(Notes:
Somehow I never got around to reading through the printed stories (books and manga) so I've been making a concerted effort to do so, starting with CoLA. I really wish I'd done so sooner! The stories are so charming and fun, and it's really an interesting insight into the more day-to-day lives of the inhabitants of Gensokyo. It's a shame the series hasn't been updated in so long since I'd be really keen to see Rinnosuke's reactions to events in recent titles.
It turns out writing in Rinnosuke/Kourindou's style is a LOT of fun, so I've written out a few stories of my own trying to emulate the CoLA style as best as I can. There's a lot of wordplay and punnery in the official works that I can't really emulate, but other than that I think I've got a good handle on Rinnsouke's "voice".
I've written out three of them so far, but I had so much fun doing them I'd definitely like to write more if I can think of any ideas. I'm not so knowledgeable on Japanese folklore that I could churn them out for days, sadly.)
It's an otherwise ordinary day in secondhand-goods store Kourindou and proprietor Rinnosuke Morichika is busy putting a rare piece of merchandise on display. But enemies at every turn will do everything they can to stop him from selling it! A new fan-made chapter in the original story based on the Touhou series begins now!
Clink.
The glass bottles rattle together as I move them into a more prominent position, all empty aside from one.
It's strange to think that only a week ago I threw several bottles just like these out as junk, but the bottles in my hands are actually items for sale in my store. To look at them you might say these bottles are like any other, but in this case it's their history that makes them appealing. The line between 'junk' and 'treasure' is thin, and that line might even shift as you learn more about an item. Taking into consideration the different perspectives of everyone who would look at an object, you can probably argue that every item in existence is a treasure to someone.
These bottles aren't part of my treasure, though. Their story is interesting, but I don't really have room for empty bottles in my collection. Since I just proved that everything is a treasure to someone, though, I'm sure they'll sell quickly.
This single full bottle is tempting me, however. Most bottles I find are empty when I get them, but this one was still full of a dark brown fluid. It's alcohol from the outside world, from a very special brewery.
"Hey Kourin, whatcha up to?"
It's Marisa, interrupting for no reason as usual. If she sees this bottle she will no doubt pressure me to drink it, and since drinking alone is sinful she will insist on sharing it. It's an item for the store, so I quickly hide it. I won't sell anything if I drink all of my stock.
"Hiding your drink is the first sign of a problem, you know."
It's Reimu, at the window and with a perfect view of what I'm doing. Somehow these two always know the worst time to show up. I was only hiding it so I could avoid drinking it, but suddenly it's become something much worse. Denying it at this point will only make her more suspicious, so unfortunately I must already come clean.
"Hello, you two. Actually, this is merchandise. I was just arranging it for display."
"Hey, you already drank those others. You should definitely share the last one with us!"
Marisa has it wrong, but I can understand her thinking, and now my worst fear is coming true. This beer is special, though, so I have to turn them away from it somehow.
For these girls who only drink for the sake of drinking, and without any appreciation for what it is they're drinking, any drink will do. Luckily for me, I also found some other alcohol from the outside world some time ago, forgotten for obvious reasons. It comes in white hand-sized metal cannisters and the contents are, to my refined taste, quite dreadful.
I offer the girls one of these beers instead, and as they drink only for the sake of drinking, they both accept without argument. Reimu is still curious about the bottles and asks the obvious question as they open their drinks, so I tell them the story.
"These bottles came from a special brewery in the outside world. It's said a god helped set it up, and the drinks it produces are both rare and delicious."
Empty cannisters of the beer I offered the girls show up in Gensokyo all the time, so I'm certain it is neither rare nor delicious. Marisa takes a swig and pulls a face, but keeps drinking anyway. Drinking for the sake of drinking, without any appreciation even for the fact she doesn't like it. I have to admire her stubbornness.
While Marisa drinks it as fast as she can to get it over with, Reimu takes a smarter approach. She takes short, quick sips, swallowing them down before she has chance to notice how bad it tastes. I am often surprised how two girls can be so different and yet so alike. But they're both looking at me expecting more to the story, so I'll have to dwell on it another time.
"It was founded well over a hundred years ago, and the story goes that a god of beer blessed the first barrel they produced. They only produce once a year, and only a hundred bottles at a time, but the result is said to be exquisite."
