東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 9: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

Nine

𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯;
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦.


-—26—


"Absolutely no idea."

That evening, Keine had taken us to the Hakurei Shrine, far to the east of the village and asked Reimu if she knew any way that we might return to our own time, and that had been her reply.

"Normally, all I do with Outsiders is loosen the barrier a little and shoo them out. I don't know where they end up, and once they're outside, I can't see them or do anything more to help," She had explained.

"So what should we do then?" I had asked. Keine had only stared back at me with a pained expression. I had turned to look at Renko, but it only took a glance to know she had reached the same conclusion I had: if we were to leave Gensokyo, it would mean giving up all hope of returning to the world we knew and living out the rest of our lives in the 21st century. It was too risky a chance to take until we had completely exhausted all hope of finding a way back to our own world via some means here. In the worst case scenario, we could always take this option later.

"If you don't want to go back, then you should go live in the village. As long as you listen to Keine, you probably won't get eaten." Reimu had said, dismissively.

With that, we had no choice but to leave. Together with Keine, we had descended the stone steps to the shrine and made the long trek back to the village.



"What are your plans now, then?" Keine had asked us as we reached the village gate.

"If possible, we would be grateful if you could show us somewhere we could stay until we find a means of returning home."

Keine had nodded in agreement, having seemingly expected Renko's answer. "I can help you with that. If you're amenable to the idea, I know of both a place you can live and a job you can do to earn your way for the time being."

It was more than we had dared to hope for. All the way back from the shrine my mind had numbly been considering the unpleasant reality that, cut off from the support networks we had enjoyed back home, the two of us were essentially destitute and without the skills or experience to have much to offer the people of this society. The phrase "Those who don't work don't eat" had been playing in my head.

"What kind of work did you have in mind for us? I'm not sure that I'm much good for physical labor." Renko asked.

"That's alright," Keine had assured us. "I'll explain the details when we get there."

I took a moment to turn and whisper in Renko's ear. "Hey Renko."

"What is it, Merry?"

"Do you suppose that the Hakurei Shrine we visited today has any connection to the Hakurei Shrine we saw back home?"

The Hakurei Shrine that we had been to had existed a few dozen kilometers outside of Kyoto, and we had visited it several times as part of club activities. In our world, the shrine had been long-abandoned, leaving behind only sagging ruins slowly rotting away to dust behind faded signs declaring the area permanently closed and off-limits. Even in our world though, the history and purpose of the Hakurei Shrine had remained a mystery, denying all of our efforts to research or discover any record of it.

"Well," she began, "that Hakurei Shrine was said to have been abandoned for about as long as we appear to have gone back now. But if the two were the same, then that would mean this whole area should be relatively close to Kyoto." She didn't have to mention the problem with that idea—it was big enough that even I could see it. Towering far behind the village, off even further to the north than we had travelled with Reimu the night before, stood a majestic mountain with steep, treed slopes rising to a bald, rocky peak. There were no mountains of appropriate size anywhere near the Hakurei Shrine we had been to. "There's really no point in thinking about that now though. The link between this world and our own is something we'll have to worry about later.For as long as we're here, we'll have to focus on investigating the mysteries of this world, in our role as the Hifuu Club."

"Yes, yes, of course" I sighed.

Renko pushed the brim of her hat upwards, moving it off of shading her eyes now that the last rays of the sun had dipped below the horizon, and smiled her usual troublesome smile. "Even in another world, our duty is the same. We'll keep doing what we normally do, Merry - uncovering the secrets of the world. Any time, anywhere."



After returning to the village, Keine showed us to a one-story building in the neighborhood near where we had stayed the previous night. Initially, I had thought this might be her house, but there was a large hand-painted sign hanging above the entrance which read 'Temple School' in a florid, artful hand. I thought back to high-school history class. I vaguely remembered temple schools had been a thing in the Edo period, for the children of nobles and usually attached to Buddhist temples, though this one didn't appear to be.

"A temple school?" I asked.

"Really more of a private elementary school that I opened, I guess. I teach reading and history, but I have a hard time getting students to enroll."

I thought she would bring us into the school, but instead she led us around to the back of the building. There, a smaller building stood, perhaps a large tool shed or a small administrative building. She opened the sliding door, which had warped in its frame and required great force to push all the way open. The room inside this small building had tatami floors and was big enough for two people to comfortably lay futons down beside each other, but that was about it. "We've been using this as a storage room," she told us. "But it still gets maintained regularly, so it shouldn't be too difficult to fix up enough for you to stay in. I can bring my spare futon around later. I only have one, but you should be able to manage for the time being. You can use the restrooms in the school, and there's a bathhouse nearby, I can show you the way later."

The room was about large enough for 8 tatami mats and had a small space near the entrance for removing muddy shoes, but it seemed much smaller due to the stacks of books and desks piled up toward the back. There was no hearth for cooking nor fireplace for warmth, so really it was only a room for sleeping. A far cry from the guest room we had seen at the mansion, but also far better than sleeping on the street, which I supposed was our other option.

