東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 1: Immaterial and Missing Power

—1—


To begin this story, I would like to go back in time, to about five months before the Incident began. That would bring us back to February, before even the Spring Snow Incident had begun. Of course the Night Parade of One Hundred Oni Every Three Days Incident hadn't yet started at this time either, but there is something that must be mentioned as a premise, and that is the bean-throwing ritual of Setsubun which was held in February.

—

"We're going to be having a bean-throwing ceremony on February 3rd. You two know the custom of Setsubun, right?"

Being from 80 years in the future and from a world where scientific rationality has displaced spirituality from its role as the explainer of the events and processes of nature, I can see why Keine might have expected the holiday to be foreign to us.

"Of course! Setsubun is still alive and well in the Outside World of the future."

Keine smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. I'm planning to give the children beans to throw on the 3rd after class." She coughed softly. "I was, um, hoping I could get one of you to play the role of the oni as well."

Renko laughed. "I'm sure we can manage. You have students that day, right Merry?"

"Yes, in the afternoon. It'll have to be you, Renko"

"That's fine by me."

"Excellent. I'm sure the children will be delighted. Now let's go over the arrangements..."

Keine had already planned out every detail, from where to hide the beans to hand out, to the mask Renko would wear as an oni and the direction and location the beans would be scattered to make cleanup as easy as possible. Making such a precise and thorough plan for a simple bean-throwing ceremony seemed a little unnecessary to me, since the plan essentially boiled down to giving beans to the children, having them throw the beans at the oni and then eat the remainder, but it was Keine's nature to never leave any detail to chance.

"So," she summarized after going over each step, "that's it. Does that sound like a good plan?"

"It sounds just like home." Renko said. "I would have expected Setsubun to have been a bigger deal in Gensokyo with Reimu coming in and performing a full fledged exorcism or something."

Keine smiled wryly at the thought. "Reimu will probably hold a bean-throwing ceremony at the shrine, but she can't come to every ceremony in the village. There's only one of her."

That made sense, I suppose. Setsubun is different from other holidays in that people don't all gather in one place to celebrate.

"I'm still surprised Setsubun isn't a bigger deal here though," Renko continued. "The purpose of throwing beans is to chase out oni. That's got to be more important here than it would be in the Outside World, isn't it?"

Keine blinked twice in response to Renko's question. "Oh, I guess no one told you. There are no oni in Gensokyo."

"What?" Renko and I glanced at each other in surprise. No oni? Here in Gensokyo, a land created as a paradise for youkai, to hear that there were no oni, the most well known sorts of mythological Japanese monsters was a definite surprise.

"The bean-throwing ceremony is just a formality, really,” Keine continued, “It has no function as an actual exorcism because there’s no oni to exorcize.”

"Wait a minute, are there really no oni in Gensokyo?" Renko asked, leaning across the table toward Keine.

She nodded. "I heard they used to live on Youkai Mountain, but no one has seen an oni in a very long time. It's commonly believed that they've left this world. Akyuu would know more about it than I would though."

Renko looked over at me, an expression of surprise and confusion on both our faces. Like her, I had always simply assumed that oni would be found somewhere in this fantasy land. To hear that there were none was like looking at a carefully constructed aquarium with an ideal balance of filter feeders, plants, lights and other features but no fish. I suppose in the end even Gensokyo couldn't be a paradise for all youkai.

—

"Yes, that's right. The last time there was a confirmed sighting of an oni was before the Great Hakurei Barrier was erected, more than a hundred years ago. That was during the time of my previous incarnation, Hieda no Aya"

The Hieda manor was not far from our office. Typically, after classes let out for the day, we'd sit in our office at the agency, waiting for clients who rarely appeared. Today we had simply hung a "be back later" sign from the door and made our way to the spacious manor after closing down the temple school.

"So then they're not extinct, they've just migrated somewhere else?"

Akyuu nodded in response. "Most likely. There's not much that could kill an oni, so the most likely answer is that they're still alive, but have found their way to some other world connected to this one."

"Like Makai or the Netherworld, you mean."

"Or perhaps even Hell."

