東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 3:Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

[𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟑 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫]


—7—


"Whoa! It's just like 𝑅𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛! Did you agree to wind them?" Upon seeing the various dolls moving about Alice's house, seemingly of their own accord, Sanae's eyes lit up. She ran over to a doll who was using a tiny hammer to drive nails into a bookshelf and stared at it, repeating "amazing" over and over again idiotically.

"What is she talking about?" asked Alice with a look of confusion.

"Sanae says some things that don't make sense from time to time, don't worry about it."

Alice seemed to consider Sanae for a moment, then turned to Renko. "She's an Outsider like you two, isn't she?"

"Yes, though she's an Outsider from the current time in the Outside World."

"So how do these work?" Sanae interrupted. She had run over to where we were standing in the entryway, holding a doll she had captured. It writhed in her hands, trying to escape, its cute face contorted into a look approximating exasperation as it flailed its tiny arms. Holding the doll in front of her face, Sanae mimicked a low, sultry voice. "Don't get angry, it will raise your blood pressure. Are you getting enough lactic acid?" I couldn't begin to imagine who she was imitating or what it might have to do with the situation at hand.

Looking slightly concerned, Alice answered: "I'm controlling them with a magic string."

"So they're all manipulated like marionettes? How do they all not get tangled together? I don't see any wires. Are they remote controlled?" Sanae asked, running one hand through the air just above the doll.

Alice sighed. "It's a magic string. It doesn't have a physical existence to get tangled and it's normally invisible."

"So that's basically a wireless system then, like radio control with each doll on a separate channel, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I feel like you're fundamentally misunderstanding something. I move them with a thread formed from my magic."

"So it’s less like remote control and more like telling a pokemon to use one of its moves? Maybe sufficiently advanced technology really is indistinguishable from magic in Gensokyo. But in the Outside World, controlling this many dolls with this many joints at once would take an incredible amount of processing power. You must be a really amazing witch!"

"Well, thank you for saying so, but in the end it's nothing much. Would you mind letting that doll go though? She was in the middle of something."

"Oh, sorry. Still, that's a really impressive bit of multi-tasking to control all of these dolls at once. You could probably use that multitasking ability to do something more useful than controlling a bunch of little dolls though, couldn’t you?"

"Well right now getting this construction work done is my priority so I might be a bit distracted. Sorry about all of the noise. I'll go and make some tea."

As Alice moved off to the kitchen, Sanae released the doll she was holding and it instantly flew away, carried on its unseen strings. Sanae continued to watch it with interest, seemingly trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was animating it. From what she had said to Alice, I imagine that she must have studied the sciences during her time in the Outside World too. If Sanae had had the chance to attend university in the age that we had, I wonder if her major might have been the same as Renko's? Certainly, they seemed to have similar interests.

As we moved into the living room Sanae turned to me with a serious expression. Speaking in a voice low enough to not be heard in the kitchen over the sound of the hammering, she asked "hey, this Alice person kind of looks and acts like a doll herself. Do you think she could have been a former Rozen Maiden who won the Alice game? Her name's even Alice!"

"Sanae, I can't possibly answer that without having any idea what you're talking about."

"What? Haruhi is still around in your time, but 𝑅𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 has been forgotten? It was so popular though."

"I expect most works would be forgotten after 80 years."

It was difficult to have much of a conversation over the constant sound of hammering, and the tiny dolls with their tiny hammers seemed to need to take a lot of strokes to drive in each nail. We sat on the couch and watched them work until Alice came back in with the tea.

"So, Miss Alice, why the sudden interest in earthquake preparedness? Earthquakes are a fairly rare occurrence here, aren't they?"

Alice sat demurely and sipped at her tea daintily. "Waiting until after an earthquake strikes wouldn't accomplish much. Doesn't it make more sense to prepare ahead of time than regret it later?" She asked, dismissively.

"That's certainly true," Renko replied, "but you've been living in this house for years and clearly have never worried about it until now. What is it that's brought this level of preparedness to mind all of a sudden? It's a little unusual for someone to spontaneously start earthquake-proofing with no reason, don't you think?"

"The way you say that, I assume you've already come up with a theory?"

"I suppose I ought to be direct. Alice, do you have the ability to foresee earthquakes?"

Alice sighed. "Calling it foresight would be a bit much, I think. That said, any magician worth her salt would know an omen of disaster when she sees one."

"An omen?"

"Yes. Have you not seen it? That giant scarlet cloud in the sky?"

