東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 5:Hopeless Masquerade

—13—


"I see. So that's why you're showing up at my door with a menreiki in tow."

That was Nazrin's pronouncement as she stood looking at us, arms crossed and an unhappy frown on her face.

We were meeting her not at the Myouren Temple as you might expect, but rather at the door of her home, which was a small burrow dug into the side of Muendzuka. For whatever reason, she chose not to live in the temple with Shou and the rest of Byakuren's followers despite serving as the Shou's overseer. Well whatever her reasoning, that separation was rather convenient for us just now. After interviewing Kokoro last night, we had taken a brief nap before leaving the village at sunrise to go knock on Nazrin's door before she could head to the temple for the day. Renko had just finished explaining the situation to her while she stared grumpily at us.

"I apologize for the disruption, Little Naz, but you're a professional treasure hunter and the person most suited for this job."

"You don't have the right to call me that, nor do you have the right to my help."

"I see. So even after abandoning us when you were ordered to act as our bodyguard by Byakuren, you don't feel even a little indebted?"

Nazrin groaned faintly, her unhappy expression becoming even more unpleasant. Renko's grin on the other hand seemed to only be growing wider. After a moment, Nazrin sighed.

"I suppose I don't have anything else pressing on my plate at the moment and the idea of a mask that can affect human emotions does sound like an interesting bit of treasure..."

"That's the spirit, Little Naz!"

"If it's something that controls the emotion of hope though..."

"Oh? Do you already have an idea of where it might be?"

"I haven't seen it or anything, but treasures of all kinds are naturally drawn towards my master. I wonder if she might have come across the mask by chance and that's why so many people have been coming to the temple recently."

"The mask of hope is at the Myouren Temple and Miss Byakuren might be using it to make the temple more popular? I suppose that's not impossible. People would likely gravitate towards a source of hope after losing their own."

"If someone were in possession of the mask currently, they'd be the one gathering up the most faith, right?"

"If someone had found that mask, then all they'd have to do would be to put it on and they could come into the village and be seen as a savior. Sanae would love the idea of a masked hero being the one to save the day."

Personally, I don't think the idea of a 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟-like figure who wore a mask in the shape of a smiling child's face would look very cool.

"There's definitely no hope in the village, so the mask couldn't be anywhere there" Kokoro suddenly interjected, the subtly smiling ko-omote mask resting on her head. "I've been searching hard, I'd have sensed it if it was there."

"Well that makes sense. If the events in the village are being caused by the mask of hope going missing then it would be odd if we found it there."

"I suppose so. If the mask of hope were in the village then people's emotions wouldn't be disappearing."

To explain this principle using a concrete example, one could imagine the village as a sack filled with iron sand. Kokoro's loss of her mask was like a hole in the sack through which the sand could spill out and the mask of hope was like a magnet. If the magnet had been inside the bag, even if it weren't blocking up the hole it would have kept some or all of the sand from spilling. The current state of affairs was that no one knew where the magnet was and as such, the sand was spilling out freely.

"Kokoro, what about the Myouren Temple? It's not inside the village walls but it's on the road leading north towards Misty Lake, not far away. Could the mask be there?"

"I don't think so... I can't sense any hope anywhere near the village at all..." she said morosely from behind a sad mask.

"Well that rules your theory out, Little Naz."

"It was only a guess. But if we know that the mask is far enough away from the village that it can't be sensed, have you considered the possibility that it's not in Gensokyo at all?"

"Hmm, I suppose there are several places someone could have brought it from here. Makai, the Underworld, the Netherworld," I said counting the options off on my fingers.

"Don't forget Heaven and Higan." Renko added cheerfully. Why did it seem like she was having fun with this? Listing all of those options off I had to admit that the list of places Renko and I had seen was pretty impressive. We hadn't been to Higan, but we had visited all of the other locations she had listed at least briefly.

"My pendulum detects magical or spiritual power, but I don't think it would detect hope," Nazrin grumbled. "At least the object we're looking for has a distinct shape. That should mean I can dowse for it at least." She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, seeming deep in thought. "Let's decide on how to divide things up. You two are already well known in the Underworld and Makai, aren't you?"

"Well not to brag, but I could probably get into Heaven or the Netherworld to have a look around as well," Renko said with a laugh. It was an odd thing to boast about.

