After Renko had concluded, Kanako remained silent, still hovering above us in a seated position, still glowering down at us. Renko adjusted the brim of her hat and smiled, a bit awkwardly.
"Of course, all of this was only my theory, a fantasy built from my inferences and hearsay. No one in Gensokyo but me and Merry would ever come to these conclusions, as they rely on a specific familiarity with the Suwa Grand Shrine of the outside world. If you have the means to debunk or pick apart my theory, I'm happy to hear it. If you find it distasteful to talk about such matters, then you don't have to confirm or deny it. I'm happy to let the matter drop and I have no intention of telling Sanae about it. I merely wanted to see if you could point out to me somewhere that I had gone wrong."
All this time, Kanako had remained steadfastly silent, brooding above us like a thundercloud, and glowering with her arms crossed. Now suddenly she began to tremble and she lowered her head, breaking eye contact with Renko.
Then, all at once, she began to laugh explosively, loudly and heartily guffawing as she slapped her thigh.
"Hah, I see, I see!" She said, once she had recovered enough to speak again. "That truly is a masterpiece. Oh, I had forgotten what it felt like to laugh until it hurts like this. You truly are a great detective, Renko. I had been watching you standing there in your little coat and hat this whole time and trying hard not to crack up at how seriously you were taking this. You looked exactly like a detective off of some old TV drama. I kept expecting you to fling a finger out and shout 'officers! Arrest her!'" She dissolved into laughter again, holding her sides as she shook.
It was only perhaps a minute later that she was finally able to wipe the tears from her eyes and descend to stand on the path before us. "So that's the conclusion you came to. I must admit that's some impressive detective work, and I'm not saying that sarcastically. You're a bit off the mark, but I'm genuinely surprised by how close you came to the truth.
"Oh, what do you mean?" Renko's smile was awkward, full of relief but still a little apprehensive at Kanako's response.
"I admit it, this was never the Suwa Grand Shrine, and I was never Takeminakata. The tengu figured out as much the moment they set foot here, so there's no harm in me admitting it. But I never thought you'd arrive at the conclusion that I'm Sanae's birth mother. Let me correct your misunderstanding." As she said this she laid a hand on one of the enormous wooden pillars standing beside the pathway.
"You're mostly right about the shrine. The wind priestesses are indeed direct descendants of Suwako's. That makes Suwako Sanae's distant ancestor. This shrine was indeed built in her honor."
"So that makes Lady Moriya a divine spirit then, and not a native god?"
"No. She was always a personification of the mountain itself. She just happened to like taking human form. She spent most of her time that way, and in time came to love humans as she interacted with them. Eventually she became a mother to a line of humans who possessed a portion of her abilities. That was the founding of the Kochiya clan. Such liaisons were not uncommon back in those days."
"Well, if a god says so, I won't question it."
I suppose that meant that when Kanako or any other goddess showed up in a form like this they really did have a flesh-and-blood human body, at least for the time being. The same seemed to be true of the fertility gods that come to the harvest festivals in the village. They hadn't felt like youkai or anything else on the one occasion I had met them. We wouldn't have even known they were gods if we hadn't been told.
"What about you then, Lady Yasaka? If you're not Sanae's mother, and you're not Takeminakata, who are you, really?"
"Well, you were mostly right. Just as the goddess Moriya who is worshipped at the Suwa Grand Shrine was an amalgamation of various Mishaguji, so too were the wind priestesses of the Kochiya family venerated. As you suspected, Sanae is not the first to wield the power of miracles. Her mother was entombed in a sacred crypt after her death, as was her grandmother, and all of their mothers before them. All of the wind priestesses of the Kochiya line have been venerated in this way."
"Then that makes you..."
