東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 2: Immaterial and Missing Power

—4—


Of course the first party seemed perfectly ordinary. So much so that no one but the mastermind behind the incident could have known anything was amiss. Possibly not even they knew that they were doing anything out of the ordinary at the time. It was Marisa, the party's organizer who invited us to join the festivities, saying simply "We're all getting together. Be there!" after swooping into town on her broom to tell us about it in the village square one day.

Keine hadn't been invited this time, so the two of us made the trek to the Hakurei Shrine alone one day after classes. When we arrived, we found that the people who had gathered were already drinking freely, though it was only mid-afternoon. Reimu, Marisa, Alice, and Rumia, the youkai who had been following Marisa around like a lost puppy at the party at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, were all there. Youmu and Yuyuko, who had become regular visitors to the shrine had shown up too, bringing with them the three members of the Prismriver Ensemble to provide music for the party. I expected that the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion were likely on their way as well.

"Oh hey! You're here, come on over, you two!" Marisa beckoned us over to sit at her side "Drink up, drink up!" she said, smiling as she handed Renko and I a pair of cups and began pouring sake for Renko. Her face was already flushed. While I had always been a lightweight when going to bars back home, Renko had never had any hesitations when it came to booze. Since coming to Gensokyo, both of our abilities to tolerate old-style alcohol had increased dramatically, however.

"So what's this party celebrating?" Renko asked amiably.

"Huh? Why would we need a reason to party? We all just felt like gettin' together and drinkin'."

For Gensokyo, this was a perfectly normal response. Even my partner, ever on the lookout for a good mystery to devote her attention to, thought nothing of it.

"Well, Miss Marisa," Renko grinned as she raised her glass. "I've heard sake always tastes best if you can drink it whenever you like."

"Right on!" Marisa cheered and threw an arm around Renko's shoulders, nearly spilling her cup. I got the feeling it was going to be a rough night.

"'Miss Marisa'" Reimu scoffed at us from her position just beside Marisa. "Why are you two always so damn polite with everyone? You guys have been here for a year now, haven’t you?"

"About that. Since the Scarlet Mist Incident last summer."

"Well if you keep calling her ‘Miss Marisa’ she’s gonna get a big head about it. 'Hey you' is good enough for her."

"You don't have to go that far," Marisa countered, "but I'll admit 'Miss Marisa' sounds a little stiff. I don't want you givin' people lessons on how not be rude though, Reimu."

"Should I be calling you ‘ma’am’ or ‘kiddo’? How old are you anyway, Reimu?"

"Don’tcha know it’s rude to ask a woman her age?" Marisa interjected.

"Well, what should I call you then, oh honored miko of the Hakurei Shrine?" Renko asked with a grin.

"Ugh. Not that. Call me whatever you like."

Renko made a show of being deep in thought for a moment, cradling her chin in her hand. "Alright then Reirei, your new name is set."

"Don't give me a weird nickname!"

"Pipe down! You said she could call you whatever, so that's your name now. Get used to it, Reirei."

"I'm going to hit you."

Marisa burst into laughter as Reimu grabbed a sake bottle by the neck, brandishing it at Renko. Renko had long ago given up trying to pronounce my name, sticking exclusively to the diminutive 'Merry.' Watching the scene, I supposed I should be glad she hadn't picked something worse.

"It sounds like you're having a good time already."

The soft voice saying this from behind us was older and masculine. I turned and was surprised to see Morichika Rinnosuke, the proprietor of Kourindou stepping into the room.

We had visited Kourindou several times with Renko since coming to Gensokyo. It was something between a curio shop and a landfill, selling mostly objects from the Outside World. The majority of its stock was ancient electronics in various states of disrepair, nearly all rendered useless by a lack of power. Occasionally though, he would have something useful. Nail clippers, for example, were a treasured early find. Rinnosuke was a laid back fellow, prone to long, rambling conversations if given the opportunity to pontificate, but he was always happy to see us whenever we came by, peppering us with questions about items in his collection and how they were used.

"Oh, Kourin! It's rare for you to show up to a party," Marisa said, turning to Rinnosuke.

"Rare indeed." He nodded. "Speaking of which, I found a rare item of my own recently that I was hoping you girls could take a look at."

"Us?" I asked, looking over at Renko.

"Yes. From what I can tell it's a little box full of fairy tales."