"Then I'll leave the other worlds to you two. Take that menreiki with you, I'll search around Gensokyo and let you know if I find anything. Does that work for you?"

"That makes sense. I should mention though that Miss Mamizou might be sending some of her tanuki out to look for the mask as well. If you run into any of them it would be best if you could work together."

"Mamizou?" Nazrin asked, looking surprised. "I don't get her. She doesn't listen to any of Hijiri's teachings and she only seems to care about worldly vices, but sometimes she seems oddly dutiful and protective. Maybe she just likes meddling in other people's business."

"She probably just doesn't like the idea of being anyone's subordinate. She was a pretty big deal among the tanuki of the Outside World."

I tried to imagine what that would have been like, Mamizou lording over a whole tanuki yakuza like a mafia don, pursuing a war against kitsune for control over the island of Sado. It was disturbing to imagine.

"Alright Little Naz," Renko said with a nod. "If you find something just leave a note or a mark on the door at our office and I'll come find you."

"That's fine, I suppose. But if it's been picked up by that junk dealer, you can pay for it on your own."

Thinking back to the Treasure Ship Incident, the question of who would pay for an item purchased from Rinnosuke at Kourindou had caused a bit of a conflict between us and Nazrin. Renko smiled wryly at her and nodded in agreement, but Kokoro slipped her ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑎 mask into position, glaring at the three of us and declaring "My masks are not for sale!"

—

And so, we officially began our search for the mask of hope.

"Alright ladies, where to first?" Renko asked after we bid Nazrin farewell, and Renko and I clambered back onto the shell of Genji, who had been waiting for us nearby.

"Is it anywhere far?" Genji asked.

"I'm afraid we might be in for quite a bit of travel today, Genji. We've got all sorts of destinations to check. Makai, the Underworld, the Netherworld..."

"If you make me fly you to all of those places, I'm going to complain about my aching old bones the whole way. Could we at least take a rest between stops?" Genji sighed, his white beard swaying as he lifted slowly off of the ground with us.

I wondered just how old Genji was, or if the number would even matter given the difference between the lifespans of humans and turtles, much less the difference between humans and youkai. Mamizou talked like an old-timer and had definitely been around for a long time but I got the feeling that her mannerisms were mostly an affectation. If that was the case I wondered if Genji might be playing things up a bit as well.

"For now though," Renko continued, "I suppose our destination depends on the last place you can remember being when you still had your mask, Kokoro."

The despairing 𝑢𝑏𝑎 mask slipped onto her head again. "...I really can't recall the last time I had it..."

"You said you only realized that you had lost it about a week ago though. Where do you normally live, Kokoro?"

Kokoro tilted her head to the side in consideration. "...I don't really have an answer for that," she said, the ℎ𝑦𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑘𝑜 mask taking the place of her previous one.

"What do you mean you don't have an answer? You can't tell us where you live? Is it somewhere dangerous or something?"

"No, it's not that, it's just that I don't have an answer to give you..." the 𝑢𝑏𝑎 mask fell back into place.

"What do you mean? Have you lost your memory or something?

The mask that slipped into place next was that of the fox, slit-eyed and unreadable.

"Yes, that's exactly right! I can't remember anything at all from before I lost the mask of hope!"


—14—


Renko and I both turned on Genji's back to look at Kokoro incredulously. You would think that would be the sort of thing she might have mentioned earlier, even if it's not something we had asked about during our interview last night.

"Do you really have no memories older than that at all?" Renko asked.

She shook her head. "I have memories from earlier, but they're vague. I can remember everything after I lost the mask of hope clearly, but everything before that..." she didn't finish the sentence, but the sorrowful 𝑢𝑏𝑎 mask slipped into place on her head.

Huh. If that's the case then...

"Kokoro, forgive me for asking this, but how long have you been alive? Is it possible that you only awakened as a tsukumogami very recently?"

"No, I'm older than that!" she asserted, wearing the fox mask this time. "Probably!"

"But you don't remember anything from before you lost the mask of hope?"

"I remember a few things! just not clearly!"

"That almost sounds like the way humans recall their childhoods," I mused. "Renko, even you remember your childhood as a series of disconnected events rather than a long, continuous chain, right? Unless you're Akyuu, I guess."

"But that's childhood, Merry," Renko protested. "Kokoro said she lost the mask about a week ago."

