東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 10:Subterranean Animism

I may not be a physicist, but even I know enough to describe the flight path of an object thrown into the air. As the force of gravity conquers the power of inertia, the object will reach the top of its arc and begin falling. At this point its vertical speed becomes zero, only beginning to grow again once the direction of momentum has been reversed, accelerating toward terminal velocity as it falls. In other words, when an object is thrown upwards toward a high place, the closer its destination is to the peak of the arc, the less force the object will have to absorb upon landing.

As it was, Yamame's throw was expertly calculated and delivered us into the deep drifts of snow on the surface with close to zero damage to our bodies. While I’m grateful to Yamame both for allowing us to escape from the underworld and the skilled precision of her throw, reverse bungee jumping remains among the most terrifying things I have ever experienced, and I have no interest in ever going through it again.

"Bwauh!" Renko gasped as she pulled herself out of a snow drift. "It's cold!"

I groaned and sat up, letting out a sudden shriek of alarm as some of the powdery snow covering us both found its way down the back of my dress.

"Merry! Are you okay? Are we both alive? I can't believe we survived all of that!"

"You can't believe it!? Who's fault is it we were in any of those situations? Oh the snow's already in my shoes..."

As our senses slowly caught up with the cold, the light and the unbelievable reality of everything we had experienced in the past two days we began pouring the snow out of our shoes. Just a few meters away, the vertical shaft yawned. Even having experienced it ourselves, it was difficult to credit everything we had seen in our whirlwind two-day tour of the Underworld. The bustling old capital, the green-eyed hashihime guarding the bridge, the scorching heat of the Hell of Blazing Fires and the gloomy palace above it. Things weren’t over yet though. The truth behind this whole incident was yet to be revealed.

"Well, we made it." Renko declared, settling her hat back into position. "Despite everything we're safely back on the surface."

"I feel like I've lost five years of my lifespan in the last two days. Let's never do that again."

"Just think of all the extra years you've gained by living in a laid-back place like Gensokyo. For now though, we need to begin our investigation into the truth behind the leaking of the Earth Spirits before things can get any worse. We've got to get to Moriya Shrine. Then we should probably ask our students about Koishi. But tracking down Lady Yasaka comes first."

My partner, who appeared to have recovered completely from her hangover, stood up and looked toward Youkai Mountain, craning her neck toward its snowy peak. Just minutes ago she had been too exhausted to walk without leaning on me. Just where had all of this energy come from? Sighing out a cloud of white vapor, I put my shoes back on and climbed to my feet, giving Renko a poke in the shoulder.

"Shouldn’t we be worried about Keine finding out that we’ve been outside of the village for the last two days?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. The temple school is closed right now, so I doubt she even noticed."

During the winter, temple school closures were not uncommon. The reason for them was simple: operating the school through the winter was quite significantly more expensive than it would be in any other season. The price of the fuel needed to heat both classrooms and the labor needed to keep the school’s grounds clear of snow was paid from Keine's own pockets and so there was no public purse to support running the school at a loss.

Even if the school had been open, children were more often absent in the winter, being called upon to clear snow on days when it was needed. Accumulation of snow was a serious concern even for the relatively secure families that could afford to enroll their children in our classes and after a heavy snowfall it was not uncommon for all business to come to a halt until mid morning or early afternoon as all the men in town worked together to clear the roads while the women and children attended to the snow on and around their own homes.

With all of those concerns, Keine had long ago decided to halve the number of days the Temple school operated in the winter, and whenever more than a centimeter or so of snow fell in the space of a day, it was generally assumed that the school would be closed as well. Yesterday and today should both have been scheduled days off, which is why we had been able to spend the day looking into this incident in the first place.

The two of us dug our way out of the snowbank and looked out towards the edge of the woods. Marching back through snowdrifts and dunes would be a difficult proposition. It was sure to be a long, cold and unpleasant slog back to the village from here. Looking up at the sky, I exhaled another plume of white breath as I tried to gauge the position of the sun and hoped futilely that we might see Marisa fly by.

Who we saw instead was Alice Margatroid. She was flying slowly overhead but came to a halt and descended, landing lightly on the snow in front of us with a bewildered expression on her face.

"What are you two doing here?"

Before Renko could reply we heard another voice, this time from behind us.

"Are you both still here?" We turned to look where the raspy voice had come from and saw Patchouli floating over the snow towards us.

"Still here?" Alice asked, growing even more surprised. "What do you mean, Patchouli?"

