東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 6:Ten Desires

—16—


So then, what were Renko and I up to in the Great Mausoleum while all of that was going on?

"I'm booored, Merry."

"I'm more hungry than bored, myself."

The answer is not a lot.

The Great Mausoleum was after all just what its name implied. A tomb within the Hall of Dreams, akin to something like the keyhole-shaped kofun burial mounds or the pyramids. I had asked Tojiko at one point if there was anything for us to eat, but she had merely shrugged saying "No one here has any need to eat, so we don't have anything on hand." How could I respond to a matter-of-fact statement like that except with a sigh?

Leaving, of course, was out of the question. We had told Tojiko that we were here to witness the Crown Prince’s resurrection, so we couldn’t exactly leave to grab a snack if doing so might mean missing it. When you get right down to it I suppose sitting bored and hungry in this room wasn't much different than what Renko and I would have been doing if we were back above ground in our office, but it was annoying nonetheless.

"Merry let's go exploring."

"We can't, Renko. Tojiko yelled at us last time you tried that, remember?"

Only a short time ago Renko had finally gotten bored enough to try to leave the room and have a look around, but Tojiko had found her immediately and scolded her for it. She had told us in no uncertain terms that we were not to do anything that might interfere with the ongoing process of the Crown Prince's resurrection. In short, we were being confined to a room, but being as we had come here as something like curious grave-robbers, we couldn't really claim that we were being treated unfairly.

"The least they could do would be to at least stay here and talk to us. Without anyone to talk to or any way to explore, I've got no way to gather information. How am I supposed to construct a theory of what's going on under these conditions!?" Renko exclaimed, finishing her statement with a groan as she rotated her hat in her hands, fiddling with its brim.

I wondered about what she had said. It seemed clear that Tojiko had been specifically making an effort to keep us from talking to Futo, invariably finding some pressing task to burden her with whenever we saw her. Was she afraid that when face-to-face with my partner, Futo's easygoing nature might let some secret slip? I couldn't help but think the decision was probably a sound one.

"You could talk to me instead if you like."

"Gah!" Renko leapt back in surprise as Seiga's head emerged from a perfectly circular hole in the floor just before her. My reaction was no less shocked at her sudden appearance. Seiga smiled calmly as Renko recoiled, then pulled herself acrobatically up through the hole. The moment her feet were drawn up through it, it closed itself back up without a sound or any trace it had ever been there.

Once Renko recovered from her surprise, she stared in undisguised wonder at the spot where the hole had been a moment before, reaching out to touch the completely unmarred floor. "Is that a hermit trick?" she asked.

"It's just one of the benefits of being a hermit. I can pass through most any wall with this," she said, pulling her long, gleaming hairpin out of the complicated braid she wore.

"Does it only work on things that are considered 'walls' or will any surface do? You came through the floor just now, right? Are there any limits on how thick a substance you can pass through or the direction you go?"

"Such questions. It can go through anything solid that divides spaces. Generally it only goes from one side to the other, but if you're going through something very thick like the ground, you can bend the direction a little. For something thin like the walls of a building though you can only go in a straight line." She said, spinning the hairpin back over her fingers and re-inserting it into place.

"That almost sounds like you're producing a quantum tunneling effect at will."

"That's what you would call a 'wormhole', right?" I asked. Renko nodded.

"You sound like you'd like to know more. Have you ever considered becoming a Taoist?" It almost sounded like a sales pitch. I wondered if coming through the floor had just been convenient for her, or had been done as a demonstration.

"Well, I can't deny being interested," Renko admitted, "but my interest is of an academic sort rather than a spiritual one."

"Such a strange way of speaking you have. Are you by any chance an Outsider?"

"I used to be, but I’ve been living here in Gensokyo for a long time now. You yourself must be from China, right?"

"Yes, but I don’t think the country was called that way back then."

"You were the one who taught the Crown Prince Taoism, right? Why had you initially come to Japan?"

"Oh, I came here to talk about the Tao, not myself, but I suppose I can tell you some stories if you like. Before I do though..." she said, producing a prettily wrapped bundle from nowhere, "Here. This is for you." Renko took the package from her and pulled at the cloth wrapper. Inside was a bento lunch, easily large enough for two to split.