Indeed, the idea of an oni guarding the entrance to one of the hells was a classical bit of Japanese iconography. Though the image that appeared in my head of a creature with a shaggy head, two horns, a spiked iron club and loincloth made of tiger skin was perhaps too cliché even for this world where expectations seemed to exert some measure of control over reality.

"Long ago, the oni of the mountain were feared as the most dangerous enemies to the humans of this world. They would descend to cause havoc, kidnapping humans for fun and causing more damage than any other sort of youkai. There were even humans specially trained to fight the oni, who had clashed with them time and again."

"Human oni hunters? Like the story of Momotaro?" I asked, thinking back to books I had read as a child.

"Couldn't be, there's no sea in Gensokyo for him to sail to Onigashima. Though an oni on a mountain does sound like the story of Shuten Douji on mount Oe, doesn't it?"

Akyuu ignored our bantering and continued. "Over time, the oni gradually decreased in number, as did the need for oni exterminators. Whatever techniques they might have used have long been forgotten now, since humans have no need to fight them any more."

"I see..." Renko murmured, "why did they all leave though, I wonder?"

"You'd have to find an oni to ask that."

"Other than oni, are there any other types of youkai that have disappeared from Gensokyo?"

"Yes, a few others. There have been no reports of the sighting of several types of youkai in more than a century, including tsuchigumo and satori."

"So Gensokyo really isn't a paradise for all youkai. I guess there are some types that just can't fit in."

“That may well be true. Gensokyo has been relatively peaceful since the erection of the Great Hakurei Barrier, so if there were any oni still here, they might find it quite boring.”

Renko was laughing, but she may well have been right. If creatures like oni that made a habit of raiding and pillaging human settlements were still here, the population of the human village would soon collapse. The existence of the Spell Card Rules for resolving conflicts through danmaku might also have played a similar role in preventing harm to the humans of the village.

"If the oni left, could they even survive in the Outside World? Youkai need humans to terrorize and be recognized by, don't they?" I asked Akyuu.

"The oni may have gone somewhere where there were other humans for them to prey on. Or perhaps they're strong enough that they found a way to do without. Without an oni to ask, we can only guess."

"I don't suppose there's any records of any of your predecessors having talked to an oni?" Renko asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately not. None of my previous incarnations have ever managed to interview an oni."

It was odd to hear Akyuu talk so openly and confidently about her past lives. With everything else we had seen in Gensokyo, I didn't doubt her claims, but the Relativistic Noologist in me couldn't help but wonder how such a perspective would influence her perceptions of reality.

At any rate, as unsatisfying as the lack of definitive answers may have been, one fact had been confirmed by our visit to Akyuu: there are no oni in Gensokyo. It was a point everyone could agree on.


-2-


And so, before long, it was February 3rd.

For my reading and composition class that day, I had the children put aside our usual readers to tell them the story of Minamoto no Yorimitsu's extermination of the oni of mount Oe. Keine had related the story to me ahead of time, so my lesson just consisted of repeating what I had heard. Of course, Keine's version of the story was as boring and overly-detailed as usual, so I ended up leaving a number of parts out of it. My version of the tale ended up going something like this:

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘖𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘢𝘯-𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘒𝘺𝘰𝘵𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘪, 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪.

𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘛𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘢, 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘯𝘰 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘪, 𝘜𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘴𝘶𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘍𝘶𝘫𝘪𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘰 𝘠𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘢. 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘖𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.

At this point I had interrupted myself to ask a question and make sure the children were paying attention. "Now I think everyone remembers having heard the name Sakata no Kintoki before, but does everyone remember who he was?"

One of the boys raised his hand excitedly. "Is he related to Uji Kintoki?"

"No, that's a type of desert. Sakata no Kintoki was the name that Kintaro the golden boy took as an adult. You all remember that story, don't you?"

"The kid with the giant axe?"

"That’s right," I said with a nod. "The one who rode a bear like a horse." Hearing that, the children had a familiar figure to attach the story to and began to pay closer attention. I went back to my narration.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯." 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬.

𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪'𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘪, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴.

"The oni had four devas too?" one of the children asked.

"Yes," I declared, before falling back into the story.

𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺.

At this point, the reference book had suggested that the feast prepared for the party had included human flesh the warriors were compelled to eat, but I left that part out of the story I told the children. It's a little too shocking for kids that young, I think.

