Home Categories light novel Hina dolls who take a long way

Chapter 36 one

Leaving the downtown area of ​​Shenshan City and walking northeast along the road, you will encounter a long gentle slope.Cycling on a gentle slope, my pedaling feet also felt a little heavy.While it's not necessary to stand up and pedal hard, it's a good warm-up. Not far from both sides of the road are sparse woods, and remnant snow can still be seen in between.The surroundings suddenly became deserted, almost like a dividing line.According to Satoshi Fukube, the hilly area to the northeast of Kamiyama City used to be an independent village in history, and the name was given separately.To this day, that area is still called "Jingchu".The slope gradually became steeper.Although the breath of spring is already quite strong, the morning is still bitingly cold.My short breath also turned into a white breath.

I found a small Buddhist hall at the top of the ramp.I have walked this path several times.At first, Satoshi took me away, and later, for the celebration banquet of the cultural festival, the four of us from the Ancient Books Research Institute also walked together.However, it was the first time I discovered that there is a Buddhist temple here.Probably because it was noisy when passing by before. Today I am alone.Oreki Houtaro, who claims to be an energy conservationist, actually rode his bicycle to a distant neighboring village early in the morning, which was unimaginable a year ago.Thinking of this, although it was too late, I still smiled wryly.The Tibetan Bodhisattva is enshrined in the Buddhist hall.I jumped off the bike, bowed with one hand, and took a rest by the way.

Behind Jizo is the downhill road.The fields that have been harvested are covered with mottled residual snow.The morning sun was shining brightly, and the air was quite cool. This ramp is not very high, so the view is not very good.Having said that, in the depths of the vast plain, there is still a mansion surrounded by white walls that is quite different from the scattered houses.The tall and straight pine trees planted in the courtyard can be seen from here.That was Chitanda's home.Its large area can be felt from here, but it looks like an amazingly spacious hall, extremely delicate lattice windows, etc., which can only be seen after entering.

But I'm not going to Chitanda's house today, so I turned my head and looked in another direction. On the other side of the stream across from Chitanda's house, the color of the mountains was brighter than fresh green, and a small shrine was surrounded by the mountains.I can't see the shrine, but the flag of the society stands there, so it's probably there. There is the destination, it seems to be called Mizunashi Shrine. The cause was the day before yesterday.Just as I was lying on the bed in my room with nothing to do, reading a heavy paperback book that I couldn't finish reading, the phone rang.

"Hello? Sorry to disturb your rest." It was Chitanda.Chitanda's demeanor has always been very polite, and her tone of voice is very calm.But in person, her big eyes and my own past experience often remind me that the guy is not just a cute girl.However, I couldn't see the other party's face on the phone, so I almost misunderstood it as the eldest lady somewhere. "I'm not resting." "Huh? Oreki-san, are you tutoring?" "No……" Indeed, my grades are not particularly excellent in Shenshan High School, but they are not reduced to the point where I will receive tutoring notices.Chitanda said calmly on the other end of the phone, "So you're on spring break, right?"

Yes, it is indeed on spring break, a leisurely spring break. "Sorry for being so abrupt..." Because Chitanda's voice was indeed slightly embarrassed, I was also a little nervous about what was going on. "Do you have any plans for the day after tomorrow?" I glanced at the calendar subconsciously.In fact, let alone the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I didn't have any arrangements for the whole spring break.If my sister was here, maybe she would send me to run errands, but fortunately, she has gone to Nanji now and is not at home. "No."

"That's it, that's great." I could clearly feel Chitanda's relief on the other end of the phone.She went on to say: "Well, Oreki-san. I know that speaking suddenly will cause you a lot of trouble, but can you please help me hold the umbrella?" Holding the receiver, I couldn't help but wonder. If it was last April, I would have seriously thought, "Is there such a code as 'umbrella'?" But Chitanda and I have been together for a year.This year's experience tells me that Chitanda will not explain when she asks for help. "... explain it to me from the beginning."

