東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 9:Subterranean Animism

—25—


From there we continued walking with Yamame, eventually coming to the wooden bridge which spanned the river separating the series of caves surrounding the city from the passage that led to the vast shaft where Renko and I had first fallen into the Underworld. The last time we were here, Renko and I were still bound head to toe in silk.

Ahead of us there were two figures standing on the bridge. The first of the figures was instantly recognizable from her height and the glossy blonde hair and the tall, straight horn rising from her head. Beside Yuugi, another form that must have been Parsee was leaning against the bridge's railing, with a sullen-looking slouch to her posture.

Yamame called out behind us, waving her arm over her head in greeting. "Heeey! Don Yuuugi!"

Yuugi raised a hand in greeting, still holding her drinking dish as she did so, never spilling a drop as she twisted around to wave at us. Parsee didn't move at all, her eyes fixed on the river.

As we drew closer, Yuugi turned toward us. "Oh, it's Renko again. Did Yamame take you to meet Murasa and her friends?"

"She did," Renko said with a nod. "She had a lot of interesting things to say."

"Good. I'll bet she was happy to hear information about the surface too. Did she talk to you about how she wants to get that ship of hers up to the surface?"

"Yeah, but you couldn't dig a hole big enough or deep enough to get it out without collapsing these caverns, right?"

"I'm not sure we could even dig a hole that big," Yamame added.

"That's why I wanted you to meet Murasa, Renko" Yuugi said, turning to face my partner.

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to think of a way to get Murasa and her ship out of the Underworld."

Renko blinked in surprise as Yuugi took a pull from her drinking dish.

"Murasa and her friends have been down here way longer than us, all the way back to when this place was still Hell. They were never part of this agreement between us and the youkai on the surface, so it should be fine for them to go back."

"I see, that makes sense."

I supposed that meant that only the youkai who had moved to the Underworld since the oni from Gensokyo had settled here were subject to the non-aggression pact.

"They've got something they need to do up on the surface and I'd like to help them do it. That said, we're not supposed to be interfering in things up there, so I can't really help them even if there was a good way for me to do it. I was hoping we could get Suika to help us, but she only helps people she likes. Maybe you could convince her to lend a hand, Renko."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. With her powers she might be able to burrow down from above and make a hole big enough to extract the entire ship."

"That's right. Will you ask her for me?"

Renko crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. "Hmmm. I would be happy to try and help out Captain Murasa for sure, but I think there's a more pressing problem we need to deal with first."

"Oh? What would that be? Is this something to do with the Earth Spirits?"

"Yes, I've just been to Chireiden and had a talk with the people there."

"Oh really? What did you think of Satori?"

"Her abilities were very impressive. However, while I was there, I learned that the origin of the problem causing the Earth Spirits to leak to the surface is actually above ground rather than a mismanagement issue down here. So now I need to get back to the surface as soon as possible to get that sorted out."

"The source of the problem is on the surface? Does that mean some surface youkai is trying to mess with us?"

"It looks that way."

"They wouldn't be stupid enough to try to use the power of these vengeful spirits for themselves would they?" Yuugi asked, suddenly taking on a serious expression.

"Well, I certainly hope not, but that's what I need to go investigate. My theory is that someone up there has just done something stupid without realizing the consequences, but I need to talk to some people to be sure."

"Oh, so you're going home?" Yuugi asked, resting her hand on her chin and looking concerned. "You humans sure like to rush around all the time. Why not just relax and take it easy?"

"Well I'd love to stay longer, but duty calls, you know? This could end up being a very serious issue." Renko said, raising her hands apologetically.

Yuugi looked down at Renko then drained the sake from her dish and set it down on the bridge’s railing before smacking her fist into her other palm. "If someone from the surface is causing problems at the palace, why don’t I just go beat them up for you?"