"I wonder if I have a bad memory..." she muttered, turning her head faintly so that the 𝑢𝑏𝑎 mask somehow looked even sadder.

Renko groaned and leaned back against me, crossing her arms as she thought. "Kokoro, let me just confirm a few details. You have the ability to manipulate all kinds of human emotion, right?"

The smiling god of fortune mask took the place of the 𝑢𝑏𝑎. "There are sixty six masks, each controlling a different sort of mood." The two masks traded again. "Now it's only sixty five though…"

"And with just that one mask missing your ability is in an unstable state, and it'll remain unstable until you get the mask of hope back again, right?"

"That's right!" The fox mask again.

"And all of your memories before the moment you lost the mask of hope are hazy..." Renko muttered, letting one hand drift up to fiddle with the brim of her hat. She seemed lost in thought for only a moment, then she looked up with a friendly smile on her face and said simply. "Oh well, I guess there's no helping it. If that's how it is, we'll just have to look everywhere for it. For now we can leave Gensokyo to Nazrin and Mamizou, and ask everyone we know in other worlds if they know anything about it."

I played along with her, trying to sound unconcerned. "Where should we begin?"

"Let's start by thinking who we know of that might have picked up something like the mask of hope and taken it to another world."

Youmu was known to visit Gensokyo from the Netherworld with some frequency. She would have had the opportunity to grab something like that and bring it back to Hakugyokurou, but it didn't really seem like the sort of thing she would do.

Tenshi definitely might have done something like that if she thought the mask was interesting, but no one had seen her at all recently. Presumably she was still grounded.

What about the people of Makai? Shinki and Louise had both come to Gensokyo to see Alice before, but I don't think they had returned here since and the mask was probably only lost a week or so ago. When it came to thinking of the sort of person who might just randomly scoop up a mysterious object they had found and take it home...

"Do you think Koishi might have taken it? Or Miss Orin?"

"I was just about to say the same thing, Merry."

Komeiji Koishi and her pet Kaenbyou Rin. Both were residents of Chireiden, the Palace of the Earth Spirits in the Underworld. Both were known for coming up to the surface of Gensokyo with some regularity and also for bringing things they found here back home with them. On top of that, I had just recently seen Koishi in the village myself.

"Alright," Renko declared, throwing her arm forward. "Our first destination is the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Take us down to Chireiden."

"You think someone there stole my mask!?" Kokoro asked. "Let's find them! Whoever they are, I'll stomp them!"

"Well we don't know for sure. Let's go find out. C'mon Genji. I'll direct you to the blowhole, it's over this way."

"Good grief" the turtle groused morosely. Nonetheless we set out for the Underworld. It wasn't long before we reached the entrance to the shaft that Renko and I had once fallen into and later been hurled back out of. Our trip down its length was much more comfortable this time than on any previous occasion. There was a steady wind coming out of the shaft as we descended. With it roaring all around us, I took the opportunity to lean forward and speak to Renko, quietly enough that I was confident Kokoro wouldn't overhear.

"Renko, what do you think about Kokoro's story?"

"As expected of you. You probably already know what I'm thinking."

"I'm not a satori, Renko. But I'm guessing whatever you're thinking is something you wouldn't want her to overhear?"

"See? You're a mind reader. Just have a poke around in there."

"That's as much as I know. Surely you're thinking of more than just that."

"Hmm, there are some things I'm pondering, but I'll have a better idea once we've visited the Palace. Let's just see how it goes for now. Keep your eyes open for a mask of hope."

"Could you just give me a straight answer for once?"

"It's the duty of a great detective to play coy with their Watson."

With an answer like that, I could only fulfil my role in the investigation as well. Sitting behind Renko on Genji's back, I sighed. I was about to say something more, but Renko, who was looking down past Genji's shell spotted something and suddenly called out, pressing her hat tightly onto her head against the wind as she leaned to the side.

"Oi! Yamame! Up here!"

Another voice called out in surprise from below us and a moment later a figure flew up the shaft to hover in front of us. It had been a long time since I had seen Kurodani Yamame, but the tsuchigumo hadn't changed a bit since the last time we'd met.

"Oh, it's Renko and Merry. Hello there. What brings you back down here? Did Don Yuugi invite you to a party?"

"Not today. We have some business at the Palace. Do you happen to know if Orin or Koishi are there at the moment?"

