東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 3: Perfect Cherry Blossom

Three

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.

—7—

"So Hakurei Reimu is the one to blame, eh?" When Renko reported the story she had heard from Chen, Ran crossed her arms with a look of consternation on her face.

"Are you acquainted with Reimu?"

"She's a celebrity. So Chen was only concealing the truth in order to avoid causing trouble for me. She's such a good girl. I'm so lucky to have such a good shiki." Ran closed her eyes, struggling to contain her emotions. Somehow I got the feeling that Chen had been grossly misunderstood, but the situation was resolved with everyone happier for it, so who was I to complain?

"Thank you, both of you. I will deliver your fees, with gratuity, to your office later."

"Oh no, no, it was nothing." Renko smiled and bowed. As she rose back up though, I could see a familiar gleam in her eye. "If you don't mind though, I do have a few questions."

"What would you like to know?"

"Well, it's just that Chen said that the Reimu had been looking for someone who had 'stolen spring.' Do you have any idea what she could have meant by that?"

As Renko said this, the smile suddenly fell from Ran's face. She didn't answer.

"It's just that it's already May, and still this cold, you see. Could it by any chance be some kind of an incident?"

Ran paused for a moment before replying "I have no idea. Why would you ask me that?"

"Well I just thought as shikigami to the great Youkai Sage, you might be a bit more in-the-know than most."

"Lady Yukari has retired for the winter, and besides, incident resolution is not her job. Now let's get you back to the village." Having said that, Ran turned her back to us and began to walk toward the clearing we had first landed in.

Normally, in such a situation, Renko would be rushing in, pressing the point without a second thought, but this time she let the topic fall with surprising ease.

I had little opportunity to think about it though, for when Ran turned her back to leave, that heavenly array of golden fur once again fanned out before me, swaying gently before my eyes as she walked. How cold the air seemed now that such delectable warmth and comfort was in sight. If I leapt, I could land in that ocean of soft fluff and drift away on a tide of bliss. The urge to run and pounce on the tails, to bury myself in them, to cuddle up next to them and go to sleep was overwhelming.

A momentary lapse of will was all it took for the fevered fantasies in my head to bleed over into reality. Only half-aware of what I was doing, I staggered over to Ran's tails, and as if I were a fish on a line, drew ever closer, bobbing and weaving in time with their movement until at last, without realizing I was doing it, I dove forward and plunged my face into that sea of fur.

"Ahhh, floofy floof!" My words were lost in the ecstasy of immersion. Words were such harsh, unnecessarily complicated things. There was no place for them in this warm paradise.

"Merry! You're not a child, you know! Have some restraint!" Harsh, unnecessary words from my partner. The foolish cries of the ignorant. Once she had felt it, she'd understand.

"I can't Renko. If you come in you'll understand. You should be buried in this with me, come on!" I reached out to beckon her while pressing a tail against my face with the other arm.

The feeling was bliss. My arm was extended to invite Renko, but I didn't care if she took it or not. I couldn't lift my face to see either, not if the cost was moving away from the healing, vital warmth of the floofy floof.

"Miss Hearn!" Ran's voice cried out in shock and alarm. "How are you able to touch my tails so easily? That shouldn't be possible! I placed a barrier on them to keep humans away."

"Eh?" Renko's voice asked from somewhere far away. "Merry has the ability to see invisible boundaries, so that may be why."

At that time, my head was so full of the cushiony warmth of the tails, both inside and out that I couldn't think about it much, but Renko must have been thinking back to the words of the waitress of the soba shop, when she told us that no one had ever touched Ran's tails.

"The ability to see invisible boundaries? And to affect or interfere with them as well, it seems..."

Ran was talking again. More unnecessary words, spoken with unnecessary concern and worry. Could it be that even Ran was blind to the perfection of her own tails? Snuggling deeper into the fluff, I willed myself not to think about it. Buried here, I would gladly give up my humanity to become a useless lump surrounded by golden fur all day and simply feel. Let my time as a human end, I want to come back as a mollusk, attached to these tails for all time.

"So Merry, how long do you plan to stay there?"

