東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 1:Mountain of Faith

—1—

It had been over two years since the conclusion of the Sixty Year Cycle Great Barrier Incident, meaning it was now the autumn of Gensokyo's 122nd season. It would be natural for you to ask how our lives had changed in that time. The answer, in essence, is that the interval could just as easily have been a decade or a day. The routines of our day-to-day life were still just the same.

"Bye, Miss Merry!"

"Be careful on your way home, everyone."

Standing at the gates of the temple school, Renko, Keine and I waved to the gaggle of children as they left. Here, one could observe what was, perhaps, the largest change our lives had seen in the last two years. More than fifty children were now making their way through these gates, laughing and calling loudly to each other as they meandered home. Enrollment had trended steadily upward, with not only more new students attending the school each year, but with many students returning year after year.

The additional students had been enough that the school now held two simultaneous classes, one teaching the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, and the other teaching more advanced classes, including history, composition, and a more advanced mathematics class. This necessarily meant that our workloads had doubled.

Once the last of the children had left the grounds, the three of us walked back inside, shutting the door behind us and retreating to the staff room. Renko sighed and stretched as she walked, extending her arms over her head.

"Thank you both for your hard work today," Keine said as we moved into the office.

"Hard work I don't mind," Renko said, "but we're reaching the limit of what the three of us can do. I think we may need to consider hiring more teachers."

"The student numbers might support that, but I'm not sure who we could ask." Keine sighed. Just as Renko had said, we were reaching the limit of what the three of us could do. When it came to the basic class, teaching arithmetic or history hadn't proved much of an issue for me, but the advanced classes required more preparation and familiarity. Even Keine seemed uncomfortable trying to provide instructions on some of the topics Renko had introduced. "Renko, do you have any suggestions?"

"One, I suppose. For a math teacher."

"Oh? Who?"

"Yakumo Ran, the shikigami to the Youkai Sage. I read in the tengu newspaper once that she managed to calculate the width of the Sanzu River."

Keine frowned deeply at the suggestion. "You can't be serious! Our temple school is just finally starting to be accepted by the villagers as a part of the community. What would they say if we were to have a youkai fox as a teacher?"

"That's a 'no' then?"

"A definite 'no.'"

"Well then, maybe we should ask Miss Akyuu? The Child of Miare receives a full education, right? Maybe she can recommend one of her old tutors if they have some free time."

"That's not a bad idea. I'll mention it the next time I see her."

After that, our conversation drifted to an end as we all pored over our lesson plans for the following day. A while later, we left the school and all made our ways home. Keine to her house on the eastern edge of the village, and Renko and I to the storage shed behind the school that had become our home and office. As usual, there were no visitors waiting for us beneath the sign that read "Hifuu Detective Agency" and the only beings who seemed interested in talking to us were the second or third generation of birds nesting on the roof. Although the performance of the school had been markedly improving, it seemed any hope of our detective agency turning a profit was a long way off. My partner, the agency's director, seemed entirely unconcerned by this.

On evenings and weekends she waited for clients who never came to the office, or else dragged me along on hikes to see various places around Gensokyo. By now we had been nearly everywhere that a human only capable of traveling on foot could hope to reach. Despite being an Outsider, Renko's knowledge of the geography of Gensokyo might have become better than most villagers'. She was, of course, still limited in ways that other humans we knew like Reimu and Marisa weren't, however. Muenzuka at the end of the Road of Reconsideration was still probably the furthest we had ever been from the village and there were other places that, while they were connected to Gensokyo, were simply not somewhere Renko had the power to go. The tengu territory atop Youkai mountain, the heavenly realm of the Dragon God, Makai and the Underworld beneath Gensokyo were all places we had heard of, but had no means of visiting. Even the Netherworld, which Renko and I had seen once long ago, was a place we had no means to return to as our travel there had only been a result of interference by the Youkai Sage for unknown reasons.

I too had become accustomed to life in this world of fantasy. It was rare now for me to think back to our lives in the Scientific Century in which Renko and I had once lived. Despite the fact that we had only been here for four years, Gensokyo felt like home and it was easy to forget that Renko and I had ever lived anywhere else sometimes. The idea that we might never return to our own time and would end our days as residents of Gensokyo is one I had come to terms with. At this point, the thought didn't even strike me as a bad thing.

