Chapter 1: The Mentioned Village

“There’s a slightly unusual human settlement just beyond one mountain. If I remember right, I think the festival’s coming up soon.”

That was what the boy, a supernatural being who lived in the forest and whom she had met a little while ago, had said.
The fact that he had been giggling did catch her attention, but Sayuri didn’t think too much of it.

If anything, she found herself thinking, This might actually be kind of fun.

For Sayuri, a floating ghost, crossing a mountain was no trouble at all. Under normal circumstances, it was a distance she could cover in a single leap.

But now, she was walking along the mountain path.
As if she were crossing an unfamiliar balance beam, she held both arms out to the sides, letting out small murmured calls of, “Okay… okay… okay…”

If a ghost came drifting into a human festival, it would cause a huge commotion. In that case, it wouldn’t be much of a festival anymore.

Sayuri loved startling people.
But she felt that getting in the way of someone else’s enjoyment was a different matter.

The lively sounds of the festival, the sight of food stalls lined up, the smiling faces of people enjoying themselves—Sayuri loved things like that, too.

That was exactly why she wanted to walk properly, so that no one would realize she was a ghost.

—Why is walking so difficult…?

It was a worry she had precisely because she usually floated.

By the time she began descending the mountain, it seemed she had remembered the knack of walking.
Her arms were swinging naturally back and forth, and the murmured calls were gone.

Before she realized it, scattered houses had begun to come into view.
When she reached flatter ground, several homes stood lined up, and she could see rice fields and a river as well—it had completely become a village landscape.

As she walked, enjoying the tranquil scenery, she spotted a torii gate in the distance.

—Is there anyone there?

Suppressing the urge to float without thinking, Sayuri kept her steps steady and moved forward with careful, deliberate strides.