The full bottle is, of course, one of these hundred bottles. But the empty ones are even more special than that.
"Because the first barrel was blessed by a god, each year they save the first bottle produced, and pour it into the fermenting mixture the year after. That way, even a hundred years later, the beer is still blessed."
The full bottle is one of the other ninety-nine bottles produced, naturally. If I had the first bottle, the brewery would be unable to continue this practice. But the empty bottles all once contained that first beer of the season.
Marisa's cheeks are already flushing from the drink I gave her. It's a low quality beer, so it has a quick effect which disappears just as quickly. Alcohol is like music; a poorly trained ensemble with poorly made and out-of-tune instruments will make a great deal of noise before quickly giving up. A refined orchestra meanwhile can effortlessly build up a crescendo, and keep a performance going for a whole night. Good drink will have the same effect. That's why good drink and good music are two key ingredients to a successful party. The last ingredient is good company, but you can't really plan for that. Good company is something that happens by itself, though good drink and good music usually attracts it.
"So that bottle contains god-blessed beer, huh..."
I know where this question is heading, but I absolutely can't let Marisa drink my stock. Although I was the one who told the story, I have to tell her why I think she has the wrong idea.
"That's how the story goes. But thinking about it logically, that can't really be the case. Every year, the blessing in that first bottle gets split among a hundred new bottles. So even in the second year of production, each bottle is only one-percent blessed. The year after that is one percent of that one percent, and so on. After just a few years, the percentage of the original blessing left in the brew is a number so small it might as well be zero. Even someone who really appreciates their drink couldn't tell the difference."
I had hoped rationalising it this way would put them off, but it seems to have had the opposite effect.
"If that's just ordinary beer, then y' don't want it for your store, right?"
I never said it was ordinary beer, though. I can see at least Reimu is thinking the story over, as gods are her speciality, but Marisa is really just trying to get me to share the drink with her. I've backed myself into a precarious situation, here... If I make the beer seem too special, she wants to take it for her own. If I make the beer seem ordinary, I have no reason to keep it to myself (or so Marisa thinks). I shouldn't have to try so hard to stop her from taking my things, but so it goes.
"Dividing the blessing doesn't make sense, but that doesn't mean the beer isn't special. They always use the first bottle, which implies none of the other bottles will do. Rather than divide the blessing, it seems more likely the god actually takes residence in the first bottle they produce. By returning the first bottle to the brew each year, the blessing is renewed. That's why those empty bottles are still a treasure after being emptied- each was the home of a god."
"If that's right, then they're really just sellin' a god's bathwater, huh. But, imagine gettin' hold o' that first bottle with the god still in it. That'd be a party!"
"'Bathwater of a god' doesn't sound as attractive as 'beer blessed for a hundred years', does it? It's no wonder they wouldn't tell the truth in the story." As for her second point, it'd be useless to argue Marisa down from the idea. She doesn't appreciate her drink, and so wouldn't appreciate how dangerous drinking a bottle like that would be. I would want it for my collection, of course, but probably even the oni would balk at drinking a god.
My theory seems to have spurred Reimu into action, though. Logically speaking I can't be wrong, but if anyone can tell for sure, it would be her. She takes one of the empty bottles and has a deep sniff.
"I don't think a god was ever in this. Not a god of alcohol, anyway."
I'm not sure that's the kind of thing you can tell by scent. It's not like I have a more reliable way to tell, though, and that leaves me with a difficult problem. If the original story is true, then there is nothing special about this beer. After a hundred years of the cycle, the percentage of blessing left in the brew is probably even less than a normal beer. But if my theory is correct, then this bottle is still nothing special, because the real treasure then would be the full first bottle with the god still inside it.
More valuable than a god's blessing, though, this bottle contains the answer. The only way I can find out if my theory is correct is to open the bottle. And although I'm one who appreciates drink, only Reimu could tell for sure how strong the blessing was. And I can hardly offer Reimu some and leave Marisa out while she's here.
For all my efforts to avoid opening the bottle, I've accidentally forced myself to do it anyway. I don't really mind too much. The empty bottle will be able to join the others as part of my stock, so looking at it that way I'm not losing anything.
Opening the bottle and sharing the contents around, it seems the only thing missing now is good music.