"Have you figured it out? In all your eagerness to explore the secrets of this realm beyond the barriers, you never poked into the basement of the shrine, did you? It's not exactly a secret, but in the crypt beneath the house all of the previous wind priestesses are entombed, and when a new one is added to the crypt, they are ceremonially dressed and bejeweled, then named and worshiped as 'Lady Yasaka.'" Far to the east, the first priestess of the Kochiya line was virtuous woman who ascended mount Yasaka then came to Suwa and devoted herself to the worship the goddess Moriya. She was wed to the son produced by the union of Suwako and a human man. All of the wind priestesses since are her daughters and each is worshipped as an incarnation of her upon death. That is who I am, and that is the origin of my name. So I suppose when you claim that I was once Sanae's mother, you are not wrong, but I am much more than that as well."
Renko was stunned into silence. How else could one respond to a statement like that? We had, in one brief moment, learned that Sanae's basement was full of corpses, that she had been raised by an amalgamation of every matriarch of her family's lineage since antiquity, and that the core of Renko's theory was mistaken. It was a lot to take in.
"I'm guessing you misunderstood because the tengu called me a young god. I suppose I am, compared to Takeminakata or Suwako. But you were deceived in that you confused your own human sense of time with that of the tengu, who view centuries as you might view decades. On that timescale I suppose I am a rather youthful spirit, as I've only been around as long as the Kochiya clan itself."
"So in that case, Lady Moriya is not just Sanae's ancestor..."
"But mine as well, in various ways, stretched across numerous generations." Kanako said, completing Renko's sentence. "Do you see now why I would go to such lengths to do everything for her that I can?"
"Well, I admit, I didn't know that a divine spirit could exist as an amalgamation of various different people." Renko sighed deeply. It was the first time we had ever heard definitive confirmation one way or another from the mastermind behind an Incident, if either of those terms applied, but it was also the first time one had ever proved Renko's theories to be demonstrably wrong. It was enough to call all of her other findings into question as well. "If you don't mind me asking then, what was your purpose in coming to Gensokyo?"
"The Moriya shrine is dedicated to Suwako, but over time the Kochiya family line has come to be venerated to a higher degree. Most humans can't see Suwako any more, but the current wind priestess is a living and breathing human, and capable of working miracles that can affect a human's life in the present, material world. It's not surprising that, as the power of all gods withdrew from the world, the disparity would worsen. That's why Suwako withdrew to this sealed realm, where her nature could be more easily preserved from the slow creep of human empiricism that was killing off all of the gods, bit by bit. I acted as the outward face of the shrine, and continued my own worship of Suwako, redirecting the majority of the faith I received as the patron goddess of the Kochiya line to her. It was never enough though. She was growing weaker and weaker each year, no longer able to manifest even on festivals or holy days. When Sanae's parents died, her grandmother and I tried to change the shrine back to being dedicated purely to Suwako, favoring her worship over my own. The rest of Sanae's family were all members of the Kochiya line, however, but had never seen Suwako or I themselves. They saw no reason to give up the power and prestige their cult had obtained in favour of the esoteric benefits of faith in Suwako. Instead, they planned to alter the purpose of the shrine to be dedicated solely to the wind priestesses themselves, and offer the power of miracles to anyone who could pay, regardless of if they were worshippers of Moriya or not. Even though we stopped them from doing that, with Sanae having become a wind priestess herself, it was inevitable that the same thing would happen again, and people would eventually favour her over Suwako. "
"So then, being as there is no relation to Takeminakata or any of the other gods from the Kojiki here, I guess you could say that Moriya shrine is not actually a Shinto shrine, but more akin to a surviving indigenous religious organization?"
"Yes, one that dates back to the age of gods and myths."
"So then why does the Moriya shrine so closely resemble the Akimiya of Suwa Grand Shrine?"
"It doesn't. The Akimiya resembles us. The Suwa Grand Shrine is a collection of four separate shrine complexes that were originally independent from one another, but became unified when they were all claimed by Takeminakata. The Akimiya was originally a branch shrine of our faith, and worshipped the original goddess Moriya. Takeminakata was a dunce, and never understood that. He simply kicked out the priests, and swatted Suwako with a wisteria vine. We left rather than deal with his oafishness and he put up some statues and claimed victory."
"But the Suwa Grand Shrine still worships Moriya in secret. Why not cooperate with Takeminakata and benefit from that worship?"