"Forever..."

"My apologies, Miss Yakumo. Ever since we first met my partner has been..."

"It's alright. Both Lady Yakumo and Chen have the same reaction."

Renko fell silent for a moment, staring down at me where I lay clinging to the tails. "Ran, can you just shake her off?"

"Let her do what she wants. I can fly you back to the human village this way, and I'm sure she won't let go."

"Oh! Well in that case, um, could you actually take us to the Scarlet Devil Mansion instead?"

"The Scarlet Devil Mansion? What do you want with that vampire's dwelling?"

"They're uh, acquaintances of ours. I'd just like to stop in and say hello... And I'm worried that if we let Merry stay buried in your tails for the whole flight back to the village, she might not be able to ever come back to her old self."

"...I understand."

For my part, I offered no resistance. Anywhere Ran might decide to take me was fine by me. What did I care about what happened in the world beyond these tails? I was perfectly content to spend the rest of my life like this.


—8—


Still buried in and clinging onto Ran's tails, I was carried to the Scarlet Devil Mansion before I knew it. For the first time the experience of flying had seemed blissful, though to be honest I was barely aware of it, so consumed with the sensation of comfort was I. Ran alighted before the gate and set Renko down, while staring up at the grandeur of the mansion.

"Are you sure you want me to leave you here?"

"Yes, thank you very much. I think we've got to get Merry away from those tails for her own good."

"I'd rather stay right here forever…"

"I wonder if I can even pull her off?"

"Please excuse me, Miss Hearn." Ran said curtly, then she twitched her tails with a sharp jerk like a whip crack that threw me into the air and away from her.

I stumbled backward and collapsed into Renko. The shock of the impact didn't bother me nearly so much as the abrupt loss of my connection to warmth and softness. In the moment it took me to catch my breath and regain my footing, Ran had floated up into the air and away from us.

"No! The tails! They're going away! The blissful fox-colored fluffy fluff..."

"That's enough, Merry."

"I'll leave the matter of returning to the village up to the both of you then. The sun will be setting very soon, so please be careful if you intend to walk back from here."

"Yes, thank you very much for your patience and understanding with this."

"Floofy, come back!"

Without another word, Ran turned and departed. Sailing away, into the sky and out of my reach. I watched for a moment, steeling my resolve to repress the tears I could feel welling in my eyes.

"Don't try to stop me, Renko. I'm leaving on a journey to find that floofy floof!" I said resolutely, turning on my heel as I did.

"Oh I'll stop you alright. Besides, you don't need to go after her, you can just floof me up instead."

"Really?" I asked, my voice quavering.

"Come on already."

When I turned around, Renko was standing with her arms spread wide and her chest puffed out, waiting for me. I ran and hugged Renko, burying my face in her shoulder, desperately trying to assuage the loneliness that the loss of Ran's tails had filled me with.

"Bony."

"What?"

"You're bony and uncomfortable! Not floofy at all!"

"Well excuse me for having bones!"

"Uh, what are you two doing?"

This question came from Meiling, who was leaning out from her position behind one of the pillars on the side of the gate to regard us with a troubled look on her face.

I came to my senses and took a step back from Renko. What had I been doing? Had I completely lost all conception of shame? A felt a fearsome blush bloom hotly across my face.

"Oh, hello Miss Meiling, sorry about that embarrassing display,"

"Are you here to see the mistress or the young miss? Both of them will probably still be napping right now."

"Oh we're not here to see anyone in particular, We just happened to be in the neighborhood."

"I see, well I wouldn't want you to have to stand around in this cold weather, so why don't you come in?"

Meiling moved to open the iron gate. As might be expected, Meiling had adapted for the weather and was wearing a long jacket over top of her usual dress. Exhaling a puff of white breath, she ushered us through the gate then closed it behind her.

I expected Sakuya to appear at this point to greet us, but instead Meiling walked ahead of us, leading the way up the snow covered path toward the doors of the mansion.

"Where's Miss Sakuya?" Renko asked casually.

"Oh, she's out for a bit."

"Shopping or something? It's nearly dark."

"No. We were getting low on firewood, so she went to stop the winter."

