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

[𝟐 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫]


—10—


The day after the maddening scene at the Scarlet Devil Mansion was substantially quieter. That may have had something to do with the fact that Sanae didn't come by the office, but she wouldn't have found us there even if she had. Keine saw to it that most of our day was spent assisting the fire brigade and the neighborhood watch with their disaster prevention preparations.

"Come on, you two, this was your idea, let's see some effort!"

Renko turned to Keine with a look of exasperation. "We were just gathering information, I thought that was our role in this!"

"You're teachers! If you find something that might put the students in danger don't you feel an obligation to protect the children however you can? If someone got hurt because you were slacking off with the preparations, how would you be able to live with yourself?" Keine was smiling at us as she chided. As her employees there really wasn’t anything we could do but put up with it.

Thus, after our day of teaching was over, we not only ended up helping Keine assist with disaster preparations but ended up marching around the village with Keine, Kotohime and a few other members of the neighborhood watch, shouting slogans to try to raise awareness and encourage disaster preparedness among the villagers.

After all of the drills, lectures and hours of volunteer labor we finally returned home. Renko and I were both far too tired to be looking for any more clues or earthquake omens at that point. We managed to find the time and energy to affix our single chest of drawers to the wall, but we didn't have much else in the way of furniture to secure. Besides, if the roof collapsed on us, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

That day passed without further incident and the next dawned. After the end of classes, on the day before the earthquake, we helped Keine close up the school before she dragged us along on another parade around the city where we were required to clap wooden blocks to draw attention as we yelled about preparing for disasters.

"Hey Renko?" I whispered to my partner in between shouted repetitions of safety slogans.

"Yeah? What's wrong, Merry?" Renko was walking just beside me, with Keine in front of us, shouting with full-throated vigor.

"Have you been getting the feeling that someone is watching us?"

"No, but if someone is, it's probably just Ran, right?"

Yakumo Ran, the shikigami to the Youkai Sage had told us that she would be watching over us covertly to keep us out of danger. We had never had any sign that that was actually happening though.

"I'm pretty sure Ran doesn't watch us when we're here in the village. Ran's so good at hiding I can never be sure if she's around or not though. What I'm feeling now is... more blatant."

"Well, I haven't noticed anything, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there. Your eyes are more sensitive than mine." Renko seemed lost in consideration for a moment. Then she raised her voice and called out to Keine just as we were nearing the main street. "Miss Keine, please excuse us for a moment. Merry needs the washroom. We'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Oh, alright. I'm not sure who would have a toilet you could use right around here though."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out. See you in a moment. Come on Merry, let's not keep your bladder waiting."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Renko took my hand and the two of us left the line, darting around the corner of a building and out of Keine's line of sight. Renko's intention had probably been to scan the crowd for any signs that someone could be following us but as luck would have it our pursuer gave themselves away immediately. As soon as we left the line they must have been flustered by seeing us dart off because I saw a quick and sudden flurry of motion a little ways back. There was nothing there but empty space —or at least, that's how it must have looked to Renko. To me there was a uniquely nauseating tell-tale blur just a short distance behind us, a neat rectangle of distorted three-dimensional space directly between us and whoever was behind it. It was a technique I had seen employed only once before, by one very particular rabbit from Eientei.

"Miss Reisen, is that you?" I called out.

The blind of out-of-phase space wavered. "Shhh! How can you always see me like that?" it asked as it hustled towards us. Drawing nearer, the rectangle of out-of-phase space dissipated, revealing exactly the face I had expected. She was dressed in a summery-looking short-sleeved white shirt and a blue skirt rather than the jinbei and straw hat she normally wore when coming into the human village. She must not be here selling medicine like usual, though I suppose if she had been she wouldn’t have had any reason to hide herself.

Renko's eyes widened as she appeared. "Whoa! If it isn't Maxwell's Demon herself! What can we do for you, Reisen? Have you decided to let me do a few experiments with your eyes?"

"Absolutely not." Reisen said dismissively. Renko's smile fell at the offhand rejection. "More importantly, what are you doing leading all of these disaster preparedness drills in the village? Do the people here already know what's going on?"