Renko and I looked at each other, bewildered, but Sanae clapped her hand to her mouth. "You saw it too!" she exclaimed. "It's been rainy up at the Moriya Shrine all month, but sometimes I can see a red cloud when there's a break in the sky. I didn't know it was a sign of earthquakes though."

"You live up on Youkai Mountain don't you?"

"Yes, a little over halfway up."

"I imagine you'd have a good view of the clouds from there. You say it's been raining all month? That's surprising. It's been hailing here just like it is now since the end of spring. It hardly feels like summer at all." Alice tilted her head as she turned to look out the window. I hadn't noticed it over the sound of the dolls' hammering, but pellets of hail were continuing to rattle against the glass and clatter on the roof.

"The weather has been strange all over Gensokyo recently. That's part of what I came here to ask you about." Renko said, steering the conversation back toward the topic at hand.

"Is that so? I'm afraid I haven't been out much recently."

"Yes. It's blazing hot at the Hakurei Shrine, raining at the Moriya Shrine, heavy clouds have settled permanently over the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and in the human village it's completely unpredictable, going from rain to sun with no warning. Interestingly, Marisa told us it's been nothing but drizzle in the forest, but coming here, we find that it's hailing instead."

Upon hearing that, Alice crossed her arms and grumbled. "That's even more alarming to hear. Whether it's the abnormal weather or that scarlet cloud, both seem like terrible portents of a looming disaster. I would recommend that you make a point of securing your own furniture at home as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute." Sanae said. "Saying you can predict earthquakes or anything else about the future from looking at clouds is fake, isn't it? Wouldn't this be what they call pseudoscience?"

"Not necessarily," Renko replied, closing her eyes and adopting a scholarly tone. "Here in Gensokyo perception and faith have power, so often pseudoscience might be more predictive than empirical measurements. For all we know, earthquakes in Gensokyo might really be caused by a giant catfish thrashing around underground."

"I see, professor." Sanae said, nodding along. "I really can't be held back by common sense here. But if that's the case, then who could be behind a scarlet cloud?"

—

"Oh, it's so late already!"

By the time we left Alice's house a little while later, it was nearly dark. We took Sanae’s hands as she flew us away from the hail and into an overcast sky but it was too dim for me to tell whether any of the clouds surrounding us might be scarlet-colored.

Standing upright on a cushion of air as usual and holding my cap on my head with my free hand, I turned to Renko. "What now, Sherlock? Are you really planning to stay out all night again?"

Renko tucked her chin to her chest for a moment in consideration then replied. "I think we've got to go see Hakugyokurou before I can be sure of anything, and with Remilia's deadline and classes tomorrow, we can't afford to waste time. We might have to pull an all-nighter, Merry."

I was about to object, but Sanae interrupted before I could speak.

"Don't worry about it!" She said happily. "There's no need, I've already solved all the mysteries!" Somehow that statement inspired only feelings of anxiety in me. "Tomorrow we can go see Remilia after your classes and I'll solve the whole thing right in front of her. Until then, you two just sit back and relax, it'll be smooth sailing from here to the finish line. You can spend your time nailing your furniture to walls instead of worrying."

"Are you sure about this, Sanae? This sounds less like smooth sailing and more like booking passage on the Titanic."

"I love that movie! I memorized all the songs! AAAND IIIEEEIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOUUU…"

"That’s not even from Titanic!" Renko interrupted.

"Well whatever. Let’s just get you home for now. Don't worry though, you can leave this case to Kochiya Sanae, divine detective!"

They continued discussing such nonsense as Sanae flew with us, all the way back to the village.


—8—


Sanae dropped us off in the village square, much to the surprise of the few passersby who could still be seen in the street after dark. Hovering above us, she waved before turning to leave, saying "Goodnight! I'll pick you up tomorrow after school." Renko and I shared an uneasy glance as we watched her fly off toward the mountains.

"Do you think this will work out alright?" I asked with trepidation.

"Well, whatever conclusion she's come to, I'll find a way to smooth it over. Don't worry about it Merry, I'll figure it out. I'm our agency's director, after all."

"You're sounding just like her now. That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either."

Regardless of how it panned out though, I suppose Renko had a point. Sanae might crack the case or fail horribly. Renko might smooth over her mistakes or make things worse. No matter what happened though, I was only along for the ride. No one looked to the detective's assistant to come up with the key breakthrough.

"Well, for the time being then, I suppose we ought to be taking Alice's advice and just start preparing for the possibility of a disaster."