That would be a problem. If Yuugi showed up in front of Satori it would raise some very awkward questions. Renko hurried to stop her.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" my partner said in a panic, waving her hands at Yuugi, "that's not a good idea. We’re not complete sure if that’s what’s going on or not. We were going to head up to the surface to check on a few things and see if we can’t resolve it ourselves. How about if 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 doesn’t work, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 we get you to start cracking heads. Since it’s a problem that involves both the surface and the Underworld you have to act carefully, right?"

Yuugi groaned in annoyance. "Ugh, what a pain. Just show me who's trying to cause problems and I'll go flatten them. That's the simplest way to solve a dispute, right?"

"Muscle-bound moron," Parsee whispered, just loud enough so that everyone could hear it.

Yuugi turned to face her as she scratched at her head. "Don't say that, Parsee."

"I'm just stating an obvious fact. I'm jealous of you for being in a position where you get to decide things like this despite always taking the brute force approach," Parsee said, casting her eyes up at Yuugi but with her chin still resting on the railing of the bridge.

Yuugi blinked twice, then sighed and scratched at her head. "Alright, alright, I’ll give up on starting a fight."

"What do you mean you’ll give up on it? That human just told you that this is a surface problem, so let the people from the surface handle it themselves. There’s no reason for us to even be involved. I’m jealous of how everyone just comes along and solves your problems for you."

"I suppose you’re right. Okay Renko, you heard her. This problem is all yours."

"That's all I could ask for," Renko said with a smile.

"I guess even the people at the palace don't have it easy. They act all self-important, but they have issues to deal with too." Yuugi muttered.

"And yet you still go out of your way to help them out. How enviable"

"That's a good thing though. All of us down here in the Underworld have to work together, right?"

"It’s one thing for you to say that, but you’re not the one helping them out! You’re just getting other people involved!"

"Don't say that."

"It's true though! You just do whatever you want without ever worrying about all the trouble it causes everyone else! I'm jealous of you for being able to be such an insensitive clod!" Saying that, Parsee twisted around from her slouched position on the bridge and seized the back of one of Yuugi's hands, pinching the skin above the tendons between her fingers.

"Ow! Hey, that kind of hurts! If it’s the sort of problem that can’t be solved by brute strength, why shouldn’t I rely on others?"

"Does that include relying on me to solve problems for you too!?"

"Well you're my friend, aren’t you?"

"Augh! We're not friends!" Screaming in frustration, Parsee released Yuugi's hand and turned to face her, hunching up and kicking out with her legs, battering Yuugi's shins with her boots.

"Sure we are!" Yuugi said amiably, ignoring Parsee's repeated blows and reaching out to stroke the hashihime's hair.

"Don't stroke my hair!"

I felt like I almost understood what Yamame had meant with her comment about Yuugi feeding a stray cat. I wondered what sort of task Yuugi might have asked Parsee to do in the past. Yamame had said it was Parsee’s duty to keep watch over this bridge, so I wondered if it could be something as simple as that..

"Renko, are you planning on going home right away?" Yuugi said, turning her head toward my partner as she retrieved her sake dish from the railing and filled it from a jug.

"Um, that's what I had planned."

"It must be nearly midnight on the surface by now, why don't you stay here for the night?. You can head up to the surface after," Yuugi said, raising her dish high.

We had only just come from having a drinking party with the oni earlier today. Was she really about to start another one already? I looked over at my partner who was smiling awkwardly. "Oh, um, thank you very much for the offer, but I feel like I've only just recovered from our last party."

"Don't say that, it's boring. It'll be your farewell party, you can't miss that."

Renko seemed about to reply, but just then Parsee delivered another swift kick to Yuugi’s shins. Yuugi stumbled a half-step backward but balanced the sake dish perfectly, never spilling a drop. "You're just looking for an excuse to party again, you drunken meathead!" Parsee shouted.