Renko perked back up, her mind switching instantly from the mysteries of impossible physics to the mysteries of the ongoing incident. "Ah, would you be referring to all of the omens of an upcoming earthquake, by chance? Are you investigating this incident, Reisen?"

"That's right. The unnatural weather and oddly colored clouds are all omens of a major earthquake. I didn't think anyone else in Gensokyo had noticed yet. I've been looking around, but the vampires at that red mansion don't seem to have any idea what's going on either."

"You went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

"I tried to. The vampire there pounced on me, and treated me like I was a criminal. It was a terrible experience." Reisen sighed heavily.

I can only imagine that Remilia must have seen through Renko's ruse by now and be trying to resolve this incident on her own. That probably meant that she would be taking the brute force approach to incident resolution, fighting everyone they came across figuring that sooner or later they were bound to run into the party responsible for whatever was going on.

"That's why I was surprised to come to the village and see you in the middle of disaster preparedness drills," Reisen continued. "Do you know anything about what's going on?"

"We heard from Alice that all of this suggests an earthquake may be coming, but that's all we know. Everything you see here is just humans trying to err on the side of caution."

"Alice? She's the puppeteer who attacked Eientei with the others that one time, right? I really don't want to go talk to any more of those people..." she moaned, her shoulders slumping.

"Did Doctor Yagokoro tell you to look into this, Reisen?"

"Yes, Master was curious about what could be causing this, so she sent me to find out."

"So then even the Lunar Sage doesn't know exactly when the quake is likely to occur, I take it."

Reisen regarded Renko with confusion. "Master is a genius, but that doesn't mean she can predict earthquakes." It made sense, but I'll admit I was surprised to hear it too. Eirin, who's scientific mastery was so advanced as to seem magical, being at the mercy of something as mundane as an earthquake seemed somehow surprising.

"So what have you seen in your investigations so far, Reisen?"

"I'm under no obligation to share that with you. And don't call me Reisen. You and I aren't close enough to be on a first-name basis, human."

"Seriously? We've known each other for years now. You took care of me when I was injured. I'd say our relationship goes far beyond merely professional."

"Stop making insinuations like we're dating! We're not even friends, you just keep following me around!"

"All I want to do is experiment with your eyes, Reisen."

"Ugh, please don't say things like that, you sound just like Master, and that's even more disturbing."

"Well, then just tell me what sort of things you’ve been seeing. I'm betting you've at least witnessed a bunch of anomalous weather?"

"And now you’re back on topic. You humans have strange ways of thinking. As far as weather goes though... It was snowing in the Netherworld when I went."

"Reimu mentioned that Yuyuko had been complaining about that, and that it had snowed at the shrine when she showed up. I wonder if the lady of Hakugyoukurou might have gathered all the winter up into the Netherworld and unbalanced things here in Gensokyo?"

"I don't know. I get the feeling that you guys don't know anything that I don't though. I shouldn't be wasting my time here." With that, she turned to leave.

"Ah Reisen, wait. Just one more question."

"I thought I asked you not to call me Reisen!" She said, whirling indignantly. I can't help but think Renko must have done it on purpose to get her attention.

Renko responded to Reisen's glare with a smile, fiddling with the brim of her hat as she did. "Would you mind just giving my regards to Doctor Yagokoro the next time you see her? I'm planning on stopping by Eientei later."


—11—


After we parted ways with Reisen, we caught up with Keine and the rest of the parade and finished our route around the village. By the time we were done, it was early evening. Being midsummer, the sun was still high in the sky, but it was too late to consider going to Eientei tonight —doing so would mean risking Keine's wrath again, and Renko and I were already on thin ice.

As might be expected, this meant my partner immediately came to the conclusion that we needed to find a way to get to Eientei without angering Keine —simply not going never seemed to have crossed her mind.

"Miss Keine, with all the emergency preparations we've been doing, it's been a while since we've seen Mokou, hasn't it? What do you say to going over to her place and bringing some dinner tonight?"