"Orin should be, she's been back for a few days now. No idea about the younger satori though. You could ask Parsee."

"I'll do that. Where's little Kisume though? I wanted to say hi to her too."

Yamame looked back over her shoulder and sighed. "Hiding behind that rock. She's still shy. Speaking of hiding though, who's the lady in the mask behind you?" Yamame looked up at Kokoro suspiciously.

"I am Hata no Kokoro, the menreiki!" she declared, her fox mask glaring intimidatingly downward.

"A menreiki? That's a mask tsukumogami, right? What would a tsukumogami want down here in the Underworld?"

"Kokoro here is our client. She's lost one of her masks and hired us to find it," Renko explained. "I was thinking that maybe Orin picked it up on the surface."

"Oh, that does sound like something she might do."

"Have you seen it by any chance, Yamame? It would be a mask with the image of a child's face, all in white."

"I certainly haven't noticed anything like that. A paper-white face would probably stand out down here."

"You said Orin just got back earlier. Do you know if she was visiting the human village in the last week or so?"

"I don't keep track of her, you should ask Parsee."

"Alright, I'll do that. One last question though, just for the most popular tsuchigumo in the Underworld. Have you noticed if anyone down here has become strangely, suddenly popular in the last few days?"

"Suddenly popular? No, I haven't heard about anyone like that. If anyone was doing that, I definitely would have caught it in my web of information."

"Alright then I'll assume it's not happening. Thanks, Yamame. Next time there's a big party down here, give me a call, I'd love to stop by."

"This is the Underworld, Renko! It's always a party. Ask Boss Yuugi if you want to get an invite. She's probably on the bridge with Parsee right now anyway."

With that, we bid Yamame farewell and continued downward, leaving her waving happily behind us.

—

Eventually we reached the bottom of the shaft, and made our way along the connecting tunnel that led to the underground river and the bridge that crossed it. As we might have expected there was a small silhouette standing on the bridge, leaning on its railing and looking out over the water. She was joined by a second figure, much taller and broader-shouldered with long golden hair and a brilliant red horn rising proudly from her forehead. Mizuhashi Parsee and Hoshiguma Yuugi, the Underworld's hashihime bridge guard and the oni leader of all the Underworld.

As we approached the bridge, Yuugi waved at us happily, but Parsee leaned on the railing and looked away, seeming almost sulky. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe we had interrupted something.

After greeting both girls Renko took the time to explain our situation and introduce Kokoro before asking about the mask of hope.

"I don't remember seeing anything like that," Yuugi said, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "How about you, Parsee?"

"...Nope," she muttered, still looking away from us.

"What about Koishi, is she down here at the moment Par-par?"

"Par-par!?" Parsee roared, turning to look at Renko. I wish my partner wouldn't always act so overly-familiar with dangerous people. "Who's Par-par?"

Yuugi snorted. "Par-par? Oh that's good, who's a cute little Par-par?"

"Don't you start now!" Parsee shouted, turning toward Yuugi and giving her a swift kick in the shins. If Yuugi felt it at all, she gave no sign, merely laughing as Parsee seethed. Given the force with which Parsee kicked her, I could tell if Yuugi's lack of response was indicative of how tough she was, how drunk she was, or how insensate she was. It could have been any combination of those factors.

"As for Satori's sister?" Parsee growled, whirling on Renko. "She hasn't been down here for several days. Or if she has, I haven't seen her, anyway."

"Is that typical for her?"

"It's not unusual for her to disappear for days at a time."

"Ah, poor Satori. That must be hard for her. How long ago did Koishi head to the surface?"

"Four or five days ago, I think."

"Less than a week though, right? Where was she a week ago, down here? That's when Kokoro here noticed her mask was gone."

"...As far as I know, she was down here at that time."

Parsee had turned out to be a good source of information. Now that we knew that Koishi had been in the Underworld at the time that Kokoro's mask had gone missing, I supposed we could probably cross her off of our list of suspects.

"What about Orin, the kasha who lives in the palace. Do you know if she's here?"

"The cat? She always avoids crossing this bridge. I'm not sure if she's down here or not."

"I see."

We had first met Orin just outside of the entrance to the Hell of Blazing Fires, where she didn't seem at all bothered by the heat. If she was able to endure the flames, then she might well be able to use the exit that Suwako had dug at what was now called the Geyser Center.

