And now, this narrative will move forward several months, as it wasn't until the spring of the following year that the Incident really got underway. When it did, it just so happened that this was one of those Incidents in which no one could question that something unusual was going on. It was plainly obvious that Gensokyo was experiencing the sort of phenomenon which could only be attributed to an Incident because, as had happened on two other occasions, all of Gensokyo found itself suddenly awash in disembodied spirits one morning.
As I mentioned, this had happened twice before, once during the flower Incident, in which spirits had floated about mostly surrounding the copious flowering plants that had bloomed everywhere, and once during the Vengeful Spirit Incident, in which hostile, possessing spirits had begun leaking up out of the ground at the geyser near the Hakurei shrine. During the Spring Snow Incident, no unexpected spirits had appeared, but the resolution of that Incident had taken place in the Netherworld, which we had been transported to by the Youkai sage, meaning that for Renko and myself we saw plenty of spirits during that time. Similarly, the Incident surrounding the destruction of the Hakurei shrine had been largely concerned with the unexpected release and gathering of temperaments which, while they were not spirits, were similarly disembodied partial fragments of a soul that had been released from their natural environment. In short, it seemed the presence or involvement of an excessive presence of spirits could be counted upon as a sure sign that an Incident was occurring. Even if that hadn't been the case, however, this Incident would still have stood out and attracted the attention of the Hakurei miko for one simple reason: this time around rather than spirits appearing high in the sky or randomly across Gensokyo or in one particular isolated place they were concentrated within the human village itself.
While the spirits themselves didn't seem to pose any threat this time around, the great preponderance of them, and the fact that they appeared without warning everywhere all at once, even inside of people's homes and businesses, as well as in the streets and all around the village meant that Keine was far too busy working with the neighborhood watch and responding to complaints from villagers to open the temple school. Even inside our own office the spirits were present, outnumbering both the humans and the birds occupying the space and filling every nook and cranny of the establishment.
"So what do you think these things are, Merry?" Renko asked as she prodded at one of the semi-translucent globs floating through the air. "They're a little small for phantoms and they're not cold. They don't seem malevolent like vengeful spirits and they don't seem to have any will or sensibility of their own. They just sort of... float about."
"Well I agree they don't seem like any spirits we've seen before, but I imagine they must be something related. Logically speaking, whatever they are, they must be coming through the Great Hakurei Barrier somehow, either from the Outside world or from the Netherworld, right?"
"That's certainly the most obvious answer. The only question is where to begin our investigation. If they're coming from the Outside we should go to the Hakurei shrine, but if they're coming from the Netherworld we should try to get to Hakugyokuro, right?"
"Or we could just stay here and let Reimu deal with it. It's not like anyone asked for our intervention. In fact it's quite the opposite. Just how many people have told you to keep your nose out of Incidents now, Renko?"
"At this point I don't think I could do that even if I wanted to. I expect Sanae will be here before much longer."
I sighed at her. She was probably right, and with Sanae's arrival there would be no hope of outvoting the majority opinion. "Well then let's wait here for her. It'll be safer for us to travel with her than go out on own don't you think?"
"That's so boring though, Merry! Besides, once she's involved, things are going to devolve into danmaku battles for sure. There's time enough for the two of us to gather some background information before she shows up, don't you think? Come on, we've got a mystery to solve." While saying this she was already shooing some of the spirits in the office out of her way as she made her way over to the entrance and took her trademark trenchcoat from the peg near the door.
"Yes, of course, I should have expected as much." I said as I climbed to my feet and followed her to the door. I had never replaced my cap after losing it in the course of the UFO Incident. With how long my hair had grown now I'd have to look at getting another if we were going to be flying around with any regularity, or maybe I could look into finding a nice ribbon to tie my hair back with. As I was busy thinking such mundane thoughts there came a knock at our door.
"Oh, that must be Sanae now," Renko said, grinning as she stepped over to grab the door and welcome our guest.