"Oh, that could be nice. It's rare for you to bring it up though, Renko. What's the occasion?" Admittedly, in the past when we had gone to see Mokou it had almost always either been at Keine's invitation or because Renko and I were up to something Keine wouldn't have approved of. After working with Keine for so long, her understanding of Renko’s motivations was rapidly becoming more insightful. She glared at Renko with narrowed eyes. "You're not planning to sneak off into the woods or something are you?"

Renko smiled broadly, utterly unapologetic. "Ah, I should know better than to try to sneak something by someone as perceptive as you.

"I should have known. You two never come to see me unless you’re up to something."

"Well it really would be nice to go see Mokou tonight, but I admit I was also hoping she could take me by Eientei after dinner."

"Eientei? Why? Is someone sick?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just have some business to attend to there. If I went on my own though I'd get back late, so rather than make you worry, I thought I might invite you to come along too."

"It's awfully late to go if you're planning to go to Eientei tonight. Does it have to be today?"

"Well, you're planning on keeping us just as busy tomorrow with another parade, aren't you?"

"Well, since we don't know when the earthquake is going to hit..." Keine closed her eyes for a moment, thinking before finally sighing as she resigned herself to a conclusion. "Alright, if I say no, I'm certain you'll just sneak out to see her anyway, so I suppose I had better go with you. I appreciate you talking to me beforehand, but please try to keep it quick and don't do anything dangerous. We have plenty to worry about here in town already. It's been very hot in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost recently though, so make sure to dress appropriately."

"No problem. We'll meet you there then, Keine. See you tonight!" Renko said, grabbing my hand as she turned and jogged off, dragging me along with her.

"Hey wait! We're still in the middle of talking!"

I managed to turn around just long enough to nod and say "excuse me, see you tonight" before Renko dragged me around the corner toward the road leading south out of town. It seemed even without Sanae here I had no hope of avoiding being dragged from place to place.

I quickened my steps to move up beside Renko, but didn't let go of her hand. "So what are we headed to Eientei for?" I asked.

Renko grinned and poked the brim of her hat back on head. "I need to talk to Eirin. I need to ask her why she bothered sending Reisen out to investigate this incident."

—

Soon we found ourselves on the edge of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

"It really is hot here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Keine wasn't kidding. It's got to be part of this abnormal weather."

The scenery was just the same and just as confusing as ever, but the environment had utterly changed. Despite the dappled shade beneath the canopy of the forest, the heat was oppressive between the stalks. It wasn't a humid heat as one might expect, but instead scorching and dry, feeling as if we were walking through a desert despite the deep shadows covering the path. Even my cold-blooded partner was obliged to remove her coat and drape it over her arm and we were sweating heavily after only a few minutes of walking.

"The Hakurei Shrine was bad enough, but this might be worse. Merry, are you doing alright?"

"I'll be okay as long as we make it indoors soon."

"We're nearly there," Renko said. "In fact, look, there it is." We had indeed arrived at Mokou's run-down shack. Renko trudged ahead and rapped on the door, calling out "Hey Mokou, are you there?" As she did so.

The door opened to reveal a nearly half-naked Mokou, stripped to the waist with only a long strip of cloth wound around her chest and her hair tied back off of her neck with even more charms than usual.

"Oh whoa, sorry, should we come back later?" Renko asked, taken slightly aback.

"What? Oh no, don't mind me, and don't be a prude. You're not Keine and it's way too damn hot for normal clothes. I don't know how you can both stand to wear all of that." She was rapidly fanning herself with a paper fan in her free hand. I had to admit, given the conditions here, if I could have taken my dress off I would have. "Come on in, not that it's much better in here," she said, opening the door wide.

The temperature inside the house was indeed not much different. Coming in, Renko looked around. "Mokou, you can't stay here in this heat. Or are you fine with it because you're used to handling fire?"

"No, this is unnaturally bad. You two are ones to talk though, why are you dressed like that?"

"It's not nearly this hot in the village."

Mokou blinked in surprise. "Really?"