What Rinnosuke handed to Renko was a square grey plastic cartridge of some kind with a fading label stuck on the front and a wafer of printed circuit board protruding from the bottom.

"Whoa" Renko sighed appreciatively. "This is a game software, I think. A really old one! Or maybe not that old from this day and age. I think it's for a Super Nintendo. Merry, have you ever played one?"

"Never in person. I've played some Mario games on my phone though."

Although I'd never seen or touched a Super Nintendo, the story was familiar enough. It was the console that had taken the world by storm at the turn of the previous century. While its games seemed primitive from our point of view, their simplicity lent them a certain long-lasting charm. I'd played several of its games on various phones to kill time as a child.

"What story is it?" Marisa asked, leaning over my shoulder to try and get a look at it.

"𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘰 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘶 " Renko read, tracing the faded label with a finger.

"Momotaro? The boy born from a peach in the old legends? He took a dog, a monkey an' some other thing to oni island an' and killed all the oni, right? Is that little blob supposed to be him?"

"It was a crow, I think." Reimu interjected.

It seems the legend of Momotaro wasn't well known here in Gensokyo. If this world was a place for forgotten things, I supposed that made sense. Momotaro was still widely recognized in the Japan of the Outside World. A sort of archetypical hero character, but with a bevy of cute talking animal friends.

"It was a pheasant," Renko said. "I haven't played this game, but I think it was based on those legends. I guess you could say that if you insert this box into a special machine and supply electricity then it lets you enjoy the fairy tale inside. You need another type of machine connected to it to actually see the fairy tale though."

Rinnosuke frowned. "Outside World machines are rather odd, aren’t they?" he asked as he accepted the cartridge back from Renko with a slightly skeptical look on his face. Video games would be a difficult concept to comprehend in a world without TV, I imagine. "If there were still oni in Gensokyo, maybe this would have helped you train to fight them, Reimu."

Marisa scoffed. "Oni are just fairy tales, aren't they?"

"I've never had to exterminate an oni. You can't exterminate things that don't exist."

I remember having heard similar sentiments just before Setsubun. The view that there were no oni in Gensokyo seemed to be a universal belief.

"If it's oni you seek, then merely speak of the devil and she shall appear!"

Everyone turned to look in the direction of this latest voice. It had come from Remilia, who, along with Sakuya, Patchouli and her little devil familiar, were approaching the veranda from the yard, having arrived unnoticed. Meiling and Flandre seemed to have been left back home. Remilia was smiling broadly from beneath the parasol carried by Sakuya, her fangs gleaming at the corners of her mouth.

Reimu sighed heavily, letting her shoulders droop. "I hadn't seen you around in a while. I was hoping you'd forgotten how to get here."

"It was the rainy season. That's over now though, so you may once again bask in my presence. And as for old-fashioned oni, Gensokyo no longer has any need for them. The age of such unrefined, brutish beings has passed. Now is a time of cultured nobility."

"If I happen to see a cultured noble, I’ll be sure to let her know," Marisa grumbled.

"Sakuya, perfect timing,we've got the fire hot already and prepped a bunch of ingredients. You can use anything in the kitchen you like to prepare a meal."

"I don't take orders from you, Reimu." Sakuya replied coolly.

"Then take one from me." Remilia lifted her nose into the air haughtily. "Sakuya, prepare some food for myself and Patchy. Disrespectful people don't need to eat."

"Hey, what about me, oh great and mighty Lady Remilia? I'm hungry too!" Marisa shouted with a grin.

"Very well. You may eat so long as you agree to play with Flan the next time you come by the mansion."

"Ugh, playing with your sister shortens my lifespan. I'm mortal, you know?"

It seems that since the Scarlet Mist Incident, Flandre had been broadening her horizons somewhat, venturing out of the basement from time to time. I was eager to see what kind of a girl she would become once she had had a chance to see more of the world.

I was happily watching this exchange, enjoying the unique sensation of peace amidst chaos that always seemed to be found on my visits to the Hakurei Shrine when something strange caught my eye. For a moment the space before me had wavered, shuddering back and forth like a mirage. I wondered if somehow I had already become drunk. I put down my cup and let out a wary breath.

Renko clued in on my discomfort right away, even as the others continued to chat. "Hey Merry, are you okay?" She asked with concern. "Are you already drunk?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Things looked swimmy for a moment."

"You want to lay down on my lap?"