Here, Renko and I were unquestionably Outsiders, but back home, living in the Japan of our own time, I, at least, had been rootless. Far from family, without a plan for my future, merely drifting through life until I had met Renko and been given a purpose, however unusual, through our explorations as the Hifuu Club.

To think that this temple school, the various unusual humans, part-humans and non-humans I had come to know here, and this farce of a detective agency might be roots that I put down was certainly not the way I had expected my life to turn out, but looking back, I saw little reason to complain. In the end, it was my nature to follow behind Renko, and go where she led. For now, that meant being here and my feelings on the matter were irrelevant.

My partner opened the door to our office and poked her head inside, looking around. "Nothing today either..." she muttered.

"You mean no clients? That's hardly unusual, Renko," I said as we entered the room.

"No, I mean no newspaper. It's been a while since there's been a new edition of 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛"

The 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 was a tengu newspaper, written and published by Aya Shameimaru, with whom we were acquainted. It had always been irregularly published, sometimes coming out as often as five times a month, and other times going three weeks without an issue. It had been a month now since we had seen a copy though that was definitely unusual.
"Huh, that is odd. Did you do something to upset Miss Shameimaru, Renko?"

"I don’t think it’s because we haven’t paid the subscription fee or anything. I haven't seen any new issues in any of the tea houses either, so I don't think it's just me who's getting stiffed."

"Well, maybe she retired then."

"This is Aya we're talking about. I don't think she'd stop publishing just because nothing much has been happening recently. Do you really think she'd hang up her hat?"

"Well maybe the paper became too unprofitable to continue then. It's got to cost the tengu a lot for all that ink and paper."

"Or maybe Miss Shameimaru is busy doing something else. Something so time-consuming and interesting that there hasn't been an opportunity for even someone who introduces herself as 'Gensokyo's most beloved reporter' to find time to put out an article."

"Like what?"

"Well, that's the question, Merry. It's quite an interesting mystery, don't you think?" She asked the question with a glint in her eye, easing the hat she still hadn't removed backward on her head with one finger as she did so.

I sighed in exasperation. It had been so long I had dared to wonder if this side of Renko might have finally calmed down. Seeing that glint in her eye though, there could be no doubt. I had known her long enough to know what that look meant.

"Sigh all you want, Merry. The Hifuu Detective Agency can't ignore a question like this. The tengu reporter Shameimaru Aya has vanished from the public eye and has not been seen in a month! Her newspapers have stopped reaching the village from the mountain. All of this points to some sort of upheaval or crisis in tengu society. Something major might well be happening atop Youkai Mountain right now with no one down here any the wiser! As citizens of the village, we have a duty to investigate."

"Renko, are you serious about this, or are you just trying to find an excuse to try and sneak into the tengu settlement again?"

"Just think about it, Merry! The tengu village is one of the few places in Gensokyo we still haven't explored. Even if there isn't an ongoing crisis there, it's a blank area on our maps. What's the point of living in an exciting world like Gensokyo without a spirit of adventure to go out and explore it?" Grinning her usual troublesome smile, she reached out and took my hand. "Come on, Merry. Let's go explore Youkai Mountain!"

If I had within me the power to refuse that hand, I'd never have been here in the first place, either in this world, or here in this cramped and pathetic detective's office.

"All right, Renko, but you'll have to wait for tomorrow. It's already evening and if we go now we'll be adding darkness and the threat of a headbutt from Keine when we get back to the already long list of reasons why this is a bad idea. Tomorrow's a day off, so we can set out first thing in the morning. I'll pick up a box lunch set to bring along for us."

"That's practical thinking, Merry. You're right, we should spend today preparing. You get the provisions in order, I'll go and make some preliminary inquiries."

"Inquiries? Like what?"

"Well, first off, I need to confirm whether or not anyone has received any newspapers in the last month. Then I'll see if I can learn anything about Miss Shameimaru and the other tengu. Gathering information from disparate sources is the very essence of detective work, Merry."

"So is getting paid to collect that information, but I don't see you doing that."

And thus, we began our headlong plunge into the commotion that, just as Renko had predicted, was enveloping Youkai Mountain at the time.