"What?"

If winter wasn't about to come to an end, could a human really do anything about it? Perhaps, like Reimu, she had left to seek out the reason that winter had been so prolonged. Taken together with the knowledge that Reimu was also out seeking to bring an end to the winter though, I wondered what it could mean. Could someone really be controlling the very seasons?

"With the weather this cold, the mistress has stopped getting out of bed altogether. The young miss is so excited about the snow though that we can hardly keep her inside."

Like a dog running around the garden with joy while the cat curls up under the kotatsu, I thought to myself.

Meiling opened the front doors and showed us in. The interior of the mansion looked the same as ever, but was cool and quiet. With the mistress asleep and Sakuya away, I suppose that was to be expected.

"With Sakuya away, I'm afraid I can't really offer you much in the way of hospitality…" Meiling looked chagrined.

"Is Miss Patchouli still here?" Renko asked.

"Oh, of course. I'll show you down to the library."

And so, we were directed back down to the library in the basement of the mansion. As soon as Meiling opened the large door that led in, the musty but comfortable smell of old books washed over us. As before, volumes were stacked in shelving that reached many meters above us and extended as far as the eye could see in any direction.

"Oh, are you guests again?"

Having heard the door open, the little devil had come fluttering down to us. Hovering a meter above us, she turned and bowed in greeting.

"Hi."

"Hello again, Koakuma."

When we greeted her thusly, she raised a finger to her mouth to shush us.

"Please be quiet. Lady Patchouli and our guest are in the middle of their work right now." She whispered, politely but firmly.

"A guest? Do you mean Miss Marisa?" Renko asked in a whisper, but the little devil shook her head and suppressed a giggle.

"No, another, more polite magician. This one has never once stolen any of the books."

"Miss Marisa steals books?" I asked. The devil nodded solemnly as she led us down the aisles. This information colored my view of both the young witch and this world. To disrespectfully pilfer from as great an institution as this library seemed a particularly heinous crime to me. Was there no police force to stop such an act here? Could there not be some recompense demanded for such a crime?

While I thought such things, Meiling waved farewell and left us in the care of the librarian. "Lady Patchouli should be right through there. Please feel free to take any book you like to read as long as you're here. I'll make you both some hot tea, though it's not as good as Sakuya's I'm afraid."

With that, Koakuma flew away. Following the direction she had pointed us in, we passed through a seemingly endless gallery of countless bookshelves, before eventually coming to an open space with a magnificent table of pale, polished birch. At one end of it, Patchouli sat, deeply immersed in a heavy, leather-bound tome. On the opposite side, another empty cup sat.

"Well, today must be some sort of special promotion to have drawn all these guests." Patchouli snapped her book shut and looked up before we could speak to her.

"Sorry to disturb you, please don't mind us."

As we bowed in greeting, Patchouli drained the last few mouthfuls of tea from her mug and craned around in her chair to regard us. "If there's any book you want to read here, please feel free. If you plan on taking a book with you, please LET. ME. KNOW. BEFORE. TAKING. IT." These last words she said as if she were nailing each one to the wall. I suppose Marisa really must have made an impression.

As we found seats around another table nearby, Koakuma flew over and brought us each a mug of tea. We gratefully accepted them, only realizing how cold our bodies felt once the warm liquid was seeping into us. After taking a sip, we both breathed a sigh of relief and settled into the well-cushioned chairs.

"I guess this long winter is pretty unusual for this place after all," Renko whispered to me. I nodded.

"I wonder if some other youkai is doing what Remilia tried to do, making the world more comfortable for their own tastes. What sort of youkai would like the winter do you think, Renko?"

"Hmm it's gotta be a yuki-onna, right?," she surmised.

"What about a yeti? Or a bigfoot?"

"At least call it a 'hibagon', Merry. This is Japan."

"You say that while sitting in a vampire's mansion, drinking black tea."

"Eh, you may have a point."

Actually, thinking about it now, I'm not sure if Remilia would count as a western sort of monster or not. Aren't vampires classified as a type of oni? I'm getting distracted..