"Maybe I'll just get up and get some air."

"Nah, this'll work way better, come on." She tugged on my arm, pulling me towards her.

"Renko, I think you're drunker than I am."

"Then it'll be fine! No one will complain." She scooted back from the table and beckoned me closer. I sighed and let her pull me down to rest my head on her thighs. In this way, the first party passed without incident and in time we all found our way home. It was only afterward that I learned that the discomfort I had felt was not due to drunkenness.


—5—


"Ough, I drank way too much"

"Are you going to be okay? Here. Water."

The next morning dawned to find Renko much worse for wear. She gulped down the teacup full of cold water I offered her and exhaled a breath that still reeked of alcohol. She had been trying to drink at the same pace the youkai around her all last night, so it was little surprise to see her hungover this morning.

"Ugh, I feel awful. Usually it's not this bad the morning after."

"Maybe the booze was a little stronger than usual?" I suggested charitably.

"Yeah, I wonder."

Renko was sprawled diagonally across her futon, still in her clothes, just as she had collapsed last night. Luckily there were no classes today at the temple school, as she was in no state to teach children. It also wouldn't look good for our detective agency to have our director appear before a client in such a state. For once I was grateful that a client wasn't likely to appear.

"Hey Merry, let me lay on your lap."

"No way. I'm not risking letting you throw up on me."

"So cruel. Abandoning a comrade in their moment of agony. You should be nicer to your partner, Merry."

"My partner did this to herself. It's annoying to keep scolding you though, so I'll go make you some honey tea, if you feel up to drinking it."

"Oh merciful God, Buddha and Merry! You're a saint."

I wondered how that sort of casual blasphemy would be viewed here in Gensokyo, where the myriad gods of ancient Japan were seen to be as real and as present as the sun or wind. At least she hadn't said something disparaging of youkai.

I left Renko to her misery and headed to the kitchen of the temple school to throw together a simple breakfast and put together weak tea with honey dissolved in the water. Returning to our room, I offered it to her, and listened to her exhale a sigh of relief as she drank it down.

"So what do you think that party yesterday was all about?" I asked.

"There's no law saying you have to have a reason to throw a party. We've done similar in the Outside World, going bar hopping as part of our club activities." I couldn't claim that the two of us had never gone out looking for an excuse to drink and be rowdy.

I passed her a bowl of miso soup, and she delicately sipped at the broth. "Miss Marisa was the one who planned the party, right?"

"Hey, didn't they tell us to stop being so polite?"

"I'm not going to give her a nickname, Renko. How would you even shorten Marisa? Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that she didn't seem any different than usual yesterday. If Miss Marisa had been the one planning the party, don't you think she would have been a little more invested in it? Making food or planning activities or the like?"

"Come on, it could be fun. We could call her 'Merlin' or 'Marmar' or 'Mary' or wait, no, that's you. Well, now that you mention it, yeah, that was kind of strange. Alice was there too."

"Alice doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would attend a party for no reason." In fact she seemed to me to be the sort to rarely even leave her house if she didn't have a good reason to. During the Spring Snow Incident, she had only gotten involved in everything that had been going on as a result of her efforts to further her own interests, after all.

"Well maybe she just wanted to have a drink. Or she had a reason of her own for attending. I don't think it's worth digging into."

"Strange to hear that from you, Renko. Has the great detective given up her hobby of prying into everyone's motivations?"

"This isn't a mystery, Merry. There's nothing to investigate here, just a party with no purpose."

"So everyone just drinking in the middle of the day seems normal to you?"

"Well, once in a while. If it happened every third day or something then that might be worth looking into."

At the time, of course, Renko had meant it as a joke.

And a joke it remained, until two days later —noon on the third day after the party. On that day, Marisa had come knocking at our door, not even bothering to hop off of her broom this time. I had opened the door to find her hovering in mid air, an arm's reach away from me.

"Hey," She said, by way of greeting. "We're doing it again tonight."

"Another party?"

"What else? It'll be at the shrine again. Come on up, if you want to."

"The last party was just three days ago, isn't it a little early to start again?"

"Nah, there's no early or late for parties. You just do it when you wanna, right?" Marisa called this last line over her shoulder as she flew off.

Renko and I looked at each other.

"Are parties like this really that common here, you think?"

