Ego enim sum minimus Apostolorum, qui non sum dignus vocari Apostolus, quoniam persecutus sum ecclesiam Dei.
For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
When I returned to the village it was too late for anyone to be awake, so I wandered into my room and went to sleep with the same clothes caked in dried blood. The next day however, I ended up having to listen to Hina tell me such a fine line of dancing insults and shouts in both English and Japanese that I will certainly spare my mind of repeating them, lest I end up insane.
I then argued that slaying demonic looking boars in the middle of a dangerous area is quite a glorious and heroic endeavor, however this meant very little in her ears and I almost got my brand-new war scythe confiscated, but I managed to calm her down, so all is good in the world.
Apparently, it had become the talk of the village by morning that the new outsider, the one that could only talk like a caveman, had ran like a madman to the Forest of Magic with some sort of weapon only to return covered in blood and smelling of alcohol. I thought that everyone was just asleep, but the guards and those villagers living near the eastern gate -which means that I know where east and west are now- just didn't believe that a man could have hobbies, as for the alcohol I think a fellow serf was just wandering around and I didn't see them as I stumbled into my room.
Needless to say, Hisashi found the story really funny, and couldn't believe his eyes as soon as he saw me in the fields, because I haven't taken a bath yet and I do not think I can just wash my clothes in some water stream and expect the stains to go away.
From then onwards this next day was a sort of normalization of my new routine, I worked the fields and plucked weeds, then went to help other people even though I probably shouldn't associate much with other people's property, most were glad I was there to help so I don't think I can find any way to regret it. After all that I still had more time to waste than I had the day before so I went to the blacksmith and tried to ask him if the boar pelt was worth selling, he also laughed before I showed it to him, but then was really impressed in the end at my craftiness and bought it for some reason at a price of 4676 mon and an actual nice looking skinning knife.
Carefully considering my economic status after that, since now I had a total of 7732 mon, I decided to try to explain to the blacksmith that I needed him to just give me coins with a greater value so that I would not break my back. Thankfully he's actually not only some sort of wizard but also rich, so now my bag is much lighter, I ended up also getting some yen notes as promissory notes.
After that I went out again to find Mystia before going to Keine's classes, because if I ate everything at such a late hour again, I might truly mess up my sleep, and that's something nobody wants. Mystia was at the same place with her little wandering kitchen, but it appeared to be closed, she probably only opens up during nighttime, doesn't she?
In the end with a tired face, Mystia gave me a rudimentary wooden box with some of the old boar meat in it and some extras, I paid her an extra 200 mon just because it seemed I had messed up her schedule and she seemed to at least be a little happier.
By then it was around 14 according to the sundial I had bought, so I ate while I was walking back to the village, and by 14:40 or so I met with Keine again. Apparently Keine had heard of my escapades too and was concerned, but since I certainly had enough power to at least be able to run away now that a weapon was laid in my hands, she didn't give me much of a scolding and instead gave me some advice mixed in with warnings. In this time, I figured out what the day was finally, it was Tuesday, which means I popped out in Muenzuka on the Lord's Day.
Then on there wasn't much more out of the usual, I managed to ask Keine some things about the people I met such as Mystia, but I figured little more than how to go to the Hakurei Shrine if I ever wanted to give up on Gensokyo, how to get to the Moriya Shrine and that it was doubtful any youkai would attack me at the trail if I was known to go to Mystia's stand. Nobody wanted to piss off the girl who could just blind you with a thought.
And so, I went out to hunt, this time it was one of those wolves again, but since I was prepared, I cut its neck open as soon as it leapt and that was the end of it. Mystia did not want to sell the meat this time, but we had a much easier time communicating since I asked Keine to teach me a few words regarding bartering, I however did get wolf meat for myself and let me tell you, it was not good at all. The meal was 200 like it was at noon and the day before.
The wolf was much easier to skin though, not to mention how helpful having an actual tool made for the job was, I ended up taking much more care of how I went around on my way home by not drinking at all and storing the wolf's pelt instead of carrying it by hand. Solomon was right, whosoever is delighted therewith shall not be wise.
As such progressed the days.