The person who was standing in the doorway when Renko opened it was not Sanae, however. Instead it was a small, hooded figure we had seen once before, with their face concealed in the deep shadows of their hood and a long metal dousing rod held in each hand.
"Hello, sorry to bother you," Nazrin mumbled in her small, boyish voice as she stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.
With a bemused expression, Renko closed the door behind the new arrival then turned to face her as she slipped her hood back off of her head, revealing a pair of large mouse ears poking up from her mane of dingy grey hair.
"Well hello there, little Naz!" Renko said boisterously. "What brings you here?"
"I've told you before not to call me that. As a human you have no right to be so familiar." She took a calming breath, evidently making an effort to maintain her cool in the face of what I could only assume were deliberate provocations by Renko. "At any rate, this isn't a social visit. I'm here to make a request."
"Oh, very well then. It's been a while since we've had a proper customer. We were just about to go out but I'm sure I have time to listen to your needs. Merry, take notes. We'll need them to agree on the precise scope of the investigation. Please have a seat, miss Nazrin," Renko said, taking her hat back off and making her way over to her desk.
Nazrin didn't move from her spot in the middle of the room and didn't bother turning to address Renko. Instead she stared directly at me. "I'm not here to hire you to muck things up, miss Usami. I came here to make a request of your partner. I need to borrow her ability."
"Huh? Me?" The shock of the direct attention was enough to disrupt my professional presentation, I'm afraid. I pointed at my nose in surprise.
"Yes. I'd like to borrow your eyes. I saw what you were doing during that confrontation with Nue, and you don't seem to be easily fooled by illusions or concealment of any kind." As she said that, she nervously shifted both of her dousing rods to her right hand, freeing her left to drift unconsciously to the the pendulum hanging on her neck. "It shames me to say it, but even with all of my skills and experience I haven't been able to locate the entrance. I'm hoping you'll be able to."
"The 'entrance?' The entrance to what?"
"Byakuren can explain everything once we get over to the temple. Do you have time to assist me right now?"
I looked up at Renko, who had seemed a little shocked at being so carelessly dismissed at first but now had a sly grin on her face. "Ah, I think I know what this is about, little Naz..." she said.
Nazrin whirled on her. "I told you not to call me that!"
"You've probably been looking for whatever this entrance is for some time, I'd wager, but now that all of these spirits have suddenly appeared, you're out of time, aren't you? That's the only thing that would bring a proud youkai like yourself to the point of asking for help from a human. Am I wrong?"
Nazrin frowned and glared at Renko in silence.
"Might I go further and guess that what you've been searching for is also the origin of all of these spirits surrounding us? You were hoping to locate it before whatever this event is happened, but now that they're here, you need a high-performance barrier detector to solve your problem right away, don't you?"
"That's none of your business, detective. I'm here to hire her, not you."
"Ah, that's unfortunate for you, little Naz," Renko said with a sigh. "Merry and I only come as a package deal. We're the Hifuu Detective Agency. Two for the price of one, not half-price for just one of us. If you need a Merry, you get a Renko too, and if you need a Renko we throw in a free Merry. You can't hire just one of us."
"That's ridiculous. I don't need you both. Doesn't she get any say in it?" Nazrin looked from Renko back towards me, her eyes narrowed.
"Well I..." I began.
Before I could finish my thought Renko ran over to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. "It's non-negotiable! This is my Merry, and she's one of a kind. I'm not letting her go. If you want her, you'll have to take me too."
"Renko, get off of me, this is no way to act in front of a customer." I said that and tried to pry Renko off of me, but she clamped on tighter, snuggling her face into my side.
I reached down and grabbed a hold of her cheek, but even as I twisted she wouldn't let go, crying out in pain but wrapping her arms ever tighter around me in spite of it. Nazrin sighed and covered her eyes with one hand, shaking her head back and forth.
"Fine, fine, I'll hire you both. Byakuren wouldn't approve of me trying to split up two people who are so close anyway."