—2—


"𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠? 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚."
—Kamishirasawa Keine , teacher.

"𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡, 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤."
—Tea shop proprietor.

"𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑦𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛?"
—Hieda no Akyuu, 9th Child of Miare.

"𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐴𝑦𝑎'𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑆𝑢𝑖𝑘𝑎 𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑢𝑘𝑎𝑟𝑖 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒."
—Hakurei Reimu, Hakurei shrine maiden.

The numerous interviews Renko conducted all seemed to end up with results like those above. The facts seemed to agree with what Renko had noticed —the 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 newspaper hadn't been published in more than a month and no one knew why. Even Reimu seemed to have no idea what might be going with the tengu. It goes without saying that we were not able to find Yukari or Suika to ask about the matter.

And so, it was decided that, in order to sate my partner's curiosity on the matter, we would take a hike up though the foothills of Youkai Mountain. I packed a box lunch into a picnic basket and we set out early the next morning.

As usual, the first leg of our journey consisted of leaving the village through the north gate and taking the now-familiar trail to Misty Lake. We arrived while the air was still chilly near the water and the sun was only beginning to approach its zenith, walking along the shore toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion as usual.

"Do you plan on asking Miss Meiling to escort us again, Renko?" I asked as the Scarlet Devil Mansion came into view around a bend in the shoreline.

"I don't think we need to. Last time we ran into that kappa and a curse god pretty early on."

As usual, Renko's curiosity was unfazed by any level of risk. We had come to the mountain once before, during the Incident involving Suika. I could understand Renko's reluctance to ask Meiling to escort again as she had nearly been skewered for her trouble the last time she had gone up the mountain with us, but the fact that the mountain was home to numerous other youkai besides the tengu hardly seemed like a reason to be relieved to me.

I let out a sigh as I thought back to something the Yama had told me two years ago. She had said it was my duty to act as a brake for Renko, who seemed to possess no concept of the risk that visiting the notoriously territorial tengu entailed. Agreeing with the Yama's message in principle and acting effectively on Renko were two different things, however.

"Renko, you realize those people aren't our friends, right? You've only met them a handful of times. Most people wouldn’t assume that someone they met once would be willing to help them out."

"Well, I'm sure I'll think of something. If not, we can always fall back on our relationships to both the Youkai Sage and Suika."

"A fox who relies on the strength of a tiger is likely to end up in the tiger's belly, Renko."

"Don't say that, Merry. What if Ran hears you? You'd never get to snuggle her floofy tail again."

What a terrifying thought. I shut my mouth promptly. Renko chuckled as we marched along the shore of the lake, occasionally passing through banks of low-lying white mist that clung to the water. In the distance I could see the winding path of a river as it made its way down from the mountain to empty into the lake. Somewhere deep in the forest that covered the sides of the rising foothills, this river would become a waterfall that tumbled from a sheer vertical cliff, marking the edge of tengu territory. The cliff was far too tall, steep and slick for either of us to hope to climb though...

"Our goal here is to gather information. If something is really happening on the mountain, I'm sure the kappa or that curse god we met before would know about it. We might be able to find out all we need to from them. If we can manage to make it to the tengu village, all the better." Renko said as she walked into a fog bank.

I followed her in, waving my hand in front of my face to clear away streamers of mist. I was surprised when Renko suddenly stopped short and pointed into the dense mists ahead.

"Hey Merry, look over there. Is that Kagerou?"

"Oh! I think it is."

A few meters ahead of us a silhouette was leaning out over the edge of the water, seeming to talk to another figure who was immersed in the lake, with just their head and shoulders bobbing above the waterline. I had met Imaizumi Kagerou several times at this point. Initially we had encountered each other only briefly in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost while transporting Renko to Eientei during the Eternal Night Incident, but since then Mokou and Keine had formally introduced us. We had even had dinner with her a few times at Mokou's house. Come to think of it, I think she had even mentioned before that she was friends with a mermaid who lived in Misty Lake.

As we approached, the two figures in the mist took notice of us, turning to look. Upon sighting us, the one in the water promptly vanished, dipping beneath the surface with a small splash. The one on the shore continued to observe us as we drew closer.