"The Moriya venerated there is an amalgamation of all of the Mishaguji. It is not Suwako Moriya. If we had done that, then her personality would have been swallowed up and she would have become one with all of the other Mishaguji, just one among many."
"Well. Wow. That's quite a story. It makes sense though. Why bother introducing yourself as Takeminakata when you came over here though, you could have taken a different identity and no one would be the wiser."
"Actually, I never did that for anyone but you two. Everyone else is happy to just take me at face value as the goddess Kanako Yasaka. The first time I saw you you asked me if I was Yasakatome and explaining that I wasn't and what was going on would have been a little awkward. I didn't want to scare you away after Sanae had finally brought home some friends. Forgive me, I had no idea how grand my little white lie would grow in the fertile soil of your mind."
Renko laughed, sounding tired then held up a finger, saying. "Just one last question then. How much does Sanae know about any of this. I have to be clear on what we can or can't tell her."
"Sanae is pure, for better or worse. She's never had friends of her own age, and as a result she's perhaps more credulous than is healthy for her. She takes everything people say as the truth, and doesn't ask questions that she probably should. As such, she thinks that I'm now the god of Youkai Mountain but was once known as Takeminakata. She knows that the Suwa Grand Shrine exists, and is similar to the Moriya Shrine, but she's never been there. We've tried to shield her from contact with people from the Outside world, as those who came looking for her would inevitably be people who had heard of the power of the wind priestesses to work miracles. As much as possible I want to protect that innocence of hers, though I suppose the day will soon come when she'll want to explore on her own. Better, I think, that she does that here, in a world where people will not constantly seek to exploit her for who she is."
"Wanting to protect her from harm is all well and good, but doesn't she have a right to know these things as a wind priestess?"
"She will learn them in time. Sanae was inducted into the order much younger than is typical. I don't intend to hide these things from her forever, but why not let her enjoy being a normal girl for a while? Now that we have come to Gensokyo, we no longer are under the thumb of Kochiya cult and are free to choose for ourselves what the future of our order will be. Sanae will be a part of that choice, when she is ready. Telling her that her dead grandmother and mother are a part of me would only serve to upset her at this point. So, Renko, Merry, I want to be perfectly clear. You are not to speak to of anything that has been mentioned here today under any circumstances. Not to anyone, but especially not to Sanae. If she asks you directly, then you are to direct her to speak to me. If you mention any of this, then I assure you that Suwako's curses will befall you."
"I understand. I wouldn't want to say anything to hurt her myself, so it will be just as you ask." Renko took off her hat and bowed deeply. After a moment's uncertainty, I bowed as well.
Thus, in the end we ended agreeing to keep a secret from Sanae. Even if it was to avoid causing her heartache, it was something that bothered me for quite a while after. For the time being though, I asked about something else.
"Umm Lady Yasaka?"
"Yes, Merry, what is it?"
"What happened in the Outside world then?"
"Suwa Grand Shrine remained just as it was and as it continued to be in your time. The Moriya Shrine of the Outside world, a little-known and remote shrine operated by a insular and tight-lipped religious cult vanished, along with one teenaged girl with no immediate living family. The Kochiya cult avoids communicating with outsiders. I don't know if the disappearance of the shrine or Sanae would even have been reported. They may have staged the scene to make it look like the shrine was swept away by a tornado, or they may have simply forbidden anyone from discussing it at all. It matters not. I'm certain it barely even made the local news and would surely have been forgotten by your time."
"Ah, that makes sense. When we went sightseeing in Shinshu we never heard a word about it, either as a place that existed or one that had disappeared."
"That explains another detail." Renko interjected. "Back when we went to the Suwa Grand Shrine, they told us the story of Takeminakata conquering a native god, but they never mentioned the name Moriya. They just said it was one of the Mishaguji, I'm pretty sure. I couldn't remember for certain though, so I didn't bring it up. If what you say is true though, then I think the goddess Moriya might have disappeared from the Outside world altogether. There'd no longer be any basis for the Mishaguji to be combined into her personage at that point."
