東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 6:Urban Legend in Limbo

—16—


The Hakurei shrine. It's a location that has featured so frequently in these stories that we think of it as a familiar, everyday sort of location at this point, but there were a great many villagers who had never been there. Looking at it from the perspective of the average villager, it wasn’t hard to see why.

Not only did it require going a fair ways outside of the walls of the village to get to, but it also had a reputation for being a place where one might be stalked by youkai. Those two points alone were enough to turn most people away, though the same complaints could be made about the Myouren Temple, which was much more popular. The reason that the Myouren Temple had become more popular despite the Hakurei Shrine’s long history of exterminating youkai and protecting the village was simply that the people of the human village rarely saw any benefit to making the trek to the shrine.


The Myouren Temple after all has become well-known as a place where an impressive incarnation of a treasure god would listen to your prayers, and Hijiri Byakuren was always happy to explain scripture in an easy to understand way or help anyone who was going through a crisis. Compared to all of that, the Hakurei Shrine had little to offer. If you weren't going there to ask for a youkai to be exterminated, all you could really do was throw some coins in the offertory box and leave.

Most of the time, the incidents Reimu resolved were ones that no one in the village realized were happening, or else issues that Reimu resolved before they became a problem for the villagers. As a result, most people felt that Reimu didn't really do much of anything to protect the village.

If a youkai-related problem beyond what the neighborhood watch could handle were to suddenly crop up in the village then without a doubt, Reimu would be the first person to go to. The Hakurei shrine maiden was well known and no one treated her poorly on the occasions she showed up in the village, but that sort of recognition wasn't the same thing as faith. When it came to attracting visitors to a shrine, even Sanae was much more effective. Whenever she came into the village and started preaching in the town square or promising miracles to the people of the village, she always gathered crowds.

In short, the Hakurei Shrine and its maiden were taken for granted by the village. This was Gensokyo. That the Hakurei shrine maiden would exterminate any dangerous youkai was something everyone simply understood without thinking about it, just like breathing the air. While that probably counted as some degree of faith, it was hardly the sort of thing anyone felt particularly devoted over.

You might even go as far as to say that the villagers’ regard and trust for the Hakurei Shrine had become subconscious, a sort of reassuring truism that assured people that no matter the circumstances, things would not be allowed to get too bad. Despite the fact that the youkai exterminating shrine was also thought of as a shrine filled with youkai, no one seemed to mind the contradiction. No one ever thought that Reimu might side with the youkai or start attacking humans though—the Hakurei shrine maiden was someone who exterminated youkai. That’s just the way it was. The idea was so ingrained in people's minds that even stories of her being on friendly terms with some youkai couldn't shake it.

The result of all of this is that the Hakurei Shrine remained a quiet, slightly lonely place, rarely visited by the villagers and rumored to be filled with youkai. Its maiden was seen as reliable, but not the sort of person anyone wanted to go visit.

Which brings me back to the subject of this casefile:

—

"Oh, you're draggin' that guy around with you again?" Marisa asked as we rounded the corner of the shrine. "You’re bringin’ him everywhere lately, aren’t ‘cha?"

"Heya, Marisa. We just thought it would be nice to show him around, you know?"

My partner had had to rely quite a bit on her usual linguistic skills in order to talk the fortune-teller into coming to the Hakurei Shrine, but in the end he had accompanied us along with Sanae. As soon as we went around the back of the shrine we all ran into Reimu and Marisa, who were sitting on the veranda and chatting, as usual.

"'It's kinda weird that you've been bringin' that guy with ya everywhere ya go though. A grown man shouldn't be intrudin' in the secret garden of a bunch a' innocent maidens, y'know?"

"Who's an 'innocent maiden?' Reimu asked from beside Marisa, looking over at the fortune-teller with half-closed eyes. She didn't seem bothered by his presence. He, on the other hand, immediately shrank back from her stare and avoided eye contact.

"Marisa told me the two of you were dragging some guy from the village around with you lately, but I hadn't expected it to be someone like that. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than if you were to show up with some dashing prince though. Why are you two hanging out with him?"