By Wednesday I made 10416 mon on the spoils of my hunt and used 400 on food. I quickly realized the Hieda had not expected my ability to hunt, which certainly makes sense, since if I remember correctly, most outsiders have been observed by Akyuu to be poorly advised and never trained on combat situations.
It led me to feel like I needed to hunt much more in order to take advantage of my tax situation, I did not need to farm anymore, by the end of the month I could have hundreds of thousands of mon and only need to pay less than half of it. But that would be taking advantage of the locals, wouldn't it? I would also be no different than a poacher, so I decided to diverge from my usual hunting grounds and wandered around a bit.
During this time, I also wondered a bit, was this whole "keeping of the balance" also enforced on outsiders? Was my punishment imminent for hunting youkai? I knew outsiders were basically just given as free food for the youkai, but that would make sense since they were not part of Gensokyo in the first place and would not displace any sort of balance, as the exception to the norm would it make sense for me to survive off what I could only guess are mindless youkai?
Then I met some actually humanoid youkai, it looks like they are smarter and more reasonable than beasts, so we basically just talked as best as we could. I ended up giving another 400 mon to this wolf-man who taught me how to handle the war scythe more accurately, since he used this cool spear he ended up showing me, I'd say it was worth it. From that moment onwards, nobody tried to warn me about my actions, so I ignored the nervous gnashing of my teeth and went to town.
Then I didn't make anything on Thursday but wasted the same amount of money again at Mystia's after hunting near the village, I made 5852 mon on Friday but also went to eat and hunt.
On Saturday, I made 7840 mon and then tried to see if I could meet Reimu or something, but she wasn't at the shrine, so I came back. I honestly feel like that was the best outcome since I doubt I could have fulfilled the purpose I had set for when I met her for the first time. Again, I visited Mystia, and we talked as much as we could, I didn't hunt that day. I've noticed how good Mystia's cooking is just by being a frequent visitor, if I calculate correctly 400 mon would be like 14 euros each day for two meals which is also pretty cheap all things considered, but I suppose I also bring her free meat so maybe she charges higher prices for normal customers.
Now, it is Sunday again, a week has passed. In total I have made…29440 mon, I could turn that back into euros like the other day but today I have a better purpose -that is to say, I am lazy, and I don't want to bother doing that-, today we are going to Rinnosuke.
As of now I'm sitting at the side of the road, Hisashi was here because we were eating some skewers Mystia made together and expanding my Japanese, but he apparently had something to do so I waved to him godspeed. And here we are again, alone. It is quite early in the morning, today the fields were quite clear, and everything has been growing steadily, so at around nine we decided to eat breakfast for once. I look at the sundial, it is 9:34.
I stand up carefully so as to not fall down and pat myself down to get rid of some of the dirt on my pants, I take my scythe from the ground. Now we walk.
What I want from Rinnosuke as a first is any sort of Japanese dictionary, I've been using the notebook Keine gave me to note down things I couldn't understand so that I could ask later on, but if I get a dictionary, I could simply study it.
If he doesn't have one, I'll check around for gadgets I might want, and after that I'll try to cross Muenzuka and find that merchant, I still owe him.
Looking to my right I see a small path in between the trees, I think this is the one to Marisa's house…maybe I can greet her? No, I still am pretty constrained on the whole "time" thing, when I can at least converse in Japanese I might consider talking with people all around…but I suppose I can at least greet her if I have free time when returning since she talks English anyways.
The road is pretty much the same as the first time I walked it, soon enough I saw Kourindou at my left, and with careful step walked up to the door and slowly opened it.
Rinnosuke is sitting, calmly reading some sort of book or manual, today he is not smoking apparently. He quickly notices me, looking up from the script, I wave my hand and walk up to him.
"…Hey, Rinnosuke, right?" As I greet him with as much care as I can, I bring out my notebook and a pen Keine left attached to it. "Do you have a…dictionary? English?" I noted this one down yesterday.
Rinnosuke nods, a little bit curious apparently, "Yes, I do have one." I don't need to check my notes for this one, I've practiced affirmatives and negatives a lot so that I don't mess stuff up.
"How much is it?" And now I don't have to say "money" to ask how much something costs like an idiot.
