It's the third day of the school festival.
　Today is the day of my real-life treasure hunt.

"Mmm-hmm...
Seika, you're scaring me...

　This is one of the main attractions of the festival, and despite the fact that there is an entry fee, a lot of students gather at the beginning of the festival.

　I'm fully motivated and ready to participate.
　At any rate, the high prizes are at stake.

Okay, then, please listen up!

　Under the blue sky, the female student who played the role of host raised her voice.

''We have hidden many treasure chests in the grounds of this school. You all now have a piece of paper with a hint on it, right?　From those clues, you can first find out where the first treasure chest is located. Inside the first treasure chest is a piece of paper with a clue to the second treasure chest, and inside the second treasure chest is a hint to the third, and inside the third treasure chest is a hint to the treasure chest containing the winning prize.

　The moderator, a female student, continues.

'There are a number of different hints that are being passed to you all, but some of them are duplicates, and the number of hints will decrease as you progress through the first, second and third chests. The number of chests decreases as you progress through the first, second and third chests, so it becomes a competition to see how quickly you can solve the clues and get to the chests. Of course, only one team will get the winning prize!

　I look at the paper in my hand.

"There is no water in the river, no tree in the forest, no house in the city.

　The only hint is this.

The first team to find the treasure chest with the winning prize wins!　Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready?　So let's get started!

　The teams around them start running off at once and engaging in heated debate among themselves.

'What's our clue?'

　Ephah looks at the paper in my hand.

"There's no water in the river so what's this?
Maybe the answer is a map.

　Yifa huffed.

'Ah, I see!　Then where is the first treasure chest... the school's library?
Maybe.
Then, Seika, we have to hurry!
No....

　I walked briskly to the corner of the hall, under the shade of a tree.

What are you doing, Seika?　The stacks are over there.
'I will not go to the stacks. The first, second and third treasure chests will be left alone. If we had to search for every single one of those things, the other team might beat us to it.
Yeah?

　I spread out a folded piece of paper in the shade of a tree.
　It was a giant plan of the school, made up of several sheets of paper.

In this treasure hunt, the first team to find the last treasure chest wins. So start from the beginning and find the last treasure chest.'
'So, but how can you do that without a clue?'
Tell your fortune.

　After saying this, I took out a pendulum.
　It's just a cheap ring tied to the end of a string, but it's good enough.

　I chant a small incantation. Instead of the usual Sanskrit, this time it's in Chinese.
　The pendulum hangs over the map of the school, and I watch for a reaction.

'Um, what are you doing?'
'When the pendulum comes close to what you're looking for, the amplitude of the swing increases. It's just a little bit.
Oh, you can do that?　And this is just a map...
Yes.

　It is so-called "hooch".
　It is a fortune-telling method originating from Taoism, but it has been rearranged greatly since it was introduced into the Yin-Yang Tao.

　After wavering on the plan for a while, I found a place where there was a big reaction.

'It's right around here. Okay, let's go, Yifa.
Yeah... is this really a hit?
I'm fine.

　I smile at Yifa.

"You have to believe in something before you can read it.


****


　The place we arrived at was a row of research buildings.

'Hmmm...'

　It's a nondescript place to pass by between classes once in a while. Of course, there is no treasure chest in sight.

　It's not surprising, but that fortune-telling only tells us 'somehow around here'. The map is messy, and the pendulum does not point to a single point.

　That's why I can't tell if the treasure chest is hidden in the bushes by the side of the road or placed inside a building or anything like that.

　Yifa said in annoyance.

Well, shall we split up and look for it?
No I'll narrow it down a bit.

　It looks like you've got a lot of work to do.
　I took out my Hitogata and opened the door.

"Summoned by the foxes and dogs.

　What I took out of the phase was a spirit with an ugly appearance.

　It was a sphere filled with brown hair, with three gooey eyeballs and two lobed mouths.
　It is an animal spirit so old that I don't even know what kind of beast it was originally, but it is my pride and joy, a spirit for divination, which I have carefully selected carefully.

"Se........Seika-kun, what is this.......?
Oh.

　Yifa is staring at the fox dog raccoon with her eyes wide open.
　Oh, shit, Yifa can see it........