"We're all basically just a bunch of people with too much free time just wandering around together to stave off boredom."

"You shouldn't be dragging random villagers to go meet youkai. You two are already way too involved with youkai for your own good." She took a sip of her tea. "You're going to end up making it so there's more people I have to exterminate."

The fortune-teller flinched briefly as she said that. It was another of his reactions that he had tried to suppress, but I was sure I had seen it. I wondered if Renko had caught it too. She didn't say anything about it, but she pulled her hat down a little lower over her eyes.

"Don't worry about that, Reimu." Renko said carelessly. "We’ve gotten pretty good at handling this sort of thing, right Sanae?"

"Huh? Don’t put this all on my shouldersI don’t care if it’s a youkai, I just wish someone would take him off of our hands already. Shouldn't you have found a job by now or something Mr. Fortune-teller? Those who don't work don't eat!"

This point was something Sanae had been harping on for as long as we had been showing Mr. Fortune-teller around. He didn't seem to mind her criticisms much, or rather, he had become used to them.

"She's got a point," Renko added, turning to face Mr. Fortune-teller as well. "Why not become a teacher at the school?"

"...Ugh, no. I hate dealing with brats."

"Oh right. It feels like I’ve heard you say that before. Marisa, do you know of any good employment opportunities for a guy like this?"

"Me? Why not send him to Byakuren or Miko? They'd probably take him on as a student. Hey, why'd you quit bein' a fortune-teller anyway? Your techniques were actually kinda interestin'."

He looked away from her, avoiding her gaze. "...I was expelled from the master's tutelage..."

"So what? You should go independent. It's not like every fortune teller in the village has to work under that guy."

"...I never much liked being a fortune-teller anyway."

Marisa snorted, seeming a little frustrated as she stared up at him. "Well, whatever then, I guess. Do what you want. Sometimes givin’ up is the right move. Don't look to Renko for career advice though. She gets even fewer visitors than Reimu."

"Hey! We may have fewer clients than the shrine but several of ours have been paying customers!" Renko protested.

"You wanna say that again?" Reimu asked, glaring at both Renko and Marisa

Marisa leapt off the porch and landed standing on the bristles of her broom which had shot off of the porch to meet her. "Oooh, scary, scary," she teased, leaning against the broomstick and hovering just out of Reimu's reach. Reimu sighed and put down her mug, then stretched her arms out as she stood up.

"Did you two come here just to try and find someone to take this guy off of your hands?"

"Well I hadn’t planned to, but we may need to do something like that. His continued unemployment is a bit of an issue."

Mr. Fortune-teller glared at Renko in silence for a moment.

"Well don't ask me," Reimu snorted.

"I think I might have a suggestion," a voice called out. It had come to us from the edge of the woods on the north side of the shrine. We looked over and saw Kasen emerge from the trees.

"Kasen? Why are you here all of a sudden?"

Kasen ignored Reimu's suspicious gaze and continued walking towards us, smiling brightly at Mr. Fortune-teller. He seemed a bit alarmed by Kasen's sudden appearance and took a step back, but Kasen hustled over quickly, almost as if she was determined not to let him leave.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, stepping right up to him. "My name is Ibara Kasen."

He glowered down at her silently.

"How would you like to train with me to become a hermit?"

At those words everyone assembled other than Kasen blinked in total surprise.


—16—


"...A hermit? You're another one of those shady preachers from the mausoleum then?"

"I won't speak ill of Toyosatomimi no Miko, but I'm not the sort of hermit who's completely consumed by desire like she and her followers are. I'm simply a lone hermit following the righteous laws of heaven. If you wish to leave human society behind and develop a deeper understanding of this world then you should come train at my dojo. It would be perfect for you."

Kasen smiled and stepped forward with a determined forcefulness in her movements that couldn't be denied. Mr. Fortune-teller stepped away from her looking bewildered.

I glanced over at Renko uncertainly. Where had Kasen suddenly appeared from and what was she doing? Unlike the Crown Prince I had never heard of her taking on an apprentice before.

"...Why would you offer that to me?"

Kasen's eyes narrowed, her smile becoming a little unsettling as she stared at Mr. Fortune-teller. "You hate the human village, don't you?"

