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Professor Yabane Hiromi had finally found it. After years of searching through records all over Japan, she'd finally traced the steps of the mysterious monk Miroku. This time, she was sure of the location of his body. This time, for sure!
Elated, the professor pulled out an old map of Japan during the warring states. Musashi Province was covered in her scribbles and scratches as she'd searched and searched for the mystery monk's tomb. But she'd been looking in the wrong place! She dragged her finger from Musashi over to Kai Province. That was where he was! In the Minami Alps. How could she not have seen it before? After all the reading she had done for her dissertation, too… over twenty years ago.
The Kokugakuin history department was quick to provide funding for the archeological dig. Professor Yabane was provided with five assistants. Two were graduate students in history, Kubo Hibiki and Okabe Sousuke. The other three were undergraduates. Tanaka Daisuke was an archeology major from Tokyo U, while Kawai Takamichi and Aikawa Kyōka hailed from the Osaka University archeology program. The date to start the dig for Miroku's tomb was set to September 1st.
The date came quickly. Professor Yabane and her five helpers hiked up Hōō Sanzan. Based off her most recent discovery, Hiromi was certain they'd find Miroku's remains by the Jizōdake peak. The monk of legends had always fascinated her. All contemporary texts claimed he was a Buddhist monk, but accounts of people who encountered him gave him qualities that bordered on Onmyōdō and pure magic. There were even some sources that claimed he had the powers of a demon and the support of Shinto deities. He was such a mystery to uncover. Yabane Hiromi was ecstatic about finally finding him!
“Professor,” Aikawa Kyōka asked as they took a break to drink water. “Is there any truth to the stories of monk Miroku slaying demons?”
“We can only speculate,” Hiromi answered sagely. “The warring states were different times. Difficult times during which people were struggling to explain things to themselves. Many mysteries were simply attributed to kami or yōkai…”
“Then, what makes monk Miroku so special?”
“There was a lot of mystique around him. Haven't you read the professor's paper?” Okabe Sousuke scoffed.
“Now, now. Behave. This is an exciting discovery everyone. It's no time for infighting.”
The group continued their ascent to where Hiromi had determined the tomb might be. They cleared the area of the underbrush and divided it into a grid using string. Then they set up camp for the night. They wanted to be well rested when they started the dig in the morning.
The dig was arduous. The September sun was still scorching, the wind being the sole relief of the archeologists as they worked. They were on their hands and knees, digging up soil carefully in search of the mysterious monk's remains.
Finally, after two weeks of digging, Kubo Hibiki uncovered what looked like a piece of brass. “Professor, look!”
The entire team threw themselves at the find. Sure enough, after carefully digging it up, they had found a monk's staff. Hiromi nearly squealed. They'd found Miroku!
Their dig intensified, the team putting in more hours than before, the students from Osaka University even deciding to work through the night with flashlights.
This was how, on a crisp morning on the cusp of November, Hiromi was awoken by a scream. She ran out of her tent, barely clothed, only to find Tanaka Daisuke kneeling next to a skull. It had to be Miroku!
Like with everything else they'd uncovered, they carefully placed the remains in boxes to bring back to Kokugakuin and study further.
“Look at this skull!” Kyōka mused. There are cracks all over the top and back of it. “Professor Yabane, how did this man die?”
“No one is quite sure, to be honest. There are stories he was executed for treason. Others that he tampered in dangerous magics…”
“So how come his skull is so damaged?”
“Let me have a look,” said Okabe Sousuke. He'd studied many skulls from suspected human sacrifices. “These wounds weren't inflicted by any ritual tools. But they were made by blows with a heavy blunt object. And they happened many times throughout his life. None of these would have been life-threatening, though.”
A shriek suddenly echoed through the mountains. The students all looked around to Professor Yabane, who seemed to be holding back tears.
“Professor, what's wrong?”
“We're not the first to find this site!” she sobbed.
The students crowded around her, trying to see what had upset her so. Around the bones of the monk's fingers were plastic band-aids. Several, in fact. Someone had apparently thought it funny to desecrate a grave for a prank.
Even so, Kawai Takamichi placed the band-aids into bags with the rest of their finds. He would carbon date them when they got back to the university, if only for laughs.
The dig wrapped up not long after. The remains were sent back to Kokugakuin for further study along with any objects found with them.
A week later, Professor Yabane got an email from Osaka University. It was from Takamichi.
「Please forgive me, professor. I carbon-dated the band-aids we found, merely for a laugh. But after multiple tests, the results are the same and uncontestable. These band-aids are 500 years old. Please find the results attached. This is not a prank.」
To this day, Professor Yabane is trying to explain the case of these mysterious five-hundred-year-old band-aids.