"Yesterday these two offered to explore the Underworld for me so I showed them this entrance. Did you manage to find a way down?" Patchouli asked, turning from Alice to us.

Renko scratched at her head sheepishly. "Well actually, we fell into that pit almost immediately after you left, I'm sad to say. We've been down in the Underworld ever since and just got back to the surface moments ago."

Both magicians turned to her, wide-eyed.

"What? You've been down there?" Alice asked.

"Tell me what you found." Patchouli demanded.

"In due time, in due time," Renko said, holding up her hands. "A lot happened and it will take a while to explain it all. For the moment though, I'm more curious about what the two of you are doing meeting here in weather like this. Given where we are and that it was important enough to drag you both out of your warm houses, I'm guessing that the two of you were about to discuss sending Marisa down this hole to look into the matter of the Earth Spirits, right?"

The two of them looked at each other in surprise then turned their gaze back to Renko, who was smiling knowingly.

"I see. Well if you're planning on sending her down I suppose that puts the Hifuu Detective Agency out of a job, doesn't it?"

"Investigating the Underworld was your idea in the first place."

"Ah that's true. I'll need to just investigate a few more details here and compose a report before I can complete that assignment though. Would you be willing to wait a few days?"

"A few days? Just tell us now, I don't mind if you haven't had a chance to verify every detail yet, just give me an interim report."

"I suppose I’ll have to settle for doing that… Oh wait! If you're about to send Marisa underground, that would actually work out well for us, let’s do that instead."

"What?"

"Well to put it very simply it seems like only someone with the sorts of skills Reimu or Marisa have would be able to get to the mastermind behind this incident. We almost made it to them while we were down there, but we had to turn back."

"You made it as far as the mastermind? What happened?" Patchouli demanded.

"It would take too long to explain it all. Just send Marisa down there directly and I can give you all of the details later. We've already spoken to several important youkai down there about the Earth Spirits so if she goes down there and asks about that, that'll be quicker. I think."

Patchouli narrowed her eyes further and scowled at Renko. "...You're not going to tell me anything, are you."

Renko grinned awkwardly. "I can't just yet, I'm afraid. Sorry. This incident is not the sort of thing where someone powerful just decided to cause problems out of boredom. Resolving it will require a careful approach. I think if you send someone down there to exterminate the youkai who's closest to the source of the problem that will be enough to resolve the situation for the time being though."

"That's what Reimu always does. How is that a 'careful approach?'" Alice asked, peevishly.

"Well, like I said, explaining it would be complicated," Renko said with a shrug.

She seemed like she was about to say more, but we all heard the sound of footsteps hurriedly pushing through the snow. My initial suspicion was that it must be Marisa, but I quickly realized she would be more likely to fly than approach on foot. I turned in the direction the sound was coming from.

"Oi, Miss Patchouli, wait up!"

We saw a person running towards us through the snow, kicking up a spray of powder as she did. It was a familiar face that we saw, but not one I would have expected at all. Kawashiro Nitori, the kappa engineer, ran up to us, panting and rosy-cheeked in the cold. The other two youkai meeting here were both magicians, so their shared interests and involvement might have been expected. I couldn't for the life of me imagine how Nitori might be involved though.

"Hyui! Lady Ibuki's friend! Why are you here?"

"Nitori? I could ask the same of you."

"Eh? er, well, I heard that a big geyser had erupted near the shrine, so I thought there might be some sort of unknown power source underground. I was thinking maybe I could talk Marisa into going down there and checking it out for me, but those magicians caught me!"

"Miss Patchouli, is that true? Don't be mean to the little kappa, what'd she ever do to you?"

"I thought she might be useful since we all seem to have the same goal."

"Hyuii?"

"It occurred to me that we might be able to make use of a kappa-made communication device to keep in contact with Marisa over long distances. A tool like that could be enchanted to allow us to communicate while she's underground. Even if we’re communicating by magic, we’d need to use something as a focus to tether my magical strings to, after all," Alice explained, as Renko nodded in understanding.

"I see. Is that similar to how Marisa needs to use her hakkero to fire off her magic?"

"That's right."

I'm no magician myself of course, but going by what Alice told us, it's easier to use magic if you can channel the power of a spell through a tool whose intended purpose matches the type of magic you were using it to cast. Marisa used primarily heat and light magic, making the tiny handheld furnace the perfect instrument for channeling her power. Magic is the process of shaping reality to match the image visualized in one's mind, so having an appropriate tool helps in that process. My mind flashed to Urameshi Yusuke pointing his finger like a gun while using his Spirit Gun technique, wondering if it worked on the same principle. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go ask to borrow 𝑌𝑢𝑌𝑢 𝐻𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑜 from the Moriya Shrine.

