Camera tunes in with Balor reacting with surprise that Hakumen has come back to talk to him. Hakumen says she had some work to attend to and finally managed to block off some time to continue their conversation, which she picks back up with the part about how he said Little Tir na Nog was missing Death and Partings. She aims for perfection in all she does, so she came to ask him what that actually means. Won't he please tell this innocent 'little girly' what he means in more detail? Shennong is surprised at how perky she's being while Balor stays quiet.
Hakumen excuses herself and says she was being serious. She does want to make Little Tir na Nog as best as it can be, but she says it's also important that Kitty Sith becomes a Real King. She then laughs to herself saying being a Kingmaker suits her so much. Balor still doesn't deign to respond, so Hakumen points out that this should also work with his allly Tezcatlipoca's plans. There had to be a point that his plan to collect happy power or whatever took place in Little Tir na Nog. Recreating Tir na Nog accurately should be desirable then. She does admit that she doesn't see how this would benefit the death row inmate she's talking to though.
Balor actually speaks this time and says he doesn't mind, offering to help as much as he can. If it'll help Tezcatlipoca, then he has no reason to object at all. Hakumen comments that that's some admirable camaraderie before she asks if it's something else. Balor replies that it's just fun to do things together, then puts his motivation for this as something like empathetic commiseration or helping out someone who has the same concerns. They represent the wills of their worlds, horribly shitty worlds that live a long time by greedily coveting things like Old Age and Incompleteness.
Hakumen comments that for all of Balor's talk that he and Tezcatlipoca are sad and grieving, it doesn't look like it to her. Balor replies that of course they do, since they both are happily accepting old age and incompleteness. If you're wondering what's so great about getting old, Balor says that means he can hold his cute grandchild, so cute they could barf sparkles. Balor then talks about how seeing someone so similar to you can feel funny and pleasant, which is the biggest reason he goes along with Tezcatlipoca. That said, he says he ought to return to the main subject.
Balor brings back up that Hakumen said she wanted to make things perfect no matter what she had to add and that she wants to get what she's missing. He laughs at this saying it's useless, it's all useless. As he said before, getting old and losing things are the things that approach death and partings. Those are what makes Tir na Nog complete. The answers to do so are "accept that you will grow old and get closer to death" and "rejoice in what you lack." Balor explains that the fairies will sniff those out and come closer and bring changelings (Trade Death and Old Age for the World's Immortality).
Hakumen notes that this is all very abstract and asks for a more concrete example. Balor says he'll teach her how to Overlay the Present World with the Fairy World, which he says is one of the most famous fairy tales in Tokyo. He asks if she's ever heard of Walpurgisnacht (re: Enclosure of the Dead). Hakumen repeats it back (as Walpugis Night) and asks further into it. Balor explains that it's a belief of a Summer Night's Dream where witches run dominant. And an Indispensable part of a witch is a Black Cat familiar. If you put together 1) the night, 2) a black cat, and 3) someone who has accepted their old age and loss of things to the faith of Tir na Nog, that is when the wily fairies will manifest for sure. Balor then laughs as he mentions he was asked to bring a book that talks about the faith of Tir na Nog to the festival.
Title card pops up, and this chapter is called Festival Ghost Story! A Prophecy of Terror in the Horror House!?
Things pick back up on your end of things as the gang reaches the area around the watchtower at the center of the festival. Cait Sith announces that you guys have made it to the rest area, and Ryouta expresses some mild surprise about a rest area being there. He also notes that there's already a lot of people hanging around there. Moritaka also points that out and suggests there might not be any empty seats for you guys. Kengo asks what you guys will do then, then says that there is still the plan for you all to just sit scattered about by yourselves. Narration describes the place as a prefab building filled with long benches and tables and visitors who are all talking. Cait Sith says it'll be fine and asks you all to follow him.
Cait Sith takes you guys to a part of the rest area that is slightly wide where some broadcasting equipment is placed. It's the only space in the area where normal visitors are not sitting around so it's mostly vacant. Cait Sith greets the few probably festival worker people there. You ask Cait Sith about this section, note the empty space, and say you guys can sit there at least. Cait Sith explains that this was a prep area for the festival committee, but it was just opened to the rest and dining area. Moritaka observes that you guys could relax there and enjoy some food from the stalls. Ryouta mentions being tired from standing for so long, so he decides it's time for a snack party.