"If this is an Incident though, I want to meet the mastermind behind it again, don't you Merry?"

"Not in the least. I hope I never get caught up in a daredevil act like that again."

"Don't say that! What do you think our detective agency is for? Our purpose is to reveal the hidden truths of this world! Who is the culprit behind this prolonged winter and what could their motive be? Don't you think it's a perfect second case for the Hifuu Detective Agency to pursue?"

"It's Reimu's job to solve incidents, not ours. Do you really want to compete with her?"

"Not at all! Our role is to reveal the secrets left behind by her resolutions through in-depth investigation."

"To solve what's already been resolved? Is there a demand for that, do you think?"

While we were discussing this, we noticed footsteps approaching and Renko looked up from our whispered conversation and opened her eyes wide in surprise. Turning to follow her gaze, I saw the reason. I didn't know the name of the woman approaching us, but I knew her face from the village. We had seen her only a few days ago.

Her golden hair shone brightly, even in the dim light of the library. With pale skin and icy blue eyes, she gave off an impression of cold dispassion, her face as delicate and expressionless as that of a bisque doll. Holding a thick grimoire under her arm, she wore a gorgeous frilly dress cut in a fashionable, European style and decorated with a broad ribbon worn like a belt around her slender waist.

As if she felt our gaze upon her, she stopped in her tracks on her way to rejoin Patchouli and narrowed her eyes at us curiously.

We did not yet know the name Alice Margatroid, but we recognized her from her puppet shows in the village.


—9—


"...Do I know you from somewhere?"

The girl with the doll-like face had approached us with this question on her lips when she noticed our stares from across the dim space between our tables. Realizing how rudely I had been staring, I quickly bowed my head and searched for the nearest book to bury my face in. Renko, on the other hand, rose to her feet and bowed grandiosely.

"My foremost apologies, madam. I hadn't meant to be rude. I'm just surprised to see you here after seeing you in the village a few times."

"Oh, you two are from the village?" the blonde girl began. "I had thought at first you might be residents here. Or maybe a hedge-witch like that black-and-white amateur."

"By 'black-and-white amateur', do you mean Kirisame Marisa?"

"Yes, she lives not far from me."

So that confirmed Renko's intel --this girl was indeed another magician who lived in the Forest of Magic.

"Ah, apologies for the late introduction. My name is Usami Renko, and this is my partner, Merry. We're just two humans who run a detective agency and teach in the temple school in the village."

I stood up and bowed. "It's Maéreverie Hearn, actually."

"A detective agency?" She blinked her long eyelashes twice in surprise.

"That's right," Renko smiled. "We solve mysteries and explore the inexplicable. We'd be happy to help you with any troubles you have."

"If you're looking for customers, you've got the wrong audience. Magicians solve their own problems."

"I see. Please excuse me then."

"Hah!" Patchouli interrupted wheezily. "Big talk from someone who came to borrow books."

The blonde girl fumed for a moment before haughtily retorting with an air of superiority. "Seeking out knowledge and materials from reputable sources is part of solving a problem with my own power."

"Your 'reputable sources' are MY books."

"Well you don't own exclusive rights to the knowledge inside them."

"But I do own the books. Don't take them without asking." Having said her piece, Patchouli returned to her reading, clearly uninterested in further conversation.

I was surprised to see the two magicians bickering. I would have thought that shared professional interest of sorts would have made them compatible. Or perhaps they were only teasing each other and this was a sign of their closeness.

The blonde girl sighed and took her seat at the opposite end of the table from Patchouli. "How regrettable that interacting with that uncouth boor has so negatively colored your expectations of other magicians." She opened the heavy grimoire she had been carrying and began to read, the two of them pointedly ignoring each other.

Renko and I looked at each other and shrugged, not wanting to involve ourselves in their spat. After all that, we still hadn't learned her name.