Patchouli and Alice's plan seemed to be to do something similar, making use of a kappa communication device to channel a spell for remote communication so that they could keep an eye on Marisa while she was underground.

Anyway,

"Wooow. Is this really an entrance to the Underworld?" Nitori asked in wonder, peering over the edge of the shaft. "Are the oni still down there?"

"They definitely are, but stay away from the edge, Nitori. The ground isn't stable there, trust me." Renko said, extending an arm toward the kappa. If only that prudence could have come a few days earlier.

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter if you won't tell me anything. I wasn't expecting you to produce any results anyway." Patchouli sighed as Nitori backed away from the edge with a worried expression. "I've already spoken to the Youkai Sage. She's planning on sending Reimu down there, so we don't have much time if we want to have a look around before she starts destroying everything. Alice, can you fly these useless humans back to the village?"

"What? Why me?"

"It doesn’t seem like there’s any Earth Spirits coming up out of this hole, so I’ll be able to keep watch here by myself. We want to get Marisa down there as soon as possible but before we can do that we need to test how well it works to combine the kappa’s device with one of your dolls. We'll try contacting you in the village. If it works, we may as well have you go get Marisa right away."

Alice looked from Patchouli to Renko, then finally over to Nitori. "Alright, I'll take you both to the village then," Alice said, offering a hand each to Renko and I.

"Thank you very much Miss Alice," Renko said, taking her right hand while I took her left. "But what's gotten you interested in the Underworld? I didn't think it was related to your studies."

"I wouldn't have thought so either," she said as we lifted gently off of the ground. "But my dolls all started going crazy when I went near that geyser recently. I assume that’s being caused by the Earth Spirits, so I’m a bit concerned as to what I would do if more of those geysers popped up. I was wondering what to do about it when I ran into Patchouli. We talked for a bit and agreed to meet up here."

"Alice, can you hear me?" Patchouli asked. Her voice bleated out from one of the dolls hovering near Alice.

"Yes, quite clearly. I'll fly to the village and try again from there."

"Go ahead." The doll said.

Then, without another word, Alice turned toward the village and carried the both of us home.


—29—


As fortune would have it, Keine didn't seem to have noticed that we had stayed out overnight, so we were spared the indignity of having to explain ourselves or suffer through one of her punishments after returning home from our harrowing journey. Houses in Gensokyo don't heat up quickly like those in the Scientific Century, however, especially when those houses are actually repurposed storerooms without a hearth of their own. Thus, we didn't go inside immediately —it would have been just as cold if we had. Instead, Renko took the time to go around the side of our house toward where the small branch shrine to the goddesses of the Moriya Shrine had been erected.

Rubbing her hands together for warmth, she bowed in front of the altar, then spoke. "Lady Yasaka, might I request an audience again?"

There was a longer-than-typical pause, then suddenly Kanako Yasaka, mountain goddess of the Moriya Shrine appeared before us with an exasperated expression on her face. "I've told you before not to use a branch shrine like a telephone, Renko. Did you need me to tell Sanae something again?"

Here in Gensokyo, where no telephone network existed, the goddess' ability to divide her presence among any number of places at once had often proven extremely useful, though often not in ways that she might have approved of. As for the question of how she’s able to do that, please refer to our previous case files.

"Actually, no," Renko replied. "Today I have a request directly for you, Lady Yasaka."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"I'd like to talk to you about the power that you've given to the raven who lives in the Hell of Blazing Fires."

Renko spoke confidently, with an easy grin on her face, but Kanako's expression immediately stiffened. She looked around, as if checking to see if anyone else was listening and took a step toward Renko, bending her head down to speak confidentially.

"Where did you hear about that!?" She hissed in a harsh whisper.

"Well, as luck would have it, I've just returned from a visit to the Underworld."

"You went to the Underworld? How? With whom? Surely you two didn't go by yourselves?"

"Merry and I happened to physically fall down there. It's quite a long story, but we ended up taking an extensive tour while we were visiting. Over the course of that, I happened to hear about your secret activities in the Hell of Blazing Fires."

Kanako glared at us for a moment with a mixture of incredulity and offense on her face before resting her fists on her hips and shaking her head. "You really are a completely incorrigible pair of humans."