"The only cost to rent this room is that I'll ask you to help me out at the school. This room is barely big enough to sleep in, so your first job will be to clean up and organize here and in the classroom so that we can clear some of these things out. Of course, I'll pay you a salary for any work you do as well. Or, if you prefer, you can go out and find other work in the village in your spare time. I'll probably only need you for a few hours each day. If you decide that you want to settle down permanently in the village then I can help you find somewhere decent to live long term too. How does that sound?"

How could we say no? "Thank you, we appreciate the help." We bowed at the same time.

"Well we don't have too many students at the moment, so I don't think we'll be too busy to start. Still, I appreciate the help and ask that you treat them well." Saying this, Keine patted me on the shoulder and turned to lead us back outside. "The two of you have made a foothold in this world, even if it's not much. You should both be happy." I turned to gauge Renko's reaction and she shot me a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up. I couldn't help but chuckle, relieved to know that we could at least predict where our next meal might come from.

On that note, Keine had showed us around the school, then led us to the bathhouse and gave us directions to a nearby restaurant along with a little pocket money. We had spent some time exploring the neighborhood and found that, in general, food, bathing practices and general customs were not much removed from those we had known back in Kyoto in our own century. For as long as we might be trapped here, we could at least hope to live comfortably.

Keine stopped by a bit later in the evening with a heavy futon, warm blankets, and a change of clothing for each of us. With a little more work, the temple school's store room had become something habitable, if a little cramped.

"I'll be at home tonight. If you run into any trouble, just stop by the office where you met me earlier. Kotohime will be on duty. Try to get some rest tonight. Tomorrow is a school day, and I'll introduce you to the students and our routines so you can start helping right away."

"Thank you, we'll look forward to it. Good night." Keine bowed one last time, then stepped out the door and left.

In the dim light of a lantern sitting on the table, we were left alone in the room. Renko exhaled and sat down, using one of the rice husk pillows as a cushion. "Well, I guess we're all settled for now then." she sighed, then flopped over backwards, stretching out across the tatami. "There's still plenty to worry about of course, but no point thinking too much about it now."

I wondered how our friends and family back home were doing just now. Would we ever see them again? Would we be able to survive in a world without the technological comforts we had become accustomed to? Renko was right. We had no end of concerns but nothing we could do about them for the time being.

Somewhat at a loss, I sighed and picked up one of the books piled in the corner of the room. It was a textbook, bound in the traditional style with thick pages punched through and rigid wooden covers. It was written by hand in ink and the language was archaic and difficult to read, but it seemed to be a history or chronicle of some kind. I remembered Keine saying that she taught history to the children at the school. I wondered how the history taught in this world might differ from the past we knew of, especially in a world with beings that could live hundreds of years and provide first hand accounts of great happenings.

My thoughts instantly flashed back to the girl in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, who claimed to have been imprisoned for 500 years. I wondered if she had awakened and read the confession at the end of 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 yet. Would she be angry that we had suddenly disappeared?

"I hope that Patchouli and Meiling don't have any trouble with Flandre, now that we're not there any more." I said to Renko.

"We did sort of leave without saying goodbye." Renko sighed. "By the way though, Merry, there is something else that I've been wondering about."

"What is it?"

"That mansion. There's still way too many mysteries there to leave alone."

"Like the inconsistencies with the flow of time while we were there?"

"That's definitely one thing I'd like to sort out. It may have something to do with how we find ourselves here and now." Renko sat up and pulled in her ankles, sitting cross legged on the cushion. I sighed and let my shoulders fall. I could see she had worked something out in her mind, or was on the verge of it. There was nothing to do but let her let it out, as I knew there'd be no rest until she did. Renko read my body language and took it as acceptance. "Do you have anything to write with? I'd hate to waste our phone batteries just to take notes."

"There's probably a brush in here somewhere," I said waving my arm at the piles of stuff stacked in the back of the room. "But I don't think I've seen any inkstones or ink. Plus, I don't have a desk. We should have asked Keine for some writing materials before she left."

"Ugh, I miss civilization already. My kingdom for a ballpoint pen. Do you think they at least have fountain pens here? Oh well, never mind. I was hoping to jot it down to keep it organized, but I'll have to just list it off in the order I think of it. Merry, do you think you can keep track of it all?"

"I'll try."

"OK, let's go. —First off, the mystery of the whole Scarlet Devil Mansion itself...."

She proceeded to rattle off the following list, as near as I can remember. She broke her list into several categories as she spoke.

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳:
●Why is there a discrepancy between the amount of time that we and Reimu experienced in the mansion and the amount of time that passed in the village? What happened to the missing week?
●Why is there a further discrepancy between the amount of time we experienced in Flandre's room and the time shown on the mansion's clock?
●Who built the mansion, and for what purpose?
●Where did all the people living in that mansion come from, and how did they all come to be in one place?
●Why are vampires, youkai, and humans all living in the same western-style house?
●Why do they need such a large mansion for such a small number of people?
●Why did they come to Gensokyo, and why did they bring the mansion with them?

