The specific arrangements for the courage test were handled by Ino Shrine.
So Hikari followed along, passed through the shrine, and came to the back of it.
Behind the shrine, there were far fewer people. After all, the festival had only just begun, and most people were not very interested in the courage test.
On the open ground behind the shrine, there was a tent set up, with only one young girl sitting there.
When the girl saw Hikari and the others coming over, she immediately got up to greet them.
"Hello... eh? It's Hikari-nii," Seeing Hikari's familiar face, the girl happily called out.
Hikari looked up and saw that it was one of his childhood playmates from the countryside, Jinno Ai.
"Ai-chan," Hikari nodded to Jinno Ai in response.
Hikari wasn't surprised to see Jinno Ai here. After all, she was the adopted daughter of Jinno Sumire, the shrine maiden of Ino Shrine.
After greeting each other, Jinno Ai smiled and asked Hikari and the others, "Are you here to take part in the courage test?"
Hikari nodded, "Yeah."
"Then I'll explain the process and rules of the courage test to you first," Jinno Ai said.
"The rules are very simple. First, everyone draws lots to form teams. Two people per team, and team members have to act together and head toward Hisugi Ridge."
"There's a flag halfway up Hisugi Ridge. Whichever team gets the flag first is the champion, and the champion will get a mysterious gift. But on the way to the goal, there will be quite a few demons and monsters, so be careful."
The group didn't react much to Jinno Ai's explanation. Clearly, they were already somewhat familiar with the courage test in Ino Village.
"Alright, since everyone understands, let's start drawing lots! There are numbers written on the slips. People who draw the same number are on the same team," Jinno Ai took out the lottery box.
As the drawing was about to begin, Nozaki Hakuya, who had proposed it, as well as Natsuki Akito and Sakai Yutaka, all showed faint excitement.
After all, a courage test like this was a great chance to show off manliness.
With the women they fancied right beside them, they naturally had their own little thoughts.
The drawing quickly began.
Natsuki Akito and Nozaki Hakuya stepped forward first to draw.
Coincidentally, they drew the same number, "1", becoming teammates.
The two of them turned to look at each other, both wearing somewhat unhappy expressions.
Sakai Yutaka, who drew next, ended up in the same group as Natsuki Kazuto. Sakai Yutaka was obviously not too pleased about that either.
His goal, of course, was to draw into the same group as Sayako.
So he could conveniently protect the timid widowed sister-in-law along the way, properly develop and deepen their relationship, and then inherit his older brother's property later.
But despite his dissatisfaction, Sakai Yutaka didn't show it, because Natsuki Kazuto, who was in the same group as him, had already enthusiastically put an arm around his shoulder and started chatting.
The two slightly older middle-aged men did indeed have quite a few topics in common.
Meanwhile, although they had also drawn lots, Miyuri and Sayako did not open the slips in their hands right away. Instead, they instinctively squeezed in front of Hikari, letting him open his slip first.
Obviously, both of them wanted to be on the same team as Hikari and take part in the courage test with him.
"I got '3'," Urged on by Miyuri and Sayako, Hikari had no choice but to open his slip first and show it to the two beautiful aunties who were competing over him.
"Looks like I'm in the same group as Hikari-kun," Miyuri confidently opened her slip.
"No, it's me!", Sayako also confidently spread open her slip.
There were eight people participating in the courage test in total. Natsuki Akito, Nozaki Hakuya, Sakai Yutaka, and Natsuki Kazuto had already formed two teams, leaving just Hikari's four-person group. So there was a good chance that Miyuri's and Sayako's slips would match Hikari's.
But when they saw the numbers on their slips, both women's pretty faces fell.
"I'm number 4!", Miyuri unhappily opened her slip.
"Me too, number 4!", Sayako also unhappily spread her palm.
"To think I'm in the same group as you, you hag!", The two women stared stiffly at each other.
At that moment, Jinno Ai opened her slip last and said with a bright smile, "Number 3. Looks like Hikari-nii is in the same group as me."
"Ai-chan, switch slips with Auntie!"
"Ai-chan, switch with me instead!"
Miyuri and Sayako both spoke up, wanting to trade groups with Jinno Ai so they could be with Hikari.
But Jinno Ai smiled and shook her head, firmly refusing, "No, I want to take part together with Hikari-nii."
After being directly rejected by Jinno Ai, Miyuri and Sayako could only walk shoulder to shoulder, cursing as they headed up toward Hisugi Ridge.
Seeing that the three groups ahead had all started heading up the mountain, Jinno Ai turned to Hikari and said, "Hikari-nii, let's set off too."
"Alright," Hikari replied and followed Jinno Ai up the mountain.
It had to be said that the setup for this courage test was done with real care.
Along the way, Hikari saw many scary decorations, like scarecrows suddenly standing by the roadside, rustling leaves in the trees. Overall, the atmosphere was very eerie and on point.
And under this frightening atmosphere, the pure and beautiful high school girl Jinno Ai looked terrified, reaching out and very naturally clinging tightly to Hikari's arm.
"Hikari-nii, the road up the mountain is so scary!"
Feeling the softness of Jinno Ai pressing tightly against his arm, as well as her trembling body, Hikari couldn't help asking, "Ai-chan, isn't this courage test set up by your shrine? You're still scared?"
Jinno Ai nodded, "I didn't participate in setting it up, and I don't know what's here. Of course I'm scared."
As she said this, Jinno Ai hugged Hikari's arm even tighter.
Hikari lowered his head and saw that Jinno Ai's pure and cute face was indeed filled with panic.