"That suggests the opposite of what we were worried about then. If Suwako coming here removed the goddess Moriya from the Outside world then the history we know and what's happening outside would seem to be linked," I said excitedly.
"It's a tenuous connection, but hopefully!" Renko said with a shrug. She smiled at me and popped her hat back on her head.
-.-.-.-.-
Before Kanako could say anything else, she was suddenly hit from the side with a flying tackle as Suwako came rocketing toward her, having flown across the lake at top speed. "Kanako, I lost!" she wailed as both of them stumbled backwards. Reimu and Marisa came flying across the lake a moment later, both of them looking somewhat battered and singed. Given the state Suwako was in though, it was clear to see who had been the victor in the human vs. god contest of barrages.
"What happened to you, Suwako, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It's been a long time since I've been able to cut loose with the curses like that. I think I want to stay here, Kanako."
"Well, that's good to hear," Kanako said, stroking Suwako's hair a few times before retrieving her hat from the ground and placing it back on her head, staring eyes and all. With the two of them cuddled together like that, Kanako almost looked like Suwako's mother. I wouldn't say that out loud though.
"The sorts of curses you were throwing in the danmaku match were fine, but if you start poisoning the waterways to spread disease or making all the crops wither or something, I'm going to come back and exterminate you again," Reimu said, with a face like a storm cloud.
"Who, me? I haven't even done anything wrong. I could though. I bet we could drum up a lot more faith for your shrine if we worked together. What if I cursed all the villagers to be haunted by their ancestors? I bet they'd all come to you looking for help."
"I don't need your help at my shrine."
"Hmmm, I wonder if that's true. From the sound of it, you could use some sort of help. Oh! What about a festival? Even curse gods are welcome at festivals, right? We could have a danmaku festival over your shrine. I'm sure that would bring people in."
"Festivals are for special events," Marisa interjected. "In Gensokyo, danmaku's an everyday occurrence. We could have a danmaku party though."
"Oh, or a feast!" Suwako agreed, clapping her hands. "Kanako, let's have a sacred feast right away. You still owe me sukiyaki, so this is your chance to pay it back."
"Hmm, a feast just for you, Suwako? How about we mix up forty-four batches of rice porridge?" Renko asked with a grin.
"A porridge party? Is that how they do things in the Outside world of the future? Humanity has truly become lost without the guidance of its gods." Suwako said, shaking her head in dismay.
"Oh! There you all are!" Shouted a voice from behind us. We turned to see Sanae flying down the path. "There was no one at the Hakurei shrine, so I came back, but then there was no one at the Moriya shrine either!" She looked over the assembled group and the burn marks and tatters on Suwako's dress. "What's going on here?"
"We came to investigate the secret shrine and hidden god you neglected to mention." Reimu growled.
"Eh? Lady Suwako, did they hurt you?"
"Avenge me, Sanae!" the goddess cried, posing dramatically before going limp in Kanako's arms.
"I don't know if I'm strong enough... but I won't let you hurt Lady Suwako!" Sanae said, looking up toward Reimu with a fierce expression.
Kanako immediately stopped her with a poke to the forehead. "Sanae, that won't be necessary. Suwako, you know better than to wind her up."
Sanae looked up at Kanako with pleading eyes "B-but what about vengeance?"
"Yeah!" Suwako said, straightening back up. "Who's gonna avenge my mortal wounds?"
"The match is already over. You lost. There's no vengeance in danmaku." Reimu responded flatly.
"Yeah, in Gensokyo you settle disputes with danmaku and smooth over the disagreements with sake afterward." Marisa added.
"Then how about instead of vengeance, we hold a proper banquet? To introduce Suwako to the world and install her as an openly worshipped god in the outer shrine. How does that sound?" Kanako asked.
"What? Will that be okay?" Sanae asked, blinking in surprise.
"If Suwako's okay with it, I'm sure it will be fine. I get the feeling that trying to keep a secret in Gensokyo would just be more trouble that it's worth."