Kengo mentions remembering that these things happened in festivals when he was younger too, but all he remembers now is the stupid old men including his dad drinking together. Li Chou says that in festivals like this, it's best that they treat customers as the most important thing. If tons of people come and stay a while, they ought to spend a lot of money too. Cait Sith greets Li and asks if anything happened. Li answers that there's been an increase in visitors, but things have calmed down. It's time to eat after all, and everyone is engrossed with the gourmet food. You comment that you like enjoying your food, and that everyone else seems to be the same way.
Li Chou thanks everyone for their work and asks if you want any cold drinks. He's got juice, soda, tea, and coffee. Ryouta cheers about this and says that a cooler filled with ice and drinks really feels like a festival thing. Shirou asks about the stall food as there are a bunch of such stalls nearby selling stuff. Touji says something seems to have happened near there earlier since he noticed the flow of movement changing.
Agyou asks if anyone else thinks that there's more people constantly coming in, and he compares the activity level to New Year's shrine visiting. Li Chou says the festival is exploding on social media, and at the rate things are going it's going to be jam packed by the last day. Cait Sith laughs and says that's good news as Hakumen should be happy with him for that.
Kijimuna is around and asleep, which Shirou notices. He sighs that he'll catch a cold if his yukata slips open like that. Touji then notices that Hanuman isn't around and asks if he was with someone. R-19 opens up his phone tracking function he apparently has, then announces that Hanuman is still within the festival area, probably with some other people. Moritaka then speaks up and says Hanuman told him he'd be heading off to do something else because his school friends are here. Shirou remembers that Hanuman's school friends would be from Umamichi and comments it'll be lively then. Li Chou agrees and expresses disbelief that they haven't caused a problem yet. Nezha has crashed into a stall, but that's all that's happened between today and the day before.
Shirou changes the subject to suggest bringing some food for everyone. Ryouta volunteers to come along since he can't carry all the food for everyone by himself. Shirou thanks him and says he'd prefer to have one more person come along, so Ryouta elects you as he suggests looking for new unseen festival foods. You either agree, shrug and say fine, or reject the idea. In A and B, Shirou apologizes for having you help when you're tired, so he suggests getting it done quickly. In C, Ryouta tells you to stop that since everything is unimportant compared to food. Plus it's a chance to go pick things you like! Solomon pops up to tell you he wants to eat that thing that's like okonomiyaki wrapped around chopsticks. Cait Sith agrees with him saying he wants some hashimaki too, with lots of bonito flakes as a topping. The two of them then thank you for taking their request and laugh.
Time skips a bit to you, Shirou, and Ryouta at the stalls, where Ryouta is ordering a combo platter of yakitori and several orders for large sized yakisoba. He also orders garlic fried edamame beans, chicken skin gyoza, cold tofu, and fried cheese among other things. Shirou mentions that the rest area allows alcohol, so the stalls are offering a lot of things that go well with it. Ryouta says that while he can't drink, he loves the snacks. Eating ones that go well with soda gives him this sense of being an expert. Shirou laughs and says he'll go put in the actual order, then asks you guys to wait.
At this point, Ryouta panics as he notices that he's gotten a lot of messages, then quickly moves to respond to them all. You ask about these messages and note that he has a lot, so Ryouta says he contacted a lot of his friends. With all the crowds though, it's been hard to go greet them. He asks you to wait for a moment as he continues texting people, moving his fingers so fast they turn into a blur. You then comment that Ryouta is amazing or point out that he might not actually be able to tell his friends are around among all these people.
Furufumi walks by soon after and makes eye contact with you, and he responds to this by running away. You are surprised to see him there. Ryouta finishes up with his responses and turns to you, then asks if you saw something unusual. Shirou returns too, and when he sees your expression he asks if you saw something difficult to describe. You turn to Ryouta to ask him a question about Furufumi. He tells you he tried to invite him, but he said no.
The three of you return to the rest area, and Shirou invites Li Chou to join you guys for dinner. Li accepts, saying that he had some snacks before, but he just can't get enough of the smell of stall foods. Cait Sith apologizes saying more people has come, so he asks people to squeeze in a bit. He also mentions that these people seem to know you guys. Shirou asks about this, so Cait Sith points them out. Kengo reacts in alarm, and the rest of the gang reacts in surprise to seeing all the named staff at Shinjuku so far here.