Mr. Fortune-teller stopped trying to move away from Kasen and looked silently down as she smiled up at him.

"My dojo is up on Youkai Mountain. There's no one there but me and my animals. I think you'll love it."

"Kasen, what're you doing?" Reimu interrupted, scowling up at her. "You don’t take on human disciples."

"Well that's because I'm still training myself. But I think it's time that I take on a permanent apprentice so that I can gauge my progress. Don't worry, I'll start him off slow. He won't even have to give up all of his worldly possessions and move to the mountain. At least not yet, anyway. If he doesn't have anything to do, what's the harm in having him come with me to try it out? Just for a few days."

After replying to Reimu, Kasen had turned back toward Mr. Fortune-teller, her hand extended toward him with the same peaceful smile still fixed on her face. She stood there for a moment, stock still as he continued to stare at her, then she gave the two of us a quick wink.

The moment she saw that, Renko opened her mouth in surprise, then quickly recovered and gave Mr. Fortune-teller an encouraging slap on the back. "Well, doesn't that just sound perfect? Who wouldn't want to become a hermit, right?"

"What? Why are you taking her side?"

"Because it's a great idea! Don't you think so, Sanae?"

"Huh? Me? Yeah, anything's fine as long as he's not hanging around anymore, I guess."

"Look, you don't want any job in the village, but you can't stay unemployed forever. This is basically a free luxury cruise to everything you've ever wanted, right?"

"What is this?" the fortune-teller sneered, looking warily from Kasen to Renko. "Is this some scheme the two of you worked out ahead of time?"

"No, no, it's just a coincidence, right, Miss Kasen?"

"Yes, just a happy coincidence. Just like my being here. If you're interested, we might as well take you back and get you situated right now. None of you mind if I borrow him for a few days, right?"

"Please do," Renko replied, nodding in agreement before anyone could protest.

"Alright then, we'll just take a little flight." Without a moment's hesitation Kasen stepped forward and wrapped her right arm all the way around Mr. Fortune-teller's waist. "We'll be seeing you then," she said as she effortlessly lifted the man off of his feet, rotating him until she had him stowed under her arm like a bundle of firewood.

"Wait, what are you doing? Let gooo!" Mr. Fortune-teller's voice was drowned out by the loud and sharp cry of a giant eagle as Kasen suddenly sprang backward and upward, high into the sky. As she did so, the enormous bird we had seen her ride once before flew from the trees that she had emerged from. Kasen grabbed its leg as it passed by her and the two of them were quickly whisked away, dwindling away like smoke in the clear air as the eagle wheeled and turned toward Youkai Mountain. Just like that, he was gone.

I stood stunned for a moment then hastily tugged on the sleeve of Renko's coat. "She took him! Should we try to stop her?"

"No," Renko replied, sounding suddenly tired. "It seems like that's what's supposed to happen." She let out a sigh and shook her head. The expression on her face almost seemed self-loathing, but as I looked at her she pulled her hat down to shade her eyes. "So that's what this was all about. Don't worry, Merry. We did what we were supposed to do. Just as it was planned. We're done here now. Everything's been taken care of."

Having said that, she spun on her heel and began walking away, back toward the gates of the shrine. "Sorry about all of the fuss, Reimu. We'll be going home now."

"What? What was all that? Did you and Kasen have some kind of arrangement?"

Renko paused, but didn't turn around. "No. I was just as surprised as you, but this will probably work out better than having us continue to drag him around. See you later." Then she pulled the brim of her hat down so low it nearly covered her eyes and started walking again. I looked over at Sanae in confusion then quickly bowed to Reimu and hurried after her. I can only imagine the strange looks she and Marisa must have been giving us as we chased after Renko.

—

"Hey Boss, what was that all about?" Sanae caught up with Renko just after I did, about half-way down the stone steps. Renko let out a deep sigh before replying.

"It's simple, Sanae. So simple I'm embarrassed I didn't figure it out sooner. I'm not sure I should even be calling myself a great detective right now." Renko looked over at us with a weary expression. "We weren't the only ones who the Youkai Sage asked to watch over that guy."