"Oh! Food!"

"I suspected that, being mortal, you might be hungry. I have tea too," she said, producing a stoppered bottle, once again from out of nowhere.

The aroma of the food, accentuated by my hunger, was quite enticing. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, but somehow taking food from Seiga seemed ill-advised. My hand hesitated as I reached out to take a pair of chopsticks from the box.

"...Eating this won't turn us into something inhuman, will it?" I asked timidly.

Seiga's eyes widened and she raised a hand to cover her mouth as she tittered.

"There's no food so convenient it could turn you into a hermit with one bite. Besides, I didn't make this."

"Ohmf. Dif ya buy thif in the fillage then?" Renko asked around the onigiri she had rudely stuffed in her mouth already. "It tastes like somefing I've had before." I was appalled at Renko's manners, but Seiga didn't seem to mind.

"I took it from the village, yes, but I didn't buy it. Someone carelessly left it on a table, so I just popped in and helped myself."

In other words, she had stolen it. And here I was poised to eat someone else's lunch. Renko swallowed and looked guiltily downward "...I wish you’d said that before I started eating it…"


"What about you?" Seiga asked, turning her unsettling smile on me, "aren't you hungry?". She didn't look like she felt even the barest whiff of guilt from stealing the bento. With her ability to go through walls she was probably so used to being a thief that something like this wouldn't even register to her. After all, to someone like that anything unattended no matter where it was left or how it was locked away may as well have been left sitting out in the open. In her eyes, stealing a meal like this probably didn't even register as doing anything wrong.

I swallowed a sigh and reached forward, taking a morsel of rolled and seasoned egg before Renko could eat my share. "...I'll have some," I said. My apologies to whatever villager had their bento disappear mysteriously that day. My partner and I ate your lunch without leaving a single crumb behind. It was very tasty. Please forgive us, but everyone needs to eat. Just as Renko said, the bento had a comforting, home-cooked taste that seemed somehow familiar.


—17—


The way Seiga told her story, she was originally a perfectly ordinary person living somewhere on continental Asia. One day her father had abandoned his family to retreat into the mountains and pursue the path of the hermit. After reading through all of the books he had left behind, Seiga resolved to one day follow his path and perhaps be reunited with him.

Seiga had grown up and been married off to the family of a noble. She lived for some time as the noble's wife, leading a life of luxury while she continued to secretly train herself in Taoist practices. Eventually, she faked her own death and slipped off in the night, leaving her life behind and beginning a new one as a hermit.

She spent many decades pursuing her training, realizing along the way the secrets of immortality and eternal youth. Eventually, she tired of isolation and travelled to the east, where she met the Crown Prince.

"From the moment I first laid eyes on him, I was completely certain that he was a person who had the virtue to govern everything under the heavens. Such a person,if trained in the secret arts of the Tao, could become the sort of figure who could set the course of nations and affect the world for untold generations," Seiga tilted her head as she said this, smiling to herself and resting her cheek on her hand, looking nostalgic. "I imagined that if he came to be known as a great leader fit to rule over the world, then I too would be venerated as his wise teacher."

"So you teamed up with Prince Shotoku and tried to conquer all of Japan?" Renko asked.

"If you don't mind simplifying things, that's more or less correct. My plans didn't work out due to meddling by Buddhists though."

"So then you were the one who suggested that the Crown Prince should resurrect himself as a shikaisen?"

"Yes, that was my idea."

"And to achieve that you had the Crown Prince, Miss Futo and Miss Tojiko all agree to die so that they could be reborn as shikaisen. You, meanwhile, being already immortal, could watch over them until they were resurrected, correct?"

"That's right."

"So what did you do for the 1,400 years they've been sleeping?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. It's important to keep busy."

"During that period Taoist philosophy migrated to Japan, but rather than taking hold as-is, it was syncretized into Onmyoudou which even became the official imperial religion for a time. Would you have had anything to do with that?"

""I'll leave the specifics up to your imagination," she said with a laugh. The mention of Onmyoudo instantly brought the image of its most famous practitioners. I wondered if Seiga might bear any relation to legendary figures like Abe no Seimei or En no Otsuno.

"Alright then," Renko said with a nod. "Let's focus on the Crown Prince. How does one go about becoming a shikaisen?"

