Grandma Iko soon led the girls into the Hana Family's section on the Southwest Wing of the terrace, and Shizuka and the other two were able to see that the Hana Family had built a simple and cozy, yet elegant and rich place for them to live in. Shizuka and the girls didn't want to intrude much. So, they only visited the main features in this section, and again, they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. So, they soon left this section and headed to other parts of the terrace.
They soon arrived on the Southeast Wing, where they started searching more thoroughly.
Just like other places of the inn, the wood walls and other wooden details they saw had carved details like murals and others. But the girls didn't notice anything striking that might be related to their mystery.
As they continued their walk, they soon passed by another **striking** mural. Shizuka, captivated by its intricate artistry, stopped to analyze it.
June, her eyes widening in curiosity at the remarkably preserved **carvings and ornantation**, couldn't help but inquire, "Grandma Iko, how on earth did you all manage to maintain all these delicate wooden details for so long?" She gestured towards the beautiful mural, a testant to the skill of the Woodwrights.
The old lady let out a sigh, a sound that mingled amusent with a touch of fond rembrance. "Ah, it's all deeply connected to my ancestor, Rai," she explained, her voice softening. "After his own ntor departed, Rai beca utterly devoted – you could even say obsessed – with preserving everything that reminded him of his ti with him. So, every single year, without fail, he would allocate a substantial fortune to hire the most skilled and professional curators from the surrounding towns. Their sole task was to ticulously care for and restore all these intricate wooden details. And after ancestor Rai himself passed on, each innkeeper who followed took it upon themselves to uphold this sacred tradition. Honestly, I imagine the Hana Family alone must have spent millions over the generations just to maintain these specific wooden murals, not to ntion all the other priceless artifacts and structures."
Shizuka, June, and Kumiko listened intently, their faces reflecting a mixture of awe and deep admiration. They were, once again, profoundly moved by the Hana Family's unwavering dedication to honoring and preserving the legacy of their Ancestor Rai's cherished traditions.
The girls, still lost in their daydreams, were suddenly jolted back to the present when Shizuka's voice cut through the air. "Wait a minute," she exclaid, her eyes fixed on the intricate artwork before them, "This looks like another mural related to constellations." She spoke with a confident tone, clearly having made a deduction after a mont of intense observation.
Kumiko, drawn by Shizuka's pronouncent, leaned closer to examine the mural. "Really? What makes you say that? Why do you think it's a constellation?" she inquired, her curiosity piqued.
Shizuka turned to her with a look of mild surprise. "Don't you recognize it? It's the Vine Constellation!" she announced, as if it were common knowledge.
June, who had been quietly absorbing the scene, chid in, "Hmm, I think I've vaguely heard that na before. But I'm pretty sure it's not one of the major, well-known constellations, is it?"
"Exactly," Shizuka confird, nodding in agreent. "You're right. This is a relatively obscure constellation, not sothing you'd typically find in introductory astronomy. It was actually discovered by a rather famous astrologer well over a century ago."
Kumiko, still trying to piece things together, voiced the question that was undoubtedly on everyone's mind. "But Shizuka, how can you possibly know all this? And more importantly, how are you seeing the 'Vine Constellation' specifically depicted here on this mural?" she asked, gesturing towards the artwork with a puzzled expression.
Shizuka offered a simple explanation. "Well, I took an elective class in college that covered obscure astronomical phenona," she stated, implying that her knowledge wasn't entirely out of the blue. She then leaned in, her finger tracing lines across the mural. "Here," she began, pointing to specific clusters of painted stars, "these spots on the artwork directly correspond to the positions where the stars of the Vine Constellation would appear in the night sky." She continued to ticulously explain the alignnt.
After Shizuka's detailed breakdown and a quick consultation of their phones to cross-reference information online, the girls found themselves in agreent. The intricate patterns and placents of the painted stars on the mural, when compared to astronomical charts, undeniably matched the depiction of the Vine Constellation. They had to admit that Shizuka's sharp observation and specialized knowledge had revealed yet another hidden layer to their surroundings.
The girls had a new, deeper understanding bloom within them. It was a profound sense of appreciation for the hidden layers of aning that suddenly beca apparent. This realization dawned on them when they connected a specific detail they had just learned.
However, amidst their newfound understanding, Grandma Iko wore a thoughtful, even slightly worried, expression. Her brow was furrowed, and her gaze seed distant as she softly whispered two words, "Vine, constellation... Could it be..." Her low murmur trailed off, filled with an unspoken question.
The girls, attuned to her shift in mood and her intense focus, imdiately noticed her pensive expression. Concerned and curious about the sudden change, they gently prompted her, asking what thoughts were occupying her mind.
"Children, please understand," Grandma Iko began, her voice gaining a familiar warmth, "I know this inn as intimately as I know the lines on my own palm. Every nook, every cranny, every single piece of artistry within these walls is deeply familiar to . Therefore, I am not only aware of each individual mural that graces our inn, but I also know their general placent and often, their perceived aning. And after little Shizuka ntioned that this particular mural was depicting a constellation, it triggered a sudden, significant mory for ." Her eyes lit up with a spark of revelation, a subtle but unmistakable gleam.
She continued, her explanation unfolding with growing excitent. "You see, throughout this entire floor, there are scattered murals and other decorative details that clearly depict constellations and stars. I've always noticed them, and I've always acknowledged their presence. But for years, I never truly connected them to anything significant. I dismissed them because, alongside these celestial depictions, nurous murals and decorative elents appear to have absolutely no connection to astrology whatsoever. They depict a disparate collection of subjects, seemingly random and unrelated. The 'Vine Mural' we've just been discussing was, until this very mont, one of those pieces I had firmly categorized as having no relation to astrology or the stars."
She paused, a new line of inquiry dawning in her mind, and then posed a speculative, yet powerful question to the girls, her voice filled with the thrill of a newly discovered possibility: "I've been pondering... what if all those other murals and details, the ones I previously thought were unrelated to any celestial the, also possess hidden connections to constellations and stars? What if their apparent lack of connection is rely a misinterpretation on my part, and they, too, hold secrets linked to the heavens?" Grandma Iko asked, the wheels of her deductive reasoning spinning at an accelerated pace.
The girls showed an expression of enlightennt as they heard Grandma Iko's conjecture.
"Grandma Iko, your conjecture is highly likely to be true," Shizuka said with shining eyes.
"You're aweso, Grandma Iko!" The girls sincerely said.
While the old lady just laughed happily, she was happy that she was part of this mystery and could provide key directions.
"The clues could be hidden on these pieces!" Kumiko exclaid.
"What are we waiting for? Let's search each piece on this floor!" June chid in, "Grandma Iko, we'll follow your lead!"
Just like that, the four of them spent the next period of ti searching each mural and looking for hidden astrology associations, and they indeed found it!
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