東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 4:Hisoutensoku

—10—

Among all of the incidents in Gensokyo, this one was probably the shortest, at least in terms of the time between the moment someone declared it to be an incident and the point at which that person considered it to be resolved.

"I'm afraid that was just an advertising balloon, Sanae," Renko said. "It was made by Lady Moriya."

"Huh?"

Thus, the incident was resolved, with an immediate, one-second kill. In the words of Chuzenji Akihiko, 'mystery is not a lack of knowing, mystery is misperception.' Mysteries arise from a lack of information thus any mystery, no matter how baffling, should be able to be solved by simply filling in the missing information. A great detective is someone able to do this through logic and deductive reasoning, while an actual police detective or private investigator is someone who would instead try to fill in the gaps with verifiable information and evidence. By providing to Sanae the missing pieces of the story she was unaware of, Renko had, in a single stroke, given Sanae’s mystery a happy ending.

"A balloon made by Lady Suwako? What? It couldn't be!"

Of course if that was all it took to reach 'happily ever after' then I wouldn't be writing this record now. If the truth is revealed but no one accepts or understands it, can the mystery really be considered solved?

"It would probably be quicker if we just show you. Do you think you can fly us up to the entrance of the Underground Geyser Center, Sanae?"

—

And so a short time later though we were all arriving in the same mountainous clearing we had visited the previous day. The smell of sulfur hung faintly in the air and numerous people were working around the borehole. Once we caught sight of Lady Suwako we descended to land beside her.

"Lady Suwako!" Sanae called out.

"Sanae? Oh, is that Renko and Merry with you?"

"Hello again, Lady Moriya," Renko said as our feet touched down. "I'm afraid we've been found out."

"Awww" Suwako cried sadly. "I'm guessing you must have seen the activation test earlier, right?" She smiled bitterly as Renko shrugged and scratched at her head.

"What is it that you're doing here, Lady Suwako?" Sanae asked, stepping forward. "I saw a huge shadow that looked like a giant robot in the fog the other day, and I thought for sure that giant bipedal robots must have slipped into fantasy."

"No, that was just Hisoutensoku. Didn’t Renko tell you about it?"

"She said it was an advertising balloon."

"I thought it would be quicker to show her than to try to explain," Renko said with a shrug.

"You're probably right," Suwako said with a nod. She folded her arms and called out to the kappa, "Hey! Sorry everyone but can we test the activation one more time?" Groans of protest rose from all around as the kappa, who appeared to have been in the middle of packing everything up, dropped what they were doing and scrambled about making the necessary preparations.

"Are you sure you want to activate it now, Lady Moriya? There's no mist at the moment, so some of the villagers might see it." We looked down to see that the protest had come from Nitori, who had been among the kappa packing everything up.

"It's fine, we'll only power it up for a little bit. It doesn't even have to be able to move this time. Just enough that someone from the village might see it and think it was something weird. We’ll be circulating the tengu newspapers about Hisoutensoku tomorrow anyway, so there’s no harm in giving some rumors a little head start."

Nitori sighed. "Alright, if we have to, we have to, I guess. Okay everyone, let's make this quick! Prepare for activation!" From there, the work proceeded smoothly, but there's no point in my describing every step of the process again. About ten minutes later Hisoutensoku was once more towering over us.

"So this is what the shape I saw in the mist really looks like?" Sanae stared up at the balloon with eyes alight with wonder. Looking at her profile she seemed positively awestruck, but I suppose I should have expected that given the sorts of things she was into.

"So anyway, that's Hisoutensoku. It's just an advertising balloon made to promote the kappa bazaar that starts tomorrow. There's nothing inside it but steam."

"So it's not a giant robot?"

"It's closer to a hot air balloon, really."

"Lady Suwako, why'd you base it off of 𝑀𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑍? There's so many better options! You could have made an Ingram, or an Arbalest, or a Shikon even!"

"What's wrong with Mazinger! It's cool!"