"That's great! Lady Suwako, you can help us gather faith for the shrine now!" Although just a moment ago Sanae had been angry and ready to fight she was now happily jumping up and down, holding both of Suwako's hands as the two spun about.
Marisa shrugged her shoulders and gave Reimu a nudge. "She recovers quickly. These new mikos are much cheerier than the old-fashioned kind." Reimu responded by punching her in the shoulder without bothering to look.
"Well then, Merry and Renko, welcome once more to the newly rededicated Moriya shrine, you're our first human worshippers again!"
"Hey wait! They aren't worshippers."
"They're not worshippers at the Hakurei shrine either."
"I don't want these Outsiders teaming up with you Outsiders. That's too many suspicious people all together. You're bound to get up to no good."
"We're not suspicious! Renko, tell her you're not suspicious."
"Actually Reimu has been suspicious of Merry and I for a while now."
"If you know you're suspicious, why do you keep poking your noses into things like this!?"
"Hmmm, I don't think it would be possible for me not to. As both an intellectually curious villager and the chief investigator of the Hifuu Detective Agency, it's my duty to investigate unusual occurrences. Instead of being mad about it though, you should be praising me, Reimu. With my talents you may well become aware of Incidents before they even start. As far as the question of becoming a worshipper at the shrine -I at least have no plans to, but I'll make a point of paying a visit to the Moriya branch shrine the next time we're on the Hakurei shrine grounds."
Sanae glowered at Reimu, almost growling before suddenly shouting "You can't have her, Reimu! She was my friend first, and she's going to join the Moriya Shrine!" Sanae declared, leaping forward and latching onto Renko's left arm.
"Wait, what? Well she's not my friend, but I knew her first, so she should come to the Hakurei Shrine!" Reimu replied, grabbing Renko's right arm.
Renko looked back at me with a worried expression. "It's hard being popular with the ladies, Merry. What should I do? Agh! Hey! don't pull!"
"I don't know, Renko. This seems like a problem your genius intellect will have to devise a way out of on your own," I said, turning away and beginning the walk up the path and out of the inner shrine. Behind me I could barely hear Renko's cries over the increasingly heated arguments of the two priestesses.
-.-.-.-.-
A few days later, the annual harvest festival was held in the village. While it was, in theory, a celebration for all of the village, the majority of the events were held to the south of the village on the roads between the farms, in fallow fields, or near the south side of town, amongst the farmers' houses. Not being farmers ourselves, we, like most of the people in attendance, were merely there to enjoy the sights and sounds and sample the numerous foods and delicacies set out on the broad tables that had been placed in the middle of the streets.
"Do you think we'll run into Sanae here?" I asked Renko at one point.
"I haven't seen her around. I expect she's just watching for the time being. Seeing how strong the fertility gods are and scoping out the competition. You know how she can have a one-track mind."
"I wonder if she's even allowed to come. After everything that happened with Reimu, Kanako may not want to let her out in case she tries to take over the festivities in the name of her shrine or something."
"Yeah, that's a possibility too, knowing her." Renko and I continued chatting happily, walking through the lively streets and munching on freshly baked sweet potatoes, surrounded by the smells of autumn leaves, roasting food and hot sake.
The festival was nearly over by this point and as the sun began to sink in the west, groups of farmers and gods were slowly trickling out from the crowded stage that had been erected to hold all of the various altars and tables in a field just on the edge of town. Both villagers and fertility gods alike were slowly wandering away from the bonfire-lit platform, rosy cheeked and stumbling as they made their way back to their farms or homes. From makeshift watchtowers that had been erected near the edges of the festivities, the neighborhood watch kept an eye on it all. The most devout of the farmers (or those with the highest alcohol tolerance) would likely keep at it until sunrise, toasting and praying for a bountiful harvest in the year to come.
Normally, Renko and I, who have no connection to the farmers of the village, would head home at this point. This time, however...
