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"Carry, carry, carry your bags~"
Asakura hummed a strange song as he casually stuffed the camping supplies he bought last night into his hiking backpack, getting ready.
Although Mount Kumotori is in the suburbs of Tokyo, its altitude exceeds two thousand meters, and even simply hiking along the mountain path makes it difficult to return on the same day.
But this time, Asakura was going into the mountains to search for rumored ghost stories, so he certainly couldn't just make a quick trip. Even if he could have snakes help him search, a long-term operation of several days deep in the mountains was almost unavoidable.
Coincidentally, during his investigation, he found a commercial campsite near the Mount Kumotori hiking trail. This made camping directly in the mountains a more convenient option than staying in a hotel and going up and down the mountain every day.
However, the last review for that campsite on the camping-related app was from October of last year (and it was a bad review), which made Asakura worry if it had already closed down. But after calling to inquire, he found that it was still in business.
Rather, the owner of that campsite primarily operated a convenience store (actually more like a general store) by the mountain path, and the income from the campsite was just an optional extra. The owner even generously offered a substantial discount on the camping fee if Asakura could solve his food problems at their general store.
After Asakura readily agreed, he casually probed the owner about the Yamanokemono ghost story. The owner, however, unhesitatingly said it was just a rumor.
After chatting about some other random things, he hung up the phone.
"It seems there really is a problem…"
Asakura had carefully read some ghost stories related to the Yamanokemono, but almost none of them mentioned specific place names. Even if they did, they only vaguely referred to areas like "T City K Mountain."
However, the shop owner's attitude was as if many people had asked similar questions before, and he was quite impatient with Asakura's inquiries on this matter.
Also, many people on that camping app had mentioned that the campsite was run by a woman, but the shop owner's voice just now was undoubtedly male. Even when Asakura tried to subtly ask about his family during their casual conversation, the owner would only vaguely reply that his wife had passed away and his daughter had moved back to their hometown, without mentioning the reasons why.
To be honest, it was quite suspicious.
However, Asakura couldn't jump to conclusions based on his own thoughts; the specific situation would only be determined after he went to Mount Kumotori.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot this."
Just before setting off, Asakura seemed to remember something and ran to the only cabinet in his room, taking down the dusty wizard's hat from it.
He had specifically brought it home from the Clubroom yesterday, planning to take it camping. After all, he was going to investigate monster-related ghost stories, so it was best to be fully prepared.
"Such a flourishing next generation of the magical world, and this time I have to sort another little wizard…"
The Sorting Hat said cheerfully, but upon realizing that Asakura was alone and there was a hiking backpack on the bed beside him, it became a bit flustered: "Oh heavens, you're not going to stuff me into that narrow bag, are you?"
"Don't worry, I've made plenty of room for you."
Asakura comforted him.
"That's no reason to stuff me into such a place… You can't do this to me! I bet there's absolutely no hat smarter than me in this world… Oh, Merlin's navel, my proud brim is going to get wrinkled!"
"I'll iron it flat for you when we get back. Just bear with it for now."
"Holy shit, can't you have even a little respect for me?"
"Not since the moment you sorted me into Azkaban."
Asakura replied frankly.
"At, at least don't stuff me in with your damn boxer briefs!"
The Sorting Hat shrieked.
"Don't look down on boxer briefs. A hero once said that as long as you have spare change and tomorrow's boxer briefs, a person can survive."
"Although it's strange for a hat like me to say this, aren't the necessities for human survival food, water, and air?"
"Even Fake O-Riders are against it. I didn't expect you to be this kind of Sorting Hat. I'm so disappointed in you."
Asakura sighed.
"Even I, who can see into people's hearts, sometimes find humans to be too complex."
The Sorting Hat said with a complicated expression.
"You know, even that famous Sanguine once said: Boxers! Boxers!"
"…Would a Sanguine really say such a thing?"
The Sorting Hat felt its horizons were still a bit too narrow.
"Are you finally going against Lord Dio now?"
"Who's that?"
"The savior of villains, a Sanguine who plans to rule the world by stopping time for 5 seconds."
"Then wasn't it perfectly correct to sort you into Azkaban?"
The Sorting Hat cried out.
But before it could finish, Asakura successfully stuffed it into his bag. After changing into a full set of gear including hiking clothes, boots, and a trekking pole, he set off towards Mount Kumotori.
Mount Kumotori is located in Hinohara, Okutama Town, Nishitama District, Tokyo. After taking a bus from Okutama Station to Kamasawa Station, it's over 6 hours of high-intensity climbing.
It is said that experienced hikers can make a round trip in one day, but for ordinary people, it's almost impossible. Asakura also had no hiking experience and his physical fitness was not much different from an average person. For him, let alone a one-day round trip, it would be a success just to reach the campsite before dark.
Despite it being Golden Week, Asakura initially expected there to be many tourists today, but that wasn't the case. Although there were some hikers, the number was definitely not large.
After finally reaching the campsite and meeting the owner of the convenience store, Asakura learned the reason from him.
While Mount Kumotori does have some fame, it's clearly far from places like Mount Fuji or Oshino Hakkai. Tourists generally don't choose to come here, and Mount Kumotori's famous snow scenery cannot be seen at this time of year. Perhaps for other attractions, Golden Week might be the peak travel season, but Mount Kumotori's peak season is clearly in autumn and winter, not now.
"Moreover, since ancient times, there have been some unpleasant rumors circulating about Mount Kumotori from the foot of the mountain, so people generally don't like to hike here."
The shopkeeper ended with this sentence, then silently cleaned the store, refusing to say anything more to Asakura. He only instructed him that if he wanted to make a bonfire, he could pick up firewood from the forest, but fires could only be made at the campsite, and it was best not to go too far when collecting firewood.
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