"Good morning, Kagerou! What a coincidence running into you here," Renko called, waving as we approached.

"Miss Renko and Miss Merry too? What are you both doing here?"

"Just a little detective work. How about you? Visiting with your mermaid friend?"

"Yes. Or I was. It's okay to come out, Hime, I know these two."

Slowly, a girl's face emerged from the water, wearing a look of trepidation. Her appearance was mostly human except for wavy cobalt-blue hair and what looked like fins poking out of her head where one might expect to see ears. She was wearing a deep green kimono despite being almost completely submerged. After glancing at us for a moment she turned to Kagerou nervously, saying "Kagerou, who are they?"

"Two humans who Miss Keine is taking care of in the village. Miss Renko and Miss Merry. They won't hurt you."

"Usami Renko, the great detective." Renko said, doffing her hat and bowing slightly. "A pleasure to meet you."

"...I'm Wakasagihime." She muttered, looking down.

"Wakasagi? Is that written the same as the little smelt?"

"I'm not food!" She suddenly exclaimed, swimming swiftly away from us. "I don't want to be battered and fried!" With a loud crash she leapt and dived beneath the water again, revealing a glimmering silver tail for just a moment.

"Hime, wait!" Kagerou shouted, reaching out to her.

The only response was the crash of the mermaid’s tail thrashing in the water and a shouted response of "I don't even like tempura!" before she dove beneath the surface and disappeared.

It was hard to know how to react to someone responding to a simple greeting with so much fear. Kagerou apologized on her behalf. "Sorry about that, she's rather timid around humans. She says village fishermen who come to the lake are always trying to catch her."

Renko chuckled. "Youkai really are a diverse lot, aren't they?"

"No less so than humans. What did you mean when you said 'detective work?' Are you looking for something someone lost in the lake?"

"Not quite. It seems like something strange is happening up on Youkai Mountain. Merry and I were going to try to sneak into the tengu village to see what's up."

Kagerou's eyes went wide at that. "What? You want to climb Youkai Mountain? As a human?" She turned to glance at the mountain towering over the landscape to the north. "You can't! They'll kill you before you make it even half way!"

"That's what everyone tells me," Renko said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'm just after some information about what's going on. Once I get that we won't go any further." I couldn't help but think that statement was a blatant lie.

"Especially now! It's really dangerous up there!" a voice called from further out in the lake. We turned to see that Wakasagihime had resurfaced and was calling to us from far enough out to ensure we couldn't reach her. Kagerou reached out and beckoned to her and slowly Wakisagihime swam closer, eventually drawing up to a position where she could keep Kagerou between herself and Renko before continuing. "For the last month or so everyone on the mountain has been really on edge."

"Oh? Any idea what that's all about?"

"I heard from a kappa that there's someone new who settled on the mountain and they're causing the tengu a lot of trouble."

Renko turned to me, an excited gleam in her eye. "You hear that, Merry? It's just like I thought! Hey, do you know anything about this newcomer?" She asked, turning back to Wakasagihime.

"That’s all I know!" She cried and then vanished again beneath the glassy surface of the lake.

Renko turned to face us with her chin held high and one hand fiddling with the brim of her hat. "Well, this is getting interesting quickly. A mysterious newcomer on the mountain, the 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 suddenly going silent and all of the mountain's residents suddenly on edge. This definitely smells like an incident, wouldn't you say?"

"If it is, and we're there when Reimu arrives to deal with it, what do you think she'll say to you, Renko?"

"I would hope she would praise my sensitivity to these sorts of occurrences. Maybe she would use us as incident-detectors."

"I don't think I'd want that job. Incidents are the sort of thing any rational person would want to stay away from."

"You're being too short-sighted, Merry. What could be more precious than the opportunity to reveal the hidden secrets of the world laid bare by an incident?"

I almost wished the Yama could be here now. It's one thing to tell me my duty is to act as a brake on Renko's curiosity, but I'd like to know how she expected me to stop a freight train full of nonsensical reasoning like this. Lecturing me is all well and good, but she could have at least included some pointers.

"Alright Merry, our destination is in sight. Let's charge in!"

"Miss Renko, are you actually being serious right now?" Kagerou asked, her tone still full of disbelief.

