As we drew nearer to the village, it became clear that the Palanquin's arrival had not gone unnoticed. As the eastern wall of the village came into view we saw a collection of perhaps a dozen figures gathered in a loose huddle outside the gate. Behind them, many more people were visible on the road and along the edges of the wall, some sitting on their rooftops to get at look at the ship while others gathered in the streets, peering upward. Some of the faces I could pick out looked almost jubilant, but the party gathered outside the gates was stony-faced, and every man amongst them wore a sword and carried a spear.
"I guess there's no hope of us going undetected now, huh?" I said, sighing and turning to Renko.
"That's fine, Merry. The time for secrecy has passed. The Holy Palanquin has completed its mission already. I always figured it would be discovered sooner or later."
"Well that's all well and good, but isn't that Keine standing at the head of the village watch there with Kotohime?"
Renko looked down where I was indicating. At this distance some of the details were still indistinct, but Keine's blue dress and Kotohime's magenta robes were both unmistakable.
"Uhm. Huh. Yeah, that's probably her. Well, we'll figure something out, I'm sure. We have a powerful and upstanding ally now, in the form of a living saint. Keine can't possibly think we were up to no good, right miss Byakuren?"
"Oh my. You two humans came to my aid without informing anyone? I had thought you were both adults. Who is this Keine person to you, exactly?"
"Our employer," Renko answered.
"Our guardian," I said at the same time.
We looked at eachother, then back to Byakuren.
"Well, she's also our landlord," Renko added.
"And she's supposed to be making sure we don't cause any trouble in the village..."
Byakuren looked slightly alarmed, looking from Renko to me and back again. "That almost sounds more like a parole officer, or the warden of a prison. I take it you two have been involved with youkai to some degree in the past?"
"On a few occasions," Renko replied with a grin.
Byakuren smiled at us, but the smile she wore was of an entirely different character than the troublesome grin on Renko's face -Renko's smile was rarely little more than a warning that things were about to get dangerous, whereas Byakuren's nearly made me believe that things were somehow going to be alright in the end. "I see," the saint said carefully. "Maybe it would be best if I went and had a few words with her first then. I'll go down and introduce us, will you two come along?"
Renko nodded, as did I. Byakuren raised a hand, signaling to Murasa. The ship slowly drifted to a halt and hovered in place, perhaps a hundred meters from the eastern wall of the village. Byakuren offered us her hands, and as we took them she floated up off of the ground with us, lifting us weightlessly through the air in much the same way that Alice might. We floated off of the deck of the ship and began to descend toward the ground, flying forward as we did so, to arrive at a point half way between the ship and the wall, standing on the road with the Palanquin hovering in place behind us.
We began to walk forward and saw Keine signal to Kotohime to take command of the forces of the watch as she strode out ahead to meet us. Her posture was stiff and her looks dour until we got close enough for her to see our faces. "Renko? Merry? That is you! What on earth is all of this? What's going on here? This is going to cause so many rumors to spread amongst the students and parents."
Renko raised her hand and smiled lightly. "Hello Keine. Sorry for the disruption. We were just getting a ride home for the evening from a friend, since I know you don't like us staying out after dark."
Keine stopped walking and put her hands on her hips, looking at Renko with an incredulous expression. She looked like she was about to start speaking several times, but stopped herself each time before a single word could come out. Eventually she let out a slow, controlled breath, then spoke. "Let's put aside the question of what you were even doing outside of the village. There will be time to discuss that later. For now, what is that flying ship and why have you brought it to the village?"
"I can answer that, if I may," said Byakuren, stepping forward as Keine looked up at the underside of the Palanquin with distrust. "I take it you are Keine Kamishirasawa? Historian and protector of this village, yes? These girls have told me about you."
Keine turned toward Byakuren, her face the same stony mask we had always seen her wear when confronting youkai. "That's correct. Who are you and what is your business here?"