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘁:
●Is Remilia Scarlet really a descendant of count Dracula?
●Has she really been master of that house for 500 years?
●Was it her idea to imprison Flandre? If so, why?
●What is her relationship to Meiling and Patchouli, and why do they both serve her?
●Why did she go to the trouble of creating the scarlet mist, and if it was worth the trouble of creating, why did she give up on her plan so easily?

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘇𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗶 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝘆𝗮:
●To what extent can she manipulate time, and what is the range of her effect?
●How long has she been Remilia's servant, and why did she choose to become one?
●Was Sakuya actually a vampire hunter before she became Remilia''s servant? If so, what changed her mind?
●Why is she in charge of Meiling, who, as a youkai, should be much more powerful?

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗶 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲:
●How did she know Remilia and why does she live in that library?
●If her magic is responsible for imprisoning Flandre, and Flandre has been imprisoned for 500 years, but Patchouli has only been living in the mansion for the last 100 years or so, what was imprisoning Flandre before that?
●Why is the maintenance of the entire library left to a single devil? Judging by what we saw there, I don't think she can handle all of it.

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴:
●What kind of creature is she?
●What is her relationship with Remilia and the others in the mansion?
●Why does she have the character for 'Red' in her name? Was she also given her name by the mistress?
●Why is it her job to take care of Flandre?
●Is there any significance to the fact that all of her danmaku were light of the same seven colors seen hanging from Flandre's wings?

𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲:
●If she is Remilia's sister, why is her hair color and wing shape so different from her sister's?
●Why is she imprisoned in the basement, and has she really been there for 495 years?
●Why does everyone else in the mansion say she's 'unstable' and think she's dangerous?

That was quite a few questions to address. If this were a mystery novel, I'm sure each one of those issues would get neatly tied up by a course of events that explained them all in one fell swoop, but real life is rarely so convenient.

"Of those mysteries," Renko proclaimed, "there are at least two that we can probably solve here and now." She held up an index finger. "First, Remilia's supposed descent from Dracula is almost certainly just a baseless boast."

"How do you figure?"

"Well it's the year 2003 currently in this world. If we assume we're not talking about the fictitious character in the novel, then the closest real-world equivalent to Dracula was Vlad III of Wallachia, who carried the title of Dracul in the 15th century. If we assume that Remilia is 500 years old, she would have been born around 1500 A.D. when Vlad III would have still been alive. If she were his daughter or niece, that seems a little closely related to be a 'descendant' rather than simply listing the direct relation. My grandfather was born in the 20th century, but it would be weird for me to claim to be his 'descendant' rather than his granddaughter, right?"

"Yes, you're right. If Dracula were born in the 15th century then Remilia couldn't be more than his great-granddaughter at the very most, but if she were that closely related, I would think she wouldn't hesitate to claim a more direct lineage." But does that mean that she's older than 500 years, or younger? And what does that mean for Flandre's claims of being locked up for 495 years?"

"Well that's the question. You experienced the flow of time in that house with me though, things seem to work differently there. If one night in that place was a week outside of it, then 495 years inside of it might be only a fraction of that outside, and the effect seems to have been even more pronounced in Flandre's room."
I couldn't help but groan. The time we had spent in the mansion had seemed strange at several points. It had to be the work of Sakuya. Maybe when she stopped time to perform tasks, she only stopped it for us, and not people outside of the mansion. If that were the case though, she might have built up many years of living beyond what most of the other residents had experienced but not enough to account for a difference of decades or centuries.

"Let me try to get this straight, Renko."

"Go ahead."

"Let's assume it was the same day from the time we arrived in the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the time we had dinner in the arbor. When we went out there, Sakuya had said it was after 8:00 PM."

"That's right. And the moon was full at that time."

"Then we had dinner, Remilia released the scarlet mist, and you and I snuck into Flandre's room. From there, we must have been reading to her for around six hours, I figure. After that, when we went up to the roof, the clock showed just before 10:30. So do you think while we were in Flandre's room a week actually passed outside?"

Renko had a bemused look on her face. "No, Merry. You've got it backwards."

"What? How so?"

"You're thinking that Flandre's room is like the Dragon Palace in the legend of Urashima Taro. Six hours inside is a week outside, right? But Flandre said she'd been in the room 495 years. If she'd been in there that long, how much time would have passed outside?"

"Huh, I guess you're right. If that were the case then Flandre would actually be much older than she claims to be."

"Right. I think what's happening is the reverse. The six hours or so that we spent in Flandre's room were probably only a few minutes or less to the people outside that room."

"I see...." I muttered, mulling over the implications.

"It makes sense if you look at Flandre's claim that Meiling had visited a week ago. As far as we can tell, she was there just a few minutes before, but in just the time between her visit and ours, a week had passed for Flandre.

"So Flandre's 495 year imprisonment would have been considerably compressed from an outside perspective."

"I think so. You had said there was a complicated ward on her room. I think it must mess with the flow of time within that chamber."

"...alright, but if that's the case, how do you explain the issue of the time Reimu experienced and the time that the village experienced?"