"Of course."

"What would Miss Keine say if she knew where you were right now? Hime, what should I do?"

A soft splash echoed from a little further off in the lake. The mermaid had apparently surfaced again, even farther out, beyond a wall of mist. " You should do whatever you want, Kagerou!"

Kagerou grumbled with uncertainty, a surprisingly low, throaty growl. "Ugh. Alright, fine. Keine would get mad if something happened to you and I didn’t do anything to try to stop you. I'm a werewolf, so I'm a little better equipped to handle the mountain. I'll escort you, but only because I feel sorry for Miss Keine. I see why the two of you need someone to take care of you now."

"Thank you very much, Kagerou, that would be perfect." Renko said with a bow. She turned toward the lake again. "Why don't you come with us too, Wakasagihime? I'm sure Kagerou would appreciate your company."

"I'm not going up there! The river gets really shallow in some places. I'm a smelt, not a salmon!"

"Sorry about this, Hime. I'll come back when I'm done,"

"Okay! Be safe!" She rose out of the water to wave as Kagerou turned to follow Renko’s lead, wearing a look that was as cold as iron. "Don't do anything dangerous or take any unnecessary risks, okay?"

"Nothing dangerous," Renko swore, holding up a hand, as if reciting a pledge. "You have my word."

I could only sigh, for what I'm sure was the thousandth time this morning.


—3—


"I'm sorry for interrupting your visit with your friend."

"If you were actually sorry, you could show it by giving up on this fool's errand."

"Well, we've already come this far, it'd be a waste to turn back now."

"...Miss Keine and Miss Mokou told me you were a strange human, but now I see what they meant."

Kagerou and Renko were walking side by side, a few steps ahead of me. To an outside observer I wondered if the two of us even looked any different. We were both forging ahead into danger without pause. If one of us climbed a little slower it hardly mattered since our destinations were the same although personally I’d rather not be thought of as being just as reckless as my partner.

"A daredevil with an outlook like yours might be the scariest thing on this mountain. Are you always this reckless?"

"You could call it bravery, you know."

"I'd rather call it foolishness."

"Well, call it what you will, if we hadn't come up here today we would have missed out on this beautiful scenery. You have to admit, this is really something." Renko poked the brim of her hat, easing it back on her head and looking up as she spoke. Above our heads the splendor of a dense canopy of autumn leaves hung proudly against the sky, their bold colors a chromatic symphony of intense but harmonious tones. Along with the bracing mountain air, the scenery made an ideal setting for a picnic. "It's gorgeous, don't you think, Merry? I'd want to take a bunch home like a bouquet if they weren't so high up."

"You could always go give the tree a kick, Renko. We can gather up anything that falls and press them between some of Keine's histories."

"I wouldn't do that," Kagerou interjected. "Unless you want to make the gods of autumn angry."

It really would be a nice spot for a picnic though. I wondered if we should have our lunch a little early and just sit down by the river.

All at once, Kagerou thrust out an arm across Renko's path as her canine ears suddenly perked up. "Hold it," she growled with a low rumble. "There's something dangerous ahead."

Peering into the depths of the forest, she glared at a fixed point not far in front of us. There was something there, a silhouette barely visible amidst the gloomy shadows under the trees.

"Intruders on the mountain? At a time like this? Turn back, mortals, the lands ahead are not safe for your kind," said a voice rising softly from the gloom. The voice and its warning were both familiar.

"Hey!" Renko said excitedly. "It's that curse god. Hello again!" she called out, waving her arm over her head.

Hovering just above the ground and rotating slowly, a porcelain-white face emerged from the gloom. It belonged to Kagiyama Hina, still dressed in a wildly improbable gothic lolita dress adorned with countless frills and ribbons, looking just as she had when we had last seen her during the Night Parade of One Hundred Oni Every Three Days.

Looking at us, she seemed confused for a moment before recognition finally clicked. "Oh, you two! You invaded this mountain once before, several years ago. Have you come back again?"

"We have! We're not in search of oni this time though. Just the tengu today," Renko declared.

"The tengu? The tengu don't have time to deal with humans right now. You there, wolf, are you a friend of the tengu?"

"Me? I'm just a werewolf."