—


After that I retreated into the stacks to try to find a book that looked safe to read. I was surprised to find that Patchouli's library contained a great many books from the Outside world in addition to the countless grimoires and occult tomes. Old manga, light novels, American paperbacks, cookbooks, antique medical textbooks, and even compilations of baseball statistics and outdated computer manuals, which would seem to serve no purpose at all in this world all had their own sections and shelves crammed with books. In all, it seemed less like a wizard's library— though it was clearly that too —and more like the hoard of a prodigious bibliophile, collecting every book they could get their hands on, regardless of content. Of course there were more grimoires than anything else, but given the size of the vast underground chamber, the collections on any topic might rival those of a modern metropolitan library.

"What have you got there, Merry?"

"Hmm? It's a mystery by Inoue Yumeto. I'd been meaning to read it back home, but I'd never gotten around to picking it up."

"Another old classic. No wait, I guess that would be pretty contemporary for this world. Why is that in a Gensokyo wizard's library though?"

I shrugged in response. It made no sense, but neither did the rest of the library, the people in it, or the mansion that contained it. Was an anachronistic book from another world any stranger than a physically impossible space in the gothic mansion of a vampire?

"There were books by Renjo Mikihiko and Togawa Masako at Suzunaan too. Maybe out-of-print stories tend to end up in this world for forgotten things?" By now it would have been 2004 in the outside world. I'm pretty sure Renjo Mikihiko was still alive and writing at that point though, so it would have been odd to classify their works as forgotten, even if they were out of print.

"Sakuya! Why is it so cold!?"

My thoughts were interrupted by a whiny voice as the lady of the house barged harshly through the door to the library. She had a sleepy expression on her face and was wrapped in a blanket that draped awkwardly over her wings as she tried to pull it close around her shoulders.

"Patchy, where did you send Sakuya?"

"You sent her out earlier, remember?"

"Oh that's right. I did." Remilia grumbled and pulled the blanket closer while trying to flap her wings as she soared deeper into the library. As she drew past the stacks where we were, however, she stopped, turned and settled neatly onto a nearby shelf, fitting her small frame into a space next to a stack of tall scroll tubes. Settling down, she drew in her wings and wrapped the blanket around herself. From her high position, she looked down on us imperiously.

"Oh, you mortals are here again?" It was difficult to see her as noble or intimidating with the blanket snuggled tightly around her, no matter how condescending her tone was.

"And someone else too, I see. You there, who are you?" She asked, turning her head toward the blonde girl sitting across from Patchouli.

"Sorry to disturb you," the girl said, setting her book down for a moment to stand and bow. "I'm Alice Margatroid, magician. You're the master of this house, I suppose?"

"One of Patchy's friends, I see. I am Remilia Scarlet. Lady of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and arch-vampire. You may worship me." As she said this Remilia rose from her position to stand in midair, adjusting the blanket so that it billowed out behind her dramatically, spreading like a scarlet wave rippling behind her. The soft fuzz of its fleece left her looking a bit more like a kid playing superhero than an imposing vampire, however.

So her name was Alice. Remilia seemed to have expected some manner of reaction from the magician in response to her theatrics, but after a moment of stony silence, she retreated back to her spot on the bookshelf, wrapping the blanket around her again and saying "It's cold though..." as if daring us to comment.

"It's alright," she called as she sat down. "Many are too awed to speak in the presence of the descendant of Țepeș."

"...Do you actually work for her?" Alice asked.

"I don't work for her, she's my friend. I do get tired of dealing with her theatrics from time to time though," Patchouli replied, her face still buried in her tome.

"Sakuya, those magicians are being rude to me, please see them both out."

"Sakuya's not here, remember?"

"Then I suppose I'm in trouble, aren't I? If only my good friend Patchy, who I invited to live like family in my own house, was to make an effort to defend my reputation."

"Perhaps you could begin to establish your reputation by not wrapping yourself in that blanket like a sausage?"

"No. I'm cold, Patchy. Do something about it with your magic."

"I don't have a spell like that, unless you want me to start a fire."

"Yes, right away."

"If I start a fire here, the mansion will burn down, and then you'll be even colder."

"Oh, I suppose it might"

It was a conversation devoid of dignity. Remilia had no qualms ordering others around, but also didn't seem to have much care as to what others thought of her constant demands. I wondered if you would call that confidence or cluelessness. Thankfully, the little devil interrupted it by fluttering over with a mug of tea.