"Alright, thank you very much, Miss Par-par. That was extremely helpful."

"Don't call me Par-par!"

"What about 'Parchi, or Parnelope or maybe Parsley? I think you'd make a good Parsley."

"Don't call me anything! Don't call me!"

"Don't get mad, Parsley, it's just a nickname." Yuugi managed to say while choking on a laugh.

"Don't listen to her!" Parsee yelled, turning back toward Yuugi and hitting her with another series of low kicks.

Yuugi bellowed in laughter as Parsee's face turned red and she delivered kick after kick to Yuugi's shins. The scene reminded me of a cat owner happily playing with their pet while the cat scratched at them. I wouldn't say that to Parsee though. The last thing I want is for her to glare at me.


—15—


The mask Kokoro was wearing as we made our way past the bridge and into the tunnel leading to the city of Former Hell was one I hadn't seen before, the wise but tired-looking image of an old man.

"I felt a strong sense of jealousy from that Hashihime just now," she muttered, drawing out the sentence.

"Oh, she's a youkai who can manipulate jealousy," Renko said as she led the way into the tunnel that led to the city. "Maybe you two would have that in common. Is one of your sixty-six masks a mask of jealousy?"

"Of course. It's one I don't bring out often though because you have to be careful with it." I caught a glimpse of the neutral 𝑘𝑜-𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 mask settling into place before the tunnel became too dark to make anything out.

"So I take it that the masks related to negative emotions can be dangerous then?" Renko asked.

"Yes. It's easy to lose control over them… I'm not sure I could control them at all right now…" she said in the tired tone that must have indicated she was wearing the 𝑢𝑏𝑎 mask again.

"I see. Well, all we need to do is find the mask of hope so that that doesn't happen."

"That's right! As long as I get my mask of hope back everything will be fine!" That confident tone of voice could only have come from the fox mask.

We made our way out of the tunnels, into the city of Old Hell and towards the palace. At this point our faces were widely known in the old city from all of the times we had visited while working to free 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛 from its interment, so we didn't have to worry about being accosted by anyone in the Underworld.

As such, we had no difficulties making our way to the lonely plaza where the Palace of the Earth Spirits stood. The mansion was so large that knocking on the door was pointless—no one in the vast and sparsely populated structure was likely to hear it. As such, Renko opened the door without knocking and walked inside, muttering "sorry to intrude" out of force of habit as she did so. Just like our first visit to the palace, we were greeted by a group of black cats that had slunk out of the shadows and surrounded us. Having encircled us one of them loudly yowled, which seemed to act as a doorbell of sorts. Within moments a shadow emerged from a doorway down one of the long corridors.

"I was wondering who would pay us a visit, but I wasn't expecting you two to come back here. What do you girls want?"

The voice was that of Komeiji Satori, the owner of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. She began walking down the hall on slippered feet, speaking in a tired voice as her eyes drifted over Renko, then me, then Genji and finally settled on Kokoro.

"Who is this…?"

"I'm a menreiki!" Kokoro declared from behind her god of fortune mask, cutting Satori off for once.

"This is who we wanted to talk to you about, Miss Satori…" Renko began. I was a bit surprised to hear her bother with the 'Miss' after how overly-familiar she had been with everyone else today, but I suppose even Renko can understand the need for proper manners occasionally.

"I see. You suspect either Orin or Koishi may have taken this missing mask that you're looking for. Koishi's been gone for the last several days. I was just debating the idea of going up to look for her myself. Orin's here though, so I'll call her for you."

"Thank you very much, Miss Komeiji"

"Wait here for a bit,"she said as she showed us to one of the many empty rooms lining the hallway before shuffling away and out of sight. Almost as soon as I had brushed off the seat of a large sofa in the room and sat down we heard soft, scurrying footsteps coming down the hall outside, and then Orin opened the door and stepped in.

"Hello again, Renko. Lady Satori said you wanted to see me?"

"Hello Orin, it's been a while. How's Okuu doing?"

"About the same as always. Is that the menreiki? I've never seen a mask tsukumogami before."

"I'm Kokoro!" she announced, the fox mask sliding into place. "I'm here to take back my mask of hope!" From her body language, Kokoro looked almost ready to attack, facing Orin defiantly in a ready stance.

"Is this lady okay?"