I thought about how quickly the time had gone by. It was only just after noon when we had gone to explore the hole. It must have taken four hours or so to have gone from falling into the Underworld to the time Renko woke up at Yuugi's party. From there we had spent a long time talking to captain Murasa, then chased Koishi, met Satori, visited the Hell of Blazing Fires, met Orin, had our discussion with her and now ended up back here. It had been a jam-packed day, and it was only once I thought about it that I realized I was now starving.

"Well, I may not be up for drinking with an oni, but I could definitely use a meal, if that's an option. How about a farewell dinner?"

"A feast!" Yuugi declared, exuberantly. "How about it, Parsee? Not even you can say no to good food, can you?"

"Just watch me. You all go and have fun in the city and leave me here."

"Don't be like that, Parsee. You should come into town every once in a while."

"I’m jealous of you being able to go wherever you want, whenever you want. I'd only cause you problems if I went with you though."

"Oh, you're worrying about my well-being now! That's sweet, Parsee."

"Just go already!" Parsee shouted, stamping her foot, both arms rigid at her sides. "Or I'll snap your horn off!"

"Alright, alright," Yuugi said, turning toward us with a jingle of her chains. "I'll come back and see you tomorrow!"

Parsee stewed silently until we were all off the bridge before shouting "Don't come back at all!" after us.

"You two are so precious it's sickening," Yamame said from ahead of us, twisting her head back to speak to us as we walked away, a few paces ahead of Yuugi.

"Really?" Yuugi asked. "She still seems pretty stiff to me."

Yamame flashed Yuugi a wry smile. "She's definitely warming up to you. Right, Kisume?" the girl in the bucket nodded vigorously in agreement. I couldn't pretend to know either of them that well, but even from my point of view it seemed like Parsee was only being like that because she knew Yuugi would let her get away with it. Some of the things she said had even been sort of kind, if you were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Is it really okay to leave her alone like that?" I asked timidly.

"It's fine," Yamame said, waving her hand dismissively. "Parsee is a jealousy youkai. She can even turn her own jealousy into power, so doing things that make her jealous is good for her."

"That sounds lonely," Yuugi replied, casting a glance back over her shoulder. "She should try to make some other friends in the city."

"You know what her eyes do to people, right Yuugi? She's not suited to living in a crowded city.You going out to visit her from time to time is the best arrangement for everyone."

Yuugi frowned at that. "I wonder if that's what she'd really want?"

"I don't know about want, but it's what she needs. Trying to help her would just be counterproductive in the end. Being jealous of others is what will make her happiest.

"Ugh, this is too heavy and confusing a conversation for right now," Yuugi grumbled. "I just want to be a good friend to her. Problems that can't be solved with strength or alcohol are too much trouble for an oni like me."

She continued to stare in pensive silence for just a moment longer then raised her head, her mood instantly brightening. "No need to worry about that any more right now. Now it’s feast time!"

Renko and I glanced at each other apprehensively, then followed Yamame into the tunnel.


—26—


The very next thing I can remember is waking up sprawled on my back on the tatami mats of a strange house.

"Oh, you're awake."

I blinked dry, gummy eyelids that felt like they each weighed a kilogram. Slowly, very slowly, I turned my head toward the voice, an act which, I am confident, took at least 250% the normal amount of muscles. My view fell upon Yamame, standing and holding a tray with two steaming bowls on it. Beyond her, my partner was laying on the ground, on top of a futon and groaning miserably.

"Ugggh. Good morning, Merry," Renko moaned, slowly uncurling herself from the tight ball she had rolled into. "I have a headache..."

"You have a hangover," Yamame said brightly. "Have some of this and you'll feel better." She set the tray down on the floor, with its two spoons and two bowls of hot, fragrant rice porridge.

"Where are we?"

"My house. You both passed out pretty quickly last night so I brought you here."

"Oh. Sorry to have ruined the party."

"You didn't ruin anything. I was just getting bored so I gathered you two and Kisume up and left."

"The party's still going?"