"There are a number of different ways to do it. The method I taught was a technique that involves moving your soul into a new vessel."

"A new vessel?"

"Yes. All you do is find an object to replace your body, then when you resurrect, that object transforms into your new body, while the original body takes the form of the object. If you choose a durable object that will last a long time, then you can kiss dreary human mortality goodbye and live on as an immortal shikaisen."

"So 1,400 years ago the Crown Prince, Miss Futo and Miss Tojiko all used that same method to become shikaisen, right? Tojiko's a ghost now though. I assume that her resurrection didn't work out as planned?"

"Ah. That is entirely Futo's fault, I'm afraid." Seiga said, looking a little troubled for a moment. "Futo is a member of the Mononobe clan, who were rooted out of their position of power by the Soga clan and destroyed. Even though Futo betrayed her own clan, I suspect she can't help but hold a bit of a grudge against the Soga, which includes Tojiko. Or perhaps she was just jealous that the prince took Tojiko as one of his wives. Regardless, Futo switched the vessel that Tojiko was supposed to use."

"She switched it?"

"Yes. Futo used a plate as her spiritual vessel and Tojiko had planned to use a ceramic vase. Futo replaced the one she picked with a newly made one that had never been fired, however. It eventually crumbled altogether, leaving her without a body."

In other words Tojiko's current state was that of a vengeful ghost, a spirit bound to this world by her hatred of Futo for having prevented her from attaining immortality. I considered it. To me Tojiko's attitude toward Futo seemed more like that of a mother exasperated by the antics of an unruly child, but she hardly seemed to be holding a grudge. I asked Seiga about that.

"Well, it's been 1,400 years," Seiga said dismissively. "I'm sure her grudge will have faded a bit in that time. Besides, if Futo didn't resurrect properly, then Tojiko could never take revenge against her, so over all that time some of her resentment might have turned into attachment."

As far as the story went, I suppose it was plausible, but to imagine Tojiko waiting alone for 1,400 years for a chance to take revenge... I can't imagine anyone doing that and staying sane. Had she even had Seiga to talk to during that interval? If she had though, then she certainly hadn't grown any don't of her.

"Tojiko seems to hate you though," Renko said, voicing the question I had the tact not to ask.

Seiga smiled cruelly. "Well, when you get right down to it, I'm the reason she was attempting to become a shikaisen in the first place. So you could say that I'm the reason she's a ghost, I'm the reason her beloved Prince has been asleep for 1,400 years and I'm also the one who moved this mausoleum to Gensokyo."

"How long ago was it that you brought this place here?"

"Oh, it's hard to recall. Once you're as immortal as I am, your sense of time becomes vague. I was hoping to wait for a time when the people of this world needed a great leader, but it's been surprisingly peaceful here. And then all of a sudden a Buddhist temple got built almost right on top of the spot where I had moved the mausoleum. Hey, Miss Usami Renko, I wonder just whose fault it might have been that a Buddhist monk was released from imprisonment in Makai, or that the ship that would become her temple might have been lifted up out of the Underworld?" She asked this casually, her tone revealing nothing as she rested her cheek on one upturned palm and smiled.

I couldn't help but look over at Renko with what likely amounted to a guilty expression, only to see her looking back at me with much the same look.

"Umm, Miss Seiga," Renko began, cautiously, "Just how much do you know about myself and my partner?"

"Oh, I don't know anything. I don't know that you helped lift that ship up out of the Underworld or that you sailed it to Makai to return with a powerful Buddhist monk, for example."

I shifted nervously. Having Seiga know about us was bad enough but if she were to mention any of this to Tojiko then we were as good as dead, I imagined. I wasn't fond of the idea of facing death by electrocution at her hands and becoming a ghost here.

"Please don't tell Miss Tojiko about that..." I blurted.

"Oh? I wonder if I should?" she asked, affecting an innocent smile.

Unexpectedly, Renko immediately prostrated herself, bowing all the way to the ground and pressing both palms against the floor.

"Please forgive us," she said. "My partner and I had no intention of harming or inconveniencing you or anyone else here, but we still acted with inexcusable carelessness." I quickly followed her lead and bowed down as well.