"Don't you already know, having seen it yourself, Merry?"

I gaped in surprise. "...The barrier around the mansion! Time must flow differently inside than it does on the outside, and the degree to which that flow is distorted varies the closer you get to the basement."

"That's right. The whole thing's like a matryoshka doll, with each layer moving in a different direction. That's why the villagers experienced a week, Reimu experienced a whole day, Remilia and Patchouli experienced roughly 3 hours and we perceived maybe 10-12 hours total."

"Alright, but something like that can't be a natural occurrence, and if you assume it's Sakuya's doing that still leaves the question of why, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it very much does. My guess is the reason why one night in the mansion became a week outside of it is because it would have taken time for the scarlet mist to spread throughout Gensokyo, and Sakuya wanted to keep the young lady from getting bored while waiting for it. I wouldn't put it past her. But if that's the case, why distort time in Flandre's room?" Renko lay back down on the floor and continued to mutter to herself. "I do have a hypothesis that would explain most of the mysteries in one go."

"Well what is it?" I asked, exasperated.

"I don't want to tell you yet. I don't have enough evidence to be sure of it."

"Oh my God, you sound like the most pompous sort of self-absorbed detective."

"All great detectives are eccentric, Merry. If you want a clue though, I'll say this. I think your Relativistic Noology could be the key to everything."

"How so? It seems to me that this whole world operates on its principles."

"Nope, not saying. You'll have to figure the rest out yourself." Renko smiled.

"The next chance I get, I'm going to have to give that trenchcoat back to Sakuya, it's messing with your head."

Renko cast her eyes up to the trenchcoat where it hung on the wall. "Oh, that's right. I was wearing it when we were watching the danmaku match, so I never had a chance to return it. Merry, that's a great idea! If we go to return it, we can poke around a bit more while we're there. Let's do that! And we can bring your cloak too! We should go as soon as possible!"

I sighed in resignation. Until my partner's curiosity had been satisfied, I knew there'd be no choice but to follow along. It was the same old Hifuu Club as usual. I smiled a little, enjoying the familiarity of it and the excitement with which Renko was now making plans and pacing about the room at least. It was nice to see how some things never change, regardless of the situation.

"Yes, yes," I sighed.


—27—


I will not go into detail into how we both managed to sleep on a single futon. The following morning, however, our life in Gensokyo began.

I'd like to write about the struggles we had adapting to life in the human village, or the joys and difficulties we faced helping Miss Keine teach her class at the temple school. Certainly, there's a lot to say on those topics, and for the first few weeks of our time in Gensokyo, most of our days were spent in the long, difficult process of simply acclimating to our new surroundings and re-learning the day-to-day routines of life. This book is not about such things, however—it is the story of our entanglement with the Scarlet Mist Incident.

To that end, I will instead write about what happened one week after we came to the human village, when we went with Akyuu, of the prestigious Hieda family, to the Hakurei Shrine.



"There is someone I'd like to introduce you to."
We were eating breakfast with Keine at her house, as had become our new custom, when she brought it up.

"Who is it?" Renko had asked, suddenly interested..

"Have you seen the big mansion at the far end of this road? It's called Hieda Manor, and it's the home of the ninth Child of Miare who is often seen as the village's figurehead. She's asked me to introduce the two of you."

"The ninth child of Miare? Is that a title?" Renko had put down her rice bowl and was listening intently.

"The Child of Miare is, to put it simply, the Chronicler of Gensokyo and keeper of all of our history. Her duty is to record an unbiased record of any and all incidents that occur here. My work as a historian is only possible with her help. Are you familiar with the work of Hieda no Are?"

"That's the name of the original compiler of the 𝘒𝘰𝘫𝘪𝘬𝘪, isn't it?" Renko answered immediately. Keine nodded.

"She is his reincarnation. She has been reborn nine times now, returning every century or so to continue chronicling the story of our world."

As usual, it seems there are no limits to what might be possible in this world. Now we were to meet a reincarnation of a figure from ancient history. If the mythology of the 𝘒𝘰𝘫𝘪𝘬𝘪 can even be thought of as history, rather than a religious text at this point, that is. Some scholars had even advanced the view that Hieda no Are might not have ever existed in the first place.

"What does the Child of Miare want with us?" Renko had asked.

"She wants to hear about the Incident you were involved with. The mess with the vampire's fog. If you don't mind, I can bring you to see her as soon as we're done here."

"What about school?"

"It's closed today."

"Well then, by all means."

Keine nodded with satisfaction. "All right then. I'll pack us a lunch. We'll be walking to the Hakurei Shrine again today."

"We're not meeting at her manor?"

"I'm afraid Reimu never came back into town to give us a proper accounting of the incident either, so Miss Hieda has asked that we accompany her to the shrine to get one.”

Renko and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions.



After breakfast, we walked to the ornate gates set into the stone wall that encircled the Hieda estate. Renko had brought the trenchcoat with her 'just in case' as she said. The midsummer sun was far too hot to be able to wear it, even in the morning, and so she carried it draped over her arm.

