As Marisa and I walked through the village, my mind was utterly consumed by the forbidden tome in my hands. I hadn't dared to open it yet—not after seeing Kosuzu's reaction—but still, I found myself inspecting every inch of it. I ran my fingers over the cover, traced the spine, and flipped it over to look at the back, hoping to find some hidden clue, some detail I'd missed the first dozen times. Nothing had changed, of course. It was still the same unnerving book.

I barely noticed the village around me. Only when something caught my eye did I finally look up—a small, worn-out sign that read "Kirisame Shop." It took me by surprise.

"Is that your family's shop?" I asked, glancing over at Marisa.

She looked over at the sign and gave a quick, disinterested nod. "Yeah, it is."

The conversation could've ended there, but for some reason, I felt compelled to push further. "You want to stop by? Say hello to them?"

Marisa's reaction was almost immediate. She brushed the idea aside with a wave of her hand. "Nah, we've got more important things to do than seeing them a lot." Her tone was dismissive, but there was something underneath it—something I couldn't quite place.

We walked in silence for a while after that, the words of the stall owner creeping back into my mind. *Living outside the village doesn't sound so rewarding when you're broke, does it?* It echoed in my head, making me feel like there was something more going on here, something Marisa wasn't telling me.

The silence stretched between us until I finally decided to break it. "So, why don't you live in the village?"

Marisa stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't look at me, but the question had clearly struck a nerve. There was a long pause before she finally spoke, her voice tight. "Where are all the villagers?"

"Huh?" I blinked, thrown off by the sudden change in topic. It wasn't until then that I noticed the village was unusually empty. How had I missed that? I glanced around, seeing only a handful of shops and homes but no one walking the streets. It was... eerie.

"Maybe everyone's gone to bingo?" I suggested weakly, trying to break the tension.

Marisa didn't laugh. She started walking again, her pace quicker this time as her eyes darted around, scanning every corner of the village. Her arms crossed over her chest, and I could hear her muttering to herself. "I've got a bad feeling about this... might be an incident..."

"An incident?" I hurried to catch up to her. "You think something's going on?"

She stopped again, tapping her chin in thought. "Maybe it's Keine? But that doesn't make sense. When she made the village disappear during the endless night, it wasn't just the people—it was the whole village."

I was about to ask what she meant by that, but something made me stop. "Wait... do you hear that?"

Marisa frowned and listened. It took a moment, but then we both heard it—music. Faint but unmistakable. We turned around, seeing distant lights flickering in the direction of the shrine.

"Huh," Marisa muttered. "Maybe there's a festival going on? Could explain why the village is empty."

"No, no, that wouldn't be possible," she continued, shaking her head. "Even if it were a festival... not everyone would leave the village. And Reimu would've told me about something like this."

I didn't know much about festivals or how things worked in Gensokyo, but something about the whole situation felt off. Marisa's unease was starting to rub off on me.

She sighed, her brow furrowing. "I don't like this. We should get to the shrine and ask Reimu. She'll know what's going on."

I nodded, watching as she pulled her broom from her side and swung it up, holding it out for me to jump on. I hesitated for a moment—I'd never flown on a broom before, and the idea was... daunting. But this wasn't the time to be picky.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed on behind her, gripping the broom tightly. Marisa glanced back at me, her usual grin returning as if to lighten the mood. "Hold on tight, Marcus. We'll be at the shrine before you can even blink."

Before I could second-guess my decision, we shot into the sky, the wind rushing past us as we soared toward the shrine and whatever strange events awaited us there.

I felt the broom wobble underneath me, and before I knew it, I was dangling off the side, legs swinging in the air. My heart raced as I held on for dear life, barely gripping the broom's handle with my hands.

"Uh, Marisa?!" I called out, but my voice was lost in the wind.

Marisa didn't notice at first. She was focused on something up ahead, her eyes squinting against the sudden blinding light. "No time to stop! Hold on!" she yelled, speeding up. The broom shot forward, and I clung to the handle, my legs flailing as the ground rushed by beneath me.

By the time we reached the shrine, I managed to pull myself back onto the broom, breathing heavily. But whatever relief I felt was immediately replaced by shock when I looked up.

The shrine... wasn't a shrine anymore. It had tripled in size, towering over the trees with a golden sheen, lights flickering off its polished surface like something out of a fairy tale. It wasn't the humble, worn-down Hakurei Shrine I'd seen before. No, this was something fit for royalty, not a shrine maiden.

And the villagers... they were all lined up in a massive queue stretching from the entrance to the far-off horizon, each of them holding bags of coins. I stared at the sight, my mind struggling to comprehend what I was seeing.

Marisa shook her head, muttering under her breath, "This isn't right..." She marched over to one of the villagers, grabbing his attention. "What the hell is going on? What's everyone doing here?"

