown entity is too weak, it might be directly counter-killed.
"Hmm, that being said, this doesn't protect your head! Isn't your head completely exposed!"
Fujiwara Chika exclaimed loudly.
"This is just its external manifestation..." Asakura explained, "The overall defense is enhanced; even the head is well protected. It's mainly for aesthetic and visibility considerations..."
The pink-haired girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, as if a small light bulb 'dinged' above her head.
"I get it! Simply put, it's like bikini armor in games, right? Even though it's just a few pieces of cloth, the overall defense goes up~ That kind of feeling."
"Don't compare that kind of thing to my meticulously developed and designed 'Cursed Flame Scale Armor'!"
Asakura suddenly felt as if his hard work had been defiled by some hooligan from who-knows-where.
"How rude! Bikini armor is also something meticulously designed by art designers, isn't it?"
"Didn't you say your family was strict and you couldn't play games? How do you know about this kind of thing!"
"...Recent tabletop games are quite open."
"What on earth happened to the tabletop game industry?!"
Although he was somewhat thrown off by the girl's metaphor, Asakura quickly adjusted his mindset, ran to the offering box, and, following the girl's instructions, intended to replicate her actions from that day.
"Huh, do I have to put 500 yen in the offering box? For an unknown shrine like this?"
"I also thought it was a bit little, but I had just eaten ramen that day, so I only had that much left..."
"No, no, no, that's too much! Usually, people only put in 5 yen!"
"Exorcist-san, you're surprisingly impious..."
"What kind of god correlates a devotee's piety with how much money they put in!"