Hieda Manor, which stood out like nothing else in the village, was nowhere near as large as the Scarlet Devil Mansion had been, but it might have been even more impressive. Not only the sizable house itself, but several smaller houses, storage buildings and ample farmland were all contained within the wall that delineated the estate. I had always imagined someone influential must live in such a dignified house, and I was a bit nervous to see what kind of mythical woman might emerge from its doors.

"Good morning, Keine."

"Good morning."

Coming out from behind the door of the gate was a petite girl wearing a colorful kimono. She looked to be at most nine or ten years of age, but she moved with a grace and dignity that seemed not just out of place, but downright bizarre coming from one so young. Turning to the two of us, she bowed politely, then asked Keine "are these two them?"

"Ah, excuse me, yes. These are the two Outsiders who were present for the Incident. They are currently working as my assistants at the temple school."

The girl looked at us and smiled serenely. "Nice to meet you, and welcome to Gensokyo. My name is Hieda no Akyuu, also known as the ninth Child of Miare."

"I'm Usami Renko."

"My name is Maéreverie Hearn. Please, just call me Merry."

"Renko and Merry, I see. I've heard that you both have come here from the future. There are many things I'd like to ask you, but we'll have plenty of time for discussion later. For now, we should get started toward the shrine."

Akyuu took the lead and began to walk. As we followed along behind her, nearly a dozen handmaidens emerged from the gate and took up positions nearby to see her off, all waving and calling out with a coordinated and formal goodbye. It must be exhausting to be a VIP of her caliber, I thought to myself.

All at once, Akyuu stopped short ahead of us, looking down and clutching her chin in one hand, as if lost in thought. "Renko, your name is written with the kanji for 'lotus', correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

Renko tilted her head at the sudden question, but as soon as she answered it, Akyuu turned around and walked back to the mansion, saying only "excuse me a moment." When she returned a few minutes later, it was at a sprint, waving a small slip of paper in her hand. Rushing up to us she bent over, gasping for breath as the gaggle of handmaidens surrounding us looked on awkwardly. Once she had recovered a bit she said "Merry, do you recognize this piece of paper?"

The paper she handed me was a badly worn and dirt-stained piece of lined notebook paper, of a size you might find in any common pocket tablet. As common a thing as could be imagined in our time, but highly anachronistic here in Gensokyo.

‘Is it always so easy to get lost in bamboo forests at night?'

Turning the scrap of paper over in my hand, I was shocked to find the other side held handwriting in simple blue ink. Handwriting that was unmistakably my own. I frantically searched my own memory and recalled that I had once written a note like this—in a dream. In that dream I had found myself lost in an endless bamboo forest at night, on the run from strange creatures with glowing eyes. In a moment of calm, after escaping pursuit, I had despairingly collapsed and stared up at the moon, wishing I had possessed my partner's ability to intuit my location. To calm my nerves, I had written this note, more to myself than anyone else, but addressed to her. How could it be here, now, in this world, as a physical object?

"Merry, what is this?" Renko asked, tentatively.

For a moment I was speechless. Recovering myself, I swallowed and said "I wrote this in that dream of a bamboo forest I once told you about, Renko."

"In a dream?"

"This is your writing, isn't it?" Akyuu asked, tilting her head curiously. I had to tilt my head too. How could I explain the presence of something that had only existed in a dream now being in my hands? I suppose given that I had also visited the Scarlet Devil Mansion in my dreams it shouldn't be so surprising.

I nodded. "No doubt."

Akyuu took a step back to regard me appraisingly for a moment, then said "That piece of paper was found in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost hundreds of years ago. The Hieda household has been preserving it as an article of historical significance to the chronicles ever since."

"Merry, you must have traveled back in time in your dreams and crossed over the barrier into this world!" Renko said, with a congratulatory air.

"Does that mean it's my fault we traveled back in time now and not the result of that amber?"

"Maybe. But we'll have to consider the details later. There could be clues in the dreams you've had where you visited this world before. There could be something there that could help us find a way to return to our time and place."

"Perhaps...." I said noncommittally. "Now that I think about it, I can't remember having a single dream since arriving here in this world. I wonder if I'm just not remembering them or if I haven't been dreaming at all. I'll make a point of paying attention tonight."



The trip to the Hakurei Shrine from the village was not difficult, but it still took more than an hour on foot, and the trail passed through wilderness far from any sign of civilization—exactly the sort of place a human wouldn't want to be caught out alone at night in this world. The only physically taxing part of the journey was the very end, which consisted of climbing steeply cut stone stairs built into the side of a hill in order to pass through the torii gate that stood in front of the shrine. When we did so this time, we saw Reimu standing alone, sweeping the shrine grounds.

"Oh, worshippers?" Reimu asked, noticing us approach. "Oh, never mind…" I wondered if living alone so far from the village had made her used to talking to herself. Although the view from atop the hill was spectacular, looking out over all of Gensokyo, the shrine seemed like a lonely, almost desolate place to live.

"Good morning!" Keine and Akyuu had called out in tandem, from ahead of us.