Mononobe greets you guys and comments on seeing a lot of familiar faces. You either say his name or try to talk to him, and if you go with the latter he notices and gestures for you to stay quiet for now. But anyways Jinn laughs about how he wasn't expecting to run into all of you guys, and Triton reminds you guys not to go too crazy at the festival. Shennong comments on the coincidence, and he's about to mention he already knew you were here before he decides to back out of that. Ziz says that it's so novel to see you guys outside of the school, which she feels kind of excited about. You voice your own surprise at them being here or ask why they're all together.
Ryouta cheers excitedly over this coincidence and compliments Mononobe and Ziz on their yukatas. Ziz laughs and thanks him, complimenting his happi in turn. Kengo asks them why they're all here and complains about the festival going down the drain now. Shirou asks if this is a part of student guidance, which they'd normally do with doing some patrols. Triton laughs and says it's natural he'd think so, but no they're here for a more private party. Ziz adds that she suggested they also make this Shennong's welcoming party and that Mononobe asked them to come over.
Shennong apologizes to them about going through so much trouble for him,
saying he never expected this when they asked if he had plans. He then
laughs about how convenient it was that he was already planning to come
here because of a request from his old haunts. Kengo expresses annoyance
at the teachers having a party nearby and complains his food is getting
bad now. Jinn teases him for being a downer and says he ought to have a
drink. Juice of course. Triton joins in and offers Kengo some juice
too, and Kengo complains that they smell like sake and asks if they're
drunk.
Li Chou freaks out and tells Kengo not to get closer to him because he'd be at a disadvantage against teachers because he's a delinquent. Mononobe introduces himself to the non-Shinjuku people in your group, and Cait Sith greets him back. Ryouta then takes the opportunity to take a picture of the teachers as he prompts them to look his way. After that's done, Mononobe asks you if you're enjoying things. He then asks if you're upset. You then complain that it was supposed to be a secret between you guys that he was here.
Mononobe apologizes saying Jinn caught a hold of him and he wasn't able to turn him down. He then notices that you seem to have something on your mind and asks you about that. You tell him you have something you want to ask him, but Mononobe asks to go first and tells you he invited another student to come over. He came over today and they were together for a bit, but then he ran away when the other teachers ran into him.
Camera jumps over to Furufumi where he wonders what he's doing after making the effort to come all this way. Narration says that Furufumi has slipped in between stalls and is standing still near some supply delivery path, just hiding. Furufumi continues talking to himself saying he's not good at dealing with crowds and lots of noise, which he feels is like everyone is laughing at him. He knows it's in his head, but he still wants to leave. He's ambivalent about that though because there's Something here that he wants to look at.
Furufumi freaks out at some noise and asks who's there, and it turns out to be you looking for him as you ask why he's hiding there. Furufumi freaks out again upon seeing you and asks why you snuck up behind him, then remembers you said you found him and asks if you need him for something. You answer that you came to get him, so he sighs about how much you always do things your own way. He comments that looking at you reminds him of another person, even if your looks and personality are different.
Furufumi goes quiet for a bit before he asks if you'll stay with him until he calms down, even if it's just a moment. You either say you'll gladly do so, or be more casual and refer to him by name. In A, he says he came with someone else, but he got separated. In B, Furufumi is taken aback by you using his name and says he'd like to keep some distance still since he's not sure what he'd do if people think you have some special relationship with each other.
Furufumi stands there for a few moments. He eventually comments that the moon looks beautiful, then makes a point of saying he's not using literary Japanese to say he loves you. He also apologizes for suddenly running away when he saw you earlier. He was invited by Ryouta earlier, but he told him no. He didn't want that known when he saw you which is why he ran, and he calls himself a horrible person. You tell him that he's worrying too much about it. Ryouta isn't fussing about it either, and more likely he'd be happy to know he's here.
Furufumi asks if you'll let him explain. After he turned Ryouta down, Mononobe invited him to go too. He had a hard time saying no because of some personal stuff. He also tells you he has one other reason for coming to the festival, so he had to come no matter what. Wen you ask him about that, Furufumi says it's about an old rare book. There's an old book market happening at the festival with a bunch of rare books on display. These would be proof of histories from other worlds including Tokyo, a treasury of records from before you guys were born.