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to find her assuming that the conditions here would be the same everywhere else. Alice had come to much the same conclusion after all, and was similarly unlikely to leave her home.

"In that case, have Kaguya and that quack been doing something again?" Mokou's teeth clenched.

"I doubt it. The weather is weird everywhere right now. You wouldn't know it since you’re always cooped up here in the bamboo forest, but different parts of Gensokyo are getting all kinds of different weather right now. There's even hail and snow in some places."

"Really? Also, don’t treat me like I’m a hikikomori like Kaguya."

"So have you been out anywhere recently?"

"Well... Three days ago I tried to go fishing in the early morning before it got too hot over at Misty Lake a while back, but it was just as hot there too. There wasn't even any mist. I didn't catch much, so I left before noon."

"What? This was three days ago, you said?" Renko and I turned to look at each other. Three days ago would have been about when Sanae had first burst into our office shouting about the weather and we had ended up going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. We had arrived a little after noon, but by the time we did it had been overcast and the lake had been as misty as usual. It certainly hadn't been abnormally hot. Could the weather change so dramatically in such a short time?

"Mokou, are you sure it was three days ago you went?"

"I'm pretty sure. The days and months and decades can all kind of blend together for me, but I caught three fish, had one that night, one the next day, and the last one last night, so yeah, three days ago. Why?"

"I'm pretty sure you just gave us a key clue we'll need in order to solve this incident. As expected, Mokou, you carry the wisdom of ages."

"What? I just went fishing. What are you talking about? What incident?"

Renko merely grinned and nodded in the face of Mokou's exasperation. I had no idea what she was thinking at the time, but she seemed to have come to a conclusion. "Alright Renko. I don't get it either. What's the big secret?"

"Don't you see, Merry? We've been looking at this all wrong."

"How so?"

"We were thinking the weather was being weird in different locations, but that's not it at all. It's being weird around different people. That's why it snowed when Yuyuko came to the Hakurei Shrine! The snow was following her around. That must be what Patchouli was researching and why she was looking into 'temperaments.' Meiling told us that the natural world has moods or temperaments, right? Well those temperaments must be responding to changes in the temperaments of individual people..."

"I’m not following you. Why would people’s mood affect the weather?"

"Give me a bit, I'm still working out my hypothesis. I don’t think it’s mood that’s affecting the weather though, since we've seen all kinds of different conditions. It's more like it’s certain people’s essence that’s having an influence. That means the weather is changing to reflect the nature of certain individuals..."

"How does that make any sense?"

"The Hakurei Shrine has been sunny, it's been the rainy season non-stop at the Moriya Shrine... The Forest of Magic appears to have hail sometimes and drizzle others... or maybe it drizzles near Marisa and hails around Alice! The human village has weather that can change in an instant, while the Netherworld is cold and here around Mokou it's blazing hot! We were looking at things far too scientifically for a world where someone can collect spring and take it somewhere else. It's not a natural phenomenon or global warming, it's people!"

"So you think the abnormal weather is just following people around? And that everyone gets their own sort of weather?"

"That's it precisely, Merry," Renko said, snapping her fingers and nodding. "When Mokou went to Misty Lake it became scorching hot there. When Lady Yuyuko went to the Hakurei Shrine, it started to snow. Neither of those events make any sense if the weather is bound to a location. That means that the reason it's so hot in here right now is because of you, Mokou!"

"Me? What did I do?"

"It's not your fault exactly, but it's a result of your nature. Meiling told us that the natural rhythms of nature's qi had been disrupted and Patchouli said that magicians are sensitive to temperaments. Each of us must have some kind of temperament associated with them and weather is just the temperament of the heavens. Maybe somehow people's temperaments are flowing out of them and rewriting the temperament of the world around them. Those scarlet clouds must have something to do with this. They're the only type of weather that's been the same for everyone who saw them."

"So everyone’s nature is affecting the weather around them? Does that include us?" I asked.

"Well it's just a hypothesis. I can't say for sure yet. Reimu has a sunny disposition for the most part and Alice is a little on the cold and hard side. Both of them thought it was sunny or hailing everywhere because that's how it was wherever they went."