"Keine? Akyuu? And those Outsiders from the other day? What do you all want? Is something wrong?" She had responded, without bothering with a greeting.

"Yes, it's an incident," Akyuu had responded, slightly out of breath. "There was an incident with the fog the other day, but I haven't heard an official accounting from the people involved in it yet."

"Oh, I'd forgotten all about it." Reimu sighed and scratched her head. "She's been coming here a lot ever since then."

"She who?"

"Remilia. The vampire I exterminated. Even though she's a vampire, she shows up in the middle of the day with a parasol. I keep telling her that if youkai like her show up at my shrine whenever they please, then I'll get even fewer human worshippers, but she doesn't seem to care at all."

Reimu huffed indignantly, but Akyuu only smiled at her and said "Ah, so you mean to say that if we wait around here, we'll get to hear the story from the vampire's point of view too."

Reimu let out a great heaving sigh and looked miserable. She paused for a moment to consider, then leaned her broom against one of the pillars of the veranda. "I suppose having you all here at once would cause less of a disturbance. I can offer you all some tea, but I don't have anything for you to eat."


—28—


We were inside a simple, spare but well-maintained room at the Hakurei Shrine, sitting around the table on the bare tatami floor, eating the lunch Keine had packed for us and listening to Reimu relate the story of her battle with Sakuya, which I hadn't seen.

"I was surprised at first," she said. "Without warning, countless knives would appear in front of me, already in flight wherever I went. It was really unpleasant, she kept stopping time to scatter or retrieve more knives, so there was always a whole mountain of sharp points coming at me at any time."

"How did you manage to defeat such an enemy?" Akyuu had asked. She wasn't taking any notes, but she had the same air to her that Renko sometimes got and I could tell she was recording every detail of the conversation internally.

"Well, an attack that's impossible to avoid is against the rules, so she couldn't just stab me while time was frozen, and she had to unfreeze time to let the knives she had thrown move so I just dodged."

It was an extremely simple solution—straightforward and uncomplicated, but requiring incredible talent to pull off. I wondered why Sakuya had agreed to play by the rules of a danmaku match at all though. In all the times I had seen her, she had shown nothing less than fanatical devotion to her mistress, and I would have expected her to oppose anyone seeking to harm Remilia with everything she had. I suppose sticking to the established rules of engagement meant she could rely on Reimu to do the same and therefore be assured that even if she failed, her mistress wouldn't be harmed.

"Anyway, that was the fight with Sakuya, and after that I just went after Remilia. How long were you guys watching us?" Reimu turned her attention to us.

"From the time you fought Meiling, but from where we were, we only got to see that fight and both of Remilia's."

"Oh, so you saw the bit where Marisa got clobbered?"

"That witch in black? Yeah, I saw the whole thing." Renko replied.

Reimu seemed like she was about to say something more, but before she could, the door to the veranda was flung forcibly open and a new guest stepped boldly into the room.

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear!"

It was the witch we had seen that night, still dressed all in black except for her apron, despite the midsummer weather. Up close she was as small as Akyuu, but looked older. Though, like Reimu, her age was a little hard to determine precisely.

"Marisa? Hey, don't come in without even saying 'hello' first." Reimu groused.

"That was my greetin' just now." Marisa replied, sliding the door shut behind her.

"That's not a greeting!"

"Enh, don't sweat the small stuff. Heya Keine."

"Marisa, good to see you again. You should come into town sometimes, I'm sure your parents would love to see you."

"Fat chance. They're the ones who disowned me, remember? Oh, Akyuu is here too? Are you tellin' stories about the vampire extermination the other day? And who are those two?" She asked, indicating Renko and I.

"That's a lot of questions for someone who hasn't even said 'hello' yet." As rude as Reimu seemed to be to everyone she talked to, she reserved a darker shade of grouchiness for the witch, it appeared. "These are two Outsiders who were about to be eaten by the vampire, for your information. They were just about to tell me how they saw you get wrecked by that child."

"Hey now! That's unfair. I just got a little careless is all." Marisa puffed out her cheeks and gave Reimu a dirty look before turning to face us. "Kirisame Marisa. Just an ordinary magician. Nice to meet 'cha." She offered her hand, and we rose from the table in turn to shake it. Although she was young, she had the hands of someone accustomed to hard work. Between the handshake, her blonde hair, the western-style witch's outfit and her relaxed manner of speech, I wondered if she might be an immigrant, or possibly even an Outsider like us for a moment, before recalling that Keine had mentioned she had family in the village. At any rate, she seemed to be comfortable standing out from the crowd.

Akyuu turned to address Marisa. "It's just as well that you're here, Marisa. Now I can record your telling of your match against the vampire instead of relying on others."

"No need to make any excuses," Reimu cut in before Marisa could even open her mouth. "I watched you lose right along with these two, so we'll correct any details that slip your mind."

"Oh, forget that then. Let me tell you about my fight with Patchouli instead. You didn't even get to see that, did you Reimu?"