For an ordinary high school girl, being scared at a courage test was perfectly normal.
But Jinno Ai was the young lady of the Ino family and Ino Shrine, offering rituals to gods and spirits every day. Would she really be afraid of this kind of fake supernatural stuff?
'Why does it feel like, Ai-chan is acting weak on purpose, deliberately teasing me?'
Although he felt doubtful, Hikari didn't say much. He just smiled and comforted her, then continued walking forward with her.
Seeing that Hikari didn't say anything else, Jinno Ai pouted slightly, but still obediently held onto his arm and kept walking with him.
After the two walked another dozen steps, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew from the forest beside the mountain path.
Jinno Ai jumped in fright and stopped, "Hikari-kun, do you think there really might be ghosts on the mountain?"
"Probably not," Hikari smiled and shook his head.
"I'm scared," Jinno Ai looked pitifully at Hikari, "My legs feel kind of weak. How about... Hikari-nii carries me?"
"Uh."
Although during a courage test it was common for frightened girls to cling to guys for warmth, Hikari still felt that Jinno Ai seemed a bit too easily scared, and a bit too proactive.
"Onii-chan~"
Jinno Ai suddenly let out a soft, sweet call.
Her pure and beautiful face showed a bit of fear and pleading, making her look extremely pitiful.
On top of that, as she spoke, she kept shaking Hikari's arm that she was holding onto.
The unexpectedly full, soft sensation pressing against him made Hikari's heart flutter.
Seeing Jinno Ai's pleading expression, Hikari was just about to agree and carry her.
But at that moment, a woman's scream suddenly came from ahead.
"Let's go take a look!"
Hearing the sudden scream, Hikari quickly moved forward. Jinno Ai, who had just been acting cute, had no choice but to hurry after him as well.
When the two rushed over, they saw two familiar figures running toward them.
Looking closely, Hikari immediately recognized them as Miyuri and Sayako, the two aunties who had gone up the mountain before them.
"There's... there's a ghost ahead!", After running all the way there, Miyuri panted as she spoke.
"That's right! We just saw a ghost!", Sayako, still shaken, echoed.
"Ah? There's a ghost?", Jinno Ai blinked.
"Yeah! I saw a kappa by the stream, and there was also a skeleton man," Miyuri said.
"Right! It was so scary. Hikari-kun, let's walk together!", Sayako added.
"This... alright," Looking at the pale faces of the two gorgeous aunties, Hikari had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Seeing that the two aunties were trembling and sticking close, clearly not intending to leave, Jinno Ai felt a bit unhappy inside, but she could only let them join the group.
After Sayako and Miyuri joined the group, the two of them, still shaken, immediately crowded toward Hikari, the only man present. Jinno Ai, who had originally been tightly attached to him, was pushed quite a distance away.
Hikari ended up surrounded by several large soft masses, tightly packed in the middle.
Surrounded by beauties, Hikari led the three women forward together.
Perhaps because there were more people now, when the cool wind blew along the path, none of the women reacted too strongly.
However, after walking for another few minutes, a huge figure suddenly emerged from the darkness ahead, blocking the path up the mountain.
It was a giant skeleton man made of pale white bones, with ghostly flames glowing in the hollow eyes of its skull.
It looked extremely terrifying.
As soon as it saw Hikari and the others, the giant skeleton let out a roar and charged straight at them.
"Ah!"
Seeing this, Miyuri, Sayako, and Jinno Ai were all stunned, screaming uncontrollably.
But just as the terrifying skeleton was about to reach them, Hikari stepped forward, grabbed the skeleton man's arm, and lightly flung it to the side.
Clatter!
The huge skeleton man, which had looked so frightening a moment ago, was thrown straight into the bushes nearby.
They could faintly hear a human cry of terror, no smaller than the screams from Miyuri, Sayako, and Jinno Ai earlier.
"That was so scary," Miyuri clung tightly to Hikari's arm, pressing it against her chest, her legs trembling.
"It's all fake," Hikari said calmly.
"But it's still really scary!", Even the usually mature and reliable Sayako was shaking, her ample chest heaving violently.
"Good thing Hikari-kun is here," Jinno Ai also spoke with lingering fear.
"Hikari-kun will protect us, right?", The three frightened women all pressed tightly against Hikari.
"Mm...", Hikari nodded helplessly. Was that skeleton actor's performance really that scary? Was it necessary to be this afraid?
Even elementary school kids probably wouldn't be scared by it.
Looking at the three women pressed close to him, Hikari couldn't tell whether it was because he was too brave, or because the actor's performance was actually very good, or because Miyuri, Sayako, and the others were even better at acting.
'I really can't tell. I really can't.'
After passing the skeleton, the four of them encountered other scary things in the forest, like "kappa" and "faceless men".
But with Hikari around, before those things could even scare anyone, they were easily dealt with by him.
After passing through the eerie forest, a clear stream appeared before them.
Jinno Ai explained, "This is Aoki Stream. Follow the stream upward, and at the end is the finish line of the courage test."
"But the flag at the finish line is locked inside a box. The key is hidden somewhere near this stream. We need to find at least two keys hidden around here before we can take the flag. Otherwise, even if we reach the end, we won't be able to open the box."
According to Jinno Ai, the keys were scattered around this small area near Aoki Stream, basically placed under big trees. So the four of them split up to search.
Before long, Sayako found a key under a tree with a thick trunk.
She held it up high and proudly showed it to Miyuri, "Hehe! Miyuri, I found a key. Impressive, right?"
Although she was usually very mature, once she started competing with Miyuri, Sayako became much more serious, even appearing a bit childish.
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