"But there's Aquarion, and Nirvash and RahXephon!"

"Those new designs are all too complicated. The original designs were the best, they looked rugged! Simple is always best, Sanae."

"You sound like an old man now."

"You're being too picky. I had to get the kappa to help me build this thing and it's just a balloon after all. You can't get that kind of detail on something inflatable."

"Alright but this is way too big to be Mazinger anyway, isn't it? It's got to be a hundred meters tall."

"The kappa got a bit carried away. I was aiming for something the size of Big O at most, but it ended up as big as Ideon. If I had known it was going to be this big, I would have had them make Godzilla instead. It is nuclear-powered after all."

"Ah, that explains the head, I was wondering why that part didn't look like Mazinger. You really like the Big O, don't you Lady Suwako?"

"That's right! [CAST IN THE NAME OF GOD] right? I actually wanted to make it look more like Big O, but that arm shape wouldn't have worked well for a balloon."

"Cast in the name of the god Mishaguji and ye shall be blameless, I guess. Oh, Miss Renko, you're a self-proclaimed Gensokyo negotiator, right? That makes you like Gensokyo’s version of Roger Smith! You don’t quite wear enough black though."

"You don’t have to add the ‘self-proclaimed’ part, Sanae."

"Wait, if Miss Renko were Roger, then Miss Merry would be a 130 kilogram android."

I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Alright, that’s enough." Suwako called out, cutting Sanae off. "Hisoutensoku. Retreat!" At once the giant robot once more began to rapidly deflate.

"Ohhh, it really is completely hollow inside…" Sanae said, watching the giant form shrink and allowing her shoulders to slump. Although she had been told about it, she looked honestly disappointed. Had she really wanted to see a giant robot that badly?

"Hey, Renko," I whispered, watching Sanae look forlornly at the deflated form the kappa were dragging back into the hole. "Do you think we should tell Sanae about that thing Alice made?"

"That would just complicate matters again." She was probably right. I'm not sure what Sanae would do if she saw Alice's Goliath Doll spell. "So you understand then, right Sanae? There's no incident here."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's fine," she said absently, seeming to have forgotten all about the idea.

"Alright then. Not having an incident is a good thing, right?"

"Well I'm glad that no one is in danger, but giant robots don't exist in the Outside World, so I was hoping that here they might."

"Even in the 2080s they were still common in fiction, so I doubt they'll be forgotten any time soon."

"That's a shame. Daidarabocchi's a youkai that's supposed to be as big as a mountain, right? Wouldn't it be cool to see one of those in a no-holds-barred fight with a giant robot?"

"I don't think there are any youkai of that size in Gensokyo. I've certainly never seen one."

"Maybe we could make one appear! If we were to destroy a big chunk of the forests and build a mine, maybe the god of the forest would manifest!"

Was she thinking of 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑘𝑒? That anime was almost a century old from my point of view but it's still a classic. This was real life though, not a Ghibli movie.

"Oh, speaking of a daidarabocchi, I heard a little fairy yelling about one on my way into your office."

"A fairy? What kind?"

"Um, the little blue fairy who lives on the lake. She uses ice."

She must have been talking about Cirno. That would make sense, Meiling had mentioned seeing something, so it's likely Hisoutensoku would have been visible from Misty Lake during its activation test yesterday as well. It hardly mattered now though. By tomorrow Hisoutensoku would be unveiled for the kappa bazaar, and once that was open any misconceptions anyone might have about what they had seen would be cleared up.

—That's what I thought at the time, anyway.


—11—


The next morning, the latest edition of the 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠 hit our doorstep. "Renko, your newspaper is here," I called out.

"Oh, thanks." Renko took the bundled paper from me and opened it as she sat down at the table for breakfast.

"Oh! Merry, take a look at this, there's an article about the kappa bazaar and Hisoutensoku right on the front page."