"Oh my, you two both seem rather troubled. This is the sort of problem you'd never have to worry about if you were to become a shikaisen." In the end the entire long-winded conversation had returned to the same point. It was all just another tactic to try to get us to join her. What a scary person.

"Oh, uh, that's a very generous offer," I mumbled, "but, um, I'd uh rather..."

"It's not that scary, you know. There are lots of ways to prolong your life and then you get to live unbound by the limitations of humanity or morality. A human lifespan goes by in the blink of an eye, when you think about it. Wouldn't a long life, unburdened by outdated constraints in which you could pursue your curiosity to your heart's content be nicer?"

"Oh, uh, that's a very, um, attractive offer..."

"I could see to it you don't lose anything in the process. Your mind, your knowledge, even your body. We'd just have to teach you to fight off the shinigami when they come calling for you."

To me that sounded like the opposite of an enticement.

"You, Miss Usami Renko, especially seem like the sort who appreciates the opportunity to learn new things," she continued, moving closer to Renko. As she bent down she extended one hand to cup my partner's face, her sharp-nailed fingers gently tracing Renko’s jawline as she lifted my partner's eyes to meet her own. Slowly she drew closer still, as if to whisper in Renko's ear. "There's a lot that I could teach you. We'd start with the fundamentals of Taoism and work our way up. It's not too painful, you know. It actually starts to feel quite good, once you get used to it."

"Um, about that... I, I mean we, don't—"

"Get away from her, wicked hermit! This is a sacred tomb! If you try anything lewd here, I'll kill you!"

This exclamation was shouted by Tojiko as she burst through the door of the room.

"Oh, Tojiko," Seiga said, turning her head to regard the ghost, but not moving the least bit away from Renko, "I'm merely introducing these two to the way of the Tao."

"You're more likely to seduce them into your bed than recruit them to any legitimate form of religion."

"Would that be so bad? The goal of any Taoist is to understand and unite oneself with the power of nature. All creatures of the wild partake of such natural acts. It's only humans who try to conceal or curtail such things. I wouldn't have expected such prudish behavior from someone who willingly gave up their humanity to attempt to become a shikaisen. I understand that as the rightful wife, you might be jealous of me, but—"

"Who would be jealous of you!? Let go of that girl and we'll see just how immortal you are! Today's the day you die, wicked hermit!"

"Oh, what a scary expression. Alright then, I'll take my leave before I get hit by lightning."

"Hey, wait!"

With a sudden flash of movement, Seiga whipped the hairpin out of her braid and thrust it into the floor. Leaning over backwards, she plummeted through the opening with a single cutesy "nyan!" before it closed silently and seamlessly behind her. Tojiko sped across the room to try to reach her but was an instant too slow, arriving only in time to glare at the spot she had vanished through and gnash her teeth.

After seeing all of that, Tojiko’s dislike of Seiga became much more understandable. Prince Shotoku was known to have four wives, but Tojiko was the only one who had been chosen to accompany him in his rebirth as a shikaisen. She must have thought herself special for that, but if Seiga had been the Crown Prince’s mistress as well, there was a clear cause for enmity there.

With a great, slow heave of her shoulders, Tojiko turned to face us.

"...Did that wicked hermit do anything to you?"

Renko swallowed and cleared her throat before responding. "Um, no. She was just trying to recruit me, I think."

Tojiko sighed heavily and crossed her arms. "She seduced the Crown Prince the same way. The Crown Prince, of course, is an extraordinary person. I don't doubt he saw through her lies and used her teachings to his own advantage. If she were to get a hold of a normal person like you, however, she'd drain you dry. You ought to be careful."

"Umm, yeah. I'll do that."

More than ever, I was sure that Tojiko's nature as a vengeful ghost had something to do with her hatred of Seiga. We had never had the chance to ask Seiga about where Yoshika had come from though. I suppose if Renko were to decide to take Seiga up on her invitation I'd have plenty of chances in the future.

As I was thinking that, a circular hole opened in the outer wall of the room and Seiga poked her head back inside. "Oh, by the way..." she said happily. Tojiko whirled on her. "I just sensed more presences up by the entrance I sent Yoshika to guard. It's probably more intruders from the temple. I'm going to go have a look. I wonder if they already took her down?"