"Lady Remilia, please enjoy some warm tea."

"Oh, glad to see someone here has a bit of consideration... Though the taste is only mediocre." Remilia sighed and set down the mug before turning back to address Alice again.

"Well, if Patchy approves, then I suppose you are welcome to make use of this library."

"Thank you very much,"

"Though the master of this library is Patchy, and what belongs to her belongs to me. So you'd best pay your respects as long as you're here."

Alice once again raised herself up from the table and turned without any trace of an expression on her face. She curtsied floridly, saying "Thank you most kindly my lady, for your gracious hospitality," in an emotionless monotone, then immediately sat and resumed her reading.

Remilia turned her attention back to us. "By the way, mortal," she began.

"Yes?"

"Not you, the other one. Flan's favorite." She indicated me with one outstretched finger.

"Me?" I was flustered by the sudden attention. Remilia's eyes narrowed as she jerked her head to indicate the library entrance.

"Flan has been bored lately, so you go keep her company. If we leave her too long she'll..."

The young mistresses' voice was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of a tremendous crash from somewhere outside. Patchouli dropped her book on the table, her mouth and eyebrows each a perfectly even line. Alice stood up with a look of fear on her face.

"What's going on?"

"....Ah, looks like you're too late, I guess," Remilia sighed.

Moments later Flandre flew into the room, the seven-colored charms on her wings ringing faintly as they flapped. She was shivering as she flew, her arms gripping her slender shoulders.

"Oh, I found you! Give me back that blanket, Remilia! It's mine!" Her eyes flared with scarlet light.

"Too bad for you. You weren't using it, and I'm cold."

"I'm cold too!" She stamped her foot in the air.

"Hey, c'mon, you're sisters, right? What's this all about?" Renko ventured.

"Oh, by the way, Flan. Your favorite is here."

"What? --Oh! Merry and Renko!"

Upon spotting us, Flandre quickly descended, running toward us across the carpeted aisle. She looked like an adorable child, but I couldn't forget that the resounding crash still ringing in my ears had probably been her tearing the library door off of its hinges. Whatever the truth of Flandre's nature was, she was frightening.

"Merry, she's awful! We were napping together because it's so cold and she got up and ripped the blanket off of me! And it's my blanket!"

"I am the mistress of this house and what's Flan's is mine. You should be grateful to have such a sister, I was even nice enough to share my warmth with you. What more could you ask for?"

"Oh? Should we see who's the better sister then?" Flan's eyes were brilliant, lit from within with a hungry flicker. The smile on her face when she looked up at Remilia was terrifying.

"Hmm, I don't mind." The smile Remilia returned was just as cruel.

Wait a minute, were they about to have a danmaku battle in here? In these close quarters, standing so near us, regardless of the outcome, the collateral damage of the barrages was sure to be a death sentence for us. Without a moment's consideration the two of them rose into the air, the blanket fluttering to the ground behind Remilia, instantly forgotten.

"It's been a long time since we've had a real fight, you and I."

"I won't go easy on you just because you're my big sister."

"Of course, I would expect as much. Let me show you the dignity that age can bring."

"You're only a little older than me!"

The two of them were continuing to rise during this exchange, circling around each other and positioning themselves as they ascended into the dim, dusty space beyond the tops of the shelves.

Patchouli rose from her position at the table with a look of dismay. "It looks like it's about to get noisy. You had all probably better head home for the day."

"Awwww. It was just about to get good," Renko protested.

I grabbed her by the ear and dragged her toward the two magicians.

"Ow! ow ow ow! Hey! Merry, quit it!" Renko twisted and hopped as she followed along.

"Don't be so reckless, Renko."

"I'll send the three of you to the garden. Next time, it would probably be a good idea to come around while Sakuya is here to keep the two of them occupied. Have a nice day."

With that, Patchouli gestured and a grimoire came rapidly sailing from around the corner of a shelf to hover before her. As the two sisters were taking their places above us, she began to incant. The next moment a magic circle formed beneath our feet and then --

Alice was standing along with Renko and I in the snow just in front of the mansion. Somewhere far away, a series of muffled staccato explosions thrummed. The sky was a deep sultry purple, with the last shreds of sunset quickly disappearing behind the forest to the west.