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘜𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘪 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘫𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘢𝘯-𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘒𝘺𝘰𝘵𝘰.

When I told this story in class the children all reacted as predicted. Cries of "Cheater!" and "That's not fair!" went up from the students. Although the children had been cheering on Yorimitsu and his men throughout, the method of their victory was enough to make all of them question who the good guy was supposed to be in this story.

I clapped my hands to get the children's attention. "Yes, Yorimitsu and his men were able to defeat the oni, but they didn't fight fair to do it. For that reason it's said that to this day, oni still hold a grudge against humans. So now we make a point of chasing out any oni we find by throwing beans at them before they can kidnap anyone else. Shall we do that now?"

"Yes!" the children answered as a chorus. Whether or not there remained any oni in Gensokyo, and whether or not those oni would hate humans or not, the children were old enough to know their role in the holiday.

At that moment the rear door to the classroom was thrown open and a single figure leapt into the room. Renko, wearing a painted wooden oni mask and a straw cloak and hat stuck a pose at the back of the room, hands raised like claws.

"I'm an oni!" She roared. "Where are all the bad kids for me to drag away?"

The children screamed and crowded toward the front of the room. She was a little early, as we hadn't even handed out the soybeans yet. I heard the sound of running footsteps from the hall and Keine threw open the front door to the classroom, carrying a large wooden box of roasted beans.

"Come on, everyone!" she cried, trying to sell the scene. "Let's throw beans to drive the oni out!"

Keine grabbed a handful of beans from the box and hurled them, chanting "Oni out!"

A dozen small hands reached into the box and tossed a barrage of beans at Renko. "Fortune in!" the children chanted in counterpoint.

"Oof, ouch! Those hurt!" the Renko-oni cried, pitifully.

The children shouted with delight and went back for more handfuls of beans, running back and forth between Renko and Keine to bombard the oni. Keine watched the children, smiling as they grabbed at the box, then stepped over towards me. "You too, Miss Merry. Chase the oni out!" The children turned to look up at me, eyes sparkling with expectation.

I sighed and hardened my heart. Taking a fistful of the crunchy beans, I hurled them at Renko with all my might. They scattered across her wooden mask and bounced on the floor.

"Ow, ugh! Your danmaku are too much, Merry! Curse you humans! Auugh!"

Howling and flailing her arms above her head, Renko ran for the door, pursued by several children and many more fistfuls of beans.

—

After dismissing the children and cleaning up the classroom, we had returned to our office to wait for cases and rest.

"I feel like that ended up a little uneven." Renko sighed. “I know I signed up to be the one in the mask, but I had to help clean up too. It seems like you got off a lot easier.”

"It's just your imagination." I said as I tossed a roasted soybean into my mouth. As usual, there was no one in the office except for us. No one would be crazy enough to brave the heavy snow just to pay us a visit

"Well, as long as the kids enjoyed themselves it's all good, I guess." Renko popped a handful of beans into her mouth as well.

"I wonder why roasted soybeans, of all things, are thought to repel oni?"

"Various theories have been advanced," Renko said, pondering. "Like beans looking like an eye that would scare off evil, or there was even one story about a traveler daring a youkai to turn into a bean then eating it, but I don't there's ever been any consensus as to the origin of the tradition. It probably arose as a way to eat some healthy food at the turning of the seasons, when supplies were low but spring was right around the corner."

"That makes sense. Setsubun literally means 'the turning of the seasons' after all."

A lot of old traditions were like that. They may have been considered silly superstitions in our time, but they often hold a grain of wisdom that people in this world wouldn't have had another way to explain. Like the saying 'if you cut your nails at night, you won't live to see your parents die' doesn't make much sense on the surface, but in a world without electric lights, it might be practical advice. Cutting your nails with a pair of iron scissors in the dark left you more at risk of injuring yourself and contracting tetanus or some other infection. Even the saying 'thunder will steal your belly button' had a purpose. Leaving your stomach uncovered during an evening shower could lead to losing a lot of body heat and getting sick. Here in Gensokyo such traditional wisdom could well play an important role in the lives of people bereft of scientific understanding of the natural world.

"I wonder what the oni here actually looked like?" I mused.