"Oh, really? Let's see... Starting today, the Futuristic Water Youkai Bazaar will open at the mouth of the Genbu Ravine. Come see a huge selection covering every need from kappa inventions to shirikodama, a wealth of prized treasures all at low, low prices."

Wait, they were selling shirikodama? Where had those come from? Actually, I'd rather not know.

"Here, I'll read you the article about Hisoutensoku: Come witness the enormous youkai-shaped autonomous doll Hisoutensoku. I suppose in Gensokyo they would call a humanoid robot a ‘youkai-shaped’ robot instead. Those who wish to attend the bazaar should head out early and make their way to the landmark." I looked over her shoulder at the large picture of Hisoutensoku, which must have been snapped during the initial activation test, as it showed only the vague silhouette of the robot, shrouded in fog and viewed from some distance above the ground. Given Hisoutensoku’s size, I suppose it really did make for a good advertisement.

"Since the temple school is closed today, I suppose we can go. What time does the bazaar open?"

"11:00. We can have a nice leisurely breakfast, then head out and arrive with plenty of time."

"Oh, you're wanting to go on foot?"

"We can't rely on Sanae to fly us everywhere, Merry. We can use Hisoutensoku as a landmark so it's not like we'll get lost walking there. Besides, you'll gain weight if you stop walking."

"If I go walking with you, I'll end up somewhere dangerous and have my lifespan shortened enough that I won't ever have to worry about that," I retorted with a pout but Renko only laughed.

—

Walking down the main street after breakfast and listening to the gossip being exchanged among vendors and passersby, it was clear that everyone was already talking about Hisoutensoku. It wasn't unusual to see small clusters of onlookers stopped in the middle of the street pointing towards the direction of Youkai Mountain and talking amongst each other.

"What is that thing?"

"I think I just saw it move!"

"Could that be a youkai?"

"It's got to be, it's a daidarabocchi!"

"No, it must be a giant nyuudo."

It wasn't long before I spotted a familiar face among the crowd. It was Keine, wearing the armband of the neighborhood watch and clutching a copy of the 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑢 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠 in her hand.

"Everyone, please calm down," she was saying to a gathering of nervous-looking villagers. She clapped her hands and raised her voice to command the attention of the gathering crowd. "According to the tengu newspapers, the giant on the horizon poses no threat. It's merely a decoration put in place to inform everyone of the opening of a kappa-run marketplace. If any threats arise we, the neighborhood watch or else the Hakurei shrine maiden will deal with them."

The people seemed reassured by Keine's announcement, but the talk didn't die down. Instead, with their worries dissuaded, people now seemed to become even more interested in the figure on the horizon, looking toward Hisoutensoku with curiosity rather than fear.

"Oh it's moving again, watch!"

"How big d'you reckon that thing is?"

"It’s so cool!"

"Awwwwsome."

"Hey, what's a kappa bazaar, anyway?"

"There's an article in the tengu newspaper about it, let's see if they have one in the teahouse."

At this rate everyone in town would have heard about the kappa bazaar by mid-afternoon. As a crowd gathered Renko and I tried to blend in and make our way to the village’s northern gate without being seen by Keine but…

"Good morning you two, where might you be heading off to?"

A familiar voice called out from behind us. When we turned around Keine was standing there, watching us both with a fixed smile that didn’t reach up to her eyes.

"Ah, hello there, Miss Keine. Isn't it a lovely day today?" Renko asked.

"I'm not interested in the weather. Where are the two of you headed?" By this point even Renko had learned that trying to deceive Keine would cause us more trouble in the long run.

"Well actually the two of us are supposed to help out at the kappa bazaar, so we were about to head off toward that big youkai-shaped landmark over there."

"Oh?"

"We aren't up to anything shady, Miss Keine. The only reason we hadn't told you about it ahead of time is because we didn't want you to worry about it."

"So in other words, you were planning on heading to the Genbu Ravine where this bazaar is being held without telling me at any point?"

"Well that's one way to put it."

Keine rested her hands on her hips and sighed. "Very well. However, if you want to spare me stress, why not tell me about things like this before they happen, next time?"