Furufumi starts stepping closer to you as he rants/explains about how there are other books coming in from historied schools besides Roppongi. He's not sure how true it all is, but he says he has a duty to check it all out. As the caretaker of Shinjuku Academy's old schoolhouse library, he can't just sit there if there's a book around that he's never read before. He then starts panting and apologizes for getting worked up. You either nod along, say you understand his passion, or comment how aggressive he is today.
Anyways Furufumi laughs and says he's glad if you understood how he felt even a little bit. Again, he was with Mononobe earlier, but he ran off on reflex when the other teachers came to talk to him. He's then stood around here wondering if it would have been okay to tell him he'll walk around by himself and that he'll be fine. It was Mononobe who invited him over and even got a happi ready for him, and Furufumi's brain starts locking up when he gets to that point. You either ask him what's wrong, say he looks good in it, or comment that it's a must for festivals.
Furufumi freaks out and crouches, yelling and asking you to not look at him. You react in shock that he's only now processing or caring about wearing a happi. He stammers that he forgot about it while he was talking about you and is embarrassed to be seen in it. It's not that he has anything against people wearing a happi, and he knows it's a cultural thing. He's just embarrassed to be seen in it by people. You either comment that he has no chill, say he looks good it in, or say you like how bold he is. Furufumi moans to himself that he won't get anything done at this rate, even with a rare book he's never seen before possibly being around. You suggest going together and/or gently grab his hand. Furufumi is surprised and touched by this, and he eventually thanks you and agrees.
Some time later, you and Furufumi reach an area where he says old books and stuff are being sold. He also comments that the flow of visitors around is different too. He says it's like a flea market, and he suggests going to where all the books are. There's a specific stall he wants to see, so he asks you to come with him. He also asks you to not let go of his hand, or else he'll freeze up. You two eventually reach a stall that is really a canvas roof set up over a wagon filled with books, and Furufumi's eyes light up in excitement upon finding it.
Furufumi expresses his amazement and says it's glittering like a treasury. There are a lot of codexes from other worlds, and he sighs happily about having such history and knowledge at his fingertips. Fufurumi then asks you if it's okay for him to look at them for a while. You say it's okay since you'll be there and/or that you want to see them too. Furufumi gets nervous as he starts looking into the books, and you keep your eyes on him. He mumbles stuff about one book using Eden's methods and something about Gehenna's treatment of books. He also finds a scroll from Wa no Kuni, something from Hourai, and even something from Old Ones.
Narration talks about how Roppongi is where a collection of rulers from different worlds gather. Their books are no exception to this. Many records from other worlds in the form of Manuscripts are being sold, from books on cultures to books on cooking recipes to books for pleasure. To Furufumi it's all a treasure vault of riches, and a bit of red excitement rises to his light skin.
Solomon shows up saying he was asked to find you, then asks what this place is. Solomon's attention falls on a random book, and he's interested enough in it that he asks you to buy it for him. It's an old book on arts or skills of some kind. Furufumi notices you looking at the book and asks to take a look as well. After he does, he notes that the whole thing is in bad shape, but the damage is less from it becoming old and more that it was just used that much. Furufumi also finds the subject surprising and asks if you're interested in magic (as in sleight of hand).
You react in surprise, so Furufumi says it's a book that's published here in Tokyo. You could probably find one in better condition in the bookstores in Kanda or Jinbocho, but if you're really into this one... To the side, Solomon nods to you, so you tell Furufumi that you do want that book. Furufumi says you guys can buy it together, and he offers to fix the binding at least. He feels the book would be happier that way too. Solomon thanks you and laughs. As you guys shop, you start hearing some yelling. Furufumi wonders what that's all about before saying it's got nothing to do with him. Solomon alerts you to a phone call coming in from Cait Sith.
Cait Sith apologizes for the sudden call but says it's an emergency. He's asking for all festival staff and related parties for help, which includes you and Solomon. Something that was put on display as an attraction was mistakenly sold to someone. Furufumi tells you it's okay to go and thanks you for sticking with him. He's not good at dealing with problems that involve a lot of people anyways, but Cait Sith yells that the thing that was sold is a Rare Book from another world that's so rare only one copy exists, and the episode half ends with Furufumi reacting in shock as he hears that.
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