"I get what you mean but I wonder if we oughtn't actually warn Keine about the possibility of an earthquake. It's not a sure thing, but it could be bad for the village if it happens."

"Well we only have Alice's words to go on at the moment. If we don't gather a little more evidence, Kotohime might use it as an excuse to slap those cuffs on you for false reporting."

"Before you start worrying about that, why not spend a little time thinking about what you'd do if you end up spending a night in jail for being out after curfew?" This last had come from a new voice, neither Renko nor I, but familiar enough that we both hunched up in surprise before turning around.

Spinning about, we came face to face with Keine, silhouetted by the crescent moon and staring us down with her hands on her hips and an exasperated look on her face. "Do I even want to know what you were both out doing so late at night?" she asked.

"Hey, we were back before nightfall tonight." Renko said, sheepishly. "Or well, we were headed back before nightfall, anyway. We got here before the gates closed so that counts for something right?"

"If you were just ordinary citizens, I might. But you two are role models! How am I supposed to tell the children to obey the rules and keep within the walls if they see two teachers like you disregarding every convention and flying around at night?"

"If you're going to lecture us, we should take it somewhere indoors, rather than the middle of the town square, don't you think?"

"You're completely right. I'm bringing you both to the office for the night, we can continue this there."

"Hey come on, that's not fair! Besides, we were only out so late because we uncovered some information that might be of critical importance to the safety of the village."

Keine looked unimpressed, arching an eyebrow and crossing her arms at Renko as she waited expectantly. "Is this actual information or just a rumor you overheard?"

"A little of each. It's only a prediction, but there's a lot of verifiable evidence that something strange is going on. We heard that all of it might be signs that an earthquake is about to hit."

Keine looked us both over with a scrutinizing eye, as if trying to search for any telltale detail that might indicate Renko was conjuring this story out of thin air.

"An earthquake." She declared with a frown. "Where are you getting this from? Even the Dragon God statue can't predict earthquakes."

"We heard about it from Alice. Surely you've noticed that the weather has been unusually unstable lately. That's because in various different places around Gensokyo, completely disparate types of weather are all happening at the same time."

"Abnormal weather? What's that got to do with earthquakes?"

"Well, it's not just abnormal weather, it's practically impossible weather. We were travelling all around today: it was sunny at the Hakurei Shrine, rainy at the Moriya Shrine, and hailing in the Forest of Magic. What's more, there have been several sightings of an enormous crimson cloud in the sky. Alice's read on all of that is that an earthquake or other major natural disaster must be imminent. She felt strongly enough about it that she put everything on hold to nail down all the furniture at her house."

Keine grumbled as she looked downward, cupping her chin in her hand and thinking aloud. "The weather has seemed oddly fickle lately..."

As much as Keine might have good reason to doubt us, she wasn't the sort who could let a potential threat to the village be ignored. "Earthquakes aren't exactly the sorts of things the neighborhood watch is set up to deal with, but the purpose of the neighborhood watch is to try to solve problems before they happen... Maybe some additional preparedness wouldn't be a bad idea. Do you think there's any merit to this rumor?"

"It's impossible to say. I agree the signs are all there, but who knows what they mean?"

"I suppose it's not the sort of thing we can afford to overlook. Did Alice say when this earthquake is supposed to occur?"

"Unfortunately not. But she seemed to think that there were enough warning signs to warrant getting started on preparations immediately."

"Hmmm, alright. Well hopefully we've got at least a little time to prepare. I'll look into signs of an approaching earthquake. Maybe I can get the leaders of the village to start making some preparations..."

"If the neighborhood watch starts shouting 'an earthquake is coming,' won’t that cause chaos in the village?" I asked.

"Hmm. I’m worried about that too. We wouldn't want to start a panic. But we wouldn't want to neglect the risk either... Maybe we could talk to the fire brigade and plan a large-scale disaster drill to get people to prepare. Hmmm, that's several more people I'll need to talk to now. We should start teaching disaster preparedness in our classes as well. That will require new lesson plans.... I've got a lot to do."

"Sorry to make more work for you Miss Keine..."

"Better to do the work now then to have to scramble to recover after an earthquake has already happened. Thank you for the warning, I suppose your late night habits can occasionally be useful," she said, patting us both on the shoulder. "Alright, I need to go get those new lesson plans written."

"You take care of that and I'll present them to the kids tomorrow. That way no one will fall asleep during the lecture."