"My name is Byakuren Hijiri. I am a wandering Buddhist nun, here to spread the wisdom of the Dharma. In my time some have called me a living saint. The ship belongs to one of my disciples, all of whom are aboard it now and travelling with me. I apologize for the disruption my arrival has caused. I have no intention of disturbing or settling in your village, I assure you."
"A Buddhist nun? Have you arrived from the Outside world then?"
"No, I have not. It is with the deepest shame that I must admit that I have just arrived in this world after having been imprisoned in the world of demons for a thousand years. I have just now left that place with the blessing of both the Yama and the Administrator of that world and come here, in the hopes that I may do good deeds in repentance for the sins for which I was originally imprisoned."
"Wait, you were sealed in Makai? For a thousand years? You're a youkai then, despite your appearance." Her expression had become even more grim.
"I am a magician, yes. I gave up my humanity long ago so that I might have more time in this world to spread the teachings of the Buddha."
Before Keine could open her mouth to speak again, Renko quickly interjected. "I should mention, Keine, that Reimu is aware of all this as well. She sailed out of Makai with us and approved of Byakuren's release."
"What? Reimu allowed this? Are you sure?"
"She just headed back to her shrine. You can go ask her yourself if you like, though you might want to leave it for tomorrow. She's pretty tired right now and might be a little grumpy."
Keine looked genuinely surprised by that and looked from Renko back to Byakuren who was smiling calmly, with the patience of a Bodhisattva. "I'm shocked to hear that Reimu would be alright with a magician from Makai coming to this world, but I suppose you wouldn't be the first to do so. I'll go ask her about that later. For now though, what's your intention here? You said you wanted to spread the teachings of the Buddha. I assume by that you mean that you wish to minister to the humans of this village?"
"We have only just arrived in this world. My intention is to eventually build a temple somewhere where I may train along with my disciples in tantric practices and pray to the Buddha. Once that is done, my aim is to open my doors to any creature who's heart is moved by the light of the Dharma. Be they human or youkai. It is my belief that the all-encompassing love of the Buddha sees no distinctions between such beings."
Keine's expression grew rather complicated, a mix of distrust, wonder, and curiosity playing over her features. After a moment's consideration she reasserted her stoic expression and spoke.
"Your teachings are strange, but I have no right to prevent you from practicing them as you see fit. As a representative of the village though, I must tell you that youkai such as yourself are not welcome within these walls. So long as you do not intend to enter the village itself you are free to establish a temple as you desire. If you truly do intend to convey the wisdom of the Buddha to youkai then perhaps this world might be better for it. In my role as a member of the village's watch, I cannot welcome you into our community, but I will welcome you to Gensokyo nonetheless." She extended her hand to Byakuren. who took it, nodding in thanks as she shook it.
"With that said," Keine continued, "the presence of that ship is making people nervous. I'll go back and let people know that you mean no harm, but I would appreciate if you could move it out of sight. I would also like to know what Renko and Merry were doing aboard it. Troublesome as those two may be, they are citizens of this village and under my protection. I can't allow them to be kidnapped by youkai."
"They have by no means been kidnapped and are free to leave at their pleasure. Miss Renko and miss Merry have been of very great help to me and my disciples and I merely wished to offer them a more convenient means of returning home. We'll take our leave now and cause you no more disruption."
"Huh. They've been helping you, you say?" Keine asked, levelling her best disapproving teacher stare at the both of us.
"They have indeed been of tremendous help. I hope to be able to thank them properly some day once we have settled in. For now though, I will simply offer my gratitude, both to them and to you for your understanding." Saying this, Byakuren clasped her hands together and bowed deeply.
Looking somewhat flustered, Keine bowed slightly in return. Truly, Byakuren possessed a wonderous charisma befitting a religious leader. To see Keine not only refraining from scolding us but bowing to a youkai in plain sight of the other villagers was downright astonishing.
