Ichigo leaves and takes up residence in Soul Society!

"and many more."

Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"You say you want to take it for yourself... Do you think the Second Division would agree to that?"

"I kept this secret from you."

"..."

Seeing the Four Palace Master's matter-of-fact attitude, Ichigo's lips twitched slightly. Surprisingly, he wasn't particularly surprised, because this was exactly the kind of thing the other party was capable of doing.

However, after learning about this, my negative impression of the Second Division Captain faded considerably.

Perhaps it's because of... sympathy.

"Based on the known activity range of that Hollow and the area where the students went missing, it is roughly in this vicinity."

The Four Palaces Venerable turned his head to look at Luntang.

"Luntang, could you ask your animal companions for help? I don't think we can find it by normal means, otherwise the Covert Force wouldn't have been busy all night and still not know where the body is."

"You mean the bodies of those two students were with that thing?"

Ichigo subconsciously looked around, trying to find something different in the dense forest.

But he couldn't do it.

Even the Four Palaces Venerable Ones couldn't do that.

Only Luntang and others could do that.

Rindo did not disappoint the Four Palace Masters, taking on the heavy responsibility without hesitation.

But it will take some time.

After all, we don't even know what that thing looks like.

The first step is to find animals that have seen the two residents, and then use those animals to pinpoint the last known location where they disappeared.

More than half of the day has passed without me even realizing it.

As the news spread among the animals in the area.

Finally, just before sunset, a lark brought good news.

It had seen the two students.

And I personally witnessed a monster following me into a cave!

"If I make a lot of money later, I'll definitely provide you, my bird friend, with the best birdseed."

The four palaces were invigorated.

Ichigo, who was standing nearby, also breathed a sigh of relief. After waiting for so long, there was finally a result.

"So that's what you were planning all along. That's not like you at all."

"How to say?"

"That's too normal."

"...Then let me tell you something that seems normal to you."

On the way to the scene of the incident with the lark, the atmosphere was originally quite relaxed and pleasant, but a few words from Shinomiya-sama made Ichigo no longer feel relaxed and pleasant.

"Right now we're living off the top student stipend from the Spirit Arts Academy, and we can't even afford a piece of clothing in the real world. Hachihara has treated us to so many free meals. Even though we're friends, do you want to keep eating for free?"

"The basic salary of a Shinigami is equivalent to the purchasing power of 200,000 yen in the modern world. Only when you become a seat officer can you barely save money. If you are promoted to captain, you will earn about ten times more than an ordinary soldier, but those are all far away for us."

"So if we can achieve financial freedom at this stage, or at the very least have an income, we can improve our quality of life before becoming the team leader."

"I really want to hire a few maids to take care of my daily needs. It would not only be convenient, but it would also free up time for me to concentrate on my cultivation."

The words of the Four Palace Master struck a chord with Ichigo, leaving him utterly unable to refute them and even forced to admit that what he said made sense.

The three then arrived at the dense forest on the cliffs at the foot of the mountain.

The Four Palaces Lords immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"No wonder it was hidden so well, there was a barrier."

It can only be described as extremely skillful, a level that they, as current students, cannot even imagine.

The barrier concealed the entrance to the underground cave.

Even with a large manpower conducting a thorough search, it is difficult to detect.

Only by touching a certain spot on the ground can one sense the existence of the barrier and thus discover the entrance to the underground cave.

But it has no other functions besides being discreet.

They passed through the barrier almost without any hindrance.

Go down the stone steps.

Before long, the view suddenly opened up, as if I had seen a small world.

"so big."

Ichigo exclaimed in surprise.

The Four Palaces Lord was also observing that this place, at least several hundred meters underground, had been hollowed out by unknown means, creating a huge space no smaller than a modern stadium.

The rugged mountains were as bright as day, with white steam rising from them. The temperature was slightly higher than outside, and it was also somewhat humid...

This environment is reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park, which features volcanic landforms.

In particular, there is a small waterfall right in front of you that is making a loud noise, with endless water rushing into the pool below, which is where the heat and humidity come from.

The three of them kept a close watch on any sudden changes that might occur in the unfamiliar environment while searching the place.

But after searching high and low, they found nothing.

Finally, we arrived at the edge of the pool.

Listening to the white noise of the waterfall, Ichigo was about to say something when he saw Shinomiya-sensei remain silent for a moment, then draw his Zanpakuto, cut his fingertip, and put it in the water. He quickly called out:

"Hey, Shinomiya, what are you doing?"

