——The face festered into a bright red. ——Just like Fudo Myo-oh. ——That terrible face makes people dare not take a second look. --but, ——Please be with her. ——Please, Zero Zero Zero. "No, I'm not asking for your first name, but your last name—" "What I said just now is my surname, the Tao of the road, the tail of the tail, my surname is Mi-chi-O." "Ah! I'm so sorry." After the young man at the counter bowed deeply, he quickly tapped on the keyboard inside the counter. "Uh-Mr. Maekawa (mA-e-kA-wA), Mr. Mitamura (mi-tA-mu-rA)... Next is Mr. Yano (yA-nO). Well, I can't find your reservation information .”

"Strange, how is it possible..." This is Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and I am standing alone in front of the counter of the business hotel "Lewin" in front of the T Line S Station, confused about the current situation.I'm wearing a dress over a crepe trench coat, and I'm clutching a Boston bag and a paper bag of wedding keepsakes. "My cousin should have made an appointment for me, ah, by the way, can you please check if there is any information about making an appointment with my cousin's name 'Xiao Dao'?" The staff at the counter tapped the keyboard again, but there seemed to be no information about making an appointment with this name.

"It's really nerve-wracking, so I'll go through the formalities again now." "Sorry, the rooms are fully booked at the moment..." After three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, November 22, Heisei 15 (2004), after attending the wedding of my cousin Hiroyuki Kojima who lives in Shiga Prefecture, I went to the business office he reserved for me. In the restaurant, stand in front of the counter and prepare for the check-in procedure. "I'll call and check with the person who made the appointment for me." I leave the counter and take my phone out of my windbreaker pocket.Because I have never been married, I don't know much about the situation, but usually after the wedding, the groom has to deal with related matters such as paying the expenses of the venue, so he is too busy to separate himself and do nothing?I was very reluctant to disturb him at this time, but in desperation, I still dialed his mobile phone number.

"Hey—ah, so it's Brother Xiu." Unexpectedly, the bell rang only once, and the call was connected.After I briefly explained the situation, he exclaimed "Huh?" "Strange, wait a minute, I'll ask Shinobu right away." Ren is the bride he happily married today. "There seems to be something wrong with the hotel you reserved for Brother Xiu, is it 'Lewin' in front of Station S?" "What? I don't know. Didn't I say that you are responsible for making appointments for your relatives?" "Ah? No, only one of my relatives wants to stay in a hotel. Didn't I ask you to make an appointment for me?"

"You're mistaken, I'm only responsible for making reservations for hotels where my natal relatives stay." Hiroyuki, who participated in the kendo club in junior high school, high school, and university, spoke very loudly, and Shinobu, who met Hiroyuki through sports, was petite, but also had a loud voice.You can clearly hear their conversation through the phone. "It's okay, it's okay, then I'll go find another hotel." I don't want to be the reason the newlyweds have their first fight, interjects midway. "However, there should be no vacancies near the wedding venue, because today is 'Good Couples Day'."

"Good couple—oh, that's what happened, that's why you chose today." I heard that on November 22nd, all the wedding venues and nearby restaurants across the country were fully booked, and this year's November 22nd happened to be "Friends Day", so it was impossible to have vacant rooms. "In that case, I'll just go back to Tokyo." "Brother Xiu, don't say that, don't you still want to visit Ruixiang's room?" Ruixiang House is the place I originally planned to visit tomorrow.In the deep mountains near Mie County at the southern end of Shiga County, there is a small town called Mugong. Zuishobo is a Buddhist workshop with a long history in Mugong.This time I plan to write a full-length thriller with the theme of Buddha statues and full of cultural atmosphere, so I have already arranged to go there for an interview tomorrow.Shinobu has a friend who works in Ruixiangfang, and I have asked her to contact me in advance.The other party is Shinobu's classmate when he was in junior high school, and I heard that he is "very cute".

"By the way, Hiro—" Shinobu's voice came from the phone. "If..., isn't it...?" "Ah? That's good, but is there a place to live there?" "Yes, don't Maya and the others have dormitories where they can live? I don't know the actual situation. I heard that there are restaurants there, which are much better than some weird hotels. As long as you are not afraid of sleeping with Buddha statues, you will be fine. " "Brother Xiu should be fine, let me ask—Brother Xiu, do you dare to sleep with a Buddha statue?" "Oh, well, that's perfectly fine."

"In that case, may I ask you to go to Ruixiang's room one day in advance? We will contact Maya first and ask her to help you prepare dinner and breakfast." Maya Nogata is a friend of Shinobu who works in Ruixiangfang.There she is learning the art of carving Buddha statues, and this year is just entering her fifth year. "really sorry." "We're sorry, I'll tell you the address now, is it convenient for you to write it down?" I wrote down the address of Ruixiang House that Hiroko had told me in my notepad. It is said that it takes about an hour to take a taxi from here.

"When you arrive, find a girl named Maya. The accommodation money I gave you just now should be enough to pay for the taxi fare. If it's not enough, I'll make it up for you later." After hanging up the phone, I bowed to the counter staff who looked at me worriedly, and walked out of the "Lewin" business hotel.

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