"Oh, hey! You two! The detectives! Over here!" We scanned the crowd to make out the face of someone who was waving to us. I was surprised to recognize Minoriko Aki, one of the local harvest goddesses, who was standing on her tiptoes and waving her arm over her head to get our attention. We had spoken with her briefly during the harvest festival the previous year. I remembered her as a cheerful and friendly goddess who smelled of roasting sweet potatoes, but I couldn't remember anything else about her, or imagine why she would be flagging us down in the street. Renko and I glanced at eachother before making our way through the crowd toward her.
The warm smell of her fragrance washed over us as we approached. "Well hello, miss harvest goddess. What can I do for you? Shouldn't you be at the drinking party with all the farmers?" Renko asked as we ambled up.
Leaning toward us, she spoke in what might have been a normal conversational tone, but amidst the bustle of the crowd it would have been impossible for anyone else to hear. "I heard a rumor from a kappa recently that I wanted to confirm with you. It's about the new god who appeared on Youkai Mountain. Nitori said you know them, is that right?"
"Oh, are you friends with Nitori?"
"Acquaintances, at least. Tell me about these new gods though. What are they like? What kinds of blessings are they offering?"
"Ah, well they're mountain gods, so what they offer is things that come from the mountain. Wind and rain and the like."
"Really?" She gritted her teeth. "That's worrisome. It's one thing if they're only courting the faith of the tengu and the kappa, but if they come down into the village offering to hold back floods or guarantee the rains, they'll be eating our lunch in no time. What should we do?"
"How about talking with them? They're not evil gods. I'm sure you'd be able to negotiate something everyone could agree on."
"Really?"
"Sure. I could even function as a negotiator, if you like."
"I see. I'll talk to the other gods and maybe we can agree on a proposal. Where can I find you if we need you?"
"We have an office just behind the temple school. Just look for the sign over the door, we'll be waiting for you, as long as its not during hours that we're teaching."
"Alright then. Nice to see you again," she said with a nod. Then, with a wave of her hand, she disappeared back into the crowd on the raised stage.
After I watched her go, I turned to Renko. "We should have opened a business as professional mediators rather than detectives, Renko. People are actually requesting your services for once, rather than trying to shoo you away."
"Nah, I'm an investigator at heart, but I don't mind doing this as a thank you for the Moriya Shrine."
"As a thank-you, or as an apology for all the trouble you caused?"
"It can be both," Renko said with a laugh. She fiddled with the brim of her hat as she spoke. "Kanako revealed the truth of the Incident to me and it was even stranger than my imaginings. I need to work on expanding my imagination if I want to be up to the challenges of the sorts of mysteries found in this world."
"As usual, the fact that this entire outing was a miserable failure for you hasn't made you any more likely to hang up your hat, has it."
"Of course not, Merry. There's plenty of truths out there still waiting to be revealed. They're not going to just come to us with their answers, we've got to go out and find them! Besides, I like this hat."
Even my partner, whose insightful mind strived to understand the structure of the entire universe, could not fully unravel the secrets of Gensokyo. I think that's what made this world so enticing to her. The many unknowns, the blank areas on the map of her knowledge were an open canvas to her, a surface she could paint with colors beyond our wildest imaginings. To her, having the flaws in her reasoning pointed out to her was never more than a temporary setback which served to open up more possibilities for the future -anything she couldn't understand now was just a mystery for tomorrow. In her words, the calling of the Hifuu club would always be beckoning. To reveal the hidden truths of our existence and make the world more interesting. It was a spell that continued to work on me, still captivating me into following behind her, no matter where she lead.
-.-.-.-.-
The day after the harvest festival, the temple school was closed. Our detective agency was still open of course, but that didn't mean that any clients were likely to show up. Renko was sitting at her desk, reading a book she had borrowed from Suzunaan, and I was compiling my notes from the whole affair, trying to decide what I could put into a novelization and what I couldn't.
Our peaceful afternoon was interrupted by a voice outside the door. "Hello! Is anyone in?"
I got up and slid the door aside to reveal Sanae standing there, smiling as usual.
"Hello Sanae," Renko called, climbing to her feet. "Are you here as a customer today?"