"Well, Akyuu's records suggest that youkai generally look a lot more like humans than the traditional depictions. Long-lived youkai seem to generally look pretty young, so an oni might appear as a child with horns."

"Like how Remilia and her sister look like regular little girls except for the wings."

"Yeah, pretty much." It was hard to imagine an oni as a child. They were supposed to be terrifying to look at, after all.

"Hey Renko, why do you think the youkai here take on human-like forms? If they feed off of fear, wouldn't they want to look as scary as possible?"

"They wouldn't need to if humans were already scared of them. Maybe looking like a human, especially an unassuming one, is a mark of prestige among youkai. It shows they're strong enough they don't need to rely on a terrifying appearance to frighten people."

"So only weak youkai would look scary then? Like how venomous creatures have bright colors even if being hard to see would make them better hunters."

"I think it's sort of different from that. In any case, as the most dangerous sort of youkai, oni should look almost exactly like humans, right? I'd think they'd at least still have horns, though. That's kind of crucial to their identity."

"Well, they're a monster that runs away if you throw beans at them. Maybe they were never really that strong?" If that were the case then vampires wouldn't be scary at all since they have way more weaknesses. I wouldn't want to say that around Remilia though. "Actually, now that you mention it, do you think throwing soybeans would scare the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion away too?"

"Why? Because vampires are supposed to be a type of oni? Well we've got some beans right here, do you want to head back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and find out, Merry?"

"No thanks. I'll leave the act of foolishly risking one's life to you." Despite saying that, I couldn't help but picture it in my head. Somehow, I expected that the noble lady of the Scarlet Devil Mansion might be thrilled to play the oni at a Setsubun ceremony.

"Actually, now that I think about it, we're living in a world where folklore has power, Merry. Do you think we should save some of these beans in case an oni kicks down our door?"

"Oni only eat naughty children, Renko. I'll be just fine."

"If they'd take me, they'd definitely take you too."

"In that case, I hope having two naughty teachers like us won't be a bad influence on the children."

"I won't tell Miss Keine if you won't."

We laughed quietly. At that time things were starting to look up for us. Although we still had no clients for our detective agency, business had picked up at the school, and its fortunes were directly tied to our own. It seemed having the two of us as human teachers had improved the school's reputation somewhat, and we did our best not to tarnish it.

I tried hard not to think about the possibility that having our detective agency sitting around the back of the building might, itself, be a blemish on the prestige of a temple school.


—3—


There's one more bit of background, other than Setsubun that I should tell you about.

It happened in May, three months after Setsubun and a little over a week after the end of the Spring Snow Incident.

Classes had ended for the day, and I was about to open the door to our office when I noticed something wedged between the door and the frame. Taking it out, I found it to be a tengu newspaper, the 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴. It was a publication I had seen before in tea shops, but I didn’t remember having subscribed to it. Taking it in hand, I unrolled it as I stood before the open door.

"Merry, what's wrong?" Renko's voice called out from inside.

"Renko, did you subscribe to this tengu newspaper?"

"What? No, I don't remember doing that."

I thought perhaps it might have been intended for the school but delivered to us by mistake, so I checked with Keine, but she too denied ever signing up for it.

"Maybe it's a free trial?" Renko posited as I came back in the door.

"Nothing is more expensive than something that's free, as they say."

In the end, the paper had been delivered to our home and it seemed like no one was about to stop by, so Renko decided there was no harm in reading it. Sitting down at her desk, she unfolded the broadsheet. "Oh, there's an article here about Yuyuko returning the spring to Gensokyo. It's been warm for almost a week now. That article's a little late."

"Well that's how it is here, I guess. Not many people have much need for breaking, up to the minute news. The pace of life is slower here."

Back in Kyoto, every week had been a blur of assignments, reports, exams, social obligations and the hustle and bustle of life in the city. Since coming here, our days consisted of teaching children reading, writing and arithmetic and idling around in our office or exploring the village and its surroundings. It was a relaxing life, so maybe it's fitting that I had become a bit more carefree.

"I wonder if it would make for a good article if I sold them the truth about Yuyuko and the purpose behind the Spring Snow Incident that you uncovered?"