"500 mon." He answers me, ugh, I know it might sound really petty since I have made so much money in such a short time, but I really dislike wasting it. I bring out the bag with my money, and place five 100 mon coins on the counter, I've learned that people really don't like to have hundreds of little coins valued as one or two, so the blacksmith ended up helping me exchange around most of the coins. If I'm being honest, I think the man, skilled and power full that he is, might just be the man doing the coinage for Gensokyo, it is a risky hypothesis, but I will stand behind it.
I thought Rinnosuke would have to go to some sort of separate section with books and the like, but he instead brought a thick book out of some sort of closet-like structure and put it over the counter, taking the coins in exchange. "Thank you for your purchase."
"Uh, would you like for me to…identify…objects?" I flipped quite quickly through the notebook before opening the dictionary, trying to communicate as best as I could.
I really didn't want to just leave Rinnosuke after he saved me from certain death, on top of that, if Marisa told me that he might need help that means people like Sumireko have not crossed the barrier yet. Maybe, it is a stupid reasoning, but I think investing back in the locals is only right. He looks at me, not really shocked -I think he always looks like this sort of aloof intellectual, at least I have never seen something to indicate the opposite- but slightly surprised.
He stretches out his arm under the table and opens a cabinet, bringing out some sort of microphone, the specific kind you put on one of those "arms" for your table, "What is this?"
"A microphone." I answer him, does he know what a microphone is? I can only suppose he does, right? His ability let him know what things were called, and with what purpose they were created, if I remember correctly.
"That's right." He says, decisively for some reason, "What does it do?" Is he testing me?
"It…records sounds…and carries them to…another machine." I tell him, now flipping through the pages of the dictionary. Marisa, I didn't know you were sending me to a job interview, this was just a side quest for me.
"It is so." Is that it?
"Do you need help or not?" I ask of him; it is easier to question than to explain.
He does this sort of "hmph" sound, with a slight smile on his face before opening his mouth, "I do, follow me."
And so, I follow him, leaving my notebook, money and backpack at the counter but carrying the dictionary. At the left corner of the store looking from the counter there is a shelf with a bunch of randomly placed items, a bunch of toys for kids like those bubble guns, fans and lights, et cetera.
"So, what is it?" I question, looking around the place, trying to place names on the things here.
He moves his arm, so I look at him, he's pointing to one of these "frog" toys -or so we call them from where I come from-, the ones that are basically just a circle made out of plastic which pops and jumps after you flip its inside out. I read up on them when I got curious once, apparently, they are called "poppers" or something like that in the original patent, but that's not a very creative name -even if "frog" is not either- so I will keep calling them frogs.
"Frog." He raises an eyebrow, "It jumps, it's for kids."
He then points to a small machine, it has a monitor connected to some sort of textile band, upon closer observation I can see that it simply covers a plastic one in turn. Isn't this one of those tools for taking your blood pressure? "This one." He speaks. "It is not turning on." He gestures with his hands.
"It's for…measuring…blood pressure." Damn this is getting hard, flipping around pages makes the conversation hard, even if a little more accurate. "Uses…electricity, maybe ask Marisa, be careful?" I don't know what to tell you, I genuinely don't know anything about magic in Gensokyo, maybe I should leave and see if I can find Kosuzu's library, she might have something I can read.
He looks pretty pleased, so I think that was fine then, "What about this?" He grabs this pretty big slab of metal and plastic and shows it to me, "I can only identify "storage", what kind of storage is this." It takes me a little while to translate as I repeat his words in my mind.
"It's for a computer…you connect them…together…so it can add space…for information." This should be sufficient right? Rinnosuke nods, he apparently likes that one in specific, maybe there's someone with electricity who may want an external drive?
"Thank you, that is all." That's all? "I had collected these yesterday but wasn't able to figure out how to market them." Well…if that truly is all…
I take out 400 I was keeping in my pocket, and present them to him, "This is…to thank you." He is taken aback very slightly, but quickly recovers, graciously accepting my money.
"It was the right thing to do, you shouldn't have." But he still does not let it go, so I will take that as acceptance.
"I must go now…I pray we will meet again…if you need…to identify anything ask for me." I bow and take my leave after so awkwardly transmitting to him my wishes, I pause for a moment because I do not remember giving him my name, did Marisa tell him? "…Ask for Focalor." I go for the safe option. Picking up my sack and putting it on my backpack, carrying everything as I hold my scythe, I set out after finishing what I came for.