"Maybe they're trying to make up for the lack of flower-viewing parties, since spring was so short this year?" Renko posited. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

I shrugged, unsure. We had only been in Gensokyo for a year, so we couldn't be certain of their customs or habits, but in the year we’d been here having parties this frequently didn’t seem to be the norm. Sitting in our office, meeting each other's eyes from across the room, we began to get our first inkling that something might be amiss.


—6—


And so we found ourselves at another party.

When we returned to the Hakurei Shrine this time we found the same selection of people who had been there before, though this time the people from the Scarlet Devil Mansion had already arrived before us. Rinnosuke and the Prismriver ensemble were also in attendance, along with Yakumo Ran and Chen.

I made a beeline for Ran and her tail as soon as I saw them there, but Renko grabbed my arm and dragged me with her over to where Marisa was sitting, just like last time. Alice was here too, sitting beside Marisa.

"We're back again!" Renko announced as we approached.

"Hey there, you two. Drink up, drink up!" Once again there was a cup of sake in both of our hands before I had even said 'hello.'

Looking down at Marisa handing the drink to me, I was struck by her petite stature. Her oversized hat did a lot to conceal just how short she was. I wondered if there were any laws in Gensokyo about underage drinking. Marisa was definitely in her teens, and Remilia, Rumia and Youmu all looked younger still, even if all of them claimed to be far older. Perhaps that was the reason why Keine, as a member of the village's neighborhood watch and perhaps the closest thing to an authority figure in these girls' lives, hadn't been invited.

"So how's business at your office?" Alice asked.

"Well, it's nice and quiet at least. I can listen to the birds singing all day."

"Hah," Marisa grinned. "I can hear a bird cryin' every time I go into Kourindou too. ‘Gimme back my books’ is all I ever hear over there."

I had no idea what Marisa was talking about, but Renko seemed to have learned nothing from last time and was already emptying her cup. I sighed and, with a remorseful expression, took a seat beside Alice.

As always, Alice was daintily sipping from her cup with an expression of mild disdain on her face, as if she didn't care for the boisterous atmosphere of the party.

"You're here again, are you?" She said as I found my seat, watching me from the side of her eye. "The two of you seem to have plenty of free time."

"What about you, Miss Alice?" I replied, keeping my tone civil and my eyes averted. "Are you going to tell me that you're here to further your research?"

"Well, not exactly. I hadn't intended to take Marisa up on her invitation initially, I just... sort of ended up here." In other words, she didn’t have anything better to do either. Whatever reason she might have for attending these parties didn't seem like it had anything to do with her ongoing research to me.

Rather than pursue the point I turned my gaze to Saigyouji Yuyuko and Konpaku Youmu, who were sitting at another mat. Youmu wore a concerned expression as she watched Yuyuko cheerfully and methodically demolish plate after plate of food, bite by bite. I remembered that at the time of the Spring Snow Incident, Alice had been nearly obsessed with Youmu, but after learning, as we had, the nature of her being, she seemed to have immediately lost all interest. Beside the pair from Hakugyokuro, Ran and Chen were sitting, with Ran blotting Chen's mouth with a napkin and bringing out more food. Every time she moved, her fluffy tails swayed back and forth, tantalizingly.

"So how about you then, are you here looking for something in particular? That fox's tails, maybe?"

"Ah, no. We're just here to drink and party."

"Really, you seem rather obsessed with that fox."

I forced myself to look away from Ran, cringing at my own weakness.

Alice smiled faintly at my reaction. "They’re nice, those tails."

I turned to her in wonder. Could she see it too? The life-changing beauty of its fluffy warmth? "...Do you think so too, Miss Alice? Really? They're amazing, aren't they?"

"Yes. They could be quite useful. It's hard to find good material for doll hair, or if spun they could even make clothes. Animal fibers are much easier to work with than plants. What's more, she has nine tails. I wonder if I could convince her to part with one."

"Ah, so that's what you meant." I could feel my shoulders sag. It was an utterly practical point of view, cold and unfeeling. Why could no one see what I saw in the fluff? I turned my gaze back toward the mat where Ran was sitting next to Yuyuko. The Administrator of the Netherworld was busying herself with teasing Youmu, who was growing increasingly agitated. She had one of her swords out, the moonlight gleaming over the gentle curve of the blade.

"The things that can't be cut by this sword are next to none! They'd never get past me!"