"Ah, my apologies. I thought you might have been a young wolf tengu… Ah, you should all stay away from me as well, lest my misfortune rub off on you. In fact..." she said, again spinning around as she orbited around us, eyes narrowing as she took us all in. "You'd best all turn and leave as soon as you can. The tengu are consumed with an internal struggle over how best to deal with the new goddess of the mountain."

"A new goddess?"

"That's right. Her shrine and a lake appeared suddenly near the peak of the mountain one day."

"Appeared? As in they came from somewhere else? From the Outside World?"

"Perhaps. I only know they're here now and claiming dominion over all of the mountain."

Renko turned to me and stepped forward, grabbing up my hand in both of hers, eyes shining with excitement. "Merry! It's got to be an Outside World goddess!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's finally happening! The beginning of the 21st century was the height of scientific objectivism and the dark age of spirituality, when people across the world began to reject spiritual beliefs en masse. Every world religion suffered sudden and steep declines at the same time as people began adopting the belief that a technological singularity was inevitable. And you and I get to be here, on the illusory side of that border as it happens! All the gods who were lost to history in our Scientific Century may well have fled to this world! I wonder what sort of goddess she is!"

"Easy, Renko, you can't be sure of all of that, just calm down, okay?"

"This isn't the time to be calm! We're just a mountain away from coming face to face with history! A history that was lost to our Scientific Century! The very essence of a truth hidden from the predictable, mechanistic world that the Hifuu Club was founded to expose! There's no turning back now, we have to get to the peak to meet her! Hina! Can you show us the way to the shrine?" Letting go of my hand she turned toward the curse god, stomping exuberantly forward.

"What? I can't take you there! And stay back from me, you'll be cursed with misfortune!" Hina flinched away, both arms extended to ward Renko off. It was a scene no different from the last time we had met her.

"Renko!" Kagerou growled, dispensing with her usual politeness. "You said you weren't going to do anything dangerous, remember? The peak of the mountain is even beyond the tengu lands. You'd have to get all the way through their territory to go there. It's out of the question!"

"A little danger is the spice of life, Kagerou. As director of the Hifuu Detective Agency, I am duty-bound to investigate an event of this magnitude. Besides which, this is an unprecedented opportunity! What greater thrill could there be then revealing a secret like this?"

"Alright Renko, that's enough," I said, grabbing a hold of my partner's cheek and pinching.

"Muunuuuu... Merrby leb go," she muttered.

"Laughing in the face of danger is one thing, but charging in without even a plan is hardly the action of a genius detective, right director? Now calm down and let's talk this through."

"Mumumumu..."

I'm not sure if she had been trying to speak or just fuming wordlessly but when I released her cheek she settled for pouting and glowering. "Today we'll settle for gathering information. If a new god really has appeared on the mountain, then they're bound to come down to the village at some point in search of worshipers, aren't they? There's no need for us to risk our lives here and now."

"Merry, how can you be such a hikikomori? You have a good point, but how can you stand to sit and wait at a time like this? Where's your spirit of adventure? Where's your passion for discovery? My heart is about to burst out of my chest at the thought of seeing what's in that shrine!"

"Nope, no chests bursting here. Besides, even if I felt the same way, it wouldn't be right to allow Kagerou to be troubled by your curiosity, would it?"

"I suppose I should try to be a little more strategic... There are people we could ask about this without just charging in. Nitori lives somewhere around here, doesn't she? Or there was that one white wolf tengu we met before. We can ask them about what's going on, can't we? Is that more reasonable?"

"That's a good Renko." I said, patting her on the head. Kagerou and Hina, despite being strangers, turned and glanced at each other in awkward silence before looking back at me.

—

Hina had mentioned that the kappa we had met before lived near the waterfall we had seen before. Thus, we set out, just the three of us, headed for the waterfall that marked the edge of tengu territory.

We heard the waterfall long before we saw it tumbling down the sheer cliff face that rose above the forest. For Kagerou it was her first time seeing the falls, and she looked up with wide-eyed awe at the spectacle of their cascade as we finally arrived, walking along the gravelly bank of the river to the deep and broad basin at the foot of the falls.

"Now," Renko said, peering across the breadth of the foaming pool, "if I were Nitori or Momiji, where would I be hiding..."