"Ooo!" cooed Renko, appreciatively. "Teleportation."

"Hardly," sniffed Alice. "Just a pre-set transference spell. True teleportation is much harder and doesn't have nearly so many limits."

Ignoring Renko's excitement, I sighed and pulled my foot out of the deep snow that had built up in the gardens. Stomping myself a trail through the drifts, I made my way back to the cobblestone path that led to the front gate.

"Oh, you're all back," called Meiling from ahead of us as she opened the gate. "Is anything the matter?" When Renko told her that the mistress and her sister were having a danmaku match in the library, a grim look came over her face and, leaving the gate open, she marched inside without another word.

As we watched her leave, Alice spoke up from behind us. "Who exactly are you two?" Her usually placid face was looking at us with an expression of open suspicion. "The favorite of the younger vampire, and an acquaintance to magicians and amateurs alike, but just humans yourself. You don't quite seem like regular humans though."

"We're just Outsiders is all," Renko interjected, "Still human though."

"Outsiders? How--"

Before Alice could finish her sentence, a strong gust of wind blew through the courtyard, dusting us all with snow. I raised my shoulders and covered my face as quickly as I could, but as the chill wind blew, I noticed something odd carried by its force. As the gust relented, I looked up. Renko did the same. Dumbfounded by what I saw there, I held my hand up without thinking.

Cherry blossoms were dancing in the air, faintly luminous in the darkening sky.

In the snow-covered garden of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, between the stark white of the untouched snow and the garish red of the mansion's exterior, pink cherry blossoms had appeared, as if from nowhere. Shining eerily, their glow faded as they fell. Where in this cold, wintry land of illusions could such things have come from? Although it was supposed to be spring on the calendar, it was still well below freezing. Could cherry trees really be in bloom somewhere nearby?

"Cherry blossoms, Merry!"

"Yes, I recognize them, Renko. I wonder where they could have blown in from?"

"Cherry blossom trees most likely… "There must be some in bloom near here!" Renko clapped her hands abruptly.

"Does something that obvious count as a deduction?"

"No, don't you see? Our initial premise was wrong, Merry! The ongoing Incident isn't that winter was being artificially extended through all of Gensokyo, it was that someone had concentrated all of the spring into a particular part of it, leaving the rest to continue as it was! So somewhere nearby it's already spring right now. Probably intensely so, if the cherry trees are in full bloom. It makes sense, it would take far less energy to create extreme variations in temperature in a limited area than to disrupt the climate of the entire planet, after all."

"...I suppose that explains why there was only a little snow in Mayohiga then."

"Likely so. I bet that the spring is being collected not far from Mayohiga, in the direction this wind is blowing from. Somewhere to the west, someone is stealing the spring from Gensokyo!"

As she said this, Renko pointed her arm toward the sunset just as the very last glimmers of red disappeared from view. Despite the clear direction, beyond the walls surrounding the mansion lay the lake, and beyond that the vast and snow-choked sea of trees known as the Forest of Magic, filled with unknown toxins and dangers, on top of whatever creatures might call it home. It was not as if two unprepared humans could simply walk to wherever the source of this Incident was.

"Well congratulations Renko. If we manage to make it back to the village without freezing to death tonight, you can tell Reimu and then our case will be closed."

"What are you talking about, Merry? We're just getting started. The next step is to get to the mastermind's hideout."

I stared dumbfounded. Of the numerous questions I'd like to ask Renko, the majority could never have a satisfactory answer, or rather I wouldn't have been satisfied with any answer Renko was likely to give. Instead, I simply asked "how?"

"Can't you just find a way using your eyes?"

"Absolutely not."

I let out a sigh. Even if things did work that way or I could have used a gap between borders to travel somewhere else, that might be the last place I'd choose to go.

"Would you two like to have dinner at my place tonight?"

Astonished, we both turned to stare at the source of the unexpected words. Alice smiled back at us pleasantly.