"But that's the strength of the sword, Youmu, not your arm. On your own, you're not particularly impressive." Youmu pouted, looking almost teary. Whether or not she was old enough to drink, she simply wasn't very large. The alcohol seemed to be getting to her. "A sword is just a tool," Ran added. "And a tool that isn't properly used will cry."

"I use it though!" Youmu cried, with a hiccup. "I train with it every day!"

"But that's just swinging it around, is it not?"

"No! There are drills... and, and forms."

"If all you do is cut the air, it may as well be a bamboo sword. To surpass your grandfather’s mastery, you’ll have to use the sword as it was meant to be used."

"...The truth is only known through cutting." Youmu mumbled to herself.

"Well then, that would seem to be your problem. You’re not using it right."

Youmu glowered and laid the sword across her lap.

"I need to find something to cut down..." Hearing Ran’s words, Youmu drew her second blade from the scabbard across her back and stared intently at her own reflection in the bright metal. Personally I wish she wouldn’t wave the weapons around so freely, especially while drinking.

Raised voices from the other side of the yard caught my attention. Turning, the first thing I saw was Patchouli hovering just off the ground, reclining in mid air while curled up into a ball and reading a book. I wondered why she had come all of this way if that was her intention. Beside her, a half-full glass of wine floated as if it were somehow buoyant enough to hover in the air and beside that was the source of the commotion I had heard. Reimu and Remilia were both on their feet, Reimu standing with fists on her hips, eyes flashing.

"Don't you think it's time we had another match, Reimu? The moon is nearly full, it would make for an elegant spectacle."

"I told you, I'm not interested. And if you're thinking of causing another incident, don't. If I have to punish you again, I'm going to get really serious."

"So you weren't being serious last time? Good then, I was worried you might be a pushover after all. Don't underestimate Remilia Scarlet, shrine maiden."

"You weren’t being really serious last time either."

"Oh, you noticed? How perceptive. Would you like to see what ‘serious’ would look like?"

"Don't even think about it. I'll hit you with soybeans."

"Beans? I'm not some mud-covered savage. I told you, I'm different from your indigenous oni."

"Then I'll hit you with garlic."

Remilia's bravado dropped away in an instant. She stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Ugh, don't do that, it smells terrible."

"Maybe I ought to hang garlic from the eaves of the shrine."

"Sakuya, Reimu is bullying me."

"I'd advise you not to do that, Miss Reimu. If you do, she'll get lonely without you and start flying into your shrine as a swarm of bats in the night."

Reimu grimaced. "Ugh, I don't want that."

"Patchy, both of these humans are saying mean things about me. Aren't they terrible? Magic them away for me."

Patchouli slowly raised her eyes from the book. "Hanging garlic in the doorway might actually be a good way to keep your sister from disturbing my reading."

"But then I couldn't come visit you either."

"What a tragedy that would be," she said without inflection and returned to her book.

"Sakuya, everyone is being mean. Bring me more food."

"Right away, my lady. I'll go whip something up."

"What's that you just gave Reimu? I'll just have some of that too."

"Those? They're edamame, it's an appetizer. Salted soybeans in the shell."

Reimu suddenly grinned. "Hey, do edamame work on oni? Take this!"

She picked up a handful of the pods and whipped them sidearm at Remilia in a sudden flourish of motion. Before the beans could find their mark however, Sakuya was placing them back on Reimu's plate, no doubt having stopped time to snatch them out of the air. It was a very surreal sight.

But even as I was watching that, I saw something stranger. As Reimu had thrown the beans, several had gone astray, sailing well over her diminutive target's head. Sakuya hadn't bothered to gather these, and they sailed past the mark to fall harmlessly on the ground. Neither Sakuya nor Remilia seemed to have noticed these, and Patchouli hadn't even looked up from her book. I had been watching though, and I saw that as the beans fell to the ground, a shimmer passed through the air. A wavering ripple of distortion that began directly ahead of the flying beans and moved around them, flowing to the side. It was like a moving tear in the barrier around the shrine that pulsed, moved, then vanished, all in the space of a second.

This time I was certain I wasn't drunk. I'd barely had a drop at this point. If this dizzying distortion wasn't being caused by alcohol, then what was it? The way it had moved it was almost as if something was hiding just beyond where Reimu and Remilia were arguing.

Intrigued, I stood up to get a closer look. Renko, who had been chatting with Marisa, noticed me and turned to meet my eye with an inquisitive look. "What's the matter, Merry?" she asked. "Need the bathroom?"