''Well........I picked it up.
'Again!　Seika-kun, don't pick up too many weird things...
Well, yes and no, but it's still very useful.

　He gives instructions to the fox dog raccoon using a mantra.
　Then I start walking, and the brown spirit follows me, shaking slightly.

See. When you walk around like this and get close to what you're looking for, it starts to tremble louder and louder.
Well, it's kind of creepy... is that fortune telling too?
Yes,

　Fortune telling using animal spirits was also familiar to me in my previous life.
　Normally, I would use Song Sen or writing instruments to possess them, but when you're my age, you can do it directly.

　It should be easy to find out.


****


　Then, about a minute (30 minutes) passed.

　Under the shade of a tree on the side of the road, I crane my neck.

"I think it's around here...

　The fox dog raccoon now had three eyes wide open, clenching his teeth and shaking as he rattled around. ''Here, here! I feel a strong will to do so.

'It's like you're telling me to find it quickly.
Yifa, you know what I'm saying?
Everyone can see you're clearly annoyed with this face.

　Yifa points to the fox dog raccoon.

''But hey.........''

　I looked around, but there was no sign of a treasure chest.
　I looked for all the bushes nearby, but I couldn't find it anywhere.
　Hmm, that's strange.

Oh, Seika-kun, look there!

　Suddenly, Yifa looked up at the tree and said.
　Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small treasure chest on one of the high branches.

''In that place...''

　No wonder you can't find it.
　I mean, how do you expect me to get that thing?

'That was the last treasure chest, wasn't it?　Seika-kun.
Yeah, yeah. I guess so.
Okay.

　Yifa said and waved her right index finger at him.

　A small whirlwind rolled up.
　It blew up the treasure box that was on the branch with precision.

　The treasure box falls as it is, but----just before it hits the ground, its momentum suddenly slows down.
　And then it landed with a small sound of kotch.

''How is it?　Seika-kun.

　Yifa asks me for my opinion with a big smile.

It's amazing... you've become a lot better with spirits, Yifa.

　The kind of spirits have access to the first level, but they have little in the way of consciousness and can be treated like tools.
　The 'requests' that Yifa says should actually be similar to 'commands'.
　Spells, mantras, magic circles, and seals are all 'orders' to the world, so Yifa's spirit arts would in reality be no different than using magic normally.

''That last one wasn't the wind. Could it be that you manipulated the weight?''
'Yeah. It's all thanks to the dark-attribute kids we were able to bring in on entrance day. There aren't many of them, so I can only do so much more.

　Yifa laughs ehehe.
　This kid is growing up so fast........

''Oh, look!　Let's check out the treasure chest!

　I'm going to follow Yifa, and I'm going to follow her to the treasure chest.

　You will find a luxurious necklace that came out of the lid after removing the simple clasp and opening the lid.

I'm not going to be able to get it right.

　Yifa speaks up.

　Gems of all sizes were lavishly arranged along with exquisite bead balls. It was something that was already sparkling all over the place.
　It's just.........

Yifa, do you want this?
No, I don't want it.
Yeah.

　The design, you know.
　It has the kind of taste that an older, fancy-loving madam could barely tolerate. And it's a bit old.

　I think she said the prize was donated, or maybe she was forced to buy something she didn't need.

I have this, which was given to me by Seika-kun.

　Then Yifa touched the necklace of magic stones around her neck.
　I smiled and replied, "I'm glad you took care of it.

I'm glad you're taking good care of it. Then I'll sell it to you.

　It's a subtle design, though.
　If it's such a luxurious item, it will be worth a good price.
　With gold coins, it would be seven or eight pieces.

''For a silver coin, I'd say less than a hundred pieces each.......Yifa, is that enough?''
What? I don't get that much!

　Yifa says, surprised.

'Because I didn't do anything...'
'No, you didn't. You found the last treasure chest and took it from the tree. And I wouldn't have been able to participate if Yifa hadn't been there in the first place.
But....
So it's an even split of the sale price. All right?
Uh-huh.

　Yifa says with a slightly complicated smile.

'Thank you, Seika-kun. That's enough.'