Since he only needed so little, only half an hour has passed, including the time it took for me to get here. Now that I'm going again through this path I have to be careful, but probably less careful than the first time I walked here considering even youkai have heard of me, and appear less willing to attack me even if they are most definitely stronger such as that wolf-man.
Looking to one way and the other, the road is as beautiful as it was when I appeared here, flowers of Higan cover the land. For a moment I stand still and watch towards the mountain in the distance, it evocates a feeling in my chest that desires to run into the distance and go into an adventure, like a line of poetry written with a splash of blood. In this very moment I want to unite heaven and earth, even if it has to be through violence, and make of this image an immortal tale which never dies off, like a blessed fire which endures for generations.
My thoughts come like a serpent, silently, but vanish away like smoke as I set myself back in a second and jog towards my destination. The earth is not silent, the lands to my sides whisper in hushed argument, the youkai dash along but do not attack me, they either are wary of striking me since I walked into this path or are not able of deciding who will get to dash the first stone.
Therefore, the mix between a walk and run is peaceful but tense, as if the Sword of Damocles follows my very step, even if I lack the power and riches to make up for such danger. My only incentive to do this is my very word, but it is perhaps one of the only things I've ever valued enough to keep, I must at least make sure to grip that honor and never let it go.
Into Muenzuka, the walk is even less eventful, and though I should make haste to save my golden time I take breaks from time to time to observe the nature of this world.
Midway I see small wisps and fires, dancing along the road, the "souls" end up following me when I come near them, joyfully I do not mind them. I expect them to be silent, but sometimes they make strange noises, so I imitate them by whistling until we arrive at our destination.
By that time, some have left us, and some have followed, but as soon as we walk into that certain threshold of stores and vendors we part ways. The creatures move around happily and regard me with apparent respect, before going off to different stalls.
…Wait a moment, I just noticed something, the merchant, wasn't he also called Hisashi Nakamura? Is it that common of a name or am I just getting unlucky with people with similar names? Hina and Hisashi, not to mention both starting in "Hi". Should I just call him Nakamura and be done with it?
Anyways, I end up finding the man faster than the first time I found him. He's cleaning stuff around his stall, carefully removing dust from items, and setting things right where they should be righted.
I call out to him, "Yo, Hisashi, I'm back." He looks at me, slightly surprised.
"So, it was you." He snickers.
"What are you talking about? …Whatever you mean, I'm here to pay back." I both ask and tell him.
"I've heard from some people about an outsider hunting down youkai beasts all around, I thought it was you; it seems like I was right." He apparently has practiced his English a little. "Honestly, I almost felt like you were never going to come."
"And yet I did." I rub my forehead trying to ease away my headache with the cold gloves covering my hands, "Look, I don't know how to pay you back, so either you take a bunch of money, or I tell you something that you can replicate yourself."
He looks at me skeptically, "I'll take that thing I can replicate only if it is valuable."
"I'm telling you a method to pave roads durable enough to last 2000 years, is that sufficient?" I throw out, carelessly.
"I'm sold," the other Hisashi positions himself on his elbows, looking intently.
And so, I tell him, of Roman pavements, of their drainages and structures.
But I stop for a moment, to engage in something more important.
"By the way, I made a friend in the village, but his name is also Hisashi and he's a peasant, so he most likely has no surname. I know I kinda asked you about using your first name, but maybe "Nakamura" is the better option?" I awkwardly insert.
He snorts, "If those roads are as good as you say you can call me whatever you want." So says Nakamura.
I told him of the mechanics of how things worked in roman roads, my nation was full of them, so it isn't like I lacked any experience with how many explanations I swallowed in my short life, Nakamura found my explanations easy enough to follow and he wrote down instructions in a piece of paper. Though he is a merchant he also is honorable enough to assure me he would at least partially credit me with the introduction of the technology to Gensokyo, I told him that he should do whatever he wanted since the method was not discovered by me in the first place, but he insisted so I'll most likely come to regret painting myself as a civil engineer in the future.