Sanae's eyes went wide with wonder.

"It makes sense if you think about it. Humans have to eat and sleep. Even with you and Merry and I working together we couldn't reliably keep an eye on him 24/7. Whether the Youkai Sage was trying to thwart whatever it is that he was planning or she wanted to keep him safe, it would be better to take him somewhere where no one could find him and someone could keep an eye on him at all times. Other villagers show up at the Myouren Temple and the Divine Spirit Mausoleum sometimes, but no one even knows where Kasen lives, so it's perfect. I wonder what kind of connection the Youkai Sage has with Kasen to have made her want to take part in this?"

Renko turned her head upward, staring into the infinite depths of the azure sky arching above us, the sort of sky that looked like it could only appear on a carefree day off late in the summer.

"All we were supposed to do was find that guy in the human village and bring him to Kasen. She's the one the Youkai Sage trusted to take care of everything else."


—18—


After that, things returned to normal for us for quite a while. It wouldn't make for a very interesting chapter in this story, so I'll just say that we spent our peaceful days teaching classes as usual and then relaxing in our agency's office afterwards. Mr. Fortune-teller hadn't been seen anywhere since the day he was abducted. It was as if the request we had received from the Youkai Sage had been nothing more than a dream.

Of course there had been no sign of Usami Sumireko making any sort of appearance in Gensokyo either.

So then what was my partner up to, you might ask?

She was lying face down on the tatami mats of our office, her arms stretched out above her.

"Are you not feeling well, Miss Renko? Is the summer heat getting to you?"

"It's autumn already, Sanae. She’s just sulking because she’s unwilling to accept that she was just a cog in the Youkai Sage's great machine. That must be very frustrating for the sort of delusional person who goes around calling herself a 'great detective', I imagine."

"Says the ultimate escapist. You’ve got no room to criticize me for indulging in the occasional fantasy."

Renko exhaled another sigh into our office's tatami mats. Ever since the fortune-teller had been carried off by Kasen she had seemingly lost all of her motivation. Having our case end so abruptly seemed to be deeply upsetting to her.

"I really thought we were getting to the bottom of things here. We were on the cusp of solving our greatest mystery and discovering why we were brought to this world in the first place, and then everything got snatched right out of our hands by a big, dumb buzzard. Have some pity for your poor partner's injured pride."

"It was a giant eagle, not a buzzard. And does it really matter? Kasen taking that guy away means that we followed the right path, right? That had to be the person that the Youkai Sage wanted us to find."

"It does matter! I'd been thinking up all sorts of plans to stage a touching reunion between my great aunt and Mr. Fortune-teller! Now that's all ruined!" Renko declared, rolling over and rising up into a sitting position while puffing out her cheeks like a petulant child. It was nice to see her being a bit more energetic, but I suppose expecting any level of maturity from her was too much to ask.

"Honestly I'm just happy he's gone," Sanae said.

Renko looked up toward her and shrugged. "You never did like that guy, did you, Sanae? Were you really suspicious of him the whole time? I think he was pretty harmless. It wouldn’t have hurt to be just a little friendlier towards him, you know?"

"Well, I don't think that he would have really come between the two of you now, but..." She paused for a moment and swallowed, her eyes darting away from meeting Renko's.

"...honestly I don't really care why you guys came to Gensokyo. I mean, if there was something that you were brought here to do, then once you do it, that would be it, right? Maybe you'd go back to your original time, or be spirited away by the Youkai Sage or something..." Sanae's hands were clenching in her lap, twisting the material of her skirt.

"...Seriously? Is that why you never liked him? Sanae, you're so cute!" Renko suddenly leaned over, wrapping her arms around Sanae and giving her a tight hug.

"C...Cute?"

"Super cute." Renko said, nodding as she continued to squeeze. "If you keep saying things like that you really are going to end up coming between me and Merry."

"N-no! I told you, I don't mind just watching!"

"Don't get started, Renko. I hadn't thought about it until now, but do you really think that could happen? If the Youkai Sage were to send us back now I think we'd actually be in a bit of trouble."