"She's looking for something very important to her. A mask, in the image of a young human child with a white face. We were wondering if you might have happened across anything like that on one of your trips to the surface."

"A missing mask? Is that like part of her body? That's a tough situation, but I can't help you, sister. I haven't seen anything like that."

Orin scratched her head and shrugged. With that it seemed like our journey to the Underworld was likely to have been a complete waste of time.

"Ah, that's a shame. We were hoping that you might have spotted it up on the surface at some point, since that's where Kokoro lost it."

"Oh, were you thinking I might have found it lying around and brought it home? I only do that with corpses. Lady Koishi grabs weird things to bring home sometimes though, she might have it."

"My masks are not weird!" Kokoro declared from beneath the leering ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑎 mask, tensing up.

"Easy Kokoro, it's just a figure of speech," Renko said, standing up and laying a hand on her shoulder as Orin flinched back. "Let's change the topic. Have you noticed anything unusual here in the Underworld in the last little while?"

Orin tilted her head again, then looked up, considering the unusually vague question. "Something unusual? Well, it's not really a big deal, but I have noticed that Lady Koishi has become a bit easier to sense recently."

"Koishi? Really?"

"Yeah. Normally she's almost impossible to notice, but a while back I definitely felt her presence clearly for the first time in forever. I don't know if that's a big deal or not, but it was surprising."

"Oh? Koishi's been gone for a few days now though, so this must have been a while ago, right?"

"Yeah, she's not here now, but I would say I noticed about a week ago.."

After hearing that, Renko and I both turned to look at each other, the same surprised expression on both of our faces.

—

After our visit, Orin went back to work and Satori came by the drawing room to see us out. As we filed out of the room and into the hallway, Satori walked alongside Renko.

"So you didn't find what you were looking for. Why are you concerned about Koishi now though?" asked Satori, as direct as always. "Oh I see. Well what Orin says is true. About a week ago Koishi definitely became easier to sense. Almost as soon as I noticed anything different, she headed up to the surface though, so I don't know anything more than that."

"Has that ever—"

"—Happened before? No, it hasn't. Do I think her third eye might be reopening a little bit? I have no idea. I can't read her mind so I can't tell you what's going on."

Renko crossed her arms and groaned at that. Satori turned her attention to Kokoro at that point.

"I also don't know if it has anything to do with the menreiki's missing mask."

Satori then turned her attention to me. "If you should happen to see her again, please tell her that it's time she came home."

"Oh, um sure. I'll try," I said, laughing nervously.

"Thank you," Satori said, going as far as to bow slightly. With a request as polite as that from someone like her, I couldn't exactly say no. Seeing as I was the only one who could reliably communicate with her, I suppose it was a reasonable thing for her sister to ask of me.

"Kokoro, do you think it's possible that Koishi has your mask?" Renko asked.

"I don't know," Kokoro replied from behind the impassive 𝑘𝑜-𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 mask. Being as she had never met Koishi, I suppose she couldn't have answered any other way. Even if Koishi was in possession of the mask, how would she have gotten her hands on it when Kokoro had lost it on the surface while Koishi had been in the Underworld?

Thinking about it, there wasn't any evidence to link the disappearance of the mask of hope and the change in Koishi's presence other than the timing of the two events. Of course the easiest solution would be to find Koishi and ask her about it, but that was easier said than done. Even if I were to manage to spot the girl, she always ran away as soon as she saw Renko.

It didn't seem like there was anything more for us to do in the Underworld at any rate, and so we decided to head back to the surface. Just as we were moving to leave the grounds of the palace, Satori quietly called out to Renko while Kokoro and Genji walked ahead.

"There's one more thing I'd like to mention before you go," Satori said quietly.

Renko turned back towards her. "What is it?"

"That menreiki with you. Be careful of her. I can barely read her mind at all."

I looked at her, confused. "Really?"

"My impression of her is much the same as how I would perceive the mind of a human infant. My ability allows me to read the ego of other creatures, the conscious thoughts that occupy an individual's mind. In her case there is very little there for me to read. Her thoughts are like those of a creature with an unformed ego. That's why I can't read Koishi's mind. That menreiki is much the same, she has very little ego at all."

"Are you saying that Kokoro has the mind of a child?"

Satori nodded. "Her ego is very faint, almost like that of a newborn."