"Start from the beginning? Speaking of it, it started shortly after World War II..." "Ah, no, it's fine to start halfway, please make it easier to understand." Even Chitanda finally noticed her bad habits.She said sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at explaining..." Then, Chitanda let out a low hum, as if trying to organize her thoughts. "All in all, the shrine near my house is going to hold the Doll's Day festival, and there will be dolls in palace costumes of the emperor, empress, left and right ministers, and three female officials. It seems that there were even five musicians in the past, but recently the number of children has decreased, so it was cancelled. .”

"Oh……" Why do you have to omit the doll of the five musicians when the number of children is reduced?It's really incomprehensible.But the more fundamental problem is this: it's already April, and the Hinamatsuri festival is in March. "Isn't it a month late?" "Ah, yes, that's right. Because it's according to the lunar calendar." It felt like "so what if it's a month late?" in her tone.Is it quite common for Hinamatsuri to be held a month late?Chitanda ignored me, who was full of question marks, and continued: "So, someone has to hold an umbrella for the doll of the Emperor and Empress... However, the person who has been in this position for a few years was suddenly injured and his wrist was dislocated. I don't want to You can't help it, but we are short of manpower, and everyone who can think of nearby has been assigned to other jobs. There is really no other way.

"Because of the size of the clothes, you can't just look for anyone. For example, Fukube-san is a little smaller. From my point of view, Oreki-san should be just right for you." Having said that, Chitanda paused for a moment.Then she said tentatively, "The work itself probably won't take an hour. Could you please help me?" I know I'm putting on a straight face. In other words, as long as you hold an umbrella next to the puppet stand, it will be fine.But to be honest, it was very troublesome, and even with Chitanda's mediation, I would still feel ashamed if I was asked to participate in a regional festival that had nothing to do with me.

"I'm not interested." "That's it..." There was an awkward silence. But if you think about it carefully, you don't have to worry too much about holding an umbrella, and there is no problem of decency.Chitanda should know that I believe in energy conservation.Knowing this, but still begging on my head, it must mean that she is really embarrassed. If it could help Chitanda simply, then it would be fine. "Ah, but it's fine. I'll go." "Huh? Can you?" When I suddenly changed my attitude, Chitanda looked surprised.She paused for a beat, and then responded politely: "Thank you very much, it really helped a lot." "The day after tomorrow, right? Just stay by the Hina doll's side?" "Yes, we can just go together. In addition, although it is very small, there is also a reward." Oh?You can still get paid.Isn't that just a simple part-time job? Just thinking about it, I suddenly discovered a problem.It's impossible-- "'Walking' means walking with the puppet?" "……yes." "Dolls go away?" "yes." Although Chitanda answered it as a matter of course, her voice gradually became quieter for some reason.When I was about to ask "Why does the doll leave", she couldn't help but say, "Although it is indeed a Hina doll, please don't dolls, dolls keep screaming. I would be embarrassed too. " Something is not quite right.I thought about it, what is wrong? I just need to open an umbrella for the doll.But Chitanda said that the doll could walk, and then said the word doll, which sounded a bit embarrassing. It seems that there is only one conclusion. "Could it be that dolls refer to..." "...Ah, doesn't it mean that Oreki-san doesn't know at all?" Sure enough, that's the case. After pausing for enough time to switch hands, Chitanda patiently explained: "Every year at Mizuna Shrine's Hinamatsuri Festival on the lunar calendar, there will be girls dressed as 'living dolls'. The 'living dolls' will carry a The parade was parading around the village. I thought Mizuna Shrine's doll festival was quite famous, and Oreki-san must know it too... "Well, since I was promoted to junior high school, I have assumed the position of queen every year... Fukube said he would come to see it." But Satoshi had to go to tutoring, and it seemed that he just missed the parade.Yesterday he called me with his chest pounding, "Listen up, Houtaro! Open an umbrella for Chitanda-san dressed as a queen doll. Don't be careless!" Compared to this, I am more worried about how the person holding the umbrella behind the doll will be dressed. Although there is still a while before the agreed time, but the road is not familiar, I can't get lost.After re-buttoning the windbreaker, I stepped on the bicycle and rushed down the ramp in one breath.
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