Tojiko sighed again, more angrily this time. "You and that walking corpse! She’s completely useless!"

"This coming from a ghost with no body of her own?"

"Shut up! Go drive them off already!"

"How rude. Do you really want that angry face to be the first one the Crown Prince sees on you after resurrecting?"

"Just go! And don't bring that corpse back here any more!"

"How sad, you really hate me don't you? Well take care then." Saying that, Seiga withdrew back through the wall and out of sight.

If Seiga was telling the truth and intruders were on their way here...

"That’s probably Reimu and the others coming…" Renko whispered in my ear.

"Let's just hope that if Sanae's with them she doesn't make things any more complicated," I replied, whispering as well.

"What are you whispering about?" Tojiko snapped.

"Nothing important," Renko said. "Where's Futo gotten to?"

"Futo is guarding the inner chamber until the Crown Prince awakens. It looks like that should be happening any moment now. I should go join her."

"Oh, may we observe?"

"Yes, actually. Come with me. Even if we didn't want you to meet the Crown Prince, I'd be afraid to leave you out of my sight."

Hearing her say that, Renko grinned as she stood up. I hurriedly followed behind as Tojiko led us out of the room.


—


"Tojiko, Tojiko! Our prince is soon to awaken! "

At the door leading to the central chamber on the ground floor of the tower we met up with Futo, who was chattering excitedly.

"Yes, I know," Tojiko said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Is it not cause to rejoice? Why so grim, Tojiko? The frown creased upon thy brow could sour milk!"

"Can you just be quiet for one moment and listen!?"

"'Tis not the time for quiet! Our long-cherished wish shall soon be realized! Think, Tojiko! Soon all the Buddhist temples will be set ablaze and the glory of the Crown Prince will reign eternal! You two! Know that the great honor bestowed upon you this day to be the first to meet with the Crown Prince shall be a source of pride for generations upon your families! Rejoice now, for in this moment..."

"Shut up, Futo!"

"Hibibibibiyaaa!" Futo cried out in pain, jerking violently as Tojiko reached out and grabbed her wrists, lightning coursing over the both of them. They were almost like characters from a gag manga.

As the two of them argued, Renko and I moved discretely to stand up against the doors to the inner chamber. Once we were out of range of any stray lightning bolts she leaned over and whispered to me. "It looks like we'll be the first humans to get to see Prince Shotoku in the 21st century."

"That sounds like the punchline to a bad historical joke. What do you think he'll be like, Renko?"

"Well, his portrait's famous. Even if that image isn't accurate, this is Gensokyo. Popular beliefs can affect reality here, so I imagine he'll look like that."

"If he's a shikaisen now though, wouldn't he look younger? He'll probably just be some young, good-looking guy in the same sort of clothes that Tojiko is wearing."

"Oh, like an actor in a period drama? Who though? What kind of guy rates as 'good-looking' to you, Merry?"

"I don't know many TV actors. Maybe someone who looks like Captain Tezuka from 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠?"

"Oh, he's pretty cool, but he doesn't have the charisma of a leader. I'm thinking of someone more like Atobe Keigo."

"I don't think he'd be that sort of a leader. I don't want a Prince Shotoku who says things like 'be awed by the perfection of my Taoism.'"

"Alright, what about someone like Yomi from 𝑌𝑢𝑌𝑢 𝐻𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑜 then?"

"Oh, he's a politician and has a dignified air, but he's a demon, Renko."

If you don't know who any of these people are or what they look like, I apologize. I advise you to inquire at the Moriya Shrine, they'll get you up to speed.

It was while we were engaged in that frivolous conversation that a circular hole suddenly opened in the outer wall of the tower and Seiga popped in, looking somewhat flustered, with her hair slightly out of place and one of her sleeves torn.

"They got me," She said with a sigh.

"Seiga? What are you doing here? What about the intruders?"

"They got past me, I'm afraid. They shot me and Yoshika down. I'm afraid there's only so much we can do against four strong people."

"Four of them?"

"Yes. Two shrine maidens, a magician and one who appears to be a half-dead sword master. They just broke through the inner door, so they'll be here any second."

"More celebrants come to revel in the glory of the Crown Prince's resurrection?" Futo asked with a smile that might have been completely unafraid or might simply have been completely clueless.