The villager turned to her with a blank expression as if he wasn't entirely present. "We're making our obliged donation to the shrine... to the Shrine Maiden. May the Gods have mercy on our souls."

Marisa staggered back, dumbfounded. She muttered to herself, "These villagers never show up like this. They hardly ever donate. What the hell's going on? We need to talk to Reimu—now."

Without another word, she pushed forward, dragging me with her as we manoeuvred through the crowd. Shrine maidens—dozens of them—were taking the villagers' donations and piling them into a growing mountain of overflowing donation boxes. Everything about this scene was wrong. The shrine had never been about wealth. It had never been this... excessive.

"Wait," Marisa suddenly whispered, squinting at one of the shrine maidens. "Sanae?"

Sanae looked up at us, her face pale and gaunt, her eyes hollow with exhaustion. She met Marisa's gaze with a look of sheer desperation, her body trembling as if barely holding itself together. "Have you come to donate to the shrine?" she asked in a weak, defeated voice.

Marisa's eyes widened in shock. "Sanae! What the hell are you doing here? This isn't your shrine! What's going on?!"

Sanae stared back, unfocused, and repeated, "Have you come to donate?"

That did it. Marisa snapped, pulling out her Mini Hakkero with an eye twitching in frustration. "Shut up! This isn't your shrine! Who did this to you? Where is Reimu?!"

Sanae's legs gave out as she collapsed to the ground. I rushed to her side, quickly checking if she was okay. She was breathing but clearly on the verge of passing out. "Reimu... Reimu's lost it..." she whispered before fainting entirely.

"She's alright, just passed out from exhaustion," I said, looking up at Marisa, who was still trembling with anger.

"There's no way," Marisa muttered through gritted teeth. "Reimu would never... no. She wouldn't condemn the villagers to this fate, let alone Sanae." She looked up, seething. "This isn't her."

She didn't waste any more time. Raising her Mini Hakkero, she fired off a barrage of stars into the sky, scattering the villagers in a panic. Coins clattered to the ground, their bags forgotten as the crowd fled in all directions.

Marisa slid the Hakkero back into her belt, glancing at me with a hardened expression. "Come on, we've got to save Reimu."

I followed after her, feeling more and more uneasy with every step we took. The shrine was unrecognizable, plastered in gold and lined with expensive furniture, chandeliers, and lavish decorations that seemed entirely out of place. It was overwhelming, as if someone had dumped a king's fortune into the shrine overnight.

"Marisa, wait up!" I called out. My mind was spinning, and I couldn't shake Sanae's words. "What if Sanae's right? What if... this really is because of Reimu?"

Marisa whipped around, glaring at me. "Shut your mouth! You don't know Reimu like I do!" Her voice was sharp, almost desperate. "She would never do this to the villagers. Never!" With that, she turned and bolted ahead, leaving me scrambling to catch up.

When I finally did, we reached the main room. The sight that greeted us was worse than anything I could've imagined. Reimu sat on a throne—a throne—surrounded by overflowing donation boxes. Shrine maidens catered to her every need, feeding her fanning her with ornate fans. And Reimu... she was smiling.

"Marisa!" she called out cheerfully, beckoning her closer. "Come in! Look at what I've done here. Isn't it amazing?"

Marisa approached slowly, her face twisted in disbelief, but Reimu continued talking as if nothing was wrong. "The shrine's finally got what it deserves! I've expanded it, and now we're getting donations every day, non-stop! There's enough space here for you to live, too. Everything you'd ever need for your experiments—all paid for. And Marcus, you're more than welcome to stay here as well!"

I followed after Marisa, but as soon as I stepped into the room, a sharp pain shot through my head. My vision blurred, and I clutched my chest, gasping for breath as an overwhelming aura washed over me. Something was wrong—very wrong.

"Marcus?!" Marisa turned to me, her face full of concern. "What's wrong?"

I could barely speak through the pain, but I forced the words out. "Get... away from Reimu..."

Marisa glanced at me, then back at Reimu, confusion clouding her features.

Reimu smiled, holding up a familiar book—Vol. 4 of the forbidden tomes: Wealth. "This... this book solved everything," she said, her voice filled with an eerie satisfaction. "All my problems are gone now. I've got everything I deserve."

"No!" I shouted through the pain, stepping forward. "Don't let it tempt you, Reimu! That book... eats away at your deepest, most hidden desires, the ones you don't even want to admit to yourself! It's changing you!"

Reimu ignored me, her smile growing colder as she summoned three yin-yang orbs, which hovered ominously around her. "Those who stand in the way of the Hakurei Shrine will be dealt with."

Marisa pushed me back, her expression darkening as she pulled out her Mini Hakkero. "Get behind me, Marcus. I'll handle this."

The air was thick with tension as Reimu's once-kind smile twisted into something unrecognizable, and I realised that the Reimu we knew was slipping away—if she hadn't already.