"Who knows? We still don't know what the Youkai Sage brought us here, so there's no way we could predict what might happen if she doesn't need us anymore. But staying here in Gensokyo would cause just as many problems as if we went back. If we live out the rest of our lives here, then what happens to the world we knew in the 2080s? Would either of us ever have even existed?"

"I'll leave that sort of question to sci-fi authors and physicists. I can't imagine what the implications are, but as far as Relativistic Noology goes, anything that can't be perceived might as well not exist, so whether the world outside continues without us or we're stuck in a time loop doesn't really matter. We experience the same thing either way."

"That's a pretty carefree way of looking at things. I have no idea what it would mean either though so I suppose that's the only sensible approach. I can’t promise that we won’t end up disappearing, but I promise we won’t leave without saying anything to you first, Sanae. Given the choice, I think Merry and I would both prefer to stay here for the rest of our lives, so don’t worry about it, okay?"

"Really? Promise?"

"I promise." Renko smiled and held out her hand, offering her pinky to Sanae to take.

Sanae took it without hesitation, twining her finger around Renko's. "It's a promise!" She declared. "Cross your heart!"

Renko reached out and took Sanae’s finger. But the very moment she finished saying "...and hope to die," the door to the office slid open. Standing in the doorway was Mr. Fortune-teller. It was the first time we had seen him in weeks.

Renko blinked several times in surprise, then stood up. "You’re back! Did you get expelled from training with Kasen now?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I've just come back to sort out my affairs and sever my ties to humanity. I'm going to become a full-fledged disciple," he sneered. "So thank you for your meddling, I suppose."

"Despite appearances I really had nothing to do with that. I really wasn't colluding with Kasen at all. I was just as surprised as you were when she said she wanted to take you on as an apprentice."

"Really?" he asked suspiciously. "I still have no idea what the Youkai Sage would want with me, or even why Master Kasen is bothering to instruct me. When she carried me away I presumed I was about to be eaten."

"I don't think hermits eat people. I take it the training is going well though? Are you serious about trying to become a hermit?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not sure if this is the path for me or not, but I do know that I don't ever want to meet that girl now."

Renko's eyes widened in surprise. "That girl? Do you mean Sumireko?"

"You were planning on introducing me to her when she arrived, weren't you? I’m afraid that can’t happen now. I wouldn’t want her to despise me."

As he said that Mr. Fortune-teller reached into the sleeve of his robes and pulled out a small book. I'm almost certain it was the same one I had seen him pocket on the day we first cornered him.

"Take this," he said.

"What is this?" Renko asked, reaching to take the small volume.

"What remains of my plan. A plan that fell apart because of your interference. I had intended to kill myself and be resurrect as a youkai."

Renko stared at him, wide-eyed.

"When I spoke with that girl through my divinations, I learned of the Outside World. After hearing about her life there, continuing to live as a human in a world controlled by youkai seemed unbearable. And so I decided to give up being human. If I could become a youkai, then I would be free from all constraints, able to live however I wanted. But then you showed up, and seemed determined to ruin everything. But that's alright. I don't need to become a youkai anymore. I'm going to become a hermit's apprentice."

He spoke with determination but there was still a hint of a sneer on his face.

"Life as a hermit’s apprentice will be better than living in this village as a human. If that girl arrives, tell her that I've found a way to be more than just an ordinary person and I'm sure she'll understand."

Renko sighed and looked down at the book in his hand.

"She's going to come, Usami Renko. She has the power and the wisdom to cross the barrier. More than that though, she is tired of the Outside World. She has a strong desire to see a world beyond the bounds of common sense. She and I were kindred spirits of a sort, two people who wanted to find a different way of being."

Renko reached out and took the book from him. As she did so a faint smile played over the fortune-teller's face.

"She cannot remain in the Outside World. If she were to come here and see that I had given up and accepted the common sense of this world and was living as a villager, what would she think of me? I will not disappoint her like that, not when, to her, this world seems like a place filled with hopes and dreams. I must go where she will never find me, even if she were to search. But I intend to leave something behind for her. One final proof that she and I are the same type of person. As the one responsible for leading her to Gensokyo, even if I end up becoming a hermit or a youkai, I owe her that much.."