"I think that subject matter is a little too dark for a newspaper like this" Renko said, wryly. It would have been a rather lurid story to find in a newspaper from our own time even.

Even in the 2080s, newspapers had still been scraping by. The print medium itself was long gone of course, but the organizations that had begun as newspapers and transformed themselves into media conglomerates in the 20th century still maintained their power and influence, utilizing their capacity to selectively investigate and colorfully characterize stories to control media narratives and direct public discourse. Newspapers had survived the financial and ecological catastrophes of the previous era not by spreading information, but by securing it, establishing monopolies on the collection and dissemination of information, deciding what stories made the headlines and how to spin events too big to keep quiet.

Here in Gensokyo, there were no such large media conglomerates, and news of big and urgent enough import to require their ability to quickly spread it was rare. As a result, newspapers were generally seen as mere entertainment at best and a nuisance at worst. No one seemed to put much stock into the stories printed on the pages, a fact only exacerbated by the fact that everyone knew the newspapers were written and distributed not by human journalists, but by the tengu, who lived on Youkai Mountain. In the village rumor and word of mouth spread information far faster than a newspaper could.

"Hey," Renko said, eyes gleaming with a sudden flash of inspiration. "If people don't trust the tengu newspapers, do you think a human-written newspaper would sell here in the village?"

"Who would print it? Suzunaan does small-scale book making, but they just use wood block prints."

"I suppose that means we won’t be able to mass-produce the casefiles you’ve written either."

"That’s alright, I never really intended to share those stories. Writing them down is just a way to kill time."

We were passing the time with idle chatter when another voice outside the door interrupted us.

"Excuse me."

The voice wasn't one we recognized. It was a woman's voice —not Keine's and not the voice of one of the students from the temple school. Renko folded up the newspaper, put it down and headed for the door, saying "Yes, welcome to the Hifuu Detective Agency, what can I do for you?"

She slid the door aside to reveal an unfamiliar face. Black hair framed sharp features with intelligent, brownish-red eyes. The woman in the doorway was wearing a white blouse with a black skirt, a look not unlike Renko's usual attire but paired with a pair of tall wooden geta sandals and a small, rigid hat, both in brilliant red.

"Ayaya, nice to meet you. What did you think of my newspaper?" the girl said, the words tumbling out in a fast-flowing torrent.

Renko turned to glance at me.

"Your newspaper? That means you're..."

"Yes, sorry, apologies for the delay. I'm the publisher of the 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴. Shameimaru Aya, the pure and honest tengu reporter." She beamed a friendly smile at the both of us. "I had heard a rumor that a pair of outsiders from the future had arrived in the village and set up a strange business. I thought that they might make for an interesting interview."

Miss Shameimaru had quickly come into our office and was now sitting across the desk from Renko, sipping the tea I had brought her.

"So you're looking for an interview with us?"

"Yes, it could be mutually beneficial. I get a story and as for you, the 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 is the number one tengu newspaper in terms of market share among humans. It could be very good publicity for your business, and from what I've seen, you could use the advertising."

It was a hard-sell pitch, but I couldn't say any part of it was wrong.

I looked over at Renko. Her eyes were shining with a curious gleam. A tengu reporter sitting in front of her was a rare enough opportunity that I could see that my partner's investigative instincts had been triggered. There'd be no stopping her from talking, but I wondered who would end up getting more information out of this interview. I sat down and took out my notebook, ready to record their conversation.

"Of course, you're most welcome. Please feel free to ask whatever you like."

"Thank you, I appreciate your cooperation. Now, since I imagine the youkai sage wouldn’t be happy if I were to ask too many questions about the Outside World, let me begin by instead asking you about this office. What exactly is a 'detective agency?'"

"We investigate and solve mysteries on a professional basis. It's the duty of the Hifuu Detective Agency to uncover and expose any and all secrets and hidden truths at our clients' behest. I use my amazing mental prowess to explain inexplicable events and demystify all manner of mysterious phenomena."

"Oh I see, that sounds very much like my role as a newspaper reporter."

"Yes, there are some commonalities. We both investigate and report on the truth to reveal it to others, though your investigations seek to inform or entertain the general public, while mine are intended to provide information requested by my clients. That said, I can't investigate anything if I don't have a client walk through that door to give me someone to deliver a report to. How about you? How do tengu reporters go about sniffing out interesting stories?"