Marisa then proceeded to relate the story of her fight against the magician and her devil familiar in the library with great vigor and highly colorful commentary. It was an interesting tale to hear told, but I'll avoid recording it here as I want this book to stick to verifiable facts wherever possible. If I were to include one key detail, it would be that, from Marisa's description, it sounded like Patchouli's so-called 'seven-day magician' style of magic appeared to be an extension of the classical eastern five elements model.

In this way, Akyuu's interview regarding the Scarlet Mist Incident, as it was now officially being called, went on until the early afternoon.



"So Remilia Scarlet was the mastermind behind it all." Akyuu confirmed once all the stories had been told. "By the way, was she also the source of the 'Vampire Incident' six months ago?"

"I don't know much about that one, it got resolved on its own, but she's the only vampire around here, isn't she? Oh wait, there used to be another one, but she was small fry." Reimu mused. "Why are you asking me though, Akyuu? Don't you already have all the details about that?"

"No, I was only told about it by the Youkai Sage after it happened. I couldn't even tell you the name of the mastermind behind it."

Renko interrupted by muttering to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. "Keine said that the Vampire Incident was about six months ago and led to the creation of the Spell Card dueling rules. Remilia said that she had tried to conquer the world once before but got bored and gave up. It would make sense if that was the incident she was talking about...
"Well it couldn't have been Remilia back then, now that I think about it," Akyuu declared. "The mansion didn't appear on the lake until after the Vampire Incident was over."

Renko's eyes widened in astonishment. Reimu, Marisa and Keine also all tilted their heads at Akyuu's declaration.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. The first time I heard from a fisherman that a strange mansion had appeared on the far shore of Misty Lake was about a week after I had been contacted by the Youkai Sage and told that the Vampire Incident had been resolved."

"Hmmm." Keine pondered, furrowing her brow. "I was sure it was the other way around. You'd know though, Akyuu. Maybe I just got it mixed up with all the recent talk of vampires running amok.

Renko grunted and rested her chin on one hand. I could practically see the wheels in her head spinning as she wrestled to put the pieces of some puzzle together, though I couldn't begin to guess what question she was trying to figure out now.

"Where did those guys even come from anyway?" Marisa asked, turning to me. "You guys didn't hear anythin' did you?"

"Who me? No, I don't know anything about the origins of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Though... There is one thing it seems you haven't discovered. There's another vampire who lives in that mansion, aside from Remilia."

"Whaaat?" Four sets of eyes turned to me at once. It seems no one here except Renko and I knew about Flandre.

I was about to open my mouth to explain when another voice interrupted from behind the sliding door. Its familiar childish but arrogant tone was instantly recognizable. "My my, for a priestess who's always complaining about never getting any visitors to her shrine, you certainly have a full house today, don't you?"

Without any further greeting, Remilia slid the door aside and stepped into the room, folding down her parasol as she did so.

"You're here again?" Reimu frowned.

"I came to visit you. You should be honored. I take my tea black, with two sugars."

"I told you, we only have green tea here."

"Well then you're not very well prepared. Go and get some black tea from the village."

"I'm not leaving my shrine unattended with a vampire inside it. What about your house? shouldn't you go back and make sure it's alright?"

"I left Sakuya in charge. I'm sure it will be just fine."

"I'm sure it won't be fine. You should go home and check on her, the sooner the better."

Remilia completely ignored Reimu's harsh words, helping herself to a seat on the tatami and looking slightly miffed that there was no room left at the table. A moment later she noticed Renko and I and her eyebrows shot up. "You two again! I'm surprised you're still here. Patchy was very angry at you two."

"At us?" I asked.

"Yes, she was going on about how someone had nearly destroyed the wards she placed in the basement."

"Ah. That might have been me, I guess. Sorry about that." I bowed my head. Still though, it seemed odd to think that she might still be mad about something like that. The barrier must have still been functioning for the whole time we were in Flandre's room. If it weren't then we wouldn't have noticed the differences in the flow of time between the inside and outside of that cell. If that ward was actually broken now, I wonder who had broken it?

As I was pondering this, Akyuu turned to address Remilia. "So you're Remilia Scarlet," she said, leaning forward with a twinkle in her eye. "It 𝘪𝘴 an honor to meet you. I'm Hieda no Akyuu, Gensokyo's official chronicler. I'd like to hear more, if I may, about vampires, and about both the Scarlet Mist Incident and the previous Vampire Incident." Keine was watching Remilia warily and turning from her seat at the table so as not to leave her back facing the vampire. Reimu was sighing in resignation and Marisa was grinning smugly at Reimu when all at once a thunderous roar rumbled across the sky and we all turned around to look outside.

It was too early in the day for an evening shower and the skies had been perfectly clear all morning. I looked out the window toward the veranda, but there was no rain, just ominous dark clouds gathering in the distance.

"What the heck is that?" Marisa asked and rose from her spot at the table to open the door.
Walking out onto the veranda, she shielded her eyes from the glare and peered into the distance.
Everyone soon followed to see the strange sight. Black thunderheads were gathering, low and heavy to the northwest, obscuring everything around the foothills of the large mountain that rose above the rest of Gensokyo. As we watched, the clouds opened and a highly localized downpour turned the entire area into a misty blur.