Having said that, he stepped back from the door. "That's all that I came to say. If you meet her, tell her you don't know me, that you have no idea who I am or what I'm doing. That will probably be enough to dissuade her. If not, then tell her that I grew tired of this world and left to find a different way to live. If she still persists in searching for me, then don't help her find me. Goodbye, detective." And then he shut the door. We heard the crunch of his boots on the gravel of the yard as he walked away.

Renko stood stunned for a moment then growled and rushed to the door, tearing it open and stepping out into the schoolyard without bothering with her shoes.

"Mr. Fortune-teller, wait!" she called, still holding his book in her hand.

I peered through the doorway behind her and could see that he had stopped moving. He didn't turn around though.

"...Will you at least tell me your real name?"

He turned his head a little further at that, giving Renko the first genuine smile I had ever seen on his face. "I won't."

And then the fortune-teller's walked out of the schoolyard, and out of our lives. We haven't seen him since, and as such, we never did learn his name.

—

Renko closed the door behind her and came back in, sitting herself down on the tatami mats with a thump. She said nothing, just staring at the book in her hands in silence.

"Renko?" I asked tentatively, walking over to stand beside her.

"What's wrong, Boss?" Sanae asked. "I promise I'm not imagining you and Merry doing anything strange now that he's gone."

Renko remained silent for a moment longer after that unnecessary comment, then looked up at me with a determined expression. "This means this case is closed."

"What?"

"The Youkai Sage is somehow tangled up with my great aunt. That's who she really wanted us to save. I had thought that might be the case but now it's clear. I suppose we know who the person the Youkai Sage really wanted us to save was now."

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple. He just told us the last missing piece. His plan to relinquish his humanity and become a youkai was the last thing we were missing. I had thought he was planning something along those lines, but I hadn’t figured out the details..."

She turned to me, still holding the book that the fortune-teller had given her and set it gently down on the tatami mats between us. With her hands still resting on it she spoke softly, her eyes still staring at it. "Hey Merry, do you remember what Reimu warned us about the last time she came here? The time she came to tell us not to poke our noses into any more incidents."

"I remember. She's always telling us not to try to be anything other than humans, right?"

That, said in a variety of different ways, was what all of Reimu's warnings boiled down to. Don't get too close to youkai or you'll eventually end up turning into them yourselves. —And the Hakurei shrine maiden's job was to exterminate youkai.

"So then what the Youkai Sage was actually trying to prevent was..."

"Exactly. If Mr. Fortune-teller had succeeded in becoming a youkai, then Reimu would have had to exterminate him. I don't think it would have been like we've seen her exterminate people for causing incidents either. What if she did something more... permanent"

"I don't think Reimu does things like that. All of the youkai we've seen her exterminate are just fine."

"But it wouldn't be unprecedented for her to do something like that. A previous Hakurei shrine maiden sealed Byakuren in Makai for a thousand years, for example. And Byakuren's also someone who gave up her humanity to become a youkai."

"...Ah, I think I see what you're trying to say." I said with a sigh. In Renko's mind the Youkai Sage's request had a double, or maybe even a triple meaning. By simply saying that there was 'someone' she wanted us to save she could have meant Sumireko or Mr. Fortune-teller or maybe even both of them. That sort of thing wouldn't really be seen as fair in a proper mystery novel.

"If we hadn't helped Mr. Fortune-teller, he would have died and become a youkai, and then have gotten exterminated by Reimu. If that had happened then what do you think would happen once Sumireko got here and discovered it?"

"...If she found out about it, she'd probably get in a fight with Reimu..."

"That's what I'm thinking. And if Reimu had actually killed the benefactor who led Sumireko to this world… I think that’s what the Youkai Sage was really afraid of, that the Hakurei shrine maiden might end up making an enemy of someone from the Outside World with the ability to cross the barrier."

If all of that were to happen... then who was the Youkai Sage actually try to protect? By preventing Mr. Fortune-teller from ever meeting Renko's great aunt, just what was she hoping to avoid?