Now in the Forest of magic, at 11:03, I'm walking to greet Marisa since I have nothing to do until my classes with Keine. Wandering between the trees in this narrow path, I reach that practical house I remembered. Slowly going up to the door, I knock twice.
…Everything is silent.
I knock twice, this time with more force than the other. Japanese shouts come loudly, but I can recognize her voice, as quickly as it leaves my ears.
Steady steps come to the door, and soon enough it is open.
Marisa, though she lacks her hat today, greets me with both face and apron covered in soot and many stains.
"Hey, I was passing by and thought about visiting, how is everything going?" I ask her, observing her appearance. Is she experimenting or something?
"Yo, ya caught me while in a tricky situation, I'm testing a bunch of enchantments for that thing ya gave me." She smiles, "Just tried to see if I could stuff it with modifications or use it as a way of shooting my magic!" She adds.
"That's cool, is there anything I can do to help?" It is cool indeed, and if I can learn something about Gensokyo's magic, it will be worth it.
She shakes her head, waving her fluffy hair around, "Nah, it's too dangerous for ya." My plans have been foiled, "…But maybe ya could do something for me." She smiles a jokingly sinister smile.
"Oh no, it appears I have made a pact with the devil herself!" Despite the tone of my voice, it could not lack any more enthusiasm, "Whatever shall I do!"
Marisa chuckles, "Yeah yeah, whatever. I need ya to go by the Misty Lake and grab a few of these specific frogs while I prepare for everything else." Today seems to be a day of frogs.
"Frogs? What's next? Bats?" I jest around, "Seriously, why though?"
"There's this family of frogs or something that secrete some sorta mucus that works well with something I want to do." She explains while cleaning her hands on her apron, "What I have to do in the meanwhile requires me to watch out for little things, so I'd be grateful if ya went by and snatched a few of them for me, like eight or so since they aren't hard to catch, and I figure I could give ya something as a reward." She ends, before opening her mouth again, "They look like normal frogs, but they're also purple with yellow spots, don't worry they won't poison ya."
"…That's fine, I'll go, as long as it doesn't take me too much time." I accept her request, goods and services are always good incentives, "But in the first place, how do I get to the Misty Lake? I've never been too far away from the village in the first place."
"It's…uh, you know the Youkai Trail?" She says, struggling to explain.
"Yeah, I met this nice girl named Mystia there." I tell her.
"Mystia? Nice?" She snorts, then starts sarcastically, "Sure, sounds right, anyways in the other side of the road there is a small path that leads to the lake. Ya might think it's not the one I'm talking about at first, but it opens up and becomes pretty big, so yer eyes won't miss it."
"Okay, is that all? Do you need anything else?" I ask her.
"Yup, that's all, I'd say "take care of fairies" but ya should be able to drive them away quickly enough." She answers me in a carefree manner.
"…Well actually, an important question, where do I put them to carry them back?" She looks over my shoulder, and then to my pants.
"Just stuff 'em wherever." A shrug and horrible advice, all she can give apparently.
"Right, are you going to clean my pockets from the magical goop those things are going to leave?" I skeptically ask.
She smiles smugly, "Doesn't look like ya clean them anyways so I might as well." Well, can't say much to that.
I sigh, "Sure, whatever, I'll be back."
I turn and close the door, taking a faster pace once again, I dash into the forest. There isn't much new on the way, but I keep an eye to my right side so that I don't miss the path, just in case it is not parallel to the Youkai Trail.
Fortunately enough, it is quite basically parallel to it, so as soon as I see it I rush in. If I focus enough, I can see a bunch of fairies to the side flying around and playing, but it's apparent that they won't even see me if I keep to myself. Around 100 meters in or so, the path does open up a little bit more into a road but even then, it isn't big, maybe it is biased of me considering how wide some roadways are on the outside.
My running is short lived, since not even that long after it widens, the path leads me to a view of the lake, to the other side I can view a great manor. This must be the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
It is big enough that I can notice its details. Unable to call it either Romanesque, Weser Renaissance architecture or Victorian, it stands as a blend of artistic styles in grandiose Pan-European beauty. For a moment I am mesmerized by such great construction, but I snap out of it, going down towards the lake passing by a strange igloo.
