"...A torii?"
The gate of the ruins had snapped and fallen over. As far as Jin could tell, it bore a striking resemblance to a shrine's torii.
"But is it a bit different...?"
It seemed to have only one horizontal beam. A proper torii should have two.
"...Well, whatever."
Setting aside the similarities for now, Jin instructed Land 21 to investigate the structure.
A thirty-minute wait followed. However, Jin wasn't bored, as he was watching the live feed transmitted by Land 21.
"Oh, what's that?"
Whenever he spoke, Laojun would relay his curiosity, and the Land squad would adjust their position to provide a better view. Through this process, three things became clear.
First, animal-shaped stone statues had likely stood on either side of the gate. They confirmed this after gathering and reassembling the scattered fragments.
Second, the gate had once been painted red. They discovered this upon finding the base of the broken gate; because that portion had been protected, it hadn't yet suffered significant degradation or fading.
Third, the broken gate was small. Its original height was estimated to have been only about one meter.
"...A shrine? No, a hokora."
The sight of the broken gate and the animal statues on either side immediately made Jin think of a torii and komainu.
"In that case, the structure further back must be the equivalent of a stone hokora."
Elsa and Milowina overheard his muttering.
"Jin-nii, what is a 'hokora'?"
"Jin-kun, do you recognize something about these ruins?"
"Er..."
Jin paused, considering how best to explain it to them.
"...It's like a church from my hometown, I suppose? An unmanned, miniature church might be the closest description."
"Your hometown, Jin-kun...?"
"Ah."
Jin realized he hadn't shared that part of his history with Milowina yet.
"Um, I'll explain that in detail later," he said for the time being. The ruins took priority.
"Jin-nii, look at that."
Elsa pointed at the screen. As the Land squad cleared away a pile of rocks, a small building was revealed. It was unclear why the rocks had been piled there, but they had served to protect the structure from the elements.
"...It really is a hokora."
No matter how one looked at it, the stone structure was unmistakably a hokora.
An hour later, after the area had been thoroughly vetted for danger, Jin and the others stood before the small shrine.
"No matter how you look at it, it's a hokora..." Jin said, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
"Jin-kun, is this really a church?" Milowina asked, sounding skeptical given its diminutive size.
"Yes. It's called a 'hokora,' a building for enshrining a deity. To put it simply, it's a tiny house where you place a divine statue so it doesn't get rained on."
"I see. I understand now."
With that explanation, Elsa also grasped the general raison d'être of the structure.
In Shinto, it was more common to house a sacred object known as a goshintai rather than a statue, but Jin wasn't an expert on the finer theological points. He did know that in cases like Tenjin-sama or Hachiman, actual statues were sometimes enshrined.
"Anyway, I'm curious to see what's inside."
Jin reached toward the hokora, but Reiko stepped in front of him.
"Father, we don't know what might happen. I will open it."
"O-Oh, right."
With a slightly disappointed expression, Jin withdrew his hand.
Reiko approached the hokora slowly. As she opened the small doors, a visible flash like a spark jumped from the stone.
"Father, as I suspected, a barrier had been erected."
"So it seems."
Jin likely wouldn't have been able to even touch the doors. However, Reiko had opened them as if the barrier didn't exist at all.
"The contents... aren't a book?"
Given the architecture, Jin had been certain this was the work of a Japanese person—specifically the Magus Shuuki Tsetse. He was a bit let down not to find a diary or a record inside.
"Wait... what is that?"
Since Reiko wouldn't permit him to touch it directly, Jin leaned in to peer into the hokora from a short distance. He tilted his head in confusion at the object resting inside.
"...A statue of some kind?"
Crafted from a translucent white gemstone, the statue appeared to be an animal. It was four-legged with a slender, pointed snout and sharp, triangular ears that stood straight up. It looked somewhat like a dog, but its tail was thick and bushy.
"...It really is a fox."
It bore a striking resemblance to the fox statues found at Inari shrines.
"Reiko, can you take it out?"
"Yes, Father."
Following Jin's order, Reiko easily retrieved the fox statue. There appeared to be no further traps.
"Nothing has happened. It seems to be safe."
Reiko handed the statue to Jin.
"Hmm."
Jin took it and began his examination.
"...Jin-nii, is that an animal? I've never seen one like it before."
"It's a curious shape, Jin-kun."
As far as Jin knew, there were no foxes on the Lauren Continent, though he had heard of something called a frost-dappled fox on the Gondoa Continent. This suggested the Magus had created this form with specific intent.
"This isn't a gemstone; it's a magi-crystal."
Though the quality was low, it appeared to be an all-attribute magi-crystal.
"Inspection."
Jin cast a simple spell to see what the magi-crystal contained.
"This is...?"
Just as Jin noticed something within the crystal, Reiko called out to him.
"Father, there is writing on the inside of the door."
"What?"
Jin leaned in to look.
"Let's see... 'To the one... who can... read this... I entrust... the statue'...? It's Japanese..."
And at the very end, the name "Shuuki... Tse" was written.
"There's no doubt about it. These ruins were left by Shuuki Tsetse."
The barrier Reiko had triggered had evidently degraded significantly over time.
"This statue is a recording device."
"Jin-nii, since you could read the message, that means you're allowed to have it."
"She's right. It belongs to you, Jin-kun."
Encouraged by Elsa and Milowina, Jin looked down at the fox statue in his palm.