She let out a sigh and considered her words for a moment before speaking again. "If you've already discovered that much, I suppose it's fine in the end. I hadn't planned on telling Sanae about any of this yet, but if you know there's no way you'll be able to keep the secret from her indefinitely. You really have a talent for exposing the most inconvenient truths, especially you, Renko."

"Well, I thank you very much for that compliment."

"I hadn't intended it as any sort of compliment. Though I will admit that your dedication to your ideals is somewhat impressive. For now though, let me be perfectly clear: I'll tell you what you want to know on the condition that you understand that this information is not to be shared. Not with Sanae and most especially not with the tengu."

Kanako narrowed her eyes threateningly as she spoke, but Renko responded only by bowing floridly, hat in hand. "Certainly, Madam."

—

Bit by bit, our little room began to become more tolerable as we crowded around the brazier and heat slowly worked its way into every nook and cranny.

"As you know, the aim of the Moriya Shrine is to gather faith from all the peoples of Gensokyo," Kanako began. "In order for Suwako and I to achieve that, we need to spread our blessings to all the land. Our plan to do so consists of introducing technology from the Outside World to Gensokyo. To achieve 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, there are certain basic infrastructure projects that must first be completed. To pursue those projects we need energy. There is no electrical grid to rely on in Gensokyo, after all."

Renko nodded in understanding. "Yes, Sanae demonstrated to us the other day that she had been able to charge some of her devices. I take it that that means you've already had at least some success on that front?"

"Yes, we have a small-scale prototype hydroelectric dynamo run by the power of that large waterfall on the mountain. I was planning on doing a simple demonstration of that setup soon and getting the tengu to write about it in their newspapers, but that's only a small demonstration model. My plans are much grander than a mere hydroelectric project though."

"You're planning on generating power from the heat of the Hell of Blazing Fires, right?"

"In the language of the Outside World, you would call what I'm planning a fusion reactor."

Renko and I looked at each other in shock at the idea.

"Here in Gensokyo it might be better understood as the 'divine fire of Yatagarasu.'"

She crossed her arms and smiled proudly down at us. "No response? From the looks on your faces it seems like you're about to ask if such a thing is even possible. Don't seem so surprised. The difference between these two things is simply a matter of terminology."

"What do you mean?"

"Science and youkai operate the same way in that they are both just methods for explaining how the natural world works. The scientific terms used to describe how nuclear fusion works and the fantastical words used to describe the power of Yatagarasu are both describing the same thing. The difference is simply the choice of terms."

Renko's eyes were wide with awe. "I think I see what you're saying. You mean that the phrases 'a reflected sound wave' and 'a youkai yamabiko' are actually describing the same thing, it's just a different way of viewing the same phenomena. There's not actually any difference between the two is there?"

"Indeed. What I gave to that hell raven was the divine power of Yatagarasu. Renko you were a physics major, were you not? If I were to express the same thing in different terms I might call it a proton-proton chain reaction that releases solar energy. Would saying that make more sense to you?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold up, please." Renko said, raising her palm with a stunned expression on her face. "I'm used to having to disregard the laws of physics as I know them in Gensokyo, but do you mean to tell me that the source of the extra heat reigniting and intensifying the flames of the Hell of Blazing Fires is nuclear fusion? That's absurd!

"That's exactly right. That's why it's becoming properly hellish again."

"I know that the laws of physics can be broken here in Gensokyo, but even the hottest of the hells can't be reaching a temperature of 5 billion degrees Celsius."

"You can't let Outside World scientific laws hold you back in Gensokyo, Renko."

As a liberal arts student, I admit that I couldn't follow everything they were talking about. When I asked Renko about it later she explained to me that nuclear fusion of the particular sort that occurs within stars is known to be utterly impossible to reproduce on Earth, owing to the need to create and maintain a mass of plasma with a temperature of around 5 billion degrees.

"Listen well, Renko. While it is true that Gensokyo follows the same laws of physics as the Outside World, at the same time there also exist many forces and things which would be thought to be impossible beyond the barrier. I myself am one such entity. Here, the power of fantasy takes precedence over the logic of science from the Outside World. That is the power by which humans can fly, gods like myself can grant miracles and youkai can exist as corporeal manifestations of fear."

"In Gensokyo's terms you would say Yatagarasu is the incarnation of the sun and wields the power of divine fire of the heavens. In your terms the power of the sun is known as nuclear fusion. In Gensokyo the power of that divine truth takes precedence over the physical laws of the Outside World."