"Oh, that's my home. I can't go back as long as it's raining," said Remilia.
"Because vampires can't cross running water, right?" asked Renko.
"Nature is a curse, sometimes." Remilia sighed theatrically.
"Vampires are supposed to be cursed, that's natural," Marisa retorted. "But I don't think that storm is. It looks like you've been kicked out, Remilia."
"Nonsense," she huffed. "I am the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, they would never. If anything, that rain is probably to prevent something from escaping."
Reimu and Marisa turned to look at each other at once.
"Come to think of it, didn't we just hear that there was another vampire in that mansion? Sounds interesting..." Marisa said while casually collecting her broom from the veranda.

"I suppose I should go check on it just to make sure it isn't the start of another incident. You can stay at the shrine for now," said Reimu, stepping off the veranda and heading down the path toward the shrine gates. "Akyuu, Keine, please keep an eye on that kid until I get back," she said over her shoulder, without looking back.

All at once there was a bustle of motion and the two of them, who had been walking peacefully, broke into a sprint, both heading for the torii at the end of the stone path.

"Marisa! Give me a ride!" It was my partner who said that, grinning her troublesome smile and bowing apologetically.

"What? you want to go too?" Marisa turned to regard us with a look of confusion. "For a normal human to want to return to a vampire's mansion for a little something extra after escapin', they'd have to be a lunatic."

"Sure. I'm sure it'll be fine, we had no problem there the other day. Come on, Merry, let's go."

"Wait, me too?" I blurted. Renko had already placed both of her palms on my back and was pushing me ahead of her. I stumbled off of the veranda and toward Marisa as Reimu took the opportunity to run through the shrine gates and leap from the top of the stone stairway, sailing away into the sky.

"Hey, three people is overloading it a little, don't you think?" Marisa asked.

"You're small, and I'll sit on the back. I'm sure you can manage it, right?" Saying that, Renko bent down and grabbed the bristles of the broom, pulling it parallel to the ground. When she released it, it hovered in place. Without a moment's delay or any sense of propriety she lifted her leg and straddled the broom, adjusting herself to try to comfortably cling to Marisa. "Come on, Merry, get on!" she said with childlike glee.

Marisa looked incredulously at her for a moment, then turned to glare at Reimu's quickly-shrinking form in the sky. Sighing in resignation, she scooted forward and sat on the front of the broom. Renko followed her, leaving just enough space behind her for me to wedge myself onto the last available bit of the handle and a few of the prickly bristles.

"No way." I said flatly. "I'm not doing this." But Renko gave my arm a tug, unbalancing me so that I pitched forward and had to grab the broom to hold myself up, stabilizing myself with one knee rested against its wooden stem..

"Right. I'm going to fly now, hold on." Marisa said.

She whooped the broom shot forward on a trail of stardust, bucking with enough force to lift me off of my feet. I desperately clung to the handle as we rose into the sky and Renko reached back to grab my collar, pulling me into a seated position behind her.

The three-person broom rose straight up, then rocketed forward, heading off toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where the rain was sheeting down with terrible intensity.








[𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

As a serious reader of mystery novels, I must admit I have never deduced the full truth of a mystery before reaching a story's denouement. Nonetheless, if I may be so bold, I will dare to include such a challenge here for your enjoyment. I have at this point given to you, the reader, all of the information that my partner used to come to their conclusions about this incident.

Theoretically speaking, you should then be able to develop the same reasoning that they have and arrive at the conclusion at the same moment you read Renko's deductions in the chapter to follow.

Though, I will admit, mere logic is no guarantee of reaching the same answer. In the first place, this is a bit of a crazy tale, full of inhuman abilities, ways of thinking and supernatural events requiring you to rely on the powers of your imagination rather than simple logic. Secondly, to reach the conclusion that our great detective did, you would have to not only have the same deductive capabilities that she does, but also a mind capable of working in the roundabout manner that my partner's does. If this is the case for you, then you have my sincere condolences.
With that said, if you wish to continue, I have these three questions for you:
1.What was the purpose of the Scarlet Mist Incident?
2.Why is Flandre Scarlet Imprisoned?
3.What roles were played by Patchouli Knowledge, Izayoi Sakuya and Hong Meiling, respectively?

This is not an exam or a quiz, and obviously I will never know if you solved the mystery yourself or simply read ahead, so there can be no prize for a correct guess except for your own feeling of satisfaction should you succeed. If, by chance, you do succeed in this challenge, I encourage you to drop by our office at some point and brag about it to Renko.

If I were to give you a hint it would simply be this: "Think outside the box."

I will also add that anything related to Usami Sumireko, the fact that Renko and I came from the future, or Akyuu's discovery of my note from hundreds of years ago are not related to the solution. We are concerned at the moment only with the questions of the Scarlet Mist Incident and the troubles of my and my partner's lives are another story.

With all of that said, can you beat Renko's imagination? I wish you the best of luck.