"The Buddhists at that temple must be serious if they've sent four people. There's no choice then, Futo, let's go."

"Oh, aye, we must greet them in a manner befitting this auspicious event. We shall return!"

Saying that, Tojiko and Futo rushed forward, into the hallway and toward the door leading out. Seiga watched them go, then withdrew through the hole she had made, fading away without paying either of us a second glance. A moment passed in silence, then I looked over at Renko, who was fiddling with the brim of her hat.

"Four people? That's what she said, right?"

"That must be Reimu, Marisa and Sanae, but a half-dead sword master? That would have to be Youmu, right? What's she doing here?"

"Maybe she's involved because of all the spirits? She showed up during the earthquake incident too."

"Now that I think about it, she was looking around during the Flower Incident too." Of course at the time we had no way of knowing the four of them had been directly asked by Byakuren to come and rescue us.

"Well at any rate, this is our chance, Merry." Renko’s eyes were gleaming with excitement as the usual troublesome smile played across her face.

"What? No, Renko, you can't be serious."

"Of course I can, Tojiko's not here right now so it's our one chance to have a look around. Let's go get a look at Prince Shotoku."

"We can't do that, Renko, we'd be the first person he sees after being reborn. What if he imprints on us or something and thinks we're his subordinates or something?"

"He's a legendary prince, Merry, not a baby bird."

"That's not the issue!"

"We can't just ignore this, Merry. We're the Hifuu Club. If we don't find out what's really going on inside this mausoleum we'd hardly be worthy of the name. Our purpose is to make the world a more interesting place by delving into the unknown, right? Well no one knows what Prince Shotoku's face looks like. Let's fix that!" Saying that, Renko turned and laid her hand on one of the massive doors leading to the inner chamber.

"Renko, wait!"

It was too late. Renko grabbed the handle of the huge door and pulled it aside with surprising ease, revealing what appeared to be a dark, starlit void. With a quick "sorry to intrude," she stepped over the threshold. I hesitated for a moment, but as much as I would have preferred not to follow, I also didn't want to be left behind.

It was dim within that chamber and hard to see much of anything. I could barely sense Renko's presence ahead of me. I moved to stand beside her, but the moment I took her hand, the door to the inner chamber slammed shut behind us. As we whirled around, my eyes adjusted and it became clear that the void we were standing in was not actually empty or unlit, but was instead filled with countless, colorful stars. It was an awe-inspiring sight, clouds and constellations whirling through slow revolutions. A breathless "wow" escaped my lips.

"They look like stars."

"Well, they don't tell me the time. They are pretty though."

Forgetting ourselves, we stood in awe, merely watching the glittering darkness for a while.

"Those who look toward the stars are also those who give thought to that which has yet to occur. The heavens hold the future, while the earth holds the past. Humans are those beings that exist between these two, constantly debating which way to look."

The voice, speaking gently but confidently, without any hesitation or question to it, had come from above us.

Its tone was measured and androgynous. As we both turned to face the direction it had come from, a figure slowly descended to float a few meters above the ground, glowing with a soft internal light and regarding us with a kind but eerily knowing look.

The figure who had descended was rather strange looking, with light brown hair that stuck upward in two large tufts resembling those of a horned owl on their head. Bizarrely, what appeared to be a set of over-ear headphones was perched in front of that, with the kanji for 'Harmony' written in gold on either of the two cups. The costume they wore looked much more modern than either Tojiko's or Futo's and was sleeveless, revealing a pair of slender arms, one of which was holding a wooden shaku stick and the other of which rested casually on the elaborately decorated hilt of an ornamented sword belted at the figure's waist.

The features of their face were handsome, but softer than I might have imagined, clean-shaven, almost boyish. Actually, they looked more feminine than anything else. As the figure descended closer to us my eyes drifted to their chest, where a modest bulge was outlined against the fabric of their silken blouse. A woman?

Before I could even begin formulating a question, Renko stepped forward. "Prince Shotoku, I presume?" she asked, doffing her hat and holding it to her chest.

The woman —yes, it was definitely a woman, nodded at her. "I am Toyosatomimi no Miko," she said. "After 1,400 years of slumber, I have awakened once more."