Renko half stood up, frozen mid-way through the act of climbing to her feet, one hand dancing over the brim of her hat. Her face was contorted in a bizarre expression, with a twist to her mouth like she had just drank a cup full of vinegar, but a far-off, unseeing glaze to her eyes. "What you're saying is that the divine will of Yatagarasu makes the conditions precluding nuclear fusion in the Outside World unnecessary here…"

"That's right," Kanako beamed proudly.

"I suppose if there are abilities that can do things like stop time it's not so outlandish to imagine that an ability to manipulate fusion reactions could exist..."

To my partner, whose concept of reality was grounded in the scientific principles she had learned in the Outside World, hearing someone claim that they could control nuclear fusion must not seem any more outlandish than the claims we had already heard others make about doing things like manipulating fate but I wondered how she squared such observable truths with the scientific realities she had spent years learning back in our own world.

"So what you're saying then is that in your quest to generate electricity you gave a hell raven something that in turn 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙!?"

"That's correct," Kanako continued. "Ever since I first arrived here, I've known that there was a source of tremendous heat beneath this mountain, but it didn't seem to be volcanic in nature. When I looked into the matter, I discovered that it was the former site of the Hell of Blazing Fires. I also heard that there was supposed to be a number of hated and dangerous youkai sealed underground so I thought that there might be an opportunity to make use of them. We needed only to find a suitable host to contain Yatagarsu’s power."

"And then you met Okuu..."

"Oh, did you go so far as to meet that hell raven?"

"No, we couldn't get close. We've only heard the story from one of her friends."

"Ah, that flame cat, I presume. She’s a kasha, isn’t she? Yes, she was never happy with the whole idea."

"...Lady Yasaka, did you force Okuu to eat Yatagarasu?"

"Not at all. I merely offered it to her. I even explained to her what it would do. I'm not entirely certain she actually understood though..."

To me that sounded like the business practices of shady companies who conceal the details of a contract in the fine print. Not quite technically fraud, but nearly as predatory.

"Why did you choose Okuu?"

"Because as bird-brained as she is, she was the most promising candidate. A hell raven able to tolerate the flames of the Hell of Blazing Fires, with great power and a solid existence as a youkai derived from centuries of feasting upon the dead. I had thought that as long as I could find a way to control her I would have an ideal vessel for Yatagarasu."

"Control her? How exactly?"

"Well, that's proved to be a bit of a challenge. How does one train a bird to control nuclear fusion? Clearly no technique from the Outside World would apply here. My approach was to convince her that she had the means to control the power that she wielded. If she believed it, that would be enough, I thought."

"Because Gensokyo is a world where perception has power..."

"That's right. However, getting her to believe that with no basis for her belief would be unreliable. That’s why I had to give her a symbol. A representation of her mastery over her power so that she would know it was always within her control."

"A symbol? You gave her a symbol?"

Kanako smiled mischievously. "A control rod"

Upon hearing that, Renko's pupils, previously wide in awe, shrunk into two black dots, as a cold sweat of terror broke out on her brow.


—30—


"A control rod!? No no no nonono that won't work! That's for fission reactions!"

Kanako laughed heartily as Renko stood up, clutching her hat with a panicked expression on her face. "You're still mired in the logic of Outside World science. No one here in Gensokyo knows that, most especially not that crow. I told her that it was a control rod and that it would help her to control the power of nuclear fusion. If that's what she believes, that's what it will do."

"That doesn't make any sense! How can you be sure things will work that way?"

Renko seemed distraught, but it made sense to me. It must be something like the placebo effect. Even in the Outside World, the human body could be affected by nothing more than belief in the effectiveness of a treatment.

"It seems to be working so far. At any rate, that’s our plan. We bestowed the power of Yatagarasu on a hell raven from the Hell of Blazing Fires and soon we’ll be able to harness her energy for the good of Gensokyo. Suwako has been keeping an eye on her as she learns to harness her power so there’s no need for you to be concerned. Fusion is the power of the sun, after all, the ultimate sort of green, solar energy, producing limitless, clean power, with no radioactive waste to dispose of and no associated risks."

The way she rattled that speech off like a marketing slogan or a PR campaign did little to reassure me. The whole idea seemed fishy.

Renko shook her head in dismay, her fingers still twined in her hair. "In that case… Lady Yasaka, do you know about the geyser that's erupted near the Hakurei Shrine?"