"Oh, is it alright if Merry and I go then?"

"This has something to do with the Moriya Shrine or the Myouren Temple, I'll bet. With the friends you've made in Gensokyo, I can't exactly get mad every time you want to leave the village, I suppose."

"It would have been nice if you had seen things that way when he helped out the Myouren Temple," Renko muttered quietly.

"You went to Makai! It's not safe for humans there!" Really there was nothing either of us could say to argue with that. "Anyway, this kappa bazaar has a huge advertisement in place already. Even the entire neighborhood watch couldn't make sure that no one got curious and went to have a look at this rate. I suppose if the youkai from the mountain were actually trying to harm humans they wouldn't do something so flashy, but even so..."

"Even so...?"

"Even so, it's outside of the village so some caution is necessary. As such, I'll be coming with you."

"Oh, all right..."

"In fact, I'm going to get some other members of the watch to come too. That way we'll be able to keep an eye on things and make sure everyone is safe. Really the kappa should have contacted us to begin with. How else can we assure the village of the event's safety?"

Renko looked over at me and shrugged. There wasn’t any room for either of us to argue with that.

—

And so, Renko, Keine, Kotohime and myself all set out as a group of four, headed for the Genbu Ravine and the slowly waving form of Hisoutensoku in the distance.

"I'm looking forward to this," Kotohime drawled. "I wonder what sort of things the kappa will be selling?"

"Kotohime, we won't be there to shop." Keine chastised.

"Come on~ a little shopping won’t hurt anyone. Besides, I wanna see that giant doll up close. How does it move like that?"

"Maybe it’s pulled around with strings like how the puppeteer in the village does it."

"It would have to be a really big rope for that, wouldn't it?"

Being as Suwako had told us it was a trade secret, Renko and I kept our mouths shut about Hisoutensoku being driven by steam from a nuclear boiler.

The walk along the road was pleasant. We headed north, following the course of the river out of the village and towards Misty Lake. After making our way around the shore we eventually saw a simple wooden sign which read "Futuristic Water Youkai Bazaar straight ahead." In the distance Hisoutensoku stood impressively, acting as a landmark.

"Wow, what a sight." Renko said as we saw the market spread out on the river bank.

All along the river, mats had been spread out and covered with all manner of junk arranged in haphazard piles. Further down, an observation deck had been set up on the side of a cliff near a waterfall with a sign labeling it as the 'Hisoutensoku Observation Platform.' My first thought was that it looked rather inaccessible, but then I spotted a waterwheel-powered lift that had been assembled nearby. I wondered if that was something the kappa had made or something the Moriya Shrine might have suggested.

"Oh, this place looks pretty lively," Kotohime said, nodding appreciatively.

"It's much more open-air than I would have expected. Renko, do you know who's in charge here?"

"Hmm, probably Kawashiro Nitori. She's a kappa. Or maybe one of the gods from the Moriya Shrine."

"Hello Merry, Hello Renko. Thanks for coming. Ah, is this the teacher from the village you've been working for?" As soon as we mentioned her, Moriya Suwako came striding towards us, tilting her head inquisitively. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she and Keine had ever met before this.

"I'm Kamishirasawa Keine, of the village's watch."

"The watch? Are you here because you're suspicious that this is a trap or something? You've got nothing to worry about. This bazaar is purely a business opportunity. There's no people-eating monsters or nefarious schemes here. I'm Moriya Suwako, goddess of the Moriya Shrine and organizer of this bazaar. Pleased to meet you."

"Ah, the Moriya Shrine. Thank you for taking care of Renko and Merry all those times that they went up Youkai Mountain."

"I’m the one who should be thanking you. They’ve both been great friends to my Sanae."

Keine extended her hand and Suwako shook it. The two of them quickly fell into a conversation, conversing like the parents of unruly children. Renko took the opportunity to nudge Kotohime, and the three of us quietly stole away to explore the stalls and shops that made up the bazaar.