Keine frowned at that, but was far too caught up in the planning and scheduling swirling through her head to pay much attention. Muttering to herself she walked off, leaving us alone in the square.

—

Just before the end of classes the next day we crowded all of the students into one classroom with the older kids at the back and the younger students in the front so that Renko could give a lecture on disaster preparedness. The lecture was mostly a showcase of her storytelling skills, which kept the children raptly attentive. Her talent getting the children invested in the idea of taking on the responsibility for disaster preparation was one of the few things I could compliment her on without reservation: she really does have a knack for it, in a way that neither Keine nor I could replicate.

"Hopefully the idea of having an evacuation plan will spread," Keine muttered to herself as we closed up the school for the day. I appreciated the care she held for her students and their families but I couldn't help but think she was taking on too much responsibility by holding herself accountable for the preparedness of the whole school. It was enough to make me feel bad for all the extra work Keine was taking on, even if it was entirely her own choice.

"I'm going to go and talk to the fire brigade now. What about you two?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could speak, Renko cut in. "We're going to be working on our end of the issue, seeing what we can do to corroborate reports of the warning signs for you, Miss Keine."

"Don't go anywhere dangerous." She said flatly. "And be back in the village before nightfall."

Renko grinned broadly, "Of course, I wouldn’t dream of it."

"Miss Renko, Miss Merry! Are you ready to go?" Sanae called out just then as she came floating down from the sky to land in the schoolyard with a whirl of dust. As the cloud of grit spun away from her, flaring her long skirt around her legs, she saluted for some reason. "You're all done for the day, right? I've come to pick you up."

"What’s with the salute? I thought you were supposed to be the main character today, Divine Detective Sanae." Renko said with a grin.

"All great detectives require an assistant to record their deductions, so it’s fine to show some respect for my Watson, right?"

"Oh, that’s a novel idea. What do you think, Merry?"

"I give the great detective Usami Renko all the respect her grandiose delusions deserve," I said, coming down the stairs to join them. "I have the utmost faith in your ability to come up with something even more far-fetched than whatever Sanae's explanation is, director."

"Well then you could show that respect once in a while, Merry."

"Oh I’m sorry, oh great and terrible god of deductions. Am I not stroking your ego sufficiently? Please forgive the meagreness of my tribute to your incomparable glory."

"You hear that, Sanae? Merry is going to turn me into a living god with all of this faith now."

"Ah, well in that case, let me know when that happens and I'll enshrine you at the Moriya Shrine. For now though, let's go! I've got a mystery to solve for our client!"

And thus, as soon as Renko took the time to once again don her unseasonable trenchcoat, we took Sanae's hands and flew off toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Towards God only knows what conclusion, an expression I use with full knowledge that it was a living god whose hand I was holding as we made our way out of town.


—9—


"Where's the culprit? It looks like you've only brought the same people as yesterday."

We found ourselves once again in the audience hall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, much as we had the day before. Remilia was regarding us with a sleepy smile from her seat on the throne, having just woken up in what, I assume, was the early morning for a vampire.

"I assure you, madam, the culprit behind this crime is in this very mansion with us as we speak! Simply allow me, divine detective Kochiya Sanae to reveal their nefarious scheme and this whole caper will be unraveled in a single stroke."

"I don't remember ever asking you to do anything. I thought Renko was investigating this."

"Sanae is a very eager part-timer with the Hifuu Detective Agency," Renko said, stepping forward. "Please hear her out, I guarantee that it will at least be interesting."

"Oh really? Alright then, let's hear it, part-timer." Remilia crossed one leg over the other on her throne and leaned to one side, supporting her chin with the heel of her palm.

"Very well!" Sanae declared, turning and pacing away from the throne. "Leave it to me!" she glanced over her shoulder with a smug expression, then, with her back still turned to Remilia, she began to speak, turning her head just enough that she could be heard.

"Our investigative efforts have uncovered that all of the incidences of irregular weather plaguing Gensokyo have been caused by an imbalance in the natural energies of the atmosphere and been accompanied by an unusual scarlet cloud."

"A scarlet cloud?"

Sanae whirled, turning not to face Remilia, but instead turning her profile to her. She began to pace back and forth, still smiling smugly as she continued. "Yes, a scarlet cloud. A cloud that was, at times, cleverly concealed above the very weather it created, but was in multiple instances observed all the same by multiple witnesses. A veritable fingerprint on this crime traced in ominous scarlet! Who would go to such lengths to try and reshape this world for their own benefit? Well, the answer is very simple. In fact, it's been in front of us from the very beginning."