"I've heard it mentioned. Are you concerned that that is a result of Yatagarasu's influence?"

"I'm more concerned about the fact that there are Earth Spirits coming up out of it. Had you heard about that part too?"

"I had, but I don't see how it's any of our concern. It has nothing to do with our plan to generate power."

Things were starting to make sense now. Kanako hadn't considered Orin or Okuu as potential obstacles. From what we had heard so far, she didn’t seem to think that either of them were capable of causing any disruptions to the only results she cared about. If that was the case, then Suwako was likely just watching to make sure that the power of Yatagarasu was under control but would have no idea of what Okuu was planning on using that power to do.

"Lady Yasaka. If I told you that your plot was in danger of instigating a genocidal war on all of Gensokyo, would you believe me?"

Kanako leaned back at that question, blinking in surprise.

—

"...Well. That's quite a story." Kanako said, crossing her arms and groaning. Renko had spent the last hour explaining everything we had found during our two-day stay in the Underworld. "We had expected that the hell raven might get a bit cocky after absorbing the power of Yatagarasu, but we never expected she would have designs for the surface." She let out a long sigh as she tapped her head with her fist.

"So that kasha released the Earth Spirits as an SOS to the surface. I wouldn't ever have expected such a thing."

"Yes. That SOS reached the magician from the Scarlet Devil Mansion and has since spread to Reimu, Marisa and the Youkai Sage already. I expect Reimu and Marisa will be heading to the Underworld today or tomorrow."

"Well that's just fine. No matter what the Hakurei shrine maiden happens to do down there, our hell raven will retain the power of Yatagarasu. If she manages to tame our reactor for us as the kasha intended, then that's just a bonus."

"If Reimu does that though, she's going to find out about your plan."

"What's the harm in that? We're not doing anything shady."

"You've knowingly broken the non-interference pact between the surface and the Underworld, Lady Yasaka."

"Do you think of me as a youkai now? As a goddess, I am not party to any such agreement."

It seemed like an overly fine distinction to me. I couldn't help but think she was being very optimistic if she was counting on the youkai sage agreeing with her interpretation.

"So then the official position of the Moriya Shrine is that you will do nothing about this incident? You're content to just let the pieces fall where they may?" Renko asked, leaning back from the table and crossing her arms in frustration.

"You sound almost reproachful, Renko. Were you perhaps hired by that kasha to extract some token of contrition from me? Did you promise to get me to remove Yatagarasu's power from that raven or something?"

"...Well, basically yes, I was hired by Orin. She's worried that Okuu will go out of control and cause trouble for her master, leading to both of them being put down."

Kanako nodded, still smiling, then rested her cheekbone on her raised palm as she propped an elbow on the table. "Well, her concern for her friend is touching, but that kasha is worrying unnecessarily. You can tell the kasha that."

"What do you mean?"

"If the hell raven had attempted to come to the surface or start a war, Suwako or myself would have stopped her. We take turns watching over her and her power is not so great that we couldn't contain her if the need arose. Did you really think that I would knowingly create something so dangerous that even I couldn't control it?"

I suppose even for a god doing something like this without considering what would happen if it got out of control would be too reckless.

"Well, that's a relief for me to hear, but Orin wasn't really concerned about that. She was more worried that Okuu might get hurt in the process or that one or both of them might lose their master's favor as a result."

"When you say 'master' there, you're referring to the satori who owns the mansion straddling the Hell of Blazing Fires, are you not? If so, I don't think you or the kasha will need to worry about her either."

Renko reacted to that with a look of surprise. "Eh? Why not? Have you already met Satori, Lady Yasaka?"

Kanako snorted in annoyance at Renko's question. "Of course I have. My plans would involve increasing and regulating the temperature of the Hell of Blazing Fires. Of course I had to speak to the landlord first to arrange that."

"So then... Satori already knows about Yatagarasu? She was alright with your plan to feed Yatagarasu to Okuu?"

"Of course! What sort of villain do you take me for, Renko? Who would go around feeding strange things to other people's pets without permission?"

At that Renko could only stare across the table dumbfounded, scratching her head. "Well wait, in that case... then you would have to have... but then... arrrgh!" Renko groaned and slumped onto the table.

"What's the matter?" I asked, poking Renko's cheek with a finger as Kanako looked on with concern.

"It's nothing serious, I suppose." Renko said with a sigh, still laying limply on the table. "I'm just going to have to re-think this whole incident from the beginning is all. Just when I thought I had everything figured out."