Rindou Yoya cast a questioning and concerned look at him.

Without saying a word, the Four Palace Master withdrew his hand, showing them his injured finger.

"The wound... has disappeared."

Ichigo's pupils contracted; he saw absolutely no sign that the other party had used "Return to the Source" for healing.

That is to say-

Ichigo and Rindo instinctively looked towards the steaming pool that resembled a hot spring.

"I think I know where this place is."

The Four Palaces Lord stood up, his tone low and somber.

"The hot springs built by Tenjiro of Kirinji Temple are a healing facility that embodies the essence of 'Kaido' (a type of healing technique)."

"I've never heard of that name."

Ichigo and Rindo both looked bewildered.

Of course they hadn't heard of it.

Even many people don't know that the hot spring in the secret base that Kisuke Urahara built under the Twin Towers was modeled after this hot spring.

However, Shinomiya only knew that the "prototype" that Kisuke Urahara referenced was located somewhere in Rukongai, but he did not know the exact location.

I never expected to run into this.

Suddenly, the Four Palace Masters' gazes sharpened.

Ichigo and Rindo Yoya noticed it.

Two badly damaged uniforms from the Spiritual Arts Academy floated on the water.

Although it came without any warning, it was also within reason.

"Hey, Shinomiya..."

Ichigo looked at the two uniforms and suddenly spoke up.

"Ok?"

"They didn't come here for no reason, did they?"

"Ah."

The Four Palaces Lord had no expression on his face and spoke in a flat tone, as if he were talking about someone else's affairs, but this matter was related to them.

"Although it's just a guess... the students in Class 2 are from noble families, while the students in Class 1 are from Rukongai. They don't know each other and have no interaction. However, because of our existence, Class 1 has received a lot of attention this year."

"You've seen how the nobles treat people from Rukongai."

"The two missing students had similar entrance exam scores. If their rankings were switched, the students who would be admitted to Class One would change."

"Perhaps because of this, the missing persons from Class Two not only disliked them, but also harbored deep-seated resentment."

"So he set his sights on another missing person, trying to find an opportunity to expel him from the Academy of Spiritual Arts and fill the vacancy himself."

"But during the surveillance, we noticed something suspicious about their movements, so we followed them here."

"As for how the missing person in our class knew about this place, it was either by luck or by hearing it from other people."

"Upon discovering the wonders of this place, both of them wanted to claim it for themselves, but they didn't expect a Hollow to follow them, so neither of them gained anything... well, it's hard to say."

Suddenly, the Fourth Prince thought of something and narrowed his eyes.

"The fact that the Hollow was able to evade the Seireitei's gaze and hide in Junrinan is probably related to the fact that it devoured a Zanpakuto and soaked in the hot springs here."

"Now that you've said that, I don't even want to go for a soak anymore."

Ichigo looked disgusted.

"What's there to be afraid of? This is running water."

"That's disgusting... But speaking of which, Shinomiya, you said on the way here you wanted to make money from this opportunity, looks like your plan is going to fall through~"

"what are you saying?"

The Four Palace Master remained remarkably calm as he watched Ichigo gloating and making a double entendre.

"Who says you can't make money this way?"

"Huh? No, you don't mean you want to open a hot spring bathhouse?!"

Ichigo was stunned.

"That's too much trouble. Why not just bottle the hot spring water here and take it back to use as medicine? You've seen how amazing its therapeutic effects are."

The eyes of the Four Palace Masters gleamed with a sharp light.

"Will anyone buy this? This is too... weird."

"Why not? Imagine if someone was injured protecting you and was lying on the ground unable to move. You could defeat the enemy but couldn't save them. In that situation, you would use anything, even something strange and of unknown origin, let alone hot spring water. Am I wrong?"

"..."

Ichigo's breath caught in his throat, and he stared blankly into space, as if he were resonating with the scene described by the Four Palace Master.

"No...you're right."

"So the job of transporting water is assigned to you, and I'll contact the buyers."

The Four Palaces Lord patted him on the shoulder, looking pleased.

"what?!"

"If you have any objections, then I can do it myself. Just don't come to me for money then."

"...I didn't say I wouldn't do it, but who are you planning to sell it to? Don't let someone report you."

"Sell to whoever has the money."

To Ichigo's complaints, the Four Lords maintained their usual nonchalant attitude.

"It's impossible for them to be reported, because their job is to handle reports."

"..."