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

—Translator's Notes—

Hello, everyone. This time I have the translation of the twelfth volume of Asagihara Shinobu's こちら秘封探偵事務所 or 'Welcome to the Hifuu Detective Agency.' This volume is the story of Touhou Shinkirou ~ Hopeless Masquerade which is not only one of the longest stories to date in this collection, but also one that is critically important to the overarching plot of the whole series. After this volume there are only two more to go in the whole series, and the meta-plot elements are now beginning to fall into place for the climax. As a result, from here on out the series expects that you've read every volume and will drop any pretext of trying to avoid spoilers. If you care about preserving the mystery of any of the previous entries you might have skipped, consider yourself warned.

In terms of content warnings there's nothing objectionable in this volume. In fact, after the way the previous volume ended I'd go so far as to say that this one is a pleasant palate-cleanser with lots of good moments for a variety of characters. There is something notable that's missing in this story though and that's a proper, fair mystery. For the first time, at least one of the major questions presented in this volume will require knowledge of Touhou lore from outside of this series in order to solve. The story itself admits this, but if you happen to be a mystery purist you have now been warned of that as well.

Aside from that, this story makes extensive reference to Noh theatre and Noh masks in particular. Noh is a traditional Japanese style of performing art that incorporates song, music, poetry and dance and dates back as far as the Asuka period though it reached the height of its popularity in the Edo era. All performers wear masks in a Noh performance and the stories told in the plays often feature supernatural events and the presence of gods, demons, ghosts and youkai. The origins of Noh are somewhat murky, but they combined low-brow folk entertainment of the day with styles of dance that descended from Shinto kagura rituals to create an art form that was originally viewed as not only modern and refined but divinely inspired.

The masks in Noh are particularly important for two reasons: First they represent specific stock characters or emotional states. Often the audience won't get much chance to meet a given character in a Noh play or find out much about their personality or situation before the action begins. All of that information is relayed by their mask, which sets them up in the mind of the audience as a known entity —not a specific person per se, but a known character archetype. Second, Noh masks are carved in a very careful and specific way with complex three-dimensional shapes that are intended to take full advantage of the dim candlelight that would traditionally have illuminated Noh stages. When properly lit in this way, these masks not only appear eerily animated but are also capable of showing different emotions depending on the direction that the performer tilts their head. The Hannya mask, for example, which depicts a woman in the process of transforming into a demon, will use shadow to widen its grimace and lower its eyebrows as the performer tilts their head down, becoming slowly more leering. Noh performers master the art of controlling their bodies precisely as they act, allowing them to alter the masks' expression at will.

Several masks will be mentioned throughout this story and as I don't expect readers to be familiar with their names, I've included a brief explanation below:

The Hyottoko is a comical character who is constantly bewildered by everything he encounters.

The Ko-omote mask is one of several stock female character masks with a neutral expression that can look smiling, sad or worried depending on the angle it's viewed.

The Hannya is a mask worn by female characters half-way through the process of transforming into a vengeful spirit or youkai. It can look scheming, angry or mirthfully malevolent depending on how it's used.

The Monkey mask is wide-eyed and curious-looking. In this story it seems to mainly represent surprise.

The Fox mask is sly and unreadable, sometimes looking happy, sometimes mysterious, and sometimes angry. In this story it is mainly used to represent bravery or determination.

The Uba mask depicts an old woman and is usually only used for tragic figures who have been ruined by fate or their own actions.

The God of Fortune mask represents wealth, benevolence and good luck, but in this story is mainly used to represent exuberance or excitement because of its joyful expression.

With all of that information dispensed, I will now step back and leave the rest of the storytelling up to our narrator. I hope that you enjoy the tale to come.


—Prologue—


It was early summer in the human village the day that hope was lost. It simply happened that one morning people woke up to find the faces of their friends and neighbors drawn by weariness and their own thoughts clouded by a persistent pessimism that could not be lifted, no matter the circumstances. At the same time villagers began spontaneously dancing down the streets, chanting 'everything's fine!' while youkai and tanuki were both spotted gathering around the walls of the village.

Not long after that happened, religious fights began to break out all around the village. Some were between humans and youkai, fought outside the village's walls or occasionally directly above the streets of the village.

When that started to happen, the feelings of pessimism and hopelessness disappeared. Melancholy was lost, and the villagers stopped their dancing.

It was the summer of Gensokyo's great religious war. Rumors of upcoming battles and clashes between the representatives of one faith or another passed from mouth to mouth in the village, and the people lined up in droves, watching the sight of the danmaku battles that lit up the sky.

—

That opening sounds a bit like the beginning of Bradbury's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠, which isn't exactly the sort of reference I can expect to land with my audience here. Forget about it. It's the sort of pointless subcultural aside that Sanae would blurt out.

Instead, let me just say that the summer of Gensokyo's 128th season was a time in which different visions for how a civilization ought to conduct itself clashed explosively. It was a summer of madness, in which spiritualists of all sorts and even those who were completely areligious competed with each other, gaining faith and popularity, with each combatant becoming a bastion of security for people who had lost their sense of hope. Once the madness of the summer's clashes ended, all that remained was a sudden booming interest in Noh theatre, of all things.

What exactly were all of these sudden and intense fads about?

This casefile of the Hifuu Detective Agency will explore exactly those mysteries.

Why did such pessimism suddenly come to pervade the human village?

Why did the religious wars that sprang up with such sudden intensity end just as suddenly?

As I write this record the people of the village seem to be doing their best to forget all about the events of this summer. The wild and raucous battles that shook the village are fading from sight like the wavering of a summer heat mirage. But all of this did happen. Undeniably, there was a period this summer in which the people of Gensokyo lost all of their hope.

In this record, I will try to relate to you all of the strange events that took place in this one crazy summer.

—

Of course, as always, this casefile will also serve as a record of my partner, Usami Renko's unique personal brand of madness in the form of yet another megalomaniacal delusion. By chance we made a number of discoveries during the summer, and from them we found the 'truth' of this incident. This time though, my partner didn't stop there. By continuing to investigate the anomalies that befell the village, we discovered a deeper, darker 'truth' that went beyond the actions of the incident's mastermind. It was a shocking revelation that revealed something about the very foundations of this world, but to say anything more about it now would spoil the surprise.

As mysteries go, this will be a proper 'whodunnit' caper. The culprit could be anyone in Gensokyo or any of the worlds connected to this one! Some would say that having a mystery with so many possible suspects would be a failure as far as storytelling goes. If, however, your mind truly craves a mystery like no other, then I invite you to follow along with me.

The culprit may be someone you already know or someone you never expected. But to discuss the mastermind now is getting ahead of myself.

Let me first relate the story of the strange events of this past summer and the even stranger goings-on occurring behind the scenes. This is the story of Gensokyo's great religious war.