Looking around, Hisoutensoku seemed to be having the desired effect. Numerous villagers, youkai, and fairies were drifting in to see it up close. We were walking between stands when Kotohime suddenly called out, having apparently recognized a familiar face.

"Hey! Rikako!"

"What? Kotohime? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Patrolling, I guess. I'm here with the neighborhood watch. Are you shopping?"

"I'm scouting! This is tactical reconnaissance! It's not like I'm interested in kappa tools or anything!"

Kotohime wandered away, toward the long-haired girl she was speaking to. Seeing the two of them converse so happily, we decided it was best to just let the both of them be. Renko and I wandered away to explore the rest of the bazaar, looking around for familiar faces and glancing at the wide array of items up for sale.


—12—


It suffices to say that the bazaar was a huge success for the kappa. Hisoutensoku achieved exactly what Suwako had hoped it would, drawing both humans and youkai from all over Gensokyo to the market to see the sights and examine the wares on offer. There's much more I could write here about our time at the kappa bazaar, but none of it would have any impact on the point of this casefile, which is already meandering enough as it is.

We saw a number of familiar faces there as well: Marisa and Rinnosuke were both present and bought mountains of junk, while Reimu stared at both of them in dismay. Sanae joined us later in the afternoon and marveled at the various unconventional kappa devices on display, approaching even the most useless-seeming inventions with wide-eyed wonder. If I keep writing about everything we saw though, this chapter will go on forever.


Therefore I will restrict myself to just recounting one thing we saw that was relevant to this case. As the bazaar really got underway we noticed three figures walking through the crowds under a trio of parasols. Remilia, Sakuya and Patchouli. As usual, Meiling, Flandre and Koakuma seem to have been left at home.

"Hello there," Renko said with an incline of her head. "What brings the three of you out today?"

"That big thing was visible from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I wanted to see what it was."

"And I wanted to see if there was anything worthwhile here before someone else snatched it up."

Remilia was staring up at Hisoutensoku excitedly while Patchouli was looking down at the various items for sale, but without much interest. Between them, Sakuya was holding Remilia's parasol in place, looking calm and collected as ever.

"I had thought it was rather brazen of these fools to build something so large near the Scarlet Devil Mansion without my permission, but when I went to look at it I found it was nothing but a flimsy shell. How disappointing," Remilia scoffed, resting her hands on her hips.

Patchouli sighed, looking exhausted. "When Remi first saw that thing she was convinced it was the evil youkai from that awful tengu manga who had come to challenge her in person. She was basically saying the same nonsense our gatekeeper had been spewing earlier."

"Meiling? Did something happen to her?"

"She read that same comic that Remi read. Ever since Remi lent it to her, she's been ranting about Taisui Xingjun."

"Taisui Xingjun... that’s… a Chinese god of calamities, isn’t it? Am I getting that right?"

"I don’t mind her reading manga on the job, but what good is a gatekeeper who falls asleep on the job and dreams of the manga she was reading?"

As always, Patchouli's opinion of Meiling was not at all flattering.

"She's been dreaming about manga?"

"She was fighting something in her sleep, apparently. No doubt she was having a dream based on that third-rate manga. Oh, how much is this?"

With that our conversation with Patchouli was cut off as she turned her attention to the kappa merchants. I looked over at Renko and noticed she was fiddling with the brim of her hat, her fingers playing over the brim as they often did when something serious was occupying her mind.

—

After we had had our fill of the bazaar, Renko and I made our way back to the village, but not before stopping off at the Myouren Temple to pick up another of their leaflets to act as a charm for Renko. She must have still been having odd dreams, because she tucked the flyer into her pillow as soon as we got home. From there, our evening passed without any notable events.

The next day the bazaar was still operating but Renko and I had classes to teach at the temple school. I was just finishing up for the day when Renko popped her head into the staff room.

"Hey Merry, I'd like to stop by the Scarlet Devil Mansion tonight."