"Renko, Merry, thank you both once again. I hope to see you again one day once our temple has been established. Until then, may you both know peace." She bowed to us each in turn, then turned and floated away, slowly ascending back toward the deck of the ship. As soon as she alighted, the ship began moving again, rising and turning as the sails snapped and it proceeded forward. The slow curve of its turn carried it over one corner of the village, and we could hear a chorus of shouts and cheers rising up from the houses that fell momentarily under its shadow.
As the ship came around and began to move away, ascending and departing to the north, Keine turned her attention to us. "Now then, Renko, Merry. Would you mind explaining what it means when a magician from the world of demons tells me that you were very helpful in releasing them from a millennia-long imprisonment?"
"Ah, I'm afraid that's a bit more than I could relate in a single sentence, miss Keine. There's a lot of detail and nuance to that story that would require in-depth explanation."
"I see," Keine said, laying a hand on Renko's shoulder. Her eyes were closed and she had a smile plastered across her face, but there was no kindness in it. "Well then, I'll have to listen very carefully. Make sure to explain every detail to me in depth."
"Ah! That hurts Keine! Go easy!" Renko said as Keine turned, forcing Renko into step in front of her as she marched her back toward the gates of the village.
"What was that, Renko? I'm sorry, I'm still waiting for a proper explanation. Maybe once you tell me that I can let you go."
"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you tied up listening to us. You must be very busy, Keine. Having called so many people out here, I imagine there's -Ow! There's probably a lot of paperwork for you to attend to and people you probably need to talk to now that the danger's past, right?"
"On the contrary, I can't do any of that until I can be sure that the danger has in fact passed and no one is under any further threat. That includes making sure that impressionable young minds aren't in danger of being corrupted by having someone they look up to as a role model teaching them that it's ok to go to the demon world and free any magicians they happened to find sealed there. Now please," she said, giving Renko's shoulder another painful squeeze as we passed by Kotohime and the other watch members and through the village gates, "take as long as you want and explain the whole story to me. Perhaps you should start with how you came to know about a nun who was sealed in Makai, or why you thought going to the world of demons was a good idea for a schoolteacher to pursue?"
Keine grabbed my shoulder as well as she turned us down the street and toward the neighborhood watch office bordering the village square. I couldn't help but think that we must look like two suspects being lead to jail in handcuffs. Kotohime would probably be annoyed that she had missed her chance to put her pair to work, but from where I stood with her grip on my shoulder, it seemed likely that Keine's hands were every bit as strong as steel. I turned to glare at Renko, willing my gaze to impart the most emphatic 'I told you so' I could muster. Renko refused to meet my eyes through, pulling the brim of her hat down and turning away from me. The coward.
"Let's begin with what you two have been doing all day today? I went looking for you earlier and noticed there have been some rather interesting renovations to my storehouse."
-.-.-.-.-
I'll spare you the long and mortifying details of that evening, dear reader. Suffice to say that we were compelled to reveal the entire story of all of our exploits, from the winter spent assisting with the project of preparing the Holy Palanquin for its disinterment to the escape from Makai that had brought us back to the village. It was easily a two-hour questioning, and we were made to deliver or answers while kneeling on the hard stone floor of the watch office's drunk tank. At the end of the story, there was perhaps another half to three-quarters of an hour of scolding from Keine before we were allowed to leave, but not before Renko was gifted with a headbutt that knocked her nearly senseless. I was at least spared the indignity of having to drag her limp form home on my aching, unresponsive legs, but I did have to endure a further ten minutes of scolding from Keine as I limped along behind her as she carried Renko back to our office. The little storehouse was cold and dark when we returned, but Keine had at least taken the time to fix a slightly more permanent patch to the hole in the wall and stuffed it with a blanket. She informed us that the school's carpenter would be by in a week or so to repair it properly.
I was left to care for Renko, who was stirring woozily by the time Keine left. Whatever hope Renko might have harbored that Byakuren's authority, kindness or power might have shielded us from Keiene's wrath had been utterly dashed. No matter how crafty my partner's words might be or how many disasters her tongue had saved us from, it seemed she was entirely outmatched against the familiarity and savvy of Keine Kamishirasawa.