The explanation seemed logical and I had to admit it fit the facts we had observed, but it was still hard to believe. "Renko, let me ask you something."

"Go ahead, Merry."

"If you're right about all this, then what would happen if Reimu and Alice were in the same place? You couldn't have hail spontaneously fall from a clear, sunny sky, could you?"

"Great question. Sanae told us that the weather at her shrine has been constantly rainy, but that rain didn't follow her into town. We took her all over, but it didn't rain anywhere we went. That must mean that the rain at the shrine is attached to Kanako or Suwako. So either Sanae isn't being affected by this incident, or whatever type of weather she would normally create is being drowned out by something else."

"Drowned out?"

"Well, look at the human village. If everyone has a temperament that could potentially control the weather, then all of those different conditions would be in conflict. We're not seeing a complete chaos of every type of weather happening at once though, so there must be some logic to it. Some people's temperaments overwrite others. Like a priority system."

"So things are hot here because Mokou has priority over us, but if it were the other way around then our weather would take precedence?"

"That seems to be the case. You and I probably cause some kind of weather of our own, but we're always hanging around strong people, both humans and youkai, so our weak human temperaments are getting drowned out."

"What about when two strong people meet? Marisa said it had been drizzling non-stop around her, but it was sunny when she got to the Hakurei Shrine."

"Right, that would be Reimu's weather taking priority over hers."

The whole situation seemed very arbitrary. What would happen if someone with a sunny personality and someone gloomy went out on a date? Renko's examples fit the facts, but it seemed a little too unlikely to simply accept.

Mokou walked over to the kitchen and ladled water into three cups from a basin. Bringing them back to us, she handed them out with a sigh. "I have no idea if you're right or not, but either way, I don't see what we can do about it. What did you guys come here for though? Since you're not with Keine, I'm guessing you want me to guide you somewhere."

"Ah, you're very perceptive today. You can probably even guess where I was going to ask you to take us."

"Back to Eientei again? I'll show you the way, but if you keep going back there, you're going to become one of that quack's experiments sooner or later."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. If Eirin was going to dissect someone, it would definitely be Merry."

"That doesn't make it okay!" I cried, smacking Renko on the back of the head. Renko laughed but Mokou just sighed, shaking her head at our recklessness.


—12—


We made our way to Eientei in the oppressive heat. Upon reaching the bamboo outer wall surrounding the mansion, Mokou left with a wave, saying "I'll come back and get you afterwards." Less than a minute after she had moved out of sight back into the forest, the heat began to become tolerable again. The change was beyond refreshing given what we had just had to suffer through.

Renko gave me a nudge with her elbow as we walked up to the gate. "See? What'd I tell you? Now that we're away from Mokou, the weather's cooled off."

"It certainly seems that way," I agreed, wiping the sweat from my face with a handkerchief.

"I wish I could ask Eirin exactly how that works, but I don't think asking Mokou to come here so she can take measurements would work out well for anyone." Renko paused for a moment as we arrived at the open gate, then called out. "Excuse me, is anyone home?"

From behind the wall came the sound of many feet scurrying as a crowd of inaba rushed out of the garden to meet us. In the middle of the horde was Tewi's familiar face.

"Oh, it's the usual two humans back again. What do you want this evening?"

"If it's not too much trouble I was hoping I could talk to Doctor Yagokoro for a bit. Is she in?"

"Master's here. She's in the middle of some work though. I'll go tell her you're coming, but it's not my fault if you become part of her experiment."

Tewi guided us into the mansion, leading us down the long corridor lined with doors, then stopped in front of one, yelling, "Master, you have some guests here!"

Eirin opened the door a moment later, poking her head out into the hallway with an expression of mild surprise.

"Hello, Doctor Yagokoro. Good to see you again," Renko said as we entered.

"Um, hello there."

"Welcome, both of you." Eirin greeted us. "Is there something bothering either of you? Or are you finally ready to let me have a look at that girl's eyes and brain?"

