Yayoi issue #2 of Bunbunmaru Newspaper, Gensokyo Year 98/CE Year 1983
Skeletal Remains Found from the Dry Well
But who was it!?
As the bitter cold of Gensokyo's winter was only beginning to give way to thawing, a scream echoed through the Human Village. Although peace had persisted for some time, it seemed as if that day would turn out to be slightly different.
There were reports of children finding the skeletal remains of a human while playing around a dried-up well. The well was then declared to be off-limits.
Apparently, a Tsurube-otoshi youkai came out of the well saying "So is THIS the body you dropped down here?", cackling as she threw the bones at them. As all of the humans in Gensokyo were accounted for with no one who had gone missing, no one had any no clue as to whom the skeleton belonged.
To make matters worse, the remains disappeared while no one was looking during preparations to bury it in Muenzuka. At the present state, it's hard to tell if there was any sort of incident or not, let alone the identity of the previous owner of the bones.
The youkai expert, Ms. Yukari Yakumo said:
"Well, I suppose it was an act by the youkai of the underground. Since their powers come from the negative energy of humans, maybe she wanted to scare humans who had become too peace-addled."
There is a nonintervention pact made between the youkai of the underground and the surface, so if this was the work of the youkai underground, the situation could become complicated. Even we tengu hope to avoid trouble with the underground.
"However, since we don't have the all-important skeleton, it could have been a simple misunderstanding. No, it was a misunderstanding, definitely."
The incident was settled as silver birch branches being mistaken for bones. No ominous occurrences had happened in the Human Village.
At a later date, we confirmed that the dried-up well was filled in with dirt. The person that did this is unknown, but since there was no incident in the first place, it's not a problem.
(Aya Shameimaru)
Analysis of the article (Gensokyo Year 134/CE Year 2019)
The ongoing Crisis with the Jailbreak King Mizuchi Miyadeguchi reminds me of a certain article from Bunbunmaru Newspaper prior to its expansion to Human Village 4 years ago. The dried-up well that became the site of interest of said article has been filled with dirt for decades by this point.
According to this article, a strange occurrence happened during the late Showa era, years before I was born. It is believed that Kisume, an Underworld tsurube-otoshi, was responsible for the mysterious human skeletal remains found at that well. Why 'mysterious'? The 1983 census of Human Village population shows that during the strange occurrence, everyone were accounted for. Thus, it's understandable why no one was able to deduce the identity of the skeletal remains owner.
Recently, I've been granted permission by the Outsiders Leader to disclose important information regarding the ongoing Crisis. At one point, the Jailbreak King attempted to attack two Gensokyo powerhouses, Yuyuko Saigyouji and Yukari Yakumo. But this attempt was foiled thanks to the latter's experience in handling the Perfect Possession Incident. And it's at this point that she decided to join hand with the Underworld Custodian, Satori Komeiji.
Prior to the Crisis, there was an oil leakage in Gensokyo. This Incident caught Yakumo-san's attention, so she decided to enlist the help of two Outsiders, Yasei Sugaku and Lucy Thesda, to find out the source and cause of the leakage. Their search led them to the Underworld, which is the region of interest mentioned in the article above. They found out that Yuuma Toutetsu, the Matriarch of Gouyoku Alliance, one of the Animal Realm major forces, has set her base at the Hell of Blood Pools. But the culprit of the Incident is someone else entirely, the Secret Goddess Okina Matara.
Relating to the above paragraph, Thesda-san has informed me that Wilder has brought his entire Puppet force, Enbu-Kakera, with him to the Blood Pools just before the mass lock-down enacted at the Underworld. She also told me that Gensokyo's operation at Myouren Temple was nothing more than a ploy to lure the Jailbreak King and trap her. I'm glad that we managed to rescue Sanae Kochiya and Marisa Kirisame (both victims of Jailbreak King) before the boundary shift. Their presence will be crucial in maintaining the chaos level to the minimum in Youkai Mountain and Human Village respectively.
It is my duty as the Leader of Human Village Guards to ensure that. Just like back during Chaos Stratum Incident and Second Makai Invasion, we will defend our home until this Crisis has been resolved.
(Hiroshi Kato)