"It's an oni party. Don Yuugi started a drinking competition. You both lost right away and I bowed out pretty soon too, but the other oni started placing bets on who could last the longest. It'll probably continue well into tomorrow."

"All the way into tomorrow..." The idea of a drinking competition that lasted more than 24 hours sounded less like a party and more like torture to me.

"Well there’s not much to do in the Underworld other than drink and fight, so it might well go on even longer. Why don't you guys stay for another day and enjoy it?"

"I think I'm all partied out. Oh! This porridge is really good."

"Heh, thank you."

"Merry, feed me. I'm too dead to move by myself."

"If you're well enough to make ridiculous demands like that, you're well enough to feed yourself." I thrust Renko's spoon into her mouth and ate another spoonful of the porridge myself.

—

After eating, we scraped ourselves off of the floor and prepared to set out. Renko was still groggily leaning on my shoulder as we departed. She had managed to recover quickly yesterday, but having put herself through the wringer of an oni drinking party two days in a row, I wouldn't be surprised if she was barely functional for the rest of today. When we get to the surface, we'll have to stop by Eientei before heading to the Moriya Shrine, I thought to myself, hoping that Eirin might have a cure for the common hangover.

Just as Yamame had said, it seemed that Renko's goodbye feast was still going on in the square. As we approached, I saw Yuugi sitting cross-legged and laughing boisterously with more than a dozen youkai sprawled out all around her, passed out drunk. It looked as if we were walking in on the aftermath of some terrible battle.

"Ha! Who's next! Is that you, Yamame? Come and drink with me! Is that Renko with you too?"

"I'm not stupid enough to challenge you in a drinking contest. As for Renko, any more would probably kill her."

"Alright. You did pretty well for a human, I suppose. Are you leaving now?"

Renko stirred on my shoulder and did her best to stand upright. "Uuugh... Yes, we're going. Thanks for all of your help, Yuugi. I'll come see you again the next time I'm down here..." She forced a wavering smile onto her pale face, and managed to only wobble a little.

Yuugi smiled wryly. "Sure. Look me up the next time you fall into Hell. Oh, that reminds me, Renko. If you ever happen to meet an oni on the surface who's missing their right arm, I want you to tell them something for me."

"...An oni on the surface who's missing an arm? You don't mean Little Miss Melon, I take it?"

"No, not her. It's someone who left here a long time ago, though I don't know where she went. I don't actually know if she's on the surface or not. But you seem like someone who gets around. If you ever see a one-armed oni tell her that Hoshiguma Yuugi is asking that she stop by and show her face down here from time to time."

"Alright, I will," Renko said, laying her head back down on my shoulder. We turned and were about to start walking out of the square when suddenly her head shot straight up and she whirled around unsteadily to face Yuugi again. "Wait a minute! Are you talking about Ibaraki Douji, one of the Four Devas of the oni?"

"Oh, do you know her?" Yuugi asked with surprise.

"No," Renko said, shaking her head, "but if you're talking about an oni with only one arm, that's the first one that came to mind."

"Well that's her, alright. Ibaraki Kasen was her name. She was very un-oni-like oni, even more so than Suika. She may not even call herself an oni any more."

Ibaraki Kasen. The name sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before?

"Oh, you've just reminded me of something too. Lady Hoshiguma, I have a favor to ask of you."

Renko groaned and walked unsteadily over to where Yuugi was sitting, extracting a folded sheet of paper from the pocket of her trenchcoat. It was something she had borrowed a brush and paper from Yamame to write just after breakfast this morning.

"Is that a letter?"

"Yes. I'd be grateful if you could please give this to Miss Komeiji Satori, lady of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. This letter conveys my apologies to Miss Satori for not being able to resolve the case she tasked us with."

"You want me to give this to Satori? Alright, I will." Yuugi gave Renko a questioning look as she took the letter. "I suppose that's that then. Let's drink again sometime then," she said, dismissing us all with a wave.


