"Sorry miss. You are prohibited to enter."
"What? Why?!" Miko asked.
"This is the state marquis's palace. You are prohibited to enter unless you have a guest token." The guard simply responded.
"Then what about the shrine?!" Miko demanded to know. There was just no way a shrine can just dissapear like that. In fact, the only reason she had come to this location was the very fact she could sense the aura this place was eminating. It had the aura of a god, and this place felt divine, so how can a mortal simply take over its ground?
"What shrine?! There's no shrine here! Go away now or we will have to use force! Crazy lady..." The guard spat. Miko immediately left although still doubtful. She headed back to Yasuko's. Right now, she was probably the only person she could reach with answers.
"Come in!" A voice sounded from the counter. Miko ran in, only to see Yasuko was absent. Instead, only a tanuki girl was around, counting the cash for the day.
"What would you like?" The girl asked. She stopped counting and looked up at Miko.
"Where's Yasuko?" Miko asked.
"Oh my boss! She left an hour earlier to go pick herbs. The cliffside flowers are in full bloom, so there will be competition for them soon when the mountain beasts fully wake up. She entrusted this shop to us in the meantime, saying some people would help us out in a week if we can't cope. If you are looking for her, she isn't known to come back fast, so you may have to wait till summer if you are lucky, or a few years if you are unlucky." The tanuki replied. Miko didn't expect this. Sure, she knew Yasuko would eventually leave, but not this soon!
"Ugh, nevermind then." Miko grunted in frustration. Sensing it, the tanuki said," Well, if you have any problems, boss gave us instructions to help you. If it is within our power, we can try our best!"
"Alright then," Miko said, "Then do you know of what happened to the Inari shrine?"
"Inari shrine? Whats that?" The tanuki was genuienly confused. But it seemed that Miko didn't know how she wouldn't know, so she said, " I'm sorry I couldn't help much, but as far as I am aware, there is no shrine in this land. I am only a hundred years old along with my brother, so I don't really know. There used to be one? Strange..."
Miko could now connect the dots. Something happened between a hundred to a hundred and twenty years ago, that forced the shrines to mysteriously dissapear. However, there was a bigger problem now. How were the foxes supposed to attain elightenment if they were in a mortal trial?! The shrine used to be the only way they could pass, but now it is completely gone! Seeing there was no answer, Miko could only rely on one more source.
"Do you know where the library is?"