Morpheus dismissed it with a scoff, seeing through the Otowa Waterfall for what it was: an ordinary cascade.
It held no supernatural power.
Longevity, wisdom, health—these were mere fantasies of ordinary people.
But at that moment, Raikou spoke up. "In truth, Kiyomizu-dera wasn't always like this."
Morpheus glanced at her.
Raikou continued, "In my era, Kiyomizu-dera was sacred and majestic. No devil or yokai dared to cause trouble here. Especially the waters of the Otowa Waterfall—they were imbued with a divine power."
"Anyone who drank from it was free from all ailments."
Hitomi couldn't help but ask, "And now?"
Raikou glanced at the tourists drinking from the spring and sighed. "Now, it's just ordinary water."
Miko asked curiously, "Why did it change?"
Oda Nobunaga replied, "It's simple. The Kiyomizu-dera of today isn't the same as the one from the past. The true Kiyomizu-dera was burned down multiple times."
"This is Kannon's sacred ground, a place no devil or yokai would dare disturb. Yet it was destroyed. Do you think it was natural disaster or human folly?"
Miko let out a small gasp. She leaned toward human folly over natural disaster.
Nobunaga continued, "Because it was burned down several times, mostly due to human actions, Kannon abandoned this place. Today's Kiyomizu-dera is just an ordinary temple, devoid of any divine power."
Morpheus nodded, understanding dawning. No wonder the statue of the Thousand-Armed Kannon in the main hall carried only the aura of incense, with no trace of an incarnation.
So that was the reason.
It made sense. This was Kannon's sacred ground, yet it was repeatedly burned down.
Though it was rebuilt each time, Kannon wasn't some deity without a temper. With her worship spanning the entirety of Japan, she hardly needed a single temple like Kiyomizu-dera.
If the people here were so faithless, she could simply leave.
The loss wasn't hers.
Thus, Kiyomizu-dera had become a mere historical landmark, stripped of any divine power.
Learning that Kiyomizu-dera lacked any supernatural qualities and was now just a famous cultural site didn't dampen the group's spirits.
They were here to sightsee, not to make a pilgrimage.
Whether it held divine power was irrelevant.
The group lingered at Kiyomizu-dera until the afternoon, soaking in the scenery before departing.
As they left, a small incident occurred.
While playfully roughhousing with Hana, Miko accidentally bumped into another girl.
This girl, taller and more imposing than Miko, was knocked to the ground, tumbling several times.
Miko was stunned.
She hadn't used any force—how had she sent a girl taller than herself flying?
Was this… some kind of scam?
Snapping out of it, Miko hurried to help the girl up, saying, "Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?"
"Don't touch me!" The girl snapped, instinctively swatting at Miko's hand.
Her sharp yell echoed.
Miko froze, not daring to approach the furious girl, her face filled with unease.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
The girl slowly got up, seeing Miko's guilty expression. She shook her head and said, "It's fine. I know it wasn't intentional. Let's leave it at that."
With that, she moved to bypass Miko and leave Kiyomizu-dera.
But then, Morpheus spoke.
"Stop."
The girl ignored him, quickening her pace as if Morpheus and his group were some sort of monsters.
"Come back," Morpheus said again, this time infusing his voice with magic.
The girl, unable to resist, turned around and walked back to stand before Morpheus.
Her face paled, and she stared at him in disbelief. "What… what did you do to me?"
"What's your name?" Morpheus asked, ignoring her question.
Though visibly reluctant, the girl answered. "Hitagi Senjougahara."
Just as I thought.
Morpheus had sensed something off when Miko knocked her down, causing her to roll several times.
Miko had only lightly bumped her, without force or supernatural power. How could a living person be sent tumbling like that?
It was clearly abnormal.
So Morpheus had taken a closer look at the girl, finding her familiar, as if she were a protagonist from a certain series.
He brought her back to confirm.
And indeed, it was her—Hitagi Senjougahara.
The heroine of Monogatari. At school, she maintained the image of a frail, quiet honor student, expertly playing the role of a well-behaved scholar like a cat. But in truth, she was a sharp-tongued terror.
Her refined appearance and quiet demeanor led her classmates to see her as a refined young lady.
And they weren't entirely wrong.
Her father was a high-ranking executive at a multinational corporation, and as a child, Hitagi had lived in an opulent mansion, a true young lady of privilege.
But young Hitagi was frail and sickly.
In fifth grade, she contracted a deadly illness with a ninety percent mortality rate. During that time, her mother, seeking spiritual solace, fell into a predatory cult.
After Hitagi survived a grueling surgery, her mother's obsession with the cult deepened.
As her mother's devotion grew worse, their family became an empty shell. Hitagi and her mother grew estranged, barely speaking after she entered middle school.
In middle school, Hitagi attended a public school, where she was vibrant and cheerful.
Back then, she was known for her outstanding character—a hardworking, kind, gentle, and unaffected student, full of energy and vitality.
She was also the ace of the track team, forming the "Temple Duo" with her kouhai, Suruga Kanbaru.
Perhaps she was trying to prove to her mother that she could live healthily without relying on that religion.
But the more Hitagi excelled as a model student, the more her mother attributed it to the cult's blessings, creating a vicious cycle.
And then, the worst happened.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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