"Sorry, no. Just visiting. I brought you this though," she said, handing me a jar full of pickled vegetables.
"Oh, thanks much. Did you get that at the harvest festival? I didn't see you there."
"I got it from one of the market stalls today, it's a leftover from the festival. I wanted to come and use the festival atmosphere as a chance to reach out to the villagers, but Lady Kanako told me not to." She said, pouting a little. It had likely gone just as I had imagined. I chuckled softly. "Once things calm down a bit in the village, I'll come into town and do some missionary work in earnest. I'm sure that will get things rolling."
"How's it going up in the mountains?"
"It's rough. The tengu have been coming to 'negotiate' every night. That reporter can really hold her liquor. I never knew hangovers could be so bad."
"Were you drinking with her? She's a tengu, Sanae! And you're underage anyway."
"Yeah, I learned that lesson the painful way."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm not much of a drinker either. Life in Gensokyo can be hard," I said, and we patted eachother's shoulders in commiseration.
"What a waste," Renko remarked. "Sake here is much better than it was back in Kyoto. Speaking of which, did Lady Yasaka like that sake I drank in her name the other night? I asked for the best they had."
"She noticed. Thank you very much."
"Well, I caused you all a lot of trouble. I'm sorry about that."
"Ah, yes. On that topic, there was something I wanted to ask you."
"Oh?"
"Would you mind if I put up a little branch shrine in your office? Nothing major, just a little shelf up on the wall there."
Renko and I looked at eachother in surprise. "Why here?" Renko asked. "I hate to admit it, but this office doesn't see a lot of visitors. I don't think you'd gather much in the way of faith. Besides, this place is only being rented to us by miss Keine. We'd need to get her permission."
"Oh, I see. We couldn't just create a branch shrine on the school grounds either, we wouldn't want people to think we're indoctrinating children. I'll have to go properly introduce myself to Keine first and have a discussion with her. Hmmm. Oh, never mind though, it's no big deal!"
"What exactly is the reason behind this Sanae, are you just trying to make us official worshippers of the Moriya Shrine?"
"Oh, that would be great if you would!" She replied brightly.
"But that's not the only reason?"
"Well, uh. It's just that..." Sanae looked down, nervously wringing her hands. "Well, if we put a branch shrine here, then I'd have an excuse to come see you more often."
"Is that what this is all about Sanae? You don't need to make up reasons to come see us! You can come by any time! You're our friend, and you're always welcome."
Sanae's eyes went wide as a big smile lit up her face. "Really? Do you mean that?"
"Of course, any time you like." Renko said with a nod.
-.-.-.-.-
And so, you see now why I say that this was not the story of an Incident, but instead a record of Gensokyo's first religious war. How it came to be, and how it was resolved. It was also the story of my partner's delusional fantasies and how they were defeated by an even stranger reality.
But, above all else, it was also the story of how our little Hifuu club became friends with a girl who works miracles. That's all this record really is.
-.-.-.-.-.-
"Hey Sanae, why don't you come and work at our detective agency?"
"Me? I don't have any experience as a detective. Would that be OK?"
"Well, as our newest recruit, I'm afraid it would have to be an unpaid position. But we don't really have anything to do most days, so your job would just be to idle around with us and kill time. Occasionally we get to wander around Gensokyo and look into strange and interesting events. It'd be fun!"
"Oh, would we get to go exploring and investigate Incidents? Count me in then! You can show me all around Gensokyo!"
"Alright then! In that case, our first mission is to go out and investigate the local restaurants! We need to celebrate the arrival of the newest member of the Hifuu Detective Agency!"
"That sounds great. Where to though? I don't know any of the restaurants around here."
"We'll just have to ask the wind and see where our feet take us. It's all new to you, so anywhere is fine, right?"
"Sure, listening to the wind is my specialty. Let's see where it blows us!" She leapt to her feet and swung her arm towards the door. "Kochiya / Hifuu Detective Agency: Launch!"
"Kochiya / Hifuu? Renko, someone's taken over our office now," I quipped, standing up to join them.
