This is the Hifuu Detective Agency: Finale -- Deep Secrets

by That-which-isn't

The final volume of the Hifuu Detective Agency series. The mysteries and manipulations surrounding Renko, Merry, Yukari and everyone they've met in Gensokyo come to their conclusion along with the girls' time in Gensokyo. A vast and sprawling confrontation rises between the forces that created this world and those who seek to reshape it, with our heroines caught in the middle.

1. Translator's Notes

Hello, everyone. Today at long last I am beginning my translation of the fourteenth and final volume of Asakihara Shinobu's こちら秘封探偵事務所 or 'This is the Hifuu Detective Agency.' This story and all of the ones before it couldn't be here if not for the originals published on longnovel dot com/touhou001/, so why not click through to that site and leave a comment for the original author to see?

This volume does not directly correspond to a specific game in the touhou line, as it includes elements of Urban Legend In Limbo, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom and a fair bit of both original content and things taken from Forbidden Scrollery. Fittingly, it therefore takes its name from Urban Legend in Limbo's Japanese title - Touhou Shinpiroku which translates as 'Deep Secret Record.'

This is the final volume of the long-running series and as such there's not really any further concern over spoilers at this point. The events and endings of every previous casefile will be discussed here, and the writing generally assumes you've read all of the books leading up to this point as aspects of this story will build on events and descriptions established in every previous volume to date. I don't imagine there are many readers who have followed this series up until now without reading all of the previous volumes, but if you haven't, this is your final warning.

As far as objectionable content goes, this is probably the darkest story in the entire series. There will be discussions of suicide, murder, depersonalization, de-realization and the death of major canon characters. As usual though there's nothing overly graphic or explicit here.

Re-reading every previous volume to get the details of each case fresh in your head is not a pre-requisite for enjoying this story. Like every other volume, this story is self-contained mystery. I don't recommend anyone go through the ordeal of trying to consume all 1,000,000+ words of these stories before reading this. If you do fancy a re-visit, then I'd recommend you do so after finishing this volume - you may find things there have double-meanings you wouldn't have expected before.

For now, just sit back, relax and enjoy the story to come, perhaps while listening to this wonderful arrangement of 少女秘封倶楽部 - Girls' Hifuu Club from Ghostly Field Club in a noire jazz style commissioned from the very talented maxknightley on tumblr at youtube dot com/watch?v=71JWTlDkeHo.

With all of that said, I will now step back and leave the rest of the storytelling up to our narrator. I hope that you enjoy the finale to come.