Sanae paused in her oration, eyes closed and chin cradled in her hand. Then all at once her arm darted into her sleeve and came out with the same charm-tipped wand she had been waving around yesterday. Thrusting it out at Remilia, she made her accusation:

"The culprit is none other than you, Remilia Scarlet! You hired us to investigate this matter thinking that the best way to throw off the efforts of the Hifuu Detective Agency was to have us on your payroll, but it won't work! Your crimson-colored fingerprints are all over this case!"

If this were a manga, the only sound effect for this scene would be '...' or perhaps the faint buzz of a fly meandering through the air.

Apparently the awkward silence didn't bother Sanae a bit. After only a moment she pressed on. "The nature of the incident itself was my biggest clue. You already have a history of trying to alter the skies of Gensokyo by enveloping the world in a scarlet mist. But even beyond that, this mansion happens to have among its staff a gatekeeper with the ability to manipulate qi directly. Surely you didn't expect a great detective like myself to ignore such a coincidence! This is a clear sign that this incident is the result of a collaboration between the whole of the Scarlet Devil Mansion! It was your aim to cover the whole of Gensokyo in scarlet clouds and take over the world! The fact that you've been unable to go outside due to the rainstorms was a ruse intended to give you an ironclad alibi when, in fact, the crime was being committed by your subordinates at your command! It was Meiling or Patchouli who affected the weather for you here. And your maid, Sakuya, with her ability to manipulate time has been visiting Youkai Mountain, prolonging the rainy season around my shrine!"

Still the shocked silence stretched on.

"No clever comeback? Well, I'll spare you the need to think of one. The proof of your involvement is the fact that it's been endlessly sunny at the Hakurei Shrine! Everyone knows that Reimu once exterminated you, and now the weather is unseasonable everywhere but one place. Reimu never takes action unless something affects her personally, so leaving things nice and summery at the shrine is proof that the culprit was afraid of Reimu! Which means that it must have been someone Reimu had exterminated in the past! You may have told us the weather was keeping you from going outside, but in actuality, you had set it up to keep Reimu from going out! It was a daring and clever scheme, but now the jig is up!"

Remilia still remained silent, simply shifting in her chair as she watched Sanae pontificate.

"Alright then. You may have defeated me yesterday, but today I have the power of divine justice on my side. Come along quietly, for the sake of peace and the good of Gensokyo, or I'll be forced to show you the true power of the Moriya Shrine. Lady Kanako, Lady Suwako, lend me your strength to revolutionize the world!"

At last Remilia spoke. A single word. "Sakuya!"

Instantly the maid was at her side, bowing respectfully. "You wanted to see me, Milady?"

"This wrong-colored shrine maiden just told me she wants to play with Flan. Go show her the way."

"As you wish, Milady."

In an instant, Sakuya appeared behind Sanae, twisting the arm that had been holding the wand a moment before behind her back. Smiling brightly, but with both eyes closed, Sakuya leaned over Sanae's shoulder. "If you would just come this way, Miss. Please excuse us, Milady."

"Hey wait, what are you doing? Are you like one of those villains who attacks in the middle of the hero's transformation sequence? That's inexcusably rude! You can't interrupt a great detective's deductions with violence!"

Bowing with just her head and still smiling. Sakuya nodded toward Remilia and the two of them instantly vanished. We could only stare blankly at the empty air where they had just been.

"Is that what you call interesting?" Remilia asked, eying us lazily from her position on her throne. I cringed, taking a step behind Renko.
"Well, I would hope you at least found it to be an amusing diversion," Renko replied.

"I suppose it's a necessary measure to have the foil present their specious theory first to make the great detective's deductions look more impressive, but personally, I could do without the theatrics."

"Ah, as ought to be expected of a lady of your intelligence, ma'am, you've seen right through my tactics."

"With that out of the way, I trust you have the actual culprit for me?"

"Well, you've just caught her yourself, have you not, detective? I imagine even as we speak she's being punished for her crimes."

"Renko, you don't mean..."

"What? Do you mean to say that that green shrine maiden is responsible for this incident?"

"Indeed she is. By her own admission, Sanae is a wind priestess. Who better to manipulate wind and rain to her liking? Her aim was to make it appear as if you had been responsible for the incident, then exterminate you in order to improve the prestige of her shrine. It must be a difficult life for you to be such a visible and well-recognized icon of power and nobility. We're lucky that you have the cunning insight and quick wits to have seen through her plan as quickly as you did. You truly are the perfect armchair detective, a radiant light of wisdom shining a light that pierces through any villain's obfuscation."