"Hmmm, Hifuu doesn't really work if there's more than two of us, but I don't think just adding Kochiya to the front of the name works either. We'll need to come up with a good acronym over dinner. Or maybe a catchphrase, like 'The Uncommon Sense Detective Agency' or something."
"I love it! Three Outsiders unbound by common sense, here to reveal the truths of the world."
"To make the world more interesting!" Renko shouted as she walked out the door behind me.
"To make the world more interesting!" Sanae echoed behind her, one fist raised in the air.
"Does this world really need two troublemakers with no common sense?" I asked, shaking my head.
"Of course it does, Merry. What's the point of common sense in a world of fantasy?"
"Yeah, in Gensokyo you can't be held back by common sense!"
"Exactly! If the world has no more interesting secrets of its own to reveal to us, then we'll make it more interesting with our uncommon sense!"
"Come on, Merry, let's go! We've got a whole world to make more interesting!" Sanae said, clinging onto my arm.
"Yeah, let's go see the world with new eyes, unbound by the biases of the Outside world. Throw your common sense aside, Merry, you won't need it where we're going!" Renko grabbed me from the other side, clinging onto my other arm and giving me a squeeze.
-.-.-.-.-
And so, a new member joined our Hifuu Detective Agency. We never did come up with a new name though. If you should happen to come and visit our office one day, there's a reasonable chance you might just see her, the third, part-time member of our staff, who's sure to greet you with a big smile.
Sanae Kochiya. Wind priestess, living goddess, miracle worker and our new mascot. Another strange Outsider, just like the rest of us. Maybe you'll come by one day and see if we can't miraculously solve the issues plaguing you.
Until then, this has been another record of the Hifuu Detective Agency, consisting of:
Renko Usami, Director and Chief Investigator.
Maeribel Hearn, Director's Assistant
and Sanae Kochiya, Part-timer.
We eagerly await your visit.
[End of Book 6: Mountain of Faith]
-.-.-.-.-
Author's Afterword:
Hello, this is the author, Asakihara. Did you enjoy Mountain of Faith?
There's not much to write in this postscript. I've been writing Touhou stories for almost 10 years now, but surprisingly, this is the first time I've ever written about Sanae. When I started writing this episode, I hadn't planned it to end this way, but before I knew it, Sanae came along and shoved her way into the middle of the renmerry. I'm not sure how that happened, or what will be next for her.
Chronologically, the next events I should cover would be those in Silent Sinner in Blue, but I'm not planning on adding the events of that manga into the mix. Perhaps with Renko and Merry present in Gensokyo, the second lunar war would never have happened. You can think of it that way if you want. Why am I diverging from the events of that story? Well, if you've read my other stories about the Lunarians, you'll know.
So then, next is the Scarlet Weather Rhapsody arc. Please look forward to the next volume of the Hifuu Detective Agency, coming soon.
Translator's Afterword:
Thank you all for reading, I feel like this was a much longer story than usual, though the wordcount puts it on par with Imperishable Night. From here on out, this length of stories is going to become standard, so seeing as no one has complained, I plan on sticking with the daily subchapter update format. Do let me know if one or two full updates / week is preferable to you.
Starting with the next book, the author will begin putting the pieces into position for their overstory and main plot. This means that going forward, you'll be seeing a lot more references to events and outcomes found in previous works. For the most part they are careful about avoiding spoilers, but you'll definitely have a better understanding of events and character motivations going forward if you've read the whole series. Each book will still make sense if read alone, but there will definitely be elements that will be more meaningful if you've read the rest.
Beyond that, Sanae will be joining our protagonists on a semi-regular basis going forward, and if anything, she will be more extra in the stories to come, based on what I've translated so far. I'm wondering if I should be adding notes to explain all of the various references and callouts she makes as they come up, or just leave them be since almost no one else gets what she's talking about most of the time anyway.
At any rate, I hope you enjoyed MoF. I found it an interesting and thought-provoking tale when working on it, but from where I'm at now, I think the stories to come from here on out just keep getting consistently better. I hope you'll stay with me for the ride.