…With curiosity I turn to the igloo and take a peek inside, there is no one there as of now, but it looks like someone does live here since a bed and a small table sit comfortable over a stone floor.
Back to my mission. I look at the shore with care, youkai and the like spend their time without much care, some normal animals lounge around and drink water. It doesn't take much before I spot a bunch really colorful frogs in-between a few rocks, the yellow on purple does not place favor unto them and dropping any care I walk over and grab one.
The rest of them start jumping around nervously, but I just put the one I grabbed on my right pocket calmly, closing the zipper slightly so it doesn't get any funny ideas. I expected them to be smarter like with youkai beasts, but they end up laying around a few meters along the very place I kidnaped one of their brethren at, some have escaped into the water, but they are such a minority that it doesn't even bother me. I stab my war scythe into the dirt.
Then I take two with my now slimy gloves, the one in my left hand goes in my left pocket, so on and so forth. I do notice a few youkai nearby looking at me funny, but I have honestly done much worse things so the shame of doing this is nihil. The frogs jump around each time I put another in my pockets but aren't able to escape. Four in each pocket, I shut them completely and pick up my scythe again, instead of running I just do brisk walk up the slope I walked down from while using my dearly beloved weapon as a staff. I think the frogs just settled down and embraced the fact that they wouldn't get out of there since they barely jump now.
Walking along that small path, now as it closes, we go to the left. Then in this forest, back to Marisa's house. I mostly shut my mind, not doing much beyond watching out for attacking youkai.
Knock knock, I'm here.
"Gimme a second!" Marisa's muffled voice penetrates through the door, this time in English.
"Alright!" I shout back.
I sit down carefully at her steps, making sure that no harm befalls the frogs, and take a deep breath. I exhale, then take in air from my nose, I smell horrible. Not only do I smell like hormones, but I also smell like sweat and blood, I really need to take a bath as soon as I find out where one could be found.
My slimy gloves feel horrendous, like submerging your shoes in water and ending up with wet socks, Marisa better keep her word. The door opens up behind me.
I look upwards, and there she stands.
"Ya got them already?" She asks.
"Yep, express frog delivery." I say, getting up and walking inside as she steps aside. "Where do you want them?"
"Here, just put them in this bowl." She points to a tall glass bowl on top of a table covered in runes and geometrical values. I walk towards it and drop the frogs in my right pocket first, then the left one.
"Well, that's all." I turn to her, while resting my weight on the table, "By the way do you know any bathhouses in the village?"
"What? Already missing the outside world's commodities?" She smirks, "It's been a long time since I left the village, so I can't tell ya if what was there is still there now, now that I visit even less often." She explains, "I have a way of cleaning myself here, so I don't care all that much about that stuff."
"It doesn't matter then, I'll ask someone else in the village later." I decide, "What about that cleaning stuff? How do you do that?"
She perks up a little, "It's just some nice magic I learned, never use many elements if at all, but I read in this one book I borrowed about how to clean yer stuff with water magic." After telling me this, she pauses for a moment before continuing, "Actually, why don't ya just take a bath here so I can clean yer clothes and do my magic in peace?" Huh?
"Huh?" I'm clearly very eloquent when responding at first, "You haven't even told how you clean yourself here."
"Do ya make a habit of asking magicians to reveal their tricks?" No, magicians on the outside are weird people and not you, "I'm telling you now, I can't just clean yer clothes when yer wearing them, better to clean yerself in the meanwhile right?" She reasons, "I keep a water storage on the second floor, just get naked and leave everything outside, it's not like it's the end of the world."
I rub my forehead for a second time, "Sure, do I have to pay you?"
"I make the water for free, why would I charge ya?" She waves me off, "Just remember to do this in the village next time, or I might have to actually put a price, I'm not a charity."
"…Thank you, Marisa, I know I probably am not getting my gratitude across but I'm really grateful for the help you've been extending to me even if we don't know each other at all, I cannot stress it enough." I say smiling, letting the backpack straps slide down my arms and resting it at the table's side along with the scythe, my shoulders are given rest finally. I walk past her.
She walks to the table in turn, "Ya scratch my back and I scratch yers, as I told ya I lose nothing by letting ya take a bath anyways." I do not get to see her face, "The water is cold, will that be a problem?"