"Ayaya, between my proprietary information network and these wings, the fastest in Gensokyo, there's no story I can't chase down."

As Aya said this, a pair of large black-feathered wings had spread from her back and unfolded. The wings flexed once, then quickly folded back in on themselves across her back and vanished. If not for a single glossy blue-black feather they had left behind which was now swaying gently to the ground, I might not have believed I had seen them at all. I recoiled involuntarily. Where had she put them? Can she take them off when she doesn't need them?

"A proprietary information network? What sort, I wonder?"

"Ayaya, I can't give away all of my trade secrets now, can I?"

"Ah, a pity. I had hoped we might have been of assistance to each other. As one who can't fly, I envy your ability to cover a lot of ground quickly."

"Well, they're not much, but I do what I can." Aya lifted her nose into the air. Her speed seemed to be a point of pride for her, and Renko was playing into it expertly, quickly turning her position from subject to interviewer.

"That reminds me, I've occasionally seen a few other tengu newspapers around. Do all tengu make newspapers?"

"Certainly not! Only the most highly respected of us crow tengu are trusted with such an important role. It's a prized position, you know. Reporters like myself spend day and night digging into the juiciest stories we can find, and there's even competitions over the content of our issues."

"Ha, so among the tengu, competitions are fought with newspapers instead of danmaku?"

"Hmm, I guess you could say that, but it's more about prestige than settling disputes."

"I was just talking to Merry here about your newspaper and lamenting that it would be impossible for us to start a publication of our own here in the village. You tengu seem to have better printing technology than exists elsewhere in Gensokyo."

"Ah, there are kappa that live on the mountain as well. They're quite the inventors. This camera is one of their creations." Aya indicated the camera hanging from a strap around her neck, an antique 35mm film-based model by the look of it, but certainly more advanced technology than anything we had seen outside of Kourindou.

"Kappa? And they're engineers? It's the world of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke."

"Ayaya Akutagawa? Who's that?"

"Nevermind that. I'm surprised to hear there are kappa who can make cameras, though. May I take a look at yours?"

Aya grabbed at the camera and twisted away as Renko extended her hand. "Afraid not! Next to my life this is my most important tool. I can't let a human handle it for nothing."

"Ah, fair enough. I understand. Tell me though, do the kappa also make fountain pens?"

"Yes—"

"Perfect! I'll have to ask the kappa to make us one."

"Kappa are very shy, they'll run away if a human approaches them."

"Oh? That's a shame. But they're friends with the tengu?"

"Friends? No, more like subordinates. We tengu rule Youkai Mountain and all who live there."

"Ah, so tengu are in charge now. I had heard that there used to be oni on the mountain."

"Ayaya, that was a long time ago. They've been gone for quite a while."

"But they used to be in charge on the mountain?"

"Yes. More than a hundred years back."

"And then the oni all disappeared. What happened to them?"

"I heard they got fed up with humans and left."

"Fed up with humans, eh?"

"Most likely they were upset over the tactics employed by the human oni hunters. Oni hate lies and cowardly ways of fighting more than anything else. For us tengu, they were always a pain to deal with. Far too rigid in their ways of thinking."

"I see. So now that the old bosses are gone, the tengu are free to run things their own way. It's tough when you have a hard-headed person in charge, isn't it?"

"Ayaya, are you talking about your own boss here at the temple school?"

"No comment on that topic. By the way, you mentioned you were a crow tengu. I take it that means there are other types?"

"Ayaya, let me tell you--"

And on it went. Renko had completely turned the tables on her interviewer, and continued to pump Miss Shameimaru for information. By the time the reporter bid us adieu and flew off, she had barely gotten any answers out of Renko. It was only later that I realized that this meant there would be no article about us in the newspaper. In the end, my partner's curiosity was satisfied, but our office remained deserted.

Now, this introduction has gone on for quite a long time already, so let me cut to the heart of the matter and begin this tale once again.

It was in the beginning of July that the first party took place and the Night Parade of One Hundred Oni Every Three Days Incident truly began.