"Oh, is that how it is?"

"I'm lucky to be in the presence of such a brilliant mind, whose superhuman wisdom allowed her to see the true culprit for what she was. I doubt there’s a criminal in Gensokyo who could hide from your sagacious gaze, ma'am. In fact, I expect there are more out there just waiting to be found."

"Oh? How do you mean?"

"Well, while your reasoning in punishing Sanae was undoubtedly correct, I suspect that she may not have acted alone, or rather, she may not have been the only person with the same idea. Your reputation precedes you across the breadth of this land, and being as feared and storied as you are, I expect that there are other beings, human and youkai alike, who might want to keep your invincible might from putting a swift end to their plans. You may have dealt with Sanae but there's bound to be a few others who get it into their head to try the same thing, even after her defeat. With your permission ma'am, I'd like to continue our commission, and resume searching for any additional culprits who might think to try and confine you here."

"R-right. That must be it. As you say, detective. Be careful on your way home."

"Of course, ma'am. Thank you once again." Renko bowed deeply, then, still bent over, she gave me a nudge. I bowed too. "Now then, if you'll excuse us, we have work to do." Rising up, she turned with a perfectly calm expression plastered on her face and made her way to the door. I followed closely behind her. It was only once the heavy door had shut behind us with a thud that she let out an explosive sigh.

"There you go, Merry. I told you it would all work out in the end."

"Did it, actually?"

"For the time being at least. She thinks the culprit’s been apprehended."

"She seemed a bit confused at the end."

"We can worry about that later. For now let's go find Sanae."

"Oh that's right! Do you think she's okay?"

"Sanae’s pretty tough and once Flandre figures out she’s our friend I'm sure she’ll be alright. She's probably not having too good a time though, so let's go get her quick."

I was too weary of all of the schemes, lies and counter-schemes to even sigh any more. I took Renko's hand as she offered it, and the two of us paced down the hallway, looking for a stairway we could take to the basement.

—

And so, after what felt like an eternity of wandering the seemingly endless halls, we eventually found ourselves back at the door of the cell where I had once read 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑒 to Remilia's younger sister. The strong and complex wards that had once guarded the iron-banded wooden door were now gone. Perhaps they were no longer needed.

Renko knocked on the door, but there was no response. Gingerly, she placed her hand on the door's handle. There no longer seemed to be any lock or ward securing it, as it opened easily.

"Young Miss, are you there?"

Hearing no response, we poked our heads inside. The room was dimly lit, with only the faintest ghost of a flame flickering in the tableside lamp and most of the light in the room coming from the soft glow of the seven-colored jewels adorning Flandre's wings, which were bobbing faintly in the gloom. It seemed that Flandre must be here, but where was Sanae?

"Oh, Miss Renko, Miss Merry, is that you? Are you both okay?" It was Sanae's voice, sounding as bright and cheery as ever.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we stepped into the room. "I think that's supposed to be my line, Sanae. Is everything alright in here?"

"Purrrr."

"Hehe, does that feel good?"

Sanae was sitting on the edge of Flandre's bed, with the young vampire herself lying down on her lap. She was running her fingers along Flandre's neck and head, tickling her softly as one might an affectionate cat.

"Oh, it's Merry and Renko!" Flandre declared, sitting up to look at us.

"Did you manage to befriend Remilia's little sister too, Sanae?"

"Yeah, she’s pretty friendly."

Just what had the two of them been up to in the time that Renko and I had been looking for them?

"Flandre's such a sweet little girl. I can't believe she's Remilia's sister."

"She's cute, but she's incredibly powerful. I'm glad you two didn't get in a fight."

"That's one of her charm points."

Truly, common sense had no hold on the mind of this living goddess.

"Maybe these two have a lot in common, actually." Renko mused.

"Don't be rude, Renko."

"Nevermind about all that now," Flandre declared. "Read me a story, Merry!"

"What? Oh, I guess I could, we'll just have to go and get something from the library."

"It's just like old times. It's been a while since the last Merry's Storytime!"

"Oh, is this a regular event? Can I play someone in the story?" Sanae asked, smiling broadly.

"It's not a play!" Flandre protested.

And so I spent the rest of that afternoon reading stories to the young mistress.

According to accounts I heard later, Remilia must have realized that Renko's explanation was nonsense as she dispatched Sakuya to abduct the culprit behind the incident later the next day. That, however, is a story for another time.