—27—


After we said our goodbyes to Yuugi we left the square behind. Yamame led us down the same path out of town we had taken before, diverting only slightly to locate a well and pull Kisume out of it before we proceeded. Together, the four of us headed for the shaft.

Before long we came to the bridge where, as always, Parsee stood guard, leaning against the railing. Perhaps it was my imagination, but she seemed to be in a slightly better mood than when we had seen her last.

"You lot again?" She said brusquely.

"You seem to be in a good mood today, Parsee" Yamame said as we walked onto the boards of the bridge.

"I'm not. You’re taking these humans back to the surface, right? Just get going already."

"By the way, the party's still going on. Does that make you jealous?"

"Shut up. I'm actually relieved that I don't have to worry about seeing that meat-headed oni's face today." Saying that, Parsee snorted and looked the four of us over for a moment. "...I’m jealous…" she muttered under her breath.

"...I’m jealous of everyone who gets to have fun with others, I’m jealous of people who get to laugh and share what they have, and I’m jealous of everyone always showing off how lucky they are to have other people in their life. I’m jealous of all of you."

"You seemed to be the one flaunting your relationship yesterday in public if you ask me."

"What relationship!? With who!?"

"Gee, I wonder. Have a nice day, Parsee." Yamame called as we passed her by.

As soon as we were off of the bridge and on the far shore, she turned and whispered to us, grinning broadly. "Oh, good job, Renko, draping off of Merry like that. I'm sure that got her fabulously jealous."

"Jealous?" I interjected, adjusting my shoulder again as Renko leaned her weight on me "of what?"

"Of you two. She can manipulate other people’s jealousy, but most of the time all she does is use that ability to make herself more jealous. You're obviously close and she gets jealous of anything that makes anyone else happy."

"Ugh, I don't feel happy at all right now. My head hurts. Merry you should be spoiling me a little."

"Don't be silly, Renko."

"Have pity, Merry, I'm sick."

"A hangover is not a disease."

"This one is. It's awful. That Oni sake must be cursed or something. Do your mindreading act on me, and you'll see just how bad it is… Actually, how does jealousy manipulation work? Now that I think about it, the ability to manipulate jealousy must be similar to Satori's ability to read minds."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Think about it. If she can make people jealous then she must be able to affect their minds, right? Miss Yamame, Parsee can do more than just sense other people’s jealousy, right?"

"Huh? I guess that's mostly right. Her green eyes amplify the jealousy of others. They can see what people are jealous of and make it stronger. The more jealous someone gets, the more it fills her stomach. Usually she just feeds off of her own jealousy, though."

"Hah, so that's why she can't live in the city… Ugh, my head hurts and thinking about this is making me nauseous."

"So stop thinking, Renko. You're too hungover."

"How am I supposed to do that, Merry? I'm an intellectual being: I think, therefore I'm Renko. Aughh. Parsee is an interesting case though. She must see everyone who passes in or out of the city. I really should go back and talk to her, just sometime when my head isn't packed full of hornets. Ugh." Moaning faintly, Renko pulled down on the brim of her hat, trying to cover her face with it, before wincing in pain and moving to gingerly massage her temples while trying to keep pace with me instead.

"You can worry about that later, we're nearly there," Yamame said from in front of us.

Sure enough, the tunnel we were in was beginning to slant upward. Before much longer we all emerged into the bottom of the immense vertical shaft. Far, far above, a circle of blindingly intense light shone, impossibly distant, looking more like the moon hanging in the heavens than anything we might be able to climb toward.

"By the way Yamame," I asked looking up at the sunlight far above, "what were you doing in this shaft when we first met you?"

"Kisume and I hang out here all the time to play."

"I see."

"And sometimes humans fall down here."

"Other humans have fallen down before us?"

"Yeah, once a decade or so some lonely human will try to commit suicide by throwing themselves down this shaft. If I can catch one of those, it's much better than letting them go to waste."