No sooner had she muttered the phrase than we heard a voice calling out from somewhere above. "You two again? What humans would be foolish enough to trespass on tengu lands twice in one lifetime?" This time the shadow of Momiji's lithe form appeared not from behind the waterfall but instead dropped directly in front of us from the canopy of a large tree. Like Kagerou, she was an athletically built girl with canine ears and a fluffy tail, though in snowy white rather than Kagerou's reddish chestnut. Unlike Kagerou, however, she was carrying a long, curved sword and heavy-looking shield of bright steel and was regarding us with open suspicion.

Renko paid her threatening expression no mind and attempted to strike up a conversation. "Hello again, Miss Inubashiri. I'm honored you remember us after so long."

"I couldn't forget the face of someone bold enough to come so far up our mountain uninvited. This face, however, is unfamiliar. Speak your name, stranger." She said, addressing Kagerou.

"I'm Imaizumi Kagerou... A werewolf."

"Two humans and a wolf half-breed. What business brings you to the lands of the tengu?"

"I'm simply escorting these two. I have no business here of my own," she explained hastily. Her tone had shifted to one of annoyance in response to Momiji's characterization of her. I had heard from Keine that Kagerou had been born from the union of a human villager and a werewolf. The circumstances of her birth had led to a few unpleasant events in her past leaving her feeling unwelcome in both human and youkai society

Momiji turned to glare at the two of us, her sword extended and held perfectly steady before us. "Last time you came with the gatekeeper of that scarlet mansion, and this time you arrive in the company of a half-beast. How is it that two ordinary humans have compelled the service of youkai?"

"I’ve got a knack for making friends, I guess," Renko said with a carefree shrug.

"You’re highly suspicious. I would normally capture all of you and take you to my superiors to decide your fates. With things as busy as they are now though, I should warn you I have dispensation to simply end you all should you decide to make a nuisance of yourselves."

"Ah, lots of trouble with that newcomer to the mountain then?" Renko asked conversationally.

The point of Momiji's sword drifted from its position between the three of us to aim directly at Renko's heart. Renko raised her hands, palms up, a slightly exasperated look on her face.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Renko said, easing a half step back. "I have no intention of interfering in your business. I'm merely here to check in on Shameimaru Aya."

"Miss Aya?" The sword wavered for a moment, lowering a few centimeters before snapping rigidly back in place.

"That's right. No newspapers have been delivered to the village in over a month. As one of her regular readers, I was just concerned that something might have happened to her."

The blade wavered again as Momiji seemed lost in thought. "I would never have guessed her newspaper had enough readers for someone to be concerned about the writer," she mumbled, seemingly to herself.

I can't imagine Aya would have been happy to hear her say that. After saying that, however, Momiji's stance relaxed and she lowered her sword, returning it to its sheath. "The publication of all newspapers has been put on hold while our leaders decide on a course of action concerning the newcomers to the mountain. Miss Aya is just fine, she is merely working on other tasks, as assigned by those above her. I'm sure once things settle down she'll write an article about the whole affair, so you need only be patient and you'll have all the information you could want."

"That's good to hear," Renko said, relaxing into a friendly smile. "I had heard that the newcomer was a god, so I imagine the discussions are quite serious."

"Such things were not the concern of humans. As a patrol tengu any further information is beyond my clearance anyway. If there's nothing more, you are free to leave. Should any of you take one step further into tengu lands, however, you'll be cut down where you stand." Saying this, Momiji turned and began walking along the edge of the waterfall basin, toward the cliffs on the far side.

Renko called out to her as she walked away. "Hold on a moment. Can you tell us anything more about—"

Momiji stopped just before the bare rock face of the cliffs and turned, speaking over her shoulder, just barely loud enough to be heard over the rush of the falls. "If you really desire to know more about the newcomers, I suggest you head to the Hakurei Shrine."

Renko was plainly surprised. "Huh? the shrine?"

"One of the newcomers is flying there right now. She passed this way just minutes ago." Having said that, Momiji leaped into the air, hurtling directly upward dozens of meters and vanishing in a spray of raindrops as her momentum carried her through the stream of the falls.

What business would a mountain god have at the Hakurei Shrine?