"No, I'll manage. I suppose it's a normal bathroom, so I just leave everything by the door, right?" I ask her.
"Yeah, might get a little bit dirty again since I walk inside with shoes on, but I'll put yer stuff in the same place." She says while picking up a book and opening it from a red string.
I walk up to what I assume is the way up, a wooden ladder, and take care of not leaving everything full of frog juice as I climb. The second floor includes a big window right in front of the ladder, and a small section with two rooms, the right one has a sort of "bathroom" sign, so I go in.
It is indeed a bathroom. The water stored is in what can only be described as a giant pirate-like barrel with a tap on the side, and there is a wooden bathtub in the middle, a few towels of lesser quality than what I am accustomed to hang on the wall. I take my clothes off and gloves, then put them in a pile. I get inside the bathtub where a small bucket lays and start using the very same bucket to cover myself in water as I scrub away, steps come quickly and words are whispered beyond the door, but they leave as quick as they came.
Blood and grim dirt dot the tub's bottom soon enough, I avoid my stitches just as precaution, at first, I almost shivered at the contact of water in my skin, but now I feel a little used to it. Next goes my hair, I scrub forcefully but not roughly in order to get all that filth out of my scalp, I am most grateful to God that after some hard work everything feels more like hair and less like solid grease.
I grab a towel and get out of the bath slowly drying myself so as to not make a mess with the water, on the floor outside lay my clothes and boots but significantly cleaner, I take them and begin putting them on. Ending my acts by putting on my gloves, now lacking any form of disgusting magic frog slime, I feel quite satisfied. Not only all that, I'd say I was pretty quick all things considered, maybe like 17 minutes or so? But I don't know what to do with the water left in the tub, so I'll have to ask Marisa.
I close the bathroom's door slowly, and then go down the stairs, turning around to question her I find her fiddling with my scythe over the now glowing table.
"…What are you doing?" I ask her first, I think this is a more crucial question than "what do I do with the water".
"Not the time, Focalor. What's yer god's actual name?" No time for dat Goku, also she didn't even turn around, must be actually important.
"…Ehyeh asher ehyeh." I answer her.
She does not look back, "And how the hell do ya write that?"
"Do you want a Greek or Latin version?" I respond with another question.
"Just give me both." Fair.
"In Latin "Ego sum qui sum" or "Qui est", in Greek it's "Ego eimi ho on" or "Ego eimi"." I close the request.
"I am who I am, huh?" Without any more words to say she turns silent, grabbing a sort of chisel or knife, scratching over the scythe's upper blade starting from the neck. I walk closer.
"So, what are you actually doing?" I peek over her, which is not very hard since she's so tiny compared to me.
"I'm giving ya a reward, we already talked about this." She answers, dryly.
"I thought the reward was a nice bath and clean clothes?" I'm confused.
She finally looks over at me before laughing, "Pfft- That's how ya actually look?!" What? "Yer so pale! Ya look like a ghost!"
"Do I really look that different?" I haven't observed my reflection in a really long time.
"Ya-" She chuckles a little bit, "Ya almost looked brown haired from all that dirt! Now we could be cousins or something." I suppose? Can we not bring attention to myself?
"About the reward?" I derail the conversation.
She rolls her eyes while turning back to the table, "Right, right, I'm giving it an enchantment."
"What for?" I ask her, confused as to why I even need this.
"Because if what I've heard is true, ya act like no youkai with more power than ya will ever try to bash yer head in for." You should stop making sense and let me live a careless life that will lead to eventual self-immolation instead, "There we go." She grabs the scythe pretty awkwardly and hands it over.
"So, what does it do?" I don't bother observing much beyond the inscription.
"Ya make for a very bad demon." She says much and very little at the same time.
"If I were to make assumptions, I would not know whether you have made a curse or a veneration in this engraving, furthermore I cannot know if you have made this enchantment function as an amulet or as an active mystery." I defend myself, "In this manner, I also know nothing of Gensokyo's thaumaturgy and magick; acting as if I am well learned would be the greatest lie told today."
"Too many fancy words for saying yer bad at magic." She smirks, "What ya meant to say is that ya need my help once again, right?" She closes her eyes, resting smugly.