I beckoned her over. She laughed, then climbed to her feet and jogged the few steps over to meet me. "What, do you need company?" She leaned in conspiratorially, as if to whisper, but was too drunk to be properly quiet. "Merry, did you pee yourself?"

"Don't be vulgar, Renko. And no. I saw something."

"You mean something only those eyes could see?" Her face was suddenly joyful at the prospect. I whispered in her ear, describing what I had seen.

"Well, your ability was always at its strongest around shrines and temples. And this Hakurei Shrine is supposed to sit right on the edge of the Great Hakurei Barrier, according to Akyuu..."

"So you think what I saw was a fluctuation in the Great Hakurei Barrier?"

"I dunno. Let's find out! Where was it?"

"This way."

Reimu turned a suspicious eye to us as we walked past her. "What are you two up to?" she asked. Before either of us could respond though, she was distracted by Remilia trying to pick a fight with Youmu.

We moved past where I had seen the distortion, toward the heavily forested hillside that sloped down away from the shrine.

"I can't see anything here. Can you?"

"No, it was only present for a moment earlier, but I know I saw it."

Looking around, I could see no trace of the earlier distortion. Had I imagined it? I was beginning to lose confidence when suddenly...

"—Ah! There it is!"

It was clearer this time. An empty space to the side of the gathering shook and warped. A boundary had clearly been disturbed there, as if a curtain exactly the color of the night sky had just been passed through. Something was clearly physically there, but not visible to the naked eye.

I was by no means drunk, I was sure of that, but perhaps I had had enough to lower my inhibitions. The moment I spotted the distortion I flung out my arm to point and cried "Renko! It's right over there, don't let it get away!"

"Eh? Where? I can't see it. Can you show me if you cover my eyes?"

"No time for that, it's moving! Come on!"

I took Renko's hand and ran for the distortion. A wavering trail left by someone or something was snaking an undulating path toward the woods behind the shrine. As we rushed forward, the border of the distorted trail became clearer and denser. We were gaining on whatever had left this path. With Renko in tow I charged into the trees, undergrowth and twigs snapping as they snagged on my dress. All at once the trail came to a sudden end. Where it stopped we found... fog?

A thick and seemingly sourceless patch of low-hanging fog hung in the air. Driven by our own momentum, we had plunged into the miniature cloudbank, and now it closed around us. Somehow the fog felt abnormal, much like the mist Remilia had once created.

"Why is it all foggy now? What's going on Merry?" Renko asked, sluggishly.

"Shush Renko. Be quiet for a minute. Let me see."

The fog began to thicken, first becoming more obscuring, then gathering together, coalescing into one spot. As more and more of the fog drew in, it began to form an outline, an invisible presence edging bit by bit toward definition.

"...Hey, it's too early for anyone to find me yet. Why aren't you two playing along?"

It sounded like the voice of a young girl, but was strangely distorted and seemed to come from all around us, everywhere and nowhere at once.

"What do you mean?" I asked the voice, unsure of what else to say.

"Why did you notice me? That's really strange."

"Who are you?"

The mist that had surrounded us suddenly collapsed, rapidly rushing toward one spot and compressing its volume into the shape of a human. Or could I call her a human? She looked like a young girl, a head smaller than us, more or less the size of Remilia. Long chestnut hair was tied into a single loose bundle behind her with a large red ribbon. Thin, pale arms peeked out from a shirt that looked like the sleeves had been torn off of it. The shining links of metal chains hung from a belt at her waist and a cuff on either wrist, with each chain terminating in a geometric metal weight. She held a purple gourd in one hand and had the pronounced blush of a drunkard across her cheeks. Aside from the strange accessories she might have looked like a human girl except...

From her head, two slightly curving horns protruded horizontally, each as long as the span from my elbow to my wrist. One had a purple ribbon tied into a bow around it and the other was wrapped with fine silver wire, immediately drawing the eye.

"An oni?" Renko and I muttered the words in unison as we peered into the darkness.

The girl who had appeared in front of us smiled, a grin that showed her teeth. "Oh good, you guys get it. So who are you two?"

And that's how—aside from Yakumo Yukari, who probably knew about it from the beginning—we became the first to meet the mastermind behind the Night Parade of One Hundred Oni Every Three Days Incident.