I blanched, compelled to ask a question, but dreading the answer. "...What happened to those humans?"

"Kisume and I ate them, of course. No point in taking someone to see Yuugi if they're just going to cry and beg for their life after trying to commit suicide. You two are much more interesting than any of those humans were. Good job."

I couldn't help but take an involuntary step back. I once again realised that she and Kisume were dangerous youkai. Experienced killers and man-eating monsters, the both of them. Looking at her smile happily back at me, the thought of just how narrowly and how frequently we had avoided dying in the last 24 hours weighed heavily on me.

"Oh, relax!" She said, clapping me on the back. "I’m not going to eat you now. Feel free to come back any time and I’ll make sure you get a warm welcome. For now though, let's get you back to the surface."

Then, without further warning, she expelled a flying strand of airy, featherlight and extremely fine silk from either wrist. The moment it hit me in the chest it stuck to me and I staggered back in surprise. I looked over to see that she had done the same to Renko and that moreover the thread she was continuing to spray at us was expanding and twisting itself as it came out, bundling and coiling until my partner and I once again found ourselves inexorably bound and wrapped, just as we had been the first time we encountered Yamame. As I stood staring in wonder at the silk cocoons Yamame gave the lines still attached to each of us a sharp tug, yanking us into the air to land heavily on her shoulders.

"Ugggh. Oh, gentle please," Renko pleaded as she thumped into position.

"Hold it together, human. If you throw up on my shoulder, I'm eating you. Now, let's go!" Saying that she kicked hard off of the ground, flying into the air.

The wind whistled past us as the force of her acceleration pressed us into her shoulders. Bit by bit the circle of light far above grew steadily larger. As the smell of trees and earth slowly began to register in my nostrils, we drew to a stop and Yamame shot out another line, which quickly spread out and formed itself into a web as it settled into place. Landing delicately on the strands she lowered each of us down off of her shoulders and placed us in the sling of the silken strands.

"This is as far as I can take you," she explained as she manipulated the strands of the web. A moment later she had woven several more threads into a long coil of twisted rope. "Past here is surface territory."

Kisume rose up from below, settling into position as Yamame took the long coil of silken rope she had twisted and tied one end of it to Renko's cocoon. I suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"Umm, Miss Yamame? What are you planning to..."

"Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. I think if I throw you just right, the knots should all come out before you hit."

"Throw us? Before we hit?" Renko asked in a panic.

"Okay, Renko first" she said, as her left hand seized the end of the cord. She reached down and hefted Renko off of the web with her right hand, then suddenly whipped her arm in a huge overhand circle, throwing Renko's cocoon and whirling her through two tremendous revolutions at the end of the rope before hurtling her body upwards with terrible force toward the lip of the chasm high overhead.

I heard Renko's panicked scream dopplering above me as the long cord of her cocoon twisted down from the air, collecting itself into a neat coil in Yamame's left hand. I lost sight of Renko's form somewhere above the rim as she disappeared into daylight. Kisume happily waved farewell from inside her bucket.

Was this what she had meant by 'a little bumpy?' Reverse bungee jumping is not an activity I had ever had on my bucket list.

"Alright, now for you, Merry!"

"Wait a minute! There has to be a better way to do this!"

"Relax. I'm no match for Yuugi, but us tsuchigumo are plenty strong. You won't die. Unless I miss. So try to fly straight."

"That's not the issue!"

"Bye, Merry. Come visit us again some time. We all had a lot of fun with you underground."

And then there was a wild sensation of motion as I was thrown into the sky.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"

The echoing sound of my own mindless scream was swallowed by the vast pit as the thread unwound, twisting me as it did so, propelling me in a wrenching spiral. I didn't even have time to think 'so this is what it feels like when Mario or Kirby is fired out of a cannon' before I was blinded by the sudden piercing glare of sunlight all around me.