"Yes Marisa, if I were a little clearer, I'd be wary of becoming a spirit." I do not take any form of baits.
"Ugh, don't be boring. It's a curse in a sense, I made it so now ya can make it emit light or holy light, but it's not actual light, just mana and stuff. It's good for scaring away people stronger than ya." She explains, "Don't know how yer relationship with yer god is, but if there's any mana problems, ya could just petition him to lend some power to use it." Sounds useful, I suppose.
"So, the light, how does it work?" I ask, there's usually not much time for talking with witches, and I still must have like an hour left to go. "The "mana light" I mean."
"It's…how do I explain this to ya…" She bites her thumb while thinking, "Look, imagine energy but fully immaterial, that's what it is."
"Like, fire without the heat or something like that? As in, energy that is not affected by thermodynamics or something. No entropy?" I list off in an attempt to clarify my thoughts.
"Yeah, that's a good way of thinking about it." Marisa nods but soon her face sours, "Though I don't know how yer supposed to fit faith in that explanation, I don't do theurgy."
"Okay, so how do I use this mana thing to do things?" I question, disregarding the last part.
"Wouldn't ya like to know." Cease your smugness. If you're going to give me something to protect myself, at least tell me how, we've already met the not-so-theoretical mana problem.
"Well…alright then, I suppose." I sigh and take my things, "Oh, also, I left the water I used in the tub since I didn't know what to do with it." She gives me a silent thumbs up, so I turn to the front door, "I'll be going now, I have to eat and assist my classes." I wave as I walk.
"Bye Focalor, bring me something nice like food next time, will ya?" She bids me farewell in her nonchalant ways.
"Sure, expect to eat some slimy and disgustingly gamey wolf meat soon." I close the door with my parting words.
Observing the scythe while walking, it reminds me of old museum objects with things written on them, like a roman graffiti.
I raise it a little bit and put it to the test, muttering, "My Lord you rule over me and I shall want nothing, but if this is according to your will and command…grant me this light, lead me in a path of justice for your name's sake." I cannot call this anything other than a prayer.
A miracle accompanies it, light sprouts out of the blade, as if the reflection had become a thousand times brighter. In the dark forest, whose leaves cover the light, my scythe's miracle working strikes the shadowy trees like the gods are struck at their twilight.
But now that my Lord has anointed my head in oil, and set my soul on fire, what shall I do if not overturn that fading sun?
Relic get! I've been taking writing with much more relaxedness than when I first started posting, I'd say it's because I've been occupied with celebrations and the like, but I would be lying, so sorry if this has taken more than the usual. Might be posting slower from now on instead of one or two chapters per week.
I was wondering if anyone would mention the fact that there are two characters named Hisashi, but such a thing has not happened, so I just decided to shine the spotlight on them. I thought naming two reoccurring characters the same thing would be funny as a deflection of the fact that Hina won't get much attention in the future, if any.
This chapter is also more along the lines of what I meant when saying I wanted to make a sort of "interlude" showing some moments of Focalor's daily life, this is clearly not an interlude, but it sets the stage before a time skip next chapter, having to write how he struggles with Japanese is not something I want to keep. He also has paid all his debts though, so that's good. I want to introduce more Rinnosuke as Japanese becomes less of a problem, and also more socializing with villagers.
I feel strange about how I'm writing Marisa mostly because some of her actions regarding Focalor feel too well mannered for who she is, and while I know the reason since I'm writing her, it still might be awkward for you, the reader.
When I write "relic" I might just make it the truth. Marisa wouldn't have been able to make use of God's name without some sort of permission, so the scythe could be considered a second-class relic by association, I'll still leave it as a normal holy object most likely.
On a different note, would it be better if I added translations to all quotes I put before each chapter?
By the way, sorry Don canijote for not shouting you out, but your review didn't show up on my emails, so I only ended up seeing it now. Your fanfiction has popped up a few times in the Discord, had a few laughs, I hope you have fun with your own work since it seems to be more lighthearted.
As is customary, I've checked for errors, but I will check after I upload this chapter too. If this is not sufficient and I fail to see some, I'm always open to corrections.
I don't have anything else to say, so Merry Christmas to everyone reading.
Dominus Vobiscum.