"What? Why? We just saw Remilia, Sakuya and Patchouli yesterday didn't we?"

"Yes, but there's someone else who I want to talk to now." Saying that, Renko turned and walked out the door. Clearly a question of some sort had gotten hold of her. There was nothing I could do at this point but follow her.

We left the village through the north gate and made our way towards Misty Lake once again. In the distance Hisoutensoku was still visible on the horizon, waving slowly and casting a shadow over the Genbu Ravine. I hoped that the kappa were doing good business today as well. At any rate, before long we arrived and found Meiling standing there as always, but wide awake today, with a tension in her stance that only relaxed slightly as we waved in greeting to her.

"Oh, it's just you two. What can I do for you both today?"

"Well actually, I just wanted to speak to you today, if you don't mind. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

"Who, me?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yes. I happened to run into your mistress and Miss Patchouli at the bazaar yesterday and they told me some interesting stories about you."

"About me?" she asked, looking uneasy. "What kind of stories?"

"Well, Patchouli mentioned that you had been enjoying that tengu-made action manga. Is that accurate?"

Meiling's smile twitched at that comment. "Uh, well, about that—What did Lady Patchouli tell you, exactly?"

"I won't subject you to every embarrassing detail, but if you don't mind I would like to ask you about that dream you were having the other day."

Meiling groaned wordlessly, shaking her head and covering her face in shame. "My dream? Why would you want to talk about that?"

"There’s just a few details I’d like to confirm. From what Miss Patchouli said, it sounds like you were dreaming about the story in that manga."

"Um, heh well, I guess it’s just as she says…" Meiling scratched at her head and smiled unevenly.

"In other words, were you perhaps dreaming of someone you know, or rather someone who appeared to be someone you know, but turned out to actually be an impostor intent on attacking you?"

"Wha—Yes, that's exactly what it was, just like in the manga! First the Hakurei shrine maiden, then the black and white witch, and then that blonde puppeteer. They all came to the gate of the mansion, but they were all fakes and I had to fight them off, one after another!"

"I see..."

"And then there was the giant catfish! He said he was the avatar of Taisui Xingjun and was going to gather up his power to make an earthquake that would destroy all of Gensokyo!"

I couldn't help but be reminded of our own brush with a destructive earthquake the previous summer. It seemed a bit odd that such a topic was being brought up again. That incident was long over, wasn't it?

"That catfish was a great fight. As soon as I beat him though, the real Taisui Xingjun appeared. That was an even bigger fight! I was about to launch a full-on counterattack but then I was woken up... It's really kind of embarrassing." Meiling cleared her throat before giving Renko a serious look.

"I'm certain about one thing though. I saw the shadow of Taisui Xingjun at one point. I was wide awake at the time and it appeared on Youkai Mountain, shrouded in mist. It didn't look anything like whatever that thing the kappa have over there and it disappeared as soon as the mist did." She said, gesturing toward Hisoutensoku with a twist of her head.

It didn't look anything like Hisoutensoku, she meant? I was about to ask if what she had seen might have been Hisoutensoku’s travel run but she kept right on talking.

"It may not happen right away, but I still think there's some sort of terrible crisis approaching. Whenever it comes, I'll be first in line to fight it off. For the good of the mansion and Gensokyo!"

Meiling dropped into a ready stance, looking like something straight out of a kung fu movie. While it was nice to see her applying herself to her work, I couldn’t help but sigh. I looked over to my partner, expecting her to be wearing the same slightly exasperated expression I was, but instead she seemed to be deep in thought, a serious expression on her face.

"Miss Meiling..." she said, after another moment's consideration, "do you remember ever having had a dream like that before you read that manga?"

"Huh? Uh, well, no, not really."

"I see. If a crisis really is approaching Gensokyo, that could be a problem.. I'll be on the lookout for potential imposters as well." Renko grinned up at Meiling with her usual troublesome smile, to which Meiling could only tilt her head curiously.