That seemed to be everyone's favorite joke tonight. Personally, I didn't see the humor in it.

"I'm happy to say we're both perfectly healthy, which means I'll have to disappoint you as we have no plans to donate anything of Merry's at this time."

"Very well then. Why don’t you come in,” Eirin asked, opening the door wider. As Renko and I seated ourselves on the cushions by the table Eirin put her writing desk aside and turned to face us.

"I take it then that you have some questions you'd like me to answer?"

"It's about the same thing that you sent Reisen out to investigate. We’ve noticed the recent unusual weather patterns and their relationship to the disordered temperaments of the natural world. I'm concerned that these signs may be pointing to a coming earthquake."

"Oh, I see you've already grasped the significance of these omens. Very good, detective." Eirin's eyes had widened in surprise, but as usual with her, it was utterly impossible to tell if some or all of that surprise was sincere. As the Lunar Sage she could well be thousands of years old. I imagine there wasn't much that could actually surprise her. "Well, if you already understand the causes and effects there's not much I can tell you. The most I could do for you would be to offer some advice on earthquake safety measures."

"I was hoping that, as the Lunar Sage, you might have some unearthly insight into what's behind all of this."

"Well, that's what I asked Reisen to investigate, but she hasn't come back yet." Eirin said with a shrug.

"I see. Can you give me any guess as to when the quake is likely to occur?"

"It's beyond my control, I'm afraid. I'd advise you to make preparations now."

"I suppose it goes without saying that you're not in a position to be able to prevent this quake using lunar technology, correct?"

"I am merely a resident of Gensokyo now. As an exile from the moon, even if such a technology existed, I wouldn't have access to it."

"Ah, of course. I suppose that can't be helped then. One last question then, if you would."

"Yes?"

"Do you have any idea who the mastermind behind this strange incident might be?"

At Renko's question, Eirin suddenly narrowed her eyes. "I've been here at Eientei, working as usual this whole time. Why ask me that question?"

"Well you're the Lunar Sage. I merely hoped your wisdom might be of some use here."

"Even we Lunarians can't see everything."

"I see. I had thought that if our suspect is someone who resides in the heavens, then being from the moon, you might have more insight than an Earthling like myself, or perhaps even some form of connection."

I turned to stare at Renko in surprise. Where had that come from?

Eirin's expression was perfectly neutral, her tone completely disinterested. "What would make you think the mastermind behind this resides in Heaven?"

"I suppose you might just call it a 'hunch.' I don't have any hard evidence. This incident seems to be caused by shifts in the temperament of the heavens themselves, and since we've heard reports of scarlet clouds which are supposed to be omens of coming earthquakes, I thought both events might be the result of the same root cause. For example, if someone was intentionally gathering and magnifying the temperaments of individuals, then releasing those temperaments as scarlet clouds that might explain the unusual weather. The people of Earth have always looked to the heavens both for portents of the future and in times when they are troubled by weather events. Given that both are involved here, I thought that perhaps the phenomena we've been witnessing might be a result of some entity in the heavens trying to communicate with the people of the earth. Perhaps the Dragon God, for example."

"...Ah, I see." Eirin said after a slight pause. She sighed, then blinked and seemed to regard Renko with new interest. "You know, you really are a most unusual Earthling, Usami Renko. I would appreciate it if you would allow me to examine your brain as well."

"I'm afraid that my brain is still in use at the moment, but in the event of my death, I'd be happy to leave it to you in my will."

"Well, that's an intriguing opportunity. Before we discuss that though, let me clear up one misconception which I believe you are operating under."

"Oh, what would that be?" Renko said, tilting her head curiously.

Eirin smiled, closing her eyes as she answered. "The Dragon God would never bother with gathering up temperaments or manipulating weather. If they wanted something done, they have to power to act much more directly."

"Then in that case..."

"This is probably the doing of a Celestial."

"A Celestial?"

"They are creatures with no set lifespans who live unending, peaceful lives in Heaven. I'd guess that's the sort of creature that's been causing these problems for those of us living here on Earth."